Recovery Girl's office

Recovery girl was busier than she had been in a long time. She had tended to Thirteen quickly to stabilize him, and healed Eraserhead as best as she could, though his wounds were too much for one treatment. The two teachers both had to be transported to a hospital for further treatment. All Might was another difficult treatment and was dealt with right before the students.

She looked over at her next patient and sighed. Of course, this trouble child was back. She assessed where his injuries where, and how extensive they were before giving her a healing kiss. Once he was bandaged up and dealt with, she tiredly turned to her last patient. Even in her quirk-induced sleep, she was troubled.

Heaving yet another sigh, Recovery Girl gave the girl's x-ray a look, only to furrow her brows. 'This injury looks exactly like…' she glanced at the green-haired child, then back to the papers, quickly realizing that the girl had a copying quirk. She must have copied then used One for All without realizing the consequences of it. Thankfully, since this was her first injury to her arm, she should be healed perfectly fine, though she would have a relatively nasty ache for a little bit.

After treating the girl, the older woman made her way to her desk and sat down in her chair exhausted, before turning to look at All Might. "The situation being what it was…I can't scold you two this time."

All Might simply stared at the ceiling. "I think I've shortened my time limit again. I'll probably be lucky to still get an hour a day…" Midoriya looked at the pro with concern, and the hero just sat upright saying "Whaddya gonna do! Bad things happen!" with his signature grin, brushing the situation off.

At that moment, a detective came in, making Midoriya panic before All Might assured him that the man was fine. He introduced him as Tsukauchi, and they talked for a moment before All Might stopped the detective.

"Wait. Hold on. First thing's first, are all the students alright?! And Aizawa…Eraserhead and Thirteen?!"

Recovery Girl piped up this time. "Thirteen should be fine, but Eraserhead had to be transferred to a special unit to handle his injuries. He is out of danger, though. Also, other than those two," she motioned to the two teens among them – one to his right, and one across the room from him, "the students have got nothing other than a few bumps and bruises. These two should be fine after some well-deserved rest."

The detective nodded. "If it hadn't been for you three heroes putting your lives on the line, the students wouldn't have made it out unscathed."

All Might chuckled lowly and shook his head. "You've got one thing wrong, Tsukauchi. In this fight, the students put their lives on the line as well. To be thrown into a real battle so young…and survive at that. Now, these first years know how scary the big bad world can be. Have you ever heard of such a class?!" He gushed with pride for the students.

"Those villains picked the wrong fight because the members of class 1-A are going to be mighty heroes indeed!" he paused, giving Midoriya a thumbs-up then smiled fondly at the sleeping girl across from him. "I'm going to make sure of it."

.


.

Hana POV

Hours later, I woke up wondering where I was, only for the day's events to rush back to me. "Oh! My arm!" I looked down to see it bandaged up and in a sling, but after wiggling my fingers, I figured it had been healed fine and breathed a sigh of relief.

Shortly after that, Recovery Girl returned to the room, looked me over, and gave me another healing smooch, before sending me on my way with the comment that I had some really stubborn visitors. I felt a weight on my chest at the thought of the two boys having to worry about me, only to quickly decide I really needed to train more to get better control of my quirk. I can't be so scared to touch people anymore if I want to be a hero. Recovery Girl had also informed me that the two had been told I would recover fine with rest, that they needed to go home, and could see me when we came back to class. Of course, that went over like a lead balloon with one, but the other convinced him to relax for at least a day.

As I walked out of the school nurse's office, I was greeted by my mom who was desperately fighting her urge to hug me due to my injury and lack of coverage on my arms. "I'm going to practice with my control because this is getting ridiculous," I laughed at her pouting beside me, and we headed home.

It was odd at home that night. Mom was either dazed, staring at nothing, or babbling about anything and everything. I could tell she was worried about dad, so was I, but I couldn't imagine how hard it was on her at the moment. I frequently caught her with her right hand cradling her left or staring at a photo of her, dad, and a few other people when they were younger.

Then I wondered if this was how stir crazy my two were at the moment? I chewed on my lip, then reached for my phone, sending a quick text to Mina, and asking if she knew anyone that would have Kirishima's number. I knew Bakugo wouldn't have given his number to anyone, so maybe Kiri had snuck his number into the blonde's phone?

