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"This means someone is talking."

'This means someone is thinking to themselves.'

This means it's a flashback.

This means it's a sound effect!*

Angel in a Gilded Cage

Angel thought she had been prepared for her first day of school. She had done plenty of research through self-help guides on the internet, stories in books, tv and film. She had expected a rough start, some hazing sure, but…

"A QUIRK APPREHENSION TEST?!" The majority of the class shouted in surprise.

Yeah, not that...

After their self proclaimed teacher instructed them to get changed and meet out on the field, the class divided into two and went to their respective changerooms. Angel cordoned herself off in a far corner, her face completely red as she was not used to changing next to other people, even if they were also girls.

Dressed in the white, red and blues of the school gym uniform, she joined the rest of the class on the field where the teacher made his "exercise" known.

"But what about the entrance ceremonies or guidance counsel sessions?" The nice girl with the cheeks(she really needed to get her name) asked.

"Heroes don't have time for such luxuries. Yūei is known for its amount of freedom in your education, that extends to your teachers as well, meaning I can instruct you how I see fit." The very tired looking man replied, the implications making Angel wonder if this man's methods were strictly legal.

Stepping up to the ball throw pitch, he turned back to the class.

"Bakugo, what was your record for your softball throw?"

"67 meters." The angry blonde from earlier answered, finally giving a name to the sour face.

The man gestured to the pitch, tossing a metal ball shaped device to him as Bakugo stepped inside the circle.

"Try it using your quirk this time. Hold nothing back, as long as you stay in the circle."

He nodded and stretched his arms a bit before getting into a pitching stance. His face turned downright malevolent as he wound up.

"DIIIEEE!" He roared as an explosion rocked the yard at the apex of his swing! Angel's ears were ringing from the blast, making her stumble a little while her eyes struggled to follow the ball rocketing into the sky!

As everyone watched the ball sail through the air, Angel's mind started putting two and two together. Bakugo, she recognized the boy's name from the exam score board, the one with the most villain points who would've gotten first place if she hadn't.

'Is he that mad at me because he didn't get first?' She guessed. Could a person really be so antagonistic because of a high score?!

"Knowing your limits so you can push yourself to improve," Aizawa caught her attention again. "That is the most rational way to begin as Heroes." He finished, holding out a phone that read 705.2 metres!

"705 metres?! That guy's quirk is overpowered!"

"That was crazy!"

"We're going to use our quirks for P.E?! Yūei is awesome!"

While the rest of the class was in a state of awe and anticipation, Angel was slowly filling with dread, watching Bakugo's bloodthirsty expression, his crimson eyes glittering with excitement. Not only was she the target of the most aggressive member of her class, he had an extremely powerful quirk which he had amazing control over. The moment her identity was revealed, he would be gunning for her.

"Awesome?" Aizawa chuckled darkly, his tone stifling the class's cheerful mood. "You all think this is going to be a joy ride, where you get to have fun? That's not very "heroic" of you. How about this? Whoever scores the lowest will be deemed without potential..."

His dark gaze bore down on them.

"...and be expelled immediately."

The result was instant.

"What?!"

"No fair!"

"Expulsion?! We just got here! That's so unfair!" The cheek girl protested the loudest.

"Natural disasters, tragic accidents, power hungry criminals..." Aizawa brushed some of his long hair out of his face. " these sort of things happen all the time all around the world and not a single one of them cares if you think they are being unfair. It's a Hero's duty to rise to the occasion and resolve these events. For all of you expecting this to be a walk in the park, tough luck. For the next three years of your life, it's going to be one trial after another. To go beyond our limits, that's the school's motto, Plus Ultra, yeah?"

Angel trembled. 'Expulsion?! But I just got here! I finally got into an actual school.' She despaired. She still didn't have great control over her quirk yet! If she came in last, it'd be the end of everything!

'Then there's him.' She added, glancing at Bakugo. She dreaded to think what would happen once he learned her identity.

Was this it? Was her highschool life going to end before it began?

"...I won't lie and tell you that it'll be easy from here on out. But you've worked hard to get here and if anyone deserves this chance, it's you. Don't let it slip through your fingers… Become who you want to be."

