Disclaimer: I own nothing but Hiroko.
- Apologies to everyone, for I am dumb -
Come Monday, I was finally well rested. Only having a small nightmare of Mr. Aizawa and the state he was in during the USJ attack. I'd even woken up early to train and workout, getting back into my routine.
I sighed and looked into the mirror, my eyes scanning my face. The training Mr. Aizawa had been putting us through, usually outside and under the blazing sun, therefore the small freckles under my left eye and above my right one, stood out. I shifted my gaze from my face to my hair which had taken me little time at all, having mastered pulling it back into a high braid, with my bangs feathering my face. I'd put my bangs back, but I happened to like the look.
"Dang, I look good today." I said with a smile, cheekily winking myself before I grabbed my things and set off for school.
I had to leave earlier than usual because I had to get to school on foot. Stupid Lilly and making me walk. "It'll be good for you, she says. Build your stamina, she says," I mocked "Last time I checked I was the one who actually worked out." My grumblings soon ceased when I started taking more notice of my surroundings, trying to recall what memories they might have brought up. Nothing really came to mind, only the familiarity behind the roads, faintly remembering being driven around this area. Eight years is a pretty long time, I guess.
When I saw the road leading to my school, I began to look around for many of my classmates, I hadn't been enjoying the silent walk and was in desperate need for human contact. My silent prayers seemed to go unanswered until I saw the same boy from lunch on friday, the one who seemed to know me. I slightly peeked at him, only seeing his left side, but his red hair and scar around his brilliant blue eyes made it clear that it was him.
His eye shifted to me, sensing my gaze, and I brought my head down quickly, getting embarrassed at the eye contact. When I looked up again, I'd gotten closer to the school and groups of students began to form. Which was why I'd lost track of the pretty red headed boy. I huffed out in disappointment, and I thought I saw the familiar white of todoroki's hair, but soon lost sight of him as well.
When I finally reached the classroom I noticed the door was actually open for once, I guess getting there early meant not having to slam that huge door open just to get in. I walked in and took notice of the small number of students there. As expected, Iida sat in his seat with perfect posture, his head looking at the book in his hands, not breaking concentration even through the loud students in the hall. What was unexpected, was the person sitting in the last seat of my row.
His familiar red hair plain and obvious to see, as he looked at Yaoyorozu, sitting beside him. I had stopped at the front of the classroom, watching the two interact, both not noting the fact that he wasn't supposed to be in this classroom. Perhaps he was her boyfriend and he was visiting her. Oh my goodness, that is so cute. Maybe he came here often and that's why he thought he knew me, but you'd think I'd see him in here before today.
"Yaoyorozu, is he your boyfriend?" I asked, after setting my stuff on my desk and heading towards them. She began to blush furiously and I began to feel bad at the conclusion I jumped to. The boy in question turned to face me and I jumped back, seeing the pretty red haired boy on the left, but a perfectly symmetrical Todoroki on the right.
"Todoroki isn't my boyfriend, w-we were just talking." She stuttered out, her usually calm composure cracking at my insinuation.
I slightly nodded my head but I continued to stare at "Todoroki". "Why is one side of your face different from the other?" I asked him, not understanding how no one else seemed to be fazed. Did he get affected by a quirk and was now mixed with another kid? Was he hurting? Why is no one else concerned?
"Because my Quirk is half and half, so it affects my appearance." He answered, "I look like my mother on my right and my father on the left." The confusion slowly started to disappear and excitement and wonder replaced it.
"You're an idiot, how didn't you notice?" A familiar gravelly voice said from behind me, apparently he'd been there the entire time. I turned and faced him, looking over the uniform the school gave us, and definitely not comparing him in the casual clothes yesterday.
"I couldn't see over Sero and Tokoyami, Okay?" I said back, my voice defensively getting louder. His eyes flared with anger at my volume increase, apparently seeing it as a challenge.
"What idiot can't even recognize their classmate?" He yelled, now more people were walking into the class, wondering what was the commotion.
