Good morning everybody! Sorry for yet another late upload, I swear it's not on purpose. Just my beta reader being too busy to make our usual meetup time. But hey, at least you get to read it on a holiday(at least where I live).

Anyway, sorry if you were expecting the exam arc next, but this chapter is a bit more fluff, not quite there yet. Next chapter I promise. To make up for it, I'll let you in on something. Starting from this season, I am introducing more drastic changes. I've been adding more characters and little things bit by bit, and naturally it will result in a butterfly effect. So look forward to the possibilities.

Review: Engineer4Ever, I couldn't agree more. Angel needs as much happiness as possible. Which makes what I have in mind all the more painful.

Speaking of reviews, literally no one took the poll on how I should address them, but it turned out I didn't have it visible on my profile, lol! I'll keep it around for another couple chapters, so let me know what you think!

See you in two weeks for the exams!

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!*

{This means I'm speaking in a different language!}

Angel in a Gilded Cage

"Whew, seriously? The exam is just going to be robots again? This is going to be a piece of cake!"

"You said it!" Kaminari and Ashido cheered and danced around, a sharp contrast to how they were earlier when the topic of the end of term exam had been brought up. It was the week before said test and many of the class were feeling the crunch.

Even Angel to a certain extent, despite being within the top five of the class, edging out Todoroki and just getting beaten by Midoriya. She had always been a quick study due to how much time she had on her hands growing up, so she had been able to keep high marks across the board.

'Except literature at least.' She thought grudgingly. She never was all that great at subjects with more open-ended answers, unlike math or sciences. So while she definitely wasn't at risk of falling out of class, there was always room for improvement for the written exam.

Then there was the practical, that gave her worry. They had no real idea of what it would entail, other than Aizawa's ambiguous warning that they would be tested on their growth in hero studies. That didn't make her feel much better as, being Yūei, she was sure that there was going to be some kind of surprise that she probably wasn't going to like.

Though there was an incident in the cafeteria that argued against that. It had started with the blonde boy from class 1-B coming over to mock them again for whatever petty reason he had. Angel almost yelled at him when he "accidentally" whacked Midoriya's head with his elbow, but before she could do anything, he was reined in by the nice girl from before. Kendo, as she recalled, apologized on the behalf of her classmate and offered a tidbit about the exam in reparation. She claimed that the exam would just be another combat exercise with more of Yūei's robotic opponents, something said she'd heard from a friend in the third year.

Hence why the two lowest graded students in 1-A were rejoicing, as they wouldn't need to hold back against mechanical stand-ins. One would think that Angel would be just as lax about it as they, having an even greater advantage in this scenario.

Angel glanced away from the two, deeply in thought.

Would it really be that simple? That was something she had learned a long time ago; if something seemed too good to be true, that meant it was.

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Am I overthinking things?"

"You two really are a pair of idiots if you think it'll be that easy." A voice scoffed.

Angel turned her head to see Bakugo move past the rejoicing teens and head to the door.

"Hey that's uncalled for dude!" Kaminari protested.

"Is it?! That vine girl from 1-B mopped the floor with you, you're such a dumbass!"

Then he fixed Midoriya with a baleful glare. "And as for you, Deku!" He spat. "I've had just about enough of you showing me up, runt."

Angel and the rest of the class watched in silence, held captive by the tension in the air as Bakugo continued.

"Let me spell it out for you." He snarled. "It's not going to be like that shitty festival this time. By the end of the year, we're going to settle this and see who is the top dog in this school!" He pointed threatenly. "I'm going to knock you on your ass so I can give you a good view of me leaving you in the dust, you got that?!"

Pocketing his hand, he shifted his gaze. "Same goes for you Todoroki, half and half bastard."

Then his eyes landed on Angel in the back and she shook. If looks could kill. "And don't think I forgot about you Angel girl! I'm getting you back for that shit you pulled last week!".

And with that, he spun on his heel, slammed the door open and left. The class began to murmur at the blonde's sudden outburst.

