Guys... thank you.
I was not expecting... any kind of support, to be honest. I was hoping for like 5 favorites and followers, and maybe 1 review.
Way to destroy my expectations. Now I hope to live up to yours!
... no pressure, right?
Anyway, after the chapter I will have an optional author's note if you wish to read it.
Before you read, here is a key going forward for future chapters.
(italics) is a reflexive thought. Something that your brain reflexively thinks, without any prompt or information. If you see someone roll up in a Lamborghini, most people will automatically think something like (OH SNAP! A Lamborghini!) or (Daaaang, this dude must be rich as f...)
italics is conscious thought. When you see the driver of the Lamorghini get out of the ride and you realize it's just the valet, then it would be ...oh. I wonder who actually owns it? Italics will also be used for flashbacks, but hopefully my writing is decent enough that you guys can distinguish the two.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: This story will be slow going, and I tend to be a bit excessive with words. I apologize in advance if this bothers you.
I do not own My Hero Academia.
If there was ever a time in Izuku's life that he thought he was stuck in purgatory, this would be it.
On the one hand, every bit of this day has arguably been one of the best in his life (not including the day All Might sought him out with a revision and a proposal- nothing would ever compare to that day).
He was attending Yuuei High, where he was officially starting his heroic education. He was surrounded by people with amazing quirks, and he would get to see them in action firsthand in a few short hours. They were going to be taught by real life pro heroes. And! The day wasn't even over yet!
Speaking of pro heroes... the moment Vlad King had walked in, Izuku's mind had went into overdrive, becoming overwhelmed with enthusiasm and clouded with ecstasy. He had been easily inspired by the hero's speech, and he couldn't help himself when more than a few…dozen… facts came spilling nonstop out of his mouth in whispered fascination out of habit.
Had he been more aware of the people around him, he would have noticed his peers react subtly to his frenzy. The chubbier guy in front of him had shifted farther away in his seat after discreetly giving him an uncertain look, the brown haired girl behind him leaned away from his direction in confusion, and the three girls to his left eyed him out of the corner of their eyes, one in incredulity, one in amusement, and one in mild annoyance.
But that didn't matter! Nothing could take away the fact that he would officially be starting his journey as a hero today, and nothing anyone said or did, could or would get rid of his euphoria!...
… Except, of course, what was in store for him on the other hand.
His anxiety was running wild. His teacher's warning about the trials and hurdles they were going to face wasn't exactly news to him... but hearing it said out loud in such a manner began to manifest many of the old doubts that he had been trying to keep hidden within himself.
Then, his teacher announced that they were doing quirk assessment tests today while revealing the harsh reality of how the world works for incompetent heroes, and the doubts intensified, with a vengeance.
Add to that the subtle weight of the principal's entrance ceremony speech and how he was "expecting greatness from each and every one of you," and how he was the next successor of One for All but couldn't even control the amazing power, and how the test was now in less than two hours, and how he had no plan, nor any idea on what to do, and how he was doomed to fail before he could even start, and-
Water suddenly met his face, and Izuku was shaken out of the jumbled mess that were his thoughts and emotions. Luckily, while he was staring into the sink lost in thought, his body acted on its own and brought him out of his stupor. He washed his face once more and started to take deep breaths, trying to forcibly calm himself and create a plan to solve his predicament. When he still came up empty, he dried off his hands and headed back to the classroom, quietly appreciating the fact that he had the foresight to bring his hero notebooks to school.
With having used his quirk exactly one time, he knew he would need all the help he could get- and what better help would he be able to get by himself at this point of time than his own carefully detailed notes from his years of hero watching? At least one of them has got to have something to help him out… if he knew what to look for in the first place, that is.
Resolutely, he told himself that he wasn't going to panic any more just yet, not until he couldn't find a solution. After all, those notebooks were filled with years of him observing professional heroes and other... skilled individuals exercising complete and total mastery of their quirks; maybe he could copy an idea or two from them.
He entered the classroom again, and it appeared that not a thing had changed. The movie was still playing and no one was really paying any attention to it. His peers were in small groups laughing and joking, sleeping and socializing, and all was well.
