Chapter 6: Looking in a Mirror

Introduction

V/O (Hikari): Hikari here! Katsuki rushed off to class this morning so it's just me here for the introduction! I'm unsure how to do an introduction, but I'll do my best! Let's see...If I remember correctly, Katsuki just yelled things that had to do with the chapter…[takes in a deep breath]I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM SCHOOL, STUPID ANGRY JERK! Well…I'm gonna try at least…but first I'll go find the shower room in the dooms! I wonder what Katsuki's day at school is like…I'm sure something happens at school, I just don't know what…probably more yelling… I guess I'll end here since I don't really want to remember what else happens…anyway, plus ultra!

It was morning when Katsuki lifted his head from his desk in a sleepy daze. The sunlight invaded every inch of the room, stinging his eyes, not ready for the morning quite yet. As they adjusted to the intrusion, his mind began to piece everything together. He was working on his homework last night, exhausted by Hikari's quirk, and passed out at his desk. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't for the life of him remember if he even finished the 20 question assignment. His tired crimson eyes tracked down to the bottom corner of the screen, which read 7:15 a.m.. His shoulders slowly dropped while his eyes widened, mouth ajar.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Katsuki screamed. He hastily twisted his body in his chair, hand holding the edge of the seat. He looked over at the alarm clock on the shelf of the headrest; it had no display.

"Tch…damn alarm clock!" He moved his attention back to the computer and scrolled down the work page to see if he missed any questions. To his surprise, everything was filled out, and, without giving it a second thought, he quickly sent the work over to Mr. Aizawa via email.

"Good morning…" Hikari yawned, pushing herself off the desk. Her hair was in disarray as she looked at Katsuki with droopy eyes and a soft, stupid grin. Katsuki flinched, forgetting she was even there. Last night, he must've fallen asleep before waking her up to go lie down–another thing he couldn't remember about last night.

"Idiot, don't go sleeping in stupid places!" Katsuki lectured before he had gotten up–perhaps more to himself than Hikari. He had never fallen asleep before while doing homework; it was a first for him. He didn't even change out of his uniform yesterday–another first for him. It bothered him wearing the clothing he had slept in, so much so he stood staring at the ground for a moment before deciding that he cared more about being on time–least to everyone else it was on time– for class than making sure he wasn't wearing day-old clothes. He grabbed his backpack and ran out the door, door closing behind him.

"Bye…" Hikari responded to the door, not quick enough to catch him before he exited. From the looks of it, he must have been late or something. Seconds later there was a bang on the door. She remained frozen until Katsuki's voice came from the other side.

"Open the door, crybaby!"

Hikari ran to the door, opening it slowly and peeking around the edge.

"Welcome back?"

"Shut up! I left my ID..." Katsuki pushed the door fully open, making her take a few steps backwards, almost toppling her over. He stormed over to his desk and swiped the ID he had just left there.

"When are you coming back?"

"We have another half-day today, so noon," Katsuki responded quickly as he went back toward the door.

"Should I stay in the room today, then?"

Katsuki sighed, stopping once again to answer another one of her questions.

"Put something in the door so it doesn't lock on you...the showers are downstairs so it's probably best for you to use them while everyone is gone...just don't leave the building. Also, be back in the room before noon." He felt it was stupid to even say that, but, Hikari had done stupid things since the moment he brought her here, like locking herself out of his room and hiding in a box labeled for Kirishima. He felt if he didn't say it, he would regret it later.

"Do you–"

Katsuki snapped.

"WHAT'S THIS!? 50 QUESTIONS!? FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!" Katsuki stormed out the door, making her flinch.

"Have a good day…" Hikari pouted. He didn't need to overreact. It seemed like he was always on edge for some reason. She couldn't quite figure it out.

/I'm starting to think he's just an angry person…though he has mellowed out a bit since yesterday...what a weirdo…/

Hikari sighed and stretched her arms. They were a bit sore from yesterday's beating. She wasn't surprised that she couldn't land a single punch; after all, she had no clue what she was doing yesterday. This didn't stop her from feeling bitter about it, and a bit disappointed in herself. She clenched her fists.

