Chapter 4

3rd P.o.V

Hotaru had spent the whole day sneaking glances in Bakugou's direction. It would be a tough case to crack, but she was set on figuring him out. Kiyo told her to stop worrying about boys and actually apply herself in the school she worked so hard to enrol in.

It was currently lunch and the loud ringing of a bell caused Hotaru to snap herself out of her thoughts and away from her food. She dropped the rice that she was about to put in her mouth and shut her eyes tight, covering her sensitive ears.

"There is a level three security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly."

'Hotaru, go!' Kiyo had to shout before Hotaru started moving. She followed some finicky students to the halls, instantly being swept up by the current of kids who were rushing to the exit.

"What the-ow!" Hotaru snapped. Being thrown around was starting to irritate her. Her amped up senses hadn't done her any favours, either.

'Hotaru, listen to me...Focus on my voice. Hotaru? Hotaru!' Kiyo tried to calm the girl down but she had already fallen. Literally. Hotaru landed on the ground and got trampled by the stampede of students. The current of the bodies didn't stop, forcing various people to push past the fragile teen. She was kicked a lot...

She found a wall and started to crawl towards it, trying her best to just make her way through the crowd.

"Sorry, Kiyo...I-I can't...I can't do this," she began to tear up as she reached the wall. She curled up, holding her knees close to her chest. She tried to hide as the shouts and movements of the hoard of kids had brought her to tears.

"Everyone, everything's fine!"

Everything stopped.

The students stopped moving and all sound ceased.

"It's just the media! Nothing to panic about, everything's fine. This is U.A. Let us all act in a way befitting the best of the best," Class 1-A's representative, Tenya Iida had single-handedly calmed down the entire herd of students.

Hotaru whipped away her tears as she looked up. She would have smiled at Iida's sudden take of charge, but she didn't feel it. She felt weak and mad at herself, knowing she was overcome by something this small. She held herself tighter, her nails making indentations on her skin.

As the students were filed back into the cafeteria, the frightened fifteen-year-old stayed curled up in a ball. She took deep breaths as Kiyo attempted to bring her back to her senses. A few moments later, she heard approaching footsteps.

"Get up."

"You're so fucking useless," Bakugou clicked his tongue before pulling Hotaru to her feet. Her legs were shaking as she nodded a silent thank you.

"You better not be hurt," the blonde boy furrowed his eyebrows and growled. Hotaru took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I'm okay..." she mumbled quietly.

"Bullshit," Bakugou roughly grasped her hands, causing the feeble girl to wince. She was bruised and had some cuts, a few of them lightly bleeding.

"It's fine," she jerked her hand back. She was going to thank Bakugou once more and turn away but her arm was grabbed. He was pulling her.

"Wh-" "You're going to see the goddamned nurse," the loud blonde stopped in front of Recovery Girl's small infirmary. Hotaru sighed. There was this warmth in her chest as she was dragged to the nurse. She had felt it when Bakugou had helped her earlier that morning, too.

'Appreciate this feeling, girl,' Kiyo muttered quietly. Hotaru looked to her shadow, the red orbs kindly glowing. She sighed.

"Thanks..." she mumbled, her face growing a light hue of pink.

Later...

Bakugou sat at his desk, turning his head towards the door every time a student walked in. He was waiting for Hotaru.

Why, though?

Why the hell should he care about some weak girl who, since the beginning of school, has barely used any of her power?

The only reason he approached her was that he felt calm when talking to her. The other day, when leaving school, her conversation with him had somehow made him less mad. Of course, he wouldn't admit it, but that's why. He had convinced himself that he needed to figure out what the hell the girl was doing to him.

He watched the girl in question walk into the room and sit down. She blankly stared at her lightly bandaged hands as she sat. Bakugou tsked before getting up and walking over to her.

"Lizard Girl," he snapped her back into reality

"Yeah?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"So?" Bakugou glared at her with narrowed eyes. She gave him a confused stare. The blonde scoffed.

"How dense are you?" he spat. A lightbulb went off in Hotaru's mind.

"Oh...I'm fine," she held up her hands to show that she was fine. Bakugou furrowed his eyebrows.

"Just some scratches," she put her hands down with a sad glint in her eyes.

"Don't worry about me," Bakugou could barely pick up her words but when he did, he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who the fuck said I was worried about you?!" he shouted. Hotaru raised an eyebrow as their classmates looked towards them.

'Loud one, isn't he?' Kiyo mocked. Hotaru rolled her eyes, a newly-formed headache starting to cause her pain.

"Causing a scene is just your nature, isn't it?" she asked, slightly pissed off.

"Do you wanna go, Lizard Girl?!" Bakugou asked through grit teeth. Hotaru crossed her arms, clearly not in the mood.

