The next day, I didn't go to school again. Dad didn't want me out and about while villains were active, and Hizashi 'didn't want to lose me,' as he put it.

We had microwavable breakfast sandwiches before I went into U.A. to spend the day in the staff room.

The first half of the day went fine. I managed to get a lot of work done while finishing my novel and starting a new one. At lunchtime, I went back to the apartment to check on the cats. I figured I had nothing better to do, and Mic was fine with me going there, as long as I was back before the hour.

Princess was fine, if not a little moody and jumpy, but nothing new. I didn't think it was anything worth staying for, or anything to be concerned about.

On my way back, I tried to ensure I was relatively unseen by most of the people at U.A. I managed that by returning after classes had started up again.

Of course, there were stragglers and delinquents, but I scoffed internally at the sight of them. I knew they wouldn't make it far with that kind of behavior.

I walked up the stairs, about to make my turn into the staff room, when I saw someone standing by the principal's office from across the hall.

I'm not sure why but he piqued my interest. I looked at the door of the staff room back to the boy slowly pacing the hallway, his hand running through his thick hair that stood on end-

His…hair…

My jaw dropped and I took a step forward. His purple-toned hair that was in the same style as it always had been in. The hair I remember him wearing back when we lived at that shabby apartment.

So I approached him.

"Sh-Shinsou-San?" I addressed, a bit too meek for my preference.

He glanced up at me, standing straight before his eyes narrowed.

"You…" he started, "Do I know you?"

"I mean...well, yes…" I said cautiously. "We were neighbors a few years back. In that apartment."

He eyeballed me again, trying to figure out who I was. I activated my quirk, just ever so slightly reading his mind. His mind was noisier, busier. There was more hurt and bitterness in his thoughts than there was the last time I saw him. He was more tired.

A lightbulb seemed to come up in his head and his eyes widened. "You're the...the Aizawa girl, right? The one that-"

"Yeah," I interrupted purposefully, "You…came in and helped that day…didn't you?"

His eyes clouded with something like sorrow as he nodded in recognition. "Yeah, that…that was me."

I nodded. "I'm very grateful for what you did."

And for those wondering, 'what he did' was distract the men that came to hurt me that day. He got bruised and beaten for it, and possibly worse if authorities hadn't arrived when they did. He was the one, I discovered, that threw a blanket over my body to cover my modesty while waiting for the ambulance. He stayed at the hospital with his Grandmother, waiting to hear how I was after the incident.

He simply gave me a nod. "It was nothing."

I didn't agree, but figured it wasn't the time nor the place. "Uh…" I started awkwardly. "How is your grandmother? I'm sorry I haven't managed to reach out since moving-"

"She passed away," he cut off. "Not too long ago."

I gasped. That sweet, kind, plump old woman with the lilac hair, always tugged into a bun with a wooden hairpiece jabbed through it. The woman who would make me meals and keep me company when Dad was away.

She was gone.

"I suppose I should say why," he grumbled. "She had a heart attack when I was on a field trip. She had no way of getting help."

"I'm so sorry, Shinsou-San," I almost whispered. Really, I was.

He shrugged again, and almost said something. SOmething likely insensitive or to brush off the obvious grief we both felt at the loss. A glance toward me made him change his mind, though.

He nodded again. "Yeah," he said solemnly. "I am too."

We were silent for a moment, but it seemed to fit. It seemed respectful to be silent for the woman who had done so much for me-and him-in honor of her.

"How uh…" He started again, "how are things?"

This was awkward. "Uh...good."

He nodded. "You work here or something?"

I shook my head. "No. My dad does, but, he's away, so his friend is watching me for the day."

Shinsou scoffed. "Seems like he's doing one hell of a job."

He must be referring to the fact I was alone. "He's busy, so I just do my thing and he does his."

"Fair enough."

"What about you?" I asked. "I assume you go to school here," I said, referring to his uniform.

"Yeah, i'm seeing if I can get transferred somehow," he said, gesturing to the Principal's door with a jerk of his head.

"Froms school to school?"

"No, from Gen-Ed to Hero."

"You didn't pass the entrance exams to the hero course?" I clarified.

"I didn't pass the practical entrance exams," he confessed, crossing his arms and shifting his weight. "I aced the written."

The practical exams. The one where you had to kill a certain amount of robots to get points, or save people from robots to get points. If you have a certain amount of points, then you get in, given you pass the written exam as well. You pass both, you're in.

With that being the case, it was only if you had a physical quirk or a physical manifestation of one and be smart to get in.

I shook my head with a heavy sigh and took a seat in the chair outside Principal Nezu's office. "Most do. That's where a lot of people fail when getting into U.A. It…sucks."

"Hm."

There was another moment of silence where we were undisturbed by neither student nor teacher.

"What's your quirk?" I asked.

He eyeballed me again before sighing. "You ask a lot of questions don't you?"

I merely shrugged, saying nothing.

He deadpanned at me.

"My quirk is mind control," he said stiffly. "I was trying to demonstrate it on you."

"Oh. Well, how?"

He sighed. "I might as well just tell you."

I shrugged. He was right. "I'd've found out somehow anyway."

"Yeah. It activates when I ask someone something and they respond. I have to want to activate my quirk before I ask the question, and bet they will respond at all in order to control them. It's kind of hard to do that with a robot."

I nodded. "No kidding. The system is botched."

He nodded silently, agreeing with me.

"Well," I said standing up, "I'm glad you're here now. My dad was in a similar situation, and he managed to get into the Hero Course by winning the Sport's Festival, if that's any help."

He began to think before slowly bobbing his head. "Yeah…Yeah it does. It's in, what? 4 weeks?"

"Give or take. Start working out now, this year's hero kids are something."

"Yeah. Thanks."

I looked at my watch. "I should head out. Yamada Sensei is probably wondering why I'm not in the staff room. I'll see you around?"

"See ya, Squirt."

I froze.

Squirt.

Did...he just called me squirt, didn't he?

I turned around slowly. "Squirt?"

He shrugged. "Want me to call you something else?"

My name would do fine, thanks?

For the first time in a while, I was genuinely amused. I cracked a smile and huffed out a small chuckle. I shook my head. "You're funny."

With that, I walked off.