Hikari took a step back and brought her arms up. She took a deep breath in and out, slowly, deliberately. Her arms moved out in a fluid, steady motion, grabbing an invisible assailant in front of her. With a burst, she twisted at her hips and launched her would-be attacker to the took a few steps back and readied herself again. Again, she moved her arms out, grabbed, twisted, and threw. She took a few steps forward, planting her foot after the third step and thrusting an open palm out in front of her. She hopped back with a few steps and then steadied herself, arms back up in front of her. She then crouched down, extended her leg out and swiped it. Her arms reached out and she straightened herself up, pivoted, and took a step forward, hitting the table with her leg and tripping over it, tumbling and landing face first into the ground.

"Oooooouuuuuuch…stupid table…"

. . . Meanwhile In Class . . .

"Uraraka!," Present Mic yelled out, the boom of his voice shaking the seats beneath the students, "Time for you to hit us with those sweet, sultry sounds of English! Please begin the reading at the top of page 60! Oh, yeah!"

Uraraka rose from her chair and began the passage: a fairly advanced piece as far as English goes, but nothing a native speaker would balk at in primary school.

Katsuki stared down at the book, not actually following along but looking like he was. In fact, he was drowning out all the sounds around him; he had been thinking about which teacher to talk to about Hikari.

/If I bring her up to Mr. Aizawa, he would definitely send her right to the police.../

He felt the same with the other teachers. It wasn't like they were strict on following all the rules to a T, but Hikari's situation screams "I'm a threat" and therefore needs to be treated with caution. He didn't know much about Despair, only that Hikari was absolutely terrified of the guy and for good reason. That fear he felt when he met her made him wary of the man, and those scars on her back made him hate the guy.

/Besides crybaby and myself, no one's heard of Gloom...anyone would say their pissants...but based on her feelings, it's probably the opposite. They're meticulous and cautious…they've been hiding this long so it'd make sense that they'd be dangerous as well…that bastard probably has eyes on the police, too; she isn't safe there.../

Katsuki continued to think.

/Maybe I'll talk to All Might.../

He was the best option out of all the teachers, and Katsuki knew this. Unfortunately, it was still a stretch. Hikari is wanted by the police. Sneaking her into the dorms and hiding it from the teachers was already serious enough. All Might would probably make sure he didn't get in huge trouble but also still follow the rules and turn her in.

"Up next iiiiiis Bakugou! Please read passage 10!" Present Mic called out in his loud, eccentric voice. Hearing his name snapped him back to class. He looked down at his book, flipping the pages until he found passage 10.

"She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks," Katsuki started to read aloud, "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, as daylight doth a lamp. Her eyes in heaven. Would, through the airy region, stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night? See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand. O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" Katsuki stared at his book, a look of confusion and slight disgust on his face.

/What the hell am I reading? A sappy romance novel? Who says shit like this? Probably some loser.../

"YEEAHHH! What a reading! That was a very articulate, accurate, and slightly awkward reading of Romeo's soliloquy in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet done by Bakugou…I'm unsure if Shakespeare himself could have read better," Present Mic comically wiped invisible tears from his eyes, "but… not the right passage. We're on page 62." Katsuki looked to see he was on page 378. He clicked his tongue and flipped back to page 62. He read the correct passage this time.

"The warrior knows when he has the force to defeat his opponent by conventional means…."

Everyone in class didn't even hear him read the correct passage, nor were following along in their own books anymore. Instead they just stared at Katsuki. They were stunned by Katsuki's reading of Romeo and Juliet. Some were confused by what he even said, some touched by it, and others stifled laughter knowing it was totally uncharacteristic of Katsuki.

"Thank you, Bakugou-"

The bell rang.

"-aaaaaaaand that's the end of class. Don't forget about the writing assignment for next week and, until then, claaaaasssss out!" Present Mic called out while everyone shuffled and gathered their things to move onto the next class.

Katsuki wasted no time and booked it out of class before any of the extras–classmates– could confront him about reading the wrong passage. He didn't need to or want to explain himself but knew they would annoy him just enough to scream an explanation.

Katsuki turned the corner and found himself inches away from All Might, almost barrelling into the guy and knocking him down–an easy feat since the "Symbol of Peace" used up the last of his strength some time ago and was now a bony, ghastly echo of his old self. Seeing All Might like this always, without fail, made Katsuki feel uneasy.

