("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 Thirteen

New Perspective


It was the day after the sports festival when Misaki went down to run to the store for a few things. She had paused midway down the steps as she noticed that Mari and Inari were walking into the building and heading in her direction. It was the first time either of them had seen each other outside of school in weeks, and while there was this air of uncomfortable unease, it was actually nice to know that they were still living in the same place and this could happen. She had been wanting to talk to her, but she hadn't had the chance to do it after the games.

The first one to notice Misaki hadn't been Mari, it was actually her younger brother, who upon meeting the Misaki's gaze began to wave and pull at his sister's hand to her attention. Mari looked down at Inari with a raised eyebrow and he thrust a hand in her direction and waved. She had a nervous look on her face but she still waved at her friend.

"Hello, Inari, Mari." She greeted as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Inari grinned ear to ear, his pink locks bobbing with his head as he bounced up and down. He was really a bundle of energy that nobody could ever control, and it was cute. "Hello, Misa! You did really good in the games yesterday!"

Oh, so Inari had been watching everything. Misaki hadn't expected that knowing how their Mom felt about heroes, but it was possible that he had been watching at school or something where she couldn't control what he was watching or anything. Misaki pat the top of his head, "Thank you. I am sure that you're proud of your sister, too, right?"

"Mhm!"

Mari hadn't said anything yet. It was obvious that she was nervous about what they needed to talk about, but she didn't know how to bring it up or even where to begin.

Misaki glanced at Mari for a moment and then she looked back at Inari. "Inari, do you mind if I borrow your sister?"

"Sure! I'm going back home, okay?" Inari nodded his head, and then looked between Mari and Misaki, before bounding up the stairs to go back to his own devices leaving the two of them alone.

The two girls headed outside of their apartment building and sat out front together underneath a tree. Neither of them said anything at first, they just sat there for a moment. It wasn't until Misaki broke that awkward feeling that either of them began to dump out what they were feeling. "How are your eyes? I know they have to be hurting a bit."

"They're alright. I need to keep hydrating for the next first days otherwise I think Recovery Girl will kick my butt." Mari adjusted her glasses after that. She didn't have to wear them all that often, but when she did, she was always a little shy about it. These were a pair of baby blue lenses that she had picked out a while ago. She only wore them when she was reading things or when she overused her quirk and her eyes ached too much to read all the little details.

Misaki could only smile sheepishly. "Yeah. I know the feeling. Grandma and Recovery Girl got onto me for overusing my quirk too. I still have a big headache."

"Your Grandma stopped you from wandering into stuff this time, right?" Mari inquired, a little laugh leaving her lips at the memory that popped into mind.

The last time she had seen Misaki overdo something like that she had been in her apartment and was always three steps away from what she intended. It wasn't like she wanted to walk around off balance but her body had other plans. Misaki had walked straight into an opened door and flopped onto the ground while she and Atsuko laughed. She had insisted that she could handle it herself and that hadn't gone as planned.

Mari hadn't been able to stop laughing that first time. But she was no better off because when she had to protect her eyes from the weather she had to wrap them up good and tight. She was basically without sight and she too would wind up walking into something because she couldn't help it. The two of them were just that brand of helpless.

Misaki puffed out her cheeks. "I didn't get up this time. Shut up."

"I guess we both have a lot to learn," Mari agreed, that smile still on her face. "I saw you out there with Bakugou. You pushed it even harder against him then you did with me."

"I do not have an excuse for that. I just really wanted to sucker punch his stupid face." Misaki's mouth was set into a line. She wasn't kidding about that, but the feeling was rather mutual as far as she knew. "He and I sort have this whole rival thing going on. You would not believe the last couple of weeks even if I told you."

Mari looked down at her lap for a moment. "I missed a lot because of my actions. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

Misaki shook her head. "No. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, Mari. I should have tried harder to get through to you."

