Hey guys...so wow... kind of a long break I know, but I am back. From now until my brain goes on strike again I will only be working on finishing my fanfiction projects. I am getting serious with my original fiction, and so I hate feeling guilty for not updating. I do not know what order I will be finishing in, so I hope you all manage to enjoy the ride despite my meandering!

Also I did notice that this chapter does stretch the timeline slightly. Oops! This story takes place one week after the start of the semester, but other than that time stretch nothing else should change.


I own nothing but my characters and my plot. MHA belongs to it's creators.


Chapter 2

Mr Aizawa looked to be in an even worse mood than usual when he announced the new arrival, and how the seating arrangements would change. Ojiro took the news of his temporary transfer in stride and left quietly before Hunter arrived. As the bear-like teen slowly lumbered in Aizawa explained the new seating order by moving Uraraka to the front, in between Aoyama and Shoji, while Ashido was moved where Uraraka had been. Satou would take Ashido's place and Hunter would occupy Satou's old desk. The weary tone in their teacher's voice left no doubt that this wasn't up for debate, and they all moved without complaint.

Overall, the class seemed to be more confused than upset by these changes. Iida was remarking that this didn't seem proper to be changing the arrangements this soon. Bakugou seemed more annoyed at the delay it was causing. Midoriya was over analyzing the situation, trying to figure out why this was happening, while Tsuyu just introduced herself as Hunter walked by. Other than Ahsido, Koda was the only one to be unconcerned by the new arrival, even going so far as to smile at the new kid. Hunter was…..grumpier than usual. Most of the comments received only a grunt as a reply, though he did introduce himself to Tsuyu before sitting next to Ashido with a low growl.

Aizawa's eyes flashed at the sound. "If I hear that sound again you will be out of this school so fast your head will still be spinning when the gate closes. Am I understood?"

Hunter stopped the growl and put on a fake smile. "Yes sir." He said mockingly and Bakugou actually barked out a laugh. Aizawa gritted his teeth but didn't comment further. Instead he sighed before announcing that they would need to pick their class representatives. He didn't care how they did it, as long as they didn't disturb him, then he zipped his sleeping bag up and laid down on the floor. It was only a few seconds later that the class erupted into chaos. With each person trying to yell louder why they should be the class rep, it wasn't until Iida announced that they should have a vote that Mina heard Hunter's whine. The massive boy was lying on his desk with his paws trying to cover his ears and Mina felt a pang of guilt due to her own shout.

Looking around she realized that only Koda also heard the whine. Her mute classmate was staring at Hunter sadly, but his attention was ripped to the front as the ballots were passed around. She felt a small pit of guilt form in her gut as she took in Hunter's pained face. The minute flicks of his ears as he tried to re-adjust to the quieter environment, the tense way he moved, and the controlled breathing. He was nervous and in pain… and it was all her fault. The pinkette didn't have long to feel guilty however, as the ballots were quickly passed around, though one was not given to Hunter. Mina frowned at that, but before she could do anything, the votes were tallied and Izuku and Momo were the two with the highest votes. Midoriya stammered through some kind of awkward acceptance speech, which Mina noted, did make Hunter give a small smile.


Lunch presented an entirely new problem for Mina. Namely Hunter's bizarre ability to leave a room without anyone noticing despite his large frame. Before she could say anything, he had somehow managed to exit the classroom first, even though he was seated in the back of the class. Mina was ready this time however, having already packed her lunch she quickly hurried outside, only to find no one out there. Her search was interrupted by a barking laugh coming from above. Startled, she jumped back, then caught sight of Hunter. He was sitting on a little clearing at the top of the tree, where the branches seemed to curve out, and around the bear-like figure. His eyes were still closed as he popped a piece of fish into his mouth. "You just don't give up, do ya Pinky?" Mina froze and he laughed again, the derision becoming more apparent. "I told you I wasn't blind."

Mina looked at the ground. "I wanted to apologize." She waited for his response, but when none came she looked up, right as he landed on the ground. Startled by the sudden impact in front of her, she stepped back, only to trip on her feet and find herself sprawled out on the grass.

"You're sorry? What could you possibly be sorry for?" He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Not taking the hint that not everyone wants to be your friend? That maybe you are a tad pushy? Or maybe getting me pulled from my class after I finally had gotten settled?"

Mina felt the shame from earlier come back in full force. "...All of it. I never meant to… I just… I was just trying to be nice." When he didn't respond again, she looked up and saw that his ears had flattened against his skull. He opened his mouth, but his ears shot back up and his jaw snapped closed. Before Mina knew what was happening, Hunter had grabbed her, and they were now at the top of the tree as the UA gate came crumbling down. Hunter moved her behind him as a flood of reporters washed over the grounds. Then the alarms went off and Hunter almost fell out of the tree.

Mina watched as he gritted his teeth and tried to flatten his ears to keep out the sound. When his arms began to slip on the branches she realized that he couldn't keep the two of them up there with the alarms deafening him. Thinking quickly, she covered his ears, smiling when he froze for a moment before readjusting them to a more secure position. The two remained like that for the next ten minutes. Neither saying a word or moving as the reporters swarmed over the UA grounds, completely oblivious to the two students. Soon the alarm was silenced as the teachers made their way outside and began to force the reporters out. After Cementoss sealed the gate Hunter, still carrying Mina on his back, climbed back to the ground and directly into the disapproving glare of Mr Aizawa.

