a/n: i replaced the summary! i don't know if it matters, but i think this new one is more fitting of the family dynamic.

Training with father was the exact flavor of hell Hinami anticipated. Most of the time she met him at the agency to use the training rooms and combat bots, but once a week they'd train at the home dojo. She especially hated those times, seeing as it reminded her so much of being in that same room when she was little. Even worse, this time she had to suffer it without Shoto. She hadn't told her twin about this new development yet, hadn't found the emotional strength to broach the topic. Besides, Hinami made herself scarce these last couple weeks. If she wasn't training with father, she was asleep or at Tatsumi's house. It was easy to keep it under wraps. However… the first day at UA was approaching quickly. It was only a matter of time.

"Get up," father demanded as he glared down his nose at Hinami, arms crossed over his barrel chest.

Her muscles burned, sweat dripping off her face as she pushed herself up, pressing a hand to her aching stomach. Nausea rose in her throat, fingers scrabbling for purchase along the tatami mats underneath her as she tried to ground herself. Saliva flooded through her mouth, which was as ominous as the tides retreating before a tsunami. Deep breaths, deep breaths. The nikujaga she'd had earlier wouldn't taste nearly as good the second time around, she better keep it down. The bastard hit like a Mack truck. But… to his credit, the hit hadn't done anything more than wind her and make her a little queasy. As much as she loathed to admit it, he could've hurt her much worse. He was going easy on her, she knew that. He had at least a hundred pounds, if not more, and a foot of height on her. And that was a stingy estimate, it was probably much more. If he wanted to really hurt her, there'd be nothing she could do about it. But it was her fault that she left herself wide open for that counter. Careless. If she had twisted and rocked back on her heel, maybe—

"What is this I hear about you wanting to go visit your mother?" father asked, interrupting her thought process.

Hinami's head snapped up, sweaty hair plastering to her horror-stricken face. Fuyumi, no. Her mouth opened and closed, hanging uselessly as she frantically searched for excuses. "I just…" her voice wavered and broke, the pain in her stomach all but forgotten in the face of this new disaster. But her nausea increased tenfold. "I just thought… it would be nice," she muttered, dumb-struck and panicking like a mouse in the maw of a tomcat. She could feel the teeth closing in around her.

"I will not allow it, for the time being," father rumbled, turning away from her and ambling over to the weight station. "Prove that you're serious and I might reconsider."

Hinami's breath puffed out, all at once, as his words registered in her ringing ears. She swallowed hard, thick braid slithering over her shoulder as she bowed her head. Her eyes subconsciously swept across the tatami, searching for a stain she knew she wouldn't find. He had replaced the mats. She already knew that. But still, her eyes searched.

"I…I am serious," she said hollowly, fingers digging into the material of her yoga pants. What did that even mean? Serious about UA? Serious about training? Serious about not embarrassing him? Her mouth opened and closed, twice, a lump forming in her tightening throat that she struggled to swallow past. How could he stop her from seeing her own mother? After nearly ten years?

'I hate you,' she thought viciously as she blinked down tears, her trembling lips pulling into a snarl.

Hinami's voice was strong and steady, unwavering as she prepared to tell him as much, "I ha—"

"Three laps around the block," father interrupted cuttingly, still not looking at her as he re-racked the weights. "Be back in five minutes. Or we start over."

'Look at me! Goddamn it, just look at me!'

He didn't.

Hinami spat a curse with bared teeth, the words she'd wanted to say before caught in her throat and burned like snake venom, scorching her to the core with the intensity and heat behind them. She scrambled to her feet, shaking with rage as she stared at father's exposed back. She took a step forward, fingers clenched so hard that her nails bit into her palms.

Hate you, hate you, hate you.

She stumbled another step forward, heart in her throat, fire in her eyes. Standing before her was a line in the sand, an irreversible choice. She'd toed it before. She could do it again. Her stomach twinged, the blooming bruise below her ribs giving her a moment's hesitation. How much worse would it be if he wasn't holding back? She had a taste of it before, and she wasn't eager to repeat that performance. And in that moment of weakness, her resolve wavered and cracked, doubts flooding in. She… couldn't do it. Her shoulders drooped as she turned to take a step towards the shoji doors leading outside.

"That's the only smart choice you've made all week, girl," father tutted, resuming racking the weights without a care. As if she were a gnat at his back.

He still didn't look at her.

Hinami broke for the shoji doors like a startled rabbit, humiliation nipping at her heels. A cool breeze caressed her burning cheeks as she ripped the flimsy doors open, calming her rebelling stomach. Her trainers thumped along the hardwood planks of the wraparound porch, thoughts whipping into a frenzy as she leaned into the run wholeheartedly. She rounded the corner of the house, the front gate coming into view—a nearly twelve-foot-tall white concrete wall, capped with ornate black stones. The porch railing creaked as she vaulted it, activating her Quirk and creating about a hot tubs' worth of water as she did so. Full speed ahead, she dashed for the gate recklessly, water whipping and striking through the air.

