Minoko woke up with a groan as her alarm beeped her ears out. She turned it off and smiled at the huge stuffed penguin that sat on her bed. "Good morning Mr. Penguin!" She greeted the toy with a pat on the head. The girls had decided that she would keep it since the last 212 ticketswerehanded to her. Of course, the girls can always borrow him if they want.

She ate breakfast and got ready for school. "Don't get into too much trouble now," dad said.

"Oh! And remember to get your stuff from school," her mom reminded, "Your costume included, I'll go fix it up for you."

Minoko gave a salute, "Will do!"

The whole train ride, Minoko was staring at her hands. She's never tried to use her quirk since USJ. She hasn't even seen the damage the Nomu had done to the room. To be honest, she's a bit scared. Sure, the robots back in the entrance exam did mess around a lot, but the most damage Minoko saw was skid marks and damaged wall paint.

The pain that the Nomu gave her wasfardifferent from the robots.

"Can you believe it! The whole class was even on for a second," Tooru exclaimed. "I didn't stand out at all."

"Yeah," Shouji agreed.

"Well, itiskinda hard to stand out in that outfit," Ojirou said.

"What are we talking about?" Minoko asked, dropping her bag at the side of her desk.

"The news yesterday!" Kaminari exclaimed, "the incident was featured in all the channels wasn't it?"

Minoko remembered her lounging around yesterday, "Tell me about it." She was surprised that barely anyone approached them when they were at the mall. Then again, it's not like they zoomed in on their face or whatever.

"Well, it can't be helped," Jirou started, "The top school pumping out heroes is suddenly targeted by a villain league.

"Jirou's right," Minoko sighed as she sat down, "News channels are eating up that incident to get more viewership. Incidents are usually featured once, but there were still some showing it this morning."

"They're milking it that much huh?" Sero asked, leaning forward on his desk. "What would've happened if the teacher's didn't come?"

"Don't say that Sero!" Mineta jumped up from his desk. "Thinking about it makes me wanna piss my pants!"

"Shut up and grow a pair!" Bakugou yelled.

"But All Might was great huh?" Satou said, starting a whole new chattering topic.

"Minoko," Ochako called from the front of the classroom, "Are you gonna collect your stuff?"

"Ah, I forgot I left it there," Minoko said, standing up to pull the box towards the back of the classroom.

"Aren't you gonna put it away?" Kirishima asked when the girl passed her desk.

Minoko shook his head, "Maybe later."

Kirishima stood up, "Let me help you then," he said.

Minoko allowed Kirishima to carry the box to the back of the classroom. Minoko was glad for the help. That box really was heavy, she only now realizes how much stuff she's able to carry around with no problem thanks to her quirk.

"More importantly," Kaminari started, directing his attention to Ochako and Minoko, "Since when did you two become so close?"

"We had a blast at the mall yesterday!" Ochako exclaimed.

Kaminari gave Minoko a betrayed look, "How could you!"

"You were at the supermarket, remember?" Minoko said.

"Well no one said that all of you were going!" Kaminari said, "I would have loved to make room in mys super busy schedule to hang out with such babe—" he was cut off by Jirou's earphone jack.

"You wouldn't have been invited anyway. It was a much needed girls day out!" Ashido announced from her seat.

"Everyone!" Iida exclaimed with hands out, catching their attention. "Homeroom is about to start, please head back to your seats!"

"We're already seated," Kirishima said.

"You're the only one standing."

"Damn," Iida plopped down to his own seat.

From beside her, Ashido leaned back on her seat, nearly toppling over if Tsuyu hadn't caught her, "I wonder who's teaching homeroom today," she said.

"I wonder as well," Tsuyu brought a finger to her lips, "Last I heard, Mr. Aizawa was still at the hospital."

Minoko hummed, "I hope he's feeling alright." She didn't really see what his condition was, all her knowledge came from what her classmates told her. And from what she's heard, it sounded really bad.

