Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[NEW ! Prologue: Revelation]



A long, long, loooong time ago, or maybe not that long ago, was a shining hero amongst a few. In a time when heroes were sparse and quirks were a new yet strange development in humankind, she was a gift from the heavens. She was a sign; these quirks were for good and for the betterment of all. She was radiant, beautiful, and strong. She embodied a beacon of hope and light; literally, she was the sun. 

Her name was Amaterasu. She was seen as the mortal reincarnation of the sun goddess and guardian of justice. Her quirk was nothing anyone had ever seen before; an enigma that drew eyes far and wide. That same quirk ignited a desire for one certain person to destroy her for everything she was.

Just like any hero, they always had their mortal enemy. It was nearly ironic how this person came to be. A quirk darker than night, that lured you into a deep and near-death-like sleep. Inhaling enough of the smoke she created, suffocated anyone in its growing vicinity. Dark tendrils emerged from her shadows and were quicker than you could blink. She looked just like the deadly black nightshades, pure white hair and a dark cloak over her body. Her hands and feet had streaks of black and purple, tracing her veins. Saigai, the bringer of calamity and disasters. Almost too theatrical of a name, but she wanted to be on Amaterasu's level.

The two were always neck and neck. There were more close calls than the quirk records could keep up with. Saigai would destroy provinces, then Amaterasu would swoop in to rebuild, to protect, and to fight back. There were more and more casualties as their fights let on. This caused the government to call in quirk regulations and formulate a team that could protect the citizens, too. There were just too many things developing all at once, too many things to misunderstand than to truly learn about.  It caused a lot of strain on the heroes of the time, who are they if not the arms that hold society together? It was an era so foreign to humankind that evil people began to fester and plot against what good it could do. Saigai garnered a cult following that nearly destroyed everything in their path. Whether it was the smoke she intoxicated them with or it was purely the way she was, they would die for her and even had killed for her. 

In the end, Amaterasu would prevail, but not without giving up her own life. Like any phoenix, they're known to emerge anew from the ashes. With so many near-death fights, that fire was slowly burning out. She became nothing but ashes in the end. The final fight used up everything she could become. All her power, all her strength, and all her courage were poured into this beautiful phoenix that came out of her body. That light was finally enough to wipe all the darkness that festered. Saigai was never seen or heard from again. Neither hero nor villain had a body to bury. Amaterasu's family dedicated a shrine in her honor.



My great-great-grandmother's shrine is named Kazuma Shrine, after her own name. No one knew who the great sun hero was after so many decades of her passing. They just knew this shrine was for those who sought blessings under the righteous light, those who needed luck, and who yearned to live a good life. For the years following her passing, the shrine was greatly taken care of. There were many patrons and guests who came to visit. There were many festivals in the summer where many visitors came to pray and make wishes. It was rumored that if you're lucky enough in life, the shrine would give you a sign. In that shrine's very pond, my mother got news she was pregnant with a baby girl who would shine just as bright as her ancestor once was. What a way to keep the family name going!

When I was born, everyone knew I would be a very special girl. I knew from a very young age, I was one of a kind. I was told I came out glowing, or maybe the sun was hitting my skin just right. My mom was given my name in a dream. She said a young woman barely older than her held out her hand and told her, "Hinotori." She would always say, Who was she to ignore a prophetic vision like that?

My mother, Mizuki, came from 3 generations of nearly pure Kitsunes; she was the eldest heir to the fox spirit clan. When her grandma, Kazuma's daughter, married a Fox quirk user, the family started arranging quirk marriages. Since my mother's grandma was a psychic quirk user due to her father, my grandma became a psychic, fox spirit quirk user. When she married my grandpa, a healing quirk user, my mother got the psychic, fox spirit, and healing quirk. A multifaceted quirk evolution. To retain the development, she was originally arranged to meet someone with a similar fox quirk, but she detested arranged marriages.

So when she met my father, she knew it was fate. She got swept up in a current, and my father, a water serpent hybrid, swam to save her. She fell first and would dream of finding him for years after their first meeting. She had a vision of him in high school, where she tended to his wounds from an unknown incident. Just like the vision showed, she found him again, after a nasty fight he had with some delinquents messing with his long horns. It was history from there. My brother, Reiki, was born first, and he looked just like my father. He became a doctor who healed heroes after intense battles with his quirk. My sister is the middle child, Rinko, who looks just like my mom. She shared my father's water-like quirk and my mother's vision. She's a support hero by the name Zenko.

We're a hero family, or at least, involved with heroes mostly. My mother and father are a hero couple, not the most famous but very well-liked. My sister works with Ryuko Tatsuma, the dragon hero, whom my brother has a crush on. My brother is the head doctor at the Heroes' Health and Honor Hospital, or the Triple H Hospital. I planned to be a hero too when I grew up, one even more famous and even more beautiful. I was spoiled as a kid, living as nicely as we did. A nice big home, anything I wanted when I asked, and we had a few house maids too. I never knew what trouble was for the early, impressionable years of my life. But it all changed so quickly one day.

When I turned 5, all eyes were on me to see what unique quirk I would develop. My mother insisted I was a late bloomer, but my father insisted I may have been living too comfortably to work on my quirk awareness. My siblings were already figuring themselves out, and I was developing a minor inferiority complex, comparing myself to them. I was so young, naive, barely even conscious of the world. I just wanted to be like everyone else. The doctors speculated that I could be quirkless; it was still possible in this day and age. Not everyone was guaranteed a quirk. My parents never listened, cause the prophecy told them otherwise. If they doubted it, their way of life would be viewed differently. But doubt always continued to creep into my family's minds. I always saw it on their face. It was my first time feeling different, with unwanted attention on me and speculations on my life. I was suffocated by the guilt of being nothing special after all.

At the age of 5, I was kidnapped. It was a normal Wednesday afternoon, you would have never thought it could happen out of nowhere. Years later, my mother would explain to me that it was targeted from the beginning, since our family was well known for our quality quirk and ancestry. But I was too young to heed any danger back then. Maybe that was why I followed my aunt to a new place in town without a doubt in my mind. She called me special, something extraordinary. She came to visit one day, but she was estranged from the family. My mother's cousin is from a distant lineage; they were barely related, but they used to be close a long time ago. Something happened between them. She claimed she wanted to rekindle with my mother, who had a very soft heart even to people who are basically strangers to us. It could be the hero in her. She stayed with us and one day told me she would take me around town. She led me to unfamiliar places, and these large cloaked men took me from her.

I was subjected to child experimentation. They were trying to force my quirk out and somehow harness that energy. My blood was drawn out past my limits; they created openings and wounds over previously opened ones, testing my physical strain, mental strain, etc. It was torture. It's hazy in some parts now, but I remember there were many needles and IVs attached to me. Blaringly bright lights over my eyes at all times. I was always strapped into a chair, every muscle aching to get up. I was always scared or angry, worried no one was coming for me. I didn't know how long I was held and poked around for, I just remember losing my mind, and it all burning down. My father says that when they finally found me, all that was left was engulfed in flames. I was lying in a cleared circle amongst the ashes. My quirk exploded that day, burning down the building and all my captors. Being as I was too young and too small to handle such intense power, I was covered in flesh wounds and burns, with smoke still stemming from my body at the hospital.

My family was in shambles under the scrutiny of the public eye. To protect me and my future, they had to explain what led me to such a state. The majority of the country found out I was a subject of child experimentation, ripped apart to be inspected by wannabe scientists. It was a harrowing experience; I had to go through a few years of therapy. Thankfully, my identity was hidden, but I couldn't go to school or talk to kids my age. I had these ugly, large scars on my legs, as if someone had run a deep knife into them over and over every time they healed. I can't remember exactly what happened; I just have the guilt of killing everyone in there. That guilt ate at me for years, in my dreams and in my waking moments. I remember the ashes. They always said it was never my fault, but they were people who lost their lives. There was no way to properly heal from that trauma.

Eventually, I was able to acclimate and accept myself more. My parents wanted me to live a "normal" life. They wanted me to be okay. I hadn't used my quirk since then. It was terrifying that I could accidentally blow u,p and it would all go up in flames. I went through private quirk regulation therapy and training, along with behavioral adjustment classes. My mother used to say how she prayed I wouldn't become sociopathic, it would be another stain on our reputation. I didn't want to be either, but the expectation to be normal was weighing on me. I felt strange in my body, an unknown power surging beneath my fingertips, and nothing to shape my personality into. It was hard to find hobbies and things to enjoy. I just couldn't understand anything for so long.

When I turned 9, I was "normal" enough to go to school. I made friends slowly, very gradually. I had moments where I didn't know what to do, getting so anxious that I would run away. Friends came and went that way. Every time I ran when it got hard, they left for good, too. I couldn't blame them either; who would want to stick around someone unstable? But then I met this peculiar boy when I was 11 years old. He had the most unruly green hair and these huge eyes. He'd go on and on about quirks, how they worked, and who had what. I originally found it strange, but he was always talking to me. So we naturally became close friends, going into junior high school a couple of years later. We always got picked on by this blond kid who thought he was hot shit. The two of them had some long unresolved beef, but it was like one hated the other while one admired the other. Fun to watch, exhausting to experience. I wouldn't consider the hothead my friend, but he had his good moments, sometimes.

At Aldera Junior High, things changed for me. I finally figured myself and my place in life. I discovered I wanted to be a hero, just like I wanted to be all those years ago. But this time, I will strive to save people from ever going through what I went through. I will protect and shine a light on evil-doers, preventing those with unique quirks from exploitation. I wanted to be a true savior. With everything that happened when I was at U.A., I guess it's safe to say my dreams did come true. Maybe it was due to the prophecy, stating that I would become the next Phoenix and shine brighter than before. Or maybe it was really my hard work after all. Nevertheless, sit tight and listen to how I became one of the biggest heroes in all history. My story starts here!

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: My path to my future starts here!

One day... You will understand what you are...

The same voice that appears at the end of my dreams haunts me. I can't help but get the sense it's a warning rather than any good premonition. Nevertheless, I open my eyes to peer at the light peeking through my curtains. I stretch out my body and hop out of bed. Another day closer to U.A.! I can already taste the new start for me. No longer are the days of pretending to be someone I'm not; I will become someone I want to be!

I quickly get dressed, straightening out my uniform. I tie my hair into two low pigtails, clipping the ribbons Midoriya got me one year ago for my birthday. Grabbing my bag, I head down to get breakfast before my siblings leave for the day. Reiki was watching the news on TV while Rinka was packing all of our lunches. At the sound of me coming downstairs, Reiki looks up, nodding slightly to acknowledge me. That's his way of saying good morning. I smile and try to catch a glimpse of what my sister made.

"Hey, Birdie, no peeking. You know it's a surprise every time I cook." Rinka loves cooking. She hardly gets the chance to lately, with how often she has to be out on patrol. The heroes have been more active than ever with each growing day. I would occasionally see my parents working with other agencies on my walk to school some mornings.

"It's a familiar smell, I feel like we haven't had that in a while. So stoked to eat it!" I lean my head on her shoulder, prompting her to lean her head on mine. On days when our parents are gone for the day, I feel more relieved to wake up and only see my siblings at home. Mother can be a grouch, while father isn't the most talkative. They try, as all parents do, but as I get older, it feels like they try less every year. It feels like months since I felt comforted by the feeling of seeing them at home when I'm out of school. They're not the most fun to be around when they're stressed.

Reiki's work alarm goes off, making him turn the TV off and grab his backpack. Rinka hands him his lunch as he grabs his XL water jug from the fridge. Reiki, Father, and Rinka always drink twice as much water as I do. They practically breathe water. I always feel overheated by the slightest things, so I developed a fear that too much water can put out the fire that's constantly itching at the tips of my hands. I pat him on the arm as he leaves wordlessly out the door.

"You should get going. I think the mophead is waiting outside." Rinka hands me my lunch and smooths one of my ribbons out.

"Hey, he's no mophead, sis, he's just quirky. Well, he's all about quirks but -- you know what I mean." I roll my eyes. She's too critical of him.

"Don't I know it..." she trails off. I thank her for the meal, grabbing my bag by the door. I wave to her as I walk out, turning my head to the unruly green hair by the gate. Contrary to popular opinion, I like living in the calm and smaller suburbs. We left the isolated, big house with the wide open yard behind years ago, deciding that the best way to lay low is to blend in. Now we have a modest two-story home, cozy and comfortable. 

"Morning Izu-chan, did you wait long?" I say, opening the gate and closing it behind me as I stepped onto the street.

"No, I got here a couple of minutes ago. Reiki-kun was driving away as I walked up. He nodded hello!" He beamed, happy to get an acknowledgement from him.

"Hah... he's really not all that, y'know..." I sigh, rolling my eyes at the thought of my brother. The guy is cold to the touch, you'd think he's made of ice.

"Quite the opposite, he really is all that. You know, I saw on the news that your brother actually was on the lead research team for the healing water technique they've been practicing with. It really boils down to him as the base of the medicine since he produces it. But by combining that with other quirks, it causes this chemical unison that almost seems like a regenerative quirk, but in actuality it's--"

"Yes, yes, he's all great and knowledgeable. I heard about it too. He was super smug hearing his own name on TV." I cut Midoriya off midway. Hearing your best friend gloat about your sibling is another weight to add to how much you have to amount to the guy. How do I surpass magical medicinal development!?

"Sorry, Akichan, you know how I get. I wrote everything about it in my journal. Your brother's page is getting long!" His eyes sparkled, clutching his notebook tightly against his chest. I smiled, he means well after all. Who could ever be upset with him? Well, I can name one person...

Suddenly, we stumbled into a scene right in the middle of our walk into the city. A man transformed and was rampaging during rush hour. We scurried with the crowd of onlookers ahead of us to catch a glimpse of the heroes.

"Kamui Wood!!!” I scream, eyes trailing him as he springs into action. Midoriya managed to push forward next to another civilian and struck up a conversation about the scene in front of us. Right when Kamui unfurls his special move, Mount Lady makes an appearance.

“Mount Lady!! I LOVE YOU!” I yell amongst the flashes of cameras. I nudge Izuku to point up at her, but he’s already talking to himself and writing in his notebook.

“What’s that, Fanboy? You taking notes over there? Wanna be a hero too, huh?” one of the civilians next to us said, pointing at his notebook. He turns towards him with a wide smile and nods enthusiastically.

“Yes! More than anything!” The civilian laughs good-heartedly and gives him a thumbs up. He lifts his other hand to give me one, too.

“You too? Friends, yeah? Hope you two learn and grow, ya hear me!” He laughs again, making me smile widely at him, too. I bow and thank him before ushering both of us to school.

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The school day flies by, and by the end of it, we're talking about choosing the right high school. The teacher starts his “no quirk, no power” motivational spiel, which works everyone up as they hoot and holler, boasting their quirks. I look over to Izuku, his head downcast and an uncomfortable expression on his face. I frown as my eyes return to our teacher.

“Hey, teach, don’t lump me in with these losers. I’m the real deal, these guys would be lucky to end up as sidekicks to some busted D-listers, Ha!” Katsuki Bakugou and his hotheaded nature. He thinks he’s got the best quirk. I’d love to take him up in a fight, a spar or two wouldn't hurt. Knowing him, he'd aim to make it hurt.

The class erupts in chaos, spewing arguments at him, with him just fueling his own ego. Even the teacher agrees he’s set for UA. Now everyone’s agreeing about him, all the while, Izuku is hiding with his head on his desk. I don’t like where this is leading. Especially with how he claims he’ll overpower All Might’s legacy with his wits and strength.

"Right, with a temper like yours, I'd be shocked if the safety of the country would be fine in your hands. I mean, really, you fall so easily off your rocker. One thing can set you off and boom-- there goes a building or two." I provoke him. He shoots daggers at me, half between a sarcastic expression and a bit of a pissed one.

“Oh yeah, Midoriya, aren’t you trying to go to UA too?” The teacher adds. I look over to him again to see him cowering. Bakugou stills in his chair. I can just feel the tension in the air.

“I think most of us plan to, sir. Even me.” I cross my arms with a chuckle. A few eyes turn to me, and the teacher nods.

“Ah, yeah, well, you could pass for sure, but not everyone can.” His eyes glance at Midoriya and off to the side. You'd think being a teacher means you're unbiased, but lo and behold. The class stared at Izuku again before all exchanging looks. They begin laughing and mocking him horribly. My face contorts instantly.

“Midoriya! There’s no way you could be a hero without a quirk!” A girl in front of me mocks.

“Wha-! No, they got rid of that rule. I could be the first one!" His voice was stuttering.

“ARRRGH! AHHH!” Katsuki sets an explosion off Izuku’s desk. I get up frantically, trying to rush over to his fallen form. A few students grab at my arms, causing flames to flicker off my hair. Smoke came off my skin, causing the hands to recoil off me. Bakugo begins to berate him and corner him against the back of the class. Izuku is squirming and explaining himself before Katsuki screams again. His head lowers as Katsuki’s insults keep going.

“Quit it now, go back to your seat, and stop being a damn prick.” I block Katsuki from Izuchan, hair swirling around my head as flames crackle around me.

“Screw off, Birdbrains. Put your hair out while you’re at it, you’re a fire hazard.” He scowls at me.

“Just as much as you are, dynamite addict. Stop picking on him.” I push him back a little. His eyes were blazing as much as my hair was. I held that stare, waiting for him to do something. He looked bitter.

“Get back to your desks! Class is officially starting now. So no fights until you’re off campus.” He slaps a roll of paper across his podium. Katsuki shoves me back and walks off to his desk. My hair returns to normal as I see Izuku pick himself up. We go back to our desks. I look back at him to see him give a discreet okay with his hand. I sigh in relief.

“Heya Akikami, you defended Midoriya a bit fiercely today, isn’t it out of love?” A girl in front of me snickers.

“Nah, you usually stand up for your friends who are getting picked on, no? Maybe that's a lost concept around here.” I smile sweetly before the girl turns back, rolling her eyes. She cursed under her breath, calling me entitled.

When the last school bell rings, I stretch out my joints and stretch with a big yawn. I check my phone for news to see the fight from this morning, but then I hear the sound of something getting snatched. Turning back, I watch as Katsuki takes Izuku’s notebook. My mouth twitches, and I stand up. 

Bakugou is picking on Midoriya about his notebook again. The book goes flying out the window. I leap by to try and catch it, but it grazes right through my fingertips. The book falls into the fountain with a splash, and I wince; there's no saving it. I turn back and hear Bakugou continue his one-sided, self-centered conversation. He sets a sizzling hand on Midoriya's shoulder, telling him he should end his life. I let out an "ugh!" I flick a small bird-shaped flame at his back, causing him to whip his glare at me. He shakes Midoriya out of his grasp, walking towards me, and elbowing me out of the way. I narrow my eyes as he walks off.

"Izuku, are you alright?" I walk over, but he nods his head, waving his hand to brush off the incident.

“It’s fine. Let’s go.” His jaw is set, and his fists are furled. I nod, following him as we walk down to look for his notebook.

“That idiot. He can’t just go around telling people to kill themselves. If I really jumped, what would he do then?” He mumbles out loud. I stayed silent to let him vent.

“Guess my dreams turned into fish food.” He’s peering at the koi fish nibbling on his notebook.

“Damn it...” he reaches and stares at it for a while. I wonder what he’s thinking about. I watch the koi swim around for a while, standing beside Izuku. It hurts to see him so crestfallen.

He starts walking again as we begin our path back home. He erupts into this weird laughter at the tunnel we go through, and before I comment, I hear something behind us. I turn to see bubbling green slime.

“You’ll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in, kid!” He surges into Midoriya, causing him to stagger backwards as the slime tries to take over his body.

“EW! Get the hell off him, creep!” I charge towards him before a manhole covering clanks past me.

“Have no fear, you are safe." A familiar voice rings out.

"Now that I am here, that is! TEXAS SMASH!” All might appears, charging towards the slime monster. I take cover at the other end of the tunnel to avoid any remnants spewing on me. But just as soon as he arrived, the slime guy left just as quickly. I peer back down the tunnel to find it empty. Where did Midoriya just go?

“Izu-chan! Hey, where the hell are you? Midoriya!!” I call around the tunnel and run out, looking around for him. Did All Might just take him? Or maybe he brought him to the hospital? I sprint off to the nearest hospital to us. He must have been knocked unconscious. As I run, I look up to see... him flying above me??

“What the- Whatever, I'll follow them and just make sure he's alright.” That's what I say, but they were way too fast for me to follow. I look around and sprout my flame wings, preparing to lift off with them.  But the flames were too large, they weren't even on either side. I stagger and catch my footing again. I'm still not in the best shape; I can't use my quirk to catch up to them at this rate.

I try to dial his number, but it goes straight to voicemail. He’s with a hero, so I know nothing will do him harm. It's All Might, he'll probably take him straight home. I'll hear all about this tomorrow morning.

I return to walking back home until I hear an eruption a few blocks down. Is it another villain?! I run towards the crowd and see it’s that damn slime guy again! But this time, he has someone else in his grasp.

“Bakugou!” I call out, voice muffled by the murmurs of the crowd. The heroes arrive on the scene. Bakugou is fighting against the monster, trying to overpower the hold it has on him. I push and shove through the crowd. I want to save him, partially to gloat but also because he looks like he's genuinely struggling.

“STOP YOU IDIOT!” A hero is yelling to a running student with familiar green hair. When did he get here?? I'm so confused. Why’s he putting himself in danger for Bakugou of all people?!

“Midoriya, STOP!” I push through and barely make it towards him before I’m held back. 

“All Might! Oh my goodness, there he is!” He runs with his fist poised into the monster and smashes into him. The impact of the punch was so intense that it caused the weather to change. I run towards both Midoriya and Bakugo. I check to see if Midoriya is hurt. He smiles sheepishly at me, looking guilty and embarrassed. I frown, and before I say anything, my phone rings.

“Hinotori, come stop by our agency on your way back. I need your help bringing some stuff home.” Mom says, her tone curt.

“Alright, Mother. I’m nearby, I’ll come quickly.” She hangs up before my last word is even said. I look at Izuku, who’s getting lectured by the heroes, so I take my leave without saying goodbye. I’ll just text him later if he asks. I sprint around the crowd and down the block towards the agencies and search for my parents‘ office.

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Later that night, the doorbell rang as I was washing up dishes from dinner. I didn't check to see who it was as someone else in the house opened the door for the guest.

"Hey, Akichan." My head turns to see Midoriya, thanking my father for letting him in and reassuring my father that he is okay from earlier.

After all the pleasantries, we opt for a walk down the road. It’s evening and the sun has just set. It was quiet except for the cicadas. The stars were out, and the road lights flickered on.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text or anything. I cracked my phone when I was attacked earlier. It restarted just a bit ago. I wanted to check up on you since you disappeared earlier.”

“Sorry. My mom called, helped her with work stuff.” He nods, causing it to be quiet again.

“Akichan, today was a really big event for me. Something that definitely changed my life.” He sounded like he was gathering his thoughts, so I stayed quiet. He stops a bit in the middle of our walk, so I turn to look at him.

“From here on, I’m gonna be working a lot harder. In the next 10 months, I’ve gotta train to pass UA’s entrance exam.” He clenches his fists and furrows his brows. I believe he can, skeptically, of course. I place my hand on his shoulder reassuringly, causing him to jolt and get shy. He's always been jumpy with touch, but I find it endearing. Some things never change. I hope we'll be best friends even when we get into U.A. together.

“Do you wanna exercise together then? Maybe we can go for runs, I could start up again to train a bit more as well?” He thinks for a bit and slowly nods.

“We can do a lap down this road every day after school? Is that fine?” He nods again, still thinking about something.

“I’ve found a trainer as well, so I’ll push my limits to go even further beyond. Even if I’m not able to hang out as much, it won't strain our friendship. We’re still best friends!” He says, almost as if he read my mind. I smile a bit, laughing at the timing of it all. He laughs too, albeit not sure why it seems.

"We share the same goal, Izu-chan. We just need to find our footing to get there. I won't ever hold you back, because we'll be at the finish line together." I hold onto one of his hands, causing him to stammer and stutter. Teasing him like this always made me feel happy. Though I like Midoriya, I don't want to tell him how I feel when we're just starting to achieve our dreams. If it's meant to be, I can tell him once we're in U.A. That's if he returns my feelings. I'd hate to lose one of my best friends because I couldn't keep some silly crush at bay.

I let go so we can continue our walk. We talked about what we had for dinner, but in the back of my mind, I was wondering why he said that out of the blue. I'm sure the incident with the slime guy felt like a wake-up call. Whatever it could be, I'm just glad he's working hard. He's never lost his ambition before; it's about high time I start being the same way.

Strangely, though, after the talk we had that night, he began to change rapidly. He was working out all the time. Our runs easy for us to back into working out. But eventually, it became us racing. Though I beat him at first, he beat me after our 3rd race. A few months later, I found myself alone on my runs. He was bulking up slightly, but god did he look tired. He looked absolutely drained! I know a good workout leaves me tired, but he looked tortured every day I got to see him.

I talked to him about it a few times, but he brushed it off, saying that his physique wasn’t built for this. I argued it might be time to slow down, which led him to fuel himself even more to keep going. I’m sure he hit a burnout sometime in the fall; it was written across his face and his walk home. When he did walk home with me, that is. I was increasingly getting so worried that I even visited for dinner one day.

He was eating his serving as big as he was. I gawked at his meal, trying to see where the plate was. I thought I was a big back, but this was beyond me. When he asked for seconds, I nearly spat out the bite I took. What the hell happened to him? It felt like he changed so swiftly, I couldn't keep up. I asked his mom about his change, but she smiled so contentedly. She was proud and happy that he was chasing his dream with everything he had.

“I’ll help him anytime he asks for it, but for now, I’ll let him keep on going.” Her words resonated with me so much that I even stayed up thinking about it. He was making so much progress in such a short time. I started to see him differently, almost like he was someone I was going against. Once again, whether it be in school or goals, I felt like he was competing with me to go even further beyond.

Just like that, 10 months flew by. April turned to February. It was the night before the exam, and I had just finished my last study session with my siblings. I had done relatively well on the written parts and trained with my parents at their office for the physical exam. I think I have a fair chance, and if I feel like I’m slipping behind, I’ll keep going until I burn out anyway.

I sent a text to Izuchan, wishing him luck and hoping to see him do his best tomorrow. A few minutes later, he replied with many happy emojis. I smiled, and though I felt anxious about how tomorrow would go, I set my phone aside. I hoped to sleep a little more peacefully than before. I needed to rest as much as I could, for my mind and body to align.

But when I closed my eyes, I found myself down a long white hallway, with a portrait of a woman with fiery orange and blonde hair looking down at me. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: I will show my worth!

Do your best and you will be just fine. I believe in you...

My eyes open to the sound of my alarm blaring away. The voice that has been plaguing me for months just told me that she believed in me, right before the entrance exams. Is it my subconscious, or is someone watching over me? I place my hands on my face, close my eyes, and take a deep breath. When I open them again, I jump out of bed to get ready. As I brushed my hair, I paused before grabbing my usual hair ties and ribbons. My hair was growing out, the dark red strands were reaching down my back. It may be time for a change. I left my hair down, fluffing it up, and sweeping my bangs to the side. I pulled a few strands to frame my face and tucked one side behind my ear. I freshen up my face, fix my uniform, and pack my training outfit in my bag. It's cold out today, so I opt for my flame-resistant tights and a scarf.

I grab my things and head down. To my surprise, everyone was sitting in the living room watching TV. I felt a bit awkward but decided to walk up to them. My father turns to me first, smiling, and tells me good morning. Everyone turns and tells me their good mornings, too.

"How did you sleep? Did you get enough for the exam?" Father asked.
"Yes, I slept through the night, and I feel energized for today." I was hoping my tone wasn't too coarse.
"We have something for you today," Rinko says, "you should wear it to your exam."

I place my bag down and sit next to her on the couch. My brother grabs a box from behind the sofa, and there's a perfect bow tied on top. My mother wrapped it herself; I can always tell when she handles gifts. I peer at her, a faint smile on her lips.

"Open it," Reiki says, thrusting the box into my hands. I tentatively loosen the bow and take the lid off. On top of the pristinely placed tissue are these pleather, crimson red knee-high boots. There are built-in knee pads at the top and dark gold steel-toed covers. The material felt smooth, and inside the shoes was a faint cold feeling as if they were insulated.

"Did you guys get these made for me? They look like custom work boots you'd see in battle." I was in shock at how beautiful they were. I didn't think I could wear these out; a scuff on the material would make me cringe.

"Yes, we ordered them almost a year ago to be made, and they came in last weekend." Mother said.
"It's your favorite color and dark enough so whenever you decide to have your costume made, they will match," Father adds. Tears well up in my eyes. It gets so tense in the house sometimes, but they have these moments where I can't help but feel like they truly care for me again.

When I trained my quirk at their agency, I noticed my parents peeking into the sessions I had with the trainer they hired. When my sister or brother would study with me, they always brought a snack in for us. In the small attributes of their affection, their previous absence felt distant. In moments like these, I can forget about the cold and empty feeling they gave off when they were unhappy. Today we can all be happy together. It was an important moment in my life, after all.

I sniff away the tears and give a soft thank you to my family. I hug everyone individually, giving my brother a side hug. I try on the boots and they fit perfectly snug, as if they molded to my legs. I stretched and jumped around; the material would expand with every movement. It was so bizarre and yet such an amazing feeling. I felt like I was dressing up as a hero for the day. Oh, what a new pair of shoes can do for a girl.

We all usher into the car and drive to U.A. I peer at the houses and streets passing by, feeling more anxious as we near the school. I know I will be okay, but I just can't stifle the nervousness budding in my stomach. We reach the front gates in no time. I see students milling around, some gawking at the school before walking in. It was happening, I was at U.A., and I would have to prove I can be a worthy student too. My family all turns to me at the same time, waiting with bated breath for me to say something. I breathe in and smile, albeit awkwardly.

"You'll do just fine. You have been working very hard; it's not going to be any trouble." My sister reassures me.
"Yes, I have many colleagues who came through U.A. Though they were support students..." He murmurs off, spiking another wave of anxiety over me. My father notices and waves my hand.
"But you will be in the top class, I know my daughter will be capable. Out of all of us, you are the most capable." I smile at him, my shoulders softening.
"As the prophecy said, you are our light. So prove it. We will be waiting." Mother said, her eyes looking at me from the rearview mirror. I nod and open the door. I tell them thank you, bowing my head outside the door. The trunk opens, and I grab my bag. As I walk away from the car, I look back one last time before going into the gate. My family all waved from the car. I chuckle, waving back and giving a thumbs up. I turn to the gates, basking in the entirety of the building. I took that step in and kept walking. A familiar blond walks past me, and he glances to my side with a huff.

"Good morning, Bakugou. Good luck." I smile cocky, knowing it may irk him.
"Like hell I would need it, worry about yourself." He snaps, smacking his teeth at me. He quickens his pace forward before stopping in his tracks.
"Don't hurt yourself, Bird Brains." He says without turning around. He continues to walk faster, heading to the front doors. I watch as he leaves and turn my head to the side to scan everyone else. Amongst the busy-bodied students was a familiar green-haired boy. He hadn't even texted me to let me know he made it first, that guy. I bounded up to see a girl standing right next to him. As she chatters away, he barely responds, eyes wide and gawking at her. I stifle a laugh and slowly walk up to both of them.

"Hi, good morning! It's nice to meet you, I'm Akikami Hinotori. What's your name?" I greet myself, extending a hand to her. She looks surprised and delighted to see someone new to talk to.
"Hi! I'm Uraraka Ochacco!" She gleams a wide smile at me. She's a very cute girl, almost like a puppy.
"I'm Izuchan's childhood friend. Sorry, he doesn't talk much; he's super nervous." I say, giggling. She giggles too, agreeing and saying how she understands.
"I wish you both the best of luck. Let's talk more when we become students together!" She gives us both thumbs up and bounces to the front door. I poke Midoriya out of his stupor and see him flushed. I laugh and poke fun as we walk in together. As we make our way to our seats, I spot Bakugou right next to me. He scowls at seeing Midoriya but turns his eyes forward. I look around and see a few familiar faces; it looks like they've sorted us by our junior highs. The auditorium falls silent as a familiar loud voice greets us. Present Mic begins his speech, welcoming us and explaining how today's exam will go.  I look over to see a gyrating and overly excited Midoriya, his smile so wide and his eyes huge.

“Quit it, nerd!” Katsuki snaps at him, quieting Izuku down. Present Mic begins to explain our given testing locations, and we all collectively look down at the card in front of us.

We’re each given an exam ticket. Mine reads:

Akikami Hinotori.
(A photo I submitted online, which could've been better.)
Examinee no. 2235
Test Location: Battle Center C.

“I see, they’re splitting us up so we don’t work with our friends.” Kacchan’s sudden inquiry startles both me and Izuku. I figured that much; we're showing our own individual skills, not teamwork. It would’ve been a funny sight to see Katsuki getting ahead of himself. It would have been cool to see Midoriya's hard work, too. I glance over at Katsuki's card, causing him to jolt his hand out of my view.

“Get your eyes off my card!” God, I’m so glad we’re apart.

Present Mic explains the objective of our exam and describes what “villains” to go after. Which triggers a student to call out some “irregularity” in the plan. The guy looks pretty straight-laced, even down to his hair. He turns to Midoriya, calling out his muttering as unfit for a future student of U.A. I see him shrink in his seat, fear and embarrassment consuming him. I slam my palms on my desk, leering at this jerk.

"All students can be candidates for U.A. Judging a person's character without knowing who they are is unfit for a future hero, no?" His eyebrows scrunch, mouth tight into a semi-frown. Present Mic tells us to settle down and finish what he has to say to prepare us. We’re filed out to change and stand in front of our test location gates.  I wore an insulated, fire-proof, dark red top with my favorite black fire-proof shorts. Along with my tights and boots, I needed to produce as much heat as I could when I moved to ensure my flames were at their peak. I scan the other students to try and see if I could recognize any faces. There was a kid with dyed blonde hair somewhere in the crowd that caught my eye; he smelled really good. Like cinnamon rolls and lavender? I’m not sure, but it was strangely intoxicating and made me almost sleepy.

A voice rings out telling us to get our asses moving. The entire group surged forward, all running, before everyone diverged into different directions. I started panicking. I had no clue where to go from here! A loud crash and sounds of debris were flying everywhere. They're already fighting?! God, I felt so behind.

“Time to fly.” Flames wrap around my arms before jetting me off the ground. I hop across the building rooftops and hastily run around. I spot a 2-pointer coming close. I clasp my hands together, funneling all my fire into a missile and strike the bot through its head, blocking another examinee from attacking. He looked like he was charging up electricity.

“My bad!” I call out, flying off to another one. A few 1-point robots were strewn around, and if I take them out, I could get 9 points in total. But it wasn't enough, I was still too slow. I needed to do something drastic. Clasping my hands together again, I breathe out, and 5 flame birds take shape around my body. I push my hands forward, sending the heat-seeking flames towards each bot. I jump and duck through the debris, finding an alleyway of fallen robots. They weren't fully shattered, just chipped from a possibly large explosion. I flick my hand at the few on the ground, a fireball piercing through each one like a bullet. I wave away all the smoke and stomp out the ashes. If I weren't careful, I could cause a chain link of fire from the cinders. I was at 17 points, meaning if I continued the pace, I could be okay. I jet upwards again, flame wings sprouting behind me. I scan around and find 3 pointers chasing a small group of testers. I fly up at an angle, aiming my hands again.

“Blinding light!” I clap my hands together. A hot light erupts from my hands and beams down at the bot, melting the middle of the body into metal goop. The body topples over, and I fly off to find more. I run into a few more 3 pointers and take them out the same way as before, being careful to aim the light directly onto the bot. I learned how to do this move one day when I was testing out my quirk. I was reminded of how ants under a magnifying glass can be set on fire. By directing both the sun's cast and the heat off my body into a certain direction, I can align a narrow beam of hot light into an object, burning it completely through. I once set my sister's plants on fire by accident that way.

Shaking my head, I recount how much I've gained so far. It looks like I'm at 29 points, not too bad, but I still need to do more. I hear a scream from afar, and I fly over to see what it was.

“Agh-! Help! Someone help me, please, I’m trapped!” A girl with bat wings has her wings sandwiched in debris. I run up to her and try to lift the asphalt to help her squirm out. She wiggles free right when I drop the block that scrapes my hands. I wince, and she smooths out her wing.

“Thanks for helping me! No one batted an eye, haha, pun intended, when I called out. If we’re gonna be heroes, we should be able to save others too!” She’s got a wry smile and a fang poking out. I wondered if maybe she has some vampirism quirk, but would she be able to stay in the sun this long?

“I agree. I’m glad you’re okay, let's both do our best!” A rubble starts to erupt, and a 0-point robot comes out. It's crazy huge; the scale was terrifying to look at.

“Whoa, what the fu-“ I turn to the girl, and she’s already flying away. I run and try to fly off, but my body feels so tired; I haven’t used my quirk for this long. My flames aren’t as hot as before. I felt like I was pushing myself more than ever. I land on a far-offish building and settle for a bit. We’ve got a minute left now, but I just needed to sit this out for a little. I needed the rest or else I would collapse. Before I can take a breather, I smell a big of lavender again and swivel my head around. I see the platinum blonde flying almost limply right up to me. I sprout my wings as quickly as I can, flying back to take some of the impact from his thrown body. My tights were ripped, and my shirt was scuffed up. 

“Hey! Are you alri-!” The rooftop started crumbling, and it didn't look like we were gonna land easily. The guy shoots up and grabs my arm away from where the roof was dipping in. He’s tugging me along, running to the edge like he's about to jump. Purple clouds emit from his wrist, forming in a stairway pattern. He hops and we tumble down onto the lumpy bed of clouds.

“Thank you for saving me.” I smile at him, and he’s got this blank face. He’s also really pretty, with iridescent purple eyes and defined facial features. He has a lip piercing, which makes me wonder if he's a bit of a delinquent.  He’s got his roots showing and a short mullet in the back. He’s got on a purple long-sleeve shirt and black joggers. A single earring in his left ear and a small silver chain necklace. He’s pretty fashionable; he probably could've been a model if he didn't choose U.A.

We’re kinda just staring at each other until a purple mist appears. He’s starting to slowly disappear, and right before his face fades in his mist, he says something.

"Until we meet again, Hinotori."

I balk, wondering how he knew my name. I scramble a bit back as the mist disperses him completely. I reach out again and wave my hand, finding he has completely disappeared. Exactly what kind of quirk did he have?

I somehow find myself on the ground. The timer buzzes and signals the end of the exam. I’m still in a daze because of what just happened. I make my way to the front to exit. There stands Recovery Girl, the hero who heals everyone at UA. She gives me a smooch, causing all my scrapes and fatigue to fade.

“Your scores will be released in a week! Have patience, you all did very well!” A woman in a tight costume and mask speaks in a sultry voice. She smells nice too, strangely familiar to that guy from earlier. When we reach our locker room again, I sigh.

“Damn it-!” I slap my forehead, which gets the attention of a frog girl by the locker room.

“Are you okay, ribbit?” She’s a few inches shorter than me, causing me to lean my head downwards. She's so stinking cute, I couldn't help but smile and nod.

“Ah, something silly. A cute guy saved me earlier, but I didn’t catch his name!” I laugh off and she smiles too.

“Are you a romantic? You seem like one.” She places a finger on her chin with a tilt of her head.

“Definitely. My parents are the biggest influence for that.” I smile fondly, and she ribbits to agree. We talk more until we leave the testing grounds, exchanging numbers. We shake hands and hope to see each other at UA. I call Rinko to pick me up and happily hum a tune as I wait.

“You’re still here, brat?” Bakugo calls out to me from behind. He’s got this cocky look on his face; he must’ve been in the lead in his testing location. I grimace and plaster a smirk at him.

“Hey, how’d you do? You’re walking home? Need to cool off from all your ego boasting?" I snicker.

“Cut the crap, bird girl. I’m sure your fire-bird flame crap didn’t get you far into the race. I’m even more sure Deku failed.” He smirked, face close to mine. My smile turns into a frown as the tips of my hair flicker in flames.

“Why are you like this?” I say lowly, to which he doesn't react.

“Why pick on me or Midoriya? The hell did we do to you? You got what you wanted, you’re at the top, so give it a rest. Your freaking ego is fucking pathetic. I tried to be your friend, but you’re so damn difficult and hardheaded. What the hell is wrong with you?!” I seethe at him and finally look right into his eyes. He looked pissed, teeth gritting, and his breathing was erratic.

“Listen, birds for brains. I don’t do nice, alright? We were friends years ago, leave it at that. I don’t put myself close to the damn weak. Make something for yourself or get over it. People like me are destined for the best. You and that shrimp will never reach near my level. Don’t ever think you could get close to where I am. The goals we have are different. Get it through your thick, stupid, weak skull.” He pushes a finger into my shoulder, emphasizing every last word. My eyebrow twitches; it's always a stupid little dance with him.

He straightens back and begins to walk away. All I’m left to do is stare at his retreating form. It reminded me of the day the incision in our friendship started. I didn’t use my quirk much back then. I was starting to feel normal again. I refused to, afraid to hurt anyone around me. So he considered me part of the weak.

When Rinko arrived, I printed a smile on my face and told her about my experience. She tells me what it was like for her a few years ago. As she recounts, I noticed she had recently cut her hair shorter, even though she had long hair for the longest time. She resembled Mother the most with her hair so long. The scales around her neck and arms are what give way to the resemblance to Father.

I was the oddball of the family, the one who looked nothing like them, saved for the facial features. Even Reiki resembled Father down to the little details. I’ve got my Mother's fox-like eyes and my Father's downturned mouth, that’s about it, I suppose. I never got why I was different. I didn't have the fox ears like the women in my family, or horns like my father's side. I had no water or psychic ability. I don't know why I had a quirk that was, at its base, just fire. I could easily be like any other fire quirk user.

“I wonder whose fighting stance you’ll take up when you begin training.” Rinko turns to me. She took up our father's heroic style. Reiki took on my mother's assertiveness in his work, even though he’s a healer. Since I’m the third child, it’s speculated that it’ll be a blend. But with how I’ve turned out so far, I don’t think I’ll be like them at all. Maybe that would be the best outcome.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A week passed, but I hadn’t talked to Midoriya since. It seemed like he barricaded himself inside. I still went on my runs and even went shopping with my sister for new clothes. I was impatiently waiting for my acceptance letter. I knew I definitely passed, but my written exam wasn’t the best; it had to be barely above average.

One night, coming back from my usual run, I checked my mailbox, and inside was a letter with my name tucked between two other envelopes. I rush back inside and into my room. I open it to find a chip of some sort. A hologram opens up, and All Might graces my desk.

“Hello, young hero in training! I am here! All Might! Presenting you with your scores! Before doing so, I would like to say I was very pleased to see your ability to work and move around. To improve yourself more, you must reach beyond the grasp of your quirk as it is now. You have so much potential, that much is clear!” He laughs wholeheartedly. I smile along with him.

“With that being said, you did very well. In fact, you scored yourself a near-balanced set of points.” Confused, my eyebrows scrunch. Did they not say it was one set of points being scored, taking down villains?

“You scored 28 for attacking and 24 for rescue! Very good job! It landed you 52 points, most likely a top 20! I welcome you, future student of UA! Welcome to your new school, Akikami Hinotori!” I smile widely and cheer loudly. I hop around and jump and scream. I actually did it, I'm going to be a hero, a student with the big leagues!

“EVERYONE! I made it into UA!” I show off my letter and hologram to my family, and we all cheer. We go out for dinner that night, eating a huge feast with praise all around. It was such a warm feeling on a normally cold night.

A few weeks later, I graduated from Aldera Junior High. I take a few photos with school friends and bid them good luck for the future. I spot Izuku, and we take a photo together. My parents invited him and his mother over to eat. Later that night, Izuku and I talk on my balcony. There’s a slight chill in the air. The houses from the view are sporadically lit and dim. Music is playing somewhere, and dogs are barking. It’s tranquil.

“I got in, too.” He says suddenly, turning to me with a growing smile. My eyes grow wide, and I gasp. I reach out to hug him before stopping midway to clap instead. He grows sheepish and scratches his face.

“Congrats, Izuchan, we’re going to UA together!” I push my fist into his shoulder softly, laughing heartily.

“I...” he begins slowly.

“I thought I failed. I was sure of it. After I had broken half my body and was saved by Uraraka, I thought it was over for me. But I didn’t know rescue points were a thing, and that saving her from the 0-point robot would lead me to 60 points. I was in the top 10! All because of my quirk-“ he stops suddenly and slowly peers at me. 

“I had a feeling your quirk manifested a few months ago. That day when you got attacked must have been the trigger to your quirk. When you were training so hard, it led me to believe you unlocked something new. I was really happy for you. I didn’t want to push you or suffocate you in any way, so I let you be. ” I smile reassuringly at him.

"I was shocked, too, finding out rescue points were a thing. Had I not stopped to help my peers, I definitely would have failed." I say as he nods enthusiastically.

"But you broke half your body during the exam?! When were you going to tell me that?! You made me wait so long to hear anything from you!" I furrow my brow, and he frowns, ashamed.

“You’re right, I’m sorry for being so secretive. I just... I’ve got to get used to this and uh... whatever else... I’ll tell you in time, just not now.” He’s picking his words carefully so I don’t push him further. I instead slot my feet into the openings of my balcony railings and push myself higher.

“We’re gonna be UA STUDENTS!” I yell out into the world. He looked stunned for a bit before following my actions.

“We’re gonna go even further beyond!” He yells out, too. We exchange a look and a grin before yelling out together.

“PLUS ULTRA!!” Our laughs echo out into the neighborhood.

The next morning, Izuku opts to go by himself to school.  I ask my brother to drive me to school. I don’t know if we’ll walk to school anymore, but at least we'll see each other around school. The nerves were getting to me again as we neared the gate. My brother wordlessly nods at me as I get out. I wave as he drives away, turning to look at the gate, now as a student and not as a prospect.

My UA uniform was crisp; the feeling of the material helped calm the shakiness in my hands. When I walk down the halls, I see Uraraka and Midoriya walking together. I smile fondly, feeling a bit bitter that he didn't even text me once that he made it yet. I walk up, telling both good morning. They smile and greet me together. We walk into class and see some kind of yellow slug lying on the ground.

“Hello...sir?” I try to greet him, but he cuts me off right when the words are said.

“If you’re all here to make friends, I suggest you pack up your things this instance.” I freeze. He slurps a juice pouch and unfurls from the sleeping bag. He notices me then and motions for me to go to my seat. I get a bit shy and shuffle. I make eye contact with Bakugo, who looks disgusted to see me and Midoriya. I see Tsuyu towards the left as well.

“Hello. I’m Shouta Aizawa. Your teacher.” Mr. Aura farmer says, adjusting his bandage-like scarf.

“Alright, let’s get to it. Put these on, and head outside.” We all just kinda stare for a bit before each of us grabs a uniform.

Once we’re all piled together, Mr. Aizawa says we’ll be taking a quirk assessment test.

“What? A quirk assessment test?” I say at the same time as everyone else.

“But orientation, we’re gonna miss it!” Uraraka says.

“If you really want to make the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies.” He snaps back, causing the girl to gasp.

“At UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit.” Murmurs arise from the group. He continues to explain why he’s doing this and why the education system is lacking. He then points out Bakugo's moment in the exams and inquires about how far he’s ever thrown.

“67 meters, I think.” He says, thinking about it.

“Right, now try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes in the circle. Go on. You’re wasting your time.”

“Alright, man, you asked for it.” He stretches out. He revs up and blasts the ball into probably the stratosphere with blasts behind it. Mr. Aizawa then shows us his distance to be 705 meters!

“Whoa, 705 meters? Are you kidding me?” The electricity boy from the exam says. A pink girl excitedly wants to join in, and a guy with tape on his elbows agrees. However, our teacher cuts through the excitement with a threat to expel us if we don’t do well at the end of his 8 tests. My nerves were at an all-time high.

“Like I said, I control how this class runs, so if you’ve got a problem, you can head home now!” His grin looks malicious. Though Uraraka tries to object, he has a counterargument about how the real world isn’t fair. These trials are preparing us for anything and everything. We need to go Plus Ultra Style, he says with a grin. Everyone starts to bristle at that.

First is the 50-meter dash, where Tsuyu and the straight-laced guy from the auditorium, Iida, are racing. He wins by a landslide with the engines in his calves. He got to 50 meters in 4 seconds versus Tsuyu’s near 6 seconds. It’s then Uraraka's and a guy with a tail's turn. After is a sparkling laser guy with the pink girl. I make a note to get everyone's names before the end of the day. It’s then Izuku, me, and Kacchan. He paired us three for the odd number in our class. Seems the other class had an odd number too. The time starts, and I turn to push myself forward with my Birds of Flame. Kacchan propels faster than I did and reaches the end at 4.41 seconds. I follow with 5.09 seconds, which is so much faster than I could do on foot! But Izuku gets by with 7.02 seconds, making him the slowest of everyone.

He’s bent over; I can see him mentally beating himself up for it. I glance over to Kacchan, and he’s gritting his teeth. I make a sour face at him and make my way back to where the others stood. Mr. Aizawa ushers us to the next test. It’ll be testing our grip strength. I got 28 kilos, a normal average for girls our age. I don’t have that much strength outside my fire.

Next is the standing long jump, which I easily just shoot over, even doing a twirl over the sand pit. After are the repeated side steps, to which I’m sure I did pretty average on. Then came the ball throw test. Uraraka sets hers off into the air; it literally disappears, and she is given a score of infinity. I didn't even know we could get infinite points...

“Whoa, what? Izuchan did you-“ but when I turn to him, he’s in this state of panic. He’s frustrated, nervous, yet impatient and worried. I turn back and close my mouth. He's having it really rough right now. Especially since he hasn’t shown off his quirk. I get ready for my pitch and wrap my arms in flames. The ball is engulfed in fire before I clutch it between my hands. I wind up as if I'm pitching a baseball, sending it out towards the direction of the sun. I couldn’t see it anymore, but I felt my flame sizzle out. Aizawa shows my score to be 6,000 meters. It’s probably where the air got harder to breathe in and keep the fire going. The students were in awe, and I felt a bit cocky after.

After a while, it was Midoriya's turn. Is he gonna show off his quirk? I was curious about how things would go for him. He braces himself in the circle. There are murmurs from the students as Bakugo riles up the others. I shush him right when Midoriya went to throw. Mr. Aizawa's eyes glow and his tape rises. For some reason, he stopped Midoriya from pitching.

He then berates him on his absurd amount of power and his lack of control over it. He just keeps digging into him, and all we can do is let him humiliate him. He even goes as far as saying Midoriya can’t be a hero. With me being close to them, I heard what he said while the others didn’t. He told Midoriya to take his final throw now and to leave.

He throws again, in the same position as he was before, but something was different.

“SMASH!” Midoriya cries out, the ball flies crazy far, and yet his finger is completely bruised. What... is that quirk? Strength? Did he just get that much stronger with such a small frame? I turn to Bakugo and see he’s fuming. He looks as if he’s ready to strangle him. My fight or flight senses go off. Mr. Aizawa is just staring at him with this offsetting smile.

All the students begin to murmur, and two of the students seem to know he has this powerful quirk. Bakugo suddenly runs up to Midoriya, ready to hit him, before our teacher holds him back with his scarf. 

“Stand down. If I use my quirk too much, it gives me dry eye.” I can feel everyone’s collective thought on how amazing his quirk is. I feel like I’m in some shonen anime; it feels too good to be true. He releases him before beckoning the next student to go up. Yet Bakugo keeps glaring at Midoriya. I stared at him too, looking around him to see how he got such a quirk out of nowhere. Last I checked, his mom didn't have a similar quirk, so did it come from his dad?

We finished the rest of our assessments with the usual sit-ups, toe reaches, and lastly, the long-distance run. I did average for the first two, but basically just jet off during the run. I was exhausted, but Midoriya fell on his back when everyone walked away. He was struggling, so I offered him a hand. He looked up at me, and I smiled down at him.

“Let’s go, Izuchan.” I help him up, and he takes a large breath. We walked to join the group, and though I felt a little obstructed by everyone, he gave me a low ‘thank you’ before our teacher spoke again. Our results were about to be announced, and he was going to rank us. Midoriya closed his eyes tightly, looking scared and nervous. I was gonna put a stop to his expulsion if it came to it.

We scanned the chart for our scores. I was 13th, right before Tsuyu! I look at everyone, putting their names to their faces. Unfortunately, the one who came in last was Midoriya. I turn to him, and he’s got a grim expression. He’s gripping his injured hand, and he’s shaking. No way... he might actually get expelled. I turn to our teacher, but before I say anything, he interrupts.

“And I was lying, no one's going home.“ Everyone stills. My mouth was agape, and I looked over to Midoriya.

“That was just a tactical deception to make sure you all gave it your best!” He says with a wide and tired-looking grin. Midoriya's shock made him almost as pale as a ghost.

“That’s it for today. Pick up a syllabus from the classroom. Read it before tomorrow morning.” I see Midoriya sigh in relief before Mr. Aizawa tells him to go visit Recovery Girl. He also hands him a piece of paper. He’s deep in thought, so I tug on his sleeve to snap him out of his reverie.

“I’m gonna introduce myself around, would you like to as well?” He looks at me for a bit and opens his mouth. A familiar voice chirps behind us.

“Hey, you guys! I knew we'd be classmates after meeting at the entrance exams." Uraraka says, happily clasping my hands and hers together.

"I'm relieved we're together, it's nice to have a friend!" I giggle, and she joins.

"How long have you two been friends?" she points and tilts her head.

