AUTHOR'S NOTE.
Wow, thanks for reading and following, you lovely people. I had attempted to write a story with Misaki in the past but I just didn't like the execution and wound up starting fresh from this point. I'm glad to see that there are people who are interested in reading about her, even now, so thanks for that, and I hope you'll enjoy the story from here on out. Reviews motivate me the most, so please keep those coming!
("Underlined text" is supposed to be read as Sign Language. "Italicized text" is used only for Misaki's Dad's quirk.)
Chapter Two
Memories
Misaki's alarm clock vibrated against her pillow with a vicious rumble like an earthquake strong enough to make the proverbial cows come back home again. It shook enough that the fabric would tickle her face and awaken her from whatever peaceful dream she was having that night. That was the end to another dream and the start to another day that would have her sitting by the mailbox with Mari as they awaited news of their impending acceptance or worse into U.A. High.
She yawned, pushing her hands against the sheets and pulling herself into an upright position.
It was early enough in the morning that her Dad might have been either coming home from his shift at work or heading out for another one; He was a police officer for the local force, but he had once had aspirations of being a hero much like his daughter now had.
Who could blame him for wanting to grow into someone that others can look up to?
His mother had been a wonderful superhero in her heyday, her quirk was much like Misaki's in that she too could also hinder time down drastically to the point of complete halt; The only difference was that time only slowed down for Hisakawa Atsuko, while it stopped entirely for Misaki.
Speaking of her Grandmother, Atsuko, there was a familiar scent of food permeating throughout their little apartment that smelled heavenly and mouth-watering. It meant that she needed to get a move on and get ready so she could taste everything while it was still good and hot.
She got ready for the day by brushing her purple long hair out and making sure to carefully tuck it into a ponytail so that it was out of the way. Her quirk practically required her to be able to have her hands on it in an instant, and short hair made it much harder to get something to grip onto!
The only problem with having it so long was that the casual toss of it over her shoulder without gloves would cause her quirk to activate now and again; It was an unconscious use of it, something that she had gotten the hang of controlling as she had gotten older but much like other members of the population with quirks involving their hands, she had to be wary of what she touched!
In this case, it was her hair, but she had heard cases of others not being able to touch certain objects but their bodies were a little rarer as far as she knew in their world.
She adjusted her headset right afterward, tucking the silver device underneath her hair and hooking it to her ears. It was much like a music headset! Except it didn't play music and its functionality was to vibrate and jolt Misaki when she had gone too far with her quirk. Hatsume had gotten the idea from her alarm clock during a sleepover, and she was so fond of the gift that she often wore it even if she wasn't training or practicing.
Then, she got dressed and headed out to greet everyone.
"Morning," she greeted her family.
"Good morning," Atsuko responded.
"Morning, my little starlight." Her Dad patted her hair down a bit to mess it up from the carefully fixed fashion that she had gotten. He offered her a smile and then his voice rang in the back of her head thanks to his quirk.
His quirk was fairly simple, he was a telepath who could speak into multiple minds at once as well as broadcast audio from mind to mind. It had proven useful during many of his police operations, and got him up close and personal with many heroes; It was also something that had made those first few years where she had lost her hearing much easier than it was for the average person.
Her Dad couldn't always be at her side to help her in the world, however! So she never relied too much on his quirk and made sure to find new and better ways for herself to communicate with the world at large. It wasn't all that hard because her father and grandfather had also been hard of hearing. Their household was interabled, and it had always been that way; It hadn't been much of a shock when Misaki had started to lose what hearing she had as a young girl, so they took what they already had and applied it for her, and the rest was history.
Hisakawa Ichiru was a dedicated parent, but his work often had him gone for long hours of the day or night. It was hard for him to be home all the time, but Misaki did understand that he couldn't help it. He was very important to his crew and task force, he had to keep people safe with them.
It wasn't like she was alone at home. Atsuko had always been home with her for as long as she could remember.
"Do you have work?" she asked him, high hopes that the answer wouldn't be confirmed.
