Welcome back! Thank you to all who favorited and alerted, and to my reviewer. Love you all! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm still having fun writing this, but as I've done more Shosei (and my ideas) have grown and begun to form into a possible plot? I've been dropping hints, but I think this time, if you haven't yet figured it out, is pretty clear just who her 'family' is. Maybe? At the end I included another short I wrote, this one involving... well I won't spoil it... ;D Let me know what you think! I love hearing from you! What's your favorite things so far?
Endosymbiosis
Do your Best!
※
"In homeroom today we will be choosing the class president," Snipe intoned from his podium.
Ugh, responsibility. Shosei continued to doodle what was definitely starting to look like the principle in a tutu in the margin of her notebook. No thanks.
Getting into the school today had been more difficult than usual, with even more reporters showing up to harass any student sporting the Hero Department epaulette. As if the increase in numbers would make it more likely to achieve an interview. They'd clogged the main gate, interrogating some poor blond kid who been unfortunate enough to have All Might as a teacher.
When she'd tried to squeeze past the cameramen and photographers, they'd tightened their group formation and practically shoved her back, as if she was some intruding reporter they wanted to expel. She'd been contemplating the pros to giving some of them a bad case of the runs just so she could get inside.
A little salmonella, they'd never even know it was me.
But as her fingers itched to pull on her Quirk, some burly upperclassman, sporting a black pompadour and a chin that could crush rocks, bulldozed his way through without a care in the world. Maybe she'd found the unstoppable force to Juuhiro's unmovable object.
A smaller girl that seemed to be his friend trailed closely behind and Shosei took advantage, following quickly in his wake of tumbling journalists. The blond boy used the disturbance to beat a retreat into the safety of school grounds as well.
When she'd passed the human bulldozer by, he'd given her a firm nod, to which she returned him one of thanks.
Those reporters were getting ridiculous. How many needed to show up before the school chased them off?
"Now, let's keep this whole thing civil, those who wish to volunteer themselves for the position, raise your hands. From there, we'll hold a vote, runner up will take the position of VP. Are we in agreement?" Shosei was yawning at the time, but most of the class nodded along. "Now, who's willin' to step up?"
A few hands went up. The Emiru twins, Fujioka, Mihoko, Yokiyomu, Masao – which Shosei found a little funny, after all, why wouldn't you follow the guy who, literally, could never get lost – and Ona – who could repair any damage within a one-foot cube, which from what she understood, followed some strange laws he was still trying to figure out. Organically, he could heal a broken bone, but it didn't work on cuts, while inorganically he could fix a cracked vase, but the same vase couldn't be fixed if it was shattered.
As Snipe-sensei was writing down Ona's name on the blackboard, having not heard a certain person shuffle in any way, Shosei raised her own arm.
"And Miss Shigeyo," Snipe said, turning back to the board when he'd seen her hand up.
"Actually, Snipe-sensei," the pro hero paused, "I was wondering if I could nominate someone?" Shosei kept her grin from growing as she heard the shuffles ripple through the room, in particular, Shinso, who was giving her a 'don't you dare' look.
"Very well," Snipe agreed after a moment's contemplation. "I don't see why not."
"I'd like to put forward Asano Mitsuaki." Said boy made a strangled noise behind her.
"What? Why?"
Shosei spun her chair around enough to look at him, but it also allowed her to see most of the class was watching her as well. Swivel chairs were the best.
"You said you wanted to go pro, wouldn't this be a good chance to show the world you can be a good leader, or whatever?" She flipped her hand back and forth a bit. "Plus, in three days, you're already on friendly terms with the whole class, you know everyone's name and can keep them, and their Quirks, straight. I still confuse the twin's names and they don't even look alike."
"You really think my name's Hitomi?" The male Emiru twin asked skeptically. Shosei didn't bother answering that, she knew his name was Motomu, but she had a point to make.
"Personally, I'd feel pretty comfortable approaching you with any problem I have." Which was true, she would, at least with school related issues. He'd proven himself as accepting and open to each and every person. "But if you really don't want to," Shosei put her hands up in a shrug, "then I will withdraw my recommendation."
Asano who's been staring at her, lips slightly parted and cheeks pink, sighed at her conclusion, shoulders slumping. "Fine, sign me up."
Snipe nodded and began writing his name on the board. As Shosei swirled her chair back into place, Shinso caught her eye and raised an eyebrow at her. She just flashed him a grin and sent a wink his way. His returning narrowed eyes said he had words for her later.
Voting took place anonymously by writing down a name and placing it in a sack – which looked suspiciously like a horse's feedbag – that Snipe had passed around. Whether her little explanation had influenced anyone else or not, once Snipe was done tallying, Asano came out on top with six votes. Given the noise he made, he was surprised by this outcome. Following closely behind him with five, and taking the place of vice president, came Take Mihoko. The remaining votes were split relatively evenly between the rest.
Moments after everything was settled, Cementoss strolled in to begin their modern lit class. Greeting them with a cheerful smile.
When lunch finally rolled around a few hours, and classes, later, Asano and Mihoko were held back to handle some class rep things. It was then, in the hallways to the cafeteria, that Shinso finally had a moment to privately speak with her.
"Why did you do that? You know he wouldn't say no after what you said." She grinned at her taller companion. Shinso was intelligent, school-wise, yes, but also socially. In the few days she'd known him, she'd noticed he was quick to catch on to people's natures and how they would likely react in a situation. It made sense, given his Quirk and the parameters for its use.
Shinso had figured out, just like her, that Asano, almost literally, could not say no. It was even harder for him to resist well-worded and thought-out reasoning. He folded under peer pressure like a cheap card table and it was Shosei's intention to help him overcome that.
"Which is exactly why I did it," she told her companion. "He needs to learn to say no. Get some confidence in himself. I'm thinking a little leadership will benefit him. Learn he can take charge of a situation."
Once more, Shosei found Shinso watching her with that studious look.
"You're rather inconsistent," he finally stated after a moment.
"I live in the moment," she shrugged. It was true, she preferred thinking in the 'now,' her future and past weren't things she wanted to dwell on. It tended to lead her to be flighty, as she did what she wanted, consequences to her be damned.
"But you have a strong sense of compassion." Her footsteps faltered. "What I can't decide on is why you try to hide it."