“Uh! Hi-, um, we- uhhh-“ He begins, flushed and blushing brightly.

“We’ve been friends since I was 7; he was the first person to talk to me when I first started school.“ I nod towards the jumbling mess in front of us. She coos in admiration.

“Izuku and I were in the same testing area, along with Iida here!” She gestures to the guy with the engines on his calves.

“Hello! I am Tenya Iida! Nice to meet you! You have a great quirk as well, but I see there are areas where you could improve! I hope we can reach our goals as classmates!” His tone is formal and assertive, which throws me off. I smile and shake his hand as well. His attitude seems to have changed since the entrance exam, so hopefully we can put that first impression aside.

“I’m so glad to meet you two formally. I hope I’m able to make friends with everyone here.” I gesture around vaguely. Though Uraraka agrees and chirps happily with me, I see Iida’s face turn cloudy. He seems a little too serious. Midoriya rushes off, possibly to heal up his hand. We all go off to change and head home for the day.

On my way out, I see Tsuyu walking as well. I smile widely and run up to her.

“Tsuyu! Ah, I mean Asui! Hi! I didn’t get to talk to you!”

“Akichan, hello! Ribbit. I’m glad to talk to you!” We talk, walk together, and chat about today’s event. I spot Midoriya up ahead with Ochacco and Tenya. I want to call out, but they’re walking away, together. My smile falters, and my arm retracts.

“What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” She follows my view.

“Isn’t he the kid who hurt himself? Do you know them?” She could probably see how cloudy my expression is.

“The green-haired boy, his name is Midoriya Izuku. He’s my best friend of 7 years, but lately, it feels like we might be drifting apart.” I voice my concerns to her about how I’ve been feeling lately and how he was one of my only friends. She listened intently, and I didn’t realize I followed her to the station as well. I didn’t really know where to get off, but thankfully, Midoriya and the others are here.

“You’ve got to talk to him about how you feel. If you give him space, you will put too much distance between you and him. Ribbit.” I nod, and she continues about proper communication being healthy. I confide in her that my care for him could be influenced by my pushed aside feelings. I never really paid mind to my crush on him; I never even thought about us together like that until recently. I just like him, I admire him, and his character. Maybe it's really all admiration.

I must have said it out loud because she nods along. We talk more about it on the ride to our stops. She gets off first and wishes me a good day. I tell her I’ll keep in touch. She hops off, and I stare out the window. I plug in my earbuds and glance over at the trio. I want to go up to them and talk, but I don’t really feel up to it. So I listen to music and watch the view.

In a matter of minutes, we arrive at a stop. Midoriya gets up, and I follow, since I have no idea where to go. Uraraka and Tenya spot me, giving me a wave as I get off. I wave back outside and see them leave. I see Midoriya up ahead so I try to jog up to him. I stopped at a certain distance next to a fish bread stand. I wanted to get some for me and my family. I bought a pack and happily continued back to my trail. I knew he probably was long gone, so I pulled up my maps app and guided myself home. Maybe I’ll see him tomorrow and talk then. When I get home, though, he’s waiting by the gate. I nearly choke on my fish bread.

“Izuchan, what’re you doing here?” I offer him a fish bread and he takes one.

“I was gonna see if you were home already. I didn’t know you took the train home; you usually get picked up. I didn’t see you, though.” He says between bites.

“I was down the aisle with my friend Tsuyu. I saw you all talking, so I let you be. You’ve got yourself a fair amount of friends!” I say, taking the last bite of my bread. The chocolate filling was always my favorite part.

“I’m sorry.” He says suddenly. 

“We haven’t talked much. I don’t mean to cut you off or anything. I just didn’t think much of it.” The tension in my shoulders released after that. I usually am the one who always speaks up first, but seeing him take the lead is comforting.

“Let’s go to the park.” I nod and we go to talk there. I tell him how I’ve been feeling and how, since he was one of my only friends, I felt like I was disappearing from his side. I try not to sound whiny or desperate, but I express how sensitive I felt. He places a hand on my shoulder to reassure me, and I smile in the end.

“Akichan, you’re very outgoing and bright. I have no doubt you’ll be friends with everyone in the class. We are still best friends. Today was a hard day for me; you saw my quirk for the first time and how I nearly failed. I want to keep trying and working harder to reach my true potential. We both have so much catching up to do if we want to be like All Might.” His eyes are shining, and though I never really wanted to be like All Might, I nod anyway. I understand what he means by that.

“I hope we still can be close as we grow older. I hope we’re even able to fight together!” I say, looking at the setting sun. We chat for a bit more before heading back. At my gate, I wanted to tell him about my feelings. To get it out of the way before we started our big goals. I take a breath and stop him, hand on his sleeve.

"Izuku." He looks at me with the same big puppy eyes he's had all his life.

"I'm not sure what I feel for you can be considered romantic, but I admire you and adore you most of all in my life. I don't want anything to change other than for me to get over these feelings. I just want to say I like you, all of you, and the you before the quirk, too. You were always like a hero to me since we first met. I don't want you to feel the same or ask you to try to, I just want us to never be too far apart in life. I don't think I could've been the me I am today without you." I let out a breath, eyes glued to the ground. When I look up, his face is as red as a beet, and his lip is quivering. I let go and back up against my gate, nearly dropping my taiyaki bag. I start sputtering out apologies and asking him to forget what I said.

"N-no! I mean, no, no, I don't want to freak you out, I just never knew you felt that way, and- I don't know how to feel. Like I said, you are my forever best friend, that won't change! I just, uhhh, crushes, romance, is, wow! I don't know anything... about it!" He stammers, hands all over the place as he talks. I nod vigorously in agreement.

"Me neither! I just find whoever I think is cute or pretty and feel a certain way about them. I don't expect you or anyone to return the feelings. I just wanted them out and possibly gone." I laugh, embarrassed out of my mind. Confessing to a friend is a level of embarrassment no one can overcome.

"I'll think about what you said, but I want you to know it wasn't me who made you the way you are. You simply always were the shining, bright, and beautiful person you are today." My mouth opens, and I cover it with my hand. He sheepishly stammers something incoherent, telling me it was late and that we should get our rest. I agree and walk briskly inside, all the way up to my room. I peek out from my balcony, slipping onto the terrace to watch him. He turns to look up to me while leaving. We wave at the same time, laughing at the sync of our brains. I knew we would be okay. He had that same happy-go-lucky smile and a fresh flush across his face. However, because of the loud thumping of my heart and the pure embarrassment in my mind, I forgot about how cold the fish breads were. I attempted to heat them with my quirk to give them to my family. It worked well enough since everyone ended up eating it all. With how eventful the day was, my body caved to exhaustion almost immediately.

In my dream, I found myself at the steps of my grandparents' shrine. The woman with the flaming orange and gold hair, that's crackling like a bonfire, peers at me from the gate. She mouths something inaudible, but before I awake, her voice whispers near my ears.

Train your mind and your heart, they must be one for you to succeed...

I wake up, groggy and confused. These encounters, while sparse and far in between, were so vague. I don't know what she wants out of me or if she's looking out for me. Yet she's so mesmerizing, like the sun herself. I do my usual morning routine to get the next day started swiftly.  My brother drives me to school, and I go straight to class, greeting everyone I've met so far. The bell rings, and we start with the usual class studies, going through our different teachers throughout the day. Our first class was English, which I excelled at. I loved literature, and my reading skills were top-notch. Though everyone was bored out of their minds, I was one of the few willing to actually participate. Later on was lunch in the humongous cafeteria. There, I saw Iida and Uraraka. Midoriya had just seated and shyly gave me a wave. I brand a big smile and act accordingly to not invoke any tension between any of us. It helped Midoriya relax too, as he went on to talk about the school layout with the others. Lunch Rush came by and greeted us, causing Midoriya to geek out.

Finally, it was the end of the day, and we reached our last class -- Basic Hero training. Before I could speak to anyone, All Might graced us with his appearance. He’s our teacher for today, causing Midoriya to smile widely. He’s wearing his Silver Age costume, and all the students are commenting on him. I see Midoriya buzzing with excitement in his seat, almost foaming at the mouth.  He begins to explain today's lesson quickly. It’ll be a battle against each other in training today. We were getting our very own costumes already. I was so happy, I remember all the sketches I made for my costume to be as heat-resistant yet flexible as possible. I also wanted to make sure it was super chic. I recalled all the late nights I spent researching the best material to use for fire quirk users and what other fire heroes used in battle. I had to adjust my last mockup to include the boots my parents gifted me.

"Let's get you students suited up, make your way to the lockers, and try on your hero costumes! AHAHA!" All Might laughs as we gleefully scramble up, grabbing our number-assigned suitcases.

I requested the number 16, as it was my favorite and most lucky number. When I opened my case up, it was truly perfect. My eyes sparkled as I ran a hand across the material. It really came to life, exactly the way I imagined it to be. I couldn't wait to try it on.

Chapter Text

“Alright let’s get to it. Put these on, and head outside.” We all just kinda stare for a bit. Before moving abut and grabbing a uniform. I want to try and talk to the girl from before but I can’t make the first move! I better just get the day going and see what’s happening.

Once we’re all piled together, our teacher says we’ll be taking a quirk assessment test.

“What? A quirk assessment test??” I say at the same time as everyone else.

“But orientation! We’re gonna miss it!” The brown haired girl says.

“If you really want to make the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies.” He snaps back, causing the girl to gasp.

“At UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. That means I get to run my class however I see fit.” Murmurs arise from the group. He continues to explain why he’s doing this and why the education system is lacking. He then points out Kacchan’s moment in the exams and inquires him on how far he’s ever thrown.

“67 meters I think.”

“Right, now try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes in the circle. Go on. You’re wasting your time.”

“Alright man, you asked for it.” He stretches out. He revs up and blasts the ball into probably the stratosphere with blasts behind it. Mr. Aizawa then shows us his distance to be 705 meters!

“Woah, 705 meters are you kidding me?” Electricity boy from the location says. A pink girl excitedly wants to join in and a guy with tape on his elbows joins in. However our teacher cuts through the excitement with a threat to expel us if we don’t do well at the end of the 8 tests! What the hell, why’s he so strict! My nerves are definitely on high alert by now.

“Like I said, I control how this class runs so if you’ve got a problem you can head home now!” His grin looks malicious. Though the brown haired girl tries to object, he has a counter about how the real world isn’t fair. These trials are preparing us for anything and everything. We need to go Plus Ultra Style, he says with a grin. Everyone starts to bristle at that.

First is the 50 meter dash, where Tsuyu and I think the guys name is Iida are racing. He wins by a landslide with the engines in his calves. He got to 50 meters in 4 seconds versus Tsuyu’s near 6 seconds. It’s then the brown haired girl and a guy with a tail. After is a... sparkling laser guy with the pink girl. Gosh I really need to learn their names. It’s then Izuku, me, and Kacchan. He paired us three for the odd number of our class. Seems the other class had an odd number too. The time starts and I turn to push myself forward with my Birds of Flame. It’s all I know so far and my arms don’t burn up so easily. Kacchan propels faster than I did and reaches the end at 4.41 seconds. I follow with 5.09 seconds, which is so much faster than I could do on foot! But Izuku gets by with 7.02 seconds, making him the slowest of everyone.

He’s bent over, I can feel he’s beating himself up somehow. I glance over to Kacchan and he’s gritting his teeth. I make a sour face at him and make myself back to where the others stand. Mr. Aizawa ushers us to the next test. It’ll be testing our grip strength. I got 28 kilos, which puts me on the stronger side but only by a bit. I don’t have that much strength outside my fire.

Next is the standing long jump, I easily just shoot over. Doing a twirl over the sand pit. After is repeated side steps, to which I’m sure I did pretty average on. Then was the ball throw, the brown hair girl sets hers off. It literally disappears and she was given a score of infinity!

“Woah, what?? Izuchan did you-“ but when I turn to him he’s in this state of panic. He’s frustrated and nervous yet impatient and worried. I turn back and close my mouth, hes having it really rough right now. Especially since he hasn’t shown off his quirk. I get ready for my pitch and wrap my arms in flames. The ball is engulfed in fire before I set it shooting away with one of my flame balls. I couldn’t see it anymore but I felt my flame sizzle out. Aizawa shows my score to be 6,000 meters. It’s probably where the air got harder to breathe in and keep the fire going. The students were in awe and I was filled with pride!

After a while again, it was Izuku’s turn. Is he gonna show off his quirk? He has to by now! I was curious but I was worried he’d hurt himself. I had a weird feeling, though, that would somehow be inevitable. He braces himself in the circle. There’s murmurs from Kacchan riling up others. I shush him right when Izuku went to throw. Mr. Aizawa eyes glow and his tape rise, this must be his quirk! He stopped... him?

He then berates him on his absurd amount of power and his lack of control. He just keeps digging into him and all we can do is let him humiliate him. Even going as far as saying he can’t be a hero. And since I was closest to them, I heard what he said while the others didn’t. He’s to take his final throw now.

He throws again, the same way! But somethings different!

“SMASH!” The ball flies crazy far, and yet his finger is completely bruised! What... what is his quirk? Strength?? Did he just get... stronger with such a small frame? What’s going on, how did he do that?! I turn to Kacchan and see he’s fuming. He looks as if he’s ready to strangle him. My fight or flight senses go off. Mr. Aizawa is just staring at him with this offsetting smile.

All the students begin to murmur and two seem to know he had such a powerful quirk. Kacchan suddenly runs up to Izuku, readying to hit him before our teacher holds him back with his scarf things! He’s holding Kacchan back with ease, even from such a far distance.

“Stand down. If I use my quirk too much, it gives me dry eye.” I can feel everyone’s collective thought on how amazing his quirk is. I feel like I’m in some shonen anime, it feels too good to be true! He releases him before beckoning the next student to go up. Yet Kacchan keeps glaring at Izuku and I just want to deck him in the jaw!!

We finished the rest of our assessments with usual sit-ups, toe reaches, and lastly, the long distance run. I did average for the first two but basically just jetted off during the run. I was exhausted but Isuzu fell on his back as everyone walked away. He was struggling so I offered a hand to him. He looked up at me and I smiled down to him.

“Let’s go Izuchan!” I help him up and he takes a large breath. We walk to join the group and though I felt a little obstructed from everyone, he gave me a low ‘thank you’ before our teacher spoke again. Our results were about to be announced, he was gonna rank us. Izumi closed his eyes tight, he must feel like he’s gonna get kicked out. I was gonna stop that if it came to it.

We scanned the chart for our scores. I was 16, right before a kid named Denki Kaminari. I think that’s the electricity guy! I look at everyone’s names, not knowing anyone except for Tsuyu! But then the one who came in last was... Izuku. I turn to him and he’s got a grim expression. He’s gripping his injured hand and he’s shaking. No way... he’s gonna go-

“And I was lying, no ones going home.“ Everyone stills. What the hell? He lied??

“That was just a tactical deception to make sure you all gave it your best!” He says with a wide and tired looking grin. Izuku’s shock is transforming himself into a ghost, he must have had a trip realizing this. The girl with a spirally ponytail calls out the obvious nature of his false threat. Everyone, including me, share a look towards her.

“That’s it for today, pick up a syllabus from the classroom. Read it before tomorrow morning.” I see Izuku sign in relief before Mr. Aizawa tells him to go visit Recovery Girl. He also hands him a piece of paper. He’s deep in thought so I leave him be. I tug on his sleeve to snap him out of his reverie.

“I’m gonna introduce myself around, would you like to as well?” He looks at me for a bit and opens his mouth. The brown haired girl then comes in.

“Ohhh you know Izuku! Are you two close? Like super close?” She intertwines her fingers and I give her a confused look. Excuse me, ma’am!

“Uh! Wha! No-, this is-“ He begins, flushed and blushing brightly.

“I’m his best friend, Akikami Hinotori. We’ve been friends since I was 7, he was the first person to talk to me when I first started school.“ I extend my hand with a happy smile. Uraraka shakes my hand back.

“I’m Uraraka Ochacco! Izuku and I were in the same testing area, along with Iida here!” She gestures to the guy with engines.

“Hello! I am Tenya Iida! Nice to meet you! You have a great quirk as well but I see there are areas where you could improve! I hope we can reach our goals as classmates!” His tone is formal and assertive which throws me off. I smile and shake his hand as well.

“I’m so glad to meet you two! I hope I’m able to make friends with everyone here!” I fold my hands together happily. Though Uraraka agrees and chirps happily with me, I see Iida’s face turn cloudy. He seems a little too serious sometimes. Izuku rushes off then probably to heal up his hand. We all go off to change and head home.

On my way out I see the frog girl from before. I smile wide and run up to her.

“Tsuyu! Ah, I mean Asui! Hi! I didn’t get to talk to you!” I feel so bubbly, I have another friend!

“Akikami, hello! Ribbit. I’m glad to talk to you!” We talk and walk together and chat about today’s event. I spot Izuku up ahead with Ochacco and Tenya. I want to call out but they’re walking away, together. My smile falters and my arm retracts.

“What’s the matter? Is something wrong?” She follows my view.

“Isn’t he the kid who hurt himself? Do you know them?” She could probably see how cloudy my expression is.

“The green haired boy, his name is Midoriya Izuku. He’s my best friend of 7 years but lately, we’ve been drifting apart.” I voice my concerns to her about how I’ve been feeling lately and how he was my one of my only friends. She listens intently and I didn’t realize I followed her to the station as well. I didn’t really know where to get off but thankfully Izuku and the others are here.

“You’ve got to talk to him about how you feel. If you give him space, you put too much space in your friendship with him. Did you ever think your crush on him would be affecting you too?” I scramble and ask how she knows, but she replies it’s obvious. I never really paid mind to my crush on him. But lately I haven’t even thought about us together. I just like him. Maybe I just like how he is but not romantically. Maybe its admiration.

I must have said it out loud because she nods along. We talk more in it on the ride to our stops. She gets off first and wishes me a good day, I tell her I’ll keep in touch. She hops off and I stare out the window. I plug in my earbuds and glance over at the trio. I want to go up to them and talk but, I don’t really feel up to it. So I listen to music and watch the view.

In a matter of minutes, we arrive at a stop. Izuku gets up and I follow, since I have no idea where to go. Uraraka and Tenya spot me, giving me a wave As I get off. I wave back outside and see them leave. I see Izuku up ahead and though I rather stay my distance I try to jog up to him.

I stop at a certain distance, there was a fish bread stand! I wanted to get some for me and my family. I bought a pack and happily bounded back to my trail. I knew he probably was long gone so I pulled up my maps app and guided myself home. Maybe I’ll see him tomorrow and talk then. When I get home though, he’s waiting by the gate. I nearly choke on my fish bread.

“Izuchan, what’re you doing here?” I offer him a fish bread and he takes one.

“I was gonna see if you were home already, I didn’t know if you took the train home or got picked up. It seems you rode the train, I didn’t see you though.” He says between bites.

“I was down the aisle with my friend Tsuyu. I saw you all talking so I let you be. You’ve got yourself a fair amount of friends!” I say, taking the last bite of my bread. The chocolate filling hits the spot.

“I’m sorry.” He says suddenly. I’m baffled.

“Uh... for what?”

“We haven’t talked much. I don’t mean to cut you off or anything. I just didn’t think much on it.” So the talk is happening now. Alright, so be it.

“Let’s go to the park.” We talk there, I tell him how I’ve been feeling and how since he was one of my only friends I felt like I was disappearing from his side. I try not to sound whiny or desperate but I express how hurt I was. He places a hand on my shoulder to reassure me and I smile in the end.

“Akichan, you’re very outgoing and bright. I have no doubt you’ll be friends with everyone in the class. Like I said before though, we are still best friends. Today was a hard day for me, you saw my quirk for the first time and how I nearly failed. I want to keep trying and working harder to reach my true potential. We both have so much catching up to do if we want to be like All Might.” His eyes are shining and though I never really wanted to be like All Might, I nod anyways.

“I hope we still can be close as we grow older. I hope we’re even able to fight together!” I say, looking at the setting sun. We chat for a bit more before heading back. At my gate, I wanted to give him a hug but decided instead, our handshake was better. Before I went inside, I saw him wave at me while leaving and I knew we righted our wrongs. However, I forgot about how cold the fish breads were and was trying to heat them up with my quirk to give them to my family. It worked well enough since everyone ate it all.

And so the next day began, with the usual class studies and going through different teachers. Our first class was English, in which I was very good at. Though everyone was bored out their minds, I was one of few to actually participate. Later on was lunch in the HUGE cafeteria. I sat beside Izuku and across from Tenya and Ochacco. Lunch Rush greeted us and Izuchan was geeking out.

Finally, at the end of the day, we reached our last class! Hero basic training! I found my seat in the middle row. Before I could speak, All Might graces us with his appearance. He’s our teacher! He’s wearing his Silver Age costume and all the students are commenting on him. I see Izuchan buzzing with bursting excitement.

He’s speaking fast and excitably to explain today’s lesson. It’ll be a battle against each other as training today. We were getting our very own costumes! I was so happy, I remember all the sketches I made for my costume to be moveable and heat-resistant as possible. But also super chic.

When I saw myself in my costume, I was... estactic! It was perfect! I’m so glad I skimmed down for this because now it fits so well! It wasn’t too skin tight but so well fitted. I had a two-toned leotard with a collar. I had a mesh screen around my chest and wings as off the shoulder sleeves. Thick elbow length gloves that matched my one piece, with mesh stockings that disappeared into red, heeled boots. I had accents of gold on some parts of my gloves and boots as well!

I felt so pretty I couldn’t help the giddy feeling that was bubbling over. I jogged out the tunnel with the other students, happily chatting up Ochacco. We agreed our costumes were tighter than expected but I liked it that way for mine. I hear running come down the tunnel and see a green bunny?? I instantly knew it was Izuku under that mask. I walk up to him with a grin.

“Hey there, Easter bunny. You like our costumes?” I gesture to me and Ochacco. He jumps back and I can see a very visible blush under his mask. I knew I looked that great! The grape kid though says he loves this school after seeing us. My eye twitches.

We turn back to All Might’s booming voice as he instructs on what this place is and the objective of today’s lesson. The full armored guy, turns out to be Iida, asks about the setting of the battle grounds. All Might explains thoroughly of how this will work.

“Isn’t this a little advanced?” Asks Tsuyu, wow she looks so cute here too!

All Might continues his teaching even with everyone starts piling questions on after another. He pulls out a script to recite the lesson plan for today and instructions for how we must handle this 2 versus 2 battle. He pulls out a ballot box or us to pull teams, I get a little nervous since I’m 21 in the class.

“That’s not a problem! We had an overwhelming number of students this year! You’ll be paired with-!“ He scans around, I feel like such an odd one out. I don’t wanna drag anyone down but I’m still confident I can hold on my own.

“TEAM A! I saw you three together earlier anyways so we’ll just bunch you three in one team!” He laughs with a ‘Har’. He next pulls out from two boxes labeled villains and heroes. We’re set to be against... Kacchan of all people.

What’s the damn luck here? I’m grouped with the only few people I know?! I feel my stomach curl. The rest head to the Monitory Room to watch our battle. I see Izuku glance at Kacchan, where the latter is glaring him down. I step in between them and try to break this apart.

“So I’ll finally be getting a fight with you.” I grin at Kacchan to which he grumbles.

“I’m gonna crush you. You’re not the real target, just a throwaway. I’ll win this quick.” He grins sadistically. Izuku tightly grips his fists and turns to him. They stare down each other and I’m feeling like I’m forgotten again.

“I’m also your rival too. I’ll make sure you’re well aware of it Kacchan.” I stomp my foot down and walk over to Ochacco and Tenya. I wish him luck while rooting for our win. All Might explains what each teams need to do. They step into the building and get into positions. We three talk together at floor level while looking at the floor plan. Ochacco rattles off on a few thoughts she voices out on. I turn to Izuku and jolt, he’s sweating through his costume!

“Izuku, you’re sweating so much!” He stutters to reply to me and it shows how nervous he is.

“Oh right, Bakugo, he’s the one who’s always making fun of you.” Her expression saddens.

“He’s been this hotheaded all his damn life. I’d love to knock him down a peg.” I huff and turn away. Izuku seems to remember something from a long time ago, his expression looks sad and dazed.

“He can be a real pain for sure, but his strength, his quirk, his ambition. They are far more greater than mine.” We look at him, my brows furrowed while Ochacco’s look worried.

“But that just means I have to do better, I refuse to lose today!” He puts his face mask on and straightens up.

“So it’s a fight between rivals.” She looks at him and then at me. I smile and nod quickly.

“Not that I’m trying to get you wrapped in our mess!” He stutters out but she giggles.

“Are you kidding? We’re all a team! Let’s win this!” She raises her arms up and I give her a high five. I nudge Izuku with a wink and his expression looks happier. All Might’s voice rings out to signal the start of our battle. We sneak through a window and quietly land. Izuku instructs us to be careful of our surroundings. We sneak around corners and slowly walk down the dim hallways.

Kacchan jumps out the corner and blasts above Izuku’s head. I fall back but Izuku lands over Ochacco to save her. I get up quickly and flames lick up my arms. They’re spiralling around in the air above me as well as I ready my stance.

“What’s the matter, Deku? Afraid to stand up and fight me?” He’s only staring at him even when I’m behind him. I look at the hole he came out of to realize he must’ve blasted through the wall.

“I knew you’d come at me first. I figured your try to catch me by surprise!” He gets up, his mask half torn. The atmosphere is tense and I want to add something in but it feels like they’re only focused on each other. I share a look with Occhaco and run to help her up. Kacchan’s focus never wavers.

Kacchan runs up at Izuku with a threat and I run up to stop him. Deku then stops his attack and flips him to the ground?! I’m in awe and shock, I stand stuck. He... predicted his move! Kacchan let’s out a strangled gasp. He’s picking himself up quickly as Izuku begins talking. He’s explaining himself, the past, and what’s happening between them.

“You can call me Deku. But I’m not the same defenseless, helpless kid anymore! You hear me?! I’ve changed! From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!” He screams at him, shocking all of us. He turned the insult around. He made it mean something positive even when it meant blockhead all this time. He’s changed so much, his confidence even grew. I couldn’t help but still be in awe. This was the same kid so long ago, the same fighting spirit. My flames flicker in anticipation.

Kacchan turns to him, fists clenched and palms blasting. He’s muttering something before his stature shifts.

“THATS WHY I HATE YOU!” He yells out, stunning everyone. Bruh, I already can’t move with how intense everything is already. Why do you have to make it worse?! I feel so awkward but yet, it’s like they’re really showing each other their thoughts. I feel so isolated from them even when we grew up all together like this. So why, why am I not a rival to either of you? What the hell am I then?

He jets off with a kick towards Deku, he tells us to move and get going towards the fake missile. He defects the move with his arm. I can’t just leave him here so I turn back around and fire up.

“What’re you doing?!” she stops to call out.

“This is my fight too, these boys will learn their place.” My voice is grim, I’m itching for a fight. I see Kacchan charge for another explosive punch. I run towards him and jump with my feet propelling forward. He turns his head to me and swings his arm to throw me away. I use my flames to catch my balance and flip back upright, causing me to slide back with a skid. We all still for a second, before Isuzu takes off running.

“Get back here Deku!” He tries to charge for him but I jump another kick at him. He deflects me again with a shout.

“SCREW OFF BIRDGIRL THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOU!“ he blasts at me while I jump off the walls.

“To hell it is! I’m just as much your rival as he is. Take me on, Katsuki.” I whirl a flame ball one after another at him as I run off to follow Izuku. I hear him following up. I can’t find where he went and suddenly hear Kacchan yell out. He thinks Izuku has been hiding his quirk to mock him? What?? He continues to yell and I hear his explosives going off. I reach the second floor and see Izuku gasping for air.

“Izuchan!” He spots me with shock.

“I told you to run ahead! We’ll run out of time if we both go after Kacchan.” He looks around.

“You...” I lower my head. He turns to me.

“You forget, I’m your rival too. I’m both of y’all’s rivals. Why can’t you both understand that? I’ll take him down too, and when you get stronger, we’ll fight as well.” I look at him, tears-eyed. He’s gaping at me before he shuts his mouth with a gulp.

“Today we work together but I don’t know if tomorrow we will. One day we’ll be out against each other and I want both of you as my rivals. I’ve looked up to both of you two in so many different ways. In goals, in ambitions, in strength, and in perseverance! So for now, let’s take both take him on! Please. Just understand me.” I clench my jaw and fist. I need them to know. We all share a history and even if mine can’t be like theirs, I still was there. I was still a target. I am still your friend!

“Then there’s no time to lose. Let’s find him.” He gets up and his eyes are filled with determination.

“And also, I take back everything I said about Kacchan last year. If you remember.” And I did, just like it was yesterday. The denial of being a challenge. It’s been flipped on its head and now it’s us two against him.

We run off to find the floor Ochacco’s on. We carefully manage to avoid Kacchan and get a voice memo from Ochacco. She’s right above us! We’ve got less than 6 minutes remaining, she’s got Iida to handle as well. Izuku extends the capture tape, looking around the corner but I see him. Kacchan’s found us and he’s just at the other end. His grenade wrist things glow and we turn to stare him down.

“I’m all loaded up.” Raising his arm to showcase those gallon things on them. Hell is that?!

“Why don’t you use your fancy quirk? Don’t tell me you’re underestimating me Deku! Come over here and show me what you’re really made of!” He’s only staring at Izuchan. But I’m here too brat! Izuku looks over to me with a nod. I smile, at least one of them understands my view.

“Kacchan, I’m not scared of you anymore!” He yells to him and I fan out my flames. He goes into spiel about how his quirk works and how those gauntlets have expanded the power of his quirk. I get a chill and realize he’s really planning to fatally injure us. I jump in front of Izuku and push my quirk as much as I can.

“NO!” I scream out and a wall of fire erupts in front of us. I know I can absorb heat and flames to fuel my own but if I take in this much I might combust. I need to at least parry it and lessen the damage. His explosion blows insanely quickly towards us and blasts through the wall behind us, we’re thrown to the ground but thanks to my quirk I took more the hit than he did. I wasn’t in pain, just disgruntled.

“Is...is that even allowed?!” He sits up and stares at him through the smoke. Kacchan laughs, praising his enhancements. He sounds near deranged. He sounds unhinged , he’s really trying to kill Izuku!

“You damn... you’re lucky I deflected it as much as I could. Stop aiming for one when there’s two!” I hurl a firewall towards him to push him back. I strain my arms to push forward, it feels like I’m trying to move a boulder! I step forward, and forward, skidding back and scrapping my shoes. I hear him yell and the wall blasts back at me. I turn and take the hit, it lessens the damage if I just absorb my flames. I look to Izuku who’s still down and hurriedly pick him up.

Kacchan taunts at Deku, even when I just charged at him. He’s so narrow sighted! He’s still got that crazy look in his eyes. I shield Izuku. But All Might’s voice rings out and I hear him restricting Kacchan’s quirk, it agitates him so much he screams. He’s charging at us with his explosives. I run towards him barring my arms. I ready a punch and swing! He moves right when I do and I narrowly even graze him! I turn too slowly to see Izuku get blasted in the back!

“CRAP!” I turn around to get close to Kacchan. But he lands a right hook into Izuku’s arm! I’m too slow, hows he moving so fast! I feel like I’m stuck in mud with how quickly he attacks Izuku. I jump and go for another kick. My leg with the hideous scar is blazing up, this has never happened before! It’s swarmed in fire and I land one across his head. He takes it in full stride! The heat would leave a burn for sure so why-! He’s sweating a lot and grabs my leg to throw me aside. He aims his hand and sends three blasts while I’m down. I take it with the flames still flickering on my arms.

When I look up, I see he’s thrown Izuku down like Izuku did to him before! I’m getting fatigued but I get up with a wobble. Izuku needs help! He’s running away from Kacchan as he walks up. I skid over to him and block him with my arms. I lose my balance and instead end up next to him instead. Izuku, let’s out an emotional outburst. He’s praising Kacchan right now?! They charge at each other and I kick upwards again. I see Izuku’s arm glow and Kacchan’s hands heat up. I’m a little too behind, they’ll hit each other before I can land a hit!

But then he swings upwards, Izuku just blasted a hole through the building, all the way to the top! I land a kick in as Kacchan gets distracted, I hear him grunt. I finally landed a good hit. I set my foot ablaze to add insult to injury and hear him grit his teeth. He swings at me and hits me too harshly in my stomach. I gag and huff as I fly backwards. That, I couldn’t absorb. I rag for air as the building crumbles around me. I can’t tell what happened, but I hear them talking to each other. I push myself up, Izuku is horribly hurt!

“Izu- ACK!” I’m spitting up and I see him fall over. I hear All Might’s voice clearly when he yells out. But I’m sure I’m blacking out right now.

“The hero team...WINS!”

Chapter Text

I wake up with a start. I must have blacked out after the battle. I stretch my body and look around, I’m in the nurses office. My body is all healed up even though my uniform is slightly singed. I pull back the curtain and make my way out. I spot Izuku and see his wounds, they’re awful. I pat his arm and make my way back to class.

I watch as the other students bustle about, looking those in the hallway and outside through the windows. A few people stare and whisper but I happily make my way back to the training location. I slide down the rails of the stairs and skip towards the building the other students are in.

Once I open the door, All Might and the others stare at me. He greets me and welcomes me back. The other students chatter and pride my aid in the battle. They introduce each other and explain what’s happened so far. I try to take in all the names and remember them as I watch the last battle of the day. Tsuyu and I chat with Iida and Ochacco by our sides. Slowly, I’m getting along with more people!

Though I made my rounds in introducing myself to each person, some came off colder than I expected. Especially Todoroki Shouto, no pun intended really. He was frank and standoffish. He shut me down before I finished my ‘nice to meet you.’ I’d say he’s a jerk but he’s probably just not the sociable type. I leave it at that.

As the rounds wrap up, All Might praised us on our battles today. He jets off to check on Izuku, with praises following his tail. We all begin to make our way towards the locker rooms to change back to uniforms. I get to chat with the others more and exchange numbers with a few.

The door opens to reveal Izuku in an arm brace. A few students happily chirp at him, introducing themselves and priding him on his work well done. Others stand by to chat with others or to keep to themselves. I didn’t even notice Kacchan was missing until Izuku asked. We both ran out to find him, Isuzu running much quicker than I did. He reaches Kacchan right before I make it to the door. When I come out, Izuku is speaking to him.

“Kacchan, I have something to tell you.” He tells him his quirk was a gift and he’s training to better himself as a user of it. He says he hasn’t been lying to him but will train to take him on properly one day. Kacchan is shaking. When he speaks, his voice is wobbly. He announces his own challenge against Izuku with teary eyes. It’s my first time seeing him cry.

I stand quietly by the door, not wanting to interrupt or invade but I’m already here! I begin to run up towards him before I see All Might rushing forth. He begins a motivational speech towards Kacchan about pride and power. But it didn’t go through to him. Instead, he says he’ll usurp All Might’s legacy with his own.

“Kacchan, wait!”

“Screw off BRAT!” He yells back and walks away.

I huff and turn towards Izuku and All Might, who are both shocked to see me. I play it off saying I just walked out to catch up to the both of them and saw All Might out here. I wanted to see what was wrong.

“Nothing but a spark lit between rivals!” He laughs heartily. I furrow my brow and clench my fists.

“Then I’ll make sure Kacchan knows he’s got one more. Me.” I turn around and walk briskly inside. I hear the murmurs of All Might speaking with Izuku. Whatever it takes, I’ll fight Kacchan with all my power. Then he’ll understand that I want to be on that same level as him.

######################

We’re back to school Monday and as I slip on my boots with a kick at the toe, my sister calls out to me.

“Hey, wait, I forgot to even ask you! All Might’s your teacher?!” She’s in awe, looking at the newspaper.

“Yeah he was my teacher the other day, we did a quirk battle with him monitoring us.” I saw casually, fixing the stain on my lip. I can tell I said it too nonchalant for her liking.

“Uh, hello! Don’t haft all high and MIGHTy, ah ha ha.” She snickers, her ears flickering. I squint at her with a disapproving face. She clears her throat and goes back to the kitchen. I announce my departure and make my way to the station with Izuku. He seems a little frazzled but I don’t comment on it. I instead offer him toast from my kitchen as we walk.

However, when we make it to school, the press are here. They’re badgering for news from US of all people. We can’t even get to class with all these people swarming at us. Izuku, Ochacco, and Iida are all cornered with questions that they answer way too characteristically. A microphone is shoved near my face and I look up to the woman shouting at me.

“What’s All Might planning to do for these new students of UA?” I smirk, I bet I look great right now on camera.

“Probably teaching us to go even further beyond. Plus Ultra~” I say before pushing through to class. I hear them clamoring at more students and huff a sigh. The trio waits for me by the door and we question what’s the big idea. I spot Mr. Aizawa through the window and see the walls at the gate whirl up. The press must have tried getting inside. I snicker to myself at their futile attempts for news.

As class begins, our teacher comments on our performance yesterday. He scolds both Kacchan and Izuku. Unlike them, I got only praise on how well I deflected the situation, albeit getting hurt in the end. I’m only told to strengthen up my pain tolerance. He continues on for other students with praises and critiques. After he’s finished, he announces our next task. Everyone bristles, I wonder if it’s another test.

“You all need to pick a class Rep.” Oh, just normal school stuff! People jump up to garner votes and win the spot. After all, if you’re class Rep, you’ll be easily noticed more by big shot agencies. It’s like a title that follows you later! I raise my hand and hadn’t realized my hair flickering in excitement.

“I’d like to run!” I say happily, getting stares at my hair.

“Do not use your quirk inside the classroom.” Mr. Aizawa scolds and I hurriedly pat at the flames.

“It’s a force of habit...” I say sheepishly. Before Iida pipes up to quiet everyone’s chattering. He’s issuing an election even though he’s very avidly expressing his want to be rep. Many object and list the cons of how this will turn out, besides it’s only the third day and I can’t gauge a proper impression on everyone yet.

Midoriya and I get 3 votes, with both of us exclaiming our surprise for it. We look at each other and realize we probably voted for the other. I wonder who else voted for me. Kacchan stands up expressing his objection against our votes, with Sero checking his attitude. Though it was chosen to be us two as Rep and Deputy, I gave my position to Yaoyorozu. She seemed more fitted anyways. Though a few remarks said my selfishness won’t get me anywhere. Little do they know, I just hate speaking in front of a class.

At lunch (rush), we all grab a plate to eat together. Oh account says it’s always crowded but Aida explains how all classes share the cafeteria. Though Izuku expresses his concern for his class rep position, we assure him he’s fine. Though I feel like Iida really wanted the position instead. He encourages him though, which makes me smile. I continue to nibble at my yakisoba, it tastes really good today.

Iida continues to mention about his family agency and how they’ve been around for generations. Though Izuku and Ochacco praise him, I realize he’s similar to me. Though I’m sure a lot of students with hero parents owning their own agencies are. Izuku looks over to me after Iida finishes explaining their family tradition and his brother Ingenium. I’m in awe at that though, he’s pretty damn famous!

“That’s like Akichan’s family in a way.” Izuku says, sending eyes my direction mid noodle pull. I slowly slurp up the remaining noodles to quickly swallow it down. I cover my mouth in slight embarrassment.

“You’re filthy rich too?!” Ochacco asks, and I laugh at that.

“I suppose, yeah! Though our family history is a little more different.” I begin.

“My family comes from a long line of people who worshipped the elemental gods and spirits. As quirks began to manifest, the Phoenix quirk was the first to show in the Akikami clan. It was the start of a virtuous and incredibly powerful hero. She was my long time ancestor, and the only other person to have a quirk like mine. As more generations of quirks developed, they mutated into different mythical beings. My parents are divergents of the clan, though not directly related but similar in quirk origins. My mother is a kitsune and my father is a Water serpent. Both representing spiritual deities. From some mutation and possibly an omen, I was born to be the Phoenix.”

I fill in more minor details about my siblings and my parents agency. They merged it after they got married and carried out stealth missions more than public ones. It’s why we live in a nice traditionally modern home. I couldn’t help but feel proud of my parents and I can feel the bliss beaming off of me. They’re also in awe and Iida praises our long ancestors line. Izuku knew most of this already anyways since we’ve been friends for so long.

An alarm goes off, there’s a level 3 security breach. Someone’s gotten past the security system, we have to evacuate. We’re stuck in a surge of all kinds of students pushing their way down the hall, I feel so cramped and small as so many towering bodies lush and shove against me. I try to reach out for Izuku’s sleeve but he’s opening pulled back. Iida is looking out the window and Ochacco is stuck between some upperclassmen.

It seems the press are still forcing the teachers hand. It means they must’ve set off the alarm, so it’s just a false threat! I hear Iida’s faint voice in the deafening crowd. But I can’t make out what he’s saying! There’s no teachers around?? I’m getting stepped on and there’s no familiar faces. I’m.. I’m scared! I gasp for air, it’s so suffocating. But then I see Iida propel in the air, he’s yelling with trembling legs. His voice is strong and direct.

He just handled an entire hall of students by himself! The police have shown up to escort the press away and slowly, the students calmly make their way out. Slowly, I see Ochacco and Isuzu again, I run up happily to them. I can breathe clearly again! Ochacco gets Iida down and we head back to clean up in the cafeteria before returning to class.

The class rep, Izuchan, and Yaoyorozu are up at the podium. However, Izuku interjects instead to announce Iida should be our class rep instead because of his call to attention from earlier! Kirishima agrees and so Denki agree. Iida stands and announces his call to action. Though Yaoyorozu looks defeated, I clap quietly for his deserved position.

Mr. Aizawa explains our training regime for today will be with three pro heroes, but is it because of the break in? Sero asks about what the training will be. It turns out we’ll be doing a rescue! Learning to save those in need in all kinds of predicaments! I’m excited and hope that my costume can even take in anything other than extreme heat.

After getting changed and repairing bits of my uniform, I see Izuku in his PE uniform. He explains he’s getting it fixed just as Iida rallies us up into formation. We’re loading into buses to access the off campus location arena! We chat together on the bus, Tsuyu talks about Izuku’s quirk being similar to All Might though Kirishima objects. Now that I think about it, it’s true how similar it is. And he did say his quirk isn’t his own.

I didn’t even think about it much but now that I realize it. I couldn’t believe my ears. Who gave him that quirk? Is that even possible to absorb another persons quirk? And if it was All Might... why? How? Thinking on it more makes me come to a lot of different solutions. But not one can even be confirmed. Before I speak up, we’ve arrived at the location.

We’re greeted by 13, the space hero! Everyone agrees this experience will be awesome as 13 shows us inside. The inside location looks absoulutely phenomenal, and as Denki puts it, ‘an amusement park!” I’m in awe with how every element of danger could be explored in such a wonderfully spaced and decorated dome! There’s even fire aspects I could really show off my quirk in. My hair begins to flicker in excitement.

13 explains how she created this place to simulate every possibly danger. The Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short! However it resembles Universal Studios Japan way too much. The teachers talk though, albeit quietly about something... about All Might? They’re starting without him anyways.

She goes on to explain her quirk Black Hole in how quirks can be powerfully advantageous but fatally lethal. She compares it to how our powers can be to others and tells us to connect our prior learning into saving lives. Not to attack but to ensure the safety of others! She thanks us for listening and we applaud her graciously. As Mr. Aizawa beckons our attention, the lights begin to static and go out. The water fountain has some... purple void expanding from it!

Mr. Aizawa tells us to stay together and to not move, there’s a disturbance! No... there’s villains! Things and people are stepping out of the hole, is the training beginning? Mr. Aizawa snaps at us to stay back, those ARE real villains!! My blood runs cold and I take a step back. I’ve never really been this close to villains since... since..!

I feel my chest feel heavy, this isn’t good. I’m so scared, I want to run away. It’s like something’s frightening me much worse. This reminds me too much of something else and I can’t tear my eyes away from the swarming mass of terrifying forms. A man with hands across his face and body stands still in the middle. Who are these people!

“Stay back! Don’t engage!” Mr. Aizawl shouts, his scarf begins to fly up. He’s readying to attack but there’s only two pro hero’s and hordes of enemies. We’re all standing frozen at where we stand. On just out third day here, villains invade. We’re stuck to watch it unfold... or even... be targeted.

Chapter Text

We’re all staring at the purple void, waiting for those villains to all step out. I glance to 13 and Mr. Aizawa to see if they’d make a move. It’s almost as if no ones even breathing either! I look to Izuku and Ochacco by me and they’re expressions are both in fear. I tremble, I’m so nauseous right now I swear I’ll throw up.

It seems they’ve used the press to throw off their own invasion. Mr. Aizawa keeps on speaking to them by blocking us, he’s probably pressing for information and coming up with a plan. I hope All Might arrives soon, we need him!

The hand man speaks in such a scratchy voice, he’s trying to get All Might here too but by killing us off?! I want to get angry but the possibility of legitimately dying is way too high for me to get ballsy. Mr. Aizawa’s scarf flew up and blocked some of my view of the villains.

This is what Heroes truly go up against. The evils of the land and the true evil-doers. I realize then that this is what we’ll have to go against when we’re older. In a way, our lesson really has just begun.

Many students murmur about how this is even happening, where are the alarms? 13 herself isn’t sure. Have they disabled the security? Are they really coming for us of all people?

“No, that’s no way to think. You should be ashamed of yourself.” I whisper to myself head down. Todoroki speaks up, explaining and seeing through the villains plans. This location especially was isolated and further away from groups of heroes. We’re making ourselves easy targets for them.

Mr. Aizawa begins beckoning commands to 13 and Denki. The latter will try to get help via his quirk. Izuku speaks up to our teacher and how his quirk isn’t suited for mass attacks. However, Mr. Aizawa says you can’t be a hero by limiting yourself to one trick.

He jumps off the stairs and sprints towards the closest villains. They’re trash talking him and would’ve ganged up 3 versus 1 style! In a flash, their quirks were cut off and his scarves are wrapped around their bodies. He bashed their heads against each other, knockjng all three unconsious!

“Woah, he’s... incredibly skilled!” I say to Izuku, who’s eyes are trained on our teacher’s quick moving body. Me. Aizawa takes on even the bad guys who are twice his size, flipping them over with such ease. He seems to not be able to disable physical quirks and yet was able to overpower them by his own strength.

Just as quickly as him, we’re all moving out. I didn’t realize we were evacuating so quickly, Izuku and I were a little behind. Iida calls out to us, moving us along to get out the face of danger. However, we were blocked by that purple blob guy.

“Nice to meet you, we are the League of Villians.” Void Man says. It feels as if they’re playing some dress up game, what a sorry excuse for a title. I couldn’t help but scrunch my face at this purple blob. If I could I’d love to just take a big breath and blow away all that smog he’s got around him.

Void Man begins to entertain himself by talking up their evil deeds. They planned on killing All Might here, even badmouthing him by the end of it. I grit my teeth, who is he to mock him?! Kacchan and Kirishima jump up, trying to attack at him. Surely with how strong they are, he would’ve gotten damaged!

He was not, instead, he was angered. He wrapped us all around in his void and was beginning to transport us around the place. He was gonna drop us off to be attacked by those heinous vultures! Crap, it’s enveloping me, it feels like thick air! I want to sputter and cough and-

Before I know it, I land in the burning fire zone with Ojiro, villains are already surging forward. I jump up, absorbing all the heat I can around here. Thank goodness, this place is basically a protein shake. I can feel my stamina expand, my adrenaline is kicking in!

“Ojiro!” I jump off one of the mountains of debris and land next to him on the street. My arms and legs are covered in flames, flickering in tune with the ones already set there. I whisk my hand and all the flames move in my direction. Oh, hell yeah.

“Ojiro, take my left, I’ll go right, they’re forming a circle around us!” I sprint off, jumping up high. I clap my hands and the flames from around the villains cave in. They wrap around them and swarm into a dome, trapping them to the ground. I swing my leg and kick down.

“Stomp of Fire!” I yell out and push down as much weight as I can on the constructed bodies. I hear reactions of pain under me and I flip off. I see ojiro swing his tail to swipe villains off their feet. I rush off and shoot fireballs at them, sending them flying back. I never felt so in my element!

I swarm more fire on my body and spin, sending out spirals of fire towards any remaining villains left. Those who aren’t as paralyzed are hit and spit vulgar names at us. Ojiro applies more force on the bodies that try to pick themselves up. After one final look, we run off while we can.

“I feel so, strong! I haven’t had this much heat to absorb!” I’m practically flying with how the fire is carrying me. Though I got this spurt of strength, the burn out will be crazy. Ojiro smiles and laughs a bit.

“You’re so energetic right now, I know you had a fire quirk but this is insane!” His praise fuels me on and I laugh too. I see some villains behind us beginning to pick themselves up.

“Excuse me for this.” I apologize in advance.

“Wait, huh, what-!” I’m picking up Ojiro and carry him towards the exit. I hold up his arms as his feet are barely off the ground. Thankfully the fire isn’t touching him to the point of burns and I can quickly get us out of here. Blasting out the dome, I get as far as we can and hide away from other villains.

“We need to find a way to get to 13 and the others.” I turn to Ojiro, already feeling my energy seeping.

“Can’t you fly us back up?” He stares up at the entrance to the building. We’re at the other end, if I fly...

“We’re too far for me. If I use up all that energy I got, I’ll burn out quick. It’s my first time ever having such a surge of strength. I still need to push myself to get stronger.” I grip my fist tightly and he nods in understanding.

“That’s okay! We’ll make it back on foot, try and save your energy for any other fights we encounter!” I smile at him and agree. We’re staring out from our spot and see our teacher fighting the other villains from a distance away.

I also spot Izuku in the water with Tsuyu and Mineta. I want to run out to meet them but if we put ourselves, all 5 of us will be exposed. I look over to Ojiro who looks incredibly confused.

“What should we do now?” I whisper and also point to the others who are coming out the water. He’s silent for a while. He’s taking too long, they’re getting closer to where Mr. Aizawa is.

“Listen Ojiro, I’ll join them. Go to the others, help them out!” I jump up and out before he can answer, floating by them with a thud. I’m still not that graceful, but at least I’m not hurt. Izuku jolts and turns with furrowed brows. When he realizes it’s me, he sighs.

“What’re you doing here? Were you able to escape?” He says as I crouch by them. I don’t hate water but if I’m doused while in the state I am, I won’t be much help. I explain to them what happened with Ojiro.

“Wow you did that! That’s great!” Tsuyu says happily and I blush. All this praise will get my head too big. We turn back to our teacher and someone’s running up to him. Man with many hands just decimated his elbow! There’s cracks and flesh peeking out. Fear swarms over, my elation is long gone.

The hand man speaks to Aizawa but unbeknownst to him, a large bird guy is looming behind him. As fast as he appeared is as fast as he attacked. He pinned our teacher down and broke his arm to shreads. I gagged silently, the cracks of his bones were so audible even from here!

That monster has crawled over his body and began to twist and crush his arm. Then his other. Then his skull. It’s so grotesque and violent. It looks like absolute torture. He’s bleeding out and he’s in so much pain I couldn’t ever imagine. I’ve never even broken a bone!

“I can’t watch this anymore.” Mineta cowers and covers his mouth. The Void man appears, it seems they’re gonna retreat! But they’re not moving. Instead, hand guy is charging towards-!

“NO!” I spring up, too slowly. His hand grasps her face. But nothing happens. I turn over, Mr. Aizawa’s bloody head is staring straight at this villain before being slammed into the ground. Izuku jumps up and punches at him, wind blowing he into the water. I grasp the edge to hang on.

I see the hand guy reach out for both Tsuyu and Mineta as that Nomu monster grasps onto Izuku. I can’t move fast enough to stop him. A sudden explosion from the entrance has everyone stilling. All Might steps forward announcing his famous slogan.

“Worry not, dear students. For I am here.” His face is grim and so noticeable even from down here. I almost want to cry. I want to move but, afraid of setting off this freaky dude and his pet, I stay frozen by the edge.

“We’re saved!” Mineta cries out.

“He’s here, All Might. And he’s not smiling.” Izuku says as All Might throws his tie and jacket off. All Might zooms by, knocking down countless villains in his wake. Mr. Aizawa is in his arms, unconscious and bloody. In a split second, I feel the world tilt and I’m suddenly in between large bulky arms. I’m piled in between Izuku and Tsuyu before we’re back on our feet.

“What the-!”

“Everyone back to the entrance, and take Aizawa back with you.” His voice is stern and assertive, not taking his eyes off the enemy. Izuku and I are frozen to our spot. When I look up, the hand man is fumbling for his hand...mask? He’s grumbling at those hands, or speaking to it? He must be monologuing.

Izuku begins to pick up Mr. Aizawa and I hold his other side steady. Tsuyu and Mineta are behind us. Though Izuku stutters about his quirk and how it didn’t affect that nomu monster, but All Might throws up a hand then a peace sign.

“Young Midoriya, I’ve got this!” His confidence and radiance is shining brightly. I look over to Izuku and he begins to move. We get going and make our way carefully to the entrance. I look back for a second and see the brawl starts immediately. I try to haul my weight to help us get out the way and get to safety.

When loud waves of water and attacks get more chaotic, we all turn to watch. Mineta adds his own little commentary of how All Might is doing. But he hasn’t landed one hit yet, that monster is just... a solid block of mass! Izuku is deep in his thoughts, as his head is turned around. Tsuyu relaxes and calls All Might unstoppable but yet Izuku remains quiet.

Mineta continues to cheer for him, albeit teary eyed. I remain quiet, keeping Mr. Aizawa’s body warm. I wish I could heal some of his wounds but I don’t even know how far my quirk can reach. I just know more heat gives more power and that I have a time limit when I reach my peak. I need to write this down, maybe I’m getting the same habits of Izuku.

