[A/N: "Dialogues in italics are past conversations."
Regular sentences in italics are monologue / Ume's thoughts.]
Chapter: 1
It feels the heaviest, but at times, it's possible to ignore it and focus more on the thrill; that feeling of "I did it! I started it!" and the eagerness to finish what you started.
It didn't actually take long for her to reach the station and getting into the train. Once she got her ticket (and the time until her destination), she hopped on the train, found a seat, and is now enjoying the quiet ride. A woman has graciously guided her to the priority seating despite the crowded car.
Ume doesn't really mind standing up. Her cane is telescopic too so it won't be much of an inconvenience for her or anyone else. Still, she appreciated the kind gesture. Now all that she can do is wait for her designated stop, Musutafu. Then she still needs to walk to her new school, Yuuei.
Being blind all of her life, Ume doesn't really have anyone who wants to befriend her, so she didn't socialize much. Back at the orphanage she grew up in, other kids never wanted to play with her because she's slow and clumsy, so she was always clinging to one of the caregivers. But no one wanted her. They think she's too much of a hassle to raise. Even though she was moved from one centre to another, no one wanted her. Until her current caregiver came.
In the four years she's been with him, she was hidden away by her caregiver, barely socializing with anyone outside their home. She didn't understand why exactly, but her caregiver says it's for her safety, so she agreed and never questioned it again. She never went to school. Rarely went out. She does have training on a daily basis. She doesn't know for what she's training either. But it's fun!
So Ume was pleasantly surprised when her caregiver recommended her to attend Yuuei. A hero school! Ume really wants to be a hero! She agreed very quickly to the suggestion without a second thought. Maybe that's why he's been training and tutoring her? She passed the test easily thanks to that.
But! But! It was still a surprise! Truth be told she was somewhat pessimistic of her skills, especially when she's taking her blindness into account. Well, thank technology for being there for her. It was definitely a struggle, and she didn't expect to be fighting robots for the entrance exam, actually she doesn't know what to expect in the first place. She just knows that the zero-point faux villain appeared and caused chaos. She knew from the tremor of the ground and panicked shrieks. Thank goodness she wasn't in the area.
Ume did her best, but that didn't matter if she didn't get accepted. Because caregiver really wants her to be accepted, even more badly than herself. That day she came home to her alcohol-stenched house, collapsing into her caregiver's arms, as she hugs him tightly.
"I hope I get accepted, caregiver... I-I want to make you proud of me... I want you to see... that I'm capable on my own, I want to lessen your burden, e-even if it is your job... I want you to be proud..."
"You will. You will be my hero, Ume."
And when her caregiver returns home, entering her room and informing her that a letter from Yuuei has arrived, she was a nervous wreck. They sat down on her bed so close to each other that their arms are pressed together. She hears the sound of paper torn apart, indicating that the envelope has been opened. It was then she realized just how fast her heart is beating. How stiff she is.
"A disk... Maybe this is a video message... I'll play it now."
That heads-up (if you could even call it that) was too short and too brief that Ume wasn't able to brace herself for whatever news is coming. There'a a small click, a short buzz, then she hears him. The voice of the number one hero, All Might. He greets her with much enthusiasm that Ume forgets what the letter is about, if only for a sweet, short second.
"You've done tremendously on the test." Was the first sentence after his greeting. "Seeing you in action, it is hard to believe that you are visually impaired. You must've trained so hard to get to where you are now, maybe even harder than anyone else."
On that, Ume disagrees. She doesn't feel like she worked harder than anyone. And frankly, it sounds an unfair comparison. She can't see but she's used to it. That's her life. Of course she has devices that helps her, and it doesn't take long to get used to, but does it mean she worked harder than others? It all depends on the perspective. Ume sees herself as equally hardworking as every other candidate.
"The judges takes that into account for the grading. How you utilize your senses and tools and quirk to carry you through battle. How it could affect your judgement." There's a short pause before his next words.
"And I'm honored to say - welcome to Yuuei High School, Young Matsuyuki!"
What happened after was just instinct; she shrieked in her happiness without caring if the neighbours hears. She lunged at her caregiver, both of them falling onto the bed as she sobbed and laughed.
