#chapter 003

A Day after “The Failed Heist”

Maroon was solemnly lying in the hospital bed that filled half of the mediocre Madbay. They stared out of the window, watching the multicoloured silt, dirt, and rocks go by. The youngest mafia member had spent the morning in the Madbay and remained in the same outfit that they had worn when they had been kidnapped, despite asking for new clothes. Eventually, they slipped into their thoughts as the dirt swirled outside

What happened? Maroon thought, watching as a particularly large rock was thrown out of the way, Did I...kill that guy? No. I- I wouldn’t do that…would I? They looked away from the window and rested their gaze on the blank wall opposite their cot. They began idly playing with their red and black split hair while their thoughts raced.

I don’t feel different...why did I even react like that? Nothing makes sense…maybe I should talk to Velvet. She would- she would know what is going on. She has to. A light pink danced around their cheeks as they took a deep breath. They glanced at the Madbay door before slowly getting to their feet. With another deep breath, they slowly walked out of the room. 

The door slid open automatically as Maroon approached. Mad looked up from a brochure labelled Palniux et ses multiples curiosités. 

Palniux…is that where we are? 

Velvet sat in the captain’s seat at the front of the cockpit, looking at the screen on the wall next to them. She was throwing a pen up and down. Maroon watched her throw it up at least ten times, never failing to catch it again. Velvet had changed into their mission uniform: a black loosely-fitting jumpsuit with red highlights on the shoulders and sleeves and a red “x” lining their ribcage. 

Mad had also changed into some kind of uniform, one Maroon had never seen before. The droid wore a basic red shirt with a black jacket over it, which was covered in pockets. It also wore a pair of black athletic pants with a belt attached. The cockpit itself was not very large compared to the rest of the ship but it had enough room for 4 cushioned chairs attached to the walls in case of emergency, as well as red and blue bean bags in the corner opposite the other chairs. 

“Looking better,” Mad said to them. The voice was distorted and sharp, lacking the smooth connectedness of speech. It still had the faintest hint of emotion, though. Happiness. Relief. 

“Feeling worse,” Maroon said under their breath, fixing their gold round-rimmed glasses. They walked up to look at the statistical screen Velvet had been viewing. It had a large line stretching the bottom of it with an X moving slowly across it. Words and letters floated around but none stayed long enough for Maroon to attempt to decipher them.

“You sure you should be up and walking around if you’re feeling worse?” Velvet asked, not taking their eyes off the screen. Maroon rubbed their hands together before replying.

“Well I feel like I r-ruined that mission, so I came to see what I could do to, um, h-help.” 

Velvet leaned back in her chair. Maroon curled into themself, slouching and trying to match Velvet’s level. Despite towering over her, Maroon couldn’t help the anxiety coursing through their body as she sat there quietly. Velvet was the leader, after all. 

“Hm…you could go check the engine room and make sure the new power core is all secure. I’m not sure if the engine took to the new power crystal fully due to its age. Just make sure nothing’s gonna blow up while we’re digging,” Velvet stated. Mad glanced at them but remained silent.

“Uhm, I-I can see what I can do,” Maroon muttered, taking a step backwards towards the door.

 “Make sure not to get taken by a large man on your way there,” Velvet said, catching the pen. Maroon stopped in their tracks and turned back to look at her. Her brown eyes met theirs, sending a shiver down their spine. Velvet raised an eyebrow.

“Wh-what did I do to that guy speaking of which?” Maroon stumbled out. They rubbed their hands together again, looking at the floor. They heard Velvet let out a small chuckle.

“Let’s just say I don’t think we’ll be hearing from L’arj Mahnnnh anytime soon,” Velvet responded with a smirk. Maroon looked back up at them but they had already turned back to the screen.

“You mean the large man,” Maroon corrected. Velvet groaned and threw the pen on the console.

“No. That was his name.”

“His name was Large Man?” Maroon asked, taking a seat next to Mad. The robot offered the pamphlet to them, which they gladly took. It was in French and took a few tries for Maroon to understand what exactly it was saying. An image of a large creature, pink in colour with beady black eyes and a circle of teeth inside its mouth, sat in the corner.

