Chapter One
Please head into this chapter with the fact that I know next to nothing about stars, and all the information written here is a combination of things I made up and info I got from researching in mind.
Total word count this chapter (not including the ANs): 3330
Disclaimer: I do not own BnHA.
Hopefully you enjoy my first attempt at a BnHA fanfic, I'm hoping I didn't do too badly.
"Do you think I can be a hero?"
She let out a huff. "Why did it take so long to checkout of the hospital?"
The girl kept her footsteps going, running to join the large crowd of students around a certain building.
"If only I had come earlier...probably could have avoided thiscrowd," she muttered, strands of her icy-blue hair getting loose from her braid.
"Do you think even somebody quirkless like me, can become a hero?"
Keeping her head low, she ducked between other people, footsteps slowly coming to a halt as she came to stand before an unnecessarily large school building.
"Of course, you can."
A humorless grin split the bluenette's face, as she let out a few short pants.
"Like I always say, the greatest of heroes aren't the ones with the strongest of quirks."
She wondered how long it had been since she last saw a school, let alone visiting one. The gold lettering on the gate boldly read, "U.A.".
"They're the ones with the biggest of hearts."
She idly thought about the examination while she made her way down the pavement.
"Remember that always, alright Izu-chan?"
It didn't exactly matter what the practical examination was supposed to be-she just needed to do well enough, quoting a certain mouse.
Though I have no idea what the principal's idea of well enough is.
The bluenette tugged at her scarf, staring off into space, barely registering the other middle schoolers streaming into the school ground.
"H-hoshiko?"
Yes, that's my name-
-wait what?
She spun around to find herself face-to-face with a very familiar head of green.
A head of green she hadn't seen for a very long time.
Hoshiko blinked, tilting her head.
"Izu-chan?"
Then the realization of who exactly it was standing in front of her finally hit.
"Izu-chan! Wow, long time no see!" Hoshiko chirped, waving.
The boy-Midoriya Izuku-stuttered out a bewildered hello, looking quite out of his depth.
"Are you applying to U.A. too?" She asked, taking a few steps over to her friend.
"Huh? Yeah, I am...but wait, Hoshiko, I haven't seen you in over a year; you just suddenly transferred out of school and-"
Poor boy is starting to ramble.
She sighed, elbowing Izuku in the side. "Yes, yes, Izu-chan, I know. But we're blocking the road, so if you would just walk…?"
Finally seeming to gather his wits, the boy nodded. After another moment or two, Hoshiko deemed it alright to initiate conversation without a freak-out on Izuku's end.
"So, if you're here, does that mean Kacchan is here too?" She wondered aloud, looking at the green-haired boy in question.
He gripped the straps of his bag tightly. "Yeah, though Kacchan wasn't too happy about my applying here…" he trailed off at the end, and Hoshiko didn't know why she was even surprised.
"Besides that, how have you been, Hoshiko?" He asked, changing the subject.
Hoshiko shrugged, letting it slide. "Eh, I've been fine."
(Not fine, not after everything, not after losing-)
(You're fine.)
(I'm fine.)
Their conversation continued with the same easy air, the pair exchanging information and catching up, all the way until they reached the hall.
There, Hoshiko was surprised at the lack of the presence of one very volatile blond.
"What the fuck, Snowy?!"
Nevermind, there he was. Predictably, his rather loud exclamation drew the attention of the other examinees, who turned their eyes to them.
"Good to see you too, Kacchan," she deadpanned, though the feeling was definitely not mutual.
"Fuck you, it's not good to see you!" Bakugō "Don't Fucking Call Me Kacchan" Katsuki shouted, pointing at her.
"And I see your vocabulary is as vulgar as ever," Hoshiko continued mildly, nudging Izuku forward when he hesitated, unsure of what to do.
"You left the shitty school without giving me my rematch, Snowy! I better damn get that re-oi, are you fucking ignoring me?"
Yes, yes she was.
(Not like she would say that out loud, she wasn't suicidal.)
"This wasn't what I expected on my first day of school," she exhaled, sliding into her assigned seat.
Which was to the left of Izuku and a seat away from Katsuki. And poor Izuku was feeling the full force of his friend's venomous glares which were supposed to be reserved for Hoshiko.
She slouched further into her seat.
Well, today is just going to be a great day.
The examination orientation commenced slightly after. The lights slowly flickered on one by one, once everybody was seated, revealing the pro hero, Present Mic, standing on the stage. The U.A. symbol flashed on the screen just behind him, displaying itself in just as bold and attention-catching letters as it had been on the school gates.
"For all you examinee listeners tuning in today, welcome to my show! Everybody say 'hey'!" He declared with much enthusiasm, enthusiasm that was not shared by any of the examinees.
