Awako peered through the opening of the door to the teachers' office. Her gaze traveled from Izuku to Katsuki as their home room teacher praised them.

"Not only two, but three of our students are getting into U.A.," he said cheerfully. "Kurage Awako from the other class seems to have made it as well, despite having such low grades here. But you didn't hear it from me."

She could tell Katsuki was glaring at Izuku.

"And Midoriya! Your acceptance is a miracle among miracles!"

Suddenly the door slid open, another teacher standing on the other side.

"Ah, Kurage-san. Did you need something?" the teacher asked.

Everyone turned their attention to her and her face reddened. Katsuki's glare caught her off guard and she nearly felt herself catch fire.

She never replied to his message.

"Excuse me," she said before bowing and taking off down the hallway before anyone could stop her.


She was rushing now. Down the staircases and through the hallway. She held the strap of her messenger bag tightly in her hand as she tried to make it to the shoe lockers. Awako would normally be long gone by now but was stopped by her own homeroom teacher for praise. Now the schoolgrounds were empty and it sent her on edge. She knew better by now than to lag behind.

As quickly as she could she changed her shoes and slipped out of the building. She slowed her pace and tried to catch her breath.

"I thought I told you to go somewhere else!" she heard a familiar voice bark.

"S-Someone told me that I could become a hero. K-Kacchan I earned this!"

Awako peered around the corner spotting Katsuki pushing Izuku against the wall.

"That's why I'm...I'm going to be a hero! No matter what!" Izuku said. His gaze moved to Awako.

"Awa-chan…?" he said. Katsuki turned quickly, and it made Awako stumble back. Quickly she turned, walking off without a word to either of them.

"Oi, Wanko!" she heard him call after her. Her grip on the strap of her bag tightened and she began walking faster.

"You can't ignore me forever!" she heard, closer this time.

She tripped over herself, her pace picking up into almost a run.

His hand around her arm jerked her to a stop, causing her to whip around to face him.

"You can't ignore me forever," he repeated, huffing to catch his breath. Awako's ears flushed pink as she looked up at him. She pulled her arm once and when he didn't loosen his grip she pulled it again.

"I-I'm sorry, I have to go," she mumbled out, tugging it a third time. When she looked back up at him she had to bite back a laugh. His face reminded her of a pouting child. Yet she couldn't stop herself from mimicking his expression as she pulled away from him again. He still wouldn't let go.

His hair bristled as he brought his face closer to her's and she felt her heart began to pound in her chest.

"Why didn't you tell me you got into U.A., ah?" he asked loudly. "Think you're too good now, too, huh?" he continued, baring his teeth at her. "Is that why you won't talk to m-"

"You don't need me, remember?" she found herself shouting as she jerked her arm away. She stumbled back a few steps as he stared at her wide-eyed.

"Are you gonna bully me too? Just like Dekkun?" she whipped at him, stepping toward him and making him take steps back this time.

"Will you push me against a wall and threaten me?" she barked at him, the fire in her chest blazing now.

She could nearly see the smoke rising from his body now. He sputtered, trying to come up with anything to fire back at her. She huffed and turned away from him but stopped when she felt Katsuki grab her wrist again.

"I didn't mean-" he began before she yanked her arm again. He scrambled to grasp at anything and his hand closed around her bracelet. The string snapped in the scuffle and beads scattered around them, catching Katsuki's attention. He stepped back, hearing a crunch beneath his shoe. Lifting it he found shards of one of the beads.

"Wanko-" he began, looking back up.

She was gone.

"Fuck-"


"Fuck-" Katsuki muttered to himself for what must have been the thousandth time. He stared down at his desk, beads scattered around the top of it. He was lost and didn't have the slightest idea of where to start.

There were countless times that he watched Wanko braid bracelets. Over and over he watched her but he couldn't even remember how she did that anymore. He was desperate enough to look up tutorials and videos on how to do it but none of them even began to compare to the style Wanko did hers.

He cut the thread once more and started over, his hands clumsily working with the braid again. She had to have had so much patience to do this, he thought to himself. He felt his palms begin to sweat and he paused to wipe them on his pants. He had already exploded the beads off of his desk on accident before. It was an even bigger pain in the ass to collect them around his room as it was to find them the first time around. He definitely didn't want to do that again.

He rolled a bead beneath his finger. Each one seemed to bubble up a memory of her.

The lost look on her face when they did homework together. She really was an idiot sometimes.

The stupid excited look that would brighten her face when she showed him new beads that she bought. Not that he cared much.

The look she would give him when he would save her from bullies when they were kids. A look that made pride bubble in his chest.

He felt the same thing as he thought back. What was it? It felt as though he was forgetting something in the back of his mind. Something important.

He pricked himself and shouted another curse, banging his head on his desk. He heard the sound of beads rolling off of his desk and onto the floor.

"F-Fuck!"


Spring had finally arrived and the fresh air filled Awako with bounciness. Today was her first day at U.A. high. She was a highschooler now, on her way to becoming a hero.

"My little Awako is all grown up!" her father said, tears in the corners of his eyes.

Makoto Kurage was a tall man, with bushy brown hair and glasses. Awako inherited almost everything from him, his eyes, his hair, even parts of his personality. Her quirk seemed to be the only thing she inherited from her mom.

"Papa is so proud!" her father wailed as he pulled her into a bear hug.

"I have to go!" she whined, despite the laughter that bubbled in her chest. "Tsuyu is waiting for me!"

He nodded and set her down, lightly patting the bun on the top of her head before saying "Be careful! I'm so proud of you!"

She puffed up her chest, a sense of pride washing over her. She nodded quickly before turning and racing out the front door.

She made it to the station in record time, but the ride took ages. Impatiently she jumped through the doors as soon as they opened and raced out the station.