Hinami's muscles bunched as she crouched, kicking off the ground in a leap. Water pooled underneath her, following her movements and bolstering her jump, catapulting her higher, higher as she cleared the fence. 'How dare he? I hate him.' For a moment, she hung suspended in the air, weightless and free.

'Yumi… ratted me out,' the thought struck like a bolt of lightning, leaving her breathless.

And then her foot caught the corner of the gate.

She pitched forward out of control, yelping as the ground shot up to greet her face. She bit a curse and threw her hands out in front of her—to protect her all-too-breakable face and to fling water at the ground to cushion her fall. Her palms hit first, elbows bending to absorb the impact and head tucking to her chest as she leaned into the fall, using her momentum to roll forward. Water took the sting out of her back colliding with the ground as she completed the roll and popped up to her feet with an annoyed huff. That could've been much worse. Damn it! She thought she'd had that move under control too. It had finally been working more often than it failed, like just now.

Fuyumi had gone behind her back and told father that she wanted to visit mom.

Hinami sank into a hard sprint, teeth gritted harshly, fury filling her chest and rising in her throat. It kept her warm in the early spring chill, rage tempering down into something sharper, quieter. It made a home inside her, smoldering low and patient. Not today, not even tomorrow or the day after that. But one of these days, she would make sure he got what was coming to him. She'd feed him his own words, maybe even his own teeth if she got the chance.

Hinami hopped down the stairs two at a time in her socks, struggling to fasten the red necktie and grumbling under her breath. Her last uniform had clip-on ties, which were much more convenient. Aside from the necktie, she quite liked the new uniform. It had a sharp, sleek design with the grey blazer and dark navy skirt. The navy stripes at the sleeve cuffs and lapels were a nice touch, handsomely accentuated by the shiny gold buttons.

Fuyumi looked up from the stove as Hinami turned the corner into the kitchen. Shoto was already at the table, sipping a bowl of miso soup. Fuyumi smiled and put her spatula down to round the table and approach Hinami, "You two look so nice," she said, smiling proudly as her cold fingers nimbly straightened out the tie, fixing it before Hinami could protest. "Your first day of high school! This is so exciting," she gushed, patting down Hinami's blazer.

"Thanks," Hinami said stiffly, eyes on the ground as she took a pointed step away, out of Fuyumi's reach.

Fuyumi paused in her fussing, blinking in surprise as her smile slipped a fraction. "I remember my first day," she said, recovering quickly. "I was such a bundle of nerves, I didn't sleep a wink!" she laughed, going back to the pan on the stove she'd momentarily abandoned. "I still don't sleep on the first day of teaching a new classroom," she continued, picking her spatula back up.

Hinami didn't respond, biting her lip as she pulled up a seat at the table. Shoto calmly watched the spectacle, using his chopsticks to pick up another bite of fish and rice. Apparently, Fuyumi had gone full traditional this morning, judging by the full spread laid out in front of her. Pickled vegetables, fluffy white rice, steaming bowls of miso, and Shoto had seared mackerel on his plate. Just as Hinami started to wonder where her fish was, Fuyumi slid a flakey, perfectly cooked piece onto the empty plate in front of her.

"Thank you," Hinami said, forcing her lips into an approximation of a smile. "It smells great," she said, trying to sound sincere. It wasn't that hard, it really did smell amazing, especially on an empty stomach. Fuyumi beamed and went back to the stove, bustling around to cook one last piece for herself.

Hinami sighed in relief once the woman's back was turned, fiddling with her chopsticks. As she tucked into her breakfast, her brain whirred a million miles an hour. It wasn't Fuyumi's fault that father said no. And if she really thought about it, Fuyumi was just covering her bases. If father found out that they visited without his permission, and Hinami had no doubts that he would find out one way or another, it would be on Fuyumi's head. It was just in her best interest to tell him first.

Could she really blame Fuyumi for protecting herself? At the end of the day, it was father's fault.

"Is… everything okay, Nana?" Fuyumi asked, hesitantly scooting her chair into the table, her own breakfast laid out in front of her.

"Tastes great," Hinami nodded and shoved a slice of pickled radish into her mouth, knowing full well that wasn't what Fuyumi had meant. Still… it stung, knowing that Fuyumi went behind her back like that. Especially when it was so hard to ask to visit in the first place. She really should've just kept her mouth shut, then this whole situation would've been avoided. She knew better.

"I'm… glad," Fuyumi demurred, dark grey eyes watching from behind her horn-rimmed glasses.

Shoto's eyes flicked back and forth between them, as if he were following the ball in a tennis match. Hinami shrugged when his gaze lingered on her for too long, picking at her rice nervously. Suddenly, her appetite seemed to be missing. She forced herself to keep eating anyway, if only to keep her hands too busy to fidget and mouth too full for questions.

"Thank you for breakfast," Shoto said after a tense ten-minute cold war, standing up and gathering his empty plates.

