Chapter 1
With Eyes that Watch the World
Early morning. Cold, spring air. To Rei's surprise there was a decent number of people milling about as she walked up the steps at a brisk pace, trying to move quickly to keep herself warm. Everyone was most likely trying to ensure that they were early or on time to the first day of class. Who knew what would happen if they slacked off in the slightest? Everyone had worked hard to get to this point; the least they could do was attempt to meet the ridiculously high expectations.
U.A., the best hero high school in Japan. Part of her still couldn't believe that she had made it this far. How long ago was it that she had no idea about her future plans, other than getting out the orphanage and into the streets somehow? She hadn't even thought about attending high school, let alone some sort of hero training school. The dream of becoming a hero had been abandoned years ago, or so she had thought. Apparently it still lived on in the darkest corner of her soul, a fragment of hope that had nearly been obliterated, yet patiently waiting and biding its time. Striding forward with confidence, Rei's golden eyes glittered in the gray morning light. Maybe she hadn't had a consistent dream, but there was no way that she didn't deserve to be here any less than the others who had also made it in.
She was more than qualified. She had been told that so many times that she now believed it with every beat of her heart. Hands clenching her worn backpack straps, Rei steeled her heart. There was no time to think of her mentor now. She had to move forward.
Even as she found her way to her shoe locker and shed her outermost layers she kept her black face mask on, unwilling to part with it just yet. Her nose was sensitive to all this cold, and she wasn't quite ready to remove it, even if it wasn't a part of the uniform. Moving through the hallways, attempting to find her classroom, she received multiple strange and disdainful looks, although they seemed to be fewer than she had expected. Perhaps everyone knew that even the most rough looking street rat could hide away the most incredible quirks, and for the most part left her alone. Well, she wasn't going to toot her own horn. She most certainly wasn't the greatest, but she knew she could take a hit and land a few more on anyone who challenged her. Her eyes narrowed at anyone who looked at her for too long, the sneer on her face half hidden by her face mask as other students looked away quickly, unwilling to hold eye contact for too long. Even if they could only see part of her face, the other students got the idea, avoiding her and giving her space in the hallways, although she could feel their curious stares lingering on her back.
With her short, choppy black hair, her golden and feral eyes, and an attitude problem that could be seen a mile away, Rei was the walking, talking image of a rebel, a roughed up kid that wasn't afraid to fight dirty. She knew it. She could have changed her appearance to symbolize a fresh start now that she was at a new school, her old peers left in the dust, but she stuck with her image. Rei was tough, and she wanted people to know that they shouldn't mess with her or cross her path. Even though looks could be deceiving, her quirk and her attitude problem didn't help either. She was literally the shadow that waited in the corner for the ripest moment to strike with either her trademark scowl or icy glare plastered on her face at almost every waking moment. And now, with every step she took in the hallowed halls of U.A., even Rei began to feel out of place, if only by the amount of attention she was receiving.
Ignore them. It's not the first time you've been looked at like this. But even her iron will was beginning to slip, her confidence waning internally. Was she really cut out for this? Could she really become a hero, with everything that was stacked against her?
As though perfectly timed, the massive door emblazoned with "1-A" suddenly appeared in front of her. Standing in front of the door she stood up a little straighter, heaving a sigh and mentally pulling herself together. No more doubts; this was it. Before she could hesitate any longer or stall her entrance she pulled the door open just far enough for her to slip through, shutting it behind her as quietly as possible. Looking to the classroom, she noticed that nearly half of the students were already lingering in the space.
"You! That mask is not a part of the uniform that U.A. has given! You should remove that face mask as soon as possible, unless it is required and permitted for medical reasons!"
Wincing, Rei's eyes twitched as she squared off with a boy who had sped to meet her near the door. He moved much too quickly for a normal human being at this hour in the morning, and Rei could only hope that she sat as far away from him as possible. Compared to her measly height of five feet, this boy towered over her, forcing her to crane her neck upward as she looked at him with vague interest mixed with utter annoyance. From his spotless and expensive looking shoes to his perfect and most definitely product filled hair, his entire image screamed "I'm a rich boy!" His hands moved choppily to accompany his words, as though he was a wound up toy that ran across the room indiscriminately.
First impression? Rei didn't care for this kid at all, the first and foremost reason being that his voice was much too loud for her sensitive hearing. She could feel a headache coming on if this kid was going to be in her class for the next three years, the scowl on her face deepening. Slouching forward and digging her hands in her pockets, Rei deadpanned. "I don't have a medical reason, but I'm keeping it on. My nose hurts in the cold." Ducking under his arms, she began to look at the desks and the nametags, searching for her seat as quickly as possible and ignoring the boy's spluttering as he tried to continue to talk at her.
"Oh, it's you!"
This time Rei slowed, turning her head to look at the next voice that called out to her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at another golden eyed boy, this time a familiar figure. Blinking slowly, she raised a hand sheepishly. "Hey."
