Title: railgun

Rating: T-M

Summary: In a world where everyone has superpowers, having a Quirk means both more than you can imagine and less than you might think. Luckily, Kiri is no stranger to hard work. A hero is defined by more than just their Quirk, anyways, right? [OC-Insert, AU]

Warnings: Mentions of alcoholism, minor violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own BNHA

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railgun

"02: Origins"

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Kiri wakes up in the morning as she usually does: To the sound of the alarm clock on her phone readily blaring its loud displeasure to the world. It's a shrill, strident sound, and entirely intentional. Back when she'd first been setting up her alarm ringtone, Kiri had purposely gone and picked the one that irritated her the most, if only to ensure that she would always haul herself out of bed to turn it off as soon as possible.

… It's undeniably effective, even though her ears have sorely regretted it every day since then.

The girl turns and fumbles around, half groping around blindly and half operating entirely on muscle memory alone as she searches for her phone in the darkness. Upon finally finding it, Kiri cracks open a bleary eye to swipe her finger across the brightly-lit screen and turn off the alarm, yawning as she does so.

The return of blessed silence is almost blissful to her ears after that terrible, terrible sound. Kiri closes her eyes briefly, taking a moment to soak in the small comfort.

Then, it's time to get ready for the day.

Kiri sits up in her futon, brushing aside the jackets and other assorted clothing above her as she stretches. She picks up the heavy coat she'd used as an extra blanket and hangs it back up on the overhead rack where it belongs, absent-mindedly smoothing out the folds and wrinkles accumulated overnight. It's a little hard to see things, considering that it's still dark out, but the morning darkness is still brighter than nighttime darkness, which means that Kiri is still capable of discerning that the coat-blanket she'd randomly snagged belongs to her absent father. Which explains the faintly smoky smell of cigarettes, at least, now that she's paying attention to it.

She'll have to remember to put it through the washer sometime.

Nimbly clambering to her feet, the young girl creaks open the door and steps into the corridor. Goosebumps break out over her skin almost immediately at the sharp sting of cold air that meets her; it's a little chilly, winter mornings always are –but it's nothing that Kiri isn't used to. Heating is expensive, and better reserved for the colder days.

The bathroom is markedly warmer than the hallway, thankfully, complete with a light hint of steam in the air. Kiri slips in on quiet feet, tiptoeing over the trails of water seeping into the cracked tiles lining the floor. Going by the signs, her mother had probably squeezed in a quick shower before heading out for work earlier, which would explain why the mirror seemed to be a little fogged up as well. Kiri wipes lightly at it with her too-large sleeve, and –there, that's better.

The girl peering back at her from inside the cloudy mirror looks like she's only half-awake, a perfect summary of how Kiri herself is feeling at the moment. Splashing some water onto her face helps, as the sudden shock of ice-cold water against her skin leaves her significantly more alert afterwards.

Kiri snags a nearby towel to rub her face dry, then glances up again. The girl in the mirror looks a lot less dazed, now –if much more waterlogged– and dark, bleary eyes slowly sharpen with something resembling clarity.

Like this, it's easy enough to see that she has her mother's eyes. Although Kiri's eyes have never quite managed to project the same… severity, that her mother exudes so naturally. Kiri rather doubts that she ever will, no matter how much her overall appearance resembles that of her mother's.

Granted, it's a physical resemblance that isn't always the easiest to spot at first glance, given the single most glaringly obvious difference between them: hair color. Unlike her mother, whose hair is a gorgeous and eye-catching hue of off-white that shines silver beneath the midday sun, Kiri's own hair is just an ordinary ink-dark black, the exact same shade as her father's –as well as the vast majority of other Japanese citizens in the country. Dark hair, dark eyes. The sort of typical, boring appearance that comes a dime a dozen, really.

… There's nothing wrong with being plain, though.

Sliding her comb through the long length of her hair, Kiri tugs gently at the stubborn snarls at the ends. It takes a few minutes to carefully work through all the knots, given that her hair falls down the entire length of her back in a long, dark curtain. Maybe she should think about giving herself a haircut sometime soon? Kiri absently pats at the bangs covering her forehead, framing the sides of her face. It's not covering her eyes just yet or anything, but it does seem to be getting a little long…

Haircut it is, then.

Kiri shrugs and ties her hair up in a high ponytail, pausing to study her reflection in the bathroom mirror once more. There's a faint trace of dark circles under her eyes, rather similar to what she'd spotted on her mother last night, which casts a slight pallor over her face. But that's easily covered up with a few dabs of cheap foundation here and… there.

The girl casts another critical look into the mirror. Okay, that looks a little better now, doesn't it?

All done with her morning routine, Kiri nods in satisfaction and heads back to her room. She finishes folding up her futon, neatly setting it aside in the corner, then reaches for her school uniform to get dressed for the day. The uniform for students at East Naruhata Middle School is just a plain seifuku, the female version of which consisted of a white sailor's top and a dark skirt that brushed just below the knees.

Kiri gingerly sniffs at her clothes for a moment before pulling them on –thankfully, nothing stinks of spoiled fish– and then rummages around for a pair of long black stockings.

