"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little future pro-hero, Haru-chaaaan~!"

The person on the other end of our entranceway has his hand held up in greeting, his body sporting a white t-shirt/gray joggers combo. I sidestep as that hand attempts to plop down onto my hair, delighting in his resulting pout.

"Hiko-oji, you made it. Come on in." I latch the door back behind him as he discards his shoes at the entrance before sauntering forward further into our living quarters like he owns the place, the dork.

My mother pokes her head out through the kitchen doorway. "Akihiko! You're just in time. You can come help set the table." She retreats back inside with a cheeky smile.

"Awww, Sis…" I can practically see the pep drain from his shoulders as he slumps his way over to the kitchen counter, beginning the incredibly arduous task of carrying silverware and plates over to the kitchen table. You know, it's moments like this that make me wonder how he's survived this long as a bachelor with his aversion to any and all housework. As my uncle, I've been over to his house many times before. Pretty much as messy as you would expect it to be. No cooking potential whatsoever either. He's lucky Mom takes pity on him enough to invite him over to our family dinners whenever he's available.

Speaking of which, the smell of gyoza permeates the air like an exceptionally savory scent, hitting me like a punch to the face as I join in on dinner prep. Mom plants the potstickers—pan fried to crispy goodness—in the middle of the table next to a platter of fried rice with veggies, and I have to stop myself from salivating as the three of us tuck into dinner.

Hiko-oji's expression morphs into what I can only describe as pure, dripping delight as he practically inhales his first dumpling, drool trekking an ungraceful path down his chin. I snort.

"Oh man, Sis! This is freakin' fantastic! Ahhh man..I don't know how you make such yummerly food!" he exclaims, sighing in pleasure. "Yummerly"? What a dork.

Mom's face contorts into a mild look of disgust. "Kindly chew your food before speaking, brother dear. And you haven't even touched the rice. Eat some." She gestures to the large rice platter before daintily digging back into her own plate. How comparable to our lovable slob.

One hand brushes the back of his head in a nervous gesture as he lets loose a hearty chortle. "Right, right. Been a while since we could all enjoy such a delicious meal together like this, so I guess it's just hitting me extra hard is all. Work's been pretty killer lately." He returns to his food with a contemplative expression.

My uncle works as a hero. He's still somewhat new to the profession, so he hasn't made pro status or anything, but what he lacks in domestic skills he more than makes up for in being hardworking. I'm confident the day will come when he'll be able to go beyond his current identity as a sidekick and stand side-by-side with the pros.

Mom pauses eating to pin him with a questioning gaze. "Yes, how have things been going? It seems like you've been working later than Daichi lately."

She's referring to the family patriarch. My father has a super cushy job as an emergency room doc at Musutafu Medical, the largest medical center in all of Musutafu. Unfortunately, the vastness of its operations and patient load coupled with Dad's status as a top of the line physician tend to mean he isn't home nearly as often as we'd like for him to be. His hours can be pretty unpredictable, too.

Hiko-oji stares exasperatedly down at his food, sighing a bit. "Yeeeeeah...It's because they've been putting me on a lot more night patrols lately. Apparently, the Public Safety Commission has been putting in requests to different hero agencies to try to help combat the increased activity of this villain organization that's been running amok for a while now."

Mom's expression shifts to one of realization, eyebrows raised and eyes wide. "Oh! I've heard about that! VLN has been featuring them quite prominently lately on their news broadcasts. They're called The V.A., right?"

"Mmhm."

VLN, i.e. the Villain Life Network, is a television network dedicated to all things villain. They more so warn viewers of known threats to the public, but they also air segments detailing the life and background of villains that have been incarcerated. When the cops wanna put the word out on villains and organizations that have been particularly dangerous to the public, they usually rely on VLN's huge viewership to do so. They sort of even have a visible partnership going on with how law enforcement seems to keep VLN up-to-date on records of old and new villains alike, who, in turn, reveals the knowledge to the public. There's a saying that you haven't yet hit true villain status until you've been covered on their news network.

