The rest of the week passes in a steady blur.

Uncle Zashi comes over Thursday, coaching me through how to send an email to a pro-hero, going through different letter formats and what their purpose is. It's all so… complicated. I don't understand why I can't just ask.

Hey, can I be your intern? And call it a day.

Instead, he has me researching, finding his mission statements, looking up his personal affiliations, and examining his awards and achievements. I didn't even know heroes had mission statements, some weird promise to do the best in their particular avenue of specialty.

Then comes the resume, which Uncle says everyone should have, where I'm supposed to list all of my accomplishments—which is ridiculously hard. Third place in the UA Sports Festival isn't anything to sneeze at! Except I looked like an idiot getting it…

It'd be fine if that was all, but Uncle Zashi says you can't just stop at a resume when nobody knows your name. So we have to write a cover letter, and that apparently includes videotaping me using my quirk.

I guess he knows what he's talking about though.

Cause I actually do get a response from Kamui Woods, or at least his secretary. She emails me a time and place, talking about Nishiya-san is very curious to see my abilities.

Sensei, of course, wants to go over the rules at least a million times before I go.

"You have your phone? And a charger?"

"Yes, sir."

"And if Kamui Woods asks about why you want to intern with him?"

"I tell him I think he's hot," I smirk, grinning when Sensei's head snaps around so fast I'm surprised he doesn't have whiplash. He glowers, clearly not amused, and I quickly shoulder my bag, unable to keep from giggling at his ridiculousness. "I'm kidding! I know, don't tell him about the Owl, talk about how our quirks are sort of similar, even though they're really not. Sensei… I'm gonna be late!"

My dark-haired guardian sighs.

"You are not. You have forty minutes, and it's only a twenty-minute trip. Stop whining and pay attention. What do you do when you get there?"

"Check in and text," I repeat, again.

We'd just gone over all of this last night.

"What do you do when you finish?"

"Text you and walk home. No detours! No adventures!

"And if there's an-"

"Emergency?" I cut him off. "Stay with the hero, call the police and then you, depending on the type of emergency. If there's a major catastrophe? Keep my phone on, stay with the hero, and don't do anything stupid. Sensei!"

He leans forward and sighs, grabbing the back of my head and pulling me into a hug.

"Alright," he grumbles.

"It's gonna be fine!" I tell him, patting his chest ridiculously.

He just shakes his head.

"There's always an issue, Rin."

I puff out my cheeks, skin flushing.

"I- Not this time! I'll follow your route and everything! It's gonna be fine, and I'll text you as soon as I get there! I promise!"

Sensei's expression is one of complete disbelief.

I huff, reach out, and kiss his cheek.

"I'm leaving now! Bye!"

.

.

.

Kamui Woods is not anything like what I expect.

For one, he's short.

Where normally adults tower over me, he doesn't. At almost 170 cm, I doubt he's taller than more than maybe a handful of my classmates. Plus, unlike most of the heroes I've met, he isn't loud (like my godparents). He speaks quietly, his voice rusty as if he doesn't use it often outside of hero work. He clears his throat twice, bowing slightly in greeting.

He almost reminds me of Cementoss-sensei, sort of.

"So you're Hoki?" the masked man asks, arms crossing. He's wearing the same dark suit and mask he'd worn in all of his pictures online. "I was surprised by your letter."

I'm not really sure why.

"Do you not get internship requests often?" I ask, not really knowing what else to say.

The masked man blinks, expression completely cut off beside his eyes, and I furrow my brows at the slight tilt to his head.

"I get a few," the wooden man admits, sounding oddly amused. "Not usually recommended by All Might himself though. I'm pretty sure I remember you from the Sports Festival though. You had the fire and shadow quirk. What makes you think we'd be a good fit?"

All Might?

I frown.

Then the rest of his question catches up and I flush.

The Sports Festival…

Ugh.

I was never gonna live that down.

"My quirk is emotional manifestation," I explain, sighing. The hero tilts his head, and it's hard to gauge what he's thinking. "I… I can make fire sometimes, but I usually use the shadow and light feelings the most. My shadows function sort of similar to yours."

"Emotions?" he repeats.

