"Hey, Eraser!" Joke asked impatiently. "I thought UA had twenty kids per class. Why do you have twenty-one? That girl in the purple costume and the green-ish hair wasn't in the sports festival…" For some reason, Joke couldn't put her finger on that girl; she seemed familiar.

"She's a recent addition. I have high expectations for her but she's pulling more weight than I approve of." The complete two heroes sat and both watched the student run straight into the crossfire of the students fighting the UA group.

"That girl's got a death wish!" Joke popped out of her seat at seeing the student's suicide run.

"Sit down, Joke. She's not that dumb." The two watched as the girl looked around for a few seconds, then disappeared with a small bit of purple dust left behind her.

That was when it clicked for Joke. She waited a little longer as the girl fought for another participant's last target. She was surrounded by a purple fog and they could no longer see her.

"Eraser… what's that new student's name?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's Kirika Asuga. Why do you ask?"

"N-no reason… just curious." The woman watched intently as she waited for the girl to appear from the purple fog. Suddenly, the student scrambled out of the fog and onto the ground where she looked like she was coughing. The best part was that all three of her targets were glowing a bright blue. It was then that the lazy announcer came onto the speaker and announced the first participant to pass. The girl looked up at Aizawa and raised a fist to him. A bold gesture, but one she deserved. Aizawa scoffed and shook his head. "That girl…"

Joke filtered through her pockets. She had always made sure to carry it with her just in case. She pulled out a crumpled, dirty note and shoved it into Aizawa's face. "Eraser, read this!"

"What exactly am I looking at here?" He skimmed over the note quickly, he only read took his time to read the name at the bottom. "You mean to tell me-"

"That girl I told you about in the alleyway! She really did exist! And by some miracle she made it into UA and is standing right there!" The pair looked back to see the aspiring hero walk away to what must have been the reception area. "What exactly happened to her? And how in the world did she end up in your class?!"

"That's what you'd call a long story."

I felt a small touch of joy when I saw Joke had kept my letter. Then I realized she had figured me out. I had a small panic attack about how mad she would be at me for not talking to her while I walked to the reception room.

In the middle of my walk, a kid didn't notice my lit-up targets and tried to attack me. He hopped up from a lower spot than I was with some sort of super jump quirk and tried to catch me off guard while he threw his balls at me. Similar to my quirk, his seemed his did little for physical ability—other than his legs, of course—so he threw the ball at me with little force. I put my hand up and caught the ball without much effort. The boy landed on the ground with a nervous face. I tossed the ball back to him before gesturing my lit-up targets.

"I passed, pay attention next time before you you necessarily hurt someone." The boy mumbled an apology before running off to find someone else to ambush.

I finished my walk back to the reception area and find a room with a few tables and lots of seats. Snacks and beverages were scattered about on the tables, free for anyone to take after the exam. I grabbed a small slice of pizza and a cup of water and sat down to take a small nap.

Of course, I was still fully aware when people came into the reception area. The loud, head-slamming student from before the exam was the first to arrive after me. He assumed I was sleeping, but still didn't seem to make an effort to be quiet. He crinkled his water bottle, stomped around loudly, and even tried talking to himself a bit. I wouldn't have been against saying he was trying to get me to wake up. Finally, when he realized I wasn't going to wake up, he sat down and waited for the next person to come in. And, eventually, someone did and then another participant and, one after the other, the room began to fill up. I could hear a multiple of the passed examinees commenting on me.

"You're telling me she was the first to pass?"

"Wow. She's so good that she doesn't even have the light of day to talk with anyone else."

"She's from UA? I don't remember seeing her in the sports festival…"

"That girl couldn't have been the first to pass. She looks like she couldn't even make it out of bed this morning."

"That girl?! You must be joking! I bet I could take her in a fight."

"Dude, she's kinda hot! You should go ask her out!"

I was fed up with the comments and actually a bit hungry so I got up slowly, making myself visible to everyone in the room, and teleported over to one of the tables, grabbed a protein bar, and teleported back to my seat. That'll keep them occupied for a bit.

I went on with my nap charade until someone had the guts to sit beside me. I opened one eye partly to see who it was. I was surprised to see Todoroki sitting to my left.

"Huh, so you really are awake." He took a sip of his water.

"Yep, I couldn't dream of sleeping at a time like this."

"Ironic."

I pondered my statement before giving a soft chuckle. "Heh. I guess you're right."

"So if the rumors I am hearing are true, you were the first to pass?"

I sighed. "People sure do like to talk. But, yes, I did pass first."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you. It wasn't that difficult, though, considering my quirk is one of the best suited for the competition." Todoroki just gave a grunt in recognition of my comment. We sat in pretty much silence after that. Todoroki and I were both quite types and enjoyed our privacy so I don't think either of us perceived the silence as awkward. Nonetheless, I decided to pick up a conversation.

"Hey, Todoroki?"

"Hmm?"

"Your father is Endeavor, correct? I was just curious about how it was like living with him as a kid."

"Oh, um…"

"Oh! Is it an uncomfortable subject? If you're not comfortable answering, I completely understand."