"Yes." Ichiru frowned. It was an apologetic look as he lifted his plate from the table and went to wash it. He grabbed his bag once that done and spared his daughter a passing look.
Misaki's face sank. However, she smiled at him and nodded her head. "Alright. Have a good day, Dad."
He was gone as almost as fast as she had seen him. That was how it had been lately, though; Crime in their prefecture had gotten a little out of hand and they needed all hands on deck to take care of the problem. There had been whispers of a villain coming out of the woodwork who was specifically targeting individuals that were or had been heroes. It was just a whisper though, and as far as her Dad knew, there hadn't been any incidents.
It was good to be on alert if such a threat did happen.
When she finished her breakfast and lifted her head, she saw that her Grandma was staring right at her with one of those knowing looks on her face. Misaki raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask, 'what?'
Atsuko didn't lose that expression. "You have got that look, Misa."
Misaki blinked, confused.
"You are worried about him, correct?" she inquired, more specific with her question this time. "He will be alright. He is too stubborn to get hurt."
Misaki huffed. She puffed out her cheeks as she would often do when she was caught red-handed. Was she that easy to read or was Atsuko a little too good at knowing what others were thinking? She had never quite figured that one out, it did seem like her Grandma had a sixth sense for just knowing everything and everyone.
She hopped up from the table and pretended that she didn't see that. "I'm going to see Mari. I will be back."
Shimizu Mari lived in the same building as Misaki and her family. She lived with her mother and her little brother, Inari; Her house was a few floors above her but it was a hop, skip, and a jump to get to where she was. Misaki texted her before walking up, snorting when she got a response that said that Mari was waiting on the bottom floor already.
It wasn't often that Misaki went to Mari's place. Mari was always the one coming over to visit and hang out. Mari's mother was a strict believer in the old way of life, and not for a second did she believe in heroes or the good that they did for society as a whole. Her negative thoughts towards heroes often made it hard for Mari to express her dreams of being a heroine.
Rather than start an argument with her mother and get her little brother upset in the process, it was easier to just get out of the house to hang out with her friends and be who she was. That was just the way that it had always been, and since Misaki and Mari had been friends since they had started school together, life had been very much the same for more than a decade.
She could recall that fateful day as if it were yesterday.
Mari had been being bullied by some of the boys in their class because of her quirk, and Misaki had been the first person to stand up to her by using her wit and tricking those boys into believing that All Might was just around the corner of their building.
Mari's quirk was kind of cool. She could create torrents of water from her eyes with the use of her tears. It made her look like a professional crybaby in the eyes of others, but once Misaki had seen it she only stars with stars in her eyes and proclaimed how cool it was.
The side effect of her quirk was that she would become dehydrated very quickly, and it affected her quality of vision if she overused it without drinking enough to compensate for the loss.
Misaki rattled off a text back to Mari to let her know that she headed down the stairs to meet up with her. She sent another one to Mei right after that to see if she had received any news about her acceptance yet, without a quick response, she assumed that her technological friend was in the middle of working on another one of her babies.
She reached the bottom of the stairs not long after that. She headed over to where she saw the bubblegum hair of her best friend and plopped down next to her on the ground. Misaki stashed her phone back into her pocket and hoped that Mei would message her back before three in the morning.
Mari raised a brow, "Who were you texting?"
"Mei. She did not answer me." Misaki responded.
She rolled her eyes at that, a bit exaggerated, as she always did when something involved Hatsume Mei. "She is working on a baby. I think."
Misaki pursed her lips. She wondered if that intrusive thought that had been tickling the back of her head for the past few days might have been true. It didn't seem like a stretch but she wanted to give Mei more credit than Mari would. "You think she got in already? Forgot to tell us about it? Just went straight to work instead?"
Mari nearly snorted. She rested her hand against Misaki's shoulder and shook her head at that. "Hatsume forgets to eat. She went a day without before you brought her food. I would not be surprised."
