Despite not really knowing each other—though that's totally not his fault, he did try—Shinsou and Yoarashi stick together in 1-B. Hitoshi sits right in front of the airbender anyway, so it's not hard to turn around and (attempt to) strike up a conversation with him.

"Good morning," he says plainly on the second day of school. He only managed to get a few sentences out of the bald kid on the first day, but that was a half day so the odds of more conversation today was much higher.

Yoarashi regards him with slightly-narrowed eyes and pursed lips. "Morning, Shinsou," he relents at last, his shoulders sinking down. His grey eyes dart back up to Hitoshi's face for a moment. "You look tired."

Hitoshi nods. "I don't sleep well at night."

"Is—" Yoarashi taps a finger on his desk erratically. Hitoshi gets the feeling he isn't the only one that received a death threat from an earthbender before the school year began. "Is, uh, that why you're called Snoozles?"

"I fell asleep on the train to school with Beifong," He drawls, keeping his voice even. Privately, he's just relieved Inasa's responding at all. "Standing up. And didn't wake up until the train was attacked by that Giganto-guy."

"Gigantomachia?" Yoarashi perks up with interest. "She told me about that, he ripped the top of the train car off! Sounded like a pretty awesome fight, Toph and I watched the news coverage when he got taken down..." Yoarashi grins, eyes going soft as he recounts the fight. He's not looking at Hitoshi anymore, and the smile on his face is tender. Because he's thinking of her, Hitoshi figures.

An odd surge of enmity trickles through him, shapeless but concentrated like strong coffee. Yoarashi addresses him again. "So you got a nickname from day one, huh?"

He nods, watching the taller boy more attentively than before. "She does it to everyone, doesn't she?"

Yoarashi dips his head in affirmation. "Everyone. She had me type in Endeavor's name on her phone, guess what it is?"

He raises an eyebrow, pushing away the peculiar feeling in his chest. "Hm, let's see… Flamehead? Grandpa? Number Two?"

"Mount Fuji-san," Yoarashi snickers as Hitoshi's eyes widen. "You can't tell him, he'll flip," he adds, as if the perils of doing so aren't obvious. Endeavor already hates everything, and hates Hitoshi more because of his mother, so why would he ever consider adding fuel to that fire?

"Not bad. Does Half-and-Half know?" Hitoshi wonders. He's actually met the younger Todoroki a few times—Toph was grounded after the UA entrance exam, but by the time spring rolled around Endeavor was lax enough with his punishment that Toph could hang out with a few people after school if she was back by 5pm—but he didn't know much about the Todoroki family as a whole.

"Half-and—? Shouto?" Yoarashi quirks an eyebrow at the nickname, but says nothing more on the subject. He must be used to Beifong's habit already, but Yoarashi doesn't know the extent of what her encouragement has done to Hitoshi's arsenal of insulting (or teasing) endearments. Mostly because physical appearances are fair game to him.

"Of course he does, Shouto changed his phone contact to the same thing." The airbender's eyes flit away for a moment. "He doesn't really get along with his dad, though. I wouldn't bring it up if I were you."

"Wasn't planning on it," Hitoshi rests his head on his forearm over his desk. "Last thing I want is more trouble with the Flame Hero."

It doesn't register in Hitoshi's head how it sounds until he glances back at Yoarashi, and remembers that he knows—he knows about Amon's Vision, and that Umeko Shinsou was killed by Endeavor. (Of course, there's also the fact that he told Endeavor about Toph's time as an illegal quirk fighter and witnessed the Number Two's terrifying and awe-inspiring anger firsthand, but the giant buzz-cut marshmallow sitting behind Hitoshi has no idea about any of that).

As such, there is no outright pity in the look Yoarashi gives him, but a divot between his eyebrows deepens in quiet consideration. Hitoshi still expects condolences or something like it when Yoarashi opens his mouth. Braces for it, with a harsh retort on the tip of his tongue.

"You'll sit with us all at lunch, right?" The bald boy asks brusquely.

Hitoshi blinks, deflating like a popped balloon. "Eh?"

Yoarashi drums his fingers on his desk some more, leaning precariously out of his seat towards him. "Us. Toph, Shouto. Me. Maybe more, I dunno. And you. Right?" Yoarashi's words are choppy and a little awkward, and it doesn't escape Hitoshi's notice that he won't make eye contact for more than a few seconds.

"You don't have to invite me," He inches back in his seat, pushing down new whorls of frustration in his gut. "I know Beifong's your friend too, but that doesn't mean we have to hang out."

Yoarashi can't even look him in the eye, so they really shouldn't be forcing something like this. And Hitoshi gets it. He does. Mom was—Umeko was a monster. Not everyone can forgive as easily as Beifong, especially not someone who lived through it like Inasa. It was nice enough that him and the Snowflake got along decently, but even that took a few weeks before they warmed up to each other. Mostly because Hitoshi accidentally called him Snowflake to his face.

"But—but I want to!" Yoarashi insists after a moment, finally leaping to his feet gracelessly. He has a determined look to his face now, or at least it's supposed to seem determined. It's more like he's glaring in encouragement, if that's possible. "We don't even know each other, so how can I say I don't want to hang out?! We should at least try. Right?"

"...Right," Hitoshi agrees, quietly intimidated by the intensity literally hovering over him now. Yoarashi went from zero to sixty way too fast. "I'll, um, stick around for lunch?" He adds clumsily.

"Great!" Yoarashi quips back, dangerously close to shouting. He steps to the side of his desk and suddenly bows violently forward, his scalp nearly brushing the floor. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinsou!"

"What the fuck," Hitoshi splutters as Yoarashi flings himself back into his seat. The whole class is looking at them now, sheesh. My heart is pounding, Hitoshi realizes in frank indignation. It's too early for this. Indigo eyes settle on grey ones. "We've already met."

"But now we're doing it properly! As friends!" Yoarashi points out, fire in his eyes. "And call me Inasa, it's shorter!"

Hitoshi rubs a hand over his face. "Ok, just don't—don't give yourself a concussion, it's too early for that." He doesn't offer his given name in return. Maybe that's rude, but whatever.