“That’s what I said. L-apostrophe-A-R-J-space-M-A-H-N-N-N-H. It's Guh’Okkian,” Velvet answered, turning the chair to look at their teammates. 

“I- a-alright,” Maroon paused for a moment before looking up at Mad, “That worm- are we going to see one of those?” The teen pointed at the drawing of the worm. Mad shook their TV.

“No, we’re emitting a sound wave that should drive them away,” Mad replied, “Thank god for modern technology.” Velvet rolled her eyes. Maroon looked between the two of them for a few seconds.

“So…what exactly are we doing?” Maroon asked. Velvet sighed and leaned back in her chair again.

“Zaeor said that there is a B.A.D. operative attempting to find the hollow centre of the planet, rumoured to be full of gold and other metals,” Mad said, “Although, the reliability is…questionable at best.”

“Who said there's a What?” Maroon asked. None of those names rang a bell in the 14-year-old’s mind. Mad chuckled, which caused their face to turn red once again.

“Zaeor is the god who gave us the mansion and upgraded The Umbrella.”

“You really gotta get a better name for it,” Velvet commented, gesturing around the ship. Mad’s screen went blank.

“The Umbrella is the name Elanor chose so it is what I am going to use. If you have a problem you can find another time-jumping robot with a mostly destroyed ship you repair to earn their trust.” Maroon placed a hand on either side of themself, setting the pamphlet back in Mad’s lap.

“Uh- Who’s Elanor?” they asked.

“My creator.” 

Maroon tried to hide their shock behind their hair. It didn’t take long for them to remember the story Mad had told them about their creator and…what happened to them. 

“You mean the one you s-swapped souls with.”

“Not really a swap if Mad didn't have a soul to give. More of a soul steal if you ask me,” Velvet interrupted. The droid glanced at her.

“I like to think of it as a soul transfer.” 

Maroon looked between each of them before taking a deep breath.

This is not going to end well. I- topic change.

“Ok…uh, what's B.A.D?” they tried, but it only earned a glare from Velvet. Maroon slouched back down into their chair.

“Bolton Ammunition Distribution, my…Unor. Unor’s cover company. It allows him to get mining permits on different planets all over to get richer and make himself immortal.” 

“So we’re d-drilling to the centre to stop them from getting richer?” 

“Ding-ding-ding, someone get the kid a prize, they've finally caught up with the rest of us,” Velvet replied, sarcasm lacing their words. Maroon’s face was hot and they could almost feel tears forming in their eyes. 

“Watch it Velvet,” Mad warned, “Maroon didn’t get any kind of orientation like I did. They have no way of knowing what’s going on.”

“You’d think they would pick it up. I mean, it’s not like we’re hiding it behind locked doors or something,” Velvet shrugged, “But whatever, you catch them up as much as you want and I’ll go check on the engine.”

“I can still go check on it-” Maroon began but before they could finish, Velvet was already out the door and on her way. Maroon watched her leave and took another deep breath.

Breathe, Maroon. Breathe. 

Mad sighed. 

“I will never understand what their problem is,” it said, “Anyways, anything else you want to know?” Maroon was silent for a moment.

“Remember when you told me Velvet would warm up to me?”

“Of course I remember, I’m a robot.”

“Right, well...uh. How do I put this?” The teen paused for a second, “It feels like every time I try to get to know her or even say hi to her, she shuts it down. I guess my question is how do you know that when it seems like they haven’t even warmed up to you?” 

Mad displayed a smile on their screen. “Zaeor told me.”

“Th-The god dude? How would he know?”

“Well, firstly he’s a true god. I’m guessing you’ve met at least fake gods before?” Maroon looked towards the grey ceiling of the Umbrella’s cockpit. Many things came to mind when they thought of the word ‘gods’, but nothing like that.

“T-true god? Fake gods? What do you mean?” 

“I mean he was created with this reality. When the universe was very new, different realms or realities were created. Each of these formed with its own separate deity to watch over the land. Zaeor is the deity that was formed with this realm and I’m sure there’s a deity watching over the land you visited too.” Maroon stared at the rescue robot. 

Ailuj.

“I…have a few guesses. What is a fake god then?”

“Any god that was created after the realm’s creation.”