Well, maybe for them. For him, he was probably about two hours away from spending the night in Recovery Girl's office. Again.
As he made his way over to his desk, no one really paid him any mind. In all honesty, he was used to it... and he also preferred it, compared to the usual alternative, at least for his case. After all, 'being quirkless means you were worthless', as Kacchan loved to so kindly remind him and everyone in the area every so often-
Izuku shook his head to clear his thoughts- now was not the time to think about him, or any of the… pretty accurate descriptions of himself that Kacchan often supplied.
But try as he might, as he reached his desk and searched for his notebooks, he couldn't help but wonder how Kacchan was doing in his own quirk assessment test. Knowing him, he probably passed with flying colors, without breaking a sweat… he thought enviously, sullenly. Although… I guess he actually does need sweat to use his quirk, so it's probably more like he doesn't even have to worry about failing…
By pure coincidence, he had flipped open to his old friend's pages in his notebook. He didn't realize it until his unfocused eyes had finally taken note of the sketch before him that looked like the explosive teen. Looking at the drawing, and at the singed edges of the paper, prompted him to recall the last time Kacchan had cornered him, right after they had received the results from their exams...
About three to four weeks ago...
Their teachers had pulled them aside to congratulate both of them on passing, especially Izuku since his acceptance was basically considered a miracle for the supposedly quirkless student. His ego hurt, his friend had left the teacher's lounge before him, supposedly to head home. But as soon as Izuku had left the building, he had been cornered into a nearby alleyway by the angry blonde; Katsuki was near ignition point, if the smoking hands singeing Izuku's uniform were any indication.
Izuku remembered the conversation they had vividly- how could he not? It was the first time he had actually stood up to his frie- tormentor.
Katsuki had thought he cheated, had DEMANDED to know what tricks he pulled to get in. He shouted about how the useless Deku had torn his plans apart, and had threatened him to go somewhere else with malevolent intent. And he expected things to go his way, as they normally do.
But Izuku had answered his challenge not with the meekness that was expected of him, but with a newborn fire that refused to be extinguished.
He remembered what he told his aggressor, as clear as day, as if it had happened moments ago instead of weeks. He remembered how Kacchan was caught off guard by the surprisingly strong grip on his smoking arm. But most of all, he remembered how defiant and clear his voice had rang that day in the alleyway.
"Somebody told me I could become a hero!... Kacchan, I earned this!... That's why I'm gonna be here, no matter what!"
That's right. He did earn this. Somebody did tell him that he could be a hero. That person believes in him, is expecting great things from him, and Izuku would be dammed if some stupid quirk mastery test was going to get the better of him, or dictate how he would begin his career as a hero.
Filled with newfound inspiration and vigor, he dove right into his notebooks, looking for anything at all that would help him gain some semblance of control over his quirk. As he flipped through the pages, he remembered how his mentor stated that sensation would be the key to mastering the power output of his abilities; so, right now, he was going to look for anything he had on heroes who relied on sensation for control. Or maybe he should search for those who require constant awareness of their body in order to use their quirk? Regardless, if he was to fail this test, it wouldn't be for lack of trying.
For the next forty or so minutes, Izuku became engrossed with his search. So far, he had come up empty handed, but he didn't lose hope. After all, he was only on his third notebook; unfortunately though, these three also happened to be the three most accurately filled of his collection.
For the next forty minutes, he was lost to the world as he quietly muttered to himself with his nose deep inside his own research, not paying the slightest attention to anything outside the papers he was furiously reading. He didn't notice the boy in front of him scrolling through sports feeds, nor did he notice the girl behind him snoring quietly at her desk. And he most certainly did not notice that one of the girls sitting next to him was, for lack of a better word, gawking at his research.
It didn't start out as gawking- the girl in question didn't even notice him, or his research, in the beginning. If someone thought that she was looking over at him, they would have been mistaken since she was actually trying to glance out the window every so often. Truth be told, she didn't even begin paying any attention to him until she heard the boy huff out in frustration and close a notebook rather forcefully, setting it aside to reach for another inside his bag.