"Sheesh, what was that about?"

"It's been so long since the last time he did something like that I honestly forgot what it was like."

"Guess he didn't like how well Midoriya did in the obstacle race last week."

Meanwhile, Angel let out a breath. Bakugo didn't quite instill the terror in her that he did the first couple days of the term, but he was still intimidating.

'Hope the exam isn't a versus event or something.' She thought, glancing over at her friend who had taken the brunt of Bakugo's verbal assault. Midoriya seemed to be deep in thought, still watching the door.

Angel frowned and pushed herself up from her desk, making her way over.

"H-Hey." She said and he turned his head. "You okay?"

Midoriya sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I-I guess I should have seen that coming. How about you?"

"I'm fine." She assured him. "He kinda lost a bit of his menace when he came back from his internship with that bow in his hair." She laughed a little, earning a small chuckle.

"T-True! I never thought I'd see the day that Kacchan would wear pink."

"Heh, I'm sure it wasn't his choice. So you're not going to let him scare you, right?"

He shook his head. "No. D-Don't worry, I'm good!"

She gave him a smile and returned to her desk. With her concerns eased, Angel's mind wandered back to the exam and her ongoing preparations. Likely another long, quiet night of pouring over her textbooks and notes on her bed.

She could feel herself sag at the thought. That's what she had done last night, the night before, the one before that and the one before that. It was getting old real fast. It was different in the past. Those days she took her hours of self study as a reprieve from her "job", a way to take her mind off her guilt and traitorous doubts.

Now though, the activity brought her a feeling of boredom and fatigue. It made her miss the fun she had at the arcade the week prior. If only she had some way to get her out of this rut.

"Hey, Yao-momo!" She blinked, pulled out of her pondering as Ashido spoke up, getting the attention of the vice-class representative seated in front of her. "What was your address again? I couldn't remember it so I want to write it down!" She said, pointing at her phone.

Yaoyorozu gave a bubbly laugh.

"Of course Ashido-chan! But you really should work on that short term memory of yours."

"Yeah, yeah, but that's what I'm getting tutoring with you for!" The pink girl chuckled, completely unashamed.

Oh right, Ashido and a few others were going to study with Yaoyorozu, a smart move considering she was the top scorer in the entire class and possibly the year. The probable future valedictorian had seemed truly ecstatic at the chance of having her classmates over to her house. Her comments on things like preparing a meeting hall of sorts and possible meal plans for her kitchen staff alluded to her lavish lifestyle background, something that Angel was privy to already. She was the only one to have heard of the Yaoyorozu Corporation it seemed.

Then again, she wasn't most people.

In anycase, Angel regretted not asking if she could join when the proposal came about that morning. Now she felt that if she tried to jump onto the bandwagon at this point, she'd just be imposing and she didn't want that.

'Wait.' She jolted and leapt to her feet, startling a couple of her classmates from the sudden noise. 'That's it!' She smiled and pulled out her phone.

Angel: Hey guys, I got an idea!

Izuku fiddled with his poorly made tie for what had to be the fifth time in the last minute. A cloth bag hung off his shoulder, filled with homemade desserts courtesy of his loving mother as a thank you gift to his friend's parents.

God, he just broke into another nervous sweat at that thought.

Angel Hodunk, his friend, A GIRL, had invited him to her apartment for a group study-party-thing yesterday. It wasn't the first time he had hung out at a friend's place of course. He and Kacchan used to have little playdates over at the Bakugo household when they were still in pre-elementary, before the other boy got his quirk and before he, well, didn't. They quickly ceased soon after that.

Fast forward about eleven years later and here he was, walking down the streets from Yūei towards his friend's address instead of the train station. His back was straight as he faced forward, stiff as a board from his taut nerves. Various problems and concerns ran rampant through his mind, wrapping him in dread.

