The Rise of Thunderbird

by The Almighty Egg

Meet Haruto Arashi, a wicked powerful addition to class 1-A! Tag along as she navigates school, family, and being a Hero-in-training, all while tearing up the sky!

3. Chapter 2 (Warning: Quite Long)

My transit to school had become increasingly crowded… which is weird because I flew to school every day.

News helicopters struggled to keep up with me, with cameras hanging out the doors and screaming anchors harnessed to the outside. One had almost shredded me to ribbons with its blades.

As you can probably guess, I'd taken to walking to school.

Even then, every day, the UA gate was swarming with journalists, begging to speak to All Might. It was really getting to be a challenge to avoid them.

Eventually, it dawned on me that if I was going to be a Pro, I'd have to deal with these guys all the time. The thought made my inner Aizawa curl into an introverted ball.

Iida, however, was happy to bore the news people to death while the rest of us slipped in.

I squeaked past the crowd, snickering with Kaminari and Jiro as we made our way down the path.

A few steps into the courtyard, the security walls shot up and a series of flashing strobe lights lit up the pathway.

I whipped around to see Aizawa stalking past.

Kaminari nearly tripped over himself trying to get out of the way.

I hurried to match his pace, with Jiro close behind.

"Mr. Aizawa! What's going on?"

He looked over his shoulder and sighed, "You should know this, Arashi. If someone tries to enter UA without identification, the security system keeps them out. With all the journalists here today, it has to be their fault. Don't bother me outside of class."

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, sir!"

Jiro waited until he was out of earshot to snort.

"As if someone would actually try to infiltrate campus. Especially with All Might nearby, no one can catch us off guard!"

I grunted in agreement.

She waved and ran off to a group of our classmates standing to the side of the path, chatting and pointing to the walls. I grinned and waved at them too, but continued past them into the school.

As I wandered into the halls, a cold wind washed over my shoulders.

Great.

I turned to see Todoroki scowling at me.

"Wassup, ice cube?"

If possible, he scowled more.

"How did you beat me?"

Well, actually, it wasn't really a question. More like an I'm going to freeze your brains solid if you don't spill it kind of statement.

I blew a strand of hair out of my face.

"Well, since your body gets really cold when you use your power, I used a freezing wind carrying water droplets to use that to my advantage."

He waited, obviously wanting me to continue.

"And, since I can control the weather, temperature is easy to manipulate."

Todoroki looked around for a moment. "Good job."

That gave me pause. "Good job?"

He shrugged- the most natural thing I'd ever seen him do. "Not many people can incapacitate me like that. Good job."

I nudged him with my wing, "Want some advice?"

The scowl returned.

"If you know your opponent as well as you know me, don't forget your brains when you're trying to look cool."

He rolled his eyes almost imperceptibly.

"Also, I've known you forever. Stop pretending to be a jerk. It really doesn't suit you."

Todoroki started, eyes widened in surprise. I flashed him a grin and marched off to class.

I loitered around a bit until homeroom, pausing at a vending machine to pick up a chocolate bar. It was a little bit of an indulgence, but I felt it was necessary after almost being decapitated by a helicopter. Chocolate makes everything better.

In homeroom, Aizawa was back in that yellow sleeping bag of his.

"Today, class…"

He paused, gauging reactions.

Oh, geez. Not another test! Especially with all the journalism business today, I would rather not.

A tiny smile crept across Aizawa's face.

"...You will be choosing a class representative."

PHEW!

As long as it wasn't a test or PE, I was happy.

Everyone was getting excited and throwing in their names, but I squished back in my chair.

"Hey, Haruto," Mina called loudly, "Don't you want to be class rep?"

I cringed and pressed farther back in my chair. "Not really."

She gasped dramatically. "Why?! Think of the power!"

"I just don't want to."

"What about the leadership experience?"

"I'm not great with people my age," I groaned, "I have six little brothers."

The class kind of froze and looked at me, a murmur of "Six?!" passing through the room.

I shrugged and crossed my arms. "And besides, if I was in charge, there would be some major changes to the dress code."

A beat of silence and confusion later, I clarified.

"Do you know how many blouses I've ruined trying to fit one of these suckers over my wings? The accessibility of the uniform is sorely lacking. It's not stretchy, there's no buttons or clasps besides the ones on the front, and there's no big and tall or petite sizes; Even worse, you have to pay for uniform alterations, and that's not viable for some families. For a school based on accommodating all different types of Quirk, UA does a pretty sucky tailoring job."