The front door to the classroom slid open revealing a man covered in bandages. "Mr. Aizawa?! You're back too soon!"

"Good morning," the man said.

"He's too much of a pro," Kaminari said.

"I'm glad you're feeling okay!" Iida exclaimed.

Well that's one way to call it,Minoko thought as he watched the mummy man make his way to the podium. He's still covered in bandages.How can he even see?!"Are you sure you're alright?" Minoko asked, raising a hand.

"My wellbeing is of no concern," Mr. Aizawa said. Minoko would beg to differ. "More importantly, your battle is not yet over."

"Not yet over…"

"More villains?!"

"The U.A. Sports Festival is just around the corner," Mr. Aizawa said.

Why would he phrase it like that?!Minoko let out a sigh of relief.

The class cheered for the normal school event. "School festival? Count me in!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Kaminari pushed aside the excited redhead.

"Is it really alright to go through with this even right after an attack?" Jirou asked.

"What if they attack us again?" Ojirou continued.

"By going through with this event, we want to prove that U.A.'s crisis management is outstanding," Mr. Aizawa said. "Security will be five times stronger this year. Besides," he looked up at the students, "the sports festival is a great opportunity. It shouldn't be canceled because of some villains."

Minoko could hear more chattering from Midoriya's side of the classroom.Scouting purposes,she repeated Yaomomo's words in her mind. She's never thought of that before.

"Being in a popular hero agency will give you more experience and popularity," Mr. Aizawa started, "Time is limited. If you are chosen by a pro, it instantly opens your future. Once a year, it gives you three chances. No aspiring hero can let this chance pass by. If you have the will, then prepare!"

"Homeroom is dismissed."

Who would I want to work with?Minoko wondered as she sat through Cementos' class.Actually scratch that, I have to earn those requests first.

"That is all for today," Cementos announced, "Please do not forget to do the reflection paper. It's due at our next meeting. You are dismissed for lunch."

She hummed,It's gonna be hard though.She's watched the previous sports festivals and from what she's observed it always ends up in those one on one battles. Assuming she gets to the last stage, she's gonna have to fight a bunch of aggressive quirks and she's not sure if she's gonna get much further after that.

But say that I do get requests. What kind of hero do I even want to be?She should really have thought about it more. Minoko was snapped out of her thoughts by a loud stomp, "Everyone I will do my best!" Ochako exclaimed.

"Y-yeah!" Minoko joined in, "What's…happening?"

Ochako faced a different group of people, "I will do my best!"

"Minoko!" Ochako approached her desk after her little outburst as she was putting away her things. "Would you like to eat lunch with us?"

"I uhh," she glanced towards the three guys she usually ate with.

Kirishima shrugged, "You're free to do whatever you want," he said.

"Yeah," Sero said, "It might be tiring being with the same three faces everyday after all."

"My face is very pleasing to see," Kaminari said, "but I guess if you wanna pass off the opportunity, go ahead."

Minoko rolled her eyes at the dramatics, "I'll see you guys after lunch."

She walked out of the classroom with Ochako, Iida, and Midoriya. A really peculiar group—not that she minded. She hung out with Ochako recently, and she's quite fond of Iida. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't talked much with Midoriya since that time after the quirk apprehension test when he had asked her a bunch of questions about her quirk.

"Umm, Uraraka," Midoriya started, "Why did you come to U.A. to become a hero?'

"Yes, you were quite passionate earlier!" Iida said.

"Oh um…" Ochako glanced at Minoko. The girl tilted her head at her before realizing,

"Money?" Minoko asked.

"You're doing it for money?" Midoriya asked.

"Ultimately, yes…"Uraraka scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "I'm sorry! It's a pretty selfish motive."

"Well, it's a job isn't it?" Minoko asked.

"Kaeda is right!" Iida exclaimed. "There is nothing wrong with building your goals around your livelihood!"

