Hello crazy, beautiful world! Remember when I said the next update was going to be later due to an increased workload? I maaayyy had misjudged when that work would come up, so my scattermindness (that's a word now) is all your benefit! The workload is likely going to rear its ugly head within the next couple weeks, so expect the next update to take a bit longer. Its my goal to try and get as many updates out before my next semester starts up in September and slows down my update flow.

In other news, as of this update, this story is only 4 views shy of reaching 1000 milestone! Thank you all once again for indulging me with your time!

Anyway, this is the longest chapter I've written besides the prologue, hope you enjoy every word!

Borderlands is owned by Gearbox and 2KGames and My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Funimation. Please support the official release.

Please rate and review!

"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

Combat. An unfortunate, but necessary aspect of any hero's career. Criminals will attack without warning at any time, meaning that the heroes would have to rise to the occasion and resolve the confrontation.

The fact that the school saw it fit to recreate these scenarios for basic training spoke volumes of how serious they took their student's education.

Didn't mean Angel was looking forward to it though.

"Now let's go down to business!" All-Might announced. "First the villains will enter the building and be allowed to prepare their defenses. The heroes will wait out here and are encouraged to study the building's floor-plan until they are called inside. The rest of the class will join me in the monitoring room to watch the action through the surveillance cameras."

He turned to the two teams. "For this exercise, I expect the villain team to adopt the proper mindset of the criminal element. This is practical training, I expect everyone to give it their all and act as if this is a real combat scenario! I will intervene if things go too far!" He warned.

"Everyone else!" He waved at the rest of the class. "Follow me!" He pointed towards the before-mentioned monitoring room and began to lead the students. As they moved away from the streets, Angel glanced back at the two teams just in time to catch an intense standoff between Midoriya and Bakugo, the latter of whom had a glare so pointed one could cut them-self.

The unspoken interaction between the two reminded her of the previous day, when the blonde had attempted to harm her friend during Aizawa's test. It was obvious that the two knew each other, but what was the nature of their relationship?

All she knew right then was that the exercise was going to be anything but normal.

She wished her friends the best of luck.

A couple minutes later she was standing in the darkened monitoring room, the only illumination the plethora of holo-screens floating above the class and their proctor. Around her, students whispered amongst themselves, most of them weighing the odds of who was going to win. Up on the screens were live feeds all over the interior of the building. At the moment Bakugo and Iida were on the fifth floor where they had deposited their objective, a fake nuclear warhead. Midoriya and Uraraka were strategizing outside on the only outdoor feed, looking over the provided maps. After determining where both teams were, Angel automatically slipped into an old habit.

'It's too early to tell who has the edge here. Neither team has a specific advantage or disadvantage in terms of the environment. The heroes don't know where the weapon is, but at the same time the villains don't know where they are going to infiltrate the hideout. They placed the weapon on the top floor five stories up, so there is an opportunity for an ambush if Uraraka floats herself and Midoriya up through a window, otherwise they will be at the other team's mercy if they search floor by floor, wasting time. If I had to guess what will happen… Bakugo will probably want to roam around searching for them, he's not the patient type.' She thought as her eyes flitted from screen to screen, gleaning contextual information from each in a single blink.

She was so wrapped up in her analysis that she didn't notice the person behind her.

"Hey!"

"Uwah!" She almost screamed, spinning around to see a familiar pink face.

"Woah! Calm down! It's just me!" Ashido said, giving Angel a placating smile and waving her hands defensively. "Just wanted to give you props on your style again! Your costume is killer!"

"T-Thanks…" Angel answered. "Yours is…" She struggled to find the word as she looked her over. Ashido's costume was loud, a purple and turquoise skin tight bodysuit which hugged the curves of her athletic build, a tan waistcoat that had a white fur collar around her shoulders. Her face was disguised with a simple white mask, where the girl's yellow eyes blinked expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"...flashy."

"Thanks!" The girl took the (sort of) praise in stride. "Just wondering, what's with the window on your back?"

The window she was referring to was the gap in her costume's material just above her shoulder blades.

"T-Thats for my wings. The first time I used them they, u-um, b-burned through my clothes."

