Chapter One

Welcome to Class 1-A! ...Again

The man with the half-burned face was the first thing that Nomi noticed when she arrived at the train station that morning.

She was late, as usual. She didn't understand how or why, considering she'd gotten up at her first alarm and left her house at the proper time, but somehow, she always started running behind at a certain point. Her father once gave her the nickname "Glacier", joking that it was because she moved at her own slow pace, regardless of circumstance, but she thought it was rather clever. He didn't make jokes like that anymore, though. Not since her mother left.

She reached Tatooin Station five minutes after her friends' train had arrived. She scanned the crowds streaming out of the station, all students in uniforms or businesspeople in suits, but there was no sign of her three friends.

Perhaps that was why he had stood out so clearly. Moving in the opposite direction from the crowd, toward her, not dressed in any uniform or suit—just a thin white T-shirt, and a dark jacket and pants. Nomi had become accustomed to Quirks by that point in her life, hardly even sparing them a glance anymore, but there was something different about the half-burned man.

While the crowd bustled to and fro, slightly jostling her and other passersby, the man walked more leisurely, a casual shuffle to his gait, his hands in his pockets like he was dawdling around the mall instead of a busy subway station during the morning rush hour. But the thing that struck her the most was his eyes.

Eyes were one of the first things Nomi observed in people. How could she not? Even the eyes that looked more lizard than human, or the ones with such vibrant, impossible colors, were all normal compared to her own. They didn't have an eye that could pluck people's worst fears from their brains and turn those fears into weapons. They weren't cursed like she was.

The man's eyes were heavy-lidded and a startling shade of turquoise. Pockets of gnarled, purple skin sat below his eyes, matching the skin on the lower half of his jaw that stretched down his neck and chest to underneath his shirt. She couldn't tell if the man had piercings or just actual staples holding the patchwork of his warped skin together with the pale, unblemished flesh on the rest of him, but she thought it best not to look too hard.

Those turquoise eyes locked on to her for the briefest second.

She hesitated. Opened her mouth. To say what, she didn't know, but there was no need. The man brushed past her and disappeared along with the rest of the crowd. In ten seconds flat, it was as if he had never even been there.

"Impeding civilian foot traffic during rush, Nomi? How very un-hero-like of you."

Nomi tore her gaze away from where the man had vanished and saw her three friends making their way toward her. Rather, it was the giant, broad-shouldered Senzo Watase making his way toward her, his huge frame creating a wide berth around him that allowed their two smaller friends, Tae Momote and Chizuru Sanda, to follow easily in his wake.

Senzo grinned at her, putting his hands on his hips in mock-discipline. "My, my, what would Aizawa Sensei say?"

Nomi snorted. "He'd probably tell your fat ass to stop impeding the people, Senzo."

He threw his head back and laughed. It echoed, and numerous people turned to stare and frown. No one reprimanded, however; Watase was well over six feet tall and built on the level of All Might. If he wasn't the complete opposite of All Might's golden hair and brilliant blue eyes, Nomi would've thought he was related to the Number One Hero somehow.

"Quit shouting, Senzo," Sanda drawled. "You're giving me a headache."

He frowned. "I'm not shouting. I'm laughing."

"One and the same when it comes to you, Senzo," Tae chirped, coming to stand beside the large boy. She then squealed, and all Nomi caught was a glimpse of blonde before the much smaller girl had barreled into her chest and wrapped her in a spine-cracking hug. "Nomi! I missed you!"

"Hey, Tae," she said. "Good to— ow! —see you again."

"You're suffocating her, Tae," Sanda said disapprovingly. "If you're going to crash into people like that, at least use your Quirk."

"Oh, right. Sorry!" Tae released Nomi and stepped back, sheepish. "I just got carried away!"

"It's only been a few weeks." Sanda crossed her arms. "The break isn't that long."

"Now, now, Chi," Senzo said, draping his muscular arms over Sanda's and Tae's shoulders. The two girls suddenly looked as if they were being swallowed by a mountain. "Let's start this year off positively, hm? No scowls, young lady."

Sanda swatted him away. "I told you not to call me Chi. Now, come on, or we'll be late."

She marched away from the station. After trading a look, Nomi, Tae, and Senzo followed her.

"She's wound tighter than usual," Nomi murmured to the others. "What's up with her?"

