I don't own MHA. I think this chapter is kinda boring, but I was trying to elaborate on the type of person Kasha is. The next one will definitely be better... (maybe).


After all was said and done, class 1-A did somewhat admirably for their very first Combat Assessment.

Kasha was informed by All Might that she should exercise a little more restraint, because apparently she'd been too rough with Dark Shadow, despite the fact that he'd relentlessly attacked her and refused to submit.

'Well, you can't please everybody.' The silver eyed girl thought. 'Not that I even want to.'

Everyone was making their way back to the locker rooms, chattering amongst themselves. Kasha was a little lost in thought, so Denki was entertaining himself with the company of a redhead named Kirishima.

'I wonder, what can I add to my hero costume so I'm more effective in combat?' Kasha thought. 'And honestly though...what did All Might mean by restraint? Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were still alive after our fight so what's the problem?'

Before she could muse any further on those subjects, her shoulder was roughly bashed against someone else's. Silver eyes blinked, shifting slightly to meet irritated red.

"Fucking watch it, Ghostface." Bakugo growled.

Kasha tilted her head to the side in question. She didn't say anything, but she knew the minute gesture was quite enough to get her point across.

"Your hair is white, how the fuck is your skin nearly the same color? That's why you're Ghostface, shitty extra." He spat, surprising her because he actually explained his reasoning. He hadn't seemed the type.

"Ashido-san's skin is pink." Kasha offered blankly.

"What the fuck ever." Bakugo dismissed. "Raccoon Eyes is another story."

Kasha blinked silently as he stormed away.

'Well, that definitely could've been worse.' She thought.

The white haired girl supposed maybe she should've been insulted by Bakugo's name calling, but some of her classmates had been already dubbed truly awful things, and her own was admittedly creative. She decided to just go with the flow, as she often did when she felt no true reason to step up. Plus, Kasha doubted that arguing with Bakugo to call her more respectfully would even be fruitful, he seemed the type to ignore the desires of others.

"Well, it's better than Pikachu." Denki offered, getting a faint wince from Kirishima.

"And Hair-for-Brains." He grumbled.

Kasha smirked faintly. She needn't say anything, they all knew it was true.

"Oh hey, you're Yūrei right?" Kirishima finally greeted from Denki's right. She stood to the blonde's left, so they peered over Denki's shoulders to communicate.

"Mm." Kasha hummed.

"Cool, I'm Kirishima." He said, smiling over at her with his sharp teeth. "Your fight was pretty intense, the way you held it down even when the lights went out was super manly, but you gave me chills towards the end."

"I see." Kasha murmured, not sure what else there was to say in response. "You did well too."

Kirishima flexed a little, grinning happily as he thanked her.

Denki sighed.

"What about me?" He asked. "How did I do?"

"Well," Kirishima began thoughtfully. "I think you did pretty good too, never would've expected you to take on a stealthy approach dude, but the way you turned around your fight with Asui was super manly! She never saw it coming. One minute it was quiet and she was going after Tokoyami and the next she was on the floor!"

Kasha noticed Denki puffing up a little in pride at the praise.

"I definitely thought she had me after smacking me but she took off." The blonde said, smiling. "But Kasha kept a cool head and I didn't want to be the reason we went down, so… the result was a flawless victory."

Kasha faintly rolled her eyes.

There was nothing flawless about their match, considering how Denki had nearly panicked a few times and how sloppily Kasha handled her own altercation. But it was a learning experience for them both, so she had no real complaints.

Noticing they made their way into the Academy and had reached the corridor that lead to their respective gender locker rooms, Kasha hitched a thumb in the direction of the girls side. Noticing, Denki nodded.

"Okay, see you in a bit hot stuff." He said.

Kirishima offered her a polite smile and thumbs up. The white haired girl simply nodded and took her leave, following after the other girls.