Oh, there's a hole in the back of the heel here. Unfortunate. Better remember to break out the sewing kit over the weekend.

Finished dressing at last, Kiri reaches for her phone again, checking the time. 5:42 AM. Good, there's still some time for her to cram some homework in before she needs to leave for school.

Kiri proceeds to pull out the long piece of cardboard tucked in the back of her closet-room in a well-practiced motion, then turns it flat, laying it across her lap into a makeshift table before sitting down cross-legged on the ground. There's not really room for an actual desk or anything around here, but cardboard works well enough, as long as she doesn't try balancing any of her thicker textbooks or denser readings on top of it.

Worksheets in hand, Kiri rolls back her shoulders and sets to work.

It's almost soothing, in a way, writing homework in the wee hours of the early morning. Even if she has to hold a flashlight in one hand at first to see clearly in the dim lighting, which is pretty inconvenient, especially considering that she's also balancing a cardboard table at the same time. It's a good thing that she doesn't have to keep this up for too long, since the room gradually brightens as the minutes tick by. When the first rays of sunlight start spilling in, the girl tosses away the flashlight altogether and turns her full concentration onto her assignments.

Kiri tries, but she's also all too aware that she is definitely far from being one of the top students at school. When you have classmates with Quirks like Perfect Recall and Parallel Thinking dominating the upper rankings, it's pretty much impossible to compete against that unless you have some type of mental augmentation or memory enhancement Quirk of your own up your sleeve. Added on top of the fact that Kiri spends a good portion of her time outside of school at part-time jobs instead of studying –well, her mother's not exactly wrong that she could stand to improve her class rankings.

Still, the extra time used for studying is also time that could be spent at part time jobs, to help reduce the family's financial burdens, no matter how slightly. That very same time could also be used for housework, the housework that her mother never has time to do and her father is never around the house to do. Kiri could even be figuring out more ways for her Quirk could be useful, just like what she'd done back when she was determinedly figuring out how to recharge electrical appliances.

(There are easily still some thirty-odd different articles and texts on electromagnetism saved on her phone that she'd all but memorized, crucial references that she'd used to theorize about possible applications of her ability and put into practice. When you have a minor Quirk, every little bit counts.)

… But studying is still important, Kiri knows. Just take the subject of her imminent high school examinations for example –no educational institution would ever turn down academic excellence. For top-ranked schools, high grades are even a hard, solid requirement.

Like UA.

Kiri wilts a little at the thought. Yeah, it… would probably be for the best that she start putting in some more hours into studying, shouldn't she? Not that it would help things much, really, not at this point in time.

(Good-bye, sleep. You will be sorely missed.)

The girl sets down her pen.

There, that's the last of her assignments finished at last. Well, almost –there's actually a few more remaining problems that Kiri still has left to complete, but she can probably finish those in the self-study period before classes begin for the day. At any rate, she'd best get going now, before she misses the bus and is late to school.

The girl carefully sets aside her texts and slides the cardboard to the back of the closet, then rises to her feet.

Books, check. Pencil and papers, also check. Kiri tucks away the loose sheaves of her homework into a folder and slides it into her black school bag.

Cell phone, check. Wallet and keys, double check.

Satisfied that she has everything in hand, Kiri slings her school bag over her shoulder and steps out into the narrow corridor, icy floorboards creaking beneath her feet.

It's bright now, much brighter than when she'd first woken up. Early sunlight filters in through the windows, chasing away the last vestiges of darkness lingering in the corners of the apartment. Kiri hums lightly in the back of her throat as she makes for the door, a jaunty little tune that she… she doesn't really remember where she'd picked it up from in the first place, actually. Maybe from one of her classmates at school? It's either that or from the late-night radio station that Old Fukuda likes listening to, probably something along those lines–

The girl stops dead in her tracks, freezing.

Oh.

Kiri stares silently at her sleeping father, whose massive form is gracelessly sprawled over the ratty old couch in the living room. He snores, a low, thunderous sound that practically vibrates through the musty air.

… He's a large man, even collapsed on the couch like this. Whereas Kiri can comfortably curl up into a corner on the threadbare cushions and still have plenty of space left over for her books and papers, her father's burly frame dwarfs the couch entirely. Inaba Akio is brawny and solidly-built, so much so that it easily creates the false impression of him being a bodybuilder, or maybe even a wrestler at first glance. But in reality, the man's muscular figure is just the result of his occupation as a construction worker who constantly works various temp jobs, mostly those involving heavy lifting.

Kiri rarely sees her father at home, largely because he's always so busy. Even more than her mother, at times. There are always ongoing construction jobs around the city that could use a few extra workers; someone needs to come and fill up the holes in the streets from that villain attack this morning, and those collapsed railings on the side needed to be replaced yesterday. Construction work might not the most glamorous job, nor the most well-paying, but Kiri understands that it's an important, necessary job. It's honest work! She's not ashamed of her father being a temp worker who's constantly moving from one construction site to the next.

It's his… habits… that Kiri not-so-secretly wishes he would consider changing.

