("Underlined text" is supposed to be read as Sign Language. "Italicized text" is used only for Misaki's Dad's quirk. "Bold Text" is used for messages Misaki types out.)

Chapter Seven

Why Worry


"I'm sorry I was late." was all Misaki could say when she opened the front door and stared at her family.

Atsuko and Ichiru both pulled Misaki into a tight hug the minute that she got home from school. The two of them had seen it all happen on the news and nobody could get through to find out about which students were involved until the end; So, knowing that Misaki was safe and sound at last was a relief to both of her family members. She settled into their grasp and let the stress wash away.

It must have been nervewracking to be stuck without any answers to the whereabouts of the students, hours on end without knowing if they were injured or not. Neither Atsuko nor Ichiru had ever dealt with a close call like this. Misaki hated to put them with that worry but it wasn't her fault.

"We're just glad you are alright, Misa!" Atsuko said.

Ichiru nodded in agreement. "I was this close to coming to get you myself. But I trusted the Pros to make sure of your safety and they did it."

"Yeah. They did what they could for us. Recovery Girl is going to help the teachers who got hurt." Misaki looked away for a moment. Yeah, the teachers had done everything that they could and it landed them in the hospital. She thought back to the pained states of both Aizawa and Thirteen and grimaced. Recovery Girl would do her best to help them, but her quirk went so far, and a lot of the healing would still take a number of days for the normal person. That might be shortened a bit for a Pro but barely.

"That is great news, then there's nothing to worry about," Atsuko said. "These villains will regret choosing to bother the school soon enough. But, that is something that the Pros will handle. You kids are alright."

Recovery Girl was an old acquaintance of hers, so the old woman had no doubt in her capable healing ability to take care of anyone that had been hurt in any capacity, and she had faith in everyone that was still involved out in the field. They had been doing everything that they could to ensure that the public and the kids were alright.

Ichiru was a little less sure of his feelings about the situation but he knew that if his mother had faith in everyone than he should believe in them just as much as she did. On his end, there was only so much that he could do with the police. He was dealing with his own monster of a situation, whispers and whispers of attacks on heroes were growing stronger and he was doing what he could to suppress it. Coming home after a long shift to find out that his daughter and her class were stuck someplace with so many villains at once had kind of pushed him on edge.

"We'll have plenty of eyes on the school as the situation cools down, too," Ichiru added. "It's just a matter of time until things blow over and go back to normal, Misa."

They meant well in telling Misaki these things. They wanted her to know that it would be alright sooner or later. Villains would always be taken down by the good guys, that was just the way of the world. All of the students had been taken back to their houses or the train station after the incident to make sure that nothing else went wrong, and by the time Misaki got back all she could think about was going to bed and not waking up. After reassuring both of them that she was alright and there nothing to worry about, she just wanted to close her eyes.

"I'm really exhausted. I'm gonna go to bed early tonight."

She loved her family, she really did, she was just exhausted.

Both Mari and Mei had texted her because they were worried about what had happened. She got back to both of them as soon as she could. Mei was relieved to hear her favorite text subject was okay and even though Mari had been quiet lately in regards to responding to her, her best friend was crying and so happy she was safe and sound. Hearing from Mari... It made the evening almost alright in comparison to the troubles that had occurred during the day. She hoped that that meant that they would start talking once again.

Mei: My baby benefited you during the fight, right?

Misaki: Thanks for asking how I am. I'm alright, Hatsume.

Misaki: Yes. The headset helped me a lot. Although, there are a few things that manifested with my quirk that I need to tell you about later. I might need some

Misaki: You know.

Mei: UPGRADES? I read your mind! I'm going to work on some sketches! I've had a lot of ideas but I haven't been able to discuss them with you properly!

Misaki: Let's chat over lunch, okay?

Misaki shook her head at her friend. Hatsume dealt with situations by throwing herself deeper into her work. It just was her way of dealing with things that had too many emotions to go through. She was the opposite to Mari who dealt with everything on the surface, it seemed to be the blessing of her quirk, crybaby tears. Mari was able to shoot torrents of water from her eyes as long as she was properly hydrated, however, she had to make herself become emotional to make it work right... and she had to be properly hydrated, of course!

It had come in handy a lot in the past but Mari's setbacks were... frustrating for her to deal with.