When the smoke clears, we see the nomu is halfway in a portal and his fingers are digging into All Might’s sides! The void is opening wider and All Might will be sucked in. The villains are speaking, they’re telling him their murder plan. We have to do something, I want to go and save him!

“Tsuyu, please hold Mr. Aizawa with Akichan for me.” Izuku speaks lowly. I look abashed at him.

“But what are you going to do?” He says nothing, only running off towards him crying his eyes out.

“IZUKU STOP!” I falter and almost fumble Mr. Aizawa.

“Are you crazy?!” Mineta screams out. He’s still running anyways, he’s going to get himself killed! He jumps right into a purple void that opens up, he’s gonna fall in!

“GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY DEKU!” Kacchan blasts through, disrupting the smog. He grabs the void man by some metal plate. A large trail of ice begins to spread towards the nomu’s bottom half and up his arms. It’s Todoroki! He found out their plan from those minor thug villains he had to take on as well. All Might flips out from the nomu’s hold, freeing himself!

Kirishima flips out and dives for the hand guy but misses. Tsuyu and Mineta are talking about them appearing but quickly move along to the entrance. But they’re all grouped together, and damn do they look so cool! I...

“I want to join them!” I call out. I know I’m not strong enough so even though I call out, I rush to hurry and place Mr. Aizawa to safety. I go back down but many student stop me, I... I want to be useful too. We’re all just here waiting for them to save us. I look back and the nomu has climbed out of the portal thing, he breaks off chunks of his body that were covered in ice. But! They grew back!

“He has multiple quirks, he’s some monster hybrid.” I murmur lowly. As if time stopped, the nomu sprang close to Kacchan only to be saved by All Might! I’m at the edge of the stairs, watching them as the villains speak back and forth. The guys look ready to fight at any time, but I’m sure All Might is trying to send them back. Hand guy is charging straight towards him, then the nomu, and then... All Might makes contact!

He’s repeatedly brawling as the boys are blown back, no ones able to get close at all. I can feel the wind bristle my hair, the flames are flickering up at the tips. All Might’s insane speeded punches turn to throwing the moms around in mid air! He throws the monster down, with a huge crack into the ground. He’s charging up another punch and-

“Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!” Sending that monster straight through the roof! My jaw went slack and I hear the students behind me cheer and chatter happily. I look back down to our number one hero, smoke flies around him as he poses heroically. I clap to him from where I stand even when no one sees me. One of the biggest role models of my life continues to win!

Those underlings of those bad guys are getting up. Maybe! Maybe I can help too! I watch as Izuku charges up at them, but the hand man is about to reach him. Until the Hand man’s hand gets shot! I turn to see all the other heroes have arrived! They’re taking out the remaining villains so quickly! There’s even president Nezu! I step back a bit more as I watch those bad guys get sucked into their own void despite 13 trying to apprehend them.

We all then work to get everyone out and back to UA. Izuku is down, paralyzed on the ground. When I look over to All Might is... thinner? He looks a bit strange, not weird but as if he’s losing a battle against his own health! They’re talking together but somehow Izuku starts crying repulsively. Whatever it may be, he must have taken quite the hit then. I huff a sigh, and feel a rise of emotions bubble up.

I turn back and join Tsuyu’s and Mina’s side, we’re all just chattering about what happened just now. It’s only the fifth day of school and we’re already in contact with such dangers! I don’t know what the rest of the school years will offer. But if it was anything like today, we’ll all come out of this as amazing heroes. Slowly we all make out way out as they make a student count.

They’re all talking together now of where they landed and how they handled the situation. I explain how Ojiro and I worked along side the other. I even included how I discovered new limits to my quirk. Everyone shares their own experience and how it affected them. Aoyama is still trying to garner attention even when others are ignoring him.

A detective and the police are here to disclose and contain the situation. We ask for updates on those that risked their lives, our teachers and even Izuku. Thankfully, we’re reassured of their conditions. I smile relieved and follow the masses back to class. I take one final look back at the USJ and close my eyes. This will be an unforgettable day, I won’t forget to tell my family about this later!

The sun begins to set and no sign of those who are still recovering. We still have to change and get back home. But I’m so worried for All Might and Izuku, both didn’t look good at all. I know recovery girl will heal them up nicely. It’s just their quirks and powers, were so similar and yet so dangerous on only Izuku. Could it be... that he’s training under All Might? Before I make any real connections, I’m pulled from my thoughts as many of my classmates chat with me.

Every single one of us can feel that shift, that this moment in time sealed our future for us. The unpredictable and possibly turbulent path we’ll be facing as we go into our heroic ways. I look out onto the horizon from the window. Whatever the next day presents, we’ll definitely be ready for.

I decide to wait back with Ochacco and Iida for Izuku even when it’s gotten so dark out. When we get quiet, we finally hear footsteps approaching us. There he was, looking better than before. We happily greet him and all walk to the station together. When I do finally get home, I immediately let my family know what had happened. Though my parents were beyond angry and even feared for my safety at UA, I argued my point in how I’m still standing.

Later that night, I send a goodnight text to Izuku before staring up at my ceiling. It didn’t properly click all the way for me that my life was in danger. And then how everything ended well. I learned something new about myself and even then I couldn’t properly showcase any relatively strong powers like the boys from earlier. Well, no use in mopping. Just goes to show how much I need to work on now.

With that, I click off my lamp and slip into the night. However, my dream this time around was different. I saw a blurry face of a woman who was glowing. She was sitting, drinking tea before she realized I was staring at her. She sets her cup down and stands. I try to squint to clear my vision but all I hear is her voice.

“So you can finally see me.”

Chapter Text

The news are covering the attack at USJ today. They’ve got it down to the minor details of how and what went down. It’s Thursday and a day off even when our first week is almost over. I’m sure the others are resting on this day off but, being as restless as I’ve been since yesterday night, I go for a run.

Even when the run wasn’t enough, I went train with my mom. Then with my dad. Then my sister. Though my body was physically tired, my head was screaming. There was not just a headache throbbing but a sense of foreboding. I don’t know who I can even talk to about that dream.

Since the family was home today for my day off, minus my brother, we made snacks and hung out. We caught up on shows and dramas we usually watch once a night. But even with the relaxing atmosphere, I wanted to keep moving. I needed answers! I can’t keep ignoring my dream anymore!

I shut my eyes for a bit. Reliving those few moments that woman was in my dream. Whoever she was, she felt familiar and welcoming. I’ve never had a dream where it felt like it was as if I was just talking to someone in my living room. I couldn’t even see her clearly. She only spoke as a bright halo consumed her. She said she had been waiting for me, that it was all too long for me to finally come to my senses.

“I don’t have much time left. You need to get stronger, once you can get a grip on your quirk, we’ll talk again. So please, hurry up!” She laughs as a grandmother would to their grandchild. As fast as the dream started, was as fast it ended. I woke up slowly this morning and just laid there. Completely baffled!

It was totally just a dream, not some mesh of my quirk invading my head as I sleep. To some quirks are extensions of themselves but mine had always been my identity. It’s part of me by personality and power. It was hard to explain but if I wasn’t the destined Phoenix and I was just another kitsune or water serpent, I’d treat my quirk differently. My quirk resonated with me ever since that day and it’s always been just a knowing feeling for some things.

“Hey, stop zoning out, you’re missing the episode.” Kiyomi says, mouth full of mochi ice cream. I tsk her and stand to grab a glass of water, gulping it all down at once. Thinking of going back to school tomorrow excited me beyond belief for some reason. I just hoped the day passed by sooner, even though I do relish moments like these.

The next day, all the talk is about the news of the USJ attack. Hagakure was sullen at her missed opportunity of screen time even when I saw a glimpse of me in the group of girls walking out. I giggle and reassure her she’s still a dazzling star. Everyone adds in their own thoughts of what happened before Mineta begins yelling. With tears in his eyes he exclaims how terrified he was. Luckily Kacchan checked him before Iida rushed to announce everyone to settle in, when he wasn’t.

I hear Mina ask who would be our teacher today when Mr. Aizawa was still healing from his wounds. Right when we mention him, the door slides open to reveal a man of bandages, our teacher! Shocked, we all ask what’s he doing here and why he’s not resting. He’s limping to the front and announces the upcoming sports festival soon. Though we’re excited, others think this is a bad time.

Mr. Aizawa debunks those worries especially with how important this event is for the entire school and not just us. He explains more in detail about how the tournament’s importance is reflected on us as we grow up, with Yaoyorozu adding in the possibilities of agency recruitments. I lean my head on my hands, I can’t wait to work as a sidekick there or an internship for a place that would be good for my quirk! Maybe an agency who’s got a super strong hero to help me bulk up!

Mr. Aizawa finishes the class by telling us not to slack off and to work continuously for that tournament. It’s soon lunch and we’re all chatting with each other about possibly agencies watching. I’m sitting atop my desk, listening in and joining when some ask for my opinion. Though when Ochacco adds her input, she’s glowering. As if some purple intense aura radiates off her as she looks forward to the tournament. She looks pretty crazy. I just laugh at her antics and we all make our way to the cafeteria.

At lunch we talk about why we even want to be heroes, since Izuku started it by questioning Ochacco. Though she admits it’s for the money, it’s more rooted to support her parents. It warmed my heart hearing her say something close to my own goals. When asked about why I want to be a hero, I decide it’s best to be straightforward about it.

“I want to show my strength. I don’t ever want to be seen as an object or a weakling. My parents have been my motivators forever, both being heroes. I want to be able to save those who are subjected to pains no one can even think of. I want to save as many people as I can.” I look down, carefully avoiding a certain topic but making it clear my intent. Though they’re silent, they clap for me as well. Their support is overwhelming and I feel accepted.

That is when All Might comes sprinting towards us asking Izuku to have lunch with him. Though both Ochacco and I find his antics adorable, I couldn’t help to wonder why they’re so close. It’s amazing for Izuku, he’s bonding with his lifelong idol. I’d never miss a chance like that if I was presented it.

The three of us make it inside the cafeteria, chatting up the possibilities on what it could be that the two of them are chatting about. I just couldn’t wait to get some chicken katsu, I was starving! With my muscles still a little sore from the continuous training, my appetite matched the remaining rush of restlessness. Iida mentions how Izuku’s quirks resembled All Might’s and that’s probably what interested the pro hero.

At some point when we were back to class, there was a swarm of students blocking our door. So many eyes were just staring and murmuring comments about us. I felt oddly... icky. Though Mineta screamed at them to leave us alone, Kacchan said they’re scoping us out to see if we’re competition. Due to our survival against a real villain attack, they want to see what they’re going up against.

“At least now you see what a future pro is like. Now move it extras.” He says to the swarm of students.

“Kacchan!” I shout.

“You can’t go around calling people extras because you don’t know who they are!” Iida reprimands.

“So this is class 1-A. I thought you all were impressive but you just sound like an ass.” A tired looking purple haired student comes through the crowd. He’s picking a fight with Kacchan, even though he called us all out on his behavior. I scrunched my face at him, muttering foul names at another hot headed fool. He called us ego maniacs!

He’s now spilling his life story and his lost opportunity at being a hero. He’s trying to replace one of us! His attitude is worthy of a punch to the face. I feel myself getting heated, not to add my hair flickering into flames. I can’t let my emotion get the best of me and get me expelled, like another time.

“I’m here to let you know, this is a declaration of war.” Man, where did this guy even come from?! I shake with contained annoyance, I’d love to give him a piece of my mind. I turn over to my usual trio and they’re all a little fearful of him. What’s so scary about this ballsy guy? We already have a Kacchan.

“Hey you! I’m from class 1-B!” A guy with silvery long hair starts yelling at us and calling us names as well! Why’s everyone out for our blood, we haven’t even been here a full week. He keeps on barking even when Kacchan takes his leave. Even though Kirishima strikes to get him to clean up his mess, he instead fuels a fire. I couldn’t help agree when he said-

“These people don’t matter, we just have to beat them. Now move it.” And left! Everyone just went along since he’s right. Losing a spot in our class because someone overpowered us, with the quirks we worked hard to hone? Fat chance. I’ll knock them all down a peg. Now I wonder if my ego is like this from being around Kacchan for so long.

I turn to my trio and we begin chattering our way out. Though I lead, I don’t mind the nasty stares thrown out way. I hiss back teasingly to rally a reaction before I step through. I couldn’t care less for how some strangers care about me, I’ve got worse demons to fry. When I get home that evening, I ask for an upgrade to my usual training regimen.

For the next two weeks leading up to the tournament, I push myself to further bounds. I tell them of my burn out if I reach peak energy absorption and how much I can control at my strongest. From there, I reciprocate my training at home to school as well. Where I spar with my sister in our dojo, I take up gym routines my mom planned for me. Where I concentrate on mind and body control with my brother, I work with others to destroy varying objects.

I work hard to align not only personal training but to work around others around me. Spacial awareness along with stamina strengthening. I test how far I can jump with the boost my fire can give me, I change the forms I can hold my flames in, I do just about anything I can with fire and heat. The way my quirk works is taking in heat from around me; from others, the sun, or fires already made. The heat turns to energy and fuel for my own fire to come alive. Due to my power resembling that of a Phoenix, I usually take on flames in shapes of birds but they can also be casted around my body like armor or as a type of feathers.

I feel myself bulking up in not only muscle mass but I feel more alive. Throwing out fires left and right and extinguishing them myself was not as exhausting anymore. I woke up early to run and I stayed up late to push my body to last longer. In the final days, I gave myself more rest to ease up. The day of the festival, I walked over to Izuku’s apartment complex instead of him walking to my house. I waited for him to bound the stairs and I felt all my excitement bubble up.

“Ah, your hair!” He says, coming to a stop at the bottom. I cool myself down and excitedly spout about how today was another monumental moment. We walk together to the station and talk about what will happen first. Even though we get there a first as students, we already see guests and press lining up for security checks. There’s stalls being set up for sales and tourists to stop by. It feels all so exhilarating!

We’re set into our waiting rooms, gym uniforms on. We’re all talking together before we walk into the arena. Todokori suddenly bounds up to Izuku, calling everyone’s attention to their conversation. I scrunch my face, who does he think he is! Mister two tone here is picking a fight with Izuku.

“Hey Icey, what’s got you so cold today?” I murmur next to Ochacco and Mina.

“We’re not here to be each other’s friends. Don’t forget this isn’t a team effort.” He hits Kirishima’s hand off him and walks away. Why I outta-

“Prick.” I spit out towards his back, not caring if he hears. I get up to stand next to Izuku, him calling out towards the other’s back. He’s worried, his voice gives it away. But there’s also an edge to it. He’s declaring his goal, for the top. I furrow my brow. He’s gotten so serious...

I hear Present Mic’s voice echo down that tunnel we step foot out of. There’s so many people here! I wonder if my family is watching or if they’re here? My parents aren’t usually called out to moments like this so maybe not. I just hope they’ll watch my performance! But the overwhelming noise of the crowd fuels my anxiety and I nearly trip if I wasn’t watching where to go.

Class 1-B is announced out next, as I watch those faces come out, I see the blond guy from the entrance exam. He’s got not one bit of an emotion on his face. I’m glad to see he made it in here, maybe we’ll actually get to fight like he hoped. After them was class 1-C, all the faces are flowering. The purple hothead is at the front, his eyes are screaming for sleep.

The rest of the first years come out then from each different group. Ms. Midnight is at the podium, announcing our arrival. Though there’s comments made about her costume, I think it’s fine if she wears what she wants, even if it’s basically that of a dominatrix. I scan around others talking and see the blond guy in class 1-B. He’s staring at midnight with furrowed brows and... he’s embarrassed? Are those two somehow related or know of each other? Before I can dwell on it, Kacchan is called up for the first year’s representative.

Comments about his performance at the entrance exam must have catapulted him to go up there. But the support class debunks that it was only for the hero course, not the others. She must be tired of us even when she doesn’t know us. Must be one of the types to ridicule those who get thrown into the spotlight too often. Oh, like us.

“I just wanna say, I’m gonna win.” The entire crowd of students boo’s him and literally shouts him to get off that stage. What a way to represent us as hot heads you damn clown.

Everyone’s ready to pick a fight with him and I would have too if I didn’t see his expression. He would have been way too egotistically ballsy if he was being his usual self. Instead, he means it. He’s gonna make what he said a reality, not some half-witted boast. I sigh, there’s no use but to really take him on.

Immediately, it begins and the first game is announced to be an obstacle course. We’re free to do what we want as long as we stay on the path! We’re ushered to the gate, all of us rushing to get towards the front. I’m still standing next to Izuku as the signal lights dim, once they’re gone, we need to run off.

“Begin!” Just like that, the stampede of students make their way out. Though I’m able to keep my steady pace, I can see people surpass me on foot. Just for all of us to get stuck at the damn doorway. We’re all pushing and shoving and eventually everyone’s just clogged the entire tunnel. Damn this, I feel everyone shoving and pushing. I’m gonna just fly out of this mess! As soon as I fly up, ice spreads everywhere, containing just about everyone to the ground.

“Thank god my quirk is fire.” I jet off, fire covering my legs and arms. Kirishima, Kacchan, Yaoyorozu, and even more students of our class manage to escape. I fly off to catch up to Todoroki, only to be met with a robot from the entrance exam! Im still in the air, they’re freaking huge! With a swipe of his hand, Todoroki completely consumes the robot in ice.

He runs through as the robot collapses. I’ve got no time, he’s the one I need to beat right now! I fly over them and jet off, taking in the sun to keep my fire propelling forward. I lower myself down, making sure I don’t get hit by any projectiles the school’s got planned. I’m certainly in second place here.

Until a robot swats at me, nearly taking me down. I grit my teeth and power a fireball directly at his head. It shoots off and hits hard enough to knock it off balance, it stumbles onto another robot and takes that one down with it. It wasn’t enough to keep it down though, I’m sure, so I fly higher and around it. I hurry and take my leave before I’m set back again.

Behind me, Kirishima bursts through the debris Todoroki set to hold the others back. Kacchan is blasting his way through and even the others from our class have caught up. Damn it! I thought I was so clever! I keep myself up and over the robots, I’m not flying as fast as I can, I’m basically just gliding!

“No time to beat myself up, get moving!” I fly higher to absorb more heat and keep myself steady. Everyone’s catching up too soon and Todoroki is still too far ahead! There’s the next obstacle! Tightropes connecting different plateaus of land over a large pitfall. Easy, I’ll fly over and kick off on foot to store my energy. I fly down and land with a kick around the different spots of land, I easily get by and run off to the next obstacle. I need to catch my breath, or else I’ll collapse here.

Glancing back to be sure there’s no one catching up too quickly, I stop on the side to practice breathing exercises. I’m not as fast in physical strength so I need to pace myself. My fire can go on for longer than my body can sometimes. I completely overlooked Kacchan as his eyes are trained on Todoroki up ahead. My flames flicker up and I jet into the sky, following Kacchan’s form.

Up ahead are, danger mines?! I’d say that’s no problem except I could fall at anytime if I don’t keep my flames up. I glide over, seeing Kacchan blasts Todoroki. I need to catch up to them, I’m just right behind! They’re fighting each other while avoiding the land mines! If I can just keep this up, I’ll come in third, I just need to speed up my flames! A huge explosion behind be blows me forward, I turn back.

“IZUKU?!” I shout, seeing him skyrocket right pass me and stunning the two ahead. Hes first place! Kacchan is blasting off, Todoroki sets off an ice path. I step on the path and propel myself forward with the flames on my arm. The path behind me slightly melts as I skate by. Up ahead I see Izuku slam down his hunk of metal to setback the other two.

They’re all running on foot towards the end, I’m just so close! I’ll need to use more power! Flames are flickering around me as I set back up into the sky, they’re just ahead, I just need to barrel forward. I flip and push myself towards the ground, landing with an ungrateful stumble run towards the tunnel. The light is right there, I just need to-!

“Our first place champion is Izuku Midoriya!” Good on you Izuku, you really did it. I fly through, in fourth, right behind Kacchan and nearly knocking him down in my landing. I try and catch my balance before landing with a thud on my bottom. I gasp and intake a ragged breath. I see Ochacco come up to him, causing him to get all shy. My stomach feels weird. So I pick myself up.

I walk up to him and tease him about his win, right as the standing are announced. There I am, on the screen as 4th place! More students pile on behind me, up to 45. Those are the only ones allowed to move on next! I totally secured my place! The next game is a calvary battle with groups of 3-5 people. It’s point value based, with everyone explaining the game instead of Midnight. Which angers her and makes her repeat what we already know.

“The point value set to the first place winner is... 10 MILLION!” What the hell?! Everyone’s got an eye on Izuku, ready to knock him down. Midnight explains the headband points and everyone begins their strategy of what they could do. We have 15 minutes to devise teams, I don’t know who I can go to. I’ve got literally 4 friends and one is in 1st place!

A lot of people crowd Kacchan, who looks a bit awkward. He didn’t even remember their names or quirks. What a crowd, but I might need to join them. I step towards him, right in his line of sight. As everyone’s tripping over themselves to get on his team, I see he’s staring at me too.

“I’ll be on your team.” The others are in shock.

“Why not Midoriya’s? You’ve been friends with him the longest!” Mina inquiries. It’s a good question. I even considered it. But I knew he wouldn’t have devised his plan to include me. Everyone’s for themselves in this race.

“Hey Bakugo!” Kirishima bounds up, trying to get into his team and lists how he’ll be a beneficial addition to his team. He’s just feeding into his ego. If I don’t get on his team, I won’t do much as a leader but I’ve got to get around and get a leader going. My quirk’s not strong enough to lead an entire group, so for now, I’ll be on the ground.

I look over to Izuku, who’s spewing fountains of tears onto Ochacco. Looks like I was right, those two will be teaming up. The next one would be Iida, if he would have joined their team. He seems to be on Todoroki’s team. He looks at me then, his eyes are pleading. I felt slightly offended.

“If I wasn’t in your first choice, don’t come relying on me now.” I say, directly to him, making sure he hears me. He jolts back, in shock. I step closer to Kacchan’s team, everyone looks shocked. Mina’s right, even though we’ve been friends for so long, we’re still rivals.

“Why not Midoriya’s? Because. I’m still his damn rival and yours too, Kacchan. So fucking treat me like one.” I turn to him, arms crossed. It’s a clear challenge and even if he rejects me, there’s other teams I’ll join. But I’m confident he won’t. He smiled maliciously instead.

“Suit yourself, fire hazard.” I turn to Izuku and Ochacco. Sorry guys, I can’t help you here. The timer goes off. Our 15 minutes to group is over. Everyone gets into their positions, Kacchan is on top. Kirishima is in front, Mina and I are supporting him on the sides with Sero on his back. We run around, quickly racing around to try and grab up headbands.

Kacchan blasts off towards Izuku who’s in the air. He lands a hit into Tokoyami’s shadow and Sero grapples him back. It’s best I just play defense and let him do what he wants. But I spoke too soon, kacchan’s headband was snatched by another freaking blonde guy. There’s so many blonde dudes I don’t know the name of!

“Your class is too small minded, think bigger.” This dude’s ego is almost on par as his. He’s basically swarming us in his terrifying energy. At least the guy got a reaction, we might’ve needed that boost. We’ve reached the halfway mark for this game, I quickly scan around. Todoroki is plotting against Izuku now.

“Calm down Bakugo, you’ve got to keep a level head or else we won’t get our points back!” Kirishima says but it’s quite the contrary.

“No, this is good. Let him be.” I say, as he sets an explosion off in his hand.

“Get after them Kirishima!” He shouts.

“Don’t make us regret this.” We sprint off, towards that weird guy who sets off an explosion in his face. He then slapped Kirishima, copying his quirk. This guys a copy cat! He’s duplicating our quirk as his own!

“Don’t let him touch you!” I shout.

“His quirk, he can copy other powers.” Kacchan says, catching on as well. We try to charge but some other students trap kirishima’s leg. Mina melts off the substance and I set it on fire. It eases his leg out but Kacchan is still getting provoked by that scumbag copycat.

With one minute left, we need to get a lot of points to stay in the tournament. We charge right up to that jerk’s team but Kacchan just jets off, freaking hothead! He’s stuck in... glass air? But once he breaks through he steals a handful of headbands. We’ve reached 3rd place! We’re running towards them still. Kacchan directs everyone to dispense their quirk out, getting Mina’s and Sero’s name wrong.

“Fire Hazard, throw out as many fireballs as you can!”

“Call me by my NAME!” I shout, flaring up with flames consuming my arms and legs. Shifting his balance, I throw fireballs at the team as quick as I can. They falter and slow down. We storm up towards them and Kacchan snatches the last headband. We steer towards the Ice barricade. We’ve only got 11 seconds left.

“Now we’re going for Deku!” He screams and we barrel forward. As the clock counts down, Kacchan storms through the ice, everyone’s colliding here. We three are trying to catch up towards him, to catch him in time. Those three boys are neck and neck, and-!

“TIMES UP!” Present Mic yells.

Team Todoroki came in first, then we’re in second thankfully. Even with Kacchan being bitterly angry. Team Shinsou is in third place, I didn’t even see them do anything. I look over to Izuku and then at the screen. Izuku pulled through to fourth place! He’s crying so damn much, it’s literally a whole water fountain. He seriously should have developed a water quirk by crying that much.

A lunch break is announced as our classes combine again to talk. Though I barely did anything, at least I was on a team that made it on the scoreboards. I couldn’t care less until I was actually showing off my quirk to its full extent. I shake hands with Tsuyu and Ochacco to congratulate their efforts. But someone was missing, or really two. Todoroki and Izuku.

Now that it’s lunch time, I’m so glad I’m going to be able to eat. I’m so hungry after all that quirk usage! I walk with Tsuyu and Mina as Ochacco is nearby. I wonder what I’m craving today, maybe some rice and meat so I can stock up on nutrients. I just know whatever happens next in the tournament, I need to rest up as much as I can. Eating hot food on a hot day is so good!

“Ah~ so tasty!” I mumble between bites.

“Uh, that’s steaming hot.” Tsuyu points to my plate.

“Oh yes, hot food, anything with heat, is totally fine on my taste buds. I just take in the food for nutrients and the heat for energy. It’s like a double win!” I say shoving hot rice into my mouth. It’s all just a little warm to me. I’m so glad I’m able to eat hot food.

“Does it apply to spicy food too? Like noodles? Or peppers?” I freeze.

“Uh... no... I can’t eat spicy food.” I shove a bunch of rice into my mouth in reply.

“What the what, you’re serious?”

“Yeah! I just can’t handle it alright!” I gulp down harshly.

“Hahaha, you can’t take the heat!” A few start laughing and I do too. It’s true, spicy stuff doesn’t really benefit my quirk. It just upsets my stomach instead. Even when everyone in my family loves spice. I’m really just the one sore thumb, through and through.

But Yaoyorozu came by and told us we’ve got to change into some cheerleading outfit. Mr. Aizawa said that? So we finish up our lunches to go change. Unfortunately, we were duped. Denki and Mineta plotted this for some stupid fan service! We’re dressed up in these clothes the American cheerleaders were designated to wear!

“I feel ridiculous...” I begin.

“But these outfits are so cute, I’ve never been a cheerleader before!” I admit to Hagakure who was on the same boat as me. We shake the pom poms in our hands to Jiro’s dismay. Though I laugh with them, we run off to hurry and join the other students. Up next is the tournament style battles with the chosen 18 students who were able to make it through.

We’ll be drawing lots to see who we’re up against. Before the battles begin, we’ ll actually get to play some recreational games. However, Ojiro withdrew. He didn’t think it felt fair to continue when he wasn’t even able to show his true power. His conscious and pride is damaged due to this.

“Also why are all the girls dressed as cheerleaders?” He says, covering his eyes.

“Totally unrelated! Besides I saw you work when we were at USJ. I know you’ve got great power, but I understand your choice.” I say with a huff, swinging my Pom Pom at him. Another student also withdraws for the same reason.

“This display of morals are incredibly naive children. It turns me on! You’re officially withdrawn!” Midnight says excitedly.

“Did she just say it turns her on?” We all say in unison. Some students of class 1-B pull up two of their students to advance to the next round. With that, we’re paired up. Someone named... Sananaka Yoshiki. Who could that be? I scan around to see if there’s anyone it could be.

The blond hair with black roots guy from the entrance exam is staring at me. Woah, it couldn’t be him! That’ll be crazy coincidence. He’s walking up towards me and his face gives nothing away. As he steps up, I look up to him and wait for him to say anything. I didn’t realize he’s this tall either.

“Looks like I’ll be getting that challenge sooner than expected.”

Chapter Text

Before the fights begin, the recreational games start up. The girls and I all cheer as our classmates participate in a scavenger hunt. And then among other things. It looked fun and it was a good break before any real damage can be done. I take a glance at that Sananaka guy, he’s not doing much. Just blending in with the other students. If not for his hair, I wouldn’t notice him. I guess that’s how others view Izuku’s appearance.

We excitedly cheered all the way through until we were told to go back and change. One of the pro heroes prepped the stage for the first match. It’s Izuku and a guy named Shinsou. I’m hoping Izuku does well! He’s got a powerful quirk and from where we’re all sitting, it’ll be a clear overview of the battle. The edges of the stage light up with torches. As Present Mic speaks, Izuku and that purple hothead steps out. He better ground that guy!

“It’s that rude prick!” I say as they take their positions. The others eyes are set on the two. Izuku was walking forward until he was paralyzed to his spot. He just suddenly froze. We all rise and watch. What just happened to him! It’s that guys quirk!

“Damn it! I told him not to talk!” Ojiro says, he’s in distress. Shinsou says something to Izumi that makes him turn around, he’s gonna walk across the boundary line. If he doesn’t snap out of it, he’ll lose without even doing anything. I wanna shout at him to just wake up!

“Izuku please! WAKE UP!” I yell out from the railing. It’s no use, he’s not gonna hear me. He’s completely gone. He’s too close to the ledge. He needs to use his quirk or else, he’s jeopardized himself! We all watch him with bated breath. I want to look away, it could all be over.

A large gust of wind kicks up around Izuku. Did he just wake up? He must have finally used his quirk! He stopped right at the line, Present Mic narrating the event. Iida and Ochacco both let out relieved sighs. I take a deep breath too, thank goodness he got back into control! But his fingers... are broken!

The guy is trying to get Izuku to talk but he’s already running up to him. Izuku grabs and pushes him back. Shinsou punches him across the face and pushes him back but Izumi continues to keep going. They’re physically fighting now, Izuku’s nose is bleeding. Izuku then throws Shinsou hard on his back, causing his feet to go out of bounds.

“Izuku wins!” I jump and cheer, I’m so happy! The others around me praise him for his victory. He gets to move to the next stage. If Todoroki wins his battle, those two might brawl. I wonder what it would be like if they went head to head. Who would win? It’s not that I have no confidence in Izuku, it’s just Todoroki’s control over his quirk is insane!

“There you are Deku!” Ochacco waves to Izuku. I wave back, why’s she calling him Deku?

“Come on down here, we saved a seat for you!” Iida motions to the seat inbetween us.

“Congrats on your first win, you did great kicking off the battles.” I say with a nudge of my elbow.

“Thanks guys.” He says sheepishly. He looks over to Ojiro who pumps his fist up at him. Present Mic’s voice announces the next round, Sero versus Todoroki. His narration is pretty biased if you asked me. Zero immediately whips out his tape to swing Todoroki optowards the boundary line.

“Just like that??” I say, watching how close he skids to the end. But I was woefully wrong, the ice he lets out stretches so close to our faces, I can see my reflection. I flicker up flames to melt it back and away from us, any way for us to see what’s gonna happen. Sero and Midnight are covered in ice, with the former literally suffering frost bite. In under a minute, Todoroki gets approved to the next round. Everyone shouts nice try at Sero, which makes me snicker slightly.

Todoroki began to melt the ice he creates around Sero. Izuku is hanging at the edge of his seat watching him. Seems the two really will be going head to head. The next round is Denki and a girl with vines for hair, her name is Shiozaki. He starts the round with incredible watts of electricity going off towards her. However she blocks his attack and wins all too quickly. Cheers skyrocket around the stadium as both particpants are off the field.

I hear muttering next to me and of course I find Izuku writing in his notebook. He’s muttering all too quickly and way too much as I look around at all the faces who are uncomfortable. Everyone can hear him voicing his notes out loud. I don’t mind it too much. What I’m more confused by is where he hid his notebook.

“Izuku.” I say, to no avail. I repeat one more time and he’s still going. Before I yell at him, Ochacco says something to him that startles him up. This little- he’s even apologizing. I want to sock him. He’s even showing her page in his notebook. I’m offended, I should have one too. I wanna see mine!

“Wait what the hell.” I murmur to myself. Is this jealousy? Am I really jealous right now? I almost want to gag at myself, why am I being like this? What an icky feeling. I even shiver from the thought of it. The two of them are still talking, some kinda heart to heart it seems. The next round is announced with Iida against the gadget girl, Hatsume. But why is Iida wearing weird enhancements?

Midnight then calls him out on it, scolding him for his unfair advancements. Due to his somewhat inspirational speech, Midnight squirms around to allow it. She’s getting way too into these battles, she even has a whip, isn’t that a little too kinky? Izuku is watching the field, even pausing in his notes.

“I bet you feel how good that gear feels on you, don’t you Iida?” Her voice is loud around the stadium. She’s got speakers and a mic? She’s now explaining her gears potential even deflecting his speed with odd pole things. Is she actually trying to advertise her machines right now? She’s just making Iida into a fool with her tools.

10 minutes go by of her going through her creations. She steps through the boundary line and allows Iida to take the win. He yells out in anger at her trickery, but she’s acting like it was all she could do. Ochacco get up, her head is down and Izuku is off muttering about the battle. She’s got three rounds before her own battle, is she leaving early?

“Ochacco!” I yell out to her but she just keeps going. The next match begins automatically. I try to knock Izuku out his mantra but to no avail. Is he ignoring me only? My hair flickers up in annoyance, I want to kick him! I stomp on his foot to which he yelps at and looks at me with those watery eyes. I huff and turn away, looking at Aoyama and Mina. He’s still muttering about battle strategies, predicting their moves and what they’d need to do to win for both sides.

The match begins with Aoyama shoots his laser as Aoyama skates along the field with her acid. She manages to avoid his laser as she scoots around him. She melts his laser belt and his pants. She lands an uppercut on him that makes him fall back. It was less than 2 minutes, these battles are going by so quick! The next match with Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami is next.

“How do you think this match will go?” Ojiro asks.

“Timing is the most important factor here.” Izuku says. I look down to both of them, they’re still probably thinking of a strategy of their own. She forms a shield but his shadow bashes her back and forth relentlessly. She forms a pole but she was already out of bounds. That’s terrifyingly fast!

The boys conversations about the round, pity for Yaoyorozu’s loss. The next round is literally two boys of very similar quirks, Kirishima vs Tetsutetsu. They bash each other back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I suddenly realize, I’m up next. I jump up and sprint out towards the waiting rooms. When I open the door, Iida and Ochacco are there talking.

“Hey guys.” I say and then I hear Izuku behind me. When I turn my head, his face is inches away from me. Woah, wow, we’re so close! When he looks down to me, he blushes really red and scoots back. I blink at him and walk in. I head over to Ochacco and sit next to her, Iida stands by my chair.

“Uraraka, what are you doing here so soon?” Izuku says.

“Yeah you’re after my battle. Are you nervous?” I ask. She nods, stating it must be obvious. She talks to us about how being put against Kacchan is so unlucky. We all talk some more about her upcoming battle.

“I’d love a chance to fight him.” I say, glowering in menance. She laughs at that, but she’s still got a wavering lip. It must be scary for her to go against someone as strong as him. Though I don’t feel scared around him, it’s harder for other students to express they don’t fear his power. Izuku says he could help with the plan he’s devised for her. She rejects it instead.

“Woah wait, where’s mine then?” I joke to try and lessen the tension in the room. He kinda blinks at me and flips to a certain page. He scans it a bit before flipping it around to show me. There’s logs on my quirk but no new updates.

“I haven’t recorded anything new yet, and the one you’re going up against is unknown. I’ll have to record your battle to understand more of what you can do.” He outs it so simply I flush in embarrassment. Why did I have to open my loud mouth? I turn back to Ochacco, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I wish you luck. Kacchan may be tough, but your fighting spirit is unwavering. I can see it. You are gonna do great.” With that I get up and open the door.

“We’ll be cheering you on!” She says, two thumbs up.

“I hope to see you win!” Iida says.

“Good luck Akichan, I know you’ll do great.” Izuku says as I swing the door open.

“Thanks you guys. You’re all the best!” I smile wide and send them a peace sign before I jog out. It seems Kirishima and Tetsutetsu have knocked themselves unconscious. I hear the call for the next battle, Present Mic’s loud and eccentric voice booms across the stadium.

“The mysterious kid with a hazy quirk, Sananaka Yoshiki of class 1-B! Versus the fiery spirit of that from mythical legends, Akikami Hinotori of class 1-A!” I walk out into the light as cheers erupt. I get a strange feeling of stage fright as I slowly make my way towards the center of the field. There, just a few feet away is that guy who disappeared into purple smoke. Maybe he can somehow teleport or something. I need to be wary of his quirk.

“Hi, we meet here in front of everyone.” He says, no smile but no feeling of menance.

“It’s been a while, I finally get your name.” I say, smiling politely at him. He doesn’t shift or change in any way.

“I’ve heard about you before. In the news.” I freeze entirely. What? In the news? But I’ve only ever been in the news once. I wasn’t even recognizable then. What is he talking about?!

“You’ve got me mistaken-“

“You were 5, wrapped in blankets. A girl who’s quirk exploded and took an entire building down. Burning 5 people to ashes and leaving others with fatal burn wounds.” What the hell. What the hell! Why’s he telling me this? I know what I did! I know! I KNOW!

“Shut up.” I murmur.

“Your quirk. Is very powerful. I’ve been searching for a battle with you for a long time.” What?

“Why me? Why me of all people?! Why do you have to drag me through that it’s been 10 years!” I yell. Flames arise from my body.

“Let the match begin!” Midnight calls out and I totally forgot the match hadn’t started. In a matter of seconds, he expels these purple clouds. I jump back and watch as he slowly fades away. The smoke spills out from the boundary line and begin wrapping around me. I feel a tug and suddenly I’m being thrown in. I’m moving way too quickly and I’m about to be tossed out to the line!

“Not so fast!” I kick into the ground, skidding and sparking my flames higher. I use that as leverage to jump up and away from the smoke. From here I see a faint silhouette fade in and out of the haze. I gather up heat and throw fireballs through the smoke. It rips holes through the smoke and I see his silhouette still. I pull my arms back and propel the flames to ripple off my arms. They zigzag through the smoke to clear out some more space. With a flip, I kick the air to propel towards his form. He’s becoming visible again, I just need to grab him.

Before I reach him, he fades again and I stumble as I stable myself onto the ground. A hand reaches out and tosses me backwards. I skid across, rolling against the dirt. I rake my hand down to slow myself down and use that to flip into the air. Flames climb around my arms and legs and I’m on one knee. I can feel the mental timer go, my burnout will be relatively soon. I hear stomps as he charges up. I slam my fists on the ground, a dome of fire comes out to stop him from getting closer. I hear him yelp as he makes contact.

“The fires hot, only I can’t burn from this heat.” I stand up and push forward, arms outstretched. The dome moves with me as he moves back, trying not to get burned. I grunt as I expand the domes size. There’s no way for him to get around this. His purple haze forms around him but with the dome expanding, his quirk doesn’t do much to help him. He screams as the fire makes direct contact with his back when he stumbles and I stop for a bit. He’s really close to the boundary line.

“If this is the fight you wanted, then here it is.” I feel my hair float as the dome keeps on pushing out. I remember what he said to me earlier. He dug out the worst secret of my life. No one knows it was me so how! How does he know! Why me! Why did he want to fight me? What made me so special? A flash of adrenaline fills my vein, temporarily erasing the exhaustion.

“Don’t pick fights with me you can’t finish.” And with that, he tumbles out the boundary line. He’s got smoke rising off his uniform and a few minor burns on his back and arms. The haze around him begins to fade away. My dome fizzes out as smoke rises off me. My uniform is singed and I walk up to him. I reach out my hand to help him up.

“I don’t know what business you have with me. But whenever we get the chance to talk again, you better fess up.” I say, hand still out. He hesitantly takes it and I pull him up. Midnight announces my win and the crowd cheers loudly. I smile triumphantly, I’m glad I was able to overpower him. I look back to him and a small gathering of smoke appears around his leg. The aroma that comes with it is very sweet and... calm... I almost want to sleep. My exhaustion is back full throttle.

“If only I was able to show you more of my quirk. You might not remember me now, but one day soon you will. I’ll make sure of it.” But his words are slightly wobbly. I blink the fatigue from my eyes and see he’s walking out, medical robots assisting him. I shake and slap my face gently to wake me up. So he had another part to his quirk, some kind of intoxication. Maybe I’ll tell Izuku about it. As I walk out I see Ochacco. I give her a big hug.

“Do your best, I’m rooting for you!” She must have been thrown off with my forwardness. I retract myself and show her a toothy grin. Though her expression is grim, she smiles back fondly. She nods and walks out as I run back to the others to watch the match. I hear their names are announced before I can make it back to my seat. Oh crap, I don’t wanna miss anything! I look around and use the last bit of flames to propel myself forward, taking the stairs by flight. By the time I get there, I hear explosions and the crowds screaming.

I hurriedly take my seat and look forward. All I see is smoke, it seems like she was blasted! She used her jacket as a decoy in the smoke! She tried to reach for him but his reaction time was way too quick. Wit his reflexes, she’s at a disadvantage. He’s showing her no mercy as he continues to use more and more powerful explosions. She’s being knocked around and slammed into the ground. This isn’t looking good, he’s going off on her! Everyone’s expressing their disdain for Kacchan’s brute force against her.

“No that’s not right. They’re basically pitying her. If he’s gonna lessen his power he will be pitying her too.” I say quietly, I see Izuku turn his head in confusion. Though he’s being boo’ed, I don’t agree with it. Mr. Aizawa is speaking now and he as well understands Kacchan motive! I’m so glad we’re on the same page. Kacchan knows she’s up for the challenge and by doing so, he’s using his strength on her, not toying her. He’s actually giving into this battle.

Just as Ochacco is. She’s still standing, she’s bruised but she looks like she’s waiting for something. I look up, I knew it. She had debris in the air, she’s been collecting them as he blasted around the arena! It might even give her an opening, she’s running up to him. But he powers an insanely powerful blast that sends all the debris flying, her included. Her plan! My face twitches, I knew he was strong but she almost had him! She’s stumbling and I look over at him.

“Time to get serious, Uraraka!” He said her name! But as he charged towards her, she tumbled over. She’s hit her limit. Tears sting at my eyes. She did so well, she really did. But seeing her struggle down there makes me worry more for her own physical well being. She needs to rest. Midnight bounds up to her and announces Kacchan’s win. Though the crowd cheers, I sigh. The first round is over. The second round will begin after a break. I rush out with Izuku to meet Ochacco. We bump into Kacchan.

The hothead spats out at Izuku, saying he planned it again. I turn back ready to really let him know who’s plan it was. But Izuku speaks before me. He stands up for her and actually quiets down Kacchan. The two walk away from each other, I’m left in the middle to stare at both of them. I scrunch my face. If in the next round, I’m up against him, I’ll kick him in the face.

When we open the door, we see Ochacco happily accepting her defeat. Both Izuku and I are shocked to see how she did a full 180 from earlier. I go to sit next to her scanning around to see if there were any lingering bruises. She’s taking this in full stride. The two of them talk even though she’s talking awfully cheerful. She accepts her defeat really well.

“The next round is about to start.” Ochacco apologizes for taking too much of his time and he says it’s alright. I grimace internally, I almost feel like a third wheel. He shifts his focus to me and smiles. My heart does a stupid little skip and I want to eat my words.

“Wish me luck too Akichan.” He says.

“I’m hoping you win, don’t get too hurt Izuchan.” I say and he nods before the door closes. She asks me to step out a bit to call her dad back. When she’s done, Ochacco turns over to me excitedly and we talk a bit more before we go out to return to the stands. As we walk in the hallway, our conversation shifted into more personal matters. I tell her about my siblings and she tells me about how her family are construction workers. But then suddenly she asks:

“How do you feel towards Deku?” I almost choke. How did we get here?

“Uh... he’s my best friend. I mean I depend on him a lot to the point it affects how our friendship is but I mean I care about him.” I say honestly, of course avoiding admitting I have a crush on him. She smiles then, mischievously.

“So you do have a crush on him!” She snickers and we’re about to reach the stands.

“Even if I do, I don’t plan on really telling him. If I have to one day, I hope it’s to get rid of my feelings. I don’t think Izuchan likes me in that way or could ever. He freaks out when you talked to him but never with me, I’m just that friend he’s had since forever. And now a rival.” I say, I’m a little sad by it but it’s true. Even if I were to confess to him, our goals are so far away and it’s better we focus towards it than pursuing each other. If I even hear his rejection to me, I’ll be so embarrassed as well!

She blinks at me and smiles with turned down eyebrows. I know she’s not pitying me, but it is a little sad to hear. She hooks her arm with mine and tells me my secret is safe with her. I extend out my pinkie to ask her to promise it. She laughs and intertwines our pinkies, sealing our promise. I hope he finds someone like her to like, she’s a sweetheart. Someone who’s gonna treat him well and support him. Hell, I’ll start liking her too if she keeps being this nice to me. I’m a sucker for kind souls.

We make it back before the match begins and Iida comments on her eyes, though I paid it no attention how puffy it was after her call with her father. We sit down together and talk about how this round will be our learning curve. The torches flick up and the crowd cheers. Present Mic is rallying them up as Todoroki and Izuku makes their way up. Tokoyami, Ochacco, and Tenya comment on how their battle could go. I sit back in silence.

“This is gonna be an intense battle. What a way to kick off the second round.” I say, the others nodding in agreement. Present Mic begins the round and the two ready their stances. Todoroki off with a ice barrage and Izuku flicks the ice back at him, a gust of icy wind wash back at us. He cleared out the entire field!

“Wow! Go Izuchan!” I cheer for him, waiting to see what will happen next. If I squint, it looks like he broke another finger. He counters again when Todoroki repeats his attack. That’s another broken finger. My excitement fades into worry and fear. He’s not gonna break his whole hand to last in this battle is he? Todo tok I repeats his attack again, Izuku deflects. Kirishima bounds down the stairs then, talking to Kacchan about his and Todoroki’s quirk.

Kacchan deflects their praise, he also mentions the limits one’s body possesses. He must have hit his limit at some point for him to be so serious and calm like that. His eyes flit to mine and I look away. I know it’ll be us against each other later, Kirishima will follow up whoever loses in our battle. I’m finally getting a battle with him like I’ve been wishing for. I need to think up ways in how I can get the upper hand.

I focus back on the battle, Izuku’s broken his entire hand deflecting his ice attacks. Icey’s quick to try and attack him as he counters. Izuku punches then, a stronger gust of wind picks up. But Todoroki is standing without any damage. There’s some ice clinging to his left side. Todoroki I sets off a large attack spiraling at Izuku, but he flicks another gust of wind at him. If Todoroki didn’t stop himself, he’d have cross the line.

Izuku is shaking, he’s scolding him! He’s asking for Todoroki to use all his power, but isn’t this all his power? He’s the son of Endeavor it seems, but isn’t that the fire hero? Is he really a dual quirk user? If he’s fire, he’s similar to me. I watch intently as the two get closer to each other. Izuku throws a heavy punch into Todoroki’s stomach. His arm is covered in ice, his fingers are completely broken. If he keeps this up, he won’t heal completely from this.

They’re still neck and neck and I feel my heart thudding against my rib cage. He looks so intensely beaten up even when Todoroki hasn’t landed definite hits on him. Izuku is though, punching him and throwing him back. He’s yelling at him now, something about his quirk. Izuku lands another harsh punch into Todoroki’s body. He’s staggering, even when Izuku yells at him. This seems a lot more emotional than we thought it was. I can feel an odd vibe of sadness and perseverance.

A sudden burst of fire spouts out. The heat is so... so nice! I take in all the heat I could, I can feel my energy growing back. I see Todoroki smiling maniacally at Izuku. The fire he lets out are incredible and yet so different from mine. It’s so much more wild and less contained. I love it, I’m relishing in it so much! A fire user, like me! Someone like me! He’s like me! I want to see more! The two are going at each other, huge towers of ice and waves of fire ripple off Todoroki’s body. Izuku charges with all his might at him, but right before impact, Cementoss blocks their hits and the debris flies everywhere. The wind and pressure from the attack is blowing harsly at us.

The smoke is covering the entire arena. Izuku’s horribly torn body is outside of bounds. I look over to Todoroki and forgive me that I’m staring. His clothes are shredded on his right side and his abs are on show. He’s breathing harshly as Midnight announces his win. My stomach feels like there’s butterflies inside. Just the earlier today this prick was being so rude but now... I can’t help but admire him.

“He and I share similar quirks.” I whisper. I haven’t met someone with such intense flames like this before. Maybe that’s why I’m so easily drawn. The scar on his face must be from something inflicted on him. I just realize now, how similar and different our lives are. Suddenly my thoughts on him shift. Suddenly I see him in a different light.

Ochacco and Iida along with many others of our class rush up and go to the nurse’s office. We’re gonna see if Izuku is alright. When we rush in, a frail blond haired man is beside him. Maybe recovery girl’s assistant? He sure looked tired. Izuku greets us feebly and we explain we’re here to see if he’s alright. When recovery girl mentions surgery, we all are in shock. Is he really gonna be okay?!

We return back, Iida going to the arena. It’s his second round against the vine girl. His overwhelming speed pushes her out of bounds quickly! He did it so effortlessly! Tpnext was Tokoyami and Mina. He ended it as quickly as it started as well! These rounds are flashing by after such an intense first round!

I bound off for my round next, again late because I wanted to watch the fight go down. With the fire blast from earlier, I regained some energy for this match against Kacchan. If he blasts at me, I can also take the heat and hopefully turn it around. If I can just focus, maybe I’ll have a winning chance! The battle kicks off now. Our names announced as we walk the stage.

“Kacchan. I’ll finally make you realize.” I say, just as Midnight announces the start to our battle. I charge quickly at him, my arms and legs covered in flames.

“I’m your rival too damn it!” I swing at him, his reflexes block it and he sends a heavy blast at me. Blocking with my arm, I take in the heat. He sends me back and I stumble.

“You damn brat, you’re not even on my goddamn level!” He shouts while running up at me. He’s not even going that all out, he really doesn’t believe me! I yell and raise a dome around me. He skids to a stop, barely grazing the dome. I push and push until it expands towards him. He blasts around and goes on the other end. I turn myself around, though it was too slow! He sets off a huge explosion that breaks the dome, smoke flying up from both of us. I stare at the torches and swing my arm. The flames from around the field fire at him at different directions, he ducks and decimated them as they fly close.

I kick into the air and ready one of the kicks I landed on him from our last battle. He looks up and blasts me back. I fly up and I take the hit. I haven’t been damaged much but once he actually hits me, I’ll be out. We’re in midair as he comes to blast a heavy explosive in my face. I turn in time but realize I’m falling too quickly into the ground. I gasp and cough harshly. He slams a fist right by my head, my reflexes moving on it’s own. My flight or fight senses are on par with his but only at certain times. I roll and flip back on my feet with a wobble. The hit to the ground is setting the timer to my burnout. I need to land big hits on him or else it’s over for me.

I clap my hands together and send a zigzag of flames barreling right to him. He ducks and dodges but one flame licks by his shoulder, ripping his shirt and burning it. I smile and jump up as he charges forward. He quickly jumps up again and I realize too late that he’s sending me back into the ground. It was much harsher than before and the air was knocked out of my body. I felt crushed! As I slowly get up, he’s charging again at me and I flare up. A small dome spreads out and he deflects it with his usual explosion. He didn’t blow it up this time thankfully and it gave me time to get up.

Though when he bounds back, he breaks it once again. Charging right at me and sends a huge explosion off at my head. I brought one arm up to take the heat before I feel a hand grasp my arm. He throws me up with another set of explosives before flying up to shoot me down. He keeps crushing me between the earth! If he keeps this up, I’ll be KO’ed! My breathing is erratic and unstable. My vision is bleary.

“Pathetic. You can’t even give me a challenge. Unlike Uraraka, you’re weak!” He screams at me and my world freezes. What?

“YOU’RE MISTAKEN KACCHAN!” I scream, my voice echoing across the stadium. A surge of fire overwhelms my body and suddenly I feel myself fade into the warmth. The wall of fire building up starts to heat up way too quickly. I haven’t experienced this much heat in a long time and it might be too much! Before I realize it, I’ve became this ginormous flame monster, towering over the stadium. My burnout will hit any second now! This flame creation howls out before slashing a hand at the field. Once it touched the ground and so close to Kacchan, the fire burst and popped as if it was a bubble.

I began to fall from all the way up and my consciousness was dipping out. I knew it, when I finally reached a new limit, I meet a stop. I turn my head slowly and my arms and legs are full of burned flesh wounds. This is very new, I’m in so much pain! Before I hit the ground, I do my best to flicker some leftover fire to save my fall. It only makes me skid across the ground, right in front of Kacchan. I huff and puff before I finally cave to exhaustion. All that was left was the crowds cheers. Midnight announces Kacchan the winner, with barely any damage on his body. I black out once again. I’m ashamed. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go at all. I wanted... to be a challenge.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

I wake up in recovery girl’s office. She retracts a smooch and I feel a little dizzy. I blink a few times, silent and unmoving. I don’t know if I had energy left to even give her any to heal me. I’m completely spent.