Even standing as far away from the couch as she is, Kiri can smell the heavy reek of alcohol in the air. There's no question of what her father had been indulging in last night. Was this why her mother had stayed up so late in the kitchen? Had she simply been waiting for him to come home? … Had her mother still been awake, by the time her father finally stumbled in through the doors?

And on that matter, when did her father come back last night, and how long had he been sleeping on the couch like this?

The gruff man had always had a bit of a drinking problem, even in Kiri's earliest memories of him. Admittedly, her mother would sometimes drink too, but for her that was only on occasion and definitely not to the heavy extent that her father imbibes… on what Kiri suspects to be an increasingly-regular basis. She hasn't had any luck convincing him to stop yet, but she'll definitely get there someday.

It's… it's probably the stress, she knows. Kiri knows her parents work hard, are always working so, so hard, but–

But something about it all still hurts so much, stings, especially when she sees her father collapsed over the couch like this.

The young girl sighs, then turns and makes towards the kitchen instead of the door.

There's a coat draped over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Judging by its size, it's definitely another one of her father's, although Kiri has no idea when it was last washed. Aside from a faint scent of lingering smoke, though, it seemed clean enough, so Kiri snags it in one hand, and turns to fill up a cup of tap water at the sink with the other. Then, she trudges back to the living room.

Kiri leans down, gently draping the coat over her father's body as a makeshift blanket, then quietly switches out the half-empty bottle of liquor sitting on the low table for the glass of water instead.

Her drunkard of a father continues snoring obliviously, dead to the world around him.

The girl shakes her head, pausing to eye the assortment of empty liquor bottles scattered around her father. Kiri frowns. Yeah, she definitely isn't going to have enough time to clean everything up, not unless she wants to be late for school. But… maybe if she's quick about buying groceries later in the afternoon, she'll be able to make it back in time to clean things up before her mother is back from work. She can already imagine the pinched expression her mother would wear if she returned to this mess in the living room. The caustic tone her voice would take, those biting words, and that's just –no. No, Kiri definitely doesn't want to deal with that.

Her parents already have so little time to spend with each other, busy as they are with their jobs all the time –for the household, for Kiri– so the least she could do is make sure they don't spend the precious time they do have together arguing over inane, inconsequential things.

Kiri quietly tiptoes around her father, heading for the door. It's probably entirely unnecessary, given that his thunderous snoring just about covers any and all sounds from the creaky old floorboards completely. To be perfectly honest, Kiri rather doubts that anything short of a spontaneous cave-in would be enough to wake her father up in this moment, when he's drunk himself into a stupor like this.

… Not that she would want to be anywhere in his immediate vicinity when he wakes up with a hangover, anyways. Better safe than sorry, and all that.

Kiri shuts the door behind her as softly as she can, then locks the door with a sharp click. She closes her eyes and sucks in a deep breath, briefly sagging as she bodily leans back against the door for strength. Just for a second.

Then, she forces herself to open her eyes again, letting out a long exhale as she straightens and squares her shoulders.

For now, school. She'll worry about everything else later.

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East Naruhata Middle is a fairly good school. Of course, it doesn't even begin to hold a candle to those intensive private schools like Soumei Junior High, but it's a decent enough public school. The curriculum is organized, the facilities are well-maintained, and the teachers are competent and deliver their lessons by rote, like clockwork.

Kiri rather likes school, in her own way. It's kind of funny if you tilt your head at it and squint, because she's pretty sure that the exact opposite is true for the vast majority of her classmates. But even though school means teachers to obey and endless lessons to learn and a hundred tests to take, there's also something nice about just… not having to worry about groceries, or housework, or whether or not her family will be able to stretch every yen to make this month's rent. When Kiri is at school, all she does is have to focus on the lulling drone of her teachers' voices and the quiet scritch-scratch of pen tip pressing against notebook paper.

It's nice.

Morning lessons go by quickly in this fashion. Literature is alright, but history leaves her feeling quite lost, and Kiri actually ends up zoning out entirely through the entirety of her math lecture –not because she fails to understand anything the math teacher is saying, in fact, but instead because this is the one subject where she can confidently say that she already solidly knows all of the course's material, hands down. Give her a test on the entire curriculum right this instant and she'll ace it. She's not joking.

… In truth, this is actually the direct result of having to teach herself quite a lot of mathematics as self-study for the sake of understanding the dozens upon dozens of research papers pertaining to the properties and applications of electrical energy. Kiri knows that her Quirk isn't particularly strong, but if she can focus and stretch out what little power she does have to its absolute limits, then maybe–

Maybe she'd stand a chance, someday, at becoming a hero. Or something like that.

… Daydreams aside, it's still good practice. And surely there's nothing wrong with exercising one's Quirk? Surely there's nothing wrong with trying to figure out more practical applications for it, at the very least. Her parents certainly hadn't complained when Kiri was struggling to teach herself how to charge up the batteries of their household appliances, a skill that she'd only fully mastered after far, far too much trial and error. It had taken her months upon months of constantly experimenting with various bits and pieces of electronics filched from trash bins and dumping grounds, as well as a mild detour in the form of a hasty crash-course on electronic hardware, before Kiri finally figured out how to get things to work properly without short-circuiting the device in question.