"Well you're one to talk, you don't even use our names," I smiled, oddly enjoying our argument, feeling like I was just teasing him. He, however, was not finding this as hilarious as I was, and the scowl on his face proved it. "And it's not my fault that you're so distracting, you're throwing off my radar."
"If you don't shut up nerd, I'll rip your arm off and beat you with it," He growled the threat, and I stopped for a moment, wondering how someone so blatantly violent hadn't been sent to jail. The cops are probably too scared to even try.
"Mmkay. Well I happen to like my arm being attached and not being beaten with it, so I'm just going to... " I said, submitting to his demand, and turning back to Todoroki. " I'm sorry Todoroki, I'm not sure how I missed that. Makes me wonder what else I'm not paying attention to."
"Maybe the fact that school has already started," Mr. Aizawa said, and two emotions swept through my chest. One, a guilt for what happened at the USJ, my nightmare quickly resurfacing some unwanted memories, and embarrassment, for once again being reprimanded by the tired teacher.
I refrained from speaking and made my way to my desk, sitting there uncomfortably as the teacher's eyes still bore into my head.
"Now that you're done making a ruckus, we can start." He started our day like usual, preparing us for upcoming events for the school and what we'd be doing after lunch during our hero course. "I've already given you the Sports festival speech, so there is no reason to waste time and keep bringing it up. Today we are doing a new kind of training, I'll explain more during that time, but I want everyone to be changed and outside right after lunch, No reason to come back to class."
I nodded my head in understanding and looked up to him, my eyes filling with feelings of regret. Every time I'd see him I'd imagined scenarios where I could have helped, where I could have kept him from being injured, any possible way of keeping her from any harm.
Oh.
So my feelings weren't just about Mr. Aizawa.
Time passed period by period, and I felt the new found information irritate me. Why did unwanted feelings tend to stick longer than those that were actually desired? I sighed in frustration and stuffed food into my mouth, quickly thanking whoever made it.
"Why are you all grumpy?" Mina asked, looking at me with playful confusion. I looked at her and swallowed, giving her a mock angry look.
"I'm not grumpy, I'm thinky." I told her, raising my fork pointedly at her. "Anyways, how's your project with Kirishima going? Learn anything… exciting?" I really didn't have an implication when I asked, but I wanted to see what she might come up with, if she even caught on at all. She did.
"I- well, What's that supposed to mean?" She stuttered, her hand going to her horn, pulling on it nervously. "What's with you and Bakugo?"
"Defensive are we?" I asked, smirking at her change of subject. " And I asked how the project was going, I have no idea as to why you might be acting like this." I fiend innocence with a British accent, teasing her and her reddening cheeks. At least I think they were reddening, she was pink so maybe her skin just did that.
"We actually haven't started it," She responded, going back to the original topic. "But he's coming over tonight so we can collaborate." My smirk widened but I didn't say anything, letting the clear emotion on my face speak for me. "Uhg, stop looking at me like that, it's not fair."
I rolled my eyes playfully, but did as she asked, letting her whiny plea have a small effect on me.
"Well I found out something exciting with my partner." I said, immediately regretting the choice of words. "What I mean is that, Present Mic and Mr. Aizawa went to AU when they were kids, even at the same time. Pretty cool if you ask me."
"Uh huh, you didn't learn anything else?" She implied, her smile edging on mine. I laughed and rolled my eyes, thinking of what I was going to say before an awful case of The Flirties messed up my words.
"Actually, it was really cool, I got to meet his parents." I whispered to her, feeling like this was going to be "hot gossip". "His mom looks like the female version of him, and barley looks 30, and she's just as hot tempered as he is, though she completely changes her attitude when she's talking to me. It's actually really cute the way they both yell at each other, it's their way of showing love."
She looked completely surprised, but soon the surprise turned to disbelief. "How do you find the yelling cute? I would have been super scared, or just awkward." She said before picking at my meal and stealing some for herself.
