Hi guys!

A bit of context to this story: The timeline is tweaked a little. It takes place right after the provisional exams, then follows up with a time skip of two months. In that time, the rest of the high school world continues on with their studies, then goes off on a semestral break. The fight between Midoriya and Bakugou happens soon before the start of the second semester, instead of right after the provisional exam.

And with that, here's chapter 2 for all of you. I had to split it in half because it was getting a bit long, so I'll hopefully get the next one out sooner. Enjoy!

Chapter published on: 1/23/2019 (PHT)

"Hikari-chan, give us a speech!"

From where she sat on a picnic blanket, Ria turned away from her conversation with Nami to looked back at one of their classmates. She tilted her head in confusion. "What for?"

"What do you mean, what for?" another classmate said, nearly choking on the meat he had stuffed into his mouth. "We all passed the provisional exams! Aren't you proud of us?"

"Of course I am," Ria answered, her expression neutral and slightly dumbfounded, "Isn't that why we are having this picnic?"

Nami perked up from beside her, "Well yeah! But do you know how rare it is for an entire class to even pass at our school? Let alone a first-year class?"

"You might have been the first freshmen to pass at our school, actually." Kanazawa-sensei chimed in, flipping some skewers on the grill.

Sounds of surprise filled the air, only to be replaced with varying reactions of happiness from the class. Kanazawa-sensei crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. She shook her head at them, amused. "Don't let it get to your head though. This just means you all have to work harder."

"Hai!"

"But really, Ria-chan, you should give a speech," Nami reasoned again, raising her water bottle to her lips to take a sip.

"Yeah," someone yelled, "Go on, Class President!"

"Come on, Iincho! Speech, speech, speech!"

"Hibiki, put that thing away." Ria sent him a weary look as people began to join him, and he flashed her a grin before continuing to chant. Soon enough, the rest of her classmates followed suit, until their voices began to clash with the peacefulness of the riverside. "Speech! Speech! Speech!"

And despite her comment, Hibiki did not put away the camera he was holding, continuing to point it at her increasingly disgruntled face. "It's for documentation!" he laughed.

Kanazawa-sensei smirked at her, placing her hands on her hips "I don't think you have a choice, Hikari."

Ria looked around with fond exasperation before eventually shrugging and standing up. Cheers and claps sounded before eventually dying down. Everyone—save for Kanazawa-sensei—was seated on the grass and looked up at her expectantly.

She cleared her throat and addressed her classmates. "Alright…Well, let's see. First of all, we cannot deny that none of us would have been able to pass the exam—or apply for it, for that matter—without Kanazawa-sensei, so please so give her a round of applause for consistently bearing with us and helping us improve our quirks. Thank you, Sensei."

"Thank you, Sensei!" her classmates repeated. Ria bowed to their homeroom teacher respectfully.

Kanazawa-sensei laughed heartily at the applause, before raising her beer to them. "Don't think this means that I'll be going easy on you guys from now on. The work is just beginning."

Ria continued on. She tipped her head to glance up at the sky briefly. "Now, I'm unsure as to why you all want me to give you a speech. To be honest, this feels a little bit strange because I knew that everyone would pass."

"You knew that we would pass?"

Nami flashed her a look of confusion. "What do you mean, Ria-chan?"

"Of course, there was no way to know for sure. But, I saw how hard we all worked to prepare for the exam, and I guess I had a feeling that we would make it." Ria shrugged again as a wide grin spread across her face. "I know that sometimes, hard work isn't enough. Most of Japan hasn't even heard of Natsukashi High School, so it's natural to think that the odds were stacked against us and that other hero schools had something that we didn't. Maybe some of us thought that we weren't good enough to do it or that we didn't have what it took to be heroes at all."

Her eyes spread across the crowd, sharing a quick look with everyone. "But I had faith. In the support we had for each other. In our hard work. I knew that we wouldn't leave anyone behind if we could help it. All of those days that we spent training has come to fruition this week. We are not going to win every battle or triumph against every obstacle, but this time, we did."

Bending down, she picked her juice-filled cup from the ground and held it up. "So I suppose, I'll be making a toast. This toast is for us. For all our hard work, and for all the hard work we have yet to put in. One day, we will make our school known to the world, and if we can't do that, then we will at least make our class known."

"Yeah!"

"They won't know what hit 'em!"

Ria smiled, "And lastly, I am proud. So very, very proud to be called your class president," she said, "Let's all be great heroes someday."