It was why Misaki assumed that Mari wasn't speaking to her that much anymore. She feared that her friend didn't get into U.A. after all, and the emotional distraught left her not wanting to put a damper onto Misaki's feelings. She really hoped that that wasn't the case. If her best friend was upset for whatever reason she wanted to be there for her and help her through it.

Mari: I was really worried about you, Misa.

Misaki: I'm alright. There's no need to worry about me. I really didn't do a lot just some minor fighting in self-defense.

Mari: Still! I was worried that you might've gotten really hurt out there. I mean, villains on campus? That's terrifying.

Misaki: The Pros made sure it was okay, honestly.

Mari: Yeah. I know we wanted to be heroes but this is a little too early to be fighting villains.

Misaki: Just a little advanced study. It would be have been over a lot faster if you had been there.

Mari: ...Yeah.

Misaki: Do... do you wanna talk about that?

Mari: It's complicated, Misa.

Misaki: I miss you, Mari.

Mari: I miss you too, but... I don't wanna put a damper on anything. Just give a little more time, okay?

Misaki: Too much longer and I'll have to storm your door, alright?

Mari: You know Inari would let you in before you even got past two knocks.

Misaki: That's what's great about your little brother!

Mari: That's what you think.

Some things may be changing but hopefully, the old order of things could return if only by a little bit.

But, with that thought in the back of her head, she decided it was best to go to sleep and cool off. When her head hit her pillow she immediately fell into a deep slumber. The entire school was off for a day because of the incident. They had to repair the school and make sure the defenses were up to par and how they needed to be. It would reassure the public of how protected the school could be; However, all of the students were shaken up about the attack. Some more than others and some less than others.

Misaki fell somewhere in the middle. She wasn't terrified and she wasn't comfortable just somewhere in the middle of the two. It was strange to think that villains out there were becoming stronger and more daring. This was a time of relative peace and harmony. Sure, there was crime and disrepair, however, it was significantly less than it had been since the emergence of quirks.

Why now would someone go out of their way to cause trouble?

Well, she couldn't get answers just worrying about it.

She got the next morning and went through her usual routine. Most of her body was aching and sore from running on adrenaline for a few hours, but it wasn't as bad as it had been when her body had caved from quirk overuse. She hadn't even realized that she had blacked out until Bakugou had jostled her awake once again. All she knew at that moment was that someone needed to save him and get him out of the way and she was the only one with a quirk fast enough to do it.

There wasn't any thought of anything else.

It had been just like the first time that she acted impulsively to help him. Of course, this time she knew that he was going to be angry and just a pensive as he had been the first time. At the very least, he hadn't gone and blown a gasket in the middle of a scene, and she was thankful for that fact. It didn't look really professional to get into squabbles in front of Pros, much less in front of actual villains.

That would be... well, something.

Misaki shook her head and tried to push Bakugou Katsuki to the back of her mind to focus on something else. Like, the next text messages that were sitting in her inbox now. She got out of bed and grabbed her phone to go through it and see what the commotion was. Upon further inspection, she noted that she had been added to a group chat with the rest of the girls from her class. She wondered how they got her number then she remembered that she had exchanged it with Uraraka and that would likely how they got ahold of her phone.

Misaki: Um, hey girls. I didn't realize we'd get a group chat so fast.

Uraraka: Mina mentioned it to Yaoyorozu and it sort of exploded from there.

Yaoyorozu: It seemed practical to have everyone together in a fashion like this. I couldn't say no.

Ashido: Girls gotta stick together, after all! There's only seven of us in this class and we gotta have each other's backs out there! :D

Hagakure: I agree! It's nice to just have space for us girls to hang out!

Yaoyorozu: Iida will wind up creating a chat for the entire class once he hears about this, though.

Jirou: That's alright. It does make sense for everyone to be able to get in touch since we'll be doing a lot more out in the fields sooner or later.

Asui: But this'll be girls only.

Ashido: GIRL POWER! YEAH!

Misaki: No complaints from me. The less I have to deal with a certain somebody the better I will feel.

Misaki: And this is the easiest way for me to communicate with everyone without having to worry about reading your lips.

Uraraka: Yeah. Sorry I accidentally called you the other day. I forgot.