My pink friend had replied with lightning speed, telling me how worried she was, and how glad she was that I was ok. She then sent me Kirishima's number that she had gotten from Kaminari. I took a deep breath, then started typing my message only to clear it a second later. I really wanted to hear his voice, even if my anxiety over phone calls was sending my stomach into knots.

I pressed the call button and held my breath.

"Hello?" There was a pause and I couldn't get words out at first, simply sighing in relief at the sound of his voice even if he did sound tired, "Who is this?" Kiri asked suddenly sounding less tired and more cautious.

"Um…hi," I cringed at myself, face-palming then proceeding to word vomit. "It-it's Hana Aizawa. Sorry, I got Mina to get your number from Kaminari, I hope that's ok? I also just realized what time it was, and now I feel bad because you could totally use some sleep after today. I'm sorry if I've bothered you, I can let you-"

At the sound of his quiet laughter, I paused, my cheeks heating up when I noticed my mom's confused gaze on me.

"You're not bothering me, Aizawa. I'm actually really glad that you called," He sighed into the phone and I just knew he had run his hand through his hair, "You have no clue how much you had me worried…or should I say us? Bakugo was a completely different person when he was checking in on you. Granted, he was still threatening everyone and everything, so I guess not totally different."

I laughed, "I figured he would have forced his way into Recovery Girl's office earlier."

"He probably would have if Midnight hadn't knocked him out with her quirk-gas stuff." I could hear the smile in his voice before he continued on sounding slightly nervous. "Can we…would you wanna meet up tomorrow? They canceled school for the day for us to 'rest'."

If my mom was simply curious before, she was on the verge of eavesdropping now as she caught sight of my face becoming ridiculously red. "Uh, yeah," I squeaked then coughed in embarrassment, "Sorry, I mean, that sounds good." I'm positive he could hear my mom's cackling in the background since he started laughing lightly as well. His laughter, however, made butterflies erupt in my stomach each time I heard it.

"Alright, I'll text you the details in the morning." He suddenly yawned, then apologized. "Guess I should let you go. If I'm tired then I can only imagine how exhausted you must be. Get some rest, alright?"

"Alright," sending a quick glance at my smirking mother, I swallowed my pride and dove right off into the deep end of embarrassment, "Hey, just…you can call me Hana, you know?"

He was silent for a moment, and my nerves flared up, making me regret what I said for a split second before he responded. "Alright then, but only if you call me Eijiro." I could almost hear his massive grin.

"O-ok…," I glared at mom and ran down the hall to my room, huffing out a breath as I slammed the door with my foot. "Sorry my mom was…a-anyway…yeah I'll…" I sighed, sliding down the door, and letting my head rest against my knees with a stupid smile plastered across my lips as I heard him chuckle again.

"Goodnight, Hana." His quiet voice almost sounded like he was in the room with me for a moment, and my breath hitched.

"Goodnight, Ei-Eijiro." When the call ended, I sat there on the floor, staring at the phone for a few moments, then flung myself across the room and onto the bed to scream into my pillow. Why was I so painfully awkward?!

My soul nearly left my body when my phone dinged at me a second later, notifying me of a text. Looking at the screen, my furious blush returned full force at the text from Kiri- Eijiro, and I remembered to quickly add him to my contacts.

.

Eijiro: u apologize too much when ur flustered but it's cute.

Here's Bakugo's # so u can text him & tell him to calm down lol. I'll let him know the plans, but who knows if he'll join.

Goodnight again, Hana!

.

"Oh~! Was that a boy~?!" Mom's voice called through my closed door as I typed Bakugo's info into my phone as 'Blasty Boy' with a smirk.

"Ohmygod, mom!" I groaned at the ceiling, "I don't need your harassment!"

Again she cackled, but thankfully she did leave me alone from there, likely going to her own room. Sighing, I looked back at my phone as I typed.

.

Me: Hey, it's Aizawa. Kirishima gave me your number, so…

I just wanted to tell you that I'm fine. Everything is healed perfectly, just need rest.

.

It took a moment for his response, but it was very much what I was expecting.

.

Blasty Boy: Then sleep dumbass

.

I rolled my eyes, dropped my phone onto my pillow, then got up and changed into a random pair of shorts and struggled a bit to take off my shirt leaving only my sports bra I had put on after my shower. When my phone dinged again, my head tilted and I walked back over curiously.

.

Blasty Boy: Guess it's good you're ok and shit

Don't do that shit anymore

.

