A/N: A new chapter! Thank you guys so much for the support!

SwanGirl24: Hmmmm we'll see! XD

SnowAssassin217: Yes! Some sibling moment! And perhaps Master Yen Sid will come to play his role haha

Revolt679: From DA? And 'when' what? About Hikari's scar from the keyblade war? I haven't written her story up to KH3 yet so we can't read about that haha

SilverStar56: Thank youuuu! She can trust those pros and her friends! She just wanted to keep them safe!

Ironman forever: he truly is!

MetalQueen: Hikari didn't want to burden her friends or anyone with her problems. She thinks they don't need to get themselves involved in danger. Shinsou isn't the only one lmao, but I promise this story focuses on friendship and adventure instead of ships (cuz I find it more entertaining to write friendship and adventure instead of romance? Lol)

7: thank you

Null-Drei-Acht: OHO! I wrote an Au for that! It would be pretty bad for both sides and Hikari works as a vigilante instead. Pfffttt, you're not the only one lol

Shiro Usagi Dobutsu: agree lol

Gamelover41592: thank you!

AmericanNidiot: He doesn't know it yet lol

Chapter 22
the first move

Morning classes seemed to go by without a hitch.

It was basically the same routine they do every other day. Hikari's classmates questioned about her absence the other day, and she replied with the usual excuse. 'I wasn't feeling well' and everyone seemed to buy it. Tokoyami did advised her to take good care of her health—the same from her seatmate, Yaoyorozu.

It was rather strange when her homeroom teacher didn't question her about her absence. Though the appearance of her mentor made her think there was going to be another long discussion. Judging from how Riku explained the situation, she knew her mentor was involved. She just hoped it wasn't going to be another lecture or scolding from the principal.

Hikari glanced up to look at the speaker inside the classroom when she heard the familiar tune before an announcement.

"First year student, Leonhart Hikari. Hound Dog would like to speak with you. Please head to the counseling office at once."

"I repeat—"

"Mr. Hound Dog? Oh, geez! Good luck, Leonhart!" Kaminari whistled, passing Hikari a sympathetic look. "I heard he's the type to lose his cool when you say something wrong."

"I think everyone will do the same, Kaminari." the brunette said as she stood up from her seat. They were on break for fifteen minutes after mathematics with Echoplasm and she was trying to copy the notes Yaoyorozu lent her when her name was called. "Sorry, Yaoyorozu, can I borrow this until lunch?" she gave an apologetic look, clapping her hands together in front of her.

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Of course! Please don't rush! You can return it to me anytime." she said with a smile.

"Hey, hey, Leonhart, what did you get into this time?" Mineta teased as she walked pass by his table.

Hikari gave him a dry laugh. "Who knows? Tis a secret!" she pressed her fingers to her lips, making the purple haired boy stare at her with a curious look.

The brunette left her classroom, leaving her energetic and sometimes chaotic classmates to discuss the whatever the conversation takes them to. She has to admit, her classmates were louder and more energetic than her classmates back in Destiny Islands, but that probably has something to do with their current department.

She wondered what would happen if she got accepted into the General Studies Department instead of the Hero Department. Of course, she would use the UA Sports Festival as her chance to get noticed by pros and a chance to be transferred to the Hero Department. Though, that would mean she has to fight with Shinsou for a spot in the Hero Department. Their friendship didn't start off so great, but they're now good friends. She thought if she was in the General Studies, she wouldn't be friends with Shinsou and would be his rival instead.

'It has it's plus and minus...' Hikari hummed. The hero department was filled with challenges—starting with villains chasing her left and right. Despite being worried about the villains threatening her classmates' safety, she was glad they have some sort of ability to protect or fight back. She worries about them, but she also has to trust in their abilities.

Knock knock

"Pardon the intrusion!" Hikari opened the door, peeking inside the room. She stopped by the door, scanning everyone inside the room. A large man with scruffy blond hair and a fluffy fur vest. She saw the pro hero a few times during her visit to the teachers' office. The Youth Counselor, if she wasn't mistaken. Her homeroom teacher was also inside the room, sitting beside the counselor.

