A/N: A month.
Hitomi's room took me a whole freaking month of working on and off again.
Thank god it's finally done. TvT
Art -
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[Ch. 39] Add /01pebysl35yn to the DeviantArt Stash URL.
Hitomi fidgeted as she stood in front of her new bedroom door, trying to stall from revealing her room to the class. They had decided to have a competition to see who had the best interior design out of 1-A, showcasing their bedrooms to decide the "Room King". Now, it was Hitomi's turn to present her room.
"Come on, Hitomi!" Mina chanted. "Show us!"
"I know!" Hitomi said, her hand finally reaching for the doorknob. "It's just embarrassing…"
She opened the door, letting everyone inside as she stared at the wall. Her classmates made sounds of awe as they looked around her room, Uraraka approaching the large constellation chart taped by her bed.
"Amazing! It has way more constellations than the one in my room!"
Kaminari smiled from his place by the door, seeing the large Pikachu plushie he'd gotten for Hitomi's birthday sitting on her bed. "Hey, you brought my gift here! I was afraid you wouldn't have liked it…"
"Oh! I, uh… I like to cuddle things in my sleep…" Hitomi stuttered, feeling her cheeks redden.
She heard Midoriya make a sound of excitement by her desk, prompting her to turn around and see the green-haired boy fawning over her desktop computer.
"Wow! I've never seen one like this before; it must be crazy powerful! Kanetsukabe-san, where'd you get this?!"
Hitomi scratched her head as she made a small laugh. "My brother actually built that for me for my birthday last year. He wanted me to have a good computer that could run all the games he made."
Kaminari turned to stare at the bookshelf placed by her dresser, skimming over the titles of all the books.
"You sure have a lot of science books, Hitomi."
Hitomi felt herself blush as Kirishima, Mina, and Sero all moved in to take a closer look.
"The Elegant Universe, Physics of the Impossible, The Poisoner's Handbook," Kirishima read. "Hitomi, these all sound really sophisticated!"
Hitomi twirled a piece of her hair as she looked away. "I've always kind of liked science since I was little. My favorite is astronomy, but chemistry and physics are tied for a close second…"
"Now that I think about it, your room really does have a science-y theme…" Kirishima pointed out, referring to the galaxy inspired blanket spread out on her bed and the various science-related knickknacks and objects spread throughout her room. "It's nice, Hitomi!"
"Oh, thanks…" Hitomi trailed off. "Anyways! Let's go look at the other rooms, shall we?" she said, ushering everyone out of her room while still feeling embarrassed.
If they keep talking about how "science-y" everything is, I'll feel even more like a nerd…
…
"With a total of six votes!" Mina declared to the class, a paper in her hand. Their Room King competition had come to a close and they were gathered in the common area to hear the results. "The overwhelming winner standing alone at the top is…
Rikido Sato!"
Sato pointed to himself in disbelief. "Huh? Me?!"
"By the way, they were all girls!" Mina added as an addendum. "The reason was…"
All the girls of 1-A started to drool, including Hitomi.
"'Because the cake was delicious!'"
Hitomi's mouth was already watering just thinking back on Sato's delicious chiffon cake. Even without the whipped cream he'd been planning to add to it, the cake was unforgettable, being the perfect amount of fluffy and sweet. And paired with Hitomi's penchant for sweets, she just had to vote for him along with the rest of the girls.
"What about the room?!" Sato protested.
"You little-!" Kaminari cried.
Mineta beat his fists against their larger classmate. "Aspiring heroes shouldn't use bribery!" they both yelled.
"I'm not bribing anyone!" Sato laughed, shielding his face from the two of them. "What the heck, I'm super happy!"
Hitomi shook her head, breaking out of her chiffon cake-induced trance as Todoroki asked if he could go to bed, to which Iida reminded him to brush his teeth.
"He was waiting until it was over, huh?" she heard Midoriya say as she saw Todoroki turn towards the elevators. Next to her she saw Uraraka's head snap towards the quiet boy.
"Oh, Todoroki, hold on a sec!"
He paused, turning back towards her as she turned to some of their other classmates. "Deku and Iida, too, and Kirishima and Yaoyorozu," she continued. She turned back to Hitomi. "And also you, Hitomi. Do you have a minute?"
Hitomi blinked. "Huh…? Oh, sure…"
As their other classmates conversed, Uraraka led them outside, the seven of them walking down the steps.
"Uraraka," Kirishima hummed beside Hitomi, "where…?"
