"You both passed," Redemption picked me up in a tight hug and swung me side to side. "Hey – Eraser – can I take her on her first official mission?"
"What!? We can help with the pros anytime we want now?" Mina bounced on one foot as she pumped a fist into the air.
"This is going to be so cool!" Kirishima flexed his arms before giving Mina a high-five.
Aizawa's eyes glowed red as he activated his quirk. He knew Redemption well enough to know he would have just run off with me instead of waiting for an answer. "Just this time. Have her back before midnight. Nothing too dangerous either, Redemption."
Redemption huffed, placing me up on his shoulder. "Fine, fine, Eraser. I'll have her back before midnight and nothing too 'dangerous'." Aizawa did not drop his quirk. "I promise, alright." Aizawa sighed and let his quirk fall. Tiny shrunk down to the size of an eraser. Redemption picked him up and placed him inside his jacket pocket before rushing off. In just a few mere seconds, we were back at his agency. The paper had been removed from the new windows – they were tinted and did not allow anyone to peer in from outside. Redemption set Tiny and me down before running up the steps and bursting through the door. I followed Redemption inside while Tiny readjusted his size.
"Congratulations!" Phoenix screamed as she popped a sparkler. "You're both well on your way to being professional heroes now!"
[B&M]
Redemption placed his forefinger before his lips, "you've gotta be extra quiet." All the lights were off in the dorm – not a soul was awake. He snuck up to the front of the dorm, hitting every noisy floorboard, and attempted to open the door slowly.
"You're not sneaky," Aizawa slammed the front door of the dorms open. He held up his phone, and one thirty in the morning displayed brightly. "Get inside before I give you a suspension too – and you better get off campus before Nezu finds out." Redemption was gone in an instant with his tail between his legs.
I adjusted my pack and gripped my case, bounding up the stairs. "Thank you for allowing that." I bowed my head.
Aizawa shrugged and turned his phone toward himself, keeping his body in the door frame. He pulled up a news story of the mission I had assisted with. A video played of the anthropomorphic villain with super strength throwing debris from the abandoned building at us as Tiny rescued the victims and escorted them to safety. I used the technique that Hawks had taught me to break down the debris and send it hurtling back. A cement block hit the gorilla-like villain in the head, knocking him out for police to intervene. "Guess you learned from the final."
"I did," I gave my teacher a small smile.
He moved out of the doorway and allowed me through, "don't stay up too late – there's class in the morning." He shut the door between us. I headed to the elevator for the boy's dormitory, taking the lift to the fourth floor. Katsuki had gone quiet after receiving his testing results, and we had not had the opportunity to talk since Redemption stole me immediately. I needed to make sure he was okay.
I held my blazer to my stomach as I knocked on Katsuki's door. I hoped he was still awake, although it was unlikely. His door opened after a long moment. His face was bandaged, and his arms were bruised. His eyes were also puffy – like he had been crying for a long while. "W-what happened?" Katsuki grunted, opening the door further so I could enter. Katsuki closed the door behind me before retreating to his bed – a first aid kit open and strewn about. The only light on in the room came from his desk lamp. His curtains were drawn, so I could not see the light from outside. I sat across from Katsuki and began bandaging his bruised and scraped arms. Katsuki had no bruises or scrapes from the exam; something else must have happened since Redemption stole me. He did not fight me; he just avoided my gaze. Once I was done with his arms, I examined his hands. They were a little beat up but not injured. I massaged his palms.
"I got into a fight with Deku," Katsuki spoke quietly. His bottom lip protruded slightly – he had split part of his lip. If Katsuki looked this bad – was Midoriya okay? "We sorted some shit out."
"Do you want to talk about it?" I continued working away on his palms until he stopped me by placing his free hand on mine.
"I got four days of house arrest," Katsuki sighed, getting up from the bed. He walked to his closet and pulled out a pair of grey shorts and a black skull t-shirt. He dropped them beside me on his bed. "Feel free to change here. I'm going to change in the bathroom."
"Uh," I squeaked. "I can just go grab clothes from my room."
Katsuki frowned. "Do whatever you want. I'm going to change." He stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind himself. I cringed at the impact. I picked up Katsuki's shirt. I could go to my room, change into my pyjamas, and come right back if we were going to stay up. I gave his shirt a quick inhale. It was clean – but it still smelt subtly of caramel. I bit my lip, put his shirt down, and quickly shed my clothing. I pulled his shirt and shorts on. The shorts fit surprisingly well, and the shirt was large on me. Heat spread from my chest outward as my stomach flipped. I folded my clothes and set them on his desk for tomorrow.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Katsuki walked out in nothing but a black tank top and shorts. I felt lightheaded by his gaze. "Thank you for letting me borrow these." I smiled, setting my folded shirt on top of my clothes.