She meant that. She meant every word of it. She didn't realize that Mari was dealing with things a lot worse then she had in the past and she had just wished that she kept trying to reach out to her instead of letting things go quiet. Both of them had made a lot of mistakes since they had started high school, but that didn't mean that they couldn't make things right.

It just started with actually talking about it.

Mari's hands began to shake as she tried to piece together her next statement. "I did not make it easy. I was the one trying to dodge you. I thought that I had to do everything on my own to prove to my Mom that I'm strong. But... I realize now that that wasn't the right thing to do. I should have listened to what Mei said to me back at the start. I should have been honest about what was bothering me."

Misaki rested her hand against Mari's for a moment. She smiled, although it was small.

"We both messed up. Let's just say that instead of apologizing over and over," she said.

"Yeah. Otherwise, we might be here all night." Mari snorted.

The two girls settled back into comfortable ease after. They began to talk about everything that had happened and everything had gone wrong; From Mari's mistakes all the way up to the smallest thing that had happened in her classes with Shinso, and for Misaki, how she had settled in nicely with her classmates and how she wanted to fight Bakugou every time they two of them wound up alone. They had a lot to catch up on, but it felt like they could do it without worrying about hurting the other now.

It felt great for both of the girls to know that they still had their best friend.

They chatted about this and that until the big subject came up. Misaki listened very carefully as Mari finally admitted why her Mother had been so adamant against heroes all these years, as well. The little dots had come together after she filled in the pieces. In hindsight, she should have known what had happened but she hadn't even known anything had happened until her Dad wasn't around anymore. He often wasn't home anyway as she hadn't seen the man a lot when they were kids, as he was often on the clock and working many hours.

But things had changed a lot after that incident; Misaki hadn't noticed because she was a kid. It was a lot to take in at once but she did it, and she reassured Mari the entire time.

Misaki had nothing to say when she was done but: "I'm sorry."

Mari shook her head. She knew that it could have been solved if she had just told her friend what was bothering her so bad. "You don't have to be. But, yeah. This is why she made make a deal with her about my dreams when school started and she wouldn't stop breathing down my neck every single chance she got. I'm just tired of her thinking that my dreams have anything to do with what happened back then, and I was finally honest with her last night about everything. I told her that I'm going to follow my dreams no matter what she thinks about it. She still thinks her point was proven because I got a little reckless but she's not going to stop me from attending U.A."

"Really? You stood up to your Mom?" Misaki was amazed to see that.

Mari had never been able to do that.

She was always too scared to tell her Mom what she was thinking or what she wanted, but to think that she had stood her ground made her heart swell. She was so very proud of her friend. But, she knew at the same time that it had to hurt on some level for Mari to know that no matter what she did, her Mom wasn't going to believe in her dreams. It was good that Mari could acknowledge that she could do what she wanted without pleasing her Mom, but it couldn't stop the fact that it likely stung.

It was only inevitable.

When two conflicting views come into contact with each other, it was only a matter of time until things exploded.

After Hatsume and Misaki had tried to put it through her thick skull during the festival, Mari finally got it. She finally understood what she wanted in life and how to fight for it despite what stood in her way. If you wanted to be a hero you had to be ready to sacrifice it all for the greater good. Mari was willing to face her monster in spite of how scared she was, and after she spoke her mind - her Mother just went quiet and said she could keep attending U.A.

"I'm going to become a hero no matter what she thinks," Mari smiled. "I know I can do it because I have people in my life now that really believe in me, you, Mei, and even Shinso. Anything can happen from here on out but I think I'm ready to face that."

"I'm so proud of you, Mari." She said. Misaki's eyes began to swell with tears. She threw her arms around Mari and hugged her for the longest few minutes of their lives.

When the two of them pulled away, Mari was a little embarrassed by the fact that she couldn't quite cry as much as her heart wanted to, but even so, a few slipped from her eyes as she gently rubbed them away. She was going to have chug more water when she got back to her apartment. "Thank you, Misa. If it wasn't for you and Mei beating it into my head then I never would have remembered what it was that I wanted to do with my life."