"Since my quirk's good for stealth work, that makes it so that I'm particularly useful in patrolling for V.A. members. Not to toot my own horn or anything," he boasts, the smug grin on his face as he shoves a spoonful of rice into his mouth letting me know that he is, in fact, making every effort to toot his own horn.

Shameless braggart though he might be, he's not lying. Hiko-oji's quirk, Microscope, allows him a closeup look through solid surfaces. It doesn't have much use combat-wise, but it's great for perceiving activity taking place within or behind buildings, objects, or other such structures. And with how sneaky that villain group is said to be, it's no wonder his agency's been running him ragged lately. It's no surprise; the Hero Public Safety Commission is said to be quite persuasive when it comes to forc—um...suggesting their will upon hero agencies.

Mom seems rather put out by his bragging as she sighs. "Well...this is probably very good for you, Akihiko. With any luck, all your efforts will bear fruit and you can begin branching out on your own. Perhaps you might one day manage your own agency."

Very true. It's actually not as simple as immediately hitting pro status straight out of school. Not for most people, anyway. Only those that have really managed to distinguish themselves in some way or another stand much of a chance of being declared a genuine pro-hero soon after beginning work, let alone being able to establish their own agency. It's for that reason that most find it easier to make their way up in the hero world by starting at the sidekick level under an already established hero agency until they can make enough of a name for themselves, at which point the Hero Association has the choice of officially promoting them. Of course, most don't ever manage to get past the sidekick level, but it is possible with enough hard work. That's why schools like U.A. are so sought after. You pretty much already have major points in your pocket for graduating from such a prestigious hero academy.

"That's the plan, yeah. But enough about me! I wanna hear about how things have been going for our little hero in-training," Hiko-oji says, turning to me with an all too eager expression.

Under the weight of their expectant gazes, I can't help but wilt a little, sighing a bit as I pause in eating.

"It's been...going, I guess."

Both their expressions fall at my less than enthusiastic tone of voice.

"What's the matter, kiddo?" Hiko-oji questions as Mom stares quietly from across the table. Now they're starting to become worried. Great. Guess I'd better explain.

"It's just that...I'm beginning to realize how much I need to grow. We had a quirk assessment today that just kinda made me realize how great all my classmates are. I'll have to work hard not to be overshadowed."

There's brief silence before Hiko-oji bursts into laughter. ...Apparently, that was funny?

My eyes slam shut and shoulders hunch as a large hand lands roughly atop my head, ruffling my hair.

"Geez...is that all, kid? You actually had me worried somethin' might have gone wrong for a second."

I peer over at him as he retracts his hand, his laughing countenance shifting to a reassuring smile.

"Listen...that's exactly why you're in the hero course—to learn and grow. Try not to sweat the details so much, okay?" I recall Hagakure saying something similar.

"We can't all be heavy hitters right out the gate, right?" I suppose he'd be one to know.

Mom sighs a bit before her gaze returns back to me, expression drawing into wistful regard.

"Personally, I just hope you might finally be able to make some friends. I realize that's not the most important thing, but I'd like for you to be happy…" Her voice trails off and her eyes glaze over a bit as if recalling something triggered by her words.

"I am happy, Mom." But the statement sounds a tad less firm than I'd like for it to be.

She graces me with a sweet smile, sadness nipping at its edges. "I know you are, dear. Still, I know it's been a bit hard for you these past few years."

"Don't look now...Here comes Little Miss Somber Psychic."

"What the heck even is up with her, anyway? She always has such an expressionless face. What is she, a robot?"

"I guess it's true what they say about people like her."

The image of my half-empty plate blurs out of focus as the memories intrude upon my thoughts, breaking out from the distant recesses of my mind where I'd shoved them away.

"Careful, you wouldn't want her doing anything to you with any weirdo powers she might have."

"It's not like that...Besides, I would never." I can still remember fighting to keep the tension out of my voice like it had overtaken my clenched fists.

"Whatever. We don't really wanna talk to you, okay?"

"-na? Haruna, sweetie, are you alright?" My mom's worried gaze snaps my mind back to the present. Even Hiko-oji has stopped to pin me with a curious look.

My hands resume their work lifting food to my mouth as I give her a reassuring nod.