"I did it! I did it, caregiver! I'm gonna be a hero!"
"You are, Ume. You will be my hero. You're going to make me proud if you, aren't you?"
"Yes! I'll be your hero, just like you want me to! I'll make you proud, I promise!"
It fills her with so much confidence and determination when she remembers her promise. She will be a hero for her caregiver, first and foremost, just as he is a hero to her. Yes, the road to become a hero is not short. It's most definitely not easy as well. And that's alright. There is no need for a rush. She has much to learn, and she doesn't want to skip anything. A hero should be properly educated and trained, right?
Not just physical training, Ume also studies on her own. She's read many textbooks following the mandatory curriculum. She's done many questions, pop quizzes, essays... even listened to lectures online. There's no saying if all of what she learned academic-wise would be useful in Yuuei, but today's the chance to see it! How exciting!
The front entrance of Yuuei is somewhat familiar to Ume, but going through it once during the entrance exam doesn't give much to remember. Today, her designated homeroom teacher is supposed to be waiting for her at the gate, to guide her to class. Since it's the first day for everyone else too, maybe that's why they didn't assign them for the task instead. Ooh, she hopes they will be great classmates.
"Matsuyuki Ume?"
Oh, there's someone calling her. Heavy voice. Tired. From her left. It was unexpected and she embarrassingly lets out a squeak and jumped on her spot. Ume turns slightly towards the direction of the voice, contemplating his exact position. It's something she's gotten quite better at. She doesn't want to stare off into the space when talking to someone, that's impolite!
"Y-yes?" She stuttered. Why? Well she never meant to stutter but she did. Nervousness?
"I'm Aizawa Shota. You're in my class, 1-A." This man, who is apparently her homeroom teacher, is so straight to the point that Ume needed a few seconds to process his words, ending up with an "oh!" exclamation.
"H-hello, sensei!" Ume bows down shortly and stood up again. Aizawa Shota... Aizawa... Eraserhead! She remembers him from the very few news he's in. Her caregiver said he's dressed in all black, has a huge bundle of scarf around his neck, and a goggle. "If you don't mind, sensei, m-may I have your goggles?"
There'a a few seconds of silence that made Ume think she crossed the line. On the first day of school. Well, she can't help it! Caregiver always told her to be cautious around people, especially if she's alone, so... force of habit! Those few seconds feels so long, longer than it actually is, it made her nervous.
"I-I apologize if I come off as rude, but, y-you see," okay, deep breaths, just say it! "I just want to make s-sure that you're Eraserhead! That's all! Honest!" The silence stretches on for another few seconds and Ume really, really hates it. Maybe she really did cross the line? That's not a very good first impression.
"Put your hand in front of you."
"Huh? Oh-" Ume raised her left hand with her palm facing upwards. There's a slight sound of fabric shuffling against each other and some light clicks and clinks. After that, she feels a weight on her hand. The goggles.
"Then, um, pardon me..." Ume lets her cane dangle by the strap around her wrist as she carefully traces the goggles with the tips of her fingers. There's not much to feel on its surface. It's smooth, as expected, but nothing else. However Ume remembers her conversation about her caregiver some time ago. She remembers asking him what this hero and that hero looks like, or something iconic to that hero. For Eraserhead...
"Well... If I had to describe it... it's like a cage. There's no lens. It has four holes he can see through on each side."
Yep, feels about right.
Ume returns the goggle to Aizawa with a polite thank you. It sounds like he's putting it back on again. From there, Aizawa had kindly offered her his elbow to guide her to the classroom. Ume accepts it, of course, ever grateful for the help she can get. But from there, they're silent, letting the echo of their footsteps reverberate through the empty halls. Wait- empty? Does that mean she's late?
"Your way to confirm someone's identity is inefficient." Aizawa suddenly says. "It's possible that someone could pretend to be me and not have something I have, but if they do, consider yourself dead right now."
"I agree, sensei." Ume nods. "I have an idea to improve that, but I would need further discussion with Yuuei on it. And my doctor, and my technician..."
"If it makes for easier and more reliable identification then you do what you need to do."