Misaki shook her head at that. "Hey. Give yourself some credit. You did this on your own. We just lent a little help."

Mari couldn't help but tease her to lighten the mood. "Hey, I'm the actual crybaby here. Don't you try and steal my thunder."

Their conversation for the rest of the time they spent together was about everything they had been up since the school year started and all they had not been able to talk about until now. It also went on to talk more about what they would be doing the rest of the year with each other, and Hatsume, of course. It was like nothing had ever been wrong between them. This feeling was something neither of them wanted to take for granted anymore. They really had to try their hardest not to let something come between them again.

Misaki hugged her best friend and waved goodbye as she began to venture into the city. It was returning back to normal. That conversation had proved their friendship could last any storm. But, Mari wouldn't know it until a few days later, she realized she should have helped Misaki that afternoon and not left her alone.

It was hard enough to be someone like Misaki, but it was even harder to deal with the sudden onslot of celebrity.


After the break and after everyone had settled down from the events had transpired during the festival, life had gone back to normal, well, a new normal for them, but something that felt right. Misaki boarded the train for school with her friends often when they would in middle school. Mei and Mari were always next to her, and that had returned. When the new year had begun she had walked the line by herself after leaving her apartment but now they were back to doing things together.

It was a new and old welcomed routine.

Today it was raining and dogs when they arrived at the station. Misaki was the only one to have the foresight to bring an umbrella this time around, so the three huddled together and made their way to U.A. It was kind of hilarious but really, the only one of them who seemed to keep an eye on these little things was Misaki. Mei was always invested in other things, and Mari tended to rush ahead and not worry too much about this or that. They would be drenched to the bone if it wasn't for their purple-haired friend.

"You knew it was going to rain, didn't you, Mari? You could have told me." Mei looked between the two of them.

Mari let out a huff as she glanced over at Mei, "Just because I have a water quirk does not mean I know when it rains,"

"Actually. I warned both of you last night." Misaki interjected, shaking her head at the two of them. "I think you were too busy working on another project and I think you were too busy helping Inari with his homework to even respond to me."

"It was an important baby!" Mei said, simply.

"Inari really doesn't understand his English lessons!" Mari argued.

After a bit of chastising and reminding them to listen to her messages when she sent them, the three girls split up and headed to their respective classes. When she entered the classroom, she noted that things had seemingly gone back to normal. Everyone was congregated into their little groups as they chatted about this and that, and Misaki didn't have to guess that they were talking about the festival. Once that had aired, everyone had a good idea of who they were and for those that had made it to the finals and stood their ground? Man, they were swamped by everyone from here to Tokyo.

She and Mari and even Mei had had interactions with people over the break, of course, not many people came around when Mei was around as they had noted her eccentric nature, but still, it was strange to be approached by people out of the blue.

The first few times it left a sour taste in her mouth because people kept trying to see if she was really hard of hearing, and it got to the point that even Mari opened her mouth to tell people off for praising her without warning but then treating Misaki like a petulant child. It had reminded her of the way some of her classmates in primary school would act. Sometimes they would shout or do things next to her head just to see if she was faking, or if she would even react to it.

Usually, when she had instances like the one she had gone through, she could hold her ground and bite back against comments if need be but... it was harder as of late.

It didn't matter that she had gotten in her dream school and that she was proving that she could more than capable as a hero.

People still looked at Misaki like she was one of a few things which included: an inspiration-porn story that proved that anyone could do anything despite everyone having personal limitations and not one person defining a whole group, one of those a charity case stories that got in because she had a disability, and the worst of all, a liar who was acting like she was deaf.

Someone would approach her and say something along the lines of: "I can't believe a girl like you is actually deaf!"

If she could muster a verbal response, they would say: "Wow, you don't sound deaf at all."