The boy grinned from ear to ear, leaning forward in his seat eagerly and pointing at himself. "I'm Kaminari Denki! Nice to meet you officially, since I never really got to thank you."
"Yeah…" Scratching the back of her neck, Rei looked away sheepishly, a bit flustered that the boy had such a good memory and had stepped forward to thank her explicitly. "Don't mention it." But Kaminari had already turned to his seat partner on his right, a pink alien looking girl who listened energetically as the boy delved into the tale of how Rei had saved his hide during the entrance exam's practical portion. Decided that her presence was unnecessary again, she continued to walk away, looking at the empty desks.
"Excuse me! Please remove that mask before the teacher comes in!"
She had finally seen her seat in the furthest back corner of the class, a lone desk next to the window that stood out amongst the even block. But any satisfaction by seeing her desk's somewhat isolated location was immediately crushed with the rich kid's incessant and overly loud voice bellowing in her direction from above. Growling she whipped around, squaring her shoulders as though ready to deliver a blow. The sharpness of her movement was enough to startle the boy into taking a step backward at her sudden and aggressive switch, the inhabitants in their room catching their breath as they watched the showdown. The temperature of the room dropped as Rei glared in his direction, slowly relaxing to show that she wasn't actually going to hit him.
Her tone was icy as she spoke, a warning in her low tone. "I'll take it off when I want to, and not a moment sooner. I'd suggest you be more concerned with yourself."
"My name is Iida Tenya!"
"That's nice." Rei turned away, walking down the final aisle next to the windows, determined to get to her seat and bury her head until class started. Was everyone going to be this annoying? "Go bother someone else."
The room seemed to relax as Rei instantly dispelled the tension when she turned away. Iida continued to blather on about something, but Rei had already tuned him out mentally. Continuing down the path, she looked to the only other student already in her row, brilliant red eyes clashing with her own. There was a scowl on his face and a furrow in his brows, his anger and irritation clearly displayed in addition to the menacing aura that leaked everywhere. He was leaning back in his seat with his legs on his desk, hands laced behind his explosively messy ash blonde hair, the image of a troublemaker simply biding his time. But Rei knew people worse than him. She stared back unflinchingly, daring him to test her.
He rolled his eyes, breaking their staring contest as Rei passed him by, but she didn't miss the twitch of his lips and the look of vaguely disguised interest.
"And you! Why are you putting your feet on the seat in front of you?"
Sighing to herself, Rei plopped down in her seat, folding her arms on her desk and laying her head down so that she could stare out the window. The sun was finally emerging, revealing a brilliantly sunny day that promised at least a slight bit of warm weather, even for March. Eyes fluttering, Rei tuned out the rest of the argument that was bubbling a few seats in front of her. At least she was early enough to get a few minutes of rest before school started…
The door had snapped open a few more times to reveal a few more students entering, some casually, most somewhat nervously. To save her head the tossing and turning she had laid her head down at an angle that provided a small sightline to the door. It wasn't perfect, mostly obscured by the people in her diagonal, but it was enough to catch if a teacher entered. So far, the coast was clear. If only Iida and that boy a few seats ahead of her would shut their mouths…
At least the desks here were clean and neat, and easy to take a nap on. There wasn't a speck of graffiti underneath the table, the legs sturdy and unmoving. It certainly was nice to go to a school with brand new amenities, although Rei wasn't sure how she felt about the uniform. Didn't those Ketsubutsu students have gray polos? That would have been so much easier to care for, less wrinkles to worry about. At least she didn't end up going to Seiai Academy; Rei cringed at the memory of seeing all the girls dressed in near formal dresses, the most pretentious uniforms she had ever seen. No, at least she hadn't caught the short end of the stick with that uniform. If only she could figure out how to tie the necktie properly. She had completely lucked out this morning, but it was loose and most likely going to come undone at some point during the day.
There was a gentle thrum in the room, most of the students already arrived and in their seats. The majority of the noise continued to come from Iida and the boy ahead of her, much to Rei's irritation and amusement. She eventually had turned a sliver of her attention to the argument that hadn't ever really died down, only increasing in fervor as Iida continued to be flustered by the aggressive and unapologetic boy. But when the door opened another time the two lifted from their conversation to the newest entrant, Iida immediately flying away.
If Rei thought that the unfinished argument would have brought a bit more peace, she was unfortunately proven wrong. In addition to the boy at the door, a cheerful girl appeared behind him, the trio strangely talking over one another altogether as everyone looked on in confusion.
It was so noisy, in fact, that Rei hadn't known about the newest entrant that had snuck up on the three near the entrance until he stood up in the doorway. The flash of bright yellow instantly grabbed her attention, making Rei sit up straight in her seat as she pulled the black face mask under her chin. A teacher? When did he get there?
"Okay, it took eight seconds before you all were quiet." His voice was monotonous and soft, barely projecting for the entire room to hear. Everyone instinctively stilled, barely daring to breathe as the only sounds were of the zipper of a sleeping bag being pulled away as an exhausted and beaten looking figure walked into the room. "Time is limited. You all are pretty impractical."