"I have a hard head!" Baldy assures him, flashing an easy smile. It doesn't strike Hitoshi as entirely honest, but neither is the smile he gives in return. Yoarashi's doing his best, but Hitoshi knows a front when he sees it. They're not buddies just because Inasa says so.

Toph's been pushing the issue for ages, adamant that they could all get along together... Hitoshi isn't so sure, but he'll try. Because it's Toph.


Far away from the heroics school—but much closer than one would imagine—two men meet in a brightly-lit cafe. They don't care for pretenses, or any normal cliches for men in their line of business.

If you really think about it, what is there to look at? In this day and age, people come in more shapes and sizes than ever. The ones with frightening looks still hide in the shadows, but that's always been the case. Now, though, they're not the only ones to fear. Sometimes, the most dangerous thing might be found in the most innocuous packaging.

One man flips through a packet of lab results while the other takes notes on a small tablet. Even upon a closer look, they look like economists or medical researchers. A hostess stops by, retrieving an empty mug of coffee and chattering about dessert suggestions.

"I promise you, it's not as easy as it looks," the tablet man comments lightly, tapping away. "Is it really worth the trouble?"

"It is," the older of the two men replies, blue eyes scanning over the documents serenely. His face, though weathered and tan, is handsome and masculine. He's much more pleasant to look at than most others at his age, tall and muscular beneath his ash gray suit. "They are worth the trouble."

Next to him, his partner seems meek and small, though he's of average height for a thirty-something year old, not counting the flexible antennae sprouting from his scalp. "Well, it's set up. Unless any of the pieces fall out of place, you'll have it next month."

"Will they?" The man's cool gaze darts up to meet the other's, and the tension between them swells and then breaks like an ocean wave. "I've waited too long to let this fall out of place."

"It won't fail," the younger man promises, shoulders stiff under the scrutiny of the man. "But I should point out—you were right to wait. This one looks promising. And he's getting weaker."

"They always say that," The man with blue eyes isn't convinced. "Yet he's cheering on a silly little league, like he has all the time in the world," he mutters with disdain.

"We won't let him," the other man insists slowly, reverently. "This time, our vision will prevail, Tarrlok."


"TOPH!" Inasa zooms past Hitoshi to scoop up the girl in a hug as soon as she reaches the cafeteria. That's what Hitoshi assumes Cueball meant to do, but she deftly avoids his arms and laughs. Hitoshi follows at a leisurely pace, giving a short nod of greeting to Todoroki and the stranger beside him.

"This is Momo—ah, Yaoyorozu." Half-n-Half catches himself mid-sentence, but he doesn't look sheepish. He gestures to the tall girl standing slightly behind him. She's pretty, like she belongs in a magazine, and wear her black hair in a shiny, spiky ponytail. "She will be sitting with us today."

By the look on Todoroki's face (and the looks on several classmates' faces), he has no idea what a fucking power move it is to escort two hot hero girls to lunch on the second day of school. While Hitoshi himself is too tired to actually express any surprise, other students around them are not. It's garnering a lot more attention than he would prefer. Hitoshi thinks he hears a blonde kid whisper "Leave some for the rest of us, holy shit," as he passes by, and a few girls swivel around to get a better look at the pretty red-and-white haired boy.

(Yeah, Todoroki is pretty too. It's more fact than opinion at this point.)

"Hi, Yaoyorozu-san," Hitoshi greets the taller girl with more respect than he'd usually give. Something about the way she carries herself screams formality, so he just goes with it. "I'm Shinsou."

"Nice to meet you, Shinsou-san," Yaoyorozu gives a short bow and a kind, reserved smile. Hitoshi releases a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Enough time has passed since the Cato Raid that people have forgotten his name.

"I'm Inasa Yoarashi," the airbender adds enthusiastically, and then he steps back to throw himself into another full-body bow, startling everyone in a five-foot radius. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yaoyorozu!"

"Oh my," Yaoyorozu covers her mouth (and a smile) with her hand. "Please do not injure yourself, Yoarashi-san."

Toph rolls her eyes. "What kind of greeting is that?" she asks critically. "You'll bash your head in that way."

"I'm just excited to see you all! Especially you, Toph!" He tries to grab her again, and the earth girl makes an 'x' with her arms, dodging.

"I saw you this morning, dummy, no need for more mushiness now," she insists, hands on her hips. Inasa deflates. Then his eyes target-lock onto Todoroki, and he gets the brunt of the airbender's affection instead. That hug looks borderline painful. Hitoshi hears him mumble something along the lines of "You got really heavy," to Inasa.

Hitoshi actually hasn't seen Toph since the semester started, so this is his first time seeing her in the uniform. She isn't wearing the gray blazer or a waistcoat over her dress shirt, nor does she have the standard red tie, and the shirt's white so you can kind of—I should stop staring, he decides, pulling his gaze up. "Uh, where's your tie? Isn't that mandatory?"

Toph, beautiful and poised as ever, scowls nastily and sticks out her tongue. Lovely. "I haven't been called out by Aizawa yet. There's no point learning to tie that stupid thing, I'm never wearing one after I graduate." Yaoyorozu gives an exasperated sigh. One of many to come, he's sure.

"The delinquent look, I see," Hitoshi hums in mirth, and her nose scrunches in annoyance as they get in line for food. Taking full advantage of his lanky figure, he stretches out an arm and flicks the pom pom on the side of Toph's headband for the hell of it. "Yaoyorozu-san, you must be in 1-A?" He asks the new girl, pulling away before Toph's fist can connect with his arm.

"Oh, yes," the girl confirms in a soft voice, watching the two of them in open curiosity. It's more than a little odd, like she's observing animals in an enclosure rather than fellow students. "I know Todoroki-kun from the recommended students' exam."

Ah, she's an elite, that explains it. Her mannerisms are like Toph's (rare) good habits, magnified tenfold. She was probably homeschooled like Snowflake. "That's cool, you must be strong," Hitoshi says. Yaoyorozu, unduly flattered by the compliment, mumbles a "thank you" as he turns back to Yoarashi and Beifong

"I can teach you how to tie a tie," Inasa offers earnestly to Toph, though he still has an arm hooked over Todoroki's shoulder. "It's not too hard. You can practice with mine!"

