Breakfast was laid out on the table with many of Chloe's favorite vegetarian meals. Even though the Orca was known for appearing like a notorious villain, he was a genuine good person. Every morning before he leaves to work, meals were always ready for her to eat. It was only in the morning and rarely late a night, that Chloe and the Orca ever see each other. Each one of them had a busy schedule but still made time for their traditional breakfast and training before work. Chloe was more motivated than ever in training, transforming to more different animals at once. The Orca noticed this his red eyes staring back at his young student who was too busy gulfing down tofu and vegan bacon. The clock was ticking and if she wasn't out of the house in five minutes, she was going to be late.
"Done!" She said hastily grabbing the plates and washing them with ridiculous speed. The Orca put down his newspaper, ready to leave once Chloe left the house first. Not many people know that The Orca had took in a kid from the United States to live with him. It wasn't top secret, but it was best that less people knew about it.
Chloe knew of the possibilities that she could be residing in Japan permanently. Returning to the United States wasn't in her best interest now. She called Maze a few times a week and each time the answers were the same "I'm sorry honey, its just not safe for you to come back home" and then continue to conversate about how Paul keeps letting his dogs destroy her little makeshift garden. Chloe chuckled remembering how she would transform into a wolf to scare them off their small lawn. Maze was practically Chloe's guardian when her mother, Veronica, had suddenly stop showing up. She couldn't remember her mother as much now and never felt the need to know where she had gone. Chloe's father, Mark, was like Veronica absent pretty much all her life. It was confirmed from the rest of the neighborhood that Veronica and Mark had left together. Chloe's thoughts submerged to her life back in Illinois as she arrived closer to school until she saw a group of reporters. "What in the hell is this" Chloe frowned. She was tempted to change into a cat in disguise to get through but the regulation in using their quirk without a license was far stricter here than back in the United States. She had no choice but to endure it. In front of her walking to the entrance of the school was Todoroki. His expression as always was cool and collected appearing to be used to the hundreds of reporters. Chloe on the other hand was not.
"What's it like having All Might as a teacher?" The reporters pushing microphones and recorders in her face. They were becoming much more comfortable and unknowingly surrounding her. Chloe felt closed in a box and all the air was being taken away. "Interesting. Please. Get. Out. Of. My way" Chloe breathed. Tight spaces were one of the worst things to place Chloe in. The hair on her arms were beginning to stand up as more people with media equipment pushed closer. "Can you please elaborate"
"We're done answering questions" Todoroki had a hold of Chloe's wrist pulling her away from the mob of business attire news reporters. Flashes from each side of the crowed can still be heard as they pressed the button on their camera in unison. Once they made it behind the gate, completely on school grounds, she instantly felt relief letting out a well needed breath release. Any longer in the crowed, she would have run with her first instinct which was to claw her way out and that would have been a whole issue of itself. "Thanks" She managed to say before he turned away.
"Don't mention it" He said coolly. Chloe was a bit shocked that he pulled her out and helped her. But then again, she shouldn't be that surprise, he wanted to be a hero after all. Heading the same way, they both walked in silence not sure what to say. Chloe remembered the last conversation he had with a student turned out horribly and wasn't exactly in the mood to pick a fight.
"Who recommended you?" Todoroki spoke again surprising Chloe in making conversation first. Chloe wasn't sure if they were supposed to tell the names of the heroes that recommended them. "You first" Chloe responded wanting to play it safe. Todoroki raised an eyebrow as if she didn't know "Endeavor, he's my father" His voice filled with very much anger and resentment. Chloe decided not to comment on it seeing as way much information than she probably needed to know. Endeavor wasn't as well known in America like All Might. All Might being the number one hero in the world masks the faces of practically all pro heroes in America.
"Gang Orca" She said trying to play it off simply, but it didn't stop Todoroki for the first time to be intrigued by her answer.
"Gang Orca is ranked 10 among Pro heroes. You must be very lucky that he happened to be in the United States when he spotted you" He stated. You have no idea Chloe thought to herself. If Gang Orca didn't show up for his meeting in Chicago, she wasn't sure if she would ever be a hero.