She raised her cup. "To the future!"

"To the future!" her classmates repeated, toasting cups of soda and juice.

"It's been two months since the devastating attack that people are now calling The Hero School Massacres. Three schools that housed training programs for both hero and support students were attacked, killing three hundred and five people and injuring seventy-six. In addition, the group that allegedly perpetrated this attack has posted a video, which has now gone viral, explaining their intent to further attack schools with hero training programs. Since then, there has been major unrest amongst citizens as worry has spread—"

Ria turned the knob of the radio silently, turning it off.

She looked back to her dad, smiling pleasantly. "As I was saying, it's going to be hard to see you now on the weekdays, but I'll make sure to visit at least once during the weekends. Plus, I'll be calling you and mom every day."

"You don't have to worry about that, Firefly," her dad said, waving her off, "We'll be fine."

Ria nodded absently, and a moment of silence passed by between the two of them. Her eyes traveled to the window, where warm light was streaming through. Hand raised, an orb of light manifested by the window and floated towards her. She stared as it hovered in her palm, before it disappeared into her skin. Her brows furrowed slightly in thought.

"Are you sure you're alright with me going?" she asked almost suddenly, "It is not too late for me to back out. I could train at home for a few months and take care of Hiro, or I could work at the theatre and help pay the bills."

Her dad let out a hum, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. He stroked the hair on his beard, contemplating. When he looked back at her, he reached out his hand and watched as she held it in her smaller one.

"I believe the real question is: Are you sure you want to go?"

Ria nodded immediately, a glint passing through her eyes. "I'm sure."

Her father smiled tersely at her, and she took note of how his jaw tightened. All the same, he gently pulled his hand away and moved it to cup her face. She put her hand over his and closed her eyes. So warm.

"Then go."

His eyes locked onto hers and they briefly shared a look before he let his hand fall. She squeezed it and got up to fix her things. Picking up her grey school blazer, and she shrugged it on before heading to the door. "Bye Papa."

As her hand reached out for the doorknob, her father spoke up again. "Firefly."

"Hm?" she looked back at him. He smiled warmly at her, a hint of something unreadable in his expression.

"If you want to talk, or if you feel sad…" he said slowly, choosing his words. "I want you to know that it's okay to talk to someone about it, okay? Your mother and I… We love you very much, and we're both here if you need us."

Ria froze for a second, a look of hesitation passing through her face. Her father leaned back on his hospital bed and crossed his arms over his chest. She gave him a small smile. "I love you too, Papa."

He nodded, "Off you go, then. Do your best."

"I will."

She had anticipated this already, but U.A. was undeniably the biggest school she had ever been to in her life.

As Ria walked around the campus, she could not stop herself from looking around. Each room they went to seemed to offer something new to look at. The classroom doors were enormous, the hallways were so much wider than she was used to, and there were security cameras everywhere. Around her, her fellow new students were doing much of the same thing, Hound Dog-sensei leading their group through the school.

As they finished up the tour, Ria and the other students were taken to a big courtyard. By then, many people had gathered and were lined up in an orderly fashion. Her eyes skimmed the crowd, wondering if she would recognize anyone from previous sports festivals she had watched.

Eventually, she gave up her search and resigned herself to being ushered away to the side with her fellow new students. She felt a few stares from the crowd of students to her left, but she ignored them all. It makes sense that people would stare.

This was nothing new.

When all students had settled down, a very fashionably dressed mouse got up on stage and stepped onto a stool. Ria's eyes lit up in recognition. Principal Nezu.

She had done a bit of research on U.A. prior to her transfer there. The principal was a known figure even without the school's massive name. In fact, it became a known fact that his IQ was one of the highest in Japan.

And he wasn't the only one with a positive reputation, either. Majority of the teachers were well-known heroes as well. Ria had seen many of them in magazine or news articles, as well as in videos. Some of them stayed away from the press, but one could not deny that each teacher had impressive sets of skill.

But to bring all of these heroes together… Ria thought to herself, Principal Nezu must have very important things to say. Her eyes trained on him as he addressed the crowd.

…and then as he began talking about hair care and lifestyle choices.

Ria blinked in confusion, wondering if she heard him right. She glanced over at the students at her side. All of them were listening to the principal, but a lot of them also looked bored. A small smile spread on her lips.

As the top hero school in Japan, Ria had expected U.A. to be serious and formal. However, at the present moment, she was relieved to think that she might be wrong. Apart from its massive campus, it seemed very similar to regular high schools.