"Don't coddle me, Twinkles, it's not happening," Toph brushes off the idea entirely, picking out a lunch order. "How's 1-B? Make any enemies, Snoozles?"

You know me so well, He thinks sardonically. "Depends on if the Copypasta guy counts. He's so smug, but his quirk literally relies on using other people's quirks." Hitoshi glances at Inasa for his opinion.

"Monoma is everyone's enemy," Inasa muses seriously, finally releasing Snowflake. "He's mad 'cause he's not in your class."

"Do a lot of students feel that way?" Todoroki has entered the chat. Finally.

"Mostly just Copypasta," Hitoshi assures the dual-haired student. "He's blond, shorter than you and me, has a big fucking mouth." He doesn't actually say Watch out for that one, but Todoroki's eyes seem to flash in understanding. Yaoyorozu gasps quietly at his language, and Hitoshi just offers her a single arched eyebrow in challenge.

"That sounds familiar," Todoroki murmurs, looking down thoughtfully.

"Kendo is cool, though," Inasa continues energetically, as Yaoyorozu—shit, that name does not roll off the tongue—pouted a little and looks away from Hitoshi. She's too proper, he thinks, and Inasa exclaims, "I like her, she has really big hands!"

"No judgement, I guess everyone has their preferences," Hitoshi quips back, and Toph slaps his arm with a stifled laugh. Again, Momo gives him a look. This time Hitoshi intentionally grins impishly her way, and feels rather diabolical when she's clearly scandalized.

"Hm?" The airbender blinks at them, guileless. "No, I mean her hands get big, that's her quirk," he explains further, and now Hitoshi just feels bad for teasing.

"I'm just kidding, Air Boy," Hitoshi reveals gently, to appease both Momo and Inasa.

"It's alright, Shinsou," he says in an oddly low voice. "If you're into big hands I won't kinkshame you." Before Hitoshi even registers the clapback Yoarashi blazes onward. "Lizard Guy is probably the coolest guy in class!" Inasa informs them blithely. "He's very passionate, I like it!"

Inasa meets his eyes, and there's a new flinty edge to his gaze. Where the hell did that come from?

Toph is shaking with laughter, and will be dealt with in time. Momo just shakes her head, refusing to meet his eye. Snowflake, bless his cold heart, definitely heard and definitely doesn't care. "Lizard guy, that's Kamakiri," Hitoshi corrects Inasa reluctantly, dropping the hands thing for now. The lizard guy is about as tall as Yoarashi, and yes, he's passionate, but he's mostly just aggressive. "He's cool, but I wouldn't call him very cool-headed."

"There's a guy like that in 1-A too," Todoroki catches the grimace on Hitoshi's face, clearly not buying Inasa's version of events. "He almost bit Toph's head off before class started."

Todoroki scans the room for an empty table, and the four of them trail after him. It strikes Hitoshi that this is the first time he's starting a new school year with friends. He has some doubts about Inasa, but Todoroki is a decent guy and Toph's always stuck around. Momo is a nice surprise too. And compared to a lot of new students at UA, he's… pretty lucky to have a spot here. And he didn't even come to this school to make friends.

They sit around a smaller table and Hitoshi takes a thoughtful sip of water.

"Nah," Toph cuts in with a lazy wave of her hand. "Blasty had a fair claim. I bit his hand during the entrance exam." She takes a shameless bite of food.

"You bit him?" Todoroki repeats in mild surprise, as Hitoshi hacks up the water he snorted. "No wonder he hates you." Momo just shakes her head again, like she's already learned to expect this behavior. Good for her.

"What the heck, Toph!" Inasa laughs. "I didn't see that part!"

"De–lin–quent," Hitoshi says between breaths. Toph swats him hard on the back a few times 'to clear his airways'. A part of him expected it, and another part wonders if he has a problem for getting used to the mild physical abuse. "You realize we were fighting robots, not other students, Beifong."

"He was trying to intimidate me," she scoffs, scooping up noodles. "He scored the most villain points, yet he gets all up in my face for stealing his kills? Pfft. He's the delinquent, not me." She takes a pointed bite of food to end her statement.

"I don't think biting him really helps your case," Todoroki murmurs. "Regardless, I'd like to see how Bakugou fairs in a fight. He's so angry all the time, I don't think it'd be hard to beat him."

But Toph shakes her head, rather solemnly. "He fights smart," she grumbles the words reluctantly, and the honesty rattles Hitoshi. Toph doesn't hand out compliments like that so easily. "And his explosion quirk—that's freaking versatile."

"He seems pretty skilled," Yoarashi admits with a frown, poking at his plate before switching gears with almost breathtaking speed. "Oh, but is there a bird-headed boy in your class?! He was wicked cool in the entrance exam, he's got some kind of shadow monster in his belly! Now that's a hot-blooded hero!"

"That must be Tokoyami," Todoroki agrees, rolling with the conversation. "I have no idea how his quirk works."

"I believe he calls it Dark Shadow," Momo offers tentatively. "Though I'm not sure what his physical mutation has to do with that power."

"Tokoyami has a bird head? Like a bird-bird head?" Toph demands, uncharacteristically flummoxed. "I thought he just had a weird face, like the six-armed guy. Does he have a beak? He must have teeth to talk properly..."

"It that confuses you, wait till you meet Fukidashi," Hitoshi grins widely at the thought of Toph trying to make sense of the short guy with a speech bubble head. His power was nothing to scoff at, and Hitoshi didn't think he was weird because of his mutation, but he knew Toph was constantly in a crisis trying to match up mutation-quirks with average human physiology. "I think his quirk is pretty comical."

"Comical! Ha, you're right!" Inasa repeats gleefully. Toph's eyes are narrowed, and Momo seems to realize there's a joke going over their head, but Hitoshi and Inasa never explain it.


That afternoon, All Might enters the classroom the way Toph imagines Twinkletoes does every day. "I am here! Coming through the door like a normal teacher!" He exclaims with boundless energy. Maybe Twinkles was onto something when he prattled about hot-blooded heroes. "It's time for your first hero training lesson, taught by yours truly! Today we'll be doing… Mock Battles!"

