Combat Uniforms

The first class was supposed to be All Might's Foundational Hero Studies, a subject consisting of various exercises meant to build a solid foundation for heroes. It could be considered a specialized course in U.A. High School's Hero Course, and it was worth more credits than any other subject.

Over the past few days, All Might had only come to teach two classes. Jilan Jiyu could tell that he seemed to be preparing something. He hadn't gone into the coursework in depth, instead only talking about some of the problems Pro Heroes had to face and the responsibilities they had to shoulder.

But... should he say that was All Might for you? Everyone in the class had been excited by his infectious way of speaking. He had even sprinkled in stories about things he had experienced himself, fully arousing everyone's curiosity. Of course, Jilan Jiyu had been among them.

"I am here!" A deep voice rang out at the classroom door, and anticipation appeared on every face, because-

"Coming through the door like a normal person!" The classroom's wide door slid open. All Might gripped the doorframe with both hands and leaned his upper body into the classroom, wearing a smile that put people at ease just to look at it.

"That's!" Izuku Midoriya sprang to his feet. "All Might's combat uniform, the Superman who symbolized the Silver Age of American comics!"

"The art style is so different, it's downright creepy..."

All Might had worn a yellow striped suit when teaching the previous day. Though it had still been stretched tight by his muscles, giving him a tall, rugged appearance, today... this Superman-like bodysuit fully revealed his explosive muscles, creating a visual impact. For some reason, Jilan Jiyu even felt as though the shadows on his face were lines drawn in pencil, giving him the strange appearance of belonging to a different art style.

How should I put it? Jilan Jiyu thought of it: the towering height of nearly two meters, the large, solid muscles—this was the incredible art style of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, his favorite anime in his previous life!

It hadn't been as obvious when he'd watched videos of All Might before, but now that he was seeing him up close, the sense of familiarity was even stronger. Could it be... because I liked "JOJO," I came to this world with Yoshikage Kira's abilities and even became a bit of a psychopath myself... was all of this connected to All Might?!

Just as Jilan Jiyu was getting hopelessly caught up in his conspiracy theory, All Might stepped up to the podium and put his hands on his hips. "After studying these past few days, I think you all have a thorough understanding of heroes." He paused and flashed his trademark smile. "I know it's sudden, but today we're going to conduct-combat training!"

"Combat training!"

Everyone shouted in unison. After a brief moment of surprise, they all sat up straight in excitement.

"And along with that comes this... look over here!" All Might pointed to the wall to the left of the podium. Amid the sliding sounds of machinery, several rows of numbered lockers popped out of the wall. Like bank safes, each locker was made entirely of metal. Sensing what was inside, everyone began breathing heavily.

All Might didn't keep them in suspense. "These are combat uniforms custom-made based on the 'Quirk reports' and 'requirements' you submitted before enrollment. Find the locker corresponding to your student number, then gather at Ground Beta in order once you've changed!"

"Well then, I'll be off first!" Just as when he had arrived, All Might whipped up a gust with his tremendous speed and left like the wind.

All Might's departure did nothing to dampen their spirits. Instead, they grew even more enthusiastic, noisily getting to their feet to retrieve their combat uniforms. Although Tenya Iida shouted loudly in an attempt to maintain order, with a feast before them, how could a group of unruly guests be willing to wait even a moment? They all wanted to be the first to get their uniform.

Jilan Jiyu frowned, stood up from his seat, and said something to Kyoka Jiro. She nodded, took a small speaker out of her desk, and inserted the plugs on her ears into it.

"Wooo~~"

The noise instantly engulfed the entire classroom, drowning out everyone's arguing. They couldn't help covering their ears, and they fell silent, turning their gazes toward the source of the noise.

Jiro wasn't about to take the blame. She silently withdrew her plugs and looked at Jilan Jiyu, indicating that he had told her to do it and that it had nothing to do with her.

Jilan Jiyu calmly lowered his hands from his ears. Although the speaker hadn't been facing him and he had covered his ears in advance, he still felt dazed for a moment. Seeing everyone looking at him, he said evenly, "Line up in student-number order to collect your combat uniforms. Once you have yours, go to the changing room. After changing, head straight to All Might at Ground Beta."