"Let me know when and I'll be happy to knock some sense into that tiny brain of yours. Until then, back up and leave me alone," the annoyed tone in her voice was more noticeable now. Bakugou finally realized everyone's peering eyes. He looked around the room and mumbled something intangible as he walked back to his desk.

"Not gonna lie...That was kind of badass," a kid with a black streak in his orange-ish-yellow hair said as everyone went back to their conversations. Uraraka walked over.

"Yeah, the way you managed to shut him down like that was awesome!" her admiration was visible in her eyes. Bakugou watched people approach Hotaru and begin to talk to her.

For a moment, he regretted yelling and causing everyone to stare. If he had kept his mouth shut, he could have talked to her more and maybe figure out what's so special about her.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath as he pushed the thoughts of her out of his mind. he leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. Little did he know, Hotaru prefered talking to him rather than the others. He was still interesting and she honestly didn't want all the attention, either. Her head hurt and she simply wanted to be left alone. Luckily, Aizawa walked in and the students returned to their seats before the purple-haired girl could explode.

During the class, Hotaru couldn't help but notice Bakugou sneaking glances towards her. He faced forward when he saw she had caught him. She did the same. Aizawa finally began to explain what the lesson for the day was. Class 1-A was to do some rescue training. Hotaru sighed, figuring it would let Kiyo exercise her powers and not hurt anyone.

"You can decide if you want to wear your costume or not this time. Because there are probably costumes that limit your abilities, too," Aizawa said, revealing the storage area for their costumes.

"The training will take place off-campus, so you'll be taking a bus. That's all. Start getting ready," he ordered before leaving the room. Hotaru silently got her costume on then waited outside with the others.

On The Bus...

Hotaru's headache had yet to subside and she quickly got bored while on the bus. She decided to depend on the group of her classmates in front of her to cure her boredom.

She had been seated next to Bakugou, who was looking out the window. She wanted to talk to him, but there were too many people around them and he would only yell. She didn't need that at the moment. Bakugou looked over to the group when his name was mentioned.

"Well, if you're talking about flashy and strong, it's gotta be Todoroki or Bakugou, though, huh?" Kirishima spoke while looking at the blonde who clicked his tongue.

"Bakugou's always so mad, doesn't seem like he'll be popular, though," Asui noted. Hotaru held back a laugh as Bakugou jumped from his seat.

"What the hell?! You wanna fight?!" he shouted, hurting Hotaru's ears. The small girl flinched but no one noticed.

"See."

"We haven't known each other for that long, so it's amazing that everyone knows his personality is crap steeped in sewage," Kaminari said, smirking.

"What's with that vocabulary, bastard?! I'll kill you!"

"Oi, can it!"

The attention was now drawn to Hotaru. She was rubbing her temples, eyes closed, and face scrunched up in annoyance. Her splitting headache caused her to get louder than Bakugou. She had to quiet him down some way and yelling over him was easiest. Having heightened senses once again proved to be a pain in the ass for the teenaged girl.

"Shut up and sit down, damn it. You're too loud..." she said. Bakugou grit his teeth in response to the purple-haired female's order.

"Like hell! You don't tell me what to do," he retorted. Hotaru furrowed her eyebrows as she gave him a piercing glare from the corner of her eyes. With a swift smack from her tail, Bakugou's legs buckled and made him collapse back into his seat.

It was silent for a bit before a few of Hotaru's fellow students began laughing. She opened her eyes and looked around the bus, realizing almost all eyes were on her. She put her head into her hands and groaned.

'You did this to yourself,' Kiyo muttered. Her host sighed.

"Now that I think about it, Hotaru might have a flashy quirk, too. I saw a bit of fire during the indoor training," Asui voiced her theory. Hotaru let out another sluggish groan as she looked up. Ashido raised an eyebrow as she made the decision to voice a concern that had been lingering in the back of her mind.

"Speaking of...What is your quirk, Anzai? I tried to ask you the other day, but you ran off," the pinkette said. Hotaru's sweat fell.

'She clearly didn't get the hint,' she grumbled internally. Kiyo simply chuckled.

'As I said earlier, you did this to yourself,' she said before going quiet. Hotaru groaned.

"Well...You see, I-" "We're here. Stop messing around."

-.-

I'm just gonna say it. Hotaru is possibly my most personal OC. She's like me in more ways than one (Panic Attacks, hatred of loud noises and lots of people, introvert, etc.)

I'm trying to do my best to fit her well into the story while not changing too much. I would like it if you all could let me know how I'm doing. I'm kind of worried I'm trying too hard or something...Anyway, thanks for reading so far.

Special thanks to:

Sb2282490

acidicpoet

Otaku Princess 04