I should have known better than to entice the kids, because at the crack of dawn came a loud whisper,

"Hey, Juniper, are you sleeping?" Jeremy asked. I smiled, eyes still closed.

"Just waking up now."

"JEREMY!" Allison exclaimed noisily, "It's too early, you have to let her sleep!"

"She said she was waking up!"

"Because you woke her up!" Allison turned to a whisper when she addressed me, "You can go back to sleep now!"

"Aww!" Jeremy complained.

I got up and made breakfast.

Nathan joined us soon after, and Moe stayed at my heels like usual. I was surprised to see even Toby peek in when the pancakes came off the skillet.

"What's this?" Mrs. Bead asked, finding us all sitting and eating, "How's half the house up already?"

"Juniper made pancakes." Nate explained and everyone nodded solemnly. I laughed.

"They just want to hear my hero stories." I told Mrs. Bead with a roll of the eyes, "Or should I skip the anecdotes entirely?" The protests that arose made Mrs. Bead laugh too, which honestly surprised me. I'd expected her to ban all hero talk.

"Well, you lot have an hour before you have to get to your chores, so I suppose there's no harm." She made herself some coffee. I eyed the pot enviously, wondering if I'd be able to sneak some once she left the room.

"Okay, let's make it a question session." I proposed, so I'd have time to eat in between answers. "Who wants to go first?"

"Did you meet All Might?" Jeremy asked instantly.

"Wow, straight to the point." I noted, then grinned, "I sure did. Didn't we, Moe?" Moe nodded enthusiastically. Whispers filled the room.

"Oh, you did not." Mrs. Bead scolded, "Don't be lying to them."

"He's twice as tall as me." I said, not minding her comment, "And always has that smile on his face. Like this!" I showed all my teeth and squinted my eyes, "He was pretty funny actually."

Allison went next, "What other heroes did you meet?"

"Man, now I have to remember the names." I complained, "Alright, well All Might of course, Endeavor-"

"Endeavor?" Nate interrupted, unable to hide his disbelief, "Seriously?"

"Oh yeah. Scary dude, covered in fire?"

"That's the number 2 hero!"

"He is?" I blinked. I'd been told off by the number two hero. Was that kind of thing normal in the big city? "Huh."

"Who else?" Allison pressed, food now cold.

"Well I must have seen some and not recognized them, but the only other name I learned was Hawks. He has red wings and was pretty cool! Wasn't he, Moe?" Moe nodded again, then carried his now-empty plate to the sink.

"Wash!" Mrs. Bead called, and Moe washed his plate.

"Wings!" Alison gasped, holding her arms out to her sides, standing on her chair, "Could he fly?"

"He sure could! It was wild to see! He could fly better than Nate can walk."

"Hey!"

"Down, now, you'll hurt yourself." Mrs. Bead chastised Allison.

"Okay, Toby, you have any questions?" Toby pretended not to be interested but after a pause, he said,

"…did you get to see them fight?"

I hesitated.

"You DID!" Jeremy accused. Ah, I hadn't planned on talking about this.

"Well there was a villain." I admitted, getting an alarmed look from Mrs. Bead, "But Endeavor dealt with it lickity split, so no one was hurt."

"That's enough of that." Mrs. Bead said, shooing the children, "Allison, Jeremy, time to wake the littles. Go on." When they left, she turned her attention to me. For several moments, she said nothing.

"Show me your arms."

Ah, crap. I thought my sleeves had hidden the injuries. Was there a scratch on my face or hands I'd missed?

"It's not what you think."

"Juniper Manderly, show me your arms right now."

Shifting my jaw, I pulled up my sleeves to show the nasty scrapes. Toby looked up from his game. Mrs. Bead cursed.

"Whoa!" Nate moved to get a closer look, "No one was hurt, huh?"

"This wasn't the villain attack." With a tight breath, I stood up. "Nate, can you keep an eye on Moe for a minute? I need to talk to Mrs. Bead alone. You okay with that, Moe?" Moe paused to nod before continuing to clear the table.

"Uh… sure." Nate accepted. Mrs. Bead stalked outside wordlessly, so I followed.

Though she turned to me with inflated lungs and a prepared scolding, no doubt preparing to tear my ears off for getting ideas of dangerous places into the heads of the others, Mrs. Bead fell silent when she saw what I was holding out. The letter.

She didn't reach to take it.

"Um, I'm pretty sure Moe tricked me into taking the entrance exam at UA High." I told her, then held up my forearm, "The, ah, practical portion roughed me up a little bit." I pocketed the envelope when I realized she wasn't going to read it, "I got in."

"Of course you did." I wasn't sure if that a hint of pride or bitterness mixed into the resignation in her voice, "And you want to go?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't know…" She put her hands on her hips, "You know exactly how logistically hellish that would be… I'd be short a pair of hands around the house, and then there's…"

"All due respect, Mrs. Bead." I interrupted gently, eyes on the shrubs, "I'm not asking for permission. Or money. I already made all the necessary arrangements. I leave in a few weeks."

"Oh." Now that was a sour sound.

I hardened my look, raising my gaze to meet hers. I knew exactly what her hesitation was.

"Don't worry. Moe is coming with me."

"What?!"

"He's coming with me. I made arrangements for him too." After a few seconds, Mrs. Bead burst into happy laughter. I didn't reciprocate.

"Well, I should have known! You've never needed help a day in your life." I bit my tongue. Tasted blood. "Honestly, it's no secret I'm not the biggest fan of heroes, but I can see you making it to the top of the charts someday, putting our little town on the map!"

She pulled me into a great big hug. I didn't move.

"I'm very proud of you."

I pulled back as soon as she loosened her grip, uncomfortable.

"…thanks." I said finally, "Well, I just wanted to tell you first. Should I tell the others?"

"Let me do that, sweetie. I'm sure you have lots of preparation to do."

"…yeah."

I found Moe and Nate still sitting at the dining table, saying nothing. Moe seemed perfectly content to stare at the roof, but Nate looked like he could jump out of his skin any moment.

"I'm back." The boys looked up at me.

"All good?" Nate asked.

"Yup, thanks for keeping an eye on Moe."

"Sure. I gotta go work on the garden, it's really hot these days." Was it? I felt cold.

"Right."