They weren't expecting him sooner were they? Would her guardians approve of their charge socializing with a skittish wimp such as he? Hopefully they liked the pastries he was bringing, but what if someone was allergic? Would they be watching his every move? What-

*Bonk!*

"Ouch!" He cried, stumbling back and rubbing where his head had collided with the street sign that he had unceremoniously walked into.

"You okay Deku-kun?"

He blinked and turned to see Uraraka walking alongside him, looking at him in concern.

"Y-Yes, I-I'm fine!" He chuckled bashfully, stepping around the metal pole and continuing along the sidewalk.

"Midoriya-kun, please try to keep your attention on where you are going!" Iida strictly warned him from Uraraka's far side with an arm wave. "If you are not careful, you are liable to walk right in the middle of the road and get hit by oncoming traffic!"

"S-Sorry." He lowered his head a little, not without taking his eyes off his path mind you. "I-I guess I'm just a little… tense about this w-whole thing."

"My sympathies, dear friend. I too am restless about this "whole thing"!" The taller boy straightened his back while running a cloth over his glasses. "It is imperative that we establish a satisfactory first impression with our friend's family. To do so would be nothing less than pure catastrophe!"

"Eh?! Really?!" He gasped, sweating anew.

Uraraka giggled."Calm down guys! We've met Angel-chan's guardian already, remember? I'm sure it isn't going to be that serious. It's a study party, not tea with the prime minister!"

"Oh… of course. But that doesn't mean we can be lax!" Iida relented, if only by a small margin. It did help Izuku on the other hand. She had a point, he wasn't doing this alone. She had invited all three of them. It wasn't like he'd be the only one showing up.

Talking with their friend. Who was a girl, a nice, admittedly pretty girl. By himself.

He gave on his cheeks a light smack. 'Stop that.' He ordered his overactive brain.

"Ah!" Iida halted, making Izuku and Uraraka almost stumble from how abrupt it was. He held up a finger as his eyes scanned his phone. "If I am reading this correctly, I believe we have arrived!" He gestured upwards, leading their eyes to the sky and they gaped.

Towering over them was a luxury apartment building. It had to be more than a dozen stories of polished windows and balconies. It was the type of building that, while not obscenely opulent, was definitely outside of Izuku's family's price range. Especially so close to Yūei.

"Wooooah! Angel-chan's place is so swanky!" Uraraka gaped, sounding like her mind was completely blown, likely attributed to her own middling class background.

"I-Is this really the right place?" Izuku asked aloud.

"Why yes, I'm confident this is our destination. I checked online last night." Iida said proudly and opened the door for them.

Stepping inside, Izuku's mouth stayed wide open as the luxury proved to not be exclusive to the outside. The floor was flawless marble, their path covered by a bright red carpet. Said path led all the way to a large wooden desk, manned by a middle aged man in a suit. A glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling.

It was official. Whoever his friend's guardian's were, they had money in spades.

"Ahhh, it's sooo cool in here! Air conditioning is amazing…" Uraraka sighed in relief and awe as she took it all in. Iida, coming from a rather prestigious family, seemed comparatively unfazed.

They followed the red carpet, the lobby attendant looking up and giving a practiced smile as they approached.

"Good afternoon. How may I help you?" He greeted them cordially with a slight bow of the head.

"Good day sir!" Iida promptly returned the gesture. "Would you be so kind to show us to apartment six hundred and ninety-six? We were invited by a friend."

"Ah yes. Hodunk-san let me know that you would be coming. The elevators are on the left. Enjoy your visit." He waved them in the indicated direction.

"Thank you! Is there a method that I can notify your manager to compliment you on your sublime customer service?"

The man gave a small laugh. "I appreciate the sentiment, but it is not necessary. Have a pleasant day."

"I really must insist-!"

"Come on Iida-kun, before you kill him with kindness." Uraraka pulled him along as they all went to the elevators.

*Ding!*

The doors smoothly eased open and they entered the quiet hallway. It carried the same rich atmosphere as the lobby, each apartment door decorated with a resplendent brass plate, their address written in clean, etched letters.