“Oh…how did these realms form? Where do these gods come from? How do they coexist?” Maroon’s curiosity seemed to grow with each question, which made the robot chuckle. They immediately stopped and looked towards the floor but Mad put a hand on their shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Maroon. No one really knows for sure how the realms formed or where the gods came from. I’m sure you could ask Zaeor the next time he visits, although I don’t know when that’ll be. Maybe you could ask Velvet about it after she’s calmed down enough to be approachable. About how they coexist...hm what’s the best way to put this?” Mad pondered aloud for a few moments before displaying a standard lightbulb emoji on their screen. 

“I’ve got it! I’ll be right back Maroon, don’t wander off.” Mad hurried out of the cockpit, leaving Maroon alone once more. The teenager sat in their seat, twiddling their thumbs. A moment later, the automaton burst through the sliding doors once more. It seemed to be carrying a box with...a bunch of fruits?

“I’m back, sorry for the wait. Anyways, here!” Mad handed the child the box. It was heavy and plopped down onto their lap with a loud thud. Maroon jumped slightly. 

“What...what am I supposed to do with this?” 

“Hold on a second, I have to explain!” Mad sat down next to them.

“You see,” it began, “The box represents the flow of time. The fruits, different realms. We’re this one here!” Mad picked up an orange. 

“But there are other ones too. Let's see…” The robot grabbed a lime next, “Let’s let this one represent the realm you visited. What was it called again?”

“Gaelicia.”

“Right. So this orange is us and the lime represents Gaelicia. For simplicity’s sake, let’s remove all the other fruits.” Mad took the other fruits out one by one and set them on the edge of their seat. 

“Gaelicia and our reality are both inside the box, aka time. However, they move at different speeds and in different patterns.” The bot began to move the orange in a circular motion quickly at the centre of the box and the lime in a triangle motion at a slower velocity. 

“Most of the time, these two realities operate separately from each other. The lime doesn’t bother the orange and the orange doesn’t bother the lime. However, in some cases..” Mad mimicked the two citruses crashing into each other, “They collide.”

“What happens then?” Maroon questioned. A green smile took over Mad’s screen.

“I’m glad you asked! When two realities collide they leave the barrier between them very thin, thin enough for even humans to pass through. This is what happened when you went to Gaelicia. Velvet called it a realm collision.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Well, I had it happen to me.” Maroon’s eyes widened.

“W-what?”

"I wasn’t going to explain this part but since I brought it up…” Mad stood up again, “I’ll be right back.” The robot hurried out of the cockpit once more. From the sound of it, they seemed to have run into something on their way to their destination. When it returned, Mad carried a decently sized watermelon in their robotic limbs. 

Where did they get that?

“Here, take this!” it said cheerfully as it dropped the 3-pound watermelon on Maroon’s lap. They winced from the impact. Mad’s screen temporarily went blank before the green smiling emoticon appeared again

“Sorry, Maroon.” Mad sat down next to them once again, taking the watermelon once it was properly seated. A small ache formed in Maroon’s legs but they ignored it.

“It-It’s okay.”

“As I was saying, I was built in this realm, just like you and Velvet. However, shortly after Elanor’s passing, this reality collided with another one. Let’s let this one be represented by this watermelon.” Mad once again mimicked the colliding between the watermelon and the orange. 

“When the portal opened, the collision point just happened to be right where I was at the time. I got sucked into the rift along with Elanor’s soul and during this process, I transferred locations to the other realm.”

“What was it like?” Maroon asked excitedly. Mad laughed at the human child’s enthusiasm. Red formed on Maroon’s face again but Mad didn’t say anything about it.

“It wasn’t anything like Gaelicia, that’s for sure. It was dark and cold, almost dead. I don’t remember much from that time to tell you the truth.” 

Maroon frowned. “How are you here then?” 

“Another collision of course. About the time you came back to the orange, the watermelon and orange also collided once more. During this collision, I returned here and was found by Velvet and Zaeor.” Maroon’s eyes widened.

“That was the most stupid way of explaining the realms I’ve ever heard,” a voice chimed in from the door of the cockpit. Maroon jumped a bit as Velvet strolled by and approached the command centre of the Umbrella. 

“You gotta explain it in a way people will understand, Velvet. Not everyone is a genius or a robot like you and me.”