Come to think of it, neither of her parents had ever really encouraged her to explore the possibilities of what she could do with her Quirk. Kiri can kind of understand it, though, considering that her minor electrokinesis is completely different from her mother's mental-type ability, and her father is–

"Kiri-chan! Are you joining us for lunch?"

The aforementioned girl blinks, abruptly losing her train of thought, and looks up.

"Hello, Sayuri-chan!" Kiri waves back cheerily. The girl who'd called out to her just now was Shibata Sayuri, one of the more well-liked girls in class, who was friends with just about everyone. Which really wasn't that much of a surprise to anyone who knew her; Sayuri was upbeat and friendly and easy to talk to, had been so even all the way back in elementary school when Kiri had first moved into the neighborhood, and there was no doubt that the lively girl would continue to be so until they were both old and gray. Sayuri had been one of the very first friends that Kiri ever made, even if the two never really spent much time together outside of school –which was more Kiri's fault than Sayuri's, admittedly.

"Hello there yourself," Sayuri grins, honey-gold eyes sparkling. "Come over already! We were just talking about applications over here. Did you know that Kazane-chan here got accepted into Ando Tech for their early admissions? Her acceptance letter just came in yesterday!"

"Oh wow, really?" Kiri blinks in surprise, then smiles brightly as she makes her way over to where her longtime friend is sitting with another pair of girls. "Congratulations, Kousaka-san!"

Kousaka Kazane laughs sheepishly from where she is seated next to Sayuri, one ankle delicately crossed over the other. "Thank you, Inaba-san. I was just lucky that my interviewer in the last phase happened to be very interested in the project I submitted in my application, so my interview went well. I probably wouldn't have scored high enough if it wasn't for the extra points from that."

For all the politely embarrassed motions that the graceful girl goes through, modest and demure to a fault, there is an undeniable joy to the way she ducks her head, a quiet sort of confidence and pride to her smile.

Well-deserved, too. Ando Technical High is an excellent school, one mostly famed for its stellar support department, but highly-ranked in several other technical disciplines as well. Kiri knows of only one other girl who's headed to Ando Tech without a doubt, and that's Ichikawa-san of the artificial intelligence Quirk, from the other class over. But unlike Ichikawa, Kousaka's Quirk has absolutely nothing to do with technology at all, which makes the difficult achievement of her early admission all the more impressive.

Kiri tells Kousaka as much, which makes the other girl blush.

"Enough of that, now," Sayuri nudges the quietly-pleased girl playfully. "You did well, and you should be proud of that, Kazane! Not just anyone can make it through the early admissions for Ando Tech, y'know. Uh… your mom hasn't been still giving you trouble for it, though, has she?"

At that, Kousaka's classically-pretty features pull into a small half-frown, "… Unfortunately."

Sayuri winces in sympathy, biting her lip in concern. "Oof, is it really that bad?"

Kiri drags over her chair and squeezes in next to Nakajima-san, who vaguely nods in her direction. The tall girl might've muttered a soft greeting, too, but the quiet mumble was barely decipherable around a well-timed mouthful of karaage on her part. Kiri mentally shrugs and just waggles a few fingers back towards the taller girl in greeting, before digging out the rice balls she'd brought for her own lunch. Rice and umeboshi, yum. Her mouth is already watering, and Kiri eagerly bites in –she's hungry, and this is the first thing she's eaten all day!

"It could be worse, I guess," Kousaka sighs from the other side, shaking her head as Kiri savors her rice balls. "My mom… she's always been hung up on this idea of me being a hero someday, ever since my Quirk came in. But I'd really much rather be tinkering away in the labs or something, y'know?"

Sayuri nods thoughtfully in response to Kousaka's words. "Yeah, I can see that. Didn't you mention something before about your grandfather being a pro hero, though?"

"Retired pro," Kousaka corrects. "And yes, he used to be pretty active in Osaka before retiring."

"Right, that!" Sayuri laughs sheepishly. "So I guess I can kind of see where your mom is coming from, then, if your grandfather was a great hero and your Quirk obviously makes the cut. But I mean, it's your future that we're talking about here! It would be great if she were more understanding of your own interests and stuff when it comes to this."

"It would be, wouldn't it?" Kousaka lets out a small huff, before laughing a little helplessly. "… At least my dad is on my side. Honestly, I wouldn't be half as conflicted over this entire thing if it didn't feel like Mom just wants a hero daughter so she has something to brag about to our relatives."

"Well, at least now she has a Ando Tech daughter to brag about, right?" Sayuri points out slyly, which earns her a playful shove from the other girl.

"You're terrible," Kousaka complains good-naturedly, before an unexpectedly melancholic expression suddenly crosses over her face, pensive. She pauses, pensive. "I… I don't want my mom to only care about what I do when it's something she can parade around like a trophy, y'know?"

"Oh, Kazane-chan…"

Kiri has never quite been able to relate to Kousaka before. She still can't entirely relate to Kousaka in this moment, but… she doesn't exactly not understand, either. Mothers generally only want what's best for their daughters. She can understand that much, at least.