"It should be over here." Iida turned down the right hallway.

As Izuku followed, he couldn't help the puzzled frown on his face. It had been bothering him for a while, ever since he had gotten his absent friend's name on the first day of school.

"Hey guys, do you think you've heard Hodunk's name somewhere?" He asked, getting an odd look from Uraraka whilst Iida read off the room numbers.

"Well yeah, we meet her everyday." She answered, her tone conveying her confusion at the question.

"N-No, not like that." He stammered, trying to find the right words. "I mean, it feels… familiar. I know I've heard it before, but I can't quite place it."

Before he could ponder any further or she could offer any suggestions, Iida snapped his fingers and again came to a sudden stop. "We have arrived!" He declared, pointing to the door in front of them. "Is everyone ready?" He asked, with the amount of seriousness that one would expect from a hero readying to breach the entrance to a criminal hideout.

Both Izuku and Uraraka shrugged and just decided to roll with it. "Ready!

"R-Ready!"

He nodded solemnly and pressed the doorbell.

"One minute~!" A voice called out from the other side, melodious and playful, so Izuku automatically assumed it wasn't his friend, probably her guardian from what he remembered of their brief encounter at the Sports Festival.

His face was engulfed in red at the memory. The image of the voluptuous woman in the sundress and glasses had been seared into his brain and only recently had he managed to push it away to the darkest recesses of his subconscious.

'Get it together! You need to be on your best behavior!' He thought to himself as footsteps drew close to the door and it swung open.

'Remember to keep looking her in the eye and everything will be fi-HOLYDETROITSMASH!' Izuku's and his friend's eyes opened as wide as plates.

Standing in the entrance with a haughty hand on her hip was Angel's guardian in a pink apron.

And practically nothing else. From the way that the apron hugged the front of her impressive figure, he could tell she wasn't wearing anything underneath. The only other article was the lacy blue panties peeking out the side. Curiously, there was a light dusting of flour on her hands, outfit and-

'OHGOD!' He squeaked as his eyes trailed down to her ample bosom, pupils locking onto the big red heart tattoo on her left breast.

"Well hello there~." She said in a breathy whisper, leaning against the doorframe. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

It took every ounce of willpower that Izuku possessed not to let his eyes roll back and faint.

"Gaaaaa…" He gasped, his hands flying to cover his scorching face, though he could still see through the gaps between his fingers.

"E-Excuse m-me m-madam, b-but I think you are suffering f-from a horrible w-wardrobe malfunction!" Iida coughed out, his glasses fogged over as he tried and failed to maintain his professional composure.

"Oh, this?" The salacious woman tittered, making certain parts of her anatomy bounce. "I was just whipping something up for tonight and I can only do it when I'm… comfortable."

It was at that moment that the missing piece of the hour glass shaped puzzle in Izuku's brain clicked into place.

He gasped and pointed. "HODUNK, I-I GET IT NOW! Y-YOU'RE THE X-RATED HERO M-MAD MOXXI! "

She raised an amused brow and smiled. "In the flesh… cutie." She winked.

That was all Izuku could take and he fell to the ground.

"MIDORIYA-KUN!" Iida cried, falling to his side.

"T-Tell my m-mother… I loved her… a-and to A-All Might… I-I'm sorry." He croaked, eyes fluttering as he was fading fast.

"NO! STAY WITH ME!" His friend wailed like they were comrades in a war film, one of which had been struck down by a bombshell(of a sort).

Off to the side, Uraraka's eyes flicked to Moxxi's voluminous chest, then down to her own and scowled at the great divide between the two of them. "Hmph. Not fair." She muttered under her breath, though her cheeks were just as red as the boys. Even she wasn't immune to Moxxi's power.

"Moxxi? Was that screaming?" Izuku blinked at hearing Angel's voice, calling him away from the grip of death. All four heads turned towards the inside of the apartment as she rounded the corner.