Misaki: It's alright. It happens sometimes. I know you meant well.

Uraraka: Why did you start quoting lyrics back at me though? I was so confused.

Misaki: Oh whenever somebody calls me I always answer with something different. It isn't against the person specifically I just like messing with people a bit. Sometimes I recite movie scripts or I talk about the weather in some other country or sometimes I even start asking ridiculous questions, it depends on my mood.

Jirou: You recited lyrics back at her? How do you enjoy the music... if you can't hear it, Hisakawa?

Ashido: That's a little rude to ask, don't you know?

Misaki: I don't see it that way. I'm kind of used to questions like that, Mina.

Misaki: Think of it like when you read poetry from a book and you go off of what you have in front of you. I can appreciate a master lyricist through their writing just as much as you may enjoy the sound.

Jirou: I see.

Jirou: We'll have to discuss your favorite bands soon, then. I'm curious.

Misaki: Of course!

Misaki: If anyone is curious about something just ask - I won't be offended. Since we're training together it's right we learn from each other and boost each other up! That's friendship and camaraderie at its finest!

Yaoyorozu: Adequately put, Hisakawa. From here on out we're aiming to be the top heroes. We'll be together for some time. That would be best.

Ashido: How is everyone today anyway? Yesterday was so intense and I'm kind of stir crazy at home!

Jirou: Just listening to some music and trying to relax today, that's my plan for the whole afternoon. We don't get days off that often.

Yaoyorozu: I've been studying somethings while enjoying my afternoon tea. I feel its best to be productive in my downtime.

Hakagure: I can't get passed all the reports on TV today. I've been glued to the TV! Our class has been all over the news too! I saw myself and got so flustered knowing so many people saw!

Misaki: I didn't consider that, Hakagure. I didn't even glance at the television when I got home to see that. Oh boy, that's embarrassing.

Asui: Speaking of that, Ochako, have you heard anything from Midoriya?

Uraraka: He's resting today. Recovery Girl took care of him, so he isn't totally available on his phone, unfortunately.

Misaki: Uraraka wouldn't be here if he wasn't resting, you know she would be texting him nonstop.

Uraraka: Misa!

Asui: She's right, ribbit.

Ashido: Totally right Misaki!

Uraraka: Not you too, Mina! Tsu!

Yaoyorozu: It's sort of obvious. No offense, Uraraka.

Misaki: Girl squad solidarity means -

Ashido: We won't tell.

Ashido: That's like, the first rule of the girl squad. Don't reveal who your friend is crushing on! LOL

Misaki: Exactly! Mina knows what's up.

Misaki: Group hug?

Ashido: Group hug!

Uraraka: I don't know if I like your new alliance here.

Asui: They mean well, ribbit.

Hakagure: It seems fun! I want in too! Group hug! ( ^?^)

Jirou: Don't touch me, man.

Ashido: It's okay we'll hug with our eyes instead!

Yaoyorozu: That's impossible.

Yaoyorozu: Unless you mean to say it as a metaphor.

Ashido has renamed the group chat title from "Class 1A Girls" to "Girl Squad 1A."


The school was seemingly back to the way that it was before the attack happened.

They worked really fast, and upgrades had been made or were in the process of, therefore. It was like nothing had happened even though it had. Misaki walked through the gates of the school that morning without a worry in her heart. Her classmates were back to normal as well, with everyone back in their seats and conversing about this or that. Unfortunately, she did meet Bakugou's gaze when she entered and she promptly turned her nose up at him. His eyes would probably twitch but she would ignore him as she usually did.

Bakugou didn't ever say anything else to her after he had made sure that she wasn't left behind. Nor had he really thanked her for saving him again, for what was the second time since they had known one another. Misaki wasn't expecting anything from. He was far too prideful to ever thank anyone for something like that, she just wished that he wouldn't be so cocky about everything. It made her want to wipe the smug look from his face, and at the same time, it made her wonder why the hell he was like that.

Nobody had ever made her feel that way before and she just didn't understand why.

So, she tried to ignore him. That probably wouldn't last for many long knowing how easy his hairpin trigger was how fast she was to curse him out behind his back, but for today! She managed to avoid that outcome.

It was really just another ordinary day for them, and as she took her seat, she nodded in Todoroki's direction as a greeting to which he returned.