"I think she's just stressed about the new term," Tae said. Ahead, Sanda walked with her back straight, her short emerald hair gleaming in the morning sun and matching the color of her uniform skirt. "You know, the second year of the hero course is supposed to be tough—tougher than the first year…" She shuddered. "I can't even imagine what our third year is going to look like."

"Not that Katsuragi would know anything about the second year," Sanda interjected. She glanced over her shoulder and gave Nomi a swift once-over. "She couldn't even pass the first."

Nomi's teeth clenched. While she called Sanda a friend, it was more out of convenience than distinct affection. Sanda, Senzo, and Tae had all grown up together and attended the same schools. All three of them getting accepted to U.A. was a rare feat in itself, and it had only made them closer. Nomi, on the other hand, was the latecomer. She hadn't met them until she'd started U.A. herself, and Sanda always made sure she remembered that.

"It's not the end of the world," Senzo pointed out. "Principal Nezu and Aizawa Sensei gave her another chance, at least. Our little demon will pass for sure this time around."

He reached down and ruffled her hair. Nomi batted his hand away. "I hate that nickname and you know that."

"Which is why it makes it even more fun to say it!"

"I am sad you won't be with us this year, Nomi," Tae said, gripping her elbow. "Class 2-A is going to be so boring!"

Senzo laughed. "At least we don't get Aizawa as a homeroom teacher again. I count that as a blessing."

"Don't remind me." Nomi sighed. "He's going to be even harder on me this year. I might not even make it to graduation. He might've killed me by then."

"Senzo's right," Tae said. "We just have to start this year off on a positive note and keep it going!"

"Sure," Nomi said. She reached up and fingered the edge of her worn black eyepatch "Positive. Uh-huh."

She got the impression that it would be a lot easier said than done.

Name: Tae Momote

Age: 16

Quirk: Elasticity – Can make her entire body elastic. The more she uses it, the more time it takes for her body to return to its normal shape.

Birthday: 8/18

Blood Type: AB

Height: 155 cm

Likes: Matcha, swimming

U.A. High School stood as proud as ever, all glass and chrome and might, crowning the hill like some extravagant jewel.

It had taken Nomi's breath away the first time she saw it on the day of the entrance exam, over a year ago. When she'd stared up at its looming height and realized that it was the Hero Academy, the top school that had produced the Number One Hero, All Might, she'd been tempted to turn around and run away screaming. She didn't know the exact reason why she hadn't, why she'd instead gone through the entrance rather than turning back, but that day had earned her a spot in the most coveted school in Japan.

And then she'd failed the first year of the hero course.

Now, while her friends moved ahead on their journey to become pro heroes, she was left behind, watching their backs get farther and farther away as she repeated the course, this time with an all-new class and all-new people and all-new Quirks she didn't know.

She could already tell that this year would be torture.

They would have been swallowed by the horde of students if not for Senzo and all his muscles. Despite his stature, he moved gently through the throng, apologizing to anyone if he accidentally bumped them and muttering excuses the whole time. Sanda followed close behind his broad back, her nose in the air, while Tae and Nomi took up the rear, walking closely together.

"I'm nervous," Tae admitted quietly. Her fingers tightened on her bag straps. "I still feel like a little middle-schooler without a clue of how to be a hero sometimes." She glanced up at the tall ceiling as they entered the main school building. The fluorescents glinted in her blue-green eyes. "It's a miracle I even made it here." She cringed. "Oh, crap. I'm sorry, Nomi. Here I am complaining when you…"

She trailed off. Nomi just shrugged.

"It's not your fault I failed," she said bracingly. She put her hand on Tae's shoulder and squeezed. "Just do your best this year, all right? If you don't, then I'm legally allowed to kick your ass."

Tae laughed. "I'm going to miss you this year, Nomi."

Nomi forced herself to smile. "I'm gonna miss you too, Tae."

"You'll still sit with us at lunch, though, right?" she asked hopefully.

This time, Nomi's smile was more genuine. "Of course. It's not like I have other friends outside of you three. Or two," she added as an afterthought. "Sanda's on thin ice."

Sanda shot her a glare over her shoulder. "I heard that, Katsuragi."

"I wanted you to, Sanda," Nomi retorted with a sweet smile. Sanda huffed and turned away from her.