I snickered rolling my eyes.

.

Me: what, don't get hurt?

.

Blasty Boy: More like don't be fucking stupid

.

Me: Can't make any promises

Gonna be a hero one of these days, and kicking butts tends to come with injuries.

I can do my best to be careful for you, though!

.

I could just imagine him rolling his eyes at me and making a "tch" sound.

.

Blasty Boy: Whatever just be smarter

And don't forget that we need to deal with this whole…thing

Guess we can do that tomorrow. It'll be quicker with us all there

.

I looked at the single grey strip beside the vibrant colors of the other two bands on my finger and whispered, "Not all of us".

.

Me: I'll see you tomorrow then.

.

Contemplating for a moment, I decided to dive off the deep end again.

.

Me: Btw you can call me Hana.

If you want.

.

Tossing my phone away like it was on fire, I stared at the bright screen with wide eyes and a blush. Did I really just do that? I mean…I know he's one of my soulmates, but…we barely knew each other past our very strained experiences in school – which weren't really any interaction at all. Just as my mind was about to go down into the abyss that was my overthinking mixed with anxiety, the phone dinged.

I bit my bottom lip, then slowly crawled over into the light. There was only one word, but it was enough to make me gasp loudly then blush because I felt stupid for being so excitable.

.

Blasty Boy: Katsuki

.

My heart was racing despite feeling like a fool. "I don't know how I'm gunna manage to not be extremely awkward tomorrow," I mumbled to myself.

.


.

Morning came, and mom wasted absolutely no time teasing me.

"So~ who were you talking to last night?" She asked with a smug tone. "Are you going to be bringing him home to meet us soon~?"

My head fell backward as I groaned. "Mom, just…can you not? It's not like that, there's… there's more to it than tha- oop!" I slapped my hands over my mouth, slowly looking over to see a glint in my mom's eyes.

"I thought so. The colors on your bands are looking much more vibrant lately." She leaned over onto the table grinning at me like a madwoman. "I can only assume that you're getting better acquainted with your soulmates, just don't go getting too close with them~!"

My face turned brilliantly red, and I pushed away my breakfast. "Well, I'm done here! I'm going to my room."

"Awe come on!" Mom whined. "You never have girl-talk with me~! I just want to gossip with you!"

"Gossip is boring, though!" I groaned.

Mom has always been like this. She's super girly, and I'm just not. I may be ditsy, sometimes naïve, and awkward like her, but the rest of my personality is from my dad with a few things of my own. Looking at her slightly deflated demeanor, I felt kind of bad considering the stress she was dealing with.

Groaning again, I sat back down at the table with her. "Yes, I've been talking to two of my soulmates. They're both in my class, and very different from each other. They're Kirishima and Bakugo. Their quirks are Hardening and Explosions respectively. They also both fought really hard yesterday against the villains."

Mom snorted but smiled nonetheless. "I wasn't asking about their hero info cards. Are they nice? What do they look like?"

"I mean…Kirishima is really nice. He can make friends with almost everyone, and kind of acts like a bridge between different personalities in the class. Bakugo is actually a great example of how he brings people together because he's a ridiculous hot head. I mean, don't get me wrong, Bakugo is really smart and cares, he's just really bad with showing it or wording things right. A lot of times he just lashes out, kinda like his quirk, though." I laughed remembering him on the bus ride to the USJ, then I realized I had word-vomited again. My cheeks flushed, and I looked up to mom who was happily staring at me, her chin in her hands.

"Go on~. What do they look like?"

That was the end of my 'girliness'. With my entire face red, I bolted down the hall yelling back at her "They look like people!" to which she burst out laughing.

Upon returning to my room, I saw a notification on my phone and immediately checked it.

.

Eijiro: So I was thinking we meet up this café that's sort of close to school.

It's a totally relaxed place with good food.

.

Me: Around lunch then?

Btw, how's their coffee?

.

Eijiro: Never liked coffee much, so no clue.

Let's say we meet 1 then go from there.

.

Blasty Boy: Better not be one of those fucking couples places or i'll kill you both

.

Me: I would pay all of my money to see his reaction if it was.

Man, now I wanna drag him to one…

.

Eijiro: 1 nope not a couples' café

2 it would be totally great but not this time.

Would like to figure out where we go with this before dying.

.

Blasty Boy: Fuck both of you

.

Me: down boy :p

.

Blasty Boy: Bitch

.