Angel breathed in and balled her fists. Moxxi was right and as much as she didn't like Aizawa at the moment, he was too. She had been naive thinking that the worst was behind her. But she knew now that she had to keep proving herself, proving that she belonged in this school. Watching footage of Heroes in action had shown that the profession was no cakewalk. She would worry about her threatening classmate later. Right now she needed to stride forward and become the best she could ever be.

"If that's it," Aizawa declared. "Let's get started."

The apprehension test was divided into multiple exercises common in Japan's school system. Due to her lack of experience in such events and physical activity in general, she was a bit nervous, but she endeavoured to ignore her worries.

First up was the 50 metre dash. Angel marveled at Iida's sheer speed, the engines in his legs propelling him forward like a formula 1 racer! He zoomed past the measuring robot at the finish line which beeped. "3.04 seconds!" Right afterward, his competitor leaped past, a girl with a mutation quirk that granted her the physical qualities of a frog. "5.58 seconds!"

The students kept going in pairs, many of them using their quirks to their advantage.

'How can I use mine here?' She wondered, bringing herself into a thinking pose.

Off to the side, Aizawa took a second to study the quiet girl.

'Angel Hodunk. Scored first place. 54 villain points, 45 rescue points.' He recalled, thinking back to the judging for the practical. The majority of the heroes on the board had wildly approved of her performance, how she managed to score a large amount of villain points before throwing herself into harm's way without hesitation to save two other applicants.

While the rest of his colleagues approved of her conduct and capabilities, Aizawa was a different story. Where they saw self-sacrifice saving Midoriya from a plummet to his death, he saw a girl inexperienced in using her own quirk, judging from the physical exertion it took to manifest her wings, the toll rendering her unconscious. Not to say that he didn't respect her decision to save the boy, just that she had a pitiful understanding of her own abilities.

'Of course that could be a factor of her upbringing.' He noted as he dissected her un-confident demeanour. Years of undercover hero work helped him piece together that the girl most likely came from a sheltered and/or abusive home, someone at some point had made her afraid of using her quirk. The result being a timid young girl who likely held herself in a negative light with how she seemed uneasy (more than the majority of the class in any case) on her upcoming trial.

Another problem he had with her enrollment was the circumstances through which she had accrued her villain points. For years he had considered the exam tremendously flawed for how it favoured raw destructive capabilities over other factors for scoring. One particular example was a boy who had a powerful brainwashing quirk which had extreme potential if used in the real world, but was completely ineffective against robots, unfortunately placing him in the general education course. If Aizawa had his way the exam would focus more on the potential applications of each quirk as well how they were used and not judged through numerical values given by robots.

That problem was emphasized with Hodunk, her quirk's absolute control over machines skewed the exam in her favour. It was undoubtedly a powerful quirk, but they had no clue on how it would match up in the real world under different circumstances.

'If she can learn to overcome the trauma holding her back and prove her quirk's versatility, then her potential would be staggering.' He thought, holding up his tablet to see who was next. 'Let's find out.'

"Yaoyorozu, Hodunk, you're up."

It was finally her turn. Angel's nerves were still tense, but after watching her classmates examples she had an idea of what she could do. Along with Yaoyorozu, she stepped out, not missing the hushed whispers behind her back.

"Hodunk? As in the girl who got first place?"

"The one who that Bakugo guy was looking for."

"Wonder what her quirk is like?"

"Which one is her? The hot brunette or the cute foreigner?"

That last comment made her cheeks burn at how blatantly crude it was, but she chose to ignore it. Following her classmate, Angel stopped at the start line. Her arms reached down to the bottom of her gym shirt, but then she hesitated, unsure if the teacher would allow what she was about to do.

Turning to him, she called out. "U-Um Sensei?" She remembered the proper honorific. "Is it alright if I…"She asked nervously, tugging on her sleeve.

He hummed and seemed to understand what she was implying. "Just don't do anything that'll get me in trouble."

She briefly glanced at the confused and curious looks behind her and breathed in.

'Better to just get it over with.'

Reaching down, she pulled the gym shirt over her head, revealing the black tank top with a low back and her tattoos underneath.

"Oooooh! A free show! Keep going!" The crude voice from earlier demanded.

"Dude, what the hell?"

"Shut up weirdo!"

She felt some relief hearing several of the class admonish whoever was catcalling her.