"Young Bakugou is here!" All Might smiled, waiting for Katsuki to make a smart remark. It was a common exchange nowadays.

"Hey, All Might…" Katsuki replied in a low, drawn out tone. All Might's expression changed to concern. This wasn't the smart remark he had expected from Katsuki.

"Is something wrong, Young Bakugou?" All Might asked. Katsuki paused, looking like he was ready to explode.

"Young Bakugou?"

"Nothing's wrong! Tch…" Katsuki stormed off, leaving All Might standing there confused, and slightly concerned.

. . . Back At The Dorm . . .

/A shower sounds nice.../

Hikari went into Katsuki's closet and started going through his clothing. She wanted to ask him for a change of clothes before he left, but he blatantly told her to "figure it out" herself. This was definitely permission to help herself, it had to be! It didn't take her long to settle on a black T-shirt with the Aji Fry logo on it and a pair of orange sweatpants with an X design on the right pant leg; Katsuki's whole wardrobe was black T-shirts with different graphics and sweatpants or jeans.

The dorm was massive, and during her outing yesterday she never did find the shower room. She wandered about, finding everything but the place she was looking for.

"Where is it?...He said it was downstairs…" she muttered, continuing on until she found the girls shower room, about ten minutes later. She entered and stood there, mouth gaping.

"This is so amazing!" She looked in awe. Just like everything else in this dorm, the room was huge. There was a large mirror by the sinks and a large open shower area further down. A lone pink towel was neatly folded by the sink.

"They even provide towels! This place is like a hotel!" She grabbed the lone pink towel on the counter and went to the shower area.

. . . In The Teacher's Lounge . . .

Aizawa was sitting in the staff room, looking over the papers his students sent in, mostly from last night but a few last minute this morning. To his surprise, Katsuki had sent his work this morning, which was abnormal for him. In fact, normally Katsuki was one of the first of his students to get his work done and sent in before the rest of his peers. As he graded, All Might came up behind him.

"How's the grading going?" All Might asked, taking a seat next to Aizawa. He noticed that Aizawa looked perplexed and was curious as to what caused this expression on his face.

"Bakugou's answer for the last question is not like him at all."

"I just ran into him in the hallway...he was acting odd. Let me see."

All Might looked over. The question was "What should you do in a crisis situation to help others?" The answer typed out said, "Smile, because smiling gives others hope."

"That….doesn't sound like Young Bakugou…you sure it isn't Young Midoriya's assignment?" All Might agreed, also taken aback by this response.

"Yeah…what's more concerning is Bakugou sent it this morning...normally he sends it an hour after school ends...Wonder if he forgot about it and rushed it this morning. Could have just copied an answer down from somewhere online..."

"Or maybe Young Bakugou is trying to improve himself by trying out Young Midoriya's philosophy."

Aizawa and All Might looked at each other.

"No. He probably just copied and pasted it," All Might sighed.

. . . At The Dorm . . .

Hikari dried off and changed after a long, well needed shower, then draped the towel over her shoulders. She de-tangled her hair with her fingers as she walked toward the door. She stopped and looked at her reflection in the mirror and froze. She found herself bewitched by it, overpowered, and helpless as Despair appeared, hands around her throat just beyond the mirror. She gravitated toward it, putting her knee up on the counter and extending her hand out, touching the tear-streaked face of the terrified girl, eyes pleading for help.

"Please…I wanna go home…" Hikari whimpered, shaking as she staggered backwards trying to create distance between herself and her captor, the shackle around her ankle clanging against the floor. The villain just smiled and came toward her, foiling her futile attempt. He reached his hand out toward her, gently entangling his fingers in her hair. She flinched, which made him grin wider.

"Now, now…if I sent you home now, what good would that do?" Despair said, before pulling her hair roughly. This forced her to grab her hair where he was pulling and take steps toward him so as to not have her hair ripped out. She cried out in pain.

"They've moved on…No one's come looking for you. Your family just handed you over to me…you got no one but me now…" Despair's low, almost demonic, chuckle sent a shiver down her spine.

