A/N: Thank you to all for reading this! I'm really getting into the story and am enjoying writing again, something I've not done in over a decade. The next chapter might take a bit longer, as I'll be getting into the training mission, and I'm sure it's going to be a challenge to write. I really hope you enjoy this! :)
Oh, and I don't own My Hero Academia.
...
"Damn this is hard!"
"Hey, no copying off my paper, Sero!"
"Come on, man! Hurry up and let's go work out!"
"Anyone seen Koda's bunny? He got out again!"
"All of you, I'm trying to watch this movie and this lady is about to take off her shirt! SHUT THE HELL UP!"
The first week of life at UA High was a whirlwind of activity for Kaylee. And noise. Lots of noise. Random fights, explosions, yelling, screaming, squealing; Kaylee had so much to get used to and the noise was just a small part. Colors were so bright here, from the school uniforms, to the decor of the common area, to the massive windows, her eyes were still adjusting to the brightness.
This evening, Kaylee was working on homework on one of the study areas in the common room. When she had first come back from her therapy appointment that afternoon, the place was empty. She found a nice table in the corner where she spent a good half hour by herself, enjoying the view of the grounds outside the many windows. Soon though, the room quickly filled with the others, their voices blending in a cacophony. Chairs scraped the floor, couches were jumped over, books were strewn about tables, and once again, Kaylee was surrounded. She hated it. She loved it.
"Kaylee, what do you think about this sentence?" Kaylee looked over at Tsuyu Asui, who had plopped herself in a chair next to her, holding out her English homework for Kaylee to examine. Kaylee had to work hard not to jump every time someone spoke to her. It was so weird when someone asked her thoughts or opinions like it mattered to them.
"Um, you've used a mixture of present and past-perfect tenses," Kaylee replied as she glanced over Tsuyu's paper.
"Oh, really?" Tsuyu frowned at her work. "English is so complicated." Tsuyu smiled at her. "Aren't you half-Japanese? Is your other half English?"
"Um…" Kaylee paused, thinking back to what the CIA agents told her. "Remember, you should stick as close to the truth as you can, whenever possible." Kaylee swallowed. "My mom was from New York."
"Oh, wow!" That was from Uraraka, sitting across from her.
Maybe it was because she sat behind Uraraka in class, and since Uraraka and Tsuyu were friends, the two girls ended up sitting near Kaylee often. Kaylee didn't know if it was because they pitied her somehow, or if they genuinely wanted to be friends, which puzzled her even more. They invited her to sit at lunch with them, occasionally joined in by a few others. While the rest of the class seemed to tolerate her presence, very few of them actively sought her out the way that Tsuyu and Uraraka did. The girl that showed her around the first night, Yaoyorozu, was busy as class representative, on top of her courses and hero training, so Kaylee didn't see much of her this past week.
"Wait! That must mean you know of Star and Stripes and Captain America!" Kaylee couldn't help but jump a little at the eager voice of Izuku Midoriya, or Deku as he was called by some in the class. He pulled out a chair next to Uraraka and sat down. "I tried to get some posters of them on the internet, but they got too expensive," he frowned and started mumbling under his breath as both Tsuyu and Uraraka smiled fondly at the boy.
Deku was yet another classmate that baffled Kaylee; he also genuinely seemed to want to befriend her. There was the fact that he never seemed to be too far away from Uraraka, either.
"I've heard of them," Kaylee replied. Her captors kept her away from TV and radio, but sometimes they would play it too loud and she could overhear things occasionally. "My ca-family," Kaylee cringed inwardly at the slip of tongue. "They didn't allow much access to TV, so I don't know much about superheroes." She had to spend her evenings on her laptop given to her by the school in order to try and catch up on some of the things she missed, but there was just so much, it was overwhelming. She often got a migraine, and ended up in bed crying in frustration.
"Wow, you really were sheltered," exclaimed Uraraka. Kaylee nodded her agreement, not knowing how to reply to that.