"But! The thing that has majorly thrown my lifestyle off-track is, as everybody knows, that 'incident' that occurred this summer." Ria's eyes lit up in attention, her head inclining in interest.

Principal Nezu continued, "The loss of a pillar…"

She let out a small hum in understanding. After all, who hadn't heard of the Kamino Ward incident? Her eyes traveled to the side of the stage, where teachers in attendance stood. And then, she saw him.

All Might.

It was odd to see him in the state he was in…thin and sickly. During most of the times she had seen him on TV, he had always taken a massively muscular form, so much that Ria's sister had once asked their mom if the Symbol of Peace could crush someone's head if it were pressed hard enough in the bend of his arm. Now, his real body betrayed the mightiness of the image he'd given the world years ago. At a passing glance, one might easily think he was frail or that his lanky body could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

And yet, as he looked over the crowd of students, All Might stood tall. Like he's not afraid of anything in this world.

"You're next," she remembered hearing his voice on TV, and for a second, her lips turned down in a barely visible frown.

Principal Nezu's voice rang through the crowd. "The effects of that incident are beginning to appear even faster than we imagined," she brought her eyes back to the stage and paused when she realized that he had then turned his head towards her and her companions.

"Great difficulties have already begun to emerge in our society, as evidenced by another incident that happened a few months ago." Ria stiffened, knowing exactly to which he was referring to. She glanced back to her companions as various reactions of unease took over their demeanors. "For those of you in the department of heroics in particular, it will be most prominent." Ria took a deep breath.

"And for you in your second and third years involved in your hero internships, you must have an even more increased awareness of this crisis situation." She blinked. Hero internships?

Though she was aware of what they were, Ria had never actually taken one before. Because of the attention the school got, it was common knowledge that first-years at U.A. took internships after the sports festivals. From time to time, one would hear about a U.A. student on the news. But to have them take on work whilst balancing studies as well… U.A. really must have an intensive hero program.

"I know this is a heavy topic and that the effects have been bleak," she heard the principal say, "But even if the outlook is grim, the adults are currently doing their best to somehow do something about it. I would like you to someday develop into people capable of continuing their work."

Her expression became serious. Ria nodded to herself, determined.

"Whether you're in the Department of Management, The Department of General Education, The Department of Support, or The Department of Heroics, please do not forget that you are successors to our society!" He exclaimed, "You are the future!" And with that, Principal Nezu stepped back and walked off the stage proudly.

"It was a good speech," Ria whispered to herself as he finished.

Vlad King went up on stage to pick up the step stool, tucking it under his arm. His head leaned towards the microphone. "Well then, lastly, a few cautionary words from our lifestyle guidance teacher, Hound Dog."

Ria watched as a familiar figure went up to the stage. It was a welcomed sight to see someone familiar, even if she had only spent a portion of the morning with him during her tour. Hound Dog had seemed nice enough. Perhaps he was intimidating to look at, but when one actually talked to him—

A growl tore through the crowd. It grew louder and louder, until the teacher began barking into the microphone.

Ria's head tilted forward a bit as she watched him grunt at them. Somewhere in between his angry dog sounds, he managed out a few words. "Used to…life…dorm…" A final howl of frustration left him before Hound Dog seemingly gave up, exiting the stage.

Silence swept over the student body, and Ria was fairly sure that she was not the only one who wondered what had just happened.

Vlad-sensei stepped up to the microphone again and cleared his throat. "What he meant to say was: Last night, there was an unauthorized fight at Ground Beta between two students," he explained, "You may be unused to life in the dorms, but let's try to live a life of moderation."

Fighting students, she thought, curiosity peaked, I wonder what they could have possibly been fighting about.

With that, Vlad-sensei announced the end of the opening ceremony. Her student group was the last to leave the courtyard, and Ria watched as the large crowd of students dispersed. Principal Nezu approached them before they left.

"Ah, new students!" he said with a wave of his hand, "I would like to officially welcome you into U.A.!"

"Let's see… Today, you'll be continuing normal classes." Aizawa noted, going over the agenda on his notebook, "There has been an unprecedented number of incidents lately, but it's time to shift back and fulfill your duties as students. Today will be limited to classroom lectures only. However, there will be tougher training later in the semester-"

"He's not talking about it…" someone whispered, catching his attention. Aizawa's eyes lit up in their usual, frightening red glow, his hair and scarf floating menacingly around him.

