Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.
To Be a Hero
another day, another battle
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Another sigh left Shiro's lips as she stood in front of the large classroom door.
Because of the villain attack on USJ, U.A. classes were canceled for Thursday and set to resume on Friday. For Shiro, the one-day rest period was much needed since Recovery Girl wasn't able to completely heal all of her injuries from the low amount of stamina she had left after attempting to rewrite Nomu's existence. While all of her nerves and broken bones were fixed, her left arm was still wrapped in light bandages to let the superficial skin wounds heal, and on her back were two particularly nasty bruises she got from being slammed harshly on an uneven boulder.
However, none of her injuries amounted to what she heard Aizawa sustained from the attack. She hadn't even been able to see the man since he and Thirteen were in the hospital's intensive care unit, and the uncertainty of Aizawa's health was unnerving her. Present Mic had reassured her that everything was alright, but the heavy feeling in her heart remained.
She could hear the students chatting about the news last night that covered the USJ incident from behind the door. Everyone seemed to be fine, and she was glad that at least no one else got hurt. Opening the door, she was suddenly met with stunned silence as her classmates stopped their conversations to look at her.
"...Hello," she blinked, unsure of what to say.
They then rushed up and surrounded her with wide eyes and relieved gazes.
"Shiro-chan!" Kirishima was the first to speak. One eye was shining with an unshed tear as he looked at her with pure respect. "I heard about your bravery against those strong villains! So manly!"
"And your injuries! Are you really okay to resume class so fast?" Hagakure added. Even though she couldn't see the invisible girl's expression, Shiro understood her worry. Next to the girl, Ojiro was looking at her with a sense of consolation.
"We were all so worried..."
"Your arm!" Uraraka also voiced from the front of the crowd, her large eyes staring at the bandages on Shiro's left arm. "Recovery Girl couldn't heal you all the way? Deku-kun said something about stamina..."
"It's just a scratch," Shiro reassured. It really was, since the wound didn't hurt. What did hurt were the bruises on her back, and they were the reason why she couldn't wear her backpack and had to instead carry it. Uraraka only nodded thankfully and suddenly went in for a hug.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay!" she exclaimed happily as pain jolted through Shiro's body from the pressure on her back, but she bit her lip and shakily gave the girl a nod of thanks. Most of them were oblivious to it, but two pairs of eyes saw through her obvious facade of trying to conceal her pain. From his seat, Todoroki suddenly spoke up.
"We should give her some space to get to her seat. Homeroom is starting soon."
Shiro was surprised at the cold male's quick save, but she was glad as Uraraka released her and the rest went back to their seats. She trudged over to her seat between Kirishima and Midoriya.
"Shiro-chan, if you need anything, just tell me!" Kirishima declared with great spirit. "Bakugou and I will be your bodyguards!"
"Who fucking said anything about doing that for Pigtails, you hedgehog hair!" the blonde responded with a scowl. Though, when his eyes met Shiro's, he immediately snapped his head away. "Tch."
"It's okay, Kirishima-san," Shiro lightly tapped the redhead's arm since he looked irritated at the insulting name. He was visibly surprised at the contact, but he didn't dislike the small tingle of electricity that ran up his arm. "I can manage on my own," she affirmed before sitting down.
On her other side, Midoriya noticed that the aura around her was different somehow. He had been sure that she would've said something back to Bakugou because of his insults, but she had completely disregarded it. He felt the girl wasn't actually feeling okay.
"Shiro-san," he started to say, "Are you—"
"Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start!" Iida rushed into the classroom with his arms spread like a referee coaching a game. "Stop talking and take your seats!"
Everyone stared at the class president with skeptism. Actually, they were all in their seats except him. Quickly realizing the fact as well, Iida fell into his seat with a mix of defeat and disbelief.
"Don't worry about it, Iida-kun!" Uraraka tried cheering him up, a sympathetic grin on her face.