Shosei turned her gaze away, watching instead a few birds as they darted and chased each other about. No answer she had was one she wished to give. She had her reasons, good reasons in her opinion, but they weren't pleasant and she had no desire to share. However, no response was a response. She knew that and so did Shinso, who returned his eyes to the hallway before them as they continued to the cafeteria.
As they finally reached the machine the students ordered food from, Shosei slid her ID card and punched her drink and food selection. Then, as she stepped aside for Shinso, said like it was an afterthought, "Should we get something for Asano?" Shinso looked at her as he finished punching in his order. "Who knows when he'll finish his rep stuff and this will save him the time it takes to get it. We can go halfsies."
"Sure," the boy finally agreed, scanning the machine front and its selections of food Lunch Rush had prepared for the day. "He's gotten the chicken curry before, right?"
"With white rice? Think so." Shinso nodded and swiped his card again, pushing the button for the curry then followed her inside to the food dispensary area. The drink machine whirred and whirled turning a little doorway, with her name flashing on a tiny display, to face her. The door slid open revealing her water.
The whole place was a rather clever and pretty quick way to feed a few hundred students. There were four aisles for food, kind of like a buffet, except the majority of the place was run autonomously by machines – UA really was obsessed with robotics – and, so far, Shosei had never seen another person other than Lunch Rush inside, who seemed to wander around monitoring the whole place and sometimes distributing the entrées. Time was also saved by the fact that you didn't actually have to 'buy' your food, select, sure, but the cost was all covered by the tuition you paid. The card swiping was partially to track what was eaten and favored by students, but also kept Lunch Rush from serving peanuts to somebody who was allergic. Part of the paperwork before the schoolyear started had been for declaring allergies, medical conditions, or anything else the school needed to know to prevent you from keeling over and dying in their hallways.
Shosei was one such person.
Any drink she ordered had sugar mixed into it, even already sugary drinks. Ever have something full of sugar while sick and then felt so much worse? The reason for that is simple.
Bacteria and viruses love sugar.
They need it for reproducing and growing. Even without using her Quirk, Shosei needed sugar to supply them and herself with energy, because she was, at all times, actively providing energy to other organisms inside her, she required larger amounts than the average person. Her Quirk didn't need sugar to work, it could, and would, take energy from anywhere, but sixteen packets of glucose in her drink was an efficient way to maintain her levels. If she went too long without it, she'd crash, hard. Hypoglycemia at nightmare levels.
It was kind of like having diabetes, at least in the sense that she needed to watch and regulate her sugar levels. Her body's insulin worked just fine.
"Two lunches today?" Lunch Rush asked as the pair entered the area where he was dishing out food.
"We're getting some for our friend," Shosei smiled kindly. "He was voted in as class pres and is doing things for that. We thought we'd help him out."
"I see. In that case," as if Lunch Rush had been prepared for that very explanation, he whipped out a cloche. "A special warming cloche to keep his food at a proper temperature until he arrives!" He set it over Asano's curry and then settled it on the tray, which he then presented to them.
Hip-checking Shinso to the side, who grunted at the sudden impact, Shosei took his place. "I'll grab this if you get the drink." Shinso had already been carrying the drink, but the offer sounded a little less demanding and she figured this way she'd save him the awkward struggle of two trays, Shosei, at least, had practice. She lifted her tray up on one hand and took the other from Lunch Rush, balancing it on her left hand. Like she'd done it a million times, she walked away with both trays settled and stable, and made her way towards their usual table. Which, for some reason or other, no one else seemed to ever sit at other than them.
Shinso studied her as they made their way out of the kitchen area. "You work part time as a waitress or something?"
"No," Shosei smiled, "my uncle used to make me practice carrying trays." She took on a mock serious look. "'A lady should be capable of carrying a tea-laden tray on her head without displacing a single drop.'" She quoted it like it was a quote. It wasn't. Her uncle had never actually worded it like that.
The taller boy raised an eyebrow at her. "Seriously?"
"Well," she shrugged slightly, which wobbled the trays a bit, "he never made me do that, but I did help serve tea whenever he hosted guests over, and while that may have only been one tray, I did get a lot of practice with balance and keeping the china from clattering." With a small sigh she added, "My extended family is a little… traditional."
"Ah," Shinso smirked, "you've had 'proper lady training.' No wonder you enjoy knife fighting and your other little rebellious acts." He deliberately eyed her thrice-pierced ear and green streak in her hair.
Shosei clicked her tongue. "I'm never going to live that down."
"Never," he agreed, setting his tray on the table when they arrived and taking the other from her as she'd been carefully setting down the first. "Did you have to wear a kimono?"
Sitting down in her chair, she sniffed, but admitted, "Only for formal occasions." Her answer seemed to please him for some odd reason.
"I actually find it hard to picture you all dressed up like that." He sat in what was becoming his usual place on her left.
"Good, 'cause you're never gonna see it." Having to wear skirts at school was bad enough. Shosei found herself regularly brushing at the hem, she was used to knee-length at her old school, so she'd taken to wearing hotpants underneath to settle her worry of accidently flashing things she shouldn't.
A few moments later, before either of them started up another conversation, the three third-years joined them.
"Afternoon," Togata said, placing his try down beside her and taking the chair to her right.
"Hey you two!" Hado greeted merrily, settling in across from Shosei. Amajiki made a sound as he settled in across from his blond friend, but Shosei wasn't sure if it was one of greeting or distress. "Where's your other friend?" The older girl asked, looking at the cloche-covered food.
"He got voted in as class president, so he's off doing rep stuff." She looked up to Shinso. "Speaking of, we should probably text him. Let him know we got him food."
"Is that your way of asking me to text him?" He asked, but started pulling out his phone anyway.
"No, I can text him if you really don't want to."
"It's fine," his thumbs were already darting across his screen. Seconds later he was redepositing his phone into his jacket pocket and picking up his chopsticks. "He probably won't be much longer."
"Have you two decided on what clubs you want to see tomorrow?" Togata asked sociably, then took a bite of his food.
Shinso hummed vaguely, having just put food in his mouth. "Oh yeah," Shosei said, "club tours are tomorrow." The school, to help their first-years decide which club to join, allowed them a day after school to go around visiting clubs they were interested in, seeing how they were run, meeting other members, and such. "I'm not sure, which ones are you in?"