She made her way to her secluded locker, peeling off her hero suit and gauntlets. After that she made her way to the showers. She was the last one in, so she'd have to take the stall at the very back of the tiled room. Wrapped in a fluffy white towel and shielded by her long flowing hair, she strode across the floor, holding her towel closed.

She felt the eyes of her peers following her, but she met no one's gaze as she moved. She knew her hair was hiding her profile just as well as her mask would have.

Kasha tuned out the friendly chatter that rose again after she shut her stall's door behind herself.

After she was all cleaned, she left the stall, hair clinging to her skin. Again she was the last one, and she snuck passed her peers back to her locker as everyone dressed.

Dried and hair combed, she put back on her school uniform, feeling confident beneath the black cloth mask of her leotard. She was just finishing up tying her hair into her odango buns when someone behind her cleared their throat.

Calmly, Kasha closed her locker and grabbed the briefcase holding her hero attire. Silver eyes met honest brown.

Uraraka Ochako stared at Yūrei Kasha, fiddling a little with her fingers nervously. The white haired teen looked at her with solemn sleepy eyes, waiting to see what the shorter girl wanted.

So far after earlier that day they'd simply ignored one another. Apparently that wasn't sitting well with the gravity user. As if to confirm this, Uraraka took a deep steadying breath and released it, looking at the taller girl with a new firm set to her shoulders.

"Look, first I want to say I'm sorry for what happened earlier." Uraraka stated. "And then, I want to ask if we can talk later… after school."

Kasha tilted her head.

'What's the harm, hm?'

Nothing. It wouldn't harm her. So…

"Alright." Kasha agreed.

"Okay," Uraraka mumbled, looking away. "Okay, cool. I'll… I'll talk to you later."

Kasha nodded.

The shorter girl lingered for a few moments, seeming to want to say something else, but she just shook her head and waved, scurrying off.

"Hm." Kasha hummed.

'I wonder what I just agreed to?'


At lunch time, Denki followed Kasha to the courtyard. The two of them sat on a bench while other students mingled, enjoying their own lunch period. The sun was high and bright, bathing the opposite duo in warm afternoon rays.

Kasha had made her own lunch, a simple set of salted onigiri and a thermos full of mint strawberry iced tea. Denki had ordered from the cafeteria, still quite taken with the novelty of having the pro hero Lunch Rush making food for the school. He was enjoying a bowl of udon with a side of mixed tempera.

"Hey Kasha," Denki called, drawing her eyes to him. "We're friends, right?"

Kasha stared.

He rubbed at the back of his head, uncomfortable.

"I mean, if we're not we're getting there right?" He asked.

"What's this about?" Kasha asked bluntly.

First Uraraka wants to talk after school, now Denki was randomly asking about the nature of their relationship. What was with today?

"Honestly, I'm curious." He admitted, just as blunt. "Why do you wear that mask?"

Kasha froze, remembering

"Nee-chan, your face is always sad now. Don't look sad."

Of course he didn't know what he brought forth by those words. He had no idea, and he wasn't supposed to. It wasn't anyone's business that Kasha covered her face because she had no real control over her expressions. Wasn't their business that more often times than not, the look on her face brought her sister pain. Since meeting Denki, she had been in a positive mood more often than she could remember since her parents had died. It was staggering.

Without even realizing, she was beginning to change. Or was she still mostly the same as she'd always been, simply waiting for the right person to reach out and be nice to her?

Even so, it was too fast. Her change of behavior too sudden. It didn't make much sense and was honestly a little frightening. Kasha had gotten used to the way she'd been going, quiet and alone, longing for the days when the world was safe enough after she brought justice for her wronged parents by taking down that man, the day she could be with her sister and aunt again with a free conscience.

"Nee-chan, please pat my head and say 'It's okay'." Kaji begged.

It wasn't okay.

Nothing was ever going to be okay again.

"Nee-chan…" Kaji whimpered, tears welling in her eyes.

Pain stabbed at Kasha's battered heart.

