Chapter 15

What Stains a Heart

With the week of internships finally over, Rei still felt strange going back to the normal school schedule at U.A.. It wasn't just the fact that she had started getting used to the swing of things at Black Panther's agency, the day to day activities beginning to becoming ingrained in her mind. While she certainly already missed her mentor and Hana, the lovely receptionist that worked for the agency, there was something else amiss. Ever since Hosu Rei had felt slightly unsettled, a part of her changed in some fundamental way.

But she would be lying if she said she didn't know what it was. She just didn't want to face it, own up to the fact that it was making her head spin in circles, her heart jumping every few moments as adrenaline would suddenly spike through her body at the sudden, unbidden memory that would sporadically jump into her present mind.

Fear.

There were times when she had been scared, like the first time she had leapt from the top of a building and felt the exhilaration and gut dropping sensation of sailing through the air, filled with uncertainty of what what exactly would happen once she hit the ground. Or like when she had felt anxiety leading up to the acceptance letters for high school, waiting for a full week and still having to grind through the everyday work of middle school when her life would be drastically changed, one way or another. But this was true, pure, unadulterated fear that she had experienced first hand on that long week of interning. She had long denied that she feared death, coming to terms with the fact that she couldn't die for whatever godforsaken reason. She tried to convince herself that she had nothing to fear, since no matter the outcome, she wouldn't be able to cross the threshold between life and the other side.

Now she realized that, while that may have been true, those thoughts had simply masqueraded her true fear. She could not die, but she could feel pain. Lying at the mercy of someone with enough vindication and sadism like the way she had quite literally felt while she lay beneath the hero killer's foot, she had realized that her past near experiences with death had involved something relatively quick. But if someone figured out that she couldn't die, then they might be pressed to push her limits, and in the most grotesque and elongated manner possible.

And that was what she truly feared.

She hadn't talked with anyone about it. Rei hadn't wanted to bother Reina, since she didn't have a firsthand experience of what exactly heroes did, and she didn't want her mentor to worry excessively about her. Neither did she want to open up around Chirasaki; their relationship wasn't quite there yet. And although she had friends like Midoriya and Momo, and the group was beginning to expand to Todoroki and even Iida a bit, she wasn't ready to spill her darkest secrets and fears yet either.

So she kept to herself, letting the fear gnaw at the back of her mind, eating her away piece by piece. She knew it was rotting her flesh, festering and flourishing in the darkest parts of her that she tried to ignore, but neither did she have the strength to bring it to the light and face it on her own. Horrors in the dark at least went unseen, unlike those that were paraded around in broad daylight for the waking world to peer at with disgust and terror. As she walked to school she grasped her backpack straps tightly, knuckles turning white from her tense grip, her jaw stiff from the lack of motion. It was another day, and yet Rei was filled with apprehension. Even with the sun in the blue skies above her head, Rei had a distinct feeling that something was going to go wrong very soon.

The class was already half full when she arrived, allowing her to slip in quietly without drawing much attention and skulk over to her desk. She noticed that Iida and Midoriya were standing around Todoroki's desk, talking amongst themselves quietly. It was Todoroki who saw Rei first, raising a hand in greeting, drawing the attention of the other two. She nodded at the lot of them, making her way to her desk and settling down quickly, organizing her materials while keeping her head down.

Thankfully, Momo wasn't far behind. For some reason, the only look that Rei could identify on her friend's face was complete and utter relief. Blinking slowly, she watched and waited for the vice president to sit in her seat, sliding her bag to the ground and sighing in relief. "Good morning, Tsuki-chan."

Rei nodded. "Morning. You look…" she trailed off, uncertain if she wanted to call Momo out for a moment, "... relieved."

She only sighed again. "Yes. As much as I was looking forward to our internships, I'm afraid mine wasn't as fruitful as I had hoped." But she shook her head, putting a smile on her face and moving on from her problems and disappointments. "But how was yours? Aside from the Hero Killer."

"Yeah. It was… chaos." That was the best way to describe the entire scene without letting too much detail out. Rei shrugged. "But I did get some experience helping evacuate civilians in the mess."

"Oh, that is wonderful that you had experience! Although, not so wonderful for the civilians. We didn't even get to do a real patrol."

"Well, I guess every hero operates differently?" It ended up coming out as more of a question than Rei had anticipated, but Momo apparently accepted her encouragement with a slow nod of her head. "At least we're back now."

"That's very true. But tell me a bit more about your internship! You were with the pro hero Black Panther, right? What's he like?"

With Momo still feeling dejected and out of sorts from her past week, Rei felt obliged to dig into her experience, no matter how unsettled she felt at her core. She began to talk about how she had been chosen, and how there had been a connection with her mentor and the pro hero. Momo listened attentively, and even Rei was engrossed in their conversation as she began to explain operations, procedures, and even some of the skills that she had picked up. They were so absorbed, in fact, that they hadn't even noticed Aizawa enter the classroom until he stood at the front of the podium, motioning for everyone to calm down.

"Alright, welcome back. Hopefully you learned a lot on your internships, but now it's time to focus again."

Turning in their seats, Rei began to buckle down for the day. As attendance was taken, she thought about her conversation with her deskmate. Should she tell Yaoyorozu about her fears? Now that she was thinking retrospectively it would have been the perfect time; going into the rest of their day they wouldn't be sequestered by themselves any longer. She found herself wanting to tell someone, and if there was anyone she could trust it would be the first person who had dared to reach out to her to extend a hand of friendship.

Finding the resolve in her heart, Rei watched the front of the class with anticipation. She had decided. She would talk with Momo after school on the way home.

Even if Rei had been dreading returning to class, it was clear that she was becoming used to the routine, even after the week long gap. Present Mic's lectures were more bearable, and Rei found that she was able to write down information more quickly, processing the questions and answers faster than ever. She still never raised her hand to answer in class, but her confidence was growing when she was asked to read a paragraph out loud. The progress was showing in all her classes, in fact. No longer did she walk out to lunch in a daze, brain attempting to shove all the information into slots like a massive puzzle while her conscious mind drifted around in a haze. She was confident, comprehending almost everything and certain that what she didn't understand, she would review in her notes later to absorb.

Today there had been something that Rei had starred quickly in her notes during the lecture, so as Yaoyorozu rose from her desk and looked to Rei expectantly she was surprised to see the girl behind her flipping through her notebook. "Are you ready for lunch?"

