出る釘は打たれる

Deru kugi wa utareru

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.

"For today's Basic Hero Training, it's turned into a class with three instructors: All Might, me, and one other person," Mister Aizawa announced with his usual lackadaisical attitude. The entire class perked up at the words "turned into". Something had changed? For my part, I was hitting my head against my desk, remembering yesterday's training session with Mister Aizawa.

"98!" I called out, kicking the heavy bag again. "99! 100!" I stopped, putting my arms behind my head to keep myself from bending over as I panted. I turned to the sleeping bag laying on the floor in the back of the gym. "M-mister Aizawa! I f-finished!"

Mister Aizawa rolled over, still tucked inside his precious bed roll. "Good," he grunted. "Now do 100 push ups."

I gulped in fear, reluctantly lowering myself to the ground. I hated push ups with a passion. Getting into position, I lowered myself, touching my nose to the ground. "One!" I called, lifting myself back up.

"We're going to the USJ tomorrow," Mister Aizawa said without warning. My arms buckled as I glanced at him, startled. My face slammed into the ground, and I covered my abused nose with my hands, letting out a small whine. Mister Aizawa ignored me and continued to speak. "We'll be doing a rescue activity in squads. I want you to assign the groups."

I sat up, pinching my nose to stem the blood flow. "Of c-course, Mister Aizawa," I said nasally, activating my quirk to heal the damage. The rush of steam blinded me.

"Don't stop working," Mister Aizawa muttered, rolling back over. I stared at my nose, cross eyed. Mister Aizawa coughed loudly, and with an exasperated sigh, I returned to completing my 100 push ups. Mister Aizawa heard me sigh, and added, "Make that 150 pushups."

I groaned in defeat.

Hanta Sero raised his hand, shouting over the din, "Excuse me! What will we be doing?"

Mister Aizawa held out a card, similar to the one All Might had used before, reading "Rescue". "For today's Basic Hero Training, it's the trial of Rescue," he said, lacking all of All Might's enthusiasm. "Be the hero everyone needs, whether it's a flood or disaster." He sounded like a robot reading a motivational poster. I covered my mouth with my hand, suppressing the urge to laugh. The class burst into conversation.

Izuku, in a show of brilliance, turned to me. "Ichigo, can you tell me what's going on?" He whispered.

"Y-yeah!" I chirped, smiling shyly. "M-mister Aizawa explained it a-all t-to me yesterday. I'll t-tell y-you on the bus," I pointed to the front, where Mister Aizawa was watching everyone talking sourly. Izuku nodded, turning back to face the teacher.

He was right on time. "Don't get ahead of yourselves," Mister Aizawa reprimanded, pulling a familiar device from his pocket. With the click of a button, the shelves holding our uniforms extended from the wall. "As I was saying, this time, it's entirely up to each of you, whether or not you wear your costume. Some of your costumes probably aren't adapted to the task at hand, after all," I perked up at this. I wouldn't have to wear that ridiculous, provocative costume again! Yes! I squirmed in my seat, suddenly much more excited about the USJ trip. Mister Aizawa hadn't told me that yesterday, probably because he wanted to see me uncomfortable, the sadist (I loved Mister Aizawa, but he was very mean). "The training area is fairly far away, so we'll get there by bus," Mister Aizawa continued. I smiled smugly at Izuku. "That's all. Go get prepared." Mister Aizawa finished un-epically.

I bounced out of my seat, grinning at Izuku happily. "I-I'm s-s-super e-excited a-a-about th-this!" I cheered, pumping my fist in an imitation of Ochako.

"Yeah, this is going to be cool," Izuku agreed, walking up to the shelves. He pulled his uniform out of his locker, and frowned at it. I tilted my head, and tried to jump up and see what he was looking at. I barely reached chest level on Izuku though, so I ended up failing miserably.

"W-what is it?" I stammered, looking at Izuku curiously.

Izuku glanced down at me. "I don't think I should wear my uniform. Last time, it ripped very easily, and…" he paused, lifting the rabbit-ear-thing up slightly.

"Oh," It did look stupid, I had to agree. "W-well, maybe you sh-should a-ask about having th-the c-costume r-remade with a more durable m-material?" I suggested. "Th-that would be a r-reasonable request. M-maybe t-take the gloves and b-boots for now. I'm n-not going t-to wear all of m-my c-costume either."

Izuku looked at me in surprise. "Really? Why? Your costume is awesome," he complimented.

I blushed. "I-it is a b-bit…" I paused, searching for a polite way to phrase my thoughts, before giving up. "... s-s-s-slutty."

