Sour Candy and Bubblegum

By Jenni Hagen

Chapter 1

The New Hero

The bell rang and class began. Class 1-A at UA high school were all in their seats. Some were quietly conversing, like Tooru Hagakure, asking Jiro for help on homework she hadn't started on that was due the next day, despite the homework being assigned a month ago. Some were observing the classroom, like Tenya Iida, keeping special note of Bakugo, since he hadn't done anything major in a while and that wasn't usually a good sign. And of course, there was Mineta Minoru, who was being a piece of shit and that's all there ever is to say about him.

But most importantly, there was Mina Ashido, a young girl with a rather astounding quirk and a bizarre appearance who, despite how much she may stand out to you or I, tends to go unnoticed. However, she was fine with this. She didn't need to be the most popular, or the strongest, or the one who was always starting something. She was happy with just being the happy, spunky, energetic member of her friend group. And yes, she did have quite a few friends! There was one of her best friends, Ochako Uraraka, on top of a few other girls she was planning on hanging out with over the summer, such as Asui Tsuyu and the aforementioned Hagakure. She was even considered friends to Bakugo, well, as much as Bakugo can consider someone a friend.

But despite all this, Mina felt as though she was missing something in her life. She couldn't put a finger on it, but she felt as though something was needed to make her truly feel whole. Something that could really make her feel… Wanted.

"Alright, sit down or salute or whatever, I honestly don't care, as long as you do all your academic things and do good work as a hero once you get out into the world it's fine." Aizawa had entered the room. Although maybe he was already there. He did smell like he was covered in sweat after waking up. He quickly scanned the room and made sure everyone was there. "Midoriya's here… Hagakure's here, I think… And Minoru, sadly…" Aizawa made his feelings towards the students clear.

"Alright, first order of business is a bit unusual, especially for how absurdly late into the year we are, but hey who cares. It's not like anything makes sense anymore anyways." Aizawa began applying his eye drops. He was feeling a bit sluggish this morning and wanted to at least feel something other than dread this early, so wet eyeballs would have to do.

"S-sorry I'm late!" A nervous voice came from the doorway as the door opened. The source of the voice was unseen but Mina found it somewhat… Alluring. It was feminine and, again, shy, but with a bit of masculinity and determination. She could tell that whoever was on the other side of the door was incredibly nervous, and yet also excited.

Aizawa's eyebrows raised slightly, before returning to their default position. "It's fine. Your timing is actually kind of perfect. Come on, get in here."

"U-um… Okay…" The source of the voice walked through the door, and Mina saw the cutest girl she'd ever seen. She had long, wavy brown hair that was reminiscent of statues of gods, blue eyes that were like an endless ocean of beauty, lips that looked like elegant riverbanks, and every step she took you could tell she was marching towards a better future for herself. Mina was flabbergasted, and she wasn't the only one. Uraraka thought the girl looked like a fairy tale princess, and the only words in Tsuyu's mind to describe her was "She looks nice". It's Tsuyu, did you expect a Steven King novel?

"Alright, even though I know Summer vacation is coming up pretty soon, I'm happy to introduce… UA's newest student. Please introduce yourself. We can hold a showing off of your quirk now if you want but regardless of whether or not you want to, it's gonna happen eventually."

The girl stared out into the class. She saw people unlike anyone he'd ever seen before. "H-hi… My name… Is Ava… Harris…" Even Mina could tell she was nervous, and Mina thought that mall santas were the real deal until she was 14. "I… I hope we can… be… friends…"

Aizawa put his hand on her shoulder. "Alright, that's enough. Just sit in your new desk next to…" Aizawa saw where Ava's desk was set next to. "... Yaoyorozu, why did you put Harris' desk next to Mineta?"

"Why did you put my desk next to him?" Yaoyorozu had been disgruntled about her desk placement all year and hoped it might change at some point during her time at school.

"Fair enough, but still cruel." Mineta was too far into his dreamstate of being sandwiched between two cute girls to focus on the negative comments being slung at him. "Any brave souls willing to sacrifice themselves?"

"I'll do it." Kaminari Denki stood up. "I'm pretty good at keeping the little dude in check."