A puff of air swishes Toph's bangs. All Might is striking a pose. Most of the class bursts into excited murmurs. Toph doesn't join in, but she is pretty excited. It's one thing to hear All Might accept her into UA in a hologram, but having him here in person is a whole other story.

"Now, before we get started, a word of—apology!" All Might's voice goes off-key, and he sort of hunches inward. "Um. There was sort of a mix-up of files when it came to the first-years? I was not given the details, but not all of your hero costumes have been completed."

"What?!" Someone gasps. "You mean we can't participate?!"

"Which students? Was my costume request too confusing—?"

"Settle down, settle down!" All Might quickly cuts through with his booming voice, spirit returning full-force to smack them in the face. "It was a simple clerical error! Everyone may still participate!" He pulls out a folded sheet. "The students affected are Eijirou Kirishima—"

"Aw MAN!" Kirishima howls.

"—Tsuyu Asui, and Toph Beifong!"

Toph's mouth falls open. What the hell, UA?

"Please, the school offers their deepest apologies for this mishap!" All Might gives a quick and formal bow as he speaks, then springs back up. "You will have to make do with your gym uniform for now, but your costumes will be completed by next week! Everyone else, please find your numbered suitcases in the back of the classroom!"

The rest of the class scrambles for the back of the room while Toph picks her way towards the exit sourly. Kirishima and Asui follow her. "Well this sucks," Toph states the obvious, picking at the dirt under her nails.

"It is disappointing, kero," the toad (frog?) girl agrees as they shuffle towards the locker room. Her hands and feet are larger than average. I wonder if Shinsou would like her, Toph jokes to herself. "I hope it doesn't put us at a disadvantage for today's lesson."

"It's okay!" Kirishima says firmly. "The costume isn't what makes the hero! I'm worried my gym uniform's going to be shredded, though." He makes a fist with one hand, and his figure shifts in Toph's 'sight'. It's like his fist becomes denser, and the outline of his hand becomes clearly defined as though sculpted from a hard stone. Toph thinks, bizarrely, that if she reached out she could probably earthbend him. "My quirk is Hardening," he explains, oblivious to the crisis of ethics Toph is going through, "It makes my skin sharp enough to tear my clothes!"

"Very, ah, spiky," Asui compliments him.

She can practically hear him beaming. "Thank you!"

"That's cool," Toph says, trying not to show how weirded out she feels. "I can earthbend." She tilts her head towards Tsuyu Asui. "You're a frog, right Asui?"

"Yes, kero, to put it bluntly," Asui confirms, though she doesn't sound offended at this. "I have several frog-like abilities. And please, call me Tsuyu."

"Sure," Toph nods, chewing her lip thoughtfully before adding, "You guys can call me Toph, if you want."

"Nice to meet ya, Toph," Kirishima exclaims. "Oh, um, I dunno if this is a weird question or not, but you and Todoroki," he begins haltingly, "Are you guys dating or something?"

Toph raises an eyebrow, "That's kind of a personal thing to ask someone right off the bat, Spiky," she frowns, a little uncomfortable with the sudden line of questioning. "He's one of my best friends."

"Ah," Kirishima sounds sheepish now, "Sorry. I was curious, he's really protective of you." Which just raises more questions for Toph. She can't recall any instance of Shouto being particularly protective at all. "It just stood out to me, I don't think anyone else came to UA with such a close friend in the same class."

"I was wondering about that too, actually," Tsuyu admits frankly. "Though I assumed you were siblings at first. Either way, you are clearly familiar with one another."

She presses her lips together and nods. "I've known him for a long time. We've even trained together, so it isn't surprising we got into the same class." Toph leaves out the technicality of being adopted by the Todorokis. Endeavor's always kept his family life private, and Toph sees no reason to change that for people she just met.

(It's a little harder to explain to Iida, who knows of her family and but not why they're in China now. He mentioned it yesterday, but Toph shot down his questions, if only to put off his suffocating version of pity for a while longer.)

"Ohh, I guess I didn't expect that. You and Todoroki are like polar opposites, I'm surprised you get along so well," Kirishima points out. Toph can't help the small smile on her face, because he clearly hasn't met Twinkletoes yet. "Well, good luck you two!" He breaks off from them to change in the boys' locker room and Toph follows Tsuyu to their own changing area.

"It's nice that you already have a friend in class," the frog girl comments thoughtfully. "I think you know Iida-chan too?"

Toph finds her locker and pulls out her clothes as the rest of the girls trickle in after them. "Sort of," she admits to Tsuyu, "We weren't friends." I was kind of a dick to him, actually.

"Well, it seems like a better relationship than Bakugou- and Midoriya-chan," the girl replies. It's hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or if the deadpan tone is just the way she talks, but Toph is beginning to think it's the latter. "I hope they aren't slotted to fight each other today, it might get out of hand."

Toph remembers how Aizawa had to restrain Sweaty Hands with his capture weapon to prevent him from tackling the shorter boy yesterday, and can't help but agree.

"I hope Bakugou doesn't fight Beifong today either!" Infinity Girl pipes up, wiggling awkwardly in place to fit into her uniform. Toph hopes her own costume doesn't end up so tight. If it feels anything like a bathing suit, she'd rather keep fighting in her gym clothes. "You two kind of bring out the worst in each other, no offense."

"None taken," Toph laughs.

"Yeah, it looks like Bakugou really doesn't like you!" Another girl chimes in. Ashido, with the horns. "Or, maybe he really really likes you?" She adds suggestively. Toph fumbles through putting on her shirt, not liking where this is going. First Kirishima, now Ashido. "What do you think of him? I like a boy with passion, ya know?"

"E-Everyone in the hero course is passionate," Toph reasons curtly. "And I think Bakugou just wants to blow me up."

"Or maybe he wants you to blow—mhf!" The horned girl whines under someone else's gloved hand. Infinity Girl gasps at the half-spoken innuendo, accidentally smacking herself with a bra strap.

"Don't say that," the gloved girl admonishes Ashido, tugging at her long earlobe nervously. "Th-that's way out of line. Don't we have more important things to think about, like our training?" She's clearly no more comfortable with this kind of talk than Toph is. Nice to know she's not alone.

