Aaaand, we're back. This is technically part two to the previous chapter, but I figured I'd post it on its own instead.

Hope you enjoy! I do not own BnHA

Chapter published on: 2/6/2019

Bakugou was fucking pissed.

He wasn't a fucking idiot. He knew why he was stuck at the dorms with nothing to do but clean, and he knew why he was locked away while the rest of the extras got to go to school and learn shit. It was his own damn fault, so don't even think about reminding him about the fact. He was one step ahead of you. He knew.

That didn't mean he had to like it.

Plus he had to spend the day with Deku. That in itself would have been punishment enough. He didn't care about what happened with him and All Might or how he now knew Deku's stupid-ass secret. They weren't friends.

Deku was just slightly more tolerable now.

The point was, his day was already going to be shitty. Of course, Aizawa had to make it worse.

They had just finished vacuuming the first floor of the building when the front door opened. The moment Bakugou saw a clipboard instead of a yellow sleeping bag in their sensei's hands, he knew they were about to deal with some shit. Bakugou looked out the front door, glaring when he saw a truck parked in front of their building.

"We have a new student joining our class today," Aizawa said as workers started bringing down boxes from the vehicle.

"A new student?" Deku chimed in, "I wonder who it could be."

"You'll get to meet her later tonight," their sensei answered cryptically, "But for now, I have a task for you two."

"A task?" Bakugou deadpanned, eyeing the boxes. Aizawa looked over both him and Deku, bored.

"Take them to the spare room beside Yaoyorozu's," was all he said, walking away before either of them could say anything and-more importantly-before Bakugou could yell about it.

Aizawa called out, "Think of it as additional weight training."

And thus began the annoying and really stupid task of lugging the new girl's stuff up to her room.

By the time most of the house was finally clean, and the last box was transferred, Bakugou was fucking done. Fuck Aizawa. Fuck Deku. Fuck the new girl. And fuck him for bringing this on himself. He slammed the last box onto the ground when he heard a commotion from outside the window. The extras were back.

"Kacchan!" Deku called out when he began jabbing his thumb into the elevator button, "What are you doing?"

"Shut up, Deku!" Bakugou yelled out, his lips quirking into a maniacal grin. "I'm going to meet the new girl."

"What?! Why?"

"Dammit! This thing is taking too fucking long. I'm taking the stairs."

And with that, he began stomping his way down. Deku ran after him, because of course he did, and Bakugou snarled, picking up the pace.

"Kacchan, stop!" Deku cried, "If Aizawa-sensei finds out, you could get punished even worse this time!"

Bakugou grunted, ignoring him. Like he said, he knew what his situation was. He knew that he was on thin ice, that he could get expelled for doing something stupid.

But he wasn't stupid. He was just very fucking angry.

He just wanted to say hi.

The footsteps behind him grew closer, and he his eyes rolled so hard that he swore they'd roll into the back of his skull. Deku continued to say things, and Bakugou continued to tune them out.

"I'm not going to do anything." And he meant it. More or less. He didn't care who the fucking new girl was, he wasn't going to get expelled over her. Not to mention, he wasn't interested in dealing with his classmates bitching if he ended up traumatizing her. She was from one of those schools that blew up, wasn't she?

Deku didn't seem to believe him though, judging by how fast he ran after him. Not that Bakugou was surprised. It did, however, piss him off.

And suddenly, he was flying down the stairs. He took big leaps from the top of each floor, his hands stretching behind him and sending out small explosions that propelled him forward. They had to be small because fuck if he was going to leave soot from his blasts and clean again. The booming sound echoed through the walls. He was pretty sure he left Deku behind in his wake and was at least one floor ahead of him.

Finally, he got to the bottom of the staircase. Ignoring the looks of everyone around him, Bakugou cast a deadly gaze around the room for anyone he didn't recognize.

"Alright, where is she?" he yelled, "Where is the fucking new girl?"

