Hi everyone! Thank you for all the follows, favs, and reviews! I was blown away when I woke up and saw them all, so thank you so much!

Nofacedgamer: Your comment literally made me smile, I'm glad you like this story!

Guest: Thank you! I'm a bit nervous about how I'm going to build the world, but a bit excited at the same time. Yes! She does have an 'earth quirk', but you'll learn more about it in the next few chapters.

PizzaLiteratureMore: Thank you! I'm so glad you like it! Their relationship is a slowburn, and Himeko feels something for him, she just doesn't understand what's going on right now, in general. I hope you enjoy their blossoming romance!

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Do you want to be a hero?


She wished she didn't have the power to be asked the question

He wanted nothing more than to be one

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.

.

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Summer of Eighth Grade


It was times like these that she wondered what she had done to deserve such patience.

Or what Toshi had done to deserve her patience.

The newly turned fourteen-year-old had been acting odd of late and, if she were being honest… and, let's be real here, when wasn't she—it was starting to get on her nerves. His stupid stuttering when she asked where he was going, the way his idiotic smile seemed to tense when she asked if she could walk home with him, the slight twitch in his hand when he lied to her.

…and, yes, Himeko was able to read Toshi like that back of her hand.

And, no, that fact did not make her stomach flutter with happiness with the knowledge that she now had a true friend because that was stupid and she was not stupid.

"Toshi," Himeko called him out, stopping him with his hand on her front door, glancing at the clock and see that, once again, he was leaving at five thirty. She felt that his new found pattern of leaving she not make her as upset as it did; because, while they were really good friends (she would never say that they were best friends because best friends were for children and she was not a child), she knew that Toshi had his own life.

He didn't have to tell her anything, just like she never told him everything.

Still, though, he was her closest friend… and when he left, she didn't have anyone else to hang out with.

Not that Toshinori had that problem—her heart did not freeze at the idea that he was most probably leaving her to go spend time with her other classmates, it didn't, she swore it didn't—since his popularity in middle school had only risen. Himeko, on the other hand, had remained in the 'background' and she was perfectly content with that.

The background, she was quick to realize, was just being a normal student whom wasn't going to be the center of the canon. It was nice and there were times where, for once, her brain wouldn't overthink the upcoming events. The events that she didn't have any control over, the events that Himeko really didn't know about because, before she had died, she had never been a huge fan of this show and she knew that one day—

"Where are you going?" She pushed past her thoughts, breaking the tense silence that rested between her and Toshi. Himeko tilted her head to the side as she stared at the taller boy. She noticed that he was more hesitant to leave when she did that—appeared sweeter and cuter than she really was—and Himeko truly thought it was because he thought of her as someone to protect.

With her being younger and all.

Because, why else would he care?

"I…I promised my mom that I'd help her make dinner tonight," The hand that rested by his side twitched, Himeko narrowed her eyes. Straightening up, Himeko tried to relax her shoulders and smiled at the sunflower. She had gotten better at smiling… it wasn't hard when you always had a sunflower in your life who smiled at you.

Himeko wondered if Toshi knew that she knew that he was lying. For a quirkless man, she found that he did have some quirks and, even if they weren't heroic, they were his. His hand twitched when he lied—more often than not, it was his left hand, when he ate something he didn't like, his eyes would squint in distaste for only a brief moment. He didn't want to offend the person who had made it if they were there.

Himeko wished she didn't have a quirk.

It would be so much easier to fall into the background…

And not feel bad about it.


Ninth Grade


"Himeko, do you want to be a hero?"

That question always left a bitter taste on her tongue.

Because of her quirk, because of how powerful it could be, the question followed her everywhere and nobody, she meant it, nobody could stop themselves from asking her. It was a question that was asked when she entered a new grade, parents would follow their greetings with the questions, her 'friends' younger siblings would swarm around her, bouncing on their feet as they asked for an autograph.

Because, by God, the world would surely end if she didn't become a hero.

Toshi, she had begun to realize a mere few days after meeting him, was obsessed with becoming a hero. Now, Himeko wasn't say obsessed as in 'oh, it's just something he really wants to do', she meant it as in 'if I don't become a hero, I will die'.

She wished she could give him her quirk.

