The Big Three

Estelle held no expression on her face whilst she watched the scene in front of her. The class were currently standing in the gym with the big three as they nervously waited for the battle to begin. Estelle and Shoto were the only ones who had chosen not to participate and stood to the side of the gym with Mr Aizawa.

"I don't get it! Why aren't they joining us?"

"Because we have already fought Estelle! It would be pointless!" Mirio answered merrily. The class dropped their jaws in response whilst Mr Aizawa turned to Estelle in query.

"I wasn't aware you were familiar with these three?"

"They decided to annoy me at the cafe one day. Mirio decided he wanted to fight me; it seems like this is a normal occurrence for him."

The class unwound slightly at her blunt answer before Kirishima asked a question they all had in their head. "Who won?"

"Nuh-uh! We aren't telling you until the fight ends! Come on!" Mirio stated to avoid answering. He wasn't sure what the response would be, but he figured that Estelle winning would make them lose hope. Unfortunately, Mr Aizawa had other ideas.

"She won, didn't she?"

Mirio wide-eyed the teacher for his input but trusted his judgment. "Of course she did! Have you seen her skills?! I wonder if her classmates can live up to that?" He asked rhetorically. His previous conclusion was incorrect since the answer seemed to drive their determination to win. His smile grew into a broad grin.

'This is going to be fun!' He thought as the fight was going to begin.

"I'll be the first to start!" Kirishima stated with his hand up, ready to jump into the fray. To everyone's surprise, it was Izuku who spoke up next.

"No, I'll go."

"Hey, you stole my thunder!" Kirishima whined out.

Estelle frowned at the redhead in disappointment. She was reminded of the moment he couldn't fight villains in time at the USJ attack. It seems that he hadn't matured in that timeframe. Maybe she was asking for too much? Or perhaps she just needed to remind herself that they were still kids mentally. They weren't like her.

Estelle wasn't really interested in the fight about to take place. Rather than leaving altogether, Estelle decided to spend some time with the anxious male staring at the wall on the other side of the room.

Walking up to him slowly, Estelle watched as his face turned redder the closer she got to him. Honestly, she would never win no matter how she tried to approach him.

Nevertheless, she pushed on and eventually reached his side. The male's previous tremors arrived as his head hit the brick wall, clearly taken aback by the social invitation Estelle had just created.

To his astonishment, the female next to him didn't say a word. Rather, she stood by his side and gazed at the wall with him. It seemed like she had no intention of speaking; he was inwardly relieved at that.

Estelle listened to the sounds of fighting behind her and could clearly tell that her class were failing embarrassingly. Then again, she doubted there was much chance of them winning. They just hadn't reached their full potential yet.

Estelle actually found it relatively peaceful looking at the wall. She doubted there was ever a time where she just looked at nothing. Everything Estelle did was with a purpose; it all had a reason to it. This wall was pointless. Maybe that's what was so good about it.

If only she could get her mind to relax like her eyes were from looking at nothing. Whilst Estelle drowned in her thoughts, she had completely missed the fact Tamaki was no longer watching the wall. He had calmed entirely from her ease. He watched as she contemplated at the border, lost in her train of thought.

Did she do this just to make him feel better? Because it worked. He felt a lot more comfortable with the girl. He always felt tense when she was around. When they visited her at the cafe, Tamaki was mortified the whole time. Estelle's unimpressed expression was burned into his brain, and all he could do was moan and try to run away. Mirio had held him back the whole visit.

His thoughts of the strange girl next to him were interrupted by Mirio's voice yelling as he took down the first years with ease.

"POWER!"

When the battle finally ended, Mirio stood up in front of the class with a sheepish expression and said. "I tried to make sure you didn't see my willy, but sorry if you got a peak."

Estelle looked at the blond in bafflement.

Willy?'

The class held on to their stomachs in pain as they cowered over. The students were utterly gobsmacked at how they had all been taken down so quickly without a beat. Estelle pretty much ignored everyone as they explained Mirio's quirk. Tamaki turned back to the wall as the blonde spoke, and Estelle joined him.

'I love how I made fun of him for having the wall as his best friend. But now it's mine too.'

Tamaki side-eyed the girl joining him and made no outward emotion. He found the company oddly pleasant.

Listening to the other students behind her, Estelle felt a disconnect from her classmate's words.

"All of us came to UA because we want to be pro heroes, right? Let's do this!" Hagakure yelled out amidst the classmate's excitement for their work studies.

"That's true. We have to keep climbing," Tokoyami agreed.

"And be plus ultra!" Koda finished.

Estelle just placed her forehead to the wall and closed her eyes. Gosh, these students. They genuinely did have their hearts set on their goal. She couldn't fault it. But Estelle wasn't a hero; she could never be. Once she had gone back home, the most she could expect was to live out her days alone.

Midoriya eyed Estelle's reaction to the words with a clenched heart. The words he had heard once again rang throughout his brain. It had never left; it was still a burning question that he hoped he would get to the bottom of soon.

"You said you weren't a hero?"

Unexpectedly, his thoughts were cut off by the change in Estelle. He watched as Tamaki faced away from the wall and turned to Estelle with a blush. "You-you know. Your company was ni-nice. We should d-do this a-again."