“You’re darn lucky girlie. You had a lot of energy stored away, I’m surprised. I was able to heal those nasty burns of yours and get you back on your feet. You’re reminding me a lot of your classmate pushing yourself like that.” I sit up and flex my fingers. She’s right, I feel very awake. I only have bandages on my arms and legs. My black tank top is now a crop top and my shorts are frayed. There’s a new uniform set next to my bed.

“Thank you ma’am, I’ll get back now!”

“Hey there! Don’t push yourself so much!” She calls out as I wave from the door. I run into the bathroom and quickly change. I need to get back, the third round must have started already! I sprint off, flying up the stairs back to the stands. Once I get up there, eyes turn to look at me.

“You’re alright!”

“Wow, who knew you had such a power!”

“I can’t believe you just transformed!”

“You were freaking huge out there!”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“You did amazing!”

“Great job Akichan.”

I smile at everyone, blushing furiously. I thank them and tell them I’m perfectly fine. As I sit, Iida is standing right by Todoroki. It seems the third round has begun. Todoroki sets off the barrage of ice as Iida dodges and kicks Todoroki into the ground. He grabs Todoroki and begins to sprint. But Todoroki completely consumes Iida. Winning the battle quickly. We all look sullen for Iida’s loss.

Kacchan’s and Tokoyami’s battle starts off right away. Kacchan is relentless in bashing into his shadow. Ochacco and Izuku explain why he’s deflecting all of Kacchans attacks. The latter sets off a huge explosion, sending off large fumes of smoke. He’s got Tokoyomi by the beak and has won the match. Now it’s off to the last round with Kacchan and Todoroki.

Iida comes back though he starts vibrating. His phone was going off, who’s phone is that strong? He goes off to take a call from his mom. The last round starts way too soon. Todoroki doesn’t stop for a second and sends off an even larger ice slide. Kacchan tunneled through the ice with his explosions and grabbed Todoroki, sending him flying before he slides around on ice barricades.

Due to Endeavor’s shouts, both of them falter. Kacchan continues to scream and threaten Todoroki. His voice is crazy loud and full of emotion. He sets off to charge at Todoroki, his vibes are like crazy right now. I don’t know what this feeling is but I can sense something from them. Izuku shouts encouragement towards Todoroki which spurs him on. Kacchan blasts up and spirals right into Todoroki. His fire was only there for a second before it fizzled out. What just happened?

Instead, Kacchan blew up the entire arena with an overwhelming blast. When the smoke clears, Todoroki is seen unconscious. Kacchan rushes up to him, grasping and shouting at him to wake up. He doesn’t want to accept this, it’s not a win for him. Midnight knocks him out and declares his victory. I furrow my brow, this was an unconventional win for him and one that will make him very angry.

The crowd cheers and Present Mic wraps us our events. The award ceremony begins when everything settles. We’re called onto the field and fireworks go off. The anxiety from so long ago is gone and I’m filled with restlessness once again. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners are coming up from the ground. Kacchan, however, is bounded in chains and precautions as he thrashes around in his first place spot.

Todoroki stands in second place and Tokoyami is in 3rd. I smile seeing them up there, what a day it’s been. Seeing everyone’s quirk and how they were when pitted against each other. I’d say I’m proud of my abilities up until a while ago. Midnight announces Tenya was in third place as well but left due to a family emergency. I remember when he pulled us aside to tell us he’s leaving, his older brother was hurt.

I know how much he looked up to his brother. This must have affected him a lot. Midnight calls back our attention as she announces All Might’s arrival. I see his extra ness flip off the roof and right next to her. Though she ruined his entrance, he began to distribute the medals. He even gave a hug to them with praise. However, when he reaches Kacchan, the latter blows up on him.

He’s refusing to accept his award! He looks like a crazed hound! Though All Might is trying to keep his composure, Kacchan is ready to rip him apart. He’s got the medal around his mouth! All Might turns to motivate us and sends us all a motivational speech. He tried to praise us but everyone wanted to say Plus Ultra. What awkward timing!

When we get back to class, Mr. Aizawa tells us we have the next two days off to recuperate. Maybe some agencies will recruit us for internships. We are set to go home after that. The same routine to the station and then back home. I’ve got my two day break ahead. Once I get home, my sister gives me a big hug. She was watching at home and then the rest of the family joined. They were worried about my injuries but so proud of how well I did. I started crying and we ate a delicious dinner together.

Later that night, I had the dream again. The woman was back, she had gotten much more clear. She had long golden hair, streaks of orange glistened with the halo in the back. She looked as old as my parents. Her costume was almost like mine but as a full body suit. She got up from her chair and walked up to me.

“You did it, you’re really getting to know this quirk.” I hear my voice come out as if it’s covered by something.

“I’m glad you asked. I’m the first ever Phoenix, the one who was gifted this power and started this entire clan.” I’d gasp if I could. It’s been 9 generations since she was alive. She smiles and as she looks down to me, her face is much more clear. Her eyes are two toned, just like mine. Gold on the left and bright orange on the right. She’s got smile lines and a mole right under her eye. She strangely has many similar facial features as I do.

“You, my dear, are my reincarnation.”

Chapter Text

On our way to school, Izuku and I were being praised by complete strangers. They watched us perform from the tournament the other day. I was taking it in stride but Izuku was so flustered. They completely swarmed him though, they really did like him. I giggled and bumped my shoulder with him to which he flushed.

With our umbrellas up, we yawn as we step up. Iida is running behind us to greet us good morning. I stifle another yawn as he bypasses us, he’s jetting off even though we still have time. I feel so groggy today due to all this rain. I love rain a lot but it gets me so sleepy. We tap off our umbrella in the entrance.

“So Iida, umm...” Izuku begins.

“If it’s about my brother, don’t worry. I’m alright.” He smiles before walking off. Izuku and I exchange looks as we make our way to class. Everyone’s chattering about how people stopped us to talk about the sports festival. I smile hearing everyone got praised and laugh at funnier moments. But right when Mr. Aizawa showed up, we were incredibly settled in.

He announces something about hero informatics. It’s time to pick our hero names! I was so excited, I had mine ready! I loved planning ahead and therefore even decided what to do for my next costume. Must be since I’m a Virgo and they’re usually the planning type or whatever those magazines Kiyomi reads. I just know that’s the sign I am. My animal sign is Phoenix for sure!

Mr. Aizawa then shows us all the hero agency requests we got from the tournament. I got about 28 agencies who are interested! I’m so excited, one might even be my own family’s so I don’t mind. I’m just glad they even liked my quirk potential! Mr. Aizawa was telling us about our future internships but Midnight comes in at just the right time. Of course some of the boys react well to her. I think she’s pretty eccentric.

We’re given whiteboards to practice our names. Midnight asks for us to share them and though I half expected this, anxiety filled my body. I don’t like going up in class even when I had to fight against them just a few days ago. Aoyama goes up with such a mouthful of a name, but a midnight edits it to shorten it a bit. We’re all stunned it’s even allowed.

Mina goes next but a Midnight doesn’t like the context of Alien Queen. Everyone’s thinking the same thing, we need clever names after that display. Tsuyu goes next with Froppy. It’s so cute and we all cheer for her. Kirishima goes with Red Riot, an homage to his idol Crimson Riot. Jiro is next as Earphone a jack. Then everyone goes after the other, finding confidence in the prior’s name acceptance.

Though everyone’s was very fitted to them, Kacchan just had to pick some outlandish one as King Explosion Murder. Midnight wants him to change it. I’m thinking something like Ground Zero would sound nice, it’s basically him in the center of an explosion. Ochacco goes with Uravity which is so clever, catchy, and cute! I hope mine isn’t so lackluster. I go after her and look at my board.

”I’ve planned this for a while now. I’m thinking The Phoenix Hero: Akemi. Or really Vermillion Beauty, same thing really.” I shyly smile and look over to Midnight.

“Outstanding and very confident! I love it, why not both? The Vermillion Beauty: Akemi!”

“Oh yes, I love that better.” I smile wide and she claps for me, as does the class. I blush and return to my seat. Satisfied and happy to go with my first choice. We wait for Iida, Kacchan, and Izuku to go next. Though I thought he’d go by his brother’s name, Iida picks Tenya. Is it a cooler way to just go by your real name? Mine would work too. I ponder on it and hear Izuku get called up.

“Blockhead??” I say as he writes Deku on his board. I see Ochacco smile wide at him, she must have inspired him to like his name. I always told him that name wasn’t what he really was but I guess in the end, he turned it around. I smile, he’s changing so much. I feel like watching a baby chick grow up! I turn away with pride filling up my soul.

Kacchan tries one more time with LORD explosion murder not king. I zone him out and look around the class. I hope the day passes by quick. Mr. Aizawa then calls attention to us about internships once again. We’re going to take a list and pick one agency that we’d really think would fit us. I want an agency that will push me to expand my quirk and are fire based. He gives us two days to decide.

I look through, and hear everyone discussing their choices. When I turn to Izuku, he’s muttering about those who are interested in him. We all just think ‘there he goes again’. When he snaps out of it, we come closer to reassure him. Ochacco picks gun head, a battle hero. She wants to bulk up and I agree with her. I want the same thing.

“By the way, I’ve been wanting to ask, why are you trembling?” She says.

“Oh that? It’s exercise.” He replies casually.

“What? Really? You’ve been doing that all day?” She says. Along with everyone else’s different opinions, I kinda zone out again. I wonder if it’s just the weather but I feel much more tired today. I really need to up my exercise regimen as well. I’m too flabby to inflict physical damage so I wonder what else I could do.

I lay my head down with a slight thud, closing my eyes and thinking back to the dream. After 8 generations, I was chosen to be the Phoenix. I wonder why me? I remember all the other heroes in the past, of my grandparents, their parents, and then their parents. I know one of them even went to America and stayed after we grew up. I’m sure the heroes before me were wonderful and even stronger than I was at this age. So why me?

I scan through the paper again, looking through the agencies. I was right about earlier, my parent’s agency was on the list. They merged it when they were married so before it was Takeo Kin and Inari’s Corp. now it’s Inari & Kin Co, which I thought was cute. Their hero names together like that go well. I scan back up to see Endeavor’s agency. I can’t believe I missed that.

I sit up and look over to Todoroki who wasn’t moving. He hadn’t talked all day. His father was interested in my quirk and abilities? Was it because I’m a fire based quirk user? His agency is known for a lot of flame heroes. Though I would like to work with my parents, it wouldn’t be a different learning experience. Instead, I circle Endeavor’s agency and place it in a laminated seal in my binder.

Later that day, Ochacco asked if she could walk home together with us. I nod and when she turns to Iida, he was already gone. Izuku explains he must have already picked an agency. When he opens the door, All Might rushes right in front of him. Strange how often they talk, he really does feel like his mentor.

“We’ll wait for you by the window.” I say as we part ways. As they hurry off, we lean against the windowsill and watch as the orange sunset sky expands over the horizon. She asks what I’ll be doing later today and I said I’m stopping by a cafe near my house to get some sweets. She asks if Izuku is going with me and I shake my head.

“I like to think that’s my little happy place. I only go there once in a while for my favorite cake slice and tea. Then I head home. I’m sure I started going when I started middle school. I’d just stop by, snack, go home. We can go together one day!” I smile at her and her eyes twinkle.

“That’ll be nice. It’s exciting to think about how we could just hang out after school, even eat together. Doesn’t it feel so weird to be so grown up?” She says.

“Definitely. I don’t think me, 10 years ago, would ever imagine my life at UA like this. I always wanted a fun highschool teenage lifestyle. The arcade, fun restaurants, shopping. It feels so normal.” I can feel my face flush, I’ve always romanticized my life. Imagine the fun, feeling like every memory is a movie. I love that nostalgic feeling.

“Have you hung out with friends like that before?” She asks. I shake my head and turn back to my window.

“My only friends were Kacchan, Izuchan, and my childhood bestie, Hisami. I haven’t seen Hisami since my middle school graduation. We sometimes talk over the phone.” I tell her. Before she responds, Izuku comes back and we greet him. We walk together to the lockers for our shoes and umbrellas from this morning.

He tells us of an agency that was recommended to him and we congratulate him. Ochacco comments on how Iida must have left without us. He’s probably going to visit his brother. I saw the news about him, I was worried about his condition. As we walked, it was quiet more than usual. The two talked but I drifted in and out of their conversation. We parted from the station, Ochacco getting off at her stop. When it was just us two, I told him I’ll be going to my cafe. He nodded and we waved each other goodbye.

When I reached the cafe, a woman with purple eyes was behind the counter. I hadn’t seen her in a while. She looked a lot better than before. She recognized me and prepped my order immediately. I paid and tipped her, thanking her and congratulating her recovery. She had wide teady eyes and grasped my hands gently. Her voice was soft and thankful. I felt a lot better from the day.

Finishing my cake, I bowed to her and told her I’ll see her soon. I had ordered some snacks for my family already and it was nearly dark. I briskly walked home and kicked my shoes off at the door. I stretched and wiggled any left over grogginess off my body. With a yawn, I slipped on my house slippers. They were red and fluffy.

“I’m home! I’ve got pastries.” My brother runs up and snatches the box. He likes the cafe too, but never visits in the same time as me. My siblings eat their share, putting the fruit tarts and egg tarts in the fridge for my parents. It seems they’re working overtime today, there’s been an abundance of wounded heroes lately. I get worried when they’re not home at their usual time.

Our internships begin soon as we made our way to the station. Our hero costumes were in suitcases as Mr. Aizawa instructed us on what to do. Though we were all excited, we began to branch off to their agencies. I needed to go to Endeavor’s so I pulled up my map. I already sketched a path to take. I look over to Izuku and Ochacco as they run towards Iida. I follow them quickly.

“Yes.” Was all Iida said as he turned around. I was confused, what were they talking about? I looked at the other two who had worried expressions.

“Bye Iida, be safe!” I call out, he flinches but waves. I hope he’ll be okay. I wave at the other two before leaving for my train. I’ve gotta get to the agency soon. I wonder if this was a good choice. Endeavor is not well liked and if anything my temper could cost me my internship.

When I arrive, I double check my maps to see if this is the right building. I enter and tell reception I’m here on an internship for Endeavor. She leads me to his office and before she knocks, I get an ill feeling. This guy has some bad vibes, I could feel it from here. He calls her in and opens the door for me. I step in hesitantly.

“Hello Mr. Endeavor, I’m Akikami Hinotori. I’m here for the internship under you as Akemi.” I say with a bow. When I straighten up, he has no smile nor any expression. He almost looks like he hates me. Or is that just his face?

“Welcome to my agency. I chose you for the fire based quirk you had.” Knew it.

“Get changed and report straight back here, I’m waiting for my son.” Todoroki is going here? I thought these two didn’t like each other? Must be a family thing then. Aw man, I should have stayed with my parents. I’m so sorry mom and dad! I bow to him again and walk out. The receptionist leads me to the changing lockers.

I open my case to see a note, the support group must have patched up my uniform from when it was singed with holes. I lay everything out and then read they’ve wrote. They thought a sleeker design and improvements would make the costume more to my taste. I’m grateful to their good eye for this so I hurry to put it on. There’s very noticeable differences in nearly everything.

My leotard was more fitted this time, with a heat absorbent material. The two toned white and red was still there but looked more saturated than before. The middle section was red and a little thinner while the left white side and right white side had a thicker material. My bare shoulders had a gold stitching around it, just like my glove cuffs. My gloves were a bit bulkier and warmer inside to fuel me even when I hadn’t absorbed any heat. The mesh around my chest and thighs were still there, disappearing into my leotard and boots respectively. The wing decorations off my shoulders were less stiff and similar to flame-resistant tulle. It looked great when I set them on fire, it felt like a really good effect. I was given durable elbow and knee pads to hook into my gloves and boots.

The only other things left were a tulle like scarf that was to be tied around my waist and god bands to adorn the cuffs of my boots. I was also given faux-golden plates that would meld to the soles of my boots. The scarf was heat-resistant and can be used to protect others or myself from intense fires. Overall, I really loved her new adjustments. I twirled in the body mirror at the end of the room. I looked and felt heroic. I’ll be sure to send my gratitude to the support students for this!

I made my way back to the office and heard murmurs on the other side. Before I could knock, Todoroki swung the door open. He looked surprised to see me but brushed past me. I stared at his figure walking away. I released a breath before entering Endeavor’s office. He told me to take a seat and wait for ‘Shoto’ to get back. We were going to take a trip to Hosu today.

When he entered, I realized his costume changed. It was blue and still similar to his prior one, just a few minor changes. Though Endeavor focused more on his son, he did motion for me to stand and follow him. We took the train to get there, the ride was stifling. He took most of the time lecturing Todoroki than really instructing the both of us. By the end of it, I don’t think I retained much. I felt like I was intervening. I got up to stretch and find the bathroom. However I heard footsteps behind me.

“Hello?” I say, stopping in the hall-like area.

“Why’d your choose this agency?” He asks, so blunt!

“Endeavor is a fire based agency, I haven’t had a lot of contact with other flame users. I need this experience any way I can get.” I say, the flames on the wing decorations of my clothes flicker. He looks down at it.

“Are you his fan? You even have similar flares.” He says, eyes never away from the flame details of my costume. I scrunch my eyebrows.

“No. I like these since my hair tends to flare up when I feel overwhelming emotions. I don’t necessarily like him but I like his quirk. If he can have that much free range of his power, I want to be able to push the limits on mine.” I clench my first, staring straight at him. He looks up at me then.

“Your eyes are different colors.” He says, furrowing his eyebrows.

“So are yours.” I retort.

“I have two quirks. What’s your reason.” He says, narrowing his eyes. I falter for a bit. Should I just tell him the truth? Maybe then he’ll stop being so prickly.

“I was blinded in one eye when I was four. After it recovered the color dimmed from orange to yellow and now it’s a vibrant color. I used to wear glasses but I got surgery in them to correct my eyesight.” I cross my arms. He blinks at me then, stature relaxing.

“You were blinded? Like, hurt? Or staring at the sun too long?” His questions feel offensive but I sigh. Whatever, I can talk freely about what happened to me. As long as I don’t touch the tougher subjects.

“Someone tried something on my eye that caused me to go blind in it. It was very damaging, so no not staring at the sun but yes I was hurt.” I realized that scar on his face and my eye seem kind of similar. He seems to notice it and tense a bit. I don’t like this tension.

“Hmph.” He turns around and heads off. What is with these interactions I keep having with people? First that Sananaka guy and now Todoroki? I’m glad I’m able to not freak out so much anymore thinking about what happened. Though I never even told Izuku about it, I did tell Hisami before. She’s the only one other than my immediate family that know about the details of back then.

The sky is setting; colors of pink, purple, orange, and red. It looks really pretty out today. I want to enjoy the sights. I look out the window and see all the businesses around. People are walking around and soon it’s dark out. When we get to our stop, I’m a little lost in where we are, I zoned out when Endeavor would start talking. Apparently we’ve made it to New Hosu City.

A blast from a distance away pulls my attention. We follow Endeavor and many other heroes nearby to handle the situation. We get to see something happen but I don’t feel good about it. Instead I feel nearly sick, I wanted to double over a few times. There’s something bad happening here. We’re running together and still, Endeavor focuses primarily on Todoroki. I pull an exasperated expression, I don’t think I should be here to be honest.

Todoroki receives a message on his phone. Someone sent him a location. It’s Izuku! He’s running off, towards an alleyway in a street far off? I run with him too, hearing Endeavor’s protests. I catch up to him and he grits his teeth. He tells me to go back, that this isn’t my fight.

“Izuku is my friend too, even if he didn’t send me his location as well, I sure as hell will help you out. Come on, let’s just hurry.” He pulls a face but speeds up. Is he really being like this right now?

I follow him as we run off to find where Izuku could be. I scan every alleyway we pass and dark corners. He looks down and turns, running at the same speed consistently. When we pass a corner, I see them. Iida and Izuku on the ground. The hero killer is about to stab Iida!

“Todoroki in there!” He whips around and sends a large blast of fire in the alleyway.

“Midoriya, in times like these, you have to be clear in your messages.” He lifts his phone. He charges towards the hero killer while lifting the wounded up on ice. The skill in duality of his quirks are remarkable! Izuku and Todoroki communicate and the latter reassures them of help coming.

“Todoroki! You can’t let that guy get your blood!” He says to him, not noticing my presence. He explains the villains quirk but the guy’s quick. They’re attacking each other immediately. I watch as they dual. I’m paralyzed, they’re all so emotionally invested in this. If I invade, i won’t be much help. I’ll be a setback. I can’t stay stuck like this or else I can’t ever call myself a hero!

I watch as Izuku sprints up and assists Todoroki in the match. They’ve figured out the logistics of his quirk. Since Izuku is type O, Native is A and Tenya is B, it’s so fitting I’m AB - right in between. Todoroki is setting off such vibrant and large blasts of fire. In that moment, I realize I need to take action. I sneak around to somehow stealthily sneak in. Iida gets up in a flash and knocks into the villain.

I get towards Native and sees he’s bleeding and still frozen. I reassure him I’m a student and came with Todoroki. I get him up and sitting by the wall. I unwind my scarf and wrap it around his wound to steady the bleeding. I flare up heat around my hands to keep him stable but he starts yelling at them. Calling them idiots and telling them to leave. Man, just rest!

“Sir, please, leave it to them. Their abilities will keep him at bay until help comes. I promise you.” I tell him, he turns his head to me with a confused face.

“Who are you? A healer?” He inquires.

“No. I’m Akemi, I want to fight too. But this battle is not something I can intervene in. I’ll take care of you now, Native. We’ve gotta worry about this wound.” But his head is turned to them. Both Iida and Izuku teamed up to knock into that villain! They’ve landed harsh hits on him and it must’ve knocked him out! I’m hoping so. They’re really strong.

“You go guys!” I say quietly, finishing the wrapping around Native. He winces at me tightening the wrap and I apologize, loosening it a bit. I place a few boxes on the left of him to hide him from view since we’re closer to the entrance of the alleyway. I stand and make my way over to them. Todoroki then takes his own attack on him, I think that just about knocked him out.

I sigh, though I wasn’t much help, I’m glad they were able to handle this. When I run up, their heads turn to me. Izuku and Iida looks shocked while Todoroki doesn’t seem fazed. I still have the second piece of my scarf to patch one of them up. Iida looks like he needs it most.

“I patched up Native by the entrance. Iida let me see your wound. I’ll wrap this around to stablize the blood.” I say as I quickly make work.

“What are you doing here?” Izuku asks.

“I’m interning at Endeavor’s agency with Todoroki. Though I didn’t jump into this fight, I hope to make myself somewhat useful in recovery. Hurry and take his weapons, then apprehend him. I’ll suspend him in one of my domes if needed.” I say nudging my head up to Stain’s body on the ice.

After they tie him up, I see Native get up and make his way over. He thanks me for my help and hands me my scarf, not a drop of blood was on it. It looks like his wound was able to close from my quirk. I’ve gotta learn how the heat is healing wounds. I stand next to Iida as Native carries Izuku. Todoroki has a rope leash on the villain as we make our way out.

They talk together and I stay quiet. I didn’t do much, so I keep my head down. Izuku then gets yelled at by an elder? He stomps on his face and explains this is the hero he’s interning with. Looks like he veered off track too. Footsteps are heard coming our way, a group of heroes have finally come! They’re going to get ambulances and realize the hero killer is captured. As they round up everything, Iida apologizes to Todoroki and Izuku.

I make my way over slowly, a distance away. He’s crying and I go up to pat him on the back. He wipes his eyes and I smile at him. But then Gran Torino yells, some bird monster is headed our way! It swoops and takes Izuku into its claws. What the hell! That monster is gonna get away with Izuku. I sprint towards it. There’s screams to tell me to get back.

I see a figure from above me jump and take out that monster. Skidding all three of them on the ground. The villain has freed himself! We need to apprehend him! I halt halfway between everyone. Endeavor makes his entrance now. Just realizing the situation at hand. But when the hero killer turns around, his mask is off. His face is... contorted as if damaged badly by something or someone. He’s making his way over and I take my step back.

He’s entirely unhinged now. He only wants a challenge from All Might and the aura he lets off is stifling. I want to hold my breath but all of a sudden, he stops. I fall to my knees, he’s out cold. Thank goodness, he’s out cold! We were all frozen in our spots then, none of us made a move towards him at all. The only one who even had fight left in him, was the hero killer.

Chapter Text

The boys were brought to the hospital to recover their injuries as they apprehended the unconscious Stain. . Though I wasn’t injured I was brought back home. I decided to visit them early tomorrow morning. When I told my family what happened, they fussed to keep me safe. But I was perfectly fine, it was those boys who were hurt the most. That night I had no dreams.

The train ride there was tranquil, traveling alone like this isn’t often but since it’s for school, I’ll pretend as if I’m just visiting cities. When I reach their hospital, I tell the receptionist who I’m visiting. I make my way up and see Izuku is on crutches. I rush over to him to open the door.

“Good morning you guys.” I call out, their heads turn over to me. I walk with Izuku, I sit at the edge of his bed as he’s standing.

“I was just on the phone with Uraraka.” He says but the others’ expressions are slightly grim.

“Iida just got his test results back.” Todoroki says.

“My left hand may face permenant damage.” He explains the damages and how it affects him from here on. He’s accepting what’s happened to him and it seems they’re all supporting him. I smile, and see Izuku clench his fist in front of Iida .

“Let’s get stronger together.” They nod a teacher, and I see Todoroki look shocked.

“I feel kinda bad.” He says, looking at his hand.

“Why, what’s up?” Izuku says.

“Whenever I’m involved, someone’s hand gets all messed up. Is there something wrong with me? Am I cursed?” We all freeze. I start giggling and the other two join me to laugh.

“Todoroki I didn’t know you had a sense of humor!” Izuku says between fits of laughter.

“It’s not a joke, I’m like the hand crusher or something!” I laugh a little harder.

“Maybe it’s a new hero name.” I suggest and he looks horrified. We laugh a bit more, teasing him until he finally realizes it’s all in good fun. I open my bag and ask if they’d like any snacks. We pass around strawberry and chocolate pocky. I even pull a wrapped sandwich out to snack on.

After a while of my visit. I get Todoroki’s and Iida’s number before I leave. Izuku insists on walking me out but I tell him to rest. When he closes the door to his room, I stop. I want to ask why he didn’t send me his location for help either. So when he looks puzzled at me, I attack.

“You sent everyone your location but me.” I say, showing my phone and our last conversation. He looks shocked and shows his phone. It says it was sent to me but it failed to send. I then realize I didn’t have my phone on. I sweat nervously.

“But I did Akichan, look! It just didn’t go through. We’re lucky to have you though, you helped out a bit and you even visited us today.” He smiles brightly, I smile too but I’m full of guilt. Somehow he’s always pulling the situation around. I go up and hug him. He flips out, squirming and stuttering.

“Whahtskpsicimsmaozld” he says, or really stumbles. I had no idea what he said.

“I’m glad you’re safe. You have so many scars and injuries already. You push yourself so much, I admire that. But I only have one best friend named Izuku so please keep yourself in one piece.” I say, pulling back and hands on my hip. His red face and shocked expression is stuck, just like the rest of his body.

“But at least we match with cool scars!” I say, pulling down my knee sock to show the long time scar. His face loses its color and instead his brows are furrowed.

“Where did you get that? What happened? I don’t remember you telling me about it. Was that recent??” He says, hand on his chin and tilting side to side. I laugh.

“It’s from 10 years ago. Remember when I told you how I was in danger as a kid? I got it then. It never healed when the other scars did.” I say, fixing my socks back in order. He blinks then, his expression worried.

“Don’t pull that face, I’m fine! Once I get stronger, I’m sure it’ll go away. Though it’s kinda knarly though right?” I say, not sure if I’m really making sense. He pulls this weird face and nods. I take my leave here and hope they all rest up. I wave as I make my way around the corner and back on the train.

My internships resumed for a short bit with me reporting to the agency later that day. He reprimanded me running off and unlike his son, I’ll be receiving a punishment letter to my school. I plead for that not to happen and continue my internships as before. He looks down at me with heated eyes.

“Sir with all due respect. You’ve been only focused on your son this entire time. I am also here on an internship with you and this is the first time you’ve paid attention to me. So please, don’t write a letter to UA about me running off.” I bow then. I know I shouldn’t talk so boldly like this but it felt unfair. He laughs then.

“They’re right when they said you have a fiery spirit. I know about your parents, good quirks and a good agency but they’re not big on attention. Kin was known back in the days and then came Inari. Now here’s their second daughter.” I don’t like the way he’s talking about my family.

“You’re gonna turn out like them too?” He says, looking straight at me.

“No. I’ll work harder to be a bigger hero. Then I’ll surpass them.” I say, narrowing my eyes. He laughs then, almost crazed.

“Hah! Let’s see if you get there.” We patrolled the city that day, him directing what to pay attention for. Petty thieves and no name villains are always around. I take note and watch as other heroes pass us around. The day goes by like that. The next day Todoroki joined us again. Endeavor was back to focusing on his son and since internships will end soon, I really hope I get something out of this.

When we get back to school, I hear Kirishima and Sero laughing. When I peer over to them, Kacchan’s hair style looks hilarious! Everyone’s talking about how their internships and how it went. Tsuyu sounded like she had a good experience. When we turn to Ochacco, we can see the clear fighting spirit emitting from her. Good for her, Gunhead must have really helped her work.

But then the other students start pointing at us. The agencies focused in Hosu. I side step out the way and get closer to Tsuyu. She looks confused but everyone’s talking about how they were saved by Endeavor. I tried to open my mouth to say that’s wrong. But I see Todoroki’s eyes piercing mine. Whatever message he’s trying to send, I received it alright. I close my mouth again and look away.

It seems like a video about Stain is circulating around the internet. He praised him even though he was a vicious villain. Though Denki ate his words, Iida took it in stride. He called for class order and we all grumbled back into our seat. He’s back to being class rep. Later that day, we had a class with All Might.

“Listen carefully for what we have in store!” He says, explaining today’s objective to be a race of rescue training. I turn to Izuku and see he’s still absolutely in awe. No matter how close he is to All Might, the man is still his idol. All Might explains what this course is and how we’ll work in groups of 5 to get to him. I raise my hand.

“There’s 21 one of us, usually I was the odd one out before. Would I be paired with one of the groups?” I say, feeling a little awkward.

“Correct, you’ll be siding with one of the teams, BUT FIRST! Team one up ahead!” He calls forth for the first 5; Sero, Mina, Ojiro, Iida, and Izuku. Everyone’s muttering about who would be at the advantage and disadvantage. I stay silent, I want to observe like Izuku usually does. Though when they ask me who I think will win, I say:

“The one with the most skill.” A few lot are staring at me weird but I said what I said! In my head I feel like Izuku would prevail. A lot of them don’t know it, but I saw it when I was there. Izuku can do a lot more than he could before.

When the timer begins, we see them all set off. Majority trust in Sero but in a matter of seconds, I see Izuku spring up. Everyone’s shocked but I knew it already. He’s got everyone amazed. He’s so close, my pride was swelling. But then he slips and falls straight to his face. Sero was definitely the winner. I sigh, damn it Deku!

“Deku...?” I called him Deku? It’s the first time I ever did and even though he chose it as his hero name I didn’t want to call him that yet. I cover my mouth. I feel really bad for calling him names but he accepted it. I’m so conflicted, I’ll need more time to adjust. All Might falls me up to join Todoroki’s group.

I’m pitted against Todoroki, Aoyama, Mineta, and Tsuyu! This isn’t a fair group especially with Todoroki’s power. I flicker flames to clime around my body. With my new costume, I’m able to retain a lot more heat than before. I let it circulate around me. The round starts and I see everyone jet off. I take the aerial route and fly as fast as I can towards All Might. I use the tops of those canisters as balance but no matter how quick I tried, Todoroki prevailed.

After everyone’s turn, we head back to the locker room. I stretch and take a sip of water from the bottle in my locker. I start taking my gloves off and then the elbow pads. Next is my knee pads and iron sole attachments. Just as I’m unzipping my collar choker and slipping down the leotard, Jiro stops us.

She’s reciting everything Mineta is saying about our bodies! He even talks about my thighs and breasts, this damn perv! I blush and furiously shake, flames flicker around my hair. Jiro sends an earphone jack into the hole and stabs him but I add insult to injury. I trail a small flame that ended on his shirt.

“He’s screaming about his shirt on fire. But why was I the only one he didn’t comment on?” She mumbles and I hold in a snicker. I’ve gotta stop my snickering habit, my mom and sister are rubbing off on me. After we change, Izuku says he’s gotta meet with All Might. As the other boys trickle out, primarily Mineta, I point two fingers at my eyes to theirs in warning. They shudder and quickly make their way home. But Kacchan and Todoroki paid me no mind.

That night though, I had a dream. It felt so quick that I woke up earlier than usual for school. All that she said this time was ‘good luck’. Is she talking about my finals coming soon? Or something else? Whatever it was, I brush it off for today. I just try to get through for the school day and as usual it drifts by. Mr. Aizawa reminds us of our week left to study for finals.

Mina and Denki flip out, they hadn’t taken notes but they had very opposite reactions. They placed 19th and 20th in the midterms respectively. The others talk about the midterms and how we haven’t had much time to even relax lately. I scored 9th/21 in the class so not the best but not the worst. I just couldn’t believe I was right by Mineta.

Izuku was excited and hopeful for everyone, since he placed 4th. Todoroki was 5th, Iida was 2nd, Yaomomo was 1st, Jiro was 7th, Kacchan was 3rd and there on, there on. So many people wanted her to tutor them. I’d like to go but, I felt oddly shy. She was excited though, she was talking about the fancy house she had. I had a modern traditional home, so it’s not as suauvy.

We’re off to lunch then and I realized our table has gotten more full, everyone’s sitting by each other now. I pulled a chair around to make it look like I was the head of the table. I was seated in between Izuku and Tsuyu. We’re discussing what could be on the finals. An arm comes out to deck Izuku in the head, it’s that rude prick Monoma. There seems to be a handful of pricks lately.

He’s off running his mouth and I kinda wanna set his clothes on fire. I flicker up in flames. I reach out towards his shirt but then an orange haired girl chops his neck. He’s out cold! I soothe my flames down. I listen to her talk about what could be on the test. I feel like it’ll be something different though.

“It shouldn’t matter if it’s robots or actual people. You morons need to get it together.” Kacchan is picking another fight with us but he somehow is trying to be motivational? I’m so confused with him somehow. He turns his anger to Izuku and Todoroki, he’s all worked up and for what?? We head out for the day then.

I know a few was heading over to Yaomomo’s place so I decided to tag along. Though she was very energetic and working diligently, I got off track a good few times. However, with all the information she was giving us, I knew I had a good set of notes to refer to on my own time. As that week passed, we had our written exams. I wouldn’t say it was completely hard, but it was better than before.

In no time, it was time for the practical last exam. The teachers are all gathered here. Mina and Denki was so confident but when Principal Nezu wiggles out, he changes our prior thoughts. Instead, we’re fighting against the teachers. I was set in Izuku and Kacchan’s team with All Might. Woah wait!

“All Might?!” I say at the same time as the boys. We look at each other. I don’t think I belong in this team. But Mr. Aizawa says it’s based on our skill sets and it seems they’ve paired us three rivals together. I chew on my cheek, their abilities are evolving far faster than mine are. I don’t know what dynamic this is but it feels like I’m in the middle of a negative/positive scale.

We’re the last match of the day, it seems the teachers really chose meticulous dynamics. Principal Nezu explains the rules of the match, either run or handcuff the teacher. The teachers begin to put their own inputs and answers questions the other students ask. I raise an arm up.

“So it’s not about beating our teacher, it’s besting them.” All Might agrees and shows off their handicap towards us. Kacchan retorts at All Might but it looks like our teacher, er- number one hero? - is up for the challenge. Everyone sets off to devise plans in how to win.

I follow Izuku to the screening room, Kacchan set off from us anyways. Ochacco comes to join us as the first match begins. She explains Aoyama is more into admiring himself. I hold back a laugh, I like looking at mirrors but he’s more engrossed in himself than Kacchan’s ego. Or maybe they’re on par with each other.

Sato and Kirishima powers up through the walls made by Cementoss. They’re going to hit their limit if they’re going to just push through like this. Comentoss on the other end, has no limit. As that of a pro. Izuku agrees with my inputs and we watch as they slowly get overwhelmed. The exam was over in just a matter of minutes. Worry climbs onto my spine. I don’t know if our team will cooperate enough to win.

Next was Tsuyu and Tokoyomi. They were escaping from Mr. Ectoplasm’s duplications. They must have had a strategy beforehand. Recovery Girl says it’ll be difficult for Tokoyami for sure, but how? We turn back to the screen to observe. Tokyo’s I manages to knock out a handful of clones, Tsuyu even helps them get around. Recovery girl tells us his strengths and weakness in close range. It seems Tsuyu will be an important aid in their match.

A large clone emerges and smashes the platform they’re on, trapping them onto the clone. Dark shadow comes out, fighting against their teacher. Somehow they managed to cuff his leg, passing their final cleverly. I smile and clap for them quietly. Their communication and dependence on each other was well balanced. I can’t say the same for our team.

Next was Ojiro and Iida against Mr. Powerloader. Though they outran his traps, they near missed the massive hole. Iida launches Ojiro through the gate as he spirals a quick quick around the debris. They passed in quick secession, even with Iida becoming stuck in the ground.

Next was Yaomomo and Todoroki against Mr. Aizawa. They seem to be communicating often, but Yaomomo looks coflicted. She’s dropping little nesting dolls as they run around, they stop a few times to talk. I wonder about what, Yaomomo looks upset. Todoroki realizes then, Mr. Aizawa makes his attack. He apprehended Todoroki onto a pole, it seemed they’re talking before Mr. Aizawa jets off.

The match gets turned on his head when Yaomomo comes back for Todoroki, she throws flash grenades at him to blind him temporarily. Once they run off, he blocks our teacher off with a large ice wall. On they’re side, she’s creating... a scarf? The one Mr. Aizawa has around his neck. Our teacher is on the other side, poised and ready for action. The gate is behind him so he waits for them to come out.

When he charges at them, it’s revealed they tricked him with cloaks to hide from his erasure quirk. Under those cloaks were mannequins and a catapult with the scarf on it. Todoroki sets off his flames towards the scarves which wrap around Mr. Aizawa and gives them the win. Yaomomo starts crying though, she must be overwhelmed.

Ochacco and Aoyama are next and as quickly as it starts, it looks like as quickly it’ll end. 13 has her quirk ready to go as they hang on for their life on some pole. But she suddenly let’s go and springs into the offensive. She apprehends 13 and Aoyama joins on her other side. They won! I’m speechless and I see Izuku cheer for her. I want to express how worried I am for our match but how will that help us in any way?

“Was it just me or did Ochacco took that mistake and turned it around into a victory?” Tsuyu agreed and mentions how they were in a conversation together. Izuku inquires on what it could be since there’s no sound, I’ll probably ask her about it later. In comes Iida and Yaomomo, we’re all watching together now for Denki and Mina’s match against Principle Nezu.

Our principle has the upper hand as he effortlessly gets our classmates running for their life. He looked like he hadn’t moved at all and only created chain reactions with certain things he’d hit. It must be part of his quirk, calculated attacks! Recovery girl explains about his horrible past in humans experimenting on him, he takes his vengeance this way. I understand him completely, but I still felt sorry for Denki and Mina. And so, they failed.

Ochacco comes in then, realizing their loss. We congratulate her on her pass instead though, with Tsuyu asks what could have happened at the end of their match. She’s entirely flustered and freaking out, reassuring us to forget about it. Tsuyu and I share a look, I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing as me. Aoyama must have asked a private question, like she did with me at the tournament.

Koda and Jiro is next with Present Mic. The others chat about their difficulties in this match as the hero sends off a huge, loud sound wave. He sends one after another, I guess you can really call him a loudmouth. I snicker to myself as I watch them devise a plan. Bugs began to swarm over Present Mic, I look away in disgust. Koda must have been able to get through to them!

Next was Hagakure and Shoji, they’re hiding behind walls as shots are fired at them. Shoji runs and is cornered by Snipe. Hagakure manages to handcuff the hero with ease, earning their victory stealthily! We pride them and I stay quiet, I need to somehow think up a plan. I can’t keep letting Izuku plan everything and Kacchan power through. I need to do both, for myself!

“Hey Hinotori, Deku, isn’t you guys’ round next?” I faintly hear her voice. The buzzer for the next round stirs me from spiralling, our match was next. Izuku decides to stay here, so I sit back and see how this round will go but it already looks like the match will be over soon. Mineta was running away as Sero was sleeping in his lap. Mineta manages to somehow CRY BLOOD, it was so disturbing how jealous he was.

Midnight makes her way up to Mineta, she’s cracking her whip. Isn’t she enjoying this way too much? She’s covering the entire field in her aroma and now that I look at it closer, it resembled Sananaka’s quirk. His was only slightly darker and thicker than hers was, but similar attributes. Could he really be related to her?

Mineta dashes towards her with tape around his face, throwing those weird thinks at him as he rushes past, she trapped her and stuck her down before crossing the line with Sero. I begin to laugh into my hand, he looked pretty funny but I’ve got to hand it to him. He pulled through for their team. It’s just about time for our round. I’m incredibly nervous.

When I look over to Izuku, he was waving me out the door. I rush over to him and we sprint off to our match. I heard Ochacco mention us before we were long gone. We smile at each other and hurriedly make it to the gate. There Kacchan turns around. He’s got a heavy scowl and eyes full of murder. Though Izuku falters, I march right up to him. I’m still also angry about our last match.

As the gates open and they announce the match to begin, he’s silent as he marches forward. I grit my teeth and clench my fists. We need a damn plan! Is he expecting to just win with his might to show us up? We’re the only team of 3 making each of us a disadvantage to the other. Fire, sweat, strength, it’s an odd combination of assets and we need to make it freaking work!

Izuku begins talking a mile a minute as Kacchan marches forward, I run to catch up to them. They’re arguing and clashing ideas. He’s too focused on his own mindset he’s not listening to Izuku. He turns to me as we watch Kacchan storm forward, he’s telling me what we should do and precautions to take as we play the roles of heroes and the heroes as villains.

“All Might is all strength, power, and agility. We can probably overpower him as a trio but we’re gonna cause more discord if it’s us two and Kacchan. He’s not even listening to you, we need to somehow get his weak spot.” I say and he nods but corrects a few places I miss at. He knows All Might through and through. He looks over to Kacchan then, and rushes over to try to persuade him.

But as I run up, Kacchan swings his hand and knocks his gauntlet into Izuku’s jaw. He’s covering it as he lands to the ground. I rush to his side and try to help the injury. I turn my head towards Kacchan, furious.

“I don’t want to hear another word. Just because you think you’re getting stronger, doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do!” He seethes.

“Shut up. Stop acting so egotistical! Time is running out you damn brute!” I yell at him, he narrows his eyes at me.

“Shut your damn mouth weakling, you’ll only weigh ME down.” He turns and continues to walk away.

“Wait Kacchan! This is for all three of us, we need to pass the final!” Izuku’s voice is strained.

“I TOLD YOU I DON’T NEED YOUR POWER!” Kacchan yells .

“WILL YOU STOP YELLING, THIS IS WHY WE CAN NEVER HAVE REAL CONVERSATIONS!” Izumi retorts, I feel something coming.

“Shit-! LOOK OUT!” I scream as I form a dorm around us three. It was no use, the wind power blew us all back, everything in its way was decimated. All Might’s voice rings out as the wind surges around us. His form through the smoke is terrifyingly intimidating. He’s playing his role intensely and I stumble up. Izuku tells us to run but Kacchan is stubbornly standing his ground.

“MOVE DAMN IT.” I shout at him and Izuku stops. Kacchan flashes a blast at him but All Might grabs his face! He keeps blasting at him anyways before being thrown hard into the ground! The hero - playing the villain- rushes over to Izuku and I. He’s grinding at our lack of movement. I feel damn useless under his stare!

Izuku jumps up and bumps into Kacchan. I knew this would happen. The two of them fall and I rush back to save them. I create another dome around us three and surge a blast towards All Might. He ps barely affected! This is fire he’s dealing with! I push to strengthen the blast and I see it’s singed his costume but no holes. He’s not struggling at all! He’s just batting away the flames.

“What?? He’s not even burned!” As the boys get up, Kacchan gets up and blasts through my dome. He just broke my protection for them! It weakens me a bit as my fire falters. It goes up in ash as he makes his way forward. Izuku catches me as I fall to my knees, I rage a breath out and realize I’m not taking my usual breathing breaks.

The boys argue a bit more before All Might traps Izuku with some gate. He wraps a net around me as I roll and hit a building near by, the wind is knocked from me and my vision is blurry. I see All Might land a punch into Kacchan’s stomach, him spewing as he flies back. Shit, this hurts! I power up my flames and slowly burn the netting away. My breaths turn more hysterical and I keep tumbling as I regain my composure.

I’m having an.. an... anxiety...! I lay my back against the building wall as I rag for breaths. Tears sting my eyes as my body convulses. This hasn’t happened in so long so why now! I need to stabilize my breathing! I know what to do when this happens so why can’t I do it?! I cough, sputter and fall to my knees. It’s because I know we might not win, the tension between the boys are stifling, and the confidence in my abilities are lower than bedrock.

“C—can’t... th...ugh...ink... th...huh..is... way...” I speak to slow my hysteria down. As I come back to, I’m so glad it didn’t take me as long to come back to my senses. I cough once more and burst in flames. The heat is rising, it feels warm and it settles me in a bit. I look up and my vision clears. I look from Izuku to Kacchan, the latter being pushed harshly by Izuku. They run through the alleyway I’m in.

“Are you okay? Let’s hurry please, follow me!” He’s got Kacchan in his arms and I fly alongside him as he quickly runs off. But as we’re running, Kacchan punches Izuku and I stop between them. They’re arguing again and the flames flickering around my body are getting hotter. They’re completely swarming around me and I dial it down so it won’t make us noticeable.

Kacchan punches the wall right by Izuku’s head. I step forward and he speaks, he’s trying to tell us some kind of plan but albeit horribly. He’s found a way for us to get through him. With that we see All Might pass and Kacchan blasts into his view. He’s firing off at All Might as Izuku holds one of his gauntlets.

“BRAT!” He screeches at me and I hurl from above and surge a sweep of fire to fuel the blast Izuku makes. It throws me back in the air and I see we’ve basically set him on fire, or burned him really bad. I see Izuku clutch his shoulder, before we all begin flying towards the exit. Im soaring above and turn back to see he’s getting up. We’ve still got ways to go before we get there!

I feel a strange sense of calm, as if I finally let out a lot of my stress. I feel much more energized as I push more fire into my legs, I’m flying right above the two. I can’t hear them but I know they’re basically arguing again. But all of a sudden there he is, All Might between them! Damn, I need to make a move!

All Might breaks the gauntlets and sends Kacchan into the building with a kick. He punches up as he sends me spiraling onto the roof of a building. I stagger myself up, and make myself to the edge of the building. He’s got them both in his clutches. What do I do here? He’s got them apprehended and if I show myself, I’ll get all of us jeopardized. He throws Izuku then, he’s not getting up!

But Kacchan then bursts a huge explosive and there’s smoke everywhere. He calls out to me and tells me to jet off, in the smoke he’s about to throw Izuku! He sends Izuku towards the exit, I hurriedly try to reach him, but All Might slams him into a bus! I fly down and see Kacchan let’s out a huge flash, he’s in pain. They both are! I steady my breath and turn myself into a fireball, I reach down to Izuku.

But I hear All Might has apprehended Kacchan to the ground. I spiral towards them then, calling out to Izuku to run. But I see he’s headed my way too. He hits All Might with a burger punch as I barrel into him. All might staggers back and I use his body to bounce off of. As a flame torpedo I jet alongside Izuku towards the exit! We’re right there! We-

“WE DID IT,” I say as we make it through, the voice telling us we have passed. I lose control of the fire wrapping around me and stumble into a roll against the dirt. I see Izuku has faltered and fell to his knees. I just need to get them to recovery girl! I pick myself up, fueling up my fire and keeping it at a warm temperature. I swoop them both up, limping with how heavy they are and jump sporadically to her office.

I didn’t take the landing well and ended up rolling with them at the entrance. We somehow made it in with the last remaining energy I had and Recovery girl helps me get everyone on beds. I knock out in a matter of seconds as my head makes contact with the pillow. I pushed my limits once again today, but it actually felt... good.

¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

The next day, the four who failed are in dampened spirits. They’re very upset and and crying. I’m so glad my head is down on my desk, I could really go back to sleep in this state. I’m glad our team won, we were healed up well too. The woman from my dreams last night made another short appearance. This time all she did was give me a thumbs up and a ‘you did well’. At this point, she’s praising me more than my parents.

“I expect you all to me in your seats. Good morning.” Mr. Aizawa says, bursting in. Everyone’s back in their desk, and intently listening. Mr. Aizawa explains the finals and announces us all to be allowed to go to summer camp! I hum in happiness, it seems he did another tactical deception on the class. The ones who failed will be supplied supplementary lessons.

We all excitably talk about the plans for the summer. Hagakure then suggests heading to the mall to get some shopping done. I burst up, eyes sparkling and hair ablaze. Everyone’s eyes turn to me and I falter for a bit. Blushing, I clear my throat.

“I’d love to go shopping.” I smile, embarrassed. The girls cheer and we all chatter about what to wear and when to meet up. I felt so much like a normal teenager here, shopping with friends and going out when it’s not schoool related. Thankfully, that night I got the okay from my parents. We all met up at the station in the morning to head to the biggest quirk adhering mall.

“The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall! I haven’t been here in a while!” I saw in awe. Everyone’s wearing the latest trends of clothes from everywhere, even out of the country! They look so sleek and stylish, I almost feel a little too out of place in my own. I’m wearing a matching two piece, white and pink outfit. A collared shirt with plaid short sleeve cuffs and a heart pocket paired with a pink pleated high waisted skirt with buttons on the side. I wear thigh high stockings and chunky white shoes with self painted butterflies on it.

It’s such a cute fit but my aesthetic isn’t just limited to looking cute. I’m hoping here they have darker outfits that are sold towards fire based quirk. I want to see if they had hats, crop tops, or even joggers with heat absorbent material. It’ll keep my quirk going no matter where I am. Oh maybe I should invest in silk pajamas and-

“Aren’t those 1-A students? The sports festival was so good!” Strangers recognize us and I bask in the glory, I can’t believe how revelant that is to now. Everyone’s got different ideas and plans to get. We all begin to split up and I stay behind with Ochacco and Izuku. Suddenly though she rushes off, she seemed to really need bug spray.

“We came together as a class but here I am all by myself.” He murmurs.

“Hey, I’m literally right here. I’ll just leave then too, later~!” I pull one eye down and stick my tongue art him. I jog off towards where Ochacco ran off, I motion for her to slow down and see she’s by tsuyu as well. I happily chirp with them and show them my list of things to do. My parents gave me a much money for food and clothes and whatnot I was free to go. I felt like a kid with candy.

As I go around to different stores trying on clothes, I feel so satisfied I’m getting a new closet. I can’t wait to fold some old clothes up and pack these new ones for summer camp. I follow the girls around to find swimsuits and summer necessities. It feels so relaxing and this is the first time I’ve ever had this experience with friends. The last time I went shopping with a friend was with Hisami, when we were in middle school and my siblings were along. I smile at the memory.

I realize all my bags are gathering on my arms. I decide to get a new bag for the summer as well, I’d be able to carry these bags in one easier that way. I look through one store with compression backpacks that can inflate to a duffle bag. I decide to get a crimson red one with an iridescent shimmer to gold. It was made for me!

I buy it and go to one of the benches to fold all my clothes into the bag. I even fold the bag it had with it. I hum a song to pass the time and slowly it all fits inside. I pull a string and it turns into a backpack. Wow I really love how compact this is. I see Ochacco walk by then and so if I can walk with her. She was slightly hesitant but nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m going to apologize to Deku for running away so suddenly. I realized it was rude.” I nod and tell her it’s alright, though it’s not my place. But when I turn my head I see a hooded boy next to him, grasping his neck. Ochacco and I share a look and hurry our way over.

“Um, excuse me-“ I begin.

“Uh, Deku?” Ochacco adds. He looks like he’s shaking and struggling. He reassures us this is nothing but the guy let’s him go. He walks off then as he coughs. Ochacco goes by his side to pat his back. I look at the guy as he passes.

“Hold on, Shigaraki.” What, from the league of villains? I make my way next to him and hand him some water. Why was he here? Why did he target Izuku? Later that day, Ochacco reported the incident and the mall was closed temporarily. I’m glad we were able to get necessities but the police did a full sweep. Izuku notifies the detective after we all split.

When I get home that night, I feel weird. An unsettling feeling overwhelms my body. What was that guy planning? I grit my teeth and pull up a happy face before I open the front door. I announce my arrival at home, snacks in hand. My siblings come by to take it and my parents wants to see what I got.

That night, the lady came back in clear view. She’s running her fingers through her hair until she spots me. She smiles and stands like she’s done before. She waves a hand over my eyes and I blink, I look down at my hands. I can move this time around. She pokes my forehead.

“Hey!” My voice comes out, I can speak this time.

“You’re getting more interesting. You can finally move around here. Good. Our time is coming, our power will be merging soon. Once you push past that final wall you’ve built up, then you will be stronger than ever.” She smiles then, that halo still bright around her.

“What are you talking about?” I say, as I flex my fingers out.