"Take a seat, Leonhart. We have a lot to discuss." Aizawa said from where he sat, glancing to look at the girl by the door.

Hikari took the seat across from them awkwardly.

"I'm sure you already know Hound Dog, the Youth Counselor." Aizawa said.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Hikari bowed her head to greet him and he nodded his head in return.

Hound Dog huffed. "Do you know why I called you here?"

The brunette gave a small and nervous laugh. "It's because I skipped school yesterday?" she admitted guiltily while avoiding eye contact.

"That too." Hound Dog gave a nod. "Not only that, but you also managed to deceive your mentor with a double."

Hikari gave a tight smile. She felt bad for tricking Hawks with a Jestabocky. She thought it would just be a regular policeman or some other pro hero, but as it turns out, it was her mentor himself. She prayed the pride and ego as the number three hero weren't too big, silently hoping he wasn't too mad about being tricked by a high school student.

She didn't know how much they suspected her of knowing 'something'. She admits, she has been rather suspicious to everyone—especially about her background and Quirk. She kept a lot of secrets from them, all for the best and their safety. Though, she just hoped they don't take it the wrong way.

"We've heard that you wished to resign from UA?" Hound Dog said, his voice low sounding almost like a growl. The muzzle made him speak a bit muffled, but she heard it loud and clear.

Hikari blinked. "Oh yeah! About that—"

"Your parents agreed to sign it, correct?" Aizawa piped in, glanced over to the table to look at the folded piece of paper.

"Well, Riku was the one who signed it, but yeah!" Hikari replied, rubbing the back of her neck while giving them a sheepish look. Riku told her what he told the teachers. He just told them her grandfather was against the idea and nothing else. "My Grandpa didn't really agree to it, but we managed to convince him!"

Hound Dog let out a huff of air. "Leonhart, this isn't about your family agreeing to let you stay in the dorms or not. It's about why you thought about leaving UA in the first place." he said and Hikari couldn't help but be surprised.

The brunette sighed. "Oh..." All Might was the only person she told about her reason for leaving UA. She trusts All Might, she really does. She understood why All Might told the others, but she hoped other than that, he didn't tell them anything else. Of course, the City of Heroes deserved to know about the dangers of Heartless, but with the current situation, she was afraid it would stir more conflict. If they can, they wanted to solve the problem without anyone knowing.

There was a moment of silence.

Hikari looked down. "I... was afraid that if I continue, I would just put everyone in danger." she admitted with a frown. If anyone was in her shoes, they would've made the same decision. She was sure, even All Might or the pro heroes would do the same to secure the safety of their students. "I mean... that's what I thought at first, but... even if I quit UA, the villains would still come after everyone."

Hound Dog's eye twitched.

"I changed my mind to join the dorms, since this way I can deal with the villains—" she paused when she felt a threatening presence within the room, coming from the youth counselor himself.

"Grrr—! You're just a—grrr student!" Hound Dog snarled and began to yell out incoherent words that was drowned by his growling and howling. Hikari leaned back just a little when the counselor stood up to continue his lecture. She has heard the pro hero was famous when he was angry. "You—grrr—us! There's grr—reason—!"

After a series of what seemed to be a lecture, Hound Dog sat back down, his arms crossed over his chest.

Hikari struggled to translate the words, she turned to look at Aizawa, hoping he knew what the counselor was saying.

Aizawa sighed. "You're just a student. You need to rely and trust us more. There's no reason for you to worry such things, that's our job as pro heroes, Leonhart." he summarized and Hound Dog nodded his head with a huff. "What we need to do now is take precaution and prepare to what's going to come in the future."

"I know..." Hikari sighed guiltily. She didn't mean to question the pro heroes' abilities. "But... I can't help but think it's my fault that I'm constantly putting UA in danger. It's my responsibility—!"