That was when she fully realized just how many notebooks he had in his possession. Her curiosity sparked, she indulged herself and turned her gaze towards them. It was the start of the year, and this guy easily had more than ten in his possession, and that was just in his bag- in her eyes, that was worthy of a double take because that was just… weird. Plain weird. (Who would want to carry that many notebooks with them!? Even in their bag!?)
Leaning over slightly to peak at the one he was currently nose-deep in, she couldn't help but be surprised at just how detailed and filled with information it appeared to be. About what, she didn't know, but it was obvious just how dedicated this guy was with whatever interested him. It was just a regular Campos notebook, the pages loose from use and the ink smudges proof of its age- but each and every part of the notebook was crammed with semi-neat writing, rough sketches and diagrams of something or another. The fluidity of the subjects in his notebooks reflected a well-developed and somewhat organized mind; the kind of mind that she didn't expect this guy to have, if she were honest.
Turning her gaze back towards the other two notebooks on his desk, she noticed the title of the one on top- Hero Analysis for My Future, No. 12, which in turn was on top of another notebook that looked like it had caught fire at one point of time. That meant that the guy next to her- who she had dismissed this morning after judging him to have the heart of a rabbit- had probably at least thirteen of these notebooks, each hypothetically coming with a minimum of 200 pages, filled to the brim with notes.
While she couldn't verify how well documented his… research was, if the pattern held, then each of these notebooks was proof of a fiery passion that she would not have expected from the plain-looking boy who sat right next to her.
Fascinated by the spectacle that was going on right next to her, she continued to silently watch him for a few minutes, her body subconsciously adjusting itself into a more comfortable position. Eventually, her body had fully turned towards him, complete with an elbow on her desk, her chin resting on her open palm, her body leaning slightly towards him, and one of her dark green eyes eagerly taking in every detail while her wavy green hair covered up the other one.
During this entire time, the boy next to her never once realized he was being observed. Instead, he picked up another notebook with a disappointed look on his face as he lightly tossed the one he had just finished combing through on top of the others on his desk, an unsatisfied huff of air escaping his lips as he did. Can't say he's not driven, that's for sure.
Had the girl not been observing him so intently, she might not have heard him muttering to himself, thanks to the video that was playing on the projector.
This wasn't the borderline fanatical whispering he had done during Vlad King Sensei's 'welcoming' speech (which she had found a little amusing, especially when he had caught himself in the act and had attempted to play it off cool; he was like a little kid who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.). Instead, it was a quiet mumbling like he was thinking out loud, complete with a hand over his mouth as his elbow rested on his lap. His foot was bouncing at an anxious pace, and his eyes were darting back and forth on the papers in front of him, in a speed that almost seemed... desperate? What could possibly be so important that it would warrant a response like this? And what exactly were in those notebooks?
Welp, only one way to find out...
"Hey man, what's got you all wound up? Are you studying or something?"
She had tried to keep her tone light and friendly, but apparently it didn't come out that way, if the boy's reaction was anything to go by.
It was certainly enough to break him out of his researcher's trance; the boy had jumped in his seat a solid half meter as if he forgot there were other people in the room, and his eyes darted wildly around the area to see if anyone else had noticed (Yup. Heart of a rabbit alright. Still, a curious reaction). Then he promptly froze, his eyes wide and locking with hers. His Adam's apple visibly swallowed as he shakily pointed to himself, as if he wanted to confirm that she was, in fact, talking to him.
Holding in a snort from his ridiculous reaction, she lazily glanced around the room for herself, not at all surprised that no one was paying attention to them. As her gaze traveled back to his, she wore an amused grin and gave an exaggerated head nod to verify that she was, in fact, talking to him.