But Kiri really isn't as close to the other girl as Sayuri is, so she and Nakajima both politely avert their eyes in awkward, silent unison, while Sayuri provides some measure of comfort for her. That grain of rice sure looks fascinating, sitting there like… like a regular grain of rice. Kiri eats it without preamble.

"… Sorry about that," Eventually, Kousaka regathers her composure again, much to their collective relief. The girl lifts her head, smiling bravely. "Well, that's enough about the family drama on my end. Mom will come around eventually, hopefully. But what about you guys, how are you doing? What are your future academic plans?"

"Compared to you, Kazane-chan?" Sayuri waves a hand airily. "We've still got our regular exams to sit through! We're just your normal run-of-the-mill plebeians here, haha. Although, unless I spectacularly fail my exams, I'm probably just going to be headed to East Naruhata High next year. Just like Kiri-chan, right?"

"Mm-hm," Kiri nods in vague assent. East Naruhata High School is the most likely option. Practical, too. East Naruhata High was the general public high school in the neighborhood, and most of the local students from East Naruhata Middle would all move on to attend there. It's not a bad school, even if it didn't happen to be very highly-ranked. At least it meant that Kiri's grades would be more than enough for it.

(Daydreams will be daydreams.)

"I'm… I'm applying to UA."

Kiri blinks, then whips her head around to stare at the tall girl sitting beside her. She is not alone in this.

"UA?" Sayuri openly gapes at Nakajima for a moment, before she abruptly lunges forward, grasping the other girl's hands in her own. It's a good thing that Nakajima had the foresight to set down her chopsticks beforehand prior to her quiet declaration, although she wasn't quite fast enough to save her bento, which goes flying, in face of Sayuri's excitement. "Oh my god, are you really?! Nene-chan, that's so exciting! You never said a thing about it when I asked you before oh my gosh–"

Kiri reflexively snatches the half-eaten bento box out of the air before it can hit the ground, following the container's momentum forward slightly to save the poor karaage from meeting a most unfortunate fate as well.

"Breathe, Sayuri," Kousaka interjects smoothly, before smiling up at Nakajima. "That's quite the goal you've set for yourself, Nakajima-san! I wish you the best of luck. I never realized that you were intending on going into heroics. It's not something recent, is it?"

Nakajima flushes a little from suddenly being the center of attention, brilliantly blue skin darkening into two concentrated spots of crimson-purple on her cheeks. "… Thanks. And, um. It's… it's something I've actually been thinking about for a long time, now, and… I've decided that I'm going to try my best. Plus ultra, right?"

Her voice starts out a little shaky at first, but evens out into something that's more confident and self-assured towards the end. Plus ultra, she says. Plus ultra, the famed motto of the premier school for heroics in the country. A reference to the burning drive to be the best, to press oneself to their absolute limits, then go even further beyond that, higher and higher.

Plus ultra.

"Yeah! Plus ultra!" Sayuri cheers, pumping a fist into the air. "You've got this, Nene-chan!"

"Plus ultra," Kousaka echoes, much more sedately than the exuberant Sayuri, but nonetheless just as supportive. "UA is a high bar to reach, but it's definitely a goal worth working towards all the same."

Plus ultra, Kiri thinks. Plus ultra. It's just a simple phrase; nothing more. But for some reason, she can't really bring herself to say it in this moment, struck as she is with a sudden, strange sort of self-conscious discomfort.

Kiri hesitates, then forcibly brushes it aside.

"Good luck, Nakajima-san," she grins instead, forcibly projecting something bright and genuine onto her face as she easily hands the girl's bento back to her. "I'm sure you'll make a great hero!"

… It's the truth.

Kiri hadn't actually realized that Nakajima was interested in heroics at all in the first place, given the girl's quiet personality. Neither had Sayuri-chan and Kousaka-san, clearly. But now that the prospect of it comes to mind, it's not hard to see that Nakajima Nene certainly has the makings of someone who would be well-suited for heroics. Tall, athletic, eye-catching appearance. She's even on the school's kendo team. Kiri doesn't really know much about Nakajima's Quirk aside from it being called Abyssal Blue, but going by the general rule of thumb regarding Mutant-type Quirks –that the greater the divergence from a baseline human form caused by the Quirk, the stronger it was likelier to be– there probably wasn't much for Nakajima to worry about on that front.

… If her own Quirk was stronger, if her ability wasn't just the weakest form of electrokinesis… would Kiri have the confidence to apply to UA, too?

Kiri startles a little at the sudden thought. No, that's just silly. There are no 'what-if's in the world, anyways; everyone has to make the best with what they've got.

"Thank you," Nakajima smiles tentatively. "I know it's difficult. Given the absolutely abysmal acceptance rate –well, I probably won't actually make the cut, if we're being honest about things here. But I figured that it's still worth trying for, right? UA is the dream school for heroics, after all. Everyone has their own regrets, but I want to make sure that I only regret the things I actually did –not the things I didn't have the courage to do."