Hound Dog stood up. "There you go again!" he shouted and the brunette couldn't help but flinched at his sudden outburst. "What did I just say?!"

"To rely more on my teachers?!"

"Exactly!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hikari sighed deeply.

"Young Leonhart?"

"Oh, Mr. Yagi, good morning!" The brunette raised her chin to greet the man. There was only one person who called her that and it was none other than All Might himself. His voice sounded less boisterous, meaning he was in his skinny form instead.

All Might tilted his head when he saw her tired look. "Is everything alright? You seemed tired." he pointed out. He heard her name in the announcement, he knew Principal Nezu asked Hound Dog to give the girl some counseling, but he doubted counseling was that bad. Then again, this was Hound Dog they were talking about who was known to lose human speech when he's mad.

"I'm good! It's just well... you know..." Hikari laughed dryly. Hound Dog gave some good advices, it's just that she needed Aizawa to translate every word of it since the counselor was mad when she kept on blaming herself for the attacks. "Yeah... It went well." she smiled at the end, giving a thumbs up.

"I see..." All Might blinked, letting out a chuckle.

Hikari cleared her throat. "Oh yeah! I did what you told me and thought about it through—I decided to stay in the dorms!" she said cheerfully. Of course, what Hound Dog said was true. She needs to rely on the teachers and pro heroes to keep their students safe, but no matter how much Hound Dog lectured her, she has taken it as her responsibility to keep UA and the City of Heroes safe from the Heartless and villains.

"I'm glad!" All Might replied, relief was heard in his tone. He was afraid the girl might choose to leave due to how dedicated and stubborn she is.

The brunette raised her hand, balling it up into a fist. "I'm not sure what the villains are planning... but whatever it is, I'll be ready for it."

"We'll be ready for it." All Might corrected her and she looked up at him, her expression turning to a determined smile. "I'll keep on reminding you, Young Leonhart. I'm not letting you go through this matter alone, that is my promise as the number one hero and as your teacher." he said, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Hikari grinned, raising her fist. "Yeah, I know... Thanks!"

All Might bumped the girl's fist with his own.

The brunette parted ways with the pro hero. The counseling took longer than she expected. It took them the whole third period for Hound Dog to talk to her. She didn't mind missing a few classes, but she just hoped Cementoss' literature topic wasn't too hard to follow.

"Leonhart," the girl stopped on her tracks to see Tokoyami. The bird boy was standing by the stairs when they saw each other. She jogged to catch up with him.

"Hey, Tokoyami, what's up?" Hikari asked, standing beside him.

The bird boy blink. "Did you not receive the message?" he asked and the brunette tilted her head in confusion. She didn't get any message from Aizawa or Hound Dog or even All Might. She was just told to go back to class and remember what they had discussed. "Hawks have requested a moment of our time. He's waiting for us in front of the teachers' office." he informed, summarizing the whole text.

"What? Really?" Hikari quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket, checking the notifications. She opened the messaging app and tapped on the group chat. What Tokoyami said was right. Hawks asked if they can meet in their break. "Oh man! Sorry! I didn't realize there was a message!" she apologized, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish look.

Tokoyami sighed softly. "Then it is a good thing we crossed paths." he said before walking down the stairs, leading the way to the teachers' office.

The moment they turn the corner, they already spotted their mentor's red wings. It was the first thing they notice—Hawks' red wings stood out from the building's blue and white interior.

Hawks noticed the two students as well. "Hey~ took you two long enough!" he laughed as he greeted the two. They gathered across the teacher's office, standing beside the floor to ceiling windows. "I heard you got into counseling." he said suddenly, looking at the girl.

Hikari laughed. "It seems like the whole school knows about it by now. Mr. Hound Dog just wanted to talk about my absence yesterday." she admitted, passing an apologetic look to her mentor.

The pro hero hummed. "Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye."

The two interns exchanged looks.

"Goodbye?"