"I assume there is a perfectly normal reason why two of my students were outside, alone in a tree, while all hell broke loose?"

Mina's face flushed at the implication, before becoming indignant at the glare leveled at Hunter. Hound Dog spoke before she could. "Hunter always takes his lunches outside, as the noisy cafeteria is quite painful to him."

Aizawa was unfazed however. "And the reason Miss Ashido was up there with him?"

"Because she would have been trampled otherwise." Hunter spoke coolly, and Mina was a little worried at the irritation in Aizawa's face. "She came out here to apologize, as she felt it was her fault I was moved." Pointing to her smashed lunch container he said "I heard the gate coming down, and grabbed her to get us both out of the way." Then he turned to Mina and bowed. "My apologies for grabbing you by the way, I did not feel I had time to ask."

Mina was stunned by the sudden kindness. "It's okay...thank you for saving me!"

Hound Dog smiled at the two, before turning the pointed smile on Aizawa, who just sighed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Whatever, get back inside now. Your fellow classmates are likely worried about you."


They were all dismissed early that day, much to Mina's joy. Kirishima had been relieved when she walked in only for his smile to fall when Hunter walked in right behind her. Pointedly ignoring Kirishima, Mina had led Hunter over to Midoriya and Momo, both of whom were relieved that the two were alright. Mr Aizawa entered shortly afterwards, and after ensuring that all students were accounted for, sent them home. Mina looked around for Hunter, but since he was nowhere to be seen, began to head towards the exit where Denki, Kyoka, and Kirishima were waiting.

"Um, Miss Ashido?"

Mina smiled as she turned around. "I didn't think I'd see you again today, Hunter."

Hunter scratched the back of his head with a claw. "Yeah, I had to speak to Hound Dog before I left."

Mina nodded. "So what's up?"

Hunter shifted awkwardly. "Would...would you… would you mind if I walked you home today?"

Mina's smile grew even wider. "I'd love that! Give me one sec!" Hunter sighed in relief and nodded as Mina jogged over to her friends. Kirishima already had his arms crossed, and even Denki was frowning, though Jirou just had a knowing grin. Mina was off put by her best friend's refusal to even look at her, but shook it off. "Hey guys, you can head on. Hunter offered to walk with me back."

Kirishima clenched his jaw, and Denki looked unsure. "Are you sure?" Kirishima opened his mouth, but Kyoka cut him off as she elbowed Denki.

"Of course she is. Who wouldn't want to walk back with their heroic rescuer?" Mina blushed as Kyoka waggled her eyebrows. "I'm just playing, have fun." Then she began pushing the two boys out of the school. Mina smiled at her friends antics before jogging back over to Hunter, pausing at the sad look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

Hunter forced a fake smile onto his face. "Oh nothing. Just an old memory, that's all." Picking up his bag he started towards the doors. "You ready?"

Not willing to push him after the progress they had made, she smiled. "Yep! Lead the way!"


Mina didn't know what she had expected when Hunter had asked to walk with her. Silence for the most part, probably. An awkward conversation perhaps? But she wasn't prepared for him to lead her to a heavily forested park. Or for him to lead her to the largest tree she had ever seen, and then offer her his hand as if they were in some fairy-tale. Slowly taking it, she was surprised when he pulled her around to his back. Taking the hint, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and once she was secure he quickly took them up to the top in seconds. Setting her down on a large branch and finding what appeared to be his usual spot, he then handed her his bag.

"What's this?"

Hunter motioned for her to open the bag. "Look for the tin container." Confused Mina dug around the school books until she found the circular container. Lifting it out, Hunter motioned for her to open it, and she was surprised to find it full of nuts and berries. Hunter smiled "I remember you didn't get any lunch."

Mina's jaw dropped, but her stomach growling kept her from protesting. With a "thank you" she began chowing down. After she had emptied the tin, she closed it and put it back in the bag. "So…" She started and Hunter laughed. The almost barking sound caught Mina off guard.

"I guess I felt that I owed you." Hunter took his bag back from Mina and stretched out across the branches behind him. "I was…. A real jerk to you, and you were just being nice. So I guess this is my apology."

Mina smiled. "Well after that lunch you can consider any debt repaid!"

Hunter smiled and sat up. "Nope. I owed you that after getting your lunch destroyed. My apology for being a jerk is that I will allow you to ask the questions that you have been holding back since we met."

"You don't need to do that."

"I know."

Mina's jaw went up and down wordlessly for a moment as she processed his matter of fact statement. Shaking her head she started with the first one she could think of. "Okay… you aren't blind.."

"Nope!"

"So why do you not open your eyes?"

Hunter's smile fell slightly. "People don't like it when I open my eyes. So I learned to not need them. My sense of smell and hearing work just as well as if I could see."

Mina took a breath before her next question. "Would you show me?"

Hunter's smile disappeared. "...why?"

