Maribel strides up to her desk and holds the paper up, briefly turning to her right and reaching to flip a light on. She then sat down and began to read. It was written in her own handwriting.

It's been few days since I ended up in the dream world and I most recently I have been stalked by this pair of girls. They're creepy, but they don't feel like that baku. I don't know who they are, but their presence is familiar and I don't want to trust them. I'm writing this as a way to forget this nightmare, but also to tell you, my real world self. The boundary between us is faint.

"Aha..." Maribel mumbled. I didn't write this... Oh, I understand it now. The dream self is who I am when I sleep, but... It's unusual, I don't 'dream' very often, only recently. Perhaps we've been one and the same and without directly manipulating the boundary, we've gotten further and sometimes closer. Then I've been close to myself for many years then... Renko must see this, but I'll have to hide it. She let go of it with her left hand and searched around her room, tossing the piece of paper written with an ink pen in one of her drawers. Her dad never really checked her drawers, so it'd be likely that it's all to herself. The boundary girl let out a long and drawn out sigh, and grabbed her mobile phone. She woke it from its sleep and checked the time.

05:00

"I keep waking up early when that boundary is flipped. But it's not like I'm drowsy after it's been done. I welcome it, actually." She mumbled and put her phone back to sleep, starting to change out of her pajamas and into her school uniform. Not wanting to change clothes the last minute before leaving for school. After that, she quietly left her room and went down to make herself some breakfast.

As she walked into the room, her body was bathed in morning light. Flinching and reacting spontaneously, she quickly made her way over to the windows and pulled down their blinders one by one. Maribel put some toast into a toaster and sat down in a chair, pulling up her phone to text Renko. Truthfully, she did not expect her to respond within a few hours. She began writing.

[Today I was in the dream world again. I didn't encounter anyone, but I arrived at an area where I couldn't see the boundaries! It was by a shrine. This has never really happened before, and I'm very confused by it. My dream-self (It's difficult to explain, but it's who I dream as.) wrote a note to me after I had manipulated the border between my dream and dream-self, she said someone was stalking her. Only hours before, I too felt very paranoid and it didn't feel natural. Perhaps we are close to each other? I can't wait for tomorrow, so I can explain all of it.]
- Maribel Hearn, 12/4/2146 at 05:18

The message may have been a bit long, but she felt it conveyed what she had to say. After that, Maribel closed the messaging application and opened a web browser, but she quickly closed that too. I have nothing to do. She thought. Currently, the studies weren't particularly demanding, so she had neglected them for yesterday's evening and this morning. But if any homework presented itself, she was glad to do it. I just hope this day won't be so irritating.

The entrance to the school was flooding with reporters from various news agencies. Maribel didn't quite fathom why they were here, so she felt inclined to approach. She'd have to pass them anyway. When closer, one of them, a woman with dark brown hair and a suit approached her and leveled a microphone close to her mouth. Hearn stopped dead in her tracks and stared at her.

"Hey, student! What is it like to be taught by All Might?" The reporter asked. Maribel saw cameras being pointed at her in her peripheral vision. She couldn't help but feel a little pressured.

The student shrugged. "All Might is an alright teacher, but I've only had one lesson with him. I can't make much of a judgement." Then she paused for a second or two. "I'm going to my class now, don't slow me down." Her nose wrinkled a little. God, they are annoying. Maribel walked away. And despite some attempts to question her further, she got past them and went into the main building.

When she finally got to the class, she could see that not everyone was there yet. Everyone was standing around and talking and Maribel felt like she wanted to take part in it all, so she made a stride towards Iida. Currently, he was talking to Yaoyorozu. I suppose he's just building off of the stuff from yesterday, it's good to make friends, after all.

"Hey, Iida. What's on the schedule today?" She asked him, more cheerfully than normal. It felt like she could be a bit more open with him.

He turned and looked a bit surprised. "Ah, Merry. First we're having homeroom with Aizawa and then we'll have hero history class. Then there's the lunch break, followed by mathematics."

She felt relieved the day was so simple. "Sounds like a pretty lax day, when's it ending?"

"Last time I checked the schedule, around 16:00." He recalled, looking up to the ceiling as part of his body language.

"So the day's about eight hours." Maribel briefly checked her phone.

Momo took the opportunity to tease her. "Are you in a hurry or something?"