"Let me go…" Hikari replied, tears flowing, "just let me go…"

Despair threw her to the ground, her head hitting the ground first.

Hikari curled up into a ball, holding her head that was now swimming and pulsing. She felt warm, sticky liquid through her fingertips. She kept her eyes shut, and curled up even further, preparing herself for what she knew was coming.

"If you'd just listen, then all the pain would just….stop, poof, go away. But I guess you've haven't learned yet…" Despair replied, snapping his fingers. Uzer came toward them from the corner of the room. A shorter female, from the other side of the room, also came over. She was younger, wearing a purple sailor uniform and was barefoot. She had short, silver hair with violet streaks adorned with a bow.

"Please…no…"

Ignoring her request, Uzer moved his fingers around, making Hikari stand up, arms reaching toward the ceiling. Tears were streaming down her face, her lips quivering. She couldn't move, now fully under Uzer's control. With another motion of his fingers, a grueling crack and a scream. Her arm splashed into a pool of blood, completely detached from her body.

When Uzer dropped his hands, Hikari fell limp to the ground. She curled up and held the part where her arm was supposed to be, crying and shaking. Her vision blurred as she felt herself fading.

The female skipped over and put her hand on Hikari's head, giving it a pat. Hikari glowed a soft yellow and her arm was back on her. The pain was also gone.

"Aaaaalll better," the female chuckled as she headed back to the other side of the room.

"You could have waited a little longer, Phayze…let it sink in more…doesn't your quirk reset time up to two minutes?" Uzer said. The female stuck her tongue out at him, revealing a marionette tattoo on it.

"She was gonna pass out if I waited any longer, and then what fun would that be?" Phayze responded.

Despair crouched down to Hikari, whispering in her ear.

"Remember this…"

Tears were flowing down Hikari's face and she could feel her heart going a mile a minute. She felt herself come back from the nightmare her mind dragged her into. It took a moment for her mind to process that she wasn't with Despair right now, she was in the U.A. dorms, in the bathroom, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She got down from the counter, rubbing her eyes dry, taking deep, slow breaths until she felt her heart settle.

Hikari looked at herself again in the mirror. She looked terrible with red patchy eyes.

"I'm safe…it's okay…it's okay…"

. . . After School . . .

Katsuki didn't waste a minute leaving the school once the bell rang. However, despite his best efforts, he didn't make it very far out of the building before he heard his name being shouted.

"BAKUGOU! HOLD ON!"

Kirishima and Kaminari were running to catch up to him. Katsuki sighed angrily before turning to the idiots.

"What?"

"Bakugou, I don't know what you read in class today, but it was amazing!" Kirishima said.

"I did not know you knowed English so good!" he added in his best English.

"Ha? It's not hard to read if you know how to make the sounds," Bakugou responded.

"But dude, that was Shakespeare! It's not normal English!" Kaminari replied.

"Really? No wonder it sounded different! I couldn't really understand any of it…though it sounded romantic," Kirishima said.

"That's because it was! Romeo was explaining his love at first sight for Juliet…the whole story is a tragedy though. The two lovers can't be together…and Romeo kills himself to be with Juliet who he thought was dead…then she wakes up to find him dead and kills herself to be with him!" Kaminari said, feeling the tears sting his eyes.

"That's so sad! They were both so manly!" Kirishima felt his eyes sting, too, as he held a fist to himself, moved by the story.

"Are you two a buncha idiots? Those two were clearly stupid!" Katsuki replied.

"Then what would you have done if the person you loved was dead?" Kaminari asked.

"Not kill myself! What good is being dead? You can't do shit!" Katsuki retorted. He felt his brain cells die one after another from having this conversation with these two dimwits. He didn't even know why he didn't just tell them off and head back to the dorm yet.

"I guess that's true…" Kirishima replied, considering that maybe Katsuki was right and that Romeo and Juliet were just stupid.

"It's supposed to be romantic! Like, you'd risk your life to be with the person you love!" Kaminari said.

"And why would anyone do that? If you're dead you ain't gonna be with that person anyway because YOU'RE DEAD!," Katsuki replied.

"You're such a buzzkill, Bakugou! Only you could kill romance!" Kaminari pouted.