Pushing that aside for now, Angel got into position next to Yaoyorozu and primed herself, waiting for the start signal. In the days since the exam and leading up to the first day of classes, Angel had been training to control her wings now that she knew she could do it. Exactly as Lilith had said, since her first experience that day, it was gradually becoming easier to call upon that aspect of her power, as if flexing a muscle that she never knew she had. And with Moxxi's guidance she now had a method to do it.

Breathing in, Angel thought back to that day reminiscing on the sensation of flight. The electricity in the air, dancing along her skin. The weaving, undulating beat of her wings.

Above all else, the burning spark residing in the mark on her chest. Burning bigger and bigger, growing more powerful as it fed on her desire, her need to feel free once more!

"Go!"

With a flash of white and a surge of emotion, Angel's wings burst to life! The instant she made her first step, they flapped, kicking up a cloud of dust on either side and launching her forward in a powerful leap! She flew through the air for half a second, then landed on her other foot where she repeated the maneuver, shooting down the track in short hops until she finally passed the bot at the end!

"5.72 seconds!"

Her wings and her tattoos faded as she tried to catch her breath. Despite the faint throbbing in her temples, she was overjoyed. She had succeeded and earned a good score!

"6.33 seconds!" The robot beeps, followed by a string of coughing behind her. She flushed with mortification as Yaoyorozu stopped next to her wearing a set of roller skates, covered in dirt and dust. Angel didn't know where she got her footwear from.

"Oh no! I-I'm so sorry!" She frantically apologized, to which her classmate simply shook her head.

"You have no need to apologize. It was an accident I'm sure." She smiled as she brushed herself off. "Good use of your quirk there."

Taken off guard from the sudden compliment, Angel stuttered. "T-Thank you so much!"

She figured that her classmate would have been upset from her accidentally sabotaging her score, potentially getting her expelled. Receiving the contrary was a pleasant surprise.

"Wings, just like the exam!" She heard Iida's analytical tone.

She turned to the class and stood in shock at the amazed looks on their faces and the awe in their voices.

"Were those wings made of lasers?! That was so cool!"

"What a pretty lightshow!"

"Tres magnifique!"

"That's gotta be the Angel girl! It'd be too much of a coincidence!"

'They… like my quirk!' She smiled with elation.

Then her blue eye met crimson, sparkling with barely restrained anger. Bakugo was staring her down with such intensity that her body wouldn't move despite her mind's protests. It was like an unspoken message, one that Angel received.

Target acquired.

"Yaoyorozu, Hodunk. We'd appreciate it if you didn't waste everyone's time." Aizawa's tired voice snapped her out of her trance. Bakugo snarled and turned away.

"S-Sorry!" She eeped and began running back to the starting line to retrieve her shirt while the rest of the class started moving to the nearby gym but was surprised when the cheek girl leaned over and picked it up.

"Here you go!" She cheerfully said as she brushed it off and held it out to her, once again taking Angel off guard with the spontaneous kindness.

"U-Um, thank you, um..." She mumbled, embarrassed at not knowing her name yet and refusing to call her cheek girl to her face.

"Oh! I'm Uraraka! Uraraka Ochako!" She greeted as she started moving after the group, prompting Angel to follow after her. "I'm guessing you're Hodunk, right?"

She nodded. "Y-Yeah, nice to meet you."

"I really like your quirk by the way!"

"O-Oh?"

"Yeah! You look so cool with those wings!"

'She called me cool againnnnn! She's so sweet I'm going to get cavities!'

"Thank you. Your kind words are appreciated." She somehow managed to say without stuttering. Maybe it was from how happy she was feeling, holding an actual conversation.

"Hodunk! Uraraka! Today would be nice!" Aizawa called, irritated.

"Well, that's our cue!" Uraraka chuckled nervously before taking a more earnest expression. "Just in case one of us gets thrown out today… thank you for saving me that day. Good luck!" She waved and ran after the group, leaving Angel behind.

She watched the girl run ahead. Such a cheerful, friendly person, kind to other people she barely knew, someone who would get along with anyone.

'I need to pass no matter what.' Angel reaffirmed.

The tests continued.

Grip strength.

Angel grunted and clenched her teeth as she squeezed the device as hard as she could. After a few seconds it beeped and she relaxed her right hand. She didn't use her left in fear of damaging it or being accused of tampering with the results. She was sure that using her quirk to change the results themselves would be considered cheating, meaning for this one she had to rely on her strength if you could call it that.