Yeah, Mei tended to be scatterbrained, Misaki noted. They had been friends since their second year of middle school, and ever since she had known the wild child, her brain tended to be off the wall. She could create all sorts of things without even blinking; She was a true natural when it came to creating something for someone on the spot, and yet, she couldn't remember to eat or change her clothes once she got roped up into something.
Misaki had been the one to make sure that she got what she needed once she realized her friend was a disaster who just needed a helping hand now and again.
Much like how she had met Mari when they were young, she had stumbled into Hatsume being bothered by some of the girls in her class. Not one to let bullying happen to anyone no matter who they were, she got the girls to back off and leave her alone. She hadn't seemed all that bothered on the surface, just laughing it off, but Misaki knew better than that.
She had offered to help Mei test some of her gadgets and roped Mari into coming along with her and the rest was, as they say, history. Three M's: Misaki, Mari, and Mei, as her Grandma had jokingly called them once.
"Her test was not any easier than ours," Misaki noted. "I am still sore from those robots."
"I had to drink water all night after the test. I never felt quenched." Mari agreed with that sentiment whole-heartedly. It had been hard to knock over something bigger than a tiny can of cola since that was what she had been practicing on all this time! They thought the test would be a little more direct than what it had been.
Misaki's face soured when she remembered the last little leg of the test in particular; That blond guy had thrown a hissy fit fitting of a toddler rather than a big prospective hero student at U.A. all because she had the gall to save him from his destruction. Then, he dared to call her a plum of all things that he could say!
A plum! A freaking plum. She wasn't fruit! Her eye twitched at the memory. Misaki hoped that that guy wouldn't get in because of his surly attitude, but the track record seemed like he would get in for his type of quirk. Something about him had felt familiar, too, but she hadn't been able to place that memory just quite yet.
Misaki had to tell Mari the moment that they got out of the exam that she had encountered the world's biggest jerk to ever be a jerk. She had been in such a huff about it that it was the only thing that she could talk about on the train ride. Mari's test had gone a lot easier than hers had. She had managed to get rid of plenty of the robots during the time limit but had fallen flat on her face when the zero-pointer showed up and caused mayhem.
"Are you thinking about that guy again?" Mari teased.
Alright, maybe she was too easy to read, after all, if Mari had noticed how fuming that memory made her look. She hurriedly shook her head to deny that question. "No, no. As if I want to remember him."
"It would suck if he was in our class," she said, not even stopping to think that sentence through.
Misaki had a sour face, "Do not make me imagine that, Mari."
"Oh. Right! I will not jinx us." Mari said, smiling.
"You mean me," Misaki corrected. "He only had issues with me."
Mari opened her mouth seemingly wanting to pout about that but stopped when something caught her eye. She stared for a moment and then gestured for Misaki to look where she was pointing.
It was the mail service.
They both stared and watched as the mail was deposited in every box. It seemed like the worker was going slow on purpose to torment them. It was obvious that they both had mail slid into their boxes and they looked like the same size package. It was impossible to tell if you passed or failed by the size of the package, they seemed to do that on purpose. There was that old myth that if you got a big package from a school that meant that you passed and a smaller letter meant that you had been rejected.
Misaki held her breath, and then counted to three on her fingers.
When she hit zero the two of them rushed forward and unlocked their respective boxes with their keys. Misaki held the paper in her hand and clenched it tightly between her digits. This was it. This was what they had been waiting for day and night. There it was, though, written at the top corner in big bold letters: U.A. High.
Mari looked over at Misaki, mirroring the same nervous expression on her face that she held.
Misaki tucked the letter underneath her arm. "We check them and then message back. Okay?"
Mari nodded, "Yes."
After that, both of the girls took off running up the stairs, forgoing the elevator entirely just to run out their nerves before they opened the letters. They parted ways once Misaki turned the corner for her floor number and Mari continued jogging up the stairway. She opened her front door without warning and raced past her Grandma who was sitting on the couch working on her knitting. She lifted the letter in one hand to indicate what her rush was about before Atsuko could get a hold of her sleeve and stop her from opening it.