Rei looked up, shaking her head in a tiny motion. "I want to review something really quick. Save me a seat?"

Hesitant to leave, the grey eyed girl eventually obeyed, leaving with a nod of her head and walking out the door, meeting up with Jirou and breaking into a spirited conversation as the two left. Slowly the classroom began to get quieter and quieter, until the last person left and the door was shut behind them. Heaving a sigh, Rei found the page she needed, taking her time to read through her notes diligently. The adjectives always precede the noun, so that was the reason why this sentence was wrong. But when it comes to adverbs…

So absorbed in her notes, she had failed to notice that she wasn't actually alone in the classroom. Ears picking up the sound of a chair scraping the floor, she paused to look up. She wasn't entirely surprised anymore to see Bakugou making his way toward her desk, leaning against the window as he did over a week before when she had been sorting through potential internships. The familiarity of the situation put a small smile on her lips, a sharp exhale through her nose in amusement as she tilted her head to look over at the boy. "Need something?"

He said nothing, only staring at her for a moment longer before lifting his right hand to her again. Rei's smile grew a bit wider, naturally understanding what it was that he wanted. But she shook her head, turning back to her notes. "Give me a minute. I need to figure out this part from the English lecture today."

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he scoffed, shoving his hand back into his pocket as he waited. Rei took her time reading, another full minute or so passing by until she flipped the book close with a sigh. She would definitely need to review the content with Reina at least one more time. Her understanding was a bit better, but Reina was a genius when it came to English. Now that she thought about it, was it because her parents wanted her to be a business woman, just in case she had to contact foreign clients?

But she slid the notebook back into her bag, turning in her chair to face the blonde boy and extending her hands toward him. Stepping away from the wall he placed his right hand in her palms without hesitation, bringing another small smile to her face. As she began feeling his forearms she noticed that they were strangely loose, or at least less messed up than before. "Your arm feels a lot better this week."

Scoffing again, he tossed his head to the side. "Damn internship. I didn't do jack shit while I was there."

Rei couldn't help but take a jab at him, knowing full well that she would pay for it later. "I wouldn't say that. You did have that nice makeover going for you when you came in."

With his free hand he flicked her forehead, making her scowl and pause her motions. "If you do that again, I'll stop." He cursed under his breath, rolling his eyes in annoyance but otherwise doing nothing to go against her. Fingers moving again, she noticed that he had begun breathing in deep and slowly, remembering her words the last time she had caught him all too stiff and motionless. So he had remembered.

"But seriously," she pressed on, feeling a knot higher up on his arm and digging her thumbs into it, "why was it so bad?"

Bakugou spat viciously as he spoke, every word laced with venom and aggression. "All he wanted to do was teach me a lesson. He didn't care about how strong I was. He humiliated me."

Blinking, Rei started making her way down to his palms. This time she could feel them laced with sweat, making her fingers run over his hands faster. She grimaced. She hated touching sweaty people. It made her feel dirty. But she was committed anyway. "I think there are worse things than having your hair parted and gelled for a week."

"Not just that, stupid!" He was actually heated about his internship, Rei watching him carefully as he began ranting. "He modified my uniform, for god's sake! He made me wear those tight-ass jeans, and I had to strip down my gauntlets and take off my mask!"

"Tight… jeans?" An image flashed in her head, the full ensemble coming into mind with Bakugou wearing skinny blue jeans with his hair gelled as it had been when he had walked in that morning. Her lips twitched, but she was unable to contain herself as she choked. She giggled, removing one of her hands from his own and placing it over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter, to no avail.

It only riled Bakugou more. "What're you laughing at, huh? It wasn't funny! I had to walk around patrols like that, humiliated!"

That additional image sent Rei even further over the edge, making her gasp for air as she laughed fully. She hunched over in her seat, pressing a hand to her face as she giggled uncontrollably. "That… was what you meant?! I…" She only sent herself into another round of giggles, eventually looking up at Bakugou with glittering eyes that refused to stop shining in amusement. The fact that a top ranked pro hero had taken Bakugou in, only in an attempt to try and curb his anger and make him look presentable was more than she could contain.

To his credit he only scowled further. "Stop laughing and hurry up. I want to go eat."

With a grin on her face, she placed her hands out again, taking his left arm and repeating the same motions. "Sorry."

"You're not sorry."

She conceded to that point. "No, I'm not."

"Idiot."

Rei only smiled, his words sounding a little more like a term of endearment that he associated with her now. It didn't have the same bite as when he used it with the rest of their classmates, or with anyone else outside of 1-A. The way he said it was softer, still with an undertone of aggression but undoubtedly different from how he usually spat out the insult. She had to admit, it was fun to rile him up sometimes. It was almost too easy. Rei couldn't remember the last time she had smiled and had this much fun outside of her interactions with Reina, a woman who had known her for over three years now. Of all the people in the class that Rei felt a sort of connection to, there was none stronger than the love/ hate relationship that she shared with the explosive boy who sat three seats in front of her. It wasn't really a love and hate, more of a love and annoy relationship. It was them.

She liked Bakugou. Even if she had been uncertain about him in the beginning, he had grown on her. She enjoyed his irritable nature, his confidence, his intelligence and quick thinking on the battleground. Somehow she had begun to see his more quiet side, the side that never came out in public or around other people, something that Rei hadn't believed existed at first. She was starting to realize that his anger and constant irritability and rage was a front, a mask that he wore on the daily. Rei could understand; she herself hid behind cold stoicism, though she knew that her mask was slowly breaking.

Finishing massaging out his palm, she patted his hand as she usually did, pulling her hand away. But this time she felt his fingers dragging along her palm, curling ever so slightly to put a bit of tension on their fingertips as they parted. The motion made her heart beat faster, Rei swallowing hard. It was like the last time they had been like this, when Rei had finished massaging his arms and he had stared down at her with an incomprehensible look in his eyes. Feeling inexplicably jittery she stood up abruptly, catching Bakugou off guard as he looked at her in surprise.

"Let's go to lunch, I'm hungry." She spoke quickly, nervously, unable to hold his direct gaze any longer. He nodded slowly, following her out of the classroom with his hands in his pocket, a somewhat serene look on his face. Compared to Rei he looked calm and composed, Rei's heart fluttering and her breathing hitched, seeming a little faster than normal. What was wrong with her?

She knew what was wrong. She had forced these feelings away last time too. But standing next to the tall, muscular boy, walking through the fairly empty hallways with one another, Rei was unable to pretend any longer.