Kiri picks absent-mindedly at the umeboshi in her rice ball, while Sayuri cheers enthusiastically beside her. Well said, Nene-chan! Kiri would be lying if she said that Nakajima's words didn't resonate with her at least a little bit, but she is also acutely aware that dreams are just that: dreams. Especially for her. Between the two of them, at least Nakajima has a solid chance if she is really intent on becoming a hero in the future, given her talents and her Quirk, given the supportive family behind her. And even if Nakajima doesn't end up making it through UA's infamous entrance exam, there are still plenty of other schools out there open to aspiring heroes to-be.

In comparison, what does Kiri have?

She sighs.

"Something wrong, Kiri-chan?"

"… Nope!" the girl promptly pushes down her thoughts and smiles cheerily instead. Sayuri's concern is appreciated, but this particular little mind-worm is something that Kiri is going to have to work through on her own. "Sorry, I was just thinking about what groceries I'm going to get after school today. On another note, do any of you guys use air fresheners at home? Any recommendations?"

"Oh! Oh, hmm. I don't remember the brand's name off the top of my head, but…"

Giving herself a mental pat on the back for the successful change of conversation topic, Kiri settles in to eat the rest of her meager lunch.

.

.

In hindsight, she really should've brought more than just rice balls for lunch. No use regretting it now, though.

Kiri looks mournfully at the tray of delicious-smelling yakitori in the takeout section, then forces herself to move along down the aisle, picking up a discounted pack of tofu to add into her shopping basket instead. She'd made a beeline for the grocery store as soon as school ended for the day, much to Sayuri's eternal disappointment, but it couldn't be helped. Kiri needed to buy more eggs! The sale for that was too good for her to pass up. Kiri would just have to make it up to her friend some other time.

"You never have time to hang out with us anymore, Kiri-chan! Mou, you don't even have cram school, how are you always so busy?"

Kiri smiles ruefully over a 90-yen triple pack of natto at the memory of those words.

There's no doubt that Sayuri means well. But Kiri has never been one to talk much of her family's circumstances, and she's been careful to keep quiet on the subject of her part-time job as well. Sayuri has no way of knowing that –and while Kiri enjoys her friend's company and deeply appreciates her concern, Sayuri is also a… bit of a chatterbox, in a manner of speaking. One would only have to look at what happened with Kousaka during lunch today to get the general idea of things. Subtle, Sayuri most certainly is not. At least it had only been Kiri and Nakajima hanging around during lunch today; neither of the two girls were much for gossip, so Kousaka wouldn't have to worry about anything on that front.

Really, if anything had been 'gossip-worthy' from their lunchtime conversation at all, it would probably be Nakajima's declaration of intent to apply for UA.

UA, the top school for heroics in Japan! It's not something that Kiri has ever… okay, that's a lie. Kiri has entertained thoughts about applying and becoming a student at UA before, but the same could be said for practically every other child in the country. Everyone watches the annual broadcasts of UA's Sports Festival! It's always the topic of conversation for weeks afterwards, and the internet is always flooded with so many sports festival-related memes in the aftermath. Everyone knows what UA is, everyone knows what the prestigious school represents. With multiple alumni who went on to dominate the upper rankings of the billboard charts, as the alma mater of both All Might and Endeavor, the first and second-ranked heroes, respectively–

Kiri knows that there will definitely be more of her classmates applying there. Anyone who's ever dreamed about becoming a hero would look towards UA, and who doesn't want to be a hero? She just… hadn't expected Nakajima to be applying for UA, too, because it never seemed in their group of friends that Nakajima held any particular inclinations for heroics.

… The same could be said for Kiri herself, admittedly. But that was less because of a lack of interest on her part and more due to practicality and self-awareness of her ability. Which… would actually be applicable to the most of the students at her school, now that she stops to think about it. Everyone dreams about becoming a hero: But the truth of the matter is, not everyone has it in them to be a hero.

Ah, she really shouldn't be so hung up over this. It's a truth she's always known, after all.

Finally stepping outside the store with her newly-acquired purchases, Kiri juggles the weighted shopping basket on one arm as she pulls out a separate bag that she'd folded up earlier, moving over to transfer everything over on a fairly secluded corner of the street side. Heavier things sit at the bottom, lighter ones go on the top. Wouldn't want the eggs to get crushed, ne?

Preoccupied as she is with packing up her groceries, Kiri at least still retains enough awareness of her surroundings to shuffle over to the side to make room when a fellow shopper rounds the bend behind her. Not that the tall woman seems to notice, typing away furiously on her phone as she pauses absent-mindedly mid-step, one hand still resting on the baby stroller that she's pushing in front of her. This inattention turns out to be rather unlucky on her part, because shortly thereafter a young man accidentally bumps into her from behind, roughly jostling the stroller as well. Kiri's hand shoots up on instinct, grabbing the stroller's handle before it goes flying into the street in some unfortunate incident. You'd think that people would be more mindful around children–

A short, sharp scream is her only warning.

Kiri startles, whirling around only to be met face-first with the sight of the tall lady falling down on top of her, expression contorted in pain. There's only a split second of baffled confusion in which she fumbles and barely manages to catch the lady, before Kiri is suddenly socked in the middle of her stomach with what feels like the force of a wrecking ball.