"Yes, Ashido?" he bellowed in annoyance. The alien girl in question jerked up and shuddered visibly.

"Eek! I haven't felt this sensation in so long," she squeaked, "So creepy…"

"Then maybe you should pipe down."

"Uhh, but Sensei?" she said, sheepishly raising her hand, "I really do have a question."

Aizawa let his hair and scarf fall back down around his shoulders, his arms crossing over his chest. "What is it?"

"What's with the extra desk?"

The rest of the class murmured in agreement.

"Yeah, Sensei," Sero added, "It's been there since we got here this morning, and none of us know why."

"Do we have an exchange student, perhaps?" Yaoyorozu asked, tapping her chin in thought.

Aizawa sighed. "If you had just been patient…I was getting to that."

He regarded his class seriously, and everyone remained silent as they waited for his answer. "As you all know, two months ago, we had the Hero School Massacres."

Majority of the class shifted, all eyes sparking in attention now. Aizawa continued, "A lot of schools have reached out to the survivors and offered to either accept them into their schools or allow them to take an entrance exam."

"U.A. was one of those schools, right?"

Aizawa nodded. "Not a lot of the survivors took them up on their offers. In fact, Japan as a whole has faced its biggest decline in hero course enrollments this semester, having dropped by ten percent."

"Ten percent!" Iida exclaimed, fists slamming on his desk in surprise. "That's absurd!"

"That doesn't seem too big," Kaminari commented.

Iida shook his head at him, "It only seems small, but that's actually a huge chunk of students."

"Over forty-nine thousand, in fact," Aizawa stated.

"What?" Mineta exclaimed, "Are you serious? How do so many students just decide to up and leave?"

Aizawa grunted in acknowledgment. "If you think about it, that's forty-nine thousand less heroes in the future," he lamented, "So, if anything, what we can learn about this incident is that public perception matters. It's suspected that majority of why this is happening is because of that video that was posted and the threats it contained to students."

Ojiro crossed his arms over his chest in thought, "I suppose that makes sense. If the video wasn't posted and it had just been the attack, would the reaction be this big?"

"But Sensei," Asui said, raising her hand, "What does this have to do with the extra desk?"

"Despite those numbers, some people actually do still want to become heroes," he explained, "I told you that the events from that day would determine what would happen next. This is what happened next."

He walked over to the door to open it. Aizawa nodded to someone on the other side. "Please come in."

From the time the massacres happened up until this very day, Ria had become painfully aware of things that people did when they recognized someone who had gone through something traumatic.

Most common reactions included: whispering behind her back, or—for lack ideas of what to say—simply not talking to her.

She absolutely hated it.

But, in some ways, she understood why the reaction was like this. Her fight was broadcasted on the news, and in addition to that, she was one of the few students that survived. It was only natural that people would recognize her. Plus, being the daughter of a pro hero only amplified everything. Really, it might have been more surprising if no one noticed her.

But overnight, she went from being known as "The Daughter of Halley Comet" to "Hero School Massacre Survivor"

Also, everyone had that look in their eyes when they saw her. Some people tried to hide it, and while it was a nice enough gesture...

Not a lot of them were good at doing so.

As Ria walked in, she wondered what type of reactions she would get this time. Many people from the General Studies had already stared during her tour of the school, so she braced herself for anything. It didn't matter how they reacted. It really didn't.

She prolonged looking at anyone until the last second anyway.

"Y-you're—" She heard a voice say. There it is. Ria plastered a friendly smile on her face, like she hadn't heard the red haired guy's remarks nor saw the look of surprise that passed over everyone's faces as she stood before them.

"Everyone, this is Hikari Ria. She will be joining our class from now on."

Ria nodded at the introduction and kept her voice as even and as bright as possible. "It's nice to meet you all. I look forward to working with you."

Silence.

It swept over the room for a moment that seemed to go on forever to her. Ria had wondered if she was supposed to do something else to break that tension, if that was possible. The smile on her face remained in place, but behind her back, she gripped the handle of her bag a little tighter.

This is getting off to a great start, she thought to herself. She really ought to say something. Anything, really, before the silence became unbearable any longer and she spent too much time standing at the front of the class that—

"She's totally cute!" Two boys exclaimed. The smile she had plastered on slipped off in her surprise, her eyes snapping to a blonde haired boy with black highlights, as well as another shorter boy with purple…balls…on his head?

