"Didn't you say you have your provisional license, Kobayashi?"
Bashira looked up, having been leaning over the table as she took a too-big bite of food, and hurried to bring the back of her hand to her face when a few noodles didn't make it all the way into her mouth.
"Yeah," she answered, choking on the rest of the food she'd tried to swallow too fast. "But I don't even know if that applies here."
Back in Ashoro, about half of Bashir's class had gotten their provisional licenses as second years. It was like a driver's license or a high school diploma there. But in the middle of Honshu, the epicenter of all of Japan, allowing someone to call themselves a Hero was significantly more of an earned badge. Bashira was certain that she didn't have half of the abilities that the U.A. Hero Course students did.
"You must have some combat skills though," Kirishima continued. He was the one who'd brought it up. "I've seen you working out in the gym, but why not hone in on hand-to-hand combat?"
Bashira balked. Why would Kirishima challenge her like that? There was no way she would measure up to any of them.
Bakugo obviously shared the sentiment.
"Yeah right," the ruby-eyed boy scoffed. "They probably give a license to anyone who can stand up straight in the hicks."
Bashira scowled and eyed Bakugo. It was a shame that his attitude was so extreme, considering he was on par with Shoto as far as physical appeal went.
"Basically," Bashira hummed. "But thanks for noticing my posture, Bakugo. I work hard on it."
"I haven't noticed shit. You're not worth my attention."
"It wouldn't hurt to brush up anyway, would it?" Ashido asked. She propped her elbows on the table, pushing herself up to very pointedly block out Bakugo. "We could help!"
Bashira glanced around the table, taking in the intrigue that had appeared on almost everyone's faces. Was training really all these people thought about? The idea sounded only slightly better than Chinese water torture to her.
"I won't be a challenge to any of you," Bashira admitted, scanning each of their faces a second time to stress the point, "but I could tag along if you guys are that curious. I could afford to learn a thing or two, I guess."
Ashido gave a whoop and most of the boys beamed. Behind all of that, though, Bashira heard a proverbial nail being driven into her coffin.
Bashira was close to losing it. Once lunch ended and she went back to class the stress of her decision started taking over.
What the hell was she thinking? She'd be beaten to a pulp. She'd make a fool of herself. She barely even knew any of the others' Quirks so how could she plan on countering? How could she plan anything?
She didn't take any notes that afternoon. Bashira only folded her arms on her desk and hunched over, glaring vacantly ahead, too caught up in her own issues to worry about whatever other history lesson her sensei was lecturing them about.
She had more present day problems going on.
Class ended in a fairly predictable fashion. There was a bell, most of the other students scurried to get packed up and out as quickly as possible, and a tiny cough came from beside Bashira's desk.
Bashira was pretty sure who it was before she even glanced over. There was only one person who'd ever bothered to speak to her, after all.
"I had a meeting yesterday," Wakako said, shrinking slightly as if she actually needed to apologize for anything, "so sorry for leaving early. But you were out the other day and I figured you might want to copy my notes? Plus you seemed distracted today so you could take those too…"
Wakako tended to have the worst timing, Bashira mused. The girl didn't approach her that often but she usually picked the days when Bashira was most burdened by outside factors to strike up a conversation and try to make a connection.
Bashira forced herself to put all of her other worries aside for the moment. She did owe it to be nicer to Wakako. "If you're sure you don't need your notebook tonight, I'd be grateful if you lent it to me."
Wakako visibly brightened and thrust her binder out to Bashira. Bashira accepted the book and, disregarding the weight in the back of her mind, did her best to smile. It felt like a scarecrow's grin and must have looked just as stiff.
If only Wakako could help her with the challenge she was about to walk into.
It'd been months since Bashira had put on her Hero uniform and she was sure she'd never felt more out of place in it.
It was all spandex, for one. The body-constricting material used to make her feel powerful and sexy, but now Bashira just felt exposed and inferior. There were ventilated plates made from a biofoam chassis over each of her most vulnerable areas (shins, knees, shoulders, forearms). They were practical but did little to help with her insecurities. Even the plate that covered her stomach only made her feel thicker around the middle.