Rei was so caught off guard by the newest entrant she barely registered his words. Blinking quickly, she watched carefully as his gaze turned toward the rest of the room, moving beyond the trio that continued to linger at the front of the classroom. "I'm Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher." He barely seemed to register the sounds of surprise from across the classroom, instead pulling out some sort of uniform from his bag. "It's kind of sudden, but change into these and go to the field."
For a moment the room was frozen, unmoving as though still attempting to process everything that was happening. Then in the blink of an eye everyone began to move as a unit, grabbing uniforms that were handed out and heading to the changing rooms. Rei was the last person to move out of the room, Aizawa holding her uniform for a moment longer as he regarded her with a piercing gaze. She looked to her homeroom teacher in confusion, but holding his gaze unflinchingly. What did he want with her?
"Please remove that mask. It's not part of the uniform."
Rei's cheeks heated up as she pulled the mask from her face, stuffing it into her pocket. Damn, that Iida!
"A Quirk assessment test?!"
It seemed that everyone was equally caught off guard by the reason for their appearance on the sports field, even though they had changed into an athletic uniform. Most had guessed that they would have been doing some sort of benchmarks, considering the fact that it was indeed the first day; something as strange as this had been an unexpected turn. But as their homeroom teacher began to explain the rationale for such an event, it all began to make sense.
Except for the part where it was their homeroom teacher administering these tests.
On the day of what was supposed to be orientation and the opening ceremony.
Well, it wasn't like Rei was looking forward to those two traditional things anyway. Especially in the case of the opening ceremony, it only meant more standing around and listening to people she had never really interacted with and therefore didn't care about in detail. Opening ceremonies would have been better than being in class if it weren't for the fact that there was a lack of surfaces to sleep on. Speeches were boring. Who cared? All of them knew that they were here to do their best; why force someone up to speak in front of the school to reiterate what everyone already intrinsically knew and practiced? Even if this quirk assessment test was unprecedented in Rei's case, it was a good riddance of the opening ceremony anyway. Rei could feel her muscles twitching in anticipation at what came ahead.
"Bakugou, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?"
All eyes turned to the boy with ash blonde hair as he shifted, looking up in surprise as Aizawa continued. "In Junior High, what was your best softball throw?"
The boy paused for a moment, recollecting his thoughts. "Sixty-seven meters"
"Then try doing it with your quirk."
If anyone's attention had been waning, now was the time that it was brought back. Everyone perked up at the directions, watching with bated breath as Aizawa handed a softball to the boy. He tossed it up and down experimentally, moving into the ring and waiting for further directions. Rei crossed her arms as she looked around at everyone. If this was going where she thought it was going, then now was going to be the best time to get an idea of everyone's quirks.
"As long as you stay in the circle, anything's fine. Hurry up."
Briefly stretching his arms, Bakugou wasted no time winding up for the pitch. However, nothing had prepared Rei for the blast that ensued, winds whipping around from the fiery launch that sent the ball arching high into space.
"DIE!"
Narrowing her eyes to combat the dry winds that whipped her choppy, short hair around, she watched with interest as the ball vanished into the air, almost completely out of sight. With a click of a button, Aizawa stared at his tracker for a moment. "Knowing your limits is the best way to form a foundation for a hero." Lifting the tracker up for the class to see, a cry went up in shock. Rei's eyebrows lifted for a moment in dull surprise, though she wasn't terribly shocked like most of the class seemed to be. From the trajectory of the ball, it was about what she had expected. Crossing her arms, she stared at the first participant, trying to get a read on him.
An explosive quirk. He was opening and closing his hand, a thoughtful and dark look on his face, clearly thinking about something even as the class oohed and ahhed over his flashy display. Their reactions certainly seemed to have a small effect on him as he stood up straighter in light of the attention, but on the surface he seemed to brush it off, instead focused on his internal thoughts. It was then that he felt her eyes on him, looking up with a sharp expression and glaring at Rei, as though trying to scare her off. She merely blinked, refusing to back down and returning the look as she stared him back down, golden eyes locked with red. Rei wasn't intimidated by him persay, although his quirk certainly was something. But it would take a lot more than an intimidating look and a scowl to get a reaction out of her.
Seeming to get the idea, Bakugou scoffed, shaking his hands out and breaking eye contact first. Rei huffed amusedly, secretly counting it as a win for herself as she tossed her head to the side. If he thought that he could ward her away and intimidate her, he had a big storm coming.
"'Sounds like fun,' huh?" Turning back to their teacher, Rei noted that Aizawa's face had gone dark. "How long are you going to have those attitudes?" A wicked grin spread across his face, sending chills down Rei's spine. "Alright then. The person to come in last in all eight tests will be judged to have no talent and will be punished by expulsion."
"What?!"
Even Rei stood a little straighter, lips parting in a small gasp. Seriously? Though she didn't doubt it for a second, coming from the man in front of her. If anything, he seemed to despise joking with his deadpan tone and exhausted exterior. Of all the teachers at U.A., Aizawa was certainly the one to joke around the least.
