The next day, I walked into class seconds before the bell rang.

Dad was at the podium already and Bakugo was standing in front of him.

Over my shoulder was his backpack-the one he left in the class after our argument, or whatever you want to call it.

"Look, I just left it here! Now it's gone!"

"Why would you leave your belongings unattended in a high school of all places?" My dad asked dryly.

"Becuas this is the highest fucking security hero school in the damned nation? Why would I think my shit would be stolen?"

"I will file a report a-"

"I have it." I said.

Both Dad and Bakugo-San turned to me. Bakugo looked like he was going to blow something up. I, however, was unafraid.

I walked up to him and slumped the backpack into my hands. "I saw that you left it, so I brought it home for safekeeping. I couldn't let you know, since I had no form of contact. I suppose I could have left a note. It is the highest security school in the nation, but teenagers are still teenagers."

I handed it to him. "I'm sorry for any distress I caused."

He snatched it from my grip with a scowl.

"Spare me."

He walked back to his seat with his backpack. I walked back to mine.

Not even a thank you from him.

Dad galnced at me before shaking his head and sighing. "Now that that's settled, here's what we have for today..."

.o0o.

Today was workout day. Or plan day. Or whatever day I was expected to be ready for the workout.

My dad was waiting with Midnight by some of the equipment.

"Ah, you're here," he said, pulling out his phone. He must have some kind of timer.

"Was I just on time?" I asked snarkily.

He gave me a look. "Go get changed. We'll be here."

"Right."

I wandered past the equipment into the women's changing rooms. Even though Midnight was the only woman teaching here as of right now (besides Chiyo-San), they still had changing rooms for different genders, which I thought was nice of them.

I basked in the silence of the room, feeling at peace as I changed into my workout outfit for the day. There was a lot I still had to think about, but right now, I was focusing on making my Dad proud. Getting out there and becoming the best I can and want to be.

I walked out of the dressing rooms and met my Dad back where I left him.

Midnight stood tall and proud, looking at me with a smile on her face as she looked me up and down.

"You're certainly growing up, Sami-Chan," she said.

I nodded, not really knowing how to respond.

"How do you feel?" Dad asked.

I thought for a second or two, quieting my mind to listen to my body.

"My stomach is still sore, but other than that, I feel pretty good," I told him.

"Hm. We don't want to over-exert you, so we'll take some measurements and set a plan," he decided.

"That's why I'm here," Midnight said, "I'm going to record and keep your measurements someplace safe, take some pictures, so you can see your progress as you go along!"

"Alright," I said, looking back at my dad. "Shall we begin?"

"Of course."

They led me to the wall, where there were a scale and meterstick against a wall. She took my height and wrote it down.

148 cm (about 4'9"). You've got to be kidding me. I grew one freaking centimeter from last year.

I sighed.

She took my weight on the scale, and wrote that down too. 40 kg (around 88 lbs).

Eh. Not bad.

"A little underweight..." Dad commented to himself and I cringed. Okay, kind of bad?

"Ah," Midnight waved it off. "All that means is some diet adjustment. Don't stress about it, Samiko."

I nodded.

Midnight told me to reach outwards. She measured the circumference of my biceps and my forearms. She took pictures of me reaching out, then of my legs, then measured them and their circumference.

I looked over my shoulder at Dad. "Is this why you got Midnight?"

He shot a glare in my direction and I only snickered quietly.

She took another picture of me from the front with my hands on my hips, then a profile shot.

"Alright, Miss Sami," she said, "It looks like I have to take off. You take care of yourself, ya hear?"

I nodded. "Of course. Have a good day, Nemuri-San."

She winked at me and took her leaves after handing the clipboard to my dad.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Let's see your starting point. Let's start with...sit-ups. I'll time you for a minute and thirty seconds and see how many you can do in that time," Dad said.

"Crunches or full sit-ups?"

"Full sit-ups."

I slumped my shoulders, grimacing at the thought. I moved over to the mat, laying flat on my back, my knees up. Dad stepped on my feet and I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Ready? Go."

.o0o.

Thus started a long haul of sit-ups and crunches, push-ups of most kinds, weight lifting, and pull-ups.

I got about fifty-seven situps in 90 seconds. I was able to do 8 full pushups without getting tired. I could benchpress 12.7 kg (around 28 lbs) and squat 13 kg (around 30 lbs). I could do about 3 pull-ups.

My grip strength was around 11 kg (around 85 lbs).

My dad made me run the 100-meter dash. I made it in about a solid fifty seconds.

Even if I was tired-which I was-that was way too long.

I stood there trying to catch my breath as my dad recorded my progress and sent it to Midnight, who would be keeping track with me. He handed me a bottle of water.

I tiredly grabbed it from his hand and opened the lid.

"Don't drink it too fast," he reminded me, "You could hurt yourself."

"Yeah," I said breathlessly.

He waited for me to drink my water and catch my breath, at least mostly, and we walked back into the building. He didn't say a word, which surprised me.

"So?" I inquired, "What's the...verdict?"

"First of all, I noticed when you were running, your sports bra doesn't support you properly, so we'll go and get you a new one soon."

I was too tired to protest, but I groaned internally nonetheless. And slightly externally. I hate bra shopping. In fact, I hate regular shopping.