"You're both unbelievable…" A girl with short dark hair sighed, her hand pressed to her forehead in exasperation. The earphone jacks that dangled from her ears sprang forward to hit the two boys in the back. Their bodies visibly shook before each one of them slumped in their desks.

Another guy stood up, his glasses catching in the light in a way that prevented her from seeing his eyes. He pointed his hand at the two boys in an almost robotic fashion. "Kaminari! Mineta! Cease your foolishness immediately. You're giving a bad first impression to our new classmate!"

"Iida-kun, you're the one yelling though…" A brown haired girl said gently from behind him. Iida stiffened and immediately sat down, fists clenched in embarrassment.

"My apologies," he said, his head hung.

Ria's eyes looked over everyone in surprise. Suddenly, a few people were laughing and the room became more animated. This is…different, she thought.

She heard a sigh beside her, and she turned to where her new homeroom teacher stood. He gestured to a desk in the back row. "Please take the seat over there."

She nodded and made her way over. A girl with black hair tied in a ponytail smiled as Ria sat down beside her.

"Hello, Hikari-san!" she said pleasantly as she held her hand out, "My name is—"

"Yaoyorozu Momo," Ria finished. She smiled as a look of surprise passed on her seatmate's face. Ria shook her hand. "I remember you from this year's sports festival. You did very well."

"Thank you," Yaoyorozu said. Beside her, a head of red and white hair shifted and Ria's eyes locked onto grey and blue eyes that stared back at her. Todoroki Shouto, she remembered immediately.

"Nice to meet you," he said quietly. She nodded at him in acknowledgment.

"Nice to meet you too."

The boy with the purple balls on his head turned to look at her, a massive grin on his face. "My name is Mineta. Most charming man in this classroom! If you need anything, especially any sexual favors—" From across the room, a tongue lashed out and smacked the back of his head. Ria blinked in surprise.

"Don't mind him," another boy with black hair said, having jerked his head forward to narrowly dodge a tongue to the side of his face. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "He tends to go overboard. I'm Sero, by the way."

"That's enough," Aizawa finally said, "Save the introductions for later."

"Excuse me, Sensei?" Another girl chimed in, her hand raised. Ria scanned the seating chart that she had been given. Asui Tsuyu"I have a question. During the opening ceremony, they mentioned something called a Hero Internship. Could you please tell us about that?"

"Actually, yeah. The principal did say something like that." Sero looked over his shoulder to the person behind him. Tokoyami, Ria remembered, Third place at the sports festival.

"I was wondering as well."

"He said it was something many of the upperclassmen are engaged in," Yaoyorozu noted beside her.

Aizawa-sensei scratched his head thoughtfully. "I intended to talk about that another day…But I guess it's more logical to tell you about it now."

Ria raised her chin slightly in interest. Internships. She had remembered hearing that as well, and she'd be lying if she said that it didn't interest her greatly. The concept of a hero internship made sense, especially when she considered how advanced of a school U.A. was. However, she did not think that they would have internships so early on in school. She expected that students would need their provisional licenses before being allowed to go to any sort of dangerous activities, and that commonly happened to second-years. It's also uncommon for first years to try to get their licenses anywa—

"—Hikari! …Aren't you proud of us?"

Ria's body stiffened. Her eyes closed in what would look like a long blink to anyone around her. She didn't let the thought linger, pushing it to the back of her mind immediately. Her eyes fluttered open again. Glancing around, she was pleased to see that she did not seem to give off a big reaction and that everyone just seemed to be listening to their teacher speak.

"To put it simply," Aizawa began, "It entails hero activities outside of school. It's like the workplace experience you did with pro heroes before, except this is the real deal."

"So we had that kind of system…" she heard someone say.

Ah. Right. Ria's brows furrowed slightly. In this situation, she was many steps behind the majority of her classmates. It was to be expected, of course. U.A. did, after all, have the best hero program in the country. Compared to them, Natsukashii's program was much smaller and was practically invisible. It was a journey and a half to even try for the licensing exam. A lot of effort was put into proving to people that despite the small scale of their hero program, it was worth continuing, and-

It doesn't even exist anymore.

Someone smacked the surface of a desk loudly, snapping Ria out of her thoughts. Her head snapped to Uraraka Ochako as she shrieked, "Why did I work so hard during the sports festival then?!"

"That's right," Iida noted, "If we have hero internships, even students who didn't get scouted from the sports festival will have paths opened up for them."