“Be careful. You have yet to face your worst.” Her voice is getting fainter. I’m about to wake up but she’s being so damn vague! I try to ask one more question, until the next time I see her, which are usually sporadic blurry appearances in between.

“What’s going to happen to me?!” She smiles and turns her head, her side profile is even remarkable. She laughs but it’s full of pity as if she’s sad for me. As the dream begins to fade, her voice is left to say two words.

“A lot.”

Chapter Text

I straighten out my gloves as I follow the girls around the expo. This place is insane! There’s so many different buildings to visit and to shop, even to eat at! There’s so many pro heroes from everywhere in the world here, even non-heroes too! I felt like this was a huge culture shock for me, this is the first time I’m technically out of the country.

“Up ahead! We should head inside!” Yaomomo says, pointing at a large museum. It looks huge and so technologically advanced. We all giggle as we run inside, trying on different gadgets and inventions as well. At a corner, I spot someone very familiar. A boy with green messy hair and a tall blonde girl. We’re headed their way and as we get closer, I knew it was him.

“Looks like you’re having fun, Deku.” Ochacco sounds slightly jealous here, and I hold back a snicker. But then I realized, he didn’t tell me he was gonna be on I-Island as well. My eyes narrow as the other girls, Yaomomo and Jiro says something similar as Ochacco. I step up to him, arms crossed and bitter.

“Leaving us in the dark while you’re out having fun, huh, Deku.” My tone is near venomous. He’s flustered and as he tries to introduce Melissa, she gets shushed when she mentions something about All Might. So he came here with him again for some other big event huh? Not even bothering to tell us a single detail, HUH?

“How about we grab some tea at the cafe?” She seems sweet, so I don’t flower when my shift turns to her. I smile brightly and nod. But when Izuku’s worried face turns to me to look apologetic, I can feel the ominous and spiteful aura resonate off me. You’re not off the hook, Izuku.

Once we reach the cafe, she enthusiastically asks us about our life at UA. We tell her about our experiences in the first semester there, including the villains we encountered. We tell her about the internships during that time and what we we went through. Once Yaomomo expresses her exasperation with Uwabami, I chuckle. I’m seated between her and Melissa. “I worked with our classmate Todoroki at his father’s agency since they’ve got similar quirks to mine.” I smile at her, she’s amazed. “Sounds like an experience! Lucky.” She says and we smile fondly at her, she must want to do the things we do.

“We were thinking about checking out the Pavillion...” Jiro says, as I look over to Izuku. He looks as if he got let off the hook, but he’s definitely not. But I look up and there’s Kaminari and Mineta. In waiter outfits? Are they working?

“What are you two doing here?” Jiro says.

“They needed extra wait staff and since it’s a free trip to the island, we decided to work.” Kaminari says. Mineta goes on about the plans and what not they’re thinking of doing before talking not so discreetly about how “hot” Melissa is. She definitely is pretty, her hair is such a nice color. She whispers to us about them which makes them flounder over to her.

“Why are you two slacking off?” Iida flashes by and explains how he got here. Yaomomo talks about her invitation due to her father’s business in shareholding properties. She’s big money, so much more than my comfortable living. Jiro talks about when they gambled for their chances to come along and I snicker at the memory. I was there when they were playing rock, paper, scissors and I hadn’t joined in. I just watched on the side, laughing at Mina’s upset reaction. It’s a shame the other girls couldn’t come to the preview.

“My family are well known from a long lineage of heroes with mythical folktale quirks, so our family was given invitations. Since my parents couldn’t come, my sister and I went in their stead. My brother’s too married to his work to come take a break.” I say with a smile, they chatter about how cool it is that Iida and my family are so well known. I flush in pride.

“Here’s a thought, how about I show y’all around the expo for the sights?” Melissa suggests.

“Woah really? That’ll be so much fun!” I say, clasping my hands together. An explosion is set off down at some arena and we all rush over to see what’s it about. I fly over and settle into the stands as everyone else makes their way over. As the smoke clears and the announcer talks about his score, a familiar redhead comes into view. It seems like Kirishima is here as well!

“So I’m guessing he’s from UA as well” I nod from her side. The announcer then calls the next challenger to be... wait, really?!

“Kacchan?” I say at the same time as Izuku. He’s blasting off and hitting every robot in record speed, bouncing off the last explosion to creat the next. He screams ‘DIE!’ at them as he decimates them. He clears it in 15 seconds at first place, but as he walks, he looks right up to us. His expression turns feral. He’s barking at Izuku like some mad dog.

“Why’s that boy so angry?” Melissa asks.

“That’s just how he is.” Jiro says.

“Him, Izuku, and Hinotori are fated rivals.” Ochacco says, I smile at her for including me. Theyre still arguing before Izuku was basically peer pressured into the villain attack course. The announcer is really eating this up. We all watch as he powers up and sprints around the villains. He’s damn fast! He reaches second place at 16 seconds. I turn over to Melissa, she looks conflicted. 

“Todoroki!” He takes the first place title and Kacchan goes down to argue with him. The boys jump down to ease the tension. I’m with the girls as they all look ashamed but Melissa laughs and I burst into giggles too. She apologizes but we all agree when Yaomomo says it’s never boring. It’s always a treat when everyone’s this energetic.

Soon, the day comes to an end, the sunrise is clear across the sky. We all make our way back to where Kaminari and Mineta are. Melissa gives them some tickets to the party tonight. We discuss what happens tonight and to go together after we change. Iida rushes off and we walk to our hotels. We wave to Melissa and Izuku as we head inside.

I happily talk with the girls as we get ready together. I pull out my dress from the closet where we hung our dresses together. I got it a year ago and had never worn it since. It had a sweetheart neckline and chiffon sleeves with a cuff that matched the collar.The collar was black with a gold diamond in the middle and chiffon on my chest. The dress was a velvet material and darker than the sleeves, it had a slight slit at my left thigh. I even got heels to match with chiffon butterflies at the ankle strap. It’s so pretty I couldn’t help but admire it

”Wow that’s the dress you brought? It’s so stylish!” Ochacco says. 

”Its a bit mature.” Jiro says, scanning it.

”No, it’s greatly suave! You have amazing taste, look at the brand!” I knew Yaomomo would understand me. I forgot I got this at a high end store though, she’s got a good eye for these things. After zipping the dress on and adjusting the sleeves, I twirl in the bathroom mirror. It was so nice, I made myself blush. I hadn’t dressed up in such nice clothing like this in years. My heart warmed for moments like these. 

“Yaomomo, can you style my hair like this?” I show her a loose pulled back hair style with loose curls at the end. My black hair was down to my thighs, it needed to be cut soon. For as long as it’s this long though, I can style it as nicely as I can! We talk together as we do our hair and get our accessories on. I slip one gold ring on my middle finger on my right hand. It’s a compact brass knuckle, in case of emergencies. 

“Oh, makeup! I brought my bag I usually use.” I smile at the girls.

”You wear makeup daily?” 

”I do, I kinda really like it. I watch a lot of beauty videos and skincare routines.” I laugh and show them the materials I get. They’re more foreign products since they work better for my skin. I used to had a bad breakout of acne but after getting into a good routine, my face is smoother than before. I still get it sometimes though, all part of growing up.

After I tap on my usual base makeup, I get out my eyeshadows and lipstick. The girls around me look at every pallete I bring out. I feel a little shy and hesitate between items. They reassure me they’re only watching and I tell them to use any product they’d like. I tap on a light shimmer of dark red on my eye lids and mascara. Then I tap on faint lipstick to make it look naturally colored just a bit darker. A swap of gloss and finished!

”How do we look ladies!” I say as I pull us together for a photo. They laugh and we take multiple funny photos and even a glam one. I’ll definitely print those out later on when I’m back home. I smile happily and rush to the window to snap some pictures of the island from our view. It’s night time and the stars are twinkling above us. It all feels so surreal.

We race together to the meet up space. The girls get there before me as I adjust my heel. I’m nervous all of sudden even with how narcissistic I can be. As the door opens, I see the others are talking to each other before they turn over to me. I look anywhere but at them as I step towards everyone.

”Hi~ am I too late?” I giggle and we all act as if we weren’t just together which made us late to the original meet up time. 

”You look great Akichan!” Izuku smiles brightly. My heart thuds, oh crap! I look over to Todoroki who’s eyes just bore into mine. I don’t know if I feel like blushing out of embarrassment or pride. We all laugh together but I see Izuku compliment Ochacco as well which makes me feel like a third wheel all of a sudden. We see Melissa arrive and she looks stunning in blue. I realized we wore opposite colors.

”I’m red, you’re blue! How cool!” I go up to her, and she clasps my hands in excitement. It seems the only one left is Kirishima and Kacchan. We need to make it up to the area before we’re completely locked out. However an emergency alert goes off and the shutters are being sealed. What’s going on? Is there some kind of intrusion? I turn around and see the we’re blocked in. No service on our phones and no way out.

Izuku devises a plan to find a way to the party towards All Might. Melissa will lead the way around this block in. When we sneak into the balcony of where the party was held, we see many of the guest held hostage. Izuku notifies All Might of our arrival and Jiro is listening to him. She relays the message to all of us when we regroup back to a safe place to think of a plan for. All of our plans are clashing and I sit back silent.

”We need to act, the heroes need to be saved this time.” I say quietly, which stirs everyone. Majority agrees with me and Izuku jumps off of what I said to devise a plan. Melissa then tells us about the tower system to regain control. It seems we can outsmart the enemies if we can be fast and quick witted about this. Ochacco jumps up in enthusiasm and one by one everyone joins in.

”Let’s work together and keep everyone safe.” I add, with a smile and hands on my hips. Melissa joins in even though we worry for her safety, her conviction is similar to mine in some aspects. I go over to extend my hand and we shake on it. She joins us as Izuku goes to communicate our plan to All Might. As Melissa instructs us where to go, we hurriedly make our way up stairs to the central tower. 

We reach level 30 but we need to get to 200s. As we go up more and more, my knees are going to collapse. As I gasp to catch my breath, the others are trying to stop Mineta from opening one of the doors. The security will be notified about that! We’ll get caught! We must have been seen on the cameras. We run around to try and avoid detection but the gates are closing in on us. Todoroki obstructs one gate and we jump through as Iida blows a hole into one of the doors.

”Where are we?” I ask to Melissa.

”A plant factory, it’s for research.” She explains as we run.

”Hold up! The elevator is going up!” Yaomomo explains. We run to hide off in bushes to avoid them. We nervously all stay quiet, weird shaking and praying for them to not detect us but it seems they’ve found us. Until two very familiar voices speak up, one who’s well known for trouble. Kirishima and Kacchan is here, with the former trying to diffuse the situation. Don’t they know what’s going on and who they’re in front of?

”How’d they get to the 80th floor?!” Mineta shakes next to me. The villain strikes at them and Kacchan goes over to stop the attack, Izuku calls out and then a huge wall of ice appears. I look next to me as Todoroki has stepped forward to delay the villains. With him this close, I couldn’t help the blush forming across my face. The others then get out of our hiding space to stand back from the wall. 

”The three of us can take it from here, just do what you can to make it to the top.” He says as he lifts us all up with an ice pillar. We look down at him as he reassures us he’ll be fine. 

“Be safe Todoroki!” I yell out to him and see him slightly nod. We steadily make our way up and run towards one of the doors, blasting through. We’re still blocked in until Izuku sees a smalll way in. Yaamomo blows open the vent entrance but it’s too small. We all look over to Mineta to get him through. We try our best to pressure him into it. He mutters off some perverse objective as he makes his way over. He helps us up but he continues spewing out vulgar wishes. Melissa compliments him once and suddenly he’s in full throtle. I snicker, easy to please.

As we run through the halls, Jiro takes out the cameras. I hope the boys are okay with those villains, should I have helped them? I would have just gotten in the way, never mind that. I keep on running but then we meet another road bump. We need to devise another plan as the villains have blocked us with robots. Denki tries to stop the robots with his voltage but instead just fries his brain. The robots capture him as they head for us.

Yaomomo hands us smoke sticks to jam their sensors and Mineta traps them to the ground. More still surge forward so Izuku and Iida take the lead. Izumi throws his jacket and I go to catch it. He taps a bracelet treat turns into a glove or brace. His quirk surges forward and he  jets toward the robots and knocks them all up. Iida picks up Denki and Jiro listens for where to head to next.

”Deku, where’s you get that glove? It’s amazing!” Ochacco says as he turns to Melissa. 

”I want something like that too!” I say next to her, realizing I forgot Izuku’s jacket. Ah, oh well. I just continue running until we bump into the robots. Iida takes them on as we head back to another way. Yaomomo and Jiro stay to assist him and Mineta is with Denki. I run with the other three as we hope for their safety.

We reach the wind propeller tower, Melissa explains what to do from here and we depend on Ochacco to send us up. The robots are here and I set flames up across my body. I tap my ring to form the brass knuckle. I’m so glad this dress is fire-resistant. But as I jump in front of Ochacco, Kacchan comes blasting through. Ice forms and the other boys are behind us. I surge a pillar of fire towards a stream of robots as the boys begin attacking. I smash any leftover cognitive robots. Ochacco realizes the two are floating away but Todoroki helps in propelling them onto the correct path. She releases and I continue fighting into the robots. 

“Ochacco! Lift these up! I’ll set them on fire and shoot them into the others!” She passes by me and I set the pieces I’ve broken apart on fire. I propel them forward as they shoot through a bunch of the robots further back. She releases as they smother each broken robot. The boys seem to have this handled so I step back and fly off. I’ve gotta catch up with them!

I reach the top where they’re crouching, it seems they just took our a villain. They begin running up the stairs and I hurry to fly up to catch to them. They run some more, not detecting I’m behind them. Either I’m too quiet or they don’t realize their surroundings. As we approach darker halls, they slow. I land with a tap and their heads whirl around. Their expressions are shocked.

”What are you doing, how did you get here?” Izuku asks in hushed tones.

”I followed you two after I saw the boys had the situation under control. I’ll help Melissa and you out in any chance I can get.” I say, with a harsh whisper.

”Thank you so much Hinotori, we just need to go up ahead!” She motions for me to come closer and we peak around a corner. In there is a hole in the wall with the security system. Melissa spots her father and we discuss what to do to make our way in. Melissa makes her way known as we step in. She looks hurt and dejected. It seems he was behind this entire scheme. His assistant explains why they’re doing this, they were trying to get their quirk enhancing application back? That’s possible?

”You orchestrated this entire fiasco?” I murmur as Melissa expresses her disdain. She’s lashing out at her father, Izuku and I are set back.

”I did this for All Might.” He goes on a spiel of how All Night’s power is weakening and how he could save him. He’s crazed and erratic. I look over to Izuku and his face is so pale, he looks like he’s had the worst news brought onto him. It must be since the number 1 hero is getting weaker. As Professor Shield exclaims he just needs to revitalize his long time friend, Melissa lashes out. 

“Do you know how hard everyone worked and risked their lives for this?” She exclaims.

”The villains are fake, it’s supposed to be an act.” He says, shocked.

”Of course it was an act, we had to pretend we weren’t real villains.” We turn around and see the guy in charge, he sets off his quirk to apprehend both me and Izuku. Melissa is in distress but luckily she’s not hurt. Sam snatches that case towards the villain. It seems the assistant was corrupted by greed. Melissa tried to free us until a shot was fired out. The villain is trying to kill that man!

Proessor Shield jumps in to save him, taking the bullet. Melissa runs over only to be smacked in the face, she slides back unmoving. Izuku thrashes against his hold. I need to melt these bars! I flare up my quirk as that villain monologues about whatever it could be. He knocks out Professor Shield as Melissa pleads for her father. I melt the bars just as Izuku  bursts out, the man’s got a gun pointed at Melissa! As Izuku goes to smash him, a wall bars up. She runs off then and Izuku and I thrash around to ensure her escape.

We slowly get smashed into the walls he piles on and I slip out periodically. My face gets scratched by some of the walls before the security system gets repaired. I was trapped in between two walls before I hear footsteps retreat. I blast up and see Izuku has burst out. I rush over to him and help him up as we stagger to where they left. We slowly begin making our way towards them. I help Izuku with his limp, pushing ourselves to hurry before they make their escape.

”STOP! You give the professor back right now!” Izuku calls out as we see a helicopter start up. He starts running towards him and I fly up, the villain sets off his quirk as the ground materializes into pillars that fly into us. I dodge as many as I can, getting scraped around by some. I see Izuku jump around, breaking apart the material. As I’m flying overhead, his focus is on Izuku. He beats him around before he slides across the ground. The helicopter is taking off! 

I fire off trails towards him, his coat catches on fire and he falters in taking it out. He looks around and waves his free hand to throw a pillar at me. I thankfully avoid it and fly up, setting off multiple trails at him. He thrashes around to avoid being hit before materializing more pillars to knock me down. Then when that doesn’t work, he points a gun at me. My god, please don’t shoot! As I duck, I see Izuku has grabbed onto the helicopter. Melissa has made it here and I barrel towards her. I stand by to protect her, we watch Izuku fall down the ground. The helicopter is getting away!

Before I can fly back up, All Might arrives! He takes down the helicopter and has the professor in his arms! I collapse to a knee in relief but suddenly All Might gets hit. That villain from before has powered up using the professor’s invention! All Might doesn’t stand a chance when he punched one of his walls. As the building begins to shakes, the villain has built himself a wall around him. I lose my footing and topple over, Izuku goes and catches Melissa as I off the building. He looks over to me in fear. 

A stream of ice breaks my landing and I see everyone has arrived. Kacchan is up in the air and Todoroki has ice around some of the villains materializations. I look over to him and he looks at me. He seems to be asking if I’m okay. I blush and my eyes droop in fatigue. I nod and jump with a flare towards everyone else. I shake off the tiring feeling. I set my body on fire once again as I ready myself for any attack.

The boys and All Might are giving their all into this battle. I stand with my arms back in case any debris falls on them. The villain has All Might in his grasps, the boys falter! Shit, we need to move. I jump up, forming a dome around the girls to block the debris that hurl our way. I throw it back and burst the larger parts away. We all look in fear as the villain has hurt All Might, no! He’s falling, crashing into the ground with a shake. Izuku jets off and attacks before the two team up together to fight. Kacchan sets off a large explosion as Todoroki coats the villain in ice.

In the wake of the attack, we all get thrown back as the ground breaks. I couldn’t see anything over the smog and debris. I search for Melissa and see she’s alright, I straighten myself up to look at what All Might and Izuku are doing. They’re charging up a huge punch that emits a bright blue flash! It pushes against the villain and explodes the wall he set up. They made it through! The others shout encouragements.

”YOU’VE GOT THIS YOU TWO!” I yell as loud as I can, my flames flickering around me. The light around them is blinding as they finally get through into the villain. It blows everything back and debris is flying everywhere. The wind pressure surges towards us as we watch in awe. They stopped him, they saves us all! I cheer with everyone. I sit back on the debris, taking a break. I want to go over to them but I feel exhausted. I see Melissa has ran over to them. 

We cheer for them as they make it into the view, reassuring them of how we are and vice versa. The sky is beginning to change colors, the dark night is fading away as the sun behinds to rise. I smile, I’m so glad this is finally all over. We still have so much time left until the Expo is over. Slowly the sun finally breaks across the horizon, shining on all of us. It feels so warm and... relaxing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, we met up with the others as All Might rallies us together. He’s planning to treat us all to a barbecue! We all happily eat and laugh together. I take photos of everyone, I want these moments to last. Ochacco comes around to give me a kebab and we dance around with the skewers in hand. Tsuyu asks for the mushrooms in mine, so I handed it over. I look over to the beach and see the sparkling waters.

”Let’s take a dip!” I say, tossing the skewer stick in the trash and rushing over the the water edge. The girls and I splash around as more of the others join in. It felt all so normal even with yesterday’s events. I still had some bandaids on my face and arms from it. The hot sun felt so warm on my skin, it was really refreshing. I wanted to spend the rest of this trip having as much fun like this. I close my eyes and let the sun wash over me, my calves were in cool water.

”Please let this summer be filled with happy memories like this.” Though I was being splashed around and laughing until my stomach hurt, I didn’t know what was ahead. With so many villain attacks like this, it was only time before the next came. We just needed to prepare for it. But just for now, in this moment, we can relax. We can be free and happy. We can just enjoy summer. Just, for now.

Chapter Text

The cicadas were loud that night, I remember hearing them in my dream when she showed up. I’m spacing out in my kitchen as I dunk cookies in milk. Earlier I peeled vegetables with my grandma who came to visit. My parents are out for work, taking my sister with them to their agency. Reiki was at the hospital, like he was everyday. I was alone. Well, for now at least. I drink the rest of the milk before I clean up. 

”The house is all clean.” I say, just as the door bell rings. The girls are here to pick me up to go swimming at the school pool! It’ll be good to stretch out my muscles as summer camp is nearing. We chat together on our way there, changing into our school swimsuits. As we prepare to stretch, the rest of our class has arrived. Shocking that we all had the same idea.

The boys are doing some work our routine on the side as we make our way into the pool. It was a nice, cool feeling as we submerged our bodies. The sun is hot and bright above me, keeping me warm. We toss the beach ball around as we play a simple game of volleyball. We laugh together as it would sometimes hit us in the face. I look over and see the guys have taken a break. 

”Akichan! Look alive!” Mine says and throws a hard ball at me. Out of instinct, I punch the ball and it flies up high until it falls right back onto my face. We burst out laughing as I rub my forehead. My hair was tied back in two buns to not get it wet. I exhale a big sigh, I haven’t been swimming in so long! 

”Your face looks so funny.” Tsuyu says, I snicker. 

”I’m basking in the sun.” I smile, my entire body feels loose and comfortable. 

”Hey everyone, we should hold a contest!” We hear Iida say as we make our way over. Yaomomo invites us into their race as he goes on to implement rules. Yaomomo has the whistle to start the race, with Kacchan blasting above the water. Kirishima and Sero pick a fight with him for not even swimming. I hold back a laugh, I kinda expected him to do something outlandish. The next round has everyone doing the same, and then finally some start swimming. Izuku wins his round even though Iida powered his engines along the rope lines.

The trio who was deemed the winner of their rounds are set to go against each other. Obviously it’s Izuku, Kacchan, and Todoroki. Those three are becoming the strongest and the ambassadors of our class. I’ve still got catching up to do. In the months prior, I was able to extend my quirk limits. Creating flame domes, flying longer, controlling fires not made by me, and lastly the strongest, turning into a Phoenix. The sports tournament was the only place I ever exhibited such an unhinged form of myself.

These may seem like trivial improvements but before UA, I only knew how to fly for a short time and fire off small spouts of fire. It was enough to get me by back then but now, I’ve realized I need to do a lot better. Seeing the others have that much control on their quirk and I barely can do much? A big wake up call for sure.

We all begin to cheer for the boys. Though everyone’s cheering for them all or separately, seem part of me wants to cheer for Todoroki. I flush, wait what? Todoroki? It’s usually me cheering for Izuku. He’s the one with the most improvements but yet, some part of me looks at Todoroki. Seeing him, makes me smile. So I stay silent as the tension of the race thickens. They’re all charging up until they fell into the water.

”It’s 5 pm, your time using the school pool is over.” His eyes gleam. Though some protest, his stare flares at us as he reinstates it’s time for us to get going. After I change with the other girls, I see the sunset is coming up. The orange sky is always a sight to see on the way home. I pat off some dust on my jean dress and fix the off the shoulder shirt I have on. Knee high black socks disappear into my thick platform sport shoes. My scar peeks over the top of my left sock. 

On the way back home, I pass by the beach. Though I lean over the railing for a bit, I could see Izuku from a distance from here. My eyesight isn’t the best but I spot someone walking over to him. I couldn’t recognize the man so I turn away, minding my business. The moon was pretty today, the stars were out. I smile and make my way back home. My parents were making some salmon dishes tonight! I’m glad, it was another good day.

The next day, Mr. Aizawa tells us about how the end of this semester brings forth the rigorous summer camps training for our quirks. When he walks away, I chat with Tsuyu and Hagakure about what it will be like. I hear Ochacco chant with Mina and Denki about camp and I laugh. That is until that weird guy Monoma goes off on some tangent about our class and how some are taking supplementary courses. He gets knocked out by Kendo right after.

”Ah, it’s class 1B!” I say as my eyes scan over the entirety of their class. At the end, is Sananaka. I knew his eyes would be boring into mine. My smile turns into a frown, what does he want from me? They slowly begin to make their way onto the bus and soon Iida commands us to board. The bus is noisy and chaotic, not to mention long. I managed to get Tsuyu, Ochacco, Mina, and Hagakure to sit with me in the back.

An hour later and we’ve reached our first stop! I stretch and yawn, the cracks and pops in my joints felt great. But as we all gather together, a sleek black car is pulled at the side. As they greet Mr. Aizawa, they get into their introduction pose. It’s the Wild, Wild Pussycats! Izuku is going off on his fanboy knowledge before one of them shushes them, saying she’s ‘18 at heart.’ A little sad. 

The explain that the land from here is all what they own, and that our summer camp is at the base of the mountain. It’s really far from here! But then it clicks, they’re gonna make us get there by foot. Or for better words, by quirk. As everyone turns back to try to get into the bus. But as we try to, we’re obstructed. We’re forced to go that long path, and to make it there before noon!

”Gods, it’s only 9:30 am!” I yell out as we’re surged into the forest.

”Good news! Since this is all private land, you can use your quirks as much as you want. That is, if you make it through beast forest.” We all turn to the dark and thick forest full of winding roots and little to no sunlight. I shiver. We have to go through there?! When Mineta rushes in, a loud growl is heard. Holy crap, there’s a monster in there!

Everyone rushes in to destroy the beast, shooting it into pieces. We pride them on a job well done before we meet our next monster. Everyone readies to run and we set off to find the shortest way around. As the monsters show up, we all power up to smash the dirt monsters apart. I douse my legs and arms in flames as I work with the girls to burn the monsters down. I destroy their bodies as they topple over. As I fly past them, they begin to swirl up in fire. I make sure the fire dies out before it creates any forest harzards.

The entire day as passes as we gasp and rag for breath. We finally made it through the forest at the expense of our health. I gag and hold a hand over my mouth. I’m so glad I had breakfast this morning, but now... gods I’m starving. The usual four boys are praised for their job well done, I scoff as Mandalay pampers them. Is she... flitting around them? I look up at the sky as the sun sets. I can barely register what’s going on.

”How does anyone have any energy left.” I say, more than question. The girls release a harsh breath similar to a laugh and we wince at the growing bubble of laughter coming up. Or maybe that’s bile, I’m not sure, I’m so tired. I hear arguing and try to focus my eyes towards our teacher’s voice. We go off to pick up our stuff and ready ourselves for dinner, it’s a FEAST! 

We all talk together as we stuff our face. Everything was so great! Though I was hungry, I also get easily uncomfortable when there’s others watching me eat. My appetite dwindled as time passed and soon it was time for our bath. We cross and dip into the warm springs water, my muscles are in relief. I sigh, dipping my head back on the rocks. My hair was down and swirling in the water. On the other side of the wall, I can hear the boys talking. 

Mineta screams about wanting to cross the wall, Kota stops him though and we express our gratitude. He falters and began to fall off the wall. I splash up but it sounds like someone caught him. With the wind pressure that let out, it must have been Izuku. I sit back down and began to ring my hair out of water. I continue until all of the water is out. I need to cut my hair soon, maybe I’ll do it a little later with the hair scissors I brought. 

Snipping off about 10 inches of hair from my thighs to my chest felt like a weight off my head. I evened out the cut and cleaned up my mess. Thankfully I pulled it into two ponytails before snipping it so the mess would be smaller. When I left the bathroom, the girls were stunned.

”Did you just cut your hair?”

”You did that so fast!”

”Have you done this before??” I answer all their questions and say I used to do it a lot as a kid when I hated how long my hair got. After cutting it myself as I grew older, I got better at making it precise. I asked if they can just snip any uneven edges and somehow it turned into a brushing circle. It was fun before we all head to bed for our 5:30 am practice.

”Woah, Akikami, you cut your hair?”

”Hinotori, you cut your hair last night?”

”Akichan, your hair!” Izuku says. Some of the others asked and I felt myself flush. I explain I usually do when it gets really long, plus it’ll help since we’ll be training this whole time. Izuku knows I used to cut my hair a lot, though I only ever had it as long as this length since I started doing my own hair. Mr. Aizawa steps forward then to tell us what today’s routine will be. 

He hands Kacchan a ball to test his progress, it seems we’ll be seeing how far we get these past three months. Woah, it’s only been three. I feel like I just blanked with how much time, and little time, it’s been. Kacchan throws his ball then, screaming “go to hell” as he usually does with those threats to inanimate objects and people. 709.6... it was a small increase. Mr. Aizawa points out our physical and mental chances but not quirk advancements.

”This will be harder than anything you’ve ever trained for. It would feel like you’re dying. Let’s hope you survive.” He says with a malicious grin. After that, we were given separate things to train our quirks. Kacchan had a barrel of boiling water just like How Todoroki had one to submerge himself in. Sero is spewing out endless tape while some spar against each other. Denki overcharges himself and many others begin to push themselves over and over and over and over. Then there’s me. On fire.

”Ah this is getting hotter.” I actually break out in a sweat for once. I’m completely on fire and doused with water every time to improve how long I can keep going even when I have no heat nor energy stored to produce flames. I have to rely on sheer power from resources around me, like people’s body heat, Todoroki going from flames to ice, Kacchan’s explosions. I fly up and keep myself in the air as I warm myself up again. I expand how far I can push the flames and how much hotter it can me. The fire I produce is nothing like Todoroki’s. Where his is free and ranging far everywhere, mine are controlled and much more centralized around me.

I need to get my quirk to how far Todoroki and Kacchan can get theirs. I push out more flames as I’m doused with water again. The heat from how much hotter it keeps getting quickly evaporates all the water leftover and I can feel my skin sparking. I might leave today with burn wounds, ironically. I’m doused once again until I see class 1B arrive. Seeing them come fires me up even more and I extend the heat and range of the fire around my body. I begin to fly around as this large blast of fire to keep my going. I keep on making it hotter and hotter even when my body screams.

”FU- AGH, damn! Plus Ultra-!” I scratch out as I’m doused with water again. I don’t know how Pixiebob does it by reaching water all the way to me with her quirk but alas. As the evening arrives, I can feel my body become crispy. My joints are creaking and there’s still smoke rising off my body when they call for us to make our own meals. Our next task is making good curry, by ourselves. Damn, I’m so exhausted... and I’m pretty shit at cooking. If only this was baking!

Iida tries to motivate us forward and we sludge around to change and prep for dinner. Todoroki helps in heating up furnaces so I help the others with fire based cooking necessities as well. When things needed to be toasted, I coat the food in a dome of fire to char one side. When water needed to be boiled, I raced over to touch the pot to heat it up. I felt so useful! When it came to actually physically doing anything, I knew I was lacking. But when I looked around at the others, I see Todoroki smile at being praised for his fire quirk. It warms my heart.

Dinner came late enough and though the curry was in shambles, we ate like it was great. I hear the comments the others make at how bad this is but for two class efforts to feed 42 students and then some, I’m surprised. I only do eat one bowl though, this feels like a health hazard. I drink more water than I would consume curry. I look around and see Sananaka has his eyes on me. Good grief, dude please stop staring at me. Is he socially awkward?

I get up to throw away the bowl I used. Before heading back to my table, I sit where he is with two of class 1B’s student next to him. I stare back at him and now it’s like some blinking contest. The other students look back and forth between us before telling him they’ll be back. He nods and blinks at that. They chat together and head over to their class rep. I blink at him then.

”Why do you keep staring at me?” I say, an edge to my voice.

”We’ve met before. You don’t remember at all.” He says, his voice is soft and sounds like he doesn’t talk much. Have we ever met? I can’t remember. Everything from age 4-10 is slightly blurry except for some events. Has my memory always been this bad or is it normal for people to not remember events after 5 years? 

”No, I don’t.” I furrow my brows. 

”We were 9 years old. A playground right outside our elementary. I was beaten up by some older students and you came rushing by to help me. One of the guys shit you really hard so you burned him. You got detention because of it.” He says it all in one breath. I start to remember something, a kid with jet black hair and bruises all over his body. He smelled sweet. Just like Sananaka does. 

”Your last name wasn’t Sananaka back then, was it?” I say, the haze around my memories lift. 

”It was Kayama. Kayama Yoshiki, before my mom finally married and changed her name.” I blink at him, he looks so calm. 

”Are you related to Midnight?” I say with a tilt, he nods.

”She’s my mother’s sister, though estranged now.” He says. Estranged? Like cut off ties?

”Does Midnight, your aunt, know you’re here?” He nods. 

”She doesn’t treat me special but she’s nice to me. Our quirks are similar since her and my mom share near identical quirks. One is just a hero and the other...” he drifts off.

”My father has a materialization quirk, similar to teleporting but turning into smoke before and after he arrives. It’s why I’ve got this purple haze quirk. I can intoxicate and also disappear. Growing up with my aunt for a while influenced me to be a hero. So here I am.” He says with ease. Is he telling me his life story right now?

”Oh, and you of course. For saving me not once, but three times.” Wow, three? I barely remember once. I flush, did I judge him wrong? It’s still weird to stare. Wait he didn’t explain how he knows about when I was 4. 

”How do you know about the kidnapping incident?” I furrow my brows. 

”You told me.” I did what?

”I only ever told one friend what happened to me!” At least, as far as I remember. Izuku doesn’t even know, only Hisami does.

”When we first met in school, we were 7. You saw me crying by the river next to one of the bridges. When I told you about my abusive siblings, you confided in me in how you know what it’s like to be tormented. You told me about being hidden from the news, the harrowing result of your quirk, and how you just returned to school. In your words it was,’ a relief to tell someone who didn’t look at you with pity.” I remember it now. I was pent up, tired of never being able to talk to my family or any friends at that time about what happened to me. So I spilled to a lonely looking boy who looked like he’d be quiet to everyone. I couldn’t believe that boy is this one in front of me. 

”So you basically have a new identity?” I say, looking from his hair and also mentioning his last name change. He nods in a ‘sorta’ way.

”I just adapted as I got older. Now that my life is getting better, I have my set goals and I found the friend who saved me from danger. It’s why I wanted a real challenge with you. To see if I can be as strong as you. I’ve got ways to go. But one day, I’ll take up a fight with you again.” He smiles then, his eyes drooping. He looks really happy here, replacing all his prior emotionless expressions. My eyebrows rise.

”You’ve changed a lot, and I’m glad it’s better. I hope you’re making more friends too.” I say with a smile to match his. He looks shocked for a bit and his cheeks get pink. I must have caught him off guard. He covers his mouth with his hand and turns away. Then he laughs.

”Don’t look so sappy, I’m holding up fine. Geez, you still have that older sister act, you really should have gotten another sibling.” I flush, remembering all the times I’ve asked my parents for one more sibling only to get rejected. And now I do that to everyone who needs help, by playing the older sister role. I’m so embarrassed. I get up then.

”It’s nice catching up with you Yoshiki, I’ve got everything I need to know. I’ll leave now.” As I stumble out the table I see him reach for my arm. His hand is cold.

”Give me your number.” So straightforward! I blush and hand him my phone after I’ve got it unlocked. We exchange numbers, wave goodbye, and I’m back to my table. I explain that I knew one of the students in class 1B from childhood and I was catching up with him. After we all clean up our dinner and mess, we head back to our room’s for a good night’s rest. I was so very exhausted, with how much information overload I got earlier. 

The next day continued with the same training regimen. I think of anything that would get me angry and my roots before UA to push me forward. To be a hero that saves those who need help, to never let anyone pick apart others for selfish gains, to be a light in the dark. I explode in flames and push myself harder than before. Though my arms were slightly singed yesterday, there were no particular damages today.

That evening, we cooked again. I watch as Kacchan slices up vegetables with vigor and precision. I have never seen him so good at this. Then again, he’s a perfectionist so I should have realized how “good” he is at everything. I go and help light fires and boil things for others. When I’m told to actually cook, I squabble and nearly cut my fingers. Why am I so clumsy at this?

”Look, like this.” Todoroki is next to me as he slices up a carrot. I mimic his motions and realize he’s super close! I blush, and slice into my finger. I help back and drop the knife on the board. He looks over to me and hands me a towel. He compresses it and helps stop the bleeding, though the slice was shallow and just a graze. I feel like I’ll combust at this point. 

”OI, ICYHOT. Don’t let that brat get blood on the food!” Kacchan stomps over and cleans up the vegetables, cutting up the rest of the batch. I sigh at him and thank Todoroki for the help. He simply nods before someone asks him to heat up the water. He makes his way over to Izuku and the two talk. I check to see if the cut has stopped bleeding before disposing the towel. I grab a bandaid by the first aid kit and return to dinner. The dinner passes just like that before we’re told to regroup for an activity.

”A race?” I say, but Pixiebob corrects it to be an obstacle course maze. We’ve got to make a circle around to scare those who scare us, which are class 1B. We have to draw to see who our partner is. And since 5 were away for supplementary lessons, I was grouped with Izuku, who was freaking out because he thought he was alone. I walk over to him and show him that we’re in a group together.

”Man, what would you do without me?” I snicker and he has those watery eyes of his. 

”Usually with how odd numbered our class is, I’m glad we’re able to be a group.” He smiles at me. What’s with all these heart throbbing moments I keep having with people?? I’ve gotta cool it, my romanticist heart can’t thrive in such trivial times like this. He looks over to me, confused and I smile reassuringly. As the people go in, screams can be heard across the forest. 

But there’s smoke rising from deep in the forest, there’s also a foul scent. Suddenly, Pixiebob is picked up and... pummeled?! Two villains are in front of us, someone with a pilllar and a gecko. What the hell, how did they get here? The other pussycats shield us as we run up to one of our wounded teachers. What do we do? The other students are in danger!

I turn my head towards the forest, the screams have died down and now it’s eerily quiet.

Chapter Text

“No way! Why are there villains attacking the camp?!” Mineta says.

”This is bad.” Mandalay says, gritting her teeth. Izuku furrows his brows until he startles. 

“Oh no, where’s Kota?!” He turns, peering around. I pale, he’s missing?! He’s only a child! If there’s villains, that means his life is much more in danger than us!

”How are you this evening, class of UA!” Ninja Turtles Ripoff says as he explains he’s part of the league. Wait, the LEAGUE?!

”The league of villains? What are they doing here?” Ojiro says, saying the words out my mouth. I look over to Pixiebob, the pillar is still pushing into her head. Threats of her head being bashed in rile up Tiger. Gecko Guy makes a show of stopping the two before mentioning the lives of others are at the hands of Stain’s approval.

”So you’re the guys who took inspiration from Stain!” Iida says. Lizard Dude flaunts about his ideals before recognizing Iida from the Hosu Incident. He introduces himself as Spinner, unleashing an assortment of sharp swords and such ties together with some strap. He’s got a wide grin on his face and crazed eyes. 

”I don’t care who you are! You’re criminals!” Tiger says, explaining Pixiebob’s accomplishments and desires. He unfurls his rage while Spinner begins to head towards them. Mandalay instructs him and us on what to do. We need to flee, Iida is to lead us. As we get ready to go, Izuku doesn’t follow. No, no, no, no... he’s gonna do something wreckless again!

”Go on ahead without me.” He looks from Iida to me with a smile but he’s so tense. He’s going to go find Kota! He’s going to get himself killed, there’s no telling who else is here with these two! Does he really have the ability to save both himself and a child? I grit my teeth and turn my head as he runs away from us. I need to trust that he’ll be fine.we make our way back in the forest.

As we’re running, the smog and smoke from around swarms us. We run with all our might to get back to the camp. But fear is coursing through my veins. I’m so afraid, for not just myself but everyone willing to put their lives out for us. What if we die here? What if the heroes aren’t enough to stop whoever is all here? What if Izuku dies here? And Kota? What about Todoroki and Kacchan? What is going to happen to all of us? Will we even-!

Snap out of it this instance. 

I halt. I look around for the voice. It’s the woman from those dreams I’ve been having! Her voice is clear in my head! I put my hands around my ears. I will for her to speak again. Please guide me, give me your strength! But when I open my eyes, there’s only darkness and trees. The group I was with are far ahead, not looking back. I’ll be lost at this rate! If I can’t catch up, I’ll... I’ll die here!

Be strong. Stop thinking that way. You need your strength. This quirk is no longer mine. It is yours. I will only help you as much as I can.

And suddenly, I feel something. A pulse ripples through my body and knocks me to my knees. I gasp a ragged breath and struggle to breath back in. What is this feeling? I can sense so much happening around me. All the negative energy is swarming me, as if creating some thick dome. It’s suffocating. I can sense presences from far away. Back from where we came are the heroes we left behind. Up ahead are the fleeting body heat of all the friends running. Somewhere in the mountains is... wait, I know who that is!

”IZUKU!” I strangle out, knocking the breath out my lungs. He seems to be in danger, he’s weak! But the malicious energy on the side of him, is overwhelming. The want to kill is so strong with that villain. Oh my gods, Izuku might die! Another pulse ripples across my body and I gag. This is too much. I feel my senses overload. A ringing has increased in my ears and the erratic hum of vibes are increasing. I need to-! I have to get a grip, it feels like I’m sinking!

With a large breath, everything dissipates. I feel as if I’m absorbing everything. The air is still thick and I can feel a low hum of things around me. There’s still a lot happening at once, but it’s much more calmer than before. I feel more in control now. I close my eyes slowly and get up. There’s some sense telling me to keep going and a course of heat ripples up my body. A gleam of light passes by my vision and I take off running.

I thank the woman for her help as I try to find where the rest are. I duck through tree branches and swat at bugs. I feel a little grimy and gross but I just have to push through. As I break through the forest, I see a villain melt into dirt as Mr. Aizawa is poised with his scarf. I’m trying to catch my breath as Iida looks over to me. He asks if I’m okay and where I was, I said I tripped and it hurt my scar. I lift the sock covering my left leg and look forward at our teacher.

We run towards him as he runs past us. He tells us to get inside and to stay safe. I’m suddenly antsy, I need to help out or else I’m practically useless. I’m restless and I look back at the forest our teacher disappeared to. Iida motions me inside and with a grit of my teeth, I turn back towards the group. Mandalay’s voice echoes in my head. The villains are after Kacchan!

Everyone around me bristles. I close my eyes and feel there is a disturbance in the air. There’s something amiss right now. No not one, two...three? There’s so many different villains around, I can feel it. I open my eyes, a pulse ripples through me again. Something bad is about to happen. I felt some type of premonition, they’re going to get Kacchan! I swivel my head around frantically. They need help or else they’re screwed!

”You heard what they said, didn’t you?!” Kirishima bursts out at Mr. Vlad. One by one everyone voices their thoughts and opinions. Their voices begin ringing in my head, a dull pulse drums across my mind. Mr. Vlad however tears down all those call to actions by explaining Mr. Aizawa’s message were for those in the woods. I grit my teeth. I lost my chance. The door sliding open draws all our attention.

“I guess Mr. Aizawa is back.” Ojiro says.

”Finally, he’ll understand.” Kirishima begins to march up before Mr. Vlad blocks our view. A tall shadow and blue flames rips open the door, lighting up the face in intense heat. I flinch, usually I can take fire and heat but this is intense! I try my best to stand in front of the others to take most of the hit. When the fire clears, it’s revealed to be that gloopy dirt guy from earlier! Mr. Vlad hits him with a punch right in his sternum, pinning him roughly to the wall. He hit him so hard, the wall broke apart!

He activates his quirks of blood control to pin him there, it looked a little distressing but otherwise pretty damn cool. When he talks to the villain, he then goes on some odd monologue about the way of the world. I furrow my brows, what’s his deal right now? The others speak up, defending their abilities but he begins to light himself in blue flames.

”It’s no use Vlad!” Mr. Aizawa comes through to kick the villain down and tie him into his scarves! We cheer, relieved to see our teacher is back and safe. He kicks and squishes at the villain, until he turns back into the goo of dirt from earlier. He had two quirks? But it turns out, he was just a clone. He wasn’t the real one. He instructs Mr. Vlad on what he’s going to do and what he should do. Kirishima and Iida voice their opinions, upset to be no help. I click my tongue as he runs off.

”What can we do now?!” I mumble, the heat from earlier waking me up from any fatigue. A pain pierced at me just then. They lost him. The villains took Kacchan. But, how am I so sure of that?! But when I look at the others, all I see is miasma. That’s when I knew, I needed to trust my gut. We’ve lost this battle. I collapse to my knees, the others rush around me. I’m finding it hard to breathe again. Then, I black out.

===================================

You have something new to your quirk. Now that you can sense things others cannot, please use it to your advantage. Your next mission is to rescue...

”Kacchan!” I sit up with a gasp. I pat around my body, I feel fine. I look next to my desk and there’s my phone thankfully. I look around the room, recognizing where I am. This is one of the hospitals Reiki works at. I get up happily to see my brother. But then my blood runs cold, he’s going to chew me out! I better sneak out of here before-

“Get your ass back on that bed.” Reiki opens the door quickly.

”EEK-!” I squeal in fear. Oh no, he’s HERE! I freeze and slowly turn my head over to my brother who is walking ever so slowly over to my bed. His expression is angry and I’m literally going to combust if he doesn’t say something. When he’s right next to me, I turn my head up with a bright smile. He twitches.

”You’ve got some nerve...” His voice is a grumble. The door swings open again, Kiyomi runs right by us. Her eyes are wide and frantic. When she spots me, she jumps and gives me a hug which lands us both back on the bed with a thud. I let out a pained gasp, she’s in her hero costume. She must have ran right from work. Oh crap, that means our parents knows about this. I’m not even hurt! They shouldn’t worry about me. Izuku, Kacchan-! 

”You- you’re fine! But something, there’s something different. Your energy is... brighter.” Kiyomi says really fast. I blink at her to try and understand what exactly she just said. My brother sighs then, sitting next to our sister and places his clipboard down. He takes off his glasses and rubs his nose bridge. 

”When I used my quirk on you before, the wavelengths in your spiritual chakras spiked. Something happened there that threw off your balance off, meaning your quirk must have unlocked another ability.” Reiki’s name is also coincidently the quirk he possesses. A professional in energy healing and correcting spiritual/physical/emotional/mental imbalances using ancient techniques that I’m still not well-versed about.

If he sensed a change in me just like Kiyomi did, that means my parents must have as well. Sometimes I didn’t like how the connections between all of us synced our energies. It sounds a little far fetched but in a world of superheroes, ancient medicinal techniques such as chakra harnessing isn’t the craziest phenomenon. I sigh, nodding at what he said.

”I’ve been seeing the first Phoenix user in my dreams. She gave me some new power to this quirk that gave me very similar abilities to the rest of our family. You know, the sense of troubles and premonitions. I felt the negative and positive feelings off of almost everyone around me, it stretched miles around as well.” I explained to them. 

“Like mom, she had that prophecy when you were born.” Kiyomi says.

”And like dad, you have the sense of energies around those. That could help you out a lot if you’re looking for someone.” Reiki says, his dragon eyes are piercing at me. I gulp, did he already know what I was planning.

”Yes.” Both of them say. Am I projecting my thoughts?!

”No Hinotori, it’s part of our quirks. You know this.” Kiyomi chuckles and pats my head. I lean towards her as they scold me for how dangerous that all was and the like. I close my eyes, there’s no anger in their bodies. Just fear. They must have really worried for me. It makes me smile. After we all talk, Reiki tells me where my other classmates were. They’re visiting Izuku at the moment. I thank him and rush over to his room. I sneaked through the door only to hear them chattering. 

”Because Bakugo is gone.” Todoroki says as I close the door. The others turn to me and my brows furrow. My mouth turns to a straight line as I make my way closer to Izuku. His expression is odd to explain, as if you’re in a constant state of shock and numbness. I tremble, Kacchan is really... captured. 

Izuku speaks up and talks about his torment. His voice cracks and tears stream down his face. He’s really in pain, it hurts to see. I begin to tear up myself as he expresses his failure to save and his anguish. But then Kirishima says we should go to save him. I turn my head over to him. Both Kirishima and Todoroki’s expressions are very neutral. But he explains why, overhearing a conversation from All Might and Yaomomo.

”That means you’re going to have Yaoyorozu to make another receiver for you, doesn’t it?” Iida says.

”What if it does?” Todoroki challenges. I see Iida grit his teeth. 

”You should listen to what All Might says!” Iida yells and Kirishima yells as well. He expresses his bystander feelings, like I did. Kaminari tried to calm him down due to our setting and Tsuyu as well. Kirishima is shaking, he’s full of passion as he reaches out to a Izuku. Everyone’s tense and I step closer to Kirishima. I place an arm on his shoulder.

He doesn’t flinch but Mina begins to dissect their plan. Others begin to talk and express their different opinions on this. It’s still very dangerous if we go into a stealth mission on our own; even more so, we’ll be in so much trouble if we go out to find them. Tsuyu even tells her own standpoint, how we aren’t being heroes like this. We’d be villains. A knock interrupts the deafening silence and we all begin to trickle out. However, I’m still next to Izuku. Kirishima expresses the plan is in action by tonight.

“I’ll be joining as well.” I say and Izuku looks over to me, a bit worried. I smile and step forward to ruffle his hair. 

”Heal up quickly.” I say as I turn around to leave. Todoroki stares at me and I bow with a wave. Two fire based quirk users should be a good aid to this team of misfits. I’ll do my best to not hold them back. If I do, I should quit being a hero while I’m ahead. I turn around the corner out with the others to visit Jiro and Hagakure. But even as we visit, I wait for the other two to rejoin us. I nod to them as they make their way in. 

Later that night, I make my way over to the boys as the doors swing open. I remembered to visit my siblings before I left. Letting them know I’ll be out and to please cover for me. They were pretty helpful despite their annoyed expressions. If I want to be stronger, I need to do things I was too sheltered for before. The boys nod at me and I smile as we wait for anyone else to join. When I turn, both Yaomomo and Izuku are heading towards us. 

”So how ‘bout it? You decided?” Kirishima says.

”I-” Yaomomo starts.

”Hold on.” Iida says, making himself known.

”Iida, you’re here.” I say in sync with Izuku. 

”Why does it always have to be you two, the people who stopped me being wreckless in Hosu!” My heart sinks as he expresses his anger. When Izuku goes up to him, he punches him! I gasp as I run up to Izuku, catching him by his shoulder. Iida continues, his voice is filled with emotion. He’s bearing so much. He grasps Izuku by his shoulders, I step back next to Todoroki who tries to ease his worries. Each of us try to.

”My goal is to save, you all share the same plan as I do. So I plan to make it happen.” I say to Iida, as his expression turns to shock. Izuku speaks up as well, he’s just as restless as us. We need to save Kacchan, no matter the costs. Not only as classmates or friends but as heroes in training. 

”I would have never agreed but... I’m coming with you.” We gasp and a silence falls over us until Izuku places a hand on his shoulder. I smile at him and everyone else starts to loosen up. A strike of fear pierces through me then, what we’re going to be dealing with... is only going to be a catalyst for something much larger. I cough, a pained clawing climbs up my throat. Yaomomo places a hand on my back.

”Are you alright?” She asks.

”My quirk allows me to sense foreboding. We’ll be a part of something... much bigger than we anticipated. But, I have no proof to back this up. It’s only a gut feeling.” I explain to her. Her expression twists until she nods. She explains that she gets where I’m coming from and will trust in all our abilities to make this work. We’ll need to push through it, since it is inevitable.

We all make our way out then, Iida apologized to Izuku then. Even though Izuku is flustered, Yaomomo asks about his reason to come. He explains he’s our watchman, which is what we needed for our group. Yaomomo agrees but also shows the tracker in her hand to be the only aid we need. This is strictly a rescue mission, not a combative one. But as she falters behind, she stares at me. In her eyes, I know she shares that same prophetic feeling I told her about. We walk quickly to catch up with the boys.

We board the train, there she explains about the location we’re leading to. Kirishima and Todoroki explain what our classmates had said about our efforts earlier today. Todoroki speaks up to say it’s not too late to turn back. But Kirishima and Izuku deny any doubts here. I watch them as everyone’s expressions and minds are set. Just like that, we arrive at Camino Ward. Kirishima was ready to jet off but Yaomomo stops him. 

”We’re going to need to be extremely careful.” She begins as we all think on it. Izuku does some geeky pose to symbolize him being in ‘stealth mode’. I snicker until Todoroki pokes fun at him. Yaomomo points at the convenient store behind her, expressing that to be her idea. Is she suggesting disguises?? I suddenly get really excited. We make our way in and pick out different clothes and costumes.

I grabbed a wig with black roots and red highlights, some fluffy hair ties to adorn it. I pick up a pleated skirt with a layered top. Paired that with a cut off jean jacket and two toned tights. It fades into heeled jet black lace up boots. I also grab a few mini dragon tattoos as well. Together, my new identity is-!

“An Idol wannabe!” I sparkle as the others look way more formal than I do. I blush, should I have gotten the business suit instead?!

”Great disguise! You’ll blend in with other city people, you’ve got an eye for fashion trends!” Kirishima says. But this isn’t particularly close to what’s popular nowadays. I thank him as we all group together. We all look like a group of young adults from very differing backgrounds. Izuku, however, is getting way too into character. I snicker when Todoroki points out Yaomomo’s ulterior motive. 

”Woah, it’s UA High!” We all flinch as we turn our heads to the screen. Our teachers from the summer camp are bowing with our principal at a press conference they decided to televise. Todoroki taps me though, handing me plastic blue curtain shades. He explains my eyes give me away and I slip on the glasses. Before I could thank him, our teacher’s voice is echoing from the screen. 