Midoriya's eyes lit up with excitement. "Wait right here, I've got so much to show you!' He jumped up and dashed off upstairs.
"Oh no!" Tsuyu sighed dramatically, stretching as she smirked across the table at Uraraka. "Midoriya the fan-boy has just made an appearance. Kaylee, what have you done?"
Kaylee frowned. "What do you mean? Did I say something wrong?"
Uraraka laughed. "She's just teasing you, Kaylee. Deku's always been a superhero fan-boy." She glanced over wistfully where the green-haired boy had been sitting. "He's probably going to bring down all his notes on superheroes and maybe a few action figures."
"Hey guys!" Kaylee looked up as another classmate joined them. She tried to remember her name, was it Jiro? She had earphone jacks that hung down in place of earlobes. "Wait until you hear this!" She pulled up a chair at the table. "I overheard Aizawa talking in the hallway earlier, and he said something about a surprise training session tomorrow!"
"Really?" Now another student, a blond boy named Kaminari, came up to the table. His quirk, Kaylee remembered, was electricity-he could somehow discharge large amounts from his body. He was one of the more friendlier of the students, and would sometimes join her and the others in conversation in-between classes.
"Jiro! You shouldn't be using your quirk to eavesdrop on the faculty!" The boy with the glasses and the engines in his legs scolded as he entered the common area and strode towards them. He was the class president and also someone who would occasionally join her at lunch. Kaylee got the impression that he didn't like her very much. He was friendly enough, but at times, Kaylee could feel him watching her.
"I wasn't using my quirk Iida!" Jiro retorted. "It's not my fault that Aizawa and Present Mic didn't know I was still in the classroom when they walked by." The two students quickly started arguing, with the rest of the group joining in as needed, a few more from the sofa joining in.
All of a sudden, the familiar panic hit Kaylee. Too much. There were too many people around her. There was too much noise. Her chest hurt, every breath became a struggle. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she remembered from her therapy sessions at the hospital. In. Out. In. Out. One, two. Name three things you can feel. One: the pencil she clenched in her hand so tightly that her fingers hurt. Two: the cold sweat rolling down the back of her neck. Three: her heartbeat thumping a rapid beat. Breathe. In. Out.
"Are you ok, Kaylee?" Through her panic, Kaylee heard Tsuyu's whisper next to her. "You've gone a little pale."
Kaylee opened her eyes and looked at the girl. "I'm ok. Just getting a headache. I think I might go to bed early." God, why was it like this? She'd been trying to enjoy herself, then all of a sudden, it just became too much.
"Ribbit," replied Tsuyu. "You've had a big week. I can't imagine how hard it is to be in a new school, in a new place."
Kaylee nodded, packing up her books. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. "Thanks," she offered a hesitant smile. God, she hoped she didn't look as awkward as she felt. Calling out a quick goodnight to everyone at the table, she grabbed her bag and dashed towards the stairs.
"Hey Kaylee! Where are you going? I've got some notes to show you! And I brought down some of the early All Might figures for you to see." Midoriya met her on the landing to the second floor, his arms laden with what looked like notebooks. His bag was bulging with bright red, blue, white and yellow figures in various poses.
"Sorry, I have a headache. Maybe tomorrow?" Kaylee didn't pause, her face turned away, hoping the boy didn't see the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Uh, sure." Did he sound sad? "Good night. Hope your head feels better."
Once inside the safety of her room, Kaylee slumped against her door, her book bag falling to the floor with a hushed thump. Her cheeks were wet with tears.
It's not fair, she thought. Why do I keep feeling like this all the time?
Sighing, she rose and began getting ready for bed. It was odd, having a bed again. The warehouse they'd been forced to evacuate to in Kamagaski didn't have a bed. Just a blanket on the concrete floor that she shared with the rats and roaches that infested the place, a far cry from the comfortable bed in Hong Kong. That apartment was spacious. Kaylee had her own room, complete with her own private bathroom. All the windows had been completely blacked out, but there were times when she could go out into the small private courtyard, especially after Florian had come back from making a profitable sale and they were in high spirits.
