Starting a new fanfic, will I make it to the end? Who knows?

I own nothing of BNHA, just my OC Saimori Keiko.

ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊

Chapter 1

"Hey did you guys hear? We're getting a transfer student!"

His classmates unlike any other day were excited Izuku thought. It had started as a normal Monday for Izuku, with breakfast, walking to school, settling into his desk, and watching a newly uploaded video of the hero Kamui Woods when he heard it.

Transfer Student

It was no wonder everyone was excited. With new students came a new mystery. Are they a girl? boy? Or perhaps neither? With the rise of quirks, anything was possible. Where were they from? Why so late into the second year? And the most important question for everyone-

What was their quirk?!

Izuku's thoughts raced at the thought of a new classmate.

"I hear they can turn into a wolf" Izuku heard one classmate say to their friend.

"I heard their quirk makes them stretchy like gum" his friend responded.

"I heard they have giant bunny ears and can eavesdrop from a mile away!" came from one of the girls huddled with her friends in the front.

"Maybe she can help us find out if that boy from next door has a crush on you!" her friend piped up leading the group into a giggling fit.

"I heard-"

"I heard-"

"I heard-"

Izuku started to feel dizzy from the overload of information. It seemed everyone had heard different things about the new transfer student overnight.

"Oh please! I don't care what quirk they have! It can't be anything better than mine!" Izuku heard Kacchan at the desk next to him tell his friends who were crowding around his desk.

Izuku found himself taking a long deep breath before letting it out to help steady his mind. It was moments like these that Izuku found bitterness and envy creep up inside him as someone who was quirkless. He would never have people clamor and gossip to their friends about what his quirk was. A small part of him was a little envious of this transfer student despite not even meeting them yet.

"All right everyone settle down!" Their sensei ambled in through the door carrying stacks of new assignments and graded assignments alike and dropped them onto their desk with a loud thump that signaled the students in the classroom to leave their friends and take their seats.

"Somehow all of you already know, but today we have a transfer stu-"

"What's their quirk Sensei!" one of the boys shot up his hand interrupting him. The students around started to clamor at the bold question.

"Ahem! We have a new transfer student, I expect all of you to be courteous and show her-"

"They're a girl?!"

"AND SHOW HER the bright side of this school and not bring shame to our name" their sensei finished exasperated by the interruptions. "Saimori-san please come in!"

The class went silent.

Kachiya~ Tip tap tip tap tap tap…

In everyone's eyes, a girl in their standard black middle school uniform appeared. With her dark blue hair pulled up into a ponytail she steadily walked up to the front of the class. Just as their sensei finished chalking her name on the blackboard, she offered a smile and gave a small bow.

"Hello, my name is Saimori Keiko, I'll be in your care" she introduced.

And just like that, their class turned to pure chaos

"What's your quirk?!"

"Where are you from?!"

"Why did you transfer?!"

Izuku found himself staring at his new classmate, his gaze transfixing on her smiling face as she was bombarded with questions. His first impression of her was that she was really pretty and seemed nice if her smile was anything to go by. Her appearance itself gave nothing away about a potential quirk, at least nothing obvious he could see from his spot in the far back.

"My Mom grew up here," she smiled "My parents and I just moved to this area due to her job. My hobby is reading manga. My favorite food is ramen, my least favorite food is bell peppers, and my favorite hero is All Mi-"

"Who cares about that!" the same classmate who had interrupted their sensei earlier cut her off. "What's your quirk? We all want to know! Right guys?!"

"Yha! What's your quirk? Tell us! Tell us!"

"I don't know what everyone is excited about, it's probably something lame!" Bakugo sneered, not bothering to be polite.

"Kacchan that's not nice…" Izuku frowned at his childhood friend.

"Hmm…" The new transfer Saimori tilted her head with a thoughtful expression on her face, seeming to ponder whether or not to tell everyone what her quirk was. Everyone hushed themselves with perked-up ears ready to find out whether her quirk was anything special to write home about. Would it be a body modification quirk? A psychic one? Something cooler than Bakugo's? Or maybe she was... Quirkless?

"My quirk is…" she began.