As was evident when all the hero got in response to his opening sentence was the awkward silence permeating the hall.
Hoshiko almost felt bad for him, but was tempted to ask do you need me to bring the crickets?
She held her tongue, just barely, only allowing a small snort to escape her.
"What a refined response," Present Mic muttered, "then I'll quickly present to you the basic rundown of the practical examination."
With an ever-present grin plastered onto his face, he continued. "Are you ready? Yeah!"
Hoshiko slowly brought a palm up to rest on her forehead, even more so when she heard the awed mutterings from her green-haired friend.
"Izu-chan, people are staring," she whispered in warning.
Hoshiko continued listening with the vaguest of interest, only pausing to check her examination card once.
"I'm in battle center D," she informed the two sitting next to her. Izuku ended up in center B, and Katsuki in A.
So they separate the people from the same middle school to prevent potential cooperation.
"It makes sense, I guess," Hoshiko hummed thoughtfully, only for her attention to be redirected to a bespectacled teen two rows in front of her, who had stood up and was raising his hand.
"Excuse me, may I ask a question?" He shouted, unflinching as the spotlight landed on him. "On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint then U.A., the most prominent school in all of Japan, should be ashamed of their mistake-in the first place, we examinees are here to be molded into exemplary heroes!"
Hoshiko's first impression of the blue-haired teen was, this is the kid who points out that it should be you're and not your during an examination.
Then, the youth turned to point at Izuku. "And you, the one with the curly hair. Your muttering is distracting. If you're here on a pleasure trip, you should leave immediately!"
Snickers could be heard from the rows around them as Izuku covered his mouth in embarrassment, apologizing incessantly. Hoshiko offered him a consolidatory pat on the back.
"Okay, examinee 7111," why does he know the examinee's exact number, "thanks for the great message!" Present Mic shot the teen a thumbs-up.
"I wouldn't call it great," Hoshiko shook her head, brows furrowed, "you okay, Izu-chan?"
The green-haired boy was blushing from the tip of his ears, but bobbed his head anyways.
"The fourth type of villain is worth zero points-an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle. An obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to do so either. I recommend you listeners avoid it."
The bespectacled teen bowed sharply, thanking Present Mic before sitting down once more.
Present Mic cleared his throat, having finished the briefing. "Finally, I'll give you listeners a present-our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortune'."
(You're not a hero.)
(A hero overcomes life's misfortune.)
(You never did.)
(You just run and run and run 'till you fall.)
Hoshiko lowered her head, her side-swept bangs falling even further down.
(Not a hero, never a hero.)
She clenched her fists and let out a breath.
(You can just pretend to be one.)
"Go beyond; plus ultra! Now everyone, good luck in suffering!"
(Good luck in pretending.)
Hoshiko turned to Izuku and Katsuki, smiling despite her heavy thoughts. "Good luck, the both of you! Hopefully we all pass together."
(But you don't need the luck, do you?)
Ignoring Katsuki's scowl as he cursed loudly, Hoshiko stood from her seat, stretching.
(Because once the mask slips on, it never comes off.)
She followed the steady stream of students leaving the hall, blending in easily.
(And nobody will even notice as you break, break, and shatter from behind your mask.)
"After all, I brought this upon myself," Hoshiko mumbled, clasping her hands together.
(And you'll just have to bear with it.)
Midoriya Izuku stared at his childhood friend as she slowly disappeared into the crowd of students, after she had wished him good luck.
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
Yuki Hoshiko had been (literally) the only female friend he had, the only one who didn't look down on him for being quirkless.
Averting his gaze to the blond behind him, Midoriya asked, "Hey, Kacchan? Do you think that Hoshiko is...different somehow?"
Katsuki snorted in response. "Why the fuck would I care? Damn Snowy could roll over and die for all I care."
Why did I even think of asking him?
"Right, right, sorry…" He responded out of habit.
She seems the same as ever…
His mind flashed back to Hoshiko's violet eyes, one half of the pair now covered by her icy blue hair.
If that's the case...
"Oi, Deku! Hurry the fuck up, you're blocking the way!"
Then why did her eyes seem so empty?
Hoshiko whistled lowly as she looked up at the towering gates of the battle center, paying no heed to the other impressed whisperings going around.
"I mean, I knew U.A. was impressive but this is really something else…"
The ponytailed ginger-haired stood next to her turned to look at her next. "Hey don't you think so too?"
Hoshiko blinked. "Ah...yeah, maybe."
Very eloquent there, me.
The ginger-head simply grinned in response. "By the way, I'm Kendō Itsuka."