"I'm sorry Kaji."

Kasha blinked away the spirit crushing memories.

How dare she.

How dare she find any form of happiness before she'd shown Kaji that she could be anything other than pathetic again? How dare she?

"It's because I'm hideous." She answered dryly, only a beat off. The electricity user didn't seem to notice her slight hesitance.

"Blasphemy!" Denki hollered. "I refuse to believe this!"

"It doesn't matter." She said quietly, shrugging. "I'm not taking it off."

At this, Denki pouted, but she paid him no mind, focusing her gaze somewhere across the courtyard, eyes unfocused. She'd eaten her lunch already, honestly had finished it while Denki was ordering his own earlier. So she didn't have to worry about him seeing her face. She wasn't sure how he felt about her dodging his inquiry, but he was polite enough to not call her on it.

She appreciated him for it, so she found herself saying:

"We're friends Denki."

He looked at her, udon noodles hanging from his mouth, and gaped.

She shook her head at him. The blonde blushed in response and finished the last of his noodles before speaking once more.

"Okay, so we're friends." He restated. "So someday, can I ask you about your mask again?"

Kasha looked away again.

"You can, but will I answer? We'll see." She murmured.

"Yeah, we'll see." He agreed, content with that.

They sat the rest of their lunch in contemplative silence.

Denki didn't know, and would never know that Kasha had donned her mask because Kaji couldn't bare the sadness in her expressions that nearly took over her personality as a whole. It wasn't his concern, and Kasha had no intention of making him believe it was in the near or distant future.

But, setting that aside, Kasha hadn't seen Kaji in a while. Not since before she started at U.A.

'Him asking about my mask reminds me…' She thought sadly.

Truthfully the mask was for Kaji, until Kasha could smile again, with no hint of melancholy ruining everything. How could Kasha allow herself to be happy before her mission was complete? How could she find herself smiling for someone that wasn't her sister? Because it was all for Kaji anyway, wasn't it?

And Denki… her friend, he forced smiles out of her. He made her laugh, and Kasha would admit that when he did, her internal misery was nowhere near her mind.

What power a good natured stranger could have.

And Denki could tell, he could tell Kasha was nowhere near emotionless, or cold. She hadn't done anything to prove him otherwise, and so he put forth an active effort to make her open up more. That much she could see.

But how could Kasha allow herself to open up again before someone that wasn't her sister? Even if it hadn't been conscious?

'All it took was one person, one good natured person, when I've been making my little sister miserable because I can't manage a real smile.'

Shame, sadness, and self hatred swelled within Kasha's heart. She couldn't believe herself. She disgusted herself.

But Kasha wasn't sure she could do anything about it.

Because right after Denki came Uraraka, who'd already seen her scars, and by the look the white haired girl had seen in the shorter girl's too earnest eyes, she wanted to "soothe" and "fix" Kasha.

But Kasha wasn't looking to be soothed. She wasn't looking to be fixed, because she was far from broken.

She had a purpose, and her long sleeves and mask would remain until it was fulfilled.

'The least I can do… is leave this mask on until I see Kaji again.' The teen thought. 'She's the only one that can see a real smile.'

Kasha wouldn't suppress herself before Kaji, like she did to everyone around her. Sure she didn't push them away completely, but she did keep them at arm's length. She knew it was only a matter of time before others began to notice, but she'd cross that bridge when she got to it.

Though, it was time to digress. To return to the most pressing matter.

Kaji would be the first to see life return to Kasha's full expression. Because Kaji had seen it snuffed out, and it had hurt her the most. Kasha would fix the pain she caused her sister by someday pulling down her mask, and smiling honestly, telling her like she should have from the beginning that, it's okay Kaji.

Even if it wasn't really okay. Even if it never really would be again because their parents were still in the ground and that man took them from them; Kasha would say those words.

"Kasha?" Denki inquired, pulling her from her thoughts.