"What? You two want me to stay here?" Hawks teased, poking fun at the two teenagers. "As much as it sounds tempting to relocate, I rather go back home to my cozy hometown! But thanks for showing that you'll miss me!"

Hikari was rather disappointed to say goodbye. During their internship, she enjoyed working with him and his sidekicks. He was more like a friend because of the short age gap between them. She considered telling Hawks the truth about the Heartless and the fact she is a wielder. She knew about Hawks knowing she is a wielder, but she just thought it would be better to tell him herself.

Both Tokoyami and Hikari exchanged looks. They bowed their head in unison, "Thank you so much for taking us under your care."

The man laughed, raising his hand, waving off their formal attitude. "You're saying it as if this is the last time we'll ever see each other!"

"That's true..." Tokoyami hummed in respond.

Hikari straightened up, a grin on her face. "Yeah! I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for internships in this course!" she said positively.

"That is if I haven't lost interest."

"Now that's just mean!"

Hawks laughed again, "Kidding, kidding! You two are the best interns I could've asked for." he raised both of his hands in defeat when Hikari tossed him a half-hearted glare. He shoved his hands into his pocket, taking something out. "A little something from me." he said as he held the items out for his interns to take.

It was something small. A bracelet with a charm shaped like a single feather—it was colored in red, just like Hawks' wings.

Tokoyami took one as Hikari did the same. "I don't want to sound rude, but isn't this one of your merchandise?" he asked, giving the man a deadpan look.

"It is~"

Hikari squinted her eyes to look at the details. "Oh wow, talk about self-advertisement... but thanks anyway!" she grinned, saying it jokingly as she placed the bracelet inside her blazer's pocket. It wasn't necessarily against school policy to wear accessories—they allowed her to wear earrings, but because she saw no one was wearing bracelets. "I wish we have something to give you in return..." she hummed.

"No worries! The memories you gave me are enough." Hawks said rather dramatically, tapping his temple a few times.

The brunette covered her mouth as she let out a snort. 'He sounded like Lea for a moment there.' she smiled.

"Keep in touch and I'll see you kids later then."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

[Please be careful of the closing doors.]

"See you tomorrow, Hikari!"

Hikari waved her hand in return when Uraraka stepped out of the train's car. "See you tomorrow!"

The door closed with a hiss.

The brunette checked the time on her phone before pocketing it again. It was around two in the afternoon. During the week, UA have a special schedule for the students. They dismissed their students early since they thought students have to pack up and prepare for the dorms. It gave her a lot of free time until Riku comes home from recon. As usual, there was someone keeping an eye on her, the police, she assumed.

'I can go around town and see if I can find anything...' Hikari decided to get off at the next station and look around the shopping district. She could go home and pack her stuff, but there wasn't much to pack from the start.

They couldn't find anything in Musutafu that would lead them to the new organization. Riku said he would be doing some recon outside of Musutafu and won't be back until later tonight or tomorrow. If Hikari can, she would join Riku to help him with recon, but the person tailing her would suspect something if she suddenly went out of town for no reason at all.

The small shopping district wasn't that crowded during the weekdays. She could look around the shops without fear of being squeezed in a crowd. It only took her thirty minutes to look at the stores that caught her interest.

Finally, she decided to take a break at one of the cafes inside the shopping district. It was a two-story western style coffee house. She bought herself an ice-cold drink and head on over to the second floor. There were many vacant seats and she decided to take one by the corner.

'At least I can do some homework... I feel sorry for the person in charge of watching me today.' Hikari thought as she took out her literature homework and writing utensils.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later someone sat on the table beside her. She glanced to look at the man, but paid no mind to him and returned to do her homework.

"Lovely weather we're having, right?"

The brunette looked up from her paper and glanced to look at the man beside her. She looked left and right before pointing to herself.

"Who else am I talking to?" The man chuckled.