"Whatever, just expect to answer the door soon, they should be here any sec-AAAAAH!" She shrieked at the scene before her, blushing so hard she was practically glowing. She bolted over, pushed past her halfnaked guardian and slammed the door!

"MOXXI, WHAT THE FFFF-FLAP ARE YOU DOING?!"

"No need to yell Sugar, I'm just greeting your adorable little friends."

"BY PROPOSITIONING THEM IN YOUR UNDERWEAR?! WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME?! GO AND GET YOUR CLOTHES ON!"

"Oh pooh, you're no fun."

"NOW!"

Everything went silent on the other side.

"Midoriya-kun, can you stand?" Iida asked and Izuku nodded, the utter shock that had possessed him now gone. He was promptly helped back to his feet just in time for the door to slowly ease open, revealing Angel hiding behind her hands. Letting out an exasperated sound halfway between a sob and a groan, the mortified girl dragged them down her face and looked at them. There was a flicker of surprise in her eye, like she had doubted that they'd still be there.

"H-Hey…" She weakly greeted. "S-Sorry about that."

"I-It's okay Angel-chan, my parents embarrass me in front of guests too! It's what they do!" Uraraka assured her with a pat on the shoulder, which seemed to succeed in calming her down somewhat.

"Thanks. P-Please, come in!" She waved them in and shut the door behind them.

Izuku continued to stare at her in awe. "Y-You live with Mad Moxxi! Your guardian is the number twenty three, X-rated hero Mad Moxxi!"

Angel sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I know. Just… please, please don't tell anyone. Especially Mineta. I've seen how Moxxi's fans get."

Never before had Angel wanted it all to end so badly. If a meteorite decided to strike the building right in that moment, she would welcome death with open arms. Anything to be spared of the humiliation of her friends falling victim to Moxxi's antics.

But alas, it was not yet her time, so she had to tough it out from here.

Sending out a silent prayer that none of their neighbors had come out to investigate the ruckus, she quickly shut the door behind Midoriya as he took off his shoes and followed after the other guests. Leaving the hall, Angel came out to see them taking in their surroundings.

"Wow… look at that view!" Uraraka ran over to the tall windows, gazing out over the city skyline, the buildings bathed in the bright but waning light of the afternoon. From there, Yūei could be spotted on top of the forest covered hills off to the right.

"I'm assuming we are studying over here Angel-chan?" Iida called out from where he stood at the dining table. "I want to make sure that this space is suited for our comfort to optimize focus and memory retention."

"You do that." She snorted, watching him take his books and school supplies from his bag.

"Woah, A-Angel-chan, you live here?" Midoriya gasped, making her blush, not out of shame this time.

"Y-Yeah. Moxxi makes a lot from her modeling… career." Angel slowed as a sudden realization dawned on her and she slapped her face.

'THAT'S what Sal meant. Ugh.'

"U-Um, are you okay?"

She waved him off. "I'm… I'm fine. Just disappointed it took so long for me to get a joke."

He blinked, completely lost.

"Mmm…" Uraraka hummed, turning and sniffing the air in approval. "What's that smell?"

"That's something Moxxi's making for dinner later, hope you're hungry!" Angel smiled.

"Dinner? O-Oh, right!" Midoriya stammered, reaching into the cloth bag on his shoulder and pulling out a plastic container. "H-Here, my Mom made this t-to thank you for inviting me."

Angel took the container and popped the lid. She grinned. "Wow, thanks! Moxxi loves chocolate." She looked up at him. "Tell your mom we appreciate it!"

He flushed again and looked away, becoming suddenly interested in inspecting the hardwood floor. She laughed a bit. Figures that she was friends with the one person in the world who might be more shy than her.

"Well, we're all here! Let's get started!" Uraraka cheered, bouncing in her cushy dining chair. "What're we doing first?".