He crosses his arms and looks… off. It's kinda weird, like he's thinking about what I'm saying?

I don't really know…

"Can you tell me more about each attribute as it relates to your emotion?" He gestures towards the path beside us mid-sentence, and I assume he wants me to walk because he doesn't bother waiting. Instead, he's still staring off at the forest as he walks. "You say shadow and light feelings, are you saying the emotions have specific manifestations as shadows and lights?"

I nod.

Then, realizing he's not looking at me, quickly mumble a 'yes, sir.'

That, at least, gets his attention, and his mask turns even as his eyes shift to stare at me beadily.

Did he not like that?

It's incredibly hard to tell without a nose and lips to look to for confirmation.

"When I'm happy, I glow. When I'm angry, I create smoke and a black fire. When I'm scared I usually tentacles or claws."

"And nervous?" the hero asks.

I flush, holding out my fingers fairly close together. A tiny string of lightning zaps between them. Kamui Woods just stares.

"Static," I mumble, hiding my hands behind my back and feeling uncommonly shy. "There… There are others, but they're not much, or useful."

"Hm," the hero sighs, rubbing his neck and looking off.

"How would you rate yourself as a fighter?"

I have no idea how I'm supposed to answer that.

Rate yourself?

Uncle Zashi hadn't gone over that.

I swallow and pull at my fingers.

"Umm… with my quirk?" I ask, not sure what he's looking for. At his lazy shrug, I try to think of what Sensei would say. "Uh… Good? I mean, I can fight without it too, and I Uncle—I mean, Present Mic taught me how to fight. I can usually win most scars, but Sensei says—He, Sensei says I need—I need more situational awareness, cause I tend to focus, um, on whatever I'm doing and-"

"Hey," the hero says, and he sounds oddly concerned, masked face bending forward and eyes meeting mine. "I was just curious, it's okay. You can relax."

I most definitely can not relax.

I need this internship—this hero partnership to move forward.

Without him, I can't stop the Owl or Kaito and we'll never be able to-

"Ahem."

I flush, my skin blistering into a too-bright red and the masked man actually blinks and-

I shove my hands over my face, feeling like an idiot.

Damn it!

"Ah," the hero actually chuckles. "That's interesting."

If anything, my face brightens.

I stop mid-walk and breathe.

"Ugh!"

"What emotion is that?"

I can't believe we're doing this now. Why couldn't I have an Earth quirk? Then I could just bury myself and put us both out of this misery.

I groan.

You still need to answer him…

"Embarrassment," I grumble, voice unnaturally high.

Even with his mask, it's like I can feel his smile.

"Ah. Well, why don't we see what you can do?"

.

.

.

Kamui Wood's idea of testing involves me chasing him through the woods.

While that might sound like an easy enough thing, the reality of it all isn't.

It's even worse than Sensei's obstacle course from this summer. Cause instead of dodging and climbing cement structures, I have to actively use my quirk to keep up with a freaking acrobat in the trees. Apparently, the wood hero could flip through branches, slide down bark, and move like a freakin' swimmer in midair. It was exhausting just to look at! And where normally I would have just switched over to my wings, with the trees growing so close together I can't, and the one time I did dare to leap up and above, the tree foliage was so thick I'd nearly lost him.

"Well done."

The tree man is a fucking liar.

Bent completely at the waist, I heave, spots of darkness creeping at the corner of my vision, and I know with absolute certainty there was nothing well done about any of that.

I'm also pretty sure I'm about to puke.

"Awww!"

I shove my arm across my face and try not to wheeze, swiping at the sweat dripping into my eyes. Some blonde lady walks up the park path towards us grinning with a rather large coffee in hand. We'd made our way back fairly close to the entrance, so I assume she's one of the many people that had stopped to look—or like some of them, take pictures.

I ignore her, almost hearing Uncle Zashi in my head clucking.

You've got no stamina!

Ugh.

"Nishiya-kun! Is this that the new little intern you were testing?" the woman asks, taking a loud sip. "Cute outfit kid! I'm Yu Takeyama, but you probably know me as Mt Lady!"

She poses, sticking one knee out and winking boldly.