People without limitations and able bodies would just laugh: "You know if that girl can do it then nobody like that should whine about anything."

She could often imagine what people were saying when she turned her back on them: "She's totally faking it, I bet. You get more pity points for stuff like that, don't you think?"

A few would be brazen and outright ask her: "Are you actually deaf?"

The worst all of would come when people would actually play games and sneak up on her, doing little tricks and ploys to try and somehow prove that she wasn't deaf.

Those things were among what she had dealt with in life but for so long she held her ground and laughed it off. Or, sometimes she wouldn't even know something had happened because Mari or Mei wouldn't let her know that people were being cruel, they would deal with it half the time. It wasn't like words could really hurt her when she knew those things weren't true, right?

Despite the fact she was back into her safe zone she could still feel looking at her. Eyes. All she could feel was eyes on her back. Sometimes it could be nerve-wracking to be unable to hear people, this was no truer than when Misaki knew that people were staring at her, people were looking at her and talking about her behind her back.

Then, everything began to collapse when she answered one person's question. They would fall into line with those questions in different ways and then she would feel steamed.

It was a non-stop barrage on her character and it was... exhausting.

On top of dealing with people knowing who she was and how badly she wanted to be a hero, she had to deal with people thinking less of her for something out of her control. She had always tried to be someone that didn't act out, that didn't say something angry when things didn't go her way but man, it was comments like that that made her want to scream. Those feelings were just bottled up inside and she couldn't stand it. It was like when she was around Bakugou and he pulled her trigger, Misaki just wanted to let it out.

To not be the nice go and just lose it.

But she couldn't do that. She had seen how people vilified others and thought less of someone for doing that. It was pointedly seen when she saw what people did to Bakugou, but that was getting ahead of herself here.

The fact of the matter was, she had a hard few days off.

Misaki might have pulled her hair out if it weren't the fact that she was approached by a very nervous child clutching at the coat-tails of their mom's leg at the end of the day. That child signed a very small "hello" at her, and her hardened heart softened to mush. It turned out that that kid was partially deaf and had been having a hard time lately, but when they noticed Misaki communicating with sign language during the sports festival, they had become glued to their tv and rooted for her to win.

She spent a good twenty minutes talking to that kid and their parent about how she got into U.A., and how they could do it too if they wanted.

Despite the fact that she knew many people would think ill, it was the fact of the matter that kids like that one were out there and when they saw somebody like Misaki trying to become a hero... Seeing yourself reflected on the television with somebody like yourself... that meant a lot to people. It rejuvenated her goal of becoming a hero as soon as she could. It was difficult to live up to expectations that people put on you, though. So, she was going to do her best to live up to her potential.

It was funny, though.

As she took her seat in the class, she made eye contact with Todoroki and nodded her head.

While she had to deal with that time and time again, someone with a similar disdain didn't have as much trouble. People could tell just by glancing at Todoroki that he had some visual issues, but they didn't forth-right go out of their way to bother him. Be the fact that he was the son of a big hero, or that his quirks were so damn powerful, or the fact that he just gave off this "fuck off" energy, he didn't get as much backtalk as she did.

But he empathized with it, and as a matter of fact, she had mentioned her experience to Todoroki through text after it had happened. She had just felt so damn giddy that someone had looked at her and thought something good. She hadn't even given it a second thought, she just had to tell someone and he had finally shared his number with her, as everyone else had already been forced to hand over their digits to Iida for his classroom alert system.

His response was polite, for once. After hearing about what she had dealt with in the past, his vitriol about the ableists out there hadn't been very forth-coming when she mentioned the cruelty of the world. He hadn't had to deal with things as much as she did in this regard, but Todoroki just understood there was a line people shouldn't cross.

That's what she appreciated about him.

It was easy to talk to him.

Unlike a certain pineapple in the front of the room who sat just a bit in front of her. Normally she would have scowled when she saw of his head, but today, she couldn't do that. Speaking of the sports festival, the minute that she got home, she turned on her tv and searched for the battles that she had missed while she was unconscious. She had first paused when she was glancing over her own matches, and she pushed through those to see what had happened to everyone else.

