"There's a difference between those who always aim for the top and those who don't."
The following morning I was out of the house before my father; we had not spoken since the night before. If I was to be completely honest, I was becoming increasingly worried that perhaps our relationship would never be repaired. I was incredulous, as well- what was it about the true nature of my Quirk that created such a strong sense of unease within him? What was he so afraid of? The quiet suspicions that I had kept locked away in the back of my mind began to reemerge in vicious whispers: He was hiding something.
He had not wanted me to come to school today- that much I knew. In fact, I was fairly certain that his original plan had been to keep me out of school until the sports festival, which was roughly two weeks away; slightly behind schedule, due to the villain attack on the USJ that had happened almost a week ago. Despite my initial feelings of uncertainty, confusion, and hopelessness, I had resolved not to let him have his way. Today, being the official time of announcement for the festival, was when I had chosen to pointedly make my return to school.
"Daichi-chan!"
The ecstatic voice of Ochaco greeted me as I stepped into the classroom, an anxious excitement bubbling in the pit of my stomach. The sight of Ochaco's happy brown eyes calmed me almost instantaneously, and despite myself a relieved smile broke out across my face as I waved at her from across the room.
"Good morning Ocha-"
Before I could finish my greeting I had the wind knocked out of me. Ochaco had sprinted across the room, zero-gravity-style, only to release and crash into me with a bear hug. I wheezed from my place in the doorway, an emotional Ochaco gripping my ribcage with surprising strength.
"I was so worried you weren't coming back!" she cried. I grimaced, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the amount of raw emotion she was displaying; it was something that was still very unfamiliar territory for me. "You and Aizawa-sensei have both been gone for so long, I thought-"
"Wait, wait, wait," I interjected, pushing Ochaco back with my palm, but failing to dislodge her entirely from my person. "What do you mean papa hasn't been here?" I asked, confused. I noted internally that it was nice to be able to freely call him my father; I had not realized until now the strain that I had put on myself to keep my identity under wraps. "He's left the house every day… He hasn't been here teaching?" Ochaco shook her head.
"He's still been under fairly strict supervision by Recovery Girl!" she explained. I blinked in confusion and shock- his condition was clearly more serious than I had thought. "I thought that he had been with her or at home this whole time…?"
"No… he's been coming and going from the house all week…" I muttered, suddenly feeling very guilty. "I guess he only came back to the house to check on me…"
"He must be a great father," Ochaco sighed, pride lacing her voice.
I bit my lip, guilt rising in my throat like bile; all I could do was nod. Before I could sink too deeply into my endless internal abyss of culpability, a distraction came in the form of Iida and Izuku, who appeared behind me together.
"Ah, Daichi-kun!" Iida shouted dutifully from my rear. I turned my head, which was mildly difficult with Ochaco still wrapped around me, shooting a smile at the pair from over my shoulder. "Good to see you are well again! We were all rooting for you!"
"Th… Thanks, Iida… How nice…?" I replied shakily, unsure of how to react to such formal condolences.
Izuku, the obviously more socially-adept of the pair despite his inherent awkwardness, waved at me merrily from Iida's side.
"Good morning, Daichi-san!" he said airily.
With Ochaco still dangling from my body I shifted away from the door to allow them space to enter. Finally realizing that she still had a hold on me, Ochaco at last released me- to my relief- a light blush coming to her face now that Izuku was present. I smirked to myself, though I was careful not to alert anyone else to her reaction. Ochaco immediately engaged Izuku in conversation while Iida marched to the front of the classroom; I made to join in Ochaco and Izuku's conversation, but abruptly lost my train of thought as yet another familiar face appeared in the doorway.
"Ah," Shouto said monotonously, his expression just as blasé as ever. "Look who's back." I flushed crimson.
"Y… Yeah, hey!" I blurted lamely. The subsequent eyeroll- directed towards myself- earned me a confused look from Shouto, who was still standing in the doorway.
"Am I bothering you?" he asked calmly. I could have smacked myself.
"No, no… Sorry…" I muttered, grimacing at my social inadequacy. I took a deep breath. "Thank you, it's good to be back."