"But this is unfair!" The brown haired girl who had been last to enter the classroom clamored, some of the other students nodding in agreement.
"Natural disasters, calamities, villains. There's a lot of unfairness in Japan. U.A. will be throwing every hardship in your direction for the next three years, so if you want to have a fun time with friends, then go somewhere else." Their homeroom teacher grinned, although instead of being encouraging or heartwarming it was rather terrifying on his face. "Go beyond, Plus Ultra. Give it everything you've got."
With every test, it seemed as though each person was able to shine through in some way. Even only at the halfway point, that much was clear. Iida without a doubt had the shortest time for the fifty meter dash, surprising everyone by clearing the distance in just over three seconds flat (although surprise may not have been the right word; the boy had engines on his calves, for heaven's sake). Then there had been Shoji with the grip strength test (Over five hundred kilos? Seriously? That Kirishima was more right in calling him a gorilla), and that Mineta guy with his… who knew what the hell that was.
Rei hovered somewhere in the middle of the pack.
It was fine by her. At this rate, she certainly wasn't going to be last in any category, making her one of the most well rounded individuals. As long as she didn't end up last in anything and tried her best, that was as much as she could do, especially to keep herself from being expelled. Still, it was a bit stinging to see so many of her peers flying past her (sometimes quite literally), their abilities and actions only serving as a reminder as to how average she was.
Undoubtedly, it was much easier to do the tests now that their quirks were no longer restricted. Frankly, Rei wasn't certain if she ever could truly do any of those testings in middle school without her quirks; how was she supposed to mimic a quirkless person doing a long jump, when she naturally jumped high? Most of middle school athletic testing had thus consisted of her halfassing or bullshitting her way through the tests.
Now, there was no option except to literally go "Plus Ultra."
The fifty meter dash had thus been… embarrassing.
Rei was a good runner. She ran all the time in her home area, mostly for fun. Her legs were her strongest card, her quirk giving her a distinct advantage when it came to jumping and running around. No matter how much she trained, she had always relied on her legs since they were her most notable feature and the easiest to use. But under the pressure to do something unexpected and use her quirk in a way that would assist her time, her brain had apparently short circuited. As the odd number in their class, she had been put at the end and raced alone.
Sliding her feet into the braces, she knew what she wanted to do. All she had to do was keep her body low to the ground in order to ensure that her directionality was maximized in the way she wanted. With her face looking forward, she squinted, preparing herself to move as fast as possible.
"Go!"
The electronic machine beeped cheerfully, setting Rei off. With her arms at her side she kept her body low to the ground, legs pushing off powerfully as her strides lengthened. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Her ears picked up the click of the machine at the end of the stretch, although she continued hurtling forward, mind too preoccupied with her next problem to even hear her time. She had hurtled forward too fast, her upper body unable to right itself.
Then the worst happened.
She tripped.
Blasting past the finish line and unable to twist her body to stop her momentum like Iida, the ground was rather rocky a bit further away from the stretch. Her ninth step had her stubbing her foot on a large pebble that was rooted solidly in the ground, sending her flying forward. Instinct taking over even as she winced, preparing in an instant for her face to meet the ground. Her arms instinctively shot under her chest and pushed up, sending her legs flying over her head as her body flipped in a high arc. Righting her posture in the air she landed in a crouch, standing up quickly and looking around in a panicked manner for a moment before calming herself, crossing her arms and catching her breath.
"Akatsuki-san! Are you okay?"
It was the brown haired girl, Uraraka, who called out first. Rei blinked slowly nodded sheepishly. "I'm fine. Thanks."
"Incredible, Akatsuki!" Other classmates cheered for her, apparently impressed. Rei only looked in confusion as she rejoined the group, looking at Uraraka.
"What was my time?"
"Four point five seconds! Waah, that was so fast, I was so scared that you weren't going to stop!" She made hand motions imitating what would have happened if Rei had continued with her momentum, crashing into some sort of wall at the end, or most likely a tree in the grove not far from the field.
Rei would never admit that she nearly thought the same. To her fortune, it appeared as though she had tricked most of the class into thinking that her somersault had been planned, breathing a sigh of relief as everyone began to move to the next station. Everything had happened in an instant, yet for Rei it had felt like an eternity. She had nearly eaten it at the finish line in front of all her peers; how was she supposed to save face and act like a hero if she did embarrassing things like that? With a scowl on her face she blended back into the group, determined to be a little more aware of her body in the next tests.
It was in the standing long jump that she redeemed herself.
After stretching her legs out, she lowered herself to the ground as much as she could, crouching in a squat that looked more like she was going to do some weeding in a garden like an old grandmother. Yet there was a glimmer in her eye; after so many years of holding back in this test, she could finally push her limits. Considering the most opportune angle for a moment more, she wriggled briefly before tensing, then exploding into the air. She launched as close to a forty-five degree angle as possible, maximizing air time while also propelling herself forward. Clearing the sandbox and sailing over it with grace, she landed in another crouch, this time much more controlled.
