Chapter 1

A/N: Before you begin; I'd just like to say that this fic is a work of self-indulgence. I haven't written fanfiction in ages; but I've been stuck in Kiribaku brain rot land for the past two weeks and it's been driving me mad. I ask that you bear with me as I gain my writing footing again.

Mari stared at the letter in front of her; half expecting the words on it to change. She'd already read it at least five times; and everytime it was exactly the same, so she knew it wasn't a trick, but still…

"Ms. Mari Oshiro;

It has come to our attention that your placement at UA is inaccurate. Unbeknownst to you; your entrance exam scores were in the process of being recalculated; a process that was interrupted by the multiple attacks and encounters with The League of Villains. However; we recently resumed this process and would like to inform you…"

And that's how Mari found herself standing outside the Class 2-A homeroom; a letter from Principal Nezu in her hand. She couldn't believe it; she was being bumped up to the main hero course. Granted; she did feel a little confused and frustrated that it had taken so long; she'd wallowed away in Class B for a whole year; and now she was going to be horribly behind. However; that was a problem for future Mari. She had to focus on now.

She steeled herself and knocked on the door. A sleepy looking older man answered. She recognized him immediately as Mr. Aizawa; the Class A homeroom teacher.

She coughed nervously. "Um; I'm Mari Oshiro. Principal Nezu said he talked to you about me joining your class." She passed him the note.

He sighed; the long winded sigh of a person who clearly hasn't had enough sleep and just wants to be left alone. "Yes; I'm aware. Come on in and we'll find you a seat."

He closed the door behind him and addressed the class. "All right; everyone. Calm down. We have a new student; transferring in from Class B. This is Mari Oshiro."

"Wait; but it's second year. Why is she transferring in now?" came the inevitable question from the back of the room.

"My test scores were under review and weren't finished when the villains attacked. They didn't finish recalculating them until now. Guess it wasn't really a priority." Mari shrugged.

"In any case" Mr. Aizawa interrupted, "You're here now. Grab a spare chair and sit behind Todoroki."

Mari smiled and headed to the back of the room. She didn't really need to ask who was who; she was familiar enough with the students of A class to find her seat.

The rest of the class felt like a blur. Mari could feel eyes on her the entire time; she knew everyone was itching to find out more about her and introduce themselves properly. The walk back to the dorms was no better; unfortunately. She had to stop herself multiple times from walking to B dorm on autopilot as per usual. Eventually she just gave up; and followed the rest of her new class back so she wouldn't get lost.

Class A's dorm was…nice. It was hard to describe but it just felt homey; and lived in. She loved it immediately.

She sighed contentedly. "Oh well; I guess I should probably go see where they put me…"

As if on queue; a shorter girl with short brown hair came up to her. "Hi! I'm Ochako Uraraka; did you need help finding your room?"

Mari smiled. "That would be awesome. Thank you!"

Ochako led her down the hall; giving her the "ten cent" tour as they went. She showed Mari the kitchen; the common area; and all the other important things. They came to an elevator. "Here, let me see your room assignment." Her face lit up. "It looks like you're on the fourth floor with me! Right between me and Mina!"

Mari made note of this; pressing the button to get them to the correct floor. When they hopped out; she kept her eyes open for her nameplate. It was the middle of the row; and she noticed that there was also a room between her and Ochako as well. She turned the knob and opened the door.

She looked around; taking stock of things. There were standard UA sheets on the bed; and all of her stuff was still in boxes. She groaned. "I am not looking forward to unpacking all of this."

"We'll help you!" Ochako smiled brightly "It'll go much faster if we work together as a team!"

Mari smiled back. "You're right. But could we maybe eat first? It's been a long day and I can't tackle this on an empty stomach." As if on queue; her stomach growled, making itself known.

"That's a good idea. Plus; this is usually around the time Bakugo starts wrapping up cooking for dinner anyway."

They ventured back down to the elevator and rode it back to the common area.

To say she could smell the food before the doors even opened was an understatement. She couldn't place it right away; but whatever it was smelled amazing.

As she got closer; the smells got easier to detect and she was able to pinpoint them. Her eyes lit up. "Is that curry I smell?"

Ochako giggled. "Probably. It's one of Bakugo's go-to's on busy days. He said it's because it's easy to make; but I think it's mostly because he knows it ensures everyone has enough."

As they entered; they noticed several bowls had already been placed on the counter, cafeteria style. Mari grabbed one and headed for the table. Slowly; the kitchen started to fill up, more of the class being drawn out by the lure of food.

Mari was mid-bite when four people sat down at the table. She knew who they were instantly. In front of her were Denki Kaminari and Hanta Sero; and to the right of Denki sat Kyouka Jirou. On either side of Mari sat Mina Ashido and Eijirou Kirishima. Kaminari was the first one to break the silence. "So…You're Mari right?" Everyone else groaned; Jirou popped him upside the head. "Smooth Denk…"

Mari rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "Yep; that's me. Mari Oshiro! I take it this is the 20 questions portion of my day."

Ashido shook her head "Don't mind him; he's not as smooth as he thinks he is. How he ended up with Jirou is still a mystery." The two aforementioned people blushed and looked around.

"It's fine! Besides; it'll help you all get to know me better. I feel like I already know all of you." Mari blinked "I hope that didn't sound weird; it's just…you've all made a pretty big name for yourself already."

"It makes sense." Hanta said, taking another bite of his dinner. "So anyway, what about you? What's your quirk like?"

"It's not very flashy," Mari said. "Basically I can freeze time. My emotions make it weaker or stronger depending; so if I'm mad and I use it, it'll last longer than it would when I'm calm."