Rest in peace running jacket.

"Whaaat?! You too?!" Ashido exclaimed! "I'm not the only one, awesome! When I was a kid I used to melt through all of my clothes with my acid, that wasn't fun!" She laughed, then shifted her attention to the screens.

"So who ya betting on?"

Angel shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know enough about any of their capabilities to make a guess. At this point it's going to come down to teamwork and strategy."

"Okaaay… well then who do you hope will win?"

"I… don't know… again. The problem is that I'm friends with three of them, so I don't know who to root for."

"The heroes and the Iida guy right?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, figured you probably weren't friends with that Bakugo guy. Say, what did you do to light a fire under him anyway?" Ashido asked.

Angel returned her attention to the screens, studying the scowling teen and his choice in apparel. A sleeveless tank top emblazoned by a big orange x with added baggy pants and combat boots, accentuated by metal bracers on his knees and in the gaps between his neck and his shoulders. The most ostentatious component was the massive pineapple grenade shaped gauntlets on his arms, possibly serving some form of combat function to compensate for their bulkiness. His red eyes burned behind his black mask with black and orange explosion shaped fringes bursting out from behind his ears. All in all it definitely fit his personality, brash and intimidating.

"M-My best guess it's because I placed first in the entrance exam and he got second."

Ashido gave her a doubtful look. "Really? You think he'd be that petty?"

She nodded. "I'm kind of worried that he's going to do something. Nothing has happened yet, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Prep time is up!" All-Might's loud voice caught both of the girl's attention along with the rest of the room. "Battle! Start!" He spoke into a microphone, broadcasting directly to the teams if Angel had to guess. He turned to the students behind him. "I expect all of you to be paying attention! We will be reviewing each battle and you might also come up with some strategies of your own!"

And so Angel joined her peers watching the battle commence. Just as she predicted, Uraraka floated herself and her partner up several stories, but only up to the third before Angel presumed she would start getting nauseous. At the same time Bakugo had split off from Iida who chose to defend the weapon. The blonde was charging through the halls with a bloodthirsty expression on his face, which just made her feel all the more uncomfortable.

'Is that really the face of a future hero?' She asked herself.

Without noticing, her heart had begun to race as she observed the position of the blonde and the heroes. They were converging!

'Guys, look out!' She wanted to warn them as Bakugo came flying around the corner and swung at her friends, gloved hand ablasting! Thankfully Midoriya reacted in time, grabbing Uraraka and tumbling away, but with half of his mask scorched off!

"Geez that was close!" Ashido said next to her.

"Isn't an ambush a bit unfair?" A muscular redhead protested.

"Of course not! It's a viable strategy!" All-Might corrected.

Bakugo went for another swing! 'Dodge Midoriya!'

Thankfully he did, but what happened next no one expected.

Dodging under the incoming strike, the boy grabbed onto the other boy's arm, pivoted his stance and flipped his attacker over his shoulder, slamming him into the floor!

Angel gaped, completely dumbfounded, not ever had she thought Midoriya, the anxious boy who stuttered his way through almost everything, was good at fighting! She didn't think he had it in him!

Everyone seemed just as surprised, Bakugo looked like he had no clue what just happened. Then Midoriya started declaring something important to the blonde, but the feed provided no audio.

'All-Might is probably the only one who can hear anything.' She noted, glancing at the bud in his ear. But just because she couldn't hear what was happening didn't mean she couldn't find out what was being said. She focused on Midoriya's mouth, using a skill that she had unintentionally earned.

"...analyzed… notes… heroes I… admired… you…" She muttered as she watched him speak silently, struggling as she had never lipread Japanese before. "You called… Deku… worthless and weak… I… Deku who… never give up."

The last sentence seemed to infuriate Bakugo even further, serving only to cement Angel's theory that the two had a history and subsequently inflamed her curiosity. Deku? Midoriya had mentioned that it was a name meant to belittle him given by Bakugo. Combined with the hostile behaviour that the latter held for the former (at least more than everyone else that she had seen) it was obvious that Midoriya had been bullied by Bakugo. As angry as that made her, it made sense, explaining her friend's timid nature as well as why Bakugo was so angry. Midoriya had changed the meaning of the word that was once used to oppress him, an act of defiance that angered his tormentor.