"I guess so" She said keeping the conversation brief. Chloe wasn't expecting Todoroki to conversate with her throughout the time they were walking to class. He wanted answers to one thing, and he got it. The rest of the way was silent. Arriving to the classroom, it seemed everyone was here.
"Todoroki and Mendoza, you two were almost 2 minutes late" Ida shot up from his desk. "Hurry and take your seats!" He waved his hand in a straight motion. Chloe and Todoroki paid no attention to him and sat in their assigned desks. Chloe didn't make eye contact toward Bakugo once she sat in her chair. This irked him regardless if she was planning to talk to him or not. Bakugo felt extreme complex with his feelings. Either way he knew one thing and that she pisses him off.
The class began with picking a class represented for 1-A. Everyone almost immediately shot up their hands. Chloe couldn't help but wince at the shouting of her classmates. Maybe it's just her school but being class president wasn't a big deal. Most of the times nobody knew who the president of the school was. Chloe was probably the only person in her class that didn't raise her hand. At the end, the class settled for a vote. Chloe knew immediately that everyone was going to vote for themselves.
The president of the class was shockingly Midoriya and not so surprisingly vice president was Yaoyorozu. Chloe had voted for Yaoyorozu for president and Midoriya for vice president but either way she was satisfied with the result. Most of the students were happy how the election turned out, but some were not-
"Who the hell voted for DEKU!" Bakugo roared. Chloe rolled her eyes at his childish reaction to losing. Chloe had to admit that Midoriya looked awkwardly nervous up in front. Did she make the right choice in voting for him instead of Ida? Sure, he was a pain in the ass Chloe thought but he had better structure in leadership. It was too late to change anything and Aizawa seemed more than ready to start lecture.
Chloe pulled out her notebook and other sticky notes that she had written in the past days to the side. Some phrase in Japanese often slip her mind and had to be relearned. She did find that in todays lectures that her Japanese was improving hardly using her translator. Lunch was approaching and Present Mic had kindly enough allowed them to leave a bit early for lunch. Chloe was grateful, ready to sprint out the classroom and into the cafeteria hall if he wasn't going to give them a head start. Seeing Chloe about to leave, Momo hurried to her desk almost trying to trap her. Chloe was blinded by Momo's obvious anime aura. "Would you like to have lunch together!"
Chloe should have known that Momo was eager to be her friend after their battle. Momo looked almost satisfied to have finally blurt it out from her mouth. Chloe smiled gently happy to have more friends join her for lunch. "Happy to as long as Tysu can join"
"Of course!"
Tysu, Chloe and Yaoyoroza walked together to lunch. Tysu had introduced herself in line waiting for their food. Momo had found to respect Tysu's bluntness stating that she had read about her rich parents in magazines. Chloe found Yaoyoroza to not be just basic rich but extremely wealthy, leaving her jaw dropping. Tysu ended up shutting her mouth for her. "Chloe your drooling"
"Oops sorry." She smiled. Growing up dirt poor, Chloe can only dream in having that amount of money. She couldn't even afford quality toilet paper stealing most of it from gasoline station. Even though Yaoyorozu comes from a background of rich parents, it was easily recognizable that her intentions were humble even though she sometimes slips. The topic of the conversation landed on family. Tysu was obviously close to her family especially her siblings. She often looked after them when her parents worked late at night. Momo valued Tysu even more carrying extra responsibilities as an older sister.
"I've always wanted a sister or a brother" Momo admitted.
"Ribbit, how about you Chloe? Do you have any siblings" Tysu asked.
"Nope" Chloe shook her head as she thought of a person who biologically wasn't related but was thought to be stronger than blood. She and this person lived in the same neighborhood for years. In the past Chloe would have done anything for this person because that was her family, sibling, and at that moment her world. But Chloe made her choice and that choice was the knife that broke all ties to her friend and everything else.
"You don't get homesick?" Yaoyoroza said taking a bite of her expensive well-crafted lunch that was made by her very own chef.