It was decided math would be first, though mostly at Uraraka's request. Apparently, while nowhere near as close to an academic slouch as Ashido or Kaminari, she was the only one who really needed help with the subject out of the four of them. Not that Angel minded. Running through how to complete the different equations with her friend served as good practice and Iida and Midoriya were there to give their own advice on the matter.

Then afterwards was history, something that Angel was more than qualified for. Considering what she used to do for a living(if you could even call it that), she had an exceptional memory, able to recall dates, events, figures, causes and effects with ease. The only downside to this was that she didn't have a method that her friends could replicate, though again, it was only Uraraka who had any real difficulty when they quizzed each other.

But thankfully, no one got too frustrated when they hit a roadblock or when the other didn't grasp the concept they were trying to convey, not beyond some low grumbling. There was actually some fun to be had, a feeling of satisfaction from both the student and tutor at the moment of their success as another test question bit the dust.

Before long, about two hours had passed and they were reaching the end of the history units. Meanwhile, the alluring scent of rising dough and pungent sauce flitted through the air, tickling at their noses.

Angel's foot thumped against the floor in anticipation, she being the only one who knew what was coming.

"Ugggggh…can we take a break guys? I'm soooo hungry." Uraraka moaned, resting her head on the textbook in front of her.

"Y-You're drooling on your textbook Uraraka-chan." Midoriya pointed out, making her flush and wipe at her face. "But sure, I think a break is a good idea. We're not going to make any progress if we're distracted."

"No!" Iida slapped the table and shot to his feet. "We must keep our momentum! It is a matter of sheer willpower!" He declared, standing straight and indomitable.

*Gurgle.* He flinched at the loud noise emanating from his stomach. For a moment, no one moved a muscle, then all of his friends broke down laughing. Midoriya had tears in his eyes as he failed to contain his chortling, Uraraka hung her head while hitting the table with her fists and Angel's stomach hurt from the unrelenting belly laugh escaping her.

Iida cleared his throat and fixed his glasses, a tinge of pink on his cheeks. "Perhaps we should take a break."

"Perfect timing then." They all turned towards the kitchen where Moxxi stood in the doorway. Thankfully, she was fully clothed this time, albeit, in a tight, white t-shirt and blue jeans, both of which did nothing to hide her figure. "Who wants a piece?"

"Huahhhhh?" Midoriya babbled.

"P-P-Piece of what?" Uraraka said, her face steaming red.

Moxxi held out her arm and revealed a metal tray. On top was a steaming union of dough, tomato sauce, meat and cheese. "Why, the world famous Moxxi Pizza of course! Enjoy kids!" She said, setting the immaculate pie on the table, the three guest's eyes going wide.

"Holy-! Pizza?! I haven't had any in years!" Uraraka gaped, drooling uncontrollably.

"I-I've never! This is pizza?!" Midoriya asked, his eyes taking in every detail.

"It looks and smells absolutely divine!" Iida said, looking like he was desperately clinging to his manners against the temptation to just dive in.

Moxxi quickly returned from the kitchen with plates, napkins and a pizza cutter. A moment later, everyone had a plate and a slice in hand.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go nuts!" Moxxi said. They all looked to Angel and were met with her already eating eagerly, a blissful smile on her face. They glanced at each other and took their first tentative bites.

Angel gave a muffled laugh as all of their eyes shot open and practically melted in a chorus of moans.

"This is amazing! The other pizza wasn't anything like this!" Uraraka gushed, tearing away at the gooey cheese.

"Stupendous! Wondrous! Phenomenal! Fantastic!" Iida said, finding new praises to give in between each bite.

"Is this what it's like in America?! Is this why All-Might moved there?!" Midoriya theorized.

"Definitely not! I promise you, they are nothing like Moxxi's!" Angel told him, getting a smile from the older woman.

"Aww, thanks Sugar. Glad you like it!" She pulled her into a sideways hug.

"Like it?! I love it! What's your secret?!" Uraraka asked, grabbing a second slice.

"Easy." Moxxi stepped around to her side of the table. "The secret ingredient; is love…" Then she leaned down and whispered in her ear so only she could hear. "...and nudity."

