A/N: Welcome to my My Hero Academia FanFic! While reading this, keep in mind that I don't read the manga, so there's a very good chance that this will deviate significantly from the canon story-line. But I love the show so much and found the end of Season 3 to be the perfect starting point for it, so here we are.
I hope you enjoy the first chapter!
Just because you are a Hero doesn't mean that you're good. Katsu Evans knew that first-hand. When she thought her life as a Pro-Hero was over, a new opportunity arose at everyone's favorite U.A. Academy. But taking that opportunity meant dealing with her past. An obstacle that just might manage to take down this Pro-Hero for good.
Katsu Evans looked at the large, red-brick building in front of her and felt her stomach drop to her knees. Despite the fact that it looked like a fairly normal, upscale apartment building. It even had the name ("Alliance") posted above the front door. And most apartments were numbered, so it wasn't too strange that "1-A" was posted even larger than the name. And despite the fact that the buildings stretched on as far as Katsu could see wasn't unusual. It was just a large complex. Yeah, an extremely large complex. That was just a nice five-minute walk from U.A. Academy. With students filing past the car, all heading inside the various buildings.
Katsu slumped against the window of the car, large rivers of tears streaming down her face even as a pained smile pulled at her lips. She pushed her knuckles against her forehead as she struggled not to kick herself for being so foolish. Of course these buildings were part of the high-school. Why else would she be there? Thinking back on the conversation she had had earlier that morning, she should have known that there was something fishy afoot.
"Kacchan, Nezu had an idea. Why don't you come work for U.A.—unofficially, of course—until we get your licenses figured out?"
"Mm, sure, Sho-Chan, but where would I stay?"
Long pause. Still nothing. Was he still there? "Sho—,"
"With me. Where else would you stay?"
When he had called her 'Kacchan', Katsu should have known that something was up. Sho-Chan hadn't called her that in years. Unless he was trying to get her to do something that she didn't want to do. Because he knew that she was weak when he called her that. And, goddammit, Katsu fell for it every. Damn. Time. She couldn't stop herself; she slammed her head against the window hard enough to leave a fairly large red mark on the center of her forehead. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Stupid Sho-Chan for knowing her weak spots and stupid Katsu for letting him exploit them! What the hell was she going to—?
Katsu blinked at the small group of high school students gaping at her from outside the car. One of them was your a-typical nerd: dark hair (combed neat), glasses (being pushed up by his whole hand for some weird reason), tall, uniform a perfect fit. The girl had cute brown hair, curling up just over her shoulders. Pink cheeks, a round face that seemed like one that would never stop smiling (even as she was giving Katsu a strange look). The second boy looked familiar to Katsu, but she couldn't quite place him. He had a striking appearance, though. His duel-colored hair was split evenly down the middle, white on the right and red on the left. Right eye an interesting gray-brown, left a piercing aquamarine. Significantly shorter than his friend, but still solidly built. But the most eye-catching (ha) part of his appearance was the burn that covered the top left quarter of his face. Yeah, dude looked familiar, but Katsu's frazzled brain couldn't place him at the moment.
What her frazzled brain could process, though, was the fact that they were U.A. students. Which meant class was out. And that stupid Sho-Chan would be arriving soon. And if she didn't escape before he got there…A shudder rolled down Katsu's spine. She sat up straight and spun to face the Pro-Hero sitting in the front seat. At the moment, she couldn't remember his name. He probably told her, but she had been so excited at the prospect of seeing Sho-Chan again (damn her), she hadn't paid attention. The Pro jumped at her sudden movement, his female companion giving Katsu an inquisitive look. Katsu reached forward and grabbed the male's wooden arm in a tight grip.
"Quick," she said, heart racing and breathing heavy, as if she was running for her life. Which, in a way, she was. "Let's go, before he gets here!"
The female Pro opened her mouth, but was cut off by a cold male voice from behind Katsu. "Before who gets here, Katsu?"
Katsu didn't think before she acted. She lunged for the opposite door, attempting to escape to the freedom beyond. When she felt something wrap around her waist, screams started pouring out of her throat. She desperately clawed at anything, everything, trying to find something to hold on to as she was pulled out of the car. Katsu managed to hook her hands on the door handle and held on for dear life. A black-booted foot slammed into the edge of the car next to her face and the pressure around her waist increased. She could hear her assailant muttering curses unbefitting of a teacher and started screaming louder.
"Goddammit, Katsu!" she heard Shouta Aizawa yell over her own screams. "They're just high-school students! It's not the end of the world!"