Turning a head to Aizawa, she blinked as he scratched something down in his notes, nodding for her to take her leave. This time, Uraraka was joined by Kaminari and the pink alien looking girl as they crowded their stormy-looking classmate. Rei jerked backward in surprise at their close proximity as they suddenly surrounded her, too enthused to be an interrogation but too close for Rei to be comfortable in the slightest.
"Wow, you seriously leap so high, Akatsuki-san!"
"What's your quirk called?"
Rei blinked once, then twice before speaking slowly. "Nine Lives."
"Ehh, is that like a cat reference?"
"A cat? Where's your tail?"
Rei scowled. "I don't have one." Thankfully, she was saved from the trouble as Uraraka pointed back to the jump, watching the boy with the naval laser get ready to take the leap. Wriggling away and making her way through the crowd, she made her way to the fringes of the group, content to watch things from afar. Frankly, she wasn't sure what to make of Uraraka and other, friendly people in her class. If they wanted to be friends, they would be disappointed. If they wanted to mess with her, they would be even worse off.
"Oi."
Turning her head, she watched as Bakugou stalked towards her. He stopped just short of her, a scowl on his face. He was a full head taller than her, forcing Rei to crane her neck up, much to her irritation. Rei imagined that there was rarely any other expression on him, from what she could see about his personality and carriage, but watched carefully for any other glimpses of emotions or reactions. For the most part he seemed calm, a completely different side from what she had seen of him antagonizing Iida. Arms crossed once again she turned to face him fully, raising an eyebrow in interest. "Yeah?"
A sneer came over his face as he looked down his nose at Rei. "You're that second ranked student from the entrance exam, aren't you."
Something about his attitude ruffled her feathers, but Rei tried to keep her calm. "I am."
"You better stay out of my way."
Surprise clearly crossed her features, Rei sincerely caught off guard. "Sorry?"
"I'm here to become the number one hero. There's no room for you up here. So stay out of my way, or else I'll beat you down." Apparently having finished what he wanted to say, he turned on his heel, walking back toward a group of boys to watch the rest of the tests.
That was fine. She would just let him be.
"If that's how you think of others, you won't be up there for long."
Rei winced internally, screaming at herself mentally. Her and her big mouth.
Bakugou froze in his steps, slowly turning around and looking rather shocked that someone had dared backtalk to him.
"The hell'd you just say?"
Rolling her eyes, Rei held her ground. Might as well give him a piece of her mind while she had his attention. "You're assuming you have to knock everyone down to get to the top. Someone who burns the foundation will have nowhere to stand in the end." Fearless, she stepped closer toward him, closing the distance and watching in amusement as the surprise that briefly registered on his face before being replaced with another scowl. "I don't care that you want to be a top hero. I have no intention of chasing after the top. But even the strongest bullies have their henchmen to support them from the bottom."
She jumped just a bit as the sound of explosions rang out, Bakugou's hands firing away small rounds as he growled. "I can handle it all on my own."
"Oh really?"
"What're you trying to say?"
"Figure it out, Mr. Top Ranked. I'm sure if you've got it all together as you say, you can figure anything out."
"I don't like your tone-"
"Then go somewhere else. You started this."
With a huff and a growl he stormed away, leaving Rei by herself once again. Breathing a sigh of relief, she looked back to the group of students clustered around the standing long jump. From what it seemed, they were almost done.
Just what exactly had Bakugou wanted? Spouting nonsense about wanting to be the number one hero; of course a lot of people had that dream, but not everyone. By the way he spoke though, it was as though he wanted to absolutely destroy everyone here and leave them in the dust. He acted as though everyone were beneath him. Rei's hands clenched in anger. There were few people in her life that Rei had met that had the same attitude in life as Bakugou, and almost every single one of them knew her fist better than they knew her or she knew them.
She didn't want that. She didn't want to make enemies at school, of all places. Rei was done with the conflict, of having to dodge and weave between people in and out of school grounds, of having to constantly watch her back. After being accepted to U.A., she had imagined that she had finally put all of that behind her; surely the students here were above antagonizing their peers. They wanted to be heroes, damn it! Shouldn't they learn to work with one another and like one another?
But the more she thought about it now, the more she realized that it was too high of an order. The real world was filled with conflict, of antagonizers and of bullies. Rei knew the reality of having to watch one's back twenty-four seven. Just because U.A. was filled with the best of the best didn't mean the people were always going to work well with one another.
Rei hoped that Bakugou wouldn't end up being an enemy. A bit of regret picked away at her chest, but her pride was too big to let it move her to any other actions. She absolutely meant what she had said, and she would stand by it. From the moment their eyes had met that morning she knew that he was tough, knew that he wouldn't take any bullshit. The two of them were the same in that respect. As she watched him angrily storm off, she swallowed hard, looking to the ground and kicking at the dirt. She would have to be more careful moving forward now. She didn't want any friends, but she certainly didn't want any enemies.