There was another question however, but she couldn't focus on that now. In the time she had been pondering, Midoriya had started running away, leading Bakugo astray as Uraraka presumably split off to capture the weapon! She chose to watch the chase unfolding out of concern for her friend's wellbeing. Bakugo was getting so mad he might actually kill him! It turned into a game of cat and mouse, with Midoriya luring the blonde further away. In the meantime, Uraraka had found Iida guarding the weapon, but was discovered by the "villain" who had prepared for her by removing all loose objects in the room.

That was of little consequence to Angel however. All of her attention was on the chase stories below, completely worried for Midoriya's safety, chewing her lip as the blonde finally found him! They continued to exchange words as Bakugo raised one of his gauntlets.

"Young Bakugo!" All-Might suddenly yelled urgently into the mic! "Desist immediately! You will kill him!"

'What?! Kill him?!'

The hero's words fell on deaf ears unfortunately as Bakugo yanked the pin out of the top of his grenade shaped gauntlet, unleashing a wave of destruction and fire! The ground shook and the feed flashed white!

"Midoriya!" She cried amidst the yells of shock!

Eventually the camera refocused. The entire side of the building had been blown apart! She squinted frantically until she finally spotted the green costume! It appeared that Midoriya had only been grazed, his right sleeve had been shorn off! Bakugo stood across from him, looking more and more like a deranged psycho by the second!

'I managed to beat this guy?!' She thought incredulously before turning to the teacher.

"All-Might-sensei! This guy is completely unstable! Stop the match!" She yelled, only being met with silence until he turned his mic on again!

"Young Bakugo, fire that weapon one more time and you will forfeit the match! Do you understand?!"

She stared at the hero in disbelief. 'Why the hell aren't you stopping this?!'

Appearing to have understood the message Bakugo charged at Midoriya once more! But just when she thought that her friend would read him like before, the blonde changed his trajectory with an explosion, flipping over him before blasting him in the back!

"Man, the guy has great control over his quirk to move like that!"

"He's a complete lunatic, but he's got skill." Some classmates remarked as they watched Bakugo pummel Midoriya, zipping around using his blasts to strike without giving his target a chance to retaliate! Every impact made her flinch, she couldn't bear to see her friend getting maimed like this!

'Stop! Stop it please!' She whimpered as Midoriya took a nasty body slam and quickly scampered to the far wall, cornered like a mouse!

"Something's weird." Ashido suddenly pointed out. "Why hasn't Midoriya used his quirk yet?"

Angel blinked. That's right! Why hasn't he?! From what she had seen, he should be able to blow Bakugo away with a finger!

'Midoriya, why are you holding back?!' She asked, as if hoping that if she implored to him hard enough that he would answer. Instead, he hardened his stance and started yelling something at his opponent, unfortunately at an angle she couldn't read! Bakugo bellowed something back and they both charged forward, arms pulled back!

"SENSEI, STOP THIS PLEASE!" She pleaded as she ran up to the hero, trying to pull on his arm! "THIS IS GOING TOO FAR!"

He winced, his perpetual smile strained! Then he finally seemed to make a decision!

"Attention teams! The match is-!"

But then he stopped!

Glancing up just in time, Angel watched as Midoriya took the full blast of Bakugo's quirk, only to throw his punch skyward! A massive wave of power! The ceiling erupted as did every other ceiling all the way through the roof of the building! On another screen she just barely caught the sight of Uraraka floating herself through a shower of debris and latching onto the weapon!

That's when she realized. Midoriya had a plan the whole time.

Speaking of. The dust finally cleared and she stifled a gasp. His costume was even more shredded, revealing his body covered with bruises and burns from Bakugo's onslaught, his left arm and part of his face burned from the last blast. Like before, the arm that used his quirk was red, swollen and shattered. Unceremoniously, he collapsed.

"The heroes win!" All-Might declared, then shot out the room!

Her classmates talked amongst themselves, voicing their surprise and amazement while stood there in awe. Midoriya had thought things through so far, he had won at the same time he lost. But at what cost? He had thrown away any sense of self preservation that he had and now he was horribly injured.