"Thank you," Hinami parroted, jumping up to put her dishes away as well.

"Ah… you're welcome," Fuyumi said, blinking out of her daze and turning back to her food, which was mostly untouched. Hinami winced, knowing she was the cause. Fuyumi cleared her throat and fiddled with her chopsticks, "Are your rooms clean?" she asked, taking a sip of miso soup. "Ito-san is coming by today to clean, make sure you don't leave her extra work," she chastised gently, speaking of their elderly housekeeper.

The two of them nodded and murmured their agreements, rinsing their dishes in the sink. Ito-san always left a cute note and a wrapped piece of rice candy on Hinami's desk, signifying that she'd been through to change the bedding and collect the laundry. Her top desk drawer was secretly full of those notes and little candies, she didn't have the heart to throw them away.

"Good to go?" she asked, wiping her hands on a towel next to the sink. Shoto nodded. "Bye Fuyumi," Hinami murmured, scurrying out of the kitchen and into the entry way. The night before she'd packed her school bag and stashed it in the storage cabinet next to the door, inside the cubbies they'd used since kindergarten. Shoto had the same idea, his satchel sitting next to hers. It was enough to coax a smile out of her as she grabbed the bags and handed Shoto's to him.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Shoto asked pointedly, raising his eyebrows.

Hinami huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face, "Yes, I'm sure!" she said, shoving her feet into her loafers and tapping her toes on the ground to settle them into place. She'd double checked last night.

"As long as you're sure," Shoto said with a shrug and a barely-there smirk, reaching for the front door. Hinami rolled her eyes.

"Wait, guys!" Fuyumi called, skidding into the entry way on her socks. She waved her phone at them, forcing a grin, "Picture time!"

The twins allowed her to fuss over lighting and pose, though Hinami handled it with decidedly less grace that Shoto, tense and awkward as Fuyumi determinedly ignored the atmosphere.

"Maybe we should take one outside too!" Fuyumi proposed, grabbing their hands and hauling them out the door, pausing long enough to shove her pink slippers on. "Takata-san is waiting out front though, so we have to be quick!"

Hinami smiled, shoulders loosening as she gave Fuyumi's hand a soft squeeze that was quickly returned, twice as firm. It was reassuring that some things never changed. Even if she wasn't sure how to feel about her sister at the moment, Fuyumi was still the same.

By the time Fuyumi was satisfied, they had taken nearly two dozen photos. She posed them in the entry way, under the sakura tree in the back yard, and finally in front of their towering front gate.

"Okay, okay," Fuyumi said with a laugh, "I'll let you go before I make the two of you late to your first day!" Then she stepped forward, hands coming up as if to hug them. Before she could get too close, she caught herself and blinked, self-consciously lowering her hands with a soft smile.

Hinami's heart squeezed at the sad expression on Fuyumi's face, ashamed to know that she was the cause of it. Before she could second guess herself, she was stumbling forward to throw herself into her older sister's arms. Fuyumi's breath whooshed out as Hinami bowled into her, a smidgeon harder than intended, face smushing into her blouse and arms locking around her waist.

"Good luck on your first day, Nana," Fuyumi laughed, wrapping her arms around Hinami and squeezing.

"Thank you," Hinami sniffled, blinking back tears as she breathed in Fuyumi's mint and vanilla scent.

"You too, Shoto!" Fuyumi laughed, one of her hands reaching for him. Hinami took this chance to slip out of her grasp before it could turn it into the group hug Fuyumi had in mind. No thanks. She'd had her fill of emotions today. Shoto stepped forward and allowed himself to be hugged and fussed over, a tiny, pleased smile on his lips. Softie.

"Oh! Your bento boxes, I almost forgot!" Fuyumi gasped, jogging back inside the house. Hinami caught her breath while she was gone, raking a hand through her hair. She'd left it completely unbound today, bangs windswept across her forehead, with two slightly longer pieces that framed her face. Fidgeting, she pulled her hair over her shoulder and started finger-combing it, gently teasing out the tangles. It was about time for a trim too. Maybe her hairdresser would do a house call.

"Where'd you get that scar?" Shoto asked, his eyebrows lowered and lips pressed into a taut line.

Hinami jumped, smoothing her skirt down over her thighs, where the ugly, twisted and hooked scar had peeked out. Obviously, she hadn't succeeded in pulling her skirt down far enough to cover it. She entertained the thought of wearing tights but wasn't sure if it was allowed in the new dress code. She regretted that decision now. "I… er," she hesitated, an old hurt flaring up. If only father had recommended her as well, maybe she wouldn't be branded with the hideous thing. "The entrance exam," she said at last, leaving it at that.

Shoto nodded, lips pursed as he chewed over his thoughts. Fuyumi bustled back out just then, interrupting whatever he was about to say, if anything. Fuyumi pushed the bento boxes at them and hustled them out of the gates and into the back of the sleek black car waiting out front.