"Well…"

Ochako goes to tell them her reasoning. Minoko smiled at the girl, despite her acting all embarrassed of her reasoning earlier…there's definitely passion there. "I'm gonna make money so my mom and dad can take it easy."

Iida slowly brought his hands up, "Bravo!" He exclaimed, clapping loudly.

"Ochako!" Minoko moved forward engulfing the girl in a hug. "Your ideals are noble and realistic, don't ever let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

Ochako chuckled, "What about you, Minoko?"

"Hmm?" Minoko pulled away from her. "Me?'

"Oh yeah," Midoriya said, "We've talked before U.A., but I didn't even realize that you wanted to be a hero too."

"You two have been acquainted before?" Iida asked.

The two nodded. "I met Midoriya while on a walk when he was training," Minoko said, "Actually, during that time, I didn't know I wanted to be a hero yet. I mean it was on my mind, but I haven't really decided yet."

"What made you decide then?" Uraraka asked.

"Before I met Midoriya, there was a chase in my neighborhood and I helped stop a man from getting run over, he saw my career sheet and asked if I wanted to become a hero," Minoko explained. "So that got me thinking, but I wasn't confident. I actually wanted to be a hero when I was a child, but my exposure to heroes was very limited to spotlight heroes who all have agressive quirks, ya know, like All Might."

"Oh," Midoriya said in realization, "that's why you asked about the underground heroes?"

Minoko nodded, "Yeah. I researched about them and acertainhero really inspired me," she said, letting out a chuckle. Of course, she wasn't gonna say who it was. She'll feel awkward—and kind of embarrassed—if her homeroom teacher found out. "I asked my friend about it, and he pointed out that I did like to help a lot considering my record at the volunteer center, so I did.

"Being able to help people and seeing how that help is able to lift a burden off of their shoulders—even just a little and seeing their relieved expressions just makes me, I dunno, makes me feel all warm," a soft smile fell on her lips, " I'm glad I did. If I'm gonna be doing something for the rest of my life, it might as well be something that I enjoyed, right?"

"That is right," Iida said, "Jobs shouldn't feel like a chore."

"I'm glad you decided to go with it," Midoriya said, "During USJ, you saved Kacchan—"

"It was a capture situation," Minoko interrupted.

"R-right, capture situation," Midoriya repeated, "Still, you moved so fast, probably on instinct, and you stalled for so long. All Might probably would have sustained more damage from that Nomu if you hadn't." He looked her in the eye, then bowed, "Thank you!"

Minoko could feel her cheeks flush, "Ah, no, it's, I uh, of course! There's no need to bow."

"Do not undersell your efforts, Young Kaeda."

"All Might?!"

The man placed a hand on her shoulder, "You do not know the extent of injuries you have prevented. And I thank you for that," he lowered his head.

Minoko was speechless. She was thanked two times, and one of them is from the Number One hero! "No, I—" she stopped remembering All Might's words, "You're welcome," she said, "Itisa hero's job to help after all." Minoko gave them a close eyed smile.

In the end, Midoriya wasn't able to join them at lunch as All Might whisked him away. Ochako said it must be because of what Tsuyu said about them having similar quirks. So now, Minoko was sitting, doodling at the margins of her notebook as their teacher dismissed them. Everyone started getting ready to leave when she sighed.

"What's wrong?" Kaminari raised an eyebrow at her.

Minoko grimaced as she looked at the back of the room. "I have to take that back now. Mr. Aizawa even reminded me earlier in the hallway."

"Is your quirk still acting up?" Kirisihima asked.

"...I'm not sure," she admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"I...sorta…kinda...haven't tried using it since," Minoko mumbled.

"That is very irresponsible, Kaeda," Iida said, overhearing their conversation. "You should have tried using it the moment you could to make sure nothing was wrong," he scolded. "And if somethingwaswrong, you should have gone to a quirk specialist immediately!"