'Can I really match up?'

Minutes later All-Might returned with the villain team and Uraraka in tow. Bakugo's head was lowered, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. He must truly be in shock at his loss.

Forgetting about that, Angel stepped up to her teacher. "All-Might-sensei, is… is Midoriya okay?" She asked fretfully.

"Have no fear young Hodunk." He gave her a placating pat on the shoulder. "Recovery Girl is working on him right now. He will be well within the hour."

She let out a shaky breath. "Thank goodness. Can I… check on him?"

"I'm afraid not. We are just about to start our review and you might be next. Don't worry for your friend, he is in good hands."

She hesitantly nodded as she stepped back to let him address the class "A good match for all involved! Now, the award for match MVP… young Iida!"

"What?!" The boy jumped.

"But the heroes won. Why is he MVP?" Someone asked.

"Good question! Anyone care to answer?" All-Might asked.

Nearby, Yaoyorozu raised her hand.

"It's because Iida both kept his goal in mind and was the fastest to adapt. Bakugo was clearly acting out of a personal vendetta with Midoriya, making him lose sight of the objective. His rampant destruction of the building was unnecessary and foolish, same for Midoriya. Uraraka likely wouldn't have succeeded on her own against Iida and her final attack was too dangerous. We were supposed to be treating the fake weapon as if it was real, meaning she very well could have caused it to detonate. Iida not only made effective preparations against Uraraka, but also compensated for a lack of cooperation and communication from his partner by focusing on his objective autonomously. All in all, I believe that we should be taking this scenario more seriously, otherwise it undermines the point of it being preparation for the real thing."

"U-Um… great points!" All-Might stammered giving a thumbs up, appearing to have been taken off guard at the thoroughness of Yaoyorozu's answer, which Angel felt was fair. From what she had observed during earlier classes, her desk neighbour was the highest academically in the entire class. Angel was no slouch either, so that was saying something.

"L-Let's get moving onto the next battle!" He announced, reaching into the team boxes. "Annnnnd the next teams are..!" He retrieved the balls. "B and I! B and I, find your partners and follow me!"

It looked like she would have to worry for Midoriya(even more so) later.

Angel looked over the building map a fourth time. She had it already memorized since the first time, but she needed something to keep her preoccupied, lest she glance over at her partner.

Currently, she and Shoto were waiting for the villain team, a muscular blonde boy with a strong flexible tail and an invisible girl to prepare their defences. Neither of them had spoken, just standing on the sidewalk in complete silence. He made no move to discuss a plan or ask questions like what her quirk was and she was too intimidated to do it in return. There was just something about the way he held himself, his gaze so… intense.

'Almost like…' She shuddered, crumpling the paper she was pretending to read. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus. She needed to cooperate with this person. She needed to take all of her current feelings and thoughts about Shoto and bury them deep down and work with him to the best of her ability.

At the same time however, she was worried about something else. In this exercise she was expected to do combat with two of her classmates, which meant she would have to use her quirk against them.

The thought made her swallow nervously. This would be the first time she would use her powers offensively against actual people. Robots were one thing, but flesh and blood humans, her classmates? She could terribly injure them! Her bolts alone were just a bit slower than bullets, meaning she could definitely hurt someone if she wasn't careful.

'What do I do? If I don't contribute, I'll cost us the match and Shoto will hate me for sure! But if I use my quirk on the other team… I'll hurt them and everyone will be scared of me!'

She could picture it now. A look of pain and fear on her opponents faces as they hold themselves in pain. The rest of her classmates looked at her with distrust, despising her and asking why she was allowed in a hero school! She could feel it! She was going to screw up and hurt someone and everyone would be watching it!

'Wait…' She froze. 'Watching...' Her eyes widened. 'That's it!'

Glancing at Shoto, she steeled her nerves and cleared her throat. In an almost uncaring manner, he turned his head.

'U-Um… Shoto… I-I, uh, have an idea."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Battle! Start!" All-Might's voice buzzed from the communicator in her ear. Nervously, she gestured at Shoto to follow her around the side of the building.