I'm instantly reminded of Aunt Nemuri.

If I had any breath, I might try to introduce myself. But as it is, I just give her one of Sensei's weird, half-assed smile. Her expression wrinkles almost immediately, the pose sliding away to be replaced by something more natural.

Does that mean she's a hero?

Kamui Woods chuckles. He's so quiet. And how can he even breathe? He'd worn the mask the entire time and it didn't have nose holes, so it must be venting from the sides, and ugh.

"This is Hoki Rin. She was just showing me her skills in maneuverability."

"Hoki?" the blonde says, tapping her chin curiously. "That name sounds familiar…"

"It should. She made third place in the 1st years' Sports Festival," the hero says. I nearly groan, watching the woman's eyes go wide and then narrow. She turns at once, eyes raking across me with a new light.

"The snake girl? Gross! You're the one that dominated until you just gave up, aren't you?"

I hang my head in embarrassment.

Ughhhh.

Never. I was never going to live that down. Damn it.

"At least she wasn't the finger destroyer," the wooden man shrugs, stepping over and patting my shoulder almost encouragingly. "Are you still out of breath?"

No.

But the idea of dealing with my reputation sounded terrible.

If only I didn't need this…

"I-I'm good," I manage, pulling myself upright.

"Good," the hero says, hand falling back to his side as he stares back. He makes a noise like he's about to say something, but the blonde interjects too quickly. Her heels click against the pavement path as she steps closer.

"Hold on, are you actually considering taking her?"

Even without seeing the man's face, I can feel his annoyance.

"Don't forget we're supposed to be starting our time as the Lurkers soon! So you bringing her in means we're all gonna be spending a lot of time together. I'm not sure I want a sidekick that just gives up hanging on our coattails. What about that cute little plant girl? She would have been fantastic!"

My eyes narrow.

What?

Hanging off her coattail?

Plant girl?

"I'm not hanging off anything," I snap, patience thinning. And what did she mean, Lurkers? What the hell were lurkers? "But if you'd like me to fight, I can."

The blonde flicks back her long curls behind her shoulder with a sniff.

"In this outfit? No thank you. I don't need everyone getting a show."

Considering the way she was carrying on, that seemed like exactly what she wanted.

I breathe sharply through my nose.

You need this. Don't mess this up. Control your temper.

"I don't think that's necessary," the tree hero says, hands coming up to wave almost nervously. "Hoki-chan comes with high recommendations. I think it would be fine to take her based on what I've seen."

I open my mouth, before the fullness of what he says hits me.

Hoki-chan comes with high recommendations.

Fine to take her…

All I'd done was chase him through the woods—and not particularly well.

The blonde looks as surprised as I feel. Though, to be honest, I think I feel more cheated than anything.

High recommendations.

"Because of All Might," I growl, brows furrowing at the tree man dangerously. "Just- Just so I understand. You want me because of All Might?"

Kamui Woods looks back, his mask expressionless.

"I'll contact you with more details. You're dismissed."

.

.

.

I feel like a ball of fury.

I feel like rage.

I storm through the dorms in a whirlwind of shadows, black flames licking at my heels.

"Oh shit!" Sero whispers as I pass him and Kirishima, the sound ridiculously loud and carrying. "What's got her wound up?"

"Tch! My question's who she goin' after?" Kaminari squeaks.

I ignore them both and stomp up the stairs, hair rising as I make it to the second floor. Aoyama skirts around me wide-eyed, and I'm completely unsurprised at the sound of whispers at my back.

"Oh mon! What's going on? Why are you all-"

"Shh!"

"Wha-"

The second door from the stairs has his name on it. I bang angrily, not even bothering to knock.

"MIDORIYA!"

I don't wait for an answer, fist smacking against the wood loudly.

"MIDORIYA!"

There's a squeak, a mumble 'coming,' and the door opens quickly. Green eyes wide behind a freckled, nervous expression.

"H-Hoki-"

I don't wait. Pushing past him, I shut the door with an angry glare toward the hall where my classmates are hiding. I can hear them eep even as the freckled boy reddens and stutters.

"H-H-Hoki!"