Although everyone in Class A had a distinctive Quirk and naturally had their own pride to have gotten into this school, they were still only fifteen-year-old children in the end, at an age when they instinctively followed other people's orders. All Might might have left already, but Jilan Jiyu was still a class representative of sorts and had some authority. Though there was some resentment, no one objected, and they lined up in order to collect their combat uniforms.

The student numbers were arranged according to the Japanese syllabary, so the classroom was already more than half empty by the time Jilan Jiyu's turn came. He took out his student card and inserted it into the locker bearing his number. With a creak, the locker popped open, and his combat uniform lay quietly inside.

Generally speaking, an exclusive company of U.A. High School manufactured combat uniforms according to the students' requirements. Before enrollment, students submitted their Quirk reports, physical information, design drawings, and other requirements, and the support company would manufacture the latest combat uniform best suited to their use. That uniform might then become a symbol of the hero, the most important partner in their career as a Pro Hero.

However, Jilan Jiyu hadn't thought that far ahead when he submitted his report. He had only thought about how he would be wearing the outfit for the next three years of high school, so when submitting his uniform design, he had specifically requested, "Make it ordinary, comfortable, and simple." In short, he wanted it to feel like everyday clothing.

The black-and-white color scheme didn't stand out at first glance. After taking it to the changing room and unfolding it, Jilan Jiyu pulled on the one-piece spandex bodysuit. The inner layer of the combat uniform was a black bodysuit, with high-strength white shells covering injury-prone areas such as the chest, elbows, and calves. They offered a degree of protection without hindering movement.

When designing it, Jilan Jiyu had used the Chaldea Combat Uniform from the game Fate/Grand Order as a reference. Looking at it now, the reproduction was fairly good, but wasn't it a little conspicuous?

But when Jilan Jiyu looked at the other classmates still in the changing room, he immediately felt that his combat uniform was actually fairly ordinary. Tenya Iida wore heavy, full-body armor like a medieval knight, with things resembling motorcycle exhaust pipes exposed at his calves. One couldn't help thinking that even a personified motorcycle would look about like this.

The person lingering in front of the mirror, unwilling to leave, seemed to be called Yuga Aoyama. He wore an exaggerated combat uniform styled after classical French aristocratic attire, with a round pane of glass on his chest like a transparent mirror, presumably for firing his laser. What was a little hard to bear was that he wore utterly useless sunglasses and a cape, seeming to imagine himself a modern-day prince.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" Katsuki Bakugo sneered. "Your combat uniform really has no distinguishing features."

"Emmm... so this is the kind of look you like?"

Actually, Katsuki Bakugo's combat uniform was the most surprising. He had two huge, green-painted grenades on his arms and wore a sleeveless leather top. A partial mask covered his eyes, and even sharper headgear had been attached behind his already spiky, explosive hairstyle—was it to stop people from attacking the back of his head?

"You look like a battle-loving explosion maniac," Jilan Jiyu said.

Actually, all their combat uniforms were still within Jilan Jiyu's understanding. After all, they were diverse outfits created to enhance their Quirks. Speaking of which, individuality actually referred to the sum of a person's unique, stable, and essential psychological traits. In other words, individuality was a person's overall psychological makeup.

Through their combat uniforms, the public could intuitively perceive each hero's distinctive traits and personality, and thereby gain a general understanding of them.

Compared to them, am I really the most ordinary one in the class?

"We finally get to do some actual combat. I finally have a chance to fight you fair and square!" Katsuki Bakugo made no attempt to hide the fighting spirit in his eyes as he looked at Jilan Jiyu. "You know what? I can't wait to knock your teeth out!"

"Not very likely." Jilan Jiyu poured cold water on him. "The actual combat will most likely be about getting familiar with our own abilities and our teammates' Quirks. We'll probably be divided into groups, so the one-on-one fight you want seems unlikely."

"Besides... don't you think Shoto Todoroki is stronger? Do you have to come after me?"

Katsuki Bakugo gave him a malicious smile. "Of course you fight someone you have a conflict with. If you just picked some stranger, wouldn't that be picking a fight?"

"You really have such upright values..."

"Obviously."

"...I was being sarcastic."