A/N: Sorry for the wait guys but here is chapter 8! Have anyone seen the new episodes for season 5?! SO PUMPED. As always, I don't own My Hero Academia. I only own my own characters and the story I create within Horikoshi's masterpiece of a world I'd love to live in.

C'mon, fight, little girl.

Hands squeezing her throat. Vision going black. Feeling someone's hand swipe across her stomach then move…

C'mon, fight, little girl

"No!" Delia shot up in her bed with a strangled cry. Her hand went to her throat and looked around the room with wild eyes. Just a dream...She reassured herself as she tried to slow her breathing. Her eyes flicked over to her clock on the nightstand. 3:46 am

She grabbed her phone on the nightstand and swiped to unlock it. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, the news...everything was damn near about the USJ attack, it was unsurprising but upsetting all the same. It had been three days since the attack in which they had dismissed the students from classes as a break before resuming today. Of course, Delia had to still act like she was going to school so she had been spending most of her time at the beach or the park before coming home, claiming she wasn't hungry for dinner, and curling up in her bed. The fact that her parents hadn't found out about her secret yet shocked her until she found out that her father was assigned to a different case when he was talking to her mother. Thanks to the girls, there weren't any pictures of her from the press as they closed ranks around her and were careful getting her on and off the bus. It honestly was a damn miracle despite the horrible day. She doubted that she'd be able to take it if on top of everything her parents had found out. Delia shivered at the thought of how that would go down.

By the time they had gotten home from their dinner with her sister, Henry had been put to bed and she left a note on the counter recounting what they did as an excuse for them to not come into her room for an update.

Now after three days, she looks at herself in the mirror from across her room and her hand went to her throat again, gently tracing the bruises. Pinching her lips together in a firm line, Delia hopped out of bed, swiping one of her thinner blankets, and walked with soft feet to her vanity.

Her hair was snarled and sticking everywhere which wasn't unusual but the dark circles under her eyes were another story. She just kept seeing it all whenever she closed her eyes.

All Might panting and bleeding from the mouth.

Her classmate's terrified faces.

The villains coming out of the gate.

Creepy Hands raspy voice "Get her, Nomu."

But the one that mostly had her jolting up and panting was the feeling over a faint hand around her throat and a growl of "c'mon, fight, little girl."

Her eyes went back to the yellowing bruises and pressed her lips in a firm line. She fisted the blanket in her hand and threw it over the mirror. Enough of this.

Bakugo's POV:

She hadn't said a word all day.

He squinted his eyes at the girl sitting in front of him, suspicious and annoyed. Even when called on during their math lesson, she just held up fingers rather than speaking the answer. She was wearing her hair down today which blocked his view of her neck.

He had kept thinking about her walking home alone and still hurting because she didn't want to be healed. Not that he really cared about his bruise and minor cuts but when the school nurse approached him about it he allowed it because staying that way when he could be healed was stupid.

Tch..dumbass..that's it.

Waiting until Cementoss turned, he then kicked the back of her chair causing her to tense but she kept her eyes on the board. He did it again and all she did was grip her pencil and duck her head down as if to act like he wasn't doing anything. Well, that was the wrong tactic. He hated being ignored.

He kicked again.

And again.

And six more times whenever he got the chance until the bell rang for their lunch break between classes when he finally got a reaction.

She waited until Cementoss walked out before turning around her chair, dark hair a bit wild and blue eyes bright and well pissed off.

But that didn't matter. What mattered is that she opened her mouth and spoke to him.

"Fucking what?" She hissed.

He gave her a deadpan look and just shrugged.

Delia's POV:

This asshole who had been kicking her chair for the past twenty minutes just shrugs as if he had no idea why she was seething. Her classmates were shooting them curious looks as they all shuffled out of the room for lunch. They just continued to stare at one another until it was just them sitting at their desks, alone in the classroom.