The strange camaraderie that they had now wasn't perfect but she was in better circumstances with him than most of the others in the class. It was perhaps because she had been really the only one to brave her chances and approach him. He wasn't all that indifferent and the quiet company that they could keep was nice. It was obvious that he appreciated the fact that he didn't have to converse with someone just because they were in his presence. The peace and quiet was obviously his preference. His surly attitude was nothing compared to that fiery blond that sat across the room from herself.

Of all the boys in the class to deal with, she would choose Todoroki over Bakugou at the moment. At least when she was with Todoroki she didn't feel the need to be on edge and ready for a fight.

Her attention was back on the front of the room when Aizawa appeared in the doorway looking like a mummified man. He was acting as he usually did, and it was like business as usual. He should have been resting somewhere else for the sake of his recovery and he had decided to come to class anyway, Recovery Girl was usually on top of making people stay in bed when their condition was that bad. Aizawa must have had some kind of reasoning or he just talked her into the ground about it.

Everyone just was staring at him.

His excuse was: "My welfare is not important. This fight is not over."

As commotion built amongst the students with possible questions and answers to what that statement meant, he cut them all down by answering it for them not even a moment later.

"Because U.A.'s sports festival is approaching!"

Misaki stared at him. Her expression fell flat as she and the rest of the class shook their heads in disbelief at him. U.A.'s sports festival was an important event for a lot of people, and it wasn't just the students that it meant a lot to. It was broadcasted on television as well as filled to the brim in packed arenas to watch the students face off against each other in different types of events. It was one of the ways that a student could be scouted by a hero organization, or how students in the support department could get deals, or how students could get moved from the general classes to the hero classes, and so on and so forth.

However, to have the event after such a devastating event seemed to be in poor taste. Could they even throw the event when people weren't sure of the safety of the teachers much less than students or guests that would be watching the festival?

Aizawa's reasoning came straight from the rest of the adults.

They wanted to show that U.A. could spring back from anything and that crisis situations could be handled with relative ease. There was going to be an excess of police presence and not only that, there would be a lot more Pros on the scene throughout the school grounds. This is a big opportunity for so many people and it couldn't be tossed away because of a few mediocre villains. This was, after all, the Olympics of the past had been long replaced by U.A.s sports festival.

The fact that they could be scouted by some of the top named Pros in the middle of all of this was exciting. Now that, was something that everyone could get behind. This was too much to miss and it only happened once a year, so, they would have to make do with this information and prepare accordingly. With everyone fired up and raring go, Misaki liked the shift in energy. Now they had something they could all work towards and focus on in the midst of the other worries that had sprung up.

Sports festival, huh? She thought. I wonder how they're going to run this year... it always ends in a battle royale type of event. That means we'll probably wind up fighting each other in battles. I suppose I'll have to think about counters for everyone that I know. It would be interesting to face off against people that she didn't even know yet and it would be even more intriguing to face off against the others that she had just started to learn more about. There was no doubt in her mind that the next week was going to be a very long one.


"Good to see you again, Misa!"

"You look like you have been living in this classroom."

"If Powerloader would let me do that then you know I would. I still have to go home every day."

"A break is a good thing, you know?"

"Never heard of her."

That response prompted Misaki to shake her head and sigh.

Mei was... for the lack of a better word, covered in a healthy amount of ash and grease. It was uncommon to find her in a state of disrepair, actually, it seemed to be her default state. For as long as Misaki had known her, she knew that if you wanted to find Hatsume Mei, the best way to do it would be by looking for nuts and bolts and dirt on the floor. Sooner or later you would find a frazzled Hatsume at the end of the trail with a wild grin on her face and an enthusiastic thrust of her arm.

You couldn't get things right if you didn't get a little messy in the process. That was her saying!

Things hadn't really changed that much since they were in middle school.

The first time that she met Mei she had been being bullied by the students from one of the other classes. She had been unphased by the action, but Misaki could see that she was frustrated with it. It had been rather cruel just to bother someone because of their interests; The minute she caught a glimpse of it, Misaki sprung into action and helped Mei out by helping her carry her gadgets and papers out of the building and back to her house. Mei talked of being able to create anything if she put her mind to it, and Misaki took her up on that by helping her test some of those gadgets.