”This is crazy, he hates being on TV!” Kirishima says as questions barrage at our teacher. They’re persecuting them, as if they’re the villains! The questions and the answers they give are basically making them look worse than it is. The crowd began to voice their opinions, the vibe around us shifted into a red-like miasma. The trust in heroes, were thinning out quickly. This is exactly what the League of Villains wanted! I grit my teeth. 

The distrust in the air is thick and makes me swallow harshly. We need to find Kacchan quickly, before the public eye loses it’s faith completely! I shake, fists clenched. All Might, I still trust in you. Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Vlad, Principal Nezu-! We won’t let you down!

Chapter Text

As we watch the press conference continue, our teacher’s answers to the questions presented quickly escalates the anger building in my body. They answer so eloquently despite how harsh those reporters dug into them. At the mention of Kacchan, I falter. They’re really drilling into them so harshly and it makes me sick. When Mr. Aizawa bows and corrects the reporter, it riles up many more murmurs. I worry so much for Kacchan—  though I know he’s strong, he’s also against very crazy criminals. 

We all began to trickle away from the crowd as Yaomomo informs us where to go from the tracker. We walk together under the streetlights before ducking into an alleyway. I check behind me as I was behind everyone to see if were being followed. Luckily, we were under the radar and I followed the rest through. Izuku looks back at me to nod and I return the gesture. Yaomomo stops at a clearing ahead.

Kirishima and Yaomomo talk about the building inside before the latter turns to all of us. This could only be one villain whereas the others could be somewhere else. We’re all unsure if this is their whereabouts or one of their whereabouts. Kacchan could possibly be hidden somewhere else, which puts us at a very difficult disadvantage. Kids expresses his concerns and his own actions to stop any of us from going to far. 

”Thank you, Iida. So what can we do with what’s in front of us?” Izuku says before he begins his muttering habit. Though I stand and smile, the others simply watch him with odd expressions. I was fond of how he thought out loud, though sometime she was so deep in his head. He would need a good smack to the head to get back to reality but I never really could bring myself to knock him around. So I just waited it out.

The others all comment on his habit, seemingly understanding his personality already. It makes me happy to see how everyone is so acquainted with him. I smile, getting into UA might have been one of the most dangerous choices I’ve ever made. But, finding friends and finding myself on the way has been very much worth it. A warmth envelops me and I feel a flicker of fire bloom at my feet. I quickly stomp out the flame, flushing at my excitement.

I place my hands on my cheeks to cool myself down. But when I look up, Todoroki is looking at me with a blank expression. I blink at him before Yaomomo ushers us to peak around. When we congregate around a vending machine, we peer back towards the looking building. No clues as of yet, it looks oddly too ordinary. A pair of footsteps make their way up and I turn my head in time to a drunken man’s face.

”Heyyyy, you looking for a good time? Ditch these losers and come have fun with us!” He waves at Yaomomo and gets close to me. My mouth twitches in irritation and before I came really punch his face in, one of his friends holds him back. The boys bicker at him before I see Todoroki go back into the alleyway corner. I slip to follow him, leading the others to follow suit. We can’t draw attention to us, especially with how this street is not exactly empty. 

Izuku looks back and decides we all should sneak to the back. The space alongside the walls are so narrow, both Yaomomo and so had a hard time making it through. Izuku spots a window, which cues us to try and peak in. Before Yaomomo makes a pair of night vision goggles, Kirishima pulls out his. And his look expensive. Izuku prods about it which seems to have agitated Kirishima, which then Todoroki leads to making him our scout. 

Suddenly Kirishima falters, gasping and wriggling. We all worry he’s been caught hands his goggles over to Izuku. There seems to be something... something like Nomu here! I look at Yaomomo and fear climbs up my skin. A noise from behind us gets all out attention. A car is flying?? No wait, it’s Mt. Lady! She kicks into the building which blows debris and dust around. The heroes are here! I brighten immensely, they were quick! 

We stumble up to look at the heroes here. We watch as they clean up the no us and the base. We all chatter, happy and pleased. I take off my wig and burn it up. The ashes fall into my hands and slowly absorb into my skin. That’s new. As we make our way out the alleyway, there’s a low rumbling. That gut feeling is back and the energy around us has gotten violently worse. There’s a miasma coming from the building which can only mean one thing. I pale, all my worries has come back full throttle.

Right as I turn my head towards the building, an explosion sets off blowing us back. I was closest, which damaged me quite a bit. When we look behind, we see a vicious villain attacking Best Jeanist. Bile forms in my throat as I hear the crashes behind me. Just who is this guy?! I have my hands over my mouth in fear of my breathing giving me away. My anxiety is raking up my body, making my knees wobble. Tears sting at the corner of my eyes.

I peek at the others, all of them are just as afraid as I am. I pray to the gods to have mercy on all of us and to please save us. A sound of coughing from a familiar voice startles me. His signature attitude distinguishable in the disaster unfolding. Bakugo! He’s here! How is he here?! More voices of retching arrive, it sounds just like the... League.

I’m shaking as we all listen to what is going on. I peak behind to see where and who everyone is. I look back to the others and see Izuku is starting to move next to me. Arms stretched out grasp both him and Todoroki. Since I ended up between them, I was also caged in by Iida’s arms. The others are shaking as much as I am. But it seems we all have the same idea. We need to find a way out. 

”Ahh, there you are.” The masked villain says, making all of us tense. In an instant, All Might has arrived! And that villain is, AFO! All for One! The worst time-bending criminal ever and All Might’s nemesis. The wind pressure blows the League around and pushes us all into each other. I grasp onto an arm as I steady myself around the smoke and debris. I look up to turn and look at All Might, only to be greeted by two toned eyes. His expression is grim and I look at where my hands are. I unfurl them quickly and shrink closer to Izuku. 

Izuku is watching behind him, paying me no mind as I look through the crumbles of the wall. All Might is charging towards the villain only to be blown intensely back into a building. But a building really far off! I can only see the smoke around the collision. I take a silent staggering breath. I’m so afraid I might start crying, and that won’t do us any good. 

The League is planning to escape with their boss’s aid, just as All Might comes back. We’re all watching we watch Kacchan move and All Might fight. If we don’t do something quick, they’ll escape with our friend. AFO is taking down All Might with ease, which only fuels my fear. We all look away for a second, lost in our thoughts. It reminds me of what everyone said at the hospital. Even my siblings. If they knew how close to death I am as of right now...

I squeeze my eyes shut before taking a deep breath. I look up and see Izuku gritting his teeth. Suddenly his eyes go wide and he speaks up towards Iida. I look back and forth at the two as Izuku says there’s another way than fighting. It makes the rest shocked, Todoroki pushing for him to talk. Izuku explains why it has to work with Kacchan’s compliance, making Kirishima our frontman. 

”We need details, Midoriya. Come on.” Todoroki says. Izuku explains for us what we all need to do. But as he starts off on his plan, our determination turns to more shock. 

”Are you out of your mind??” Iida says. Izuku goes on to explain what Kacchan is thinking which shows our advantage. Yaomomo turns to Iida as he begins to evaluate our situation. He pauses before agreeing. Just like that, the two of them grab Kirishima. They fire up, readying to propel Kirishima into the wall. Soon after, Todoroki erects the largest wall of ice he can manage. 

Yaomomo and I watch as the three boys slide off the ice into the air. Kirishima calls out to him and as we watch with bated breath, Kacchan stills. He powers up an intense blast upwards, grabbing Kirishima’s hand. Todoroki comments that they’ve provided us a way out, leading me and Yaomomo to run. As I make my way out, I hope for the others safety. Other heroes have begin to arrive! 

A rumble throws me off balance when we get away. It throws me off balance and an arm catches me. He tells me to continue running and I skip back up, albeit a little awkwardly. When I run into the crowd, familiar green hair becomes closer. Izuku and Kacchan are there looking up to watch the large TV screen broadcast the fight. We watch as the intense and insane blast threw back All Might. Another blast is set towards him. But when the smoke clears, All Might’s face is contorted. It’s the man from before, the guy I’ve seen in the nurses office and the one by the beach. That was All Might! 

Where the crowd murmurs many things, I instead realize how much this is taking out of him. He’s pushing himself to a terrifying extreme. The crowd cheers for him and it makes me want to cry. The boys by me, Kacchan and Izuku cheer loudly for him. Izuku is crying and I feel the tears hot on my face. I turn back to the screen and clasp my hands together. Please, let him continue fighting! If you’re listening First Phoenix, I hope you can see how our Number One Hero is going to protect us all. Just like you had so many long centuries ago.

The cheers are deafening, I can feel such a union of support for All Might. More heroes have come to aid him but as we watch, we all pause in shock. AFO had some mutilated arm full of junk that looks like a combination of quirks. I couldn’t help but watch, the arm was disgusting! I turn to Izuku and see he’s continuing his cheers through broken sobs. When I turn back, the two have collided fists. AFO is overpowering him, growing in strength and power. Tears are flowing down my face as I struggle to watch on.

Everything feels hot, terrifying, scary... All Might looks so tired! He’s keeping AFO at bay even with how broken his arm looks. But he lands a hit and I hold my breath. I wait for another powerful hit as he charges up. A large explosion of bright light and a tornado of wind kicks up as he lands the largest punch into AFO. We all still as smoke surrounds them. I feel a warm shiver pass me. Slowly, All Might raises a fist.

The cheers send goosebumps across my body. I smile and sob happily, All Might won! The crowd is cheering for him and I look over to the two boys. Kacchan has a stone expression while Izuku has tears in the corner of his eyes. Finally after some time, Iida and Kirishima meet up with us. I realized I left Todoroki and Yaomomo behind when I ran to find the boys. I didn’t even realize it, I just wanted to find them. When I look back up to the screen, All Might was pointing at the camera.

What I thought to be a homage to us next heroes, I realized it could be something much more important. Izuku sobs next to me, his tears fresh down his face. My expression turns somber. I look up and see Kacchan has an odd look on his face. I don’t understand what’s going on but I can sure feel there’s something much more than I can ever know here. And it seems as if Izuku and All Might are much more connected than I thought. 

That night passed by in a blur. I felt as if my head was stuffed with cotton. I remember heading to the train station with the others to get home. My siblings were waiting for me when I sent them a message of where I’ll be. I felt them hug me and when we walked home, my parents came to hug me too. They scolded me for a long time, I couldn’t even remember what was said. But the lady came that night. 

”Hello.” She said, clear as day. Her halo was bright and she was sitting on basically light. It was so bright around her that I’m surprised she was in such high definition. 

”First Phoenix, hello.” I bowed, not even realizing or shocked at the fact I was moving like I would awake. 

”Kazuma Hinagiku. Call me Mrs. Kazuma, it’s my family name. One of our first family names.” She says, her name held so much meaning. Like mine does.

”We are family then?” I ask.

”In a way but more so not quite. You are more of a reincarnation of me. The physical recreation of the Phoenix quirk. Our soul is one in the same but it does not mean we were nor are the same person.” She says, her voice is full of superiority. 

”Today was an event I was able to view through your eyes. The hero of your generation is quite something. I am very well impressed. I take it that you look up to him?” She smiles.

”I do but I look up to my own parents and our family history more. It’s always something that my family— our family— has reminded me to value always.” I say.

”Very good. You are capable after all, I’m glad I chose the right person. You’ve been through a lot, something I asked the gods before quirks to have mercy for. But it seems to have made you stronger.” She has sad eyes. I didn’t like it.

”It was something horrible. But it has been a reason for me to be a hero for those who were ever in situations like me. A child as young as I was, should never experience...” I couldn’t bring myself to finish. I felt numb. I see her nod.

”Soon, you’ll need to show off your abilities and test your quirk to get to the next milestone. With what I gave you, it was only the beginning. It is up to you to make yourself stronger. Remember, I am not you. You are you, the Phoenix reborn. The true Phoenix. I shall continue watching but soon, I will have to go.” She’s standing, slowly making her way towards me. 

”There will be something that will make you question everything in your life. I know you can handle it, but when you do overcome those chains that hold you back, I will no longer be here. I will have served no other purpose but to watch over you.” As she crouches down, her smile is kind. I see the edges of my vision blur. 

”You are a wonderful successor, please don’t ever give up.” Were her last words for the night.

The next day, I met up with the others before to take Kacchan to the police. He was surprisingly silent the whole way there. After figuring out every knack left from the other night, we dispersed. I decided today I should go and get something new. I met up with my sister to go shopping. The day passed by just like that. It still just feels like everything is just passing by.

On our way home, it was night time and we passed along the beach. There I saw All Might, bandaged and looking across the sea. He must be waiting for Izuku, who he must be mentoring. I turn away once again, chatting with my sister. We recount old memories of firework shows when we were young. I smile, a warmth surrounds me. 

When we got inside, my parents pulled us into the kitchen. There’s been a notice from UA about moving us into dorms. Woah, wait-! Dorms?! That’s so cool, like my own room by my friends?! I didn’t mind being home but this change could be nice. But I realized, this move will make things easier for the teachers to be able to help us in any way they could. Though I was excited, my parents faces were differing. I gulped.

”I don’t think this is a good idea.” My mom says. An arrow pierced through me.

”You are much safer here.” My dad says. Another arrow pierced through me. 

”No, I disagree.” My brother says. Which makes my eyes bug out. He usually is in such agreement with my parents. Why would he somehow side with me?

”Reiki, she will be in danger. Have you already forgotten-!” My dad begins, angry. My brother stands.

”No. I’ll never forget that I nearly lost my sister. I’ll never forget that she almost died, that she killed those people herself!” He screams. The arrows pierce through me once again. It felt as if he kicked me while I was down. I hate it, I hate ever remember anything. I hate that I ever did something like that, something so... villainous. Tears prick at my eyes. 

”She didn’t mean to, she was 5!” Kiyomi sobs.

”She is MORE THAN CAPABLE!” Reiki yells. His voice feels like electric coursing around the room. It’s quiet after the initial boom.

”Have faith in her for once. Please. Her quirk excels ours, she works so hard.” Reiki says.

”She wants to be just like us, it may be dangerous but-!” Kiyomi says.

”ENOUGH!” My mother says. I grit my teeth, they’re doing that thing they always do when they want it their way. I usually bite my tongue and agree. But not this time. This sheltering will hinder me, I have a feeling. This feeling is telling me that I need to let this happen. These dorms aren’t just something fun. This might be what Mrs. Kazuma meant. Or is one of the things she said will lead to.

”No. I feel it. Mom, Dad. I need to move, whatever I face from there on, is what my path has called for me. You all can get those sixth senses and I have developed mine. It may sound silly that it’s just dorms but this is just the first step.” I say, I see my parents getting angry again.

”No, you just want to be with your friends!” My dad growls, his slitted eyes narrow. My moms eyes as well. I sigh frustrated.

”At first, I honestly did. But after those dreams of seeing the first Phoenix, I realized everything from that first villain attack to now will not stop. All Might is retiring. Those villains will not stop. Whatever I face, I will need to confront it. Sheltering me will not help me grow!” I say, my voice high. It’s quiet. I can’t express what I’m feeling correctly and it feels like they won’t get it. 

”She’s going to face her demons.” Reiki says quiet. I turn to him shocked.

”I had the feeling too.” Kiyomi says. My parents then slowly agree they did too and I freeze.

”What are you all talking about?!” I demand.

”You must not have been able to sense it like we can but that is why we are sheltering you. We don’t think you’re ready to see what shouldn’t be seen.” Their vagueness only makes me more agitated.

”That is something I should decide for myself!” I say.

”Then fine.” My dad says suddenly. It feels off that he would agree.

”We will watch over you still. As your parents. As your family. We will let you grow, learn, and survive.” He says, sighing exasperatedly.

”This was a pointless fight we all knew we wouldn’t win.” He smiles sadly. My mom sighs too and my siblings look confused.

”You picked a fight?” Kiyomi says.

”Yes, but we knew it would end this way anyways. No matter what way we went about it. So it’s best to just throw down the towel.” My mom smiles and my brother scoffs. 

”You both are the worst.” He slightly hisses and we laugh. The night’s vibes got better and we had a great dinner. Mr. Aizawa and All Might will be visiting us tomorrow to discuss the plans for dorms. Knowing that I’ve got— won— the approval. I go to bed happy and excited to see them to get us on board. It makes me even more excited to live with my classmates as well.

When they visit, All Might looks frail and injured but still lively. Though they expected us to be disapproving, our earnestness must have thrown them off. As my parents shake their hands and see them off, I feel a little lighter. But also a sense of doom. It was so small, it must have only been anxiety. I hear All Might is heading over to Izuku’s after this and hope he’s able to go as well. With so much happening all at once, I couldn’t help but feel happy to get back to school. 

Because before I know it, I’ve already started to plan to pack up my things for the move in. I can tell my sister was envious but also as excited as I was. My brother was being more kind and my parents as well. I know they were preparing for me to move out for the first time and be the first child to live away from home. It felt sweet. 

I wanted to log this memory so I began to shuffle out photos and my old camera. I snapped a photo of my room, then my siblings, then my parents, and then all of us. After that, I cleaned up my room a bit. And soon after that, I began packing for real. A sense of new independence washed over me and I couldn’t help feeling giddy. I know I needed to wait for the final approval and updates but for now I could revel in it. Because I can only look forward to what was waiting for me.

Chapter Text

Just like that, it’s move-in day. My boxes were packed and my parents even got some people to renovate my room to my liking. I felt really giddy and I’m sure my happiness was as bright as the sun. I left home as I usually did that day, but everyone was home to see me off. I was to visit every Sunday for a family meal and I’m still a good 25-30 minutes away. 

Tapping the toe of my boot in, I give everyone a hug. I wave as I plug in my earbuds. I’ve got a small fish bun to eat on my way to the dorms and see Izuku is up ahead. I call out to him and jog to catch up. We walk and chat together, both happy to take this next step into society. Right on time, we meet up with everyone in our class to get settled in. Mr. Aizawa walks out the front doors.

“With what’s happened, I’m glad we were able to bring back Class 1A safely.” He says, a hand holding down his scarf.

”Which gave us the go ahead to live on campus!” Sero says. 

”It was a lot of convincing for my parents.” Hagakure sighs and soon everyone begins to add in their own thoughts. Even with Tsuyu pointing out the circumstances with the press conference as well. Mr. Aizawa then goes on to tell us about our dorm assignments and when provisional licenses will be. But he stops himself to call out everyone from that night when we went to save Kacchan. Myself included. There’s a still in the air.

”Based on everyone’s reactions, it seems you all were at least aware of their plan. I’ll address a list of problems here. If it weren’t for All Might’s retirement, I would have expelled everyone here. Except for Bakugo, Jiro, and Hagakure.” Mr. Aizawa says. It makes me audibly gulp beside Izuku. He goes on to tell how the rest betrayed their trust. Telling us to continue to listen or else. 

”That’s all. Look alive for your new home.” He says with a turn. Everyone groans, we’re  supposed to be excited after that speech?! We all have our heads turned down. Until suddenly, Kacchan grabs Denki to pull him behind a bush. A surge of electricity blasts out and we all begin to laugh a bit. He goes up to Kirishima next and hands him a wad of cash.

”WOAH DID YOU SHAKE HIM DOWN FOR CASH?!” His expression is shock and fear. I cover my mouth and snicker into my hand. He gives him his money— his own money— to replace his night vision goggles. When Kirishima doesn’t accept right away, he shoves it into his chest before walking towards the doors. 

”Now I am not in your debt and I don’t owe you anything. Kaminari show them your dumb side.” He calls out as Denki goes around convulsing with a very funny face. Jiro and I giggle, trying to stifle our laughs. He’s usually so cute but even like this he’s kinda weird looking. Kirishima announces he’ll make it up to all of us by treating all of us to a meal tonight. I gasp.

”Seriously?! So cool!” I cheer with everyone else and we chatter together into the dorms. Mr. Aizawa then explains where boys and girls will go. Then the common area, courtyard, kitchen, and so much more. The floors are split by four girls and four boys on each level. I was put on the second floor with Izuku, Aoyama, Tokoyami, and Mineta. They gave me the entire floor by myself of all the girl’s side. We’re to spend the day unpacking and getting comfortable. 

Later that night, we all finished unpacking. We all have our gym class uniforms on with comfortable tops. The girls were together to chat about what everyone’s rooms looked like so we went up to the guy’s to get them to show us their rooms as well. Izuku freaks out, he’s the first one everyone goes to. He’s the most characteristic, it’s full of All Might memorabilia. I snicker. 

”You’re such a fanboy!” Ochacco says and I laugh.

”This is just like your room before.” I snicker and he’s ducking away in embarrassment. He’s flushed red and I find it kinda endearing. I go up to pinch his face and tease him, making him flush darker. He’s pleading for us to get out and we all manage to head to the next room. Tokoyomi’s, who is actually fighting to keep us out. But he lost that battle since we managed to all get in.

”So dark and scary!” Hagakure and Mina says. I gaze around, though a little creeped out. It’s also very fitting of him. Kirishima finds a keychain that resembled his from middle school, Mina talks about the decor, and even Izuku is amazed by the sword. He screams for us to leave and soon we move to Aoyama’s. Which is so shiny, and really so like him. Next up is Mineta. Nah, we skip his. The next room is Ojiro’s, which is pretty normal. An average room with nothing out of the ordinary. We move on to Iida’s, which looks more like a study/guest room with how bare it is. Well, except for the books. 

Kaminari’s is bold. By bold, I mean fashionable horrible. There’s way too much clashing together. So many odd combinations of leopard print and tiger stripes. I got a headache when I looked for too long. Then was Koda’s, he even had a pet rabbit! Since the girls were wearing Iida’s glasses, I put my own on to match them. I held the bunny in my hand as we took turns petting. Mineta then gets all riled up to show the girl’s dorms, since they skipped over mine to view the guys. I’ll be going first for the girls, which kinda felt a little nice. 

It was a little funny seeing how the guy’s got so into the competition. We move on to the 4th floor since Kacchan went to sleep early. Kirishima’s room was the next go to. Mina and Hagakure rush forward, eager to peer inside. Kirishima makes his way up to slowly announce the theme, a den of manliness. A few of us nod along, I snicker in my hand.

”If I saw my boyfriend had a room like this, I’d dump him.” Hagakure says, making me laugh a bit. Ochacco flares up enthusiastically, being motivated to work out by the appearance of his room. Next was Shoji’s room, which was INCREDIBLY empty, not even a bed frame in sight. It was so bare. We go to Sero’s room next, which is oddly exotic and out of the ordinary. Next up was Todoroki’s, piquing my interest. He’s been living in my mind rent free lately so I’ve gotta see where he’s physically staying.

”Let’s get this over with, it’s late.” He says, opening his door. It’s... incredibly Japanese, he even changed the floor plan. It looks just like our zen room back at my family home. I walk in and peer around, keeping my hands to myself. The takami mats were comfortable and the sliding doors to the balcony were really chic. We move on the the last of the guy’s, which is Sato’s.

He took out a chiffon cake which made me flush. I love baking! I excitedly immerse myself in baking techniques he does and exchange my own knowledge. I compliment his cake and ask if he’s got any recipes down. He blushes red and sheepishly nods. I munch happily on the soft treat and sigh with the girls with how good it was. We then make our way back to my floor. The girls happily going up to my door. I flush as well.

”I kinda like a lot of things.” I say as I open my door. There’s shimmery sheer curtains covering my balcony door. Outside my balcony are fairy lights and a small table set. On my walls are interchangeable LED lights on the ceiling. My bed is from my old room, it’s really comfy. It’s got deep red satin sheets with a cream colored throw blanket at the end. My pillows match my bed and mattress. The bed frame is black with pull out drawers. I have a red and beige Kotatsu table in the middle of my room on an off white fluffy rug.

There’s a mini fridge behind my bed frame and on those walls are posters of a band I love. Only a few since there’s also photos of Hisami and my family. Even old childhood photos of me, Izuku, and Kacchan. There’s a cork board full of knick knacks that hold memories, like tickets and bracelets. On the opposite wall is my laptop and tablet. There’s also my accessories drawer and makeup vanity. I have a gamer chair from my sister when we play together on the switch, which is connected to my TV on the same wall above another set of drawers. The drawers not only hold clothes of all kinds, but even books I want to read and other hobbies.

”I also have interchangeable sheets for when it gets colder under my bed.” I say, sitting on my bed. Everyone comes in and looks around. A few stop at the photos and the switch. Ochacco looks at the old childhood photos of me. I see she stares at the one with Izuku and I are holding matching ice cream cones. The next one is him with ice cream on his face and me laughing. My mom took that one when we were little. After a while, we move on. 

”I can’t believe you brought those photos.” Izuku says embarrassed. I laugh.

”I have my scrapbook in one of the drawers. And my Polaroid camera to take more pictures.” I say with a smile and he sighs. We smile as I skip to catch up with the girls to Jiro’s room. She had an assortment of musical instruments, which also made me squeal happily. I bound up to her about what she plays. I learned piano and violin young but I enjoyed singing a lot more. It seemed she dabbled in everything! As expected from the daughter of musicians!

Hagakure’s room is very girly and pink. It was very cute and sweet, it reminded me of a lullaby. Quickly we go on to Mina’s, which has a theme of black and hot pink. Then Ochacco’s got a bare room, but it’s pretty simple. Next is Tsuyu but she went to bed early. However, I don’t think it’s because she was tired. Yaomomo was next and holy smokes, her room is cramped full of such luxuries. She’s super rich, I’m not even as rich as her. After we all make our way back to the common room, the competition comes to a close.

”And the winner of who’s got the most wicked, cool room is... Rikidou Sato!” He’s shocked but all the girls voted for him for his cake. Except for me, I liked Todoroki’s room. I look up to see he’s already leaving. Ochacco calls out to him and then the rest of us who went to rescue Kacchan that night. Outside, Tsuyu waits for us. A feeling of sadness washes over me. The cicadas are loud tonight. 

”You guys know I’m pretty straightforward and say what’s on my mind.” She begins, she’s talking about what she said in the hospital room. Her voice is wavering and full of emotion. She had just realized we still went through with the plan and she was sad she couldn’t stop us. She starts to cry and expresses how she wanted to be all friends again. She feels so crestfallen. I run up to her and hug her, apologizing to her. She bawls as everyone comes around to comfort her. 

She was my first friend here after all. She must have kept that in mind since her arm linked with mine when the others pet her hair. I smile, a tear slipping down my face. After a while, we calm ourselves and slip a few lighthearted jokes. We walk in together to go back to our dorms then. I walk alongside Izuku to our floor when we saw the others off. He bids me goodnight and I replicate. I slip into my room and plop back onto my mattress. 

Soon, I slip into sleep after doing my usual night routine. The following morning, we get into a routine to wash up in the conjoined bathrooms. I get my usual prep and skincare bag, making my way to the girl’s communal. We greet one another happily, brushing our teeth and washing our faces. We settled into the common area to have breakfast, chatting with everyone. When we finished, we head back to our rooms to change. 

After steaigting my uniform, I leave behind my blazer. I tap into my boots and brush my hair out. I’ll have to clean up the trim soon since I can see it’s already gotten a little longer in such a short time. I pat my cheeks to waken up fully and grasp my bag to head out. We walk the 5 minutes to school all together. Mr. Aizawa begins class immediately with our provisional license training. It’s time to perfect our ultimate moves! Other teachers file in to guide us.

We go off to change into our costumes to meet at Gym Gamma, our training area. They continue to direct us about what we’re to do. Comentoss leads the teaching before Iida presents a question concerning the provisional exams. Mr. Aizawa goes on to explain how the exams will test not only our ability but the qualities of our work ethic in all areas of being a hero. The other teachers pitch in their own take, even using Iida’s quirk as an example. 

”So it’s basically our secret weapon.” Sato says. It’s just a power up to ensure we win, even if it’s pushing us to our peak. The teachers begin to unfurl their quirks to set themselves against us. We are to train rigorously against them to hone our skills and improve to be eligible to fight in the exams. Ectoplasm duplicates himself around different heights of Cementoss’s elevations. 

”I expect you all to go Plus Ultra on this, do you have it in you?” Mr. Aizawa challenges. We all give out a resounding ‘yes sir’ before charging into the frey of things. I watch as Ojiro goes off to combat one of the clones. Mina demonstrates her acid. Yaomomo projects out multiple objects. Todoroki uses both his quirks to their fullest. I’m still standing next to Izuku to watch everyone unravel. 

Ectoplasm knocks him out his reverie, which startles me. I see another clone on one of the higher plateaus motion for me to join him. I fly up, flames licking up my body. He asks me to demonstrate my quirk’s highest level of power. I want to try and conjure the flame monster I had during the tournament. I try to explain to him about the monster I became then.

”Don’t think of yourself as a monster. It is just a form you take on when you’re exerting at full capacity. I heard from recovery girl you did not use all of your energy resources, which is very good for your quirk. Let’s work on how to work yourself up to that stage again.” Ectoplasm states and I nod. I close my eyes, concentrating of all the fire swirling around my body. I focus on consuming myself in it, dousing myself head to toe in a wall of flames. Slowly, I feel fire fly up around me and I open my eyes. 

”Good, now move. Attack me.” He states. I let out a breath that resembles black smoke. I twist my body, centralizing the energy to my legs as I’m still completely on fire. My hair has began to float around. As quick as I’ve ever moved, I swirl a kick straight into his side. He begins to melt and I panic. I look over to the original and he gives me a nod, another clone materializes.

”Good, keep that up. Up the heat, land more physical attacks.” He directs me as I slam my fists into him. He ducks and swivels away from me. He knocks me off balance but I quickly slip around, launching my leg high in the air to kick downwards. My heel grazes a harsh burn onto his back, scorch marks and fire consumes him. My eyes widen, when did I learn this?!

”Akikami, great work!” All Might calls out.

”All Might! You should be resting!” I bow, the flames evaporate into ash as I stand upright again. He smiles.

”I see you’ve improved immensely, very well done. If you want to unfurl more power, centralize a point on your body to disperse heat onwards to. It will push your flames to surround more area and you can even try to control the heat.” He gives me a few pointers and I beam. I thank him happily before he moves on to someone else. 

After a few more hits against Ectoplasm, I was able to make a smaller version of myself from the tournament. I even was able to manifest a flame body that moved with myself while I was in the middle. It felt like I was controlling some Mecha, I felt so much stronger than before. I wonder if this is some awakening I’ve had back at camp. Or even with my mentor’s aid. 

The day passes like that and Mr. Aizawa tells us to take our costume improvement ideas to the development studio. I make my way there, looking over the horizon as the setting sun. The light and warmth makes me bask in it completely. I feel my energy come back to me, not feeling as fatigued as I had months prior. I can not believe it’s already August. Soon I’ll be 16. I smiled at the thought.

I meet up with Ochacco and Iida as they were headed to the studio as well. We converse on how we plan on improving our quirks. I wanted to control the Phoenix form I took on before and they both are fascinated at my level of control. I wasn’t like Todoroki and how his attacks are so wide range. I’m more in control of where my fire can go and how much to exert out. It’s just my Phoenix way. 

Ochacco notices Izuku further up, running up to him. Iida is in distress for her running in the hall. As soon as Izuku realizes we’re here, a large explosion blasts him back. We all gape at what just happened. When the smoke clears, my face heats up. Hatsume is draped on Izuku’s body, pushing up on top of him. I bristle, my eyes twitch. I can even sense Ochacco feeling the same way as we watch what’s happening. 

”Get up.” I say, next to Izuku’s shocked form on the ground. He robotically picks himself up as Hatsume chirps on and on. She doesn’t seem to remember our names but Izuku is all embarrassed. My mouth twitches, I will knock this boy out. Ochacco has a pale face, she’s got this look that’s mixed with distress and something else. I’ve got anger in my veins. She heads back inside but Izuku tries to tell her we’re here for costume touch ups.

She runs right up to him, in his face screaming. I can hear a snap somewhere in my head. She’s quite ballsy, or maybe she doesn’t understand personal space. Mr. Power Loader scolds her and then redirects his attention to us. He leads us in and asks for for our instructions of changes. He also goes into detail for major to minor details. I want to keep my costume the same, I just needed to improve the durability of my costume material. 

Izuku was able to get approval quickly for his costume adjustments. But then, I spot glove hands palming across his chest. Fire flickers at the tips of my hair as a I can feel the veins in my arms pulse. Hatsume is literally feeling him up, especially his muscles. Since I’m on the other side to him, I see very closely how close she’s pushed up on him. I flex a fist and almost reach out for her hands before she spins Izuku into some odd plated armor. It consumes his entire body. I blink really slowly. 

”Hah... HAHAHAHA” I laugh as I see how ridiculous he looks. It begins to twist his body and sadistically, I relished in it. He was freed and I glowered down at him. Iida was next as she placed some odd arm contraption on him. The other two inch away from them, as I fold my arms and lean against the wall. She’s still mouthing off on her inventions. It begins some odd bickering between her and her mentor. I’m so glad I was not pulled into that mess. 

Mr. Power Loader apologizes for her but then praises her craftsmanship. He directs our attention over to every gadget she’s made since the beginning of school. The large pile of inventions tower over us in the corner. I nod, she is good at what she does for sure though. My anger simmers out, the pointless jealousy nearly becomes comical in my mind. Izuku then bursts out, going up to Iida to ask for his help. He then turns to Ochacco before Hatsme comes up with another invention of hers. Which blasts into us. 

Throughout the course of the next few days, we began training and waiting for the improvements of our costume to come back. I worked to increase the intensity of my flames like Todoroki’s. I channeled the Phoenix Form to swing arm like appendenges around faster. It even was able to turn into wings. I took flight on one of the later days to see how long I can last throughout the air like that. Even out of that form, I began to exert stronger domes. I healed myself up as well, using energy reserves to patch myself up. 

With all the improvements I’ve made, it feels as though I’ve upgraded. From small fireballs and short timed flights through the air to domes of fire that can grow in size and longer air time. From that, I was able to expand my control of energy in my body, consume more heat, heal myself, and last through water and other objects that hindered me. Now, I can control a new form of myself while also expanding the size and longevity of my flames. I would say I’m near Todoroki’s level, but I’m more on my own level now. 

I was able to receive my new improvements sooner than I thought. Though the last repairs were a lot over my first design, these were only small but impactful improvements. Where I used to have strapped on elbow/knee pads were now transformative and adjustable protective gear. It came in these rubber squares that fuel out after attaching into place. It had no straps so it wouldn’t be ripped off but it also sunk into the material I adjusted my costume with.

Since it was already heat-resistant, I also asked for it to be more breathable since it felt heavy at times. Though still thick enough to absorb physical attacks, it was moveable when no impact was made. My boots were the same I wear everyday so I adjusted the gold colored plates that hooked over my toes and sole. I even got gold colored knuckle braces stitched inside my gloves. The cuff was not as large as before but still had a good flare to it.

Other than making my costume more resilient and less piecey, the adornments of my costume were no longer attachable but actually stitched in. A gold rim around my shoulder pads, that were also similar material as my elbow/knee pads. A gold rim around my boots and the scarf I was given last time. I felt so much more pretty than last time. I stand out a bit more but the vermillion, gold, and fire orange was just my brand.

We began to improve our special moves. I strengthened my Phoenix Form, growing in size into a flame-like woman. I clapped my hands together around a very large pillar of stone. The heat turned it into ash and crushed it instantaneously. I cheered in the center of the flames happily. I swung my arm around and destroyed more pillars near me. I caught the debris inside the wall of flames. The stones floated inside the flames before I swung my arm again to sent them flying far across the gym smashing into more pillars. 

I quickly unfurl the flames and clap happily at how much stronger I’ve gotten. It made me so excited that I was able to conjure such a strong form of myself. Not only did I have a special move that I could depend on, I also could use variations of my prior moves in stronger ways than before. I beamed at how proud I felt, my pride was swelling. I turn my head to see a stone has began to fall towards All Might. I flare up in flames to charge at the stones but I see Izuku has smashed it to bits with his legs. Seems he’s changed his fighting style.

Then the doors open, revealing class 1B. Sananaka’s eyes rake around  before finding mine. I smile and wave. For once he smiles and waves too. His costume is really unexpected, and similar to Midnight’s. Not in the revealing kind of way, but there’s a lot of dark colored straps. He’s got this street style get up. A loose fit dark purple T-shirt, black joggers with adjustable belt straps on different levels. He’s even got a harness across his chest and fingerless gloves. Black lace up boots and a single earring are paired with his fit. 

”He just looks like a fashion model.” I mumble as I see Monoma cackle around our class. I hop down to the others as our classes come together. Our teachers and classmates chatter about the tests and prospect of failing. We listen along and resound a ‘yes sir’ as he wraps up the class. After changing and packing up, we all head back to the dorms. 

The girls and I are all relaxing in the common area couches. I’ve got my hair in a loose bun with a towel wrap bandana. I recently had done my skin care routine. We confide in each other about how we’re developing, with some doing better than the other. When Tsuyu pokes Ochacco, she screams. She must have been tense. But her face gives away something else.

”Recently, my heart has been stirred up about something.” Her face is dusted pink. 

”IT’S LOVE!” Mina says, making her flip out and float towards the ceiling. Hagakure, Mina, and Jiro tries to pester it out of her but Yaomomo and Tsuyu try to give it a rest. I know who it is though. My heart feels a little heavy at that. Tsuyu notices my expression and furrows her brow. She tilts her head as she would with a question and I shook my head. When I look up, I see she’s peering about the window. 

Izuku is outside training, kicking back and forth as she stares from the top of the window. I watch her as she smiles fondly. The heaviness in my chest eases as I remember that expression on my own face. My face eases and a small shiver rakes my body. Maybe she’s like me, she must admire him and his abilities. If this was a challenge, I’d forfeit. I look back at Izuku and though my own face blooms warmly, I cheer him on as I’ve always done before. 

Just as that night passes and more training goes by, it’s the day of the Provisional License exams. We stand with our bags outside our buses with anticipation. When Mineta titters back and forth, Mr. Aizawa tries to calm him down. Kirishima and Denki try to garner a class cheer but a guy in a familiar uniform beats him to it. His voice is startling and a few more students are behind him. Including-!

“HISAMI!” I cry out, as she sends a wink my way. I run towards her to give her a huge hug as we spin together laughing. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her in the flesh. She’s glowing and has that same mischievous expression she grew into. A blonde girl and a purple  haired boy stands a little to the side of us. I bow as courtesy. The purple hair boy slightly scowls and the blonde girl seems a little... off. 

I turn back to see that the loud guy has slammed his head into the ground. But my classmates are more interested in their uniforms. We both come from the most prestigious schools of Japan, UA from the east and Shiketsu High from the west. Fitting for me and Hisami really. When she moved a while back, I knew she was going to end up there. Who would have known this is how we’d meet up again. 

The loud guy voices off how happy and excited he is to meet us from UA that he starts bleeding. Or maybe that’s from when he bashed his head into the ground. Mr. Aizawa calls his name out, even explaining how well he knows about him. Though the three begin walking away, Hisami stays behind a bit to talk to me. But before she could get a full sentence in, her crew calls out to get going. She sticks her tongue out and waves at them.

”I’ll talk to you soon okay! I missed you, can’t wait to see your costume in detail!” She smiles as she runs off, waving happily at me before bumping into the loud guy. They do some odd banter and laugh. They sure look close. I get a little sad, all three of my best friends aren’t really that close to me anymore.

”Eraser?!” A woman with teal hair is coming up to our teacher before proposing to him. Wait, proposing?! She laughs and Izuku realizes she’s the laughing hero, Joker. I nod along to him as I recall seeing her before, she seems very eccentric and determined to be Mr. Aizawa’s wife. I smile at her theatrics, I’m a hopeless romantic as well but I hope I’m not more hopeless than romantic. 

Her students from Ketsubutsu Academy make their way up to us, especially a boy with unruly black hair. He’s really cute as he excitedly chirps at every one of us, even Kacchan. He reaches out his hand at him, even though Kacchan slaps his hand away. Another girl bounds up to Todoroki asking for his autograph and I nearly retch. My eye twitches and I turn away. The black haired boy makes his way up to me all of a sudden.

”You’ve got a very powerful quirk too, Akikami Hinotori.” He says with a smile. A blush makes it’s way across my face. He reaches for my hand, grasping it with both of his. I look from our hands up to his eyes. Though they look off putting. I feel a weird sense of dread even when his smile looks so radiant. I scrunch my brows and peer closer to him, making Mina freak out.

”Don’t kiss him! Or maybe, if you want to... but like so soon?!” It made me embarrassed, snatching my hand out his hold.

”NO! I wasn’t going to kiss him, I was looking in his eyes. There’s something-“

”Hey, put on your costumes. Head right into orientation.” Mr. Aizawl interupts, which causes us all to march in. I try to explain myself to the girls but they just won’t get it. I can feel stares at me and I realize it really must have looked like I was leaning into him. We crowd together in some tight space as some tired looking guy orchestrates his speech. As he drawls on, the tone suddenly shifts.

”Only the first 100 students will pass today.” He says, making everyone bristle. There’s more than 1,500 students here! I hear the others redo the previous calculations and realize only 1 percent of us will actually pass. I pale as my blood runs cold, am I going to fail?! My nerves electrify when he begins to speak again. He’s explaining the first round and it’s almost similar to a game of darts but with bouncy balls. We need to take down two people, meaning 3 targets per person and for us. Suddenly, the roof opens up into some kind of landing right in the middle of a differing training ground.

”What the hell just happened!” I say, in awe at our environment. We all take off then, the footsteps of others rumbling around us. Izuku tries to group us around together but Kacchan, Todoroki, and skirmishing peel away. We begin running together, Izuku leading us to realize everyone knows what our quirks are. My eyes shoot open, they’re at an advantage and they’ll be after us first!

A buzzer goes off to signal the first test as all of us get surrounded by a large group of flying students. An array of bouncy balls fly right at us and I fly up. I flip through an opening and flap my flame wings back to propel a portion of the balls back at them. I see the others have begin to turn the situation on it’s head. Though a few balls missed, I can see it landed a few hits. I smile as I gather myself back in the group huddle.

”We got this you guys! Let’s show them what the class of UA could do!” Izuku calls out, we all cheer together before taking off. 

Chapter Text

I’m hoping I picked the right places my sensors. One was on the side of my bust, the secone was on top of my knee pads but slightly turned inwards, whereas the third was a little out in the open on the top of my shoulder. The ground rumbles as one of the second years sends petrified balls underground. We look around and prepare to dodge but Jiro comes to the forefront to break the ground apart. When the other team counter, Mina protects Mineta from any falling attacks.

”Black Abyss!” Tokoyami says, Dark Shadow covering his form like a cape. He shouts out one of his moves as Dark Shadow’s claws rake towards a girl with pink and blue uniform. She disappears inside her body like a turtle, which is a little unsettling to watch. The speaker’s voice from earlier is heard through the speakers to let us know and keep us updated on how many will get out.

An earthquake rocks the ground and we all fly up with the debris. Everyone is in the air around me and I try to find my footing on one of the larger boulders. I flip to kick myself up and land with a skid. I engulf my body in flames to protect myself from any hits. A scream from the speakers jolt me, 120 people were already taken out by one person?! Was it Todoroki?!

When I jump down to the ground and run from the smashing rocks, I look around for any flames or ice. No signs of that means it was another student. I really hope I won’t have to go against someone like that anytime soon. My flames dispel as I look around. Where did everyone land? Where the hell am I? It’s a little to quiet when I hear a few balls fly by my head. I flare up again. 

I don’t see anyone around and yet where are all these attacks coming from? I run and fly away, flapping wind to throw back the balls. A few buzzes are heard before I make it away from there. I get high enough to scan an overview of the place. A few balls rocket towards me. Though missing my targets, they do hit around me. I heat up the flames and duck down behind an archway. It’s a small clearing for now. 

When I scan around again, I see a group of students hurdled above a cliff aiming at someone with green electricity? No wait, it’s Izuku! I look behind me and find a few discarded and charred balls. Wrapping them in fire, I hurl a stream of attacks towards the students. Majority of them miss their targets but it hit them hard enough to knock them rolling down the cliffs. I run as they tumble and jump around each other. 

Ochacco’s voice is heard calling out for Izuku and I try to follow her voice. More people are shouting to capture them and I send a heatwave across their way. A few students stop and lurch, I know I made them nauseous enough to falter. When I reach a clearing, I see Izuku has Octavio in his hands as he flies a kick towards the other students. He’s running now! I sprint towards them. I manage to nab a few fallen balls on the ground.

I know I’m pretty obviously in the open so I wave my arms back to send a wave of fire to surf over the other students Izuku knocked down. Fire climbs up my calves as I hurry to catch up to them. While they’re up ahead, I find a space to hide. More students have caught up, damn they’re quick. When I look back to Izuku, I see Ochacco reaching towards one of his targets. No, an imposter-!

“Let me guess, you’re someone from Shiketsu?” He says, revealing whoever has taken on her image. Her skin turns to sludge and suddenly the blonde girl from earlier is in front of him. Her clothes are gone and she’s covered in this slight grayish sludge. I blush furiously, who the hell is this crazy girl?! Before I can sprint to them, I see someone approaching me. Reaching into my scarf around my waist, I pull out two balls. I cover them in flames as they fly off my hands. A yelp can be heard before I run away to another hiding. 

I turn back to Izuku and see the girl is lunging at him in clear view! I need to help him! Before I can, more students have arrived meaning I need to hold them off for both my sake and Izuku’s. I erect a fire wall and push towards them, the flames skate across the ground and move towards the running students. Those who don’t want to be burn back off and those who can take it push through. 

Curling my hands into fist, streams of fire wrap up my arms as I send zigzags of fire towards them. They climb up a few students, burning and hindering them enough to let me esape. I go into the clearing and see Sero and Ochacco has arrived to help Izuku. The naked girl jumps off her ledge and disappears. I jog up to them, panting.

”Who the hell was that?!” I say to them before realizing Sero is shaking Izuku like crazy. I make a face and they still for merely a second. 

”What’s happening?” I say to Ochacco, her face is so red it looks sunburned. Izuku explains what happened before I arrived and who he just faced. I knew I had a bad feeling from her. I tell them I was right behind Izuku and helping fend off trailing students. I saw her transform and also tell them about the sixth sense feeling I had from her before this began.

We huddle together and begin to talk strategies. We all explain where we were prior and devise a plan to stick together as a quad. The speakers boom again, announcing 53 people have passed this round already. If we don’t hurry, we’ll fail at this rate. Over 200 people have already failed! Black hair swipes at me from above, pulling me away from the rest of the group. 

”IZUKU, SERO, OCHACCO!” I free a hand to reach out to them. Izuku fires up and prepares a kick as Sero wraps tape around my captured body. The tug on my bodies pull me left and right, making me awfully nauseous. When I look down, I realize this hair is really silky which would make it really hard to break. Only one person I know is this high maintence and it’s- 

“HISAMI! SHOW YOURSELF!” I yell, peering around as the tape and hair around my body rushes me back and forth. I gag and almost throw up at how suffocating this feels. All of a sudden, the hair lets go and breaks the tape from Sero. The hair turns into large claws that peel the residue off, dusting itself from dirt. 

I flip and land back on my feet with a skid, looking around for her to come out. Slowly, footsteps can be heard around the cliff. A hair claw stretches upwards and propels Hisami right in front of me. Her stature towers mine as she opens her arms up for a hug. Her smile is kind but her eyes are competitive. I block her view from the others.

”Go, I’ll take her.” I say to the others. They furrow their brows and disagree but I swipe a hand at them. Fire surrounds a block of rocks to push them away from me and keep them going. They protest and try to get out of the flames but I continue pushing until they’re out of sight. I sigh and turn back to Hisami, she takes the liberty to hug me in return. 

”LOOK AT US,” she squeals, “fighting against each other like this.” I squirm in her hold and slide away from her. I love and miss her dearly but in a place like this, we need to take this seriously. With how quickly people are failing and passing, either one of us could be the former or the latter. I plan to be that latter. 

”60 people have passed already, you think you’ll be one of them right?” She saunters closer and I step back.

”Yes I do, I’ve been working so hard for this!” I say and I see how happy she looks. She always looked out for me and we sparred a lot before she moved. She loved training with my siblings when I couldn’t. So I understand how she’d think I wouldn’t stand a chance against her, even when I look like I have the upper hand with fire. 

”Let’s not waste time, times ticking.” She crosses her hands and her hair rushes around me. Just before they wrap around me, I push my fists outwards to form a ball of fire surrounding me. If she values her hair enough, she wouldn’t risk setting it on fire. At least, that’s what I thought until she charged again right into the fire. Slices of hair fell off as she continues to break the fire dome. I roll and flip backwards, rolling myself away from her hair. The fists collide with ground and more hair slices off.

”I’d thought you cared more about your hair!” I say as I steady the dome. I charge a spiral of fire towards her, it takes the shape of a bird as it wraps around her like a spring. I can see smoke rising off her body as I constrict her. Her hair continues to protect her skin from having contact with my flames. I lower one hand into my pockets for a ball and realize I’ve got three. Three chances to hit or I’m out. 

”Oh I do.” She simply says as her hair fights against the constrictions. Is she crazy or something, that won’t work! I lift my arms and curl my fingers inwards to tighten my hold. More of her hair falls down and I realize her hair is getting thinner and shorter. If I keep this up, I’ll gain the upper hand. But a tap on my legs disturbs my thoughts and suddenly I’m on the ground. Pieces of fallen hair have strewn together from the cracks in the ground to knock me off balance! 

”What the hell-” I begin but that slight falter on my end allows her to free herself. Shit, I need to get up! More hair bounds me down and wraps around my wrists and ankles. I don’t understand how she’s able to do this, hair was burned off! When I look back at her, there’s a thin strand of hair holding the hair bundles around. That can’t be possible, I would’ve burned it!

”Just like you’ve improved, so have I! My hair is so much stronger and durable than before. And look at this cool trick.” Her hair slowly grows back to its original length after collecting a few fallen piles of hair. I struggle out the binds and look down to see there’s no hair and I was just too slow to realize. Claws of hair punch right into me, causing me to spit and push into the ground. 

”In a blink of an eye, you didn’t realize how I turned that situation around.” She laughs and for the first time, I realized how angry that makes me. I shamble to sit up before a claw wraps me up into the air. I unfurl a body of fire around me, that repeats the same process of burning off strands from before. This time, I amp up the heat and extend how far I can go. I stare back at her snideful expression. 

”Come on, stop holding back!” She laughs and I hear the speaker again. 20 people left to pass and I’m still stuck this far behind! I growl and then my flames morph. I turn back into that flame monster from the tournament. Her smile falters and her expression morphs into worry. I rip apart her hair until all that’s left is a jagged short hairstyle. She’s frozen in her spot and I take the oppurtunity to swing at her. 

”I won’t.” I say lowly as a blazing hot flame hand smacks her body against a wall of rocks. She spits as well from the impact and rags out a painful breath. I surge forward, a ball in one of my flame hands. I slam it back into her, causing her to huff again and her eyes slowly open. Two of her spots are blazed and as I poise to hit the last she kicks against the wall to charge right at me. The fire would burn her if she’s being this bold! 

”I won’t either.” She says as a kick to my face sends me flying back. The speaker says there’s only 12 people left. The adrenaline pumping in my veins powers me to get up and run. She follows me, hair strung together by a single thread and I twist around quickly. I need to pass with everyone or else I’m just another weakling! In a moment of desperation, I charge headfirst into her and tag that last buzzer just as she tags one of mine. 

“You’re out, I’m sorry Hisami.” I smile at her as she falls to her knees. I want to console her but I can’t afford to waste anymore time! I run then, with fire blazing around my legs. I need just one more to pass! Reaching an city  themed area I find a few people fighting each other for the last spots. I must be the last one from my class to finish and if I don’t, I’ll be the first to fail before it even began. Disappointment and anger fuels the flames around me as I barrel through the crowd. 

”My apologies! I need to catch up with my friends!” Two balls placed in my hands run through staggering students I’ve never seen before. I twist my body to spin around and make a U-turn right back to get as many buzzers I can. Most of them are burned and singed, laying on the ground from the direct contact with fire. As I fly upwards and out of the way from anyone who could tag me, I spot many students with all buzzers tagged. A few of them were tagged once or not at all, running away from me. 

”10 spots left, a student from UA has passed in the city district area. Let’s get it moving people!” The tired voice says on the speaker as I fly away from where I was. A voice in my blue lit buzzers signals that I’ve passed and that I’m able to move on to the next round. Relief floods me as I fly towards the congregational area. Just as I land by the doors, the speaker hastily announces the leftover 10 passing students. 9 of the rest of my classmates! 

As I open the doors with a bright smile on my face, I see some of my classmates rush up to me with glee. They hug and congratulate me, our entire class has passed together! Izuku, Sero, and Ochacco come up to ask me how was my fight with Hisami and I get a little sad. I hope I didn’t upset her, she looked pretty crestfallen back there. As we all chat, the rest of our classmates file in and we cheer again. Which probably drew nasty looks our way. 

After a brief rest, the speaker addresses us again before showing us the next test. Explosions break apart the arena, crushing the buildings and rubble together. We all chatter together as we realize this is a rescue mission. We’ll be tested on how well we perform. Children and elderly arise on screen making us all go into distress. But it turns out, it’s HUC — the Help Us Company. They specialize in helping young heroes train for rescues. I nod along as the speaker announces we’ll be scored on a point based system.

After that information overload, we were allowed to get a quick snack and water to refuel us for the next step. I nibble on one of those ridiculously good mini sandwiches before joining the girl’s group. I notice Ochacco peering at Izuku getting scolded by Denki and Mineta for seeing one of the Shiketsu girls naked. My eye twitches as I walk up to her. Before we could do much, the passing students of Shiketsu have come to apologize for one of their peers and to make amends. A bad feeling swirls around from their group. A nasty miasma is coming from that girl in particular. 