"I will, I will," Minoko said, standing up, "I'll do it right now, calm down Pres." She walked to the back of the classroom, removing her gloves. She could feel the three watching her intently. She raised her right hand, choosing to send the crowbar back in first. Once all her fingers were touching it, it immediately disappeared. Except…

Why am I shaking?Minoko thought, clutching her hand.

"What's going on?!" Ochako's exclamation made everyone turn towards her—or rather, the door, which was being blocked by students.

Iida immediately walked forward, "What business do you have with Class 1-A?"

Mineta protested, "We can't get out! You're blocking the way!"

Minoko turned to her side, noticing someone else approaching the door, "They're scouting the enemy, dumbass," Bakugou said, face neutral—if you can call it that. "We're the kids that survived a villain attack. They're probably checking us out before the sports festival."

He stopped in front of the crowd.

"I bet a soda that he's gonna say something stupid," Minoko said.

"That's pointless," Bakugou continued, "out of the way, extras."

"Bakugou," Iida reprimanded, "Please stop calling others 'extras' just because you don't know their names."

"Called it," Minoko snickered, "We're not gonna have a very good reputation ifhe'sthe most noticeable person in class."

"Tell me about it." Kirishima sighed.

"I can already hear the other classes saying how arrogant we are," Kaminari added.

A voice called in from the crowd, "I came to see what Class A was like."

That voice…isn't that…

"But you seem pretty arrogant," he continued, stopping in front of the crowd. "Are all the hero course students like this?"

"Called it!" Kaminnari exclaimed, "Kirishima, you owe both of us sodas."

Kirishima gave him a look, "I didn't even agree to any bets."

"Is that Shinsou?" Minoko asked no one in particular as she peeked between Kirishima and Kaminari's shoulders. The familiar purple hair and tired eyes came to her view, "Ah, it is."

"What a let down," Shinsou continued, which sparked different reactions ranging from denial to anger.

"Kaeda, you know that prick?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah," Minoko nodded, "he's the Gen Ed kid that helped me out after the cafeteria hall stampede."

"He didn't even hesitate to lump us with each other," Kirishima said, "so not manly!"

"How are you even associated with him?" Kaminari asked, eye twitching at the conversation in front of them.

"We were in the same battle center during the entrance exam," she said.

"There's quite a few students that enrolled in general education or other courses since they didn't make it into the hero course," Shinsou started, with an eyebrow raised, "Did you know?"

Bakugou scowled at him further, but Shinsou continued. "Depending on the results of the sports festival, they'll consider our transfer to the hero course, which means, they can also transfer people out."

A spark of realization hit Minoko.Is this the secret plan he was talking about?

"Scouting out the enemy?" He questioned Bakugou's accusation, "I'm here to at least remind you that even if you're in the hero course, I'll still sweep your feet from under you." Shinsou scanned the classroom with his eyes, directing his words to every single one of them, " I came with a declaration of war."

He's got guts!Minoko thought, stopping a chuckle from escaping her, not wanting to draw any attention to herself.I wonder why he didn't get into the hero course…

"Hey! Hey!" A new voice called from the back of the group, "I'm from Class B, next door!" A boy with white hair yelled. "I heard you fought villains, so I came here to hear about it! Don't get too full of yourselves!"

"If you get too full of yourselves—" at this point, Bakugou had already started walking away, "—Don't ignore me, bastard!"

"Oi, Bakugou," Kirishima chased the blond. "What are you gonna do about all this? You were the one who provoked them!"

"It doesn't matter," Bakugou said, disappearing down the hallway, "As long as you rise to the top, then it doesn't matter."

"That's so simple and manly," Kirishima clutched his hand and turned his head away, a tear threatening to drop from the corner of his eye.

"Eh?" were both Minoko and Kaminari's reactions.

"You got that right," Satou said.

"To the top, huh? That has truth to it," Tokoyami nodded.