Unfortunately, it wasn't unusual for shouts to be heard around class 1-A's dorm. Sure, these sounded a little different from normal, but nothing to raise one's eyebrows at. So Katsuki Bakugou kept scrubbing the kitchen counter almost violently. His stupid classmates were coming home, though, so he knew that the ridicule was about to start up again. It had been bad enough this morning when they had all found out that Bakugou was placed under house-arrest (stupid Deku!). But to actually have them see him cleaning up their mess?! He scrubbed faster and harder, a loud growl of frustration filling the room.
He heard Deku say that stupid nickname, but didn't even bother to give the damn nerd a glare. It was all his fault that Bakugou was in this mess in the first place! What gave Deku the right to suddenly become so strong?! Bakugou had no idea what the hell All Might saw in that fucking weakling. That damn nerd had All Might's power, for chrissake, and Bakugou still managed to beat him! And because of that stupid fight he was now stuck cleaning up after all of these other assholes—
"WHO THE HELL IS SCREAMING SO FUCKING LOUD!"
As he shouted, Bakugou threw down his rag and stalked to the front door. He heard Deku follow him, but didn't look back at the damn nerd. That screaming bitch was (surprisingly) more annoying than Deku at the moment. Bakugou kicked open the front door, sending a few of his classmates flying as the glass hit them. He ignored the lightning that shot out of Sparky and hit that sticky little runt. Bakugou ignored pretty much everyone around him because the scene that was going on in front of the building was way too fucking weird to allow his attention to go elsewhere.
Aizawa was standing in front of a small car with his foot braced against the side. His hands were wrapped around his scarf and tugging at the captive caught in his trap. From the angle he was at, Bakugou could only see the tops of her calves and the booted feet of Aizawa's captive, but he assumed that whoever it was, she was the one who was screaming bloody murder. Though, now that he was closer, Bakugou could tell that his teacher was screaming right back at the chick.
"Dammit, Katsu! Let go of the damn car!"
As he shouted, Aizawa gave a massive tug and the chick must have lost her grip on whatever was keeping her anchored to the vehicle. Bakugou still couldn't see much of her, as she instantly grabbed the edge of the curb, further preventing Aizawa from taking her. What he could see was her hair, a dark strawberry blonde. Half of it seemed fairly long, easily covering her face and pooling on the ground around her. The other half of her head was shaved almost to the skin. Aizawa re-positioned so that his feet were on either side of her hips and started tugging again, not looking up as a familiar voice hailed him.
"Yo, Aizawa!" All Might said, approaching from the direction of the school with some weird rat-dog-bear—oh, wait, that's Principle Nezu—with Principle Nezu walking beside him. "I see that Young Katsu has finally made it."
Abruptly, the woman stopped screaming and whipped her head around to face All Might and Nezu, making all of the students watching the exchange jump. With all of her screaming, Bakugou had expected her to look scared and upset. And, boy, was he wrong. Oh, don't misunderstand. The chick did have twin rivers of tears pouring out of her lilac eyes and down her cheeks. But the expression on her face could only be described as pure, unadulterated wrath. And that expression made a small smile appear on Bakugou's face. This chick was going to be interesting.
"You," she snarled, giving the impression that she pointed at All Might and Nezu, despite not letting go of the curb. "Do your goddamn job and save me from this lying asshole, All Might!"
The students all gasped at the chick's audacity, talking to All Might like that. Sure, the man didn't look the same as he had before, but she obviously recognized him. Even Bakugou was impressed. All Might, however, just laughed and gave the girl a creepy grin. "Sorry, Young Katsu," he said, not sounding very apologetic at all, "but I'm retired. I don't save anyone anymore."
"That's bullshit, and you know it!" the girl shouted, finally letting go of the curb to point at the former Symbol of Peace. "Like you could ever stop being a h—"
Aizawa took advantage of her distraction and gave a massive tug, jerking the chick free of the curb. Before she could latch on to anything else, he readjusted the scarf so that it wrapped around her arms and over her mouth. The chick started screaming again, but the sound was now muffled. Aizawa looked down at her, his scary smile on full display, despite his uneven breathing. Aizawa leaned down towards the woman, easily dodging the kick she had aimed at his face.
He held on to her black sneaker and grinned wider. "You forgot who your opponent was, Katsu."
The chick used her captured foot to launch a roundhouse kick at Aizawa. He dropped her foot and took a step back, both avoiding her second kick and making the chick loose her balance. And without her arms to help her regain it, she fell flat on her back. Having been in a very similar situation, Bakugou was able to understand the curses she lobbed at him, despite the gag. Well, most of them. The chick was obviously very creative with her swears.