I counted my reasons off on my fingers, but I could feel my face going red as people turned to look at my rant. That was also part of the reason I didn't want to be class rep. Most of the time, I was fine speaking in public, but if I liked or was friendly with the public in question, I got super nervous. Their approval actually mattered to me.

As I finished, there was a nod from a dude named Koda who was tall and broad with tree-bark-like skin, and from a huge, muscular guy named Sato. Both of whose shirts were just slightly too small. Well, if I did run for rep, I'd have a couple of voters.

Eventually, some semblance of order returned to the classroom, and we were given our ballots. Whoever received the most votes would be the class rep, and the runner-up would be deputy rep.

I chewed on my pencil as I looked over the sheet. The whole thing seemed like a popularity contest to me, but I tried to view everything objectively. There were some genuinely good people in my class, and some really amazing budding leaders. It would be a hard choice.

In the end, I bubbled in Momo's name. She was cool under pressure, rational, and super kind-hearted. She was already somewhat of a class leader, so I figured she would be excellent for the position. I turned in my ballot confidently and plopped back down in my seat.

After a speech from Iida about democracy and whatnot, the voting results were revealed.

Momo had made deputy rep!

And… Midoriya was the rep?!

I mean, I could understand Momo being in the top two, but Midoriya was a massive surprise. He didn't strike me as a leader type, especially with his tendency to mutter to himself and blurt out Hero facts. I mean, sure, he was rising within the class at an alarming rate and there was something fishy going on with his Quirk, but-

Oh.

He wasn't a leader- he was a friend.

He had befriended almost everyone in our class and he definitely had the charisma needed to lead.

My head was running in circles as I left for lunch, watching the back of Midoriya's head as he marched dazedly down the hall. It'd seemed like he wasn't expecting the result either.

As soon as I sat down with my lunch, an alarm blared through the cafeteria.

Kaminari and Mina had joined the table I'd forced Bakugo into, and we all looked up. People dropped their yakitori as a voice came over the loudspeakers.

"LEVEL THREE SECURITY BREACH."

Let's just say that all went to hell after that.

Tables were overturned as nearly every student in the canteen made a mad dash for the doors.

Someone caught my wings and yanked me into the crowd.

I hated close spaces.

Sweat ran in a trickle down my back as I was muscled into the hall. A few girls were screaming or crying, and everyone else was chattering and bellowing bloody murder. It was uncomfortably hot, and I could feel people touching my wings from all sides.

I couldn't think.

I couldn't breathe.

My Quirk activated subconsciously, a bubble of hot wind forming around me and shoving everyone to the walls.

When it popped, I had a good two meters of extra space.

I took a moment to stretch my wings and scowl at the now still mob.

"How the hell are y'all going to be Heroes if you can't learn to be calm?" I snapped.

A few people winced.

"Stop whining like a buncha damn babies and act your age! Cowards."

Anger rolled off me in waves as I stomped back to the cafeteria and wound through the halls toward the office.

A bunch of students, including Iida, were already there and updated me on the situation when I burst in.

Turns out, it had just been the news guys from earlier. This stupid crowd had all been for nothing.

I was a touch late back to class, as Nezu had intercepted me on my way out of the office and politely scolded me for my use of vulgarity in addressing my fellow students.

In all fairness, they deserved it.

When I walked back into the classroom, Midoriya was at the front of the class, beet-red and on the verge of tears.

Momo looked very concerned.

The rest of the class looked dumbfounded.

Iida was pale as a sheet of paper.

"Why the hell is everyone white as a ghost?" I asked unceremoniously.

Iida babbled, "Midoriya wants me to be the class rep instead of him."

I snorted as I sat down. "At least it's entertaining."

It took a solid half hour for Midoriya to quit thanking Iida and for Iida's face to turn back to its normal color. I spent that time eavesdropping on the drama between Midoriya, Iida, and Momo while chatting with my friends.

Bakugo harrumphed.

"I would have been a better class rep than Deku. He just can't seem to stop one-upping me!"

I laughed in his face.

"Could you honestly spend more than thirty seconds doing paperwork before blowing it to hell?"

He screwed up his face and refused to respond. Kirishima nearly pissed himself because he was laughing so hard.

"Today…"

We snapped to attention and scrambled back to our seats as Aizawa prowled into the room.

"Hero basic training will be turned into a class with three instructors. All Might, myself, and one other."