Hoshiko gave the newly-identified Kendō a polite smile. "Yuki Hoshikō. Nice to meet you, Kendō-san."
If possible, Kendō's grin widened further. "Likewise. Good luck for the practical examination, Yuki-san!"
The bluenette's eyes trailed away for a moment, as she nodded.
I guess…
"Good luck to you, too, Kendō-san-but I don't think it's necessary. You seem like a strong person," she replied, not the slightest bit of a lie in her statement.
Kendō laughed, teal eyes gleaming competitively. "Thanks! But, y'know, I don't plan on failing the exam."
Hoshiko shrugged. "I don't expect you to."
...wanting to compete with others is fine, once in a while.
Then, a loud declaration of, "start!" drew their attention back to the gates.
Slowly, they creaked open.
And suddenly all anybody thought about was the exam, as the group, all of different stature and builds, rushed forward.
Hoshiko inhaled deeply, before her chest ceased its slight pattern of rise and fall, and she cleared her mind of any unnecessary thoughts.
The first obstacle is the act of getting past the gates itself.
And the bluenette did so, easily slipping under everybody else's radar, all the examinees too busy caught up in their search for robots to destroy.
Now, how many points do I need to pass?
Hoshiko released the breath she had been holding, rounding the corner to see a one-point robot steadily approaching.
As good as a place to start as anywhere else.
The sun was shining brightly, and they had been sent to an open-air area, which was probably as best as terrain conditions could get for her.
As if it were second nature, multiple bright, glowing, star-like orbs appeared at the tip of her fingers, and Hoshiko sent them flying towards the robot without a second thought. On contact, they immediately detonated and sent the robot crashing.
One point, just like that.
It was, Hoshiko considered, repeating the same actions as she came across another robot, this time a slightly bigger and menacing two-pointer, a bit too easy.
So there's something else the examiners are waiting to set loose.
Her suspicious gaze flickered skyward as another robot froze and crashed.
What are you planning?
Her footsteps led her to an open clearing, where many of the examinees were gathered. Immediately, a cacophony of noises assaulted her ears, and Hoshiko frowned at the absolute chaos filling the area.
Smoke rising, fallen parts everywhere, explosions, now all we need is some dramatic music, she mused.
A group of robots had surrounded her, the other examinees busy with their own foes.
I can afford to show off, a little.
With that thought in mind, she brought both her hands close together and they glowed brightly, forming a star the size of her palm. She flicked her wrist, and the star shot forward to the center of the huddle of machinery as Hoshiko herself leapt backwards, knowing what was going to happen next.
And right on cue, the star burst into a myriad of colors, heat and sparks flying everywhere, the fallen robotic parts themselves flying back as the shockwaves hit.
The supernova is looking as pretty as ever, she thought flippantly, completely unconcerned at the mass destruction she had just caused.
(It was her quirk, after all. She had to get used to it, one way or another.)
"That's...how many? Three, six, fifteen, eighteen and added to the three I have...twenty one, about half of the amount I need for a decent score," she muttered under her breath, looking up when she heard the footsteps of another next to her.
"Wow, that was impressive, Yuki-san," Kendō marveled, as one of her enlarged hands shrunk back to a more human size.
Hoshiko thanked the ginger-head politely, before the two went their own ways again.
It was a brief interaction, nothing more than small talk between acquaintances-after all, they were competing against each other at this point.
The process repeated itself for another minute or so, until the three-and-a-half minute mark was hit.
And all hell broke loose, in the form of the dreaded zero-point robot, the obstacle Present Mic had advised them to avoid.
Hoshiko paused in the midst of blowing up another one-point robot, eyes widening as a large shadow fell upon everyone.
"Well, I guess that's what they were planning."
In the next moment, before anyone could even think, fear seized the crowd and they scrambled away, kicking their instincts into overdrive. Screams cut through the smoke rising from the many metal corpses littering the area, and Hoshiko winced.
This...is mildly terrifying.
(But not really, not when she had experienced something worse than a mere robot.)
(Not when she had experienced the fear of having someone actually directing malicious intent at you.)
The ground rumbled as the looming enemy progressed forward, knocking down a few buildings, which fell to the ground, kicking up massive clouds of dust.
Everybody else had run away, fearing for their lives.
(Cowards.)
(But you're no better.)
Everybody, that is, except for her…
...and Hoshiko's eyes zeroed in on the small, human figure in front of the robot.
Kendō-san?
The ginger-headed female was surrounded by a ring of debris, which was built up high-the only way out was back, but even that route was covered by the massive oncoming robot, which, speaking of, was only a few meters or so away from Kendō.
Oh, shit-she's going to be crushed by the stupid piece of metal at this rate.