This world is so full of people of all shapes, sizes, and looks. The appearance of quirks has set us apart from any other point in history. We are no longer confined to the homogenous mixtures that made up the world before now. And yet, despite this, somehow people are still able to find it within themselves to shun what they deem "different."

"Geez, she's so creepily silent all the time. Just staring at you with those weird eyes of hers."

"Eh, I heard that's just a thing with psychics. But yeah, it does kinda make you wanna steer clear, huh?"

It's how I know that no matter how different our world becomes, it will always have its outcasts. It's just a given. And yet…

"Haruna-chan! Wait up a minute!" Hagakure bolts from her place at the school entrance, rushing up to me. "How about we walk home together?"

"...Um…sure?"

"Great! Where ya headed?"

My sight lifts from my plate to Mom. "Sorry, Mom. I'm just lost in thought a bit. I don't know how all that will go, but…"

"Good to officially meet you, Haruna-chan!"

"...I guess we'll see, won't we?"

Our first full day of the semester at U.A. Academy starts out surprisingly normal.

"Can anybody tell me which one of these sentences contains the grammatical error?" Present Mic prompts from his spot behind the podium, gesturing to the four English sentences written on the blackboard.

U.A. may be known for its exceptional hero course, but the curriculum itself isn't all that different from any other school. In fact, it's mostly the same no matter what course you're a part of here. English, math, Japanese, science—you name it. The core subjects are a requirement of every single department, and they line our schedules clear up until lunchtime, after which the departments diverge into their course exclusive subjects. The notes in our welcome packs mentioned that ours is a class called Hero Basic Training. If I had to guess, this will definitely be the class All Might is rumored to be instructing. And speaking of which...

"I am...HERE! Coming through the door like a normal person!"

The Number One Pro-Hero bursts through the classroom door looking just as large and in charge as he does in the media's footage of his heroics, the famous larger than life smile on his face just as dazzling as usual as he marches over to the podium amidst the class's excited chatter at getting to see him live and in person.

"Welcome, class, to the single most important class you will take here at U.A. High! Consider it to be the 411 on all things heroic, your "Hero-ing 101"!

All Might's posture's about as powerful as his sturdy hero voice, massive fists planted on his hips as he explains the class curriculum in further detail. I can see how pretty much the whole class is hanging on to his every word, totally enraptured as his voice projects over the room like a roiling wave.

"NOW! Time to get into it!" He flexes his biceps before holding up a card with the English text "Battle" printed on it in burning red coloring. Looks like we're jumping right into it from the start, then.

"But you can't do heroics without looking the part first!" All Might draws a small remote control from inside the podium and presses a button, prompting panels positioned on one section of the left classroom wall to emerge from within it. Turns out the panels are actually shiny suitcases numbered from one to 20, which gleam tantalizingly at us.

"We took the information from your quirk registration papers and suggested designs and sent it all in. This is the end result!"

A chorus of cheers arises as it begins to set in what these briefcases contain. As All Might just mentioned, part of our documentation before school included prompts to sketch out and/or describe the design for what we want our hero costumes to look like. These designs were to be sent in before the start of the school term to the school's support company partners. I've heard that U.A. regularly utilizes a couple different support companies for the creation of their hero students' outfits, who supposedly supply the designs to the school at discounted prices per partnership agreement. You can learn quite a lot of neat little facts like that when you've got an uncle in the hero business who likes to relay job gossip.

"Gear up for battle and meet me at Training Ground Beta! Entrance Three!"

"Yessir!" The class chimes as one as All Might struts his way back out the room and down the hall.

There's a flurry of chaos as people practically fly out of their seats to claim their rightful suitcases. I wait until the crowd thins out a bit before I make my way over to mine, plucking number 11 out from its case holder.

I'm just about the last one left as I head out the door toward the girls' locker room, most of the others, besides the guy with red and white hair and the one with the head of a bird, having left in droves—even Hagakure, who's developed a habit of waiting on me. Heh, their excitement for this is infectious. I can only imagine how much more excited they'll be when everyone's all suited up.

-oOo-

Sure enough, the locker room is awash in chatter at the sight of all the girls' spiffy outfits. Looking around at them, even I can't deny how totally awesome everyone looks.