"Good," Tae said as they all reached the staircase where they would split up. "Same table, same time." She made an I'm-watching-you motion toward Nomi. "Don't be late, slowpoke!"

"I won't," Nomi promised. She waved at her friends. Senzo and Tae watched her sympathetically, but Sanda tapped her foot. Nomi ignored her. "Have a good first day back. I'll see you guys later."

After her friends' reassurances, they departed for their own separate classrooms. While Senzo, Sanda, and Tae took another flight of stairs to the second-years' classrooms, Nomi trudged down the familiar hallway of the first-years'.

She hadn't realized how much she'd been dragging her feet until the first bell of the day rang, startling her out of her self-pity.

"Shit," she muttered, putting on a burst of speed toward the door of Class 1-A. Aizawa was a stickler for punctuality and happily doled out punishments. Of course she would be the one to fall on his bad side—again—her first day back. "Shit, shit, shit—"

She flung herself through the abnormally large door—built to accommodate all kinds of Quirks—and began yammering immediately.

"Aizawa Sensei—I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to the time, and—"

"Katsuragi," Aizawa intoned in that perpetually dry, annoyed voice of his. "That marks your thirty-first tardy of the year."

Nomi blanched, horribly aware that all eyes in the classroom were on her. "You're rolling them over from last year?" She gulped when his bloodshot eyes narrowed slightly at her tone. "Um. Sir?"

To anyone unaware, being glared at by a teacher snuggled in a bright yellow sleeping bag like some strange humanoid caterpillar would have been odd, or even humorous, but Nomi knew Aizawa well enough to be utterly terrified. She could only be thankful that his scarf of binding cloth was hidden under the zipped-up sleeping bag, or else she definitely would've been on the receiving end of another of his head-slaps he usually reserved just for her.

He ignored her and faced the rest of the class. "As I was saying before Katsuragi barged in—" He unzipped his sleeping bag and stepped out as he talked. Nomi eyed the binding cloths wrapped around his neck warily and subtly shuffled away. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Normally, this class would have been only twenty students, but this year, there has been an exception." He jerked his thumb at Nomi. "Katsuragi. Introduce yourself."

"Right." Nomi faced the class. Most were seated at the desks, but a cluster were still on their feet. She guessed Aizawa had caught them off-guard as he was wont to do before she offered a shallow bow. "Nomi Katsuragi. Er, I'm technically a second-year, but I was held back. I look forward to being your classmate this year."

"Now, then," said Aizawa when she was greeted only by silence and blank looks. "All of you. Change into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds."

The class scurried to do what he said. She was offered some nods as the students bypassed her to head to the changing rooms, but most of them looked too nervous to give a proper greeting. Not that she could blame them. She remembered her own first day with Aizawa, and it was not a fond memory she liked to recall. In fact, she distinctly remembered puking up her breakfast that morning after their Quirk test.

She glanced at Aizawa once the classroom had emptied. He stared back at her, impassive, his scruff shadowing his wan face underneath his long black hair. If possible, he looked even more exhausted than he had before the break.

"What, Katsuragi?" he demanded. "You should be changing too."

She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "Um, sorry again. For being late."

His heavy-lidded eyes swept over her. It reminded her of the half-burned man from the station. "Spit out what you really want to say, Katsuragi. I don't have all day."

"I—thank you," she blurted. She grimaced under his flat stare. "I meant to tell you before the break, but you…and Principal Nezu… You didn't have to accept me back or offer me a place in the course again. But you did. And I just—um…"

She bowed deeply at the waist, hoping to hide her burning face. Between the strands of her violet-black hair, she watched his boots step closer to her.

"Don't thank me yet," his voice said above her. She peeked up at him. His eyes bored into her. "You still have to pass this time around. Now, go get changed. You have two minutes since you wasted your time here."

Nomi couldn't remember the last time she had moved so fast.

"A test of our Quirks?"

Nomi caught the boy's nervous voice just as she joined the group of 1-A students on the grounds, wearing her gym clothes and securing the majority of her hair back from her face. She left her bangs alone; they were long enough to help cover her eyepatch, but too short to truly do anything about. She sidled to the back of the group and stood next to a boy with half-white and half-red hair, parted perfectly down the middle like someone had taken two congruent halves and pieced them together. He didn't even spare her a glance.

"What about the entrance ceremony?" a short girl with a round face asked. "Or guidance sessions?"