"At first it was awkward, but you can tell." I reassured her, but smacked her fork away with my own. "Not to mention that his dad is completely different from them both, he was super nervous when we first met, and even looked relieved when he got the two to stop fighting long enough to eat."
"Wow, I don't think I could live with two hot- headed people like that," another attempt at my food results in another fork fight. "but I'm surprised that It's his mom that he takes after, I would think an attitude like that came from his dad."
"I was kinda thinking the same thing, though now that I've seen it, I don't think I can imagine it any other way." We carried on the conversation, while in the middle of an intense fight for my food. Many of my attacks were defensive, especially since Mina was finishing up her own food as quickly as possible.
I looked her in the eyes and grabbed all the food that was left and shoved it into my mouth, some of it falling to my napkin covered lap. She looked competitively at me and stuffed her own food into her mouth as well, beginning to chew as if her life depended on it. I almost choked, but successfully swallowed my lunch, smugly smiling when I'd beaten her. She pouted but swallowed as well, before laughing outright. Her laughter was contagious, I began laughing as well, noting how much food had actually missed our mouths.
"Okay, we should get going soon, I know it's going to take forever to get into our costumes, honestly I'm hoping to upgrade mine pretty soon." I informed her, looking down once again at my non exciting watch before pulling out my phone. Good, we still had ten minutes.
"Really?" She questioned, surprised. "I really liked yours, the blue and the purple matched your eyes." She gestured with her finger by placing it on her chin, recalling what it looked like. " Maybe you could add some faux fur? Or some zebra stripes, it will really spice up your look!"
"Eh, no." I told her, laughing at the image that came with the idea. "You can have sole ownership of that style, but thanks for the idea." She playfully pouted at my blatant response, but laughed it off with me, probably imagining the same ridiculous image I did.
We finished getting ready and were some of the first to arrive, beside the usual group of Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Iida. I studied Todoroki again and berated yourself for not noticing it sooner, he looked like two completely different people on either side. How I managed to miss that, I'm not sure.
"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked, his monotonous voice making me jump slightly. I felt my face go warm and successfully kept my mouth shut by shaking my head and walking backwards and away from him. Which, was a dumb idea in retrospect, speaking that I wasn't watching where I was going.
I bumped into a strong chest and my body began to heat up again, feeling a slight Deja vu. The chest vibrated against my back, a low growl being emmited was the cause. I walked forward, praying that I wouldn't start blabbing about his muscles that I had now felt and seen.
"Dang Katuski, your chest is like a brick wall, how often do you work out?" I blurted, I was immediately filled with regret, wanting to both blush and knock myself out. How am I this bad at talking with boys? His teeth clenched and he looked away from me, his body rigid from when I'd walked into him. His eyes full of anger he glared back at me, ready to kill me with one blast of his Quirk.
"Watch where you're going next time." He seethed, and I huffed out a sigh. At least he didn't threaten to enact physical damage this time. I think we're making real progress. I turned around to face Mina, who had enjoyed seeing my reaction, a smug look on her face as she smiled broadly at me.
"Ooo." She cooed, "Do I see love in the classroom?" She danced a little in her spot and I stared at her pointedly.
"The only love in the classroom is between Mr. Aizawa and his sleeping bag." I quipped back. She laughed a little and shrugged, letting me slide, which I was grateful for.
The training we faced was definitely different than usual. The pro Eraser head had brought in, was an alumni that had a bubble Quirk. But instead of regular soapy bubbles, his Quirk allowed him to capture the people around with the bubbles. So while half of us were in charge of popping the bubbles with our Quirks, others had to break through them.
The pro bragged about his bubbles being nearly indestructible, so I felt proud of myself when I was part of the select few who broke through them. Though I'm sure he wasn't using his quirk to the extent that he could. After the hero training, we went back to school campus, we'd been in one of the training areas that resembled a city, and changed back into our uniforms.