Toph shakes her head. "Yeah. Why do you have time to think of that right before a battle?"

"Kyouka-san is right. This is no time to be gossiping," Sugar Queen adds firmly, nervously fiddling with the links on her belt.

"Aw, you guys are no fun! I'm just teasing," Ashido pouts. "Plus, you haven't seen the way he looks at you, Beifong."

Her cheeks feel too hot. Infinity Girl rescues Toph with a burst of laughter. "You mean like he wants to roast her alive? Ashido, you have strange taste!"

Hagakure comes to Ashido's defense. "He's kinda cute! There's a lot of cute guys—"

"And this is where I stop listening," Toph interrupts with a long-suffering sigh. "If you have any more crackpot theories, leave me out of them." She finishes changing and makes her way to the training zone slowly.

Bakugou, seriously? The guy that growls every sentence and stomps like a toddler? Come on.

Toph's not such a wuss she can't take some teasing—Shinsou teases her all the time, and it's fun. But she's not friends with any of these girls yet, except maybe Sugar Queen, so she's not really open to it. Besides, right now Toph needs to get her head in the game. She needs to be vigilant if she wants a chance to win her battle. There's definitely a few students with quirks that could counter her, like Infinity Girl…

By the time the whole class has collected around All Might again, the conversation in the locker room is far from Toph's mind. Of course, that's when Ashido finds her again.

"Sorry, Beifong," Ashido whispers, inching to her side. Toph grimaces. "I didn't mean to embarrass you, Yaoyorozu thinks I should apologize."

"I'm not embarrassed. Drop it." Unfortunately for Toph, Shouto is standing nearby and clearly listening to them.

"...Hey. What are you talking about." He deadpans. There's curiosity in his tone, but also an overwhelming dose of hostility. Maybe this is why Kirishima got the idea he was overprotective.

The horned girl stifles a yelp, slapping a hand over her face. "Ah! T-Todoroki! Just, um… girl talk?" She stutters, abruptly becoming shy. Her heart is pounding, interestingly enough.

Toph shakes her head, more amused at Ashido than embarrassed at this point. "Nothing to worry about." She waves Ashido away. If the girls bring it up again in the locker room, she'll put her foot down and nix the girl talk once and for all.

Well, Toph amends, Maybe not all the talk. But definitely all the talk before serious training or testing.

Shouto nudges her curiously as Ashido leaves. "Toph, what was that—?"

"All Might's here," Toph pointedly turns to All Might as he begins to address the class, dodging Shouto's suspicion for now.

"I'll be drawing random lots to determine our 2-person villain and hero teams," the hero declares cheerfully. Unlike the entrance exam, this test is a close-quarters fight, with the heroes trying to subdue the villains or capture a nuclear weapon under a time limit. All Might pulls out names with great flourish. "Here's the break down: Hero Team Uraraka & Koda versus Villain Team Aoyama & Ashido! Todoroki & Shoji versus Ojiro & Hagakure…"

Toph waits for her name to be called.

And waits.

And waits.

Oh great, she's going to fight Bakugou, isn't she? Her head's going to be ringing all day from those damn explosions.

All Might finishes the list, oblivious, "...Lastly, Hero Team Bakugou & Beifong versus Villain Team Midoriya & Iida!"

"Shit," Toph curses, and like an echo, Bakugou swears from across the crowd. What was that Infinity Girl said, about bringing out the worst in each other?

"All Might, are you sure that's a fair fight?" Toph speaks up, barely keeping herself from whining.

"Ooh, you're right!" Hagakure calls out in agreement. "Bakugou and Beifong were the top scorers in the entrance exam, ne? That's a pretty overpowered team."

"Poor Midoriya," a very short boy mutters, shaking his head. Honestly, Toph agrees. They're lucky her suit hasn't come in yet.

"Nonsense!" All Might laughs cheerfully. "Being the top scorers does not mean Young Midoriya and Iida are doomed! I believe this trial will test you all quite differently than the entrance exam—which brings me to another point! As this is an indoor exercise, this is also an exercise in restraint. Neither hero nor villain wants to destroy the playing field when there's an active bomb in the mix…"

He goes on, restating the obvious objectives for the exercise, and Toph is still Bakugou's partner. She's going to have to converse with him.

Shouto chuckles, and without giving him any warning Toph socks him in the arm. "Ow, I didn't say anything!" He protests, rather superficially.

"Go die in a ditch," Toph snaps at Shouto hotly, tracking Bakugou with her quirk as he stomps towards her. The other students shuffle around too, finding their partners and avoiding their opponents.

"That's a little extreme, even for you," Shouto murmurs, catching onto her nerves much quicker than Toph would like. The six-armed student calls out to Shouto, his partner. "Are you okay working with Swea—Bakugou?"

Maybe he really really likes you. Toph bristles, crossing her arms. "I don't know, I don't even know him," she blurts out, both to answer Shouto and Ashido's voice in her head. "But I'm not going to lose, that's for sure," she adds a scowl as Bakugou approaches and Shouto leaves her side with a murmur of good luck.

"Listen up, Earth Girl," Bakugou hisses, right up in her face again, "Stay the fuck out of my way while I go after Deku."

This is much worse than fighting Bakugou.

Toph's nostrils flare in annoyance, but she tamps it down alongside the rest of her stupid swirling emotions."You're so predictable, Blasty," she scoffs lowly, turning away from him. It's painfully obvious that he wants to go after Midoriya. "So the plan is for me to take them both out after you get captured? Great idea," she throws him a thumbs up.

"Shut it, dumbass," he bats her hand away, "I can take that deku any day," Bakugou insists, noisily moving around to face her again. He keeps his voice down so they're not overheard, though he's no less aggressive. Despite Ashido's suggestion, Toph doesn't think Bakugou has the slightest idea he's doing anything besides intimidate her (unsuccessfully, of course).

"How are you so sure? You didn't even know Midoriya had a quirk until the apprehension test," Toph still finds herself tilting her face away again, trying to avoid his breath over her cheeks. Yesterday it was a lot easier to ignore how close he was because she was actively yelling back.