"Hey, who do you think's gonna teach homeroom today?" Mina asked Tsuyu, causing a wave of curious chatter from the rest of the class. The last they heard, their homeroom teacher was in no condition to resume teaching. They wondered who would be replacing Aizawa for the time being.
Amongst the chatter, Kaminari tilted his head back to Shiro, "Hey Shiro-chan, do you know?"
Shiro stiffened. "Actually, I..." she trailed off, her voice getting uncharacteristically soft. Midoriya could tell then that this was what's bothering her. Just then, the door the their classroom slid opened again and their attention all drew to who was standing at the door.
"Morning," the greeting was slightly muffled through the bandages that covered up the man's entire face.
"Aizawa-sensei?! You're back too soon!"
"He's too much of a pro!"
He's okay... Shiro's eyes softened. He's really okay!
Through the shouts of surprise, her voice was drowned but she didn't mind one bit. "Eraserhead..." she looked at the bandaged hero as he wobbled up towards the podium with absolute relief. "I'm glad you're okay..."
Midoriya didn't know if Aizawa's condition could really be categorized as "okay", but he saw that the ruby eyed girl was slowly returning to her normal self from just the sight of the hero. He understood her completely, because that was exactly how he felt when All Might turned out to be okay after overexerting his One For All on Nomu.
Aizawa-sensei is to Shiro-san as All Might is to me, he thought to himself. It's no wonder she was worried until now.
"Don't concern yourselves with my well-being," Aizawa's voice cut through the onslaught of exclaims. "More importantly, the fight's not yet over."
At the mention of a fight, the class looked at each other critically. Another fight? Was there information on another villain attack?
The hero's eyes narrowed seriously.
"The U.A. sports festival is drawing near."
After Cementoss's fourth period Modern Literature, the students were free to go on break for lunch. Though, many of them were still on a high about the upcoming sports festival in two week's time.
Everyone wants to be scouted by the best Pro Heroes, Shiro thought idly. And we only get three chances at U.A.
Joining a famous hero agency not only gives you experience, but more popularity as well. She didn't care too much about the second reason, but she didn't want to miss the opportunity to be scouted by any of the top 10, either. They were at the top for a reason, and she desperately wanted to learn from them. While training with Aizawa greatly increased her technique throughout the years, she lacked strength. The USJ attack was just the beginning of what heroes encounter in their lifetime, and Shiro didn't want to end up needing to rely on others because of her own shortcomings.
I'll grow stronger so that I can protect Eraserhead and everyone I care about.
"Aisaka-chan, Ojiro-kun, I'm getting pumped!" Hagakure motioned with her invisible hands. Both of them reckoned that she must be pumping her fists. "I need to stand out at the sports festival!"
"Y-Yeah," Ojiro replied with a hint of hesitance. He didn't know how to break it to the girl. "But the pros might not notice you unless you try really hard..."
"To stand out, huh..." Shiro mumbled and felt herself getting slightly nervous. "In order to do that, I have to be more like..." she found her words trail off as she and Ojiro watched Aoyama unrestrainedly show off his totally dazzling personality to a skittish Koda.
"I stand out just by standing still. Oh dear," he sighed loudly, batting his eyelashes. "The scouts won't be abe to stop looking at me, right?"
Silence.
"Right?"
Frantic nodding.
They all felt for the shy male. It was hard to stop Aoyama once he starts one of his long and flamboyant self-praises, and Koda was the least likely person in the entire class to be able to fend the blonde off.
Turning his attention back to Shiro's previous remark, however, Ojiro gave her a small, encouraging smile.
"In any case, I think you'll be able to stand out, Aisaka-san. Your fighting style is very eye-catching," he revealed, referring back to the combat training when she was able to incorporate the properties of other people's Quirks into her own combat. That, and she was quick thinking. "So you don't have to be more like anyone... Just be yourself. And you too, Hagakure-san," he looked at the invisible girl as well. "Let's do our best at the sports festival."
