Hello again!


It was already the middle of their first week in Yuuei. And Maiko found herself settling down into routines, and habits were starting to form. During mornings, she'd find Todoroki waiting for her outside the apartment building, then they'd head to the café by the train station to get breakfast. The first time that happened, he'd already eaten, so he ordered tea while Maiko got her usual. They'd walk together to school, meeting up with Momo and Tokoyami by the lockers as they switched their shoes.

By lunch, the four of them would share the table. Although Momo wasn't always there, sometimes she chose to sit with the other girls, and while they extended an invitation to her, Maiko felt intimidated sitting with too many people at a time, especially with too loud a crowd. Sometimes, Mezo Shoji and Koda Koji sat with them. The two boys were also quiet, so the serene peace of their table was conserved.

During Hero Studies, she'd find herself with the same group, often pairing with Momo for the non-Quirk combat classes. Stealth, Trap Making and Capture Training (or STC as they liked to call it) might become her favorite class despite Edgeshot being such a demanding teacher. Her silence made it hard for her to be noticed, plus with her Quirk and small figure, she was easily hidden from plain sight. She did wonder if Eraser Head (or Aizawa-sensei as he pointed out they should call him) would help out to teach them in STC since the underground hero was also known for his quick capture methods.

Then by the end of classes, Maiko would find herself walking beside Todoroki on the way home. Once they deviated to stop by the café again, just to pick up some tea. It was nice, having some semblance of routine now. She liked it. Slowly, Maiko was realizing that she had friends. She was allowed to call them friends, right? It had only been a week, but she felt it was just right to call them that.

'You don't deserve it.'

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It was Thursday.

Maiko clumsily rubbed her eyes. It was early morning, and for some reason, she had woken up a full hour before her alarm clock rang. She stared at the white ceiling of her room, before deciding that dallying was probably not the best idea. A pale hand reached out from under the thick covers, taking the phone on top of the side table.

She squinted as the bright light of her phone nearly blinded her. Maiko yawned, finally getting up to stretch. It was way too early, what was she supposed to do now? There was nothing to do in her apartment aside from watching whatever's on the television which was probably the early morning news. With no other choice but to do that, Maiko dragged her blanket to the living area, curling on the couch as she turned on the TV. The newscaster became background noise as she was dragged again back to sleep.

The next thing she knew, her phone was vibrating violently beside her ear. Ah, she fell asleep. At least she wasn't feeling as tired as she had been earlier. She picked up her phone to turn off the alarm. Maiko felt faint when she saw the time, realizing that she had about five minutes to get ready before Todoroki arrived so they could walk to school.

[07:32 AM] Todoroki Shouto (todoroki_s)

I'm here.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or well, make his presence known. Maiko was pulling up her socks when he messaged her. Quickly taking her scarf and wrapping it around her neck, she replied to him.

[07:35 AM] Yukinokouji Maiko (yuki_maiko)

I'm on my way down.

Rushing towards the elevator, Maiko started thinking of various ways to apologize to him for being late. She didn't really know why she woke up early only to fall asleep again and be late. She shook her head, fixing her scarf again as she rapidly typed in her phone, already spotting Todoroki's unique hair just outside the main door.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I fell asleep on my alarm clock after I woke up earlier. I'm sorry."

She bowed to her waist, her eyes shut tight as she waited for his response.

"…it's fine," Todoroki muttered. "It wasn't a long wait, anyway."

Maiko straightened again, looking up at him to gauge his sincerity. When she found what she was looking for, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Still, I apologize."

A hand on her head made her jump. Peeking through her lashes, a small smile threatened to appear again beneath her scarf as she saw a barely there twitch on his lips.

"Let's go? I remember they have blueberry pancakes at the café as a special today."

And that had been that. Fortunately, despite the minor setback, they did manage to get to school in their usual time. There was a reason why Maiko always insisted on being early, after all. She didn't want to be late and be seen as a lazy student. That wasn't the image she wanted to project.

That said, maintaining the prim and proper lady image was her only motivation behind looking like she was listening to Present Mic as he kept talking. It was time for English. And while she wasn't completely fluent in the language, her education was more focused on Traditional Japanese, she could pass this without a doubt. Which is why she found herself being bored.

Pencil tapping against the table, Maiko sighed. She turned her gaze down to her notebook, a smile hiding under her scarf as she saw the multitude of chibi drawings in different poses around the page. Momo's large ponytail was very prominent since Maiko drew about ten of her. Chibi Todoroki and Tokoyami were also liberally floating around the piece of paper, with some appearances from Koda and Mezo here and there.

It was nice, and at the same time, disconcerting to see the differences between the Maiko a month before, and the Maiko now. When before, she'd never see anything but figures and letters on her notes, now she had doodles flooding the pages. She was also thankful for her strict schedule before, otherwise, she might have been clueless as to what her teacher had been saying.

