?
? Chapter 7 ?
Kimitsuki informed Granny Haruna and Mikoto about her getting accepted into U. A. High School's Hero Course in Class 1-A, and was glad to see just how happy they were to hear it. Then, she quickly pulled on her shoes and went rushing out, telling them that she was going to go Izuku and inquire about his fate – now that she knew that they were really giving out the rescue points to students.
Night had already fallen and the sun already sunk out of sight, and Kimitsuki jogged down the streets lit up by the streetlights, her long white hair glinting as she kept lilac eyes up ahead of herself. She turned to her right and headed deeper into the neighbourhood, onto a street well-travelled by her.
"Good evening," Kimitsuki greeted the security at the apartment complex quickly, bowing a rapid ninety-degree bow that almost gave her a whiplash before she rushed over to the elevator. "3rd,"
Waiting anxiously for the elevator to reach the third floor, and when it dinged open, Kimitsuki stepped out and walked down the empty corridor, heading to the Midoriya Household, ringing.
"Kimitsuki-Chan?" Inko asked as cracked open the door to peer out, and then she opened it all the way. "Is everything okay? It's pretty late..." Kimitsuki nodded quickly.
"Everything is okay, I was just wondering if I could meet Izu-Chan?" Kimitsuki asked before lowering her voice. "I wanted to see if he received the letter from U. A.?"
Inko's face lit up and Kimitsuki knew that Izuku had received it – and he had passed.
"Oh, Kimitsuki-Chan, it just came in a while ago!" Inko said, finally letting out her feelings as she grabbed the tall female's shoulders. "Izuku got in! Did you also get your letter?"
"Yes, and I got in, too," Kimitsuki replied gently. "I just received my letter a while ago... Where is Izu-Chan? He was really worried about getting in,"
Gushing over the fact that the two friends got into the same school together, Inko led Kimitsuki to Izuku's bedroom and told her that she could stay over for dinner that night – something that Kimitsuki gratefully accepted and she knocked on Izuku's room, entering quietly inside.
"Izu-Chan?" Kimitsuki asked and she looked over in surprise when the green-haired boy threw himself at her, his eyes full of tears. "Why are you crying, Izu-Chan?"
"I was so worried!" Izuku cried as he moved back, wiping at his eyes furiously. "Did you get in, too, Tsuki-Chan?" Kimitsuki nodded with a small smile and Izuku burst into more tears, shocking her.
"Calm down, Izu-Chan!" Kimitsuki said, fanning her hands to try and stop him from crying anymore. "I'm glad you got in. I bet you got a lot of rescue points,"
"I got a zero in villain points," Izuku replied as he walked over to sit down on his bed. Kimitsuki sat down on his chair. "And I got sixty in the rescue points – the nice girl gave some of hers to me,"
"Ah, I understand," Kimitsuki breathed, nodding at him. "Um, I got seventy in villain points but most of my points came in rescue – ninety-five. In total, I have one hundred and sixty-five points,"
"Tsuki-Chan, that's a lot!" Izuku exclaimed as he stared at her with wide eyes. Kimitsuki gave him a weary smile. "I wonder how many points Ka-Chan got?"
"I wanted to ask him," Kimitsuki replied, pulling out her phone. "I sent him a text but he hasn't bothered replying..." She stared at her chat with Katsuki. "To be honest, he just never reads them,"
All of the texts in the chat window between Kimitsuki and Katsuki were one-sided.
There had been several times Kimitsuki had texted him to ask him why he didn't come to school, to tell him to do something regarding the school event, or asking him for help with something – but he never bothered reading or replying. Whenever she mentioned it to him in person, he would always tell her to just stop texting him in the first place or ignore her question entirely. She shook her head.
"You know, I wonder if you can predict things, Tsuki-Chan," Izuku spoke up, and Kimitsuki gave him a quizzical look. "I mean, with your Quirk... you can see things seconds before they happen, can't you?"
"What do you mean, Izu-Chan?" Kimitsuki asked, her eyebrows furrowed at what the green-haired boy was trying to say to her.
"You talked about giving me your Quirk, and then I got a Quirk from All Might," Izuku pointed out. "And then you said that I'd get rescue points... and I really did end up getting rescue points,"
"I can't predict anything," Kimitsuki replied, removing her lilac eyes from the boy and down to her hands. "I only anticipate things, Izu-Chan,"
Kimitsuki kept her head up as she walked down the corridor to where her class was located at Aldera Junior High. She had been discussing her upcoming finals and her ambition of getting the highest scores for a middle schooler in Japan. Her homeroom had been very happy at her trajectory from her midterms and was now looking forward to having one of his students score a total hat-trick.