"Shut it! You started this stupid conversation in the first place! And you picked the worst story from Shakespeare for your argument," Katsuki huffed, turning his back to Kaminari and Kirishima and walked off—he had places to be after all and he couldn't waste all day talking to them about stupid shit like romance. He was done having that conversation—though he was slightly satisfied at himself to have put the two idiots in their places, he just wouldn't say it aloud.

. . .

Katsuki entered his room and found Hikari, laying on her stomach on the bed, reading the Pixar Book. She put down the book upon hearing the door open and sat up on the bed.

"Welcome back!" she beamed.

"Y..yeah, I'm back," Katsuki replied, off guard. He just stared at Hikari as she picked the book back up. Something was off. He could have sworn her eyes were a bit swollen and did he imagine it or did she choke out that greeting? The greeting sounded cheerful enough but he couldn't shake off the feeling that she might be hiding something. Something was off and it was annoying him; he couldn't figure it out. He had two choices. He could pry and get her to tell him what happened or just pretend things are fine and start a different conversation all together. He chose the latter—the first felt like a huge pain.

"Learn anything?"

"Yeah! You know...I learned that there are five main feelings: joy, sadness, anger, disgust, and fear. Other feelings stem from these ones. Each person kinda has a leader feeling, one that takes over the rest of them, it forms our personalities. Thinking about myself, I'd say mine is fear. I respond to life with fear...I am very cautious about what I say or do and am quick to apologize. I'm hoping I can change my leader feeling to joy. Maybe the other books will help me figure that out…."

Katsuki couldn't decide whether what she was saying was really stupid or smart.

"Seems like you've been busy…" Katsuki put down his backpack.

"I have! This book is great! This guy reminds me of you," She grabbed the book and pointed to an angry looking red furball in a suit. "I bet your leader feeling is anger."

Katsuki threw a seat cushion right at her, hitting her in the face.

"Shut up! You sound stupid!" Katsuki retorted.

/...That'll show her…/

Hikari laughed into the seat cushion. He felt like punching her, however, she sounded happy and for whatever reason that rubbed off on him. He sighed.

Katsuki moved the coffee table out of the way and threw his school jacket onto the beanbag.

"If you're done laughing...let's not waste any more time...time to spar." Katsuki stretched. Hikari put the cushion down and slid off the bed, taking a ready position. It was like looking in a mirror, her posture and position looked just like his. He scoffed.

"You got some nerve trying to copy me, cry-"

Before Katsuki could finish, Hikari was right in his face, her fist inches away from his gut. He quickly sidestepped out of the way, readying his open hand, detonation about to flare. He stopped, but not before setting off some sparks and instead kicked her away from his space. She stumbled back, but managed to keep her footing.

/She's movin' around like I do..it's like looking in a freakin' mirror…/

With no time, she came back at him. Her movements were more fluid and really took after his own. Katsuki dodged her incoming fist and countered with his own, a right hook. Hikari brought both her arms up and blocked. Katsuki jumped back, a shiver coursed through his body. He wasn't scared or anything. It was sheer excitement, his body itching to fight more.

She was showing that she may be a fighting genius, able to take in something once and apply it. He thought teaching her to fight was going to be a major pain and a waste of his time. Seeing her bounce back quickly after just one day and keep him on his toes-since he was going easy on her-he now was eager to keep helping her fight.

Katsuki took a step toward her, his fist aiming for her face. She caught it with both her hands, sending a slight stinging sensation through her hands and down her arm. She pushed his hand down and brought herself in close, forcing eye contact with Katsuki. His stomach began to cramp up.

Hikari brought a fist up and went to punch him. He dodged and tripped her, letting her fall to the ground. Katsuki stopped caring about keeping quiet. He was on a fighting high. He was smiling, a menacing look, really. Feelings of elation brimming within him.

"You've been holding back.." Katsuki's voice quivering with contained excitement. His stomach hurt, but was overshadowed by these feelings at the moment.

"Not true! I remembered how you moved yesterday…." She went back in to attack him. He dodged.

"So you're THAT type of learner…" Katsuki caught Hikari's punch, grabbed her arm, and threw her. She hit the chair by the desk and flipped over in it, landing on the floor with a thud. She winced.