“Hey…” Maroon whispered. Their stomach dropped.

“I’m not a genius, I just know my stuff.”

“Whatever. And mind giving a little warning next time? You scared poor Maroon senseless.”

“I literally just talked. Glad to know I’m just that intimidating.” 

How could you not be? You’re…you, Maroon thought. The robot sighed next to them.

“So the engine is working ok?” 

“Seemingly so. Doesn’t seem to be rejecting the crystal at least.”

“So we’re all good then?” 

“Yep, how much longer until we reach the core?” Velvet looked at the console and frowned, “What language is this in?”

“Hexadecimal. What else would it be?” Mad replied, standing up to join Velvet at the table. The pamphlet fell onto the black cushion of the chair.

“Fair enough.” 

Mad looked up at the screen.

“Looks like we still have an hour or so to go until we reach the estimated depth.” 

“Oh, how lovely.” Velvet plopped down onto the red bean bag in one corner of the cockpit. Mad returned back to their seat next to Maroon. A few minutes passed before a loud crash could be heard. Maroon jumped and their heart started racing

“W-what was that?” they asked. 

“Not sure,” Velvet replied, standing, “I’m going to check around the ship. Mad, you try to figure out what’s wrong. Maroon, stay out of any fights ok? We can’t have you getting hurt again.” After a slight nod from Maroon, who was blushing once again, Velvet was off out the door with their dagger unsheathed. 

“Ok let’s see what’s going on here..” Mad muttered to itself as it approached the control panel. After a few moments, their display went blank.

“What the…” Mad mumbled.

“What is it?” Maroon asked.

“P-” Before the droid could finish, Velvet came running back into the room.

“Poisonous gas!” She yelled, her face covered by her shirt. Maroon’s eyes grew wide.

“What do you mean poisonous gas?”

“I mean fucking poisonous gas, what else would I mean? Mad, where are the gas masks?”

“In the Madbay!” the automaton yelled back. Velvet nodded and, with their mouth still covered, ran back into the gas-filled area. 

“Maroon, try to breathe as little as possible. Velvet will be back in a second with the gas masks for you two.” The teen nodded, holding their breath. Mad frantically clicked buttons on the control panel, mumbling quietly. After a minute or so Velvet once again ran through the door, this time with their face daunting a bulky air respirator. The assassin tossed another identical mask to Maroon which they quickly placed on their mouth. The air didn’t seem to smell any different with or without the mask on.

“Mad, is there any way you can lock the cockpit from the rest of the ship’s ventilators?” Velvet asked, their voice distorted from the air filter inside the mask. 

“Already working on it.” The two teens stared as the droid whizzed around the cockpit, looking for ways to cut off the air filter. As the seconds ticked by Maroon felt more and more lightheaded. Their already pale skin grew paler as their vision blurred. Velvet took notice of this and caught them before they hit the ground. 

“Fucking hell,” they said. Mad looked over in surprise.

“What happened?” 

Velvet adjusted the mask Maroon was wearing.

“Damn asinus didn’t turn the thing on. Should be working now.” She layed Maroon on a beanbag chair near the front of the cockpit. 

“Any luck with the air filters?” Velvet asked. Mad shook their head. 

“The typical protocols aren’t working with whatever gas this is.”

“Of course not, that’d be too convenient,” Velvet mumbled sarcastically. Before Mad could respond, Maroon let out a loud groan. The two of them turned around to see Maroon slowly sitting up. Their heart was still beating against their chest, but the air seemed different. Cleaner, more normal.

“W-what happened?” they asked, realigning their glasses so they could see.

“Your mask wasn’t on so you passed out from the gas,” Velvet responded flatly, “I suggest staying seated for a bit. You’ll probably just fall over again if you try to stand up.” Maroon nodded. A slight headache formed in the back of their head, which caused them to wince.  

“Do you have any idea what this gas could be?” Velvet asked, turning to the robot in front of them. 

“How am I supposed to know?”

“I don’t know, maybe you have some gas sensor or something?” Mad sighed.

“No, I don’t have any ideas. My guess is it hadn’t been discovered when Elanor created the Umbrella.” 