Hagakure got even more pumped with his words and expressed her excitement with cheers. Shiro nodded along with a smile. "Yeah, let's—"
"Shiro-chan," Uraraka suddenly appeared behind her with a determinedly dark glint in her usually carefree and round eyes. Her voice had lowered a few octaves, too. The girl pumped her fist in the air. "I'm gonna do my best!"
Shiro blinked at the sudden change of personality, "Ah... Uraraka-san...?" she questioned, but the girl had already turned to a few others with the same gesture.
"Everyone, I'm gonna do my best!"
"Yeah!" Midoriya, Iida, Mina, and Tsuyu shouted back with enthusiasm as she then faced Sato, Sero, Kirishima, and Tokoyami.
"I'm gonna do my best!"
"Y-Yeah..."
I wonder what's up with her, Shiro mused. Everyone was excited for the sports festival for their own reasons, sure, but Uraraka was on another level. Her character was all over the place...
"...our reasons for becoming a Pro Hero?"
Midoriya nodded as he looked at Iida and Uraraka. Along with Shiro, they were all heading down to the lunch room. "I kind of got Shiro-san's reason from her explanation about Aizawa-sensei already, but I'm curious to learn about you guys, too!"
"Well..." Iida began first by propping up his glasses. "My family has been heroes for generations... Have you heard of the Turbo Hero: Ingenium?"
"Of course!" Midoriya exclaimed excitedly. He knew about most, if not all, of the registered Pro Heroes! "He's a really popular hero who has 65 sidekicks working at his Tokyo agency! Wait, don't tell me..."
At the mention, the bespectacled male's eyes sparkled proudly. "He is my elder brother!" he declared loudly. His shoulders shook slightly as he continued, "He is a likable hero who honors the rules and leads people. I set my sights on being a hero because I want to be like my brother!"
"That's amazing, Iida-kun!"
"As expected of our class president," Shiro commented, causing the male to be filled with another wave of pride. "No wonder you're good at leading people, Iida-san. Ingenium is a good role model."
"Yeah! Compared to Iida-kun's reason..." Uraraka chimed in with a softer mumble. "Mine is such an unwholesome reason..."
"Eh? Why is that?" Midoriya blinked. He wondered why the girl was looking slightly embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head.
"To boil it down simply... I want to become a hero for the money," she waved her hands around shamefully. "Sorry! You guys have such admirable motivations, it's embarrassing to talk about mine..."
"Why?" Iida was in full Iida-and-hand-motions mode. "How is having a goal to support your livelihood not admirable?"
"It's not a bad thing," Shiro agreed as the curly haired male besides her nodded as well. "I think it would be pretty irrational to ignore how much Pro Heroes make."
Shiro-san, you're sounding a lot like Aizawa-sensei... Midoriya thought exasperatedly before his green eyes landed on the other girl again. "Right. But it's unexpected," he said.
Uraraka sighed.
"My family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work at all, so we're flat broke. This isn't really something to tell other people, though..."
"Construction...?"
"With her Quirk, if she gets licensed, then it'd bring costs way down, right?"
"Yeah, she could make any raw material float. They wouldn't need any heavy equipment!"
At their idle thoughts, Uraraka nodded her head intensely in agreement. "Right?! That's what I told my dad when I was little! But..." she pouted again. "He said he'd rather I achieve my own dreams when I grow up. Part of my dream is to help them, though... So I'll definitely become a hero and make money and let my parents take it easy!"
The declaration made all three of them feel a new kind of appreciation for the rosy cheeked girl. Contrary to her belief, her reasoning was indeed admirable.
"Bravo, Uraraka-kun! Bravo!"
Iida raised both of his hands to clap for her, mirroring what the rest of them were thinking. It made her smile and blush, and her confidence returned.
A deep throated chuckle suddenly sounded from the corner of the hallway, putting a pause to the reassuring closure as they glanced at the source. All Might rounded the corner and pointed to Midoriya with his usual cheerfulness, "Young Midoriya is right here!"