Togata blinked in surprise. "I suppose you two wouldn't know. We're in the Hero Course so –"
"We're not required to join a club!" Hado interrupted with a giggle.
"Really?"
Nodding, Togata spoke again. "Since we have an extra period compared to the other departments and once in second-year we can start doing work studies, we're usually a lot busier than the rest of the school."
"The times for clubs and our schedules usually don't work out. It's so sad." Hado added.
"Meaning, Hero Course students are exempt from having to join. Not to say we couldn't. We just don't have to."
"The one good thing," Amajiki moaned sullenly. Shosei was pretty sure he meant it, but honestly, his tone was kind of misleading.
At that moment Asano showed up, stopping Shosei from asking another question. He dropped in his seat, saying, "Hey, guys, thanks for the food."
He turned pink as Hado bounced up in her seat, leaning forward on the table. "Now, answer our question! Come on! Inquiring minds wanna know!"
There were a few seconds of silence and the three first-years, two who knew the question and the other who was confused, waited for someone else to speak. Sighing, Shosei, figuratively, stepped up.
"Well, I didn't see any kind of bladed combat on the club list, so I think I'm gonna skip signing up for a club and, for experimental reasons, see how long it takes the school to crack down on me." She was actually curious how quickly the school would respond. Beside her, Shinso rolled his eyes.
"You'll never live it down, if you keep going for the same gag," he mumbled dryly.
She laughed lightly, leaning back in her chair with a shrug. "I might check out some of the instrumental clubs," Shosei confessed. "I like music, so it might be interesting."
"Do you play an instrument? Which one?" Hado's eyes were wide with excitement.
"I've banged around with the drums." Togata laughed at the horrible pun.
A glint entered Shinso's eyes and his voice was laced with amusement as he asked, "Did you have to learn the shamisen during your proper-lady lessons?" His question caught everyone's attention and all eyes turned to her.
"'Proper lady lessons?" Hado parroted, tilting her head.
Ignoring an explanation, Shosei looked at Shinso for a moment, contemplating, before deciding that, 'sure, it probably wouldn't hurt to share.'
"Yes," she finally admitted in a slight hiss. "Though when I was eight, I found out they were made out of cats. I cried and refused to touch one ever again, even after I found out that practice had stopped a long time ago."
The look of surprise that crossed Shinso's faced revealed that he hadn't expected her to say something like that. Which was fair, she was pretty tight-fisted with sincere, non-offhanded details about herself. The real personal specifics of her life she didn't like sharing.
Suddenly, arms wrapped around her neck and her head was pressed into a very soft chest.
"Ooh, Sho," Hado's elongated cry came from above, having quickly darted over to her side, forcing Togata to dodge her incoming rush attack, and enveloped her in a hug. "That's so sad. But also, cute." A hand stroked her hair.
"Um," Shosei got out, trying to look away from where her face had been pressed. All she caught sight of was the tomato-red face of Asano staring at his food.
Blaring alarms rang out and Hado's grip briefly tightened before releasing her entirely. "What the hell is that? A fire alarm?" Shosei asked as an automated voice began giving instructions. Throughout the room chairs scraped and trays crashed as people began rushing for one of the two exits from the cafeteria. Shosei was loathe to join in with the riotous crowd, but the announcement had said to evacuate. "Should we join them?"
The wide grin that had dominated Togata's face vanished as the atmosphere shifted. He was abruptly all business. "No, they're practically a mob, it isn't safe." Togata turned to his female classmate. "Hado, you and I should go to the north door and calm the people down before doing the same at the other." The girl nodded firmly with a 'right!' as Togata turned to Amajiki. "Tamaki, will you take these three into Lunch Rush's kitchen? Pick up any stragglers you see on the way."
Amajiki hunched his shoulders, but still nodded. "Yeah, all right."
"The kitchen?" Asano asked.
"It's a safe zone," Togata explained quickly, "if something bad happens. Lunch Rush is a pro too, you know." With a look exchanged between him and his dark-haired friend, whose back straightened, Togata and Hado took off and Amajiki started to corral them.
"Come on, this way. Let's go." Amajiki ushered them towards the kitchen. It was the first time Shosei had heard the older student's voice sound so firm without hint of waver or stutter. "Keep going," he commanded, breaking off from them as he spotted another young student hiding under a table.
Shosei had full intentions of following his order, but paused as she noticed one of the decorative bushes separating tables, shaking.
Which was weird, in case anyone was wondering.
With a glance to Amajiki, who was coaxing the small girl out from under the table, Shosei went over to investigate. Grabbing a branch, she pulled it aside to reveal a shivering bird, head tucked into its feathers. It wasn't just any bird though, it was a dove, specifically a mourning dove.
There was only one reason she could think such a bird was inside UA's cafeteria.
"Nageki." The name came out as a whisper, but the bird still looked up at her. His small watery black eyes meeting hers.
The sight gripped something in her chest and plucked.
When she'd been young, she'd tried bringing back injured animals she'd found. Shosei had always had a soft spot for small creatures. But every time her cousin had caught her trying to smuggle the critters in. It'd only taken three times of watching them meet an untimely and gruesome fate that she stopped. Partly because he'd kept telling her to cut it out, but also because she hoped that by leaving them someone else would step up and take care of them. She'd only bring them to death. It hurt every time she'd passed them by.
The only occasion she couldn't pass by and broke her self-imposed rule was a number of years later when she'd found a man caught in the pouring rain. He'd been barely conscious, body feverish as it caved to infection, and bleeding sluggishly in one of the back alleys she favored. She'd been older, wiser, more street savvy, and jaded, plus, her cousin didn't watch for her as often anymore. Shosei could convince herself to turn a blind eye to animals, but she found out that day she couldn't do that to a person, despite her cousin's best efforts to kill her compassion.
"Shigeyo," Amajiki's voice cut through her thoughts and she looked up at him. He waved her to come with him. She looked back to Nageki-the-bird and scooped him up with an apology. Holding him with both hands and pressing him to her sternum, she jogged over to Amajiki, who glanced at the bird briefly, but didn't question her acquisition. The taller student followed behind once she passed him and the pair entered Lunch Rush's kitchen, where the pro-hero gestured them further inside.