The bell for lunch rang, finally. Maiko gave a quiet sigh as she let her head fall to the table. She could feel Tokoyami's curious gaze at her. She studiously ignored him.

"Maiko-san?" Momo's angelic voice made her perk up slightly. Maiko raised her head to look at the girl who moved to stand beside her desk, Tokoyami and Todoroki standing around them. She made a small noise.

"Hurry up, if they run out of cold soba—," before Todoroki could even finish, Maiko stood and pulled Momo to the cafeteria, knowing that the two boys would follow. She relished in her laughter, warmth blooming in her chest as they headed to the cafeteria.

Lunch Rush already knew her order before she could even type it on her phone. Maiko turned a blind eye to her friends' stares.

"You should really order something else," Tokoyami sighed from behind her. She looked at him, before sending a pointed look at what Todoroki had ordered, which was also cold soba, and looking back to him again. "…point."

Silence settled over their table again, even when Mezo and Koda joined them. This was the first time that Momo was here when the other two boys were. Was it strange? They weren't like the other tables, Maiko thought as she peered at the others. They were completely quiet, with Momo and Tokoyami making small comments once in a while. She appreciated the peace, to be quite honest, she preferred it over the chaos that she could see over her other classmates' tables.

I should probably also make an effort to get to know the others, she sighed. But that was where her problem was. She didn't know how to even approach them, much less talk to them. She was, after all, voiceless.

"What's on your mind?" Todoroki nudged her side. Maiko jumped at the sudden movement.

"I was just wondering what our Hero Class for the afternoon is," a lie, and he probably knew it, but he left her to her thoughts anyway.

"Aren't we supposed to have All Might as our teacher for Foundational Hero Studies?" Mezo asked, one of his extra limbs turned into a mouth. It was a fascinating Quirk, very useful too. "I remember hearing someone about it."

They were going to have the number one hero as their teacher? For foundational studies too. That was important. It would be the fundamentals for their heroic studies. Perhaps this time, Maiko should perform better. Not like the mediocre act she did for the apprehension tests. Aside from Momo and Todoroki, no one knew that she came to Yuuei under recommendations. Good thing too, that her two friends weren't ones to just talk about it.

A recommendation student? But she didn't even rank that high. Maiko could practically hear them, the comments that would have come up if her classmates knew. What use was it if she couldn't even show that she deserved to be recommended? And I still don't know who sent in the recommendation too.

It was a mystery that she wanted to solve immediately, but she didn't have any leads as to which Pro Hero could have pitched in a recommendation for her. Maiko has met a lot of them in her years in the family manor, so there was no telling as to who it could be. But at the same time, all the Pro Heroes she met only knew of that. She shook her head. Did her teachers knew of the other aspect of her Quirk?

Too many questions, no answers at all.

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Maiko usually found herself thinking deeper after lunch. She didn't know why, but there was something about the time that made her think more, try to understand more about herself, and now, the people around her as well. There was still time before their next class, and if she was to believe her classmates, then All Might was their teacher. And Maiko wanted to be prepared.

Foundational Hero Studies was, after all, going to prepare them for when they become actual Pro Heroes. While they've already had a taste of combative and non-combative classes, both with Quirks and no Quirks, there was still something different with this class. Maiko didn't remember the exact wording in their curriculum, but there was something regarding trials and situations that made this one class unique. Team training too, maybe? Now that was the one thing Maiko didn't know if she'd make it.

They were pretty lucky, she guessed, that the Heroics Department had the number one hero for their teacher. From the hologram that Yuuei sent with the acceptance letter, All Might had mentioned settling down in Musutafu to be a teacher in Yuuei. He left his agency in Tokyo to teach. Why?, was the question to ask. He was successful. And while she could believe that he wanted to be part of shaping the new generation of heroes, Maiko was quite sure that wasn't where it ended.

She had been raised to find motives under motives, reasons behind plans. And this abrupt decision to teach was rather fishy.

She wasn't about to complain though. It was highly beneficial and advantageous to her batch to have the number one hero, as well as a lot more Pro Heroes, to teach them about heroics. After all, who better to teach them than those who had plenty of experience, no?

Maiko stopped by the doorway, a soft gasp escaping her when Momo bumped into her suddenly. But her eyes were focused on the group of people around Midoriya. Who was seated in front of her, and they were crowding around her seat as well.

"Maiko-san?" she jumped, finally moving again. She fiddled with her scarf when Uraraka blocked her way to her seat. "Ah, Uraraka-san."

Maiko watched as the brunette practically jumped a foot off the floor when Momo spoke.

"Yaoyorozu-san!" she exclaimed. "Yukinokouji-chan! Ah, sorry, I was blocking your desk huh?"

Maiko shrugged, before taking a seat. Blinking when she felt stares upon her person, she glanced up to see Uraraka, Midoriya, and Iida looking at her. She tilted her head in confusion. Was there something on her face?