"If your life hadn't turned out this way, you would've already been a household name by now," said her English teacher thoughtlessly from nearby as she looked at Kimitsuki.
Her homeroom teacher had noticed the expression that overcame Kimitsuki's face and sent the white-haired girl back to her class to call Izuku and Katsuki to come and have a chat with him.
It wasn't that Kimitsuki didn't know of it. Had her family lived, she would've been in a loving home, gone to a nice school, enjoyed life, being more than just the Family-Killer Kimitsuki.
But Kimitsuki didn't mind being this version of herself. She had friends and a new mentor. She had a roof over her head and she was no longer living on the streets. She had jobs enough to help her with her everyday expenses. She had more than what a lot of people had and she was grateful for that.
"Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki said approaching his desk where he sat quietly, trying to study for their upcoming final exams. "Sensei has called us in the faculty room,"
"Is everything okay, Tsuki-Chan?" Izuku asked, concerned and Kimitsuki smiled and nodded at him. She then turned to look at the ash-blond next to her desk.
"Ka-Chan, Sensei has asked for you, too," Kimitsuki said gently and sighed softly when he kicked his desk away and got up, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he strolled off.
Kimitsuki and Izuku shared a look and quietly followed after their childhood friend. They waked down the stairs to the ground floor and along the corridor to where the faculty room was located. Kimitsuki noted that the English teacher had left and their homeroom teacher called them over.
"Bakugo, Kuroyanagi, Midoriya," their teacher said. "I can't believe we have three students from our school matriculating into U. A.! Especially you, Midoriya. It's a miracle of miracles!"
While their teacher droned on about what it all meant for them, Kimitsuki stole a look toward Katsuki. He looked very agitated and she removed her eyes with a frown when he turned to glare at her. Her thoughts went off to what Granny Haruna had mentioned to her that Saturday night.
Apparently, while Kimitsuki had gone off to meet Izuku, Granny Haruna had seen Katsuki come by around the front of their building. She had informed him where Kimitsuki was but Katsuki just left.
Katsuki was told that he could contact her on her phone but Kimitsuki received absolutely no text.
"All three of you may leave now, good work!" their Sensei finished, and Kimitsuki bowed her head to excuse her, Izuku and Katsuki. "Wait, Kuroyanagi, can you put these notebooks in that cupboard?"
Nodding quietly, Kimitsuki grabbed the stack of notebooks from his desk and went over to put them away in the cabinet that he had pointed out to her. She closed the cabinet door and when she turned to leave the faculty room, she noticed that both Izuku and Katsuki had vanished off from there.
Kimitsuki knew that this wasn't going to end well, something told her that they hadn't left for their class. She sped up as she went rushing out of the school and around to the back, heart hammering.
The last thing she wanted was Katsuki to somehow hurt Izuku – whether his body or his resolution.
And just as she had anticipated, Kimitsuki found Izuku and Katsuki at the deserted back of the school.
"What dirty tricks did you use to get in, huh?!" Katsuki was shouting at Izuku. "'The first student from his school to go to U. A.' My future plan has already been torn to pieces. I told you to go somewhere else!"
"Ka-Chan, stop it!" Kimitsuki exclaimed, and Izuku felt Katsuki's hold on him tighten out of anger. "Ka-Chan, please stop it... you shouldn't hurt others..."
"Stop butting in all the time, Class Rep!" Katsuki growled at her without bothering to turn and look at her. Kimitsuki frowned and pursed her lips, and Izuku grabbed Katsuki's wrist.
"Ka-Chan," Izuku forced out of himself somehow. "Someone told me... 'You can become a hero'... That it was because of my own effort... Th-That's why... I'm going...!"
"Let him go, Ka-Chan," Kimitsuki said, keeping her voice gentle to avoid working Katsuki up again and hurting Izuku. She slowly walked over to them and pulled Katsuki away from Izuku.
But Katsuki responded by pushing her away from himself angrily, and Kimitsuki didn't mind it as her back hit the wall. She preferred it if he hurt her rather than Izuku – the poor boy had already gotten himself beaten for all his life anyway. Kimitsuki watched Katsuki turn around and stalk away.