The guy beside Uraraka, Sato, tried to reassure her. "Okay, calm down, Uraraka. This isn't like you."

"B-but!"

"The hero internships will use the scouting and offers you gained during the sports festival as connections," Aizawa continued, "This isn't a part of your studies but is instead done at the discretion of the students. Those who weren't scouted at the sports festival will probably have a hard time participating."

"That's a shame," Ria whispered to herself.

"Originally, hero agencies would recruit individually, but there were many complications with trying to get U.A. students to join, so this method was created," he looked over at Uraraka pointedly. "If you understand, sit down."

She bowed her head slightly and sat down. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"Now that you have your provisional licenses, you can assist in more real ways for longer periods of time. But, there haven't been many cases where first years have received their provisional licenses, and with the increased activity of villains, we are considering your participation cautiously."

He shrugged, "Well, we'll have you hear more about it and explain in further detail at a later date. We have our own things to consider."

"Anyway, sorry to keep you, Mic," Aizawa concluded, gathering his sleeping bag under his arm. The door opened, and a booming voice greeted them.

"First period! Time for some English!"

"Hikari-san!" Iida exclaimed, speeding to her desk at the start of their lunch period. "My name is Iida Tenya! I am the class representative of Class A. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask me."

Ria smiled, pausing from her task of putting her books away. "Thank you, Iida-kun! I appreciated it."

"Lively as usual, eh Iida?" Uraraka said as she came up behind him and grinned. "You might scare her off, you know."

Iida froze, as though contemplating the fact. He bowed his head quickly. "I-I apologize! I did not mean to come off too strong."

Ria put her hands out in front of her in reassurance. "No, you're fine. I think it's very nice that you are welcoming me."

He pounded his fist on his chest lightly, taking a somewhat military-like stance. "Of course! It is my duty as the class representative to ensure the well-being of all my classmates."

"That's very admirable of you," Ria said honestly. She bowed her head and continued to put her stuff away, her smile faltering for a second.

"Hikari-chan," Yaoyorozu said pleasantly, "Would you like to join us for lunch? You are more than welcome to sit with us."

"Yeah!" Uraraka cheered, "It'll be fun! We can all sit together at lunch and get to know each other!"

"I'm in!" Kirishima said.

"Me too!"

"This sounds fun!"

"It will also allow us to introduce ourselves better," Yaoyorozu said.

"Good idea, Yaoyorozu!" Iida said enthusiastically.

"Actually," Ria confessed, holding out the seating chart for them to see. "I've actually spent a lot of time learning your names. I also know most of you from watching the sports festival this year."

"Huh, I guess that's true," Ashido said, looking over the chart, "But hey, that doesn't mean we can't get to know each other anyway."

Ria nodded. "Alright then."

"Wow, this is the most that anyone's stared at us in a while!" Kirishima exclaimed as he set his tray down beside her.

He was right. Though Ria had done her best to blend in with Class A as they walked, she was only successful up until their group dispersed to get food. She had been in line with Hagakure when she realized some of the people in front of them were murmuring amongst themselves and looking at her. For the most part, she had been fairly good at ignoring it. Any time she looked like she noticed them, nearly anyone staring at her would simply look away anyway. However, she felt bad that the rest of her class had to deal with it as well.

"I'm sorry," she said, glancing around her, "I think it may be because of me."

"Hey, don't sweat it!" Kirishima said, flashing her a grin. "We've gotten used to it by now."

Ria tilted her head. "You've have?"

"Well, yeah!" he said. "I mean, first there was that attack that happened to us at USJ."

"Then the attack at the training camp," Kaminari chimed in, taking a bite of his pork chop.

Hagakure seemed to raise her hand up. "Don't forget the time Bakugo got kidnapped."

"That was the training camp."

"Oh, right."

Uraraka gulped down some of her juice. "Don't worry about it. It usually goes away in a few weeks."

It hasn't gone away for two months, Ria thought, but she nodded all the same and forced a tiny smile. "Alright then. Thank you."

"Besides," Mineta said, jerking his thumb to the table near them, "At least it isn't as bad as their table."

Ria followed her eyes to where he was pointing. She frowned. The table consisted of three people from her tour group this morning, all of them looking increasingly uncomfortable. One of them—a second-year girl named Inoue, who had purple hair down to her neck—spotted her. Ria held a hand up in greeting, and the girl nodded back with a sheepish smile. Ria wondered if she should get up and talk to them, perhaps ask her new classmates if they could sit with them. Would that make things worse?