Everyone edged closer to their seats. Even Izuku couldn't help himself. Kacchan next to him leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes at everyone's anticipation. Kacchan as usual though held a confident smirk on his face. Izuku could tell that Kacchan had already written the new girl off as unimportant and someone not worth of his time.

"A secret!" she finished.

…

"What?! A secret!" someone shouted shocked.

"It's probably something lame" a girl snicked to her friend.

"Come on just tell us!"

The clamor started up again, voices both upset and annoyed mixing together. However, despite all the criticism aimed her way, Izuku saw her still with an unwavering smile on her face.

"All right class! Settle down! If Saimori-san wants to keep her quirk a secret she can, it's her right -"

"Sensei why don't you tell us?!" a girl asked.

"That would considered sharing private student information on my part and is not allowed".

"But Sensei-"

"No buts! That's enough from all of you! Saimori-san has her reasons and I expect all of you to respect her choice and not to pry" their Sensei continued.

Hmm? Was there something perhaps circumstantial beyond privacy that made her secretive about her quirk? Izuku thought. Even Izuku's classmates caught their sensei's undertone and started whispering among themselves about potential reasons why the new transfer student thought she was so special to keep her quirk a secret.

Kacchan next to him started to frown.

"Saimori-san please take the empty desk in the back"

The empty desk? The one behind me?

"Thank you Sensei" She gave him a curt bow and started walking towards Izuku. Izuku started to choke up. He never really was good with girls and wanted to make a good first impression. Perhaps they could become friends? Would she want to be friends with a guy? Maybe she'd prefer his female classmates? What would he talk about with a girl? What if she didn't like him? Whatifshemadefunofhimforbeingquirkless-

BAMN!

Izuku jumped in his seat having felt his chair slide. He turned his head to where the sound came from and to his shock and horror, the sound had come from Kacchan slamming his leg into Izuku's chair to create a physical block in the aile. Kacchan having used his leg to prevent the transfer student from passing through to her new desk behind Izuku, sneered at her.

"I don't know who you think you are but don't think you're so special! I don't know what your quirk is but I don't give a shit! I'm number one here and a loser like you can't even dream of being on my level!" Bakugo spat at the girl, his gaze downright venomous.

"Kacchan!-" Izuku found himself speaking up.

"You shut up! A quirkless loser like you should just stay quiet!"

"Eek!" Izuku found himself flinching back. Kacchan glared at him before turning his head to look at the empty desk behind Izuku and then smirked.

"You know what? Looks like you just made a new friend! After all, losers should stick together! Looks like she's going to fit right in with her desk behind you! Ain't that right Deku?!"

Izuku found himself staring hard at his desk clamming up. Usually, he would try to reason with his childhood friend and push back but Izuku found himself with nothing to say. Kacchan didn't hesitate to rub in his face how he was quirkless, and while that normally wouldn't have bothered him, today was different. As quickly as hopes had built up about making a new friend, they were crushed.

After all, who would want to be friends with a quirkless person like hi-

"Um…" the new girl spoke up.

Izuku froze.

"Is that the limited edition ultra rare glow-in-the-dark holographic All Might keychain that you can only get at random from buying his limited run collab with Mighty Crunchy Cereal!" she said in all one breath while staring right at Izuku's bag that he had hanging off the side of his desk.

Her gaze was pinpointed at the said All Might keychain. He had only that morning rotated out his old one not thinking anyone would notice the new rare item. No one was quite as hardcore of a fan of All Might as him after all.

…

Izuku then realized that the class was shrouded in an awkward silence in which she was expecting his response.

"U-um yes?"

Izuku berated himself internally for stuttering. He had meant to sound more confident, but it took him a beat late to realize what she was asking. Lifting his chin to look up properly at her, he saw a stunning smile aimed at him that left him breathless.

A girl is smiling at me! he squeaked internally.

"Look!" she suddenly thrust her backpack into his face. Izuku momentarily went cross-eyed at the action before he was able to focus his vision. To his shock and disbelief, the same keychain attached to his bag was also clipped to one of the zippers on her bag! His eyes zipped from his bag to her bag, back and forth, multiple times trying to piece together what he was seeing with his eyes.