"Now, now," Principle Nezu said as he approached the two. "Enough flirting in front of the students." The chick turned her glare on the animal, but stopped speaking. Bakugou almost could see a blush appearing on her face behind the scarf. Aizawa started to say something, but was waived off by the small animal. "Spectra, I know that this isn't a situation you are comfortable in," the principle said softly, just loud enough that Bakugou could hear. "But at least hear us out before you make your decision."
The chick stared at Principle Nezu for a long moment before her shoulders sagged and she gave a small nod. "Finally," Aizawa muttered before turning to glare at his students. "Bakugou, Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima; you six are coming with us."
The chick stood up, giving first Aizawa, then the students, considering looks. She took a small step away from Aizawa as his smile returned. "Bakugou and Midoriya, come here." Bakugou scowled, but he knew better than to disobey his teacher when he was wearing that freaky-ass smile. When he was standing in front of Aizawa with that damn nerd, the smile fell from the man's face. "Because you two are still on house arrest, I have to do this."
With a flick of his wrist, Aizawa made the scarf fall away from the chick. Before Bakugou could get a good look at her, she ran between Bakugou and Deku, cackling. Her stupid laugh was cut short abruptly as she was slammed into Bakugou's back. Bakugou started to shout at Aizawa, feeling his palms start sweating, but shut up when he heard Deku yell. Right in his ear. Bakugou's head jerked to his right and he saw Deku was tied up right next to him. And judging by the warmth against his back, the chick was tied up right with them.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Bakugou heard a small snort over his shoulder, giving him the perfect excuse to ignore whatever the hell Deku just said. "Sho-Chan," the girl said, her voice calm and resigned, despite their situation. "You fight dirty."
Who the fuck is Sho-Chan—
"If you hadn't tried to run away, Katsu, you wouldn't be tied up again," Aizawa said, turning to follow All Might and Principle Nezu. He gave his scarf a small tug. "Come on; we're going to have this meeting at the school."
"Nee, Sho-Chan," Katsu called out, swinging her feet freely. "Why'd you tie me up so high? I can't even touch the ground."
She heard one of the kids tied up with her (the blond one, since the sound came from her right), mutter something about being tied up with fucking weirdos. Katsu ignored him in favor of hearing Sho-Chan's response. "Would you rather I had tied you up with your feet on the ground and your face covered?" he said in his usual deadpan tone.
Katsu glanced over her shoulder at the kids she was tied to. Yeah, there was a good half foot separating the top of her head from the top of the shorter one's. If Sho-Chan had tied her up with her feet on the ground, she would have suffocated. "Aw, always so kind and caring, Sho-Chan," she cooed, despite the scowl still etched on her face. Katsu ignored Sho-Chan's snort just as he had ignored her comment. No, she just kept staring at the two-toned kid walking in front of her. Damn, he really looked familiar, but she just couldn't place where she knew him from.
"Did I do something to anger you?" he suddenly asked in a calm, monotone voice. "Because you're staring at me much like Bakugou does."
"I don't fucking stare at you, Half-n-Half!" the blond kid shouted into her ear as Katsu said, "Nah, just trying to place where I know you from."
The kid's expression didn't shift much, but Katsu could read the confusion in his gaze. "Know me?" he asked, completely ignoring blondie. Kid must shout shit like that all the time. "Why would you know me?"
Before she could say anything, Sho-Chan called back, "Endeavor."
"That's it!" Katsu shouted, excitedly pointing her foot at two-tone. "You're one of Endeavor's brats!"
Even if she hadn't heard shorty's murmured, oh, no, Katsu would've been able to read the hatred that swirled in two-tone's eyes. So the kid obviously didn't like his old man, and pointing out their relationship probably wasn't the smartest thing she could've done. Katsu tensed, preparing to use her Quirk if it looked like the kid was about to attack her. But, much to her surprise, his shoulders loosened and he gave a quick nod. Hm, that's interesting, Katsu thought, tilting her head as she regarded the kid. Strong kid with an obvious hatred for one parent?
"Quirk marriage?" she asked quietly.
"Quirk marriage," he confirmed with a small nod.
Yeah, most kids from a Quirk marriage typically held a strong disregard for one parent, if not both. At least, Katsu and this kid did. Thankfully, Katsu was saved from having to keep talking to the kid when the group walked into the school. Instantly the scarf holding Katsu tied to the kids loosened enough for her to slip free and take a few steps. It quickly wrapped the boys up again, but at least she was free. Katsu let out a short sigh before sticking her hands in the pockets of her baggy shorts and running up to walk next to Sho-Chan. Sometimes it was irritating just how well he knew her.