"I don't think I know your name!" she flinched at the way Iida phrased that. It had been a few days of school know, and there were still people who she didn't know and didn't know her. How's that for someone who wanted to have friends. "I'm Iida Tenya!"

"M-Midoriya I-Izuku!" Midoriya stammered, his face gaining an interesting shade of red. "N-Nice to meet you…"

I know, she wanted to say. She's seen Momo and Tokoyami talk to them a few times now, so her two friends have mentioned them before. And Midoriya sat in front of her in class, so there was no way to miss who he was as well. She picked up the whiteboard Momo gave her and started to write.

"Yukinokouji Maiko, nice to meet you," it read. She waited for the inevitable response of scoffs and turning back on her. But it never came. She saw Midoriya open his mouth to talk, when the door slammed open.

"I AM HERE," All Might's loud voice echoed in the suddenly quiet room. "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

Okay, forget what she said about being excited for this class. Maiko had to refrain from jumping at the loud sound he made when he entered the class, made extra louder by the lack of noise. Which was rather surprising for a loud class like theirs.

"It's All Might!"

"That's his Silver Age costume!"

"Oh my god we're so lucky!"

"It's really him!"

And there it is. Maiko sighed when her classmates erupted into chatter. Even the quiet Tokoyami seemed to be fidgeting on his seat. Momo was expressing her excitement in that elegant manner known only to her. Todoroki was the same as always with his straight face. Midoriya, on the other hand, seemed to be bouncing on his seat in front of her. His mutters grew louder, but at the same time, more muffled, and she could see Bakugou's shoulders shaking in what seemed to be contained range. There was definitely something there.

"WELCOME TO FOUNDATIONAL HERO STUDIES!" the large hero practically bellowed. "THIS IS THE CLASS THAT WILL TRAIN YOU INTO REAL HEROES! For our first class, we'll be having a mock scenario!"

Maiko took in a deep breath. This is it, this was the proper starting line.

"BATTLE SIMULATION!"

Murmurs spread around the classroom, and Maiko could practically see Bakugou's vicious grin from the front and Midoriya's loud gulp that even Uraraka probably heard from the other side of the room if the looks she and Iida were sending the green-haired boy any signs.

Personally, Maiko wasn't too keen on a battle scenario. She wasn't a pacifist, but she was more likely to do support work than be on the frontlines, despite the fact that her Quirk was pretty strong in itself. Still though, she'd rather do side work and support. Oh well.

"But first!" All Might interrupted the excitement again. "Every hero needs a costume!"

Again, cheers echoed around the class.

"We've taken the designs and requests you have sent to match your Quirks!" Right, Maiko remembered that along with the acceptance letter was another form for the Hero gear. She tried to remember what she had placed for her own costume, before realizing that she probably had been vague when she said 'easy to move in, white, lightweight, with a Capture Gear like Eraser Head's'. So now her own costume was a mystery for her.

She didn't even remember why she chose white. Although, she did find white to be her color. It was the color of her hair, and her current apartment and everything in it was white. With splashes of black, but that's technicalities.

Maiko was brought out of her reverie when the room shook a little, the wall beside them suddenly revealing panels with their student numbers.

"And don't forget," there was a slight pause, making everyone lean over their desks. "FROM NOW ON, YOU'RE ALL HEROES!"

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"Uwaaah!" Maiko stomped down the urge to flinch at the sudden noise from beside her. Uraraka jumped around her, the other girls looking at them as well. "Yukinokouji-chan looks so cool!"

Cool wasn't the word she'd use to describe her outfit. Monochromatic was more accurate. Pulling out her phone, as the whiteboard was too bulky to take for their current activity, she quickly typed in. "You look great as well, Uraraka-san."

"I wish I was more specific about the material…" the other girl pouted as she looked down on her costume, picking and prodding at it. Maiko thought it looked good on her. Besides, if she didn't specify the material, the support company would have used something that would match her Quirk perfectly.

Maiko looked around the grounds they were in. Some of her classmates were already here, showing off their costumes one way or another. Pale red eyes looked at her own friends. Tokoyami was wearing a cloak, under it, she didn't know. But it suited him, and the darkness under it would be good to control his Quirk, Dark Shadow, well. Momo, on the other hand, was wearing something revealing. But it was a necessary evil when using her Quirk, Creation. Todoroki though…

White and ice. He certainly was making a point with his own costume. His whole left side was covered in ice.

"Oh, you and Todoroki-san match!" Ashido chirped from somewhere in the group. She tilted her head in contemplation.

Maiko herself was wearing all white. For her top, they gave her a short-sleeved, short dress that ended above her thighs, a zipper going all the way from the built-in mask to the bottom of the dress. Underneath, she was wearing white shorts for extra protection. High-heeled thigh high boots boosted her measly height. Around her waist were two utility belts criss-crossing. One had a first aid kit attached, the other had three spheres hanging.