"Only three of these were made in all of Japan! My parents and I are still trying to finish the cereal from how much I bought! Each box came with a different surprise toy, but I wanted this one! What are the chances we both have it?!" she said in wonderment. Izuku was speechless, he himself went through quite a struggle and probably a lifetime of luck obtaining the item as well.

"Don't you think it's fate!" she said to Izuku brightly looking straight into his eyes.

"What?" Kaachan growled, her back was now turned away from him.

"It's like we were meant to be friends! Are you a huge fan of All Might too?" She ignored him.

Izuku was still reeling but somehow found himself answering her, "I-I am" he managed to get out. Her smile turned so bright at him that Izuku found a blush creeping up to his ears. She held her right hand in front of him.

"Want to be friends?!" she asked.

"Huh?" Izuku stared at her hand.

"Us All Might fans have to stick together right?" Looking at her eyes now Izuku saw she was genuine in her offer. He saw no judgment in her gaze for him being quirkless, only kindness. She was honest in her offer. Izuku looking into her eyes finding no criticism allowed a smile to form on his face, one he hoped wasn't awkward, and shook her hand.

"Yes, I- " Izuku had started to speak.

"After all, only losers would make fun of the work we put into finding such ultra-rare items. Geez, to sit next to you and not realize what a great guy you are," her gaze now turned to look directly into the piercing gaze of the person next to her "What an idiot".

Izuku gasped, she called Kacchan an idiot to his face!

"What did you just say to me?!" Kacchan made a move to stand.

"ENOUGH!" Their sensei finally decided to interrupt, "Bakugo-kun remove your leg and let her through, I won't tolerate any class disruptions from you do you understand? That goes for you Saimori-san as well"

"Tch, yes Sensei" Bakugo grumbled and reluctantly removed his leg and readjusted himself in his seat while saying so. However, even as he turned to face forward he and Saimori-san still maintained eye contact up till the very last moment until she moved past him to sit at her new desk.

Izuku too found himself adjusting in his seat as their sensei started class. Izuku was rummaging through his backpack to get his notebook and a pencil when he felt a poke at his back.

He turned around and was faced with a gentle smile.

"Hay what's your name?" she whispered at him blue eyes sparkling.

"Oh um, M-Midoriya Izuku" he whispered before facing back front trying his best to not be obvious so their sensei wouldn't catch them. He suddenly felt her breath on his ear and stiffened.

"Let's sit together during lunch break" her voice whispered.

Izuku was solid as a rock from the proximity but managed to stiffly nod his head in reply. Izuku couldn't help but shiver, having a girl whispering directly into his ear made him internally squeal.

As the class went on Izuku allowed himself to relax in his seat, before he realized it he had started smiling to himself.

This lunch period he had a new friend to sit with after all.

Two Months Later...

Keiko sighed at her desk while gazing out the window. She had secretly hoped to have made more friends at this point but with her quirk a secret, her classmates kept her at arm's length. The clique culture here also didn't help. What was a girl to do?

Keiko sighed even harder to herself.

Looking at the homework sheet on her desk she mentally scowled at it. Kanji wasn't her strongest suit and she would have to use her dictionary if she wanted to get a good grade. She already felt tired at the thought, maybe she should ask Izuku for-

"Um Saimori-san? Is it true you're quirkless?" a voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned her head and faced one of her classmates. What was their name again? Yamada or something?

"No one has seen you use your quirk since you got here, you've just been lying all this time about having one haven't you?" they continued unprompted.

Keiko wanted to roll her eyes. She thought all the questions would be over by now as most of everyone in their class had already given up interrogating her. It seemed she wasn't quite off the hook yet.

"If you want to know, I'll tell you for a million yen'' Keiko said with a grin aimed at her classmate. Keiko found that rather than outright denial it was better to deflect in these types of situations.

"I'm right, aren't I? I know I'm right so just admit -"

"Keiko-chan! Sensei said he needed to talk to you about something and said to come to the teacher's lounge!" Izuku shouted for her at the door. Keiko took that as her cue to grab her bag and shove the assignment into it.