Estelle looked at the male in hidden shock before furrowing her brows in thought. To her, the fact the boy had even asked her was a feat in itself. He had finally managed to gain the courage to say something to her directly since they met before her exams. When Mirio strolled into the cafe with his friends behind him, Tamaki had barely said a word since he was so anxious. With that, she couldn't say no and completely ruin his progress. Estelle couldn't do that to him. She watched as his face turned redder in the silence and finally nodded. The boy slumped in relief and gave a small smile that Estelle unconsciously reciprocated.

"Give me your phone."

Clumsily, the male attempted to grab his phone out of his pocket but dropped it. Since he was wallowing in his own embarrassment, Estelle picked up the device and added her number into his contacts.

"Text me when you want a silent buddy. I'll try to be there." Estelle stated once she handed the phone back to him. The navy haired male blushed as he nodded and rigidly turned away to leave. He attempted to wave goodbye but made an awkward motion with his hands before scurrying towards his friends, who were watching the scene with broad smiles. Estelle shook her head at the socially inept male and gave a hidden smirk.

Midoriya wasn't the only one who had heard the conversation; the whole class had. They made no comment on the unlikely friendship blooming between the duo since they knew Estelle would shut down the thought immediately. But they knew they found each other's company nice enough to go out of their own comfort zones. Some of them felt an odd feeling wash over them from the sight but shook it off. This was progress, even if it wasn't with them.

They wished it was with them, though.

"That's the end of class; say thank you."

"Thank you very much!"

"Hey! If you've got trash, then bring it over here, right now!"

"Bakugo! Thanks!" Kirishima stated while he brought his bag over.

"Sure!"

"I have some as well" Tokoyami joined in.

"Hand it over!"

"Mine too," Kaminari added.

"This is heavy", Mineta remarked whilst dragging his trash across the floor.

"Sup, pretty boy", Estelle prodded, bringing her own bag that she had flipped over her shoulder onto her back. She chewed and blew her gum before gazing down at the pest next to her. The bubble between her lips popped as Mineta whimpered at the woman next to him with a shiver.

"Oh, why hello there, bug," Estelle stated, a dark aura around her. Mineta just blubbered again in response.

"You bastards! It's like you've been hoarding this for weeks!"

Estelle stared down at her classmates crowded around her dorm room. She was in her hero outfit since she was prepared to leave for the evening and begin hunting. The knock on the door had surprised Estelle, and she answered quickly. The students at the entrance gave wide, hopeful grins when Estelle opened the door. With a scowl, she slammed the door shut in their faces.

It was only a few moments when the knock rang out in the room once again. Estelle let out a sigh since she knew she wasn't getting out of this. Opening the door once again, Estelle stared down at the group with a deadpan.

"Hey! We were just going to ask if you could -Woah."

Kaminari's voice had abruptly stopped when he noticed the background. The class and Estelle gazed at him in puzzlement when he did. He was shaken out of it by Ojiro, and he looked up at Estelle apologetically.

"Sorry about that. What's all the stuff for?" He asked as he pointed towards the side of her room. Estelle followed his finger to the location of her research. She opened the door wider for the rest of the class to see. Those that couldn't see the reason for Kaminari's sudden stop had realised why he did so.

The desk was entirely cluttered with hundreds of books and papers. There was an extensive map of Japan above it that held a lot of red markings. The side looked like a warzone compared to the pristine nature of the rest of the room.

Estelle gazed down at her class as they curiously looked at the work she had been doing since she had returned to UA. She had no qualms about revealing the details since it wasn't exciting, but she hoped it would get them to back off in some way.

"It's my research. I've been working on locating the breach, as you all know. I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it is," Estelle explained as she took a step towards the map. The class took the opportunity to trickle into the room to analyse the work closer.

"What's all the red marks?"

"It's every location I've bumped into dark spirits. I had hoped it would lead me to it, but as you can see, they love the damn woods. Must make them feel like home."

Shoto perked up at that. "Didn't you say you loved the woods?"

Estelle snapped her head to the male with slight stupefaction. She slowly nodded and turned her head back to the map. "It seems that we have that in common. It was my home too."

The class wavered at her solemn words. Thankfully the topic was soon changed back by Tsu. "Well, anyway, we have decided to force you to come downstairs. There's this movie called Madagascar; we think you'll love it!"

Disregarding the fact their mission was to force her to come down. Estelle tilted her head in question and turned even more confused by the explanation.

'Talking fake animals? Count me in.'

And so Estelle willingly spent her first-ever night with Class 1A. Throughout the movie, Estelle appreciated the fact they all kept out of her way. They probably comprehended at this point that she hated the smothering of people and pointedly kept that in mind. It amused her that whenever someone talked accidentally, the others would shush them and indirectly point to her like 'Remember, she's here.'

She didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Shouldn't they just watch the movie rather than tiptoe around her? It didn't seem fair to them. It was strange how they willingly did stuff like this, desperate to have their distant classmate involved in their gatherings.

She didn't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, Estelle treasured being alone. She valued the silence and the peaceful nature that surrounded her after years of battle and protecting others. She didn't want that again, the love and companionship of others. It never lasts. Why put herself in that position when she was comfortable being by herself in her chaotic mind. It didn't matter that she felt a strange warmth with them. A feeling that she had long lost, and she abhorred them for it.

The talking lion snared her out of her thoughts, and Estelle permitted herself to fall into the movie.

It was ridiculous.