Bakugou could not figure this chick out. Once Aizawa had tied her up to him and Deku, she had stopped fighting completely. Well, not quite. She still managed to snark at Aizawa, but the hero seemed used to it. Bakugou could've put up with her stupid chatter if she hadn't been talking to that stupid Icy-Hot like she knew him. It was fucking irritating. What was so special about that stupid, two-toned bastard? And why the hell did Bakugou care so much about who she was talking to? What the fuck was wrong with him today?
Bakugou was pulled out of his irritated thoughts when they arrived at the school. As soon as they passed through the doors of U.A. Academy, he felt the chick sag against his back, almost like she was relieved to be there. Before he could think any more on that, the bonds holding him tied to the girl and Deku loosened and she moved away from him. Bakugou assumed that Aizawa was letting them walk freely now that they were inside the school, so he tried to pull himself away from Deku. Before he could move more than an inch or two, however, he was pulled right back against the damn nerd. What the fuck? Why does she get to walk free? Bakugou had learned pretty quickly that shouting at his teacher did nothing, so he settled for glaring daggers at the man's back.
Bakugou had assumed that the chick would try and make a run for it as soon as she was free, so he was surprised to see her jog up next to his teacher. This gave him a chance to get a good look at her. She was short. Like really short. Like the top of her head was level with Aizawa's shoulder short. She was also dressed pretty weird. She was wearing a pair of black cargo shorts, the baggy fabric almost reaching the tops of her black combat boots. But her shirt was really tight, a black t-shirt that Bakugou assumed read Plus Ultra! on the back. Assumed, since part of her hair covered it. And that was another weird thing about the chick. On the right side of her head, her hair was a light strawberry blonde and fell to her mid-back in slight waves. But the entire left side of her head was shaved almost to the skin, leaving her ear uncovered. From the angle he was at, Bakugou could see at least ten dark gray earrings looped in it.
Before he could think more on the chick's strange appearance, the group entered a meeting room. Aizawa pulled back his scarf and Bakugou quickly took several steps away from Deku. He tried to glare at his teacher, but was shocked when he saw the chick's face clearly for the first time. The first word that came to mind when Bakugou looked at her face was pixie. The second was metal. The chick had large eyes an eerie gray-purple color and a small, pert nose that turned up ever so slightly at the tip. Her sharp cheekbones and pointed chin only seemed to add to the ethereal look of her face. But there was a reason that the other adjective that came to Bakugou's mind was metal.
She had two dark gray loops on her full bottom lip and one more in her right nostril. There was a metal loop in her left eyebrow, too. And if those weren't enough, when the chick opened her mouth, Bakugou caught another flash of metal, so he assumed that her tongue was pierced as well. Add in the metal choker necklace and metal bands around her wrists, it was almost as if she were trying to distract from her natural cute appearance. But it didn't seem to be working, at least not for Bakugou. She was just too petite to ever be considered intimidating. Well, most of her was petite, Bakugou amended as he tilted his head and took in the state of her chest. Her tits looked to be the only large thing about her, almost on par with Ponytail and most of the other girls in Bakugou's class.
Overall, the mystery chick had a weird appearance, but the one thing that was really irritating Bakugou about her was her shirt.
Because why the fuck would someone bother to wear a shirt with All Might's face on it if you were just going to draw a big, red X over it?
Katsu followed Nezu's lead and approached the table. She flopped down into one of the seats and hated the fact that relief flooded her body when Sho-Chan took the seat next to her. Stupid Sho-Chan. Katsu leaned back in her chair, resting her feet on the table. She ignored Four-Eye's loud cry of protest. Katsu told Nezu that she would hear them out, but that didn't mean she couldn't get comfortable while she did so. As everyone else in the room took a seat, Katsu looked to Sho-Chan. He kept his eyes on his students, avoiding Katsu's gaze while managing to make it look like he wasn't. Impressive, but still very irritating.
Without preamble, Sho-Chan said, "Everyone, this is Katsu Evans, but you might know her better as Spectra."
The five blank stares did wonders for Katsu's self-confidence, but at least one of the kids seemed to recognize her name. The plain-looking one with messy green hair and freckles covered his mouth with both hands and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. "No, way!" he whispered softly, voice filled with the appropriate amount of awe.
Katsu nodded her approval as Four-Eyes turned to Greeny and pushed his glasses up. "Wait, Midoriya," he said in a serious tone. "You know her?"
"Of course," Greeny—Midoriya—replied, turning to his friend with an excited grin. "Spectra is incredible! She was with an agency before she graduated high-school and went solo not six months after that! And despite the fact that she's supposedly not much older than us, she's one of the few Pro-Heroes who's licensed in more than one country!"