Then he saw her. It wasn't hard; it's not like Class A had any other gingers. He paused in his tracks for a moment as recognition clicked in his brain. He remembered parts of that day. It was an annoying day for him because they went to class, only for it to be suspended an hour later. It was even worse for other people, obviously. The image flashed in his mind, of her fighting amidst rubble and fire in a fight that was so outmatched, it was almost laughable that she didn't run away.

She was the new girl, huh?

This should be fun.

"You are fucking dead, New Girl."

Ria watched in interest as Bakugou shoved past both Iida and Yaoyorozu furiously, ignoring their protests and scolding. He marched on, until he stood in front of her, staring her down. She looked back up at him curiously, twisting the cap of her apple juice bottle closed. And then his hand swiped up, making to grab at the collar of her blazer.

Bakugou blinked when she dodged him quickly, slipping just out of his reach.

"Sorry?" Ria tipped her head slightly, brows furrowing in confusion. As far as introductions went, this was a first for her. Bakugou scoffed.

"Aizawa told us to move all your shit up to your room, on the fifth fucking floor," he seethed, "You just had to be on the top floor, didn't you?"

"Why didn't you guys just use the elevator?" Jiro asked, placing her hands on her hips. Bakugou whirled around to look at her, his posture almost resembling a feral dog.

"Shut up! How dumb do you think I am? Aizawa told us to use the fucking stairs."

"Oh," Ria frowned slightly, "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that he would make you do that."

"Kacchan!" A panicked voice said from the staircase, "It's our fault for fighting anyway. This is part of the punishment!"

Messy green hair bounced with each step as a figure descended down the stairs at a frantic pace. Ria's eyes locked onto the dark green of his eyes, instantly identifying him. She surmised that he probably recognized her as well, judging by the way he froze when he saw her.

"Y-you're Hikari Ria!" He exclaimed in shock. "You're the new student?"

"Yes," she said back calmly, flashing a small smile. "And you're Midoriya Izuku, right? I enjoyed watching you at the sport's festival."

"O-oh!" he said, reaching behind to scratch the back of his head. He flushed slightly at the recognition. "Thanks."

"Get in line, Deku!" Bakugou yelled, still very much angry, "I get to kick her ass first."

Before anyone could object further, he lunged for her. A small explosion went off in his fist, and Ria flinched before jumping back again where he couldn't reach her. Her back hit a pillar, and she had to duck as another explosion flew over her head. By then, the rest of their class had gathered by them to watch.

"Bakugou!" Iida yelled, trying to get in between them. "Cease this immediately!"

"Yeah, man," Kirishima exclaimed, stepping in as well to shield Ria from his friend's antics, "Couldn't you wait until P.E. to spar with her?"

"I don't think that helps, Kirishima," Ojiro said.

Bakugou didn't answer either of them and instead sent a small explosion Iida's way while he bypassed Kirishima with ease. Ria pushed her hands in front of her, as though the apple juice she was grasping would make a suitable shield from Bakugou's attacks.

"I don't really…" she said, sliding behind a dining table, "…want to fight you."

"Too bad."

She huffed. From the onset, it was evident that he wasn't actually trying to hurt her too badly. The amount of power she had seen him expend on TV made his current display of anger look like nothing. Ria winced as he threw another explosion past her, the sound sending a shudder down her spine. That one nearly got me.

"Should we be trying harder to stop them?" Jiro asked. They had been going on for a decent amount of time, with Bakugou attacking and Ria simply dodging blow after blow. Beside her, Shoji's eyes closed in contemplation.

"It doesn't seem like he'll stop unless we tie him up again."

Kirishima scratched the back of his head. "I guess he got all worked up from staying home all day."

"At least Hikari's still alive," Ashido noted.

"Stop dodging already!" Bakugou yelled, "Don't you have a quirk or something?"

Ria sighed. She was not sure why he was so intent on chasing her around. She didn't think that she had brought that much stuff to warrant such a reaction, but clearly, she was wrong. Maybe she should be thankful though. Perhaps a part of her preferred this reaction to the others she had been receiving lately.

She figured she'd humor him.

"Yes, I do," Ria said finally.

And just like that, all the lights in the surrounding area flew to her. The entire first floor of their building plunged into darkness.