She turned to look at him, sleepy silver eyes somehow managing to communicate attentiveness.

"Everyone's leaving now." Denki said slowly, as if he was dealing with a ticking time bomb of a person.

Sadly Kasha didn't think that was too far off of the mark.

"Oh?" She answered softly.

"Yeah, lunch is over." He said, motioning for her to follow as he began packing up his trash to toss away later. "What's got you all lost in thought?"

He probably had a hunch, but neither one of them were opening that door. They weren't touching it with a ten foot pole.

"It doesn't matter." Kasha intoned.

It did.

But she never planned for anyone to know how much.

"Okay." He answered agreeably, standing. "Oh, and how about we both chill in the lunchroom tomorrow?"

"What, am I too boring for you?" Kasha retorted blandly.

Denki grinned, comfortably sliding back into their usual banter.

"I mean, not to be a dick or anything, but yeah." He said. "You're so quiet, maybe mingling a little bit will be good for you."

Kasha shrugged as she matched his stride, the both of them making their way into the building.

"I think I creep out most of our classmates." She admitted softly.

"Hm, nope. That would probably be Mineta." Denki waved away, snorting a little laugh. "I mean, I like him, but he's kind of a perv."

'Ah, so those comments that little guy kept making under his breath weren't a figment of my imagination.' She thought dryly.

"Okay, let me rephrase." Kasha said blankly. "I intimidate them."

She immediately caught his grimace.

"I mean, from what I heard in the boy's locker room… you were pretty brutal in your fight with Tokoyami." Denki pointed out.

"Dark Shadow wasn't really giving me a choice." She said flatly, unsure of how she should feel about the knowledge of boys talking about her while in states of undress.

That's not to say that she hadn't caught the some of the girls giggling about how "hot" or "cute" some of the boys were while in her own locker room.

"Maybe you have a point." Her friend offered. "But if you don't try to talk to them they're never going to know they don't need to feel intimidated by you."

She'd said it before and she'd say it again.

"We're not here to make friends."

"We're friends." Denki countered.

Kasha sighed quietly, closing her eyes briefly. That was different. Denki had reached out to her, and she happened to like him, so that had become a thing. Going out of her way to "make nice" was another matter altogether. But she really didn't want to argue about something that wouldn't really require any effort for her to do. Go to the cafeteria, sit down and mind her own business. How hard could that be?

"Fine." Kasha deadpanned. She didn't have to verbally say that she wasn't going out of her way to socialize, that she was only showing up and that was it. Denki obviously read that declaration in her eyes, but he still smiled triumphantly all the same.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement." He beamed.

"Whatever." Kasha muttered.

Denki snickered, and as a result, the small amount of dread she'd been failing to ignore completely didn't seem so ominous anymore.


After school that very same day Kasha bid Denki goodbye, telling him that they'd walk home together tomorrow since she had something she needed to do.

Everyone, including Aizawa-sensei had left the classroom for the day, excluding Kasha herself and one Uraraka Ochako.

They both stood by the door, facing one another silently before Uraraka finally gathered enough nerve to speak to her.

"Thanks for waiting up." Uraraka mumbled, looking up at Kasha, shifting a little on her feet.

"You wanted to talk." Kasha stated, shrugging.

"Uh, yeah about that… I wanted to say sorry again." Uraraka said, rubbing at the back of her head. "So here goes okay?"

Kasha nodded agreeably.

"Kasha, I'm sorry I overstepped my bounds earlier. Let's start over, okay?" Uraraka said, shoving her hand at Kasha.

The white haired girl blinked, but finally she noticed she was being quite rude and took the offered hand for a firm shake. This was obviously the right move because Uraraka grinned happily, completely shedding her unsure behavior from before.

"Call me Ochako, and if someday you want to talk to me about… things, know that I'll be here." The gravity user said, smiling earnestly. "Because we're friends now, right?"

'Friends?' Kasha wondered. 'Is it really that easy or am I just overthinking things?'