"Denki, you're a braver man than I could ever be. I'll just say you got a B on the assignment for today you inevitably didn't do." As Denki danced over to his new seat, Mina realized what this meant. The new girl, the one she thought was so cute, was going to be sitting right next to her. She was absurdly excited.

Ava sat down next to Mina. "Um… Hi." Ava seemed even more nervous than before.

"Hi!" Mina cheerfully greeted her. "I'm Mina Ashido." Immediately after seeing how friendly the first student she spoke with was, Ava cracked a bit of a smile, before a look of wonderment.

"Woah… You have horns…" Ava had clearly never seen anyone quite like Mina.

"Oh, these old things? Yeah. Heh, I honestly kind of keep forgetting they're there… At least, until I have to put on a hat…"

"They're really cute…"

"Huh?" Mina definitely wasn't expecting that response.

"Alright, everybody calm down. So yeah, Ava here transferred from America." Everyone oohed and aahed in response. They'd rarely gotten to work with anyone who wasn't 100% Japanese. "Hey, hey, what did I just say? Anyways, apparently Ava is going through some personal problems back home and her school is going through money problems. We received a personal recommendation for her from one of Principal Nezu's friends in the states." People were even more surprised. Not only was she American, but she got in on a letter of recommendation?

"I'm not convinced." Everyone turned to Bakugo. He was leaning back in his chair and staring at Ava. "There's no way a meek chick like her can get into the most prestigious goddamn hero school on earth." Bakugo looked around himself. "Though, disappointment coming from here seems to be a recurring theme."

Everyone was mad at Bakugo, especially Mina. She had just made a new friend and Bakugo already puts her down? Mina looked at Ava and saw her looking down, trying to hide the tears forming in her eyes. Mina was ready to lash out at Bakugo, but Aizawa was the first one to speak up. "Bakugo, that's enough. If you want to see Harris' quirk, we'll perform a test." Ava looked surprised. She had no clue this would happen this quickly. "Iida, could you get the punch strength detector… thing out of the gym closet?"

"I would be happy to, Mr. Aizawa!", and just like that, he was gone. Off to the gym closet to get a piece of equipment.

"Alright. Harris, could you show a basic use of your quirk first?"

"O-okay…" Ava was clearly worried about messing up in front of everyone. She didn't know how she could, she just knew it would happen somehow. She stood up and just stood there for a while, sweat beading down her face, when suddenly she felt someone to her right tugging on her skirt.

It was Mina, the closest thing she had to a friend in this school, and she was giving her a look that was only reserved for when she felt an especially large amount of faith in someone. It was a look of "you can do it." Ava nodded at her and began to raise her right arm all the way up. Once the arm was all the way up, she took her left arm and began to twist her right arm counter-clockwise, slowly extending her arm until she could touch the ceiling. As soon as she touched the ceiling, she retracted her forearm and some modest clapping came from the classroom.

The light noise created by the clapping was eventually broken by one person. "That was it? You gotta be shitting me!" Bakugo was speaking up again. This time Mina was fully ready to let him have it, as she got up and…

"Mr. Aizawa! I've brought what you wanted!"

"Ah, thanks, Iida." Aizawa set up a large punching bag by the front of the classroom. To the right of the punching bag was an electronic counter, almost like a digital clock. "Alright. Ojiro, move out of Harris' way." Ojiro quickly obliged. He had no clue what was about to happen, but he didn't want to be any part of it. "Okay, Harris. Show 'em what you're made of." Ava nodded and took her right arm in her left arm. Quickly, almost like a drill removing a screw, she spun her right arm, and to everyone's surprise, it came out faster than they could see. When they looked at the counter, it was at its maximum value, 999 psi. "I swear, we need to get a new one of these… Well, Bakugo? Are you satisfied?" Bakugo was avoiding eye contact with everyone, as Ava received resounding applause.

"Agh… It does a lot of damage but it tends to hurt a bit…"

"Ava! That was amazing!" Mina was smiling at Ava and cheering her on, trying to not be too disruptive, but also trying to make Ava realize how impressed and proud she was. Ava was blushing. Not only had she wooed most of the class within a few minutes, but she had already made her first friend.

About that… When Ava looked into Mina's eyes, she didn't just see a friend. She saw someone… Who was looking for her. Someone who wanted someone like her that they could protect. Someone they could hold on to when the night gets cold. Mina wanted… Love.

End of Chapter 1