He held up a card that read "RESCUE."

I grinned, "Sweet! My dad's been teaching me this stuff!"

Aizawa looked up.

"Yes. I know your father, Arashi. He's a good man."

I smiled. Maybe there was more to Aizawa than I thought.

"You'll be training with shipwrecks, disasters, and everything in between," he finished.

"So, we're heading to a new facility for training. You have fifteen minutes to be on the bus."

There was a loud, crazy scramble for the door as the class made for the costume storage.

I paused to talk to Aizawa on my way out.

"Uh, Mr. Aizawa?"

He rolled his eyes.

"I can't… um… fit on a bus." I gestured to my wings.

He huffed, "Can you fly?"

I nodded.

"Follow the bus. No more than 70 kmh."

With another huff, he gestured for me to leave.

I put on my costume again, with a few new upgrades. A pair of clear goggles in the mask and a communicator in my ear. The costume itself was still thin and flimsy as ever, though. Hopefully I wouldn't have to get wet.

I actually beat the bus to the huge white dome and set down right as they pulled into the lot.

Bakugo stomped off the bus with enough force to bounce the other students backward.

I ran forward and forcefully linked my arm with his. He scowled, but didn't shove me off, so I dragged him to the front of the crowd.

At the very front of the dome, between us and large doors, stood a figure in a puffy white jacket and black helmet.

Holy shit! Thirteen, the Space Hero!

Thirteen was super cool! They were super big on Quirk research and search and rescue. Papa had told me that one time, Thirteen met Mom at a get-together and spent literal hours talking to her about her Quirk. They liked Quirks that didn't cause damage to their surroundings, so they and my parents got along really well.

Thirteen stood with their arms wide, gesturing to the doors. "I can't wait to show you what's inside!"

Kirishima murmured, "This is gonna be awesome!"

I definitely shared the sentiment, but something- someone- seemed to be missing.

"Hey," I muttered, "Where's All Might?"

Bakugo shrugged, but Kaminari poked his head over my shoulder.

"I heard that he didn't come to school today."

I drooped dramatically. "That sucks."

Bakugo snorted.

We filed into the dome after Thirteen. I could've sworn half the class was shaking with excitement.

My jaw effectively hit the floor as I saw them.

Huge disaster simulators: a firestorm, a blizzard, a sinking ship, and so many other life-size training exercises. Enormous skylights embedded in the soaring ceiling allowed blindingly bright sunlight in. A neat little atrium sat in the center of the dome, decorated with a fountain and a few small canals. Giant staircases swept around the dome, leading to each of the simulators.

"Holy crap!" Bakugo said under his breath.

Thirteen spread their hands. "I created this facility to provide a comprehensive training experience to all you students! I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. But you can call it USJ!"

I whispered to Bakugo, "Like Universal Studios Japan!"

He glanced over, but seemed otherwise occupied with being in awe.

I got distracted looking around as Thirteen continued talking, until they said, "My Quirk could very easily be used to kill, as could some of yours."

A few of my classmates went stiff. I felt a few of my feathers stand up. That was a serious statement.

"In our superhuman society, all Quirks are registered and strictly regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can be. Please don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly."

They took their time looking over us. I couldn't see their face, so I had no idea what their expression was. They paused when they were facing my friends and I, and I thought they might say something else.

However, Thirteen took a bow and we all applauded uproariously.

Aizawa stalked up next to Thirteen and huffed, "Now that's over…"

He began talking, but the lights suddenly cut out.

A murmur rolled through the class.

This didn't seem right.

There was still plenty of light thanks to the skylights, but it was odd and misty now. Black smoke whisked around our feet and skated down the massive staircase, headed toward the center of the USJ. A warp gate opened at the atrium leading to the training areas. Aizawa and Thirteen glanced at each other as black smoke poured from it.

That definitely couldn't be good.

A skinny man with silver hair and like fifteen hands stalked out of the warp gate. He looked up at us and cocked his head.

"Stay together and don't move," Aizawa snapped.

We took a collective step back.

He wrapped his tapes around his hands, and an eerie feeling washed over the class as he fired up his Quirk.

"Thirteen, protect the students!"

"It's a villain attack!" I hissed quietly.

I pulled away from Bakugo and conjured up some clouds, just in case. I got a quick sense of where metal was in the structure of the dome. Dammit. There was almost no exposed metal besides a teeny tiny lightning rod at the crest of the dome. If I needed to call down lightning, I'd have to do it through the roof. I hoped it wouldn't come to that.