"What the—" Kaminari exclaimed, "Why are the lights out?"

"My phone died too!" Hagakure shrieked.

"I can't see anything!"

Ria moved in the dark quietly, taking quick steps towards the staircase. Her eyes squinted with the effort, not quite used to seeing in such low lighting yet. She tried to remember where everything was, taking advantage of the commotion from her new classmates when she bumped into a few things. She'd return the lights once she was upstairs and away from everyone. Hopefully, Bakugou would think it too troublesome to come after her. If not, she could lock herself away in her room and come downstairs later on.

She probably would have made it, had she not been holding a bottle in her hands.

It wasn't long until the noise around her died down enough that she had to maintain a certain level of quiet. However, in her haste, she moved too quickly, causing the apple juice to swish in her hands. Bakugou smirked, turning around to where she had then stood a few feet away from him. "There you are," he growled.

His hand came towards her, and Ria turned around only fast enough for him to grasp her arm. In the dark, she could make out the tiny crackles of light that came from his palm. She froze when they quickly came towards her.

Immediately, her hands shot out in front of her, lighting up as she began to use her quirk to deflect his.

A splash rang out in the room, and Ria blinked as liquid erupted in front of her. Bakugou let out a grunt of surprise. "What the hell did you do?"

She returned the lights then, squinting at the sudden brightness that the room took on. Looking down at her uniform, she realized that the front of her blazer had been soaked through.

Apple juice, she recognized, pieces coming together in her mind. Her gaze traveled down to the puddle that was on the floor and the broken plastic bottle that now lay half-burning on the ground.

Her arm suddenly burned, and Ria looked up in surprise to a very angry Bakugou, his shirt and hair now drenched with apple juice as well.

"Oh…"

"What the fuck!"

Their classmates had decided that that was a very good time to hold Bakugou back.

"I'm not cleaning that up!" he yelled as he was being restrained.

Ria sat down on her desk chair with a tired sigh, swiveling around in her seat to survey her room.

The space was really starting to come together. Uraraka was kind enough to help her move furniture inside with her quirk, so once all of it was placed down, all Ria had left to do was unpack. She had gone through the boxes with essential items before she finally decided to take a break for the night. Having filled three trash bags already, she knew better than to try to unpack everything in a single night.

She looked up at the wall above her desk, smiling fondly as a few wooden picture frames hung in front of her. Photos of her mom and dad, Hiro, Hana, and a few others looked back at her, reminding her to work hard.

And on her desk sat a single framed picture. It was the only one that held a white frame. The only one that she wouldn't immediately see when she came into her room. As she looked down at it, her classmates smiled back at her, the calm riverbank behind them.

Former classmates.

Grabbing the trash bags, she made her way out of her room and strode towards the elevators.

"Hikari-chan!" Someone said as the doors opened. A floating uniform raised an arm up at her, and Ria figured that Hagakure was waving. Beside her, Ojiro and Jiro greeted her kindly.

"Hello," Ria said pleasantly as she got in.

"Looks like you got yourself cleaned up," Jiro commented, taking in her change outfit. She snickered at Ria. "I can't believe you spilled juice on Bakugou."

Ria smiled back sheepishly. "That was an accident."

"Well yeah, but did you see his face?" Ojiro said, amused.

"It was kind of scary!" Hagakure agreed. The elevator stopped and they got off to the first floor.

"Hmm? What's this dust Bakugou?" Ria heard someone taunt. Going into the common area, she found Sero and Mineta huddling by a window in laughter. Bakugou shook with frustration.

"Deku was supposed to do that shit, fuck off!" he shouted. Turning towards Midoriya, who had been crouching down and tying off various garbage bags, Bakugou barked, "Hey! Can't you even clean properly?"

"S-sorry!"

Bakugou caught sight of her coming in and snarled as he eyed her trash bags. "You're the reason this place is so fucking messy! Your shit made us track dust everywhere!"

She nodded. "My apologies."

More footsteps came behind them as more people began pooling into the common area. Ashido stretched her arms over her head with a sigh, Sato walking beside her as he rubbed a knot in his neck. "Man, I'm beat," he groaned.