It wasn't until she got to the end of the matches that she was glued to the edge of her seat. Both Todoroki and Bakugou put up a really hard fight. It looked like two powerhouses going for the gold, at least, that's what it started out as.

Bakugou put his everything into it. He created a firestorm much stronger than anything else that he had made that day, and when he went in to make the big hit... things didn't go as planned.

However, Todoroki hesitated at the last second and extinguished his flames.

She had watched, with bated brief, as the rubble and dust from the field to reveal that Todoroki had been knocked out of the ring and Bakugou was still in the middle of it. She had seen the desperate look in his red eyes, the way that his normally hard expression turned to mush as he pleaded with Todoroki for this to not be over. The normal look of pride and aggression had faded away into something that she had once see in his face before. It made her feel... strange to see him in such an odd way.

Her heart clenched.

Bakugou had looked at her like that right before she lost consciousness. Winning meant nothing to him if he could do things right, she now understood his perspective on that matter. They may not have seen eye to eye but that didn't mean that she couldn't feel for him. What was worse was that nobody respected how he felt about this, they just tied him up like a dog and made him take it.

She thought that was wrong, even to somebody who could be as feral as Bakugou Katsuki was.

All he wanted was to win the right way, the way that proved his power was genuinely stronger than someone else. It wasn't asking much, and the fact that nobody thought to ask him or talk through this was kind of insulting. Of course, she could never voice these feelings aloud to him as it might have rubbed him the wrong way.

Misaki still wanted to wipe the floor with his stupid face, though, don't get her wrong; She just... viewed him a little different now. Of course, that would probably subside the minute he said something to her, but for now, it was what it was.

She was torn from her thoughts when Aizawa entered the classroom. He was looking much better than he had a while ago, and all of his wrappings had been removed, meaning that Recovery Girl had likely taken care of most of the problems on the outside. She may have gone a little overboard but that wasn't anything that couldn't be healed by a lot of rest and that seemed like something that Aizawa had covered.

His news was that: "You will be coming up with your hero aliases today."

Most of the class was thrilled by that statement, of course, he had to also bring up the fact that the drafts had also finally been completed by the pros. "It's all based on who the pros think will be the readiest in two or three years. Interest may grow or wane over the years, however. Things can be revoked very easily. There's usually a spread but the top two took the most spotlight."

Misaki blinked.

He wasn't kidding when he said that either. Todoroki was at the top with over four thousand offers, with Bakugou right underneath him with over three thousand offers.

The margin underneath him was more sensible and underneath four hundred at best. They were first-years, offers were usually fairly low when it came to who got what and who wanted who. Her eyes caught sight of her name after a bit of trailing downward; Hisakawa had a decent amount next to it. She was in the same pool as those with fewer offers - smack dab between Yaoyorozu Momo and Kaminari Denki with only one hundred and eighty-nine offers from the Pros.

The class had different reactions to the news and whispers seemed to break out between them all; She could tell some were deflated by the news, some perplexed, and how angry Bakugou was at his own offers. It was possibly a combination of Bakugou's swelling and massive pride and whom Todoroki's father was that would explain the gap between the offers and the actual winner of the Festival, she mused.

Aizawa eased the fears of the class by making it clear that no matter if they got offers or not, they were still going to go out into the field. It wasn't long after that that the door to the classroom had been opened and in strolled Midnight of all people with an amused expression. Clearly, she was in charge of the lesson today and it was business as usual.

She laid it on heavy.

The names that they choose today could very well be the name that stuck with them forever; For some people, that was a bad thing, and for others, well, it made them look good. You could tell a lot about a person just from their name and heroes that was everything. It said everything and almost anything that needed to be said about you. Just as important as your costume could be for displaying your type of hero and attitude, your name was going to cement you in everyone's memory.

