Chapter Four: First Impressions Are Everything So Punching is Not Allowed!

I gasped and choked on the air as I sat up in my bed, my chest constricting with an unwelcome heaviness that cut off my ability to breathe and made my heart hammer in my chest. I swear I could smell the smoke and taste the ashes on the tip of my tongue. And oh God, the screaming. It's ringing in my ears and echoing in my head and I want it to stop, stop, stop. I can't see properly, it's all blurry and everything feels hot, so hot—

I blinked some of the tears away as the ringing stopped and the intense glow of my quirk softened. The scent of smoke disappeared and I swallowed back the non-existent taste of embers. It was... just another nightmare. I blinked a little slower than before, watching as the remaining tears fell and soaked into my blankets. My once hammering heart slowed down and I took in a deep breath; and exhaled.

In, out.

In, out.

Until I was back to normal; the tears had stopped and my heart had stabilized. The light from my quirk had completely disappeared. I take a glance towards my digital alarm clock and scowled to see that it was only three in the morning. Damn it all. Sleep was futile at this point, so I climbed out of the covers and stretched, feeling almost all of my joints pop.

What a great fucking way to start the school year. Waking up from a traumatizing night terror at 3 am. Great. Just great. I feel so fucking refreshed and ready for the day.

I made my way to my desk situated in the far corner of my room, adjacent to my bed. Turning on the lamp, my eyes trailed over the random books strewn over the wood, until they landed on the ivory envelope sitting by my lamp. I felt my face twitch a little.

My mind flashed to the other night.

All Might— ugh— had explained that even if I didn't manage to take down enough robots, I managed to make up for it in rescue points (though, those rescues weren't flawless either, he explained, and I had to begrudgingly agree with him, holding back my tongue from badmouthing a certain ash blonde). He even said that Shogeki-san— the purple-haired girl I saved— came to them a day after the exams.

My heart was honestly touched when I heard that she pleaded with them to accept me. I should really find her someday and give her my thanks. It's a shame that she didn't get in though. And I couldn't help but think of another purple-haired boy. He still hasn't texted me back. The familiar sense of guilt made the depths if my stomach its home.

All the more reason to train even harder. To not waste this chance. For Shinsou. For Shogeki-san. My breath hitched and I lifted my eyes up to the ceiling.

For my father.

For fuck's sake.

Frickity frackity fuck.

Frackity frickity flip-flap fucking fuck.

I fucking hate myself. I hate everything.

I thought I overslept. Oh my God, I thought I overslept. But no. My brain screwed with my eyesight and managed to convince me that my 30 minute nap had turned to a good 4 hour sleep. Good job, Ejiri. I groan and rub my head as I took in the completely empty classroom in front of me. If it weren't for the big, red '1-A' on the big ass classroom door, I could have convinced myself that this was the wrong classroom. But it is the right classroom. This is where classes would be taking place. And it is 7:30 in the morning. Oh, the urge to slam my face into one of the desks has never felt this strong.

I sighed. Guess this means I get first dibs on my seat, though. At least there's that. I groan again and practically dragged my feet towards the seat at the very back, the one on the left side. God end me if I ever have to face the searing glare of the damn sun all day.

I slammed my bag down on the desk and sat down. I buried my head in my arms as I silently rue this morning. Really, I already started my day off with a nightmare and got to school almost an hour and a half early. What could be worse?

I heard the door slam open and I felt my body jolt. I snap my head back up to possibly cuss out the newcomer when my eyes landed on a bi-colored mop of hair. Oh no. Oh no. Fuck that. I can handle All Might being my teacher. Hell, I can handle that ash blonde being my classmate. But no way am I going to have the burning trashcan's son anywhere near me. I wasn't even aware that Endeavor was allowed to procreate.

He hasn't noticed me yet, his cold eyes were narrowed and glaring at something really far away. The way his face was scrunched up in a sneer sent shivers down my spine but I steeled my nerves and stopped myself from tensing up. He finally turned his head at my direction and seemed a little surprised to see me. Not everyone can expect to see a student sitting alone in her classroom at an ungodly hour.

He scoffed at my presence anyway and sauntered towards the seat opposite to mine on the other side of the room, right by the windows. He's as arrogant as I thought. Figures.

"Nice to meet you too, princess." I muttered.

I see the guy freeze in place in the corner of my eye and I realized that he heard me. "What did you just say to me?" He growled, whirling around to face me with harsh heterochromatic eyes. They don't scare me; I stare right back at him. "Are you deaf? Or is your head so far up your ass you can't hear anything else?"