Hikari laughed, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Oh, yeah! It's a great weather—though the weather's getting a bit warmer nowadays." she was used to how friendly people are and didn't mind much having a conversation with a complete stranger. After that it was back to silence. She decided to go back and do her homework.

The man, she noticed, was wearing a white face mask. Oval-shaped glasses were perched on his nose. He wore a simple dark blue businessman suit. He pulled down his mask and took a sip from his coffee.

"Are you Leonhart Hikari, the key wielder?"

"Yeah."

Hikari froze. It slipped. It slipped pass her lips as if she was saying it casually. She placed her hand over her mouth, turning her head to look at the man with wide eyes.

His quirk?

Hikari closed her mouth shut as she placed her hand to cover it, giving the man a suspicious look. She didn't know if she can call this man a friend or foe. Judging from his looks, he looked like a nice man, but she can't help and raise her guard around him. If she made one wrong movement, he could hurt everyone inside the building.

"You don't need to be so tense, young lady!" the man said, chuckling at her expression. He smiled and placed his disposable cup on the table. "We know of you, but we just wanted to hear it straight from yourself."

Hikari narrowed her eyes at him. "You wanna take it outside, pal?" she said lowly, slightly threatening the man. The word 'we' made her think of the organization with the little punk who threatened to hurt her friends. Other than the new organization, the League of Villains also knew of her identity as a wielder. Aside from those two organization, she wasn't sure.

The man raised both his hands in mock surrender. "I have no intention of starting a fight."

"Then what's your purpose? You must've been following me."

"I just want to have a little chat."

Hikari didn't reply.

"We've been looking for you actually." the man began. They were playing it casual, doing their own things while having a conversation. There weren't that many people at the second floor, but they would certainly notice if a fight broke out. The keyblade wielder thought she should listen to the man's words and gather information before taking any action. "We've been searching around to look for fellow key wielders."

"What? You're some sort of organization trying to start a rebel?" Hikari accused, frowning at the man.

"You didn't let me finish," The man sighed softly. "It's quite the opposite. We're trying to create a safe haven for people to live without fear. For decades, wielders have been seen as a dangerous enemy—we want to change that image." he said.

For a second, Hikari almost believed the man.

She decided to play along.

The brunette stopped writing and acted like she was considering his words.

"If you're interested, feel free to give us a call." As the man stood up, he slipped a piece on paper on her table. "Oh and do keep this as a secret. We don't want anyone putting wielders behind bars, now do we?" The man left soon after.

Hikari stared at the piece of paper. She pocketed it inside her blazer's pocket and her fingers brushed against the bracelet Hawks gave earlier that day.

Should she tell the pros or not?

She hasn't even told them the fact she's a wielder.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Nemoto Shin sat on the driver's seat, closing the door with a click. He fixed the mask covering the lower part of his face and adjusted the rear-view mirror. There was a man sitting at the back—a man with short dark hair and a black face mask.

"How did it go?" the man questioned.

"It went well." Nemoto replied, taking pride in his success. They knew about the police and pro watching the key wielder. The fact they managed to talk to the key wielder without being found out was something to take pride on. As a former con artist, he did a pretty good job convincing the key wielder.

The man with the black mask, Overhaul, hummed in respond. "Good."

"She was rather cooperative, despite what Mimic have spoken." Nemoto said as he drove the car. He took a turn to the right. "Though she has to make her decision quick. UA will soon establish their dormitory system. Taking her won't be easy if she's under watch 24/7."

"No."

Both Chronostasis and Nemoto glanced at their leader.

"Forcing her would only lead to resistance." Overhaul replied and glanced to look at the phone they have prepared for the call. The phone was old fashioned, but it was secured and couldn't be tracked in case she decided to involve the pro heroes and police.

"Mimic's approach wasn't exactly... friendly." the man in the white raincoat, Chronostasis, said. He couldn't help but agree with Overhaul's words. "It's no wonder she felt pissed off."

Overhaul crossed his fingers together as he looked out the window. "We've waited this long for a wielder to appear—"

"We'll wait."