The blond kid's scowl deepened as he looked from Midoriya to Katsu before going back to glaring at Midoriya. He opened his mouth and started to say something, but was cut off by the kid with red hair and sharp teeth. "Wait, so you're saying this shrimp is like All Might?" Shark-Teeth asked, giving Katsu a disbelieving look.
Sho-Chan had his arms wrapped around Katsu before she could do more than start to tug her boot off. As she struggled, he pulled her onto his lap and tried to pin her arms to her side.
"I wouldn't say she's too similar to All Might," Midoriya said, completely ignoring the struggle going on across the table. "But yeah, Spectra is the youngest Pro-Hero to be licensed in multiple countries."
"That is interesting, Midoriya," Two-Tone said, also ignoring the struggle that was starting to settle down. "But I do see where Kirishima is coming from. Mr. Aizawa, are you sure that this short—"
Katsu gave up on trying to pull her shoe off and settled for grabbing something she could reach: Sho-Chan's goggles. She yanked them over his head, not caring (too much) if any of his hair was caught along the way. Katsu cocked her arm back to throw them, Sho-Chan tried to yank it back down, jostling her aim. The goggle's ended up nailing Four-Eyes smack dab on his forehead, rather than Two-Tone. Seeing that Katsu had managed to strike one of his students, Sho-Chan growled at her and wrapped Katsu back up in his scarf. She still was struggling, so he had to keep his arms wrapped around her, but at least the little heathen couldn't harm the kids anymore.
"To answer your question, Todoroki," Sho-Chan said calmly, despite their struggles, "Katsu is very strong, despite how short she is." He cupped his hand over her mouth, muffling Katsu's curses. "She's a good example of why you shouldn't judge an opponent based on their physical appearance."
"Exactly, Eraser Head," Nezu said, managing to gather everybody's attention. Katsu stopped cursing, but Sho-Chan still didn't drop his hand. Damn man knew her too well. "Spectra is a very strong Hero, despite her appearance. And, like Eraser Head, she tends to keep out of the public eye. Both of these make her the perfect person for what we have in mind."
Seeing as she now was expected to say something, Sho-Chan finally dropped his hand. But he kept her wrapped up in that damn scarf of his. "And what do you have in mind, Sir?" Katsu asked, managing to sound calm.
"Why, Bodyguard-slash-Babysitter, of course!" the little creature responded in a happy tone.
Katsu turned her head and looked at Sho-Chan. She didn't need to ask for him to explain what the smart little principal meant. "These students are trouble makers, Bakugou and Midoriya especially," he said, jerking his chin at the six kids across from them. "Those two are on house-arrest, currently. As I have to teach the rest of them, we want you to watch them during the day."
She already knew who Midoriya was, so Katsu guessed Bakugou was the scowling blond. "Okay," she said, drawing out the word. "That explains the babysitter bit. How about the bodyguard?"
Sho-Chan let out a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair, pulling Katsu with him. "You remember the whole debacle with the League of Villains kidnapping one of my students, right?" he asked, jerking a thumb at a weakened All Might. Katsu nodded, so he continued. "Despite being told to let the Pro's take care of it, the kids in front of you attempted to rescue Bakugou. We think this might make them a target, even more than Midoriya and Bakugou already are."
"You're lit—young," All Might corrected himself hastily upon seeing the fury building on Katsu's face, "that if the League of Villains were to come after the students again, they would probably mistake you as another one."
"In other words," Nezu added in a happy tone, "It'll be like you're wearing a cat on your head!"
Several beats passed before Katsu let out a very eloquent, "Hah?"
Sho-Chan let out a small laugh. "It's a Japanese idiom," he explained, giving Katsu a small smile. "Basically, he means that you're hiding your claws and pretending to be harmless, when you can easily protect the kids until more help arrives."
"Oh, I see now!" Katsu said, nodding. "So you guys basically want me to be a red herring."
The three men nodded. All Might opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by the pissy blond kid. "Hey, can I ask a question?" When Aizawa nodded at him, the kid scowled at Katsu and growled, "What the hell kinda name is 'Katsu' for a chick? That's a dude's name, no matter how you go about it."
Katsu whipped her head around and glared right back at Blondie. "Your face is a dude's name!"
The kid jumped to his feet and slammed his hands flat on the table, little explosions appearing. "That doesn't make any fuckin' sense, you idiot!" he shouted.
"It doesn't have to make sense if it pisses you off!" Katsu shouted right back, ignoring everyone else in the room.
If she got stuck watching these kids, she was in for a rough ride.
A/N: Annnnd that's the end of the first chapter! Keep in mind that the rest will probably not be quite as long as this one. As always, I hope you enjoyed my dream and I would love to hear what you have to think!