"Sometimes. I lived with my neighbor Maze most of the time, but I call her pretty much everyday"
"You don't live with your parents" Tysu wanting to know more of Chloe's back story. Chloe kept her composure knowing this conversation would have come up sooner or later. "My parents were pretty much absent throughout my childhood, so Maze took me in" She said not wanting to add more to her sad life story.
"Well I hope they get to know someday how far you came along especially entering UA" Yaoyoroza said as if she was the proud mother.
"Yeah maybe someday" Chloe said her mood becoming deflated remembering bits of her parents. She remembers her parent to be the best and worst couple. They fought all the time but drank together like best pals. But when it came down to it, they brought the worst in each other. Chloe didn't know how she survived a second in their care before Maze stepped in. Before the conversation could continue further a loud siren beeped throughout the cafeteria. Everyone covered their ears confused as to what was going on.
Security level 3 has been breached. Students please promptly evacuate
Evacuate? What was so bad that they had to evacuate the students? All the students made way for the exit pushing and shoving anyone that stood in their way. This was Chloe's absolute nightmare. She tried pushing back but only made the rest of the students push harder. The weight of the students closing in on her was too much. Using her quirk, she transformed into any bird and flew above the crowd. The students became an ocean clashing against one another. She couldn't find a safe landing that would satisfy her bird instinct. Gazing above the crowd her now black eyes spotted Todoroki. He found a safe spot away from the pool of students. His hand prompt against the wall steadying himself from the rumble of students making their way towards the exit. Suddenly Chloe flew down surprising Todoroki as she landed on his shoulder. Todoroki for moment was confused and then realized it was Chloe. She appeared extremely tense her gold brown feathers ruffled seeing many students fill up the space. "Chloe do you know what's going on-
Ida flew up above the students using his engine quirk to direct him above the exit sign "EVERYBODY CALM DOWN. ITS OKAY" Ida shouted causing all the students to look up. "ITS JUST THE PRESS! THERE IS NOTHING TO PANIC ABOUT. YOU'RE AT UA LET'S CONDUCT OURSELVES IN THE MANNOR OF THOSE ENROLLED AT THE HIGHEST ACADEMIA!"
Everyone had started to relax shedding a wave of relief to all the students. Ida was the best man for the job in leadership Chloe thought seeing to bring peace to the whole student body. Todoroki noticed the students start to disperse and began to head back to class. Chloe was unknowingly still on his shoulder in which she found her spot oddly comforting. Todoroki wouldn't admit out loud, but he enjoyed animals since was a kid. Curious, Todoroki brought his hand closer to the bird extending his index finger as a perch. He had completely forgotten that it was Chloe for a moment. Chloe tilted her head and ever so carefully hoped on his finger. Todoroki couldn't even help contain a small smile.
People sometimes forget how great animals are in their senses. They bring a good deal of help when it comes to sniffing out bombs and such, but they can also sense what others can't see. Grief, Anger, Depression, Sadness. It was clear to Chloe that Todoroki needed a connection of some sort. His expression had completely softened, and his demeanor felt much less cold than before. Chloe knew as they arrived closer to their classroom that she would have to transform back.
"Todoroki have you seen Chloe anywhere" Yaoyoroza said with Tysu right behind her. They were worried for their friend until they saw Todoroki holding a small brown bird by two of his fingers. Yaoyoroza smiled seeing the cuteness of a small bird Chloe. Figuring it was time to morph back, Chloe hopped of Todoroki and changed back.
"Thanks for the lift Todoroki" Chloe grinned feeling much more comfortable with his presence. Momo, Tysu and her walked inside the classroom meeting with everyone else. It was clear that reelection was needed. The voting was practically unanimous in making Ida the class representative since he handled the school emergency with amazing leadership.
Chloe had to admit that the more days she spent in school, the less she thought of her hometown. She discovered that she had more genuine fun in UA than she did in any other school. Coming back home, The Orca found her in a better mood since the morning. She would call Maze everyday but today she decided to wait until morning to call her again.