Velvet rolled her eyes. A few minutes of awkward silence passed as Mad tried and failed to seal off the cockpit’s air supply. Velvet was getting more and more impatient the longer it took while Maroon waited for one of them to say something. 

“Ok this is ridiculous,” Velvet finally hissed, “How is it that difficult?” 

“You’re asking me to completely change the airflow in the ventilation system to have the air here be kept separate from the air from other areas of the Umbrella. It’s not a fast process.” 

As the two bickered, Maroon looked outside of the front window of the ship at the drill. It turned perpetually, like a planet rotating on its axis. The motion was somewhat calming and Maroon quickly got lost in thought staring at it. As the voices of Velvet and Mad grew fainter, they noticed a dark shadow on one side of the ship. 

“Uh..guys?” Maroon said worriedly. Velvet and Mad didn’t take any notice, favouring their argument.

“Guys?” Maroon repeated, slightly louder. Once again, ignored. Maroon sighed. 

“Velvet, Mad!” Ignored again. The shadow grew closer and closer to the ship. Before Maroon could call out again, a loud clang ran through the Umbrella as the creature broke through one of the walls of the cockpit. Maroon was launched backward into the arguing assassin and automaton, knocking the two over. The creature made an unearthly noise as Velvet quickly stood back up. 

“What the hell is that?” Velvet asked. 

“It looks like one of the giant worms the brochure talked about,” Maroon breathed. Velvet glared at Mad. 

“Didn’t you say they weren’t going to attack us?” 

“The gases must’ve damaged the sound amplifier in some way,” the robot mumbled, “I don’t know how, but there’s got to be more where that came from.” The worm's slimy body secreted a clear liquid over the floor of the Umbrella. Its mouth smiled a toothy grin, like a young dog. 

“That is so not right,” Velvet muttered under their breath, “So how do I kill it?”

“Why is your solution to everything murder?” Mad demanded.

“Because-”

“Uh- I think they’re supposed to be friendly,” Maroon chimed in, “Maybe we just need to talk to it?” Velvet glared at them before sighing.

“Ugh fine. You have fun talking to the giant worm. I’ll be over here when you inevitably need me to kill it.” Velvet said, throwing their hands up in the air. Mad sighed.

“Go ahead and give it a shot, Maroon. Don’t let Velvet’s violent tendencies get to you,” the droid said encouragingly, “Just try not to get too close.” Maroon nodded and turned towards the creature. It locked eyes with them as they approached.

“H-Hey, little buddy. Uh..um..nice weather we’re having?” Maroon stuttered. Velvet laughed but was quickly stopped by Mad, whose screen gave Maroon a reassuring smile. Maroon took a deep breath. 

“L-Look. I-If you could um, leave our ship alone that’d be, uh, really nice.” The worm just stared at them. After a few seconds, it slowly approached Maroon. Velvet raised their dagger but Mad pushed their hand down. The creature stopped a mere centimetres away from Maroon. 

“H-Hey I think that’s too close-” 

The giant worm sniffed Maroon, then proceeded to lick them.

“Aw gross, enzymes,” Maroon chuckled. They wiped the saliva off of their face and smiled at the worm. Behind them, Mad looked at Velvet as smugly as they could with a T.V. for a head. Velvet scoffed and slid her dagger back into its sheath. Maroon extended their hand to pet the worm. The 3-metre-long creature rose up to Maroon’s hand and almost purred as they ran their hand up and down. Their skin was slimy but warm to the touch. 

“It’s like a little puppy!” Maroon said with a smile, “Can we keep it?” Velvet immediately shook her head.

“Oh hell no,” Velvet said, “No way I’m living in the same house as that vermis.” 

“Aw, come on Velvet! It can stay in my room if you want.” 

“I want it to leave us the hell alone. How the fuck do you plan on getting it back to the mansion in the first place?” 

“Um-” 

“Exactly,” Velvet said, cutting them off, “Now get it to-”

“We could put it in the cargo bay,” Mad chimed in. Velvet glared at the automaton while Maroon beamed with excitement. 

“What? I see no issue with keeping it as long as Maroon deals with it,” Mad said. Velvet sighed. 

“Fine, fine. Keep the vermis. But if that thing comes anywhere near me I will stab it.” Maroon jumped up and down, earning an eye roll from Velvet. 

