"My Hero Academia - Outcasts" is a My Hero Academia fanfiction written by Ari Hell Fire on Archive of Our Own, and Water Teacher on Wattpad. It focuses on Yuriko Hisakawa, a veteran hero in Japan, and the lesser-known, troubled class 2-A. But everything's not quite what it seems. Not only is Yuriko being forced to teach the troublesome class, but she also needs to hunt down their former teachers.
WARNING: Due to the fanfiction being based on the My Hero Academia franchise, it should be assumed that the reader is up-to-date with the series. Examples containing spoilers about the main MHA series will be unmarked.
"My Hero Academia - Outcasts" provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Evil: Song, a friend/acquaintance of Atsuji Henko, briefly appears during chapter seven. Though it's not clear if he's evil or not, Song being with the other man doesn't look very good on him.
- Apologizes a Lot: Chitose apologizes a lot when she breaks Hisakawa's nose.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Delivered to Matsura via Hisakawa, who questions the former on what type of hero she wants to be.
- Berate and Switch: When Hisakawa and Gran Torino reunite for the first time in (presumably) years, the literal first thing she does is ask if he got shorter.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Atsuji Henko. Though we haven't seen any interactions between him and his former students and colleagues yet, he was a teacher at U.A. High. Only to then turn around, frame his students for a crime they didn't commit, and disappear.
- Blessed with Suck: Hisakawa's quirk, due to her age, has started having drawbacks that could easily make her miserable.
- In chapter eight, this is on full display. After taking part in the House Battle, Hisakawa starts to overheat for hours, something that could cause her to have heatstroke if she didn't have barriers in place.
- Blinded by the Light: Basically Iromegane Kuro's entire quirk. Funnily enough, in both the side stories of "MHA: Outcasts - Hijinks" and on Instagram, it's stated that this is how he met his friend and classmate, Yamato Daigo.
- Damsel in Distress: Completely averted with Hisakawa.
- In the prologue, despite having been referenced to be almost blind, she holds up very well in a fight with a nomu.
- Then, she singlehandedly takes down multiple criminals with guns.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Multiple characters showcase levels of this. Some immediate examples are Hisakawa, Daigo, and Shiraishi.
- Hisakawa's hero license is revoked. This is treated as a huge deal in the novel, as that's how she keeps a heroics-based career in Japan. Why was it revoked? Well, it's never explicitly mentioned what exactly happened. However, in chapter ten, a private conversation between Nezu and Toshinori give the readers a pretty good idea. Toshinori states that, while he was on bedrest, Hisakawa cornered the hero's commission.
- To add insult to injury, Hisakawa is blinded. While it hasn't yet been stated how this occurred, the author stated on Instagram that it was the result of a fight between her and a friend.
- Yamato Daigo is one of the most featured students of class 2-A thus far. With that, he is also arguably the most aggressive. The supposed reason for this is revealed in chapter eleven, which showcases Yamato's secret twin sister. In response to being told that his mother was going to kill him for dyeing his hair, he states that his mother was going to kill him regardless. Yikes.
- Yumie Shiraishi. She is, no doubt, a Cowardly Lion. In "MHA: Outcasts - Hijinks", it's revealed that she was bullied heavily for her appearance and feared by her parents. This, understandably, left her with a lot of anxiety.
- Hisakawa's hero license is revoked. This is treated as a huge deal in the novel, as that's how she keeps a heroics-based career in Japan. Why was it revoked? Well, it's never explicitly mentioned what exactly happened. However, in chapter ten, a private conversation between Nezu and Toshinori give the readers a pretty good idea. Toshinori states that, while he was on bedrest, Hisakawa cornered the hero's commission.
- Didn't See That Coming: Hisakawa's students are under the impression that she's weak because of her age. This gets proven wrong almost immediately when she faces off against five of them.
- Disappointed in You: Hisakawa gives a fake one during chapter three, before revealing that 2-A had none nothing wrong.
- Ear Ache: Gran Torino gives one to Hisakawa at the start of the prologue.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Class 2-A's assumption that Hisakawa is weak is so comically wrong it's hilarious.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Applies to two chapters.
- At the end of chapter three, following rather distressing news, the students of 2-A get a moment to just laugh and have pizza together.
- In a more sinister example, at the end of chapter seven, Henko laughs when informed that Hisakawa has taken up his role after his disappearance. He remarks, in an unsettling way, that he can't wait to meet her.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Henko is described to have eyes that "cut through the dark".
- Meaningful Echo: In chapter eight, in response to Hisakawa telling her that sometimes it's better to give up, Matsura responds that giving up easily is cowardly (in doing so, she's calling Hisakawa a coward). Later in the chapter, when she hesitates on finding Matsura, Hisakawa repeats these words to herself.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: This is featured with different pairs multiple times.
- Toshinori is the calm blue to Hisakawa's red.
- Matsura is the blue to Daigo's red.
- Akechi and Kimura flip-flop roles.
- No Sympathy: Aizawa shows little to no sympathy for his former class's situation.
- Small Role, Big Impact: So far, all three former teachers of class 2-A.
- Their first teacher, Shouta Aizawa, has appeared very little. However, he seems to think that there's no hope for the class, and is annoyed at Hisakawa's efforts to get him to care. He also demands that she keeps 2-A away from 1-A.
- The second teacher is the only one who hasn't been given any dialogue yet. He isn't even named for a little while in the main series. However, he does get named by Daigo in chapter five.
"...It's not my fault that Mr. Tsukomo disappeared."- Their third teacher, Atsuji Henko, plays a larger role in the overall story.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Sashiko Maka is guilty of this. She appears randomly multiple times, giving Hisakawa a near heart attack.Hisakawa [startled]: "Where did you come from?"
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Daigo delivers a short but effective one to Hisakawa."You get into everyone's business and expect them to tell you everything."
- The Scapegoat: Basically everyone in 2-A at one point.
- Unreliable Narrator: While the story is written in third person, what is said and observed is based off of the character's perspective.