"No time to waste on that stuff if you want to become heroes," Aizawa said. He swept his eyes over them critically. "U.A. is known for its 'freestyle' educational system. That applies to us teachers as well."

He pointed to the grounds beyond. They looked like what you would find at parks or gyms, with a softball field, a track, and plenty of space for any outdoor activities. "Softball throwing. The standing long jump. The fifty-meter dash. Sit-ups. Grip strength. Side-to-side stepping. Upper body training. Seated toe-touch. You did all these things in middle school, yes?" he asked. "Your standard no-Quirks-allowed gym tests."

He turned. "Bakugo."

A boy with explosively messy white-blond hair stepped out of the crowd. Aizawa tossed a softball to him. The boy caught it easily. "How far could you throw in middle school?"

The boy weighed the softball in his hand, deliberating. "Sixty-seven meters."

Nomi's eyebrows shot up. Aizawa nodded. "Great. Now try it with your Quirk." He pointed to the shot-put circle chalked into the dirt in front of him. "Do whatever you need to. Just don't leave the circle."

The boy named Bakugo wound up for the pitch. The air crackled and sparks flew from his fingertips before there was a flash of light, an enormous BOOM, and a yell of "DIE!"

Die? Nomi thought, incredulous. She lowered the arm she'd thrown up against the blast of heat she'd felt even all the way in the back and joined the rest of the class in watching, awed, as the softball disappeared into the clear blue sky.

After several moments, the device Aizawa held in his hand beeped, and he studied the screen.

"It's important for us to know our limits," he said. "That's the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes you'll be."

He showed the device screen to the class. Everyone pressed close to see the shiny blue number flash 705.2 meters.

"Holy shit," Nomi muttered as the rest of the class let out shocked exclamations.

"This is awesome!" one boy cheered. "We can use our Quirks for real! The hero course is great!"

This had been the wrong thing to say.

Aizawa loomed over the class with a dark look. Nomi felt as if the temperature had dropped by ten degrees from his gaze alone.

"Awesome?" he repeated slowly. "You're hoping to become heroes after three years here, and you think it'll all be fun and games?"

The class remained silent. He let out a hmph.

"Right. The one with the lowest score across all events will be judged hopeless and will be expelled. Welcome. This is the hero course at U.A. High!"

Nomi winced. The boy beside her with the half-and-half hair noticed and subtly leaned over.

"You've had him before, right?" he asked her as the rest of the class murmured around them. She glanced sidelong at him and caught a glimpse of one gray eye looking back at her. She couldn't see his other eye. "Is he serious?"

"I'm afraid so." She frowned. "He, er, expelled our whole class last year—not because of the Quirk test, and he re-enrolled us right after—he just wanted to give us a warning, you know…"

The boy stared at her, and she flushed under his gaze as the round-faced girl from earlier spoke shrilly.

"The lowest score will be expelled?" she echoed. "It's only the first day! I mean, even if it weren't…that's totally unfair!"

Aizawa sighed. Nomi sensed one of his lectures coming and braced herself.

"Natural disasters. Big accidents. Rampaging villains. Calamity is always right around the corner. I'd say Japan is full of unfair things." He scratched his chin and the shadowy scruff there. "Heroes are the ones who correct all that unfairness. If you were hoping to spend your evenings hanging out with friends or slacking off, I'm sorry to tell you that for the next three years, U.A. will run you through the wringer."

He suddenly grinned. It was more terrifying than his scowl, in Nomi's opinion. "Go beyond. That's 'Plus Ultra'. Use your strength to overcome it all."

Nomi felt the weight of his eyes upon her and gulped.

"The demonstration is over. Now, it's for real."

On the plus side, the events were the same trials she'd had to endure last year.

On the minus side, they still sucked.

A year in the hero course had certainly made her stronger and more capable, but there wasn't anything she could do to improve her scores by using her Quirk. As she completed event after event, always coming in at the bottom of the scoreboard, the usual feelings of frustration and anger welled inside her.

"It's not like my Quirk could ever save anyone," she'd told her middle school counselor. "All it does is hurt people."

She'd been reckless when she'd applied to U.A., and even more reckless when she'd gone through with the actual entrance exam. It was nothing short of a miracle when she'd been accepted. Her father had actually fallen to his knees and sobbed when she'd told him she'd passed and U.A. wanted her—her, Nomi Katsuragi, the girl with the demon eye—to attend their school.