"Tsuki-Chan, you shouldn't interfere..." Izuku said as he turned to look at the white-haired girl. "What if you get hurt?" Kimitsuki only frowned.
"I want to say that Ka-Chan wouldn't hurt me..." Kimitsuki replied. "... but seeing his track record, I don't think it would be the right thing to say,"
Kimitsuki and Izuku shared weary smiles with each other.
Later that Evening:
Kimitsuki and Izuku were running down the street, heading for the location where they had spent a good chunk of their last ten months – the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park. They weren't heading there for another practise session, but to meet All Might as he had texted them both to meet him there. Of course, both of the students were absolutely stoked to have heard from him again.
As soon as she had received the message from All Might, Kimitsuki threw her schoolbooks aside and went rushing off to see Izuku, knowing that he must've received the text, too, and together, they two of them went off to meet their mentor after almost a week and half of radio silence from him.
Off in the distance, the skies were turning a strange mixture of peach pink and apricot orange as the red sun died over the horizon. Kimitsuki could see its waning light reflecting on the water beneath.
It didn't take them long to notice All Might standing there in wait for them – he was in his normal form and obviously trying to be discreet from the couple that was on the pavilion on the water.
But it seemed like that Izuku hadn't really gotten the memo and practically cried out loudly –
"All Might!"
"Who's that?!" shouted All Might in response, trying to deflect attention away and to remind Izuku to not go around accusing him of being All Might, as he spluttered out blood.
"All Might?!"
"No way! Where?!"
Izuku's yell had reached the couple nearby, and both the man and the woman turned to look around in order to catch the sight of the current Number One Pro-Hero, All Might. Kimitsuki looked at Izuku.
"Quick, Izu-Chan!" Kimitsuki whisper-shouted at the green-haired boy. "Yell 'I have the wrong person just as loudly," Izuku realised what she meant and quickly did as she had asked of him.
"Oh, I have the wrong person!" Izuku yelled loudly, waving his arms around frantically to make sure that the couple on the other side of the beach heard it clearly.
"Aw, what...?"
"I was hoping to see him..."
"Were those two kids fooling around with us?"
Both the man and the woman looked away from them, sounding and looking very disappointed that they hadn't run into All Might. On the other hand, Kimitsuki, Izuku and All Might all sighed in relief.
The last thing they wanted was All Might's true form to get out.
Once they were sure that they wouldn't be caught by the couple, All Might finally turned to look at the white-haired girl and the green-haired boy in front of him, both of them looking eagerly at him.
"Congratulations on getting accepted," All Might said to them, holding his hands out to the two of them to high-five. "Both of you, of course," Kimitsuki's lips blossomed with a smile.
"Thank you very much," Kimitsuki replied, bowing her head deeply and going even beyond her ninety-degree bows as her head reached a foot from the ground.
All Might and Izuku both shared at her, bewildered at how far down she went.
"Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki said as she straightened back up and looked toward her best friend. "Shouldn't you also be saying something to All Might?"
"A-Ah, yes!" Izuku exclaimed, realising what was going on and he quickly turned to look at All Might. "T-Thank you very much!"
"But All Might," Kimitsuki said as she turned to look at All Might again. "You never mentioned... that you were going to work at U. A. High, too..."
"Just so you know, I didn't tell the school about my connection to you," All Might assured them suddenly. "You two are the type that would think that's cheating, right? I wasn't one of the judges,"
"Thank you for your concern," Kimitsuki said, genuinely appreciative to his foresight. "But we were definitely surprised to find out that you were going to become a teacher at U. A.,"
"So, that's why you came here, huh?" Izuku spoke up, looking at All Might. "I mean, your agency is in Roppongi in Minato, Tokyo at –"
"Stop that!" All Might replied before turning to look away. "I couldn't tell anyone before the school announced it. I just happened to be offered a job from U. A. when I was searching for a successor,"
"... a successor, huh?" Kimitsuki breathed, her eyes trailing off to the waves that were gently sweeping the sandy beach. "... at U. A. no less..."
Suddenly, Kimitsuki turned to look at Izuku next to her – and when she saw his expression, she knew what he was thinking. She frowned, knowing that he must be nervous, anxious and frankly disturbed to know that someone 'better' could've taken the Quirk rather than him. She didn't agree with that.