Little did she realize exactly how hypocritical she was.
"It doesn't look good for Midoriya-kun if he continues like this."
The shy boy had been standing in the circle for a while now, just staring at the ball in his hands, seemingly lost in thought. Everyone was waiting patiently at the sides, quietly, though some talked amongst themselves. Rei had made her way to the front of the group in order to see more clearly, placing her between Iida and Uraraka. At least now she was less irritated with the perfect prep boy; he was clearly suited to become a hero, and had become much more serious and quiet after the test had been announced. There was a quiet focus and analysis that Rei found herself admiring, and even she found that she didn't mind standing next to him now.
But his comment caught her off guard.
"Ehh? Of course not." Apparently she wasn't the only one. Bakugou stood on the other side of Iida, looking skeptically at the motor based quirk wielder. "He's a quirkless small fry."
Interest piqued, Rei peered around Iida's hulking frame to look at Bakugou, interest on her face. "Quirkless?"
The caramine eyed boy stared at Rei calmly, opening his mouth to respond. Surprisingly he didn't seem terribly ruffled at her presence, the opposite of what Rei had expected from him. But Iida was the one who responded quickest, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Quirkless? Are you not aware of what he did at the entrance exam?"
"Huhh?"
Standing up straight again, Rei looked at Iida in confusion and curiosity. "What happened?"
Iida simply pointed to Midoriya, who was winding up for his throw. The class watched with bated breath and high expectation, anxious to see what the average looking boy would do.
"Forty-six meters!"
Silence. Rei watched as confusion and panic settled into Midoriya's face as he turned to see what everyone was now staring at. Their homeroom teacher had a bizarre aura to him, the scarf on his neck expanding to float around him as a bunch of ribbons. No one could see his face, but realization slowly dawned on Midoriya's.
"Eraserhead!"
The class scattered into confusion, talk breaking out amongst themselves as they attempted to figure out exactly who their teacher was. Rei watched as Aizawa pulled Midoriya closer to him using his ribbons, giving some directions that only the two of them could hear. As Midoriya walked back to the circle, a bit more shaken now that he had been temporarily put out of commission, Rei looked back to Iida.
"What were you saying about the entrance exam?"
Turning his full attention back to Rei, the look on his face was serious. "When the zero point machine came out, he launched himself into the air and punched it so hard, the machine crumpled and was broken. It looked like he was trying to save Uraraka-san from being hurt."
Rei stiffened. "With one hit?"
"Yes." Iida looked back at Midoriya, a severe look coming across his face now. "But his limbs were completely broken in the process. It was as though he didn't know how to control his quirk."
Silence was all Rei could offer as she processed all the information. Bakugou had stated that Midoriya was quirkless, but apparently his quirk was incredibly strong. How had he pulled that off? Had he tricked everyone into thinking he was quirkless for all these years? That seemed impossible and improbable. Was it latent? Rei had never heard of anyone developing a quirk after elementary school, let alone during junior high. That theory was the least improbable so far, and it would explain why he was so inexperienced. Midoriya couldn't control his quirk, that much was obvious.
Rei watched the boy carefully as he stared back at the ball again. So it seemed that he was back to square one. After the admonishment from Aizawa-sensei, he seemed to be in a bit more of an agonizing situation. If Iida was right and his quirk took that much out of him, then he would immediately be immobilized, making him a weakness and easy target on the field of battle. It seemed as though Aizawa knew that much, and was forcing him to rethink his situation. Watching the green haired boy contemplate his next move drew a bit of sympathy from Rei. To make it all this way, only to be faced with expulsion at this point. That was rough.
Finally readying up with a look of determination on his face, Midoriya wound up for the delivery. The class held their breath, watching with anticipation to see what he would do.
The ball hurtled through the air explosively.
Startled at the sudden blast and subsequent winds that whipped through the field, Rei watch along with the class with bated breath as the ball sailed high into the air, landing a great distance away. Aizawa, after a long moment of staring at the tracker, held up the counter for everyone to see.
"What?! Over seven hundred meters?"
"That's almost as far as Bakugou's throw!"
"Incredible! Who knew that he could do such a thing!"
As the class exploded into another cacophony of sounds, Rei simply watched with a tiny grin on her face, though it looked a little dark as it mixed with her full expression. So Midoriya was smart, that much was obvious. She watched as he clenched his hand, his pointer finger looking severely damaged but the rest of him otherwise unscathed. From what she and the others had apparently been expecting, they had thought that his entire arm would have been out of commission, but he surprised them all by limiting his quirk to his finger.
Just what exactly was his quirk? Being able to focus it to certain parts of the body and having the flexibility to gauge how much energy he wanted to throw in was certainly a blessed thing. Unlike others who often had to give it their all depending on their quirk, Midoriya was able to focus where he wanted to expend energy. Even if it was reckless, and Rei had to agree with Iida that it looked as though he was for the most part unable to control it, it certainly had potential to go far.
