“Zero.”

“What? No way. What about her?”

“Two.”

“Nice--ooh! How about him?”

“Five, definitely a five.”

“Seriously? That's really high for students!”

“Are you kidding me? Im Jaebum is freaking scary. Plus, he's in hero class 4-A. Of course he’s a five. He's pure fire power.”

“Mr.Wang…”

The three boys, whom were lounging in the main hallway during break, jumped at the sound of the deep voice behind them. The aforementioned boy turned around with a sheepish smile. He ran a hand through his bangs out of habit (from trying to seem innocent). Yet despite the many times they had been caught in a similar situation, his two accomplices tried to run, but we're held back by an invisible force (per norm).

“Hello Principal Lee…” Jackson Wang, a common source of entertainment for the students at Fight School, chuckled guiltily.

“And what exactly would my rate at the moment be, Mr.Wang?” the principal frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, voice dripping with displeasure.

“I'd say about an eight point five…” Jackson shrunk back from the imposing figure, “You know, I kind-of need to start heading to class, it's on the other side of school.” Jackson spoke quickly while backing away slowly.

“That sounds phenomenal.” The principal smiled soullessly, “Oh, and please take Mr.Bhuwakul and Mr.Choi with you.”

The principal dropped his arms and the force holding the two boys dissipated, leaving them stumbling to gain control of their bodies again. Jackson nodded eagerly before grabbing both boys by the arms and dragging them down the hallway.

“Oh my god. I would have peed my pants if he hadn't frozen me,” Kunpimook gasped as he caught pace with Jackson. The boy laughed at the absurdity of the situation, fixing imaginary fly-aways in his dirty blond hair and speed-walking in stride with Jackson’s run.

Youngjae had a bit more trouble with Jackson dragging him but eventually righted himself and slowed the other two to a walk, “I can’t believe I didn't hear him coming.”

“All the noise from the hall probably messed with your bat-ears Jae,” Jackson snickered while Kunpimook cackled at the analogy.

“I don't have bat-ears!” Youngjae squawked and covered his ears with his hands, pouting at the other boys before speed-walking ahead of them in discontent.

Jackson and Kunpimook rolled their eyes at the Enhanced Hearing Quirk before falling back in line with him. The trio pushed through the crowded main hall to the west wing of the school where the majority of their Quirk Classes were. This area of the school was commonly known as the Strategy Hall. The upstairs half of the west wing was the Sidekick Hall. The majority of Youngjae’s classes were upstairs while Jackson and Kunpimook shared Analytics’ Studies on the ground floor.

Jackson and BamBam (as Kunpimook so cleverly nicknamed himself) are known as Analytics. Analytics are a category of the less-than flashy quirks, or superpowers as some would say. They tended to a more strategic type of quirk rather than powerful quirk, but no less dangerous.  They have their own strengths that they use to pick apart others’ and the use them against them. Analytics, however, must not be confused with Sidekicks. Sidekicks are grouped as minimal Power Quirks, meaning they have quirks that are somewhat power oriented but lack the force to be called a hero. Yet, Analytic mental capacities make up for what they lack in force. For example, Jackson has the quirk known as “Rater,” a very high level quirk of its own.  With his quirk, Jackson can rate the abilities of other people at a glance. This rate encompasses everything about the person: their quirk, intelligence, strategy, control, etc., and scales it between 0 - 10, with ten being the most dangerous. Along with his mental abilities, he has an innate sense of strategy including how to ramp up one’s abilities. And since his quirk is mostly mental, Jackson, unlike most of the Analytics in the school, learned ways to defend himself physically to make up for the power gap. This makes Jackson one of the most powerful Analytics of the school, not that he really knows (or shows it).

The three boys ended up being late to their classes, despite their attempts to run from the principal (not to mention, walking Youngjae to the stairs might have added to their travel time). Jackson and BamBam entered their classroom in the middle of their teacher giving the morning announcements. BamBam silently went to his seat after apologizing to the teacher, but she held Jackson back.

“Mr.Wang, I would have hoped that you would be a better role model for the other students...” Mrs. Kwon, a rather terrifying mixture of eagle-sight and an innate sense of strategy, raised an eyebrow at the blonde and frowned.

“Sorry Mrs.Kwon, I guess punctuality isn't part of my quirk,” Jackson smirked shamelessly, shrugging his shoulders.