"Miss Shigeyo, behind the preparation counter, if you please. Mister Amajiki, if you don't mind taking a secondary defense position." Shosei, following instructions, moved behind the long row of serving stations to the metal counter, which Asano was currently waving at her from, and ducked behind it, settling her back against the reflective steel.
The addition Amajiki had picked up was at the far end next to Shinso. Her classmate spared her a look before resting his head against the counter again. Asano, next to her, stared briefly at bird-form-Nageki, but seemed to figured out why she had a bird cupped in her hands. "Good?"
She nodded in response and shifted. Rolling her body to the right, Shosei peered around the edge of the counter, watching as Lunch Rush pulled out the world's most intimidating butcher's knife and then the world's largest ladle, he then took up position near the front. Amajiki, further back, flipped some switches at a panel, causing metal shutters to close the majority of the entrances into the kitchen.
"Miss Shigeyo," Lunch Rush's tinny voice commanded, "please return to a fully covered position."
Did he have eyes in the back of his head?
Not wanting to be on the wrong end of that giant ladle, she did so, pressing her back to the cool metal once more.
Idly, she began stroking the still shivering Nageki, running her fingers across his feathers.
It felt like an hour, but was likely closer to ten minutes before an all-clear signal was given. Overhead, came the announcement for all students to report to their homerooms. The defensive shutters were raised and Lunch Rush escorted the five, six counting the bird, students from the cafeteria, where they parted from the pro with a, "Don't dawdle go straight to your classrooms."
Shortly after Amajiki left for the third-year area, the four younger students thanking him before he went turned him into the flustered mess that was his usual self. In the first-year wing, the other girl broke away, thanking them for whatever reason, to go into her section of the school. Apparently, she was part of the management department. As they neared their classroom, Shosei suddenly remembered she was still holding Nageki.
"Uh, just a second," she murmured, turning away from her two friends.
"Ah, wait, Sho," Asano called after her, but she headed back the way she came, coming to a stop before a restroom door.
"I'll just, um, give you some privacy, or, um…" she trailed off, pushing the door open and putting her hand, which Nageki sat on, through the opening. With a flutter of wings and passing air, Nageki-the-bird flapped further into the bathroom. She let the door close and headed back towards her classroom door. Asano and Shinso were both waiting for her. At Asano's questioning look she shrugged. "I dunno. I figured he'd want some privacy to change or whatever. I don't know how shapeshifting works. If he doesn't come back, maybe one of you should check on him." Asano nodded, but Shinso grinned. "Shut up," Shosei hissed as she passed him into 1-C.
The three of them had finished settling into their chairs when Nageki, now human, slid into the classroom, avoiding everyone's eyes – not that that was unusual – and sat in his own chair. Following right behind him as he came through the door was Snipe-sensei, who took post at his podium.
He then explained what had happened. That the reporters had somehow managed to get past UA's barrier and had trespassed onto the grounds, triggering the alarms. UA had called the police and had them escort the press from campus. The stern 'talking to' as Snipe put it, made it likely they wouldn't be clogging the gates again anytime soon. Snipe then informed them to reframe from talking to any journalists that tried to interview then, off campus or otherwise, telling them that doing so would likely only encourage them to further harass UA students. Shosei was pretty sure that none of the reporters had even tried to talk to them as they weren't All Might's hero students, but even so, it was sound advice.
Snipe then apologized for the disruption and scare that had been caused, but explained the rest of the day would continue as scheduled.
Which it did.
None of them were expecting what happened the next day.
※※※※※
The day started normally enough. Shosei stole out of her neighborhood like a thief, she didn't usually need to avoid the other kids in her age range as they weren't often up at that time, but she didn't want to disturb her foster siblings and one never knew which yakuza members might be out and about, though most of them were used to her lurking. A side effect of being Dei's foster sister and spending too much time with him, they said. Though, she was the more friendly and charismatic of the pair.
To be on the safe side, Shosei made her way to the further of the train stations in town. She had an hour ride to the Musutafu station closest to the school, where she changed into her school uniform in the restroom before making her way up to the campus itself.
Classes went on as they typically had the past few days, though math with Ectoplasm was thoroughly enjoyable. Shosei always found hard sciences and the strict rules they held to as pleasant. They required little thinking and couldn't surprise you if you could remember the proper equation. The frustrated sounds that sometimes came out of her classmates was merely sweet excess.
She did find out that Nageki, she'd apparently taken to calling him by his first name in her head ever since she'd seen him as an adorable bird, wouldn't meet her eyes. Not that he often met her, or anyone's, eyes, but it seemed particularly noticeable as he didn't even look in her general direction.
"I'm pretty sure he's embarrassed," Shinso told her on their way to lunch after she had mentioned how quickly Nageki had beat it from the classroom.
"Just because I saw him as a bird? I don't see what's to be embarrassed about."
Asano snorted softly. "Pretty sure that's not the reason." Shosei looked over to her sandy-haired friend. "You're a girl," he iterated, "and you had him solidly pressed into your bosom for a good ten minutes."
"Bosom?"
"Is there something wrong with my word choice?"
"No. I was just wondering when we fell into the first century. No one says bosom anymore."
"Bosom is still a word people use!" Asano flushed.
"Can we stop shouting about bosoms in the cafeteria?" Despite his chastisement, Shinso eyes glittered his amusement. "People might get the wrong idea about us."
"Are we embarrassing you Shinso?" Asano ribbed. "Don't want to be seen around us anymore?"
"Not embarrassing me, no. But I'd rather not people think I associate with idiots."
"Day late and a yen short for that, pal."
"More than a day at this point," the blond boy appended Shosei's statement.
"I'll never be rid of you two, will I?" Shinso lamented.
"Not even in death." The boy sighed at her words.
"Great."
"Hey, hey! Over here, guys!" Hado called, waving at the threesome like they weren't already on the way. "Over here!"
"Howdy," Togata greeted as the first-years all sat in their usual places, chorusing their own hellos. "Man, yesterday was crazy, huh? Sorry we couldn't check on you after. I'm glad you guys are all okay." Shosei wasn't sure why he'd be worried, it hadn't been particularly dangerous, but she supposed that's was the difference between her and the hero classes. She nodded anyway at his words and finished chewing.
"It's all right. Amajiki was a pro at corralling all us small-fries." The so named boy's face twisted like she'd physically assaulted him.