"Bakugou."

She wasn't sure why she had spoke out, though nerves probably had something to do with it. He looked down at her in surprise, Rei slowly drawing up the courage to look at him in the face. "Do you… are you afraid of anything?"

Originally she had wanted to talk with Yaoyorozu about her fears, but she had suddenly changed her mind. She wanted to ask the boy who moved forward with stubborn confidence, who never balked from a challenge or a dark situation, the one who always had a plan working away in that brilliant mind of his. He looked surprised, caught off guard by her question, but his brows furrowed. "I ain't scared. What're you talking about? Why're you being weird all of a sudden?"

Rei sighed. Of course he wasn't. Crossing her arms, she grasped her elbows as she hugged them closer to her chest. "When I was in Hosu, when the hero killer stepped on me, I realized something. I've convinced myself that I wasn't afraid of death, but in that moment when he stabbed me, I realized that I was afraid of something more."

"Pain." She swallowed hard, looking down at the ground as they walked through the hallways. "He wanted to kill me. He told me. If he had stayed a little longer, if Endeavor hadn't shown up…" Shaking her head, her breath hitched. Her hands began to shake, trembling as she tried to control her breath and keep the tears at bay. That killer intent had washed over her in an instant, taking her back to when she had been laying on cold cement that night, the smell of smoke in the air. "What could he have done, if he realized that I couldn't die? That's when I realized, I'm scared. Of pain."

Suddenly he swung around to stand in front of her, flicking her on the forehead again. Immediately her hands rushed to her head, flinching at the sensation and narrowing her eyes on the boy. She had opened her mouth to speak-

"You were in that situation because you were weak, weren't you?"

It was an insult to pride, and she was ready to defend herself. But even as she opened her mouth again, he cut her off. "The answer is simple. Get stronger, so that no one can put you in that situation ever again."

Rei blinked, staring up into his eyes. For a moment she saw the crimson of the hero killer flashing across her memory, but the longer she looked up into these eyes the more she began to see the differences. Stoic distance, but warmth were in these eyes, so different from that of a vindicated and self-righteous murderer. Bakugou's answer had been so simple, almost overly so, but it rang true in Rei's head. She had been caught off guard, had been snatched in a moment of weakness. The obvious solution was to become stronger, like Bakugou said.

A small smile broke out on her lips. "You see everything so clearly, so simply."

"Just don't complicate things." Stepping to the side he fell back into step with her, the two of them matching a casual pace as they walked through the mostly empty hallways, all the way down through the building.

He had walked next to her all the way until they reached the cafeteria, breaking away as he brushed past her, their arms just grazing as he moved away. Rei couldn't help but watch his figure as he disappeared into the crowd, watching his back as it grew further and further away. It was like she was in a stupor, unable to properly function. Eventually she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts as she got into line, brushing her hair behind her ear even as most of the unruly locks disobeyed her.

She didn't want these feelings. There was no way that he would ever feel the same. But even so, knowing that she would eventually be crushed in the end, she held them in her chest, letting the warm feeling of jitters and giddiness wash over her. There was nothing like it, no feeling that could accurately compare. She could barely keep herself together as she ordered her meal, taking her platter of curry and moving around the area, trying to find Yaoyorozu. A waving hand flagged her down, and she hurried away.

When she finally reached the table she set the tray down, slightly flustered. Momo looked at her in confusion. "Are you alright?"

Her question was enough to draw the attention of at least half the table, Jirou looking from around Momo as her eyes widened. "Akatsuki-san, are you blushing?"

Rei froze.

Then she buried her face in her hands, internally screaming.

She would never live this down.

Back into their costumes, the class met up for hero basic training at Field Gamma. It was their first time, and Rei had to look around in awe at the tangled mess of metal buildings and various other creations that looked like a radiation plant. While she enjoyed Ground Beta and other suburban and urban battlescapes, this was a completely different animal. It was certainly time to switch things up. In her golden, cat-like eyes, this was like an adult playground, and she found herself almost vibrating in excitement for whatever they were about to do.

Jirou looked at Rei strangely, suddenly panicking and clasping her hands over her mouth. "Akatsuki! Your eyes!"

A few people turned to look at Rei, who blinked innocently. "My eyes?"

"That was really creepy. You scared me!"

"Oh." Rei suddenly knew what she was talking about. "Did my pupils get really big and then shrink really fast?"

Jirou only shuddered, Momo turning to the two of them in interest. "H-how did you know?"

"It's a cat thing. Whenever I get excited and I look at something, my pupils get really big, and you can't really see my irises. It also depends on the time of day too. In broad daylight they tend to be more like slits."

Jirou blinked. "You really are a cat, aren't you?"

Shrugging, Rei turned to the front of the class, All Might suddenly appearing in front of them and launching quickly into a greeting and explanation of what they were about to face for class. She forgot that her eyes could do that sometimes, it happening so quickly it was natural for her. The first time Reina had seen her do it was when Rei had first set her sights on a chocolate croissant at the bakery, freaking her mentor out and making her panic slightly that Rei had suddenly been possessed.

To be honest, it was a little amusing. Being possessed by a bakery demon? Reina did have a wild imagination sometimes.

"It's been a while, all you boys and girls!" With his traditional smile, All Might placed his hands on his hips. "So, for today's basic training, since you've all recently gotten back from your internships, we'll have some fun with a rescue training race!"

Immediately Iida's hand shot up in the air. "If we're doing rescue training, shouldn't we be at USJ?"

"That place is for training for disasters. Do you remember what I said! Right! It's a race!"

Motioning for the class to follow him, they began the trek into Field Gamma. Rei was absorbed with looking at her surroundings, getting more and more excited while taking note of the buildings. For the most part they all looked like metal, although they were in various states and conditions. Some looked fairly new, the metal shining and gleaming in the light, while others looked slightly rusted and about to give with the slightest shift in the wind. If this was a race, Rei would need to watch her step and be on guard at all times. Speed was important, but reaction time and recovery would also be key to winning a race in this place.

"So you'll be broken into teams of four, with one group of five. You'll go through the training one group at a time. When I send out the distress signal from somewhere inside, you'll all start at the outskirts of the city. It's a race to see who rescues me first!" He raised a finger into the air as he continued, eventually landing on Bakugou in particular. "Of course, you'll have to keep damage to the buildings at a minimum."