He raised an eyebrow at her but she said nothing. Just stared back at him, trying to see what his game was. Throwing her hands up in frustration, she went to get up when he put his hand on her wrist. She almost jumped at the feel of his rough palms which were unbelievably warm which wasn't surprising considering his quirk. What was surprising was her small struggle to not lean into his warmth and wonder what if his whole body ran that warm or if it was just his hands.

"Why are you being an idiot?"

Delia's eyebrows flew upwards. Who the hell does this kid think he is! She ripped her wrist out from under his hand, threw him one more angry look, and stormed to the door to go grab some lunch. She was quickly blocked by the angry blonde, who crossed his arms.

"Move your hair."

"What?"

"Move. your. Hair." She was starting to get a hint on what this was about, especially considering his eyes kept shooting down to her neck, but that did not give him the right to boss her around.

"Fuck. you." She kept her voice low but stern. She refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing it crack or for her to start coughing.

"Stop being a brat!" He bared his teeth at her as he shoved an accusing finger towards Delia.

"Stop being an asshole!" She curled her fists at her side.

"Is there a problem here, students?" They both froze. Midnight was standing outside the door, looking bemused with an eyebrow raised. Delia forced herself to relax her stance as she saw Bakugo ducked his hands in his pockets. "No."

"Hmmm. Well, then you better get to the cafeteria before your next class." Midnight moved out of the way but stayed to make sure they left the classroom, a smile playing on her lips that Delia didn't understand but since it was playing on Midnight's face she decided she didn't really care to know.

The tension between them was awkward and annoying and suffocating as they walked down the hall towards the steps to lead them down to lunch. Bakugo's shoulders hunched slightly and his hands were still fisted in his pockets but it was far from a relaxed demeanor. Any hope she had of him staying like that the rest of the way there was quickly dashed as he straightened his posture.

"Being a stupid martyr or whatever you're doing isn't going to get you far. It's a waste of time."

She felt her eyes burn but refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing them fall. Spotting the girl's locker room, she sped up her steps and marched on in ignoring the boy in the hallway who was as blunt and carelessly destructive with his quirk as well as his words.

Delia was still angry by the time they got to their Non-Quirk Combat class. No, more like hangry because that stupid idiot ruined lunchtime and she spent the rest of the time hiding in the locker room so she didn't start crying or punch him in the face.

His stupid, nosey, smug, arrogant, stupid face..

Ectoplasm was leading the class as Mr. Aizawa was still out of commission. The teachers had rotated covering the classes he taught which was fine but made her sad when she remembered when she last saw him.

Blood dripping from a face hidden behind his long hair. Broken bones, an exposed and destroyed elbow. She winced at the memory when Ectoplasm called attention to his instructions for the day. Start with warm-up core exercises then hits on the bag, individual practice on the combinations they learned last week, then ending with hand to hand with a partner to apply the moves previously practiced. Pretty standard but mild but seemed as if they were re-acclimating the students after what happened.

As she walked up to her bag, she found herself getting frustrated with what the teachers appeared to be doing. She'd rather just continue on as if nothing happened rather than be treated with kid gloves but at the same time, she still sported a reminder underneath a layer of makeup. Something she hid from everyone including her family...who didn't notice...or didn't care to as it wasn't completely unusual for her to skip dinners or have bags under her eyes that she only cared to cover up for school.

"Start your warm-ups." Ectoplasm hit a button on a remote connected to a giant timer on the wall that was set for ten minutes. Her blood was pumping from the earlier exercises and from all day's - no, correction - week's annoyances racking up slowly but steadily that hitting a bag sounded goddamn wonderful. She lined up her body as instructed and threw the first punch. Letting out a breath, she almost smiled at the relief of hitting something. I feel like a psycho for loving this. With each combination of hits, she pushed herself to hit the bag harder than the one before.

"Are you alright, Bell?" Midoriya said next to her hesitantly. She nodded but continued her hits, harder and harder.