She had never really had a test subject before, so the fact that someone wanted to help her out meant a lot. A lot of crazy hijinks ensued during those years thanks to mishaps. Mari wound up getting dragged into that mess not that long after she started, and although she and Mei tended to butt heads every now and again, those two were just as good friends as she and Mei were. Those times where the three of them were out in her backyard working on projects together were some of her fondest memories.

Misaki took her headset off from her ears and held it out to Mei to inspect. She then took her time to explain what had happened with her quirk, how she had been able to pull someone into the time slip just by grabbing onto them and activating her quirk, and how that accelerated the side effects of her quirk hitting her by half. She thought it might have been that if she held onto more than one person then it would have hit her even faster than it had by just using one person. However, she hadn't been able to induce the effects since that first incident.

The main components of this device were to help Misaki know when she was about to hit her limit. It was kind of a training device in that way, and because of it, Misaki had been able to length her time using her quirk bit by bit over the last few years. There were a few features that were in a beta stage, like, detecting opponents before they could approach her by setting off a certain type of vibration that was different from the one that alerted her to her time limit, and a few that Mei was keeping under wraps until she could figure out.

Mei pursed her lips. She handed it back to Misaki not long after she toyed with some of the settings, and Misaki returned the device back to its spot.

Her determined smile never left her face. "I'm going to work on designing the next model of this baby! It is getting a little outdated. I am thinking about changing up how we handle the sensors. You also need some limiters for your vertigo! I have been thinking of offset weights to help that issue out. Perhaps something with retention. Oh. I have so many ideas for this new and exciting baby that I can't stop thinking about it! I have been up most of the night playing with my plans! There are so many things that I can do and so many possibilities left untested! We are charting untapped waters! We are going to make something that will blow everyone out of the sea, Misaki! What do you think about that one?"

Misaki wasn't surprised by that change in attitude. Knowing that she had been awake that long meant that Hatsume probably forgot to get something to eat again and Misaki had planned for this happening. She tugged out a bento from her bag and thrust it into Mei's hands in response. "I am going to sit here until you finish that. Okay?"

Mei stared at Misaki and dropped her head, defeated.

There was no arguing with Misaki and winning!


On her way back to class after making sure that Hatsume ate everything that had been put in front of her, she ran into Todoroki who had been seemingly waiting for her, or somebody to come by. She paused to gestured to herself as if that was what he was waiting for and when he nodded his head, she couldn't help but wonder what was on his mind and what he wanted to talk about. Perhaps it was possible that he was thinking ahead about the festival and the best way to get to the top. It wasn't far from her mind, either, nor had it been far from the mind of her friends, as she had gotten an earful from Hatsume before she could get too far from the door about how great the advertising was going to be during the festival!

Maybe he wanted to hash out his battle plans? ...No, Todoroki didn't seem like the type to talk about that so openly with anyone. So, as she tried to discern what he was going to ask she was surprised by what he actually said on his phone: Midoriya. What do you think of his quirk?

Midoriya, huh?

Well, she had seen the golden trio of Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya head off for lunch together but they had been stopped by All Might who had seemed to be interested in Midoriya. Now that she thought about it, All Might seemed to spend a lot more time with him than the rest of the other students, and Midoriya seemed to have some kind of connection to him that didn't exactly fit like the other students. Like, how he had seemed to rush into the fray with the villains the other day like he knew something that they didn't know.

Well, Midoriya's quirk, if he ever learned how to control it, would make a top contender for the festival. She wasn't discounting him now, but for him to beat out everyone he would have to make a miracle. Todoroki seemed strangely interested in him, and she had noticed that he had been paying more and more attention to them over the past couple of days. It only seemed to be more heated the longer time went on, and perhaps it was what they both saw at the USJ that finally made him ask someone.

Misaki pursed her lips and began to type a reply: Well, he's self-destructive but we both know that. I haven't exactly seen anyone has a strength-boost quirk so strong that it destroys the body of its user, so he's already kind an oddball. All I've noticed is that he frankly copies a lot of All Might's moves when he's fighting. It's all those destructive punches.

Todoroki was quick to read. It was obvious that he had reached the same conclusion that she had. But, he was thinking harder about it than she ever had; Misaki just assumed that he was just a big fan of his, and since their quirks had a lot in common, it was easier for him to emulate his idol than to try and figure out how else to handle it.