The blonde boy grumbled, a few people snickering at his being called out. Rei's lips twitched, although she tried not to look in the boy's direction. She needed to focus, not to stare at Mr. Grumpy Pants over on the side.

The first group consisted of Sero, Ashido, Ojiro, Iida, and Midoriya, the group of five going first. Everyone settled onto a rooftop with a projection to watch the race, various cameras following each individual as they began to warm up. The rest of the class watching began to talk amongst themselves, each wondering exactly who would come out on top.

"Iida-kun is still injured, isn't he? He should just sit out." Kaminari complained, sitting on the ground as he stared up at the screen. Rei had to agree with the blonde boy; she knew that Iida wasn't one to hold back, constantly striving to do his best. Would he be mindful of his limits, or would he push himself beyond? This certainly wasn't the best time to go "plus ultra."

Kirishima sat next to him. "Yeah, and this group is filled with people with great mobility."

Yaoyorozu hummed in thought as she sat next to Rei, looking at the screen in contemplation as it continued to flash between their peers. "Midoriya might be at a slight disadvantage, compared to everyone else."

"That's true," Jirou chimed in. "Honestly I'm still not quite sure how good he is."

Rei simply blinked. As the camera flashed back to Midoriya, she looked carefully at his face. It seemed as though he had a definite plan, a look of confidence and concentration taking over. He didn't appear to show any signs of doubt or apprehension at the test, leading Rei to believe that he had something up his sleeve. But what was it? Did he think it was good enough to go against those in his group?

"Well, who do you think will win?" Kirishima looked around at the class. "I think Sero will be first!"

As the rest of the class began to place their bets, Rei simply laid down on the ground, starting to stretch her legs out as her mind began to wander. She had been placed in group two, going against Tsuyu, Uraraka, and Aoyama. Of her three competitors, Rei knew that Tsuyu would be her biggest threat in terms of overall ability to navigate through space. She was the most adept at using her quirk, and she would most likely hop over the top of Field Gamma to get to their destination. Still, she tended to stop her momentum every so often, more careful of where she stepped than how fast she moved around. Although Rei knew that some of the buildings had a small chance of shifting or breaking, she had enough confidence in herself from her brief training with Chirasaki.

Akatsuki, you need to learn to soften your landing.

She had done just that, and even though she wasn't as soft as even Chirasaki was yet she was confident that her chances of crashing through the course from high heights had been reduced. The next biggest threat had to be Aoyama, what with the way he could soar through the air with his laser beam. But he frankly didn't compare to Tsuyu, what with the way he cramped up from using his quirk after a short time. Uraraka was also fairly good, but she couldn't be forced to use her quirk on herself too much, otherwise she would get sick. Uraraka was the most likely to take a ground route, leaving the other three to sail the skies.

There was a chance she could win. She would just have to believe in herself and her training.

"Whaaat?! Midoriya?!"

Propping her head up from the ground, Rei watched in surprise as the camera honed in on Midoriya. Green electricity sparked around his body as he lithely jumped through the field like a cake walk. The longer he appeared on screen, the more his moves looked familiar. It was a lot like how she jumped through the air, somersaulting and adding tricks to speed up her momentum, but at the core-

It was definitely reminiscent of Bakugou.

Rei grinned. She hadn't seen him fight Stain, but everything was starting to make sense. Before he would crumple and injure himself after using his quirk even slightly. But now he was demonstrating an impressive mastery, a new trick up his sleeve that would surely spur him forward. If only he had used something like this during the sports tournament, he surely would have-

He slipped.

Leaning back onto the ground, Rei began stretching out her other leg, going back to her internal thoughts as the rest of the class groaned and cheered for their peers. The final horn sounded, and Rei knew it was over. Poor Midoriya. But the revelation that the boy had definitely been up to something during his internship, had definitely gathered a few tricks to hide up his sleeve, made Rei settle back comfortably. It mattered little that he didn't win this race. What mattered was that he was taking near immeasurable strides to keep up with the class. Now that he was beginning to demonstrate true mastery over his quirk without demolishing himself every time, what sorts of limits would they discover now?

But Rei wasn't about to let thoughts of Midoriya's newest revelation cloud her mind. It was her turn to show what she had learned over the past week. Perhaps it wasn't anything as impressive as the gentle, green haired boy, and perhaps it was rather lousy since she had technically been taking it easy since her admission from the hospital, but Rei had learned a few things as well. Rolling up from the ground she stretched out her neck, tilting it from side to side and rolling it in circles, ready to get going.

"Group one, you may leave the field. Group two, get ready!"

"Good luck, Tsuki-chan!"

Rei nodded, giving Momo a small smile. "Right."

Her placement was similar to Midoriya's, standing aloft on a small water tower that placed her at a sort of middle ground. Jumping up and down to warm her calves up she calmed her mind. This was just like Hosu City, like when she ran the gauntlets with Chirasaki. But now she had a few things to prove: keep up the speed, and watch the landings to soften them…

The buzzer rang out, and Rei burst into the air.

Her first leap into sent her sailing into the skies, easily clearing the metal jungle as she rolled over a railing and used her momentum to pull herself back up to her feet and carry her forward. She sprinted as fast as she could, controlling her breath as she went along. Compared to Chirasaki's runs this would be a breeze; if she could survive two hour long runs in a high urban environment then she could probably do this run here blindfolded. She watched her downward momentum, carefully shifting her weight in order to lighten her impacts and boost herself up and forward more quickly. Up and over pipelines she ran along thin wiry edges, straight drops with no assistance to balance her, the maw below her feet threatening to swallow her whole with one misstep, but her eyes were only turned forward toward the prize. Balance was no issue here. She could do this easily.

In the distance she could hear Aoyama's telltale naval laser along with his grunts as he tried to keep up, pushing himself to go as much as he could while bearing the brunt of his cramping. She couldn't quite tell where the other two were, but she wasn't interested. It didn't seem like any of them were incredibly close to her either, what with the way Aoyama's noises were slowly becoming more distant. All she had to do was focus on getting to All Might.

She could win.

No, she would win.

The final stretch came. Their teacher was standing on a circular platform, just about five hundred meters ahead. Gritting her teeth and jumping high into the skies she skipped over other pipes and weaved between the various metal pieces sticking up in her path, using them to proper herself forward even faster. She was going to come in hot with this one. With one final effort she pushed off as hard as she could, aiming more forward than up into the air as she sprung out. It was like the fifty meter dash at the beginning of the term, only this time, she knew what she was doing.