"Oh, everyone!" Midoriya stood up. "Put the trash from your rooms out. I'll take it."

There were a few mutters of agreement. Sato and Ashido walked over to Kirishima, who had been on the couch. Sato leaned over on the cushions. "Hey about Present Mic's class…"

"You too, huh?" Kirishima said glumly.

"He just started talking about grammar that we didn't even learn yet," Sato continued with a frown. Ria watched as Midoriya's attention caught onto them and their conversation.

"Hey, about the internships… I never got an offer," Jiro said beside her, "I wonder if I can still do it. Maybe the office that let me come in for workplace experience will let me intern there again."

"I want to do it too!" Hagakure chimed in.

"Hey Hikari, what do you think about the internships?" Ojiro asked her.

I think I absolutely have to do it. She tipped her head in thought, her gaze landing on the ceiling. "I think it's really exciting that U.A. has a system like that," she admitted, fumbling at the trash bags in her hands. "It would be great to join, but I don't exactly have the same connections that you guys have from the sports festival either."

"I guess that's true," Jiro said, crossing her arms over her chest in thought. "Maybe you can try emailing agencies though. You never know."

"Though, it seems like a pretty intense thing to do since you just got into U.A," Ojiro commented.

I've got to catch up to everyone somehow. She smiled easily at him, her expression bordering between calm and slightly eerie. "I like diving head-first."

A look passed on Ojiro's face that Ria was not sure showed whether he was impressed or unsettled by her response. She shrugged at him and continued to smile anyway as he continued talking to Jiro and Hagakure. Ria glanced around, distracted. Some of their conversation filtered through her ears, and she kept half of her attention on them. But, what kept her from listening was the sensation she felt in the back of her head. It wasn't that of discomfort, but she knew the feeling. Ria knew that she was being watched.

She glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of a messy mop of dark green. Midoriya was not specifically staring at her, but rather, their group. A look of concern and agitation crossed his features as his eyes glazed over in worry.

Slowly, she made her way over to him, dragging her trash bags with her. "Midoriya?" she called out gently.

His eyes snapped up to look at her, alertness coming back to his eyes. "Oh, Hikari! I can take that for you if you want."

She paused, hesitating slightly. Shaking her thoughts aside, she beamed at him. "Are you…alright?"

Midoriya opened his mouth to answer her, when Iida slid up to them, his hands making what appeared to be his signature chopping motions. "What's that face you're making, Mr. House Arrest?"

Midoriya turned to him, aghast. "Don't call me that! That's mean!"

"Very harsh indeed." Ria nodded decisively. Midoriya smiled at her sheepishly, scratching his cheek in thought.

"Um, guys? What's the internship everyone is talking about?" he asked.

Ria let out a breath, expression becoming sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Midoriya. I wish I could tell you, but—"

"Do not feel sorry for him!" Iida exclaimed.

"Iida—"

Iida shot him a stern glare, disappointment flashing in his indigo eyes. For a moment, Ria wondered if he would be using his robotic hand to smack Midoriya upside his head, but he did no such thing. "I am angry! We have been forbidden by the teachers to tell you anything about our classes! Sorry, but you two need to fully experience that feeling you have now," he said, scolding. Turning his head, he regarded Bakugou, who had clearly been listening in on their conversation. "Did you hear that Bakugou?"

"Shut up! I got it, damned Four Eyes!" Bakugou yelled. He turned to glance back at them, ruby eyes glaring at her fiercely. "What are you looking at, New Girl?"

"You, it seems," Ria sighed.

"What was that?"

"Nevermind," she said, turning away from him. She didn't miss the growl he let out in response. Ignoring it, she turned once again to her mossy haired classmate. "Midoriya, I can help you bring all this trash out. I think I contributed quite a lot to it."

He waved his arms frantically at her, eyes growing wide in like saucers. "No! It's fine. If anything, I can just make two trips. It's not far."

"I need to know where the trash disposal is anyway," Ria explained reassuringly, "It's no trouble."