Looking at the screen she grimaced. 13.65 kgs. It was expected, she had never had any real physical exercise in her life until recently, only able to use the treadmill she was provided to keep herself healthy. It looked like she would have to get as many scores with her quirk as possible to make up for it.

"All right! 102!" A muscular boy with spiky red hair cheered, only making her feel worse.

She definitely needed to work out more.

Standing long jump.

Angel pumped her legs and threw herself as far as she could. At the same time, her wings billowed, letting her sail a few feet over the sand pit, landing on the other side. She caught Aizawa nodding with approval, no actual excitement or awe, but approval nonetheless.

Stepping around to join the next group, she watched Bakugo emit explosions from his hands to propel himself over the pit as well, the same way he did during the 50 metre dash. Right behind him, Midoriya landed in the sand, a good distance for a normal test, but not for the quirk assessment. He looked anxious.

Angel had been observing him the last couple tests, noticing that he had yet to use his quirk for any of them, which puzzled her. He clearly had a very powerful quirk when he saved her, so why wasn't he using it?

'Does it have to do with how banged up he was after?" She wondered. Possibly, but right now she could do nothing but wish him luck.

Repeated side steps.

Angel's lungs burned as she bounced side to side.

'This… is… the… worst… thing… ever…'

Finishing her set, she bent over gasping for air. Looking to her left a muscular blonde haired boy used his long, yet powerful tail to assist him with every step.

With how tired she was feeling, Angel couldn't help feeling a little spiteful.

'Show off.'

Ball Throw.

It had been about five minutes since Uraraka had thrown her ball. The entire class had watched in disbelief as it calmly sailed like a balloon, flying higher and higher until it disappeared. Aizawa showed them the sideways eight on his phone.

"INFINITY?!" Many shouted in awe while Angel put the pieces together. 'So that's how she moved the rubble off me! She doesn't make things float, she nullifies gravity! So useful!'

Uraraka smiled bashfully as she moved off the pitch.

"Hodunk, you're up."

She nodded and picked up her ball from the pile, her mind racing as she stepped towards the circle. What could she do here? She had to stay in the circle, so that meant no flying. She could gain some height to throw the ball but that probably wouldn't give her too much distance for how much energy flight costs her, too much of a long shot.

Wait, shot?

It was unusually quiet for a shooting range. Where normally the walls echoed with bangs of gun fire and the crack of bullets was filled with deafening silence.

It was a couple months before the Yūei entrance exam. In preparation for the monumental trial ahead Moxxi decided that it'd be a good idea to continue developing the part of Angel's moveset that she was less experienced and comfortable with, her energy blasts.

"All right, everything is set up!" Moxxi said as she strode into the room. "The place has been rented out for the next hour."

"How'd you do that? It sounds expensive."

Moxxi only flashed Angel her trademark playful smile. "You let me worry about that. Now we focus on your… technique."

A minute later, a bullseye was hanging in the middle of the range across from Angel at the barrier. Moxxi's heels clicked as she stepped behind her.

"Lilith taught you how to harness your quirk's energy, gave you guidance based on her own experiences with her own quirk which is remarkably similar in nature. Unfortunately, I can't do the same."

Angel blinked in confusion. "What? Why?"

"Simply put, our quirks are too different Sugar. I lack that connection you and Lilith share. I won't be able to teach you how to develop your power, that'll be up to you."

"Then… what are we going to do if you can't teach me anything?"

"I didn't say I couldn't teach you something." Moxxi wagged her finger. "You already have a method on how to use your energy, using that gun image yeah? That is where I can help you, your execution. Take a shot over at the target, try to nail it as many times as you can."

Angel sighed and aimed her arm as instructed. Running her mantra through her head, the energy coalesced at her fingertips and she fired a white bolt! It shot forward but flew past the target and collided with the wall in a flash of light and a crack, leaving a scorch mark in the concrete.

Letting out a small grunt, she tried again.

*P-ang!* The shot sparked on the left wall.

Narrowing her eyes, she tried again and again and again!

*P-ang! Pew! Crack!*

She growled in frustration. "I can't hit it!"

"Of course you're not going to hit it, you don't know what you are doing. Here." Angel squeaked as Moxxi started prodding her body, moving her legs into a proper position, straightening her back and fixing her arms. "Try aiming to the left of your thumb, parallel with the joint of the hand."

Angel did so, breathed in and "squeezed the trigger".