He nodded his head, agreeing with her words: I see. You think their quirks are alike as well, then.

Misaki couldn't say for certain on the subject. But, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. She just never considered it. She kept typing away on her device for a bit longer: You know, it's probably possible that All Might has taken him under his wing. He might be getting extra training from him on the side or something. It's possible their quirks are more alike then we know, since nobody really knows what exactly All Might's quirk is like. I'm not really sure. All Might did take Midoriya with him for lunch earlier, I saw both of them together when I was going over to the Support class to meet with my friend.

It was like she was on the money. Todoroki was acting very strangely, strange as far as she knew. She didn't really know him all that well but as far as she could tell from her time with him in and out of class, there was something that was always underneath the surface just waiting to burst open. She couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something bothering him and he really wouldn't let whatever it was, go. He was clearly thinking long and hard about Midoriya and All Might, but why... she wasn't sure.

It was worth asking.

Misaki dared to type it out and then showed Todoroki: Why are you asking, anyway?

The look in his eyes darkened. It was like a sea of storm clouds were hovering over him and about to explode in a crackle of thunder and lightning. He didn't say anything for a moment. Then, he responded: I'm going to be the number one hero and if he's somehow related to All Might then he's nothing but an obstacle in my way and I need him to move so I can complete my goals.

She should have expected that.

Bakugou and now Todoroki... there were so many of her classmates that were tunnel vision set on becoming the number one hero. It was like they didn't see anything else but that.

Her goals of becoming a hero didn't just lay in getting to the top and decimating others. She wanted to be able to become a hero that any kid could look at and see themselves. When she was young there weren't any heroes out there that had a disability that proudly fought and showed it off without hesitating for a moment. She decided very young that she wanted to be out there and proud of herself, limitations or no. She could be just as strong and great as anyone else out there. Discrimination was always going to be there but the empathy and understanding that people could learn could always grow and exist in such a way that made it even just the smallest amount easier for people to exist.

Kindness could always outweigh hatred.

Getting to the top of the roster just didn't come to her mind as the number one thing to do. However, talking to these boys about it seemed to be like punching a brick wall. It was dense and hard, and you wouldn't be able to get through it without smashing it down or putting a door in. You couldn't through to people like that without getting ready to fight. A good slap to the face could be warranted if they were in the right setting, and man, she couldn't wait to be able to take on Bakugou if it came to it.

She would get him what for and wipe that stupid look off of his face.

He'd never dare to call her a plum ever again!

If this was the game that they were going to be playing then she would keep her head up high and take on the challenges. After all, this was about securing a notable name for yourself and getting a good internship. She wasn't about to let the boys get ahead of her just because she had different goals than they did. She found herself grinning in a way that rivaled Hatsume: Don't forget about me, Todoroki. This tournament means every person for themselves once it starts. I'm also aiming for the top and if we have to face off again, I'd love to see how it'll turn out this time. If your quirks are fast enough to stop me from using my quirk or if I'm too fast for you to stop.

He didn't seem deterred by that fact. If we have to face off then I won't hold back against you, either, Hisakawa.

Misaki didn't miss a beat as she left him with her parting words: You better not, Todoroki. I want to fight you at one hundred percent with your fire and ice.

The expression that crossed Todoroki's face as she walked him and headed back in the direction of the class was dark. It was like the mention of his fire quirk had left him feeling sour. The last time he had used his flames, there had been a moment of hesitation in his actions but she hadn't thought much of it at the time because he probably hadn't ever been bested by someone before. He was the son of the number two hero, a man that was known for his powerful and massive fire quirk, why would he seem so grim and withdrawn at the mention of it?

One thing was for certain, there was a lot more to her classmates than what was on the surface.


AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Hm, well, it's getting a little tense in here, isn't it? Misaki has made herself clear to Todoroki and now he seems to be on the same list as Bakugou, although, she doesn't want to fight him as much as she wants to fight Bakugou. She really wants to give him a good talking to for that stupid nickname, but we'll have to wait and see if it happens, won't we?

REVIEWER RESPONSE.

akagami hime chan: Kiri is very sorry that his feral friend has an attitude. It's like trying to control an angry pomeranian and he is doing his best out there!