I could have sworn I saw a smile tug at Shouto's lips, but it was gone quicker than I could register.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
Shouto stepped away from the doorway while he spoke, moving closer to me. My heart rate quickened- was it possible to stave off a blush through sheer willpower?
"Better, I think." I said quietly, unable to make my voice any louder due to my intense embarrassment and nervousness. "The ginger helped. Thank you, again." I definitely saw a smile that time.
"Mm…" Shouto mumbled, refusing to meet my gaze. The color of his face was slightly more red than it had been a minute ago, I thought to myself, though I just as well could have imagined it. "It was no trouble… I'm glad you're feeling better."
Unable to find anything constructive to say, I simply smiled; I had been getting better at smiling, recently. It helped that Shouto was around. His eyes finally met mine again, which had the strange effect of both calming me down and quickening my heartbeat. He parted his lips, looking as though he was about to say something-
"You!"
I jumped with surprise as Shouto was bumped away from me as someone shoved him farther into the classroom. He came to a halt beside of Izuku and Ochaco, who were wearing identical masks of horror; Iida and Shouto just looked annoyed. The now vacant space that Shouto had been standing in was quickly reoccupied by probably the least-welcomed student in class 1-A.
"Katsuki." I said blandly, not even trying to conceal my displeasure (not that I had ever been very good at doing that). Katsuki's face was its usual shade of angry, his eyebrows knitting together in an almost painful-looking way.
"Look who came crawling back!" he bellowed from his place in front of me. I grimaced as I tried to avoid a small fleck of spit that escaped his mouth.
"As you can clearly see, I am standing on two legs." I remarked, gesturing to said legs in a bored yet casual manner. Katsuki's expression grew, if possible, even more outraged. "You may not be wholly familiar with the term 'crawling', so let me explain: Crawling is-"
"I know what the fuck crawling is, you dirt rag!" he spat furiously, cutting off my sarcastic rebuttal. I sighed tiredly. "I meant figuratively, you bitch! When were you gonna fuckin' tell us you're dad was the damn teacher?!"
"Never, obviously." I replied tartly.
I moved away from Katsuki, setting my bag down at my desk with my back to him as he continued to seath. Shouto followed me at a distance, coming to rest at the desk beside of mine, keeping his mismatched eyes on Katsuki all the while. It seemed that he had grown rather protective of me during my absence.
"That friggin' figures." Katsuki hissed as I removed a notebook and a pencil from my bag. "Didn't want us knowin' you only got in here 'cause your dad has connections, huh?"
I slammed my pencil against the top of the desk more loudly than necessary, rounding on Katsuki a moment later; I had reached the end of my rope. I could not tell if my rope was just an unusually short one, or if- along with his fiery Quirk- Katsuki also had the unique ability to burn through people's patience.
"Is that really how you think I got into UA?" I inquired, my tone acerbic as I met Katsuki's glower with one of my own. "You may be an idiot, Katsuki, but I know you're not that dumb." He opened his mouth to retort, but I cut him off. "You've seen me fight, so I can imagine that you know that I know what I'm doing. I'm tired of this stupid game you're playing where you pretend to think I'm shit at everything. I know you don't think that, so cut it out."
The class was silent, watching with baited breath as I chewed out the biggest bully in the room. I heard a pop as Katsuki's Quirk mirrored his mood, though he did nothing else.
"You can talk to me, you can ignore me, I really don't care at this point. But I'm seriously over this fake nonsense you keep spouting. Cut it out, or next time I'll make sure you regret it."
Our eyes did not blink nor move from one another's for several long minutes, the silence so heavy with tension that I was surprised that our knees did not buckle beneath it. Katsuki's breathing was labored, heavy, and I could tell that he was holding himself back from saying whatever nonsense was spilling into his head at that moment. I heard another pop from his Quirk, and I saw his fingers flex threateningly by his side, but nothing else happened. At last, Iida broke the silence.
"That's enough!" Tenya Iida shouted from the front of the classroom, at last having worked up the nerve to end my and Katsuki's staring contest. "It's time for this morning's homeroom period… Everyone take your seats! Bakugo-kun, if you please!"