*Spak!* A smoldering hole appeared on the outer right ring of the target!

"I-I hit it!" She sputtered in thrilled surprise, making Moxxi chuckle.

"That you did, now come on, lets get closer, a LOT closer! We might have two months, but I want to get my money's worth!"

Angel gripped the ball in her right hand and faced forward. Breath in, energy rises. Breath out, energy flows down, her tattoos flaring to life.

On the sidelines, Aizawa raised a brow.

'Load.'

Reeling her right arm all the way in an amateurish pitching pose, she whipped the ball as hard as she could!

'Aim.'

Using the momentum from the throw, she whirled around, her shoes scratching against the dirt as she pivoted until her glowing fingers pointed towards the falling ball!

'Hit!'

She fired!

Her shot exploded against the falling ball almost instantly, bouncing it back into the air and further away!

'Hit!' She fired again!

The ball bounced back into the air, flying even faster from the force of the blast!

'Hit!' And she fired again!

Despite the now considerable distance from her hand and her target, her shot's journey was almost instantaneous, knowledge Angel knew from her tests with Moxxi, a high speed camera revealing her shots moved around 1500 miles per hour, a couple hundred slower than the average bullet.

The ball now too far of a target for her to hit, gravity pulled it down to earth and bounced off the ground.

All in the span of a few seconds.

Wiping the sweat from her brow and trying to ignore the brewing headache, she turned back to Aizawa expectantly.

He matched her gaze for a moment, then turned his phone to her.

136.4 meters.

She sighed with relief. While it didn't hold a candle to Bakugo or Uraraka's scores, it was definitely better than what she would have gotten normally.

She pulled her jacket back on and went to join the class.

Uraraka beamed at her. "That was great!"

"Not as good as you." She answered, then realized how spiteful that sounded. "I-I mean I'm not jealous or anything!"

"I know!" Uraraka reassured her. "Honestly I think you were more impressive there!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! All I did was use my quirk and threw the ball. You were so much cooler shooting it like a cowboy! Pew, pew, pew!" She mimed shooting dual pistols, making Angel snort. She was falling in love with this girl. "Just the fact that you made those shots from so far away was more impressive."

"Thanks, I had a good teacher." The more Angel got to know Uraraka, the easier it was to talk. She got to enjoy what she had long since been missing out on.

"Midoriya." Aizawa called.

She watched the nervous boy make his way to the pitch. He still hadn't used his quirk and still hadn't gotten a good score.

'What is the problem? At this rate he's going to be dead last.' She thought, dwelling on how sad she'd be if such a nice, deserving person was expelled.

"It's strange how much trouble Midoriya seems to be having." Iida vocalized her thoughts.

"He's a quirkless runt, case closed!" Bakugo declared.

She blinked. "Quirkless? There must be some mistake. No one could have done what he did during the exam without powers." She stated, her confusion stalling her awkwardness.

Bakugo looked at her incredulously. "The fuck you're talking about?!" He barked as Midoriya wound up his throw.

Remembering the vast destructive power he possessed from the exam, Angel was fully expecting him to throw the ball into orbit, bracing herself for the blast.

Only to be let down when he lobbed the ball, landing a short distance away.

For a second, Angel didn't understand what was going on and seemingly, neither did he as he looked down at his hands with uncertainty.

"I erased your quirk." The sound of Aizawa's voice filled with anger startled her as everyone turned to face him where they beheld their teacher whose hair was wafting in an unseen breeze, his eyes aglow with a baleful red light. He gripped his scarf as it floated as unnaturally as his hair, revealing a pair of yellow vented goggles hanging from his neck. "I keep saying the exam isn't meticulous enough. Someone like you got in." He stated as he glared angrily.

"W-What do you mean?!" Midoriya asked, then shivered in shock and recognition. "Wait! Those goggles! The underground hero who can negate the quirks of others just by looking at them! You're the erasure hero, Eraserhead!"

'Eraserhead?! He must be super covert, even I've never heard of him! Why did he erase Midoriya's quirk?! What is going on?!' Angel's mind raced to make sense of the situation as the teacher walked up to her classmate, reprimanding him while his scarf wrapped around Midoriya and pulled him close. Angel strained her ears to listen, but the distance and their tones made it impossible to make out what was being said.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"I don't know. I just hope Midoriya can get out of this spot he's in."

Uraraka nodded solemnly.