"I want you to think positively about your future, Nomi," her counselor had said. "Even if it's only for a moment…"

Even if it's only for a moment.

It had become her mantra ever since entering U.A. As she lay on the grass, panting and sweating after the side-to-side stepping test, she pictured her father's tears and the way he'd told her "I'm so proud of you" and held on to that image.

I have the strength to do this, she thought. Even if it's only for a moment.

"Did she die?"

"You're an idiot, Kirishima. She's obviously still breathing."

Nomi opened her eye. A boy with spiky crimson hair and a girl with pink skin and horns sticking out of her head leaned over her. When they saw her eye open, they smiled.

"Hey! She's alive!" the boy cheered.

"Are you all right?" the girl asked. She offered Nomi her hand. "Can you sit up?"

"I'm fine," Nomi said, accepting the hand and pulling herself up. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. "Thank you."

"I'm Mina Ashido," the girl said. "You can just call me Mina!"

The boy waved. When he grinned, he revealed a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. "Eijiro Kirishima. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Nomi said. "Thanks for checking on me."

"These tests are brutal," Kirishima said. "But it's nice to finally be able to use our Quirks!"

"Enough chit-chat." Aizawa appeared behind them on silent feet. Mina and Kirishima shrank back. Nomi just blinked up at him. "Get ready for the softball throw."

They rushed off to do what he said. Before she could follow, Aizawa's voice held her back.

"Your scores have barely improved," he said. "At this rate, you'll be at the bottom."

She pointed to her eyepatch. "It's not like this thing gives me super-strength or anything. Sir."

He looked unimpressed. "You're falling behind, Katsuragi."

She gritted her teeth. "I'm already behind, thanks."

His eyes flashed warningly. "Then get better. Taking your frustrations out on me isn't going to help you at all." He studied her while she looked away, scowling. "Did you think any over the break about what I asked you on the last day of school?"

"Of course. Sir." She crossed her arms. "I think you're asking the impossible, but yes, I thought on it."

"Good. At least you weren't totally lazy, then." He jerked his chin. "Line up. You're throwing first."

He tossed her the softball. She barely caught it with one hand. Hyperaware that the class was at her back, watching her every move, she stood in the center of the circle and tried to shake off the tension in her shoulders. She knew she wasn't going to have incredible records like everyone else. Her Quirk wasn't for any feats of physical greatness. But she wasn't weak, either.

29.8 meters, she thought. That was my record last year. Almost 30 meters. As long as I can get above that…

She shifted her weight to her right foot and drew her arm back. It had taken her years to become accustomed to the shift in depth perception between her two eyes; she'd had to accommodate her right eye being covered a majority of the time, and the parallax whenever it was uncovered had thrown her off for a long time. She wasn't exactly accurate, but if she channeled all her focus through her left eye…

She threw the ball as hard as she could. A small grunt left her when she released, and she watched the ball soar slightly off-course until it landed safely within the range of the field.

Aizawa's device beeped. He held up the screen to her, where she read 31.3 meters.

"Only slightly better than last year," he said. "More practice, Katsuragi."

She sighed. "Yes, sir."

She watched the rest of the class with only marginal interest, her mind swirling with the reminder of what Aizawa had asked of her before she'd left U.A. for the break. It had been during her meeting with him and the principal, where they'd discussed her future and continuing at U.A.

"You're a bright student, Katsuragi," Principal Nezu said. Though he was more animal in appearance than human, his dark eyes were sharper and more intelligent than any she had ever seen. "In fact, you were one of the highest scorers ever on the written portion of the entrance exam! But for some reason—and Aizawa Sensei and your other teachers agree—you seem to be holding yourself back when now is your opportunity to go beyond!"

"Do you regret coming here, Katsuragi?" Aizawa asked quietly. Nomi met his eyes, feeling queasy. "Do you wish to be expelled? Do you think expulsion will make your life easier, will take the burden of choice off your shoulders?"

"I can't do anything," she whispered. "The hero course proved that. Becoming a hero with my Quirk…it's a pipe dream."

"Your Quirk inspires fear," Aizawa said. Though he didn't mean it harshly, only using that rational, matter-of-fact tone of his, she still flinched. "Your Quirk feasts on fear to generate even more fear. In that aspect, you let your Quirk control other people's minds, but it also controls you. Have you ever considered learning to control it?"