Katsuki's only reply was a scathing noise from his throat, but nevertheless he turned on his heel and walked to the back of the class, leaving me alone at my desk. Ochaco's gaze met my own, and I realized suddenly that she had been standing right behind Katsuki the entire time. Her palms were facing me, arms outstretched; she shrugged innocently.
"Just in case," she whispered, taking her seat at the desk next to mine. Izuku, who was sitting behind her, looked shaken but serious.
"Morning."
I jolted from my place at my desk, head snapping to my right as I realized that none other than my father had appeared in the doorway. He was covered in his usual bandages, his tired eyes peeking out from between the gauze to observe his class. His eyes paused when they fell on me, and I felt the bile of guilt rise in my throat again; he should have been staying with Recovery Girl this entire time, focussing on getting better. Instead, he had been coming home to deal with me and my bad attitude each and every evening.
"Aizawa-sensei!" was the collective exclamation from the class as he entered, sliding the door shut behind him.
"I can't believe you're back already!" Denki exclaimed from his place next to Katsuki, who did not appear to be as impressed with my father as everyone else.
"That's beyond Pro!" Eijiro chimed in from his desk.
My father, ignoring the praise of his students, shuffled to the front of the class to take his place in front of the chalkboard. His body shook with every step he took; it was something that had gone unnoticed by me while we were together at home, but now, in front of the whole class, it was apparent to me just how much pain my father was in. It was a pain that I should have noticed, but I had ignored it in favor of giving into my frustrations towards him. I grimaced, sinking lower into my desk chair as I let the waves of guilt wash over me.
"Sensei, you're alright?!" Iida piped up, raising his hand for some reason, as if my father was going to call on him. Ochaco gained my attention with a wave, meeting my eyes nervously.
"Can you really call that 'alright'...?" she whispered. I shook my head; no, you really couldn't.
"Don't concern yourselves over me," my father said gruffly, coming to rest behind the teacher's podium. "After all, the battle hasn't really ended for you yet."
"The battle…?" I heard Katsuki mutter in confusion from his seat.
"You don't mean more villains?!" Mineta squeaked. I frowned, peering over my shoulder to glare at him. I had forgotten all about him during my brief stint under house arrest- what a blissful time that had been.
"No, not more villains." my father replied, and I could tell that he was withholding an eyeroll. "UA's sports festival is approaching, boys and girls."
"A sports festival..." Tsuyu croaked incredulously from her place a few desks over.
"I keep forgetting that this is an actual school…" Ashido Mina mused from next to Tsuyu.
"Wait, hold up," Eijiro piped up again. My father, who was looking rather bored, stood stoically behind his podium as the students aired their thoughts. "That sounds like something villains would totally try to infiltrate… Right…?"
"On the contrary," my father replied, his tone suddenly serious. "Since we're going ahead with the festival, it means that the school is confident that it has all its ducks in a row when it comes to crisis control, now. I hear police presence will be five times bigger than normal, for example." The class issued a few mutters of approval at this figure, and the atmosphere became immediately lighter. My father ignored this, and continued.
"What you should be thinking about it what a huge chance the academy's sports festival presents for you all. This isn't some event that'll be brought to a halt by the likes of villains."
"I-i-if there are villains, can we please halt the festival?!" Mineta stammered. I rolled my eyes.
"Mineta, have you ever seen the UA festival?" Izuku asked, sounding almost offended by Mineta's request- I didn't blame him; I had grown up with the UA festival.
My experience with the festival was not in the traditional sense that my fellow classmates had 'grown up with' the festival; I had been attending the festival here with my father for as long as I could remember. The UA sports festival is how I had learned what it meant to give something your all; it was where I had learned that I wanted to become a hero.
"Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events! In days past, the 'Olympics' was the sports festivity that whipped the nation into a froth of enthusiasm!" My father's own enthusiasm on the subject, paired with his body being entirely covered in bandages, was a bit of a ridiculous sight to behold. "But now, as you know, the extent and population have shrunk and it's lost a lot of substance... So what has taken the place of the Olympics in Japan is the UA sports festival."