"Doesn't matter, he's still a weakling—Oi! Stop turning away from me," He snaps, tugging her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Toph pulls away. Now is not the time to be reminded that Blasty's singular positive trait is that he smells like caramel. "You don't have to yell in my face, I hear you just fine," she deflects hastily.

"I'm not yelling!" He yells.

She's no Shinsou, but she's sure her deadpan look gets delivered with equal effectiveness.

Bakugou pinches the bridge of his nose. "You take Glasses," he says evenly. "If you can't beat him, I will. But I'm not securing the nuke before taking them down, that's just a cop-out," Bakugou declares, turning to stomp away—to what? Waste the rest of their planning time? That jerk.

The thing is, it's exactly what Toph wants to do too. Grabbing the nuke without any enemy to oppose you counted as securing it, and Toph wasn't crazy about that option. She wants to fight Iida and Midoriya, and if Bakugou knew more about Midoriya's fighting style, then by all means he could take that target.

But like hell is Toph gonna let Bakugou walk all over her. This is her battle too.

"Or I can find the nuke before we even step into the building, and end the fight before you can say 'Deku!'" Toph counters before he can flee. She does her damndest not to smirk as Bakugou pauses mid-step. "You don't even know how my quirk works, do you?"

He's silent for a long moment, practically shaking from pent up anger. Sweet Kami, it's like talking to a brick wall. But she has to do it—she's certain that Midoriya and Iida are strategizing too. All Might never vocalized it, but part of the difficulty of having so much time to plan is being expected to perform better than the groups before them. The first battle has already started, and Toph is sure they're all going to adjust their plans based on the outcome. Toph taps her foot on the ground, both annoyed and getting a feel for their opponents. Iida's legs stand out among the normal-boned-people, engine legs humming lowly, and Midoriya is a mess of mumbling theories beside him.

"You're an earthbender," Bakugou finally grits out, coming to the same conclusion that they need some semblance of a plan. "You're strong enough to punch through metal. I've seen you fight already, what else is there to fucking know?"

It's a good thing they're the last group to be tested. They would have turned on each other mid-battle if they went in like this.

"I can sense spatial locations through the ground, right down to the smallest objects like that spider on the wall," Toph points with dead accuracy to said arachnid, inching towards the doorframe of the observation room. "I'll know where the nuke, Midoriya and Iida are as soon as we start."

"Tch," Bakugou takes a half-step away from her, his costume rattling noisily.

She takes a breath. "What's with the gauntlets?" Toph nods to the huge, hollow contraptions over his forearms, trying her luck to figure out his stupid explosive quirk now that he's shut up for a second.

"They'll collect the sweat from my palms—urgh," Ah, he's clearly spotted the confused and disgusted look on Toph's face at this point, "My hands secrete nitroglycerin!" Bakugou grouches, prickly as ever, clenching and unclenching said hands. "And I can ignite it on command. But the more sweat I collect—"

"The bigger the explosion," Toph's eyes widen. He clicks his tongue at being cut off again. She remembers him leaping from robot to robot in the exam. "Alright Triggerhands, can you fly with your quirk?"

Bakugou switches gears faster than a professional driver, grabbing the collar of her jacket and jerking her forward. "I've had enough of this! Don't you dare go for the fucking nuke. And Deku is mine, so don't take my target—"

"I'm not gonna—argh!" She can't get any traction over the gauntlets, so Toph slaps a palm over his face and pushes back. "Get—off—me!"

"Don't touch me!" Bakugou shouts under her hand. He pushes one hand off but Toph just uses her other one, and really, all he has to do is let go of her shirt but of course he doesn't. She can feel his scowl scrunch up over his nose and the furious curl of his mouth under her fingers, which is not information she ever needed

"You started it, stop grabbing me—AH!" Toph tugs her hand away, now throbbing in pain, and Bakugou sets off a blast on her uniform, backing up several steps. She scrambles back too, her neck stinging and her shirt singed.

He bit my hand, Toph thinks, not even registering the explosion. "What's your problem?!" Toph squawks, shaking out her hand. He really went for it, jeez.

"W-What's YOUR problem?!" He hollers, equally confused but twice as mad.

"Young Bakugou! Young Beifong!" All Might calls from the surveillance screens. "Is there a problem here?"

"No!" They shout back in unison, startling Toph. She almost snaps at Bakugou, but she's kinda afraid he had the same idea. Instead they stand in stony, uncomfortable silence five feet away from each other.

She swipes away the ashes on her jacket, but there isn't any serious damage. Her neck feels irritated, not burnt. "Do that again and I'll put you down," she promises darkly.

His hands crackle with small explosions and he scoffs. "Oh? You really think you can?" Toph just turns away, done with the conversation.

"Oh my god," she hears Midoriya's wavering voice from across the room. "There's two of them."


All things considered, Shouto thinks Toph and Bakugou might not actually tear each other apart when their turn finally comes. He watches the surveillance tapes serenely from the bench, slowly warming himself up with bursts of fire on every other exhale. He definitely went overboard with the ice, but it was a practical choice against a barefoot invisible girl and the tail guy to freeze the entire building in one go. The tail guy seemed rather peevish over it, but it was worth the flash of surprise on Bakugou's face to find out Toph's not the only competition he has.

According to the cameras, Midoriya's plan seemed to rely on getting Bakugou to chase him into a few simple traps—if the capture tape connect all the way around Bakugou it counted as a capture—but there wasn't much in the set up to counter Toph. At least, that's what Shouto thought until Iida begins smashing windows, scattering broken glass on every level.

Toph's lips moved in a silent curse on the screen as she shoves her trainers back on. She could still earthbend and sense her surroundings, but it was considerably muffled with shoes on. Her hero costume was supposed to include footwear that would work with her seismic sense.

"They're taking advantage of Beifong's lack of a hero costume," Momo comments astutely amongst the students. The timer starts and their mock battle begins. "A bit unorthodox, but I suppose they need every advantage they can get against those two."

"We're supposed to avoid damaging the building, but they are the villains, I guess," Shoji muses.

"I'm surprised they noticed the shoes thing!" Kirishima notes, scratching at the new bandages over his shoulder. "Midoriya's pretty observant, huh? I didn't catch it till now, but Beifong took off her shoes a lot for Aizawa's test."