"My body broke with one kick and one punch of One for All," Izuku finally confessed to the Pro-Hero and Kimitsuki moved her eyes away from him to give him privacy. "I can't control it at all,"
"That can't be helped," All Might replied as he looked toward him. "It's like if you asked a person who suddenly grew a tail to do a trick, they wouldn't even be able to control it,"
"Wait, did you know that would happen?!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Well, there wasn't any time..." All Might said, trailing off thoughtfully. "But it turned out all right. It turned out 'all might'!" Kimitsuki sweat-dropped.
"That was quite... lame," Kimitsuki whispered and All Might wavered slightly.
"Oh, yeah," All Might said, suddenly realising something but then shaking it off. "Right now, you're either at a hundred percent or zero. But once you can control it, you'll be able to adjust to what your body can handle,"
"Control?!" Izuku asked as All Might reached down and picked up two empty cans from the ground near their feet and held them up in front of them.
"The more you train a vessel, the more you'll be able to move the power freely," All Might informed him. He squashed the empty cans as he turned back to his muscular form. "Like this,"
"Wait, is that All Might?!"
"No way! When did he get here?!"
The couple from earlier, the one on the pavilion, had noticed Pro-Hero and were now freaking out. All Might sweat-dropped, realising that he had blown his cover by turning into his muscular form.
"Let's go, Young Kuroyanagi and Young Midoriya!" All Might shouted as he began to run away from there before the couple came over to ask for his autograph or see the two of them with him.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
All Might's words jump-started Kimitsuki and she went running after the Number One Hero. Izuku realised what was going on a second too late and yelped, rushing to catch up to them as well.
Kimitsuki carefully studied her way through her Classical Japanese textbook, tapping the eraser on the back of her pencil against the book as she moved her fingers back and forth. Her eyebrows were furrowed together and her tongue was slightly sticking out, held between her teeth as she concentrated at what she was looking at.
Unlike many middle schools in Japan, Aldera Middle School didn't have its exams until after entrance exams were carried out. Since it was not a school that brought about many heroes, they hadn't thought of changing this. It also made it difficult for good students to be recommended to schools.
Nonetheless, getting the top position in her city, her district, her prefecture, her country was something that Kimitsuki valued a lot. It was important for her to score good grades in school.
Even though her career choices had been set upside down, Kimitsuki was still going to be No. 1.
Yet still, Kimitsuki's mind trailed off to the thief and she wondered what she was playing at.
How can one be a Hero when they have her past? Any links to murder and such...
And a Quirk that looks so villainous? Why couldn't her flames be bright or such?
Why couldn't she have gotten a Quirk to seduce people with her voice?
Neko yawned and walked over to where Kimitsuki was sitting next to the low desk which was shrouded by the lamp sitting atop of it. He climbed onto her crossed legs and went back to sleep.
"You're still sleepy, huh?" Kimitsuki whispered as she was momentarily distracted. "I guess I will take a few minutes off, too," She looked up when she heard a knock on her door. "It's open!"
"You shouldn't leave your door unlocked, Kimitsuki-Chan," Granny Haruna reprimanded her as she entered the room, walking over to her. "I knew you'd still be studying, here, I got some almonds,"
"You didn't have to..."Kimitsuki said quietly as Granny Haruna placed the plate on her desk and sat down against the wall. "Thank you..." She looked over. "Did Mikoto-Chan like the Gainsborough hat?"
"What's a Gainsborough hat?" Granny Haruna inquired. Kimitsuki giggled slightly. "Ah! Those strange hats that girl wears? Oh, yes, she told me to tell you that everyone loved the dress and hat you made her,"
"Should I make a Gainsborough hat for you, too, Granny Haruna?" Kimitsuki asked a bit teasingly and the elderly woman laughed, slapping her hand.
"That girl and her mother in a totally different world from us," Granny Haruna said with a sigh. She turned her head to look at Kimitsuki. "You're such a blessed child, Kimitsuki-Chan,"
Surprised by her words, Kimitsuki stared down at her hands.
"You went through a lot of hardships, didn't you?" Granny Haruna said quietly. "But you still grew up so beautifully, so respectfully and so intelligently. This old woman never had to call a handyman, not with you around... you fixed everything – woodwork, electronics, plumbing, you took care of all the elderly tenants without me even asking it of you.
"You worked so hard... learned to do everything on your own... always did so well at school with your studies and sports... played such delightful music and sang such pretty songs, you make such attractive dresses, hats and art, you cook such delicious food, write such lovely poems and stories... it's like you beautify everything you touch..."
Granny Haruna smiled sadly at her but Kimitsuki could only stare at her in shock, a strange feeling in her chest overwhelming her and constricting her throat.