"O-oh, alright! Thanks!"

Red and orange tinted the sky, basking the world around her in warm light. Ria smiled contentedly at the sight of it. She always thought that the sky was one of the most magnificent things that nature had to offer. It was always so unbelievably, so impossibly beautiful no matter the time of day. It constantly changed as well and offered something different every few hours.

Every time she looked up, it gave her a sense of peace to see art in the skies. Sunsets, in particular, were special to her. They usually felt like a last opportunity to recharge her quirk with natural light…to get something useful done outside while it was still easy to see, or to simply watch the world transition into night time.

Sunsets made her want to not waste the opportunities she still had left in a day.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind right now," she finally said aloud. "If you don't mind me saying."

Deep down, she knew that she was not really going to ignore it. She and Midoriya had only been walking for a short while, and though they started talking casually with small talk, they soon lapsed into a relatively comfortable silence. She was fine with this. Ria was never one to talk a lot anyway. But, it was hard not to notice Midoriya's expression, crumpled with worry. Perhaps it was her old habits that made her notice. She wasn't sure. She did know, however, that whatever it could be was enough to prompt her to talk to him about it.

Dark green eyes snapped up to look at her in surprise, arms gripping the trash bags tighter almost bashfully.

"O-oh, sorry!" Midoriya stuttered. He offered her a nervous laugh. "I guess I was thinking about how much everyone's already learned in just a day."

Ria nodded at him. "I can understand that," she said, her voice emphatic. "It's only been the first day, and yet I feel like everyone is miles ahead of me."

It just means I need to work harder than I ever have before, she thought to herself somewhat coldly, eyes lighting up in fierce determination for a brief second.

Midoriya paused for a moment, stopping in his tracks. Ria turned back to him in curiosity.

"Midoriya?"

"I don't think that's true," he told her calmly. His mouth opened in surprise, like he had just told her something he didn't intend to say. He blinked various times, and had this arms not been full she expected they would be flailing around frantically. Ria could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he seemed to nervously come up with something to say next.

Finally, he sighed and turned his gaze to lock with hers. "We watched your video on the news," he said hesitantly.

Ria nodded. "Yes, it looks like many people did," she answered gently, reassuringly. She expected it.

Midoriya inclined his head, choosing his words carefully. "But you know, it inspired me."

"Inspired you?" Ria wondered.

"Yeah," Midoriya said nodding his head vigorously. "The odds were kind of stacked against you. And you kept going, fighting alone even when it didn't look good."

But I wasn't alone, she thought. Memories of smiling faces and blood and light green hair flooded her mind. Her throat tightened as she pushed them away. "I think you should save your admiration for the pros that were brave and strong enough to come and end the situation quickly."

"I do!" Midoriya exclaimed in surprise. "I thought they were all really great!"

"They really were."

"Yeah. I just… I admire you too," he said shyly, staring at the ground.

You shouldn't.

Ria smiled at him, plastering the mask on her face once again. Eventually, he glanced up to look at her, and he smiled back hesitantly.

"I don't think you need to worry about falling behind today," she said finally, and they resumed walking once again. "I don't believe that it will be that difficult to catch up, unless you don't like studying."

Midoriya nodded, though he did not seem any more relieved than he had been mere seconds before.

"I cannot be sure what will be happening tomorrow, but—"

There were a great many things that Ria had seen and heard of in her life. One of the things about being in a society filled with super-human beings meant that anything was possible. Animals could mutate and communicate with humans, people were born invisible, and people could turn their noses green if they wished. Really, sometimes what was limiting was not the possibilities of their world but rather, one's imagination to think of them.

This was the world they lived in.

However, even she could not have expected that she would come across a face protruding from a wall on their way to the trash disposal area.

She saw it from the corner of her eye first. In her surprise, she barely took note that Midoriya had stopped walking alongside her as well. Slowly and stiffly, they turned to look at the face.

It parted its lips to smile at them.

"Trash is that-a-way!" he said cheerfully. Suddenly, a hand came out of the wall as well and proceeded to point in the direction they were headed. "It's fine if you throw out food trays and stuff into the burnables."