The room is a nightmare of a shrine. All Might grins from all sides, his creepy visage plastered everywhere. My blood boils at the sight of him.

"I need to borrow your phone," I tell him, teeth grinding as I turn back. He's gone from nervous to blistering red in an instant, feet suspiciously kicking at what looks like the shirt he trained in yesterday. Like I've never seen dirty laundry before.

"My- My phone?"

"Yes, your phone," I snap, just barely keeping my civility. "May I?"

The green-haired boy looks completely overwhelmed.

"W-Why?"

"Mine isn't working," I lie. If he refuses I'm going to Sensei. Getting hold of his phone is at least twenty times harder. Not to mention ground-able. "So can I?"

He unlocks it and hands it over, looking reluctant.

And of course, the moment he does, mine lets off a ridiculous chirp.

"That- That doesn't sound-"

I ignore him, the contact list pulled up, and the culprit at hand. Pressing All Might's name, I sneer as it rings.

"W-Wait! Wh-Who are you calling!"

It only rings twice. I hold it to my ear even as Midoriya finally seems to realize what's going on.

"H-Hoki-chan!"

"Ahhh! My boy! I'm so glad to-"

"All Might," I hiss, side-stepping Midoriya's pathetic attempt to retrieve his phone with ease. "What the hell did you do?"

Midoriya and All Might sound like fucking brothers.

They both stutter and stare, Midoriya's face becoming animated as his mouth drops and eyes bulge ridiculously.

They're identical.

"Y-Y-Young R-R-Rin-"

"Don't Young Rin, me," I snarl, stretching out my arm and shoving Midoriya's head away as he lunges. "What did you do? Kamui Woods said he only hired me because you recommended me personally. Why?"

"Ah- Well, you- I thought-"

"You thought what?" I sneer, flames leaking past my control and flaring up into my hair. Midoriya stops lunging and suddenly leaps away with a squeak. "I was supposed to earn that spot. Instead, he's- he's hiring me on some sort of pity."

"Wh-Wha-"

"It was humiliating," I snarl, dragging the flames back in, especially as Midoriya cries and races toward one of his ridiculous posters. I glower at the stupid printed face. Then I turn and glower at Midoriya, expression twisting. "Why the fuck do you have his face on all of your walls? It's like he's watching you sleep."

"H-Hey! These are awesome!"

"Wait- Is Young- How do you have Young Midoriya's phone?"

"I took it," I growl, less blistering angry and more rip-out-my-hair, scream-in-the-woods frustrated. "Maybe you shouldn't have recommended a thief."

He splutters and Midoriya stares, eyes watering.

"Hoki-chan! You're not a-"

"Young lady, now see here-"

Snakes slip uninvited from between my lips. Midoriya backpedals, screeching.

I swallow them whole, scowling as I feel them twisting in my chest. What was wrong with these people? With All Might? Did he even think before doing this? Did he even consider what that would mean? Attaching his name to mine, he-

"What happens when I mess up?" I growl, lips pursing. I shake, so beyond frustrated, and for once Midoriya stops trying to reach for the phone, instead staring wide-eyed back with too bright eyes. "I'm going to hurt someone and you're gonna get blamed. Why would you do that? You- You're an idiot! I'm not even nice to you! Every time I see you, I glare and you recommended me. What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Young Rin…"

He sounds sad.

It's like nails against my skin.

I hang up, disgusted. I don't need his pity. I didn't ask for his help. I glower at Midoriya and close the distance between us in a heartbeat. He reddens, mouth moving without words as I crowd his space, close enough I can smell him, and shove the phone onto his chest. Warm, calloused hands grab it.

"H-Hoki-chan-"

He looks just like All Might sounds. Big round eyes, an expression trembling with emotion, and freckles bright against his skin. I scowl at the sight of it.

I don't need his pity either.

"Thanks for letting me use your phone," I snap.

Then straightening, I spin on my heel. I try to leave, dragging open the door to what sounds like a mumbled commotion outside. The moment I do, a pile of our classmates falls over, looking like a stack of puppies. They tumble together squirming.

"R-Rin-chan!"

"Oh!"

"Oww!"

"That's my stomach!"