Their conversation ends at that. But, shoot, she wasn't memorizing the way to the class! Well, that's fine, it's still the first day anyway. First day to everything new in her life, that is. First day as a student, hero candidate, making friends... if Aizawa isn't here, Ume would be skipping and hopping and giggling. She could hardly contain her excitement. Her heart in her ribcage beats hard and fast, loud in her ears. It's so thrilling!
"Oh! The plain looking boy!" Ume hears someone. A girl's voice, cheerful. It's at a distance, not too far, not too close, it's from her front. As they get closer, Ume noticed that it had turned silent. What happened? Did she see her? Maybe she's confused to see a blind student attending Yuuei?
"Here," Ume stops. "Door's to your right."
And then they just... stood there. Ume still holding onto Aizawa, maybe a tad bit too tightly, because she doesn't know what she's supposed to do. The previous buzz of excitement is buried with nervousness and anxiety instead. In her defense- in her defense, she never really spoke to people in her own age range. Her caregiver is an adult, her doctor and technician is an adult, she's more used to speaking to adults than kids or teens. Simply put, she doesn't know what's supposed to do. How does teens greet each other when they're meeting for the first time? Should she be polite? Should she be frank?
"Greet them." Aizawa instructs.
"Uh, u-um, h-hi...?"
There was a brief silence, long enough for realization to dawn on Ume - that was bad! That was embarassing! Matsuyuki Ume, what are you doing?! - heat creeps up to her cheeks and she could only hope it wasn't too visible.
"Good enough, I guess." Aizawa sounds so nonchalant that Ume wasn't sure if he was hiding his real reaction or he really just doesn't are. "Anyway, name's Aizawa Shouta. I'm your homeroom teacher."
Ume feels a fabric brushing over her right hand, the one holding her cane. She takes it with her left, letting go of Aizawa. "I'll distribute your gym uniform. Come forward when your name is called." Aizawa informs them. Then this must be the gym clothes. "Take her to her seat, the one on the far back. Don't grab her without informing her first, that includes pulling and pushing."
"Y-yes sir!" A student answers. A boy with light voice.
And once again, they stood in silence.
"Midoriya-kun! You're shaking like a leaf!" Says another boy with a heavier voice.
"And you're so red! Like a tomato!" Added the cheerful girl.
Was that supposed to be a whisper or a shout or? Was Ume not supposed to hear it? Just what is going on? The whisper-shout and mixed stuttering continues in front of her. It adds to her confusion and hesitation, to her own dismay. She was so excited too! Where did that excitement go? Should I... try and look for my own seat? Sensei said it's the one on the far back... Ah, might as well...
"E-excuse me..." Ume bows her head down and takes a small step forward-
"Wouldyoulikemetotakeyoutoyourseat?"
"What?" No, really, what was the boy saying? It was too quick and jumbled up to discern. Scolds came from another boy with heavier voice and the cheerful girl. Even more stuttering-gibberish is heard. Ume is in confusion. This isn't going anywhere. She replayed the question in her head, slowly, until- oh!
"You want to... help me get to my seat...?"
"YES!" The chorus of three voices shouting made her yelp and raise her shoulders to her ears. She's then barraged with apologies, the voices stacking and covering over each other that she could only make out "sorry," and "didn't mean to scare you." Well, that's nice to know. What a lively bunch of people.
"Stop hanging around the door and get over with it already, we don't have all the time in the world." Grumbled Aizawa somewhere a bit deeper into the room. The boy squeaked in intimidation. At first his voice is sounding away from her, then when he starts stuttering again, it was facing her.
"Uh, um," Ume hangs her gym uniform on her left forearm, her hand lifted. "Can I h-hold on to you?"
More inhumane sounds are heard from him but eventually Ume held on to him and she really is worried for him. He's very stiff, she thought. As Aizawa calls for the students, Ume walks, guided by... is he Midoriya? That's the only name she caught, and she doesn't want to accidentally call him by the wrong name. Nope, there's no need to add to embarrassment, no need at all. But how does she ask?
"Is that that examinee?"
"Must be, right? I mean, look..."
"She passed the exam..."