"Hay don't ignore me! Answer my question! You don't have a quirk right-"

"Sorry sensei is calling for me, why don't we discuss this tomorrow" She flashed a quick smile towards them before shuffling around and quickly headed towards the exit where Izuku was.

Exiting the classroom they both fell into a familiar step with each other as they walked down the hallway towards the main exit. The final bell had rung about ten minutes ago and she had only lingered to wait for Izuku to use the bathroom before their long walk home together.

"Thanks for getting me out of that Izuku-kun" she smiled gratefully towards him.

"What are friends for!" Izuku was the sweetest boy she's ever met. Ever since her first day at this school, Izuku had saved her multiple times from their prodding classmates. Izuku had not only become her new friend but also her hero in making excuses for getting out of confrontations.

As they walked together and left the school grounds, Keiko soon sensed from next to her Izuku's prying side glances. He looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back. Keiko smiled fondly at her new friend and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on not you too. You know how I feel about this" Keiko pouted at him.

These last couple of months Keiko and Izuku had become fast friends. Though Izuku was quite shy and soft-spoken with her at first, he quickly opened up when he realized how much they had in common. Most especially their love for all things All Might.

"Sorry Keiko-chan, I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious about your quirk at all." he said squirming, "Don't feel like you have to tell me though! I just can't help but wonder why you want to keep it a secret. Usually, people want to show off their quirks, not keep it to themselves…" he trailed off fiddling with his hands.

"It's not dangerous or anything, it's just using my quirk more often than not attracts bad attention" Keiko bitterly smiled as she said those words. Moving to Japan for her family was supposed to be a clean slate, a chance for them to leave behind all the drama in America and start fresh.

"But enough about that!" Keiko tucked her arm around Izuku's "Are we still good to study at your house tomorrow?"

"A-a-ah u-um y-y-yes of c-course!" Izuku still wasn't quite used to Keiko's newfound friendship and her open displays of affection. She couldn't help giggling at him.

"Izuku you're so funny, it's so obvious you don't hang around girls enough"

"I-it's not that! Isn't linking arms a bit t-too c-close" Izuku stuttered out, eyes swirling.

"Sorry, I should hold back. Japan isn't open about skin-ship like America, I keep forgetting that" I gave the boy some mercy and let go, "I'm just so happy we get to walk home together today! We haven't been able to recently since usually my dad gives me a ride".

While most people thought her friend to be an awkward nerd, she had gotten to know him to be the sweetest cinnamon roll in all of Japan. Izuku had gone above and beyond their first week becoming friends by helping her adjust to her new surroundings. From finding her classes to going as far as to give her a local tour of the area, Izuku Keiko thought was a genuinely nice guy.

He sighed in relief when she let go of him and fell into a steady step next to her. As their walk progressed, she started talking about her day yesterday and how she and her dad had gone to explore the local department store for the first time and had inadvertently ran into a hero when someone tried to shoplift.

The mention of a hero immediately made Izuku light up and whip out his hero journal and needle her for details. Keiko obliged and recalled to the best of her knowledge the hero she and her dad ran into.

Time flew by as they talked, before she knew it they had come to the intersection where they had to split.

"See you tomorrow!" She waived as she and Izuku parted.

"Text me before you leave tomorrow!" Izuku waved back

"You got it!" Keiko replied as she lost sight of him around the bend.

She continued walking her path now alone with herself as company. She pulled out her headphones and decided to listen to some music for the rest of her walk. As the music penetrated her ears she found herself lost in her thoughts as she cut through the local park to get home.

Up ahead she could see a jogger approaching her. Keiko could already sense even from her distance that he was suffering from muscle pain in his biceps. The old man sitting on the bench feeding the pigeons had arthritis, the woman walking her dog had cramps, the businessman on a phone call had a migraine, and the mom watching her child on the see-saw had a cold. On and on it went… Keiko had always had a sixth sense about the health of those around her courtesy of her quirk.

She stared briefly at the jogger as they passed by her before moving on with her walk.

The weather was nice today. It had been chilly the last week but it was now warm. The leaves on the park trees were starting to change color signifying the start of fall.