Still, Bashira held her head up as she walked into the gym's battle simulator. There were specific grounds on campus used for class room experience but off-hour exercises were limited unless special permission was granted. It was one of those arenas that Bashira found herself in, as she'd been recruited by members of the top class.
Bashira had to be glad that there wasn't a huge crowd waiting for her. It was only Kirishima, Sero, and Ashido. She wondered if there was a limit to the amount of students that were allowed to engage at once.
Ashido was wearing some kind of psychedelic camo; Kirishima was shirtless and in leather straps that reminded Bashira of bondage; and Sero had a vaguely astronaut-looking costume.
"It's just the four of us," Kirishima shared with a thumbs-up. "We'll be in teams of two. Boys versus girls."
Bashira was torn between being relived and more worried. She didn't want to seem chauvinistic but was that really a fair fight? She would probably just slow Ashido down.
"No offense, but…" Bashira twirled the ends of her hair nervously. "…can you guys go over your Quirks for me? I don't really remember them."
The other three fell to the floor in disbelief.
It became a battle of wits.
Ashido's acid could burn up Sero's tape. Bashira's speed could distract Kirishima enough to land a hit when he wasn't expecting it.
Bashira's Quirk wasn't as well seasoned as the rest of their skills, though. She was conscious of that and did her best to hold off on using it but Sero was relentless in trying to capture her, and she had to slow time around her more often that she would have liked in order to avoid him. Plus, when she did manage to land a kick on Kirishima, his Hardening did more damage to her than it did to him.
It wasn't Ashido's fault. The boys had obviously zeroed in on the same logic that the girls had and countered accordingly. Kirishima did all that he could to keep Ashido busy, his Hardening Quirk repelling the worst of her acid, while Sero zeroed in on Bashira with his tape attacks. Bashira wasn't sure if he really intended to capture her or just wanted her to wear out her Quirk, but either way she knew she had to come up with something to change the tides before they were left facing a loss.
Her mind was hazy and frantic, mostly distracted by running and dodging and the likes, but Bashira did her best to narrow in on the most plausible tactics that zapped across her mind.
As soon as Ashido landed close enough, Bashira grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her behind a boulder.
"How long can Kirishima keep his Hardening up?" Bashira hissed before Ashido could even take a breath. Their hiding spot was as lame as anything: they didn't have more than a few seconds.
"I'm not sure exactly," Ashido answered just as quickly. "His stamina has gotten almost unreal, but his defense does weaken as he takes more damage."
Bashira nodded. Even if she didn't have a real plan, she had the beginnings of something close enough to one and there was no choice but to go with it. "Okay."
Just when Sero's tape rounded the corner for the girls, Bashira clasped Ashido's wrist again and activated Zeitnot.
Bashira didn't give Ashido any time to react before she started stalking towards Kirishima, who was thankfully no more than four yards away.
"Whoah," Ashido awed. She began looking around in wonder, making Bashira tug her along with more force to keep up their trajectory. "So this is what it's like when you practically vanish to the rest of us, huh? I didn't know you could expand it to other people!"
"I control the molecules around me," Bashira said shortly. "I can include other bodies within a meter radius but it takes a lot of extra effort so hurry up, alright? And stay close."
Ashido complied and they made it to Kirishima. Once in front of him Bashira let go of Ashido but shifted herself half behind the other girl, just in case.
"I guess now you just… blast him with your acid?"
It almost seemed too simple. Bashira was sweating from both exertion and embarrassment at that point but Ashido, after a brief pause, held her arms out in the stance of her signature move. "You got it!"
The acid came out like water from a fire hose, making Bashira flinch back even more behind Ashido. If the plan did work and Kirishima's Hardening was damaged, would the acid melt his skin off? Then again Ashido didn't really seem concerned so it must be okay…
"How long do we keep this up?" Ashido asked. Bashira wondered if Ashido was starting to wear out but she couldn't be one to judge; there was a faint tremor in her bones, slowly increasing as to make her fingertips quiver. More sweat was beading on her face and neck, trickling down her spine and increasing her shivers.
