45 Chapter 45 - B-B-Boyfriend?!

On a youthful spring day, three boys came running through the school gates of UA and ran toward the building in the distance. Even though they woke up pretty early and were on a brisk pace on their way to school, because of a certain ruckus-inducing dragon, they were delayed by a few minutes and they were almost late for school.

Ryuji heaved a sigh of relief as he checked the time on his watch. He looked behind him and eyed the two boys with a playful grin. "Quite late are we, boys?"

"You were the one who was almost late." Katsuki snorted and walked past Ryuji. While he didn't mind being late, it was still the first day of school and he had to respect formalities.

"Oh, now look who's self-conscious about societal rules!" Ryuji rolled his eyes and then slung his arm around Izuku.

"Congratulations on the 100k subscribers by the way." Ryuji grinned and patted Izuku on the shoulder.

After almost two months since they first started posting videos on Metube, Izuku already reached 100k subscribers. While a hundred thousand people might appear insignificant compared to other famous Metubers on the platform, one shouldn't ignore the fact that this was achieved in less than two months!

There were a lot of reasons as to how this happened, mostly because of the trio's personal connections, and by the trio means Ryuji's connections.

He wasn't just dilly-dallying the past year that he was in Japan and was just training. No, he has been growing his social network in the entertainment industry and used his interpersonal skills to establish deep bonds with highly skilled individuals in the industry.

Some were models who work in the same line of work as him, some were managers, agents for large companies locally and internationally, and so on and so forth.

One wouldn't even believe it if he were to tell a random stranger the people he personally knows.

"Heh, now Katsuki-kun's lagging behind by a bit with his 90k fanbase. I expected more from him, but his upload schedule is quite inconsistent." Ryuji shook his head, disappointed yet expectant. "Of course, you still can't compare to my 300k subscribers."

"It's already at three hundred?" Izuku was surprised by what he just heard. It was already impressive for someone as young as him, and as inexperienced as him, amassing as large of a fanbase as he currently has, but Ryuji's was simply too absurd.

In less than two months, he has amassed over three hundred thousand people subscribed to him on Metube.

"Yep, and now my monthly revenue has increased to over 300k yen!" Ryuji wore an arrogant smirk. "I'm simply too good at this thing."

"I got a lot of affiliate links, created some courses here and there to psychology and therapy, and I'm already starting to create my own merch." Ryuji patted Izuku on the shoulder. "If you feel that you can start your own merch, you can just hit me up and I'll introduce you personally to some old bastards who are greedy for money."

"W-Wow…" Izuku was awed by Ryuji's swift growth. He simply couldn't compare at all! The gap in terms of earnings alone is way too large!

The young boy gulped. He could already imagine what he could do if he could earn 300k yen a month and the things he could buy! Not just buy, but what he could get!

Just as he was deep in his thoughts, he was shaken out of his revelry as Ryuji called out to him, "Oi, we're already here."

Izuku looked to the side and saw the huge door many times his size. Written on the massive door was 1-A to indicate that it was indeed the classroom for Class 1-A.

As his focus was placed on the door ahead of him, Izuku didn't notice that Ryuji's eyes dimly lit up.

"What? Nervous?" asked Ryuji. He rubbed Izuku on the head, ruffling his naturally curly green hair, and grinned.

Izuku didn't deny Ryuji's guess. He was really nervous. His previous calm attitude was thrown out of the wind when he was finally here. But, when he saw Ryuji's warm smile, he felt his heart flutter and he calmed down. Unknowingly, his cheeks had a subtle rosy tint.

"Nope!" He puffed out his cheeks and wore a cheeky grin.

Ryuji calmly smiled. He was one whose senses were beyond the limits of mankind and could even perceive the tiniest of details, including the shift in Izuku's expression and body. It was easy to conclude that he obviously noticed that strange rosy tint on Izuku's cheeks, and it was all the more strange for him to ignore it considering his blunt and teasing attitude that would have immediately gone for the attack and tease, "Why are you blushing? Don't tell me you have a crush on me or something."

Instead, he kept his lips shut and retracted his hand from Izuku's head.

"That's the spirit." Ryuji opened the door with a laugh.