Uraraka immediately started choking, going red in the face from embarrassment and the piece of food lodged in her throat.

"Bad Moxxi! Out!" Angel scolded her like a dog, being the only one close enough to catch what she said.

Moxxi snickered and turned down the hall to the bedrooms. "Remember to swallow dear! Toodles!" She waved.

Fortunately, Uraraka slowly recovered from the sudden shock, taking a glass of water from Angel to wash the blockage away.

"D-Does, hic, she always do that?" She hiccuped, getting a tired nod from Angel.

"All the time."

With the pizza devoured and their stomachs full, the intrepid heroes returned to their studies. The sun crossed the sky, drawing nearer to its destination on the horizon, the lights dimming as it did. Soon enough, the table was illuminated by the hanging light and they continued.

The third subject they tackled was sciences, which Iida was especially versed in. Angel didn't struggle too much keeping up with him as it was similar to mathematics in a way.

Then came the one she had been dreading. Her second worst subject, only getting beaten by phys-ed.

Literature. If she was able to excel at math, history and science because of how there were standard, concrete solutions, she was almost unable to grasp the content of the topic because of how open ended it was. The way that all written works could be interpreted in a nigh-infinite number of ways made it too difficult for her to choose just one, out of fear that it was not the "correct" one.

"...and that is what I think the author's intent was with this work." Iida finished explaining, only to frown when he saw Angel's face twisted with confusion.

"...really?" She asked, looking down at the passage. "I-I mean, that's what you got from it? I thought it was supposed to be about the way the character's couldn't overlook their own prejudices to see what was happening."

"That's the thing, it COULD mean that. You just need to prove it." Uraraka added.

"Huh?"

"Y-Yeah. Literature class is less about the content and more about explaining what you think it means." Midoriya clarified.

"Sooo… it's just about making an argument?"

"Essentially."

Angel blinked rapidly, feeling like her brain was about to burst. "Boy… I think I've been really overthinking this." She muttered, rubbing her forehead.

"We can try another one in a bit. How about you rest your head a little while we do another quiz?"

"Mm…thanks." She said, leaning back in her chair and massaging her eyes. She let her puzzle mind relax a little, quietly listening to the others discuss one of the sample quizzes. Taking a deep breath, she opened them back up.

They fell onto one of Midoriya's notebooks closest near her. She frowned. Whatever was on it didn't look like any of the subjects they had covered tonight. Rather, it looked like a bunch of sketches and hastily scribbled notations filling in every space there was.

She slowly reached over and retrieved the notebook and right away, she noticed the singed cover, the title just barely legible.

Hero Notes for the Future #13.

Her eyes widened with a start. This was the notebook she always saw Midoriya writing in whenever he was super interested in heroes or someone's quirk.

Despite not necessarily having permission to do so, the curiosity was too much for her to handle and she looked at the open page. On it was a rough reproduction of Moxxi's face, with several annotations pointing at her eyes, the source of her power.

Had he taken some notes on Moxxi while they were eating? Guess she was too high on cheesy cloud nine to notice.

She flipped the page. Another, more complete entry, this time about their classmate Sero. Probably spurred on when Midoriya lost to him in the hero exercise last week. There was a stick figure diagram of Sero, with all the notes debating the possible uses, limitations and questions about his tape quirk. Things like how much could he make at once, what was the tensile strength, etcetera etcetera.

Her interest piqued, she kept reading, going page by page and taking in all of the thought and energy put into this book. She knew that Midoriya was an inquisitive mind when it came to quirks and heroics, but this went beyond what she had originally estimated. All of it was so finely detailed, filled with such a joy and desire for knowledge that it baffled her.

'And he has another twelve of these?!' She shook her head in disbelief as she neared the front of the notebook, turning the page only to freeze.

She didn't need to read the title to know who it was about, as one whole page had been dedicated to a sketch of a feminine figure with wings.