When they leave, Todoroki confronts one of them who seems to have a horrible grudge on him and his father. Todoroki’s expression looks wounded and shocked after that Inasa guy mentions he’s got “his father’s eyes”. My face morphs into anger as I step up towards them. But then that girl waves to Izuku and suddenly the three from before are arguing again. I walk around to Todoroki and ask if he’s okay.

”Fine.” He says and when I try to say anything else, a bell rings out. The speaker gives a background story for the next test and we all ready ourselves to run out. Once he yells begin, we sprint as a class together towards a central area to save as many people we can. Kacchan runs off, Kirishima and Denki follow him. When Izuku stops, he hears someone calling for help. When we all stop, Izuku only says something that deducts his points.

”The first thing you should do is check my injuries!” He yells and berates us for our inexperience. I falter and wait for him to finish his reprimands. We all listen on as he also tells us key points we need to keep in mind. We may not be the ones hurt but we are saving the ones who are. Izuku smacks the sides of his head before curling his fists together. He corrects himself and the guy gets right into character. 

Izuku tells us what to do before running off. Ochacco is frozen in her spot, gazing at Izuku. I furrow my brows and though I want to grab her, I let her be. I know feelings are a harsh staple on how we act. If I was just as bold as I am in my everyday life with my love life, I’d be hurt a lot more than I already am. I hear her footsteps catch up to us. 

We looked around as other students are hard as work. Yaomomo calls us over to save someone stuck under walls of debris. Though Ochacco rushes towards, Yaomomo corrects her and also directs our attention to how everything is positioned. Sero and Sato make their way towards us to help secure our surroundings. We all get to work to shovel the man out, quickly scooping out all the trapped debris around him. 

Yaomomo directs Sero around as others are standing around. This isn’t gonna be affective enough, so I hear they all group together. Tsuyu motions for me to join her with Todoroki and Hagakure by the river. We all agree on our roles before splitting up. Hagakure motions to the boy in the water. Todoroki and Hagakure split up to rope him out. An elderly woman swims out from the waters and I sprint over.

”Grab onto my hand ma’am, are you alright? Have you been in the water long?” I quickly walk into the waters to help her onto land as I surround our bodies in heat. She hums approvingly before she replies with a soft nod. When Todoroki puts the boy on his back and makes his way on land, an explosion from the other side of the arena catches our attention. The speaker announces the arrival of villains in the area! 

”We need to fend off the enemies while keeping the injured safe. Girls, do you see anyone else here? We need to get a move on to the medical station fast.” I direct as we look around and hurry off to the safe spot on our left. It’s a bit of distance but if we are steady enough, we’ll make it there with our injured. I continue to ask the two civilians questions to grasp what could be wrong. So far the boy swallowed too much water and is weak whereas the elder woman is warming up from paddling herself to shore. Her muscles are sore and weak though. 

”There’s still a lot of hurt people to rescue.” Tsuyu says behind a rock after we drop off the injured and inform the medics on what their conditions are. Todoroki is watching the energies surround the safe space before running into the Frey. He sets off an ice barrage to keep the ‘villains’ at bay. Tsuyu and Hagakure help me look for more injured to carry to the next safe space. I find a bloodied little girl as the other two find more in the waters. We run towards where we see the others go.

I look back for a bit to see how Todoroki handles the situation. I stumble a bit and the girl in my hands narrow her eyes. 2 points off my score and I start to falter. I continue my way forward towards where the others get the injured to. I sense a strong feeling of disturbance behind me. Like conflicting tides, one is from Todoroki. The other is from Inasa. They must be fighting in the midst of all this! 

”Please take care of her, she’s got a head injury and she’s been swimming for a while in the rivers!” I hand her over to someone who looked to be the healer type. I kneel down to warm her up and help her on her feet. I reassure her that she’s in good hands. At that, she rewards my points back to me. I smile and bow before running back to the riverbank. I run back and see Izuku has ran back to save Shindo. 

”What the hell are you two doing?!” He screams as he skids to place Shindo on the ground. Todoroki looks stunned before Inasa is knocked from the sky. Gang Orca grasps Todoroki down to the ground. The enemies are coming for us now, a large horde poised to attack the evacuation center. I run by Izuku to aid in being the frontline. Shindo sends out another rumble to the henchmen. He directs Izuku what to do and I rush with him.

”I’ll help!” I call out to him as he charges forward. A gush of wind flies around me as Izuku jumps around to kick a henchmen. Ojiro joins us as we fight against these villains. I unfurl a stream of flames and rise into my newest form. I surge around in this flame body as I grasp henchmen into my claws. They become immobilized in the heat and flames before I shoot them out into a pile by the walls. Izuku runs up to take on Gang Orca and I fly towards him. But a buzzer lets out signaling the end of the exams.

Slowly, my fire dies out and I situate myself back into the ground. I regroup with my class as we begin filing together to change back into our uniforms. The speaker goes on to explain how they evaluated our score altogether, mistakes and achievements combined. I gulp, realizing I did less than anyone else in both rounds. He motions to the screen behind him, if we pass our names will be there. Tension rumbles through the crowd as everyone searches. Though a part of me believes I failed, I try to hold back any negative feelings. Then, there it was.

My name was on top with the A’s and I felt so much relief. When I turned around to see everyone’s relief and joy, there was two who did fail. My smile fades at Todoroki’s expression and Kacchan’s anger. They both failed, the top students of our class at that! Inasa slams into the ground to express his regret in fighting him during the exams. I stare at Inasa on the ground as he apologizes to Todoroki. The speaker announces that we’ll see the details on how we did soon as men in suits pass out papers with our information on it. 

Sero scored higher than Ojiro with 82 points whereas the later at 61. He barely passed which makes me sweat nervously, he did make it after I knocked through that group with the rest of the class. Yaomomo had 94, Iida had 80, Izuku had 71. I chew my lip right as I receive my paper. Tsuyu, Hagakure, Mina, and Ochacco run up to me to see what I’ve got. I bite back the anxiety and flip the paper. 

”78 points!” I beam, happiness swells over me. I got higher than Izuku! The joy in me bubbles over, I feel so warm. The girls hype me up, even Yaomomo and Jiro. I go over to Izuku to pride myself and he shows me his shining smile. I pick on him for his lower score, since for once, I actually beat both of them in an exam. Both Kacchan and Izuku, now even Hisami and Todoroki. Oh gods, Hisami! What will happen to her?! The man’s voice begins to speak to us again, congratulating us and delving into some pep talk.

“And those who fell short, we don’t have time to let you feel bitter about your loss. Instead, we’ll offer you a chance to redeem yourselves.” The speaker says after his long speech to encourage us. He explains on why there was 100 chosen and why they watched the failed until the end to make up for their shortcomings. I smile happily towards Todoroki, who has a small smile on his face from hearing us encourage him. After all that, it’s evening and we’re all leaving the stadium. 

”WAHHHHHH!” Izuku cries as he holds onto his new provisional license. His photo is awkward but his happiness is adorable. Ochacco comments on his bliss and he’s got this blush across his face. He explains why he’s so proud, it’s basically proof his efforts paid off. Ochacco smiles as well, agreeing with him. He snaps plenty of photos to send to All Might and his mother. I huff out a smile as well. 

My license is just as meaningful to me as well. Seeing my smile, that beautiful face is perfect should I add, just goes to show I’ve worked hard. I just have to work harder from here on to show I deserved this more than Todoroki and Kacchan. Even though their skills are spectacular, I suppose I had something they didn’t. Control. 

Inasa also runs by to yell out towards Todoroki, a good statement of resentment but politely I suppose? Hisami is walking towards me, her head is down. She must be really upset about failing in the first round. I bound up to her, arms outstretched before a hair fist collides straight into my face. I stagger, it wasn’t malicious but it was just like the ones she’d give me as kids. Tsuyu and Ochacco go up to me to check if I’m okay. 

”I’m so proud of you.” She says, finally looking up. She has tears in her eyes. It shocked me so much, she rarely ever cried. Hot tears welled up and I feel a few slip down my face. She smiles and sniffs, opening her arms. I jump back into her arms and we laugh together. She’s planning to retake the exams after the three month supplementary sessions. I explain two of our classmates will join her. She says she’ll keep me updated. 

”I promise we’ll text more okay? You know how I am with texting. We’ll video chat everyday!” She guffaws and I blush out of embarrassment. 

”Let’s just call twice a week since our schedules are busy, ‘Sami.” I sigh. We bid each other goodbye, running back with her class once again. Izuku was just talking with one of her classmates about that bodysuit girl. But it seems she was gone already. There’s something not right here about her. Her energies were off, not like everyone else’s in the exams. I rejoin the rest of the group, sending a photo to my parents of my license. 

The family group chat exploded with joy and I laughed. Happily, I chat with everyone on the ride back to our dorms. We all got settled and changed, regrouping together in the common area to talk more. Yaomomo was relieved we’re back to normal classes and Denki was happy to not have to do much work. He’s wrong though, everyday is still work. I laugh until I see Kacchan and Izuku pass by each other. 

It was subtle, as if a small confrontation. Izuku’s face of wariness gave it all away. As it got later, everyone started to slowly make their way back to bed. I was the last to leave. I was suspicious and worried. A bad feeling made it’s way around me, as if something is about to unfold. I waited on my bed for anything. Then a door down the hall opened. It had to be Izuku’s. 

I peeked my head out to see his retreating form. I threw on a loose open-zipped jacket over my tank top and shorts. I tapped into my slip on shoes and snuck out. I hid behind walls to watch and wait for a good time to follow them. When I saw them leave the gates of the dorms, I opened the doors and tip-toed out. They were a far distance away by the time I rounded out the front entrance. 

I got lost for a bit when I waited too long or suspected they heard me. I was walking around for so long I can’t think of where they could possibly go. I passed the confidence store by the dorms. It was still open so I grabbed a bottle of water inside. I opened my phone to look at the maps to see if there’s a park, maybe a bit area, or a private place around for them to talk. The only place near by was... ground Gamma? The place All Might took us to for our first fight together. All three of us but this time around, even then, and probably from now on-

“They’re going to fight. By themselves.” I realized. My blood ran cold. If they’re going to break the rules, they’ll be persecuted. They’ve already gotten in trouble so many times already. If I don’t stop them, if I don’t intervene, they could really get expelled. Or worse, they’ll kill each other! I set off running, it was just 2 minutes away if I took the alleyways. If the teachers find them before me-! 

Just then, I make it to the entrance, explosions and green light are illuminating the dark arena. I run towards them, just when Kacchan falls. He’s yelling, his voice is coarse. It’s full of raw emotion, the feelings coming off him are swarming me like waves. I feel his pain, his sorrow, his torments. I collapse to my knees as he expresses how much he’s hurting.

”Why was I the one who ended All Might?!” He bellows. Hot tears stream down my face, I’m so sorry Kacchan.

Chapter Text

I watch them. I couldn’t even imagine, I couldn’t even relate to how he’s feeling right now. He’s blaming himself for something that was never his fault. But watching Izuku, I can tell he understands. They both need this fight but if they do, they’ll injure themselves and get in so much trouble. I couldn’t move an inch as I watch them charge at each other again. It looked deadly, dangerous, powerful. What could I possibly do to stop them?!

I squeeze my eyes shut, I need to grow up. If I keep being afraid, what the hell am I even doing here then? Screw getting in trouble, these two will obliterate each other like this. I gather myself up, looking onwards to them. They’re right in front of me, just a few sprints ahead. Izuku is preparing a kick into Kacchan, what if they break each other? With that, I run. And I call out to them, knowing damn well I’m not going to be heard. 

”Katsuki! Izuku! Please STOP!” The tears stream down my face as I try to interfere. I’ll get caught in the crossfire, just like I always have before. Putting myself between them even when their problems don’t involve me. Even when they couldn’t care less for me in times like this. But I still run towards them because I admire them so much. Their power, their strength, everything they do to become so strong and yet-

“I WON’T LOSE TO YOU!” Kacchan yells. A large explosion into the ground sends me flying back. Kacchan just turned the match around on Izuku, winning their fight by overtaking him and stepping on him. I land and run back towards them. Only to hear our teacher’s voice. Not Mr. Aizawa but our #1 hero, All Might.

”Stop this at once, you two. Young Hinotori, stay where you are.” Crap, if he’s here that means Mr. Aizawa will be too. I turn back to the boys, Izuku looks stunned to see All Might but his eyes widen after turning to me. Kacchan just looks shocked, and gets more shocked by the second. The air is tense. All Might walks towards us, I’m only a few feet away from them.

“I didn’t notice before, I should have!” He says, voice exasperated. 

”Well it’s too late now...” Kacchan starts,”Why did you pick Deku?” Izuku’s eyes turn downwards at that. Their secret exposed right in front of me. I don’t think I should be hearing this but it seems they pay me no mind. Or unless, All Might already knew that I did. I turn to him, shock written over my face. All Might sighs. He reassures me that he trusts me and he’s well aware that all of us should talk. I stay quiet.

Kacchan speaks with a harsh, strained voice. He questions why Izuku was chosen and why he’s weak. My heart constricts at his sorrow. All Might walks right up to him, I creep towards the two as well. He explains his actions, his life, his quirk. He reaffirms Kacchan’s abilities, grasping him into his arms as Kacchan trembles. He pushes himself away from his arms as All Might continues to pride them. He’s talking softly and his message is clear. It sends a warmth across my body, even the two of them share a look. 

”Damn it, that’s not what I wanted to hear.” Kacchan collapses on the ground, head in his lap. He threatens Izuku and Izuku accepts another one of his challenges. He sighs, a ragged breath of tiredness. He asks All Might who knows, which the hero looks over to me. I nod, quietly as I see Izuku’s eyes widen from where he sits. 

”Recovery Girl and Principal Nezu, now Akikami does as well.” Kacchan startles and looks at me as if its the first time he noticed me. It probably was actually. All Might reassures it’s only now Kacchan and myself. Kacchan grumbles, saying he can keep it a secret. Narrowing his eyes, he spits an insult at me to keep my mouth shut as well. 

”I have since now, and I will continue to. God, I spend all my school years with you two and I’m still treated like shit.” I bite. I cover my mouth and bow to All Might in apologies. He raises a hand to excuse me and goes to explain the story behind his quirk to us. I nod along and help Izuku up. When I reach over to Kacchan, he slaps my hand and gets up on his own. I know Izuku used to do that a lot to him, so I understand why. 

We walk together out. Kacchan and All Might continue talking, even when he used the last of his power back in the fight with AFO. Kacchan directs his attention to Izuku then, ridiculing him but that only spurred Izuku to one up him. Though I’m in the middle, we form a diamond formation by how behind I am. All Might looks over to me with a lopsided smile. The two bicker and I smile sadly.

”Then I’ll also be the #1 hero, not just out of spite but from my own abilities.” I furrow my brows at them. Kacchan explodes in white hot anger. He says I’m dim witted and not at all on his level. He spews all sorts of rude things and it only spurs my anger on. Izuku has that pitying look as if to not agree but also to not disagree with Kacchan, which makes me snap. 

”I’ll show you damn boys, to finally treat me seriously!” Tears are at the corners of my eyes. They still don’t think of me as a challenge, I’m not strong enough. But I know I’m getting better, if I ever had to fight them. If I ever had to show off my abilities, then they’ll learn. I’m strong, I’m powerful, I will make this power my own too. Just you wait. 

When we get back, All Might brings the boys to the infirmary with Mr. Aizawa. Thankfully, I was out of the crossfire since All Might covered for me. He explained I caught them going out and tried to stop them. I got one wicked scolding from Aizawa for not notifying him, but the boys... they’re on house arrest. Izuku had 3 days, whereas Kacchan had 4. They were to clean like crazy and write written apologies. I sorta felt bad but remembering our spout, I felt spiteful.

I narrowed my eyes at the two, Izuku catching my glare and looking away to scratch at his cheek. Kacchan just looked angrier and I stuck my tongue out behind All Might to fuel it. I can just see the engines rev up, good for him. When we make our way back to the dorms, it was hell for the boys. 

I was able to not get anything more than a reprimand from staying out past curfew. All Might covered for me but the boys were in deep trouble. Each one of them was separately scolded but they both were put on house arrest. 3 days for Izuku and 4 days for Kacchan who threw the first punch. 

They were to clean and keep up with coursework in those days, even if they were behind in class. They also were to heal on their own and not to depend on Recovery Girl so much. I wanted to go and help some minor wounds though, it’ll benefit me as well. When we were all dismissed I grasped their wrists, even when Kacchan was ready to punch me. 

A warmth rippled from my shoulders to theirs and I could see smaller cuts and scrapes close and heal under my gold light. Kacchan’s eyes twitched irritatedly but Izuku was fascinated. Before I could heal anymore, Kacchan yanked his arm from my hold and yelled at me to leave him alone. He stormed away quickly and all that healing stuff I conjured faded away. Izuku thanked me though, he was kind through and through. We walked back to our dorms together.

”Thank you for healing me, I know I shouldn’t depend on others so much but it was really cool to see a new part of your quirk.” He says, when we reach his door.

”I unlocked a lot of new assets of my quirk recently such as healing and foreboding. I wanted to see how much I could heal in others and myself. Thank you for allowing me to heal you Izuchan.” I smile and he smiles back. We bid each other good night then since I did have class tomorrow. I glance back to see him retreating into his room and I stop by a window with closed curtains. Pulling it back slightly, the moon enveloped me. I felt oddly sad staring at the moon today. 

The next morning, it’s back to school like usual and Iida’s orderly voice is loud as it always been. We’re all in line to get into class until Monoma shows up in the middle of the hallway. He’s going on his tangent again about how two of our classmates failed the licensing exams. I roll my eyes at his crazed attitude. The boys try to settle him down but he flexes the fact everyone passed in their class. I turn to Todoroki, his expression is dark.

”I’m sorry, it’s my fault.” He says. I disagree and shake my head, making a joke that Monoma is a moron. He nods at me and I give him a smile. I’m not as close as Izuku is with him but I’d like to be. He might need more support than it looks, even though he’s on par with Kacchan’s attitude at times. The exchange student from the States talks about a future training session together. 

But of course, Monoma whispers some odd thing for her to say and she begins to threaten Denki and Kirishima. MoronMonoma laughs but Kendo chops at his neck like she usually does. You got it girl. Then that annoying purple haired rude prick comes through with his usual grimace. He continues to just carry his usual mood through the hall. But he looks a little bulkier than before, as if he’s undergone some physical training. 

We all line up together for the assembly outside, where Principal Nezu begins talking about his fur quality. He’s adorable but the sense of personal maintainence makes me a little drowsy. But then he talks about more serious matters, like All Might’s retirement. What really catches our attention is hero work studies, it seems to be another or higher level of our internships. I wonder if we can choose whoever to go to. I’d like someone who can help me get more physical instead of someone with a similar quirk this time around. 

His speech turns inspirational and proud, voice full of admiration and care. He really is a good principal. After him was Mr. Hound Dog who just starts barking aggressively. I was baffled at what just happened but it seems Mr. a lad understood him perfectly. He was talking about the fight last night. I freeze a bit, no one knows I was there to watch it unfold and I look around at the corners of my eyes. 

Yaomomo was the only one to make a comment about it since everyone was really concerned with Mr. Hound Dog’s speech. We’re dismissed after the 3rd and 2nd years to go back to class. Mr. Aizawa calls our attention to resume class for lectures and to prep for more intensive training. Tsuyu mentions the work studies which gets everyone to question about it. I also input a question on it. 

He only informs us it’s like work along with class, which is something upperclassmen’s participate in to boost their reputation. Ochacco makes a realization and asks why we worked so hard for the sports festival if this was better than internships. However, Mr. Aizawa says the agencies who scouted us also came in handy for this and would be harder for those who weren’t scouted. He goes on to explain how this year will give first years a chance to also participate in work studies. After he finishes, he apologizes to Mr. Present Mic for the hold up. 

Who does burst in with such a ridiculous expression to start English. I was good at English though so I was excited to get caught up. Math was Yaomomo’s strong suit so I usually quietly took notes. Core subjects were a pain but at least we train our brains and not just our brawns. When class ends and we walk home, some of the boys pick on Kacchan for their lack of cleaning. I know Kacchan is a bit of a perfectionist so he wouldn’t be the type to leave things undone. 

Izuku has two trash bags full of junk and tells us to give him ours to take it out. I give him a thumbs up when his eyes scan over to mine and he has this scrunched smile. He must feel like he’s behind, even Iida mocks him for it. I laughed a bit hearing his impersonation of Izuku’s voice. I turn my head to finish the bottle of water in my hand, listening to the grumbles a few of my peers let’s out. I sigh, listening to everyone chattering about what’s been going on. 

Iida was particularly harsh on them for missing out and I shook my head. I walked up to Izuku and put my water bottle in, following him to the dumpsters. Though he objected for me to follow, I picked up a bag and aided him anyways. He was deep in his thoughts, a mixed expression of a scowl and worry on his face. I felt bad for him but it is his punishment. I turn to look at him only to see someone’s face in a wall.

”W-wha...?” I say as Izuku’s eyes slowly turn to look. 

”Hah, trash amirite?” He says and we jolt. He also wonders what Izuku and I are doing when we could just easily throw the separated trash in it’s containers right ahead. Which we were going to do before we saw his floating face. He laughs again before disappearing, and then reappearing right in front of us. I drop my trash to hold down my skirt, he’s way too close. 

”So you’re the excitable first year!” He begins and continues to voice every thought in his mind at Izuku, not really paying me mind. Izuku flips his marbles, questioning what’s happening. The talking face is just chattering away. He quickly states that he’s heard about Izuku and that we’ll meet him soon before dipping out. He phases back in quickly right after though.

”Sorry to ignore you miss, but I’ve seen you at that tournament before. Can’t wait to see you guys again.” With that, he completely leaves. We freeze, share a glance, and kinda just blank. What was he talking about and what was he? A student? A ghost?? We quickly and quietly throw the trash before I start snickering about the situation. Izuku let’s out a breathy chuckle, his expression is still confused. We make our way back inside, doing whatever else for the night. 

The days continued with the same lessons, we were given more than before to catch us up to speed. I was doing just well with English and yet Math was so difficult, I can’t understand Calculus too much. Or maybe that’s just because I’m lacking. At night I organize my notes better so I can refer to them. I asked Izuku if he’d like to see them but he’d decline. Even when his expression gave him away. 

Soon enough, he’s back in class and he’s walking alongside me to school. I still poked fun at him for his little fight and he seemed amped up to get back. He even apologized to everyone when we got back to class. Ochacco thanked him for his hard work even when all he really did was vacuum. I snickered at their antics, even when Izuku was incredibly powered up. Mr. Aizawa calls for our attention again to start class. Beckoning in three upperclassmen’s, one being the face we saw the other day. 

”The big three.” I say in awe, just when Mr. Aizawa finishes introducing them. They looked so cool and so much older! We all chatter about them and their abilities, I remember seeing them on TV last year for the sports festival. But I wonder why they’re the school’s top students. Is it smarts, abilities, control? Maybe they worked their way up. I wonder if they’re friends? 

”Amajiki, you’re up.” Mr. Aizawa says, beckoning the dark hair boy to introduce himself. His stare is intimidating and powerful. In one second, h3s got everyone frozen and still. I can’t even blink when he’s staring us all down in just a single glance. But then he speaks, trembling and voice wobbly. Is he nervous?

”I wanna... go home.” He swivels around quickly, head into a wall. It shocks all of us and we bristle. The girl with long blue hair giggles, poking fun at Amajiki-senpai for his anxiousness. I get that feeling though, I wouldn’t wanna talk in front of 20 staring and curious underclassment. She turns around after teasing him and introduces him as a kitten named Amajiki Tamaki. 

“And hi, I’m Nejire Hadou.” She says introducing herself and excitably talking around. She lets her curiousity get the best of her as she starts questioning random students. She’s a bit too invasive when she asks about Shoji’s mask, Todoroki’s burn, and Mina’s horns. I won’t mention Mineta, since he seemed a little too happy with how she questioned his “hair”. She even asks about Tsuyu’s frogliness before turning to me.

”Oh and Akikami, your scar on your leg is very large! Did you hurt yourself recently?” I freeze up. I really hope she’s only curious and not like this out of malice. Denki revels in her airhead personality even though she seems to be way too pushy in her questions. I can see Mr. Aizawa gleam red in anger from how far they are straying off topic. But Togata-senpai seems to try a different method.

”The future is gonna be-!” He calls out only to be met with silence. He laughs it off after his failed call and response. The others whisper around me at how odd they all are for the most known students of UA. I just think they’re a little quirky, which isn’t bad at all. Togata-senpai goes back to talking to us again but in a way that’s like he’s speaking to himself. 

”That’s it! I’ll have all you first years fight me at once!” Huh?! He’s that confident? He tries to agree with our teacher and somehow gets the go-ahead. Once we get to the gym, he’s stretching while all of us are poised and ready. Amajiki-senpai talks to him while facing a wall, calling him impossible and how we can’t recover from how tough he’ll go on us. Is he really that powerful?

”Hey, listen up! Story time!” Nejire says and explains about how a student had quit after it gotten rough, hoping for him not to do that on us. Some of the boys speak up on how they’ve experienced worse than he thinks. Kirishima tries to go first but Izuku steals the spotlight. I know he’s trying to make up for lost time. Slowly, flames climb up my body from my feet. I need to rally up energy.

”View this as a learning experience!” Mr. Aizawa calls out for us to use this as a good opportunity for us to use. I have a weird feeling we might get more than we ask for. My intuition is spot on so I better try and not get ahead of myself like some of the others. Izuku readies himself, along with a lot of the others. He jumps first towards him but Togata-senpai’s clothes fall.

”WHAT!” I scream, covering my eyes as he tries to pull his pants back on. He was completely naked and I thank the gods for not seeing more than abs. Izuku kicks through his face but it phases through. A few more students go for him only to miss. The long distance fighters in the back scan for him but he shows up from no where right in front of Jiro. I’m next to Tsuyu as I turn to see him disappear and reappear to punch out a lot of students. 

As I steal myself in fire and create a dome to deflect him, he phases right through the flames to punch me straight in the gut. I spit and cough, it felt like a hammer! He punched me so hard I collapsed on the floor in seconds, not even cognitive enough to see the rest of the match. Gods, this hurts so much! I hate physical attacks on my body because I’m so susceptible to pain. In a matter of seconds, he took out all the students behind Izuku, Idaho, and Kirishima. 

I grimace and struggle to get up, I couldn’t believe he took out all of us who specialized from being this far away. I look up and see Izuku has been punched in the air, along with several other students in such a quick time. I couldn’t even form a shocked expression, I was in way too much pain. I just rest my face on the floor and heal a bit. Once the warmth covering me helped me get back on my feet, I join the others to seeing the third years off. 

Everyone gets all angry at how powerful he is and really I just appreciate that he demonstrated how agile he can perform. I don’t think it’s just all on his quirk, he’s been training all these years to hone it. Disappearing like that must come with a consequence. Hadou-senpai says his quirk is permeation before Togata-senpai explained what’s that meant. Izuku then inquires more as if he’s writing in his notebook. 

He continues to explain how he’s able to control the way he pushes through the ground since gravity and pressure spits him back out. Mina calls it a buggy video game and Tsuyu commends him on how he was lucky to be born with a powerful quirk. I don’t think that’s entirely true and it seems I was right when Togata-senpai explained he can’t breathe when he activates his quirk. When he’s in his quirk, he can’t even see, hear, or feel either. 

Going through a wall, as he puts it, required a lot of control and thought to perform. If I had a quirk like that, I would be stuck or even worse, probably in a lethal position. He went on to tell us how well he trained himself to be stronger and how he was able to think through to where he is. Experience to power rather than words to motivation. His pep talks were so well that everyone clapped.

Students in work studies will be treated differently than we had in internships. We will even be treated like pro heroes! We chatter before Mr. Aizawa tells us to thank our senpais before heading back to class. I watch the three of them walk out, Togata-senpai happily striding. When we get back, I felt back to normal as we went through the lessons for the day. We make our way home that evening with new things to talk about. Kacchan yells for us to hand over our trash for him to take out. It is his last day on house arrest.

All the boys had so much for him to take out, which makes him all angry. The girls and I talk about today and what to expect for when we start our work studies. Yaomomo takes down her hair and rakes through it while I clip mine up to pull it back from my neck. I stretch about and listen as everyone adds in their own thoughts. I see Izuku go back up to his room  when I go to the kitchen for a water bottle.

I see the boys start talking together about work studies as well. Everyone’s still unsure of who and where to go. I would go to my parents like last time but that won’t help me out at all. They specialize in stealth and co-op missions, I need an agency that specializes in fighting when needed. A place that works with physically demanding events. There’s a few I could go to, but I’m not as known as some of my stronger peers. I tilt my head back with a sigh. Who could I possibly find?

The next day, Mr. Aizawa begins to talk more about work studies and tells us to choose a place with a good track record. Well after scaring us one more time by saying the work studies should be cancelled, since it would be too soon for us. But it was overruled to train us for the real world events instead of coddling us. We get dismissed for lunch later and I get some Yakisoba noodles with the girls. Hot foods on hot days are the best.

”I still don’t know who to ask for work studies.” I mull over with Ochacco and Tsuyu. They also confide they don’t know but after watching the third years, they might have an idea to check back to their internships. That’s like if I went back to Endeavor’s, but that’s definitely out the question. Amajiki-senpai’s face flashes through my head. 

”Ah, he was really cute.” I say out loud, making the girls question me frantically. 

”Amajiki-kun is so cool!” I beam, the girls make an odd expression.

”He rarely looked at us but he was very sharp-tongued.” Yaomomo says.

”I guess I have a type.” I murmur, to which the girls didn’t hear. I zone out though, maybe I could ask Amajiki-kun for help. Or if he can refer me to his agency. I hope so, I wonder who he works alongside. After lunch, the day goes by, and then the week. Finally, the weekend has arrived and we are finally able to rest.

But by we, it’s definitely not me or the others who are getting a head start on their plans. When I walked into the common area, Izuku flies by and out the front doors. Todoroki and Kacchan are walking off to their supplementary classes. Denki and Mineta are brushing their teeth, in front of them are Kirishima and Tokoyomi. The latter state they’re busy and I realize I should probably just go visit my family for the day. I haven’t seen them in a while with how busy school has gotten after all.

Later that evening, we all regroup in the common area after venturing out to do our own things. Izuku fills us in on how he was able to get accepted by Sir Nighteye. Iida commends him and Ochacco praises him. More of our friends come by to speak on how he was able to secure a place so quickly, while the rest of us was still mulling it over. Ochacco and Tsuyu couldn’t go back to their old internships. For Kirishima, Fourth Kind wasn’t accepting work studies. I didn’t visit Endeavor at all. 

It seems we all were struggling to snag an agency, but we were only going to places we were familiar with. Mr. Aizawa pops in to add to our conversation on how these agencies are responsible for us fully as heroes. Anything we do can jeopardize their job as a hero even when we are only students. I can understand why other agencies wouldn’t want that on their record. 

Mr. Aizawa announces that Hawks personally invited Tokoyami to work with him. Wow, Hawks! The young, handsome, and strong man that he is. He’s such a powerful hero that’s climbing the hero ranks! Tokoyomi accepts gratefully and Mr. Aizawa turns over to Kirishima, Ochacco, and Tsuyu. It seems Amajiki-senpai called on Kirishima while Nejire-senpai called for the girls. Though Mr. Aizawa said they can go tomorrow, they hastily begin to leave.

”Wait! Kirishima, please let me come with, I want to persuade him!” I beg and he nods along. 

”Why not the girls though?” He asks, while Ochacco and Tsuyu smile.

”She’s got the hots for Amajiki-kun.” They tease and I blush.

”N-not only that! I... I think he’s pretty cool and since you’re a close combat fighter, maybe if I work with you two I can also train to be physically stronger. Internships didn’t really help me that much.” I explain and the three nod along. They remember when I told them I hadn’t done a single thing other than patrol. 

We keep chattering on and excitedly go towards the third year dorms, hoping we can get their attentions and ask to join their work studies. All the dorms, of course, look the same but there was the gate to distinguish the classes and years. They built so much in such a short time in such a small area! When we get to the gate, we smile at each other and make our way in. 

Chapter Text

It’s our first time patrolling for our work study after meeting Fatgum. I brush at my costume to dust off anything out of place. I fix my gloves and fidget nervously. Being in the presence of strong heroes and a student who is considered “a big three” really got my nerves rustled. They were just so cool and I couldn’t wait to see them in action! 

I walk alongside Kirishima, Amajiki-senpai is behind us. His hood covers his head and he seems a bit anxious. Fatgum leads the way, holding a platter of takoyaki balls. He eats them one by one but compared to his size, they look as small as gummies. It’s night time as we patrol, the city lights are beautiful. I love seeing everyone smile instantly at seeing us as well. 

”We’ve got idiots fighting on the streets these days.” Fatgum speaks up to us. He can’t eat enough to keep up, as he puts it. He turns to look at Kirishima and I, thankful we showed up at a needed time. Kirishima chides in to say he’ll do his best and I nod along with a smile. Kirishima explains how his agency wouldn’t have accepted work studies. 

”I didn’t want to go to Endeavor’s.” I stick my tongue out at that thought.

”If only Mirio was around...” Amajiki-senpai mumbles. He must have been talking about when we bombarded him the other day. Of course Kirishima was very energetic, I politely asked and kept my distance. He looked like he was about to collapse at that time, I really wouldn’t have put it past him. Fatgum tells him that they’ve gotta work on his nerves and Amajiki clutches his heart, as if Fatgum’s words wounded him. 

”I swear this man scouted me only to have someone to torment! I wanna go home...” he whines and I giggle. He jolts and peers up at me with sunken eyes. I instantly felt bad and rubbed my hands together to ask forgiveness. Kirishima tries to make him see it as encouragement instead, but his expression is sullen. 

”I’m not like you guys or Mirio, positivity is not my strong suit.” He’s staring down at his hands as we walk. He’s right about that though, I’m bursting in flames over how optimistic and excited I am. Kirishima is always eccentric, we match vibes well for that. Kirishima tries to also relate to him, explaining how he wants to close the gap between him and our peers. I agree with him as well.

”I’m not as strong as the others where I can be. I want to be able to give my all without the limits that keep holding me back.” I beam at him and he wilts. He says our optimism is blinding and suffocating. I laugh, he’s so downtrodden and meek yet he doesn’t hesitate to be so sharp-tongued. 

”They’re fighting! Someone help!” A man yells.

”Welp, at it again.” Fatgum says, turning around. Behind us, men in formal wear are sprinting away from a place they stole. Fatgum tells us to follow his lead, moving quickly to intercept them. As we jog to catch up with him, a man with a quirk that resembles Edgeshot escapes. Amajiki-kun wraps him up in tentacles, but that nasty criminal calls him a freak. 

”Oh, that’s just cruel...” he sulks, momentarily faltering.

”That guy is a dirt bag loser!” Both Kirishima and I shout. Amajiki hardens his expression and tosses the guy around. He hits him enough to knock him to the ground. Amajiki’s hands have both tentacles and a clam as his weapons. A wing and a chicken foot grow out for him to step on that crook. When the guy asks what he is, Amajiki explains the beneficial advantages of eating the foods he comprised on his body.

”Guess the wings were overkill.” He says. 

”You’re amazing Senpai!” I praise him. I see him visibly flush and I relish in it. 

”Was that okay? I feel terrible...” he shakes. Kirishima and I praise him loudly, overwhelming him in positive response. Fatgum praises his skills as well, only remarking how he’s not as mentally strong. He turns back to the crowd of people watching for reaffirmation. He’s met with heightening positive response, many people finding him very attractive. My eye twitches.

A bad feeling arises, a trail of miasma can be seen going into the crowd. There’s another criminal hiding in there! Before I can shout, Fatgum notices the gun. I try and push Amajiki out the way but he stands his ground, taking the shot. He falls back and I rush to his side. Another man comes flying out the crowd behind the man with a gun. They were working together, another unseen thug!

When I ready myself to chase after the guy jumping away, Fatgum warns us again. The gun man fires again when Kirishima takes cover for me and Amajiki. His head springs back, the bullet bounces off his face. Amajiki— Suneater— has this calm look on his face, remarking of how he thought it would’ve hurt more. I’m relieved to see them both okay. 

”There is another guy working with him, I’ll get him!” I yell, fire swarms my body and I’m off in an instance. I’m tailing the guy running along the rooftops, hearing how Fatgum calls out for the both of us. The man jumps down the building and onto a busy street, curving me to turn around. I jump onto a building wall and jet myself towards him. When I get close enough, I grab his shirt and slowly make a landing. 

“Get yer hand off me lil’ girl.” He spits at me and I jerk my body away from him. The civilians near by are frozen in fear. 

”Please stand by and out of this area, I’ll handle the criminal. Get to somewhere safe immediately! The law enforcements will be on their way here.” I direct, seeing people begin to trickle away. Some, however, stay behind to video and comment. I’ll just have to try and keep the damage minimum. The man comes towards me, a sharp object in his hand. 

I twist my body, throwing my leg right into his face. He takes the hit and tries to swing his arm. I flare the flames around my foot and stomp him into the crowd. He slices a small cut onto my thigh and I squish my foot more into his face. He grabs my ankle and tries to twist me off. I swivel my foot and kick him, sending him down the road. We get further away from more people. 

”All ya got wussy?” He smiles, blood coming from his nose. 

”Sexist fool.” I bite and my entire body is swarmed into my Phoenix state. My hair swims up in the heat and I slowly float inside the jello of the fire. Quickly, I rush towards him. He starts running, screaming for mercy. I swing an arm inside the flame body and a wall of fire wraps around him. He screams in pain.

”IT’S HOT, IT BURNS!” He helps and screeches.

”Phoenix form: overheat.” I say calmly and tighten my grip. The fire won’t kill him but it’ll make him pass out soon enough. If he doesn’t, he’ll end up with a few burns. Though, that’s the price to pay if you’re a no good villain. To speed things up, I close the distance by stepping closer. I bring the hand up to where my body is. 

”I’m going to need you to surrender now.” I say.

”AGGHHHHH!” He growls when the fire finally makes contact with his skin. I throw my arm up and toss him down harshly, making sure the impact was enough to knock him out. When the smoke clears, he’s got spit coming out his mouth. He’s twitching and his eyes are white. Slowly, I unfurl the fire and it dies out with ashes floating away. I step out with a hop to the ground. 

”Thank you so much!” 

”Yes! You got him!” 

”What’s your name, hero!” 

I blush, forgetting about the bystanders who stayed to watch the fight. I bow to them quickly and introduce myself.

”I am the Vermillion Beauty: Akemi. Please wait on the side as I apprehend the criminal!” I motion my hands to the buildings for the crowd to part. They quickly step back as I step towards the unconscious thief. I cross my hands and form a dome around him, making sure it’ll conceal him enough. Slowly, I lift the dome and make sure he doesn’t make contact with the fire. I spin the dome around to keep him balanced as I flare up my legs. 

”Please stay safe.” I nod and bow to the crowd before flying off. A few people cheer and thank me as I set off flying back to Amajiki-Kun and Fatgum. I keep my hands poised to spin the dome around. I land with a soft thump, making sure to drop the criminal from the dome. He slowly tumbled out and at the feet at the cops. 

”I was able to knock him out before he inflicted any damage.” I inform them as they thank me. I head over to Amajiki-kun and ask if he’s alright. He informs me that Fatgum went to help Kirishima. Right when I turn, I see they’ve come back as well. The cops wrap up the scene with the apprehended criminals. Kirishima explains how his fight had something noteworthy. 

”So he powered up. Quirk-boosting drugs are banned in Japan.” Fatgum explains to us after things settle down. We group together by the bridge with a river underneath. A cop comes bounding up to inform Fatgum about some information on the weapon. Kirishima — Red Riot— asks how Suneater is and the two talk together. Though Suneater is sullen, Red Riot keeps his optimisim through and through.

”We’ll stop by the hospital to get you three checked out.” Fatgum explains after the cop leaves. A deep sense of loathing and evil began to swarm my vision. I blinked, hoping to clear away the smog from the villains of before. It wasn’t until a harsh heart beat had thumped against my chest cavity, making me jolt. It knocked me off my balance and I grew increasingly worried. Confused, I clasped a hand over my heart. I tried to wait and feel another odd body malfunction. 

I can hear Suneater’s voice asking if I’m alright and though I try to respond, I can’t hear my own voice. Fatgum places a hand on my shoulder but I can’t register anything. Red Riot’s color is the only distinction I can make of  him. I furrow my brow, irritated and wary. I gulp and try to even my breathing. Hoping that this is just some odd dizzy spell.

Then, a sudden pang pierced my head. It felt as if someone threw a huge rock at me, I felt so sick I lurched over. The world around me spun and the pang began to throb immensely in my mind. I was hyperventilating, my breaths were harsh and dry coming out. I began to cry and my sobs were racking through my body. It hurts so much. I just wanted to collapse. Why is this happening to me?! Why now?! What’s going on!

Please... help me...

What? Who was that, who is in my head right now? I swiveled my head around, frantic and terrified. A voice so weak and scared. The terror and tremor in just three words were loud and clear in my mind. A little girl was trembling somewhere, out there. I dug my nails into my scalp, where is she?! Where is this coming from? 

No! Please! No, I hate it! I HATE IT!

“STOP, STOP IT!” I scream, crying so hard that the tears turn to smoke. My body was overheating, as if I was on fire. I didn’t realize I actually was. The fire was slowly swarming over my body, growing in height and heat. I was so scared and yet I just needed to know where this voice, this girl was! I need to help her, she needs my help!

AAAAAAA———-!

Her piercing screams rang in my head at a deafening volume. I wanted to scream with her. She was being tortured, ripped apart! It sounded so terrifying, such a horrible shrill from someone who sounds so young and scared. It sounded so familiar and that was the worst part. I understood exactly what was happening. 

A blur of white hair and red eyes flashed across my eyes. I couldn’t make out anything more distinctive of her except for that. She was in trouble and she needed help this moment. I couldn’t just lay crying like this. I scrambled on my feet and looked around with bleary vision. The throbbing haze in my mind did not disappear, instead it doubled and nearly toppled me back over. 

I couldn’t take it anymore. I let myself fall back, staring straight up at the sky as a harsh ringing overtook my ears. I blinked, feeling as if the world was moving in slow motion. Fatgum is talking to someone, Red Riot is kneeling beside me. Suneater seems to be holding my head up, I can feel a warmth at my head. Blinking a few times more finally settles me into an unconscious state. I blacked out.

Red eyes, white hair. A little girl’s voice. It unsettled me so much, I felt an odd connection to her. In this black area of my mind, I could see the haziness from earlier. As if I was watching a screen projector play an old tape. I reach out to touch the image, only to fall through. I keep spinning and spirally down the dark abyss. I try to reach out but there’s nothing.

Until I jolt awake. Beside me is Kirishima, out of costume. Amajiki-Kun was getting a bandage prepared for his arm. It seems the doctor who saw him is speaking to Fatgum outside. I slowly rise up and blink to clear any fatigue from my body. I regain my senses quickly, feeling only a very dull ache in the back of my mind.

”You’re awake! Thank god!” He says, rising and looking around me.

”What happened to you??” He asks, worry is deep in his irises. I shrug, unsure of it all myself.

”I had a vision, but not the usual ones I would get. This one was so intense as if, someone was directly calling out to me. I felt a strange sense of deja vu when I saw her.” I say, closing my eyes to remember. But there was nothing.

”Visions? Her?” He asks. I explain I can experience a type of vision with my heightened senses. I can feel negative and positive feedback from people but also can get premonitions. Due to that, I experienced a horrible one a while back with a little girl. I explain she was calling out for help. She was hurt or being hurt.

”White hair... red eyes...” I mumble.

”We’ve got to tell Fatgum.” He says, standing. I shake my head quickly, grabbing his wrists.

”I can’t base off any real information from a haze. I’ll let him know I got a vision and see what he says. It’s okay.” I say, swinging the covers off me. I head over to Amajiki, whose bandages were just secured. Fatgum walks in and comments on his relief to see us okay. He also asks if I was alright or if I had a panic attack. I shake my head.

”I had a particularly harsh vision about something. A little girl was calling for my help. It’s part of my quirk to have premonitions or bad feelings about something but this was entirely different.” I explain to him about how she had red eyes and white hair. She seemed to be in danger but due to how foggy everything is now, I couldn’t be too reliable. I apologized for how unprofessional I was.

”Nonsense. That’s intel. I’m glad to see you okay and to see your quirk is very commendable.” Fatgum says, placing a hand on my shoulder. After we wrap things up at the hospital, he sends us back to our dorms. It’s gotten late and he lets us know we’ll be informed when to meet again. I bow and thank him for today’s work, though he thanks us for our work. The train ride back was quick and silent.

The night passed by just like that and the days following were mundane. Those picked for work studies were not called in for a while. We attended school, caught up on our work — which was so much—, and even told our friends about what we did. One night, we got a message to come in but without our costumes. We needed to meet with our agency for a meeting. 

That following morning, Kirishima and I made our way out. We spot Izuku in the front. Ochacco and Tsuyu follow us right after. We chat together as we make our way to the station. Though the weirdest thing was how the heroes we saw on the way were also heading where we were. It just kept getting more odd as we took the same route as well, even sitting together on the train. 

We kept remarking about how odd it was that we kept going the same way. That familiar odd sense was coming back, as if it was about to make an appearance soon. I furrowed my brows and kept walking, thumping my face into Izuku’s shoulder. Rubbing my forehead, I look up and see the big three are here too. We all are outside the building that our agencies told us to meet up at.

When we walk in, a swarm of heroes are gathering in the lobby. Even Mr. Aizawa was here. Heroes from around town and popular heroes were all talking together. I began to get more confused at what’s going on here. Why were we called in and why are we meeting up together with all these heroes? Is something happening today? I look over to the others to see their gaping expressions as well.

”Hey what’s the scoop! What’s going on! Talk to me Ryukyu!” Nejire says, bounding into the hero’s arms. I feel like I’ve seen her before when I was younger. Ochacco and Tsuyu asks Mr. Aizawa what’s going on and it seems he’s only got a gist. Ryukyu explains that it’s a new case that is happening. Night Eye steps up and greets everyone in the room, he goes on to explain that this will focus on the Shie Hassaikai. Kirishima seems confused and Fatgum explains that we are very much involved, even looking at me with a nod. 

Bubble girl goes on to explain how this investigation started with Centipeder adding in his own findings for this case. He shows us more events of their involvement with the league of villains. Izuku speaks up when Gran Torino explains why some law enforcements are already out for the league. Night Eye beckons for Bubble girl to continue but Ochacco asks what the HN is, leading Nejire to explain. However, it only leads Rock Lock to become annoyed with our presence. He doesn’t like that we’re just kids at this important conference.

”Don’t say that! These kids have important information to pass along!” Fatigue says, rising from his seat and beckoning to us with his arm. Beside me, Amajiki-senpai wilts and Kirishima looks confused. I know we do have some intel but mine is a little far fetched. Fatgum goes on to introduce himself but Night Eye continues his meeting. They discuss about drug smugglers from that night and how senpai got hit in the arm, losing his quirk temporarily.

He shows that he’s fine to Mirio and more heroes speak up on the discussion of quirk erasing, like Mr. Aizawa can. However, senpai’s quirk genes were damaged that night but were able to heal on it’s own. Fatgum goes on to explain the sequence of that night and how Kirishima was able to deflect a bullet that was used for investigation. Which shocks him, he seems really confused about this whole ordeal. I feel very uneasy. 

Fatgum’s tone changes when describing what they found in the bullet. Inside was human blood and cells. A horrible nausea passes through me then and I cover my mouth. I squeeze my eyes closed, hoping the tears don’t rise up. If that vision was connected to those bullets, then that means...! I don’t like where this conversation is heading.

Ryukyu explains what that could mean and another hero wonders how this can connect. Fatgum explains the drug smuggler chain and how one of the Hassaikai were one of the dealers. Ryukyu even adds to how they encountered someone with a quirk enhancer drug. Night Eye then shows a picture of Overhaul. When I look up to the screen, I convulse. I tremble in my seat and Amajiki-kin beside me puts a hand on my shoulder.

Night Eye explains more about him and how he also has a daughter. He even says Mirio-kun and Izuku encountered them, with his daughter having bandages over her arms. An image flashes through my mind of bandages unfurling to the ground of a poorly lit room. I lurch silently. This makes me too sick. If what I’m seeing is the other side to what I’m hearing, I need to speak on it immediately. 

“We’re wondering if this Chisaki bastard is turning his daughter’s body into bullets and then selling them on the black market.” I can see a bristle around my peers. Night Eye goes on to further what they think is happening and what he plans on doing. His plan is truly to erase quirks across the nation and the devastation that will cause is world-changing. Fatgum begins to rile up and wants to go after him. 

Rock Lock continues to pick on Mirio and Izuku. Night Eye goes on to explain their actions. Their expressions are hard and frustrated. They vow to save Eri, the girl I saw in my mind, the next time they see her. Night Eye agrees and explains how that is the point of the conference. Rock Lock diminishes their outburst to counter how Chisaki would be taking countermeasures for their encounter.

Night Eye continues his presentation by showing a map of areas to investigate. The local heroes understands their role in the plan and Fatgum shouts how meticulous all this is. Night Eye explains that this plan needs to be detailed so there is no fail or setback. Gran Torino states we can’t just rush in as if we’re All Might. Mr. Aizawa jumps in to ask why he couldn’t just use his quirk to look forward into his plan.

He, however, cannot. He has a limitation to only see one person at a time, one hour at a time. Mr. Aizawa says it should be enough but Night Eye counters that seeing too far into the future cannot be secured, especially with death in mind. I tense at that, a mission like this could really result in death. I didn’t even think dying was possible in such a near future. I shake, my nerves we’re getting to me and I couldn’t find a time to speak up.

Rock Lock continues to counter what he says, annoyed at Night Eye’s limitations. He bursts out, saying he just can’t. It’s silent for a while before Ryukyu says it’s time to get started. Night Eye looks up to explain it’s time to get started. I tremble in my seat until I stand, knocking back my chair. Eyes turn to me and I tear up. 

”I saw her. I saw her in my vision.” I meekly say, I turn to see Fatgum nodding at me.

”What the hell are you talking about?” Rock Lock sneers.

”With my quirk, I can get premonitions or visions of things that could happen like Sir Night Eye. Except it comes like a dream or a haze. I usually have a sixth sense where I can feel danger or people’s energy to determine them good or evil. However, the night our team went to catch those criminals, I had a horrible vision of a little girl.” I gulp. I can see Mirio and Izuku furrow their brows.

”She was screaming in agony and pain for help, as if being held down and tortured. One of her screams were cut off in the middle as if she exploded or was torn apart. It was horrifically gruesome and... and... a-and...” I shake and tears fly down my face. I frantically wipe them, I look so stupid right now.

”She had red eyes and white hair. Bandages around her arms.” I finish, taking a staggering breath and placing my palms flat on the table. The room is silent and I hurriedly rush to get back into my seat. Night Eye fixes his glasses and thanks me for the information. A few local heroes say that it can’t be a credible source of information as it seems more like a picture of what we theorized. The boys in front of me stand.

”No. She did have white hair and red eyes, I met her that day.” Izuku says.

”She had bandages all over her body and was terrified when Chisaki was about to remove his glove. As if she was familiar of what he was going to do.” Mirio adds. Their voices blend together and I couldn’t keep myself inside their bubble. All I heard was muffles as I tried to clear the smog from my brain. The muffling of voices hurt my ears. After a while, Fatgum leads me out and at the table in front of me are my class mates. 

I take a seat parallel to Amajiki-senpai. Izuku and Mirio look grim as they talk about their experience with Eri. They thank me for speaking up and apologize for what I had to see. I quietly say it’s alright but explain that my visions are not like future sight. It is only a glimpse of something that is happening, at that moment or about to unfold. I also add I never saw something like this so intensely, as if I was the one in her situation. Izuku was about to speak until Mr. Aizawa’s voice cuts in. He also informs us to call him Erasurehead outside of school.

He tells us our licenses were to be suspended for the time being for this mission due to the league of villains being involved. We jolt until he continues on with why he’s still letting us go through this. He turns his attention to Izuku due to how concentrated he is at the moment on Eri. Mr. Aizawa— Erasurehead— tries to uplift his spirits and it seems to have eased his mind a bit. The rest speak up, feeling slightly lighter. Erasurehead turns to me then and pats my shoulder.

”Your intel was very useful today. You have a very important quirk that allowed us to realize our theories were true. I know this case will be particularly challenging for you, so please at any time, you can step back.” I nod furiously at him.

”I can’t. Not when a child is suffering in a situation I am so familiar with. I can’t let her be hurt any longer. Heroes helped me then, I shall be a hero for her now.” I tear up and I see his expression soften. 

”Don’t push yourself.” He says and I nod, bowing my head to him. Erasurehead goes on to tell the others that they can step out at any time. He explains the objective is to only rescue Eri. If the League are involved however, we were not allowed to continue in the mission. After that, we all head home together back to our dorms. I was still restless for the entire night, even when the others were all trying to uplift our grim expressions. I smiled happily at them when they asked if something happened, trying to reassure their worries.

A few days passed and we continued to train vigorously in our practices. I can see everyone was watching us, the work studies. Izuku’s expression was harsh and bothered, the fact of not saving Eri then was still held over him. I skipped lunch that day, feeling too sickly to eat. Sananaka spotted me and spoke with me a bit in the hall. I explained I wasn’t feeling well. He told me not to push myself and it reminded me of Mr. Aizawa. I smiled to him and he pats my head. 