"Ochako." Kasha murmured, nodding once. "It's fine, I'm sorry if I seemed overly cold."

The newly dubbed Ochako shook her head and waved her hands about a little frantically, trying to assure Kasha.

"Oh no it's fine! I totally get it, sometimes you just don't want to talk about something." She exclaimed. "Don't worry about it!"

"Hm." Kasha hummed, eyeing the shorter girl thoughtfully.

Kasha wasn't sure what she had expected after their run in within the locker room, but this was a pleasant surprise. Ochako let what happened go, allowing Kasha to do so as well. It was relieving to know she wouldn't be asked again about her scars, no matter if she had no intention of speaking about them and that day.

"Wow! That was easier than I thought!" Ochako said, laughing a little. "I was really nervous I'd offend you again but you're actually a really nice person under all of that intensity, aren't you?"

Kasha truly had no idea how to respond to that. Luckily Ochako plowed forward so she didn't have to worry about it.

"Well, I definitely want to talk some more with you, but I gotta head home okay?"

"Okay." The fire user shrugged a little.

"I'll see you later Kasha, I'm going to walk to the train station with Deku and Iida." Ochako said.

"Deku?" Kasha echoed.

"Oh!" Ochako brightened, giving one of her little fist pumps. "It's a nickname that Bakugo gave Midoriya when they were kids, apparently they've known each other forever. Deku told me it was an insult, but it gives me 'never give up' vibes, and when I told him that he said it was okay to call him Deku too."

"I see." Kasha murmured.

Personally she knew what it was to be called a nickname she didn't particularly care for, but if Midoriya said it was fine… then whatever.

"See you later okay? Have a good rest of your day!" Ochako chirped, waving happily before bouncing away.

Kasha blinked.

'She has a lot of energy.' She observed, not for the first time.

The white haired teen slowly made her way off of school grounds, her thoughts wondering again back to the subject of "friends".

At first Kasha thought that having no close connections could only help her in the long run. The teen thought that if she didn't care about anyone, (at least no one anyone knew about, that being Kaji and her aunt), and if no one cared about her, she could pursue her ambition with ruthless purpose. And she still believed this, but when someone actively pursued her friendship, it wasn't so easy to act upon those beliefs. At least, she couldn't do so in good conscience.

Something Kasha often reminded herself of, was that she was damaged, not broken. And Denki was nice, Kasha liked him, she already saw him as a friend. The same could he said about Urara— Ochako, which only proved to Kasha that she wasn't as ruthless as she told herself she was.

The moment someone her age showed her the slightest bit of interest she allowed herself to become deterred from her mission, her purpose. And that, simply just wouldn't do.

'We just met though.' Kasha tried to reason. 'It's too early to be making calls like that. I think I… I think I just missed positive interaction with people my age. But, that doesn't mean it has to be anything other than that, right? I barely know Denki and Ochako, nothing says I have to become attached to them.'

At least not deeply. Kasha would continue to pursue her purpose, that was a given, but nothing said she couldn't have a few positive relationships while she did so.

'I don't have to blow anything out of proportion.' She thought. 'I'll just do what I always do, go with the flow.'

Being an ass to keep herself isolated was too much effort and honestly not even what she particularly wanted. She wouldn't actively seek out company, and she wouldn't necessarily reject it either. Like most things that didn't have to do with her goal, again, the silver eyed girl would go with the flow.

'Yeah, that works.'

Kasha knew being her same seemingly solemn self would deter some of her classmates as it had done in the past from trying to get close to her, and she also knew now that people like Denki and Ochako actually existed. People that would still try and talk to her despite her unapproachable exterior.

Kasha was okay with this.

She would continue to be okay with this until something proved otherwise to be more effective.

As long as Kasha achieved her goal as endgame, she was fine with virtually anything. Because in the end…

'It's all to get rid of that man, and be with Kaji again.'


Well, that's that.