"Well, well, if it isn't Class A!" she heard a voice say from behind her, interrupting her train of thought. A few people around the table groaned, and Ria turned around to see a blonde boy staring down at her.

Sero propped his head on his palm, unimpressed. "Come on, Monoma, haven't you had your fill of mocking us from this morning?"

"Nonsense! I will never get enough of mocking you," he said, resting his hand on his chest with a flourished gesture, "But no, I'm here for a different reason."

Ria blinked when she realized that he now held his hand out to her. He flashed her a smile that she could not understand. "Monoma Neito. It's very nice to meet you." She regarded him for a moment before shaking his hand.

"Careful, he's kind of a nut job," Jirou said, taking a spoonful of her pudding.

Monoma laughed loudly, only to stop a few seconds later, his face completely calm. Ria's brows rose at the abrupt change of his expressions, wondering if she had seen him before. If she had, it was probably at the sports festival.

"Monoma…"she wondered aloud before her gaze snapped up to him again. "I remember now. You're the one with the Copy quirk, aren't you?"

"Very good!" he said, "It appears you've heard of me already. That puts us on an even playing field."

"Pardon?" Ria asked.

Ojiro sighed. "Here we go…"

"Well, I've been doing research on you as well," he explained, "Hikari Ria. Sixteen years old, daughter of heroine Halley Comet and Kai Hikari, the owner of a theatre. You were top of your class in your previous high school, then you transferred to U.A. And your quirk…"

He held his palm out, and she watched as he absorbed the light of a nearby lightbulb. An orb of light manifested in his palm, and he let it hover there, smirking. "…Appears to have something to do with the manipulation of light energy."

"Wow," Ria ground out, forcing a smile on her face, "I suppose I no longer have to introduce myself then."

Ashido leaned over to whisper to Tsuyu. "Stalker…"

"It's a shame," Monoma said, "You would have made such a wonderful addition to Class B."

"Alright, that's enough," another voice interjected. "Can't you stop harassing Class A for long enough to let me eat lunch, Monoma?"

"Yeah, man," said a guy with grey hair and sharp teeth, "You sounded like a real creep when you said all that."

"Hey guys!" Kirishima greeted. "Hikari, this is Tetsutetsu, and that's Kendo. They're from Class B too."

"Nice to meet you," Ria nodded.

"Wow!" Kendo said, "I haven't seen another red-head like me in a while. Your hair's a bit darker than mine, but I say that we could use a few more gingers in this school."

Ria looked down at her own hair in thought. Kendo seemed friendly enough, and the rest of Class A didn't seem to mind her and Tetsutetsu being around.

"Kendo! Don't compliment the enemy." Monoma argued. Tetsutetsu rolled his eyes.

"Come on, man. You sound even crazier than normal."

"I am not! U.A. attains a new hero department student in her first year, and she goes to Class A? It's not fair, I tell you!"

"What are you talking about?" Kendo said, crossing her arms. "We had the same amount of students. She probably just went to Class A because their class name literally come before us in the alphabet."

"I think that's absurd! Class A always gets all the attention, and now they have a new student too!"

Tetsutetsu sighed. "I really don't think that matters, Dude."

"It does! They're gaining more attention and unwarranted popularity as we speak. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! A conspiracy—" He was finally cut off when Kendo hit him with a well-placed karate chop to his neck. His body went limp.

"Should've done that earlier," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry about him. He's a little too serious about this kind of stuff."

Ria shook her head. "It's fine. He's very…spirited."

"That's one way of putting it," Uraraka mumbled.

"Anyway," Kendo said, grabbing the back of Monoma's collar. "I'll go get this guy back to our table. If you ever want to dress up as twins for Halloween, I think we would look really cool as the Measly twins."

"Alright," Ria replied evenly, "I'll let you know if I get invited to any Halloween parties."

Kendo grinned and nodded. "Come on, Tetsutetsu. Let's go."

As interesting as her lunch period had been, the rest of the day had been relatively routine. There were no P.E. classes until tomorrow, so the entire day was spent with regular lecture classes. As a whole, Ria was pleasantly surprised to find out that she wasn't completely lacking when it came to general study subjects. She was a bit behind on Hero History and Hero Laws, but a bit more studying on her end would probably remedy that. If anything, she expected the gap in education to come when they got to actual training. For now, though, she felt content as she walked back to the dorm with the majority of her classmates.