At that point, hordes of villains were clambering through the warp gate, followed by a hulking black monster with teeth as long as my forearm. It bumbled out to stand next to the silver-haired guy, glaring up at us and gnashing its teeth.

"Thirteen, why aren't the alarms going off?" Momo said, a tremor in her voice.

"Good question. I'm not sure," Thirteen muttered in response. They frantically tapped their communicator, then slammed their hand into it frustratedly.

Todoroki said quietly, "Is the entire campus under attack?"

I scoffed, "We'd know if this was anywhere else. It's probably concentrated here."

Aizawa growled, "Thirteen, get them out of here and alert the main campus."

Thirteen grunted in response.

"Kaminari, try to contact the main campus with your Quirk. They're jamming our alarms and communications."

He immediately sent out an electric pulse, tapping his communicator as he did so.

Midoriya squeaked after Eraser Head, "Mr. Aizawa, you can't fight them on your own! Your Quirk is best for stealth and one-on-one fights. It's not gonna help with a group!"

Aizawa grinned crookedly.

"You can't be a Pro with only one trick. I'll leave it to you, Thirteen."

He leapt off the stairs and used his tapes to swing himself toward the villains.

Thirteen turned to me.

"Arashi, get into the air and hightail it to the main campus. Tell the faculty what's going on here!"

I nodded and took off.

One of the villains on the ground shouted, "Ground the flyer!"

Shit shit shit.

All manner of bullets and other assorted ammunition peppered the ceiling behind me as I soared toward the only open skylight. I swerved left and right as fast as I could, banking and barrel-rolling to avoid getting hit.

Just as I was about to clear the exit, with my front end already outside, a huge ball of dark metal slammed into the skylight. I couldn't get out of the way fast enough and it ended up crashing into my legs and wings.

Oh fuck.

It was a net.

Made of metal.

After tumbling awkwardly back inside the USJ, I realized I was securely stuck to the ceiling along with broken bits of skylight and exposed I-beams. I struggled and kicked, but only managed to get myself deeper into the thin metal chains. When I was able to break a chain or two, they snapped back into shape much, much tighter. My wings were absolutely covered in the thing, and trying to wiggle them out only succeeded in getting them more stuck. My costume was ripped and my goggles were so scratched I couldn't see. My arms and legs were pinned and I just hated everything about that situation.

Damn this stuff was strong.

I made a frustrated screaming noise that was echoed by a boom of thunder.

If I could fry this shit, I might be able to get out.

The air around me and the broken skylight began to crackle, and the hair on my neck stood on end. A couple villains on the ground looked up.

The clouds I'd conjured earlier were swirling angrily above the USJ, with barely-visible lightning flashing within. Wind and rain pounded through the hole in the ceiling.

A bolt of lightning blazed down from the clouds and struck the lightning rod that I'd sensed on top of the USJ. The electricity took its sweet time getting through the frame of the dome and jumping from an exposed metal beam to my hands.

As the lightning seared across my body, I felt my hair stand on end and whip in the wind, and the familiar, kind-of-weird sensation of my eyes glowing bright white. My heart rate easily doubled, and my hands were trembling with the giddy rush of energy. I felt like I was truly, completely in my element.

I used the surge of power to superheat the chains of the net and pry my arms and legs free. The second I did, the sections trapping my wings got insanely tight, almost to the point of restricting blood flow.

And the part holding me to the ceiling collapsed.

I yelped as I began to plummet to the ground, my wings pinned helplessly to my back.

No. I'd prepared for this.

I took a huge breath as I neared the ground and righted myself as best I could in the air. When I was close enough to the ground, I let loose my breath in a windy gust powerful enough to break my fall.

Well, somewhat.

I still crashed to the ground on my side, falling through a secondary roof over a disaster area. Thankfully, my skull didn't feel like getting acquainted with the stone floor. My ribs, however, weren't as shy. One of my wing joints popped as I flopped onto my back, followed by a wave of pain.

I laid there for a moment, coughing and hacking after I (literally) got the wind knocked out of me.

Then I rolled onto my belly, wincing as my wing protested. I'd probably dislocated it. Again. I struggled to my feet, flailing my arms for balance as my wings swung around behind me. There were still chains wrapped around my arms, torso, and legs, but they didn't prevent movement and if I didn't mess with them, weren't too tight.