Nomi stared. "W-what…do you mean?"

"Ah." Principal Nezu's cunning eyes brightened. "Are you suggesting young Katsuragi could potentially manipulate other emotions, as well, Aizawa?"

"It's always a possibility." Aizawa shrugged. "You've only ever been tested for your fear manipulation, Katsuragi. Letting your Quirk guide you when you should be guiding your Quirk. Think on it over the break. Come back with a satisfactory answer, and I'll lessen your punishment."

Her eye widened. "My punishment?"

"Yes." His hair started writhing, and a frightening grin had stretched across his face. "After all, you did still fail…"

She was yanked from her thoughts when gasps rippled through the class. She looked up and blanched when she saw Aizawa's eyes glowing red, his binding cloths swaying around him as he unleashed his Quirk on the poor curly-haired boy who had just thrown the softball.

"I erased your Quirk," Aizawa said with a scowl. She watched along with the rest of the class, tense, as Aizawa spoke directly to the boy. "That ridiculous entrance exam…completely irrational when you consider someone like you got in."

Nomi stood, uncomfortable, as murmurs started around her. "The Erasure Hero… He's Eraser Head!"

Aizawa glared at the curly-haired boy, unblinking. "I saw it. How you can't control your Quirk. You'd just be incapacitated again. Were you hoping someone would step in to help afterwards?"

"What is he talking about?" Nomi muttered to no one in particular.

As the boy began sputtering and stammering, another boy—tall, dark-haired, and wearing glasses—spoke out of the corner of his mouth to her.

"I shared the same battleground as him in the entrance exam," he said knowledgeably. His gaze was severe and intent upon Aizawa and the other boy, and she couldn't help leaning away from him slightly. "He defeated the zero-pointer with one punch. He's strong—extremely strong. But the impact broke his arm, and his legs were broken too before Recovery Girl healed him."

Nomi whistled. "A Quirk so strong it breaks his bones? No wonder Aizawa's getting on his case."

The boy beside her only gave a curt nod. "Indeed."

"You've got your Quirk back," Aizawa was saying as Nomi turned back to the scene at hand. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a bottle of eyedrops. "Give it another go. Let's get this over with."

The tall boy next to Nomi rubbed his chin. "Seems like he received some special instruction."

On his other side, the boy with the white-blond hair Aizawa had called Bakugo let out a noise of disgust. Nomi looked at him curiously, surprised to see the angry scowl on his face as he glowered at the curly-haired boy winding up for another throw.

"Yeah, the instruction to leave this school," he growled. "Damn nerd…"

"Oh!" a girl exclaimed at the same time that a strong gust of wind almost propelled Nomi backward. The curly-haired boy had thrown the ball with an almighty roar, and she watched it hurtle into the sky until it was out of sight.

Aizawa's device beeped again. Nomi caught a glimpse of the bright blue numbers on the screen: 705.3 meters.

"Holy…"

"Sensei!" the boy cried. He clenched his fist. One of his fingers was purpling and swelling. Nomi guessed a break, but the boy beamed with pride and determination. "I can still move!"

"What the hell?!"

The boy named Bakugo stalked forward, small explosions rumbling in his palms. "Explain yourself, Deku!"

He started running at the other boy. Nomi stared, her mouth hanging open until Aizawa's binding cloths snapped open and wrapped around him, halting him in his tracks. Bakugo strained, furious, but Aizawa's eyes were glowing red again, his hair writhing around him like angry black snakes.

"I'm getting dry eye," Aizawa said. He blinked and sighed once Bakugo no longer looked on the brink of murdering the other boy, Deku. "Stop wasting time. Prepare for the next event."

As the class hurriedly complied, Nomi watched Bakugo, her lips pursed. Such explosive power… She could see how he would've been accepted into U.A. And if she'd heard Aizawa correctly earlier, he had been in the top place among all the examinees.

She stepped up beside him. The rest of the class had gone ahead, but he hadn't moved, still seething. He didn't look at her, even when she spoke.

"You know," she said, "killing another student isn't the way to go on your first day."

He said nothing. He stormed after the others without a backward glance.

With a heavy sigh, Nomi followed.

As expected, she was at the bottom of the scoreboard—dead last, even behind the Deku boy, whose finger was still broken and had hindered the rest of his scores.