"Lets see… there should be one here…" She hummed as she scanned the wall in the alleyway underneath the fire escape following a low pitch whining in the back of her head. Her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for, a metal container built into the wall, a junction box!

"P-Please wait one moment." She requested, receiving a nod in return.

Placing her ungloved hand on the metal box, she breathed in and closed her eyes.

"Executing phase shift."

Shoto watched with interest (not that he showed it) as the blue markings on his partner's arm started glowing. A moment later a ring of sparks coursed up the box and through the metal pipes leading inside.

All-Might and his students watched as Hodunk and Todoroki entered the building side alleyway, out of view of any of the cameras.

"Where the heck are those two going?"

"They're not going inside the lair?"

"Maybe they're going to climb up the side of the building kero?"

"You think they're doing something… steamy back there?"

Everyone refused to acknowledge that last statement from the small purple haired boy.

All of a sudden, the screens began to flicker and crack with static! A couple seconds later the screens returned to normal, except now they were tinted blue! Next thing the crowd knew, each camera feed started to move around randomly by themselves!

"What the hells going on?!"

"Are the cameras broken?!"

"No!" All-Might interrupted, drawing everyone's attention to him. "This is the work of young Hodunk! Her quirk allows her to control all electronic devices! It looks like she has taken over the surveillance cameras! She can now see everything they can!"

The class burst into an uproar!

"Seriously?!"

"Lasers, wings AND machines?! That is so OP!"

"Imagine the possibilities. The more technology and security measures are present, the more power she has. In a sea of electronic convenience, she's like an unstoppable sailfish, free to swim through anything with ease."

"That is… weirdly accurate."

While the class marvelled at the power at the girl's fingertips, Bakugo stood in the back. He clenched his fists as his illusions of grandeur continued to shatter around him.

If someone were to ask Angel how it felt to control technology, she'd probably describe it as suddenly becoming aware of a new part of her body, an extension of her will. Stemming from the junction box, she could feel her reach traveling along the power lines, down through to the building's power supply, then branching out to the rest of the connections until she was linked to all of the appliances inside, in this case, the lights and cameras.

Out of all the devices and appliances she had controlled in the past, cameras were the most simple, feeling like she had grown a new eye. With her real eyes closed the blackness of the void was all she could see. Then, when the connection was established her new "eyes" opened, all twelve of them.

In the past she couldn't handle connecting to more than one device at a time, the extra stimuli quickly overloading her young mind. With practice however, she could utilize all of the camera's simultaneously with ease.

Now she had control, it was time to get to work.

Each of her new "eyes" scanned their viewpoint, rotating back and forth.

'There!'

"The weapon is on the fourth floor on the North side. The boy with the tail is standing guard but I don't see the girl… She must be getting ready to ambush us."

Right, the invisible girl.

'I wonder… these are pretty high end… do they have it?'

She clenched an unseen nerve. Immediately, her world changed to a sea of blues and dark purples!

'Jackpot! Infrared!'

It took but a moment of scanning before a girl shaped blob of orange and bright yellow passed her.

"I see her! She's on the third floor, making her way down! Probably going to try and capture us from behind!" She informed her partner.

"I see."

"So how about this? I'll stay here on the cameras and relay their movements on your earpiece! You can take them one on one right?" That way she wouldn't have to directly confront anyone while contributing to the team effort.

Shoto hummed. "It's a decent plan."

She smiled. "Alright, so I think it'd be best if you took the left stair-!"

"But it won't be necessary."

Angel's brain halted so fast it might have gotten whiplash. Severing the connection, she opened her eyes to look at her partner.

"Eh? What?"

"It won't be necessary." Shoto repeated. "You gave me everything I need. If they plan on making this a long siege, it won't be a problem for me." He explained as he stepped outside of the alleyway.

"I'd get clear if I were you." He warned.

She was confused and didn't understand his intentions, but there was something about how confident he sounded that made her obey, leaving the alleyway and standing back on the street.

Stepping just inside of the doorway, Shoto placed his hand on the wall.