Again, he swallowed hard but eventually he found his voice, strained and slightly more high pitched than it normally was, if his brief conversation with his front neighbor and his mutterings were anything to go by. "Y-yeah, I, uh, well, we, uh, don't know what w-were going to be up against, in, uh, in the t-test! Y-Yeah, uh, for the, the test, we, uh d-don't know w-what we're, uh, going to b-be doing. So, uh, I was j-just looking for, uh, ideas that m-may help-"
"Woah, dude, relax, relax!" she soothed as she patted the air in front of her with both hands in the hopes of calming the guy down. Jeez, calling him a bundle of nerves is probably closer to a compliment than it is a description...
When the guy seemed to relax a little (he went from pink, shaking, and sweating, to just pink and sweating) she decided to pick his brain a little. "So… you're studying... for the test? And whatever you have in those notebooks will help?"
Again, she kept her tone nice and pleasant (for her anyway), but the boy still seemed a little rattled. He was obviously on edge over something, but she couldn't make out what it was, exactly. Regardless, he gave a couple quick nods of his head, his whole body continuing to fidget the entire time.
"So what do you have in those notebooks, anyway? Also, can you open the window? You... look like you need some cool air..."
He hastily complied and went to the nearest window, noticing that it wasn't locked in the first place, and pushed it open for the gentle spring breeze to flow into the room. As he sat back down, he answered her question while avoiding eye contact the best he could. "Well, I, uh… I, I like to watch heroes in action… and I've always wanted to be a hero, so… I w-write down all the, uh, stuff that I think is cool about them, stuff that I get to see in action… like how they use their quirk, how their costumes supplement their abilities… s-stuff like that… and I-I like to make speculations… on that kind of s-stuff…"
His voice grew quieter with each word he spoke; although his nerves appeared to have calmed down some, they still made his speech shaky. And the way his eyes moved… while he talked, they flitted this way and that, as if looking for something, watching out for anything. While he occasionally made eye contact with her, it never lasted for long as he averted his gaze the next moment he could.
Under her scrutiny, she came to the conclusion that these movements were natural and deep rooted for him, almost like a reflex... and people don't usually develop reflexes without a reason. It was a given that he was an introvert, but there appeared to be something a bit more to his character than she realized. Huh. Interesting.
Seeing him fidget in his desk as he trailed off brought her out of her musings, and she remembered that they were having a conversation.
"Sooooo… you're a low-key stalker, for fun?"
The words sort of just slipped out in an honest accidental manner, but for the life of her she just couldn't find the heart to feel guilty.
Oh, his reaction was priceless! As soon as the words came out, he jumped in his chair away from her, like she was holding a cattle prod. His back went ramrod straight as his eyes widened in fear and his pupils simultaneously constricted in horror. His whole body turned a deep cherry red as it turned rigid and his hands waved frantically in front of him. For a moment, she was pretty sure he forgot how to breathe because all that came out of his mouth were sputterings of denial. The boy was absolutely mortified, and she couldn't hold in the laughter that escaped her, snickering into her hand as her body convulsed with merriment.
"I'm joking, I'm joking! It's -snort- It's just a joke! Oh! You should see your face!" Taking a deep, shaky breathe, she held her stomach as she turned back to give him a proper, friendly ear to ear smile, her dark malachite eye sparkling with mirth. When they had both calmed down enough to speak, she decided to cut the boy a little bit of slack."But seriously though, you got anything in your notebooks that'll help you with junior high school physical tests? Because that's all the test is, but with our quirks."
"…huh?..."
Once again, the girl found herself snorting into her hand at the boy's expression. His eyes were wide, his jaw was slack, and his face was a blend of disbelief and outright confusion, with a tiny dash of hope mixed in. Oh, man! This is going to be such a great year, sitting next to him! she thought eagerly, as hundreds of pranks and jokes filtered through her mind at the prospect of having such a wonderful target for them.
"W-wait, please! How do you know-"
"Shh, shh, shh…" The girl pressed a finger over his lips, the international symbol of silence. She paused to appreciate how comical he looked just then with his bulging eyes and brick red face, accompanied by his panicked breathing; she was fairly certain that his brain had momentarily short circuited. She gestured for him to come closer with her other hand as she leaned in as well, her finger still on his lips and a devious smile on her face.