When we part, I go out to the resting areas and look out onto the horizon through a window. I sit under a trees and sigh. On a day as peaceful as this, there is evil and crime happening as we sit idle. I couldn’t help but let one tear fall. The day passed on like that, with our courses finished and training completed. It felt like a punch in the gut. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Two days later, I decided to do something rash.

That night, after telling everyone goodnight and heading back to my room. I pulled out my hairdresser scissors and sat infront of my mirror. Tears began to rush down my face. I grabbed locks of hair and snipped through them. I jaggedly cut my hair in fistfuls, the tears and anguish covering my vision. I didn’t care if my hair looked horrible or how it reached my waist in length. 

After crumbling in defeat, I cleaned my face with a towel and looked up. There were pieces so much longer in spots around my head. I sighed and got to work on straight into them. The shortest was a little past my armpit, so I cut the rest of the longer pieces to match that.  My bangs were the only pieces reaching down my sides. In the end, my hair reached a little past my shoulders and my bangs were still long past my bust. I smiled into the reflection. 

I brushed my hair and even fluffed it up to get out all the loose, cut pieces out. I cleaned up around me, wrapping up the towel and dumping it all in my trash. I stared longingly at the trash can before turning around to finish the clean up. Right as I got into bed, a buzz in my phone made my swivel my head. I rush out and see Izuku is looking over to me. He jolts for a moment.

”Your hair... it’s so short...” he blinks.

”I actually just cut it. It felt like it was weighing me down.” I murmur. I gesture to my phone and the elevator. We walk down to meet up with the others. It seems we all received a notification, the girls and Kirishima were already there. After the initial shock, the rest ask about my hair. To which I explain curtly. 

The next morning, we hurriedly eat our breakfast and head out back to the conference building. Night Eye explains what they found out about their search, especially where they are located. Mirio does some odd dance to pump himself up and all eyes turn to him. Nejire and Amajiki-kun smile at him. Nejire notices me and asks about my hair, Amajiki-kun as well.

”I cut it just before I got the notification. It was spur of the moment and I was really compelled to do it.” I twirl a lock of hair around. 

”I like it. You made it look professionally cut.” Amajiki-Senpai says. I smile at him, blushing at his rare compliment.

”Wow, look at how you’re glowing. You really liked that compliment, didn’t ya?” Nejire teases and my face heats up. I stammer and deflect what she says, which only causes Amajiki-Senpai to face the wall. He murmurs saying that she shouldn’t embarrass him or anyone so early in the morning. We all talk together for that short moment before being asked to change.

After I slip on my costume, I join back with everyone before Night Eye leads us out. Outside the location, the police and heroes are discussing the plans. We all listen in and talk among each other about how things were happening so quickly. Kirishima flickers around as the girls express how nervous and curious they are. I pull at the short ends of my hair. I feel oddly confident, as if I’m sure we can find and save Eri.

I close my eyes and a very quick flurry of colors and images course through my mind. Blood, villains, tears, but also suddenly, peace. I smile and open my eyes, though we are about to face one of the most difficult events we have yet. It’s going to be so very scary and harsh, but in the end we will have succeeded! I glance down my phone and see it’s 8:30 A.M. I make my way closer to my peers, opening my mouth to ask something. 

A large crash in front of us blows us back a little. A large masked man is guarding the house and grumbling about our presence. Ryukyu transforms and blocks the man from us, telling us to leave it to her. The other girls back her up and the cops surge forward. I follow suit, right next to Fatgum. The cops explain their search warrant and bullet through those standing guard. Izuku and Mirio surge forward, leading the group. 

I flicker flames to climb up my boots and gloves, making sure to protect myself if anyone grabs me. I soak up the sun and pull in energy where I can, since we will be indoors for this. As I feel the warmth surround and spread over me, a gleam passes through my vision. Whatever it takes, we will get to you Eri. Until then, please stay safe!

Chapter Text

I turn around as chaos breaks out. The girls are helping Ryukyu fend off the hulking form, Nejire flies around while Froppy and Uravity aid on land. A man grasps my shoulder and I shove him right back. I run alongside Suneater as he pushes me forward, protecting me from any other thugs. When we barge through the front door, Fatgum excuses our “intrusion”.

”Haven’t seen any signs of suspicious activity yet!” He says to our group.

”Yeah bro, same here. But we’re in and out right? We have no choice but to see it through.” RockLock says.

”Is it possible that someone leaked our plans for our raid?” Suneater speaks up from beside me. 

“No if there had been a leak, I think they would be fighting more cohesively. Groups likes these are used to working together.” The police commander says, motioning to the group fighting behind us.

”There’s nothing that matters more to these guys than the bond they share with their boss and their brothers.” Erasurehead says, detailing the brotherhood and pact these men have made in the Yakuza together. He states that this is only the mere surface of them all, the heads are hidden away to let their loyal crew be their foremen. Red Riot gets heated about how unmanly their tactic of running away is. 

Nighteye takes the lead and rushes forward towards a vase. He explains there is a pattern to unlock a hidden passage. Bubble Girl and Centipeder praise him, thanking him for his quirk and wit. As we step forward, a hand reaches out and three thugs come out with weapons. Centipeder and Bubble girl quickly apprehend them, telling us to go through the door. When we run down, we meet a dead end with a large concrete wall.

“Hold on, let me take a look.” Lemillion says.

”Lemillon, if you go through you’ll be naked!” Red Riot says.

Suneater explains he’ll be fine due to the structure of his costume and how it works with his quirk. He phases his head through and quickly retracts to explain the wall was a quick construction. There was a hallway on the other side, probably where Chisaki and Eri fled down. RockLock is surprised by the abilities of his quirk. Fatgum disses the fool for underestimating us while Red Riot and Deku power up.

In a combined attack, they crash a fierce hole through the wall. Fatgum and RockLock praise them as Lemillion ushers us forward. We continue to run down the hallway before it starts warbling. The twisty madness of the walls and floors look like the distorted mirrors in those funhouses. The police commander explains it’s one of the Shie Hassaikai, Mimic! I struggle to keep my balance as I’m shook up and around.

The walls begin to merge and crush together twisting around to obscure our vision and also make us pretty nauseous. The other heroes are calling out to each other through the noise and I could barely concentrate. I turn to see Senpai begins to spiral downwards in his pessimism. Lemillion grasps his shoulders and shakes him out of it, uplifting him in his abilities as well. Lemillion’s voice is filled with rich conviction as he runs forward through the motions. 

“Senpai, please let’s keep moving through this!” I call to him, holding onto his arm and fumbling on my balance. His teeth is gritted, looking at where Mario had just disappeared through in the wall. He looks at me, his eyes are burning with determination. He nods and holds my hand steady since I keep losing my balance. My face heats up and I fight to keep my expression neutral.

Curse how easily I give away how I feel-! 

The wall opens up beneath us suddenly, causing all of us to scream in a panic. We tumble into a closed room. I didn’t feel any particular aches until I realize my predicament. I was practically laying on a petrified Suneater as my hands were placed right beside his head. Flames flicker at the tips of my hair as I roll off and right back on my feet. I help him up quickly and bow as an apology. He gives me a smile that looks like he’s between a laugh and a grimace. 

How embarrassing...

A nasally voice makes all of us catches our attention through the dust. There are three more of the Shie Hassaikai poised and ready to combat us. Fatgum cracks his knuckles to prepare to fight against them but Suneater steps forward and blocks us all with an arm. He tells them to save their energy and that he’ll take them on himself. We all fight him on it, bickering for us to help him. 

However, one of those criminals with a sword comes barreling towards us. Erasurehead stops him before another masked thug pulls out a gun. He calls Erausurehead an inferior version of Eri and continues to monologue. Fatgum disses them right back and the police aim their guns at them. But before any combat ensues, Suneater unfurls large tentacles outwards to apprehend all three thugs quickly.

He calls out their names and quirks as he crushes them into a wall. In one of his other tentacles are their weapons. He explains that due to consuming so much takoyaki has lead him to develop this as one of his strongest abilities. He morphs that tentacle into a crab hand, crushing the weapons just as quickly as he speaks. Red Riot tries to stop him but he cuts him off to take the lead. 

“We should save all our quirks, especially Erasurehead, for later! You all need to operate at 100 percent to move through those hallways.” He says, then directs his focus to Fatgum to reassure he’s got this handled. The hero leads them out and those villains try to move out Suneater’s grip. Erasurehead stops his quirk and knocks out the creepy, ghastly looking villain out. He tells him to hurry and quickly knock them down before they have a chance at the upper hand. As we run out, Red Riot and RockLock are worried to leave Suneater alone. 

I felt divided. I wanted to go back for him too, if I continue going and leave him behind... I wouldn’t feel alright. As seconds tick on, I realize I needed to make my decision now. I stop slowly, making sure they don’t notice how I’ve lessened my pace. In a split second, I flare my flames and rush myself backwards. I can see them call out for me and their faces are shocked. 

“If he gets seriously hurt, he’ll be stuck there by himself! I can heal and help him! Please, we’ll catch up!” I scream out as I get further away. When I see they finally have started running off again, I slide on my heels to stop myself. I reach a hand to slide my fingertips along the ground, slowing down how far back I get. I swivel on my left heel and run back towards the room Suneater is in. 

When I reach the door, I see shards of crystals spray around. Sun eater is thrown back from the impact and those two villains are ready to kill him. The one Erasurehead has knocked out is still on the ground. But when I look back to Suneater, I realize he has the upper hand. He grasped the crystallized villain’s hand with his own tentacle and claw hand. His expression is hard and his teeth are gritted.

”Ive got a light that can swallow even that of the sun! That’s why I’m Suneater!” He calls out, crushing the crystals in his grip. More crystals form towards him but he forms a mask over his face. He unfurls even more tentacles, larger and wider than those of before. I step back, amazed, watching as he consumes the room with his quirk. He thrashes about and whips around the appendages, pushing the villains back and forth. But suddenly, the creepy villain on the ground spurs up and crunches into Suneater’s tentacles.

”HAHAHA! With those teeth and jaws, he can devour anything in an instant! He can digest anything he eats in seconds! His stomach will never get full so I’d say you two are a match made in heaven!” The blonde man cackles. The three of them team up to fight against him, it makes me move forward but he catches my eye. His eyebrow his furrowed and though it looked like his head was thrown back from the punch, he shook his head. He must have seen or heard me come in and is warning me to stay back. I slip onto a wall and realize not a single villain has seen me. They’re all too focused on him.

”He’s trying to make himself the center of their attention so they don’t go after me...” I realize as the crystal man punches Suneater back. The chomping man gets way too close to him before his tentacles disappear, reappearing in the blonde man’s hand. The crystal man has gotten Suneater knocked into a wall, holding him back with a crystallized arm. The three of them are all ganging up on him, prideful in how they’ve won. 

The crystal man explains each of their backstories and why they were saved by Chisaki. The society that backlashed them, relationships they had with people, betrayal near death experiences they faced. They call heroes no good in helping them out in those aspects, only Chisaki saved them and gave them a new life. They’re just... brainwashed. They think he’s their savior in such a cruel, vulnerable way. 

I watch on from the wall, pleading with my expression to let me help him. He lowers his head and plucks a crystal into blonde man’s eye with his chicken foot. He then crystallized his chest to counterattack the crystal man. Suneater uses his foot to grab the man and thrashes him into the other two. The impact causes all three to be practically knocked out. I run in then as he offers his own insight to them. 

“You’re more than teammates, I get that. And friends don’t eat friends do they?” He steps forward, commenting on how the ghastly man hesitated. I rush over to him, hands glowing and ready to heal him. He shakes his head and murmurs how I shouldn’t have came back. He keeps on murmuring until he looks up, towards the villains on the ground. i look over to they’re spaced out expressions.

”The neurotoxins should be circulating through your bodies at this point. You’re not going to die but I doubt you’d be doing any running. Oh and I’ll be taking these masks with me... oh... that took me too long. I wonder how far ahead the others are now... I need to catch up ...” His speech gets quieter and more pain laced as he staggers towards the door. 

“Senpai!” I cry out as he falls forward. I catch him and he lands with a soft thud into my arms. He was heavy due to how tired he felt. I placed his head on my lap and formed a glowing circle around my hands. I placed the circle around his head, looking for his expression to change from pain to peace. I wipe the blood away with some of the loose fabric torn around the floor. I place another circle around his abs, as there was quite a harsh impact as well. 

Softly, I place him back down. Using my sash as his pillow, I check to see if he’s facing any discomfort. I turn my eyes over to the villains collapsed on the floor. Forming a heat dome around them, I watch as they twitch and slump over. If they regain even a semblance of consciousness, they’ll be burned if they try to escape. I tap my foot at the center of the room, searching for the other members of the group. I jolt, they’re all in different spots! 

I start to turn towards the door but I hesitate, scared to leave Suneater by himself. I sit next to him, trying to quicken my healing. Only the small scrapes and bruises are healing. The bigger damages are much harder for me to heal. He’s got internal damage, I can feel it but I have no clue how to heal these. I search for any remaining energy in his body to keep it running. If I can enhance those, it could help repair his body a bit more. 

The sounds of clicking heels are heard and I turn my head. Two women who have been opposing styles are walking into the room. One has a air filter mask with the letters X and O on the filters. The other has an assassin mask that goes down her neck. The taller one with heels has a sleek back dark orange hairstyle and her partner has two low black buns at the base of her skull. The former has a trench coat and fur lined around while the latter has pants that only has one leg covered. 

“Who are you two?” I stand, poised.

”New recruits. We probably weren’t even on the records yet, huh?” The taller one laughs grandly, even if nothing was funny. The one next to her hasn’t made a single expression.

”Then you’re affiliated with the Shie Hassaikai?” I say, guarding Suneater. 

“Something like that.” She says and rushes forward at me, a single finger at the bridge of my nose. I jolt backwards but a throb in my head makes me still. Vines wrap around my body, burning my arms so much it itches. I try to clear the smog in my head but I slowly began to come to a halt. What’s going on with my body all of a sudden?!

”I am Disparity and my beautiful girl here is Ivy. We’re a duo of disaster!” She sighs, hands on her face as she sways back and forth. Ivy has no expression, only drippy vines for arms. I struggle in the binds, trying to break free. For some reason, I couldn’t flare up. My flames were dwindling to a small flame even when I could easily burn through. In my struggle of trying to comprehend what’s going on, I didn’t realize I wasn’t in the room anymore.

I was sitting at a desk in the back of my middle school. The sun was setting and people were in the halls with their bags. Izuku was standing by the doorway, smiling at me as if he was the happiest he’s ever been. Kacchan was on the other side, scowling but still there. My friends were waiting for me, I needed to get home. Why was I spacing out all of a sudden? Weird, it’s just another day. 

“You’re not usually the type to space out, Akichan.” Izuku says, laughing. Kacchan scowls about how I’m a brat for keeping him waiting. We walk down the stairs and out school together, talking about ice cream and heroes. We pass by a coin arcade on our way home and go inside to challenge each other. I’m usually so good at video games, so why am I losing every game?

”There you go again, you’re no match for me!” Kacchan bellows and the two of them laugh. I feel that familiar, unsettling feeling again. As if I’m still not on their level. As if they’re so far away from me. As if I’m weak and so different from them. They’re even standing away from me, the feeling of watching me struggle from above. I furrowed my brows, confused at why I felt so... 

“Inferior?” Reiki says. I’m in my kitchen table, it’s dinner time and my parents are washing dishes in the sink. I turn my head around frantically. How did I get here? Have I spaced out this much today? I look over to my brother and wonder why he said exactly what I was thinking but it looked like he was talking to our sister, Kiyomi. They looked to be talking about work. 

I tried to open my mouth to contribute but my parents shushed me. Apparently it was very important and I just wouldn’t understand yet. The reoccurring feeling appeared. Even amongst my own family. I started to feel like my walls were caving in on me. It was getting more hard to breathe. I haven’t felt this way in so long but it feels like this is happening so frequently. I stand to get up but now, I’m in a new room.

It’s my class, 1A. Everyone is in their hero costumes and I’m not. They’re all laughing and talking together, even Todoroki is smiling. I’m just standing in a dark corner. Tears start burning at the edges of my eyes. I start running toward them, calling out for them to wait for me. Their eyes all turn to look at me. Menacing and malicious. 

“We don’t have time for people who can’t catch up.” Izuku says.

“Waiting around helps no one.” Todoroki adds.

“You’ll always be next to nothing to us.” Kacchan cackles. They all do. Their faces are filled with humor as if that was the best thing they heard. I can feel my knees buckling and I slowly fall into myself on the ground. I’m worthless. I can never measure up to them. I’m always a step, a yard, a mile away. I’ll never be as good as a hero, I never can be what they can be. I’m a failure. 

Who are you?

What? Who am I? Wait, who am I? This isn’t right. This isn’t even real. This is all in my head. I know what’s happening here. This is that girl. That Disparity person touched my head and suddenly I’m just stuck in this space. I look up and everything starts crumbling and the room I was in starts fading back in. A startled and warbly voice sounds frantic and surprised to see me regain consciousness.

”I’m the hero Akemi, the Phoenix incarnate.” I say, the fire inside me burns brighter and I snap the vines holding me back.

”IVY! Your poison isn’t working!” Disparity cries, in absolute distress. 

“Yes it did, no one can withstand so much contact to poison like that. She’s lucky to even be functioning. If only, a little longer and she would be catatonic.” Ivy sighs, trying to retract her vines. However, only her forearms are showing. 

“Your arms aren’t regenerating!” Disparity screeches, patting her arms and seeing what’s wrong.

”You little bitch, you hurt my Ivy!” Disparity bellows and rushes over to Amajiki with a knife in hand. I swing my arm in her direction, grasping her body in my flame arm. She’s screaming and slashing the flames only to be burned. Ivy rushes over to me with another knife in tow. I duck under her arm and kick, my fist still clenched. She doesn’t falter and pulls out another knife. She swings back and forth, knicking my arms and face.

”Let her go.” Ivy says, voice monotone. 

“Villains must be apprehended.” I reply, which seems to have her annoyed.

“You don’t even know us!” Ivy says, anger in her voice. There’s something off with their energies. As if they’re very unpredictable. Not entirely evil, just not following life’s plans. It’s as if they were synced. These people didn’t necessarily seem like those criminals slumped on the floor over there. So who are they?

“Then why are you attacking us?” I say, ducking another swing. 

“I’m attacking you.” Ivy says, still vague.

”Then why?” I swing another arm to apprehend her. She doesn’t struggle.

“You hurt my Disparity.” She says, face blank. These people are insane.

“She used her quirk on me, and you two are in an area of criminals.” I combine my hands to hold them together. I form a dome with my hands and place the dome on the ground. I heat the dome up, enough to make them pass out long enough for the police to come. They don’t fight. They instead only sit together, watching me. I check up on Suneater and see he’s breathing steady again. 

“Is he important to you?” Disparity asks. Something about them makes me want to keep talking.

“He’s my senpai. I look up to him for guidance.” I say. 

“Ivy is mine. We didn’t really choose this lifestyle. We’re assassins.” Disparity says. I wonder why they’re so calm and talkative now. 

“Why are you telling a hero this?” I ask her.

“We wanted to be heroes once. Because a long time ago, when we were still kids...”Ivy starts.

“We saw a young girl get tortured. We wanted to do the right thing but our headmaster nearly left us dead.” I startle. So many children are being hurt behind closed doors and not enough of them are saved. Before I can say something, Disparity speaks again.

”We don’t have names. We’re only called DI-009 and IV-003. The numbers are given to us when we’re born into our assigned groups. DI are people who have quirks like me. IV is the same for her. If we don’t grow into the quirk we are predicted to have, we die.” She smiles, no sadness is seen on her face. I grow increasingly worried. 

“This isn’t legal, this is some underground system. Like...” I scramble for words.

”Yes, it is. It’s something even worse than the Yakuza. Young heroes like you have yet to see something like this. I’m sure you haven’t been exposed to quirk manipulating birth rings or child torture until today.” Ivy says. I shake my head. They quirk an eyebrow at me. I smile, not giving anything away. I get up to get moving, to try and find a place for Suneater to get help. 

“There was a girl like you a long time ago. When we were 8 and 12, a girl killed a team who manages child abductions.” Disparity says, her voice is wistful. It makes me a little angry.

”She had something very similar to your quirk.” Ivy says, her eyes bore into mine.

“Is that so.” I say, trying to lift Suneater up. He’s very heavy and I’m not the most physically able. But we can’t stay here, the sounds and explosions from above and forward are rumbling the ground. We’re just here wasting time, especially when Suneater needs medical attention. When I manage to get to the door, Disparity calls out to me.

”At least you turned your life around.” She smiles at me.

”Let’s meet again someday.” Ivy adds.

”I hope it’s not like today.” I say to them with a nod, trudging out the door. I flare up wings behind me and hurriedly fly forward. Policemen are ahead and I call out to them. When they spot me, they realize I’ve got someone in my arms. I try to fly above them to lover him down and a group of them take him out of my arms. A harsh crash makes the walls crumble and shake. I ask where the rest headed. They lead me forward and I barrel ahead. 

Through many hallways and long passages, up ahead is a hole. Knocked out masked villains lay around unconscious as I near. I fly through and see the area is crushed and smashed apart. In the center is Ryukyu, the girls, and a very badly injured Nighteye. I stagger before I can head over, Uravity has Nighteye and is heading up to the surface. I look up and see explosions happening around in the air. I fly over. 

“Ryukyu! I’m going out there too! We have policemen coming soon, they’re apprehending the villains Suneater and I faced off against.” I say, flying past her and she tells me to be careful. As I shoot through the hole in the “roof”, I see Izuku a ways away with Eri in his arms. Seeing her in person sends a jolt through my body. It makes me stagger in the air and I falter. A scorching pain in my left leg crawls up my ankle to my thigh. Is this some form of psychological pain, as if it still hurts from that long ago.

”Forget this!” I scream to myself as I fly forward. Overhaul and Izumi are combatting, the former twisting his body back and forth. Huge surges of wind pressure forces me back and I tumble onto my feet a few yards away from Uravity. When the smoke clears up, Chisaki is knocked out and Izuku is burning bright. We gave and watch him, amazed. I scramble back on my feet, forming glowing circles around my hands. 

“Uravity!” I call out to her, their heads turn to me. I go over and touch both hers and Nighteye’s arms. Slowly, I can see the tiredness in her face ease up but Nighteye’s pain cannot be healed. He looks to be breathing a little easier but that puncture in his gut will be... the end of him. I start to tear up angrily. He watches me and turns his head over to Deku and Eri. I turn my head over to them, fueling as much energy from the sun towards them. 

Deku is swarmed in bright yellow light, he’s struggling and is in pain. I let out a desperate noise as Chisaki makes another strike against Deku. Uravity jumps up and apprehends Chisaki. More heroes and policemen come up. I take watch with Nighteye as Froppy helps Mr. Aizawa move. Suneater has awoken and has Mirio held up. Froppy tilts Mr. Aizawa’s head back and in an instance, Eri’s quirk stops. She passes out and Deku catches her head.

I sigh, grateful. Ryukyu gets right to work in getting order maintained. I help her bring Nighteye over to an ambulance. Bubblegirl rushes over, her face in despair. I rush around lead the police over to the spot of villains we fought against earlier. However, only the three Suneater fought with remained. The two girls were gone, only scrapped knives they held were left behind. The ache in my leg comes up again and I look through my stockings for any pain. In the cuts, I see that my scar has gotten smaller.

I couldn’t process what this means. In 12 years, I’ve never seen it get smaller from the long stripe. Now it’s a slash along my knee; just as wide, half as short. I scrunch my face in confusion. Only when the blood on my face and arms start dripping do I realize I’m more hurt. I reopened my wounds from earlier from running around haphazardly. I rush out back outside.

The ambulance has left, Nighteye was taken to the hospital. The rest of the reinforcements cleaned up the area and we are finally being escorted out and away. I meet up with Fatgum and he tells me about Kirishima’s condition. Suneater comes by but both Fatgum and I usher him to get to the hospital too. After that’s settled, I meet up with the rest of my classmates. It’s only 9:15 A.M. 

I was also taken to the hospital for the gash on my face and arms. There was poison circulating in my system but due to the extreme adrenaline rush, I’ve been putting that pain on hold. The amount of energy I take in from the sun helped counteract the effects of the toxins. But when I reached the hosptial, I collapsed on the way to my room. It looks like I lost all that fight in me. In a really uncool way as well.

My dream was a bleary recollection of what happened today. In the middle of flashing images was Kazuma. She’s smiling at me. Her bright orange hair was flowing behind her. This time around, she wasn’t wearing a white gown. She was wearing a hero costume, one I’ve seen before at my grandparent’s shrine. Amaterasu, the first Phoenix. She stepped closer to me, a hand outstretched.

”You did well. This is only the first of your demons. Please watch over the girl. Goodbye.” Her figure fades. I reach for her hand to hold. Her smile is bright and her laugh is rich. Another hand pats my head. I felt like I met the sun. Maybe that’s what she is. I’ll never forget her face even in our short time. Before she completely fades, I call out to her one last time.

”I will make you proud!” 

“You will make yourself proud.” 

I opened my eyes slowly and sat up. Bandages around my arm and patches around my face. I was in a hospital gown. My room was empty but the rays of light peeking through the window were beautiful. The upcoming sunset was always my favorite, I rarely saw a sunrise. I leaned against the window and sighed. How did this all happen in a day? I felt like something shifted inside me. A new fire flickers within but that familiar feeling has faded. I hope her soul rests easy and she is back with the other ancestors. 

Just like that, I was discharged. I changed into my school uniform and gathered my things up to leave. I bowed to the nurse who took care of me and made my way out. I strangely felt at peace by myself. I know there’s so many missed messages on my phone so I’ll give a call to them later. Before I could really reply to anyone, I bumped into a tall figure.

”Ack- ah-! Senpai!” I looked up to Amajiki and Nejire. The latter beamed happily at me, poking around me as I happily told her I’m feeling fine. We walked together out until a few policemen asked for us to come with them for a briefing. That took hours and when we were done, the sun had gone down and the stars were out. I bid them goodbye at the station, saying I was going to pick up some pastries at my favorite bakery. 

“It’s really late, we’ll come with.” Amajiki-Kun says.

”Yeah, yeah! I wanna try those sweets!” Nejire flutters her hand at me. I smile and nod. We walk the short distance over to one of my favorite bakeries. I order a box for my peers back in the dorm. I’m so glad it was only 45 dollars for two boxes full of pastries. I can’t wait to one day own my own. But maybe that’s just a pipe dream with my goal as a hero. I look over to the two, Nejire has a star shaped macaron in her hand and Amajiki-kun has a octopus shaped cake pop.

”Those really fit your personalities.” I giggle and I see them smile at it. 

“This place rocks! They have so much of everything!” Nejire says. 

“Yeah it’s a nice place. Where’d you find this?” Amajiki-kun says. We are walking out together, down the road towards our dorms. I explained it’s just a place I frequent to ever since the start of middle school. I tell them I have an interests in finding new places that I like to hang out by myself at. We talk and get to know each other until I see my dorms in view. At the gate, I bow to them and thank them for their time.

”No need to be so upright, we’re friends!” Nejire says, hugging me tightly. I pat her back and place my chin on her shoulder.

”You can depend on us. Thank you for your hard work.” Amajiki-kun says, tapping my shoulder. I flush and smile wide. Nodding my head and thanking them both. They walk away with a wave and I turn into the walkway. Before I get far, I see four of my comrades up ahead. I call out to them as they stop and turn to me.

“Akichan! What timing, what’s in your hands?” Izuku asks.

”Ohhh, are those sweets??” Ochacco rushes over to grab a heavy bag from me. 

“What’s the occasion?” Kirishima asks.

”Where did you go?” Tsuyu adds. I explain and answer all their questions as we reach the door. Izuku opens the door for me as I continue explaining my night. But before I finish, all our classmates came rushing towards us. They were talking over each other and talking so loud and fast. My head was swirling and I was trying to duck away from them. I spot Todoroki slips away and I catch his attention.

”Todoroki can you help me bring this to the table, I bought these for everyone.” I smile at him and his stone expression doesn’t budge.

”Sure.” He’s curt. I place the bag on the center table and take out boxes with macaroons and mini cupcakes. Some have cookies and some are custards. I bought a bit of everything for everyone to try. I open one box and ask if he’d like one. His eyes scan around and he takes a bit to think. I worry he might not like any choices.

”Is this matcha flavored?” He asks, pointing at one of the macarons. I nod and grab it with tissue paper for him. He plucks it and takes a small bite to try it out. Instantly, he shows a small smile and I blush. He hums and finishes the small treat with one more bite. I watch him intently and I turn my head over to the clamoring to look away.

”Thank you. I don’t usually have sweets this late.” He says and bids me goodnight. I tell him to have a nice night and he returns the statement. When I offer sweets up after they finish fretting, we all come around the table and snack together. Yaomomo made lavender tea and it paired well with the pastries. Kacchan walks up and leaves the room, right when Todoroki comes back to explain there’s someplace to be tomorrow for them.

I watch them leave even though it’s still early. After the talk comes to an end, we go to our rooms and take our rest. I didn’t realize I was much more drained than I thought I originally was. I plopped face down on the sheets after I finished my night time routine. When I straightened up, I played with the short ends of my hair again. I sighed, I kinda missed the long hair. 

I brushed it out and looked at myself in the mirror. Have I changed? Have I become a better version of myself? Am I getting towards the goals I wish to reach? I couldn’t help but just stare into my reflection. A ding on my phone startles me and I reach over to look at who messaged me. Hisami pinged me, when I open it I was shocked to see what she said.

Hisa: Wish me luck for tmr! I’ll pass this time. Oh, and I’ll keep a look out for that half haired cutie of yours.

What?!

Chapter Text

That following morning, I woke up motivated. Hisami would be gone for the whole day and I was awaiting her updates. I turn over to look at my alarm clock, the pixels arranged together to form 8:16 a.m. We were given a short break to recuperate from the events of the past week; though, many of us remained restless. I was no exception. I tossed around my covers in contemplation, what do I do today? Closing my eyes, I thought to get some more sleep, but my body was screaming at me to stay awake. I was awfully full of adrenaline. I needed to go somewhere. 

I sat up finally, my covers rustled and bunched at my waist. I tossed it aside and sprang up, stretching fully. I swung my closet open, searching for an outfit that could lead me to a place for a day. My eyes landed on a dress my grandparents gifted me, congratulating my entry into UA. It was a beige mock turtleneck with a layered midi sweater dress on top. It was actually very stylish, I loved the apron like design the top layer resembled and the feel of the mock turtleneck under layer was warming. I smiled, deciding it's time to visit my grandparents. I grabbed what I needed, showered, freshened up, and applied makeup for my visit out. I also grabbed a face mask and sunglasses, not wanting to be recognized after past events. Slipping on my thigh highs and grabbing my knee high boots, I took a look in the mirror. 

"Ah, I look good..." I pride myself. It's been a while since I was happy with my image, and today seemed to click things in motion for me. I grabbed my purse and stuffed essentials inside, double checking everything. Lastly, I grab my phone and closed my blinds. I might be home late today, the train website says its an hour or so trip to Hakui. More specifically the Haruchiyo district. I bought a ticket for 11 a.m., giving myself an hour to get to the station. Luckily the closest one is a 20 minute walk. I make my way downstairs, seeing a few of my peers talking together. I snag a water bottle and greet them, we talk for a bit before each of us go our own way. Izuku comes out from the elevator and spots me making my way to the front door. 

"Where are you heading, Akichan?" He stretches his arms side to side as he walks closer. I smile at him, my heart doing it's usual flutter.

"I'm heading out to Hakui, a last minute trip to visit my grandparents. You haven't seen them in a while either, huh?" I tilt my head, placing a finger on my chin in mock contemplation. He smiles back, nodding and closing his eyes. He copies my pose and hums, causing me to scoff at him.

"Are you inviting me along?" He peeks an eye open at me and I laugh lightly.

"For once, no. This is an alone trip. However, next time-!" I point dramatically at him.

"Clear your schedule!" I say heartily, making us both laugh. It was a reference to the anime we used to watch as kids, copying the poses were part of the fun. My chest tightened in reminiscence. A part of me wanted to drag him along. I wanted to be selfish and just ask him to spend the day with me. I turned back to look at him, he was in a conversation with Kiri and Denki. It wasn't too late. I really could ask him and we could go just be together. I just needed to speak up and go towards him. I look forward, patting my cheeks and braving myself. It's now or never. 

"Izuchan, I changed my mind." I say, making my way over. His eyes widen and his mouth forms an "o". 

"Really? Are you sure you want me to come along?" He asks, looking at his phone time.

"We've got 25 mins until we really need to leave. So yes, go and get ready!" I point to the elevator and he nods quickly. He frantically makes his way up and watching him rush made my heart flutter again. I didn't think he'd actually go along so easily. I didn't think he would spend the whole day with me like he would used to. Maybe, it's just me who still lives in the past.

"Where are you two headed?" Denki asks, finishing an apple off.

"My grandparents' shrine, I'm paying them a visit in Hakui." I explain and asking what their plans were.

"I was gonna go jogging at the park." Kiri says.

"I was gonna go watch a movie with Mina and Sero tonight. Kiri join us. You too, Akichan!" Denki says with a very charming smile. I smile back and laugh a bit.

"If I'm not back late, I'd love to. So don't wait up for me." He smiles wider with two thumbs up. Kiri takes his leave, his watch alarm had gone off to signal his start of the day. Denki goes off to throw his apple away and get dressed for the day. In the meantime, I quickly added another ticket purchase next to mine. When I looked up from my added purchase, Izuku makes his way over. I smile at him, he was panting and looked a little disheveled. Instead of his shirt that said "Pajamas", he now wore an open zip up hoodie and a dark tee. He paired it with some jeans, which looked so loose on him. It was good enough though, even with how plain it looked. 

"Let's get going, when does the train come?" He looks down at his phone. 

"30 mins, it's a 20 minute walk so let's go!" I say and slip on the boots I grabbed earlier. We walk and talk on our way out, enjoying the autumn breeze. I always love this time of year, Autumn is my favorite season. In no time, we made it to the station and board. I show the digital barcodes to the woman at the window. We pick a seat by the window, a two seater on the right side of the train. I yawned as soon as the intercom came on to announce our departure. Izuku tells me to take a nap and to lean on him for the ride. I blush, screaming internally. Instead, I smile pleasantly and place my head on his shoulder. A warm feeling floods over me and I hum. Izuku laughs just then, making me pick my head up.

"I could just feel you get really warm. I remember when we were younger, you were like a furnace in the winter. It was nice to be around when it was chilly." He turns to me and how he looked in that moment, made me want to kiss him. Some urge was pulling me towards him but instead I turned to the window, breaking our previous eye contact. I laugh then and turn back, nodding and bringing up old memories. In no time, we somehow fell asleep. I woke up to the voice on the intercom again and a head on mine. Izuku stirred awake and tapped my gently.

"Looks like we made it!" He says, voice sleepy. My bones were jelly in that moment. Quickly regaining my composure, I stood up to stretch and reached out a hand to him. He took it and got up to stretch as well. We made our way out and quickly got away from the incoming/outgoing group of passengers. When we got out of the station, I got the idea to pick up lunch first before heading towards the shrine. I offered to treat Izuku to a some casual korean barbeque. He nodded in instant agreement. The only one I knew around the area had been my aunt's. She married someone out of the country and settled back here in her hometown. She was well known in Hakui as well. Upon arriving, she greeted us immediately with a large hug.

"Hinotori! Izuku! My goodness, how you both have grown. I saw you and your school on the news! I was so proud, worried, happy, oh you know! All those emotions were here!" She taps her heart and laughs fully. She led us to a table and got our grill started. She brought out all the dishes for us to grill and try. I thanked her nonstop, Izuku looked so in awe. I hadn't visited her in a while but her doting nature was something I very much missed. We quickly got to work grilling and eating, humming in approval. Just like that, we were full. I packed leftover noodles and meat for my grandparents, including the large amounts of sides my aunt gave. I thanked her immensely and gave her a huge hug. She wouldn't let me take the bill but I left a large "tip" for her anyways. When she saw, I grabbed Izuku's hand and dashed out.

"Thank you, Obasan! Tell Uncle and my cousins hello!" I called out to her as we ran. I could see her playful smile and it warmed my heart. We slowed down to a walk and I realized Izuku's hand was still in mine. It wasn't loose or too tight, meaning I could still hold on. It made me smile to myself. I held the bag of food in my other hand as we walked so I asked him to put their address in his phone so we wouldn't get lost. In just under 10 minutes, we made it to the shrine. He let go of my hand then, putting his phone away and offering to take the bag from me. I shook my head but he took it anyways as we slowly we made our way up the stairs. There at the top was my grandfather in his shrine clothing. I smiled at him, opening my arms.

"Grandfather!" I called out as he closed around me. He let out merry "Ho, Ho, Ho's" as he tapped my back in a rhythm. He pulled back to study me with a big smile. He looked around me and smiled wider seeing Izuku. He had always liked Izuku and made many remarks that he'd like to see us together. I didn't think I would agree with him and disagree so much now. I spot my Grandmother in the garden, strolling around to water the flowers. I race over to her with the same open arms, closing around her quickly. She radiated glee and happiness upon seeing me. Grandfather came over with Izuku, them being mid-conversation about what the former saw of the latter on the TV. Grandmother beckoned for us to come inside, it had gotten a bit chillier. I hadn't minded though, I liked when it was both cold and hot out. 

"What do we owe the visit!" Grandfather says, his eyes closed and his aura bright. Grandmother had gone to place the food in the fridge and to make us some honey tea. 

"I had a few questions of my history, Grandfather. I knew you and Grandmother would know best. I would ask Father or Mom but I think they wouldn't know much." I waved my hand around. He nodded, letting me go on. Grandmother called out for Izuku to come in the kitchen with her for a moment, asking him to accompany her while she brewed tea. He immediately bowed to Grandfather and quickly went into the kitchen. As soon as he closed the door, the atmosphere of the room shifted. I was able to be completely honest with Grandfather now that Izuku was out of earshot. I was very glad for both my grandparent's quirk many times. 

Grandfather has what is called Golden Intuition. He can read someone's attitude and interpret what they could say next or what they would do next. In this instance, he knew my body language insinuated that I wanted to address something serious and sent a signal to my Grandmother. My Grandmother has what would be considered Atmospheric manipulation. Whatever mood she is in or could act out, can affect those around her as well. If she wanted them happy, distracted, spacey, etc.; all she had to do was react in that manner for them to follow suit. At least, that's all they told me about their abilities. They're long time retired heroes. One being a Sea Serpent and the other a medic. I only have a vague idea of what they're capable of.

"Something from your past has made an appearance in your present." Grandfather says. I nod slowly.

"Two young girls from the same association as those who had kidnapped you." He goes on. I nod again.

"You want to know more of what happened that day, to track them down." He says, his tone turning stern. I once again nod.

"That would put you in danger. Why would you do that alone!" He says, voice fierce.

"I have a feeling, whoever these people are, were connected to the Shie Hassaikai. The people who we recently came in conflict with. Grandfather, this is my own problems I must confront. Lady Kazuma spoke with me-"

"Kazuma Hinagiku...?" Grandfather froze, his expression confused. 

"Yes, the first Phoenix. Our family's known number one hero. She was in my dreams." I say, voice meek under his stone cold stare. Grandfather is usually filled with mirth but as of right now, he looks frightening. I gulp, fidgeting and bunching the ends of my dress.

"Your quirk allows you to see visions?" His tone changed to something of curiosity.

"No, I mean, well... yes? I'm not sure. After seeing and talking with her for a while, I started unlocking these abilities. Before I was able to produce fire like this." I say, twirling my hand in the air to form a spiral of fire. I slowly twist it into a form of a bird. The bird makes a round around the room and fades into smoke around my head.

"Then I was able to sense emotions and auras. I was able to detect an anomaly or premonition like everyone else in the family. I didn't know if it was a quirk mutation or whatnot, but my powers quickly got more intense. Let me show you, Grandfather." I say, motioning to the courtyard. He nods and we get up. Outside, I stop him at the door as I make me way down the middle of the yard. Slowly, I concentrate the pinpoint of all the heat around my chest. Fire flickers off my body and slowly cocoons itself around, wrapping me up in this suit of flames. I open my eyes and see the fire has made me look as if I've grown in size. I watch Grandfather's expressions and wait for him to say anything. Unfortunately, he doesn't. I can feel the smoke start to come off my clothes. Quickly, I unfurl my flames outward into large wings. 

"This. You look exactly like her here!" He suddenly shouts, grasping along the pillar. I turn my head side to side, scanning the wings. These were unusually larger than I've done before. The flames flew of into small bits at the end and simmered into ash as it faded off. I let out a slow breath and burst a wave of heat off me, swirling up the ash. The ash and flames combine into this beautiful tornado. I haven't seen my flames ever look this delicate. I reach out to touch one strip that flies past me and slowly, I began to touch ground. The flames simmer into smoke and the ashes crumble away. I look towards Grandfather, only to see Izuku and Grandmother are by his side. I swivel my head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to put on some light show, I was just trying to show off how much control I was able to handle of my quirk. I didn't... I... uh..." I stammer. I was so in awe of what I was capable of, I didn't realize what I was doing at first. Had I been holding myself back this entire time? My clothes weren't even singed. Usually, I couldn't even access my quirk because I was afraid to burn my clothing. The material my grandparents picked for me seemed to be resistant to it afterall. I smiled fondly at that thought, hearing footsteps come towards me. I turn my head only to meet Izuku's wide eyes.

"Your flames are beautiful Akichan! I have never seen them like this!" His excitement made me excited too. I felt giddy and my face was so warm. I felt a hand on my face and turn to see my Grandmother with a wide smile. My Grandfather makes his way over with a very proud smile. Seeing them like this washed away all my prior embarrassment. I rarely did anything, why was I praised? I giggled, and they chattered about how well I seem to be doing. We make our way back inside, the tea was finished. However, I still needed my answers. Grandmother took Izuku to the garden right after we had our tea, which left me alone with Grandfather again.

"I understand now. Lady Kazuma said this incident is what still holds you back." Grandfather nods.

"Which is why I need to find these people and prevent them from harming anyone else." I say assertively.

"Not as you are now." He says with a sigh.

"Something as big as this has been going on even before you were born. This will take many years, maybe even decades to clean up." He says.

"But how will I do better if I can't get rid of the past?" My heart felt strained. Isn't this what will help me be better?

"No, you need to do better for yourself. The past does not define you as you are now. You are the only one holding yourself back." Grandfather says, a hand on mine. 

"Lady Kazuma might mean this will be the path you go on to help others like you had gone through. What you think is that erasing these wrongdoers will make you powerful. That's wrong. You already are powerful. You just have to accept yourself. You are still growing. All you need to do from here on is to work harder." He pats my hand with a smile.

"Stop comparing yourself to your peers. Instead, think of them as your equals. They will uplift you as you do with them. Your friends will be very helpful in your growth. Only when you start to believe in yourself. I'm sure you already knew this, yes?" He laughs and I flush. I always told myself this and kept myself so upright. I thought that if I was able to keep the positive vibes, then it would influence myself to keep doing better. But this mentality was just blanketing what I truly felt. I needed to start embracing my faults with ease and not with tears. I have such a big support system and I need to give that to myself as well. But I still felt uneasy.

"Grandfather, I promise to do right by myself. However, those girls told me they'd see me one day. Being a part of some dark, black market. That was my life 12 years ago, that is still the life of many children and teens like me as of right now. Who knows what else is happening, it's inhumane and disgusting! Yet, I don't know the first thing to do. I feel so helpless. When I saw Eri and how she was being experimented on, I knew we barely scratched the surface of what goes on away from prying eyes. So, is it even right for me to turn a blind eye like this?" My voice cracks. The sense of justice I feel and the lack of action I propose, makes me feel worthless. 

"Hinotori, you are still so young. The fight in you burns bright but it blinds you. What you learn in school and how you live now will bring you towards your goal. You need to have patience. You will feel helpless, but you were able to save that little girl. You will get there. For now, live. Don't put yourself back because you feel like you can't move forward." Grandfather says.

"We will be right by your side. We won't ever leave you." Grandmother smiles. Izuku is right by her side. He outstretches his arms and on instinct, I rush up into them. He pats my head, warm feelings swirl around me. He laughs, feeling off the heat I emit.

"I understand that feeling Akichan. When Kacchan was kidnapped, with All Might retiring, when I saw Eri the first time; these troubles feel like we can't do anything. But what we can do is work harder to do something later. As future heroes, we need to think strategically. Let's get stronger together and save as many people as we can." He extends his pinkie out and I intertwine my own with his. I laugh, tears prickle at the edge of my eyes. Grandmother wraps her arms around me, Grandfather follows suit. They're warmth combining with mine, reminds me of when I was little. The memory and the moment of right now, made me so emotional.

After we chatted for a bit more, I decided it was time we headed home. The sun would set in an hour, which means we would get back right at the break of evening. I bowed and hugged my grandparents one more time. Thanking them and promising another visit with the family soon. They grow merry and happy to hear it. Then as I began walking down the path, I see they've pulled Izuku to the side. Whatever they said to him makes him blush bright red. I grow anxious and scared something odd happened. But when his eyes lands on mine, his expression mimicked my own feelings inside. I flushed and turned away. No way, they didn't tell him... did they?!

They laugh blissfully and push him towards me. We take one look at each other and burst into a hearty laughter. We bound down the stairs and make our way back to the station. When we cross a busy intersection, Izuku's hand finds mine again. This time, I take it without hesitation. My heart flip flops and the smile plastered on my face is wide. I peek up at him to see his expression is relaxed. Today had been a very good day afterall. Even though what I sought after wasn't what I wanted, I knew this is what I needed. I exhaled a large breath and added a pep in my step. I pulled Izuku along and turned back to look at him with my bright expression.

"Let's hurry, we have a movie to catch!" He smiles and nods. Once we reach the station, he gets a call from Kiri asking if we'd be able to meet them at the theaters. I nod furiously to him and he smiles crookedly. He tells Kiri we'll meet him there. My heart was full watching him. The sun was behind us and the warm glow with the brisk winds felt amazing. His hair swished back and forth as he happily talked on the phone. My feelings for him was immense in this moment. I wasn't sure if it was because I admired him or from my emotional day, or just because I love him. I'd think a life forever with him would be beautiful. But remembering Ochacco's feelings for him made me conflicted. I love him but I was okay with having him as my best friend forever. 

"Even if you're not mine, you were my first love." I said, right as the train came along. It drowned out what I said and Izuku looks over to me with a curious look. He hangs up the phone and asks if I could repeat what I said.

"Thank you for coming with me today Izuchan!" I smile. He flushes and smiles as well.

"Best friends are inseperable." He pulls me along into the train and we find a similar seat from before. I yawn and lean my head onto his shoulder. He tells me to nap until we get there. As quickly as we boarded, I fell asleep swiftly. Little did I know, our hands were still intertwined. When I awoke, I saw Izuku was still asleep. I stared at him for a bit before checking the time. The sun was nearly set and we had about 5-10 minutes until we were at our station. It also seemed like Hisami had just gotten through her make up exam. She also passed this time as well, including her gushing over how cute Kacchan and Todoroki were. I giggled, telling her I'll call her when I got back to my dorm. I checked the groupchat for our class and it seemed everyone were to attend, even the aforementioned boys. I smiled, reading through all my missed messages.

"Oh, who's Yoshi?" Izuku says, pointing to the many missed messages and calls. Shiki-kun was ruthless in spamming, relentless in trying to get me to talk to him.

"Another old friend, he would be my third from when we were younger." I hum happily, sending him a happy emoji in reply to his many 'answer these texts when you get it'.

"You never told me about him." He says, making my head turn towards his. Our faces were close and I blushed, pulling my head back slightly. He flushed and looked away, a slight huff. I laughed a bit, he was jealous. I found it so amusing, I prodded him a bit more on it.

"Hey now, Shikikun hasn't been that long of a friend. We just recently reignited our friendship again, you're still my number one." I beam. After seeing me like this, he smiles with this funny expression. He pokes my forehead and I laugh with him. Right when he opens his mouth, the intercom comes on. I get up and we begin to leave the train. After getting away from the crowd and beginning to enter the city, I ask him what he was gonna say.

"Your grandparents told me you used to like me when we were younger. It reminded me that when we first met, I did too. Now, here we are. The best of friends. They told me to keep protecting you and stay by your side. Which is a given, we'll always be right by each other through thick and thin." He smiles his infamous smile and internally, I swoon. 

"Yeah, I'm glad to have met you Izuchan. I couldn't imagine my life without you. Let's keep being there for each other forever. Besides, I've gotta help you with your first girlfriend!" I laugh heartily and watch him flush. 

"Anyone in mind?" I jab his side with my elbow. He freezes, looking at me for a while. I tilt my head.

"Yeah I do, you know her." He says. It makes my heart leap and I wonder if it could be me. But, I realize it could only be one girl.

"There she is." I nudge my head towards Ochacco, who was standing down the road with a few others. They were all laughing and talking excitedly. He bristles for a bit and his eyes lock on where she is. My heart crumbles but I knew it all along. Even if today felt all romantic and all gushy, it was all in my own head. We always were like this, my feelings just made it seem like it was more of what it really was not. He bounded up by my side, which made me notice I was walking quite faster than I had before. I slow down, looking at our peers again as we walked side to side.

"I think she's cute." We both say at the same time. We look at each other and laugh. Though I was wounded, I knew Ochacco was his best fit. At least I'll still keep his smile in my life.

"There ya guys are! Let's get the tickets!" Kiri says, waving at us right when he saw us. One by one we all bought our tickets. When Ochacco and Izuku saw each other, they stammered and talked awkwardly. It felt funny to see and the girls agreed how cute they looked together. Right when I was about to purchase mine, someone else bought it instead. He bought two, one for himself and one for me. I turn to look at him and it's none other than Todoroki. I was astonished, why would he go out of his way to buy me a ticket when he and I barely spoke?

"For the sweets the other day. Thank you. I was thinking about it earlier during my exam, it was really good." He says with such a monotonous voice. 

"It was no problem! I love making and trying new sweets. I'm flattered you thought of them. Congrats as well on passing." I say as we make our way in. He smiles faintly at that and nods. 

"Would you like popcorn? I feel bad you bought my ticket."

"It was a way to pay you back."

"Nonsense, let's share a bucket!" I don't know what compelled me to do that, I didn't like popcorn. He didn't object. Instead, he bought us two drinks.

"This is my first time out with friends like this, it's hard to get used to." He says.

"Mine too, I feel really good about it." I smile, as we walk into the theater. Everyone was gathered in the center, we made our way behind them as the seats were taken up quickly. I didn't realize I was sitting alone next to Todoroki, it felt oddly calming. We quietly shared popcorn and chatted with everyone we could reach before the movie began. My eyes drifted towards Izuku and Ochacco, the two were next to each other. The girls were behind them. I smiled sadly at the sight and looked down. Tears were forming and I didn't want to cry over something like this.

"Are you okay? The movie has barely started." He asked in his usual rough way of speaking.

"Yeah, just feelings are complicated." I sighed quietly, eyes back on the two. Todoroki must have followed my line of sight because he offered the bucket to me.

"I always thought you two were super close. I thought you guys were together." He whispers as we shared the bucket.

"We are only best friends..." I say, my voice warbly. He looks at me for a bit and takes a sip of his drink.

"It's a sign to look for better people. Midoriya is a real cool guy, but it looks like Ochacco and him are very much interested in each other."

"It's so obvious right?"

"Very." I laugh softly at that even when his expression doesn't change.

"You're a real cool guy too Todoroki. You're kind. Thank you, I hope we can be better friends." I say, a shy smile on my face. 

"I can assure you we already are. Our class really is something." He sighs, as if he couldn't be bothered.

"I'm grateful to have met you all." I say, my eyes sweeping over everyone's heads.

"I can agree with that." He says, munching on popcorn. He looked really funny here; both cool and cute. I couldn't help but laugh a bit. He looked at me curiously, a speck of popcorn on his cheek. I take a napkin and swipe it, only to see he looks very much confused.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I forget about people's space sometimes. Force of habit with Izuku and Hisami, I was like this with Shikikun and Kacchan before too and I.. er... sorry!" I stammer, clasping my hands in apology. He huffs out a scoff, holding a hand to his mouth. He finds this funny!

"It's okay, don't freak out so much. It seemed very in your nature." I smile happily, he accepted me! I felt like I was reaching out to a stray kitten who was wary of the world.

"Thank you Todoroki." I beamed at him and he looked at me, expression unknown.

"Don't mention it." Like that, the movie passed by and we all chattered out of the theaters. It was nearly 9 pm, which meant we had to hurry back for curfew. I ended up talking to Todoroki a lot more with everyone else. In that moment, I felt like life was normal. My worries and fears disappeared briefly. Every time I was given a moment of clarity, it was always with them. I smiled to myself at that thought. These people would be the kind I'll spend my future with. I can just feel it. I hope we continue these fun moments forever, even through our toughest times. Maybe hopefully, I can get in a relationship soon! Since I was such a serial romantic after all. I wonder who I'll end up going after. 

When we finally got back to our dorm, I hastily got my night time routine done. I made it up to my room and messaged Hisami for a call. I brushed out my hair and cleaned up my clothes. I had just gotten comfortable in bed when she called. We were catching up and talking about our day. We made quick plans to see each other the next day. We clamored about random things, not even touching the big topic at hand. Before she could really go into detail about her exam, I began to drift off. Right as I entered a dreamless night of sleep, I heard her wishing me good night and the music box chime of the call ending was the last sound for my night.