Immediately, the temperature dropped. From his hand a wave of blue ice surged forth! She gaped as the frigid crystals spread out, washing over the concrete of the building inside and out until finally, the entire structure was encased, top to bottom! There it towered over her like a rectangular iceberg!

A cloud of mist escaped Shoto's mouth as he turned back. "Stay here, I'll be back."

She nodded, completely dumbfounded and shivering.

As she stood there, teeth chattering in the cold breeze, she marvelled at the caliber of her fellow heroes in training.

'Can I really match up?' She wondered once more.

It was not until they all returned to the monitoring room that she learned how the match had ended. Shoto had covered the entire hideout in ice, freezing the villains to the floor and capturing the weapon without damaging it or any of the environment. It was a flawless victory.

Shoto got MVP but she was also praised for her use of the facility's surveillance system to scout the villain's defences and the logical strategy she had presented, despite her partner deeming it unnecessary.

But there was something more important! She finally knew Shoto's surname!

"The match MVP this time is young Todoroki!" All-Might said, gesturing to the red-white boy.

Shoto Todoroki! She finally knew the full name of her second desk neighbour!

Although it did raise a question; why didn't he tell her his name on the first day? From what she knew of Japanese etiquette, it was considered bad manners to call someone by their first name except in a casual environment or only if the persons involved are good friends or affectionate of each other.

The latter was completely out of the question of course. They only knew each other for a single day thus far and she doubted that she left THAT good of a first impression. What other reason could he have for omitting his surname for so long?

'Maybe he's hiding something about his family?' She thought. It was a distinct possibility, Hodunk wasn't her real name afterall.

Angel sighed. She wasn't going to get answers anytime soon so it'd be best not to dwell on it when she should be learning in class. She had to pay attention if she didn't want to fall behind. Besides, Todoroki had unintentionally saved her from the possibility of causing harm. She owed him, so she may as well not dig into his business.

'Still...Todoroki…why does that sound familiar?'

And so the battles continued. In each match, her classmates showed her what they could do and she enjoyed participating in the group discussion at the end of each, just like the regular classes. Thankfully, none of the battles became as intense as the first, she didn't know if she could handle that much violence again!

Then before she knew it, the class was over!

"Great work everyone!" All-Might congratulated! "Aside from young Midoriya, no one was hurt badly! At the same time, everyone gave it their all! This was a great first class! Now..!" He sprang into a sprinting pose! "I must go and share the results with young Midoriya! Everyone get changed and return to the classroom!" The next moment, he was gone in a blast of wind! "See you all tomorrowwwww!"

Angel let out a small laugh. Their teacher really was larger than life!

"Hodunk-san." She jumped and turned. It was Todoroki.

"Y-Yeah..?" She asked fearfully.

"Good job today." He said, then turned to leave.

'He… said I did good.' She thought in disbelief, watching his back as he walked away. Clasping her hands together, she smiled a little.

She didn't know if she was ever going to be friends with the enigmatic boy, but she felt that their relationship was just a little bit better.

Meanwhile, Shoto was trying to make sense of his sudden fixation on the foreign girl. Since the day before he had disregarded the thoughts that had plagued him, branding them a distraction from his goal. But they had returned with a vengeance.

He had called out to her on a whim, not really thinking about what he was doing or why. In retrospect, it might've been that some part of him was curious. Curious to see if she would make that face again and she did. That frightened blue orb and her trembling cheeks. It left him asking the same damned questions over and over.

Why did she keep making that face at him?

Why did it bother him so much?

Why… was it familiar?

"What a day…" Angel sighed as she closed her costume case. So much had happened. She had her first day of classes, made a new friend, got her costume, won her match and almost watched one of her friends get killed. All in all, a bit of a mixed bag.

She closed the change room door behind her and started making her way back to the classroom alone. Despite the positive reception she received earlier, she was still a bit uncomfortable changing near others, so she was last again.

She stretched her free arm over her shoulder and groaned from the ache in her joints. She just wanted to get home and rest after today.

"Hey!" She stiffened. She knew that voice, but definitely wished she didn't.

Turning back, she swallowed audibly.

"I've got something to say to you!" Bakugo yelled as he stomped closer and closer.