The twins murmured polite, synchronized greetings to the driver as they slid into place in the backseats. Hinami shot Shoto a conspiring smile, snickering a little as she realized they'd done it instinctively. Takata-san had been their driver since they were itty bitty, long enough that his bristly black moustache faded to grey and then white over the years. His hair should probably be grey as well, though she suspected he dyed his hair to keep it black. He was nice enough, she supposed, even if he was sort of uptight about maintaining the rules. The car ride to UA was much shorter than her disastrous train ride the morning of the exam, no surprises there. Takata-san knew the drill though, from years of chauffeuring Hinami around, and obligingly stopped down the block to let them out instead of the front gates. That had been how her secret was blown at the last school and by the time she'd started walking to school instead, the damage had been done.

"You ready, Sho?" Hinami asked, playfully hip checking him as the massive gates loomed into view.

"Yeah," Shoto nodded, not even stumbling even though she put some oomph into the hip check. Rude.

"I wonder what our teacher's going to be like," Hinami said, bouncing on her toes as they crossed the courtyard to the glass front doors. Shoto didn't answer, not that she really expected him to. Hoards of students were milling about the shoe lockers—wide eyed and bushy tailed with nerves—on the other side of the glass doors. She smiled, fiddling with the strap of her satchel as they approached their shoe lockers. They were organized by class number, so it was easy enough to find the '1-A' ones. She trailed her fingers over her nameplate once she found it, pride welling up in her chest. Inside the locker were a pair of bright white indoor shoes, which she promptly switched out for her outdoor shoes, as Shoto did the same next to her. Though they were just a pair of plain white sneakers, they were surprisingly comfortable. Much more so than her last school's uwabaki, which were flimsier and squeaked obnoxiously with every step.

There was no one else from their class at the lockers yet, seeing as they were quite early. Though plenty of other first years jittered through the halls, clumped in packs or braving the chaos alone. Helpful second and third year senpais were herding the first years, pointing them in the right directions. She smiled as she observed the crowd of wild Quirks and loud personalities, keeping an eye out for Tatsumi.

"Here we are!" Hinami said, tipping her head back to stare at the obnoxiously oversized door. What kind of Quirks did these kids even have to make a twenty-foot-tall door necessary?! Mt. Lady was one thing, but even she could shrink. It just seemed a little overkill, in her humble opinion. Strangely, the doorhandle was nearly chest height, it seemed weirdly placed. Though the door was cracked, so all they'd have to do was slide it the rest of the way open.

"What's going on with you and Fuyumi?" Shoto asked, going straight for the throat as usual. Hinami stopped dead, staring at him in surprise. Good ol' Shoto. One second you almost couldn't even be sure he was paying attention, the next second he kicks your legs out from under you.

Hinami recovered from her surprise and laughed airily, rolling her shoulders to keep them from tensing up, "She packed bell peppers in my last bento and I haven't let her off the hook for it yet," she whispered cheekily, one of her hands reaching up to comb through her bangs.

Shoto cut his eyes at her, "I know when you're lying."

Hinami flinched, mouth dropping open in surprise. "No, I—"

"Hey, Todoroki!" a cheerful voice called, echoing down the hallway and interrupting the weak denials on the tip of Hinami's tongue. She glanced over and caught an eyeful of bright, cherry red hair which was spiked up, with two front pieces styled to look like horns. He grinned when he caught her eyes, waving at her from down the hall.

"I think he's talking to you, Sho," she blinked, genuinely baffled as she brought the red-head to Shoto's attention. Whoever he was, he had impeccable timing.

"I don't recognize him," Shoto said tonelessly, pinning her with a meaningful stare before shrugging his shoulders and washing his hands of the situation. He stepped into the classroom without her.

"Jerk!" Hinami scoffed quietly, turning to face the red-haired guy, who was still waving as he trotted up to her.

"Looks like you owe me a jacket, huh?" he chuckled, coming to a stop in front of her, his hands tugging at the straps of his backpack. Hinami eyed his spiked cherry hair… which was the nearly exact same color as his big cherry-colored eyes, a nagging sense of familiarity on the tip of her tongue. What did he mean that she owed him a jacket…?

"…Kirishima?" Hinami guessed, squinting at him and trying to imagine him with floppy black hair instead. He rocked the red though, it looked amazing on him. Too bad her last memory of him was so embarrassing… God, he must think she's pathetic, after having to haul her weak ass around for so long. It was nice of him to even say hi to her after the sad display at the exam.

"Yep! I decided to change my image a little," he said, self-consciously ruffling his hair, though careful not to disturb the spikes too much. Hinami knew firsthand how long it took to gel it up like that, after spending years sharing a bathroom with Natsuo, that diva. "If you don't mind, please don't tell anyone I dyed it," he asked, wincing. "It's not very manly."

"I won't tell," she promised, glancing away and hesitating a moment before adding, "The red suits you."