C'mon, little girl, fight.

Delia welcomed the bite in her knuckles. The chain holding the bag rattled with every punch.

C'mon, little girl, fight.

You're not going to get far.

The bag was swinging from the force of her hits.

Bells always get top marks in school. Right, Cordelia?

Make any friends? You didn't have any last year.

It's a waste of time.

C'mon, little girl, fight.

She swung again but was pulled short when Midoriya appeared in front of the bag and caught her fist in his hand.

She found herself panting. "Midoriya! I almost punched you!" Delia forgot herself for a minute and her voice cracked on that last word that had her coughing. "What are you doing?!"

"Miss Bell." Her teacher's voice came from off to her left and as she turned her stomach flipped. Everyone had stopped their warm up and were just staring at her. Midoriya let go of her fist gently, a sweet and concerned expression on his face. Her eyes were burning just a bit again. Shit. How long was he trying to get my attention?

Delia cleared her throat and replied softly, careful not to raise her voice louder than needed. "Yes, sir?"

"A word."

She walked over to her teacher, ignoring her classmates looking at her. A look from Ectoplasm had them slowly resume to their own bags. "Sir?"

He led her out a bit off to the side. "It has come to my attention that you have not fully healed from your injuries. Please gather your things and report to Recovery Girl now."

"But -"

"This is not up for discussion, Miss Bell."

Delia closed her mouth and turned to walk back to the girl's locker rooms.

She felt better there was no question. Recovery Girl had lectured her the whole time about her recklessness but had been able to quickly heal her bruised stomach and throat.

Delia was ordered to rest for the remainder of the class in Recovery Girl's office since the healing took some energy from her. But she didn't want to sleep unless she wanted to revisit last night again so instead just curled in on her side and waited until she could leave.

An hour later, Delia sat on the steps at the entrance of the school, staring at her phone trying to think of an excuse not to go home. She felt like she should but after everything today, Delia wanted nothing more than to forget it all. Her head picked up when she heard some familiar voices. Yaoyorozu and Jiro were walking out of the school when she found herself getting to her feet quickly to meet them.

"Hey!"

"Oh, hey." Jiro smiled at her. Delia ignored the slight concern or soft tone she used. She was surprising herself with her forwardness after today but ran with it.

"Any chance either of you want to go get coffee or tea or whatever the hell you like?" Their eyebrows rose at the random invitation. Delia was probably giving them whiplash with how she was all day- hell, she felt dizzy herself but she refused to sit in it anymore today.

"Yeah, that sounds good!" Delia smiled at Jiro's excited response. They turned to the taller girl who pouted instead. "Oh, I wish but I need to get this homework done."

Delia wasn't taking no for an answer. "Bring it. We could all just hang out and study if you want."

"Really?"

"Yes. I know a place."

They jumped on the train to downtown to a little spot that Delia found a few months back. Delia was always looking for hole-in-the-wall places - just something about a diamond in the rough. After a five-minute walk from the train, she led the girls down a street until she saw the red awning with the words 'Ukiyo' written on it.

Inside was a warmly low-lit room with comfy armchairs and round tables. A few small worn couches with eclectic colored coffee tables. A dark wood bar took most of the left corner where she would grab a coffee and a sandwich. A small stage with a single microphone was tucked in a corner for Thursday nights. Soft music played over the loudspeaker and only a few patrons were there.

"This is where I used to come to study or kill some time."

"Wow. I really like the vibe of this place."

"Homey."

The girls walked over to the bar where they ordered before snagging a table big enough for all their books. They quickly spread out. Delia sat criss-cross applesauce on the couch with her drink in one hand and a history book in the other next to Jiro who was scarfing down her pastry while looking at the math homework. Yaoyorozu was sitting in the orange armchair to her left flipping through flashcards, eating a flatbread pizza in the most dainty way like a princess. Delia was patting herself on the back with this idea after twenty minutes of homework and soft conversation about little issues in class as it was a good distraction until it was ruined by Yaoyorozu.

