Things went on like that for awhile, until I was a second-year. That was when my quirk really awakened.

I was on my way down the stairs where our lockers were, ready to go home. I had a lot of homework but my favorite show aired on Thursdays.

I had to crouch at the top of the stairwell, however, when a familiar stomach ache knocked into me. I took deep breaths—this attack was pretty bad. But there was no one around that I could avoid. No one would even dare anymore, since it usually didn't work out with my preemptive quirk.

"Come on," I groaned. "What now?" It really started to sting. Was there something slick on the stairs? Would I slip if I used this stairwell? I made the choice to move to a different one—usually just deciding not to take a dangerous path was enough for the pain to subside. But it kept throbbing and I crouched there to figure out what was about to happen.

"Out of the way, Chubby!" From the other side of the stairwell, Bakugou dashed from around the corner. Too quickly to stop, too pigheaded to care. He smacked right into my back as he descended, taking the steps three at a time.

I toppled, lost my balance, and rolled. The stairs poked my back and limbs and I barely had the sense to cover my head. The stomach pain had stopped, at least.

I was almost on the first floor, Bakugou's back to me, then, BOOM.

Gold light flashed, something I had only ever seen in my mind's eyes before—my quirk. When the dust settled, I was sitting in a me-sized hole on the ground. Teachers came running, trying to disperse the crowd of students. Even Bakugou, who had apparently been in a rush, stopped and stared.

"That hurt." I rubbed my back. But looking at all the stairs I had fallen down, it should have been worse.

My parents took me to the doctor, so I missed my show anyway.

"If I'm not mistaken," he speculated, reading my test results. "It appears as though the energy she accumulated in the fall dispersed when it reached a certain impact level."

"What does that mean?" I asked, my knees bandaged.

"It means your mutated cells absorbed the energy from the fall and transformed it into a blast-like reaction."

"I dish out what I take, right?"

The doctor hummed. "That's one way of looking at it. The law of conservation of energy. But if you can't control when the energy is released, then it may become dangerous."

"Does she have two quirks, then?" Dad asked.

"Hmm." The doctor looked between two clipboards. "I'm wondering if they aren't two aspects of the same quirk. But Premonition is the one that stumps me the most, honestly."

Mom gasped. "Is a danger warning even possible? Isn't that essentially reading the future?"

We were all frowning.

"It depends on how her cells interpret information and react," the doctor said. "Perhaps what they read is not the future, but the cause-effect energy certain events create."

"So like, karmic energy?" I asked. They turned to me. But I was almost off in a different world."People's intentions and choices put out energy into the world, which is supposed to build what kind of karma they have. So maybe I can sense it, and absorb it." I wasn't much of a karma person and had never really bought into it. I didn't know where all of this was coming from. It just felt right. I shrugged sheepishly.

When we got home, I locked myself in my room. I had to face a fact. My quirk had taken me here to right a wrong, that much I had figured. And the only wrong in my old life it let me remember was Deku being killed to save me. And, since I was here, we both must have failed—since only the dead can be reincarnated.

So what was my quirk, really? This quirk that had reincarnated me to this place and time. That spoke to me and protected me. Was it sentient? Was it a force?

Either way, I had it for a reason—to save Deku. There was no longer any doubt in my mind.

And to do that, I had to become a hero.

Things changed for me from that day onward. I watched the news instead of bad teenage dramas. I stopped eating junk food. Then I started running and working out, which I was no expert at. I didn't even know if I was doing it right. But I started to see results. I had already lost my baby fat, but I was never that small. Now I was cut, the last vestiges of my childhood cushioning melting away into sinew. No one could call me chubby anymore. The bullying stopped—slowly at first, and then when they noticed it didn't bother me, I started making friends instead. I cut my bangs, which I used to let hang over my eye, and pulled my hair up in a bun from then on. I was open, approachable. You could see my smile.

And the more I worked with my quirk, the more certain memories returned. Karma—how intent and actions influence the future. So if my quirk could use that karmic energy, it would explain why I both sensed it and dispelled it. Or used it.

My quirk wasn't premonition, nor reincarnation. It was karmic energy.

Premonition was one aspect. So was Samsara, or rebirth. So my working theory came into place.

My quirk made me a karmic anomaly, and I messed with the laws of the universe by accident. So Deku did nothing to deserve to die, and when he did—when we did, the rebirth aspect of my quirk kicked in.

I needed to correct what I had changed. I just didn't exactly know what that meant, other than keep Deku from dying before he was supposed to.

That was my theory, at least. Or I could have been delusional.

At school, Midoriya was nice as usual. He never changed, even when I did. Still no quirk.

The energy inside of me hummed. I wondered if I just got out of his life, keeping me from being there when he died, he would survive. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, my stomach ached. When I understood that meant that I would have to stick closer to his side, the pain stopped.

So whatever school Midiriya picked, I would have to follow him to. No pain came with the idea.

But that presented another problem—he was still quirkless.

And as our time in middle school came to an end, that didn't change. I couldn't help but wonder how the greatest hero of a generation had been such a late bloomer.

"Listen," Sensei groaned. "I know you all want to go toward the hero track, but please, no quirks in the classroom. You all know the rules."