"Yeah!" Asano chimed in. "He had the whole thing under control. You should have seen the way he handled everything!" At each word, Amajiki sank lower in his chair, but Togata's smile only widened.
"Please, stop," Amajiki groaned. "Your words… are too much… I can't…" Hado giggled gleefully, clapping her hands together a few times.
"Well done, Amajiki!" With a gasp, she slammed her hands on the table and shot her chair back as she stood. Everyone else quickly stabilized their drinks as they teetered from the sudden table-quake. "Back soon!" she called, darting off towards Lunch Rush's kitchen.
"Is she… okay?" Asano asked, watching Hado's long blue hair disappear around the plant divider.
"She's fine," Togata grinned.
Something about his response tickled at Shosei. It felt like he was, not quite lying, but… hiding something? Shosei watched him a few moments longer, but he revealed nothing else. His fine poker face was set and he returned to his food, still grinning as he chewed.
The four of them, Amajiki didn't often join in, continued to converse lightly between bites of food. It was the growing gasps and exclamations that caught Shosei's attention. As the sounds grew closer, Asano and Shinso both perked up, looking for what was causing the commotion.
"Surprise!" cried Hado, lunging around the divider and thrusting the largest, and most colorful, ice cream sundae any of them had ever seen onto the table. There was enough ice cream arrayed in the giant banana split dish to feed a small army. A little pennant with #1 shared the place at the top of the whipped cream pile with a cherry. She slid large dish down the table, Asano and Shinso had to swiftly rescue their food trays, stopping it before Shosei, who stared at it in bewilderment. "I wanted to have sparklers on top too, but UA frowns on unsupervised use of fireworks indoors." Hado moped as she sat in her seat across from her.
Did that mean UA would approve of supervised fireworks indoors?
That implication was… unpleasant.
"Um, it's not my birthday." That wasn't for another month.
"I know that silly! Well, I don't, but I figured the odds were good it wasn't. No, this is in celebration of your first rescue!"
"Congratulations!" Hado and Togata cried out together. The blond next to her threw some confetti over her head.
"Huh?" she asked, the paper peppering and catching in her hair.
"We heard from Tamaki that you rescued a student yesterday!" Shosei glanced at the dark-haired boy, he, unsurprisingly, didn't look at her. "The bird was a student, right?" Togata asked, doubt growing at Shosei's lack of response.
"Yes, Motori's in our class," Asano contributed.
"There you have it then!" Togata instantly brightened.
"Congratulations!" He and Hado shouted again. More confetti joined the first batch. Shosei supposed she shouldn't ruin the moment by saying the flag should, technically speaking, have a '#2' if they were counting rescues.
"I don't think he really needed any rescuing. Turns out, he would have been perfectly fine."
"Maybe so, but you didn't know that at the time. You noticed someone in need and aided them, so…"
"Congratulations!" The pair once again shouted. A third handful of confetti was so exuberantly tossed into the air that Shinso had to swat some away from himself.
"How much of that do you have in your pockets?" She was going to be picking it out of her hair the whole day. Togata's only response was to laugh, which wasn't very reassuring.
"Don't worry," Hado laughed, "I talked him out of the glitter."
"Thank you," Shosei told her with full sincerity.
"Now, come on! Have some ice cream, the first bite is for you!" Hado produced six spoons, handing the first to Shosei before disseminating the rest.
Sadly, it wasn't as simple as just digging her spoon in. Maybe some of the scoops were chocolate or strawberry, but there was a veritable rainbow of many shades in the bowl. There was red, dark plum, purple, pink, dark cerulean, robin-egg blue, even a concern-inducing neon green that matched her hair dye.
Shosei moved her drink to the right so she wouldn't bump it as she leaned forward, spoon hovering with indecision.
Screw it, she went for the green. Taking a hefty amount and shoving it in her mouth. A familiar and tasty tang spread over her tongue.
Hado squealed, clapping and bouncing in her seat. "What flavor is it? I'm so curious." Everyone else watched expectantly.
"Kiwi," she said after swallowing.
With a cheer worthy of being a battle cry, Hado dug into the ice cream herself. Gesturing, Shosei invited the others to join in as well. They all happily began devouring the dessert.
Something, a light, bubbly feeling expanded in Shosei's chest. She'd thought she'd been happy before, but in this moment, she wanted nothing more than for this to continue, everyone, even the debilitatingly shy Amajiki was smiling, as they enjoyed themselves and each other. Laughing at the conversation being passed about. Shosei felt like she'd finally found what had been missing inside of her and for this moment, she could forget everything else that was, and could go, wrong.
Another darker feeling snaked its way through at that thought. Guilt. She felt bad knowing that one day this would end. Shosei reached up and rubbed just below her right collarbone.
A clatter and cry caught her attention. "Ah! I'm sorry Shigeyo!" Togata gasped. He had, it seemed, knocked over her glass of sugar water as he'd reached for another spoonful of ice cream. It was now on its side, rolling and spreading the puddle of water over the table.
Rapidly, napkin dispensers were emptied. Their contents passed, and tossed, to stop the spread of water. Hado's nose wrinkled as she sniffed the air, then proceeded to lift her hand from the napkins she'd been pressing into the spill and sniff that too.
"What were you drinking?" the older girl asked looking up to her younger friend.
"Oh, uh, it's sugar water." Hado's brow furrowed with confusion, but before she could ask why, Shosei continued. "It's, uh, for my quirk. My quirk has activated and passive abilities, so even while not using it I need more sugar than average to, uh, well, live, I believe would be the correct term. If I don't have enough, we're talking coma followed by death."
The table went silent, the sounds of the cafeteria passing around them. Shinso and Asano both knew her quirk since introductions on the first day, but the other three did not. "Can we ask what your quirk is?" Togata finally broke their quiet bubble.
Shosei shrugged. "It's called Culture. When I encounter a new bacterium or virus, my body stores it. I can then pass it on, should I choose to do so, through contact. It's like having a few… million pets that I need to feed. Only these pets will eat me if I don't feed them."
"There isn't anything you could do about that?" Asano asked, eyes wide.
"I've never tried," Shosei hefted her shoulders again, "but I think I could flush the system, so to speak. But that's something I'd only want to do as a last-minute desperate I-am-entering-a-coma action, 'cause if I did –"
"You'd have to start your collection over again," Shinso concluded to which Shosei nodded.