"How strong do you think she is?"
Ume knows those whispers are directed at her. It's only the first day and apparently there are rumors about her. She doesn't like that. She doesn't like that at all. She's just another student like everyone else in the class!
"I-I'm Ume, Matsuyuki Ume." Ume decides to introduce herself instead of focusing in those whispers. And it's a good start to ask for his name. After she asks for his name, unintelligible sounds comes out from the boy, a very very bad stuttering that Ume is immediately concerned. Is he okay? Not long after, the boy answers, "i-i-it's M-M-Midoriya Izuku!"
"Midoriya Izuku-san." Ume whispers his name, wanting to know how his name feels on her lips. Now that they've exchanged names, does this make them friends? No, probably not. That's fine, she can take it slow. They're walking forward from the door. A few slow steps, then they turned left. Tap, tap, tap. Her cane hits something on her left and right. It's close, but not too close. The path is pretty narrow. Are there desks on her sides? Must be. She walks in a straight line, confident, because her cane doesn't hit anything directly in front of her. The road is clear.
Or so she thought.
It wasn't long until her right foot stumbled on something. She lost her footing, and with a yelp, fell forward. She expected to hit her face on the ground, something that happens quite often, but no. She's hovering above the ground with a firm arm wrapped around her front and another around her waist.
"What? You're actually blind?" Someone sneers from her back-right. His voice is raspy, confident, but his tone is belittling.
"Kacchan! What'd you do that for?!" Midoriya helped get back up on her feet. Kacchan? What a funny name. Maybe not as funny as someone such as her enrolling in a hero school, but still quite funny. Sadly not the person. What a jerk! And that person wants to be a hero too?
"Listen! This ain't a special-needs school! Don't go around collecting pity and bothering people!" Even with the obvious provocation, Ume stays silent, but the scowl prominent on her face. Collecting pity, he said? Outrageous! Though she wants to retaliate, she doesn't, opting to keep silent. For now, anyways. It's only the first day, no need to make it worse.
"That's uncalled for, man! Let her live!" Someone had called out from the other side of the class. So many people are helping her already. Ume decides to ignore "Kacchan" and continue to walk forward. Where's her desk?
"Here, your desk is on the right." Says Midoriya.
"Oh," Ume moves her cane to her left hand, feeling around the area on her right. Her fingers brushed against a smooth, almost cold surface. A desk, her desk! It's a strange thing. Getting excited over a desk? Well no one will judge her for that. If they do, she doesn't care. Ume takes off her bag and rests it on her desk. "Thank you, Midoriya-san. I'm... s-sorry, for troubling you."
"Are you alright?" Comes the gentle voice of girl in front, just shortly after Midoriya excused himself. She didn't think there would be a person in front of her, stupidly enough, that it startled her. No big reactions, just a slight turn of the head to the direction of the voice. "Oh, pardon me." The girl apologized, noticing that she caught Ume off guard. "My name is Yaoyorozu Momo. I sit directly in front of you."
"Oh, hello." Ume bowed down slightly. "I'm okay, but... thank you for asking."
A slight ache on her left knee where she landed first, but, really, it's nothing much considering where she is. Plus, she's had much worse wound from her training. What Ume feels is a heaviness in her heart, a bubbling feeling of resentment and an underlying sadness. Still, she managed to push it down and not let it hinder her. It's something she had half-expected to happen, she just didn't expect it to happen in the first day.
After Ume gave her name, Yaoyorozu kindly offered Ume to walk together to the changing room. It makes her feel excited and giddy because she's making friends, or at least, this is the start to making her first friends. Because, she has to! Her caregiver told her to make friends so she could tell him stories! Well she'd still do it even if he didn't say so anyway-
Ume feels as though a lot of things had already happened even in this first hour. But the thought of it makes her wonder if she should tell him about the stunt "Kacchan" pulled on her. At first she thinks she shouldn't, so that her caregiver won't have to worry, but that would mean she is lying to him, and he always taught her that lying is bad. What to do, what to do...
"Matsuyuki-san! Matsuyuki-san!"
"Huh- huh? Yes?"
"You're spacing out..."