The girl doubles over with a choked squeak, crumpling to the ground.

Distantly, in a small corner of her panicked mind that's still working properly, Kiri is perfectly aware of what's currently happening. Assault. Robbery. There's no mistaking it. This is the sort of thing you always read on the news or witness happening on the streets –but always with a layer of detachment, because it's not you who is the poor, unfortunate sod caught up in the latest accident. Well. Now she's finally joined the ranks of just being another statistic, Kiri thinks half-hysterically.

She curls in a little on herself even as she scrambles to her feet again, shoulders hunched inwards and half-prepared to brace herself for fending off follow-up strikes that… never come.

Kiri slowly peeks out, unsure of when she'd closed her eyes in the first place. Her heart is still beating rabbit-quick inside her chest, fear and adrenaline alike mixing together to form a tight grip on her throat.

But… nothing's changed. For a given definition of 'nothing,' at least, considering that half the groceries in her bag are now decorating the ground, much to her wallet's pain. And if the oozing liquid is anything to go by, the eggs are most certainly cracked. But the street curb itself is empty, when Kiri looks up again. She glances up, looking around further, and catches sight of a man hurriedly moving across the street in the opposite direction, undoubtedly the very same man who'd bumped into the tall lady earlier –the lady who's still twitching on the ground by her feet, now that Kiri notices. This is not the time to be playing possum, miss! All things considered, though, Kiri is very much disinclined to chase after him. She's not looking to get punched in the stomach again, that hurt.

… What was that just now even about, anyways? Aside from her ruined groceries, Kiri is still in possession of her phone and wallet, and metal-tough fist to her stomach notwithstanding, she's relatively uninjured. Miraculously. Although, she's definitely going to have bruises from that, she can already feel it. Kiri winces.

Amazingly enough, it's looking more and more like her groceries are the only casualty in this. Aside from the lady who's still twitching haplessly, sprawled on the ground as she is.

"Ah… are you alright, miss?" Kiri clears her throat awkwardly. "Should we, uh… report this and call the police, I guess…?"

… This is so bizarre. What's the proper response to an almost-mugging? Wait, would this even be considered a mugging, considering that it didn't seem like the lady had been robbed, either? Maybe this was just… the overly-violent reaction of someone who had lashed out at a convenient target because they'd already been frustrated? And Kiri just ended up as collateral damage somewhere in the middle of it all.

That was scary, though. Even with relief coursing through her veins now that the imminent danger has disappeared, Kiri is still feeling unusually jittery and shaken.

The lady on the ground next to her stirs and shudders, mumbling something incomprehensible into the concrete. Kiri obligingly bends down to listen even as she mechanically brings out her phone and starts typing in the local emergency numbers with shaky fingers–

The woman's hand jerks and flies up to clamp down around her ankle, seizing Kiri with an iron grip. Kiri's heart just about leaps into her throat from this, and she nearly ends up dropping her phone entirely.

"Um, s'cuse me, miss, would you please mind taking your–"

"Takeo! Not… not my baby!"

Kiri blinks. Then, her blood runs cold, as the implications of the lady's words finally process through her mind. Takeo. Her baby?! She immediately whirls around, swiftly scanning the area again. Sure enough, aside from the struggling woman collapsed beside her, Kiri's own groceries are still scattered everywhere, but–

Where's the baby stroller?

The girl's breath catches in her throat. How hadn't she noticed this?! She'd literally even been holding onto the stroller earlier, because the lady had lost her grip on it when… someone… bumped into her…

Kiri's head snaps up.

There. Across the street. She can still see him –the man walks a brisk pace, but he's not outright running, probably because he didn't want to draw any attention to himself, and they'd been at a fairly empty corner of the street in the first place, so it wasn't likely that anyone had noticed anything amiss. But in the scant few moments that Kiri had been lost in her own thoughts and just so glad that she hadn't been hurt, this man was getting away, the baby stroller was right there in his hands, and– and–

Kiri sucks in a deep breath.

"KIDNAPPER!" she screams, before she can start second-guessing herself. Screams, as loudly as she can, even as she shakes off the lady's death grip on her ankle and takes off running after the man. Who breaks out into a sudden sprint of his own as well, shooting a wide-eyed glance over his shoulder ranging somewhere between annoyed and incredulous.

"How are you still moving?" the kidnapper shouts, which makes no sense whatsoever. It was just a punch to her midsection, not a knife or anything…? Not that Kiri's complaining about it, nope.

Actually, you know something else that doesn't make any sense? Kiri running after a kidnapper right this instance. For heaven's sake, the man laid her flat on the ground with a single punch, even if she hadn't been expecting it! What is she even going to do after she catches up to him, challenge him to a fistfight? Like she'd come out of that in one piece.

But even so–

"Someone help, please! Stop him!" Kiri continues yelling at the top of her lungs. Her voice is high, shrill, and she's hoping against hope that maybe it'll attract a passing hero patrol, or the local authorities. Or at the very least, maybe some of the other people currently milling about along the streets would think to step in and block the man, because– "He's a kidnapper! Villain!"