“Yay, thanks Velvet!” The assassin rolled their eyes. 

“Maroon, let’s go lead your new friend over to the cargo bay,” Mad began, holding a hand out to them, “While you get them settled, I’ll try to find where the gas is coming in from and patch it up.” Maroon nodded.

Half an hour later, the three members of the Red Mafia once again reconvened in the cockpit of the Umbrella. Mad had successfully patched up the holes in the ship from the gas pocket and the worm situation. However, Velvet and Maroon still wore their masks, just in case. Maroon was happily humming on one of the beanbags, ideas of what to do with their new pet swirling around their brain. Velvet seemed to have calmed down a bit and was participating in normal conversation with the other two. 

“So Maroon, what are you going to name the worm?” Mad asked as it stood by the control panel.  

“I haven’t really thought about it yet. There are just so many options!” Maroon sat in thought for a few moments before gaining an idea.

“Hey Velvet, do you want to name them?” Velvet looked at them, a hint of confusion on the assassin’s face.

“You want me to name it?” they asked. 

“Yeah! I mean unless you don't want to, you don’t have to-”

“No I didn’t mean it like that- You know what, never mind. Hm, let me think for a second.” The cockpit was silent for a minute or so. 

“What if you just named it Vermis?” Velvet stated, looking away. Maroon’s smile faltered.

“That’s actually a good name!” Mad chimed in. Maroon chuckled.

Mad does not speak Latin, got it. 

“What if we spelled it W-y-r-m-i-s?” Maroon said. Mad’s screen displayed a green question mark.

“That’s not how it’s usually spelled?” 

“Sure,” Velvet said, ignoring Mad, “I don’t care. 

“It’s settled then, Wyrmis the Giant worm,” Maroon said with a smile. The conversation drifted back towards the mission at hand, but Maroon’s smile never faded from their face. It seemed that, finally, the Red Mafia was becoming a team.

Midoriya Izuku ‘(U.A. kōkō HERO-ka! ! Soko wa PRO ni hissu no shikaku shutoku o mokuteki to suru yōsei-kō! Zenkoku dō-ka-chū mottomo ninki de mottomo muzukashiku, sono bairitsu wa reinen 300 wokoeru! ! Kokumin eiyo-shō ni dashin sa reru mo kore o koji! ! ‘ALL MIGHT’!! Jiken kaiketsu-sū shijō saita! Nenshō-kei HERO ‘ENDEAVOR’!! BEST JEANIST 8-nen renzoku jushō! ! ‘BEST JEANIST’! Idaina (read: GRATEFUL) HERO ni wa U.A. sotsugyō ga zettai jōken’na noda!!)’ 緑谷出久「(雄英高校ヒーロー科！！そこはプロに必須の資格取得を目的とする養成校！全国同科中最も人気で最も難しく、その倍率は例年300を超える！！国民栄誉賞に打診されるもこれを固辞！！「オールマイト」！！事件解決数史上最多！燃焼系ヒーロー「エンデヴァー」！！ベストジーニスト8年連続受賞！！「ベストジーニスト」！偉大な（グレイトフル）ヒーローには雄英卒業が絶対条件なのだ！！)」 Midoriya Izuku “(U.A. High School’s Hero Department! It’s a training school where students acquire the qualifications they need to become professionals! It’s the most popular and difficult department in the country, with a competition rate of over 300 every year! He was offered the People’s Honor Award, but firmly refused! “All Might”! The highest number of cases solved in history! Burning Type Hero “Endeavor”! Winner of the Best Jeanist award for 8 consecutive years! “Best Jeanist”! For a great (read: grateful) Hero, graduating from U.A. is an absolute requirement!)” [Chap 3]

Observation notes:

The story gives us more information about the worldbuilding, which lead us to learn Endeavor graduated at U.A. High and is the man who resolved more cases than anyone else in history.

Yes, even more than All Might and it’s a nice info because it can set the basis of Enji’s resentment toward All Might. He solves more cases than anyone else and yet All Might is everyone’s favorite. That’s enough to make him pissed and make him wish people would finally LOOK AT HIM and at how much effort… pardon, endeavor, he’s placing in this.