Izuku's eyes widened comically. "I-Ichigo! Your costume isn't - you d-don't l-look -" he flushed as well, unable to repeat my words.

"I-I'm n-n-not comfortable w-with it a-anyways," I continued, shrugging. "I-I n-need the b-body suit, s-so I'll just p-put that on a-and pull th-the gym u-uniform over it," I smiled, hands on my cheeks to hide my embarrassment. "I-it's b-better th-that w-w-way!" Before Izuku could respond, I ran over to my locker, which was on the lowest shelf. Grabbing the body suit and steel toed boots, I darted into the girl's locker room.

I shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, waiting for the bus. At the head of the crowd, Tenya was at full throttle, complete with a whistle and loud shouting. I tried to find Izuku or Ochako, but I was too short to see anything but a mass of legs. In the end I gave up, lingering at the back of the group and pouting futilely.

"Kurosaki," I flinched, spinning around to see Todoroki. The teen was wearing his costume, but it was fairly similar to the gym uniform anyways. I fidgeted under his stare for a moment, now able to compare myself to the person I'd suicidally charged during the Battle Trials. I didn't even reach his stomach.

I looked at my feet meekly. "Y-yes?"

Todoroki stared unblinkingly, making me shrink inwards further. "I may have lost during the Combat Trials, but I won't lose this time," he stated evenly.

"O-okay!" I nodded eagerly, taking a step back. "G-good l-l-luck with th-the t-trial th-then!" I bowed, trying to escape the tense conversation. Todoroki made a quick movement, reaching up to adjust his collar, and I jumped back several feet, instinctively cringing. His heterochromatic eyes widened. I turned bright red. "I-I - i-it isn't wh-wh-what y-you're th-thinking!" I squeaked, fleeing towards the bus.

As soon as I had a seat on the bus, I deflated. Pressing myself against the window, I sighed. I had reacted the wrong way, like an abused child. I hadn't been abused, I was just overly anxious, but no stranger would know that. Closing my eyes, I did my best to calm myself.

"Hey, Ichimi," I opened my eyes, staring in horror at Bakugo. "I'm going to sit here." He demanded, taking the seat next to me. He didn't say anything else, glaring at Izuku determinedly across the bus. I was equally fixated, wondering why the irritable blonde, who claimed he was going to "beat me black and blue", was sitting next to me.

A wave of cold brushed my back. Shivering in fear, I turned, eyes the size of dinner plates. Todoroki had taken the seat behind me, and was staring at me blankly. I trembled, and turned back around slowly. I slumped in my chair until I was hidden from his gaze, but I was sure that he could look down and see me anyway (damn height advantage!).

Bakugo's hand sparked next to my head as he clenched his fist, growling lowly. I jumped up, squeaking in terror. As soon as I was high enough, I met Todoroki's eyes, and was hit with another wave of freezing air. I fell back into my seat, shivering from both fear and cold. This bus ride was going to be pure, undiluted hell, I thought miserably.

After a long bus ride, where I divided my time between hiding under the seat from Todoroki and pasting myself against the window to avoid Bakugo, Class 1-A arrived at the USJ. Cowering in my seat, I waited for Tenya to call my name before fleeing the bus. I spotted Mister Aizawa standing near the doors, and fled towards him immediately.

"M-mister Aizawa," I panted, adjusting my scarf. "Th-the s-students will b-be ready s-soon, I w-wouldn't s-suggest making th-them wait." Already, the other kids were beginning to talk as they walked inside the facility. The large dome looked remarkably similar to Universal Studios Japan, but the USJ was far from a theme park. It was a training facility, and a dangerous one at that. I winced at the sight of the burning building in the distance. Today's training would be painful.

Mister Aizawa grunted in acknowledgement. "Thirteen!" He called over my shoulder. I turned to see a man in a spacesuit, who easily towered over me. I gulped, attempting to shrink behind Mister Aizawa. The teacher easily sidestepped me, waving casually at the Spacesuit Guy. "The entire class is here."

"Of course, Aizawa," Spacesuit Guy said kindly, leaning over slightly to look at me. "Who's this?" Mister Aizawa glanced at me expectantly, clearly unwilling to answer for me.

I clutched the sleeves of my jumpsuit. "M-my n-name is I-Ichigo Kurosaki," I mumbled. "U-um… d-do you m-m-mind if I ask wh-who y-you are?"

Spacesuit Guy appeared taken aback, the white glowing circles under his helmet expanding. "I am the Space Hero, Number Thirteen," he answered. My eyes widened. His name was a number? How odd… "It is nice to meet you, Miss Kurosaki." He looked over to my classmates, who were growing steadily more rowdy. "I will get started now, Aizawa," Thirteen decided, heading over to the class.