"Pro heroes will be there to scout us, Mineta," I muttered from my seat. "It's important, so you shouldn't let your fear of villains get in the way."
"I know, I know, but-"
"How do you expect to be a hero at all if you're so afraid of villains?" I asked, turning around to face him where he sat, behind Izuku. Izuku glanced over his shoulder.
"She does make a point, Mineta…"
"Naturally, entering the squad of a famous hero will get you higher status and more experience." my father continued, cutting into our sidebar. "Remember, time is limited. If you get noticed by a Pro, that gives you the standing for a brighter future than otherwise."
"So kids of Pro heroes are already at an advantage, huh?" Katsuki's brazen voice cut over my father's. I shot a glare in his direction, sticking out my tongue childishly when he glared back at me.
"She's not the only one in the hero course who is the child of a Pro," Shouto informed Katsuki, not even bothering to turn around to look at him. Katsuki's glare turned fiery, but it was lost on Shouto, who chose to continue to give my father his full attention. "Quit interrupting."
"This is the chance you'll get only once a year…" my father said, nodding at Shouto subtly as he spoke. "For a total of three chances. If you aim to be a hero, this is an event that you can't overlook!"
The rest of my day had been filled with chatting about the sports festival, our thoughts on heroism, and my father blatantly ignoring me. Needless to say, it had been a tumultuous first day back, and when the final bell rang to signal the end of our school day, I was more than ready to return home. I stood by my desk, bag in hand, waiting for Izuku and the others to collect their things. Shouto nudged my side, signalling for me to follow as he made his way towards the door. I obliged with Izuku hot on my heels, followed by Iida and Tsuyu bringing up the rear.
"What the heck?!"
Ochaco's exclamation caused the rest of the class to direct their attention to the door, which Ochaco had opened just a moment earlier. Just beyond the door to class 1-A was an enormous group of students, all of whom were pushing against one another in an attempt to get a better look at as. With us on one side of the door, and them on the other, I was given the impression of being an animal in a cage at the zoo. It was extremely unsettling.
"They're crowding the exit…" Mineta muttered from behind Shouto and I. "What's going on?"
"They're scoping out the competition, retard." Katsuki's choice of wording made me wrinkle my nose in distaste. "They wanna see the gang that came through the villain ambush… They're checking us out before the big battle, asshole."
Katsuki approached the doorway, pushing past Ochaco as he did so. Mineta pointed accusingly at Katsuki while giving Izuku the most pathetic expression that I had ever seen, but Izuku being the kind person that he was, responded by apologizing for Katsuki's behavior. I rolled my eyes, hoping against hope that the other classes didn't realize that deep down the entirety of class 1-A was a bunch of idiots, myself included.
"It's pointless to try, so why don't you fuck off, you goddamn mob?"
I smacked my forehead, as did Shouto, exasperation not even feeling like a decent enough response to Katsuki's outburst. Izuku froze, suddenly looking terrified, while Iida batted his arms wildly through the air while yelling at Katsuki about first impressions. Could this get any worse? A monotonous voice that issued from the crowd answered my question: Yes, yes it could.
"I came to see what you kids are made of, true," The voice was familiar; eerily familiar. "But I never expected for you to be this arrogant."
A unruly purple mop of hair was moving through the crowd, parting the other students. I gulped, and Shouto shot me an inquisitive look. Katsuki's measurable anger was rapidly shifting from mildly annoyed to threat level midnight.
"You heroics kids sure are weird- whining, crying, bragging… I can't tell if you're useless children or pompous snobs. I'm a bit disillusioned."
Hitoshi Shinso was not like most people that I had ever met before. Then again, I had not met that many people during my lifetime, and acknowledged the fact that he, very likely, was not as incredibly unique as I perceived him.
His purple eyes, which matched the unruly mop of purple hair on his head, contained a veritable sea of emotions, even though upon first glance one may not be able to tell. At face-value, he appeared to be an overtired teen, one who appeared to be fed up to the point of inaction with the status quo of the world in which he lived; his manner of speaking only served to solidify this point. Shinso, I had quickly discovered, was unabashedly brazen despite his soft-spoken nature. Indeed, the current situation I was now witnessing only served to illustrate this point further.