Me: *gasp* the indecency! Lol

.

Eijiro: U 2 aren't being really hero like…lol

.


.

A few hours later found me dressed casually – aka a pair of light denim jeans and a loose-fitting, mint-green shirt – with my hair braided messily, walking up to a slightly busy café only to make it there at the same time as Bakugo, who sighed and grumbled then opened the door for me making me snicker before entering. The two of us found Kirishima and made our way over to the decent-sized table in the back of the place.

"Hey, hope you haven't been waiting long," I greeted with a small smile and a light blush now present.

Kirishima smiled at us and shook his head. "Nah, maybe a few minutes, so no worries."

Bakugo flopped into his chair with a quick huff, then looked up at me from the corner of his eyes. "Would you sit down, Copy Cat."

"Ah, sorry!" I jumped slightly, realizing I was awkwardly standing while taking in the two boys in front of me. Bakugo was wearing baggy, black jeans and a dark green camo shirt, while Kirishima was wearing grey shorts and a simple maroon shirt. I hadn't seen them in casual clothes, and for some reason, it was giving me butterflies. I quickly sat down, blushing furiously and biting my cheek as I stared down at the table. "So…"

"You are painfully awkward, ya know?" Bakugo said making me look up frustrated and ready to retort, only for his gremlin smirk to instantly shut me up.

Kirishima laughed and gave me a crooked grin, "Well, I think it's cute."

Quickly covering my face, I groaned. "I thought we were going to figure out this whole bond thing, not spend the whole time with you two making me all…ugh!" When they only shared a glance, continuing to smirk and grin at me, I continued with determination – though a bit rushed, "Look, I'm not too used to even having friends much less anything more considering my quirk, so whatever we decide to do with this soulmate thing is completely new territory for me. Like…like Katsuki said – and as I'm sure is ridiculously obvious – I'm only going to end up being awkward whatever we do so…yeah."

I noticed that the blonde was now sporting a light blush of his own on the tips of his ears, and for some reason, I had a slight confidence boost from the sight. I also realized I needed to start calling them by their given name in my head before I accidentally slipped up and ended up with a misunderstanding.

"Alright, well, if we're being honest," Kiri-…Eijiro said relaxing back into his seat looking more comfortable with this situation than either Katsuki or I were. "I think even if we were to start this out as just friends, then we could end up being more than that eventually. Most people do, anyway." He said with a shrug. "I've just never really given much thought to this past that."

I noticed Baku-... Katsuki's ears were still slightly red and I quietly gasped, "Is this new for you, too?!"

His face lit up instantly as he leaned over the table at me, though a light snarl curled his lip, "No! it's… Damn it, Copy Cat, I'm just…" he paused and I could tell he was attempting to not shout inside, which made me snort. "This is stupid…" He then proceeded to roll his eyes and glare at me. "I'm going to be the number one hero, and to do that, I don't have time for distractions like relationships and shit. I'm good with being around you idiots sometimes, but only to keep the stupid bond thing from pissing me off."

My light smile faltered for a second and my heart sank. "Oh. Well…that's really smart how determined you are." Ignoring the ache from my heart, I faked my normal attitude. That's one of my toxic traits: my stupid heart has always been on my sleeve, and I should know by now to protect it better instead of becoming easily attached.

I did notice Eijiro's gaze on me for a moment, before he looked over at Katsuki. " I guess I can respect that, we haven't known each other long anyway." He then looked back at me, turning on a warm smile that told me he caught my slip up. "What about you? What are you wanting to start with?"

"I mean…I'm alright with being friends if that's what you guys want?" I suddenly noticed that I was fidgeting with my hands nervously, and forced myself to stop, as I blushed again.

Agreeing on the 'just friends' term hurt really badly, and I felt like an idiot for hoping for more after only knowing each other for a few days. That wasn't rational thinking at all, which made me berate myself in my head. The thing is, I really only wanted the boys to be happy, and they seemed to like the arrangement so far. We ordered lunch after, talking about ourselves, class, even training – which really got me going much to the boys' entertainment, though it was harder to tell with Katsuki. I went on to tell them that my next training goal was to learn how to switch my quirk on and off and Eijiro offered to be a test subject for those training days, to which I thanked him and promised to take him up on that offer. Overall, I had a great time, and though the situation didn't turn out how I had initially imagined, I was still happy to know they would be around.