"Tsuyu!" she called, jumping up and down and waving both of her hands. With a tiny croak Tsuyu waved back, picking up her pace to catch up with Awako. She was rushing over, meeting her halfway as she said "Thanks for waiting!"

Tsuyu gave the closest thing to a smile and poked her cheek, saying "I'm excited, I wonder who's going to be in our class."

Awako turned her gaze to the sky, a wide smile on her face. She couldn't hide the excitement.

"Awako-chan, where did your bracelet go?" Tsuyu interrupted. Awako's face paled slightly and she bit her lip.

"Oh! I seemed to have misplaced it," she lied, tapping her forehead. "I am a ditz at times…"


Sweat dripped down the back of Awako's neck. She stared blankly at her desk, her eyes wide and hollow as she came to terms with her surroundings. Katsuki was in her class. After years of whining and complaining that they never shared class together she unluckily got her wish. Her gaze moved to the back of his head, where it lingered before moving back to her desk. Tsuyu watched her, tilting her head slightly.

"I'm so stoked you passed the exam too!"

Awako looked up, her eyes still blank, and stared at the red haired boy infront of her. She hardly recognized him as the boy she had saved during the exam.

"Those were some awesome skills you had!" he continued, grinning at her. "I'm Kirishima, by the way. Kirishima Eijirou."

"K-Kurage Awako," she mumbled back, feeling as if the room itself was on fire. She heard the shuffling of a few students and felt their eyes on her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Katsuki turn to look her way. It was his first acknowledgement since she stepped foot in the room.

"Kurage…." he said, looking up in thought. "Oh! You must be the sister of Kurage Naota!"

Awako's face paled and she suddenly had the urge to vomit. Behind her she heard whispers but Eijirou didn't seem to notice in the slightest.

"I think it's amazing that you're studying to become a hero," he assured her. "I think it's very manly," he added with a laugh.

He was very cheerful, Awako gathered. It actually calmed her a bit that he didn't seem to bat an eyelash at her name either. She couldn't help but give him a smile back, even if it was small. Her ear twitched as she heard a few more whispers and her smile dropped. For just a moment she searched for Katsuki, a habit she couldn't seem to kick, and in that moment his eyes locked onto hers. But it was broken just a quickly and she looked down into her lap.

She heard a slamming noise and looked back up, seeing Katsuki lounging back in his chair with his feet on his desk. The noise was loud enough to disrupt the whispers and everyone's attention now turned to the blonde.

A student who very much reminded Awako of a cardboard cutout of a person suddenly rushed to scold Katsuki.

"Not only is that an insult to the former students of U.A., but to the people who made the desk," he asserted, waving his hand in a cutting motion.

"Eh? And what school are you from, Extra?" Katsuki sneered back, his face twisted rather comically. Awako couldn't help but laugh, covering it up with a cough when she saw Katsuki look at her. She looked to the side, trying to hide her smile.

"I-I'm from Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Iida."

He seemed nice enough, Awako thought and she turned to look back at the two. She began to fidget with her notebook, ripping off a tiny chunk of paper.

"Somei?! A stuck-up elitist, then? I should blow you to bits," Katsuki barked at him, leaning forward in his seat and bearing his teeth at Iida.

Awako formed the paper into a tiny ball, flicking it in Katsuki's direction. It bounced off of his cheek and he stiffened. No one else seemed to notice and she looked away quickly when he turned his head to leer at her.

"You're awful! Do you really wish to become a hero!?" Iida said, taken aback by Katsuki's crass attitude. To Awako it was funny. She hadn't heard his ego talk in such a long time that it caused her to let out a snort. Once again their gazes met one another.

They both looked away.

Awako sighed and brushed her hair behind her ear.

"Awako-chan, what's wrong?" Tsuyu asked, tilting her head. She forced a smile, waving her hand and saying "Oh! Nothing!"

Her bag buzzed.

Slipping her hand inside she pulled out her phone. It flashed a new message.

Kacchan: we need to talk wanko

Kacchan: pls

She stared down at her phone for a what seemed like forever. She peeked over at Katsuki who was busy glaring at Izuku who just entered the classroom. She didn't really know how to feel. She was so used to getting the cold shoulder from Katsuki that she was actually flattered that he put so much effort into talking to her.

Fine. After class.

She watched him look down at his phone and then back to her. She made a show of dropping her phone back into her back and turned her attention to the front of the class. A rather raggedy man stood in the doorway.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Pleased to meet you," he said in a monotonous voice. He reminded Awako of a hobo.

"Quickly now, change into your gym uniforms and head out to the grounds," he continued, holding out a gym shirt.


"Die!"

Awako watched as the baseball Katsuki threw rocketed into the sky. Her hair was blown back from the force. She currently stood next to Tsuyu, her face pale and her hands shakily laced on her stomach to try and soothe the anxiety she felt bubbling up.

It was a test of quirks and she always felt self-conscious of her own power. She spent the majority of her time training before she found out she was accepted into U.A. and even after the fact.

Her quirk seemed simple enough bit in extreme bouts of using it she would find herself dehydrated. She would develop intense migraines and muscle cramps. A few times she even worked herself so hard that she passed out. She could only control so much water and even then for only a short distance. Countless hours went into perfecting her footwork into a seamless dance.

"Right. The only with the lowest scores across all eight tests will be judged as hopeless and expelled."

Awako faltered a bit on her feet and felt her mouth become dry. So this was what it was like to be in a real hero school.

She balled her hands into fists and sucked in a breath. She had to prove herself now. She had to pass these tests, no matter what.

He gaze flicked over to Katsuki and she saw that he was grinning. She felt confidence bubble in her chest as she moved to look back at Aizawa.

"I've got this. I'll beat him."