The hero team bark silent orders at each other, and Bakugou charges in from the ground level. Toph hesitates at the entrance, and then steps back.

"Ooh, Beifong's finally backing down?" Sero muses in surprise. "It makes sense, Bakugou's probably been threatening the poor girl all day—"

"She's scaling the building now, kero," the frog girl, Asui, cuts him off. Her face is rather stiff in terms of showing expression, but it looks like she's giving Sero the stink eye. "She has very good form, I bet she rock climbs."

Shouto scans the screens. Lo and behold, Toph digs her fingers into the brick facade, clambering up as easily as Bakugou climbs up the stairwell. With Toph creeping through a window on the fourth floor and Bakugou bursting onto the second level, they each encounter an opponent.

Bakugou, as expected, leaps into action, firing off a surprise explosion at Midoriya. Their battle starts, but Toph lingers on the empty level in silence.

"What the heck is she doing?" Kaminari cackles. "Doesn't she know she's on the wrong floor?"

"Is Iida monologuing to himself?" Asui wonders.

"Indeed, Young Iida has chosen to fully embrace the role as a villain," All Might confirms, fighting a grin.

"She should just go after him," Tail guy murmurs, crossing his arms. "She's powerful, there's no need to waste time."

"It's not a waste of time," Shouto disagrees, glancing at the other students that turn to look at him. He supposes he hasn't said much during any of the previous matches, so they must be surprised. Shouto settles his gaze back on the screens. "She's waiting."

Just as he says this, Toph makes a punching motion towards the ceiling, and the floor beneath Iida crumbles.


Toph is calm as still water as Iida gesticulates wildly. The nuke is behind him, a huge papier-mâché project tucked in the corner of the fifth floor. "And YOU, dastardly heroine! Take another step and you'll regret being born!" He was fast enough to leap out of the rubble before falling through the ceiling, but then he had to scramble away again as Toph launched herself through the ground to reach his floor.

A vein pulses in her forehead. Over their comms system, Bakugou yells something incoherent about Engine Legs. The building is isolated enough that Toph can make out Midoriya's voice, both through Bakugou's communicator and echoing up the stairwell—"Keep her busy, Iida-kun! I'll be there soon!"

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL," Is Bakugou's furious response. "GET BACK HERE YOU NERD!"

Toph rolls her shoulders, sliding her legs apart slightly. Now that he's got a clear view of her, and it'd be too easy for Iida to react to her earthbending if she made the first move. Letting him run is a risk in itself, but she needs to learn how he moves if she'd going to counter him. Or if she even can. Toph had been hoping to have an element of surprise. With her shoes on she can't react as quickly as she'd like.

"Are you just gonna sit there like a pansy or come at me, Engine Legs?" Toph drawls, like she was born to taunt this speedster.

"I—Only because you asked!" Iida gives a war cry and bursts towards her with frightening speed. Toph flings the tiled floor up into a shaky wall, deflecting his run before he can reach her.

He skids to a stop halfway across the room—closer, not enough room to gain speed—and sprints again, this time dodging to the right and twisting himself into a high kick.

Toph ducks, feeling the wind whip above her hair sharply—and drags a hand through the ground, pelting Iida with rubble until he stumbles back. He's too fast to completely deflect, or she'd be able to end this a lot quicker, and letting him get close is dangerous. He's physically much stronger than her, and his dumb costume is a suit of poly-something-plastic, not a usable carbon fiber. She gets in a punch or two, but it probably hurts her fists more than it injures him.

He dives back in before Toph can move, swiping at her arm. She deflects it poorly, automatically stepping back to give herself more room to maneuver, but she realizes her mistake just as Iida sees his opening. "Recipro-Kick!" he hisses, and even if he hadn't announced it Toph wouldn't have time to dodge the engine-fueled kick aimed at her head.

She barely raises her forearm in time to block, but as his leg connects she feels burst of pain spike through her limb. Toph bites her tongue to stop a yell, and stumbles backwards and onto her knees. Iida lands on his feet, unhurt. Her left arm hurts like hell and her heart is pounding, but her head is clearer than ever.

Thinking quickly, Toph slams her free hand onto the ground before Iida can get to her, kicking up a cloud of dust and rubble that throws him back. The tiles are shredded—so much for not damaging the building—leaving the terrain too uneven for another sprint. Iida staggers, tripping over debris to avoid falling through one of the holes in the floor. Even if he hadn't, spotting him is easy as pie with the clunky costume.

Iida realizes his disadvantage as swiftly as Toph takes her chance. "Midoriya! I don't think I can—!"

Toph rises to her feet and stomps on the ground, and the floor rears up to swallow Iida. He lets out a yelp as Toph pulls on the concrete, cementing him halfway through the floor. Iida's engines are depleted after that kick, so he isn't quick enough to avoid her this time.

"Young Iida, can you move?" All Might's voice echoes through all of their comms.

"I-I cannot!" Iida stammers.

"YOUNG IIDA HAS BEEN CAPTURED," the hero announces.

Toph lets the dust settle slowly, alongside her wildly beating heart. Midoriya is on the move. "He's already at the stairwell, Blasty, quit lounging around," Toph announces to her raging partner. The nuclear missile is tucked just to the right of the stairs, and Toph works her way over to the ticking bomb, past Iida.

"I'm ON HIM—!"

"YOUNG BAKUGOU! IF YOU FIRE THAT BLAST YOUR TEAM WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!" All Might shouts.

"WHAT?" Toph shrieks, freezing in place as she presses on the communicator to yell. "You better not disqualify us, dumbass!" She hasn't been paying much attention to what's he's doing on the second floor, but clearly Bakugou can't be trusted to do his fucking job.

"He won't die if he dodges—!" The words are drowned out by a great rumbling, then—

The floor blasts upward, catching Toph and the fake bomb in an instant. There's no heat, just a shockwave of power that throws her into the air—the rubble goes flying, and a heavy piece connects with her ribs painfully—

Everything goes blank.

There's a faint ringing in her ears.

Toph lifts herself to her feet, surprised it's only her ribs and her arm that are injured. Still, it really freaking hurts. "What the hell," she moans.