When it came time for us to leave, Eijiro and I realized we were headed the same way, so we told Katsuki goodbye – saying we would see him tomorrow which was responded to with a huff – before heading off on our way.

Eijiro apparently got the nerve to bring up my reaction when we were about halfway home. "So…what were you really hoping for?"

I hesitated, then sighed. "I don't know. I just tend to let myself feel too much too fast sometimes. Kinda like during that training exercise."

He hummed, acknowledging that he heard me as we kept walking. "Were you wanting to start as something else with this?"

"Ah! That," I laughed nervously, "well I really am fine just being friends, honestly, I am! It really does seem more rational to do that and get to know each other better. We haven't even known each other very long! I had just …maybe got it in my head that…" I unconsciously started fidgeting with my hands again. "I'm not totally sure what I had thought, actually."

Eijiro apparently had enough of my nervousness. He nudged me with his shoulder and sent me a warm smile. "At least we talked instead of avoiding each other even more than we were before. It'll be fine, and we'll totally figure out the best thing for each of us."

Nodding, I couldn't help but feel better. He was right, being friends is still a great step!

"Besides," A sudden warmth enveloped my hand, and I realized he had threaded his fingers between mine. With a deep blush and wide eyes, I looked up at the redhead only to see his own cheeks tinted pink and a small smile. "Friends can hold hands right?"

"Y-yeah, I'm sure they can." Looking forward again, I was so thankful I had put on my thin gloves.

A few minutes - and a small argument over the fact that he should've turned left a few streets ago, yet insisted to walk me all the way home – later, found us walking up to the door of my house.

"Thank you for walking with me." I turned to Eijiro to see the ever-present smile that always made me give him one in return.

"I wouldn't be manly at all if I let you walk home alone!" He laughed while rubbing the back of his neck.

I shook my head at him. "I suppose not. Well…" I glanced down at our hands, not wanting to let go, but knew my mom would harass me for days if she caught us out here. "I'll see you tomorrow, Eijiro," I said shyly.

He lightly squeezed my hand before slowly releasing it. "See you tomorrow, Hana."

As he turned to walk back down the street, I made my way inside. To my surprise, dad was reclined on the couch as mom fussed over him. Images of his broken, bloodied form flashed through my mind causing tears to gather in my eyes. I never wanted to see something like that again, though I know that very well could - and likely would - happen again. The sound of the door closing drew their attention to me, but at the sight of my teary eyes and arms wrapped around my body to hold myself together, dad motioned with his heavily bandaged head for me to join them. My first few steps were cautious, since I wanted so badly to throw myself onto him and the couch, and possibly cry my eyes out. I couldn't do that though…both of his arms were wrapped up with bandages and temporary casts before being put into slings, meaning I shouldn't put any pressure on them.

Once I was standing in front of him, gazing through my tears into his tired eyes that were barely visible from all of the bandages, I broke down. I fell to my knees, laying my head on his lap as my arms wrapped around his legs – knowing they were the only things I could technically hug – and started to sob. "I…I was so…so scared…"

The words hung heavily in the air before I felt a light touch on the top of my head, dad had stretched his fingers out to brush them against my hair. "When I saw you there in the plaza…I was scared, too." A small huff of a sigh escaped him as he let his gaze drift to my mom who was watching us for a moment with her own tears rolling silently down her cheeks before she knelt, wrapping her arms tightly around me. There were no more words to be said as we simply tried to take in our time together.

.


.

"Hana!" Mina cheered as she raced to the door and successfully tackled me to the floor.

"Ow," I groaned then laughed at my pink friend. "Hello Mina, how're you?"

She shot up and then pulled me off the ground while reprimanding me. "You don't get to ask me how I'm doing when you're the one that shattered the bones in your arm while dealing with a villain! Do you have any idea how worried we all were? We could only watch from a distance while you guys stood up against the bad guys."

My smile warmed, yet still held a bit of sadness in it. "Yeah well…I felt pretty useless until I accidentally got Midoriya's quirk. I couldn't even do any rescuing, but I'm gunna work on my costume design, and control of my quirk to make that possible for me to do."

She smiled at me in understanding. "Well, as far as I could tell, you really kicked butt down there, even if you did get hurt!" she cheered as we finally walked into the class. A few of my new friends asked about my arm and told me they had been worried too as I made my way to my seat. A minute or so later, Mr. Aizawa shuffled in the doorway, much to almost everyone's surprise.