It was finally happening! Bakugo finally had her alone! This was where he would threaten her for winning first or tell her quit the school! That's how the bullying went in the novels she read!

Angel wanted to be ANYWHERE but here at the moment, but despite her urging to move, her legs remained rooted to the floor. It was not until he was a foot away that she was finally able to step back.

"I-I'm sorry, b-but I think w-we should really be getting to class and-!"

"SHUT UP!" He roared, making her squeak and backpedal faster until she unexpectedly hit the wall! He loomed over her, the shadow being cast by his form in the afternoon sun made his red eyes glow like malevolent rubies, boring down on her with such intensity, she felt like she was going to evaporate under his gaze!

'P-Punch him in the balls! Punch him in the balls!' Moxxi's advice filled her head, but once again she was unable to move!

"I've got only one thing to say to you!" He said as he raised a clenched fist!

"P-P-Please..!" She whimpered as she closed her eyes and tensed up for the blow!

*BOOM!* She flinched at the distinct sound of the boy's infamous quirk, but she didn't feel anything.

Cracking open one of her eyes, she shivered at the sight of his smoking fist against the wall next to her head.

"Don't get comfy!" The boy spat, drawing her attention to his expression. His eyes were now filled with an angry kind of resignation as if he was admitting something that he hated.

"Wha...what?" She wheezed.

"Don't! Get fucking comfy! You, all of those extras… are the real deal! It's about time I noticed that! First time I looked at you I thought no way that a wimpy baby like you belonged here, let alone beat me! But watching you and the others! That Half and Half bastard! Losing to that piece of shit Deku! Fuck!" He bared his teeth like a wolf, his fangs.

"I get it. You're number one, for now. So don't get fucking comfy! I'm going to beat you and all the others, beat everyone until I'm at the top!" He pulled away from her. "So keep that number one spot warm for me, I'm coming for it!" He stomped away!

Angel's knees gave out and she slumped against the wall in utter disbelief.

Did... she just get a rival?

Angel's exhausted mind struggled to comprehend the bizarre confrontation she had with the class brute, her legs moving one after the other autonomously. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she almost missed her classroom's door.

'Day is almost over. Probably won't be taking the train this time.' She thought ruefully as she pulled the door open. 'Should probably text Mox-"

"Hodunk-san! What took you so long?!" She jumped as she found herself surrounded by eager classmates, led by Ashido!

"Huh?!" She stumbled.

"Your quirk lets you shoot lasers, control machines, fly AND gives you a sweet tattoo?! The world is just not fair!" Ashido said!

"Aoyama Yuga! Your style is dazzling mon amie! Almost as much as mine!" A flamboyant blonde boy posed and gave her a wink!

"Did you really use the cameras to see me?! How much did you see?! Oh, you can call me Toru-chan by the way!" A floating girl's uniform waved in front of her, the invisible girl from her match!

"I am Asui Tsuyu, but you can call me Tsuyu kero." The green haired girl from the changeroom spoke up. "You were pretty cool today."

Almost overwhelmed by the sheer wonder and positivity being thrown her way, Angel could barely keep up with all of the chatter, settling to answer the last question.

"I-I really wasn't that impressive…"She protested. "Todoroki-san did all the work."

"Sure, but with that strategy you came up with, you probably would have won paired with anyone else!" Toru answered back.

"What is it like when you "plug in"? Do you move through the wires or something?" Ashido asked, leading to a slew of questions from her audience, following Angel to her desk. Slowly the shock wore off and Angel found herself enjoying the attention surprisingly, bathing in the compliments to her quirk, costume and appearance and laughing at their jokes.

It was only when a familiar head of green emerged from the door that she decided to pull away.

"Sorry guys, I've got to do something, see you tomorrow?" She apologized as she stood up from her chair, receiving affirmations. She quickly made her way towards the door. She was still worried about her behaviour at lunch, but her concern for his health took precedence.

"Midoriya-kun!" She called out, getting his attention, giving her a full look at his injuries. His entire left arm was bandaged up and his right was in a sling. It looked like he hadn't had a chance to change out of his ruined costume either.

"A-Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm battered but I'm fine." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Recovery Girl says I'll be all fixed by tomorrow."