"You have never made anything difficult, you always eased my burden," Granny Haruna told her. "Even though you're not born out of my blood, I hold you dearer than everyone else. When I think of a Hero, I think of you, Kimitsuki-Chan. You're already the Number One Hero in my heart,"
? Chapter 8 ?
April, first day of High School:
"Oba-San, I'm going to head out to the school," Kimitsuki said gently as she came out of the basement and met up with Granny Haruna in the lobby of the building. Granny Haruna turned to look at her and clasped her hands together.
"You look beautiful in that uniform!" Granny Haruna said, smiling widely. Kimitsuki blushed and quickly bowed several times, causing the older woman to laugh. "You big softie!"
Granny Haruna straightened her grey blazer and made sure her red tie was done properly.
"Splendid," Granny Haruna said. "Go and do well at your new school, okay? You're going to be a great hero. You scored the best in the country. You're no less than any one of the students out there, okay? Don't let them get the better of you or push you around just because you're gentle,"
"I will do my best," Kimitsuki declared with a small smile and she bowed her ninety-degree bow, waving slightly as she left the building, holding onto the strap of her lilac messenger schoolbag.
Her first destination was Izuku's apartment building, where Kimitsuki met up with her friend so the two of them could head out to U. A. High together as it was their first day at a new place and neither of them wanted to be on their own. Izuku was nervous, and Kimitsuki didn't like speaking too much.
"Did Ka-Chan already go?" Izuku asked as he and Kimitsuki made their way past his family home. Kimitsuki tore her eyes away from the pretty flowers and shrugged her shoulders.
"I texted me to ask if he would like to come with us," Kimitsuki replied softly. "But as per usual, there wasn't any response from him. Sometimes I wonder if I have the wrong number but it definitely is him,"
The rest of their journey was primarily quiet as they got onto the train to the station near U. A. High School – with Izuku freaking out as per normal.
"Don't worry, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki said as she raised her finger to let a blueish-purple butterfly to flutter down and sit on the tip. "We still have fifteen minutes before homeroom,"
"That's not what I'm worried about, Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku yelped, causing the butterfly to fly away in surprise and Kimitsuki to frown as she stared after it. "I'm scared!"
"Everything will be alright, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki assured him calmly. "Come on... we should go to our classroom. We shouldn't be too late on the first day. Take a deep breath and let's go,"
Taking a deep breath, Izuku nodded and the two of them headed inside the building.
"Tsuki-Chan, where are we going?" Izuku asked as he followed the girl. "Do you know where our classroom is? We're in the same classroom, right? Class 1-A? This place is so big! We'll get lost!"
Kimitsuki held up a small map of U. A. High School to show him what she was following.
"We received maps in the mail, too, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki reminded him. "Don't worry, we're on the right way to our classroom. We're in the same classroom. Yes, that is Class 1-A. Yes, it is a big place, and no, we won't get lost,"
Izuku blushed as the tall female answered all of his questions but Kimitsuki gave him a kind smile. The two of them walked down the corridor and Kimitsuki looked down at her map to make sure.
"We're at our classroom," Kimitsuki said and they turned to look at the tall door next to them.
"Whoa!" Izuku gasped as he looked up all the way up at the door that they had come to a stop in front of. "The door's huge! Is it for accessibility...?"
"It must be," Kimitsuki replied, moving her head back to look at it, too. "We have seen some very tall heroes, haven't we? Not to mention, so many gigantification heroes,"
"The elite chosen from the huge number at the exam..." Izuku breath fearfully. "I hope we're not in the same class as the scary people,"
Kimitsuki hoped the same and tried to smile at Izuku in assurance but she was sure it was pretty pitiful. She reached out and slid the door open to the side, and the two of them peered inside to see two different individuals shouting at each other. And they were both people that they recognised.
Bakugo Katsuki, their childhood friend,
and Iida Tenya, the diligent student number 7111, of course.
"Don't put your feet on the desk!" Tenya was ordering Katsuki, who had already put his feet onto his new desk. Kimitsuki pursed her lips, knowing that he always did that to get on everyone's nerves.
"Huh?!" Katsuki shouted back at the tall male, and Kimitsuki sighed, also knowing that he probably wanted to have a quick fight before class. Izuku, on the other hand, flinched out of fear.
"Don't you think that's rude to the U. A. upperclassmen and the people who made the desk?" Tenya questioned the ash-blond male, but Katsuki continued to keep his feet on the desk.