Kirishima breathed a quick, surprised breath as his eyes lit up with warmth. "Heh, thanks! That means a lot," he said softly, juxtaposed against his sharp-toothed sharky smile. "Good to see you again, Todoroki! I'm glad we made it in the same class."

"Ah…" her eyes flicked away from his gaze, unable to stand the delighted expression any longer and mortified to think he could see the blush racing to redden her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "I'm glad too," she said after an extended beat of quiet, just before the air could sour with awkwardness.

And with that, she hastily ducked into the classroom. Nice. He probably still thinks she's a friendless freak. He's only taking pity on her, why else would he be nice to her? That or he wanted to hear about father, see if she could get him any exclusive merch. He had to have seen the magazines and put it together that the sad girl he helped in the exam was Endeavor's daughter. Feeling decidedly worse about the encounter, she glued her eyes to the ground as she shuffled, shamefaced, after Shoto.

'He does have really pretty eyes and a nice smile,' she thought distractedly, though she kind of hoped he'd leave her alone now. He was either starstruck by her father or he felt obligated after the exam to be nice to her. That had to be it. She'd get him another jacket and that would be the end of it.

Stepping into the classroom was a little underwhelming, seeing as how almost no one was there yet. Only a handful of students had arrived so far, most notably a boy with the head of a raven. His iridescent black feathers shone brilliantly under the sterile white lights of the classroom, throwing off shades of violet and emerald as he turned his head. Hinami nodded at him as he steadily met her gaze, feeling a little bad for staring and hoping he didn't take it negatively. His feathers were just so pretty, she hadn't meant to gawk.

There was a chart on the chalkboard, listing their student numbers and their assigned seat. Apparently, she was seated in the last row in between Shoto and a girl named Uraraka. She wasn't sure how she felt about being seated next to her twin, since she really didn't want to finish that conversation he'd started. Before she could think about it too hard, Shoto was already making his way to his seat, nodding at the raven kid much more gracefully than she had. Fiddling with her school bag, Hinami made a show of reading the board and scanning the room, hesitant to go face the music. He'd really knocked her on her ass earlier, calling her out like that. She wasn't excited for a repeat performance.

"Your first name is Shoto?" Kirishima asked, making Hinami jump slightly as she turned to look at him. "I've never heard it used as a girl's name, that's kinda cool!" he said, beaming at her.

"Um… no, I'm Hinami," she corrected awkwardly, pointing at her name on the board. Kirishima himself was seated two rows ahead of her, in front of a kid named Koda Koji. 'Eijirou, huh?' Hinami thought as she read his name, filing it away for later.

"What are the chances of there being two Todoroki's?" Kirishima laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as his cheeks flushed. "Have you talked to him yet? Maybe you two are related!"

Hinami laughed nervously, unsure if he was fucking with her or not. "Um, yeah… I've talked to him," she said at last, glancing at her twin, who was politely exchanging greetings with a pretty black-haired girl, with dark shining eyes. Yaoyorozu Momo, according to the seating chart.

"They're probably twins, dipshit," a snarly voice growled from behind Kirishima, a boy emerging and shoving past on his way to his desk. He had light, cream blonde hair and a surly, disinterested glower on his face.

"Hey!" Kirishima protested, scowling at the rude blonde. Said blonde blew him off completely, flopping into his chair and kicking his legs up onto the desk.

Hinami touched her necktie self-consciously, noticing that the delinquent wasn't wearing one at all. How was he going to get away with that? She covertly glanced at the board, figuring out his name was Bakugou Katsuki, thanks to his seat placement. Maybe she could take hers off too. It would certainly go a long way in making the uniform more comfortable.

"You're a twin?" Kirishima asked, bringing her attention back to him.

"Unfortunately," Hinami agreed dryly, shooting a glance at Shoto to see if he heard her jab. It wasn't fun unless he heard. Oh good! He was paying attention and he looked even less amused than usual. She smirked and waved.

Kirishima followed her line of sight and laughed, "Man, you don't look anything alike," he chortled.

Hinami shrugged, "Not really," she agreed. "He does have one eye the same color as mine though," she said weakly, scratching her cheek as she considered just how different they looked. Oh wait! She was supposed to be avoiding Kirishima. Damn, he was good. Too friendly. He kept disarming and distracting her. "I'm… uh, going to go take my seat… now," she mumbled, waving vaguely at the back of the classroom and scurrying off.

"Oh… okay?" Kirishima said, though he was soon preoccupied by a laughing pink blur, which turned out to be an excited girl with pink skin and hair. She even had little yellow horns, which twitched happily as she talked to Kirishima. Hinami heaved a sigh of relief at her convenient escape, making a beeline for her seat.

Which delivered her right into the jaws of danger.

"What happened with you and Fuyumi?" Shoto asked as soon as she sat down. "Don't say bell peppers again or I'll get rid of your snack stash."

"You wouldn't!" Hinami hissed, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him.