She sighed with relief. "I see… I'm glad that you're okay. I'll, um, see you later." She said before moving to return to her seat.

Only to be stopped by his hand on her shoulder. "Actually Hodunk-san… can we talk later?"

Angel didn't know why her (likely former) friends wanted to speak to her and a part of her didn't want to find out. She didn't even want to meet at the requested place, in a discreet field of grass on the front lawn of the school. She desperately wanted to just leave and hope they'd all forget they ever saw each other.

But she couldn't do that. She couldn't keep running from her problems. She needed to face the consequences for her actions.

So here she was, standing across from Midoriya, Iida and Uraraka, waiting for something to happen.

"Hodunk-san…" Iida began. "Midoriya decided to bring all of us here to talk to you. We want you to answer some questions for us. Do you understand?"

Shakily, she nodded.

"I-Its about what happened earlier today." Uraraka explained, twiddling her thumbs nervously. "It was something that was brought to our attention earlier at lunch."

'This is it. They don't want to be my friends anymore, I'm sure of it.' Angel thought darkly as her fingers absently clasped the edge of her skirt.

"The reason why we called you here… well…" Midoriya stammered.

'Here it comes…' She braced herself for what he was about to say.

'We're worried for you."

She blinked and looked up.

"W-What?"

"We're worried for you Hodunk-san." He repeated.

"But-But I blew you guys off! I don't understand, you should hate me right now!" She shook her head, refusing to believe him, it wasn't logical!

"Why would we hate you?" Uraraka asked. "It was obvious something was bothering you, we aren't going to abandon you like that!"

Midoriya nodded. "After your distress earlier today, I was reminded of when we first met. How you were scared after running into Kacchan and how quietly you spoke. It didn't make sense to me until today." He continued, then looked at her with a compassionate stare.

"Hodunk-san… do you have social anxiety disorder?"

Angel could stand there in shock. He had figured her out? She had honestly forgotten how intuitive he was.

She bowed her head in shame. "Y-Yes… you're right."

"How did such a thing happen, if we may ask?" Iida implored of her.

She took a shaky breath. "I… grew up in a difficult situation. I lost my mom when I was really young… my dad... didn't take it very well. After the… incident, he became super protective of me. He had me homeschooled and I wasn't allowed to interact with anyone. I just never learned how to. The exam… was the first time I had met other people my age." She confessed. "I have trouble talking to others and physical contact, but I have been getting better. It's… larger groups of people that's the real problem." She trembled, her eyes growing watery. "I wanted to join you guys for lunch…I really did!" She choked, tears dropping onto her hands. "But… But when I saw all those people in there… I… I ran like a coward! How can I be a hero if I'm scared of normal people?!"

Then she felt herself wrapped in a warm embrace. "It's okay Angel-chan… it's okay." Uraraka murmured as she patted the crying girl on the back while the two boys watched.

"It's going to be okay Hodunk-san." Midoriya spoke again sincerely. "We're going to help you overcome your anxiety."

She sniffled. "Really?" She mumbled receiving nods from all of them.

"We are here for you because that's what friends do. They look out for each other."

Angel could scarcely believe her ears. They really wanted to help her, despite her shortcomings and flaws, they wanted to help her!

Smiling despite her tears, she held tighter to Uraraka. Then she remembered.

"D-Did you… call me Angel-chan?"

"Yeah. Do you not want me to?" Her friend holding her replied.

"No. I like it."

They continued to stand there, taking comfort in each other's company and Angel did her best to ignore the burning guilt in her stomach for telling her caring friends not even half of the whole story.

Miles away, in the bustling city, hidden away in plain site was a bar. The interior was sparsely lit, casting long shadows of which the occupants chose to hide themselves.

At the bar, a tall, thin individual read a newspaper while enjoying his drink. He stopped on a particularly interesting headline.

Number 1 Hero Teaching at Number 1 Hero Academy!

"All-Might's a teacher huh?" The young man rasped, placed the paper on the bar and used it as a coaster for his cold drink. The condensation slowly sunk into the picture of the smiling hero.

"Killing All-Might… now that sounds like a good time."