"Ah…Right." Midoriya said slowly, jaw dropped in shock

The face nodded enthusiastically before disappearing within the wall again. For a moment, both of them continued to stare at the empty space in complete and honest confusion.

"I think I'm finally going insane," Ria breathed out.

Midoriya jerked his head to look at her. "But I saw him too!"

"Perhaps we are both going mad then," she lamented softly, eyes closing in thought.

"So you are the problem child, right? And the new hero transfer as well!" a voice said from beneath them.

"Gah!" Ria heard Midoriya yelp as he jumped back. She froze in place, expression blank and incredibly uncaring for the situation and the logic that was just thrown from it.

The face, now protruding from the ground in front of them, piped up again. "It must be my lucky day!" he bellowed enthusiastically, "I've been wanting to meet both of you."

"Meet us?" Ria repeated. The face rose up even more, exposing bright blonde hair and part of a neck that bent to nod vigorously at them.

"Yeah! Caught you off guard, did I? Guess that's my bad," he laughed loudly, eyes unblinking. It unnerved both of them. "Though I did it because it'd give you a spook."

Midoriya spluttered, his face aghast. "Who—What exactly are you?"

"Ha! That's a good question. I wonder that myself sometimes! I'm not sure I even know, and that's rare."

What on earth is going on right now? She stared back, speechless. There is a face…in the ground.

"Ah well, you'll know about me soon enough," the face said when he faced their stunned and thoroughly confused silence. "It's heartening to know you have the proper amount of prep."

"For now, all I can say is," he continued, "The rumors about you had me curious, so I thought I'd come to take a look."

And with that, he left, face sinking into the ground once again. For a moment, both Ria and Midoriya stood there quietly, gripping trash bags that they'd been holding for an eternity at this point.

"What the heck…" Midoriya finally said softly, "…was that?"

Ria cleared her throat, "U.A. has some very interesting characters."

"So, the rules are simple! We all ask Hikari-chan one question each, but we have to answer the same question for ourselves too. Does everyone get it?" Uraraka explained, pumping a fist in the air.

Dinner had ended by now, and most of them had moved to the living room to sit around and chat. For a good portion of the night, Ria had spent some time getting to know her classmates and answering their questions as well. Most of the questions she was being asked at that point were by her female classmates, who all joined her on the couch.

At some point, Kaminari had complained about not being able to ask her anything, with all the other stories that were being talked about. This then led the rest of the girls to create a new game out of getting to know her.

Tokoyami put a hand to his chin in thought, "This implies that we must think of our questions carefully then."

"Yup!" Ashido chimed in, "So don't ask anything you don't want to answer!"

"A truth game with a twist, huh?" Sero said, "I'm in!"

"Wait, everyone!" Iida said, flailing his arms, "We must be considerate of Hikari's feelings! She may be averse to answering so many questions."

"Yes," Yaoyorozu agreed, "We should make sure she is fine with this idea first."

Ria smiled pleasantly, nodding at the two class officers in gratitude. "I'm alright, you two. Thank you."

"Oh, alright then," Iida said. He then stood up abruptly, excitement bounding in his entire body. "The game shall now begin then!"

"He seems like the most excited one though," Kaminari commented wryly.

Asui put a hand up when Iida finally settled down. "I will start then," she said, "Hikari-chan, how would you like us to call you?"

"Just Ria is fine," was the easy reply, "Though if some of you would like to refer to me with my last name, I don't really mind."

Asui nodded, poking her finger into the corner of her mouth. "Ria-chan it is then," she said, "To answer my own question, you may call me Tsuyu."

"Alright then, Tsuyu," Ria said kindly.

"You can call me Ochako too!"

"And me, Tooru!"

Ria nodded at them, smiling brightly. "Okay."

"Alright, who's next?"

Thus began a whole other round of questions thrown her way. Ria was quite surprised to find how normal they were. Though all of her classmates had been nothing but nice and considerate of her that past day, a part of her half-expected to be asked more serious questions. She realized that the rules of this game were probably designed to be considerate of her, but so many people and so much of the press had asked her so many things when she went out that that it was almost odd that these people weren't.

