Chapter Fifteen

Ideals

Lunchtime has begun as students made their way to the cafeteria to get their food. Just before her first day here, everyone kept their distance from her due to her reputation. Of course, Lily didn't mind it. She wasn't there to be a hero or be nice to the people in the school of up-and-coming heroes, she was there to see if she could get stronger, and possibly make friends that wouldn't stab her in the back without a second thought. So far she has made friends with at least Mina and Mineta…still a bit iffy on Momo, but she does get some credit for making small talk with her the other day.

"So this is where you've been sitting," Mina said as Lily turned her attention from her food to the pink girl. Upon noticing Mina she noticed Momo, Kaminari, Uraraka, and Mineta behind her as they waved at her "Wow, not that many people are willing to sit near you."

"Well, I am a killer after all. So it shouldn't be a surprise that something like this would happen."

"Mind if we sit here? Not a lot of room around the cafeteria due to them sitting away from you."

"I don't see why not." She said as Mina and the other took a seat next to or across from Lily.

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lily." She said as Lily nodded and smiled at her.

"I'm Denki Kaminari. Gotta say you are one fine-looking chocolate bunny. If easter was here, I wouldn't mind picking you~" He said as Momo rolled her eyes from his attempt to flirt with Lily.

"Kaminari, please stop trying to flirt with girls. Especially with bad pick-up lines like that." Momo said as she heard Lily chuckle.

"Honestly I don't mind. I'll listen to pick up lines like that, then people calling me a slut, whore, or hoe due to the way that I present myself." She said before adjusting her breast a bit as it caused Kaminari and Mineta to stare a bit. They quickly looked away due to the glare they were getting from Momo before speaking up.

"Is there a reason as to why you're dressed up like that? I mean I don't want to be rude…but your kind of dressing like Midnight would dress if she was going to school here in U.A. as a student."

"Two reasons. One, they didn't have the right size for me so I had to augment it a bit. The second reason I'm doing it is out of spite for getting my size wrong. Of course, even if they were to give me a set of clothes in the right size, I'm still going to dress up like this."

"Well, I'm not against the idea of you looking like that," Mineta said as he eyes Lily up and down.

"Honestly Mineta, you're the worst," Momo said as it caused Lily to smirk.

"He may be a pervert, but at least he's honest with himself…He did apologize to you along with the other girls, right?"

"He did, yesterday to be specific. Though I am still not convinced that he was genuine." Momo said. "I have a feeling you threaten Mineta to apologize to us girls?"

"More like willing to be his friend to keep him on the right path…and let him grope my body whenever he wants," Lily said as it took everyone as they looked over at Mineta in judgment. More with Kaminari…he was pissed at the lucky bastard. "So far he hasn't done anything to me yet…gotta say I give him credit for wanting to know me a bit more before taking up my offer."

"Why make an offer like that!?" Momo asked.

"Because I believe he can change. Sure he may be a pervert, but he's a pervert that knows his limits. Let me ask the girls at this table. Has the touched you all in a way that would classify as sexual harassment?"

"Well…no…but he has said some inappropriate stuff," Uraraka said.

"I'll take your word for it, but has he ever tried to take advantage of anyone here?" Lily said as the girls shook their heads. "Look, coming from a degenerate's point of view, he is only doing that stuff because he was harassed and made fun of as a kid before coming here. I mean look at the way he looks, you can't tell me that no one wouldn't pick on him or worse to that matter. And his only saving grace was either a random girl or his mother that would try and help him."

"...Is that true, Mineta?" Mina asked as Mineta looked away in shame. "Oh…"

"Look, it's up to you girls if you want to accept his apology or be his friend for that matter, but you have to remember that not everyone comes to this school just because they want to be a hero. Sure some do it for the bad aspect of being a hero like Bakugo, but some want to be a hero just to better themselves or do it because it's an easy way to make money with the limited skills that they have. I can respect a person more if that's why they want to be a hero." She said before patting Mineta on the head. "All I'm saying is, you shouldn't judge someone unless you get to know them a bit and find out why they're like this."

"I…suppose you're right…but still," Momo said while biting the lower part of her lips.