The other students sent concerned, pitying looks her way, but she just stood with her arms crossed, unfazed. Aizawa had had the opportunity—multiple times—to expel her. He already had, once, to punish her entire class the year before. She was confident that she was in the clear.

Still, a tiny part of her worried.

"Also," Aizawa said, looking straight at her, "I was lying about the expulsion."

So, I did call your bluff, she thought, smug. Ugh, but I did feel nauseous for a second…

"Anyway," he continued, "we're done here. Your documents about the curriculum and such are back in the classroom. Give them a look."

He fished a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Midoriya." The curly-haired boy named Deku looked up, apprehensive. Aizawa handed the paper to him. "Have Recovery Girl fix you up. Tomorrow's trials aren't going to be any easier." He then gestured for Nomi. "Katsuragi. Show him where the nurse's office is. I get the feeling this won't be Midoriya's last visit. He should learn where it is."

"Yes, sir." She motioned for Midoriya, and he scurried after her across the grounds, back to the main building. "We'll change first before going. Is that all right?"

"Oh, yes," he said, falling into step beside her. He walked on her right side, so she had to turn her head if she wanted to see him. "I'll wait for you. Out in the hallway, I mean. After I've changed. And you've changed, too, of course—"

His face grew redder with every word uttered. With his curly green hair and freckles, it reminded her of a strawberry. She grinned to herself at the thought as they entered the building and returned to the changing rooms.

She shimmied out of her gym clothes quickly and replaced them with her uniform. When she emerged, Midoriya was nowhere to be seen. She only waited a few minutes before he came out of the boys' changing rooms, cradling his injured finger.

"Sorry!" he squeaked when he saw her waiting. "It's the tie—I still can't tie it properly, and my finger—"

"It's okay," she said. She thought about putting her hand on his shoulder to calm him down, but from what she'd seen of him so far, he would probably combust on the spot. "C'mon. It's this way."

She led him down the hallway to the staircase that would take them to the main floor. The halls were empty and quiet as classes were in session, and all she could hear were the squeaks of their shoes on the tiled floors as they walked in silence.

"Um, I'm Midoriya by the way," he said after a few minutes. "Izuku Midoriya."

"Not Deku?" she asked, cocking her head.

He flushed. "Oh. That's just what Kacchan calls me…"

"Okay, then, not-Deku." She figured 'Kacchan' must be the boy named Bakugo. She flashed him a quick grin. "I'm Nomi Katsuragi."

"You said you were supposed to be a second-year this morning, right?" he said. "But you…"

"Got held back." She shrugged. "I failed the first year of the hero course, so now I have to retake it."

He looked stricken. "Is it really that hard?"

"Maybe?" She scratched her cheek, just under her eyepatch, where it always itched. "I dunno, really. I just never paid attention much."

"Oh." He fell silent again, awkward, until a question burst out of him like he'd tried and failed to hold it in. "I'm sorry, but your eyepatch—is it for your Quirk?"

She forced her shoulders not to stiffen and instead nodded, tapping the aforementioned item. "Yep."

"May I ask what your Quirk is?"

"It's called Demon Eye," she said, keeping her tone neutral. "When I look at people with it and they make eye contact with me, it conjures illusions in their mind using their own fears."

He stared at her. "Demon…Eye…?"

She shrugged again. "Disturbing, isn't it? Nothing cool like your strength or that Bakugo guy's flashy booms. Oh, look. We're here." She all but shoved him toward the door to Recovery Girl's office. "Good luck! See you later!"

She shut the door in his face before he could say anything more.

That night, when she collapsed into her bed, exhausted after her first day, Aizawa's words came back to her.

"Your Quirk feasts on fear to generate even more fear. In that aspect, you let your Quirk control other people's minds, but it also controls you. Have you ever considered learning to control it?"

It's not possible, she thought, punching her pillow into a firmer shape. Controlling my Quirk like that…even if it's for a moment…

She drew the covers up to her chin and was asleep before she knew it.

Name: Nomi Katsuragi

Age: 16

Quirk: Demon Eye – Can create illusions based on people's fears just by looking into their eyes with her abnormal right eye. The effect wears off when contact is severed and only works in close range.

Birthday: 6/2

Blood Type: O

Height: 168 cm

Likes: Smoothies, shopping