I turned to Mister Aizawa. "U-um, M-Mister Aizawa? W-will I b-be p-participating today, o-or on s-standby f-for healing?" I asked quietly, secretly hoping I wouldn't have to be part of this activity. Todoroki and Bakugo wanted to use this activity as an opportunity to compete, and I had zero interest in doing so.

"You'll be participating," Mister Aizawa said monotonously, crushing my feeble hopes. "If anyone is majorly injured, you'll be on call, however." He narrowed his eyes at me. "I'm sure you're wearing the cooling suit under the gym uniform," I fidgeted at the reminder I had chosen not to wear my costume. "Which means you have an hour before overheating, correct?"

I nodded frantically. "Y-yes, Mister Aizawa!" I chirped. My quirk generated a lot of energy during activation, which raised my body temperature and created steam. That limited the amount of time my quirk could be activated before I spontaneously combusted. My costume had been designed with a bodysuit that helped regulate my temperature, giving me up to an hour before I would be forced to deactivate my quirk or implode.

"Then your goal is to avoid using your quirk as much as possible," Mister Aizawa ordered me. My eyes widened in surprise. "With a quirk like yours, your goal is to activate your quirk as late into a battle as you can manage. Today, I want you to delay that as much as possible." His eyes were intent, and his voice was fuller, less lackadaisical and more powerful. He seemed like a hero.

I stared at him for a moment in shock, before grinning proudly. "U-understood, M-mister Aizawa!" Mister Aizawa was lazy and sadistic, but sometimes he was really, really cool. Moments like this reminded me of that.

"BRAVO! BRAVO!" The moment ended with the cheering of the other students. I turned around to see my classmates clapping as Thirteen bowed. He must have finished his speech. My smile softened. How was it that Pro Heroes were always so inspirational? Was it something they learned, or was it just a gift?

Could I be like that, one day?

Mister Aizawa slouched over, hands in his pockets. "All right, first things first-" I glanced down the steps casually, hearing the fountain stop. My eyes widened.

"M-m-mister Ai-aizawa!" I called out, suddenly feeling very, very scared. I pointed at the odd black hole wavering in the air. "Th-there's s-s-someone c-climbing out of th-that!" Sure enough, a hand appeared at the edge of the portal, pale white contrasting with the odd off-black of the spinning vortex.

Mister Aizawa reacted faster than I could even see, appearing in front of me and blocking my view of the portal. "HUDDLE TOGETHER AND DON'T MOVE!" He ordered loudly, throwing me backwards. "THIRTEEN, PROTECT THE STUDENTS! THOSE ARE VILLAINS!"

I landed on my butt several feet backwards, eyes watering. There were actual villains here, and Mister Aizawa was planning to fight them. I needed to help him, but I couldn't move. I was worse than useless… I was helpless, shaking in terror. My stomach swelled with nausea, my hands trembled, and I laid on the floor catatonic.

From the portal, more villains appeared. The vortex of darkness expanded, as faceless goons exited. They were grinning, glaring, laughing, and I could just barely see the man in the back, the first to exit the portal, who stood and watched. He was covered in unattached hands, and despite being smaller than any other villain present, he scared me the most. I met his eyes, and my world froze.

The vortex shifted, until the vague outline of a head appeared, with glowing yellow eyes. "Eraserhead and Number Thirteen…" he mused, barely loud enough for me to hear. "According to the teachers' curriculum we procured yesterday, All Might was supposed to be here."

"I knew it," Mister Aizawa muttered, scarf rising into the air around him. "So, yesterday was the doing of you louts." He shifted his feet, getting ready to charge. I could hear the other students panicking behind me. I could feel my heart begin to rapidly flutter, my body became cold, and suddenly there was an unbearable weight on my chest. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't- "ICHIGO!" Mister Aizawa glanced over her shoulder, eyes glimmering red behind his glasses. "Get the other students out of here," he said. "I'm trusting you."

Then he was gone, flying down the steps towards the hoard of evil minions. I forced myself to stand, turning around to Thirteen. My hands were still shaking, my heart was still beating madly, and I still couldn't breathe, but Mister Aizawa trusted me. No one had ever done that before.

"M-Mister Thirteen!" I called, turning around to face my classmates, who were in the same state I was. It made me feel slightly better. The scratches on my palms stung, and I clenched my fists. "W-we need to g-get e-everyone out of h-here!" I swallowed, pulling together what little confidence I had. I remembered the words of the vortex villain, and shouted, "TH-THEY'RE HERE FOR ALL MIGHT!"