He met her gaze coolly, entirely unimpressed and unruffled. "You keep the best ones in the cabinet above the fridge."

Hinami's lips thinned into a tight line, squinting at her twin to determine how serious the level of threat was. "I'll move them," she said, shrugging as if she didn't have a care in the world. Losing that cache would be a devastating blow, but it wasn't the only one she had. As long as he didn't find her favorite snack—

"I liked those panda snacks, they're good," he returned, cool and collected.

"You little shit," Hinami growled, narrowing her eyes at him. "You better be bluffing." She tried to calm herself with empty platitudes like 'they're only sweets, you'll live' and 'you can buy more.' It didn't help.

"I don't bluff," he said, in the same infuriatingly even tone as always.

Hinami swore under her breath. It was true. Shoto was anything but a bluffer, straight forward to a fault. He knew where the snacks were. He'd possibly moved them. Had possibly already eaten her Hello Pandas. She squirmed in her seat, biting her lip as she weighed the pros and cons. If she told him the truth, that Fuyumi had snitched to father… she'd have to explain what exactly she had snitched about. The topic of their mother was an incredibly touchy one, so much so that she honestly wasn't sure how her twin would feel about visiting her. She'd also have to explain what she was doing with father in the first place. Shoto still didn't know about the training, as far as Hinami knew at least.

She'd rather lose every single snack in the house.

"Get your feet off the desk right this instant!" a loud voice rang out, drawing the entire class's attention. "How dare you disrespect the legacy of all the alumni to sit in that very place! Have you no class?!"

'That's… familiar,' Hinami thought, watching the bespectacled student berate Bakugou, brain itching as she struggled to remember how she knew him. Specs made an aggressive karate chopping motion at Bakugou, his glasses glinting under the white overhead lights. She squinted at him, noting his dark undercut and square jaw…

"That's the guy that tried to bitch me out for interpreting for Tatsumi," Hinami said, snapping her fingers as it came back to her.

Shoto frowned at her, entirely unamused at her new attempt to avoid the subject at hand. Though curiosity did eventually get the best of him and he turned his attention to the front of the class, where the spectacle was still going strong. Bakugou wasn't just rolling over and taking it, not in the slightest. He honestly seemed to be enjoying himself, a shitty little smirk curling his lips as he shouted back at Specs. Hinami watched in amusement as Specs tried to introduce himself and apologize, only for Bakugou to scoff and threaten him again. Specs' scandalized expression was funny, she couldn't help but smirk a little watching them bicker. Though she did find out his name was Iida Tenya, not Specs.

"Well?" Shoto asked, drawing Hinami's attention and giving her a bland look. Straight back into the discussion at hand. He was like a dog with a bone, relentless.

Hinami twirled the ends of her bangs through her fingers, shrugging listlessly. Her mind was already made up, she wasn't going to tell him. He could needle at her all he wanted. Even throw out her snacks.

Shoto sighed softly, impassively studying her face, and coming to his own conclusion. He stared for a moment too long to be comfortable, his gaze heavy and inscrutable, before shaking his head and glancing back at the soap opera going on at the front of the class. "Why did he… 'bitch you out,' for interpreting?" he asked at last, changing tactics.

Hinami shrugged, biting her lip to stop herself from smiling in relief. "He said I was distracting the students behind us by waving my arms around too much," she said cautiously, wondering what his new angle was. "But he… kind of apologized when he realized I was translating for her. I think he did anyway, he might've been talking to the teacher."

"Ah," Shoto said, nodding. Hinami watched him suspiciously, not buying the act for a second. He was probably just biding his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Sneaky jerk.

Shoto's eyes flicked to the front of the classroom suddenly, Hinami's gaze instinctively following as she watched a scruffy, disheveled man shuffle into the doorway dragging a yellow sleeping bag behind him. His dark, bruise purple eye bags looked old enough buy alcohol. When was the last time he took a nap? Was he lost? Lack of sleep did tend to disorient people. He looked harmless enough, though.

"It took you eight seconds to quiet down," he said, staring down the trio of students, one of them was Specs, crowded around him. "Time is limited. You kids aren't disciplined enough."

The trio stepped back, muttering amongst themselves as the exhausted homeless man slumped further into the classroom. Hinami snapped to attention, narrowing her eyes at the only girl still standing up. She had leggings on under her skirt. Damn it! Did she know something about the dress code that Hinami didn't? Maybe she should wear hers tomorrow. Maybe she shouldn't have been so uptight about it, the worst thing they would've done was tell her to take them off. Oh well… too late now.

Mr. Eyebags' heavy, dark gaze scanned across the room, taking the time to pin each and every one of the students with an unimpressed glower. Hinami held firm under his stare, levelly meeting his eyes and even managing to nod at him before he moved on to Shoto. She knew a thing or two about intimidation tactics, and as mild as this one was, she wasn't going to falter under it.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta," he said curtly once he was done with his visual inspection. "Nice to meet you," he greeted, his tone was polite enough, but his expression and body language conveyed his disdain clearly. He stuck a hand into his sleeping bag and fished around, the cheap polyester crinkling noisily as he pulled a blue and white gym uniform out. "I know it's sudden but put these on and meet me on the field."