Maribel felt a need to clarify, but acted almost flustered. "No, no! It's just I was going to have a meeting with my best friend very soon and I don't want to have anything to stress over."

"Who is this friend?" Tenya asked her curiously.

"Her name's Renko and is currently studying to become a physician. All I have to say is she's a prodigy. I was asking if she could help me study math, I got lost too many times during the last class." She explained gleefully. Although she had to lie, the reason she was bringing her over was a bit more personal.

"I could always help you, if you need anything." Momo cut in, as always, she was very supportive.

Hearn felt like she didn't want anyone to interfere with her free time aside from Renko, so she swiftly came with a response. "I don't really wish to take your sweet time from you. She's also the kind of person that compliments my quirk pretty well, manipulating space is very interesting to a physicist."

"I mean... You're not wrong." She responded, somewhat satisfied with the answer.

"What's her quirk?" An eager Izuku spouted from behind her, leaving Maribel a little surprised.

"A-ah... Wh- Anyway. She discerns the time by looking at the stars and her location by looking at the moon. It's not so interesting. But she told me a while ago that her great grandmother was one of the first vigilantes. She also told me her quirk was one of the most powerful of the times, and this was when quirks were first becoming common." Hearn turned to Izuku, she herself was very eager to make her friend look good in the eyes of others. Whether that meant making her family look important or herself, but she wasn't lying about what she could do.

"One of the first vigilantes?!" The three which she had been talking to were suddenly interested. Perhaps it was because of their interest in heroism.

Maribel remembered everything Renko had told her about this person. "Her name was Sumireko Usami, and her quirk was 'ESP'. She could do many weird things, like pyrokinesis, but she had no trouble pulling giant radio towers down or sending villains high into the sky. It is said she disappeared mysteriously after she had a kid."

"So why's her quirk not like her great grandmother?" Izuku wondered.

Maribel knew the answer for this one, even if Renko never told her about it herself. "She inherited a mutated quirk from her mother that mixed with one from her father. She's a little bit like me, actually."

"Mutated quirks are ones completely unrelated to their heritage. So your quirk is unique in your family." Tenya noted.

"Yeah. But weirdly enough, I have a variation on my fathers too. I can feel the presence of other quirks and things. For example, I can sense whenever Izuku activates his quirk. His feels very imposing." She pointed at Izuku as an example.

"W-wha? So you felt my quirk activate at the entrance exam?!" Izuku burst out, it was as if he was suddenly stressed. Maybe there was something he was embarrassed about.

"For a brief second. It hit me a little softer than the shockwave you made." Hearn explained. "All Might is kinda like that, but constant and refined, it's as if his quirk has a clear sense of purpose." She continued, and Izuku's expression didn't change. "Are you alright?"

"Ah-uhm... Well, it's just so embarrassing that you're comparing me to the number one hero!" Midoriya excused himself.

"Don't need to be. I'm just saying you feel familiar. Maybe, I think I've made a discovery. What if the feeling of quirks has psychological impact?" Maribel asked herself. The others only stared at her. "Nevermind... Oh, the teacher is here." She pointed to the doorway where Aizawa was standing.

"Let's get back to our seats then." Tenya said with a smile.

"Right!" Izuku took the chance immediately. What's gotten into him, really?

Maribel walked on over to her seat, past Bakugo. She only bothered to give him a passive glance, but she felt at ease otherwise. He'd never act up in front of the teachers. She sat down and waited for Aizawa to begin speaking.

"Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the video footage and the results. Although you are all good, some of you stick out even among the talented. Bakugo, with that kind of skill, stop acting like a child. Maribel, with your adaptation, do away with recklessness. Todoroki, your battle was the best I've seen. Midoriya, you settled the fight by breaking your arm. Realize you can't keep breaking your body. It won't get you anywhere. Focus on attaining control first and foremost." He began the class. Maribel stayed silent whilst Bakugo groaned. Who was Todoroki again? I never introduced myself to him.

"Yes sir!" Izuku let out.

Eraserhead sighed. "Now, let's start with the first matter of today: You will decide on a class representative."

In an instant, every other person began shouting about wanting to be the rep. Maribel wasn't interested, so she just sat and waited.

"Let me do it, me!" Katsuki shouted in front of her, raising his hand.