Katsuki paused for a moment as he looked me up and down. He swallowed hard. "Anytime. They look good on you. Let's go to sleep – you have class in the morning." Katsuki pulled back the sheets and crawled into bed, holding the blanket up for me. My knees felt weak. This was not the first time Katsuki, and I were to be in the same bed or sleeping near each other – but this time was not accidental. I sat on the side of Katsuki's bed before lying on my side against the edge. "You're going to fall if you're over there. I'm taking the outside next time." Katsuki laid the blanket on top of us, then used that same hand to scoop me by the hips and brought me closer to himself. His hand did not move or reposition itself. It stayed wrapped around my hip, his fingers grazing the hip I was lying on.
Why was I so nervous? We had shared a bed before. But when we had shared a bed before – one of us needed comfort. Sure, Katsuki had been crying today, but he was not really asking for that same level of support. "Sorry." I let my head drop into his pillow.
Katsuki chuckled shortly. "I can hear your heartbeat from here." He scooted down slightly, turned his head to face the ceiling, and rested on my chest. His eyes fluttered shut as he listened to my pulse. I bit my lip, trying to keep my heart rate from increasing.
"Uhm, where should I put my hands," I asked after a long moment. My left arm rested uncomfortably behind me while my right was straight above Katsuki's head.
"I don't care. Put them wherever they're comfortable," he yawned and gently pressed his cheek into my chest.
"O-okay." I swallowed. When I woke up lying on Katsuki's chest, his arms around me protectively. Should I do the same? I moved my left arm over Katsuki's and brought my right arm closer to him at a much more comfortable angle. We lie in silence, listening to each other breathe for a long while.
"Your punch to the face was better than Deku's." Katsuki pulled me even closer to himself.
My face flared up – I must have been as red as a tomato. "It was an accident –"
"Don't apologize," Katsuki grunted, "it was a good hit." Our bodies were pressed up against one another's. I let my right hand slowly wrap around Katsuki's shoulders. He was so warm. I held Katsuki against my chest, running my thumb in circles on his shoulder. Katsuki had to stand back with Todoroki earlier while the rest of our class got our photos done and received our provisional licenses. They would be receiving their own provisional licenses in three months – after taking supplementary classes. But, that doesn't excuse the despair of not passing with their classmates. Katsuki's arms loosened from around my abdomen, and his breathing slowed. He had fallen asleep.
[B&M]
I walked with Uraraka and Mina at the back of our class through the halls of the school toward the welcoming ceremony. "Well, well, well, I heard a rumor that two of you guys failed the licensing exam – you losers!" Monoma stood at the wall of shoe cubbies smirking with a twisted smile.
"Bet were you the only one to fail." Kirishima stopped walking and pointed at the blonde.
Monoma laughed. "Actually, every one of us passed!" I bit the inside of my cheek. If Akari had stayed instead of leaving, would she have passed the licensing exam?
"Your villain was one of the two that failed – who was the other one?" Honenuki glared at me.
Mina took a set forward, "we don't have a villain. What dream are you living in?" We hurried outside to the ceremony. Honenuki never took his eyes off me. Were Akari's old classmates aware of what had occurred? Or did Vlad and Aizawa tell them a sugar-coated version?
[B&M]
Midoriya was back in class with us today. He had completed his house arrest – and Katsuki just had one more to go. Aizawa had forbidden us from talking to either of them about what we were doing in class until they returned, but Katsuki had seen me messaging Redemption if he knew of any heroes that Principle Nezu would approve for a work-study. Thankfully he did not ask me about them; I would have caved and told him everything.
"These three are third years at UA. They rank at the very top of our student body. You may know them as the big three," Aizawa explained as three students entered the classroom. Mirio stopped beside Aizawa, smiling, with his arms crossed. A blue-haired girl stood beside him, and a meek-looking boy next to her. The class began to mummer about the three before us. "Get to it. Introduce yourselves briefly; let's start with Amajiki." The boy on the end stared at the class, his jaw tensing. I saw my classmates cowering from my periphery – what was so scary about him? He seemed nervous to me.
"It's no good, you two go. I just can't. Even if I try to imagine them as potatoes, I can see their human bodies, and I know they're still people. No words are coming out, my mind is blank, and my mouth is dry. I can't say anything," he turned and faced the wall, "I wanna go home." What? He was shier than I was, but he was close to being a pro.
"So, are you really one of UA's top heroes?" Ojiro spoke from beside me.