"A-All Might?" the boy widened his eyes along with his friends. "What's the matter?"
"Lunch!" All Might exclaimed before his posture turned meek, almost like a shy schoolgirl. "Wanna eat together?"
Midoriya looked at the three of them briefly for permission; Uraraka was too busy trying to recover from the hilarity to even say anything, but Iida and Shiro nodded for him to go ahead. He smiled at them before following behind the hero.
Midoriya seems really close with All Might... Shiro watched the boy go before leaving with the other two for the lunch room. She felt that the hero seemed too much like a mentor to him, or at least favored him greatly. But with the similarity of their Quirks, she guessed it was probably to be expected.
"I wonder what he wanted with Deku-kun," Uraraka wondered as they stood in line for food. Iida, naturally, had a theory.
"I heard that when All Might was attacked by villains during the USJ incident, he rushed out alone to help. Perhaps it's about that? Also..."
Did that happen? Shiro thought to herself as the rest of Iida's sentence carried off in her mind. She wasn't sure of anything that happened after All Might came to save them, since she passed out shortly after she got carried away. Wait, that reminds me...
"Um, Iida-san, Uraraka-san... If you don't mind, I won't be sitting with you guys today."
"Eh?" the rosy cheeked girl pouted in question. Iida also gave her a look of puzzlement.
"Why is that, Shiro-kun?"
She reassured that it wasn't because she didn't like their company, but rather... "I just remembered something that I have to do," she revealed.
"Are you always frowning, or is that just your normal face?"
Todoroki looked up at the girl who set a tray of food down across from him before sitting down herself. "Aisaka," he greeted, a small smirk making its way to his lips. "I could say the same for you, most of the time."
Her face scrunched slightly at the accusation as she pouted. "It's probably because I'm around too many people who always look like they hate life..." she muttered to herself seriously, referring to a certain homeroom teacher and explosive blonde. Bringing her attention back to the male, she realized that he was staring at her curiously with those heterochromatic eyes. "What?" she wondered aloud, breaking his stare.
"Nothing," he said, going back at his bowl of soba. "You usually sit with Midoriya and the others."
"Oh," Shiro blinked. She was surprised that he paid enough attention to even know that. He had always seemed so aloof. "Yeah, but Midoriya-san's having lunch with All Might today... And I wanted to come talk to you about the USJ incident. It pains me to say this, but I really was too reckless... So thanks for sticking with me, Todoroki-san."
Midoriya's with All Might? He wondered with a frown before turning attention back to the girl. "Don't mention it. It's good that you understand and you're healing well."
He had said it with his normal tone of coldness, but she felt that there was a hint of concern in his voice as well. Smiling, silence passed between them as they started eating. Todoroki was still such a mystery to her; he was cool-headed and meticulous. He was extremely strong, too, which made Shiro wonder what kind of training he must've went through to be this good.
"Todoroki-san," she asked, mirroring Midoriya's curiosity. "What made you want to become a hero?"
Todoroki looked surprised at her question, though it was quickly replaced with a bitter expression. "Have you ever heard of Quirk marriages?" he asked as Shiro frowned slightly and shook her head.
"It's become a problem for the second and third generation after superpowers appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own Quirk and passing onto your children, forcing people into marriage. It's the old-fashioned way of thinking brought about by a lack of ethics. My father..." his eyes darkened even more as he mentioned the man. "He has the money and the accomplishments, so it was easy for him to win over my mother's relatives and get ahold of my mother's Quirk. He is trying to fulfill his own desire by raising me to be a hero to surpass All Might."
That's... Terrible, she thought critically. Granted, her previous family life probably wasn't great either, but it wasn't like she remember any of it before being taken in by Aizawa. "That can't be your reason to be a hero, though... To surpass All Might for your father?"