"Owwww…that hurt….seems like you've been holding back…" Hikari stood up, rubbing her side that hit the ground.

"Ha?! Cheeky, arn't ya? I don't hold back, I strategize. If we weren't in the dorms, you'd be dead!" Katsuki gave her a thumbs down with a cocky smile stretched across his face. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction that she was completely correct about him going easy on her. However, even with the confident bravado he put on, she wasn't buying it.

/That's holding back though.../

"Katsuki...has anyone mistaken you for a villain? Or perhaps your true calling is to be one? Telling people you'd kill them isn't something I heard heroes say…"

Katsuki's face shifted. He now looked irritated.

"And what do you know, huh!? You've been abducted by villains for seven years!" Katsuki ran at Hikari, not letting her have any time to get hurt by his comment.

"I'll be the number one hero, just watch me!" Katsuki spat, clenching his fist. She ducked, thinking he was going to punch her. Instead, she felt his foot collide with the side of her head. A throbbing pain made her vision blur for a quick second. She instinctively brought her hands up to the side of her head, and curled up into a ball.

Katsuki stopped. He didn't expect her to duck.

"Oi...if you can't fight anymore then tap out," Katsuki said.

Hikari looked right up at him, tears in her eyes and a frown across her face.

Katsuki winced, his head pounding now.

"I'm not done...if I ever want to be a hero too, then I have to be able to stand up to you," Hikari got up and glared at Katsuki, her frown shifting into a grin– now she was the one with the menacing smile.

"Tch…I'd like to see you try, crybaby. You're a thousand years too early to think you'd match me!"

The two continued to go at each other. Hikari still struggled, but was holding her own. Katsuki could tell she was adapting fast. He also noticed that some of her movements were beginning to change, like she was starting to make up her own fighting style.

"Hey, did the villains train you at all?"

"No, why?"

"Your movements are getting weird…"

" Well...I've wanted to be a hero since I was six….my dad was excited for me but my mother….said no. When I asked if I could take karate she signed me up for dance instead..."

"What's this got to do with your movements?" Katsuki jumped toward her. His right foot landed right in front of Hikari. Before she could land a hit, Katsuki used that landing to maneuver himself to the side. Then using his left foot, propelled himself at her. Hikari went to block, but Katsuki stopped right in front of her, lowered himself, and pushed her, making her tumble and hit the ground.

Hikari stood up and brushed herself off before readying herself. "A lot actually. Dancing requires a lot of precise movements and footwork. To be honest, I am able to keep up with you better because I have that sort of base…you know, my dance teacher told me that fighting is a form of dancing...and I sorta see some of your movements are similar to what I learned in dance school…"

"HA!? I AIN'T DANCING!" he yelled back, going in for an attack.

"Don't be so defensive! I never said you were dancing!" Hikari managed to block the oncoming fist. "You move so well, it's scary! I wish I took karate, but my mom wouldn't bend. Dancing was all I had so I had to make the most of it. Try and use what I learned and apply it to becoming a hero. After all, my whole family is quirkless. She didn't want her only daughter going to fight villains without a quirk."

"Wait, your whole family's quirkless? That's rare. Wait, how did they not know you had a quirk?" Katsuki stopped.

"It was hard to figure out, I guess. I was either crying or laughing as a child so my parents probably always thought they were being empathetic...it wasn't until Despair showed up that we had any idea…" She clenched her first, she was shaking. "I was with my brother at the park and I had gotten knocked down by this stranger who turned out to be Despair, and scraped my knee. It hurt a lot and I looked up at him. I think I sent that feeling over. He had this look on his face...I thought he just enjoyed knocking kids down, but that night he came right to my house and threatened everyone in my family and took me...the worst day of my life." Hikari went and threw a punch, quicker than she had done previously. Thankful for his fast reflexes, he got out of the way in time. Hikari stopped. Katsuki could tell she was beginning to get upset again and he didn't want them to lose their momentum.

"Keep moving. We're taking down that bastard so there's no time to cry about it! Your opponent right now is me and I'm not going to let you land one punch on me, crybaby," Katsuki went in for an attack. Hikari snapped out of it and smiled. She propelled herself forward toward Katsuki.

"I will get a punch in!"