Also, the chest area of Enji’s Hero costume is still the same as in the prototype, a sign Horikoshi hadn’t retconned his costume yet. We might not notice it much in the colored version of the manga because that one was done much later, when Enji’s costume had always been retconned and so who did the coloring tried to do it to match the definitive version of his costume.

Cultural notes:

Nyūshi (入試 “entrance exam”): Japanese high school entrance exams are highly competitive, testing core subjects like Math, Japanese, and English, alongside your overall junior high ‘naishinten’ (内申点 “internal evaluation”), a student's comprehensive academic record and overall evaluation that includes grades, classroom behavior, participation, homework, and club activities, contributing to a total score that significantly influences acceptance into desirable high schools. Each prefecture has its own date in which entrance exams take place. U.A. high is in Shizuoka prefecture and, in 2014, this day wasn’t the 26th of February, which is the day in which begins the acceptance of the application requests, but 5th March. In case you’re wondering in Tokyo instead they were held the 24th of February. Either Horikoshi changed it because, at the time, he didn’t want to reveal where U.A. high is or he mixed up the date of the entrance exam with the one of the application requests. Shōto does’t take part to this exam because he takes part to the ‘suisen nyūshi’ (推薦入試 “recommendation entrance exam”) an entrance exam system in which applications are generally made thanks to a recommendation FROM THE PRINCIPAL OF THE SCHOOL THEY ATTENDED in what is called ‘gakkō suisen-gata senbotsu’ (学校推薦型選抜 “school recommendation selection”). Written exams carry little weight, and students are evaluated comprehensively based on the above mentioned ‘naishinten’, interviews, essays, and so on. This kind of exams are often held earlier than general entrance exams.

Doryoku (努力 “effort/endeavor”): this is how Enji’s Hero name, Endeavor, will be translated in Japanese in chap 356. In Japan there is a stronger belief in effort as opposed to innate ability. Effort is seen as necessary to fulfill a social obligation to family, peers, and community. From when they’re children Japanese people are forced to focus on their effort, seeing it as the cause of success. According to society, if a child does not succeed, they were not trying hard enough. This is unrelated to the child’s grades; children always need to put forth more effort. This gives you a better idea of what exactly Enji’s Hero name stand for, an acknowledgement he has no inborn talent like he thinks All Might has, that he’ll just compensate by putting more effort, that his effort will never be enough as he’ll continue to push himself.

Places notes:

The chapter references and mentions two locations:

Shiei Takoba kaihin kōen (市営多古場海浜公園（しえいだごばかいひんこうえん）“Takoba Municipal Beach Park”) where is the beach Midoriya cleaned.

Shiei Takoba kaihin kōen (市営多古場海浜公園 “Takoba Municipal Beach Park”) likely takes its name from planet Dagobah (ダゴバ ‘Dagoba’) where Yoda was hiding and where Luke was trained.

According to the anime Midoriya ends school at 03:20 PM and reaches Takoba beach at 04:00 PM. It is unclear if he also need to take a ride to get there or he can get there by foot. It is still likely in the Shizuoka prefecture.

Japanese beaches, like most geographical features around the world, are generally named after local geographical features, historical events, or local place names/legends. The kanji of the name literally mean “many/much” (多 ‘ta’), “old” (古 ‘ko’) and “place” (場 ‘ba’) so it can be a reference to that area being very old, or just that area’s name.

Retcon notes:

Something else that’s worth of interest is that here Enji’s Hero name seems to be ‘Nenshō-kei HERO ENDEAVOR’ (燃焼系ヒーローエンデヴァー “Burning Type Hero Endeavor”). Chapter 25 however will label him as ‘FLAME HERO ENDEAVOR’ (フレイムヒーロー エンデヴァー Flame Hero Endeavor). Is it a retcon or ‘Nenshō-kei HERO’ (燃焼系ヒーロー “Burning Type Hero”) is only meant to be a description of some sort of Enji? We don’t know.