As Kaylee got into her bed, she took in her surroundings. It was actually quite nice and spacious, with a bed, desk complete with computer, closet, and private toilet room with sink. Her first few nights were spent outside on the balcony, gazing up at the few stars she could manage to see through the harsh glare of the security light. Her room at the hospital was similar, once the federal agents had shown up out of nowhere and transferred her out of the psych ward. They'd placed her in a different wing under full quarantine. She wasn't sure why, other than to just keep everyone away from her.
Turning on her side, she clutched her pillow to her. Even four floors up, she could hear the muted sounds from downstairs. A thump. Muffled shouts and laughter. Then a dull popping sound that sounded like small fireworks. She heard that sound enough over the past few days. It was him.
Out of all the students so far, he was the one who made the biggest impression on Kaylee. He was loud, obnoxious, arrogant, rude, and yet despite all of that, he managed to have a steady circle of friends, a grudging respect from his classmates, and was at the top of all the hero classes. It wasn't surprising, he practically screamed out "hero" every time he strode into a room.
He hadn't said a word to her, but there were times Kaylee swore that he was watching her. His eyes were a brilliant red that sparked with his emotions. He had sandy blond hair that stuck out in all directions. The few times she'd seen him in the common areas he'd distanced himself from the group, either leaning up against a wall or sitting over to the side. Both Uraraka and Tsuyu had said he acted way worse in their first year, refusing to cooperate with others, had massive anger issues, and as Uraraka said, just a "world-class dick.". He also seemed to have some issues with Deku, childhood rivals or something like that, but after a good while had managed to at least mellow out some, according to Uraraka.
Kaylee remembered her first day in the cafeteria; he'd caused some sort of commotion with another student. It was the first time she'd actually, really, looked at him. Even with the school uniform, she could see the muscles in his arm bulging as he had some other student by the throat. He was so strong on his own, he probably didn't even need to use his quirk to subdue that student. Then a teacher came up, and he just walked away like nothing had happened.
"That's Bakugou," Deku had told her as everyone went back to eating as if nothing had happened. Kaylee still couldn't keep her eyes off of him as he moved past their table, his two friends following him, good naturedly ribbing him.
Then he looked back at her and Kaylee lost her breath. Not that she'd ever had much to compare him to, but oh wow, was he handsome!
Later that evening, Kaylee had used the laptop given to her by the school and tried to learn all she could about Katsuki Bakugou. The first few links gave her the basic biographical information about him. He won the UA Sports Festival in his first year, did internships with the pro-heroes Best Jeanist and Endeavor, the number one hero in Japan. She got a little side-tracked when she'd discovered another one of her classmates was Endeavor's son and the runner-up in the Sports Festival, Shoto Todoroki. Kaylee hadn't spoken to him much either, as Todoroki was also someone who kind of distanced himself from the rest of the class. He wasn't hard to spot with his two-toned hair and eye colors. Kaylee noticed he was more often than not close to Momo Yaoyorozu when she saw him.
As Kaylee had returned to her Bakugou search, the next few links absolutely horrified her. Gasping, she'd barely made it to the toilet in time to vomit up whatever food she managed to eat that day. Kamino Ward. League of Villains. Tomura Shigaraki.
She'd heard those names before. Right before her captors had dragged her from Hong Kong.
"Come on, you bitch!" Rusty yelled from the doorway of her bedroom. "We're headed to Japan, and you need to pack up your shit!"
As she packed up her meager things, she listened in on the conversation from the other room.
"When we get there, we need to make contact with someone called Giran," Steve said. "He can help us get in with the League of Villains."
"I'm having a time trying to unload some of the merchandise that brat's created," Florian replied in his thick accent. "The market is drying up. We need to get there soon. I've heard rumors that Shigaraki is looking to attack some sort of camp that UA student is headed to. The one who won the sports festival."
"Maybe we can get there in time to get in on that action. Our golden goose can help buy our way in."