"Of course not. I won't become the tool of a scum like that," he scowled, gritting his teeth. It was the first time Shiro's ever seen him become this visibly upset by something. His hand came up to cover the burn mark around his left eye. "In my memories, my mother is always crying. 'Your left side is unsightly,' my mother said as she poured boiling water on me... That's why I will never use my left side to fight. I'll become a hero greater than All Might by rejecting my father completely, and I intend to start by winning the sports festival."
So that's what's driving Todoroki for the sports festival, she thought. It was shocking to hear the travesty of Quirk marriages... And to know that the male and his mentioned mother have gone through a lot of hardships because of it, especially since he had a father like that. It wasn't even pity that she felt for him... It was anger.
And there was another concern—no doubt Todoroki would be stronger with a double-whammy Quirk like his... But, if he choose to only use one side, it's almost like he was willingly limiting himself.
But maybe it's not my business...
It was surprising that the male even opened up to her about something so personal; it gave her a warm feeling of acceptance. She was never good at consoling people, but she figured that wasn't what Todoroki wanted anyway.
"Winning the sports festival, huh?" she said instead. A challengining smile appeared on her face as she looked at Todoroki. "I guess that makes the two of us, Todoroki-san."
Just on the other side of the booth, separated by a short slab of wall and plants, Bakugou sat with Kirishima as the male went on talking about whatever the hell he was talking about to Tape Arms (Bakugou forgot his name).
Because the topic on his side was uninteresting as ever, he had instead heard every word of the conversation from the other side. Scarfing down his food with his usual display of wrath, his red eyes were narrowed with serious conviction.
He was surprised at first that the two on the other side sounded close... But it didn't matter. Whether it was Deku or Pigtails or that ice guy, he was going to beat all of them and win the sports festival himself.
The clock ticked 3:20 PM, signaling the end of the school day. Shiro and the others all got ready to leave when sliding open the door revealed a mass of first-year students crowding before them with curious eyes. There were even people from U.A.'s other courses coming to check them out!
"Wh-What's going on?!" Uraraka exclaimed.
"What business do you have with class 1-A?" Iida added, his hand jutting out with inquiry.
Mineta, with his short height, tried to look past the crowd of people. "We can't get out! What'd you come here for, anyway?" He wasn't trying all that hard though, since standing behind Shiro gave him a nice view of—
"They're scouting out the enemy, small fry," Bakugou replied as his hand pushed the smaller male's face the other way. "We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack. They probably wanna check us out before the sports festival," he stopped in front of the crowd, just besides Shiro, and gave them a hard glare. "There's no point in doing stuff like that. Out of my way, you two-bit extras!"
Behind him, his classmates' jaws dropped at his blatant insult.
"I came to see what the famous class A-1 was like, but you seem pretty arrogant," a voice said from within the crowd before a head of purple became visible as the male stepped his way to the front. "Are all the students in the hero course like this? Seeing something like this makes me disillusioned..." his words trailed off slightly when his baggy eyes made contact with the girl besides Bakugou in recognition.
Shiro immediately recognized him as well. After all, he was the person she took a large slab of wall to her shoulder for! He had made it to U.A. after all, though it seemed like he was admitted in a different course. What's his name again? "Shinso-san...?" she tilted her head in question. He seemed bewildered that she knew his name.
"You know this side character?" Bakugou raised his brows besides her, already pretty irritated that the mob was blocking his way. "Then tell him to get this mob outta here."
"Stop being so rude," Shiro snapped back with a brow raise of her own. "You gotta get that attitude fixed."
"Ha? As if I'd let you order me around!"
At their banter, Shinso broke out of his bewilderment and rubbed the back of his head with a cynical stare.
"'Side character'? There are quite a few people who enrolled in general studies or other courses because they didn't make it into the hero course. Did you know that?" he inquired at Bakugou, who scoffed in response. "The school has left those of us a chance. Depending on the results of the sports festival, they'll consider our transfer into the hero course. And it seems they may also transfer people out... Rather than 'scouting out the enemy', I, at least, came to say that even if you're in the hero course, if you get too carried away, I'll sweep your feet out from under you. I came with a declaration of war."
