UA High School
A few days had passed since Estelle took the UA entrance exam. Estelle and Nona were interrupted from their chat by a knock on the door. "There is no need for you to get up, Nona, rest your feet. I'll go," Estelle assured as she waved down the old woman.
Estelle walked forward to answer the door. When the door was brought ajar, she was met with a mouse-like animal being held at the waist of Aizawa. "Hello?" She stated and silently asked in confusion at the strange sight in front of her.
Aizawa sighed and asked, "Can we come in? We would like to discuss something with you." Estelle nodded and agreed, opening the door and stepping aside to allow the pair to come in.
Leading them to the living room, Estelle offered them drinks, to which they agreed. After bringing refreshments, the four, including Nona, sit in prolonged silence, the only sound being the sipping of cups.
The mouse turned from his tea and looked up at Estelle with a smile. "Normally, we would send out holograms in our place with the results of the exam to students, but we thought with your current predicament that we would visit ourselves", he started.
Estelle nodded for the mouse to continue. "First, let me introduce myself! Am I a bear? Mouse? Who knows! But I am the principal of UA high school! You caught our interest with your performance. It was truly impeccable; the work of an experienced quirk user, and we couldn't help but wonder how someone so young has that much control over a quirk that holds so much variety?!"
Estelle inwardly scowled. She knew she shouldn't have fallen into her warrior psyche that easily, and it had already arisen questions. Nona spoke up before Estelle could reply, "My son trained her before he passed last year. He was truly the most amazing teacher."
Estelle held in her surprise, keeping her cold facade in place with the UA faculty members. "That is true. He trained me to the bone," she confirmed.
Aizawa pursed his lips in thought, something didn't add up, but by the looks of Estelle and Nona's expressions, he knew he wasn't going to get the answers he was looking for. The principal kept the smile on his face, his lower paws swinging off the couch while he looked up at Estelle. "I see. Well, anyway, we wanted to inform you that you have been formally accepted into UA high school for heroics. Aizawa here informed me that you held some worries about your shifts at work potentially clashing with classes, correct?"
Estelle nodded in agreement. "That's right, Nona here needs support with her cafe, and I want to do that for her. If that doesn't fit in with UA, then I will, unfortunately, have to decline the offer."
Nona sat up with a gasp, and Aizawa raised his brows in surprise once again by the conundrum that was Estelle. The principal only laughed before shaking his head.
"There's no need for that. You have a bright future ahead of you as a hero! Supporting another in need is something a hero should do! It is very admirable that you would go to such lengths for Ms Nona here. We will make this work, don't worry - luckily, I noticed you are fluent in English, which means that it can be taken out of your schedule. Any other classes you miss will have to be caught up in your own time. Does this suffice?"
Estelle nodded in gratitude. "That is more than enough, thank you. I won't let you down."
The principal turned to Aizawa with his paws raised up, silently requesting to be picked up again. Aizawa let out a long, tired sigh before standing and lifting the principal onto his hip like a baby.
"Well, we will take our leave. Thank you for the refreshments. Oh, and congratulations for being placed with the highest score on the UA entrance exam."
Estelle supplied Aizawa and the principal Nezu thanks before leading the two out of doors and out of sight. When they were no longer visible. Estelle turned and walked back to the living room and sat across from Nona.
"Thank you for jumping in when you did Nona, it means a lot", Estelle appreciated.
"It was nothing dearie, I understand your situation is difficult, and you may want to keep that private. Though you didn't have to change your schooling for me, we would have made it work! But I appreciate it nonetheless," Nona responded with her usual caring aura.
Estelle shook her head in reply. "I did. It was the least I could do."
Nona and Estelle finished their tea and bid each other goodnight before heading to their separate spaces to rest. Nona's house held an independent floor in the attic, which she provided to Estelle, which had a bedroom and bathroom of her own. The space was simple, which Estelle loved, and included a slightly outdated computer that belonged to Nona's son. It allowed Estelle to research more about this new place and learn without any prying eyes.
Estelle walked past the entrance of UA High School. She made her way down the hallways with her bag laying over her shoulders, resting on her back and with her school uniform looking pristine. Estelle walked ahead to find the sign for Class 1A and moved to open the door. A shiver shot through her, and she scanned the hallways to find nothing. Estelle excused it as paranoia.