"H-HERO TEAM WINS," All Might announces shakily. Toph winces at the volume. Maybe she did get her head knocked around a little. "PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE, I'LL BRING THE MED BOTS!"

She doesn't try to use her quirk to feel out the rest of the building, but she's still on the fifth floor. "Hey Engine Legs? You dead?" Toph turns towards the crumbling sound of concrete to her right.

"I am mostly fine!" Iida announces, squirming in place. Apparently the concrete held, thank god. "C-can you get me out?"

Toph nods, and then a wave of nausea crashes over her. "Ah, no," she confesses slowly, "That requires some skill and... I think if I try that right now I'll crush you," she groans. "Or drop you."

Iida squawks. "O-okay then I'll wait for All Might! Don't worry yourself!" Toph flops to the ground next to him, panting. "I believe Midoriya attempted to stop you from reaching the bomb. It seems to be destroyed now, though."

"That was Midoriya?" Toph gapes. But it makes sense. If it had been Bakugou's quirk, there would have been heat involved, and also, Toph would be strangling him right now for attacking her. Still. It was the villain team that destroyed their own bomb, and so didn't feel much like a win for her no matter what All Might said. "Is your comm working? Is he okay?"

Iida shakes his head, but it's Bakugou that responds through her own communicator. "The nerd's passed out. Wrecked his arm."

Toph rolls her eyes. "Midoriya's unconscious, his arm is injured," she informs Iida, scrubbing her uninjured hand through her dusty hair. Her headband is in place, but her bun's become some sort of droopy rat's nest. "Engine Legs and I are on the fifth floor," she adds for Bakugou, but he gives no response. She figures he probably took the comm out by now, and she does the same.

"Is your arm broken?" Iida asks her, horror creeping into his tone. Toph hums in confirmation. It might only be a fracture, but either way it hurts. "Beifong-san, I am so—"

"I'm sure you are, but Recovery Girl can fix it," she assures him tightly, unhappy to be reminded of it. She takes slow, sharp breaths to distract herself from the pain in her arm, but the right side of her ribcage aches terribly. She pats her side carefully, but feels nothing out of place.

"Beifong-san…" Iida starts again, yanking his helmet off. It clatters across the floor loudly. "I… Maybe now isn't the time to ask, but I doubt you'll give me the chance later…"

Well. He's not wrong. She runs her tongue over her teeth, feeling dust and bitterness in her mouth. She turns away to hock a loogie and then faces Iida. "Ask, then."

"That is disgusting," Iida says instead, shocked.

"Thanks. Is that all?" Toph smirks and makes as though to leave, startling him.

"N-no! Beifong-san. Please." Toph sits back down. Not like she really wanted to move around anyway in her state. Iida sighs. "The Beifong family moved back to China shortly after you stopped attending school. No one was able to tell me why, but I assumed you had left with them. What… what happened?"

"My birth parents sought legal sanctuary in Gaoling," Toph answers slowly, stretching out her legs. They feel kind of like jello, littered with scratches and bruises. "I moved in with a foster family and stayed in Japan. I was adopted last year."

Iida only makes a small noise of surprise, like he's trying to hold it in. "I… did not know you were separated from them." He avoids asking for detail. "I am sorry."

"No big deal," Toph brushes dirt from her pant legs idly. "It was years ago. I like where I live now."

"That is good to hear. But I still wonder… you knew I came from a hero family. Why didn't you ever mention you wanted to become a hero?" His voice wavers. "Maybe this makes me seem self-centered, but you so clearly have been training for this school for years. Perhaps even from before we first met. I find it odd you would never share this ambition with anyone, not even me."

He sounds… hurt. It throws Toph for a loop. Did it really affect Iida that much when she refused to be his friend?

"I couldn't," Toph blurts out without thinking. Iida pauses. She scrubs a hand over her face again, exhaustion rolling over her entire frame. So much for avoiding the Beifong topic. "You think my villain parents were happy with me wanting to be a hero?"

The boy makes a strangled sound of surprise. "V-villains? You didn't say that!"

"Well why would I? Kinda sounds bad, Engine Legs."

"But—Beifong-san, how—? What did they—?" Iida clutches at his hair. "My word! I must sound so insensitive!"

"Only a little," Toph replies dryly. "You can make it up to me by never mentioning the Beifongs again."

"O-of course! It is your business and yours alone, Beifong—" He releases his hair abruptly. "Should I not call you Beifong? But it is your name according to our class list and I know we are not close, however if it causes you any undue distress I would rather know now then later!"

"No," Toph answers, amused. "No, it doesn't bother me. But you can call me Toph. I've never been one for formalities, Legs," she tacks on the nickname just to see what he'll do.

Iida gives a short, abrupt laugh. "Legs. You're just as unruly as I remember," he comments, but instead of coming off as annoyed, he almost sounds fond. "I appreciate you telling me, Toph. You didn't have to."

"Don't kid yourself," she rolls her eyes. There's a clunking noise from below them, probably the med bots finally scanning the building. "You were going to hound me over this until I threw you a bone."

"Well, I didn't know," Iida sounds sheepish now. "Again, I'm sorry."

Toph waves a hand. "Good talk," she dismisses the conversation lazily. The med bots buzz closer, hovering up the staircase. There are heavy footsteps behind them. "Finally, All Might. Can you dig up Iida?"

"Of course Young Beifong!" The hero rushes forward with dizzying speed. "Please rest now, young lady! I am here!"

"So cheesy," Toph blurts out, and then winces at how rude that was. "Whoops."

"Toph!" Iida admonishes her instantly. All Might just laughs some more.


In the observation room, Katsuki watches stonily as All Might escorts Earth Girl and Engine Legs out of the ruined building. Ignoring the muttered conversations around him, he yanks the still-active communicator out of his ear and walks away.

Katsuki doesn't have the energy to dwell on what he overheard. So what if Earth Girl has some shitty villains for parents? He has a nerd with a sketchy quirk to interrogate.


A/N: Next chapter will be the first chapter to completely exclude Toph! Haven't you been wondering what Touya's been up to? It's time for a flashback!

If you wanna talk about my story, come yell at me online! I'm called grilledsquids on ye ol' tumblr