"We might just get your measurements and order one online. We'll ask Chiyo what's best."

"Okay."

"Next, you need to build up your endurance first. That's what I plan on working on and focusing on with you. Be prepared to do lots of running. Weights and hand to hand will come in the meantime, but speed and endurance will be our main focus for right now."

Huh. Interesting. I would have focused on my muscular strength above all else.

"Anyhow, I have to do some training, then I have some grades to enter and extra paperwork. I'll be back home within an hour. You go ahead and get cleaned up and make sure the cats are fed. Hizashi's coming over to make us some 'American' food, so don't worry about dinner."

"Yes, sir," I said.

"Right. Get going, kiddo."

I took two steps before stopping and turning back around to face my dad. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." he shrugged.

"What's the deal with Bakugo?"

He gave me a look. I didn't know what to make of it, exactly.

"What do you mean?"

"He..." I started slowly. "He confronted me yesterday, and told me not to get in his way. To stop acting like I was smarter than him, and that I acted like I owned the place. In a way, I do, but I chose not to bring that up, because ultimately, he feels threatened by me. I'm not entirely sure why."

"Why he's threatened by you, or why he confronted you about it?"

"Both."

"Did you provoke him?"

"No," I said straightaway. "I have no reason to."

Dad hummed comtenplatively. We were quiet for a moment.

"I suspect," Dad spoke up again, "That he's afraid of your quirk."

I startled. I hadn't heard those words in a long time. "My quirk."

"Mhm. You have the ability to see into his mind, see his secrets, his past, even if you choose not to. He likely feels out of control and powerless to prevent it, and it doesn't help that you're brilliant for your age. He knows you could get away with it, and that you probably have in the past."

I blinked and took a sip of my water. "I told him I wasn't going to enroll in the Hero Course when I did go to U.A., and that I would probably enroll the year he graduates, so even if I did enroll into the Hero Course, then I wouldn't stand a chance anyway."

"People are hardly rational when they're afraid," My dad said solemnly.

Afraid of me, he meant. Because that's what was happening. I knew that.

Something sunk in my chest. "But why is it me people are always afraid of?" I almost whispered.

Dad didn't respond. He put his hand on my shoulder. I sighed.

He patted me. "Let's get some rest."

.o0o.

I collapsed on my bed. Dad said he needed to I didn't know why, but I was very tired today. I felt like sulking and pouting. I wished I'd never told anyone my quirk.

I let out a huge sigh that felt like the weight of the world fell off my shoulders.

"Mrreowr~"

I looked down to see Princess waddling around, next to my bed, her belly very swollen, circling around to get my attention.

I giggled at how funny she looked. "Come here, Princess."

She meowed one more time before sitting down, ears perked as she prepared to jump up on my mattress.

It was epically pitiful.

She could hardly jump because of her pregnant belly, so when she failed in her attempt to jump on my lap, she tried again, instead of clawing her way up the bed, trying to pull her and her belly up it to lay on me.

I laughed at her as she pulled herself up.

"You're going to tell me to 'fly, you fool' next, aren't you?" I asked aloud as I pulled her up the rest of the way.

She made known her disapproval.

"Oh, for God's sake," I sighed, pulling her close to me and stroking her belly.

She settled and started purring on me, letting me touch her swollen stomach. She liked me to pet it. It soothed her somehow.

Before she could sleep on me for a long while, I got up and decided to shower. Sleepy decided it would be a nice idea to follow me.

Little perv.

Or would he be a 'purrv?'

I laughed at my own joke and took my shower.

When I was finished, I dressed in an oversized black shirt and tennis shorts, collapsing on the bed again where Princess was waiting for my arrival.

After about twenty minutes of the cat sleeping on me and me kind of starving but being too lazy to do anything about it, I heard a knock on the door.

I waited to hear for my dad to get up and check the door. WHen I didn't hear anything, I decided to.

"Who is it?" I yelled from where I sat.

"Ehyyyyy, Samiiii!"

I sighed. "It's unlocked, 'Zashi!"

"Alrighhhhht!" He opened the door dramatically and sauntered in.

Now, I couldn't see him, but I also didn't need to. He'd done this enough times that I could tell what he was doing just by hearing his voice.

"Do you know where your dad is?" He asked me.

"Nope, I thought he was still here," I said.

"Oh! There he is. He's asleep."

"Solid," I shrugged.

"I'll make some dinner," he said. "Do your thing, girly."

He got to cooking and I fell asleep, waiting for either the food to start cooking or the apartment to burn down...Neither happened until I woke up.

In which, Dad was home and chatting with someone on the phone. Mic seemed confused and concerned.

I walked out of the open door of my room, Princess in my arms like a baby.

"Dad?"

He glanced at me and held up a finger. Wait.

I did. I couldn't hear what was being said, but 'Zashi had ruffled my hair and offered me some food. I was indifferent, but Princess and Sleepy seemed pretty interested in what we were having for dinner.

"Okay. We have internships this week... Yeah, next Friday? We'll be there. Don't worry. We'll take care of everything...Mhm. Yeah. Bye."

Dad finished talking to whoever it was.

"Who was it?" I inquired.

He looked at me intensely. He was equally sad, tired, and serious.

"No one."

.o0o.

edited 3/11/23