Misaki watched as people were approved and shot down time and time again. Aoyama got the seal of approval with only a minor change, and Mina was dejected after her first idea fell flat on its face. With Midnight's blunt responses and sparkling clarity, it made everyone stop and really think about what they wanted their name to be before they were embarrassed in front of everyone. A few more students wound up going before she did, Asui having chosen a very gentle name and Kirishima leaning towards a hard name, so on and so forth.

The tension from that point dissolved as everyone announced their names to the class, some were obvious choices and some were clever wordplay that pleased Midnight enough to let them slip by without too much judgment or chastisement from her words. There were only a few that she told to revise or think long and hard about - that included Bakugou who, actually wanted to be known as King Explosion Murder for some reason - and Todoroki who had just settled on his first name had slipped by with a nod.

Misaki had already picked out a name that she liked when she was young, just like Asui. It wasn't a question of if it was the right choice, it was a question of if she could live up to it. She was a light in the night that was going to light up and then recede, over and over again. This name was one she held close to her heart. She scribbled out the name on her placard and took it to the front of the room with a small sigh against her lips; It read The Time-Stopping Hero: Stella Nova.

Just as Shooting Star had lit up the star during her short time as a hero, she wanted to be the Stella Nova that did the same.

"Out of this world, Hisakawa! You were inspired by your Grandmother, right? Well, taking inspiration from someone can leave a lot for you to live up to. I hope you're ready."

Was that a thumbs up from Midnight?

Misaki smiled, if only out of relief. With that thought in mind, she returned to her seat feeling a lot better than she had. The last two that were left were Iida and Midoriya, and surprisingly, Iida just went with his name. There was something off about his expression but Midnight accepted him through because it was simple. As for Midoriya, he had chosen to go with something nobody expected. It was likely his way of reclaiming a phrase that had been used against him for a very long time, the very name that Bakugou had often called him out with time and time again.

Midnight was as surprised as the class to see what he had chosen as his name. "Huh? You sure about that, Midoriya?!"

Midoriya nodded his head. A little smile came onto his face as he addressed his fellow classmates about his decision. "Yeah. I always hated it. But then someone... helped me see it in a different light. It took me by surprise but, it made me happy at the same time. I'm the Deku who gives it all. This will be my hero name."

After a quick break for lunch, Aizawa let them know that these name choices were done ahead of the first line of internships.

"Your internships start in a week. For this all-important decision, I'll be handing out personalized lists to those who were not drafted. You may choose from among those who scouted you. For those who were not drafted... the list I just passed out contains forty agencies from around the country willing to accept interns. You will choose from that list." Aizawa explained, pressing his fist against the desk for a moment. "Each has a different specialty and region. Give your choice some real thought. Submit your choices by this coming weekend."

Everyone was left to their own devices to pilfer through the listings to see what they wanted and who might be the best suited for them. Misaki already had somebody in mind and she was glad to see that that name was on her list. She had just happened to hear about this hero in passing on the internet not that long ago, and the fact that their quirks could have blended well together made her excited! It was like finding a needle in a haystack, it wasn't often that you struck an ideal candidate right off the bat.

She could feel eyes on her back, though.

Misaki glanced over her shoulder and noticed that both Uraraka and Midoriya had noticed that she had already finished her choice.

Uraraka pursed her lips. She tugged her phone from her pocket and began to type away: "The Lolita Hero: Hime? I haven't heard that name before. Is she a new hero?"

Misaki nodded her head in confirmation. She glanced back at her paper and then back at the two of them: "Yeah. Her debut was a couple of months ago. She rescued a U.A. student who got caught in the crossfire of a villain attack, and that was enough to promote her to start her own agency. She and Mount Lady sort of had the same luck this past year. Her quirk is a lot like that boy from General Studies that you fought, Midoriya. She can control people as long as she sings her commands and they can hear them."