Ida stood up shouting "Glad to see you doing well, sir!" only for Uraraka to cut into his comment. "If you can call that 'doing well'…"

I could understand her statement. He didn't really look good, since he was still wrapped up in bandages to the point that you could barely see his eyes. A light tap against my foot – which was currently crossed behind my other one at the ankle, and both halfway under my chair – caused me to jump the tiniest bit, only for it to register that Bak- Katsuki had nudged my foot with his own. My mind had started to fall back into the memory of the attack as I watched our injured teacher, and that small nudge had snapped me back to reality. Whether it was intentional or not, I really don't know, but it did manage to make me feel slightly better.

"My welfare isn't important," Mr. Aizawa told us, though he was a bit muffled, "because your fight is far from over."

Katsuki shifted in his seat. "Our fight?"

Midoriya's nervous voice sounded next. "D-don't tell me…"

Mr. Aizawa's eyes drifted up to the class with a strange intensity. "U.A.'s sports festival is fast approaching!"

A breath of relief sounded, then suddenly the class seemed to roar to life. Someone asked the question that had just popped into my mind, though. "We just had a villain attack, is this really a good idea?!"

Mr. Aizawa nodded. "It's necessary to demonstrate that U.A.'s Crisis Management protocols are sound is the thinking, apparently. Compared to the past years, there'll be five times the police presence. Anyhow, our sports festival is the greatest opportunity you'll get for your future as heroes. It's not an event that can be canceled over a few villains. Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events."

"The nation's top heroes will all be watching, right?" Yaoyorozu questioned. "They'll be there as scouts!"

"They'll totally be looking to hire us as sidekicks after we graduate!" Kaminari added only for Jirou to throw his excitement to the wind.

"A lot of sidekicks never manage to go solo. They're sidekicks forever, and that'll be you Kaminari, you dunce."

I snickered at my two friends and rolled my eyes. She had a point, though, being a sidekick wasn't enough for most people.

Mr. Aizawa continued on, "Naturally, you'll gain valuable experience and popularity if you're picked up by a big-name hero, but your time is limited. Show the pros what you're made of here, and you'll make futures for yourselves. This happens once a year, so you'll only have three chances. If you're hoping to become a hero, this is an event you can't miss!"

I looked down at my desk in thought, pulling the edge of my bottom lip between my teeth slightly. I'm not even sure what my plans really are for the future. I knew I wanted to be a hero and save people, that was always my dream. The question was, did I want to do that in someone else's agency or my own?

The rest of the morning classes passed quickly, and the next thing I knew it was already lunchtime. As I headed down the hall towards the lunchroom, however, I had my arm wrapped up by a slightly-cold one. My eyes flitted over to see female Todoroki cheekily grinning at me. I honestly had forgotten she was in our class, which made me feel a little guilty.

"Can I join you for lunch, Aizawa?" She chirped happily.

I stared at her for a moment in shock then nodded my head rapidly. "Yeah! I'd be alright with that, if you don't mind my strange friend group, that is." Chuckling at my own little joke, I motioned over to said friends. Mina had somehow convinced Sero to give her a piggyback ride, Jirou and Kaminari were going back and forth about something heatedly, while Eijiro was simply shaking his head and laughing happily at the two that looked to be arguing over something.

I looked to female Todoroki only to see a longing look in her eyes as she followed my gaze. "I've never really had friends before, but…they all look cool to me." She admitted.

"I've never had friends before either," I told her as we walked through the line to get our food. "But Mina brought me in, and now I couldn't imagine myself without them. Oh! What's your given name? I've been meaning to ask because I felt like Todoroki was a little…"

The crimson-haired girl laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure it gets weird. You can call me Yukime. I'm the failed twin." She smirked darkly then changed the subject. "Come on let's go sit down."

Though I was thoroughly concerned by her comment, I followed her to my friends who she got along with wonderfully. For some reason, though, she seemed to flinch minutely at any sudden movements or sounds which made my concern triple.

.


.

At the end of the day, we were all slightly shocked by the massive crowd that had gathered outside of the classroom door. Uraraka, Ida, and Midoriya were standing at the doorway, attempting to head home for the day when they discovered the large group. I stared in amazement for a moment, before my eyes caught movement from my left as Katsuki passed by looking completely unfazed, making the Deku-squad move out of the way.