Maribel turned her head to her right and surveyed the classroom. Even people like Izuku looked fired up, although he lowered his hand after a few moments. Clearly thinking about something. Almost everyone she could see wanted the position.

"Silence, please!" Shouted Tenya and immediately caught her attention. His hand shot up the highest. In no small part due to him being one of the tallest in class. "This is a job with the serious responsibility of leading others! It's not a job for just anyone who wants to do it. It is a calling that requires the trust of those around you! If we want to use democracy to decide on a true leader, then we should hold an election to choose one."

"Why did you suggest that?" Someone said. When you think about it, feels like he really wants the position.

"We haven't known each other for very long. How can we make the decision?" Tsuyu Asui remarked. It's true most of us don't know each other yet.

"If that's the case and everyone votes for themselves..." The redhead she saw yesterday let out. She thought he tried a little hard to be attractive, in all honesty. That's to say, in a 'macho' sense.

"I wouldn't. So there would be someone with at least two votes." Maribel spoke loud and clearly, not really shouting. Her eyes were fixated on the redhead at first, but drifted to Tenya. She had interrupted him right before he said anything.

"Y-yes. As you can see, someone will be the leader. There can be no tie with the whole class." Tenya added. "What do you think, teacher Aizawa?!"

"I don't care, as long as you decide before homeroom is over." Eraserhead eloquently said while getting into his sleeping bag.

"Thank you very much!" Iida responded.

They had set up a very simple voting system, everyone got a piece of paper that they had to write a name on. Those papers would then be collected, and the score would be written on the board. Maribel had decided to cast her vote for Tenya simply because she liked him the most out of the people in class. Momo would obviously have been her second choice.

Eventually, the votes had been tallied.

Tenya Iida - 2

Momo Yaoyorozu - 2

Izuku Midoriya - 2

...

Maribel immediately spoke. "So it's come down to these three, do we want to make a second vote to determine who goes and who doesn't?"

The main competitors couldn't help but agree.

Tenya responded. "That sounds fair."

Momo's response was the same. "Reasonable."

But Midoriya wasn't so quick to answer. "I-I forfeit!"

The boundary girl sighed along with the rest of the class. "We'll still need to break this tie."

So they voted.

Tenya Iida - 10

Momo Yaoyorozu - 9

"I ain't voting for any of you!" Bakugo made his choice clear, he wasn't as angry as he should be. It was all concentrated into a simple frown.

Aizawa sat down on his chair, still enveloped in the sleeping bag. "Then you two should come up in front of the class."

Both Tenya and Momo stood up and walked up to the teacher's desk.

"Then the class representative is Tenya Iida, and the deputy class representative will be Momo Yaoyorozu." Aizawa announced, before bouncing off of his chair and laying down.

The hero history class was a bit of a slog, but Maribel was great at it. They got an introduction to how heroism sprung up from vigilantism and such, some important figures. As she had explained earlier to Izuku, Momo and Yaoyorozu, she knew a descendant of one of these vigilantes. Some questions were asked, such as: Would they be arrested if they were in today's Japan? If they were using their quirks recklessly without license, sure. But after the change in governance around the century shift, the crimes of vigilantes were pardoned for their honorable efforts. I suppose closest parallel would be the pardoning of Sagou Takamori by the Meiji Era government. Previously, the government was considered largely corrupt. Despite working in a populist fashion, no matter the party in power. There were officially sanctioned heroes, but by en large, they were as corrupt as the government that lorded over them. One hero changed it all, All Might. Why, or what particular event changed everything, was unknown. His ultimate power and influence on the populace ultimate drove the worst of the corruption out of Japan.

On the topic of All Might. It was said that he took his inspiration from the United States of America when concerning his style as a way of embodying freedom from tyranny. He had also, of course, traveled there. Although the modern American government had changed over the years, it had managed to keep a lot of its freedom for its people. States had been given back a lot of control as having a large government managing everything with millions of people with different quirks around was a huge problem. The union was retained and still had its own treasury and taxes, but it became more alike the America of centuries past. In a sense, becoming more in tune with the American ideal. Still, what part of the federal union that still had power, used it to its own means. The state being accused of trying to implement a quirk control system by gently nudging the vigilantes along to become part of a larger organization. Nemuri had also taught them that foreign hero organizations, mainly from America, too adored All Might. His symbolism had garnered much support from both the government and the private organizations. They even invited him to the White House once.