The girl laughed, "come on, Amajiki. You need to have the heart of a lion – not a kitten, even though you're human. Get what I mean? This is the kitten, Tamaki Amajiki, and I'm Nejire Hado. I'm supposed to talk about work studies, but you first years have an exciting time ahead of you. Wait – why are you wearing a mask? Is it because you're feeling sick?" She moved past my desk to Shoji. She moved on after a second. "Oh, Todoroki, how did you get that big burn on your face?"
"Oh, that's none of your –" Todoroki started to reply, but Hado ignored him and continued.
"Ah! Ashido, if your horns break off, can you grow them back? Can you move them? Mineta, are those balls your hair? I don't get it; how do you get a haircut? Oh, oh! Asui, you're a tree frog, right, and not a gross toad? Oh my goodness! There's so much I want to learn about each and every one of you! Let's have a Q and A." She bounced on her feet as she stared excitedly across the class. "Hey, Ojiro, can you support your entire body weight with that tail of yours? Come on, tell me, I really want to know."
Aizawa activated his quirk and glared at Mirio. "This is completely irrational."
"Oh, there's no need for you to worry, Eraserhead. I'm up next, and I'll get the audience refocused." Mirio raised a hand and cupped it at his ear, "the future's gonna be…" He waited for a response.
"Gonna be what," Kaminari asked bluntly.
"Awful! That's your part, guys. My call and response was a total fail," Mirio rubbed the back of his head while he laughed. "Okay, you guys look like you have no idea what's going on. We are a bunch of third years that showed up in your class to talk to you about a program that's completely voluntary. I can see how you'd be confused by that. You guys got your provisional licenses as first years, right? Huh. This batch of new students has proven to be pretty darn energetic. Ah, so the problem is, you must not have a sense of humour – that's why my joke didn't hit. Head's up! The rad new plan is all you first years fight me at once!"
"You want to fight us, like, now?" Kirishima gawked as Mirio rubbed his face.
"Well, if you want them to experience our experience, then this is a pretty rational way of doing it. Right? Rational." Mirio smiled, proud of himself for his plan.
"Do whatever you want." Aizawa shrugged.
[B&M]
I stood off to the side of the class in my gym uniform. If we were fighting and using our quirks – I would need to keep most of my body broken down at all times. Todoroki stood across from me with Aizawa. He was not going to participate due to not obtaining his provisional license.
"So, who's first?" Mirio called out from the centre of the gym.
"Me!" Midoriya took his fighting stance. He took off for him – Mirio's clothes falling off. He could use Sirius' technique? No. Midoriya's foot went through his head. Everyone in the class froze in confusion and embarrassment. Aoyama, Sato, and Ashido's attacks went right through his face and into the rock behind him. Mirio phased into the floor and popped up at the back of the class. Jiro screamed. He had lost his pants and instantly took out everyone who used long-range techniques. He did not have the same quirk I did. No, if he had the same quirk, I would have felt his atoms break down and reform. Not phase through matter like he did. He had the same embarrassing drawback to his quirk, though. Mirio pulled his pants back on.
"I think that's it for the long-distance fighters. All that's left is for the close-quarters combat," Mirio rushed towards us, slipping into the ground as he neared. His pants floated in the air before settling on the cement. He popped up behind Midoriya. He went to throw a kick at Mirio, but he phased through Midoriya's leg. Mirio phased through his leg and neared Midoriya's face before twisting his own body around and out of the line of attack to land a harsh blow to Midoriya's stomach.
"He got Midoriya!" Kirishima gawked, hardening his arm.
"Nice try, though." Mirio took out Iida, Kirishima, and then the others with ease. He popped out of the floor behind me. I broke my body down as he aimed a punch at my stomach. My shirt and tank top covered his fist while my pants and shoes fell to the ground. "No way! Hey guys, we have the same quirk," Mirio smiled as he showed his friends my shirt. I reformed my body below him, swinging my legs for his feet. My legs swung straight through his body. He turned to punch me on the ground, but I dissipated. His fist went through the ground.
Now that I was this close to him, I could tell that he was not using the same technique. His atoms were still there when my leg passed through. His quirk must have made it possible for him to move through matter. If that was the case, he was not able to disperse or manipulate himself out of his human shape. I reformed my head a few meters away from Mirio.
"You're a lot of fun!" Mirio laughed, slipping into the ground. He popped up right below my head and aimed a punch at me. I floated my head further and reformed my hands. As Mirio closed in on me, I attempted to shove him away with my hands. He was solid, but my strength did nothing to him. So, I tickled him instead. He grabbed at his sides and fell to the ground, laughing. I kept tickling him as I began to reform my body nearby clothes, but I let too much of my guard down. Mirio disappeared into the ground and popped up under me quickly, landing a punch to my stomach. I doubled over, coughing harshly. Mirio draped my jacket over me as a small patch of red landed below me. I wiped it away with my palm.