He suddenly went silent, seeming to stare at something and Hitomi followed his gaze. Her eyes widened when she saw Tsuyu standing on the front lawn, illuminated by the post lamp next to the bench. They all gathered in front of her, with Uraraka walking to stand beside their frog-like classmate.
"You see, Tsuyu said she had something to tell you all," the brunette told them, gesturing for her to go ahead.
It took a few moments until Tsuyu eventually spoke.
"I can't help but say everything that comes to mind," she began slowly, looking down at the grass. "But… there are times when I don't know what to say. Do you remember… what I said at the hospital?"
Hitomi's eyes widened slightly. She remembered it very clearly.
"If you're saying that you'll break the rules… Those acts are the same as those of villains."
Even though those words hadn't been directed at Hitomi at the time… in hindsight, they'd been rather harsh. Especially since it'd been about saving Bakugou.
The six of them nodded and Midoriya spoke for all of them. "Yeah. I remember."
"I hardened my heart… and said some painful things," Tsuyu continued. "I'm sure that hearing it must've upset you." Her head hung low, causing her bangs to hide her eyes and Uraraka stepped towards her, patting her back.
"Tsuyu…"
"Even then, though, you all still went. I didn't know that until this morning… so when I heard it from Aizawa-sensei, I was shocked. I thought I'd stopped you, so I was filled with disappointment and bad feelings… Feelings about how worthless I am. A complete failure… I didn't know what to say."
Hitomi's eyebrows furrowed as she heard Tsuyu's voice begin to shake. "I didn't feel like I could have fun talking with everyone… But…" Tsuyu finally raised her head and tears were running down her cheeks. "...that made me very sad. That's why I wanted to tell you even if I couldn't gather my thoughts properly… so that I could have fun and talk with everyone again." She sniffled, wiping her eyes as Uraraka continued stroking her back.
"It's not just Tsuyu that feels this way," Uraraka said, wearing a frown of her own as she looked away. "Everyone felt uneasy and wanted to make that feeling go away… That's why… The 'Room King' and everything was because they understood you guys felt…"
At that Hitomi's eyes widened. Everybody in Class A… had felt tense and anxious about Bakugou's kidnapping. Frustrated. And her and the other's decision to save him on their own, to do something so dangerous and put themselves at risk… had only exacerbated those feelings of the rest of the class. Tsuyu had tried to stop them, using harsh words that would hopefully discourage them, only for it to end up fruitless when they went anyway. In the end, she'd said those awful things for no reason, and it was obvious to Hitomi that she regretted it.
It made Hitomi frown, and she felt her eyes burn slightly.
Tsuyu, and everyone else in 1-A… had been worried about them.
Hitomi couldn't help but be reminded of her parents, of how she'd made them worry, caused them to panic. The class had probably felt similarly this whole time.
"So… don't blame them," Uraraka continued, a bit unsurely. "But, you know… I mean, I know it's hard, but anyway…" She shook her head and stepped forward, plastering on a wide smile as she raised her fist. "Let's all work together and laugh together again!"
"Tsuyu!" Kirishima exclaimed, running towards the frog girl. He had tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry! Thanks for telling us!"
The rest of them all gathered around her, small tears building in their eyes as well, save for Todoroki.
"Asui!"
"Tsuyu-chan-kun!"
"Asui, sorry."
"Asu- Tsuyu!"
"Tsuyu…" Hitomi said, clasping her hands together. "We're sorry for making you worry."
Kirishima placed a hand on Tsuyu's shoulder. "I won't ever do it again," the redhead reassured her. Yaoyorozu placed a hand on her head while Iida bowed his head down.
"Me neither."
"I promise!"
Tsuyu continued to cry and Hitomi and Midoriya watched with tearful eyes, the latter wiping his away with his arm. Todoroki only stood there, watching quietly and offering a few more sorry's.
Everything… had been so tense.
And now that it was all over, they just wanted things to go back to normal.
A fresh slate to start anew… of making each other better as they aim to be heroes.
Three days later…
Hitomi stretched her legs in Gym Gamma, fully changed in her hero costume for what the class would be continuing today.
Aizawa and the other first-year teachers had introduced everyone to what they called the "Training Dining Lab", a place where they could let loose and come up with ultimate moves to use during the provisional license exam.
Hitomi threw multiple force fields at the Ectoplasm clone working with her, sighing as he dodged each and every one of them.
"This isn't working… How am I supposed to come up with super moves with something as basic as a force field?!" She ran her hands through her hair in frustration, making sounds of annoyance before she heard a voice behind her.