"Bakugo-san, please be my mentor!" A boy with electric-yellow hair with a black lightning mark on his fringe begged on the ground.

"I keep telling you I don't want to, you ungrateful bastard!" Katsuki pushed the boy away who was practically on the ground groveling and pulling at his leg.

"Oho? This is interesting." Ryuji stood at the door with Izuku beside him. They both stared at Katsuki with differing reactions, but the emotion of curiosity was the same.

"Please! You gotta teach me how you got so strong!" The boy pleaded like a shameless fool. "I'm already on my hands and knees begging!"

"Then why don't I help you beg in hell!" Katsuki snapped. He increased his strength, but the stranger was simply too slippery and persistent.

"Kaminari-san, please stop already! You're causing a ruckus for the others around here!" A young boy with a beefy build helplessly said. He was doing his hardest to keep the peace and order of the class for the last minute or so, but the pleading weirdo just wouldn't stop.

As Katsuki tried to look for a way out of this situation, his eyes suddenly lit up as soon as he saw Ryuji right at the door.

"Do you really want to learn how I got so strong?" Katsuki abruptly asked.

Denki was surprised by what he just heard, but he immediately got over his shock and hastily answered, "Of course!"

"Then, I got this strong because of that guy over there," Katsuki smirked and pointed at Ryuji.

"Huh?" Denki followed Katsuki's finger and saw Ryuji standing at the entrance.

In a mere instant, Denki blinked his eyes and quieted down. That dude was simply too handsome that he felt embarrassed to be doing such humiliating actions in front of someone so appealing to the eye. He felt that he was that smudge in a perfect painting, that one tiny bit of impurity in a clean floor.

"Ohoho, Katsuki-san, you're such a good junior disciple. This sect leader is simply too happy to hear such words!" Ryuji laughed heartily.

"Is that him?"

"The guy who ranked first in the exam?"

"I still remember when he destroyed that zero-pointer, it was simply too shocking!"

Shoto sat by the edge of the room and stared at Ryuji. He subconsciously gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He still remembered that beautiful fake winter and the utter defeat he felt when he realized just how big the gap was between him and Ryuji.

Many in the room felt the same way as him but at different targets. Some felt wary of Ryuji, some felt scared of Izuku, and some felt scared of Katsuki.

They were simply a different breed of monsters whose strength was like a tall mountain that towered over everyone else. It was understandable for them to feel this way, as their strength was simply too abnormal indeed.

The level of power they displayed back in the exam was just too shocking and bizarre. And the mere act of destroying the zero-pointer was already a huge accomplishment in itself.

The only one who felt that they could also destroy the zero-pointer besides those three was Shoto Todoroki, but even he himself couldn't say that he could accomplish it with utter confidence. Not to mention the courage one would need to face such a humongous titan of metal.

"Fufufu, the glorious name of Dragon Paradigm Sect is finally spreading!" Ryuji chuckled and approached Katsuki and Denki. "Unfortunately, we're not accepting any more disciples of the moment."

"Oh…" Denki's hopes were instantly crushed into smithereens.

"Hey, dude, don't worry too much about it. It's not like we did anything that different, I just taught them some martial arts and we had each other as training partners which did give us a ton of combat experience. If you have the proper training routine, you can do stuff like us with the right technique and understanding of your quirk."

"I see." Denki's eyes lit up. 'He's right! They must have trained their butts off to reach that level in the first place!'

On the other hand, Ryuji's eyes scanned all of the other students in the classroom without getting noticed. 'Oh boy is it a welcome gift to have so many talented individuals land on the palm of my hands again. Soon enough, I'll have another class dance on the palm of my hands just like when I was at Glory Academy.'

…

"He's in the same class?" Momo peeked at Ryuji's charismatic figure and couldn't help but look down at her desk. This was too much to handle in just one day.

First of all, though unintended and was one hundred percent an accident, her car still crashed against his body and flung him like a ragdoll. Even if his body was sturdier than steel and didn't receive a single bruise, she still hit him with her fucking car.

Second of all, while they weren't on bad terms, they weren't on good terms either. Their past interactions were simply too weird and strange.