Any attempt to pull at or dismantle the net on my wings, however, was met with a sharp tightening and a spike of discomfort from my wing. I couldn't fucking balance like this. I cursed and grumbled as I took a few awkward steps forward and examined my surroundings.

As far as I could tell, I was in the area that was sectioned off from the main USJ, with huge hazard signs plastered on the walls between it and other simulators. It was blisteringly hot, and most of the simulator was absolutely blazing.

I was in the firestorm.

My rain wouldn't be much help, even with the hole I'd made in the ceiling of the simulator. Only the tiniest bit made it through, and it evaporated the second it got within 10 meters of the fire. I took another deep breath and cranked down the temperature in my immediate vicinity. The sweat beading on my face froze, and some of the fire nearest to me wavered.

One of the smaller fires snuffed out as I walked by, and that's when I saw what was making the fire. There were pipes sticking out of the model buildings and piles of rubble, spouting flames and smoke. All of the fire was artificial!

That meant that somewhere, there was a source of gas feeding the simulator. And where there was flammable gas, there was an off switch. Just like in a science lab, but on a much larger scale.

I hustled to the wall of the simulator, skirting the edge and feeling the wall for any kind of emergency off button or valve. There wasn't anything for the first few steps, but eventually I felt a bump under my fingers. The lighting wasn't great, with all the flickering and wiggly heat mirages, but I could just make out some kind of pipe running along the wall at about my waist height.

It took some self-control to not sprint toward the source, because I would have absolutely fallen on my face without my wings to help me balance, but I power-walked as gracefully as I could.

As I walked, I felt other pipes join the larger vein, and the reinforcements surrounding the pipes got stronger. A few dim lights lined the wall, and a small green exit sign pointed ahead. I was getting close.

I was very excited and proud of myself, until I neared a little nook lit by a glowing exit door. There were a few figures standing in front of it, their silhouettes barely visible in the dim. I dove behind a pile of rubble as a couple of them walked my way. They spoke way too loudly for anyone trying to be stealthy, and they had heavy boots on. They were probably sure that they would be strong enough to deal with any threats, because they weren't disguising their presence at all. I held my breath as they passed and squeezed my eyes shut, hiding the glow from view.

Their footsteps paused near my hiding place. One of them shivered and said, "There's something weird over here. I felt my arm hair stand up, and there's some kind of hum."

Another scoffed, "It's probably just your nerves. This is an exciting time, man. Shigaraki's gonna kill All Might!"

I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from gasping. My stomach sunk into my feet.

The villains were here to kill All Might.

The first villain sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I kind of feel bad for the kids, though."

"Puh-lease. The kids are just as brainwashed as the rest of society. We'd be better off just killing 'em."

"But they're just kids! This is a school, after all."

"They're legitimately learning how to fight us, dude. And besides, we don't know their Quirks, so they're dangerous. Kurogiri was supposed to send some our way. If I see one of 'em, I'll fry 'em where they stand!"

The first villain grunted, and the footsteps set off again.

When they were out of earshot, I let out the breath I was holding and crouched to the ground, unsure if I would be able to stand up after hearing that. All of these villains were here to kill All Might, and they would try to kill us if given the chance.

I steadied myself and peeked over the rubble. There were as many as three more villains, but I couldn't see them well. They were standing in front of a giant red button marked 'Emergency Shutoff' and the exit door. I would have to get through them to leave.

One of the villains shouted and pointed to my hiding place.

I ducked down below, cursing. Like the idiot I was, I forgot that my eyes glow.

I used what was left of the lightning to form one of my whips.

My whips looked basically like a rope of lightning that behaved however the hell I wanted it to. At the moment, I wanted to sweep that sucker over my head and stun the villains.

I wrapped the end around my hand and jumped up, swinging my whip toward the villains.

They screeched and convulsed as my whip cracked into them, and they jumped away. Leaving just enough room for me to sprint through the door.

I shouldered it open and staggered out into the main dome, wincing as I was blinded by the sunlight. A spike of rock whizzed past my shoulder and lodged itself in the wall, followed by a very unhappy villain. When I whipped around to face him, whip in hand, I was pleased to see that he was a little bit crispy and was acting accordingly. He definitely wasn't firing on all cylinders after my three hundred million volts had hit him.

I ignored him completely and hopped between the partial walls separating the simulators, trying to get to higher ground.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

There was an intense fight in the atrium, right next to the big stone fountain.