"Ten more seconds," Bashira guessed. The effects of her Quirk hit her fast when she tried to pull fancy stunts. She was lucky she'd limited herself earlier on in the fight.
Bashira didn't have the energy to give a warning when her stamina copped out. She could only let everything around her fall back into real time, watching through semi-fogged eyes as Kirishima suddenly moved faster, continuing the motions he'd been going through before Bashira had warped things, only to falter when he noticed the girls suddenly right in front of him.
The plan had been to land some epic hit on Kirishima once he was weakened, but Bashira could barely keep herself upright. Her head felt heavy and the pressure building up behind her eyes made her wonder if they were bulging. She had to plant her feet in the ground and resign to watch the emotions flash across Kirishima's face: first confusion, a vague panic, and then pure shock as he connected the dots and hastened to take in whatever damage his Hardening had taken.
Bashira was half way glad she didn't attack him at that point, honestly. For one, it would seem like a low blow. Secondly, there was acid everywhere. It would be tough to avoid. Was landing a hit in a practice session really worth ruining her clothes or, gods forbid, losing any layers of skin? How dangerous was that stuff to an average person?
Kirishima's toughened veneer was cracking like ice, the epicenter being where Ashido had focused her acid spray. While disappointing that his shell didn't shatter completely, the effort that it seemed to take him to maintain the rest of his armor was at least a little satisfying.
"Not bad," Kirishima acknowledged, panting slightly in his own exertion. "You two could have gotten me with that one."
No sooner had he said the words that Sero's tape swooped in, targeting Ashido first – making sure her arms were wrapped up tight to her sides – and then Bashira, who couldn't dream to resist.
"If your teamwork was better, that is," Sero pointed out, sounding entirely too smug. Ashido whined in her restrains ("This was our first time teaming up, give us a break!") but Bashira ignored the bickering. Her silence caught Sero's attention – as well as the fact that she had gone slack in his tape cocoon.
"You okay there, Kobayashi?" Cellophane questioned. All taunting aside, his concern was genuine.
Bashira allowed her knees to hit the dirt. She slouched over, Sero's tape halting her from crumbling completely. The others crowded around her in response but she did her very best to at least speak straight.
"Yeah," Bashira said. Her head was hanging, yet her voice was stable. "I just haven't used my Quirk like that in a while. I'm out of shape."
It was sort of a miracle that she was making words the right way. Bashira's vision was swimming. She felt disassociated from her body and in some alternate reality. She had to force her eyes to stay open, staring straight down, screaming at herself in her head to get a grip and focus.
"You're pretty pale." Kirishima's voice met her. His words were like an arrow going through gelatin. Kirishima kneeled down next to Bashira a second later, cradling her jaw in his hand. "You really over did it, huh?"
Bashira didn't agree or disagree. Part of her was annoyed about being patronized, and another part didn't mind being so pitiful if it meant being doted on. Kirishima was the best of both worlds, wasn't he? He had both brawn and Bo Peep-like qualities.
"I'm fine," Bashira insisted, despite her inner thoughts. "I only need a few minutes to recover. Don't worry."
Shoto was worried.
It was partly his own fault, he knew. Bashira had been marginally clear about her expectations but that didn't change the fact that when Shoto decided to text her that afternoon, he'd been dismayed to realize that he'd never actually saved her number in his phone.
He should have gotten her number, of course, and not asking for it was his fault. But Bashira was the one who'd disappeared. She was the one who'd brought up the two of them needing to communicate more. Why didn't she tell him she'd be doing something after class? What was she up to? Should he expect to see her at dinner or would she be out all night? Why hadn't she contacted him?
She must not have had his number either, Shoto realized.
It seemed pretty pathetic. They'd been married for a couple of months now.
Shoto had just decided to stop pouting and get some studying done when a knock came to the door.