Walking into the classroom. Estelle found a few of her classmates had already arrived. They were sitting in their seats, talking to one another.
Estelle strolled to the back of the classroom to an empty seat. There was already another classmate in the chair next to her. The girl sat with her black hair raised up in a ponytail and posture, giving the aura of poshness. When Estelle sat, the girl next to her smiled and introduced herself. "My name is Momo Yaoyorozu; it's nice to meet you."
Estelle nodded in response, murmuring her name and looked ahead to the front of the classroom, signalling that the conversation was over. The girl beside her visibly slouched in disappointment because Estelle cut the conversation so quickly. Nevertheless, she did the same and turned to the front of the classroom.
Now that Estelle wasn't distracted, she immediately noticed the boy with squared glasses who she had corrected at the entrance exam speaking to a familiar blonde boy. When she had returned to Nona's from the entrance exam, Estelle looked up dogs on the internet and found that he resembled what people call a Pomeranian.
The two boys were having a disagreement about the blonde's seating style. Estelle huffed to herself since the uptight boy certainly would be a nuisance to deal with in the future. She almost felt for the Pomeranian. If only he wasn't so loud.
Looking past them, she saw Aizawa moving on the floor covered in a yellow sleeping bag. He stood up at the front of the classroom, still encased in its covers and stated, "If you have come here to make friends, then get out. This is the hero course."
Taking a sip from his juice pouch, 'where did that come from' Estelle thought as the class calmed down.
"It took 8 seconds for you to quiet down. Time is a precious resource. You all aren't very rational, are you?" He said as he stepped out of his sleeping bag while the class gawked at him.
"My name is Shouta Aizawa, and I'm your homeroom teacher, take out your gym uniforms and meet me at the grounds outside", He ordered as he left the classroom.
The rest of the class stood up and made their way into the changing rooms. Splitting up into their respective genders. Estelle stood at the far side as the girls conversed and introduced themselves while they were getting changed.
Estelle noticed how the girls had quietened down when she removed her clothing. Most likely due to her old battle scars that remained on her body, she continued since it wasn't something she was ashamed of. They were proof that she fought to live and survive.
The girls exchanged glances but continued their conversation. They omitted Estelle because she shot them a glare when they tried to approach her. Once everyone had changed, they headed outside to Aizawa and stood waiting for him to explain the next course of action.
"We are going to do a quirk apprehension test", he began once he accounted for everyone.
"A test!" The class yelled out in shock.
"But what about the entrance ceremony?" A bubble gum looking girl yelled out.
"There's no time for that if you actually want to become heroes", Aizawa started, his voice shimmering with mild annoyance. "UA is known for its freestyle education, and this is also applied to the teachers.
Estelle, you had the highest score on the entrance exam, right? In junior high, what was your result for the softball throw?" He queried.
Estelle shrugged whilst responding, "I was homeschooled."
Aizawa grunted and threw a ball towards Estelle, causing her to catch it in reflex. She blinked down at the ball in brief confusion before Aizawa interrupted her silent question.
"Stand in the circle and try throwing the ball with your quirk", he ordered.
Estelle shrugged again whilst walking towards the circle in front of her classmates and pointedly ignored their burning stares. She threw the ball with all her might; fire blasted out of her hands with a powerful burst of air. The ball shot ahead with immense speed as the air whipped by everyone, causing flecks of dust to rise off the ground. Estelle wasn't done. She raised her hand flicked her fingers forward to give the ball a second push with condensed air to prolong the length further.
Aizawa looked down at his distance meter and raised it for everyone to see 'five kilometres.'
Everyone's eyes widened in amazement at the number flickering on the screen before them. Their eyes slowly turned to the stone-faced girl who stood before them. Immediately they all brightened, shouting over each other, trying to make their voices heard.
"That's manly."
"That looks like so much fun; I want to try!"
"That was powerful; no wonder she was first."
Estelle only managed to gather some of what her classmates were saying. Aizawa stepped forward to give a long speech about how this test wasn't for fun and how the lowest-ranked would be leaving immediately.
Estelle looked towards Aizawa with respect 'that takes some balls to be that tough on a new heroics class.'
The rest of the tests continued. Estelle performed great in nearly each and every trial until she realised that she was obnoxiously far ahead. Estelle decided to slowly dial it back a little. The class needed motivation with a realistic goal. Showing how great she was would only bring out a hopeless mindset and no progress.