I breathed in a calming breath before turning the corner and out the classroom, planning to make my way home when I saw Mr. Aizawa, his white bandages easy to spot. I looked around the hallway and noticed that it was relatively quiet for once, apparently I had taken longer in the locker room than I thought.
"Hey Mr. Aizawa." I called to him, he turned his head towards me and didn't make an effort to move. "Can… can I talk to you?" And though I couldn't see perfectly through the wraps around his face, I thought he looked surprised, or at the very least interested in my question. He nodded in response and waited for me to continue. "I -I want to apologize for what happened at the USJ, I should have been-"
"Stop." He said, cutting me off with the single word. "Not everything revolves around you Bushida, and though I'm glad that you're taking being a hero seriously, if you had done anything different Midoriya would have been injured, I was at least conscious enough for that, so stop worrying and being guilty over something you couldn't control, especially if you actually used your brain for once and reacted correctly."
I stared at him in awe, and despite the almost insult, I could tell he was trying to comfort me. I smiled sadly and felt a small weight of the guilt lift off of me.
"'I've read your record Bushida, and I think it's normal for you to feel guilty, but if you let that guilt consume you enough to affect your hero training or the way you behave in this class, then knock it off." He began again, "You have too much potential to let it go to waste with 'What if's'" I stood aback and tried to comprehend what all he had said.
"Wait, you've read my record?" I asked, "And you think I have potential?" The latter question filled with a little more excitement. It'd been the nicest thing he's said to me. He didn't react to my enthusiasm, only watching me from under his wraps.
"Before making it into the hero course, I go through each student's information, to make sure I know how to teach you all. You were no exception, so I'll answer the question I know you're asking." He calmly said, though he paused for his usual dramatic flare. "I know what happened to you in America, It makes sense to the way you act, though you're quite energetic for a girl who's been through trauma and a case of PTSD."
His words struck me a little as I felt my breathing become rigid for only a second. Why i was getting so nervous, I'm not sure.
"And you're quite forward for an introvert" I mumbled under my breath, once again putting my foot in my mouth, "Sorry, I didn't mean to - It just sucks to talk about it."
"It was my fault for bringing it up." He said, though his voice remained even and monotone. "Is that all you needed?" he asked after we sat in a short silence. I nodded my head and began walking the other way, before turning back to look at my homeroom teacher.
"Thanks Mr. Aizawa." I called out to him. "And for the record, I know a lot of information about you too, comes with the territory of being Hizashi Yamada's best friend." I smirked knowingly as his body went slightly rigid, apparently not appreciating my commentary.
"You still need to learn to control your mouth." He called back, My smirk dropped for a second and was replaced with a smile. I waved at him and ran off, deciding that I could get an extra work out before my afternoon training would begin.
Two weeks went by as I trained for the upcoming Sports Festival. Waking up earlier in the morning for a run and then practicing and honing my skills as a fighter, I'd get dressed and cleaned before heading to school. I'd have regular classes in the morning, making sure to annoy Katsuki in every period and talking to the rest of my classmates. Then lunch came and Mina and I would eat together, either with Kuku, Uraraka, and Iida, or Kirishima, Kiminari, and on very rare occasions, Blasty-Boy.
Then after lunch we'd have our hero training with Mr. Aizawa, either training separately with our classmates or doing so in a big group, taking turns with fighting and strategizing. After school was when I practiced personally, beginning to work on my physical strength, speed, and stamina of my Quirk by running different obstacle courses I'd gotten Lilly to help me set up. There were times when I trained by only using a certain sense and began to maneuver my way through the different obstacle courses, the tiny ones throughout the apartment, with only that heightened sense.
Thus two weeks of (extensive) training and little TV watching left me feeling ready for the Sport Festival.
So this chapter was really short, I know, but I originally had a plan but then I watched the Sports festival episodes and got a little too excited, so here I am about to go on a 10 episode binge to write, so the next few chapters may be really long. I also hope you all enjoyed the Mina content, honestly she's a lot of fun to write. Okay…. Enjoy your day and thanks for reading.
;p