"Not that I'm surprised," I scoff and smirked maliciously to the side, "why would I expect less from the son of Endea—" A strong slam had me jumping off of my seat and my head snapped back to Half-and-half. He was seething, his nostrils were flaring and the scar on his face never looked more menacing. I felt my own scars throb just a little.

"Don't ever mention my father."

I blink a few times at his demand.

"You think you're the only one with information here?" He challenged and I felt my mouth gape and dry up. "I know who the hell you are."

Before I knew it, he was up close and personal, towering over me like an ominous obelisk. I could see the color of his eyes now. A dark gray on his right; a cold blue on his left. Both as menacing as ever.

"I just had an unpleasant conversation with that man I have to call father so I suggest you keep your mouth shut."

I continue to stare up at him.

If it weren't for the door slamming open, who knows how long we would have been like that. Our heads snap towards the entrance, only to see a bespectacled boy with blue hair and blue eyes stop midway through the door.

"What the hell?" I mumbled.

The guy blinked.

"G-Good morning...?" He drawled, his azure eyes flitting between the two-tone boy and me. I internally sighed in relief and growled at the same time. Yeah, if I provoked this guy further, we would have been trouble on our first day. But there's still that undeniable desire to punch the living daylights out of this arrogant ass. We simultaneously snapped our heads back to each other and I sneered. He huffed and went back to his seat.

Drama bitch.

"Good morning!" I jolted yet again for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. Why am I so jumpy? I craned my neck up to look at the blue haired glasses-wearing boy. I look him up and down. He was of robust build and was pretty tall for a guy his age. To be honest— and I don't mean this to offend him— he almost looked like my Middle School Homeroom teacher. Almost.

"My name is Iida Tenya, from Soumei Junior High School!" The boy, who I know now as Iida, stuck his hand out towards me like a rigid robot. I hesitantly take his hand in a brief handshake. Holy shit it's practically swallowing mine. "Ejiri Chiasa." I mumbled, nodding my head in a sort of greeting. "So you're from Soumei? That prestigious elite school?" According to Inukai, you gotta be from a crazy rich family to study in a private school like that!

"Yes! I take it that you're the Ejiri Chiasa? So you're from Nabu Middle School?" Iida asked back and I stiffened before choking back a cough. I guess information about my family already circulated around the internet. I didn't really bother checking to begin with. Figures. "E-Er, yeah. I am."

"And you must be Todoroki Shouto!" Iida had turned towards that half-and-half boy— huh, Shouto, what an odd name— who had resorted to staring out of the window. A few beats of silence passed with him ignoring Iida's attempt at greeting. "Don't waste your breath on someone like him." I scoff at Todoroki's cold behavior. "The apple almost never falls far from the tree, I see." I ignore the way his shoulders tensed up in the corner of my eye.

I conversed with Iida for the next hour and students began trickling in to the classroom. I caught sight of a beautiful ebony-haired girl with onyx eyes, her uniform was neat and tidy, and she just screamed "I'm a person you can trust with your life" vibes. Then, I witnessed a hyper ball of pink fluff talk animatedly with a dirty blond-haired boy. It's... a peculiar class.

The loud slam of the door cut him off and we turned our heads to the new arrival. I recognized the ash blond hair and those angry crimson eyes right away. "What the hell are you extras doing here?" And I'm pretty sure no one, and I mean no one else, uses the word 'extras' to refer to other people.

It was the ash blond from the Entrance Exam.

The other students, sans Todoroki, stared at him in disbelief and I felt my jaw tighten. Should I consider myself doomed if he remembers me? The memory of him demolishing two giant-ass robots with just his right hand flashed across my mind. Maybe I should consider myself doomed.

His vermillion eyes turned to me and I stiffened. Yeah, definitely doomed. I hope mother has enough money for my funeral.

"Oi, oi, oi," he was walking towards us and Iida turned to me again. "You know this guy?" "I wouldn't exactly say that—" I jolted yet again when the guy's foot collided with my desk. He was glaring down at me and I stared back. I can feel Todoroki's eyes on me as well. Fuck my confrontational ass.

"What the hell are you doing here, you fucking emo-wannabe." My hand immediately flew to my locks of hair covering the right side of my face. Emo-wannabe? Emo-wannabe? Of all the insults he can call me, he chooses Emo-wannabe?