"If you were ballsy enough to talk to me and be my friend, why not do the same with Mineta. After all, you are the class rep. Isn't it your job to try and help a fellow student out~?" She said while pulling Mineta close to herself as if hugging him. Momo notices the duo giving her teary-eyed expressions while their lips quiver as if they were on the verge of crying.

"...Alright, fine. I'll..give him a second chance. But that doesn't mean he's off the hook. The moment he does something inappropriate to someone else other than…you, I will reprimand him. That means he'll have to write a five-page essay on what not to do to a woman and he has to read it in front of the class. I will inform Aizawa if that does happen." She said as Mineta and Lily grinned upon hearing this.

"You won't regret it. I promise!" Mineta said as Momo couldn't help but smile a bit from his reaction. The class rep looked over at Mina as her curiosity got the better of her as she spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, but Lily said her quirk was able to change the way your body and quirk works. By any chance do you have any idea what that might be?"

"I honestly don't. I mean I could try it out during training, that is if I'm allowed to after getting checked on by Recovery Girl." Mina said before snapping her fingers. Oh wait, there is something that I just found out when I was getting my stuff out of my locker." She said before extending her arm out. Upon doing that, she reached into her arm and pulled out what appears to be a notebook with a lot of pink and black stripe designs on it. "I can put stuff into my body, and all I just have to do is think about it, and pull it out of my arm!"

"...Lily?"

"Yes, Kaminari?" Lily said as she noticed the yellow-haired boy walk over to her. Once there, he kneeled while grabbing her hand.

"Use your quirk on me! Please!"

"...Um…"

"I need help. My quirk allows me to use electricity, but I can't control it well or use too much of it or else I'll go brain dead. So please, help a brother out!"

"Kaminari, you shouldn't ask something like that. You should train yourself to be able to-"

"Sure, I have no problem with that," Lily said as it took Momo by surprise by her quick response.

"Really!?" Kaminari yelled in excitement as he stood up.

"Well yeah, I mean it's not what I do is going to kill you or anything." She said as Momo stared at Lily in disbelief. "What? It's not like it'll happen now. Plus when it does happen, he'll be prepared for what will happen…I could do the same to you and Uraraka if you want." She said as Uraraka and Momo looked at each other for a moment before Uraraka looked over at Lily and spoke.

"Um…can you…um, can you fix the problem I have with quirk. If you didn't know, I can make anything weightless, but if I use it too much, I end up throwing up. Think there is a way for you to make sure I don't throw up?"

"That shouldn't be a problem," Lily said as she reached into her tail to pull out a green gemstone. "Might want to back away Momo…unless you want to have something change?"

"I think I'll pass." She said with an unconvinced expression on her face. "More importantly I find it hard to believe that your quirk can change a person's physical appearance and their quirk. After all, you did say that your quirk is flight, but given what we saw yesterday's training session, you could summon a sword, create those gemstones and knights out of metal, and shoot lasers that could topple buildings." Momo said as Lily and Mina looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the class rep. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"Hey like I said before. I don't know much about my quirk. Didn't grow up with parents, and the orphanage wasn't so great once the previous owner had to be replaced with a new one for some reason. And that guy wasn't any help given his racist ass towards me or anyone with dark skin."

"I'm sorry but-"

"Not opening that can of worms just yet. But my point remains that I don't know what my quirk does other than what happened to Mina…but if you want for me to be proven wrong, then why not let me test it out on you?"

"Wait what?"

"Well if you want to call me out on me not knowing how my quirk works, then why not let me use my quirk on you?"

"I-I'm not that naive to fall for something like that. You know that, right?" Momo asked as Lily simply nodded.

"Yes, but how else are you going to find out if I'm not lying." She asked as Momo pondered her choices. "Come on, it's not like you'll get hurt from it."

"I…suppose it wouldn't hurt just to try it…but I have my doubts it'll work."

"I'll take that as a yes," Lily said before shattering the gemstone as everyone at the table was bathed in green warm light. Momo, Kaminari, and Uraraka had a green aura develop around them for a moment before vanishing within seconds. "Keep in mind that it might not happen today or tomorrow. If something happens, just come find me, and I'll be sure to see what the problem is."

"Aw man, I can't wait to finally have control over my quirk. I can make a sword out of lightning!" Kaminari said as he pretended to swing a sword around. "Badass, don't you think?"