Kaminari's eye twitched,"What's wrong with you guys?"

Minoko sighed, "How are you guys so confident?"

"He just made us more pointless enemies!"

"We'll be targets at the festival! Fish food I tell you!" Minoko exclaimed.

Kirishima laughed.

Kaminari pointed a finger at him, "Don't laugh at our misery!"

"Come on, you two are strong, you can take them on," Kirishima said.

Both of them shook their heads, "You're just saying that to be nice!"

In the distance, Minoko could hear Iida walking out to the hall, reprimanding the other students and urging them to move along. "Tetsutetsu!" A voice called from the crowd, dragging the white haired boy by his uniform collar. "Haven't Kendo said not to bother 1A? Do youwantme to call her?"

"No! I'm going, I'm going!"

Minoko grinned at the familiar voice, and walked over to the door. "Awase!" She greeted, making the boy turn to her and break into a grin of his own.

"Kaeda! It's been a while," Awase greeted back, "I was worried when I hadn't seen you around, but remembering that stunt at the end of the exam always convinces me otherwise."

The other guy—Tetsutetsu—struggled in Awase's hold. "You two know each other?"

Awase nodded, "We met at the entrance exam. We were in the same Battle Center."

"Ah! Is this the one who made the robot disappear?!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

Minoko felt her cheeks flush at the compliment, "Do you just go telling other people about that?"

Awase let out a laugh, "You don't strike me as someone who shys away from compliments." He let Tetsutetsu go, making the boy nearly topple over. "He's right though, it was really cool, but!" He looked her in the eye, "Tetsutetsu is also right about not being too full of yourselves. We might be in different classes, but we're still hero course students!"

Tetsutetsu nodded enthusiastically, "Don't discount us just yet!" He pounded his fist together, a proud smile on his face.

Minoko chuckled, and could almost see the word 'Passion!' behind him. Reminds her of someone. "Of course!"

They chatted a bit more after that and only parted ways after Iida had reprimanded them for hanging out in the hallways. Minoko allowed the class president to do his duties and listened to his words, going back in the classroom to continue packing her stuff, and by her stuff she meant the huge box at the back of the classroom still.

"Ahh, I'm hungry," she hears Kaminari complain.

"You two can go ahead if you want," Minoko said, "I think this'll take a bit."

Kirishima raised an eyebrow at her, "I don't mind waiting," he said.

Minoko shook her head with a small smile, "I don't wanna keep you."

"But what can I say, I'm already all yours baby." Minoko pushed Kaminari's face away with her left hand.

"Or, Kaminari and I can go to the cafeteria and eat while we wait for you," Kirishima suggested.

Minoko perked up, "If that works for you, sure," she smiled.

"Of course, Iama gentleman after all," Kaminari said, standing up, "What kind of man would I be if I left a girl to walk home all—"

"Come on," Kirishima dragged the blond away by the collar, "you were the one complaining about being hungry."

Minoko chucked as the door closed. "Kaeda," Iida called, walking up to her, "I shall be heading out now, my train leaves soon, so if you will—"

"I'll be sure to lock up after I get rid of everything," Minoko said, observing the already empty classroom, "Leave it to me, class pres."

Iida nodded, bowing at her, "Well then, I wish you a safe trip home!"

Minoko waited until he was out before turning back to the box with a sigh. She really should have done this before. Hesitantly, she tapped herself with her right hand, sending herself into the room. She immediately fell to the floor at the sight.

The room's usual wooden floorboards were all cracked, giant footprints marking them. The dark purple walls and black ceiling were littered with dents, holes, and dark marks. The windows were cracked letting in the cold winds from the void.

"What did that Nomu do," Minoko took a shaky stance. She walked over to the windows, focusing her energy on it, thinking of a new window. It was a slow process but the edges of the glass started glowing and slowly, new glass formed inwards. The windows ended up a little different than it did before, for one it was more square than rounded.Might as well do a little makeover.