"Having trouble, Young Kanetsukabe?"
Hitomi turned around, seeing the former No. 1 approaching her. "All Might?"
"What seems to be the problem?"
Hitomi sighed, crossing her arms as she kicked a stray pebble. "I can't come up with any moves. How did you do it?"
"Well, I learned different ways to apply my quirk by using different forms. There isn't just one way to punch, right?"
"I suppose you're right about that… but that's not gonna work for me!" She moved her arms in the way she'd seen All Might do on TV, in what she believed he'd called a "Carolina Smash". "Here, look All Might. I cross my arms, I throw a force field." She threw a punch, throwing another force field. "I punch, I just throw another force field. My quirk's too basic, All Might!"
"Well, I can already see the problem."
"...Huh?"
All Might placed a hand on Hitomi's shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. "For one thing, your mind's too clouded by frustration for you to think creatively."
Hitomi looked down at the ground, feeling her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "...Sorry, All Might. You're right. I've just been at this for three days without any results, so I guess I've gotten a little angry."
"That's okay, Young Kanetsukabe. I wouldn't blame you if you were distracted after everything that's happened. After all, you were there to rescue Young Bakugou too, weren't you?"
Hitomi nodded, prompting the retired hero to continue.
"Think about the training you've done so far, as well as what you've pulled off at both the sports festival and the final exams. You're thinking too small."
He patted her shoulder before moving on to another student, leaving Hitomi to process what she'd heard.
Thinking too small… OH.
Hitomi facepalmed as she giggled to herself in stupidity. She must've been really distracted to not realize the easy answer.
I need to focus on bigger moves! That's what I was training to do. Duh!
The next day…
Hitomi stretched her arms out in front of her, taking a deep breath before her eyes shot open, spreading her arms out abruptly in a wide fashion.
"Supernova!"
A bright light emerged from Hitomi, giving off a blinding flash as her force field expanded quickly. It grew very rapidly in size, giving the Ectoplasm clone no room to dodge as it slammed him into the stone wall. His body dissipated, making Hitomi cheer in excitement. "I've finally gotten the hang of this! Ectoplasm-sensei!" she called across the gym. "I need another one, please!"
I've got two more ideas I thought up last night that I want to try out!
Another one of Ectoplasm's clones finally arrived before her, making her squirm in excitement as she got herself ready.
"You're quite energetic today, Kanetsukabe," the teacher (clone) said.
"All Might's advice really helped in getting me out of my slump!"
"That's good to hear. Now, what else have you got?"
Hitomi took a deep breath, quelling her excitement as she knelt down and placed her hands on the ground.
Remember what you did at the final exams…
"Eclipse!"
A force field emerged from her hands, spreading out along the ground until it moved upwards, completely encasing the two in a very large dome.
Hitomi got up from the ground, admiring her work before looking at her teacher. "It's not exactly an offensive move, and focuses more on containment or protection… I'm working on making it bigger and placing it around another target."
"That's perfectly fine. All that matters is that it'll give you the upper hand."
Hitomi beamed, letting it drop as she said, "I've got one more idea, but it's not exactly an ultimate move…"
"Well? Let's see it."
The bluenette held her arms out in front of herself, closing her eyes as she recalled her internship. Her palms glowed as force fields formed, growing in size to form half-circle shapes as she gripped them.
"I don't have a name for it yet, but it'll help me in close combat. At my internship, Crust taught me I could use my quirk on myself to help fight in close quarters, but I haven't exactly been using that advice lately."
"That's excellent, Kanetsukabe; you've made a lot of progress today. It wouldn't be premature for me to say your moves will be useful during the exam. Great job."
"Thank you!"
Hitomi clenched her fists, an eager smile on her face.
I've got this.
A/N: I literally googled "science books" for Hitomi to have in her room, so I've never read a single one of those don't at me :P
Even though Hitomi's existed for more than a year and a half, it took me so long to come up with a hobby that was related to her quirk. The fact that it took me a year after her creation to come up with the idea that she loves science is lowkey embarrassing ( -.-)
If you want to see Hitomi's full room, you can see it on her Instagram account! (hitomi .mimii)
[2/18/2023 EDIT] lol it's 4 am as I'm writing this but I added the scene of Tsuyu's talk with the rescue group! I didn't originally have it, and decided to add it in as I made the changes to include Ghost. Since the feelings of Tsuyu and the rest of the class reminded Hitomi of her parents. So ye lol