"Hey, watch your hands!"

Flames rise up from my skin, darkness expanding ominously across the threshold. They quiet instantly, mouths dropping. I tower over them.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Woah! She even looks like Aizawa-Sensei!"

I flash Kaminari a disgusted glare and step on him, taking immense satisfaction out of his muted whine, before jumping effortlessly over the pile.

Idiots.

.

.

.

I go to the woods near the dorms to discharge.

I set a stone on fire until it melts. Then out of flames, I pound it with my shadows until it glows, twisting and warping it until it crumbles. It… helps.

"You done brooding? Or are we gonna be out here for a while?" asks a dour voice.

I turn and scowl, finding the babysitter staring balefully at my quirk.

I release the shadows easily, their thick limbs dispersing into smoke.

"I'm not brooding."

"You're out here because somebody got you a job. Stop acting spoiled. Anyways, on a different note, have you considered medicine? Your hormones are all over the place, it's a complete mess. And you're hungry."

I nearly flail, especially when the boy throws me an apple.

"I—what? No. It'd affect my quirk."

"It'd affect your life," the upperclassman says, eyes rolling. "Hero students. You know I can see your hormones kid, your physiology isn't doing you any favors. But whatever, it's not my problem. Why are we still out here?"

"Why are you?" I scowl, annoyed when I realize he's right and I actually am hungry. I take a bite out of the apple, moodily.

Minasu's flat stare is reminiscent of Sensei's.

Ugh.

"I'm getting paid to watch you, Hoki, not the rest of the class. I've got a fairly decent radius, but the tree line's really past my limit. Look, you're frustrated about the internship thing, right?"

I frown at the older boy, feeling my lips thin, before realizing he's waiting on me. Slowly, I dip my head in a nod. He sighs.

"Well stop thinking about it however you're thinking about it, alright? Look at it this way, business is about finding opportunities. You've got a golden opportunity. You needed an internship, and now you've got one. The number one goal of all businesses is to make money. If you give me your money because I convince you that my product is amazing, great, and if you buy it because you don't know how to manage your own money, well that works too. Can you do the job they're hiring you to do?"

"Yes!"

"Then who cares," Minasu says, looking at me like I'm an idiot. "You're in. People hire people based on networking all the time. It's why it's so important to cultivate your connections. Now, are we done here?"

I stare wide-eyed at the older boy.

"Ah…"

I guess the upperclassman takes that as a yes because he turns and heads back. I follow quickly at his heels.

"Medicine," the older teen grumbles. "Hormones haywire… got absolutely no common sense. What a pain."

.

.

.

I bake cookies as an apology.

Well, actually Satou-kun and I bake cookies. I don't know what it is about the smell of sweets, but maybe ten minutes after I'd opened the sugar to check that we had enough, he'd been down and grinning.

"Rin-chan! What are we making?"

Oddly enough Ojiro joins us as well. Dressed in his lazy clothes and leaning against the counter. He smiles distantly, his tail swishing behind him gently. I cock my head at it, usually, that's a sign he's happy. Though why I have no idea…

I thought him and Toru were watching tv?

"Yo! Tailman!" Satou laughs, whipping up some homemade whip cream enthusiastically. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"Nothing, hey Rin-chan. What are you two making?"

"Sugar cookies." I offer the other boy a hesitant smile before returning to work on my icing. While I'd seen plenty of videos on how to make it, I'd never actually tried myself, it was supposed to be a kind of drippy kind that would set after a few minutes and was really good for decorating. I'd decided to use it since I cut the apology cookies out with some stupid All Might cookie cutter at Sero's suggestion. Why anyone would want to eat head-shaped cookies, I don't know, but Sero had sworn up and down they would be perfect. I sigh, examining the colors. They just weren't right. "Satou-kun's making a sponge cake though."

"All Might cookies?" Ojiro asks, and when I look up at him he looks even more amused then before.

"They're an apology," I huff, dusting my hands on my apron and examining them again. The yellow still wasn't right. "Satou-kun, what am I doing wrong?"

The taller boy leans over, his face nearly next to mine, and squints down at the icing.