She was going to make it. Hands outstretched, she snagged the balcony railing, twisting in the air as she somersaulted and landing on the ground in a crouch. Much to her satisfaction, the ground only trembled slightly at her impact, not shattering or cracking in the slightest. With a grin she jogged forward the final few steps, coming to stand before All Might and placing her hands on her hips.

"Young Akatsuki! Well done. And you're in tip top shape." He noted the way that she held herself up straight, barely out of breath even from all the exertion. Inhaling deeply Rei sighed in satisfaction. She had done it, and in record time. About fifteen seconds later Tsuyu pulled herself up over the balcony, blinking in surprise as she saw Rei already standing.

"Kero?"

Not long after Uraraka and Aoyama also made their appearances, a little more out of breath and out of shape as they panted, Aoyama clutching his gut as he shivered. But All Might simply smiled, handing a handmade sash to Rei. "Congratulations, Young Akatsuki! And good work, all the rest of you. You're showing much improvement from even a few weeks ago. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, All Might sensei!"

Chorusing together, they finally relaxed as their teacher dismissed them. Rei hopped back up onto the balcony, breathing in with a serene look on her face as she looked out at Field Gamma. Another test, another day, another win. Taking off into the air and leaving her classmates in the dust, she took her time and a longer route on her way back to the makeshift waiting room, soaring through the air and adding aerials for fun, practicing her moves.

What was the point in coming out here to this place if Rei couldn't let loose just a touch?

It may have been somewhat petty, but Rei had wanted to win this race badly. After tasting defeat at the sports festival, another fire had been lit underneath her. Seeing as how her classmates were constantly fighting and pushing themselves to be better, it now seemed as though they were beginning to rub off on her as well. She had wanted this win here, no matter how meaningless it was. Victory, no matter where it was, tasted sweet. Second place or anything less wouldn't satisfy her any longer, no matter what she told herself.

Landing on a particularly high rooftop, she grinned as she ran off the edge. With a whoop she tucked her legs up, sending her momentum backwards over her head as she did a backflip in the air, relishing in the airtime before landing on a lower roof below. She was almost back to the rest of the class, but she wanted to have at least a little bit of fun before she was forced to sit down. It was rare that she was able to run like this through a jungle, simply showing off what she could do and enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing past her face and ruffling her hair.

This was what she loved, more than anything. The freedom to fly.

She had taken the long way around, making her the last to return back to the waiting room. Receiving congratulations from her class she made her way back to Momo, who greeted her with a smile. "Congratulations. You looked good."

"Akatsuki-san, you looked so cool!" Jirou scooted a little closer to form a trio with them, much to Rei's surprise. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly at the attention.

"Thanks. Still, I'm a bit out of it from my internship. There were a couple landings that could have been a little softer."

As the two of them began to dissect and break down the race, Rei drifted off slightly, looking around the class. Raising her gaze, she finally saw Bakugou, standing at the back of the group moodily. Almost as soon as she found him red eyes turned to meet her, the two of them locking in a gaze. Rei blinked, a bit unsure of what to do. He simply scoffed and turned his head away, but she hadn't missed the small nod of affirmation. Had he given her his own way of approval?

It put a small smile on her face again. She couldn't help it.

"Ehh? Akatsuki, why are you smiling?"

Rei blinked. "Nothing!"

No one commented.

With June's final arrival came the promise of summer, cicadas and other bugs chirruping in the air loudly. Winter uniforms were finally discarded for the white, short sleeved dress shirt, much to Rei's disappointment.

She loved winter clothes, mostly because of the fact that she got to bundle up. There was nothing like the sensation of wearing layers upon layers, fashionable scarves and sweaters her most favorite thing in the world. But who was she to control the weather and make such demands? Trading her leggings for knee high socks, she sadly parted from her thicker clothes.

Summer was hot and dreadful, and it made her sluggish.

She hated it.

She was about to hate it more.

"Well, it's almost time for summer vacation," Aizawa began at the start of homeroom. Everyone looked up in expectation, knowing that something was coming, what with the way he had started speaking. "But of course, it wouldn't make sense for you to rest up for an entire month."

It was logical enough. Rei leaned forward on her desk, eyes trained on her teacher. Just what was he going to propose?

"During summer vacation, we're going to have a training camp in the woods."

The class burst into cheers, excited at the prospects. As each person began to cheer and talk about their expectations and favorite things, Yaoyorozu approached it with a more logical route. "If we're out in nature, we'll have to work under different conditions, right?"

"Bugs."

Yaoyorozu and Todoroki both turned around in their seats to look at Rei. She was blankly staring at her desk, hands clenched into fists. "Nature… means… bugs…"

Momo chuckled at Rei's dramatic antics, although it seemed impossible to get Rei to think about anything else. There was a dark aura about the girl, a testament to the actual horror and fear she had inside. "You really don't like bugs… do you?"

"I hate them." Her voice was deadpan, a sharp contrast to the rest of the class, who had exploded into balls of energy and excitement. Ashido in particular was loudly cheering, jumping up from her seat.

"However."

The class went dead silent in an instant, Aizawa's quirk snapping their attention up and immediately instilling a sense of fear in the more loud students. "Those who do not pass the final exam before that will be in summer school hell."

Silence. Then Kirishima turned around in his seat to look at everyone behind him. "Everyone! Let's do our best!"

As Aizawa moved away from the podium, Rei slumped in her seat, slamming her face into the desk as she moped. "Can I elect to not go?"

She hated bugs.

She was certain she was going to hate whatever was up ahead.

Reinananana (9:45 AM)
I'm going off on a small business trip today
Dad wants me in Tokyo, so I'll be back in three days!
Don't get into too much trouble without me!
xoxoxo

Kuramam-ei (4:45 PM)
Travel safe
When do I ever?
Love you too, get back soon

With a sigh Rei tucked her phone back into her pocket, walking through the streets to get back to the orphanage. She was still upset about the sudden announcement of the camping trip in August; it was apparently mandatory, and the only way anyone was getting out was by failing their exams. Rei wasn't so desperate that she would intentionally fail; the idea of intentionally failing made her sick. Who would dare do that, especially at a school like U.A.?

Grades, unfortunately, came before escaping bugs.

