Chapter 2: Icy wind

Breathless, Elays let her gaze follow the silhouette that stood out before her eyes. She had already seen him on television. Shouto Todoroki, young prodigy and son of the number one hero, Endeavor. His hair, red on the left side of his skull and white on the right, seemed almost as fascinating as his heterochromia, as it flew in the light breeze that the open window let through.

Captivating.

It was only when his feet landed on the floor of the classroom that Shouto seemed to notice the girl's presence. Wondering what was going on, he turned his head around to consider the scene, before frowning.

"Ah, wrong floor," he noted, more for himself than for Elays.

"Why... are you coming in by the window?" Elays asked, arching an eyebrow and pointing at the window, as confusion swept over her. She finally realized that an ice staircase had been formed from the ground, to allow him access to the floor. In front of this girl's puzzlement and seeing her gaze on the outside, he looked at it as well.

"I was in the flush," he explained with a monotone voice. "And there are too many new students. I got stopped everywhere so I wanted to avoid the corridors"

Elays's mouth parted, and she did not know if she should feel outraged by such a detachment or impressed by this overflowing of ideas. This disinterested air he kept showing was at the limit of the frightening, yet his eyes swept the room as if he was not really aware of it.

"Well, looks like there's nobody on the first floor," he remarked, looking down the empty hallway. "I will go through the interior to go to the second."

Elays did not answer, slightly dazed, and let her gaze followed him as he silently crossed the room with a calm step. But looking at the empty desks, the girl remembered where her classmates had been gone to.

"Ha, wait," she said. He turned to face her and frowned questioningly. "My classmates went up to the second to see class 2-A... And seeing how they were enthusiastic, I don't think they're the only ones."

"Ah? What an idea."

That's all? He's not very talkative…

"Even if it was strange, going through the window may be a better solution, if you want to avoid the crowd." He thought to the idea, looking up at the ceiling, before shrugging his shoulders.

"It's fine, I'll wait a bit. Anyway, teachers will soon arrive."

He leaned against a desk, waiting for time to pass. Elays, who did not know how to engage in the conversation, just settled in her place: the only desk where no bag was placed, in the penultimate row on the side of the window. She grabbed her phone and watched it for a moment. Should she call back her father, despite the embarrassing situation and the heavy calm that had settled in the room?

To: Dad

Everything is fine, I'm in the same class as Luna. See you tonight

A message definitely was a better solution. Once it was sent, her fingers slipped nervously on the screen, as she wondered if she should venture to meet the boy's gaze.

"Why did you stay alone?" His voice, surprisingly closer than she imagined, pulled her out of her dreams, and she slowly turned her head toward him, the hand clutching her phone.

For the really first time, she met Shouto's heterochromia and really realized how captivating it was. His deep gray right eye and his fascinating turquoise blue left eye pierced her for a moment, and she felt like she was drowning for a few seconds.

"I had to make a call, but you arrived," she finally admitted as she pulled herself together.

The boy's mouth opened, a sign that he was about to respond, when heel noises from the corridor cut him off. They both turned their heads toward the half-open door, in a perfect synchronization that snatched a slight smile from Elays.

"Hello!" a woman yelled as she entered the room. Her long black hair in peaks, astonishingly like a fir tree, flew after her, in her tracks. However, the broad smile that she wore vanished as soon as she noticed that the room was empty. Her blue eyes clung to Shouto, and she arched an eyebrow. "Todoroki? What are you doing here?" She asked. "Where are the students?"

"I went to the wrong floor," he simply replied.

The teacher's forehead narrowed in front of his words, and she remained stunned at this detachment of his, before pulling herself together. She was used to it, now. "And you? Are you in 1-A?"

Elays nodded approvingly. When the teacher asked where her classmates went, she answered evasively that they would not be long in coming back, preferring to keep their getaway secret so that they would not be reprimanded. With a quick glance at her phone, the girl noticed that nine o'clock had passed for two minutes, and that they would soon be asked to leave by the 2-A's teacher.