"The 'troubled students' that they talked about this morning are from Class A?" Ria's brows rose up in surprise.

"Yeah…" Sero said sheepishly.

"I suppose that explains the two empty chairs this morning."

Iida held up a hand in front of him, slicing the air. "It was very foolish of them."

"Yes, it was," Yaoyorozu agreed, nodding. "They could have gotten severely punished for fighting like that."

"A few months after the provisional exam too," Kaminari noted, "They were lucky Aizawa-sensei didn't expel them this time."

"Hey, guys," Uraraka chimed in, waving her hands around. "Stop it! You're giving Hikari a bad first impression of them."

"Yeah!" Kirishima said. He grinned at her. "Don't think about it too much, Hikari. They're cool guys."

"Deku is really nice," Uraraka smiled. Ria tilted her head. Deku…?

"I don't think he's the one she has to worry about anyway," Shoji noted.

"It'll be fine!" Kirishima said, laughing heartily, "Bakugou could probably care less."

Whether she intended or not, Ria's smile carried the tiniest bit of warmth. It would take a fool not to see how much this class cared about each other, especially if they were defending two of their own for breaking the rules. They don't know why they were fighting, and yet they don't care.

"Don't worry," she found herself saying, "I'm sure that they're great."

They rounded a corner, and Ria's lips parted in shock when she came face to face with the dorm building. She stopped walking and simply stared at it for a moment. "This is our dorm building?" she breathed out.

There was laughter all around her. "Yeah, we all said the same thing when we first got here," Sato said.

"U.A. has a lot of money," Uraraka interjected again, "Welcome to swanky living."

She nodded slowly, still eyeing the structure. "Right."

They proceeded to shuffle inside the building, some of them dropping their things to a nearby table while others proceeded to plop down onto the nearest seats they could get to. Ria set her bag down on a coffee table in the living room and began to study the map of the building. Iida and Yaoyorozu were at her side, explaining various house rules and goings on within the dorm.

"It looks like we will be staying on the same floor," Yaoyorozu had said, clapping two hands together with a smile. "Feel free to come to me for anything. I am vice president of Class A, after all."

Ria nodded back at her with a small smile of her own. "Now, Hikari, if you will follow us, we can proceed to show you around the building more fully and—"

An explosion rung out above them, and Ria's head jerked up at the sound. For a moment, her blood froze. Another explosion? She thought immediately. A part of her mind began running at the speed of light, and it took a large amount of willpower for her to remain still. Flashes of burnt rubble, knives, and blood entered her mind. She clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. I'm not there. I'm here. I'm safe. I'm okay…

"Iincho!"

Something cold touched her arm, and Ria snapped her gaze up to meet blue and grey eyes staring into her own. She blinked slowly, tilting her head at him distractedly. Todoroki held out a bottle of apple juice, frosted over from where he had cooled it.

"It's Bakugou," he said quietly, allowing her to take the bottle from him.

Bakugou… she repeated the name in her mind, searching it for any answers. Bakugou Katsuki, she remembered in a haze, First place in the sport's festival. He needed to be strapped to the winner's podium. Quirk…

Something in her brain clicked. Quirk: Explosion.

Todoroki quietly watched her, seeming to gauge her reaction. Ria had stared at the apple juice blankly, as Iida and Yaoyorozu spoke about the possible reasons Bakugo had been going off again. Soon, the fog cleared in Ria's eyes. She looked up from the apple juice and nodded at him slowly.

"Of course," she agreed pleasantly. Her hand lifted the bottle in her hands slightly, bringing attention to it. "Thank you."

He nodded in response, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking to a nearby couch. Ria unscrewed the cap to take a sip. Above them, the booming sounds got louder, and though her hands twitched at every explosion, she felt better knowing what they were. A few minutes later, stomping footsteps began coming down the stairs.

"Alright, where is she?" a voice bellowed, getting nearer. "Where is the fucking new girl?"

"Kacchan!" a panicked voiced came behind him.

"Shut up, Deku!"

Bakugou came barreling down the stairs then, scanning the common area. His eyes landed on an unfamiliar head of orange hair and began charging towards it. There was a brief flicker of recognition in his eyes, but it was gone a second later. He jabbed a finger in Ria's direction, snarling.

"You," he said menacingly, "You are fucking dead, New Girl."

Hope you enjoyed!

I do not own BnHA