He was going to make a better hero than she'd ever be.

And she knew that for a fact.

Himeko wasn't expecting that question to escape Toshi's lips, he hadn't asked her that in years. Not since the first time, when she had shrugged her shoulders and continued to build her sand castle as though he had never asked her anything. Sighing, Himeko scratched her cheek and swung her legs. She was glad that the classroom was deserted, she didn't know how she'd react if twenty sets of eyes were on her.

She'd probably die, again.

Himeko snickered at the thought, ignoring Toshi's questioning gaze.

"I think that it depends on what kind of her you're asking about," Himeko's words were cautious, carefully spoken as she mulled over her words. Did she want to be a hero? Of course she did, but she wanted to be her own kind of her.

She was so hesitant to say her next words, so scared of what Toshi would think of her. Her palms were getting clammy and cool—they only did that when she was truly nervous, and she swore that she was going to vomit. Her heart was beating ridiculously fast, making her feel as though she had just ran a marathon.

"I would love to be a stay-at-home mom."

Himeko paled the moment those words left her lips, her boring, brown eyes widening when Toshi's met hers, the blue looking exquisite compared to hers. She knew that she had thrown him off guard: his mouth was slightly agape, his brows were practically touching his forehead, and, her eyes squinted to make sure she wasn't seeing things, he was blushing?

Was he embarrassed for her?!

"Or a teacher," She babbled, a dark flush coating her pale skin, and she was sure she represented a ripe tomato. Toshi didn't respond to that either and she almost squirmed under his intense stare. Was he… was he looking at her differently? Dear Lord, she had really, really messed up this time.

This is why you're not supposed to be born before the canon! She didn't know what to do!

"Teachers, in their own way, are heroes. They practically give up their time to make good money to teach annoying children instead. And they waste their money on school supplies; plus, they're always making sure each of their students is excelling and make sure to get the student help when they need it. I think being a teacher would be fun. You get the summers and weekend off, right? So, how bad can it be—"

"You wanna be a stay-at-home mom?" Toshi interrupted her and she couldn't tell why his tone was so light and hopeful because they were sixteen—okay, she was fifteen, but who was really counting… she was—and they should not be thinking about the future…

Himeko froze, her jaw dropping and her brows practically brushing her hairline.

"You want to go to U.A," It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Toshi's face paled, the blood immediately flooding out of it as her accusation reached his ears.

"N-no! Don't be ridiculous! I don't even have a quirk," Himeko's face wiped itself of any emotion as Toshi's obnoxious, nervous laughter flooded the room. He was panicking, she knew this. His left hand was shaking, his eyes keep darting towards the door or the clock, hoping that lunch would be over soon. Himeko almost cackled at this, she still had fifteen minutes to interrogate him.

"You don't do you?" She teased, her voice light and tone playful. If Toshi could've gone any paler, she knew he would've. Her teasing was relentless, it was almost a quirk of its own. She refused to let up, pushing and pushing the person until they yielded or snapped at her, "Don't tell me, did you somehow acquire this new quirk… almost as if though, by magic?"

She knew that he ate Nana's hair or something.

"Or were you just keeping it a secret because, well, you didn't want to hurt those bullies feelings? Your quirk all mighty or something?"

"Shut up, Himeko." She knew, by the way he gulped and how his eyes had hardened, that she had pushed him too far with her last taunt. She was pushing boundaries that she normally wouldn't push, canon wise, and Himeko wondered if it was because this was it—this was the start of the 'story'.

A silence rested between the two of them and Himeko rubbed the yellow apple against her shirt, not cleaning it to eat it, but to make it seem as though she wasn't upset with his harsh tone and that she wasn't upset with herself for pushing him too far.

Pushing him for her own gain.

"I guess," Himeko felt Toshi's gaze as she started to speak, her tone soft, "I guess we should start training. The entrance exams are hard, right?"

"Himeko," Toshi's voice was softer, he forgave her, and Himeko looked at him. She ignored how his eyes were kind, she ignored the way her heart seemed to have burst of energy at the look he was giving, and, instead, focused on the apple in her hands, "Do you have any idea what you're getting into?"

"To be honest with you, I don't even know what U.A. stands for."