All Might was there, and he was tussling with the giant monster from before, pounding him like nobody's business. The smoke coming from the portal seemed to be coming from a dude, who was floating around the battle with the silver-haired guy.

They seemed to be the ring leaders of the whole mess.

Further away, coming from the other simulators, I could see Bakugo blasting his way over, Todoroki sweeping toward the fight on a wave of ice, and Midoriya bouncing around, ricocheting off of rubble. They were going to help.

I planned to join them.

Now that I was out of the area with the ceiling, I could call down another bolt of lightning. It still took a solid second for it to travel through the building, but eventually, it arched down from the ceiling and struck my hand.

I formed my other lightning whip and used the remaining energy to take another crack at the chains on my wings.

Fucking finally!

The chains turned red hot and sloughed off. I stretched my wings and shook my uninjured one, savoring the feeling of being out of that stupid net. Now that I was out, I could balance better and move a hell of a lot faster.

I couldn't quite fly, but I could run with support, which I did all the way to the center.

All Might was having difficulty with the monster and the smoke guy, and a bunch more portals had clogged up the ground. It looked like All Might and the monster were stuck between portals as they fought each other. Bakugo was already there, and he was blowing up the smoke guy. Midoriya was facing off with the silver-haired guy. Todoroki was late to the party.

That left one for me.

I whooped and leapt into the air, cushioning myself with wind. I landed on the monster's back and snapped my whips around his neck, yanking hard.

He staggered off of All Might for a second, clawing at the lightning around his neck. I'd figured that he might be electrocuted at least a little bit, but that didn't seem to be the case.

I planted my feet on his back and threw all of my weight into choking the shit out of him.

As I struggled, a wave of ice spread up the monster, cementing his flailing limbs in place.

I barked "Thanks!" to Todoroki, who nodded from a few meters away. His ice continued to spread as he got closer, but he hesitated once he got close enough to be in range of the villains.

Bakugo had the smoke dude pinned down, and the silver-haired guy was talking to Midoriya. He didn't seem to be much of a threat for now. All Might was rolling his shoulders and rearing back for another punch.

The monster shifted under me, and millions of shards of ice lanced through the air as he broke free of Todoroki's restraints.

A giant black hand wrapped around my ankle.

"Oh fu-!"

The monster flung me off of its back and into the ground.

Hard.

But not hard enough to shut me up.

I responded with a blaze of lightning, dissolving my whips and aiming it straight for his face.

It did absolutely nothing.

The monster twitched, but didn't waver as he took my foot and straight up chucked me away from the battle.

Without functional wings and a good idea of which way was up, I couldn't keep myself from slamming into the stone stairs.

These hurt like a bitch, especially with all my bruises from the last time I fell out of the sky.

I just kind of took a second and slid down a couple of stairs like a feathery sack of potatoes. I was tough, but it would still take me a minute to recover.

That monster was definitely not human.

As I pushed myself onto my elbows, cursing the monster's mother, a series of screams echoed through the USJ. I looked up to see villains falling over like dominoes, their colleagues scrambling for cover. A bullet struck the silver-haired guy in the arm, and a few more glanced off the monster.

I followed the bullets' course and found Pro Hero Snipe standing at the top of the stairs, raining bullets down on the simulators. Villains were screeching and running away as a wave of teachers and other Pros poured into the USJ, easily decimating the opposing force.

To be completely honest, I kind of tuned out of the ensuing events. I'd hit my head pretty hard and I wasn't seeing 20/20 at the time. I got the jist however, and members of my class updated me later.

All Might blasted the monster into fucking oblivion, and he was picked up by police. The silver-haired dude had gotten away with the smoke guy, despite Bakugo's and Kirishima's best efforts. Midoriya had bought All Might precious time by shattering his legs (as he was prone to), but he would be fine.

I eventually hefted myself to my feet and tottered dazedly outside. Police vans and buses took up half the parking lot, and Pros were turning in villains left and right. A police officer saw me looking around aimlessly and directed me to my class, who were huddled off to the side.

As I made my way over, Recovery Girl, a healing Pro, came around to all the not-severely-injured students.

When she got to me, she tilted her head sweetly. "I'm so sorry, Miss Arashi, but I'm not sure I'm aware of your physiology enough to fix this. I'll call your father."

Before I could protest, she pulled a gravely outdated cell phone from the pocket of her lab coat and pressed a button.

Oh no.