It was her. Really, Angel didn't know why she felt so surprised. She knew that he wrote about everyone's quirks. Heck, she had seen him frantically writing things down after the first day of school at the train station. Maybe it was the concept that someone would be so utterly fascinated with her and her power without an ulterior motive she supposed. She was so used to those studying her capabilities to just be concerned on how they could benefit from their use. This… this was something different. Innocent and filled with awe.

She glanced down and blinked. The bottom portion of the page had an unfinished drawing of what she guessed was meant to be a close up of her arm and hand with her tattoos, but it looked like Midoriya had struggled with it judging from the faint line marks where the lead had been repeatedly erased.

Almost as if she was controlled by Shinso's quirk, she took her pencil from where she left it on her literature notes and went to work. Lightly pressing the tip to the page, she dragged it along the weathered paper, creating a smooth outline following the shape of her limb and palm. Then going off entirely by memory, she filled in the gaps between the edges with the curving streaks that she had come to know. She curled it around the elbow, along the wrist and around the fingers. She was just running it over again to give more definition when;

"Okay Angel-chan, you feeling up for another…"

Angel looked up. All eyes were on her. Seeing his notebook in her hands, Midoriya's jaw dropped.

She paled and began to quiver, just now becoming aware of what she was doing, what a breach of privacy she had just committed!

"S-Sorry, I-I didn't mean t-to snoop! I-I-I was just too curious!" She stammered, tossing the notebook at him like it was on fire. "I-I just got carried away!" She said, guilt filling her voice as she averted her eyes.

"I-It's okay A-Angel-chan!" She heard Midoriya quail, probably feeling bad for something SHE did, which just made her shame grow. "I d-don't mind if you took a peek. And…"

He drifted off and she feared for the worst.

"Wait… did you draw this?" He gasped.

Angel froze. She turned back. All three of her friends were looking down at the sketch she had added, wonder on their faces.

"Y-Yeah?" She answered. "I-I just noticed that you were having p-problems with that last bit."

"Woah! This is really good!" Uraraka said, while Iida nodded behind her.

"Angel-chan, you never told us you were an artist."

"I-It's just a hobby. I never really thought I was that good." She answered weakly.

"Don't be like that. This is great! Thanks for adding this in!" Midoriya said, giving her a thankful smile.

"Do you have any more work of yours?" Uraraka asked, causing Angel's legs to quake.

"R-Really? You want to see more of my stuff?"

"Yeah!"

Completely taken off guard, the only thing Angel could do then was smile.

"O-Okay, I'll be right back!" She told them as she shot from her chair and ran down the hall. She had never shown anyone but Moxxi her drawings, always afraid that someone would judge the quality of her work. But now she felt strangely giddy too, excited at the prospect. And it was only fair that she showed them after unintentionally reading what wasn't meant for her.

Bursting into her room, she grabbed her sketchbook from her bed. But right before she ran back, she halted as a thought crossed her mind. She quickly opened it to a certain page, one that she had used not two weeks after she had arrived in Japan. Avoiding the man's eyes, she tore the page out and wadded it into a ball. Only then did she turn back.

"H-Here!" She put it on the table in the middle of them all.

"Wow!" Uraraka said again. "These are so well done!"

"H-Hey, that's me!" Iida pointed out as they turned to a page of him standing at the front of the classroom.

"Y-You're so talented Angel-chan!" Midoriya breathed, taking in every picture that they found on each page. From quick practice sketches of household objects, to portraits of the people of Yūei, everything brought awed smiles to their faces.

Standing behind them, Angel watched on, her eyes burning and growing heavy, the positive emotions almost too much for her to take without breaking down. Behind her back, she clutched the discarded page in her fist.

She didn't know how long she would have to keep up this charade, but she silently begged the universe to just let her have this for a little while longer.

She felt she deserved that much.

That was all they did for the rest of the evening before Angel's guests had to leave to make their trains home. They would continue their studies over the course of the next few days.

The term exam was approaching.