"Probably telling him to pack his bags and get the fuck out!" Bakugo spat while Aizawa handed Midoriya the ball for his second throw.

Choosing to ignore his caustic remark, Angel watched Izuku with trepidation and worry as he stood on the pitch, seemingly deep in thought. She didn't know what was going on with him, but she really hoped that he passed.

'Come on Midoriya! You can do this!' She pleaded.

He stepped forward and pulled back his arm.

*BOOM!* In an explosion of air and sound, Midoriya swung, firing the ball into the sky! Angel gaped with awe along with the rest of the class, once again blown away (almost literally) by the sheer power that he possessed! Glancing back to the boy, she paused upon a closer inspection. Unlike the exam, all of his limbs were still intact except for his right pointer finger, red, swollen and broken.

A flicker of concern coursed through her. If he got hurt every time he used his quirk, how is he going to become a hero?

"He did it! He got a heroic score!" Uraraka cheered.

'Eh, worries for another time.' Angel thought to herself, deciding just to celebrate with her classmate. "Yeah, thank goodness."

"His finger is all broken again. What a strange quirk." Iida noted, just like her.

"DEKUUUU!" Bakugo roared furiously as he broke into a dead sprint towards Midoriya! "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON YOU SCUMBAG?!" He demanded as he got closer making the greenette quail in fear!

Right as Angel felt the urge to do something, Aizawa's scarf wrapped itself around the belligerent blonde, stopping him in his tracks!

"What the… shit?! I can't… move!"

"It's my signature capture tool, steel cables combined with carbon nanofibers. Stop making me use my quirk so much, I've got dry eye dammit!" Aizawa complained, his eyes red and irritated. With Bakugo effectively cowed, he released his student and deactivated his quirk.

"Stop wasting so much time and get ready for the next test."

Angel started to move along with the rest of the group, looking over her shoulder at Bakugo's silent, still form.

'What the heck was that?'

In the end, Angel couldn't afford to dwell on the boy's erratic behaviour and strange relationship with Midoriya, having to focus on the remaining trials. She performed poorly at the situps and toe touches, but she managed to get a decent score at the long distance running by using her wings to move faster and glide short distances, although she had to run the last stretch before the finish line as her power enacted its toll, giving her a heavy headache. Afterwards Aizawa stood before the class, Angel holding her breath in fearful anticipation under the tense atmosphere.

"Time for the final results." He announced as his phone projected a scoreboard. Her eyes scanned down the list, searching for her name.

8. Hodunk Angel

She gave a sigh of relief before looking up again.

'Who's going home?'

Jumping to the bottom of the list, her spirits sunk like a rock in the ocean.

20. Midoriya Izuku

'No…' She glanced at the poor boy, his skin as white as a sheet and his eyes filled with despair.

'He shouldn't be expelled! He deserves to be here! Is there anything I can do?!"

The scoreboard flickered off.

"I was lying about expulsion by the way."

Angel blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, I just said that to make you do your best." He said, a cat ate the canary grin on his face. You could see the feathers poking between his teeth.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Most of the class screamed incredulously.

"SON OF A B-!" Angel shouted in English before catching herself. "...witch…" She mumbled as her cheeks flared from the looks she was getting. Midoriya looked like his soul had left his body.

"Come on guys, it was obvious from the start." Yaoyorozu stated.

'No wonder she wasn't mad at me, she knew there wasn't any stakes.'

"Anyway, it was nice to meet you all and whatever. Your curriculums are back in the class, enjoy the rest of your day." Aizawa said before walking away.

Angel groaned in exasperation. There was no way she could have been prepared for this school.

In the wake of her homeroom teacher's stressful tests, the rest of the day passed by fairly quick and uneventfully. They were introduced to the rest of their teachers for their various subjects except for All-Might whose Heroic Foundations course wouldn't start until tomorrow.

At the end of the day, Angel found herself right outside the school doors, sore and tired as she held her phone in her hand.

Heartbreaker: I'm going to be running a little late, so sit tight!

Angel: Don't worry, it's cool.

Heartbreaker: Can't wait to hear how your first day went! Meet you at the front entrance?

Angel's thumbs lifted to reply.

"Hey!" A sudden voice made her jump and glance about to see a familiar girl push through the doors behind her.

"O-Oh U-Uraraka-san!" She stuttered, causing her to silently curse at how her social anxiety had returned in the time since she last spoke to her classmates that morning.