And yet, for every question being asked, Ria found herself growing a little more at ease.

"When's your birthday?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Favorite food?"

"Favorite desserts?"

"What kind of music do you like listening to?"

"Are you as dazzling as moi?"

"What kind of panties do you—ack!"

"He doesn't get to ask a question," Jiro said dryly, her earphone jack connecting with the back of Mineta's head. Many people hummed in agreement.

"Alright, who's next?" Ashido wondered, looking around the haphazard circle they had made, "Midoriya!"

The green-haired boy perked up at the mention of his name, hand on his chin in thought. "What exactly is your quirk, Hikari?"

She tilted her head at him in interest, while he continued, "I know we've seen you use it, but I've been wondering what it is specifically."

"Hmm," Uraraka intoned, "I admit I'm a bit curious too."

Ria nodded. It was a good question. "Well," she started, "The short answer is that my quirk is Light Manipulation."

She held her palm up, and in a split second, all of the lights in their first floor flew from their respective sources and gathered into a ball at her palm. Around them, they were plunged into darkness once again, save for the orb of light that now floated in Ria's hand.

Her face illuminated in the dark, as did the forms of Yaoyorozu and Uraraka, who sat on either side of her. "I can take out any light source and move the light around. Or, I could absorb it. If I do, it then converts itself into energy that I can use to attack people with."

She let the orb float to the center of their circle, expanding it slightly to illuminate more faces. "I can also control how strong and how bright it comes out. I used to just be able to light places up, but I eventually found out that there was a combat possibility to it."

"Whoa!" Hagakure exclaimed. The sleeves of her shirt stretched forward, and Ria presumed that she was extending her hands to the small warmth of the orb. "It's like a campfire!"

Ria smiled, tapping a finger to her lips in thought. "The way I like to explain it is to compare myself to a plant. Plants go through a process called photosynthesis," she explained, "They take sunlight and nutrients from the soil, then they make oxygen. I'm kind of the same way. I need stamina and a light source. Then I expel energy instead of oxygen."

With a flick of her wrist, the lights shot out from her orb and all lighting fixtures regained their brightness, save for a lamp that sat near her. The room was illuminated once again. "I can also return it back to where it came from."

"And if I wanted to absorb this light," she said, allowing what was left of her orb to continue floating in her hand. It sunk right into her skin. She then reached over Yaoyorozu to press on the lamp's switch, watching it light up once again. "All I have to do is turn it back on."

"I see! So this was how you were able to darken the room a while ago! It also explains why you are also able to blind your opponents with bright light. The quirk has many combat and escape possibilities, though it may fall short with rescue missions. There are possible disadvantages that could possibly hinder it, such as darkness. You could probably absorb light from the moon and the stars, but this becomes impossible should it be cloudy outside. Of course, you could try carrying a light source with you, but…"

Ria blinked as a series of mutters and murmurings rang out from Midoriya's lips. His hand rested over his mouth, and his shoulders hunched down in thought. Her lips parted in surprise, trying to catch each word he said about her quirk as he analyzed it thoroughly. He managed to figure all of that out in a matter of seconds!

"Midoriya does that a lot," Uraraka said, smiling from beside her, "You'll get used to it."

"Oh!" Midoriya said, letting his words come to a halt, "Sorry about that!"

"That's very impressive," was all Ria could say, eyebrows raising in awe.

"You should see his notebook," Kaminari said, "He's got thirteen of them, all on different heroes and their quirks."

"Yeah," Sero said, "We're in there too. Midoriya has all sorts of drawings of us."

Midoriya waved his hands in embarrassment. "H-Hey!"

"Oh come on," Ashido laughed, "It's actually really impressive!"

"I agree!" Iida said, "One can learn a lot by borrowing Midoriya's notebooks."

"Noted," Ria said with a smile.

"But hey!" Kirishima said, "That seems like a pretty handy quirk! You could technically put out fires in a burning building then, right? That sounds like it has a lot of rescue potential to me."