I was doomed.

A few minutes later, a shape appeared in the sky.

Papa set down gently, nodding and smiling to Recovery Girl as he walked by.

My dad was taller than me by at least half a head, and twice as broad. His wings gleamed white in the setting sunlight. His costume, a white bodysuit with light blue waves on the gloves, chest, and boots, was what I had modeled my own after.

He did not look amused.

For a little context, I am essentially the spitting image of my father- spare for my wings and the fact that I am female. The same glossy black hair. The same warm brown eyes. The same hot temper. The same affinity for the word "damn."

"Hi, Papa," I muttered as he marched over.

"Haruto," he practically growled, "Why you gotta be so damn weak?"

I snapped back, "It's not my fault!"

"You dislocated your damn wing! Again!"

"Again! Not my fault!"

He huffed, resting his dinner-plate-sized hands on my wing. "Don't bite your tongue."

Then he jerked so hard that the joint snapped back into place.

"Fuck!"

Papa knocked his knuckle on top of my head. "Don't use that language at school, kid."

I rolled my eyes, but shut my mouth.

Papa grunted. "Go home. Your mom's on her way there. I've gotta work tonight."

As he began to head toward the throng of Heroes, I waved and shouted a belated "Thanks!"

He looked sternly over his shoulder before making his way inside the USJ.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

I turned to see (well, not really) Hagakure, who chirped, "Hey, Haruto! You're really strong! I thought it was really cool how you took on that monster!"

I shrugged her hand off. "Thanks, I guess, but I didn't, really. It was already pummeled because of All Might, but I couldn't really do much. So, where did you end up?"

She squeaked, "The landslide zone! You wouldn't believe Todoroki and his ice! He's amazing!"

If I remembered correctly, the landslide zone had been frozen over.

I jumped a bit. "Geez, I'm glad he didn't freeze you solid!"

She giggled and twirled away, already chattering to Uraraka.

I looked around for a second and counted my classmates.

"Hey, where's Mr. Aizawa?"

I was met by several surprised faces.

Kirishima frowned. "You didn't hear?"

"Nope."

"He got really badly hurt in his fight with Tomura Shigaraki."

That wasn't great, but who the fuck was that? One of the villains had said that name before, so it seemed important.

I must have looked perfectly clueless, because Momo added, "The man with the hands."

So I was right. He was the ringleader. But… how tough was he to have seriously injured Eraser Head?

I growled, "I'll kill that bastard."

She looked more than a little annoyed. "Haruto, you can't kill people."

"Whatever."

I was seething at the guy. First, he had the balls to show up at a HIGH SCHOOL and attack fledgling Heroes with the intention of offing us all. Then he had the gall to suggest killing All Might. And to tie it all off, he and his goons busted my wing.

I followed an officer who had the head of a tabby cat back to class. We'd be stuck here until we were officially released and the police were sure we could get home safely.

Bakugo looked extra brood-y, so I nudged him a bit. "You okay?"

He growled.

"Don't be a jerk, Bakugo," I said softly, "It seems like everything's gonna be okay."

Bakugo stomped off.

"Bitch," I said after him.

He shot a scowl over his shoulder before joining Kaminari and Kirishima.

Finally, the cat officer reappeared and gave us the all clear to go home.

The girls and I headed off to the changing rooms to take off our costumes and get our stuff from our lockers.

After a long, and I mean long, hot shower, I bid my farewells to my classmates and took off for home.

The second I got in the door, I pressed my wings to the wall and sighed.

I was soooooo beyond tired.

I plunked my backpack on the floor and washed my hands. Then I went into my room and changed into a black tank top and some khaki shorts. When I was out of my uniform, I gathered supplies and went to the bathroom to bandage up the little nicks and cuts all over me from the chain net. Since my brothers weren't home, I could curse as loudly as I wanted to when I applied antiseptic to my skin and it stung like a bitch.

From there, it was time for a snack. I hobbled into the kitchen, already feeling the bruises and soreness that usually came the day after a fight. I heard the door open when I was making an instant coffee, and I peeked out from the hallway to see my brothers hovering in the door jamb.

"'Sup, kids?" I shouted. "You're late!"

Sniffles.

"Are you guys ok-"

I exited into the den to see my brothers, whose faces were bruised, and a couple disgruntled policemen.

"Any parents home?" One of them asked tiredly.

I shook my head, "Mom's still at work. Dad's at UA High School."