"Good to see you Hodunk-san, wanna walk to the station with me?"

Angel froze at the innocent invitation. She wanted to spend time with her outside of class? Were they getting closer?

"R-Really? You want me to come with you?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah!" Uraraka beamed. "Come on! I see Iida and Midoriya, let's invite them too!" She said, grabbing Angel's arm.

Wait, she wanted Angel to talk with her, Iida AND Midoriya?! As much as she would like to get to know Uraraka and Midoriya, she wasn't too sure about Iida with how intense he was when they first met! And hanging out with all three at the same time?! She was getting pushed too far out of her comfort zone way too fast!

"W-Wait, what?! We can just go ourselves right?! Uraraka-san, no, please!" She sputtered in fear at the girl pulling her like she was an overeager puppy on a leash, completely oblivious to her protests as they got closer to the two boys!

"Midoriya-kun! Iida-kun! Wait for us!" She called their attention. Angel watched their faces light up with recognition and perhaps amusement at her situation. Uraraka came to a stop in front of them and pulled her captive to her side.

"You're that infinity girl." The taller boy remarked, eliciting a laugh from the girl.

"Well you can call me Uraraka Ochako and this is Hodunk Angel!" She gestured to the girl in question.

"Hi." She squeaked and gave a shaky wave. 'You need to calm down Angel! You need to calm down!'

"And that makes you, um, Iida Tenya and… Midoriya Deku right?" Uraraka asked, mistakenly getting the freckled boy's name wrong.

"Deku?!" He reacted, confused as to why she called him that.

"Yeah, isn't that what the Bakugo guy called you?" She asked.

"U-Um…" Angel mumbled, fidgeting with the bottom of her skirt as she tried not to faint. "I-I'm pretty sure that his n-name is I-Izuku… right?"

"Y-Yeah…" Midoriya agreed. "That's right. Deku is what Kacchan calls me to make fun of me…" He explained nervously.

"So it's a rude moniker, how low!" Iida stated with distaste.

"Oh? My bad then!" Uraraka apologized. "But well, I kinda like it anyway! Kinda sounds like "never give up!" That's cool!"

"My name is Deku!" Midoriya suddenly announced, his skin turning beet red!

Angel didn't know why, maybe it was the comedic absurdity of it all.

She started giggling. She was really liking these two.

Feeling a bit more comfortable, she stopped when the other three stopped to look at her. "S-Sorry… just… that was funny." She said.

"Hodunk-san." Iida stated, gaining her attention as he stepped in front of her. She started to sweat, thinking that he was going to reprimand her or something for making fun of Midoriya.

Instead, he bowed his head. "I'd like to apologize."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"Earlier today I seemed to have intimidated you when we first met. I've been told I can be… intense. I didn't mean to frighten you and for that, I am sorry." He said solemnly.

She stared down at him in shock. He was apologizing for scaring her earlier. That was when she realized that Iida was a nice person after all. He was just a quirky person who had recognized his faults and decided to make things right.

'I misjudged him.'

"I forgive you Iida-kun and I'm sorry… for making a scene." She said, allowing the boy to stand straight with a smile, joined by their two classmates who despite lacking any context of what happened watched happily.

"Thank you. Now let's get going, we don't want to miss our trains." He announced with a flourish, prompting everyone to follow.

As they started walking towards the gate, a single, hopeful question came to Angel's mind.

"Wait…" She stopped, the three teens in front of her turned to face her. "D-Does this... make us... friends?"

They all seemed a little taken back at the question.

"W-Well, sure! I-I mean, if you want to!" Midoriya answered.

"I would hope so!" Iida added.

"Mmhm!" Uraraka nodded and hummed in agreement.

Her heart skipped a beat. Had she finally done it? After all these years?

"This is really happening, isn't it?"

"It's all real Angel."

Her eyes became laden with tears as she trembled not in fear, but pure joy.

"Hodunk-san! Are you alright?!" Iida cried out in concern.

"Y-Yeah!" She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "J-Just got something in my eyes."

Then she remembered something. "O-One second!" She pulled out her phone and her fingers tapped on the screen. Her finger glowed and a message was formed and sent directly from her mind in an instant.

Angel: No thanks. I'm going to the station with my new friends!

"Alright!" She threw it into her pocket. "Lets go!"