This is it. I double-checked my carry-on to make sure I packed all of my essentials, even though I had already done it twice. Mom stood next to me, her brow furrowed, her bottom lip between her teeth. A familiar habit. I could feel my own lip swelling from the constant abuse I'd put it through during the last week.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mom asked, her glowing, yellow eyes wide with concern. I smiled softly before I was roughly shoved aside by an extremely long-necked man rushing past us.

"Watch it!" I yelled, but he was too far away to hear me over the hum of the airport. I looked back at mom and saw her trying to hide a smile behind her hand. I felt the heat rise in my face and muttered an apology.

"Oh Aya, I do wonder where your tenacity came from." Not knowing how to respond to that, I glanced at the screen above our heads with the flight times. I jumped when I saw that I was supposed to be boarding my flight.

"Sorry, Mom," I said hugging her briefly and then running to the gate. "I'll call you when I land!" I shouted behind me, feeling a little guilty about my quick exit, but determined to not miss my flight. Her gentle wave and watery eyes lingering in my mind.

Not thirty minutes later I was flying high over the Pacific. Looking out the window I saw the city of Los Angeles fade away. I thought about my mother and her soft worry as she helped pack my clothes. My step-father as he stood off to the side, unsure of his place in this decision. And the tears of my little brother that I helped stop with the promise of delicious Japanese treats and many visits back home. My chest tightened.

"And he just got his quirk too," I whispered to myself. Out of habit I stuck my hand into my jacket pocket and wrapped my hand around the letter. There was no need to pull it out since I'd already had it memorized, but holding it, somehow, made me feel a little lighter.

Hello Aya,

My name is Kaoru, and I am your late father's brother.

Despite us never meeting, I would like to invite you to stay with me for your high school career. I watched the American Hopeful trials and was quite impressed with your skills. Forgive me for speaking ill of your father, but he never discussed you at length and I had no idea that you had such an amazing quirk.

I would remind you that this is merely an offer, but due to your dual-citizenship I submitted your information to our nation's best hero course! It's called U.A. High School and has produced many excellent heroes. Even better, they have responded that you have been accepted. It is exceedingly difficult to get in simply by recommendations, so it seems they were just as impressed as I was!

I know that America has many prestigious schools that are clamoring for you, but trust me when I say that there are none quite like this one.

Please reply with haste as they need their answer within the month.

Your Uncle,

Kaoru Mitsirugi

Kaoru Mitsirugi. Based on his letter, I had an impression that he was much like the talent scouts I dealt with at school, interested in what my quirk could get them, but not much else.

I wondered if he looked anything like my father.

"Can you close the window please? It hurts my eyes," I heard a soft voice next to me say. Looking over I saw a girl about my age with huge brown eyes that were over-large and perfectly circular.

"Of course! I'm sorry if I caused you any discomfort!" I quickly closed the window blind.

"No, it's not your fault! It's just my quirk," she replied hastily and pointed at her eyes. "Owl vision. I can see moving objects from far away and see perfectly in the dark; the downside is that I am particularly sensitive to bright light." She looked away sheepishly. "I try and fly at night as it's worse this high up, but it was unavoidable this time around."

I smiled sympathetically. Everyone's quirk has a downside, but that one sounded exceptionally inconvenient. Her head hung low at her admission and I couldn't stop myself from saying, "If I use mine too much I could go into a coma." Her eyes widened, which given how big they were already, was quite a sight.

"What sort of quirk does that?" she asked with a touch of concern.

"Um," I started. I wasn't as liberal with my quirk information as she seemed to be, but she was looking at me expectantly and I felt I had to answer.

"Energy manipulation."

She blinked slowly and I could see that she was working through the possibilities of what that could mean. I waited for the endless questions that always followed. My quirk had various possibilities, but people generally jumped to the worst conclusion.

"That sounds really cool! My name is Kimmi Suzuki, would you like to share my gummy worms?" She smiled broadly, waving around a nondescript bag of candy. My surprise lasted only a moment before I nodded. Pleased with my agreement she opened the bag and chattered indiscriminately. I nodded in all the right places, content just to let her talk.

"So you're going to Japan right?" she asked suddenly. "Which part are you staying in?"

"Ah, Musutafu."

"No way! That's where I live!" she said loudly enough for others around to glare at her. She blushed heavily but continued in a whisper, "We should hang out some time. Truth be told, I don't really have friends as I move around a lot, but papa said that we will be staying here for a while." She paused and put her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "I think he wants me to try to have a normal high-school life,".

I wonder, if my dad was here, would he worry about me like that?

"I would like that a lot," I responded honestly. "I mean, you know, hanging out with you."

Feeling lost, alone, is a heavy burden. Feeling lost with a friend, feels like you aren't lost at all. I stuck my hand out, and said, "My name is Aya Mitsirugi. Let's be friends"

Thanks for reading! I would love some feedback but it's not necessary. This story is just for fun after all!

Aya is quite contemplative this chapter, but she becomes a little more lively after meeting her, recently unknown, Uncle. And she still needs to meet her classmates!