"I'm tired. I wonder what's for dinner tonight. I really should get ahead on the assignment, but I have the whole weekend to do it. I should just read some manga tonight and relax…" I thought to myself. "Maybe I can convince Dad to make ramen tonight, I wonder if it's too late to text about it or if he's already started preparations. He said he wanted me to try Japanese style curry at some point, but it just wrong for curry to be swee- "

Meow~

Keiko stopped in her tracks at stared at the bushes where the sound came from.

Rustle. Rustle.

"A cat?" she thought. Back in her mind's eye, she sensed something else as well… pain. It was most likely injured.

Keiko took off her headphones turned off her music, and listened closely.

Meow~

"Yup, that's a cat," she thought. Before she knew it she was stepping off the trail and going through the bushes and into the tall uncut grass. Following her instincts she shoved away the branches from the overgrown nature around her. Soon enough she walked into a small clearing where a tabby cat sat aggressively licking its paw.

The cat seeing her froze its licking. Keiko herself slowed down her walking and tried to get as close to the cat as she dared. She crouched down onto her knees before reaching out her arm to it.

"Here kitty kitty," she said trying to coax it.

The tabby remained frozen in place, Keiko took it as a chance to creep ever so slowly closer to it. Before she knew it she was right in front of the cat and was able to get a better look.

"You poor thing" she muttered. She had quite a soft spot for animals.

Walking up closer to it, she saw it had what looked to be an infected cut on the paw it had been licking. Judging by its dirty fur, the cat was also mostly likely a stray. It probably got the cut fighting other cats for territory.

Keiko without thinking reached out her hand and began to pet the cat.

For such a small cut, her presence was enough to heal it without her putting in any effort into her quirk. She had forgotten at that moment that her sheer presence could do this and simply continued petting the tabby. She just started to enjoy petting the cat when-

Snap!

She turned toward the sound.

"You… What are you doing here?" Keiko asked in disbelief.

Bakugo Katsuki of all people was standing just a few feet behind her unapologetically. It looked like he had followed her the same way she came in. Before Keiko could get another word in, while her attention was turned away, the cat suddenly hissed at her and ran off.

"Hey! Wait!" Keiko gasped reaching out to it as if it would listen to her.

And then it was just the two of them.

Keiko sighed and got up dusting off her skirt before facing her classmate. Now properly looking at him she could already see his usual scowl forming on his face.

"Are you following me?" she raised her brow at him. It was only natural to assume he was following her in this situation.

"Don't flatter yourself, I saw you acting suspicious and tailed you. Thought I'd finally get to see you put your quirk into action instead, I see you acting like Snow White or some shit." he said rolling his eyes at her.

He was already grating on her nerves.

He already started to get on her nerves. Bakugo had without fail these past few weeks harassed both her and Izuku to high heavens, going out of his way to make sure Keiko understood she was a loser just like Izuku in his opinion, that she was below his notice, and that he viewed the duo to be no more the gum under his shoe. Keiko had gotten the sense at one point that Bakugo simply planned to bully what her quirk was out of her and Izuku - whom he assumed she told - to scout out her overall worth.

Izuku as always took his childhood friend tormenting like a champ and Keiko simply had fallen into her habit of dodging or redirecting Bakugo's newfound attention toward her.

Keiko rolled her eyes, "Gee thanks, I'll take that as a compliment. I'm not so sloppy that I would use my quirk out in public, we could get in trouble for that you know?". Ever since the rise of quirks among humans, strict laws and regulations have been put in place. Depending on the offense one could even end up with jail time.

"I'm heading home, you coming?" Keiko started to make her way out. She didn't look back, but heard Bakugo wordlessly following behind her. Getting back on the trail, they started walking home together.

By some weird coincidence, Bakugo and her lived five blocks down the street from each other. Her dad usually gave her a ride so they never usually ran into each other. Keiko counted herself lucky not to have to deal with him after school at least, but it seemed today was her unlucky day.

Keiko braced herself for an interrogation from him, but as their walk continued Bakugo's questions never came. After leaving the park and another ten minutes of walking they came to their street corner.

Keiko being polite said goodbye before parting from him and entered through her house's gate. Even as she got to the front door and pulled out her house key she could feel his burning gaze on her. She didn't look back while unlocking her door and stepped into her home. Closing the door behind her she called out.