Todoroki continued still. "No, it's fine. My father was… strict. I was his perfect creation with a half-fire and half-ice quirk. I was forced into difficult training and was separated from my siblings to do it. My old man could never dream of surpassing All Might, so I was plan b."

"Todoroki… I'm sorry to hear that. But, hey, at least you got both fire and ice, right? What are the chances of that?" I tried to lighten the mood, but I brought up something even worse.

"Actually, that was the chance my father bet on. Have you heard of quirk marriages, Kirika?"

"…Y-yes I have."

"My mother has an ice quirk and my father used his name and fortune to get his hands on her quirk. All to create the perfect hero under his name to surpass All Might. My mother wasn't ever really happy in their relationship. She was always crying." Todoroki's hand unconsciously went to the left side of his face where his scar was. "She was so emotional one day that… "I can't stand that left side of yours" was what she said before pouring boil water onto my face." I gasped. I really shouldn't have brought up his family.

"Well, I guess it's my time to share." I took a deep breath. "My mother was almost in an arranged marriage. She had a special quirk that could re-structured cells and molecules, so lots of people wanted to get their hands on it. But instead, she fled to America. That's where she met my dad and had my brother and I. We moved back to Japan when I was about nine years old. We weren't even a month into moving when a criminal ripped the supports out of our apartment building. The heroes assumed our apartment was empty since we had just moved in. Every other person in the building was saved except for my family who was crushed by the debris. The only reason I made it out was because of my quirk. I couldn't even help my own brother who was right in front of me…" I straightened my posture and faced Todoroki. I flipped my hair away from the right side of my face and pointed out a rough, jagged scar on my neck. "This scar goes all the way down to my back where it gets even worse and covers it almost entirely. I try to hide it with my bangs, but it only serves as a reminder."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Did you not have any family to go to?"

"Nope. My mom was an only child and my dad's brother eloped from the family without any trace. My grandparents have all passed too."

"That's unfortunate."

"Yeah, I guess. But who can waste time on that stuff? There's so much more we can focus on!"

"Yes, you are correct. We can't let our pasts distract us from our goals, these scars just serve as a reminder of the roads we've taken to accomplish our dreams."

"On another note, what's up with you and that guy who slammed his head in the ground in the parking lot? I've seen you two exchange glances a few times."

Luckily, Todoroki changed the subject willingly. Apparently he didn't want to keep talking about our messed up families either. "I have no idea… maybe its because of my attachment to Endeavor? Lots of people have their own issues with me because of my father."

"Well, if he really knew you as I do, he would see how wrong he is about you."

"What do you mean? The first time I met you, I tried to encase you in ice."

"Oh, yes, I remember. That was… not my best moment." I cringed slightly, remembering my breakdown. Maybe if I hadn't put that blindfold on, we could have avoided the Kamino incident. Maybe All Might would still be… Stop! It's not your fault. You even tried to help. Things ended for the better, right?

"But, I mean that you are an incredibly smart, thoughtful, and persevering person, Todoroki. When you did attack me back at the training camp, you did it without hesitation to protect your friends. And, I'm going to be honest here, lots of people wouldn't have been able to handle everything that you went through and still be strong enough to head into the hero route like you are and, if my experience can tell you anything, it's that your story is one that could have easily taken you down the villain route. That takes courage and a kind of perseverance few people have, so if someone chooses to have a grudge against you because of who you're related to and without even trying to get to know you, ignore them because they aren't worth your time."

I crossed my arms and leaned into my seat. I wasn't that good at pep talks but I only told Todoroki the truth. Everyone has a story they should tell. Perhaps encouraging people to open up about their stories was my way of trying to get myself to tell mine—to tell all of it.

"Well, that was sentimental."

I chuckled a bit. "I try." With that, we fell into a more comfortable silence.

My conversation with Todoroki brought a few bad memories back into the limelight. Especially about how I was first inaugurated into the League. And, more specifically, my first crush and my first betrayal.

~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~

AHHHHHHHHHHHH. I FEEL LIKE I HAVENT POSTED IN FIFTY MILLION YEARS! To all of you who stay up to date and try to keep up with the story, I apologize for my absence dearly. At first, I needed a mental health break. I was dealing with some personal things that I needed some time for. Then, THE HOLIDAYS CAME. Family, friends, cooking, FOOD! It all swept me away and left you all with no more storiesss! Anywayyyyy I'm back! I think that two chapters a week is a bit heavy on my procrastinating schedule so I'll move my posts to Sundays and try to post on Thursdays as much as possible!

But that heart-to-heart with Todoroki though... amiright? When I thought about it, Asuga and Todoroki are more alike than I initially realized. They both have traumatic backgrounds, have family troubles, have pushed themselves to become heroes because of family members, have the background to become villains, are more introverted (though Asuga likes to move out of her comfort zone), and like to keep to themselves (not sure if this also counts as introverted). They both also, in my opinion, have a lot of bottled up feelings... And are great at creating awkward silences.. w See ya soooonnnn!

Peace!