"Wow! That suit's so cute! It really does give off space vibes. Perfect for your quirk!" Hagakure praises the brown-haired girl—Uraraka's—outfit, which consists of a pink helmet with a tinted visor, plump wrist guards, a two-piece belt, and thick and wide, knee-high boots, all worn over a tight, black and pink bodysuit. It has to be one of the coolest-looking designs here, though I am surprised that such big boots could even fit into her suitcase; they're about as thick as it is.

"Thanks! Yours highlights your quirk even more than mine does, though." I guess that's technically true? Hagakure's attire is just a pair of light blue gloves and light brown lace-up shoes. She's almost as naked as she was during the entrance exam. Not exactly eye-catching, but it's practical, if nothing else. More clothes than that would only get in the way of her invisibility.

"That's a very lovely design, Yukie-san!"

"Yeah! It's super high-tech looking! Especially the glowy parts!"

I'm a bit thrown off by Yaoyorozu and Ashido's praise, not expecting anyone to zero in on me so suddenly. Though, I suppose my suit is praiseworthy, if I do say so myself. After all the time I spent coming up with something good, I'd expect no less. My quirk has a lot of potential, but its drawbacks can tend to be quite hindering. Even during the entrance exam, I had been disappointed at how soon the headaches had set it. For that reason, a large part of the thought I put into my outfit was dedicated to maximizing my quirk's capabilities while minimizing the drawbacks as much as possible. The most important element to this is the object hanging from my side, a boxy-looking amplifier attached to a band around my waist. Up until now, I've always had to put considerable effort and focus into getting my quirk to project outward, which is more taxing than you might expect it to be. The amplifier should work to magnify my energy so that it's a bit easier, a bit more seamless to call up my power—and more of it, to boot. It's the reason for the high-tech goggles atop my head, which should draw that amplified energy into its built-in central processing unit to display information on signatures much like my quirk itself can. It should make it so that the only thing I really need to directly apply my focus to is throwing up a shield, so I'm counting on that to take a lot of the strain off. Should work so long as I don't expend too much energy.

These two devices are gonna be essential for finally accomplishing what I hope to with my quirk without having to worry so much about being hindered. The rest of my look is purely aesthetic—a black, sleeveless bodysuit with matching, fingerless, elbow-length gloves and ankle-length wedge boots, all outlined by glowing panels traveling down the length of the suit, gloves, and boots. I'd requested that they glow violet to match the color of my shield. A fun little addition.

"The train's a nice touch, ribbit," the frog girl Asui comments with a finger to her lips, referring to the pale pink, front and back train I'd requested to go along with the bodysuit itself, which I had a feeling would be entirely too tight for my liking. You seriously rarely see a female hero with a bodysuit that isn't skin tight. As cool as she looks, I'm a bit glad not to be in the same boat as Uraraka, who I can tell is quite uncomfortable with her suit with how much she keeps tugging at it.

Actually, almost everyone here besides Hagakure and Jirou, who's sporting a cropped jacket, pants, and boots with what seem like stereos built into them, went with a suit of some sort, drawing attention to their figures. I can't help but glare down at my own chest in the face of all the curviness. Delayed development curses my entire existence…

Sigh.

Forgive me if I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but U.A.'s campus is ridiculously expansive. The school itself rests upon a huge, forested hill overlooking the city. On the far end of campus—about a 10 minute bus ride from the main building—lies a division lined with most of the school's main training areas for Heroics, Ground Gamma, Ground Omega, and a building simply labeled as "The USJ" on our pamphlets. Ground Beta itself is positioned a lot closer to the school than all the others, for some reason. I suspect it's partly because its closer proximity means that it's more ideal for shorter trips, as it's within walking distance, and that's probably the reason why the cityscape of this training grounds was also used as the site for the practical portion of the entrance exam. And, speaking of which, turns out that the battle centers for the exam weren't so much separate "centers" as much as just different entrances to the same facility. Ground Beta has several different ones.

Entrance Three is a long corridor which leads into the area from the facility's northeast side. Our footsteps resound in the silence of the hall as All Might's stout form emerges beyond the darkness of the corridor. As one, we proudly stand at attention before The Number One Hero.