"I'm home!"

"Welcome home dear! Dinner's ready! I tried a new recipe so you have to tell me your opinion!" her dad, Saimori Hikaru said as he stepped out from the kitchen wearing a teddy bear apron.

"Was it for one of your videos?" she asked while taking off her shoes.

Keiko's dad was a stay-at-home dad and had recently made a career of being a full-time YoTuber. Keiko a couple of years back thought it'd be fun to make a cooking video with her dad as the star. To her surprise, her dad had turned it into a hobby. As the subscribers increased along with the income he informed her and Mom about his new dream of being a full-time YoTuber.

Her mom hadn't complained, the extra income was nice and she knew about her Dad's anxiety about entering the workforce after so long.

"Why yes! It's a new spin on my hamburger steak recipe! I had to run to the supermarket to make it for the sale to pick up the ingredients for it and fight the local Moms! But it was worth it!" Her dad said proudly while readjusting his glasses with a gleam, "Thanks for being understanding about not picking you up today sweetie".

"No problem Dad, just let me wash up before dinner" she started heading up the stairs.

"Honey wait, " he called out.

Keiko paused halfway up the stairs.

"Mom said to call her today" her Dad informed her pointedly.

"I'll call her later," Keiko couldn't help but let out a sigh at this news.

"Keiko, call her" her dad said with a stern tone.

"Yha, yha" Keiko shook it off and continued back up the stairs and into her room. She threw her bag on the floor and collapsed onto her bed letting and a moan in pleasure from the comfort of the familiar sheets.

Keiko let herself relax in her bed for a couple of minutes before reaching into her jacket pocket for her cell.

Swiping through it she landed on her Mom's name and stared at her Mom's contact.

…

Keiko sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days.

She clicked the call button and waited for the call to connect.

Kacha. "Keiko you haven't used your quirk at school have you?" her Mom's voice penetrated.

Of course, that would be the first thing she would ask.

"No Mom, I already told you I haven't" Keiko was already tired of having this conversation with her Mom.

"Honey I'm just worried about you. You know how your Dad and I feel about you using your quirk. I'm saying this for your good, your quirk is better off kept to yourself because-"

"I know Mom you don't have to keep telling me!" Keiko snapped.

The line went silent.

"Look Mom…" Keiko slumped in her bed feeling bad "When are you coming back home?" she mumbled. Her mother was currently in LA due to her job.

"I should be back in time for graduation," she answered "I know half of your second year is already over, but hopefully when the third year starts you'll have an easier time with the material."

"Yha I guess…" Keiko while she didn't like her new middle school, she didn't hate it either. Only for the sheer fact that she somehow was able to make a new friend on the first day.

"...Honey I know it's hard, but you should think of it as a new chance. No one there knows about you. It's a chance for you to get some fresh air and make new friends, weren't you complaining before about how you didn't have any?"

"Ouch Mom." Did she have to put it like that?

"Sorry honey, but you know what I mean."

"..."

"Honey dinner's ready!" her Dad called from downstairs.

"I'm talking to Mom!" Keiko shouted back, "Dad's calling for me, I have to go" she got ready to hang up.

"Keiko! Wait!"

Keiko ended the call before her Mom could get another word in. Their conversations only went in circles nowadays, she saw no point talking with her mother about their current issues.

Keiko once again sighed to herself alone in her room staring into space.

Turning onto her side Keiko went into a fetal position and closed her eyes and reached out into herself.

The motion was familiar to her as it was riding a bike. It was secondhand nature to her at this point. Slowly the warmth in her center bloomed outwards enveloping her whole. If one were to look from an outside point of view, one would see her whole body glowing from the use of her quirk.

The warmth of her quirk from her toes to the tips of her fingers allowed her to feel steady. Not having used her quirk for so long had put a strain on herself mentally. Allowing herself a cheat day in the privacy of her room was the only thing helping her keep her sanity nowadays Keiko felt.

She just needed some time to let herself have this. Just a little and she would stop…

"Keiko!"

She groaned.

Please let me know if there are any typos through comments.