She walked over to the other window at the opposite of the room and focused her energy to match it with the other window. Afterwards, she went on with the floorboards. She fixed it by replacing it with blue cement. Minoko sighed, the floors were wide and she could feel her stamina slowly depleting. She stared at the ceiling, focusing her energy there, and matching it with the floor. Finally, the walls.

Minko groaned, walking over to one of them. As much as she wants to just leave it be, the damage is still too great that she can't use much of her quirk without damaging her subconscious—which shereallyrather not happen as the quirk counselor mentioned that it could send her into a coma or something.

She shivered at the thought.

She replaced the dark walls with something lighter—pastel pink.Something more cheery to look at, Minoko thought. She did this to all the walls and exhaled at her finished work. All traces of that Nomu—and the old room—were now gone. She glanced at the single crowbar sitting in one of the corners before sending herself back to the real world.

Her hands were a bit shaky, but she should be able to still send in the entire thing in one go. Her quirk is quite complicated in the 'what counts as one entity' area, but it's all in the focus. All items counted as a singular entity, so say there was a pan with an egg in it and she touched the pan with her right hand, the only thing that would be sent to the pocket dimension would be the pan. But if she focuses on it as a whole—thinking of it as 'a pan with an egg' rather than 'a pan and an egg'—she can send them both into the dimension with one touch.

Of course, there are limitations. The items have to be touching. She can't send in the pan with an egg if the egg isn'tinthe pan. That's why she had Todoroki and Hagakure hold on to her before. Her most common use of this 'one entity' method is with people and clothes. She doesnotwant to accidentally appear naked. That said, this 'one entity' method takes longer to process, which makes the transfer atadbit slower, and uses up more stamina.

Minoko stuffed everything in the box, making sure everything was connected before sending it in. She let out an exhausted sigh, glancing at the clock. Ten minutes had passed since she'd started.I wonder if they're still at the cafeteria,she wondered as she left the room, making sure to lock it—not wanting an earful from the ever diligent Iida first thing in the morning.

"Ah! You guys are still here," she said, spotting the two at one of the vending machines near the cafeteria.

"Wedidsay we'll wait for you, ya know," Kaminari chuckled, handing her a soda. "Convinced him to buy us some," he whispered, making her chuckle.

"Going back on one's words is very unmanly!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"Thanks!" Minoko said, accepting the drink. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah," Kirishima nodded, "I heard Mr. Aizawa has one heck of a training session for us soon."

"Seriously?" Kaminari whined. "Even All Might isn't this uptight, and he's the Number One Hero!"

Minoko hummed, "Well, Mr. Aizawa's just making sure we're ready and strong, ya know?" she said, which Kaminari immediately protested against.

"Your judgment is invalid!"

"Hah?! Why is that?"

"You literally freaked out when you realized who he was."

"Kirishima, whose side are you on here?!"

"On the side of justice!"

"I didn't say I was against training though."

"Kirishima, whose side are you on here?!"

Notes:

My plan was to update this every 3 days but that routine immediately broke lmao. But finals are over and we'll be going back to regular updates! Next chapter is going to be a filler focusing on the training Kirishima mentioned. No particular reason apart from the fact that there is a pretty big time gap between the aftermath of USJ and the start of the Sports Festival and like, I just want to lol.

Also, if anyone hasn't realized it, All Might's injuries aren't as bad as in canon because of Minoko's stalling during USJ, so his time limit is still over a little over two hours. Not a very big change, but we'll get there. I'm not planning on a full canon divergence but there will be certain things that are changed.

That said, thank you all for reading the chapter and I hope you enjoyed!

TRVIA!!

Minoko's pocket dimension has had three looks so far. The first was when she first developed it, which resembled her room as a child with the walls painted with stars and flowers. The second is the one that she replaced (this one resembled her parent's room), and the third is what it looks like right now (which is similar to her room as a teenager).