Maribel detracted from her internal thinking, food plate in her hands. Her eyes wandered around the mess hall. There's no seat close to Iida again... Where am I supposed to eat?! Damn it all, I'll just sit wherever closest. She wandered over to a table with some free seats. She looked at a messy looking purple haired boy. He looked very tired. "There isn't anywhere else to sit, could I eat here with you all?"

"Sure, go ahead." He said, uninterested. The rest of the people he sat by were clearly not talking to him. Maribel nodded and put her plate down on the other end of the table, sitting down. They ate, almost unaware that either of them sat close to each other.

Hearn felt obliged to spark a conversation. "This day's pretty long for me, what about yours?"

He looked up from his meal. "Hmm? ...For the general department's 1-C, this day ends at half past three. Why do you ask?"

She thought to be a little bit honest about her reason. "I'm just thinking that friendly conversation would uplift our moods. Trust me, I know it works."

"...Right." He began eating again.

Maribel toyed a little with her food before she spoke again. "In the hero course we end this day by ten past four. To be honest, I can't really stand ending the day later than three, you just feel so worn out."

"Hero course?... Well, I can't say I disagree with you." He looked up at her again. Maribel had a smirk ready and apparently this made him happy enough to return the favor.

The alarm suddenly rang, and Maribel's eyes darted into the air around them. "There has been a level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly." An automated message resounded throughout the entire building. "I repeat... There has been a level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly." It droned on. Many people began leaving their seats and run for the exit. But her new acquaintance didn't.

He leveled his eyes with her. "I guess you're not the kind of person to panic in these kinds of situations either."

Hearn really wanted to progress this and decided to tell him her name. "I'm Maribel Hearn. Just call me Merry."

"Hitoshi Shinso."

The alarms kept on blaring, almost drowning out their voices, so she had to get a little closer. "I could get both of us outside using my quirk, if you'd like."

"By all means, the alarm is irritating to listen to." He held out his hand to her as if he expected her to send him off with instant transmission. His expression feels resentful, but he's not aggressive.

Maribel scoffed lightly as he held out his hand. "I don't need to be in contact with you to do it. Just don't look me in the eye." She focused, her quirk activated, letting her see the boundaries that she wanted. Maribel instantly thought back to the gate where you enter the school. Somewhere around there works. Hearn then easily opened a gap in the border and created what appeared to be a portal to that place. It was located to her right, as she had perceived it that way. "There it is."

"That was quick." He notated and walked on towards it. Maribel stepped through the boundary, arriving on the other end instantaneously. After her came Shinso.

While they were off to the side of the main gate, it seems like the reporters she met earlier today hadn't left yet. In fact, they had approached the main building. The barrier that was erected shortly before the class started had crumbled mysteriously.

"They just won't leave." Maribel stopped focusing, the gap disappeared and so did her discomforting eyes.

Shinso's eyes were locked on them. "I could stop this right now." He said.

Maribel immediately replied with "Wouldn't that be breaking the law? I don't want to chance. Let's investigate the gate instead. Someone's destroyed it."

Hitoshi gave her a slightly irritated glance, but sighed as a way of admitting defeat. They both walked on over to the gate and Maribel felt glad that the reporters hadn't spotted them just yet. When they got to the gate, Maribel started by rubbing the stuff with her foot. "Looks a bit like it rusted." This kind of break down is disintegration, so...

While Maribel thought. Her partner offered his thoughts on the matter. "Someone with a quirk to disintegrate things, maybe only metal. It's not a battle oriented quirk, if that was the case, people would've noticed."

"It can strike silently." Maribel stepped away from the gate, not wanting to dirty her shoes with something that could be magnetized. Then she started rubbing it into the ground just to be rid of it. "Do we just stay here until someone arrives? I don't want to get caught up in the crowd of reporters again, even if I could easily escape."

"Let's hide somewhere until it's settled down then." Shinso suggested and walked away from the gate, towards the trees. Maribel decided to follow in pursuit.

"Wait for me!" She said, thankfully not arousing any attention from the mass media.

Both of them agreed to hide behind some trees and wait for everything to die down. In the mean time, they didn't speak much, mainly speaking on the situation.