Midoriya put two and two together quickly. "Oh! Her quirk wouldn't affect you, then. That means you can work on your own quirk in the meantime while she holds villains at bay!"

"Exactly!"

She hopped out of her chair, deciding that she should go ahead and hand in her applications but she paused for a moment as she passed Todoroki, and then she took a step back. Misaki noticed that he was staring at his own recommendations. He had a lot to go through but he was already decided so it seemed by her speculation from afar. There were so many choices and he really had free reign of his choices with all of those offers from heroes all over the country. The scrawl of his writing was clean and neat but the words seemed wrong.

She frowned at the sight.

Something about that made her concerned, like, a feeling of a pit inside of her stomach.

Todoroki noticed her at that moment, and she shook her head. "You're choosing your father, Todoroki? Isn't... that something you wouldn't want to do?"

Todoroki was quiet for a moment as he looked back at his paperwork. He looked back at her, "I may not like him but I could learn something when it comes to my fire abilities, that's all."

She sighed. Boys, huh. It made sense that these guys wanted to go for the top dogs that they could get their hands on but she didn't understand why they would put themselves through some nonsense like that. She pursed her lips, "While I don't think that's completely a great idea, I'll stand by your decision if that's what you wanna do."

Todoroki nodded his head at that. It was as if he were saying thanks for that.


The day that began their internships had come faster than everyone had expected.

All of the students of Class 1A were gathered together at the train station early that morning as Aizawa made sure that everyone was accounted for. He was also there to see the group off. He gave them a once over just to make sure everyone had what they needed, costumes and all and once he was sure that everything was in order.

Aizawa nodded, "You've got your costumes, right? Wearing them in public is strictly prohibited, but don't drop them. All of you, be on your best behavior! Now go."

She had hold of her case and backpack for the internship. It was going to be a long week but she was prepared for being out in the field with real heroes that she didn't know. Her train was just up ahead of her and waiting for her to hop on. It would be a long trip and there was an urge to put that off as long as she could do it.

Misaki paused, and she caught sight of Todoroki eyeing the golden trio just beyond them to his left, Iida, Uraraka, and Midoriya. Those three were always with each other, and it seemed like something wasn't right. Well, she thought it was alright, but it seemed as though Todoroki didn't think that all was well with the three musketeers.

Misaki frowned and approached him. She rested her hand against his shoulder: "Hey, is something wrong, Todoroki?"

He looked back at Misaki, "...It's nothing," he said.

Misaki raised an eyebrow but didn't press on the subject. It was suspicious, to say the least. If Todoroki didn't want to mention it then it wouldn't be worth it to play a guessing game when they had to part ways so soon. Still, something must have been wrong at the very least curious if it had made him turn his attention away from his own travels.

She raised her hand to wave him off before rattling off one last message. "Well, alright, just making sure. Good luck this week. Don't hesitate to message me if you need to talk!"

The edge of his lips curled upwards just enough that she noticed. "Sure thing, Hisakawa."

He was gone just as fast as she had spoken to him. Misaki let out a little puff of air from her lips in a huff as she watched his retreating figure walk onto a train down the line from her. Even now, Todoroki still held all of his classmates to high formalities and only using their last names. She had told him at least four times to just use her name, but he ignored that.

Well, at least that was better than seeing somebody call her plum.

And so, the internships were officially started as the teens left their sensei and boarded their trains.

Misaki sat down in a seat after catching the door and hopping into the first seat she had noticed. She just wanted to get settled since it was going to be a very long trip of Okayama to get to Hime's hero department. She had started out in Musutafu near U.A., but the Hero Guild had stationed her in a different area with a wave of their hand. There were a couple of other heroes in that area but she couldn't quite recall which ones. At least it would be a relatively short time to spend collecting her thoughts.

Her bags tucked away and eyes out the window, the reflection in the window of the person sitting across from her caught her eye. She was so surprised by the figure that she blurted out:

"Bakugou?!"