"...I mean it's not impossible, you just need a lot of concentration to make it work."

"Yeah, something that Kaminari doesn't have~," Mina said as it caused Mineta and Uraraka to laugh.

"She got you there Kaminari," Lily said as it caused Kaminari to deadpan her before sitting down with a huff. The pseudo servant found his reaction kind of cute but soon noticed Momo staring off to the side of her. Specifically the bags of junk food she has behind herself. "Something wrong?"

"So you were the one that raided the vending machines?" Momo asked as Lily looked away with a slight childish grin on her face.

"Called it! You both owe me money big time!" Mina said as Kaminari and Mineta groaned in annoyance before wanting money that was equivalent to twenty dollars.

"Wait, that was you?" Uraraka said with a surprised expression on her face.

"Hey, I burned a lot of energy during that fight. Do you know how much food I need to eat just to keep myself healthy?"

"Okay, but how were you able to hit every vending machine in this school? I mean it's not like you have any money on you?" She asked as she noticed Lily reaching into her tail and pulling out a silver-colored briefcase and placing it on the table. She soon flipped the locks keeping the briefcase close and revealed a large amount of cash inside it. Mina along with the others sitting at the table stared in shock seeing that amount of money out in the open.

"Holy crap! How did you get this much money!?" Mina asked.

"Funny story behind how I got this. When I was old enough, I stole ten of these cases from a yakuza member. Two times was from an old guy with gray hair in fancy clothes who I can assume was the boss, five times from their underlings, and three times from a guy wearing a mask that almost killed me mainly because he had a quirk that allowed him to break up the matter and mold it into just about anything."

"Wait, you almost died…you stole from the yakuza!?" Momo yelled as Lily covered her mouth.

"Keep your voice down. Geez, you want the whole world to hear you?" She asked before removing her hand from Mina's mouth. "But yeah, I almost died when the dude blew my arm off. Had I not known about my quirk's healing abilities, then I would've been royally fucked. But even with that, fighting him wasn't that easy."

"You? Had difficulty fighting?" Kaminari said while raising an eyebrow at her.

"Keep in mind I was fifteen at the time, so I didn't have much control over how to use my powers. I had to let Artoria take control over my body and all she could do was injure him enough so that we could take the briefcase. Didn't have enough time to kill him due to the pro heroes and police coming in the area we were fighting in." Lily said before taking a sip from her soda.

"...I'm afraid to ask…but how much do you have?" Uraraka asked as it caused Lily to ponder for a moment.

"Hm…what's the equivalent of five-hundred billion dollars here in Japan?" Lily asked as it caused all five of her classmates to drop their jaws in shock.

"Dude...With money like that, you could live out the rest of your life in luxury!" Kaminari yelled.

"I could, but can't. The money that I have is mostly used for food and miscellaneous stuff…well food-wise. I can't buy a home or leave the school on the grounds of being a villain." She said before noticing the group still staring at the briefcase as she quickly closed the briefcase and placed it back into her tail. "Better yet….think you guys can do me a favor?"

"Like what?" Uraraka asked as Lily fidgets a bit.

"I…need some clothes. You know like…women's clothes that I can wear around on my days off from school, or if I need to relax around the house." Lily said with a bit of a blush on her face."I don't trust the heroes in this school. Mainly because of my past issues with them, and the fact that I'm pretty sure they're planning something behind my back. So I would like for you guys to get me stuff."

"So basically you want to experience what it's like to be normal?" Mina asked as Lily nodded. A grin appeared on the pink girl's face as she nodded. "We can do that!"

"Really? I mean if it's not too much trouble."

"It's no problem at all. I can stop by the mall this weekend and buy you some clothes." Momo said before pulling out her phone to make a note of that.

"Nope, you're not going to use your own money. You're going to use my money to pay for the stuff that you're planning on getting." Lily said as it took everyone by surprise.

"Are you sure? I mean, I know you're rich, but wouldn't it cause problems for you later on?" Uraraka asked as Lily shook her head.

"A lot of the money is used on food anyway, so you guys can as much as you want…hell you can take the whole thing and split it between you all."