The other officer frowned. "I heard about the attack. But, back to the matters at hand…"

He not-so-gently shoved Hades and Mienai forward. "These two were caught in a physical altercation at Nabu Middle School. The rest," he said, gesturing to my other brothers, "Soon arrived and joined in."

I straightened my wings and ran my hand through my hair as the first officer read from a small notebook.

"These boys," Hades and Mienai, "Were using their Quirks in public in an unsafe manner."

Hades snapped, "I sneezed! Is that a crime?!"

I silenced him with a glare.

"Other students of the school initiated conflict. The fight could have been stopped if not for the others joining in with their Quirks. Fortunately, I don't think the situation escalated to a point where anyone would press charges, but these boys need to recognize the consequences of their actions," the officer finished.

"I've got them, officers," I stated. "Thanks for getting them home safe."

They nodded and left, pulling the door shut behind them.

My brothers looked awful. Scrapes, bruises, ripped uniforms. Leaves sticking out of feathers. They were about to be in for it. And they were terrified.

And rightly so.

"What on earth were you thinking?" I finally snapped.

Eito said softly, "One of the big boys hit Mienai with a stick. We made spikes at him. He cried some."

Fat tears rolled down the little ones' faces, and Mienai's face was pink.

Taine shrugged. "Like we would let our brothers get bullied by some motherfu-" he jerked suddenly. "Uh, bad people."

I sighed to cover a snort. "And you, what do you have to say for yourselves?"

Hades shuffled his feet. Mienai hid behind him.

"Who landed the first hit?"

They looked really stupefied.

I repeated the question.

Five fingers pointed directly at Tait.

"You son of a bi- gun," I said proudly. "And the rest of you sent them home crying, huh?"

Six heads of dead-leaf-ridden black hair bobbed in unison.

"Dam- darn right you did. Showers. Now!"

They ran off into the hall, climbing over each other and arguing.

When they were done and clean (thank goodness), I sat them down on the couch and explained to them why they couldn't use their Quirks to fight with other boys. Especially since they could cause pretty severe damage if they weren't careful.

Then I congratulated them for holding their own.

Eiichi and Eito eventually wriggled their way into my lap. Taine and Tait were squished in my wings. Hades and Mienai were fine on the sides. They told me about their days and asked questions about the USJ attack, which I answered as sparingly as possible. They didn't need to know that I flopped around like an idiot for a measurable amount of time.

The little ones were still pretty sheltered from the idea of violence and villains, so I kept my descriptions as comic-book-esque as possible. They thought it was really cool that I used my lightning to make the bad guys fall over, limbs flailing cartoonishly.

I was pretty sure that Taine and Tait understood basically what had happened, but they still looked like little kids when I told them about All Night's fight with the monster. They sat forward when I told the story, so raptured that they almost fell off the couch.

Hades and Mienai absolutely saw through my bullshit, and they shared looks that told me I would have to spill the whole story to them later.

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden glow through our sheer curtains.

I gently deposited my brothers and whipped up some ramen for dinner. They crowded the table for dinner, talking over each other as they ate. Meals were always loud when Papa wasn't here to tell the zoo to quiet down. I could always try, but they didn't particularly care when I told them.

When they were done, I deployed them around the house to do their chores. The little ones cleaned up their toys with rounds upon rounds of protests and set out their pajamas. Taine and Tait cleaned the bathroom and helped the little ones brush their teeth. Hades and Mienai did the dishes and washed the pots. I supervised everything and made beds.

After coralling them all into the bathroom to brush their teeth, we watched one of the old American cartoons Mom had shown us. The cartoon was about a clumsy cat chasing a clever mouse. And it didn't have many lines of dialogue, so we could enjoy it without having to worry about translation. We definitely weren't allowed to watch tv after dinner when Mom and Papa were home, but they didn't have to know. It was a little thing I did with my brothers when we were home alone, and it made them happy, so it made me happy.

When the episode was done, I tucked them all into bed with a smooch.

When my mom got home, her golden-brown ponytail bobbing with her steps, she found me passed out on the couch with my phone dangling limply from my hand.

She woke me up, guiding me to my room and directing me into my pajamas. I, of course, have no recollection of this, as I was practically a zombie at the time, but she told me later. Then I went into bed myself.

So very tired.

Ok so after the corrupted doc I tried to upload a bit ago, this one should be so so much better.

I have a chem exam in an hour and I'm not freaking out, you are. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you soon!