"Hm! You all stand as proof that a hero's outfit can shape his or her image! Just look at you all! It gets me fired up!"

Yeah, no kidding. Seriously. I thought all us girls looked amazing. But, seeing us all gathered together here, the coolness factor is at an all time high. We all look pretty darn fresh.

"Now that you're all suited up, it's time to get into it! Now—"

"Excuse me, sir!"

All eyes move over to the tall, armor clad figure with his hand raised. From the sound of the voice, it's Iida in that big suit of armor.

"This is where we fought in the entrance examination." Obvious much? "Will today's training also consist of battles in the city?"

"Not quite! Today, we'll be battling it out somewhere a little different."

All Might gives us the basic rundown on our task for the day—a series of indoor battles to secure a weapon held by an opposing enemy team. Teams are split into heroes vs. villains, where a win can be achieved by either subduing the other team or the heroes seizing control of the weapon. Team formation is to be determined by the drawing of lots. Pretty simple, really.

As luck would have it, I'm partnered up with the busty, ponytailed Yaoyorozu for Team C. Wonder what our role will be?

Yaoyorozu strides up to my side with a welcoming smile gracing her features. "Let's work well together, Yukie-san."

"Likewise," is my response, nodding at her words. She's been consistently up at the top of the class standings so far. Should definitely make for a good partner.

Our attention snaps back to All Might as he produces two big containers labeled "heroes" and "villains", respectively, from somewhere. Had he already had those hidden away here?

"NOW! Let's determine who the first matchup will be!"

He dramatically plucks a labeled ball from each box, holding them up overhead for the class to see as he announces the results of the draw. Team A versus Team D, Midoriya and Uraraka versus Bakugo and Iida. Oh. Oh man.

"Everyone else, head on into the viewing room to observe the bout!"

At his dismissal, everyone begins the walk to the building being used to monitor the fights—everyone except Teams A and D, of course, who seem to have sunk into a tension filled silence as the class maneuvers around them. It makes it so that I can't help looking back at them over my shoulder on my way into the building. I'm kind of glad I do, as I witness Midoriya's nervous expression harden into a sharp steeliness the moment he meets Bakugo's unrelenting glare head on. It seems to shock Bakugo a bit when he does, judging by the surprise coloring his features for but a moment before doubling back down on his glare.

I think it's been very obvious to everyone here that the two of them share some sort of history with each other, ever since Bakugo wigged out on Midoriya yesterday during Aizawa's quirk tests. I have my suspicions on what exactly could have gone down between them. Bullying is written all over Midoriya's twitchy, nervous demeanor toward the hotheaded boy. I would be one to know the way it can cause a person to withdraw inward the way he often seems to, especially when under Bakugo's ire in particular. None of that meekness and hesitation is present now, though. Even at this distance, I can see the metaphorical fire burning within the greenette's firm gaze underneath his green mask—so different from how he's shown himself to be thus far. No wonder Bakugo was startled. Somehow, I feel that Midoriya's days of bowing under the pressure may be coming to a swift end. If that look in Midoriya's eyes has anything to say about it, Bakugo may soon learn what it's like for a prey to finally turn on its predator, claws poised to strike. And, for some reason, I can feel a strange feeling building up within me at the very thought of it...

-oOo-

As expected, all that tension comes to a head in the utter insanity that is the fight between Team A versus Team D. In a blistering finish that leaves the site of the fight in complete and utter ruins, the battle concludes with the team of heroes taking the win over the villains. It was quite the spectacle.

As All Might hurries off to see to the injured Midoriya and the others in the aftermath, the monitoring room fills with excited chatter as we await their return.

"Man, that huge blast at the end was crazy, though. Forget what I said earlier—looks like Midoriya's packin' just as much power as Bakugo is," is Kaminari's observation, referring to a prior statement he'd made about Midoriya when Bakugo had him on the ropes right before the greenette had blasted his way to the win.

"I know! It's so freakin' manly how strong these guys are!"

"We must all do our best to measure up to such a fierce battle."