"Have either of you thought about what happened?" She asked tentatively. Delia choked a bit on her latte, something she was happy to have again since her throat was healed. Jiro twirled her ear jack and nodded.

"On occasion, yes." Delia wanted to bang her head on the table. It wasn't fair to them that she wanted to be selfish but still...goddamn it girls! Delia whined internally.

"I can't stop. I mean I know we signed up for this life but...not this soon?"

"Yeah, it was way too real way too quick."

"Delia?" Her head lifted from her cup to see both girls looking at her expectantly. Delia sighed. "Why do you think I wanted to come here? I needed a break. Something normal rather than going home and thinking about it."

"I understand. Sorry for bringing it up then." Aw, damn it. She felt bad for making them feel like they couldn't talk or be honest. Just because it wasn't how she usually dealt with things didn't mean they couldn't vent to her. They clearly needed to as she would be dumb to think she was the only one affected by that day.

"Don't be. You clearly need to talk. What are classmates for?" Delia gave her a wobbly but sincere smile. Jiro elbowed her in the side softly. "Yeah. What are friends for."

Momo grinned at the change of term. "Yes, friends!"

Pursing her lips, she said eyed both girls before cutting her coffee cake in three pieces but then pointed her knife at them, "Damn well better be friends because I don't share my dessert with just anyone."

Walking to school the next day, Delia felt a bit lighter. She still had the nightmares but was able to sleep an extra two hours. The mirror was still covered but she went downstairs when her mother was home to grab leftovers from the fridge. Small steps.

Students were milling around in their respective friend groups, enjoying the weather and not ready to head into homeroom yet. Not seeing anyone she spoke to outside, Delia decided to head in and look over her math homework as she was sure some answers were off. Maybe Yaoyorozu- actually, Momo as she was told to be called from now on since they were friends- would be early as well and be willing to look over it too since they strayed off homework pretty quickly at the café.

It was nice. She learned Momo was a tea enthusiast, loved to watch ballet, and a big reader which they immediately bonded on since so was Delia. Kyoka and Delia bonded over music choices and she shared how her parents fell in love over music which was unbelievably sweet. They talked in the café for almost three hours before it was getting late and Momo's car gave them each a ride home. Delia had them drop her at the end of the street so her father wouldn't ask too many questions about a fancy town car dropping his daughter off or why she was wearing a different uniform than she walked out of the house in. They even agreed to do it again later this week.

As she approached the big steps into the school, she saw a familiar spiky red head on a bench throwing his hands around in the midst of what seemed to be an exciting story while the bossy blonde jackass sat next to him, nodding along as he scrolled on his phone.

Why are you being an idiot?

What a waste.

As she was about to walk past them, Bakugo reached into his bag and grabbed a water bottle.

Oh yeah baby! Thank you universe. Delia mentally rubbed her hands together like a corny tv show villain. She did a quick glance around to make sure no one was really paying any mind before she discreetly flicked her fingers from underneath the textbook in her hands.

As soon as he opened the cap, the water exploded all over him. He sputtered for a moment while Kirishima stopped speaking and they both looked around in shock. Everyone nearby had heard that and looked over to see the commotion before turning away to hide their smiles and laughs but Delia didn't. She continued to walk by with her head held high and a small smile on her face. He spotted her immediately. "YOU GODDAMN BRAT! WHAT THE FUCK!"

She merely tilted her head, slowing her walk to address him. "You damn well know 'what the fuck.'" She nodded to Kirishima who was still gawking at them, "Hey, Kirishima."

"GET BACK HERE!" She did a 180, flipped her textbooks up to her chest to reveal her middle finger up, and turned right back around. She almost broke her composure when she heard Kirishima speak to Bakugo with a laugh.

"Dude, what did you do?"

"Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair."

Oh, yeah. She definitely felt lighter today.