"Because I would rather talk to you eye to eye."

"No you wouldn't."

"Can I decide that?... If you just don't want to show me that's fine, but I'm not like everyone else."

Hunter only sighed and mumbled "they never are" under his breath. Then he paused. "Hold on to one of the branches. Do that and I'll show you."

Mina rolled her eyes at the theatrics, but did as he asked. "Okay, I'm ready." Slowly he opened his eyes. The shade of the tree kept the light from blinding him and slowly his brain began to filter out the colors. Namely the bright pink sitting across from him. Blinking to be sure, his jaw dropped at the pink, very attractive girl sitting across from him. She giggled as his eyes shot to the two horns poking out of her also pink hair. When their eyes met he felt his face heat up beneath his fur. Mina however laughed and scooted closer to him. "That's so cool! Do you have tiger eyes?!"

Slowly Hunter nodded. "Y-yeah. A lot...a lot of people assume my q-quirk is Bear, but it's not. My quirk is Predator, and I have a lot of different animal features."

Mina was still excited however as she scooted even closer. "That's awesome! Even better, our eyes are almost opposites!"

Hunter looked again, and...she was right. Her eyes were mostly black, with a golden iris and black pupil, whereas most of his eye was a golden-orange iris with a black pupil. "Yeah I guess they are."

Mina laughed again and a small part of Hunter told him to make her do that as often as possible. "And to think you were scared of how I would react!" Instantly the mood disappeared. Mina seemed to feel it too and scooted away slightly. "Hunter?"

Hunter couldn't bring himself to look at her. "...my eyes are the reason I don't want to make friends. They are the reason my parents had to pull me from school."

"I'm sorry I-"

Hunter smiled. "You couldn't have known! It's fine… Did you have anything else you wanted to know?"

Mina frowned at the fake display, but didn't know what to do. Then it hit her. "Can we do this again tomorrow?" Hunter froze, and Mina added "Hang out I mean. Not dig into your personal life."

"Won't your friends get the wrong idea? It was a joke today, but if you make it a pattern…"

Mina looked at Hunter curiously. "How did….oh right, ears." Hunter nodded and moved them to further prove the point. "Well your my friend too, so when their ready, we can all hangout!"

Hunter let out a low whine. "I...I don't think that would be a good idea. You should stay with your friends. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Then after looking around for a bit, he said "It's getting late, so I can take you back down if you want…"

Mina wanted to object, but Hunter had closed his eyes again. "Sure."


"Well this is my house...thank you for walking me home, and for talking with me." Hunter nodded and Mina turned around sadly as she began to go up the steps to her apartment.

"You didn't say anything wrong, miss Ashido." Mina turned and was surprised to see Hunter with his eyes open. "And I would love to be your friend….but I knew someone just like you once. She said the same things, didn't believe the rumors, and wasn't afraid of me. But her friends….they couldn't stand to be around me. Before long, she only had me…..And I….I….I can never see her again now." Tears were running down the brown fur under his eyes, and he wiped them away with the back of one furry arm before clearing his throat. "You are free to do what you want, and if you want to sit with me at lunch that's fine. If you want to talk with me at school, that's fine. But I won't come between friends again."

Neither one said a word after that. After a moment Hunter turned to walk away, but was stopped by a pair of pink arms wrapping around him from behind. He turned back and saw Mina's glassy eyes. "Everyone needs a friend." Hunter felt his own eyes heat again but only hugged her back. After a moment they broke apart and laughed at the messes they were. Hunter smiled as he waved goodbye.

"I have a friend. Her name is Mina Ashido."


He had only just gotten out of sight of Mina's apartment when he was stopped. "Hunter."

He knew the red-head in-front of him from school and had been expecting this sooner or later. "Ejirou."

Ejirou glared at him. "Stay away from Mina. She may not know what you are, but I do, and I won't let her meet the same fate as-"

Ejirou was cut off by Hunter's hand closing on Ejirou's neck and pulling him into the alleyway. Wide-eyed Ejirou stared into Hunter's burning golden irises. Fear running down his spine at the fire behind them. Suddenly Hunter let go, and Ejirou went sprawling to the ground. Hunter took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. "You'd really like for me to smash your face in. So I won't. I'd rather not get expelled anyways. But do not say her name. You didn't know her, and you still don't know me." Hunter began to walk out of the alley, but then he stopped. "You know? I told her to stay with you and the others. That I wouldn't come between anymore friends...but if you are her friend, maybe that's why she would want to hang around a monster like me."


Okay, so I do want you all to know this: I like Kirishima! Really! He is one of my favorite characters and I have wanted to do a story that featured quite a bit of him for a while, so this has been a ton of fun. Yes he is OOC at the moment, but this arc features him quite heavily, and I promise he is not an antagonist for much longer!

Also, I screwed up in the first chapter, so there is one other alteration to the timeline: Bakugou and Kirshima are already friendly. So yeah. Sorry.

As always any questions or feedback(good or bad) is always welcome! and I hope you all enjoy everything to come!

Next: Best Friends Talk To Each Other. How will their conversation go? And how will it be affected by the school field trip? I think they were going to Universal Studios Japan I believe...