But why couldn't he control it?
Triumphantly, Midoriya looked at their homeroom teacher, clenching wrist in his other hand with a shaky smile on his face. "Sensei, I can still move!"
So that was the intention behind their teacher's interruption; Rei had assumed as much, since from what Iida had told her, Midoriya had been out of commission during the entrance exam after his explosive move. It had been a dare to get him to rethink his theory and to see if he really had what it took to become a hero, even with a disadvantage. From what Rei saw, he passed with flying colors. Only the end would tell though.
Suddenly Bakugou broke away from the group, hands igniting and spitting furious flames. "The hell Deku?! Tell me what's going on, you bastard!"
It had been so fast, no one had any time to react. No one, save for Aizawa. With lightning speed the quirk erasing hero sent his cloth strips flying, latching onto Bakugou's head and limbs and pulling him tight. The fiery blonde boy could only twitch in the vice grip, muttering as he strained against the taut pull. "What the-these cloths are damn hard-"
"They're weapons for capture made of carbon fiber woven together with a metal wire made of a special alloy." Grumpily, he pulled them even tighter for a moment, attitude gone dark. "Don't make me keep using my quirk over and over. I have dry eye!" After holding on for a moment to ensure that everyone had gotten the message, he called the wires back and relaxed his quirk, his nonchalant attitude coming back as he waved on the next person. "Whoever's next, hurry up."
The next person was called, and as Midoriya rejoined the group he was surrounded by Iida and Uraraka, along with a few others. Left alone again, Rei focused on the test. How was she to approach this? Her throwing was a bit better than average, but she wanted to go further. As long as she stayed in the circle…
The monotone voice of their teacher had her moving forward quickly, moving with a purpose as she accepted the ball and moved into the ring. It was her turn now. Stretching her arms and legs out briefly, she took a moment to look at the field. She would want to aim at a high angle, but not so high that it would detract from the overall distance gained. If that was it…
Jumping high into the air, Rei threw the ball as hard as she could at the highest peak of her leap, watching in satisfaction as she dropped back to the ground and followed the ball's trajectory with her eyes. Landing in a crouch she watched as it finally hit the ground, head swiveling to Aizawa's tracker for the final result.
"Two-hundred thirty seven meters." He showed the tracker's results to her, and Rei nodded her head. It was nothing like Midoriya or Bakugou, but it was enough to satisfy her and ensure that she wasn't in last place. With a curt nod of her head she headed back to the group, their horde moving along to the next activity.
Back to business.
The electronic projection flickered to life in front of the entire class.
"So, here's the results from today."
5th Place: Akatsuki Rei
Blinking a few times, Rei stared at the results, scanning up and down to get a feel for the rest of the class. Of course Yaoyorozu was placed in first, with that Todoroki boy in second. Bakugou was also listed near the top, with Iida following in fourth. It made sense that those four had placed in the top four, what with their quirks giving them distinct advantages in speed and strength (except for Yaoyorozu, who had literally exceeded all expectations due to the nature of her creative quirk). To end up in fifth place without a flashy or incredibly strong quirk…
Well, the more that she thought about it, the more the answer seemed obvious. After the top few students, most of the other students tended to have one area of specialty, or their quirks simply weren't suited for the physicality of the test. With Rei she was more of a balanced individual, not quite standing out yet not having all of her apples in one basket.
Satisfied with the result, she continued to comb through the list until she came to the bottom, a frown coming on her face as she looked at Midoriya Izuku's name in twenty-first place. So even with the ball throw he still had ranked last. Even though it was none of her business, Rei felt pity for the boy. After everything he had given, the smarts he had demonstrated in controlling his quirk to enable him to finish the test, he still ended up at the bottom.
Expulsion. Even Rei didn't want that for the boy.
The screen flickered away, Aizawa tucking the device into his pocket.
"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion."
A pause. Then, outrage and confusion.
"What?!"
"No way…"
"I thought for sure…"
"It's obvious, if you thought about it more."
"Well, that was a fun challenge!"
Turning away from the class, Aizawa began walking away. "There's packets in the classroom with the curriculum. Look them over." He paused in front of Midoriya, handing him a doctor's note before disappearing around the corner and leaving the class to mingle.
While the rest of the class began to relax, Rei immediately began walking toward the classroom. If this was the end of the first day, she would take advantage of the early time and head back. Moving with purpose she strode away from the cluster, heading back to change out of her athletic uniform so she could get a move on. By the time the rest of the girls entered the changing room she was already moving out and on to the classroom to pick up her belongings and the packet Aizawa-sensei had mentioned.
It had been a lie. The test, that was. It was all Rei could think about as she strode through the empty hallways, musing over the day's events. There was no plan for anyone to be expelled. Or so Aizawa-sensei had stated. For some reason Rei wasn't sure what to believe; on one hand, it was unfair if any of the students had worked so hard to get into U.A., only to be rejected. But hadn't their teacher brought up the unfairnesses and injustices in the world? Rei doubted that he had said such things only to reinforce a lie. Perhaps he had been serious about the expulsion, but maybe he had seen something in Midoriya. Even if he had finished in last place, it was undeniable that he showed promised, room for growth.