She hadn't bothered giving a look at the packet they had received for their guardians, containing information, procedures, and a list of items that they would need to bring with them. Instead she aggressively shoved it into her bag, not even sparing a second glance once it got into her hands. That was a problem for later Rei; immediate, present moment Rei was going to get a snack and do homework, and try to think of another good idea to get out of the trip.

Rei liked to think that her gut feelings were always right. As she was walking to school, she had a feeling that something was going to go wrong. At first it was easy to dismiss her bad luck as being the announcement of a camping trip in the woods, knowing her hatred of bugs and how inevitable it would be that she would be around nature in its fullest, buzzing, sickening, glory. But once she and Momo parted at the subway station the feeling had returned full force. Or perhaps it had never left, simply simmering down low until she was able to think clearly after her head had been crammed with information during school hours.

The feeling had returned. Something was seriously wrong, and it made the looming threat of bugs look like a child's petty tantrum.

It was when she made it to the front gate of the orphanage she knew that something was wrong.

The front yard was silent. Rei slid through the creaking outer gate, eyes scanning her surroundings suspiciously. Normally she was the last one back during the day, since she had to travel the furthest for school now that she was at U.A.. The younger once were always playing in the front yard, their little shrieks floating in the air. It was perfect weather for such playtime, with the sun high in the sky and a small breeze pushing down the street every so often. But there was none of that here.

Even the house was quiet from the outside, signaling the fact that the children were nowhere in sight, or they were oddly quiet. A weight pressed down upon the house, and immediately Rei was unsettled. Slipping through the front door, she called out a greeting softly, only to be met with relative silence and the shuffling of feet in the dining room and kitchen.

Golden eyes narrowed. Something was definitely amiss.

Walking through the house, she followed her ears to where subdued voices were talking in hushed tones. She could hear Urahara and another one of the workers whispering about something, although none of it made sense, too quiet and rapid to understand at the distance she was at. The severity made her soften her footsteps instinctually, as though skulking around somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. Peering around the corner into the dining room she stuck her head into the doorway, looking into the space. Almost exactly as she had guessed, the orphanage's director and three other workers were sitting along the table, huddled together. Urahara noticed Rei's presence first, sitting up straight and beckoning the young girl in with a hand gesture..

"What's going on?" Rei walked up to the group, pulling out a chair and setting her bag down on the ground. All of them looked at one another, unsure of who was to speak first. In the end, it was Urahara.

"Rei," she began, but her eyes drifted to the other women in the room.

Immediately Rei was suspicious. She placed her hands on the table, leaning forward so that she could look at every person. "What is it?" Golden eyes were sharp, but she softened her voice as to not intimidate the others. She needed to know what was wrong, wanted to know what was going on, why the children were silent and what was making Urahara so hesitant to speak to her.

The older woman sighed. It was the first time that Rei could truly see how old she was, the weathered lines on her face standing out in the mixture of afternoon and fluorescent lighting. Urahara had been around longer than Rei could even remember, before Miss Yuuka had come and had weathered the storms long after the younger woman had suddenly left. Urahara rubbed her eyes, clearly exhausted from handling whatever it was that was on her shoulders. Turning to face Rei properly, she cleared her throat.

"Mr. Katsubara has been... convicted… of certain crimes."

Growling, Rei's hands clenched. She had to force herself to keep her nails retracted, almost shooting them out instinctively at the news, something Urahara had yelled at her for doing when she was younger and had sunk them into the dining room table. But this news was…

Rei relaxed her hands. Of any news she could have received, she had practically seen it coming.

She had known. All the girls had known, especially the older ones. The rumors were rumors for a reason; they had started with a base truth. That was how things began, no matter how exaggerated and out of proportion they eventually became, spiraling into a sensational story that was somehow believable and over the top. But the rumors about the true nature of the owner of the orphanage hadn't ever deviated too far from the truth.

Urahara didn't need to go into details. But now that it was out in the open…

Scoffing, Rei looked to the side. She could restrain herself enough. "Serves him right."

"But that's not all."

Urahara continued, clearly steeling herself and trying to remain the rock of resolve among the others in the room. The other women were crying, tears running down their faces as they tried to stifle their sniffs and hiccups. "Before they could arrest him he escaped. He came here and stole the rest of the funds that we had for operations."

"What?" Rei was almost vibrating with anger now, her pupils slatted dangerously as she bared her teeth. "That bastard…"

"Apparently, he's had a warrant out for him for a while. Because of the misappropriation of funds, the government is shutting us down."

Rei blinked. "Shutting… us down?"

Urahara handed her a letter, Rei snatching it and pouring over the words. All of it, word for word, listed there in front of her here in crisp black ink that was all too informal and impartial. The director clasped her hands, trying to keep it together. But even Rei could see how her throat had tightened, the way that she shook ever so slightly. It was unnerving her, to see the rock and foundation of this place so shaken.

"All the children will be taken in by surrounding districts. They've already begun relocating. As a high school student you have a choice; you can be relocated, or you can leave the system and find a place." At this point her words were beginning to rush from the overwhelming tide of emotion that she was trying to hold back, but she continued to barrel forward, determined to get all the information out in one go. "I know you just started at U.A., and you shouldn't leave them just because of this, but…"

"Why?!" Rei slammed her fists on the table, everyone jerking away at the sudden display of anger. "Why do we have to suffer, when it's that bastard's fault? Why do we have to pay for it?!" But she couldn't use anger as a cover any longer, standing up from her seat as the tears streamed down. "Why… the kids don't deserve this. We just have over a month before the term ends…"

She could handle the news. She was the odd one out anyway; she was the oldest kid at the orphanage now, all the other high school level kids dropping out and finding their way in the world. She could handle the change. She had to; if she couldn't, who else among the kids would? But all the young ones, especially the ones who were so close to finishing middle school, suddenly having to transfer at the beginning of their final year…

It wasn't fair.

None of this was fair.

But then again, she had been living in a dream. She had been accepted to the best hero academy in the nation. She was surrounded by those who were privileged enough in life to be unable to understand Rei's struggle, and somewhere along those lines she had blended in with the supposed norm. She began to believe that she belonged with them, that she could catch up with her peers. Living in the ultimate fantasy, surrounded by peers who were blessed and only accepted Rei as one of them, all of it had her thinking that she had finally made it. Every day she had spent at U.A. had further convinced her that life was finally looking up, and that things were going to be alright from here on out.

In the end, she had forgotten that life wasn't fair, and those at the bottom always got shafted when the time came. That was how it was for her, for the ragged orphans who scraped the bottom of the bowl.