Mrs.Kwon sighed and massaged her temple with two perfectly manicured fingers, “Please take your seat so that I can start class.”

Jackson winked before sliding over to his seat (which had been moved to the front so that he didn't get distracted by rating his classmates) and plopping down in it after tossing his bag on his desk. He slumped down in his seat and stretched his legs out under the desk, crossing them at the ankles.  Mrs.Kwon sighed again at her brightest (yet stupidest) student's posture before closing the classroom door and walking back to her desk.

“Now,” Mrs.Kwon spoke with a contrarily cheery tone, “I have some very exciting news. As you know, in the real world many Analytic-type quirks pair with a Power-derived quirk. At the end of the semester the Hero Team Alliance School is sponsoring a competition for entry into their advanced program. The competition is not required, however should you want to, you must have a partner. Now, as Analytic students, is highly unlikely for you to get far on your own, so over the next few months we will be teaming up with Power Class every few days or so-”

The students were shocked by this information. Whispers burst throughout the room as they turned to each other excited about the news. Jackson sat up straighter in his seat, intrigued by the information. The Analytic Class had never teamed up with the Power Classes before, probably not since the last time the competing was held at Fight School. Yet, it definitely made sense. Out in the cities, heroes and even villains would find themselves a Sidekick or Analytic to aid them in their endeavors. Providing a place for them to meet and learn together was practically the purpose of the Fight School (as well as really hoping they all end up heroes in the end…).

“Quiet, quiet!” Mrs.Kwon smacked her desk a few times to gain their attention again, “Like I was saying, we will team up with the Power Class so that you may gain experience based learning as well as find a partner for the competition. It will start next Thursday.  Meet in the courtyard during this class period.” Mrs.Kwon informed before changing to a more serious tone, “But let me give you some advice ahead of time: Take this time to get to know all of the power Class students, however, don't go shopping for the most powerful.  In order to be a good team, you must be emotionally connected as well as having complimenting quirks. Each student has something to offer to another, no matter how strong they think they are.”

Mrs.Kwon’s eyes scanned across the room, taking in all the students’ expressions. Her eyes fell to Jackson who held her gaze for a moment before she looked away.

“Now! Back to class!” Mrs.Kwon clapped once before turning to the board on the front wall of the classroom.

‘Emotionally connected, huh…’ Jackson wondered to himself, ‘Wonder how that’ll end up.’

----------

The lunchroom was bustling with conversation as Jackson found his usual table by the wall of windows. By now, all of the students had been informed of the impending competition and it seemed to be the sole topic of conversation--for the whole school.

“So, are you going to do it?” BamBam asked as he sat next to Jackson, dropping his tray on the tabletop in front of himself.

“How did I know you were going to ask that?” Jackson rolled his eyes and nudged the younger boy in the side with the elbow jokingly, “But I don’t know. It would be awesome but it would depend on who my partner is.”

“Does it matter?” BamBam snorted before attacking his lunch tray, “I mean, really? Fighting and finally getting to use our quirks to do something! It’s friggin’ awesome!” BamBam exclaimed through a mouthful of noodles.

“It’s not that simple…” Jackson sighed and shook his head at the younger blond.

“You do know that if you win, you’re pretty much stuck with your partner for the rest of your lives, right?” Youngjae deadpanned, making his appearance at the table.

“Yeah, whatever,” BamBam grumbled as Youngjae took the seat across from him.

“You need to be strategic about it, right Jackson?” Youngjae countered, asking the elder student for affirmation.

“Yeah, like Mrs.Kwon said ‘be strategic about it.’ Like, imagine me teaming up with the Ice Prince Jinyoung. He’d freeze me solid before I even got a word out.” Jackson shuddered at the thought.

“If Jaebum didn’t burn you to a crisp first,” Youngjae muttered darkly.

“But, man, wouldn't it be great to team up with him? He’s the strongest kid in the Power Class! Even Jackson hasn’t seen anyone stronger than him!” BamBam pressed.

“Do you honestly think he’d team up with you?” Youngjae scoffed, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

“You’d be better off with someone else, trust me.” Jackson nodded, “You need to partner up with someone whose quick compliments yours by either working with it or safeguarding your weaker points.”

“Which is a lot, considering all you can do is speak computers,” Youngjae added while pointing his chopsticks at the Techno Quirk.

“Haha, Batman,” BamBam growled with a clearly unamused expression on his face.