"And it isn't as easy… well, it is, microorganisms are literally everywhere, maybe I should say it isn't as enjoyable as it might sound. I know this is a bit counterintuitive, but I am actually more likely to get sick. I mean, sure I'll never suffer the flu or E. coli ever again, but my body, unlike yours, doesn't fight off a bacteria or viruses. It just… welcomes it into the fold, I guess, but only after I get sick and suffer severe side effects first. On the positive side, I also carry around all the countering antibodies and cures."
"Oh, wow," Hado whispered in wonder.
"That's kinda…" Togata started, "well, scary, since your quirk can hurt you. But pretty neat in the long run."
"Yeah!" Hado chimed in. "You could totally be a doctor, travelling the world and curing people!"
Shosei grinned at the other girl. That'd be nice, she thought.
"If it helps, I can relate," Togata started, "if my quirk goes wrong, it can tear parts of me off!" He laughed at the slightly appalled looks he was receiving from the first-years. "For clarification, I can pass through things. It's called Permeation."
"That sounds… horrible." Shosei then added. "Yeah, no, I'll pass." Togata laughed again.
"My turn, my turn!" Hado interjected.
From there the whole group shared their quirks. Each group finding the other's equally impressive. Shosei was sure Shinso was feeling the same as she, as not once was anything even remotely judge-y said about their quirks. When Asano asked if she'd need more of her sugar water, Shosei explained that the ice cream more than made up for it and that it wasn't like she'd keel over immediately, it'd take a day or two of no sugar intake to affect her.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable lunch.
Next period, however, was where things got really stirred up.
Class C was in art period. Their assignment was to draw the arrangement of random items placed in the center of their drawing circle in whatever way they liked. They had ten minutes to draw before they would share and then do another session of drawing and sharing. Their teacher had said it was an exercise meant to help the class get to know, and be more comfortable around, each other. Which was working, the whole class was in a good mood, laughing at each other's terrible drawings. Well, most of them were terrible, Yokiyomu, Iyuu, and even Shinso, proved to have more talent than the rest of them.
They were in the middle of one such session when the alarms began blaring. Telling students to immediately evacuate to a secured zone. As their room wasn't designated as such, Bunko-sensei quickly corralled them all together, the students grabbing their bags, and escorted them from the room. They took a few hallways and turns before they were sent inside another room, joining a class of students already there.
Bunko-sensei joined them after a rapid, and hushed, conversation with a tall grey-haired man in red, who left very quickly. Once their art teacher was inside, the windows looking into the hallway shuttered with metal blinds and the doors were both shut and locked, though the metal protector for the front door was only lowered halfway.
Whispered conversations started swiftly between classmates. Shosei catching phrases like, "Is this one a drill?", "What's happened this time?", "Should we be worried?", "Did the press sneak in again?", and other speculations.
"Please remain calm," Bunko-sensei stated, interrupting the students and garnering their attention. "The situation will be resolved shortly, until it is, use the time to do some homework or study." After her words, Bunko-sensei stationed herself by the front door, fully alert.
Glancing about, as the students of 1-C more firmly gathered together in the back of the classroom, Shosei realized that they appeared to be in 1-B's room and she recognized a few of them from Nezu's orientation day speech. They, like 1-C, had gathered themselves together as well, and despite Bunko-sensei's instructions were not doing homework or studying.
Digging into her bag, Shosei pulled out couple decks of cards. "Who's up for some poker?" she asked.
Fujioka grinned. "What exactly are we supposed to be betting?"
"Our dignity? Our uniform's buttons? Not everything has to be about money, Fujioka." The dark-haired boy laughed.
"All right, all right, sorry." He put his hands up in surrender, but retained his smile.
"So, do you just carry around decks of cards?" Masao asked.
"Of course, you never know when you might have to throwdown via card game." Beside her Shinso snorted softly.
"Not all of us know the rules, ya know." Wahana's words were pointedly stated, as if it was somehow Shosei's fault that she didn't know how to play.
"It doesn't have to be poker." Shosei shrugged, as she slit a card pack open with her thumb nail. "Black jack, Bridge, Red Dog, Ninety-nine. I can always teach you the rules to anything you don't know." She tapped out the fresh cards into her palm and settled herself on the ground. "Who knows how long we'll be here."
"What's the easiest to learn?" questioned Asano as he joined her on the ground. A number of other classmates joined him, sitting around her in a way to be able to watch. There were a few who remained standing, but leaned forward to see.
"Hm, I suppose Red Dog and Black Jack have the lesser memorization." As she spoke to the group around her, she flicked the blanks and jokers away across the ground without bothering to look at the deck. "If you can count, you're good." Shosei began to shuffle rapidly, her hands in complete control of themselves. Spiraling, riffling, and even throwing in a few Sybil cuts.
"Woah-oh!" Hitomi exclaimed as she watched Shosei's hands work. "You're like a pro! Where did you learn to do that!"
Shosei supposed 'I like to hustle cards in my spare time' would be an inappropriate answer, so she went with another, less unscrupulous, truth.
"I knew this guy in junior high, who could do all these card tricks. I once saw him stick a dart board bullseye with a card. It was really impressive, so I asked him to teach me."
Hayasatsu Ryoka had been at Malakor Junior High as well, he was also one of her foster brothers, having been brought in a year after her. He'd been one of the few decent sorts she'd known. At first, anyway. After she'd asked to learn the card tricks, they'd grown closer in the following years and when they were in their last year, he'd kissed her. Which hadn't been unwanted. Him shoving his hand up her shirt, however, was. He was lucky she hadn't slapped him with a nasty case of botulism and simply broke off any form of friendship. They still had to live with each other, of course, which caused a level of tension in the house. Despite being a massive ass, his card skills were still impressive.
"Can you do that flicking thing?" A deep voice asked, causing most of them to jump. A tall silver-haired guy had joined their gathering.
"Throwing cards? Yeah, I wouldn't say I'm an expect at it, though."
His face brightened at her words and he smiled showing off sharp teeth. "Can I see?"
"Er," Shosei looked around at the very full room, noting that other members of 1-B were watching them as well. "I'm not sure. I don't want to hit anybody."