Hoshiko rubbed at her forehead wearily. How was she supposed to deal with this?
My attacks all cause mass amounts of collateral damage...
Her eyes flickered close for a second, before she made up her mind.
"Kendō-san!" She called out, blue hair fluttering behind in a thick braid as she rushed towards the teen in question.
"Kendō-san, are you able to clear the debris by yourself?"
The teen briefly turned her attention to Hoshiko. "Not in time to get away from the faux-villain!"
Well, there's my answer.
"Can you step away from the villain for a second? Get as far away as possible, please!" Hoshiko hollered back, skidding to a halt just in front of the built up rubble. Kendō hesitated for a fraction of a second, before nodding and following her instructions.
She coughed when she breathed in the dust that had built up around the area.
Hoshiko held out one hand, flinching as she felt a great whoosh of energy leave her. The sunlight was blocked up by the robot, unfortunately-she had to substitute the usually obtained energy from sunlight with her own.
(You're no better than all the others who ran away-)
Slowly, energy built up at the tip of her fingers, and a glowing orb formed, radiating off heat and light. Hoshiko slammed her eyes shut as the star-like structure snatched away the robot's attention, flying up to its red, glowing eyes.
Detonate.
Her hand reached out to grab Kendō's as a wave of energy knocked the debris apart, pulling as the two girls were sent flying back onto the rough flooring of the battle center. An ominous hole, consistent of nothing but darkness and, well nothingness formed, enveloping the faux-villain.
Before anybody could blink, a horrible noise of metal scratching against metal filled the air, and the robot was devoured by the black hole, as Hoshiko lay on the floor, winded.
I am never doing that again.
Her fingers twitched and the hole vanished before it could cause anymore damage.
Fatigue finally set into her limbs as Hoshiko cursed the robot.
It just had to block off all the sunlight, huh?
She had half the mind to go over more robots to rack up more points, but ignored the urge in favour of checking on the girl she had helped.
"Kendō-san, are you alright?" She managed to bite out, vaguely noting that in the explosion her hair had gotten free of its braid and the tresses were now falling messily over her shoulders.
To her surprise, Kendō breathed out a laugh. "I'm fine, but I really have to thank you for that."
(-but at the very least,)
A pause, before an alarm blared loudly and a voice could be heard clearly over the speakers, "Time's up!"
(you could try.)
"And you literally just saved my life. No need for any formalities, just call me Itsuka," she continued, pushing herself off the ground and extending a hand towards the tired Hoshiko.
A smile tugged at Hoshiko's lips, as she took Kendō, no, Itsuka's hand and pulled herself up to her two legs again.
(At the very least,)
"Then you can just call me Hoshiko, Itsuka."
(you made a friend today.)
(You didn't run away.)
Yuki Hoshiko didn't score as many points as she would have hoped to, but an odd sense of accomplishment tugged at her heart.
"Holy crap," one of the teachers gathered in the dark, enclosed room breathed out.
"That's two students who have managed to beat the zero-point villain so easily," another muttered.
Several choruses of agreement could be heard throughout the room.
"And the girl wasn't even scared of the robot."
A certain mouse-like figure sipped on his tea, watching the screens with rapt attention. "Well, yes, Yuki Hoshiko has seen much worse; I wouldn't expect her to freeze at the sight of a mere robot."
The skinny, blond man sat beside the principal leaned back in his chair, a proud grin still stuck on his face.
"Those two are going to grow up to be fearsome heroes one day."
And that was perhaps the most accurate statement the teachers had heard that day.
A/N: This happens to be my entry for Nanowrimo 2018.
Yes, really, I forgot Nanowrimo existed so I have to start a week late.
I'm writing everything in a rush to hit the 50k goal with a week's worth of lost time so please excuse any errors you see. I'll come back and edit everything after I'm done. With that said, any constructive criticism is still much welcome and appreciated!
Note that I am aiming to hit the 50k word count goal only, since this story definitely will not be finished by the end of the month, or by the word count goal. With what I have planned this'll probably be at least twice the Nanowrimo word count.
Hoshiko uses the same tactic Himiko does to slip by unnoticed, since I already originally planned for her to be able to sneak past people without them noticing her. The method she goes about doing it, however, I only decided after seeing Himiko's, since I couldn't think of anything else.
I'm not entirely satisfied with the first half of this chapter, but I'm just going to have to roll with it.
I probably won't include any more lengthy ANs such as this one because I want to keep the word count as accurate as possible. (Probably still will, knowing myself.)
Fun fact: Hoshiko's quirk creates star-like substances she can manipulate and change the properties of, not actual stars.
Thank y'all's for reading this chapter of Ad Infinitum!
~H0shizora