"He has never listened to me, either," Kimitsuki mumbled, sighing once more as she wearily remembered all the instances that she had asked him to put his feet down.
"I don't!" Katsuki retorted at Tenya. "What junior high did you go to, you side character?!" Izuku jumped and Kimitsuki frowned at his constant 'extras' talk.
"I attended Somei Private Academy," Tenya replied importantly, putting his hand over his chest fondly. "My name is Iida Tenya,"
"Somei?!" Katsuki said roughly as he grinned deviously, hoping to get a fight going. "So, you're a damn elite, huh? Looks like I'll have fun crushing you!"
"Crushing?" Tenya repeated, shocked by Katsuki's words and Kimitsuki's eyes widened. "You're terrible! Do you truly aim to be a hero?!"
"I'm sorry!" Kimitsuki apologised in a loud voice – which wasn't quite loud – and bowed her head deeply to the ground as everyone turned to look at her. "Please excuse his vocabulary!"
Both Katsuki and Tenya, among others, turned to look at her in surprise, but then they also caught sight of the boy standing next to her. Katsuki glared at Izuku, and Tenya realised who the two of them were and quickly started his way over to them – much to both of their surprise.
"Oh, um..." Izuku trailed off shyly as Kimitsuki finally straightened up and looked at all the people looking at her. She blushed and hid her face by lowering it.
"Good morning!" Tenya said loudly as he walked over to the two childhood friends in a rather dramatically. "I am from Somei Private Academy! My name is –"
"We heard!" Izuku said quickly to stop him from going on about his background. "I'm Midoriya, nice to meet you, Iida-Kun,"
"Yes, nice to meet you... Iida-Kun," Kimitsuki spoke up quietly as she bowed a ninety-degree bow in greeting before looking back up at him. "Um, my name is Kuroyanagi –"
"Kimitsuki-Chan!"
Kimitsuki, Izuku and Tenya turned around and the white-haired girl realised that it was Mina who had called her name, and the pink-haired girl was excitedly waving to her in greeting from her seat.
"Ashido Mina-Chan," Kimitsuki breathed, and then she smiled gently at the female. "It seems like we really did end up in the same class, I'm glad. It's really nice to see you once more,"
"So, you're Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki-Kun, aren't you?" Tenya said before holding his hand out to her. "I have heard about you, of course. You have scored the highest scores in Japan, even recently, it's nice to meet you. I cannot believe I'm meeting you. Are you a recommended student?"
"Um, I'm not a recommended student," Kimitsuki replied as she hesitantly took his hand and shook it gently. "Our school has late finals. I gave the entrance exam – along with Izu-Chan and Ka-Chan,"
"Right!" Tenya said. "Midoriya-Kun, you realised there was something more to that practical exam, didn't you? I had no idea I misjudged you! I hate to admit it, but you are better than me!"
"Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku whispered fearfully toward the tall female next to him. "How did you know he got the wrong impression of me?! Can you see the future?!"
"Of course not," Kimitsuki replied, sweat-dropping but she was quickly distracted when she noticed someone else approaching them from behind.
It was the brunette girl from that day, Uraraka Ochaco.
"Oh, that curly hair!" Ochaco exclaimed in recognition. "You're the plain-looking one!" Izuku jumped slightly. "You passed, just like Present Mic said!"
Izuku started to blush heavily when he saw her and Kimitsuki wondered why he was turning so red.
"Of course, you did!" Ochaco continued, oblivious to his blushing. "Your punch was amazing!" She waved her fists around. "Nice to meet you again, too, Kuroyanagi-San!"
"Nice to meet you as well, Uraraka-Chan," Kimitsuki replied, bowing her head deeply in greeting.
"Oh, well, um, it was thanks to you going to speak with him directly that I, uh," Izuku stammered through his words in the background, so red that he was going to blow a fuse.
"Break!" Ochaco said as she imitated Izuku's punch. "Break! Break! Break! Bre –" She stopped when she processed what he had said. "Huh? How did you know about that?"
At this, Izuku turned even more red and awkward, "Oh, uh, that's because –"
Kimitsuki felt someone's eyes on her and looked past Izuku, Tenya and Ochaco, and her lilac eyes met with Katsuki's red pair. She tried to smile at him but she didn't want to annoy him by doing so... so, she decided to just raise her hand and wave gently at him, hoping he wasn't angry with them.