"What are they here for?" Uraraka wondered out loud only to be answered by the blonde.

"They're scoping out the competition, duh Round-face," He muttered, "Cause we're the kids who survived a villain attack." He stopped in front of the crowd, and I could only imagine what his facial expression was. "No point though. MOVE ASIDE, YOU FUCKING EXTRAS!"

I couldn't hold in the groan that left me as I started rubbing my temple and shot Eijiro a look. He simply shrugged and grinned at me as if to say 'What can ya do?'

A deep, tired voice from the crowd drew everyone's attention back to the doorway. "It's true, we came to get a look, but you sure aren't modest. Are all the kids in the Hero course like this one?" His insult and bored tone made Katsuki tense, his fingers twitching as if they itched to blow something up. "Gotta say, this is a bit of a letdown if this is what you have to offer. Those of us who didn't make the hero course are stuck in general studies or other tracks, and there's actually a lot of us."

"Depending on the results of the sports festival, they might transfer some of us into the hero course, meaning they'd have to remove someone to make space. Simply scoping out the competition?" The boy chuckled darkly, "For a general studies kid like me…this'll be the perfect chance to knock you off your pedestals. Consider this a declaration of war."

While the purple-haired teen was talking, I lifted my bag and made my way over to the door as well. Clearing my throat to bring attention to myself, I offered a close-eyed smile at the people outside of the class. "Sorry about him. He's as aggressive as his quirk, but not everyone is as…abrasive." I let my smile fade slightly, my eyes opening then drifting over the different students. "That aside, that doesn't mean we're pushovers. Being a hero isn't easy. You save people, yes, but you also see people get hurt…even killed. You want our place in this class, you have to earn it." My little speech ended with me looking directly into the purple-haired teen's eyes with a level of gravity to my words that matched my dad's when he lectures over the seriousness of hero work. His tired eyes flickered down to mine once I was done talking, his deep violet meeting my vibrant purple before the rest of the noise around us vanished.

"Well, well…" He slowly smirked down at me sending butterflies rampaging through me. "Now, this is interesting," He added under his breath, low enough only Katsuki and I heard.

I swallowed nervously, though to those around us I still simply looked determined.

Another loud voice broke through the crowd as some strange, angry guy shouted over everyone so he could be heard by our class. Taking this distraction, I quickly turned my gaze to Eijiro who looked concerned as he edged toward us. Discretely, I fidgeted with my left ring finger, trying to send him a message without the entire classroom finding out. He glanced at my hands then back at me with lifted brows.

I then tuned back into the yelling of the gray-haired teen that looked like he was angry for some reason. "-All I'm seeing is this arrogant bastard and his attack cat!"

I spluttered in shock. "Attack cat?!" The heck was that even supposed to mean? I heard a few snickers behind me, but the chuckle from purple hair had my heart doing somersaults.

"Yeah, 'cause you're small, not like a guard dog," the gray-haired boy glanced at me, explaining quickly then continued on to the rest of the class, "You better not make fools of the hero course at this thing!"

The silence after his declaration was deafening, then Katsuki simply moved forward, shoving people out of the way as Eijiro suddenly shouted over the crowd's uncomfortable gripes at being shoved. "Hey, what're you doing, Bakugo? You just gained our entire class a bunch of haters and you're just gunna leave?!"

Cold eyes flickered back to our red-haired soulmate and I frowned at his words. "I don't give a fuck. I'm heading for the top, so why should I care about a few extras?" He ended his sentence by glaring out at the others in the hall.

"So straightforward…" Eijiro mumbled then looked away, "and so manly."

Kaminari jumped at the red-headed teen, "Don't let him play you! All he's doing is winning us enemies!"

I sighed and rolled my eyes, following the path that Katsuki had made in the crowd. I had almost made it to the doors leading outside when I was stopped by a newly familiar voice.

"Any chance I could get your name?" He drawled.

I turned around and our eyes immediately connected. 'Why do I feel so intimidated by this guy? No…not intimated…what is it? Ugh, I'm so confused.' I felt a spark of my dad's energy - or lack of - at that moment, blankly staring at him for a second before spinning back around, and leaving him standing there with his stupid smirk on his face.

"Next time then, Attack Cat." He called out to me with a quiet chuckle. I, however, was bright red at the name that apparently was going to stick around for a while.

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*Apologies if there are errors here. My brain is fried from finals and adulting lol.