"That's fine, just aim at me!" The members of 1-C had varying levels of dubious expressions growing. "I can turn to steel; you won't be able to hurt me!"
Wahana laughed darkly. "I say go for it."
Sighing, a ginger-headed girl walked up to them, standing by her classmate. "Cut it out, Tetsutetsu, you're freaking them all out."
"Ah, come on Kendo, I just want to see a cool card trick," the boy named Tetsutetsu – surely that was a joke, right? – whined at the girl. He then turned to Shosei. "I wasn't bothering you, right? You were gonna show them anyway, weren't you?"
Shosei ran her eyes over the gathered members of her class, none of them appeared to be particularly put out.
"Why not," Choari said. "I'm down."
"Yeah," agreed Tsuka. "Like you said, who knows how long we'll be here."
"Fine, fine," Shosei stood, dusting off her skirt, "but I'm not going to hit anyone. Man of literal steel or otherwise." She slipped three cards off the top, slotting them between each of her fingers on her right hand. "If you guys could move? Anywhere is fine, just not in front of me." The class shuffled over, gathering between the rows of desks. A few members of 1-B joining them. "Don't do this at home."
Shosei whipped her arm forward and back three times. Each time at the apex, the moment before the withdrew her arm, she released a card. Quickly the three cards spun out, twisting upwards – making good use of the high ceiling – before spinning back down to her once more. As they came back, she stepped to the side, letting them harmlessly hit the floor and scatter.
Tetsutetsu's eyes widened and he took in an excited inhalation. "You boomeranged them!" He quickly moved in front of her, invading her personal space. "You gotta teach me that! You gotta!"
Kendo reacted quickly, grabbing her classmate by the back of his jacket collar and hauling him out of Shosei's face. "Don't climb all over her! Show a little restraint."
"I don't know," Aokai shrugged, "would've been cooler if you'd caught them, Froyo."
She grit her teeth, but smiled. "Maybe next time."
"You're still gonna teach us, right?" Tetsutetsu was straining against Kendo's hold on him. Before Shosei could say anything, Emiru Motomu spoke.
"It could be fun."
"More people could do this together," Juuhiro agreed.
"One-B could join us too," added Koneko.
"There's forty people in here," Asano started, "is there even a safe way to set this up?"
As the room dissolved into numerous discussions, Shosei's eyes drifted over to Kendo, who seemed to be the one running the show – she was probably their class rep – and found the girl watching her. There was a question in her eyes. Shosei answered it with a minute shrug. She wasn't against the idea.
"Okay!" Kendo interrupted, releasing Tetsutetsu from her grip. "But we're doing this a safely as possible! Anyone who doesn't want to join in is more than welcome to do something else." Turning to Shosei, the girl asked, "Is there a certain way we should set this up?"
"We'll want to clear up as much room as we can." Shosei looked around, scanning the room as she thought. Two rows back-to-back length-ways down the room didn't leave enough room on either side for throwing, not really. As she discarded that idea, another came to her. "Okay, we'll see if this works out."
She gave out her instructions for how to best set up the room. Move desks and chairs to the sides, clearing the center to for a circle, but stack a couple desks to create a pillar what would be their 'target,' and hopefully protect everyone else. Forty people was still a lot to fit around, but there were a few who decided against joining in, so instead they set up a group of desks for them to use.
As the two classes shuffled about to set up the room, Kendo walked over to Shosei – who was picking up her discarded cards – and introduced herself properly, which Shosei returned.
"Sorry for Tetsutetsu, he can get pretty intense sometimes."
"It's okay. I've actually met worse." She had. Her neighborhood had quite the eclectic bunch. Gathering her two other unopened packs, Shosei gave one to the other group – in case they wanted to do something with them. "We'll see how this goes, if it gets out of hand we'll stop," she said slitting open the other deck with a nail.
"Sounds good," concurred Kendo.
The pair looked to the center of the room, the desk pillar was four high and looked stable. Someone had drawn a bullseye on a piece of paper and taped it to the desks, which had encouraged others to do the same, some with other bullseyes, but others with different drawings, creating the worst holiday tree substitute Shosei had ever seen. The group of students had formed a loose circle around the setup.
"Shall we go over to Whoville and lay down the law?" she asked.
Kendo laughed and nodded.
Shosei stepped between Asano and a guy from class B, handing each of them a deck. "Take three or four and pass them on," she instructed. She pulled out her three from her jacket pocket and walked further into the center, Kendo following as a show of unity. "Okay, now none of you will aim at anything other than this…" she gestured at the decorated desk pillar as she circled around it, "work of art. If you use up all of your cards, don't go out and get more until everyone else is done throwing. Also, don't act like some wild west Snipe-sensei," there were snorts from her classmates, "and launch your cards about with abandon. They can hurt people." The distance between them and their target – and the people beside them – meant that optimal throwing would be difficult to reach, but would likely keep out of control hurling to a minimum.
Kendo nodded. "If things start getting out of hand or dangerous, I will step in." She let the threat hang for a moment. "Shigeyo and I both agree that safety is our top priority here."
"She likes it if you call her Froyo!" A deep voice called out from the other side of the pillar.
"Shut up, Aokai!" Shosei barked, hearing a cry of 'ow' come from him as Mihoko pinched his arm. "All right, I'll try to do this as best I can, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Now, throwing cards was first popularized by stage magicians in the eighteen-hundreds – I'm just kidding," she said to the growing looks of alarm at the idea of a lecture. Beside her Kendo laughed. "There's a couple grips you can try, so let's see what feels best."
Happily, things did not go downhill and the two classes seemed to enjoy themselves. However, they were there for a lot longer than they thought they would be, which meant after some time other activities took over as people decided to do different things.
Eventually, information came through via Bunko-sensei's phone. Once she was finished with the phone call, she garnered the two classes' attention. "The situation has been resolved. One-B, you'll remain here in your classroom, please restore the desks to their proper place. Vlad-King will be returning shortly. One-C, I'll be escorting you back to your homeroom. Once your homeroom teachers have arrived, they will provide you with more information." She input something into her phone and the metal protectors sealing the room retracted.
Belongings were gathered and 1-C exited the room. "There's police cars out there," someone said, causing the class to gather at the large windows to look. Down below were a number of police cars, lights flashing, and their officers.