"Hmmm? Looks like it just needs some more food coloring. Just get another toothpick of it. Hey, you know, I bet that'd look cute with some glitter powder!" Satou then turns back to Ojiro with an almost-knowing look. "You sure seem happy for nothing."

There's an unspoken something that passes between them, but it isn't any of my business, so instead, I focus on the coloring. Satou's right and an extra toothpick of the gel coloring is exactly what it needs. So I push it aside and roll out the parchment paper hidden away into a type of piping bag like Satou had shown me a couple of weeks ago.

"Yeah, yeah. Did you see that the national martial arts tournament is coming up?"

"Oh yeah, man! I'm stoked!"

They go on and I relax to the sound of it, hands steadying as I outline the weird cookies. Spiky v-shaped hair pieces, beady blacked-out eyes, and a ridiculous grin. After finishing the first I move to the second, then the third, and the fourth.

My shoulder and arm ache as I move to the fifth, hands shaking from the need for constant pressure.

"ALL MIGHT!"

I jerk at the shout, nearly ruining my cookie and scowl at the commotion coming from the lobby.

"All Might! All Might!"

"What are you doing here?"

"All Might!"

My back stiffens at a familiar laugh, eyes widening.

"Hello! Young Jirou, what a handsome guitar! And you, Young Kaminari, how are you? Ah… Yes, yes!"

I abandon the icing, ignoring its drip on my clean counter, and duck behind Satou.

"Rin-chan?"

I realize even as I hide, exactly how futile the effort is. This was a horrible hiding spot anyways. Everyone already knew I was in here, and two, they were all loudmouths. Maybe if I could sneak out though-

"Are you looking for Rin-chan?" Mina's voice echoes. The hair on the back of my neck rises. "She's in the kitchen!"

Damn it!

Satou laughs. Ojiro covers his mouth and chuckles.

And then before I can find any kind of escape, and there's only one way out, there's a massive skeletal man standing in the doorway, a pink teenager hanging off his arm. Traitors.

"Ah- My dear-"

"Rin-chan! Don't hide behind Satou-kun! Come and face your retribution like a woman!"

My eye twitches as the duo, followed quickly by Kyoka and Kaminari slip into the kitchen.

"Young Ashido! Retribution! I have no idea- What-"

"Oh my gosh! You actually made All Might cookies!" Kyoka laughs, leaning forward to stare at the half-piped cookies. "Sero! Sero!"

It's like watching dominos fall. Like seeing the man on stilts about to fall. One by one, my classmates wheedle their way in, cramping the already too-cramped kitchen. Toshinori-san doesn't seem to notice though. He stares at the cookies with wide eyes, something like tears forming.

I wonder at my chance if I just run.

"Guys!" Toru growls, shoving her way into the kitchen and sounding petulant. "They're trying to have a moment!"

I haven't seen Toshinori since the hospital.

Not since his friend died.

He looks better, healthier, if still thin.

My classmates grumble and mill about. Toshinori-san picks up one of the half-finished All Might cookies as if it's precious.

"It's not done," I scowl face red.

Satou, stuffing the whipped cream into a piping bag, laughs.

"They look delicious," the owner of said face says, smiling. Then, as if remembering why he's here, he turns back to look at me with those big, aggravating, puppy-dog eyes. They're as blue and kind as I remember. "Young Rin I'm-"

I make a noise.

My classmates, still loitering nosily about in our kitchen, almost seem to lean in. I scowl at them, scowl at the blonde. Then, giving up any chance to run from this, I step out from behind the island and Satou and face the skinny man sighing. I bow, deeply.

"Wha-"

"Is Rin-chan-"

"Shhh!"

My skin heats, but I don't rise, hands crossing, hair draping across my vision.

"Young Rin-"

"I'm sorry," I say, voice clear, eyes closing as I breathe deeply. Guilt, frustration, fear. They all twist in my chest angrily. Anger is a strong emotion, whispers a voice that sounds like Tulutho, one that feeds on your pain and helps you focus to survive. It is an old emotion, drawn from your very blood… anger is but a symptom of something else. Of pain. "I… I shouldn't have called you, not when I was angry and—and hurt. I shouldn't have shouted. I apologize."