"Are you our homeroom teacher?" Elays asked.

"Exactly!" the woman replied, enthusiastic, pointing a whip in her direction. "What's your quirk?

Taken aback by the question, Elays thought back to her conversation with Luna, on the way a few minutes earlier. Only one answer was possible, yet, a fraction of a second, the idea of saying something else crossed her mind. "Shadows' handling…"

"Interesting! Do your best using such power! Our quirk is precious, don't forget it."

Her breath astonishingly slow, Elays let the heroine's words settle in her mind. It was as if she had penetrated her soul, to bring out words so just and so false at the same time, reflections of her inner turmoil and her bitter fight against herself.

Elays lifted her left hand at chest height and stared intently at it. "I'm afraid that it's impossible," she murmured, though loud enough for the words to reach Shouto's ears.

The boy's eyes widened, and for a moment he wondered if he had not misunderstood. Midnight probably did not hear what she had just said, according to the cheerful expression she had, but the troubled look of the girl in front of him convinced him, and he suddenly felt a certain compassion creeping into him. His eyes unconsciously stayed on his left hand and the troubles he had long known, and which he had had to face, came back to him. In just a few words, he had the feeling of seeing himself in this stranger.

"I'm sorry, I'm late," said a voice as passing the doorway.

"Luna!"

"Elays? The others haven't come back yet? Oh... and?" she asked, surprised, crossing the eyes of the only boy in the room.

"Shouto Todoroki," he introduced himself simply, with this characteristic calm voice of his.

"You weren't there just now, right?"

"He's not in our class," Elays explained, seeing that her best friend obviously had not the memory of faces.

"I'll go to mine, by the way," he said, straightening up to walk toward the door. "Crowd or not, Aizawa will not appreciate if I'm late."

He turned around and took one last look at the girl, sitting at her desk against the window. "Elays" he repeated to himself as he left the class, under Midnight and the two high school girls' gazes.

"He was super cute, wasn't he?" Luna asked, accompanying her words with an implied look. Her friend let out a laugh and it was the return of the other grumbling students that took her out of her bubble.

Midnight, obviously neither surprised by the situation nor impatient, watched them sit down calmly after they apologized for being late. "Well, now that you're all here, we'll go through the formalities, starting with a presentation. I'm Nemuri Kayama, also known as Midnight, and will be your homeroom teacher this year."

Elays, leaning against the wall, looked in turn at their teacher and the insistent and inappropriate glances of her classmates. One must say that, in view of the excessively tight and provocative outfit she wore, she was not surprised that their attention remained focused on the heroine's body.

Her white leotard, moulding her bust to the point of drawing her generous bosom, as well as her black stockings and stiletto heels, Elays wondered for a second if she actually was allowed to lecture in such clothes.

At least, the boys are all attentive, she noticed.

"I'm getting all excited to spend this new year with you!" Midnight exclaimed with a wink. A hubbub arose at these words and, leaving her blue eyes running hard through the room, the woman quickly found herself surrounded by a hostile aura. "Quiet," she said in a loud voice that filled the place, brandishing her faithful whip. "And go change into your gym clothes," she said, waving blue-striped sportswear in front of her students' bewildered looks.

"But, what about the entrance ceremony?" a boy in the second row asked.

"Since some teachers had decided that it was just a formality and no longer sent their students, preferring to test them on the ground instead, it had been canceled." They all looked at each other, not really knowing if these words had been spoken bitterly or not, but got up to retrieve an outfit. They then left the room to follow Nemuri and reach the sports field.

It seems that it starts directly by an examination of our abilities, Elays thought, not being able to hide her anxiety from her friend who was staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

Hello~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it's still the beginning of this story! If you've liked it, you can let a review~ :3

I'm not sure about my English sometimes so as I had already said, please don't hesistate to correct me if I'm wrong!