She had been running over the rug, only to make it to the edge before it was ripped out from under her feet, sending her sprawling into the floor.

Life wasn't fair.

The prestige revealed itself in all its glory, a desolate future awaiting.

Urahara removed her glasses, setting them on the table. The bags under her eyes were even more visible, the stress and anxiety of the situation weighing her down.

"Whatever your decision, we will support it. As we always have."

Gold lifted to meet a chorus of empathetic stares, her chest weighed down with pain.

"You have two weeks."

Writing Workshop (as promised)

This isn't a part of the story, but I've had a couple people ask me for tips now about writing. So, here's a fun FAQ about writing, my style, and the process thus far for this story.

[ironic that while I'm writing this, I'm procrastinating writing an actual paper for class…]

I have so many thoughts on the topic of writing, I could literally teach a college course. But I'm going to do my best to keep this concise.

Seriously. What I've written below has been edited and scaled down about four times. I tried y'all.

We're going to start with (1) a preface for the information I'm gonna give, (2) overall writing ideas and tips, (3) concrete tips that I find useful, and then (4) some story insights for how I've been writing this story out.

1) Preface

Remember that there's no one way to get writing done. All the information I'm about to give you is what has worked for me. You have to find what works for you. For example, for me, I have to clean my desk, make myself a cup of tea, put on a comfy sweater, tie up my hair, and open the curtains in front of my desk. Literally. The concept of "Monkey Mind" (from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones) is that your mind wants to do a million things that will distract you from writing. So do them. Get them out of your system. Then once you do, you'll be ready to write.

I have too many theory books about writing that I'd love to recommend. But I'm going to condense it to one book and one article that you can find with a quick Google search.

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, as mentioned before. If you write professionally, casually, or just generally at all; whether you write fiction or non-fiction, you should own this book. I would not be the writer I am today AT ALL if I did not have this book. It's pretty cheap to buy, and it's a lifesaver. Literally. I've bought (and read) over 200 books over the course of two years, and this is one of the two I would save and recommend to people.

Harry Noden's Brushstrokes. A quick Google search will give you tons of hits (literally "Harry Noden brushstrokes"). There's five "brushstrokes" that are keys to writing literature that's lively, attention grabbing, and effective no matter the context. If I had to boil down my current writing style, this is the second piece of information that has influenced me.

Want me to boil it down even more?

Here's the two things you need to comprehensively understand when writing:

genre and rhetorical grammar

If you understand genre, then you can write anything. Fiction, nonfiction, newspaper articles, political speeches, plays, film scripts, Buzzfeed articles: all of these are genres. They come with conventions (e.g. in a newspaper article title, commas stand in for the word "and"), and if you understand how to use them, you can write (or as I like to say, "imitate") any style. I'll explain more later.

And finally, grammar. Yecchh. I know. But if you understand grammatical conventions, you understand how to make effective sentences. This is why I recommend reading Noden's Brushstrokes; it's the best single source for covering the creation of effective sentences. Is it all encompassing? No. But it's the closest that you can get, and it's also free, so start with that.

2) Overall Writing Tips

I have three things. That's it. (Look, I'm trying to keep it simple.)

First: Write. And Write a lot.

Set a writing goal: mine is 1,000 words per week.

You might be thinking, "badtzumaru, you said yourself that you wrote like 30,000 in two days. Isn't 1,000 words not a lot?"

Yeah, well I also have depression and a slew of other things like school and a job, so even writing 30k in a week isn't always realistic. Also, 1,000 words can be broken up over a few days to make it more manageable; you could keep a daily journal and stick to 150 words a day. What you write about doesn't matter. Just keep writing. A thousand words a week is manageable. Then, if you find it's easy enough, bump it up. Consistency is key.

Also, try this exercise of practice writing without stopping or deleting/ editing. Time yourself for 5 minutes and try to keep your fingers moving on the keyboard or your pen moving at all times. Don't delete. Don't stop. If you have to keep writing, "I don't know what to write" over and over again until you think of something, then that's what you do. It's a good practice in throwing out ideas onto a page and just getting stuff out of your system. Honestly, doing that for a year is probably the reason why I can crank out about 8k words in one sitting.

Second: Read.

Read fiction. Read non fiction. Read newspaper articles. Read scientific abstracts. Read fanfiction. Read Shakespeare. Read anything you can get your hands on. Just make sure you're getting a diversity of literature (don't just read stuff from recent years either; test your skills and read books like Frankenstein or others as well).

Want a challenge? Here's the truth: I learned the most about writing from reading both Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom!. If you can read those with 30% comprehension of the plot, then you can do just about anything short of challenging God herself.

In all seriousness, reading exposes you to different styles. You pick up on things that you can incorporate into your own style. Read challenging books (I recommend 1900s American literature because that stuff i D), because that's how you learn best.

Third: Understand grammatical conventions.

No one needs me to go on and on about how language is a human construct and therefore imperfect (seriously, don't ask me. I can go on for hours about that stuff). But understanding grammar is important. If you aren't writing cohesively and readers are constantly bumping over inconsistencies or strange wordings, it detracts from the reading experience.

Key things to focus on?

Establish if you're in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person (and if you're in present or past tense) and stick with it. I tend to choose 3rd person omniscient and the past tense because it's actually one of the most common and I have an easy time emulating it. It's also easy to read. If you're going to change the POV, make it clear with a line/ page break, etc. Again, conventions. Rules can be broken. Conventions are the bumpers on bowling lanes. Once you know how to use them, you don't need them anymore. But you have to prove first that you know them.

Also, spell and grammar check. Use that.

3) Practical Writing Tips that I find useful and use on the daily

First: Outlines, Outlines, Outlines

I'm a detailed planner. So I throw everything into one cohesive outline before I start writing. I write character details, and I write basic plot details so I know where to go. This is useful because when I go to write a chapter, I take a look at where I've been, what I need to to, and where I need to be. Then, I just write. If I end up deviating from the outline and I like it, then I change the outline and rescaffold. This keeps me on track. Of course, not everyone uses outlines and that's fine! I just find them handy.

Also, I keep a Google Doc with tidbits that I write on the fly: eye and hair color, small events that are important for referencing later (e.g. the first time Rei laughs, I make a note so that I don't have to redo that later and have people yelling at me that I've already done that lol ripppp).

Second: Don't delete.