As the boy hesitantly complied, he, as well as everyone else in the room, failed to notice something small fly in through the open window towards the pair. "Let's just say… I've been keeping an eye on class 1A for a while now."
At the pause in her sentence, Izuku felt something brush against one of his arms. Briefly looking down, he nearly jumped out of his skin as he realized that the 'thing' in question was a freaking eyeball, with the immediate surrounding skin included. He would have let loose a very unmanly screech had it not been for the fingers on his lips that had gently, yet firmly, pressed them together without his realization. He watched transfixed as the eyeball glided towards the girl and she used her other hand to brush her hair out of her face, revealing the empty hole where her eye should have been.
As the girl finished her sentence, the floating body fragment reoriented itself outward and began to fit into its accompanying hole. She bit back a sigh of relief when the eyeball fitted in perfectly into the rest of her body, like a jigsaw puzzle, and her skin began restoring itself back to normal as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the first place.
Feeling satisfied that the green haired boy wouldn't scream bloody murder, she removed her fingers from his lips right as her skin had finished repairing itself. Within the space of two seconds or less, her face had reverted back to normal, and her already devious smirk grew even more; feeling sassy, she shared a conspiratorial wink- using her reattached eye- with the dumbfounded boy.
Even with the girl's laughing, Izuku's freaking out, and their (relatively) light conversation, not a single soul had paid them any attention. The rest of 1B was similarly preoccupied with getting to know their own neighbors, so the ambient chatter was at a decent level; if they weren't doing that, then they had their phones or other forms of media out to entertain themselves until lunch time. The only exception was the redheaded tomboy, who sat in front of the green haired girl; when she heard her best friend teasing someone behind her, she took a glance back and felt herself rolling her eyes in exasperation. (Pleeease be nice, Setsi. I know you probably mean well, but not everyone will see it that way...)
But between the two of them, there was only silence as the boy processed what he just saw and as the girl waited for him to talk. Or freak out. Or even laugh at the (admittedly) lame pun she had timed perfectly.
For the space of one breath, they just looked at each other as the world continued on. The lame instructional video was still playing, the students of 1B were socializing in their own way, and no one besides them was aware of what had just happened.
And then the boy across from her changed. Drastically.
Gone was the dumbfounded look in his eyes, gone was the stuttering mess of his speech, and gone was his timid nature. Instead, his face had morphed into eagerness and excitement, and his hands reacted accordingly with his sudden change of mood. His eyes were filled with a bright light full of wonder and life, and he had one of the most wholesome smiles she had ever seen. It was like... a blind man, seeing the sun for the first time. And just like what any other blind man would do if they had were suddenly able to see the sun, the girl recoiled from the sight before her in alarm. (What the hell!?)
The boy quickly snatched the singed notebook, opened it to a new page, and began to fervently write as if he had just seen the coolest thing he had ever laid his eyes on.
Out of all the things the girl had expected to happen... this wasn't even on the list. Out of all the normal reactions to seeing someone willing be torn apart and put together again... this was not one of them.
To her utter shock and disbelief, she slowly realized that he had started taking notes, of all things, muttering enthusiastically to himself about the very spectacle that had just happened before his eyes. About her.
Wow, I've never seen a self-amputating quirk before! I bet those are exceedingly rare. They've also got to be highly useful, especially in missions requiring stealth and subterfuge! They're probably also great for scouting missions, but I wonder how it would hold in combat? I have no doubt that it could potentially be highly mobile, but I guess its application relies on her skill. How does she not die when her body is separated? Does her quirk have regeneration capabilities built in? Also, how was her eye moving on its own? Can she control each part individually? What's the range of her separation? It has to be at least 150 meters, judging the distance between the window next to me and the training ground I can see from here. Class A isn't over there though, so it's probably a bit longer. If her body part gets out of her range, wha- "Mmph!"
Izuku, lost in his own little world, failed to notice the girl's reaction to his… enthusiasm.