Youngjae was about to defend himself (and his ears) when a loud clatter broke through the sounds if the cafeteria. Everyone in the room went quiet when they saw were the noise came from. Students started to climb on top of seats and tables to watch the situation unfold. Some student even used flying-ability quirks to float over the other students. Youngjae, BamBam, and Jackson found that they would have to join them in order to find out what was happening.

“What's going on? I can't see anything.” Youngjae stood up beside their table, trying to get a clear view, “All I can do is hear what's happening!”

“Yeah, well so can the rest of us,” BamBam snapped as he climbed on top of the table, “Hey, who's that red haired kid?”

“Who?” Jackson asked before climbing up after BamBam, searching the sea of students for the aforementioned ‘kid.’

“Man, things are about to throw down,” BamBam joked, ignoring Youngjae’s pathetic whining about being left in the dark.

Jackson looked above the heads and caught a glimpse of the student's red hair before someone else moving and cover his view. He snorted angrily, curious about what was happening, all the while cursing his own height. He almost gave up until he heard Jaebum speak again and he shifted to find a viewpoint.

“Are you out of your mind!? Watch where the hell you're going, freaking pleeb.” Im Jaebum hollered, angrily wiping food from his white uniform shirt.

Standing in front of him and presumably the culprit of the incident was a soft-red haired student in a similar uniform save for the black jacket he wore over his shirt. The boy just stared at Jaebum, body tense but not making any attempt to ameliorate the situation.

“Are you just going to stand there?!” Jaebum growled as his neck turn red and smoke started rising from his jacket sleeves.

The student looked over Jaebum, seemingly trying to hold himself back, before turning around to walk away. There were a few students who couldn't keep their gasps of surprise at bay. No one walked away from Jaebum. Infuriated, Jaebum’s sleeves erupted into flames, burning the fabric and food alike.

“I swear if you don't turn around right now, punk, I'm going to really make your hair red,” Jaebum snarled, voice stressing the ‘really.’

Yet, the student still didn't turn around. Instead he took a deliberate step in the opposite direction.  Jaebum snarled and held up a burning hand, ready to release a fireball on the student. Everyone around them gasped and shrieked, some quickly ducking out of the way or hiding behind bags or tables. However, Jaebum’s fire would never make its mark.  A figure pushed through the crowd and grabbed Jaebum’s arm. Hissing sound sounded as steam rose off Jaebum’s hand. Soon the fire was put out and Jaebum grumbled angrily as he was met with the beautiful and stone-cold face of the Ice Prince, Park Jinyoung.

“Save it for class Jaebum. Weakling like him aren't worth your time,” the boy sighed, not letting go of his friend's arm.

Jaebum grunted to appease the Ice Quirk and let Jinyoung drag him to their table.

With the situation under control, the students began to file back to their tables and continue to eat their lunch. Jackson and BamBam dropped down from the Tae and gave Youngjae confused shrugs when he asked what had happened. Youngjae grunted unhappily and plopped down in his seat before chowing down on his food. BamBam followed the older boy and began eating his lunch, eventually bringing up a test that he had to take later in the day and groaning about how Jackson was a terrible friend for not warning him before he decided to take that class. Jackson rolled his eyes, barely paying attention to the other's grumbling. He too sat down, but instead his mind wandered off to the boy from earlier.

‘He must have been really confident or really stupid...probably both’ Jackson consider as his eyes lazily wandered over to the windows, just to have a place to look.

His thoughts carried on for a bit, his friends not noticing his uncharacteristically silent demeanor. Then, something passed through the edge of his vision outside the windows. His eyes focused on the object and he nearly recoiled in shock.

“Holy crap…” Jackson whispered to himself.

Sitting beneath a tree in the Lunch Yard (a section of the courtyard portioned off for eating lunch and lavishly decorated with trees and bushes for protection) was the red haired boy. Well, sort of red. Jackson coked his head to the side unconsciously as he studied the boy silently. He looked to be rather tall, but he'd seen taller. His skin was light tan and that dull red hair he'd seen earlier.

Suddenly something else flashed before his eyes. It was something invisible to anyone but Jackson: his quirk. Words and tiny icons sprinted across the surface of his eyes. Abilities, powers and more flooded his sight until all that was left was the ghostly imprint of a number ten, there and gone like the aftereffects of a camera flash.