"Whoa there Lily," Mina said as the bunny girl looked over at her. "I know that we're friends and all, but isn't this a bit too much?"

"Mina's right. It wouldn't seem right to just take the money from you…even though you did steal it from the yakuza. It doesn't seem right to just do that." Momo added. "Maybe wait a bit before giving us money. I mean we don't want your reputation to get from bad to worse, right?"

"How worse can it get, giving my back story. I'm the fucking villain killer. The girl that killed over five hundred villains. There's no way to come back from that in this society. Plus I couldn't give two shits about my reputation." She said before finishing up her drink as she tossed the can in the trash perfectly. "Keep in mind. I hate the whole system that society has implemented. The stuff they're teaching in school isn't helpful in the real world, holding back so you don't kill your enemies, popularity contest between heroes for better pay? I'm sorry, but this is a fucking joke. Not going to lie, but this society is fucked if a real disaster hits."

"You got a lot of nerve saying that, villain." said a snarling voice coming from Lily's right. Both she and the other turned in the direction of where the voice came from as they saw a dog-like man with a scruffy mane of blond hair sticking straight out behind his head. He was also wearing a muzzle over his slightly pointed snout.

"It's the hound hero, Hound Dog!" Mineta said as he along with the others were surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping an eye on the girl." He said before looking over at Lily. "Don't think I didn't notice the briefcase full of money that you stashed away, I'll be sure to have a word with the principal about that. But I'm interested as to what you mean in your opinion of how this school is run."

"I meant what I said," Lily said as she stood up from her seat and walked up to Hound Dog. "So far other than the training session where we have to spar with each other, and common education that you would get in middle school or elementary school. This school is full of wanna-be heroes who pass on pointless ideals to others about how a hero should be. Ideals like that will drag you down to your death." She said as Hound Dog snarled a bit from her comment.

"What would you know about ideas, little girl!?" Hound Dog asked as he was inches away from Lily's face. "It's because of Ideals that this society of heroes has been able to maintain peace. How can following another's ideal be the death of those who follow ideals of others?" He asked as Lily rolled her eyes. A slight glow appeared in Lily's eyes as Mina took notice of the sudden change in Lily's posture and facial expression.

"...It's self-explanatory. There's nothing more to add to that." Lily said as Hound Dog glared down at her.

"So what is it then? What do you fight for?"

"I fight for myself alone. There's no other reason to fight."

"For yourself and nothing more? I find it hard to believe that."

"Well believe it. If your main desire is to never hurt anyone or be a hero of your own that helps people like a doctor, then by all means do as you wish. It's up to you, but be careful. Be certain it's your wish, not anyone else's." Lily said as she looked over at her friends who were listening to the conversation. "Know that if you fight off your own free will any resulting sins and punishments will be of your own making. Bearing it comes with that decision. However, if that desire was borrowed from another person. Then the ideals you claim are nothing more than fantasy. There must be a reason for fighting. But that reason must never be an ideal."

"Why is that?" Mineta asked.

"If you fight for ideals, then you only ever be able to save ideals," Lily said as a melancholy expression appeared on her face. "That's all. You won't be able to help anyone. A desire to save something or someone stands out as a reason to fight. That would apply to the heroes of today. Right, Hound Dog?" She asked as she noticed Hound Dog flinching a bit from what she was saying. "Salvation at the hands of another is never true. Such salvation is like currency. When used it passes onto another. It's true that every hero's wish to save others can probably be achieved. But in doing so, you must give up all hope of saving yourself. You shall cling to ideals, not of your own. And you will pursue them until it destroys you in the end. And that is why these ideals you heroes all hold so dear are meaningless." Lily said before turning around and grabbing her stuff. She was about to leave the cafeteria but stopped just as she was passing Hound Dog. "Nothing ever comes of helping others. Because in the end, you can save neither others nor yourself. That life is an illusion." She said before leaving the room.

"This girl…she's a danger to not only herself but for others as well." Hound Dog thought as he watched Lily leave…there wasn't any way to counter that argument…at least not one that he can think of at this time. He soon looked over at Mineta, Kaminari, Momo, and Uraraka who quickly looked away from his gaze and returned to their meal. Hound Dog snorted as he made his way out of the cafeteria to follow after Lily.