"Unfortunately, that's not how it works," she answered, doing her best to keep the bitter edge out of her voice. "I can absorb light and convert it, but that's about it."

Jiro tipped her head, brows furrowed in confusion. "But isn't light a big part of the fires though?"

"Not really. I can create heat, but I can't absorb it," Ria sighed, "If you light a candle, I can absorb its light, but most of the heat from the fire will still be there," she explained, "You just won't be able to see it. If anything, I would just be making the fires invisible."

"Invisible fires, huh? Sounds like it would be a good trap though," Shoji noted.

"Yeah!" Kaminari said, "We could totally use Todoroki to light some fires, then have Hikari make them invisible! It would be a really cool tactic!"

"Unless we had civilians in the way," Jiro said flatly, laughing as Kaminari shot her a look.

"Is there a particular limitation to your quirk?" Tokoyami asked, raising a hand in assurance, "I shall answer the question as well, of course."

"Alright," Ria said, "Well, as Midoriya already mentioned, it's not a good quirk to have when I'm in the dark because my light will eventually run out. I can absorb light from the stars and the moon, but only if I see it. Those lights are also much weaker than the sun."

"I see," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, "It appears that we are opposites, as I have deduced. My quirk makes it so that I am weak to very bright light."

Ria nodded, keeping note of the information in her head for later. "Taking light in and out of my body also affects my body temperature and needs to be regulated, but that's another complicated matter."

"Perhaps I shall find out more about it as we train," Tokoyami said, "It would be interesting to battle against you."

Ria smirked, sharing a look with him. "I agree."

Soon enough, she broke her gaze and turned back to Midoriya. "Anyway, Midoriya, I think you still have to explain your own quirk. I hope it's become more…" she tried to look for the words "…controlled since I saw it at the Sports Festival."

Midoriya straightened his back, shooting her an embarrassed look. "You saw that, huh?"

Ria nodded, "I did. The last battle you had before you were eliminated was actually one of my favorites," she said, eyes landing on Todoroki who seemed to perk up at the mention.

"Many things have changed since then," he said cryptically.

"I'll say," Sero said, clapping a hand over Todoroki's back, "For one thing, you actually talk to people now. You used to ignore all of us unless it was for class."

"That is true," Todoroki agreed calmly. Ria nodded, smiling. I'm glad.

"So?" she wondered, turning back to Midoriya, "Has it? Gotten better, I mean."

"It has," Midoriya answered, looking down at his hands. He seemed to consider his next words properly. "Back then, I couldn't control it very well. When I concentrate my quirk in certain parts of my body, I can become really strong and really fast."

"Super strength and super speed," Ria said, her voice teasing, "The classic hero quirks. Kind of like All Might, I guess."

Upon hearing the name, Midoriya froze, eyebrows raising for a second before he sheepishly waved his arms around. "Yeah! He's kind of a role model to me!"

"Yup, Deku is a huge fan of his. You should see his room! It's filled with All Might's merch!" Ochako laughed. Midoriya turned as red as a tomato.

"Uraraka!"

"Well it's not like it's a secret, man," Kirishima said chuckling as well, "She would have found out eventually."

Midoriya sputtered out something that she didn't quite catch, as many people around their circle laughed. Ria leaned back onto the sofa, taking in various expressions and conversations. Many of them were poking fun at Midoriya, laughing as he tried to explain his situation. Some of them were merely watching, while others even conversed about other random things.

Soon enough, Midoriya seemed to give up on defending himself and simply joined everyone in the fun. Ria looked to all the faces in front of her, taking in their relaxed expressions and smiles. She did her best to join in when she was spoken to.

Her own face had been plastered over with a fake smile that began to ache at the muscles. And yet, a deep and very small part of her felt warm…felt happy for all these people in front of her and for the joy they had in that moment. Maybe that warmth may have even been something that would allow her to smile for real.

And yet, she kept the fake smile on. Because if she didn't, she feared her real smile would betray the emptiness she felt hollowed in her chest.

How sad, she'd thought to herself, that she would never feel that same type of joy ever again.

Thank you for reading!