After that night, Kaylee couldn't bring herself to look at Bakugou again.
…...
"For fuck's sake, Deku. I thought you left that fanboy crap ages ago." Bakugou couldn't help but chuckle at the disappointed look on the nerd's face as he caught up to Deku on the landing. The new girl had darted past them on the stairs, muttering a quick apology in that raspy voice of hers. She never saw him, but the light from the windows managed to highlight the tears on her pale cheeks.
She was crying.
"Hi, Kacchan! Kaylee was telling me how she didn't know much about superheroes and I thought I'd show her my notes and stuff. Did you know her mom is American?" His arms were laden with those stupid notebooks he kept, one for every major hero in Japan. Bakugou thought he saw the name "Captain America'' as well. He even had some of his precious All Might action figures stuffed in a bag.
"You mean she can say more than one word at a time?" Bakugou turned to look back up at the path the girl had taken. She'd been crying and for some reason, that bothered him. He rubbed his chest, scowling at the slight pain that shot through.
"She's just shy, I think."
"Tch." They descended the rest of the stairs. "It's more than just being shy, Deku. The girl has issues." Even after he swore he'd stop, he couldn't keep from watching her. He kept telling himself that he needed to do it, since the other assholes in the class couldn't be bothered. He'd noticed that Asui and Uraraka had befriended her, Deku as well. The rest of the class seemed to be cordial to her, although there were a few that seemed wary.
"Deku! Bakugou!" Kirishima called out to them from where several of their classmates were gathered. "We're having a surprise training session tomorrow. Jiro overheard the teachers talking about it."
"Great, we've not had one in a few weeks now. I wonder where we'll end up." Bakugou followed Deku over to where the rest of the extras sat, various books strewn about as though they had been studying.
"You just missed Kaylee, Deku," Uraraka told him as he claimed his seat next to the girl. Bakugou smirked as he noticed how the nerd's cheeks flushed. Those two morons.
"We met on the stairs. She said she had a headache," Deku replied as he placed the action figures on the table. "I was going to show her some of the notes I had on Captain America."
"So are we still thinking she's like a villain or something?" Kaminari asked, scratching his head. "Cause I have to tell you, so far I'm not getting any bad vibes from her. She's weird, but not evil."
"Of course not," scolded Uraraka. "I think she's nice."
"Ribbit, ribbit." Tsuyu agreed. "I think sometimes she's afraid of us. She startles easily."
"Can you blame her though," Jiro stated. "I mean, we can be pretty loud at times. Mind you," she spared a telling glance at Bakugou, who narrowed his eyes at her. "Some of us have mellowed out since we got here."
Bakugou rolled his eyes. He'd be the first to admit he'd been a world-class dick in his first year at UA. His issues with Deku. The attack on the USJ. The Sports Festival. His kidnapping at Kamino. Failing the provisional hero licensing test. The work studies with Best Jeanist and Endeavor. All Might. The secret behind One-for-All. Shit, that first year had forced him to grow-the-fuck-up fast. He'd managed to swallow his pride and learn to accept help. To trust others. To not blame himself when shit happens. And of course, he'd apologized to Deku for all the shit he put him through.
Kaminari grinned, wagging his eyebrows in his direction. "You say that now, Jiro, but you didn't see him in Lunch Rush the other day threatening Monoma. He was ready to fry that little shit's ass right there in front of Cementoss."
"What was that about, Kacchan? We heard the commotion but it was over so quickly."
Bakugou shrugged. "That asshole gets on my nerves, just like Sparky said."
Iida glowered at Bakugou who scowled right back. "Regardless, we shouldn't be fighting the other classes. As for my thoughts on Kaylee, she seems to be a good student. She's quiet, but then I'd expect that from someone who had been secluded for most of her life, as we were told. I don't sense any evil from her. But she is odd."
"I think she has panic attacks," Tsuyu said softly. "She doesn't like crowds."