Then, she went straight to her room and shut the door right behind herself.
Misaki stared at the disk in her hands with a strange sense of trepidation and excitement.
On one hand, it was the answer that she been waiting for, and on the other hand, it was the answer that she had been waiting for since the test ended. Her spine tingled. Every part of her wanted to open this up and know if she had made it but at the same time she was nervous that if she opened it and it told her that she wasn't going to get in that it was going to emotionally crush her on the inside.
What if she didn't make it in?
What if Mari had and she hadn't?
She swallowed that fear down and tried to ignore it as she opened the package and hit the button on the top. It surged to life in front of her and revealed that surly looking man from before. The guy that looked so-done with Present Mic and had been providing the JSL translations for him. That deadpan expression wasn't one that she would be forgetting any time soon. She didn't recognize him beyond that, but if he was here, then he had to be a hero of some kind since he was working for and representing U.A.
He cocked his head and began to inform her of the answer that she had long been awaiting her entire young life. "Hisakawa Misaki. Receiving this letter means that you have passed the mock trial and written exam. If you were waiting for the answer. I have it so do not grovel or groan. You have been accepted into U.A. for the upcoming freshman class."
Her heart stopped.
She had gotten in!
Now, the man began to elaborate on how she had managed to do it. Footage from the mock trial flashed onto the screen like a play by play as he pointed out her wins and fails that had all been watched. "You passed thanks to your choices in the trial. Rescuing others earned you more points than students simply destroying bots. Your efforts could have been better. But, your actions gave you the pass. You should do better to hide insults, however. Not everyone is grateful for being saved but keep your thoughts to yourself just in case an instructor knows JSL next time."
Oops.
Her face began to burn up in embarrassment. When that blond had turned his back and she thought nobody was looking at her directly, she had said some... vulgar words about him out of frustration at his attitude. She had picked them up without the knowledge of her family and hadn't had an excuse to use them until that moment. Nobody had ever set her off bad enough to want to say something mean. Her actions had been worth it, after all, it wasn't a bad thing to want to help others instead of herself in the exam.
It had been a logical rogue the entire time!
Same had been the robots, there were points on a sliding scale for people that destroyed bots and people that did acts for others in the midst of doing what they had to do. If that was the case, then that guy she had bothered to move out of the way of his blast must have had the highest points possible for getting rid of every single bot that he saw in their test.
"Congratulations, kid. Don't mess it up." he turned his head to the side and seemed to be talking with someone off-camera, as it looked as though he asked: "How many more of these do I have to do today?"
She couldn't help but jump up from the seat and do a little victory dance. Once she had gotten her celebration out of the way where nobody could see it; Misaki immediately went to grab her phone and started to hastily text her friends. The first text that she sent was to Mei, letting her know that she had gotten into the school and that if she was already working on her babies in U.A. and politely forgot to tell Mari and herself than she was going to get one stern talking to once school started.
The next text that she was to Mari. It was a key smashing mixture of readable letters that only made sense if you squinted at it. She just said Mari's name over and over, and then said that she passed and she couldn't believe it. It paid off to be nice to jerks, after all! Her heart was still racing from the sheer adrenaline as she stared waiting for the response of her friend. The little text bubble popped up and then disappeared, and then popped up and then disappeared again as if Mari wasn't sure what to reply with.
Finally, a text came in a few minutes later that simply said: Congratulations, Misaki!
Misaki giggled at the message and sent one right back that said: Congratulations to you too, right?
Mari didn't respond to that but it said that she had read the message. She might have been having her celebration in her apartment at the same time that she was. Everything was just happening so quickly that she didn't think that hard about it. Misaki assumed that her friend had passed the exam as well, otherwise wouldn't have said something like that. She would have just said that she failed rather than send a message of cheer back at her like that. It was like every little thing was going the right way for once in their lives.
She couldn't believe it. Everything was right in the universe and nothing could possibly go wrong.