It's a complete tone shift from when everyone was begging All Might to stop the fight, afraid the two would kill each other with their powerful attacks. But in the end, Midoriya somehow gathered the strength to emerge victorious over a seemingly insurmountable opponent, though it was at the cost of his arms. Still, it ended as I thought it would. Knew it would. That strength I'd seen in his eyes outside, the strength no one else seems to have noticed—in the end, it drove him to accomplish what everyone else thought he could not. He'd shown up his bully and thrusted away his meekness. And, in that moment, that feeling from before had risen up again to an even greater intensity, a fever pitch I just couldn't ignore. As I stared at the screen while the feeling overcame me, I realized what it was I was feeling: excitement. Pure, unadulterated excitement. No, maybe it would be more accurate to call it...motivation? Inspiration? Inspired by this small kid with one hell of a will to rise up over his challenges. Yes...that seems to be it.

The chatter comes to an end as All Might returns with Uraraka, Iida, and Bakugo in tow, Midoriya having clearly been dragged off to the nurse's office.

Almost immediately, I can tell there's a difference in Bakugo's demeanor. There's no way I wouldn't notice, even only having observed him a short while. Not a trace of his usual energy remains. It's like witnessing the reverse of Midoriya's transformation. Gone is his usual haughty, condescending nature. In its place is someone more akin to a broken man—like someone who's just had his whole worldview uprooted then tossed around and thrown in his face. The hair hanging over his face throws his eyes into shadows as he stands there in total silence. It's honestly quite disconcerting.

He doesn't even react as All Might declares Iida to be the MVP of the match. If anything, the bleak air around him only festers as Yaoyorozu launches into an eloquent explanation on how Iida's MVP status is due to everyone else's comparative shortcomings during the match, especially in terms of Bakugo's prior crazy behavior toward Midoriya.

I guess it might be because everyone else is simply too stunned by Yaoyorozu's excellent analysis skills, but it doesn't seem like anyone's really taking proper note of Bakugo's obvious state of near catatonia. It's obvious that the guy's dealing with considerable mental disturbance right now. It makes me wonder how someone like him could be reduced to such a state from a simple loss. It just doesn't seem normal. He...seems to be more complicated than he appears.

Eventually, All Might concludes the end of battle review in favor of getting on to the next match, using the same method as before to determine the matchup.

We follow this process again and again as, all too quickly, the next couple of fights reach their conclusions, until all that remains is the second to last fight of the day, mine.

All Might bids both of our teams to assume our proper places in our designated battle building, allowing Team C a head start as the villain team.

Yaoyorozu and I begin a steady trudge out of the observation room side-by-side, minds focused on the battle ahead. Now that it's about to begin, that same feeling from before wells up with a vengeance as scenes of Midoriya's great feat play out again in my mind as if in real-time. I can't say I've ever quite felt this way before—this near elation at finally getting the chance to enter into the fray. I swore to myself that I wouldn't fall behind everyone else. Time to make good on my word.

Author's Notes

Side Corner: Past experiences have definitely had an effect on the way Haruna is as a person. Despite that, she's not the type of person to delight in the suffering of others, even those she knows have done wrong (coughcoughBakucoughgocough). Withdrawn and a bit averse to interacting with others though she may be, she's not prone to harsh feelings of unforgiveness (to a reasonable degree—I.e. in relation to people who aren't just outright evil. She's still human, after all). She can tend to be rather unmoved in general.

Soooo I'm at the point where I can tell that there will be things mentioned that would probably benefit from little side notations. In the interest of that, you can expect to see little side corners down here every so often.

I'd also like to give thanks to Zachary Boyd and aarime for their wonderful reviews.

Zachary Boyd: No story's so good that it can't afford to improve in some way. Mine's no different. It's comments like yours that give me that much more direction in my writing going forward.

aarime: I'm not the type of writer who's greedy for reviews, but whenever I get them, I can only hope for a well-rounded one, one that points out the good as well as points of improvement. Yours exemplifies this well, so thanks a bunch.

Also, aarime brings up a good point. Not to worry, I haven't forgotten to expound upon Haruna's quirk more deeply. A clearer description will be coming soon.