Estelle stood with the rest of her class with her hands tucked behind her back. Her long black hair was slightly frizzy from the workout. She had carefully watched her classmates throughout the challenges, noting down their potential weaknesses and strengths. At the moment, there was a lot of work to be done. She stepped back whilst the rest of the class completed their own ball throw test and let herself fall into her own thoughts. Her hand played with her bracelet sitting on her wrist absentmindedly.
'This might not be so bad, though I wonder how everyone back at home is doing', she thought with a frown. She somewhat missed those at home, the fight was always part of the mission, and the camaraderie was a part of life, even if she was only there for a brief time. 'These people will never understand the harsh life I come from; they are too soft.'
Estelle was interrupted by Mr Aizawa and the broccoli boy from earlier named Izuku Midoriya. "I took away your Quirk. The judges for this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enrol at this school."
Midoriya's eyes widened in recognition. "Those goggles! I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The Erasure Hero called EraserHead!"
Aizawa ignored Midoriya's revelation. "You're not ready. You don't have control over your power. Were you planning to break your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?"
Midoriya responded in a stutter allowing Aizawa to step forward and speak in a lower tone. Estelle tried to crane her ears but wasn't able to gather what he said. Stepping back, he said aloud, "I've returned your impractical Quirk. Take your final throw. Hurry up, get it over with."
Estelle narrowed her eyes at Midoriya. He had done dreadful during the tests so far. She watched Midoriya throw the ball, focusing his Quirk on his fingertip and breaking his finger-bone. The ball shot ahead, and Estelle held back her smirk.
'Looks like he does have potential', she thought.
The Pomeranian reverted to his usual growling, snapping his fangs like a rabid dog as he stormed towards Midoriya like a tidal wave. Estelle's eyes sharpened. She sped towards the blonde boy and threw him on his back.
"Tut tut, stay down, dog. That's no way to be acting around a fellow member of the class, no?" Estelle taunted with a sly smirk.
"Estelle", Aizawa warned with his long black hair floating up and his eyes red. "You are all giving me dry eye. Get off him and go back to your places. I did not need your help."
Estelle tilted her head in response as if she was contemplating her decision on following Aizawa's orders. "Estelle!" Aizawa warned again, his voice raised when he realised she hadn't moved. She relented and took her boot off the blonde. When she was leaving, she held her hand up, patted Midoriya's shoulder and confidently slid to the back of the crowd.
Estelle didn't see Bakugo's furious face and Midoriya's blushing cheeks.
Aizawa stared down at his class to gain everyone's attention. "Okay, I'll quickly tell you the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test. It's a waste of time to explain verbally, so I'll show you the results all at once."
Estelle immediately eyed the top of the scoreboard to find her name and lost interest as she scrolled down the list. She didn't really care who was beneath her.
"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion. It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks," Aizawa explained. Estelle narrowed her eyes. Why does this seem like a lie rather than his original words? He seemed like someone who would play mind games, though. She shrugged since there wasn't enough care to find out.
She watched Yaoyorozu claim that she was fully aware of the teacher's deception and the class conversed about the turn of events in relief. Aizawa took the attention once again to finish up before leaving everyone to their own devices.
Estelle walked back to the classroom and quickly packed up her things before heading home. A hand forced her back as she neared the front gate. When she turned, she was unsurprised to find the blonde male from earlier glaring down at her.
"What the hell was that earlier, hah? Do you think I'm weak or something? I'll crush you!"
Estelle looked at the boy with evident boredom and shook her head. "Nope, but I do think you're stupid for trying to attack a classmate."
"Tch, how disappointing. You just wait. I'll show you when I'm the number one hero."
Estelle held back her yawn. 'Is this seriously what future heroes aspire to be?' She looked down at the floor and frowned before responding with a simple "Okay?" and turned to leave.
His hand landed back on her shoulder and forcefully turned her around again. "Hah? Is that all you have to say for yourself? I guess you really are just a disappointing weakling," he scoffed.
Estelle was well and truly fed up with this conversation. "I don't need a label to prove I'm the best. I know I am." The blonde boy looked down at Estelle, stunned at her response. Estelle took that as an opportunity to leave and walked away.
When the boy came to, he realised that she was already gone.