To complete her costume, she had short white gloves, with two sturdy wristbands that served as the main point of the Capture Devices that wrapped around her arms. They were like Eraser Head's own scarf-style Capture Device, her own waving in the air as her Quirk activated.

Someway, somehow, her color scheme had matched Todoroki's. It was an accident, of course, since they didn't meet until that weekend, nor did they even had a chance to talk about matching up their costumes. Maiko shrugged, well, that was that. If they allowed for upgrades, perhaps she'll consider changing colors.

"Alright class!" All Might easily took everyone's attention. "We'll be playing Heroes versus Villains! You'll be pairing up with another classmate, with one group having three members to take into account the odd number, and go against another team!"

Iida's hand immediately shot up. "How will the pairings be decided? And isn't it unfair for one team to have more than two people?"

Too many questions. She zoned out as All Might started to explain what was supposed to happen for their activity. Villains guarding the nuclear weapon, while the Heroes had to go and capture them to stop it from being 'deployed'. And that sometimes, a group will be over-numbered and will have to make do with what they had. She supposed that was why it was necessary to have random groupings as well, it was good to know someone with a different Quirk and how you can utilize that so you can work well together.

"Here's your groupings and who you're going against!" a hologram appeared beside the tall Hero, and Maiko's eyes immediately looked for her name on the projection. "First teams are Heroes, the second are Villains!"

Team A (Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako) vs Team D (Tenya Iida, Bakugou Katsuki)

Team B (Mezo Shoji, Todoroki Shouto) vs Team I (Hagakure Tooru, Ojiro Mashirao)

Team E (Aoyama Yuuga, Ashido Mina) vs Team C (Mineta Minoru, Yaoyorozu Momo)

Team H (Asui Tsuyu, Tokoyami Fumikage) vs Team J (Kirishima Eijiro, Seto Hanra, Yukinokouji Maiko)

Team G (Kaminari Denki, Jirou Kyoka) vs Team F (Koji Koda, Sato Rikido)

Maiko tried to spot where her teammates were as everyone scattered, but everything became chaotic especially when they were instructed to go to the screening room so we could see everything happening in the mock city we were in just a few moments ago. She sighed, she needed to find her teammates so she could at least get a feel of their Quirks and they could formulate a plan as to how she could support them as well.

A tap on her shoulder made her jump and turn around, her eyes round. She was met with wry smiles from a redhead and a dark haired male with rather peculiar triangle mouth. Her teammates?

"Hi! I'm Kirishima Eijiro!" the redhead introduced himself, before jabbing a thumb to the other boy's direction. "And that's Seto Hanra. Nice to meet you, Yukinokouji-chan!"

Maiko bowed, before pulling out her phone again. "Nice to meet you as well." She tilted her head as their smiles spread out more. "I hope we can work well together."

Smiles turned into grins as she was crowded by the two boys who started to talk about their Quirks, as quiet as they can be as they huddled in a corner. Maiko hid a smile behind her mask, but her eyes crinkled slightly.

This is it, the beginning of my Heroic path.

She ignored the eyes that stared at her back.


And then, the doll moved.

'Finally,' the servants and guards sighed. 'Finally we see a performance.'

The room was filled to the brim with people dressed in fineries, here to visit the doll. They were promised a wonderful performance to bring them luck. They had paid countless of gold to see this once in a lifetime experience, after all, they were only given one chance.

One chance to see something from the heavens. One chance to be blessed.

They never saw the tears pouring out of the doll's eyes.


A/N:

I don't really have a final pairing for Maiko yet, but I'm leaning towards Todoroki, because that boy needs love and there's no such thing as too much love. ALTHOUGH I admit, the last scene from Chapter 2 was what actually started this thing. I've been imagining Todoroki quietly following behind Maiko for the rest of the walk but my muse went the other way and made them walk together. Well, what can you do now?

ALSO! I took the liberty to adjust the calendar for the events since it kinda made more sense to me that everything took place with a few days in between. There's a post about BNHA's timeline somewhere in Reddit if I remember correctly. I'll wing it though.

((shameless plug again! if you wanna see Maiko's hero costume (ver 1) you can head on to Facebook and find my Art Page Seaciel 2(point)0 (replace point with a period). You can also catch doodles I'll make for this fic in the future in that page!


REVIEW RESPONSE!

bbymojo Thank you very much for the support! Todoroki Shoto-cake is one of my favorite characters in the series, and I have a hard time writing aloof characters, so I'm very happy that you said that! I never did mention about Maiko's muteness, but I can't exactly say anything about it now as well. It'll play a role in the future, so light will be shed there uwu

PrettyKitty Luvs U Thank you very much for the support as well! I'll do my best to deliver the best Maiko I can uwu