There comes an inevitable chapter where I just can't figure out where to go. Then a couple days later, I figure out what I want to do. DO NOT DELETE WHAT YOU'VE WRITTEN. Go to the next page and start over. Leave what you've done. Then, after you're certain that you're ready to move on to the editing stage, go and erase.

Sometimes, what you've written is actually good and later you decide that you want it to go somewhere else. No joke, I had a Google Doc at one point filled with pages that I had "deleted" from the main story but later I decided that I wanted them back. Thank god I didn't have to rewrite them.

Third: Brushstrokes

Change up that sweet, sweet, sentence structure. Tired of your "noun + verb + direct object?" Throw in some participles! Varying sentence structure is key if you want to keep your audience's attention. Write a long sentence, something that has a lot of character and description that flows like a river, dragging things on for a period of time while keeping your reader interested. Then, keep it short. Variety is key (and also good for comedic timing).

Fourth: Small Scale Editing

When I edit, I read each sentence out aloud. Yeah, no, not loud enough that my landlady can hear me talking to myself like the crazy person I am. I do it in a whisper. If you can read the sentence aloud and it makes sense, then chances are that your reader won't trip up over it either. If it sounds awkward, then change it! This is especially important when you use lengthy sentences. If it goes on and on without ever getting to the point… chop it up.

Fifth: Get up

Get up. Go to the kitchen. Make another cup of tea. Grab a snack. Stretch and touch your toes. Lay on the ground for thirty seconds (and maybe take a nap, who knows?) Get out of that chair and get out of your headspace. Get some space.

Sixth: But know when to sit your ass down and grind it out

This is the one I'm working on. Sometimes I'm just not feeling the story, so I take a break. Breaktime turns into, "Oh no, I haven't touched this story for a month and I'm no longer interested!"

Sometimes, you have to force yourself to write. Even if it's trash. But remember, it's better to go back and edit trash than a blank page. You can't do anything with a blank page (except maybe make some origami)

Have I lost you yet?

Tl:dr writing is hard, but have some tips and remember that your style and your schedule is something that you have to figure out for yourself

Anyway, here's some insight on how I've written the story thus far:

When I start stories, I usually start with the label: (name of show/ game/ etc.) + (number of fics I've written about this already) + "test"

So when I started this one, I literally called it "BNHA 3 Test."

Yeah, it's that boring and blase sounding.

But this is so I can decide if I like where this story is going, and if I want to include this chapter later. Fun fact, the actual test article I wrote ended up being the basis for Chapter 10, even though I technically wrote it first.

Honestly, this story was a struggle. I wasn't sure how I felt about the test chapter I wrote, but I liked the character. I also didn't want to write out a lot of backstory before getting to the actual timeline, because I knew I would lose interest fast. So I compromised, using a sort of "in media res" and starting with the first day of class so that I could actually start getting some traction for myself. I decided then to start filling in the story as I went, adding snippets at the beginning of each chapter that would also tie into what the present day would hold for Rei. I ended up being able to tie in the past pieces with the present day pieces without too much of a problem, so that's how I decided to move forward.

It ended up working.

At the beginning, my vision and general concept was this: two friends, one of which is destined to become a hero. But once she dies, the other must take her place and rise to the occasion. Rei was never meant to become the hero, so she's this gritty, angry, and frustrated character that has to fill the shoes that Haru left, knowing full well that she isn't nor ever will be the person that Haru was. It's about the sort of conflict of "learning where you belong in the world" versus "carving your own path and forcing yourself into the world."

It was after I decided to add Reina as a major character that I actually began scaffolding for the rest of the story (at least up until where the anime has currently left off). Reina was supposed to die permanently. But after toying with that idea, I found I didn't like it. I didn't want Rei to be completely isolated at U.A., so I kept Reina around, instead making it so she was in a coma and wakes up later. It was after that that I began to get more ideas; I don't like introducing a million OC characters (because that's a lot of effort to track them all), but as a reader I also hated when people suddenly throw like five characters in at once. This way, the introduction of characters has slowly progressed; first Rei, then Haru, then Reina, then eventually Chirasaki.

I also had a tough decision to make concerning the people Rei would befriend. I decided on Yaoyorozu first, in order to juxtapose the scene where the rich kids pushed Haru with the scene where this rich girl saves Rei. Lots of layering to consider, and let me tell you; if you see that something in this story has a mirror (especially in the past memories and present memories), that was intentional, and I'm damn proud I figured that all out.

But now, where do I go from here?

If you couldn't tell, I'm shipping that Rei x Bakugou. Originally, the pairing was actually going to be with Todoroki. But I wanted to write a character with attitude, a little more street smart and snarky than most of the characters in the class. And that just pointed to little Mr. Lord Explosion Murder himself.

I want to make this clear: I don't know how the pairings will turn out exactly yet. They're fifteen. And yeah, there's hormones. But I also think that while there are crushes, there's nothing serious going on here yet (relationships in my high school were barely serious as was until like, maybe 11th grade when puberty slapped everyone in the face? before then if you were a couple it was like… yeah okay whatever you're "together" but it didn't really mean anything until you were at least an upperclassman, and even that was tentative). I don't know that I'd have any of the characters date any time soon. It's too soon to tell. So while eventually I will be pushing for a pairing, it's not going to be super serious any time soon.

I don't want to say I like to write realistically all the time, but there are some things that I just can't bring myself to write about fantastically.

Another inspiration; music really gets me going. To be honest, I'd had the Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse soundtrack on repeat, so the one song that really got me thinking was "What's up Danger". I have a playlist of various songs that can put me in the mood to write too, so that's been a big help.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Hit me up if you have any questions or want me to follow up on something!

Actual AN: Update from me. I haven't been feeling too well, so that's why it's been about a week since I've updated. I might be a bit slow over the next few weeks, but I promise that I've been slowly working on the next few chapters. I'm dedicated to catching up with the series concerning this fic, and to seeing it through.

Thank you for the reviews...

dragontamer64: The curse of fick is an art form at this point hahahaha! I hope that the writing tips have helped; please feel free to PM me if you have any more questions that I might be able to answer!

CrescentNightshade: Thank you! I've tried my best to make sure that the characters stay in character as much as possible; I fear that sometimes (especially going into the future) they might get slightly out of character, but I am doing my best to ensure that things run smoothly. I'm so happy you find that Rei blends in with the class though! That makes me really happy :D

Have a question for me? Any ideas for future special episodes? Leave a review and let me know!