They all blinked. Mari suddenly felt very small; until Kirishima piped up beside her. "That's honestly a cool quirk! There's so many ways you can use that in hero work!" He grinned at her and she could see rows of very sharp looking teeth.

It was at this point; Bakugo sat down on Kirishima's other side, apparently satisfied that everyone had eaten. Kirishima nudged him with his shoulder. "Hey dude; we were just saying hi to the new kid."

Bakugo looked up; and peaked around Kirishima to look at Mari. He noticed she'd finished her curry. "Did you have enough?"

She flustered. "Oh! Yes, thank you. It was very good. Curry's actually one of my favorite meals; up there with onigiri and ramen."

Bakugo nodded; like he was taking note of that. "So; what were you extras talking about when I sat down?"

Kirishima nudged him again. "Oshiro was explaining her quirk to us. I think she'll be a great de- escalation hero one day."

Mari nodded. "That's if I can catch up to you all. The principal was really understanding and apologetic about this whole thing; he told me if I passed a hero's general knowledge exam; and if I do some extra interning; they'll consider me caught up."

"What about your provisional license?" Ashido asked, pushing away her bowl. There was still half a serving of curry left in it.

Mari pushed her bangs out of her face; pinching the bridge of her nose. "I honestly don't know. They haven't even addressed that with me yet." She played with the braid that fell in front of her ear; biting the end. "In any case; that's not my biggest worry right now. Right now; I'm more focused on getting my room together so I can relax."

"Your room isn't set up?" Ashido asked; arching an eyebrow.

"It is; technically. Like the bed's made up, so I can sleep. I just have to open the boxes and put all my crap away. Ochako said she'd help; but I really don't want to bother her…" She looked down the table at the petite girl; sitting between two people with green hair, Midoriya and Asui; if she remembered correctly.

"I'm sure it's no trouble; but we can help you. Curfew isn't till ten; so we have a good two hours." Kirishima grinned at her again, nudging her this time.

"I mean; if you don't mind…"

"Nope; you're part of the crew now. Part of the crew, part of the ship."

Mari laughed. "What next? Are you gonna start chanting "One of Us?"

"Ok; it's official. We're keeping her. All in favor of Oshiro joining the Bakusquad; say I!"

A rousing chorus of "I"'s resounded; except for Bakugo who grumbled "wish you'd stop calling it that; Shitty Hair"

Mari quickly learned what being part of the "Squad" meant. It was inviting and endearing; if not quite warm. Like the way it is with siblings or in this case really close friends. They had her room organized the way she wanted in no time flat. She told them not to worry about the little things; like pictures and stuff because she'd put those up as she went.

"Hey Oshiro; what's this?" She turned and saw Kirishima holding her gymnastics aerial silks.

"Oh! Those are for gymnastics. I do silk gymnastics as part of my workout; it helps me with my body strength and I found that the equilibrium of hanging upside down helps me with the negative side effects of my quirk."

"What do you mean?" the redhead asked; handing her the fabrics.

"Well; one of the downsides of my quirk is that it gives me major brain fog, since it's such a strain on me mentally. I've found that hanging upside down from the ropes helps combat that by giving me an extra rush to the head." She saw the worried look on his face. "I mostly use it to suspend myself though; like I said, it's a great workout."

She eyed the ceiling a little. "Now the trick is going to be setting it up. I was told as long as I could set it up safely; I could keep it in my room, since it technically falls under my specialized hero equipment."

"Would a punching bag chain work? I think I have an extra…" Kirishima said; eyeing the ceiling as well.

"That just might! You don't have to grab it tonight; since you'd have to go all the way downstairs and all the way back. I'll just go to the gym tomorrow for a run."

Mari looked around the room and nodded. She fell back on her bed and sighed. "I'm so tired; but it's still only 9 o'clock. We still have a whole hour before curfew."

It was quickly decided that they would play two truths and a lie; with each of them giving her a subject and them having to guess. They quickly learned that Mari's birthday was November 16th (someone made a comment about putting it on the events calendar in the kitchen); her favorite foods were curry, onigiri and ramen; she hated onions and peppers; and that she had chosen "Freezeframe" as her hero name.

"Have you designed your costume yet?" Ashido asked.

"I have; for the most part. I'm still tweaking it because I keep feeling like it's missing something." Mari said; yawning. "All right; I need some sleep, so you guys gotta scoot."

They all got up and headed for the door, saying "good night"s and "glad to meet you"s.

Kirishima was the last one to leave; pausing at the door. "Hey Oshiro?"

Mari's head popped up. "Yes; Kirishima?"

"You said you were going to the gym in the morning; right? Would you like a workout partner? You know; someone to spot you and spar with?"

Mari blinked. "I suppose so; I hadn't planned on more than a run. But I also haven't sparred in ages; so yeah, why not?"

He smiled at her. "Is it okay if Bakugo comes too? He and I usually spar together."

"He won't feel like I'm butting in?" She asked; raising an eyebrow. "He didn't talk much; but I get the feeling he's not thrilled I'm here…"

"That's just how he is. He's not exactly the warmest person in the world; but he cares deeply about those that are important to him. And that includes you now."

"I guess if you're sure; it couldn't hurt." She nodded. "Okay; I'll see you bright and early then; Kirishima."

He gave her a thumbs up. "Goodnight; Oshiro. See you in the morning."

Then her door closed and she was alone. Mari busied herself taking her hair down out of its bun and undoing the braid that wrapped its way around her head. She'd fallen asleep once without taking it out; and her head had paid the price the next day. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and threw on her pjs. Then she turned on her salt lamp and crawled in bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.