A surprised murmur ran through the classroom, students chattering softly. Aizawa-sensei read the tag on the uniform and tossed it at a black-haired student she hadn't noticed until now. It went on like that for a couple moments, sensei reading tags and tossing out uniforms, smacking the less prepared in the face without so much as a smirk. No sense of humor, that one.

Maybe she'd misjudged his sleeping bag after all, if it concealed twenty uniforms without any lumps or bulges. Maybe it was previously owned by Mary Poppins, it sure looked old enough for that to be the case. Also… did that mean he'd been sleeping on the uniforms? And how did he know their names already? He hadn't looked at the seating chart once while he was passing them out. Did he already have all their names and faces memorized? He'd obviously have access to their files, but to have them memorized already… that was something else.

Hinami's hand snapped up and caught the uniform hurtling at her face, fingers sinking into the unexpectedly soft material. Well… at least it wasn't warm from him sleeping on it. And it only smelled of plastic, as if it had been freshly unpackaged, and faint industrial cleaner. Laundry soap most likely. She rubbed the material between her fingers, finding it to be surprisingly thin yet sturdy. As far as she could tell, it was sweat-wicking athletic fabric tweaked to make it more Quirk resistant. It wasn't anything like her usual work out gear, but it wouldn't be uncomfortable either. Though the high collar might be annoying.

"Follow me," Aizawa-sensei demanded, chucking the last uniform. It sailed in a neat arc across the class, beaning a shrimpy looking kid in the head and sticking fast to his weirdly spherical purple hair. Sensei was out the door before it even landed.

Hinami shot Shoto an unsure glance, grabbing her uniform and scooting her chair out. He gave a miniscule twitch of his shoulders as he stood, tucking his chair back in under his desk and making his way to the front of the classroom. Hinami followed suit, hustling to catch up. Aizawa-sensei hadn't waited for any of them and was already nearing the end of the hallway. Bakugou was hot on his heels with his hands stuffed into his pockets, shoulders hunched up around his ears. The trio of students that were at the door were next in line in the pursuit, power walking to keep up with sensei. For as scruffy and unconcerned as he appeared, that man could move and still make it look lazy. She spared the baffled classroom one more look before trotting after her twin, leaving the rest of them to figure it out on their own.

Eventually they made it outside into the thin morning sun, which wasn't yet high enough to provide any warmth. Aizawa-sensei stepped out in front of a huge dirt field, chalk lines marking off the different areas. "There are locker rooms in the gym," he said, using his pinkie to dig some wax out of his ear and then using that same pinkie to gesture at the massive gym building. "Hurry up," he said, looking as if he'd rather be doing literally anything else. What a grump.

The class split off into boys and girls as they filed into the gym, making their ways into their respective locker rooms. Hinami picked up the pace, jogging in her haste to beat the other girls into the room, heart pounding an ugly rhythm in her chest. She already hated this. As soon as she made it into the room, she dashed into one of the bathroom stalls, clutching her uniform to her chest. She really hadn't expected to be forced into this situation so soon, at least not until after the opening ceremonies. Hinami sighed as she heard the rest of the girls file into the locker room, chatting.

"Did you see Todoroki? I thought I saw her come in here," one of them muttered softly, causing Hinami to freeze. "I wanted to say hi!"

"I thought I saw her too," another, slightly lower, voice agreed. "She was the first one in."

Hinami shuffled in place, caught in the middle of trying to take her skirt off in the poorly lit stall. They wanted to say hi to her? Had she already been recognized as Endeavor's daughter? She chewed on her lip as she stepped out of the skirt, carefully hanging it off the peg on the back of the door. She'd already shucked her blazer, which was hanging next to her skirt. She really should've expected this, but she thought it had been long enough since the magazine was published for it to have blown over a little bit. Did they recognize her because of the name or the hair? Or both?

'I hope he chokes,' she thought wistfully, sliding off her button-down shirt (though she kept her undershirt on) and pulling on her gym pants.

"Oh well," the same voice continued cheerfully, "I'll meet her sooner or later, since we sit next to each other."

Oh. Was that why? That must be Uraraka then.

Hinami swallowed thickly, ashamed for her snap judgement. Not everything revolved around her father. "I'm in here," she said, struggling to raise her voice and yank her gym shirt on at the same time. She combed her hair back down into place and unlocked the bathroom door, peeking out.

"Oh, there you are!" a brown-haired girl beamed, taking no notice of the fact that she was only in her underwear. "I'm Uraraka Ochako! We're going to be desk neighbors this year!" she said, shoving her hand into Hinami's face for a handshake.