Ume finds herself slowly returning to the real world, fingers hovering above the zipper of the gym uniform. Yaoyorozu (she assumes it's her because she was the one calling out her name) has her hand on her shoulder in a gentle grip. Oh, she daydreamed again. "Are you alright? Do you need any help?"
"I-I was just thinking, I'm sorry." Ume shakes her head with an embarrassed smile. She hooks the zipper together and pulls the tab up, closing the shirt. She wiggles a little bit in the uniform. She probably looks ridiculous but she doesn't really care. What she does care about though, is how comfortable the uniform actually is. That's surprising.
"Alright, then. Shall we head to the field?" Ume nods at Yaoyorozu, hands feeling around in front of her for the locker door. Once it was found, she closed the door and began looking for her cane that she rested beside her locker. But it... wasn't there? I swear I left it here...
"Here, your cane fell down."
There's another voice now Ume doesn't recognize. Her voice is deep and her tone is relaxed. The girl gently grabs and lifts Ume's right hand and placed a leather handle on her palm. When did it fall and how did Ume not notice it? Well now that she has her cane again, she is extremely relieved. "Thanks, um..."
"It's Jiro Kyouka."
"Would you like to walk with us, Jiro-san?" For a short moment Ume thought it was her saying that, because she had already opened her mouth, but it was actually Yaoyorozu. That's too bad.
"Okay, sure. Do you want to hold my hand, Matsuyuki?"
"Ah..." Ume blindly reaches out, a hand grabbed her's. "Thank you..."
How many times has she said "thank you" today? So many people are helping her. Even though she wants to be a hero... caregiver always told her that accepting help is fine, but, isn't this too much already, just from the first day that is just getting started? She needs to hurry, hurry and show everyone that she's okay, that she could manage even without constantly getting help from other people.
Some time later Ume feels warmth on her skin, fresh breeze blowing against her, a different feel of the floor beneath her feet. That's how she knows that they're outside of the building. Maybe even on the fields. What are they going to do here? She kept walking until Jiro told her to stop. With another "thank you," Ume retracted her cane into itself and puts it into her pocket. Her left hand reached behind her ear towards a device and turning it on.
"Right, then, let's get straight into the point. I called you all here to put your Quirks to the test." Aizawa suddenly says, receiving surprised exclamations from his students.
"But what about the entrance ceremony guidance session?!" Called out the cheerful girl from when Ume first entered the class. So they're supposed to be attending to a ceremony right now, but they're having a test? On the first day? That's rather absurd, in Ume's opinion.
"You want to be heroes, right? No need to waste time on trivial things like that." Aizawa drawled out. "Do you remember the standard no-quirks-allowed tests from middle school? The government is still insisting to prohibit quirks when it comes to grading. That's not rational." That's new. Ume doesn't know that. She never went to school.
"What's your best throw in middle school, Bakugou?"
"Sixy seven meters, I think."
That voice! It's a lot calmer and more composed, but that, without a doubt, is "Kacchan" who went and purposely stumbled her. Again, how is it that someone like him is accepted by the school?
"Now add your Quirk to the throw. You can do as you please as long as you stay within the circle." Aizawa instructs. For a brief moment, nothing happened. But then comes a loud "boom" and a shout of "DIE!" that made Ume jump on her spot and yelped embarrassingly loud. In the midst of the silence, a robotic female's voice is heard, "705.2 meters!"
"That's one way to expose yourself during a stealth mission, Matsuyuki." Aizawa's comment only made Ume to want to bury herself deep underground where no one would find her. "Well anyways, that was an example to know where your body's limit is."
"Woah, awesome!"
"So we can use our Quirks freely?!"
"705 meters? That's amazing!"
Ume wanted to chime in with her own happiness and excitement, but it quickly went down when she feels the air feels a little colder, and the atmosphere turned heavy. What's going on now?" She wonders.
"Awesome, huh... You have three years here. Until then, I wonder I you can keep saying that," she hears Aizawa. "Right. The student with the lowest score in all eight tests will be judged hopeless...
...and punished with expulsion."
Do you read the manga? Have you read the newest chapter?
See you next update!