Slowly, she had leaned farther away from him, her grin sliding off her face like oil on water and replaced with an expression that clearly said what in the hell is actually happening here? Then she came to her senses with a shake of her head and placed her entire hand over his mouth, effectively cutting off his ramblings mid-sentence.
Looking up at her, he reverted back into the boy she was familiar with in an instant, with his face turning bright red, his eyes widening in embarrassment, and his demeanor turning timid once more. For some reason, waaay in the back of her subconscious, this irked her for unknown reasons. Slightly. Maybe that was why she cut him off with a rather sharp, flat tone, as her hand still covered his mouth.
"Okay, first of all", she held out one finger on her other hand, "my quirk is called Lizard Tail Splitter, not Self-Amputation. Self- Amputation makes me sound like some sort of edgelord, so don't make that mistake again. Second," she lifted another finger, "I don't know what you're doing right now, but… stop. It's… it's pretty weird, dude. And third," she lifted a third finger, and this time her tone lifted slightly as the edge in her eyes softened just a little bit. "You are completely focused on the wrong thing here, man. I just told you the test revolved around using our quirks in the standard physical tests that everyone in Japan does. That should help you with your search, right? At the very least, I hope I gave you a nudge in the right direction."
Understanding began to fill his eyes as he nodded slowly, then eagerly, and then she removed her hand from his mouth. Satisfied, she gave him a small smile and said, "I'm glad I could help! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to head to the restroom for a bit. I think my eye might've reformed a little weird, so I'm gonna take a look at it. Happy hunting, stalker!"
As she began to stand up, he called out to her.
"Wait! Please!"
She looked back at him with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. He visibly gulped again before pressing on. "I'm... I'm thankful, but… you could've kept that to yourself. You could've, and you would have gotten an advantage on the class… so w-why not tell the whole class as well?" He broke eye contact briefly, before meeting her eyes once more, only to look away again. His voice, having been surprisingly clear moments before, began to falter slightly, and he grew quieter with each word that left his mouth. "…why tell me at all, in the first place?..."
Sitting back down, she glanced around the room, taking in its chatter and ambiance while observing everyone's overall mood, and shrugged. Honestly, she really had been planning to keep this stuff to herself. She would have told Itsuka, who was practically her sister, but everyone else would have been on their own.
In combat, you need every edge you can get, and information is often times the best edge anyone could ever have. So, maybe she might have told him because a big part of her pitied him; anyone with an ounce of insight could tell this guy wasn't blessed with the inner strength that heroes should have. His desperate searching for answers only served to justify her judgement.
But as she turned to look back at the boy next to her... every part of her soul knew that this was the wrong answer.
Malachite met Emerald, and just for a moment, Setsuna Tokage had to wonder if her initial judgement was wrong...
Ever since she had been a little girl, she had known that there was only a single hard truth that every human shares: no one can deny their nature. Humans, at their core, will have experiences that will either strengthen or define the characteristics they were born with. Every person's experience is shaped by their upbringing and their environment, and through the simple task of simply living through these experiences, it begins to reflect the nature of their body, mind, and soul.
A farmer, who is taught that hard work is what makes the world go round, will break their back working in the fields until the day they die. A priest, who's faith in God is steadfast and true, will accept whatever fate bestows upon them, as it is His will. And a child who grows up helpless and terrified of the world- much like what she assumes are the origins of the green eyed boy beside her- will struggle to survive because oppression and fear will remain as chains in their mind, since it's all that they know.
She wasn't trying to be judgmental; this was just how her old man saw the world, and he made sure to instill it into her at a young age to the point where, ironically, it defined a part of her nature. To her, that's just the way life works.
Sure, people may break away from the norm every so often, but one way or another they will always find themselves back to where they started. The farmer may take some days off to rest and relax, but soon enough they will be back to working the fields. The priest may find themselves questioning their faith, but soon enough their minds will see the everyday miracles as proof of His will and existence. And the child may grow up tired of their way of life, but once they truly see how the world works, they will lose heart and soon enough they will go back to their roots, lamenting over what could have been.