The class didn't listen—it was the last day of school before break. There was no taming us. I chatted with my friend Reiko, who had a hair-hardening quirk. She'd found this school in Kyushu with a hero course she could probably get into.

"Have you decided where you're going yet, Hotaru-chan?"

I surreptitiously glanced at Midoriya, who was seated right behind me. "No, not yet."

She rolled her eyes. "Too many choices, huh? I wish I had your problem. Your grades are too good." I blushed, not used to compliments from all my years of torment. I tried to hide my face with my hair.

Eventually our sensei started a class discussion on our future. "I imagine you all want to go into the hero track?"

Reiko and I peeked at each other excitedly and another foray of quirk-filled cheers rang out. Midoriya sighed heavily. I only heard because I was hyper aware of him, listening all the time.

"Don't lump me in with the rest of these losers," Bakugou laughed. His feet were on his desk.

I sighed, resting my chin on my hand, but it was swallowed by the dissent of others. Growing up was the great equalizer, and I wish Bakugou had gotten similar pushback when we were younger.

"These guys will be lucky to be sidekicks for some D-lister hero. But I'm the real deal."

To be honest, we didn't have the right to laugh him off. It was true—Katsuki's in-class grades were above even mine, now that school was a little harder, and his hero-aptitude grades were off the charts. Even with my karmic blasts making our quirks the most similar, he had a hero's quirk from the start. Mine was just flashy. It wasn't like I could fight. And one aspect of it almost left me incapacitated with stomach pain.

The blond smirked. "That's why I'm getting into UA."

A national school with an acceptance rate of 0.2 percent was a fool's dream, unless you were Bakugou, but especially if you were quirkless.

Sensei read his clipboard. "Oh yeah, Midoriya, don't you want to get into UA also?"

The class's reaction was to be expected, which is why Midoriya obviously didn't want anyone else to know what he'd written down.

And why I hadn't known until then—that even without his quirk, Midoriya had always intended to start out at UA.

"Midoriya," a boy laughed. "You can't get into UA without a quirk."

"Actually, they just changed that rule, so I can be the first one…"

There was a fizz and a pop, and before anyone could react, Bakugou had set off an explosion on Midoriya's desk.

"Get lost, Deku—you're worse than the other half pints in this class, quirkless-wannabe."

I saw Midoriya's wide eyes and shot up from my desk. I was different, I reminded myself. I had weight to throw, and I wouldn't make things worse this time.

"Knock it off, Bakugou." I crossed my arms.

His smirk widened and sharpened, like a coyote spotting a stray sheep.

I gulped. "You're not better than any one of us, quirk or no quirk."

"Oh? Wanna fight then?" He raised a brow. "Let's go—I'll make you eat your words."

As tough as I wanted to be, I blanched. Bakugou would wipe the floor with me—my stomach ache told me so. I winced and grabbed my torso. It also meant he was actually serious about fighting me.

"Settle down, kids," Sensei called.

"Kacchan," Midoriya started from his spot on the floor. "I know I'm quirkless, but if I work hard, then—"

Bakugou cackled. "You think you could hang in the big leagues? Deku, you'd die in the entrance exams!"

I winced again. He wasn't exactly wrong, with his current state. But it was hard to see Midoriya's dream get crushed.

Well, it wasn't like Bakugou had never said this to him before.

"I said, settle down!" Sensei slapped his desk, and we relented, shuffling to our seats.

I was still fuming by the time the bell finally rang for the last time.

Reiko tapped my desk as the rest of the class left. "Hotaru-chan, wanna celebrate with me and some others? We're going to a karaoke place."

I shook my head. "Sorry. I have to fill out an application tonight."

Her eyes widened. "No way, you decided then?" Then they narrowed. "Don't tell me—UA?" I nodded, my face serious, and she tapped her chin. "Did Bakugou get to you that much?"

I couldn't exactly say I had to follow Midoriya, especially since he was still behind me on his phone. So I said, "Someone's got to put him in his place."

"You too, Hotaru-chan?" Midoriya chimed in from behind us. He grinned. "That's so cool. Good luck!"

I blushed. "Thanks, Midoriya." I stood to pack my things, Reiko waving goodbye and taking off without me. Before I stepped out of the room, I added, "See you there."

I wanted to stick around and see his face light up—hopefully—but didn't have the guts.

That night, as I sat at my kitchen table and filled out the online UA application, my stomach started hurting like never before.

"Uh…" I moaned, laying my face on the counter. Mom stopped chopping onions and looked over at me. "Hotaru? Are you having a premonition?"

"I think so." I tilted my chin up and glanced up at her, face feverish. "But I don't think something is about to happen to me."

She hummed in thought, then realization hit her. "Could it be… Period cramps?"

"Ugh."

"Here, I'll make you some supper. Maybe that will help."

I shook my head vigorously. "No, I'm not hungry. Besides, it might make it worse."

I didn't find out until later—why the air was crackling with so much karmic energy that day.

Not until I saw All Might defeat a slime monster, with Bakugou on the news

I hope my explanation of Hotaru's real quirk makes sense. I also hope it's not too overpowered—I mean, it is, but I hope its temporary power-up when it reincarnated her made sense.

Thank you for all the favs and follows! And thank you YummyGummies-UwU, Necrogod and Akagitsune for their reviews!