Hinami stared at her blankly, gaze flicking down to the extended hand. "Todoroki Hinami," she said curtly, clasping Uraraka's hand and giving it a firm shake. Strangely, the other girl kept her pointer finger extended so that it didn't touch the back of Hinami's hand. There were little pink pads on the tips of her fingers too, kind of like a cat's toe beans.

"It's always fun to meet a fellow pinky!" another girl snickered, popping up in between them. It was the horned girl from earlier, the one who distracted Kirishima. Her fluffy pink hair fanned out around her head like a sakura blossom, making Hinami smile. "I'm Ashido Mina!" she announced, jabbing a thumb at herself. The sclera of her eyes were black, making her golden irises shine all the prettier, set against her pastel pink skin. It was a striking combination, like a rare Amazonian flower.

"Good to meet you," Hinami said, trying to smother her smile as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Us pinkies have to stick together!" she said, pumping a fist in the air.

Hinami gave a startled laugh, finding herself nodding along, swept up by the other girl's enthusiasm, "Of course," she agreed, lips quirked.

"Why'd you change in the stalls?" a new voice piped up, drawing Hinami's attention. Only… she couldn't find the source.

"Excuse me?" she asked sharply, glancing around for the speaker.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude! I was just curious," the voice spoke again, still seemingly from nowhere. Hinami's eyes combed across everyone's faces to try and figure out where it was coming from. "Right here," the voice said, a floating glove waving in Hinami's face.

"Oh," Hinami blinked, eyes locking onto a floating bra and pink pair of panties. "Uh, sorry?" she said uncertainly, trying not to stare. So strange talking to disembodied underwear. "And I changed in there because I felt like it," she lied, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Of course she knew why she was changing in the stalls. Wasn't that an insensitive question? "And because I'm not good with strangers," she said grudgingly, not a lie.

"Hear, hear," one of the girls agreed with a commiserating nod. But she smiled at Hinami anyway, twirling… what appeared to be a flesh-colored headphone jack around her finger? It was coming from her earlobe. She had glossy dark purple hair, which was cut into an edgy asymmetric bob.

"That wasn't a nice question to ask, Hagakure-chan," a croaky voice chastised, coming from the petite girl in the corner, already changed into her gym uniform. Her hair was a pretty shade of dark, shiny green, long and thick. She left it mostly unbound, except for the very end, which was gathered into a bow. Her mouth was a little too wide for her face, little pink tongue sticking out of the corner, with large, droopy black eyes and thick eyelashes. "Todoroki-chan doesn't have to explain herself, ribbit," she continued, nodding at Hinami.

Hinami's heart squeezed in her chest, 'Did she just ribbit like a frog? She's so cute!' And she had stood up for Hinami! And had called her 'chan'! That pretty much made them besties already. Tatsumi would understand.

"Asui-san's right, Hagakure-san," the last girl agreed, the one that Hinami had seen talking to Shoto earlier. Yaoyorozu, if she was remembering correctly, with dark glittering eyes and elegant black hair. "Her reasons are her own. It's impolite to point something like that out," she scolded, turning to give Hinami a soft, reassuring smile. Damn, her skin was flawless and her teeth were a brilliant pearly white. Did she just come from a cover shoot or something? She was intimidatingly gorgeous.

Hinami blushed and nodded her thanks, feeling rather overwhelmed and singled out. It really wasn't that big of a deal, though she was grateful for them standing up for her. It just didn't seem… necessary, to be honest. Her skin was thicker than that. It was sweet though.

"I know…" the disembodied underwear said sadly, the bra straps moving as she heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, Todoroki, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay… Hagakure?" Hinami muttered, pretty sure that was her name. Damn. Too many people, she needed to get the hell out of here. ASAP.

…And then what? Join the boys on the field, where there were twice as many new people to hassle her? Hinami winced, suddenly realizing how much she had taken her old school for granted. At least the kids there knew better than to bother her. Except Tatsumi, of course. But she wasn't very good at listening. Hinami nearly snickered to herself as she realized the pun she'd accidentally made. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scampered out of the locker room, using the little device as a shield to aid her hasty exit. As she ambled her way back out to the field, she drafted a quick text.

[8:17AM]

Hinami: I was just thinking of how bad of a listener you are.

[8:17AM]

Tatsu Tots: Haaa, yeah, I'm the worst at listening lmaooo

Tatsu Tots: But somehow you're still worse than me? It shouldn't be physically possible, but you're a miracle worker that way

Tatsu Tots: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[8:18AM]

Hinami: you're so rude wtf I didn't come here to get picked on

Hinami: (':

[8:23AM]

Tatsu Tots: wait, why isn't your class at the opening ceremonies?

a/n: another chapter down! y'all have been awfully quiet, i can't tell if you're enjoying it or not. i'm gonna keep writing either way, but it's always nice to get a little feedback! it doesn't have to be an essay or anything, just let me know what you liked about the chapter or if there was a line that really stuck out to you. anyway! thanks for being here, lovelies. i'll be back next tuesday.