The sun shone right on Maribel as she leaned on one of the trees. Shinso right next to her. It was difficult to see anything until a cloud finally manifested itself to conceal the sun. Maribel then saw Shinso had been looking at her the entire time and embarrassingly looked away.

"What was that about?" She ignorantly asked. It's not like she didn't know, but she didn't want to feel mean to him.

He looked back at her and then at the ground. "While I don't have any problems talking to people, it's not often I get to speak with a girl as nice as you. Are you popular?"

"Never was." Maribel lied, smiling almost naturally. Only towards the end of my junior high years and soley due to a quirk. Maybe if I actually spoke with anyone but Renko, my looks would've carried me somewhere, but what's done is done.

"Huh... With a warp quirk like yours I would've expected you to be the attractive and popular girl." He remarked, despite clearly having this deep conversation with her, his tone remained stoic. But he didn't seem so insistent on keeping that subtle irritated expression of his anymore.

And now she felt a bit guilty over lying. "Well, technically I was. But only after I grasped what my quirk could do. I hated my popularity and never engaged in it."

Shinso could only give her a confused look as she said that. Eventually, he scoffed harmlessly. "That's alright, too." He then turned his head to the gate, where a police car had rolled in with a couple more stationed outside.

Hearn stepped towards the pathway, where the commotion was taking place. "Situations like these... They kind of make me wish heroes could enforce the law like police, at least on government owned ground."

"I imagine that would make quite some trouble. Given that most heroes are not explicitly loyal to the government. They might just selectively enforce something." Hitoshi reasoned.

"Oh, I agree." Maribel responded with a stoic demeanor.

The police stepped out of their cars and began to escort the reporters away. All the while, the one teacher in the vicinity taunted them. "Goodbye, bad mass media!" He said, with his quirk amplifying his voice. This was none other than Present Mic, someone Maribel hadn't seen in a while. They decided to walk on up to him. "Huh? Nobody left the building through any door. How did you get here, students?" Present Mic asked them humorously.

"Well, my quirk can create portals. In a way, I just rescued someone, even if the trouble wasn't so great. Isn't that nice?" Maribel told him, she wasn't very upbeat at the moment, so she sounded plain.

"Very nice." He said in English. But quickly changed to look very serious. "Do you know how the press managed to break down the barrier?"

"W-Well-" Maribel was cut off by Shinso, who decided to speak in her stead. It was as if he was planning ahead.

He pointed back at the gate. "As you can see, the gate has been reduced to dust. You can imagine rusting to be able to do this, but there's no rust. Someone disintegrated it. So the press had someone with a quirk to disintegrate matter, metals, at the very least."

Present Mic pondered on his words. "I wouldn't be so quick to call the press responsible. We'd need evidence first, and the police will help us with that. I'll call for the principal. We need a meeting about this. You two should return to your classes.

"Yes, sir." Shinso said and walked on towards the door. Maribel followed after. Before they walked inside, he turned and asked her one last thing. "Please keep our time by the tree a secret."

Once the day was over, Maribel parted from U.A High. Briefly speaking with Tenya about the position of the class representative on the way home before they too had to separate. He felt undeserving of the position, but Hearn decided to comfort him instead of agreeing with him. Maribel thought it the right time to check if Renko had responded to her text.

[How mysterious, I think I have many things to learn from this. But I can only truly understand it if I see any of it in person. Other worlds, dream-selves, places where your quirk cannot work. It all sounds so weird, you might even have to assume the existence of new particles for any of this to be possible. We don't even understand what quirks truly are yet. Almost sounds far-fetched, but you can never guess with reality. In any case, I hope you'll be well. Try not tiring yourself out at U.A too much! The school must have a lot of physical exercise if it wants any of its heroes to be in good shape.]
- Renko Usami, 12/4/2146 at 14:23

Right now, Maribel didn't have a response. This was of course just what Renko thought of it, but she had no answers. It must really befuddle her if she can't give me a factual answer, or maybe she's just busy? The boundary girl shrugged and continued on making her way home. A quick ride on public transport took her close to her house. Where upon she took the rather comforting shortcut through the woods that were located close to her house.

"I hope I can get a good night's sleep this time. I'm thinking I should lay on one of those dream souls, in all honesty."

...It's almost like dreams have become my reality again. Not in the same way, of course, but still. A part of it is my reality or is it simply a different one?