Midoriya says:

Midoriya Izuku ‘(2-gatsu 26-nichi ALL MIGHT to no kunren o oe ōisogi de kaette SHOWER o abite nimotsu o matomete chikatetsu noritsugi 40-bu...)’ 緑谷出久「(2月26日オールマイトとの訓練を終え大急ぎで帰ってシャワーを浴びて荷物をまとめて地下鉄乗り継ぎ４０分)」 Midoriya Izuku “(February 26th: After finishing training with All Might, I rushed home, took a shower, packed my bags, and took a 40-minute subway ride...)”

As said in my commentary for chapter 1, the story should take place in the Shizuoka province... however the province doesn’t have a subway, while it is possible Horikoshi changed things (after all BNHA takes place in a parallel world), in chap 45 we see Midoriya reaching U.A. High by train, not by subway, so likely Horikoshi changed things.

Timeline notes:

The table that follows is made to give you an idea of the characters’ age when the facts are taking place. On top of each character there is the date of his birthday, below there is the age they has. April is the month in which school starts, so in it you find in which class each character is.

Translation notes:

So Enji is called ‘Nenshō-kei HERO “ENDEAVOR”’ (燃焼系ヒーロー「エンデヴァー」 “Burning Type Hero ‘Endeavor’”). The English version of the manga didn’t give us an official translation for ‘Nenshō-kei’ (燃焼系), while the anime went for “Fiery”. ‘Nenshō’ (燃焼) though means “Burning/Combustion” while ‘kei’ (系) means “System/Group/Type” as it implies it belongs to a certain group. To give you an idea fire Quirks are classified as ‘Ennetsu-kei’ (炎熱系 “hot fire group/types”) or  ‘Honō-kei’ (炎系 “fire group/types”).

This means that it is possible that ‘Nenshō-kei HERO’ (燃焼系ヒーロー “Burning Type Hero”) wasn’t meant to be part of Enji’s Hero name but just a description of which type of Hero he was.

English version notes:

It’s worth to mention the English version cut the “Burning Type Hero” part from the balloon maybe because they knew it would be retconned, maybe solely because they wanted to save space.

Now, regarding the anime version...

Episode 4 - Start Line (スタートライン START LINE)

Midoriya Izuku ‘(U.A. kōkō HERO-ka! ! Soko wa PRO ni hissu no shikaku shutoku o mokuteki to suru yōsei-kō! Zenkoku dō-ka-chū mottomo ninki de mottomo muzukashiku, sono bairitsu wa reinen 300 wokoeru! ! Kokumin eiyo-shō ni dashin sa reru mo kore o koji! ! No.1 HERO ‘ALL MIGHT’!! Jiken kaiketsu-sū shijō saita! Nenshō-kei HERO ‘ENDEAVOR’!! BEST JEANIST 8-nen renzoku jushō! ! ‘BEST JEANIST’! GRATEFUL HERO ni naru tameni wa U.A. sotsugyō ga zettai jōken!!)’ 緑谷出久「(雄英高校ヒーロー科！！そこはプロに必須の資格取得を目的とする養成校！全国同科中最も人気で最も難しく、その倍率は例年300を超える！！国民栄誉賞に打診されるもこれを固辞！！No.1ヒーロー「オールマイト」！！事件解決数史上最多！燃焼系ヒーロー「エンデヴァー」！！ベストジーニスト8年連続受賞！！「ベストジーニスト」！グレイトフルヒーローには雄英卒業が絶対条件！！)」 Midoriya Izuku “(U.A. High School’s Hero Department! It’s a training school where students acquire the qualifications they need to become professionals! It’s the most popular and difficult department in the country, with a competition rate of over 300 every year! He was offered the People’s Honor Award, but firmly refused! Number 1 Hero “All Might”! The highest number of cases solved in history! Burning Type Hero Hero “Endeavor”! Winner of the Best Jeanist award for 8 consecutive years! “Best Jeanist”! For a grateful hero, graduating from U.A. is an absolute requirement!)” [Ep. 4]

Changed parts notes:

The changes to the quote in the anime are minor (basically the only relevant thing is they add All Might is the Number 1 Hero in case someone has missed it in the previous chapters… pardon, episodes).

The three Heroes aren’t presented together in a single space but each gets his own space as the anime has no need to fit them all in a single frame which gives us some nice visual and also… the anime starts with what will become a regular habit of writing the characters’ names for everyone to see (probably because in this story there are way too many characters to remember them all).