"My dear…"

This is one of your emotional wounds.

I should rise, feeling the eyes of most of my classmates burn into me. I don't though.

Fingers pressing tightly to each other, I breathe.

I… I owe him more than that.

"I… I'm also sorry I've been mean to you."

Someone, sounding ridiculously like Ochako, sniffs. I can hear Tsuyu whispering as well.

"How sweet, ribbit!"

Knowing those parts of you that are sensitive, knowing what causes you pain, helps others not to hurt you on accident.

"I… I didn't like the idea that you lied to me," I admit, tears springing up as I stare at the tiled floor. "You were kind, and All Might is scary. He- He reminds me… He reminds me of the hero, the one that hurt my Daddy. And- And today, I… it felt like they—like the hero only wanted me cause of you. I… I'm scared of being… of being unwanted."

Blinking away the tears, I rise.

The room stares back in shifting shades of surprise.

Toshinori-san stares back with wet, watery eyes.

"Young Rin…" the man says, and in a single wide step, he's there. Blonde hair glinting in the light, large hands roughened with callouses warm across my shoulders. "Of course you're forgiven! You had every reason to be upset! My dear girl, I know trusting adults isn't easy for you, and you felt as if I'd betrayed your trust. But look how much you've grown! A real hero isn't perfect, a real hero isn't someone that always saves the day. A real hero is someone that puts it all on the line though. A person that faces fight after fight even when the world seems at its darkest and keeps getting back up! Young Rin, I didn't recommend you to Kamui Woods to try and undermine you, I recommended you because you do just that! You and every one of your classmates has shown time and again that you are destined to be the greatest of heroes! You, each of you, have faced adversities far beyond what could have been expected of you. And just like true heroes, you've all risen to the challenge! You help each other, you build each other up, you go beyond! Plus Ultra!"

All Might smiles as he holds up his fist.

It reminds me of that first day, when he'd thrown out his arm and I'd looked on numbly.

I smile, lifting mine beside his.

He taps our fists.

"Plus Ultra," I whisper, something warm and fond flickering in my chest.

"PLUS ULTRA!" screeches half my class.

I laugh, feeling the warmth spread across my skin. Bright silvery light envelops the room, a massive pair of wings exploding from my back. Kyouka, the closest, laughs as they smack her face. Ochako, pressed up behind her, giggles and tugs at the feathers. Tokoyami, on the other side of the room, lets out a groan.

"Pretty!" hisses dark shadow, rising up and nearly shaking in excitement.

"Dazzling!" Laser agrees, spinning on his heel!

"Group hug!" Mina shouts.

The room descends into chaos. An elbow in my gut, a hand against my back. Someone—I think Ojiro's tail—pushes me into Toshinori-san, who holds on with strong, lanky arms. Mina, Ochako, and Toru split into giggles, arms linking and locking us together. Then Kaminari is there, the electricity in his skin buzzing under mine. Ninja's warm hand on my head, and Iida and Sero's voices loud behind All Might.

"Oi! No! Hell no-"

"Come on dude!"

I don't like crowds.

I don't like being crowded.

But this doesn't feel like that.

My wings split into arms. Wide arms that reach and hug at the others. One settles on Toshinori-san's head like Sensei does mine. He smiles wistfully, blue eyes distant.

"What exactly, is going on in here?"

We all freeze.

I glimpse a swath of dark clothing.

"Aizawa-sensei!"

He makes a noise, sounding almost exasperated. The massive pile of people doesn't dissolve though.

"Aizawa-sensei, do you want a hug?" Kyouka asks cheekily.

"Oh my gosh, YES!" shouts Kaminari.

"Absolutely not," he growls. A moment later the weight of my shining arms disappears. I giggle, even as several of my classmates squeak. Toshinori-san, practically holding me, smiles fondly. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Do what you want, you have an hour then lights out at ten. And do not break anything."

A/N: In Kamui Woods' defense, I don't think he was interested in taking a hero student. Having All Might recommend someone personally puts him in a bit of an awkward situation. The previous number one hero says to do something, I imagine he felt pretty obligated to take do it. lol.