"Seriously?" a voice came from behind them in 1-B's room, but a sharp look from Bunko-sensei kept the class from leaving. "Stay inside," she ordered. "One-C, come with me."
Throwing a few last inquisitive glances to the campus below, they followed. Even more curious about what had happened.
Snipe-sensei finally returned, relieving Bunko-sensei from her post, a few minutes after the class had all settled down in their seats. He strode to the podium, hands settling on either side of the top, looking out at his students in silence. It remained that way for a short time before he released a sigh and straightened up fully.
"I'm sure you're all wondering what happened today. We're sharing this information with you so you will have the knowledge straight from the source. You will likely hear all sorts of opinions and concerns in the next few days." Snipe's head shifted back and forth, examining the young children before him. "I regret to inform you, that villains invaded our campus," whispers and exclamations broke out only to be silence by a startingly severe look from their teacher. "Not only did they gain access to UA, but they also attacked class One-A during their heroics training in the USJ with the intention of eliminating All Might."
This time it was the shock of the news itself that kept the class silent.
"In response we will be implementing stricter security measures. Rest assured that these will not affect you negatively, nor change your daily schedule." Snipe-sensei pulled out some sort of controller and pressed a button. Above the projector whirled to life, lighting a section of wall above their teacher. "As I said earlier, we want you as informed as reasonably possible," another button was pressed and two side-by-side images appeared on the wall. They were slightly grainy and obviously taken by some kind of security camera. One was the image of a dark purple mist with golden eyes and the other was a blue-haired man in black with multiple detached hands gripping him, one prominently clutching, and hiding, his face.
"These two led the attack and managed to escape. They are extremely dangerous and if, for whatever reason, you see them, call the police straightaway." Snipe-sensei continued to explain the situation to his class and while Shosei listened, she found it nearly impossible to look away from the burning red eyes peeking between the severed hand's fingers. This 'Shigaraki' had eyes feverish with mania. It was a look she'd seen before in the gold eyes of her cousin.
The eyes of someone with a goal, one they would allow no one and nothing to hold them from.
A chill ran over Shosei. Her hands twitched, unsure of where to go. Her left forearm, where her cousin taught her family above all or her right collar bone, where she'd learned her worth to him.
While the Exams are Being Graded
Aizawa was sitting at his desk mindlessly feeding answer sheet after answer sheet through the scanner. The computer did the hard work of entering the grading under the correct applicant's name. It was drudging work, but with the thousands of thousands of people who had applied, all hands were required to help out. Though at the moment, it was only him and Mic in the room, the other teachers had gone for lunch, leaving them to keep watch over all the score sheets, and to continue scanning. They would be given their break when the others returned.
At least this year he hadn't been asked to record the acceptance videos. That had been an actual nightmare (one he'd refused venomously), that dubious honor had been handed off to All Might to record all Hero and General Course student acceptances. Or at least he will be doing that, once they finally figure out who's officially accepted.
A series of beeps broke through his numbed senses, pulling his eyes away from his own machine, currently sucking in another sheet. Looking over to Mic, who was exclaiming his surprise loudly to the machine spitting the answer sheet back out.
"No way, no way," he cried out, snatching up the sheet and staring at it before shoving it into Aizawa's face a second later. "It's a nearly perfect score! No one scores that high!" He pulled the sheet from Mic's hand so he could better read it without it shaking violently a fingers width from his face. Sure enough, the printed score on the paper was nearly perfect and it belonged to one Shigeyo Shosei.
The high score said a lot about her intelligence, plenty of people could score well on the test, but it had been intentionally designed with a number of questions in each portion above a first-year's level. Despite that, it wasn't out of their ability to solve, someone smart enough could take what they knew and apply it to solving problems they didn't. They just needed logic and a calm mind that didn't panic in an unfamiliar, and high-stake, situation.
The exam had been designed deceptively well by Principle Nezu, and was why it the same for General and Hero Course. Both departments had the ability to produce decent heroes, A and B just got a better leg up.
"Pull her up! Pull her up!" Mic urged, gesturing to Aizawa's computer.
"She's already on yours," he somewhat impatiently pointed out.
Mic immediately shoved away on his chair, sliding back to his desk, sullenly, he followed the exuberant man.
"Hey, Eraser." Aizawa hummed in reply. "Are we sure she didn't somehow cheat? Given where she's coming from."
Aizawa quickly found her previous school information.
Malakor Junior High.
Not the most prestigious of schools to ever exist. It also had to unique distinction that eighty percent of graduates, at some point in their life, spent time in jail, or at the least, got arrested for something. Her record, though, was clean, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten so far in the enrollment process.
The address noted down for her wasn't a positive on her side either. It was smackdab in what was considered, and one of the few remaining, Yakuza controlled territory. That didn't mean she was an unscrupulous person either, plenty of good people were in bad situations.
However.
"We shouldn't judge her based solely on where she's coming from, Mic. A bad beginning does not mean a bad ending."
"Yeah, but," Mic hedged with a frown, "check out her Quirk, how creepy."
"Creepy," Aizawa wondered, spotting and then reading the description. He frowning to himself. "Try useful."
Because of her failure in the practical exam, she was slotted towards General Studies. With her grade on the written, she'd make it in, but in Aizawa's opinion, she deserved to be in the Hero Course. She might not be flashy, but Shigeyo could take the hero scene with ease. He didn't know the intricacies of her Quirk, but with a single touch she could put a Villain down and out before the fight even got going.
Though, in an open setting, that might be a bit more difficult. She'd probably make a better underground hero, like him, then. A fast and brutal sneak attack in a narrow passageway would be her best option in a fight. They wouldn't have as easy of a time avoiding her that way.
Blinking himself out of his mind, which had been running away with formulations of Shigeyo's potential, Aizawa came back to the moment at hand.
"– walking germs. Have we thought about that? Is she contagious?"
He turned away from Mic's rambling and returned to his desk.
Shigeyo Shosei was another name of the list of people who proved the practical exam UA held was completely irrational and discounted a number of more useful Quirks, allowing prospective heroes to slip through the cracks.
Aizawa might not be able to do anything about that aspect of the exam, but he could do something about his class roster after the apprehension test.
Just a note - I didn't include the class list this time, cause it's so much... but if you guys really want it let me know. I can pare it down. (Also my Quirk ideas have gotten out of hand...)