'Do I say hello?'

'Do I say hi?'

'I didn't even know he was that strong! I shouldn't have been as annoying as I did on our first interaction! Now he probably thinks of me negatively!'

'And to think he would rank first among everyone else in the exam! My parents already investigated him and he's also a model, psychiatrist, artist, singer, voice actor, gym coach, and more?! Why does he even have so many jobs?!'

As she wallowed in regret over her past actions, Izuku was instead surprised by the person he soon saw.

"Oh!" Ochako stopped in her tracks and pointed at Izuku with rose-tinted cheeks. "It's you!"

"Hmm?" Izuku turned around and looked behind him. He then saw the young girl who he lasts met back at the practical exam, the girl who saved him back from his fall. "Oh, hi!"

Ochako's heart raced. Back then, she didn't notice it as much since she was excited and nervous for the exam, but now that things were a lot calmer, she could definitely say that curly hair over here was cute!

"Uh…" Ochako scratched her chin and didn't know what to say. But very quickly, she remembered something, "I forgot to say thank you!"

"If you didn't defeat that zero-pointer, I would have been crushed by it already!"

"Oh, that?" Izuku was surprised. "Wait, I saved you?"

"Huh? You didn't see me back then? I was so close to the robot when you destroyed it!"

"You were?!" Izuku nearly leaped back from surprise. "I'm so sorry! I'm glad that you weren't hurt, but if I was a bit more reckless, you might have been hurt by the wind pressure."

Izuku bowed profusely. He knew just how strong that punch was and that it could hurt nearby civilians if he were to use it without restraint, so he understood just how much danger Ochako was in at that time if what she said was true.

"You don't have to say sorry." Ochako chuckled and thought to herself, 'Damn, he's so cute.'

"Woah, woah, woah!" Ryuji suddenly appeared between Ochako and Izuku. He swiftly grabbed Izuku by the waist and pulled him closer while he stared at Ochako with fierce eyes. "What you doing to my boyfriend you runt!"

"H-Huh?" Ochako stepped back.

"What do you mean 'huh'?!" Ryuji glared at her. "Babe, what did she do to you?"

"W-What are you saying Ryuji-san?" Izuku's face turned into a blushing mess. His mind was nearly breaking down by the sudden twist of events, along with the intimate and affectionate physical contact that nearly drove him insane.

"What? Can't I grab my cute little boyfriend on the waist like this?" Ryuji smirked and whispered into his ear, "I could even bite you on the ear if I want to."

"Wha-." Before Izuku could even respond, he felt something pointy and slightly wet bite his ear. In an instant, his body's blood rushed to his face and his mind turned dizzy. "Ueewewaawea."

"Fufufu." Ryuji stopped and wore a teasing smile. "I'm just kidding!"

"Also, sorry about that." Ryuji turned to Ochako with a wide grin. "But you know what it's like, right? If you were presented with a good opportunity to tease your friend, you'll grab it too!"

"I-It was a joke?" Ochako asked.

"Of course, it was a joke." Ryuji paused and turned to look toward the still dizzy blushing Izuku. "Maybe."

Just as she felt inexplicably felt relieved by his response, they suddenly heard a voice behind them say, "Go somewhere else if you want to play friends."

They paused, then their eyes gravitated to the ground and they saw a yellow caterpillar lying down on the ground. On the yellow caterpillar, the haggard face of a man stared at them with deadpan eyes.

"Eek!"

AN: This chapter has 2319 words.

Sorry, not sorry, you knew this was gonna happen, and it's not gonna stop here. You can bet that I'm gonna write some content that borders between "being homies" to "they were roommates".

On that note, THERE'S SO MUCH CUTE DUDES AT SCHOOL BRO, AND WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT THEY AIN'T IN THE SAME YEAR LEVEL AS I AM. BRUH, I WOULD HAVE CONFESSED BY THAT POINT IF WE WERE JUST IN THE SAME FUCKING GRADE, BUT GOD SAID NOPE, YOU AIN'T GONNA GET THAT CHANCE SON. WRRRYYYYYYY!

(May 28, 2023 - 549th day of writing)