So why did she feel unsettled? Perhaps it had something to do with her classmates, the competition, the setting. By all rights it had been a competition, and only the strongest would have survived. But as Rei stood on the fringes and watched their interactions, most people had been content to encourage one another and talk casually even in the midst of the battle. Was it because they were so confident in their abilities that even talking with their competitors had no effect on them? No, Rei didn't think that was the case; Uraraka in particular seemed… a bit blundering at times, and simply seemed vibrant twenty-four seven as a result of just who she was.
Why was everyone so friendly, so kind? In a top ranked school where everyone was seeking to be a hero, it only made sense that everyone was a threat. No, no, no; shaking her head, she put those thoughts away. That sounded like Bakugou's attitude, and Rei was almost certain that wasn't the case. Entering the classroom and striding over to one desk that had a stack of papers, she plucked a packet from the top before going to her own desk to pick up her backpack.
Everyone in the class had different goals, of that Rei was certain. But why was everyone so friendly, so willing to talk at be at ease?
That boy she had rescued from the zero point robot during the entrance exam was the first case. Kaminari didn't have to thank her, or go out of his way to be friendly. Neither did Uraraka, who had shown concern for Rei's near screw up during the fifty meter dash. What was the catch?
It was in the shoe room as she packed up silently that it hit her; everyone came from a different background. Most everyone didn't know each other from before, save for maybe Midoriya and Bakugou. It was a clean slate, a fresh start, where no one knew anyone well. Friendship: that was what most people seemed to want, the very thing that Aizawa had warned about in contrast to the rigorous years ahead. And still that warning didn't seem to phase many. Everyone wanted to get to know each other, and it was in that fact that Rei knew she was going to be an outsider once more.
Rei was a loner. Not by choice, in the beginning of her academic career, but it was a mantle she had assumed. Where she was from, no one wanted anything to do with the leftover children, the forgotten ones, the unwanted kids. Who did? They were the stigma, the black smear on Japanese society. If even their parents didn't want them, who would? Rei had only one friend growing up in the orphanage, and after losing her Rei was left utterly alone.
Friends were a luxury Rei could not afford. That fact had not changed. Once people got to know her they would surely step away. She brought no merit, had nothing to offer. So she accepted the fact that she would linger behind everyone else, watching from afar.
That didn't matter. In the long term, she just needed to gain enough attention to warrant a job somewhere so that she could survive. She didn't need anyone, especially if they didn't need her.
If that was the case, then why did her chest ache?
Left to mull over her thoughts, she brooded the entire way back home. There was plenty of time to think on the train ride home, and Rei found a corner in the back of one of the cars. She spaced out in her own world, not wanting to think about anything specific for the time being. Even as she got off the train and walked through the familiar streets she remained in a daze, trying to avoid everything for as long as possible until the gate came into view.
In the middle of a residential district, the two story building looked almost exactly like any other house on the block. Though a little bit bigger to compensate for all the inhabitants, it was humbly painted and just barely kept in shape, with the front yard littered with weeds and various sticks and branches that the children collected and used in their games. She passed through the metallic front gate, shuffling into the front door and removing her shoes before padding down the hallway. Muttering her greetings to the empty space she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom.
The room was in the middle of the hall, facing the front of the building. To her fortune, Rei had been given her own room upon entering high school, a first since she had been in the orphanage. Most of the other girls and boys her age and older had already left, only a few stragglers who had attempted high school or were simply looking for jobs lingering behind. Throwing her bag next to her desk, Rei opened the window before taking a seat, sorting through the packet she picked up and reading through it carefully. There was no point in giving it to any of the adults in the building; Rei knew the headmaster would immediately throw it away, and any of the other workers were much too busy with the smaller children and other duties to even care about it. With a sigh she pressed on in the dim room, the only light coming from the window in front of her.
This was her reality for the next three years. She might as well buckle down and accept it from the beginning.
AN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't updated for months, and I'm sure some people were expecting me to update that Overwatch story or post the sequel to Limitless. But I've gotten kind of distracted; the sequel to Limitless will eventually come out, I promise. But it might be a while, if I'm going to be honest. My focus has shifted to other genres and such.
Anyway, this story is actually just a dump (you can tell b/c I have no titles for the chapters, lol). I have no idea where I'm going with it, and I'm not really happy with it. However, I've written twenty-three chapters. So... I guess it's better to post this crap instead of hoarding it to myself where it'll never see the light of day?
I wrote over 200K+ in January, so here's a taste of what I was doing. Thanks for y'all who have been patient with me.
Enjoy? Let me know what y'all think. Please leave a comment or a review, or anything. :)
Edit (May 20th, 2019): Made grammatical, spelling, and minor changes to sentences and structure