He answered, seemingly without any facial expression. It was Ashido who'd knocked, Shoto surmised, once he saw the girl leap back and join her company. The other two standing, Kirishima and Sero, hovered further beyond the threshold. Shoto was quick and relieved to catch sight of Bashira on Kirishima's back – so much so that he didn't question her being there right away.
"Sorry, Todoroki," Kirishima said. "We worked out today and Kobayashi over did it a bit."
Shoto accepted the information and examined Bashira. She looked all too comfortable bring carried by Kirishima, her face pressed into his shoulder, and Shoto felt a zap of discomfort run through him.
Where did that come from?
"We went easy on her," Sero hastened to add, probably reading Shoto's lack of reaction as something bad.
"Yeah, she did great!" Ashido chimed. Shoto noticed vaguely that the Alien Queen was not-so-sneakily trying to peak into the room behind him.
"Come in then," Shoto relented, stepping aside. Ashido was the first to burst forward, followed by a wary-looking Sero and finally Kirishima. "If she's conscious, just put her in a chair."
It should have been Shoto who checked on Bashira, yet he stayed away and only observed as Kirishima nudged his wife awake and helped to maneuver her into a dining room chair. It was Kirishima who brushed Bashira's hair back out of her face and placed his palm against her cheek and forehead to make sure she wasn't running an odd temperature.
It bothered Shoto, but he remained planted where he stood as if he was unable to move.
"She should just need some rest," Kirishima deemed, standing up straight and placing his hands at his hips. "A good night's sleep should do the trick. She's got no major physical injuries."
"You want me to help her into bed?" Ashido offered. It was an acute suggestion on her part and Shoto would have normally jumped to accept it but his head wasn't working the way that it normally was.
"No," Shoto said before his brain could catch up to his mouth. "I'll handle her."
If the other three made any suggestive motions, Shoto ignored them. He barely registered them leaving for the most part, only sending a nod and word of thanks to their backs on their way out. Before he knew it Shoto was left alone in his home with Bashira.
Bashira really didn't look great. Shoto was annoyed at how little she took care of herself. For a non-Hero Course student, Bashira usually seemed to be in the lesser-healthy percentile of the population.
Still, she was only human. She'd been plucked out of her usual life and thrust into his world, so Shoto had to force himself to give her some credit. Mentality was the basis of physicality, and Bashira's mentality was obviously questionable.
Bashira had taken care of him, though. Bashira had stood up to Endeavor. She'd anchored herself right in the middle of their subliminal feud and declared her stance. It had been a movement that Shoto couldn't forget about and wouldn't overlook.
That movement was, more than anything else, what made Shoto realize how much he appreciated certain traits that Bashira possessed.
As weak as Bashira was in that moment, only half aware as she fell into herself, Shoto wasn't sure what else he could have asked for in a partner. U.A. had taught him a lot of things. Strength wasn't all about power or tactics; you could only be as strong as your comrades and the ones who believed in you.
Shoto stooped down and scooped Bashira up, carrying her to her room. He placed her in bed, not daring to change her clothes and overstep any boundaries. He only made sure that Bashira was comfortable and safe before retreating to his own space and getting ready for dinner.
Shoto worried for Bashira in more ways than he'd ever thought that he could. She would probably be mad in the morning, having slept in dirty clothes and been put to bed in a mess. But she was home, and Shoto had been the one to secure her where she belonged, and just that simple thought brought him some sense of peace.
(A/N)
For those of you who like visuals, I imagine Bashira's Hero costume as being similar to Sango's demon-hunter attire in Inuyasha.
Also for reference, if anyone has seen the quintessentially 2000s movie Clockstoppers, it's what I thought of while imagining Bashira using her Quirk. (Creepy note: not ten minutes after I only THOUGHT of that movie I went On Demand (to brush up on MHA episodes while writing) and found that very film on the top of my recommended list. It literally doesn't relate to ANYTHING I've watched recently. BRAIN TAPPING MUCH?!)
You've obviously already read. So please Follow/Fav and to make my day, REVIEW~