"Hey! Stop using such vulgar language. And please refrain from placing your feet on the table. Have you no decency?!" Iida stood up from his seat and the metal screeching of the chair mixed in with the continued chattering of our now-classmates. "Don't you think it's disrespectful to those who made this desk?"

The ash blond smiled maliciously at Iida and I clenched my fists. "What's it to you, four-eyes? I have a feeling I'll enjoy it when I finally end you." He still didn't lift his foot off my desk. Iida looked as baffled as you can imagine.

"Hey! What do you mean 'end him'?" I stood up as well, squaring my shoulders in an effort to make myself look bigger. The crimson-eyed boy noticed this and tilted his chin up a little more. "Someone like you wants to be a hero?"

He finally lifted his foot off the table and placed it back down on the ground. He opened his mouth to obviously send a barrage of insults towards me and...

"Kacchan? Ejiri-san?"

Hang on a minute.

I know that voice.

I whirled around and my blue gray eye met emerald greens. It was Midoriya Izuku, with his neat Yuuei uniform and a timid expression on his face. I allowed myself a faint smile and I heard a low growl rumble in the ash blond's throat. He harshly turned around and smacked my shoulder with his in the process, just like what he did during the Entrance Exams. "Pull a stunt like that again, and I'll kill you." Was the last thing he said to me before he sauntered towards a random seat, right by the windows. It was so low, I doubt even Iida heard it.

Speaking of, my blue-haired friend was making his way towards Midoriya and I followed suit. Midoriya was eyeing the ash blond— did he call him 'Kacchan'?— with an unreadable expression. I felt my lips tighten into a thin line. Did they know each other? Were they classmates before? If so... I mentally cringed as I remember how this 'Kacchan' behaved during the exams. I can't imagine how Midoriya managed to get through that. I glance at the ash blond again then back to Midoriya. It's best not to bring it up now.

"Hello! My name is Iida Tenya from Soumei Junior High School, and this is Ejiri Ch—"

"He knows, Iida. Hello again, Midoriya."

"A-ah," Midoriya stammered, "Hello, I'm Midoriya Izuku." Can I please adopt him now? Sure, I was pissed at him that morning before the test but now that my conscious is clear and my mind stress-free, I am seriously considering taking this boy in as my son.

"I apologize for how I behaved before the exams. Please forgive my attitude." Iida bowed in front of Midoriya.

"Oh! I-it's alright, Iida-kun."

"What? You got some history too?" I snickered. Midoriya flushed and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. I cross my arms and cocked an eyebrow. "We did get off on the wrong foot before the exams but—"

"But I was wrong to judge you that harshly, Midoriya-kun." Iida turned to me. "You should've seen him during the exams!" Iida's eyes lit up like christmas lights and my eyebrows shot up as I let out a surprised 'oh?'. Now that I think about it, I haven't asked Midoriya about his quirk. I didn't know how strong this guy is. "Yes! He was the only one brave enough to rescue one of the examinees, even I didn't think to go back for her." My eye trailed back to Midoriya, who was flushing red and looking away. Maybe the future of heroes isn't doomed.

"Huh, well, you've earned my respect, Midoriya." I smile at him and Midoriya became even redder, if that was possible.

"Oh!" A new female voice interrupted our conversation. I recognized the brown hair immediately. It was the girl who saved our asses from falling that day. "It's you! The plain-looking one!" She pointed at Midoriya and I snickered at her comment. "And the grumpy one too!" I stopped my snickering and glared at her. "What do you mean grumpy?"

She giggled with a bright smile and I swore literal sunrays radiated from behind her. "Sorry, sorry!" She then turned to Midoriya and started gushing about how amazing he was during the exam—and apparently she was the one he had saved. I take a good long look at her then switched my gaze back to the equally bright Midoriya then back to the brunette. Hoo boy, how am I gonna survive with two bright balls of sunshine as my classmates?

Before I could say anymore, I heard an exhausted voice behind me that vaguely reminded me of Shinsou. My heart would've ached a little if it weren't for the sudden chill climbing up my spine.

"This is not the place to play."

The three of us froze by the doorway. Simultaneously, we all slowly turned our heads towards the origin of the voice, only to find a man lying down on the floor in a bright yellow sleeping bag. And I don't know about my 'peers' by my side, but the only thing on my mind right about now is 'What in the actual hell?'.

"This is the Hero Course."

END OF CHAPTER FOUR