But of course, Katsuki was angry with them. He rolled his eyes at her actions and Kimitsuki frowned as he looked away from her. She felt bad that she had destroyed his dreams of being the first and only student to get into U. A. from Aldera – but All Might's mentorship, Izuku's ambitions and Granny Haruna's belief in her abilities had made Kimitsuki a bit too selfish for her own liking.
Ka-Chan... why are you always so tense?
Sometimes, Kimitsuki wished the Katsuki could share his feelings with her, let her know what was going on with him and if there was something that she could do to help him. No. He wouldn't want help. If there was something that he wanted to get off of his chest, Kimitsuki was willing to listen.
When Katsuki didn't turn to look back at the lilac gaze set on him, Kimitsuki gave up and turned to look back at the three people she was standing with. They were still in a conversation.
"I wonder if today's just the entrance ceremony and orientation?" Ochaco was saying excitedly. "I wonder what our teacher's like? Aren't you nervous?"
"Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends,"
Kimitsuki furrowed her eyebrows at the sudden interruption by a rather drowsy and lazy voice. She, Izuku, Tenya and Ochaco all turned around to look outside the classroom and were shocked –
Right in front of them, on the ground, there was a yellow sleeping bag. The zipper was rolled down enough to expose the face of a very strange man. He had baggy eyes, stringy black hair, and scruffy facial hair. He frankly reminded Kimitsuki of the drunkards that hung around her home. But he didn't smell as bad as them. Next to her, Izuku, Tenya and Ochaco stared at him with their jaws dropped.
"This is the hero course," said the man as he reached a hand up in the sleeping bag, putting a pouch of juice against his lips and using the straw to finish the contents with a single long sip.
Then, sighing as if he would rather be somewhere else, the man pushed himself onto his feet and then unzipped his sleeping bag down, revealing himself to be dressed in completely in black and wearing a strange grey scarf around his neck. He got out of the sleeping bag rather lazily.
I only have one word to describe him... strange.
"Okay, it took eight seconds before you were quiet," said the man in his continuously drowsy, tired voice. "Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough,"
Kimitsuki wondered if this was a teacher, but that would also mean he was a Pro-Hero. She had never met a Pro-Hero who looked this worn-out before. Mainly because they all liked to keep up their appearances and make sure they get positive feedback from the media and public.
"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta," the man introduced himself in his dead-tired voice and Kimitsuki stared at him in shock. "Nice to meet you,"
"Homeroom teacher?!" Izuku exclaimed, flabbergasted as he looked at Kimitsuki but she seemed just as surprised. He almost asked her to check his Quirk.
"It's kind of sudden, but put this on and go out onto the field," Aizawa told them as he pulled out a P.E. uniform from his sleeping bag and showed it to them.
Aizawa turned around and left the place, leaving them to deal with themselves and hurry.
Kimitsuki motioned to Izuku and the two of them entered their classroom and place their stuff on the their desks. Browsing through the student numbers, both of them came to a stop when they realised that they were going to be sitting behind Katsuki in the farthest row of the classroom.
Katsuki glared at them as Kimitsuki placed her schoolbag down on the desk behind him and Izuku safely set his stuff on the desk behind hers. Then, without looking at Katsuki, Kimitsuki headed off.
"Come on, Kimitsuki-Chan!" Mina called out to the white-haired girl and Kimitsuki's feet sped up slightly so she wouldn't be left behind by the girls.
Kimitsuki changed into her P. E. uniform and looked down at herself uncertainly when she realised that she had no way to hide her body when she was only wearing such a thin layer. She glanced at the other girls and noticed that they weren't as insecure about themselves regarding this.
But as Kimitsuki followed the girls out of the building, there was another curious thing that she noticed – none of them girls had prominent muscles and that made her feel even more insecure.
Once the girls had joined the boys outside in the field, Kimitsuki noticed something more intriguing.
There was a peculiar boy, very small in stature, who turned to look at the females as they came over. But he didn't look at their face. Instead, he studied through their chests, as if looking for the largest.
It was confirmed when his eyes came to stop at Kimitsuki, and she felt disgust run through her veins as she wrapped her arms over her chest to hide them. This caused the boy to look up and when he saw who he had been looking at, he quickly moved onto the second-largest female next to her.
Feeling frankly violated already, Kimitsuki quietly walked away from where he was standing next to the black-haired girl. Kimitsuki came to a stop between Izuku and Katsuki, feeling the most comfortable with them. She almost wanted to tell on the boy to Katsuki – but she remembered that she shouldn't bother Katsuki too much when he was already annoyed with her. And Izuku was too...