But nobody's moving. In fact, Kiri can even see people shying away from the crazed man pelting down the street, abandoning all subtlety in favor of speed as he roughly shoves people aside. Which is probably a sensible reaction if she stops to think about it, but it also means that the kidnapper is getting away, wholly unopposed.

Why isn't anyone doing anything? Kiri despairs. Granted, if the lady wasn't still down on the pavement and so very clearly desperate, Kiri isn't entirely sure if she would've chosen to get herself involved, either. They've always been told in school that this sort of thing is best left to heroes and the proper authorities to take care of, but this is an emergency, the guy is taking off with the lady's kid, and– and it's a little too late to be second-guessing herself at this point, anyways.

For a brief moment, a tall man finally steps forward to set himself directly in the path of the kidnapper, and Kiri is hopeful. However, that hope is summarily dashed in a heartbeat when the kidnapper reaches forward and –and he does something, obviously, but she can't really see from her current angle. Whatever it is, it causes the brave man to suddenly let out a pained shout and crumple oddly onto the concrete with a sick-sounding snap as he hits the ground at a bad angle, body seizing up and twitching unnaturally. A pair of schoolgirls unfortunate enough to be lingering around in the backdrop with their phones out leap back immediately, shrieking at the sight of blood pooling on the ground.

It's a taser, Kiri realizes, finally catching sight of the black device that the man brandishes as a weapon in his hands at the young schoolgirls. Schoolgirls who look to be around her age. She can see the way their eyes widen when the man lunges at them, taser primed and aimed directly at their faces–

Kiri's never been much for track and field at school. In other words, she's not a particularly outstanding sprinter. But somehow, between one moment and the next, with panic and adrenaline fueling every movement, she finally manages to catch up to the man just in time, and bodily throws herself in front of the taser.

Now that she's actually paying attention and acutely aware of it this time around, Kiri can feel the cold bite from the taser's sharp metal prongs digging into the bare forearm that she'd thrown up to block with. It's digging in hard enough to break skin. There's blood trickling down her arm, staining her school uniform. But more than that, Kiri can also feel the current running through her body, a sharp, crackling energy that courses ineffectually through her body as she diverts it harmlessly to the ground with a single twist of her foot.

The kidnapper's eyes narrow, gaunt face twisting into a scowl. "So it wasn't a fluke, I see."

Then, before she can react, he punches her across the face.

Pain. Pain explodes across her cheek, and Kiri hits the ground once more, head spinning and black spots dancing in front of her eyes. There's blood in her mouth. Did she bite herself just now? She must've. Kiri is vaguely aware of the other schoolgirls' panicked shouts as the kidnapper bodily shoves them aside, and the reason behind his manhandling becomes evident when he pulls out a set of keys and unlocks the car that the girls had unintentionally been blocking his way to.

He's getting away, Kiri realizes. This is it. Nothing she's done so far has been of any use, clearly, and now the kidnapper is going to make a clean getaway away with the lady's child. He'd abandoned the stroller quite a ways back, so right now he's just holding the infant in one arm, and the child is wailing, crying loud enough to raise the dead… and absolutely no one else around them is doing anything about it. Ah, but would anyone even be able to do anything? There's still another man bleeding on the ground behind her, and Kiri herself is, well –there's really not much to be said for her.

But still. Still. In the scant few seconds right before the kidnapper moves out of her reach, somehow Kiri musters up enough strength to reach up and grab the man's ankle in a daze, just as the lady had done to her back at the curbside. She doesn't know what possesses her in this moment, exactly. It doesn't even end up doing anything anyways –the man stumbles, cursing, then shakes her hand off and kicks out at her, sending another burst of pain lancing through her body.

Ah, this is it, Kiri thinks. This was a bad idea from the very start, clearly. What had she even been thinking? What had she been doing, trying to act like she was a hero? Because she most certainly is not. Kiri is not cut out to be a hero, would never be a hero, not if this entire debacle just now was anything to go by–

And in this very moment, right as the villain sneers down at Kiri before he turns to make his escape, it happens.

Like a silver comet descending from the sky, something collides with the car just as the kidnapper is about to open the door. It flattens the car, totaling it completely, and Kiri instinctively scrunches her eyes shut, coughing a little from the dirt and debris that is subsequently kicked up like voluminous clouds. The villain makes a startled sound as he backs up with slow, cautious steps, but there's no mistaking it.

Kiri sucks in a short, sharp breath. No, there's no mistaking it. There's no mistaking the new arrival, whose presence on the scene turns the tides in a heartbeat.

The dust slowly clears, and the metallic figure crouched upon the flattened wreckage that used to be a car straightens, armor gleaming beneath the sun.

"Ingenium the Turbo Hero, to the rescue!"

.

.

…

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Author's Notes:

Second chapter finished. We're slowly inching along with the plot here!

On this chapter: I initially considered cutting out the part with Kiri's middle school life + conversation with her friends entirely, considering we all know where this fic is headed. But eventually I decided it would help to round out the background a little more, so here we are.

Hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for reading, and please look forward to the next update.

-XxZuiliu