Bakugou noticed that as well. "When she walks into a room, she immediately searches for all exits and entrances. Like she's looking for an escape route. She keeps her hair around her face to cover her eyes so you can't see it that well." He felt his cheeks flush as everyone suddenly stared at him, mouths agape. "The palms of her hands are severely scarred. Looks like knife wounds. She's always clenching them like it still hurts her."
"Wow, looks like you have taken an interest in her, Bakugou. I've not noticed any of that and I've spent a lot of time with her this week." Uraraka grinned cheekily at Bakugou. His eyes narrowed.
"Like you've got eyes for anyone but Deku there, Cheeks," hissed Bakugou. He couldn't help but chuckle as she and the damned nerd both reddened and looked away quickly. "It's not my fault none of you idiots weren't paying attention to what's been so fucking obvious. The girl isn't a threat. She's scared out of her mind. She can barely speak above a whisper."
"I like her voice," Mineta said from his place on the sofa. He now leaned against the back, arms hanging over the side, whatever movie he had been watching forgotten in light of the conversation. "It's all raspy and sexy." He licked his lips suggestively. "Looks like Bakugou likes it too." Violet eyebrows waggled.
Oh, he had enough of this shit. "Shut the fuck up, you freak!" Bakugou propelled himself over to the soft and started pounding the shit-wad into the floor. Little explosions popped from his palms.
"Oh come on, aren't we too old for this shit? Really, Mineta!"
"My fault, why is this my fault?"
"Enough, both of you!" Four-eyes shouted.
One more small punch, just enough to make the bastard see a few stars, and Bakugou stopped. The little shit wasn't worth getting in trouble for, and the four-eyed asshole would definitely get Aizawa involved if he went too rough. "I'm going to bed."
Once in bed, Bakugou had a hard time getting to sleep. Damn that new girl, now she had the whole goddamn school thinking he liked her. Picking up his phone, he scrolled through various news sites, just to get his mind off of things.
Before he realized it, he'd typed in her name again and pressed enter. Nothing. Frowning, wondering why in hell he was doing this again, he typed in her name using the roman alphabet. Her mom was American. He pressed enter again.
His eyes widened as he stared at the screen. Motherfucker.
Sioux City Journal, Kaylee Fukigawa. He misspelled her last name and a newspaper article popped up. He tapped the link and hit translate.
Search Called Off for Missing 6 Year-Old
Nearly a year after her family was murdered in Manhattan, authorities have finally called off the search for Kaylee Fukigawa, daughter of Kristen Jones Fukagawa, Ambassador to the United Nations for the United States, and her husband, Kappei Fukagawa, a lead designer for the De Beers Group, the diamond company. Both parents, along with their youngest child, Simon, were found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on December 12 of last year.
Ambassador Fukagawa was the president's most recent appointment to the United Nations Security Council and had only been in office for a few months before her body was found along with that of her husband and son in their Upper East Side apartment. Their daughter, Kaylee was believed to have been at home at the time, but her body was never recovered.
A nationwide search for the killers erupted the first three months as the case gained international attention, however, no leads were found.
Bakugou read the article three times. Scrolling down, there was a picture of a family. Two parents with two kids, one of them barely out of diapers, and the other, a small girl…
He did a double take at the photo. The whole family was quite attractive and appeared very well-dressed. The adults were probably in their mid-thirties. The mother had large eyes and a kind smile. The photo was black and white, but she had light colored hair that contrasted with the man standing next to her, his arm around her, pressing her body against his side. The man was not much taller than the woman. Dark, short spiky hair, framed a prominent jawline.
His eyes went to the little girl, her arm around her brother as she gave a cheeky smile to the camera. Her hair was light, like her mother's, but she had the same small, thin nose as her father. The same fucking nose Bakugou watched earlier this evening, framed by pale hair as its owner ran up the stairs, tears streaming down her face.
Like pieces of a puzzle, things fell into place. Panic attacks. Raspy voice. Always looking for escape routes. Holy shit. Kaylee Fukagawa was at UA High.