Time after time, her old man's words were made a proven fact, no matter who the person was. She saw it in her friends, their parents, her teachers, and in strangers, and even in the heroes of her prefecture and the villains they fought. Rich or poor, good or bad, young or old- no matter who they were, there was no one who could deny their nature. It really shouldn't have been a surprise that the things her father had preached were proving to be true- after all, her old man was an expert at reading people because of this belief, which in turn is what made him into an expert of his craft.
But then she met the boy who sat next to her.
She had already pegged him as timid and meek, but blessed with a bit of intelligence. And, so far, she had been right… up until the point where she had been blinded by the sun. He should have been self-conscious and fearful, but right now, those eyes of his were anything but. He should have been a sheep, just going along with her pity being thankful she had any, but all she saw was a warrior who was quietly demanding to be taken seriously.
He was an enigma, one that completely challenged all of her logic and experience, and one that made her hesitate for the first time in her life when she hadn't done so before.
Malachite met Emerald, and suddenly Setsuna was lost in the light of the sun. Her thoughts became a blur as she was mentally thrown off balance, and all the background noise around her faded into silence for just a few breaths. And then her mouth began to move on its own accord, spurred on for reasons unknown- even to her- as she found herself speaking the complete and total truth.
"Because you deserve a helping hand."
She had to turn away to fight the twitch in her lips as she saw the look of confusion on his face. Sensing his eyes still on her, but not turning back around to face him, she decided to elaborate a little.
"You're the only one in this class who's even trying to take this quirk assessment test seriously. Everyone else is too busy either chatting, sleeping, or wasting their time. Even the goody two-shoes Christian girl up there has her eyes glazed over from watching the movie." She gestured to the front with a nod of her head, where Izuku saw a pretty girl with creamy skin and an angelic face, watching the movie with eyes full of boredom. She was idly playing with her hair, which was an earthly green and looked remarkably like a briar patch. He had no idea what caused the girl to think that she was religious until he noticed that her bag had an embroidered cross on the front, as well as some stitched on print that looked similar to a biblical quote.
"And... also," she continued, watching his reactions out of the corner of her eye, "from what you said earlier, you made it sound like you have… issues, with your quirk too." Seeing him stiffen up was as good as a confirmation as she was going to get; knowing that her guess was right, she pressed on before he could speak again, if only to spare him from answering out loud.
"We're all trying to be heroes here, right? So it's only right that I help you out. You shouldn't..." a small huff leaves her lips, before she turned to look him straight in the face, her eyes serious and her voice strong and clear. "You shouldn't be feeling like you're walking on a tightrope on day one. Especially when you're sitting there, fighting until the last minute, searching for a way forward."
They continued to look at each other for a moment before she looked away, speaking to him but also to herself, as she remembered a certain redheaded girl who struggled for a way forward too when they were young. "Just because you can't use your quirk as well as others can shouldn't stop you from soaring to new heights."
After a small silence that the two of them shared, she got up and left for the bathroom, her mind swimming with thoughts she needed to sort out and leaving the boy next to her staring at her chair with a touched expression on his face.
That… was probably one of the nicer things anyone had ever said to him.
Eventually, he awoke himself from his stupor and he began digging through his backpack, looking specifically for notebooks 5, 6, and 7. Thanks to the girl next to him, he now knew what trials they were going to face, and he had a few ideas for what he should do about it. He had a few heroes in mind that he thought could help him the most if he tried to emulate their techniques; in all honesty, he was kind of embarrassed that he didn't think of them before.
He couldn't remember which notebook these heroes were in, but he was confident that he had written down a plethora of notes and observations about them from a combination of real life encounters, television watching, and internet surfing. Now all there was left to do was find them… somewhere in the 600 pages of notes within the hour and thirty minutes before the test.
The last thing he thought of as he began to search for his answers was how he realized he had never gotten her name, nor thanked her properly for her help... (I can always ask her when she comes back. For now, I need to focus.)
Setsuna had spent longer than she had anticipated poking at her eye, but that was mostly because she was thinking about the last 10 minutes or so. By the time she had been satisfied with how her eye had reformed, she had decided to shrug it off as a fluke. Nothing more, nothing less.