He's rather bold, Shiro widened her eyes slightly. He made her realize that it wasn't just about standing out at the festival for Pro Hero agencies to notice them; this was a test from the U.A. administration for the students to show why they deserve a spot in the hero course.
"Hey! Hey! HEY!"
Another voice shouted from behind the tall purple haired male. The day was just full of surprises, since Shiro realized that she's seen this person before as well, and he was still as fired-up as the first time.
"I'm from class 1-B next door! I heard you fought against villains, so I came to hear 'bout it! Don't get so full of yourself!" he berated boldly. "It'll be embarrassing if you're just all bark and no bite durin' the real fight—are you ignorin' me?!"
The male looked pissed that Bakugou was indeed ignoring him. He waved his arms around, causing the students in front of him to shuffle forward in order to avoid getting hit accidentally. Shiro scooted sideways as someone tumbled forward, but she forgot all about the bruises on her back and the person's shoulder came increasingly close to making contact.
"Watch it!" Bakugou warned, his arm shooting out to stop the student from falling and effectively preventing him from jabbing into Shiro's injury as well. His warning also created a small gap as the students regarded him warily.
"Wait a minute, Bakugou!" Kirishima called after him. "What're you gonna do about this? It's your fault that everyone's hating on us!"
"It doesn't matter."
"Ha?!"
"It doesn't matter as long as you rise to the top," he finished off as he used a hand to guide Shiro forward since she was in front of him and he wanted to leave. "Oi, hurry up so I can get out of here."
"Don't touch me," Shiro clipped, eyes twitching at his demand. However, she did move forward as told.
If one were to pay attention, it might've even looked like the blonde was guarding her from the large crowd. But for the girl, this wasn't the time to insinuate about such trivial things. Students from class 1-B and the other courses have made their statements, and like Shinso said, it was a declaration of war against class 1-A.
She needed to prepare herself in these short two weeks. But first...
"ERASERHEAAAD—!"
The hero raised his bandaged arm in a "stop" motion at the girl who was running up to him after he'd walked into the house. She stopped running, but that didn't prevent her from getting closer to him. From the slits between the bandages on his face, he caught sight of her quavering lips and tears that were threatening to spill out of her ruby eyes.
"Your worry over my well-being is unnecessary," he said as the girl lowered her head with a sniffle. He couldn't see her face this way, but it didn't take much to know that she was really upset.
"I don't care," she mumbled. "They wouldn't let me visit you in the hospital so I thought you were dying! I was—I was so worried..."
"Imagine how I felt when Mic told me about you," he said, but it was so low that it she didn't hear him through her own ramblings. Sighing, he reached out slightly and poked the girl's forehead with the tip of his arm cast to make her look at him. "This is the life of a Pro Hero. You're aspiring to go pro, aren't you?"
She nodded while wiping the corner of her eye.
"Then time is limited," he told her seriously. "I can't help you in this condition, but was decided even before the USJ attack that you will be training for the sports festival on your own like the rest of the students. I will not tolerate you slacking off on your preparations. If you understand the urgency of this event, then stop worrying over unimportant things and focus on what's important."
But... You are important to me... Shiro pouted sadly. He always thought her emotions were too irrational, but she felt he was the irrational one to always disregard his well-being. She couldn't understand where the hero was coming from in that sense... However, she supposed that it was fine for now since he was okay. "Got it..." she slowly accepted and allowed a small fire to return to her eyes. "I won't let you down."
Nodding at her compliance, Aizawa moved to walk past the girl. He paused briefly with his back to her. "Shiro."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," he said with an outline of a smile through his bandages. "I appreciate your concern."
I'm baaaaaack! Sophomore year just ended and I'm happy to say that I pulled through with all A's this semester :') I hope you guys are doing/did well in your classes as well!