Kimitsuki shook her head and put her arms down from her chest, clutching her hands into fists and assuring herself that she should deal with such people on her own. She shouldn't rely on others.
"Don't let them get the better of you or
push you around just because you're gentle,"
"Don't be a big softie, Kimitsuki-Chan," Kimitsuki whispered to herself as she took in a deep breath. "Don't be a big softie anymore... you're a Hero... you're going to be a Hero..."
Feeling a bit better, Kimitsuki looked up as Aizawa came out over to where the students were gathered and told them about what they were going to be doing. She felt her face go pale.
"A Quirk assessment test?!"
"What about the entrance ceremony?" Ochaco asked, raising her hand to point herself out to their homeroom teacher. "The orientation?"
"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events," Aizawa replied. "U. A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes. You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right?"
Aizawa held up a monitoring device.
"Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks," Aizawa told them. "The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks. It's not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is procrastinating,"
Kimitsuki jumped slightly when Aizawa turned to look at her, and also Katsuki.
"Kuroyanagi and Bakugo – you came first and second on top of the practical exam, right?" Aizawa said. Kimitsuki glanced at Katsuki, who was standing next to her.
Katsuki was already glaring at her, and she flushed as she looked away from him. She knew that he wasn't happy with her scoring more points than him. She had ruined something for him yet again.
"In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?" Aizawa questioned.
"67 metres," Katsuki said sorely, and Kimitsuki bit her lower lip, knowing that he was even more annoyed with her.
"78 metres," Kimitsuki replied quietly, her hand locked in front of her body as she lowered her head slightly. Maybe she shouldn't have chased the first position so much.
"Then, try doing it with your Quirk," Aizawa said, looking at the two of them. "You two can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circles. Hurry up. Give it all you have got,"
Kimitsuki silently took a baseball from Aizawa and walked over to one of the circles while Katsuki took the other. She looked down at the baseball, knowing that her Quirk was useless with this test. She looked up in realisation. Aizawa was trying to show them how different they were with Quirks.
"You first, Bakugo," Aizawa said, and Katsuki walked forward, stretching his arms out.
"Then, well..." Katsuki said. "I'll add a blast to the pitch," He crouched down and then, with the help of his Explosive Quirk, threw the ball off into the air. "Die!"
"Know your own maximum first," Aizawa said. "That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero," He held up his device to show Katsuki's distance: 705.2 metres.
"705 metres?" said Kiminari Denki.
"What's this?" Mina said. "It looks fun!"
"We can use our Quirks as much as we want!" said Sero Hanta, and Kimitsuki recognised him as the tape boy who had helped her. "As expected from the hero course!"
"It looks fun, huh?" Aizawa repeated, deadbeat. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?" There was no response. "You next, Kuroyanagi,"
"Yes, sir," Kimitsuki answered as she stepped forward, feeling Aizawa's eyes on her. It was clear to her that he was aware of her Quirk and wanted to see what she was worth.
Swallowing slightly, Kimitsuki clutched at the ball in her fist. She wanted to give up before she even threw the ball, knowing that there was no way she was going to do well with this Quirk assessment test. Her Quirk wasn't suited for such things. Then, Kimitsuki took a deep breath and nodded.
Don't be a big softie, Kimitsuki-Chan!
Remembering everything that All Might had taught her, Kimitsuki held her tongue between her teeth to focus and then crouched down slightly before swinging her arm around and throwing.
Without any impact of her Quirk, the ball went flying off over their heads a few yards.
"Hm," Aizawa said as he looked back down at the device, raising his eyebrows, and then held it out to show them in his usual unenthusiastic manner. Kimitsuki turned to look at her score –
689 metres
None of the people around her were as impressed by her score as compared to Katsuki's earlier score and even Katsuki finally looked smug that he had done better than her but Kimitsuski was strangely surprised by her own strength. It seemed like the ten months training had really helped.
"You did great, Tsuki-Chan!" Izuku whisper-shouted as she walked back to her place, and Kimitsuki gave him a small smile. "You weren't far off!"
"All right," Aizawa said. "Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion,"
Izuku went rigid and Kimitsuki quickly assured, "Do your best and you'll manage through, Izu-Chan,"
"We're free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students," Aizawa went on as he turned to look at them rather creepily. "Welcome to U. A.'s hero course!"
?