The girl eventually came back from the restroom and made her way towards her seat, sparring a glance to the boy next to her, and idly wondered if she had simply just read him wrong. He didn't even look up from his search when she sat back down; instead, he was muttering quietly to himself once more as he poured over a few rather old looking notebooks. She hid a small smile and turned away from him. Even though he may be a little jumpy and probably had a plethora of self-confidence issues, she had to admit, the guy was pretty determined.
Not wanting to break his concentration this time, she turned her attention back to the others around her, seeing if there were any interesting conversations going on, and dove right in flawlessly, as if she had been a part of them from the beginning.
Thirty minutes passed by much too fast, and before anyone knew it Vlad King Sensei had reentered the room with a clipboard and a few sheets of paper attached to it. After he turned off the video that no one was watching, he gave them directions to the cafeteria- which they had passed on the way to the entrance ceremony- and told them to go eat some lunch and to be prepared immediately afterwards for their quirk assessment test.
As the whole class eagerly got up to go satisfy their growling stomachs, the green haired girl, who was happily chatting and walking with her redheaded friend, caught something out of the corner of her eye. Causally glancing back into the classroom, she was not at all surprised to find the boy she had been talking to earlier still sitting at his desk, with his nose deep in a notebook and his eyes zipping through each page. She was about to call out to him when she realized...
...She actually never asked for his name...
As her friend continued to walk and talk, she stopped at the doorway to shift her bag onto her other shoulder while using her quirk to separate her right hand from her body. With nothing but a thought, she willed it toward the boy, hiding the smirk that was threatening to appear on her face. She considered all the possibilities that were literally in the palm of her hand at the moment... but ultimately decided to just go for the easy jump scare.
Her hand, which had been hovering unnoticed above his head, dropped onto the notebook he was reading. When it landed with a thwack, the boy scrambled out of his seat as a yell of fright escaped from his lips. As he began to wildly look around, she chortled at the doorway before hurrying after her friend, who had stopped to look at her curiously. She didn't need to look behind her as she heard the squeaking of a chair and his clambering to pick things up to know that he had gotten the hint.
"What was that about, Setsi?" her tomboy of a friend asked warily.
"Relax Itsuka. I promise I wasn't picking on him; I was only telling him that it was lunch time!" the green haired girl said with a toothy grin, biting back the sigh of relief as her hand reunited with her body.
"… uh-huh... I never actually said you were picking on him-"
"-You implied it!-"
"-but couldn't you have done that without using your quirk? Or, I don't know, just telling him its lunchtime? Like any normal person would?" her friend stressed 'normal' with a teal eyed shit-eating grin, and Setsuna couldn't help the eye roll that followed at their little inside joke. Or the reflexive cringe.
"I could. But everyone knows that freaks have more fun."
"Now you just sound dirty..."
After they lightly laughed at their good natured banter, Setsuna lazily linked their arms together, pulling her childhood friend towards the cafeteria with an eager grin. "C'mon Itsi, I'm hungry! Let's go get some food! Oh, do you really think Lunch Rush is the sole cook here at Yuuei?"
As promised, here's the Author's Note
So, let me start by saying thank you all, again, for your support. You guys are truly awesome, and I hope I can keep up with the standard that you guys have set for me.
Also, in this story, Setsuna and Itsuka are childhood friends. I thought they would have a good dynamic, and I hope to be able to show their friendship at different angles throughout the story.
I feel like I should also mention that, to get all the stuff I want up and running for my story, I'm going to have to stretch Izuku's first week in Yuuei out a bit. What that means is there will most likely be multiple chapters that focus on the first week alone. I don't want to spoil anything but, I have big plans for the future of this story; to get them up and running, I need to start planting some seeds. Please be patient with me, and I promise I will do the best I can to bring you enjoyable content.
Thanks for reading again, guys. It makes me happy that I had the courage to post this.
If you guys want to get in touch with me, please don't be afraid to PM and/or review.
Seriously, you guys are great and I hope to see you in the next chapter!