While I had sat by the UA gymnasium, pathetically crying, Shinso had been the one to discover me. I had never seen him before in my life- though, as I said earlier, I was not exactly well connected. A light sheen of sweat had covered his body, indicating to me that he had been training. When I had pressed him about it later that day, he had explained to me that he was training for the sports festival; this had surprised me, because I knew for a fact that he was neither in class 1-A or 1-B.
"That's right," he had replied stiffly, wiping his brow from his place next to me, though he did not meet my eyes. "Compared to all of you with 'heroic' Quirks, I'm at an obvious disadvantage."
"You don't even know what my Quirk is," I had replied sourly, glowering up at him from where I sat in the dirt. Shinso had given me a knowing smirk and a scoff before turning away from me.
"Get your shit together, hero," he had said snidely. "In two weeks, I'm coming for you guys."
He had declared his war on the heroics course well before interacting with them, and although he was two weeks early, I had to give him props for actually following through. He stood lazily at the front of the mob, which was still blocking our way out of our classroom, hands in his pockets as though this interaction weren't one of the most awkward and tension-filled situations on the planet. I had at least been right about one thing: He was interesting.
"There's lots of students here who end up in the Gen Ed department or others like that because their Quirks weren't tailored to pass the heroics entry test. Did you know that?" Katsuki said nothing, but merely continued to stare at him angrily. "Based on the results of the festival, we can come under review to be transferred into heroics. Likewise, you all can come under review to be transferred out." I could sense the shock of my classmates following this statement.
"Scoping out the competition…" Shinso continued, even though no one had audibly responded to him yet. "If anything, a Gen Ed kid like me is thinking 'hey, why don't I try pulling the rug out from under those heroics kids while they're up on their high horses?'... Consider it a declaration of war."
Fighting the anxiousness that was balling in the pit of my stomach, I at last was able to move from the spot where I had been rooted for the last ten minutes. Ignoring a confused gaze from Shouto, I marched to the front of the class, past Katsuki, stopping only when I had gotten nose-to-chin with Shinso, who was still standing just past the doorway with his hands in his pockets. A serious frown contorted my features, which only deepened when I realized that he was smirking.
"Shinso, is this really a productive conversation?" I muttered darkly, feeling the eyes of my classmates on the back of my neck. "From where I'm standing, the only people on their high horses are you and Katsuki."
"Who's Katsuki?" Shinso questioned blandly. I heard several loud pops from behind me, where Katsuki was still standing. I held back a smirk, not wanting to seem like I was picking an outsider's side.
"Take a wild guess." Shinso's eyes went from me, to Katsuki, then back to me again. I nodded. "Exactly."
"So you were in 1-A this whole time…" Shinso muttered, taking a step back and meeting my gaze. "You don't seem like the type who could keep a steady hand against a bunch of villains."
"Please stop acting like you know me well," I replied sharply. "Assumptions will only embarrass you, in the end."
"He's not the only one making assumptions around here."
It was a girl's voice that had interjected into my and Shinso's conversation. I turned my head to the left, my blue eyes falling on another girl who was standing just a few feet away from me. I had not noticed her upon my approach, but after seeing her hairstyle, I was unsure of how I had missed her.
She was tall, dark, and mysterious-looking, not to mention the size of her breasts was something to be marveled at considering we were all just freshmen in high school. I tried desperately not to stare, but to my frustration my arms subconsciously came up to cover my own chest; she smirked, and I knew she knew what I was thinking. This exchange was missed by everyone, including Shinso, whose purple eyes slid to his right to come to rest on the girl.
"Oh… Hey, Yaoyorozu."
I blinked, mentally praying that I could figure out her first name before I embarrassed myself stammering over her complicated surname. The girl nodded in response, walking a little closer but stopping when I was joined by Shouto, who had suddenly appeared by my side.
"I'm not really sure what you mean by that…" I muttered, meeting Yaoyorozu's gaze as I addressed her. "I wasn't trying to make assumptions about anyone's character- I'd just like to get home, and I thought in the meantime I'd point out that declaring 'war' on us does nothing but build tension." The girl scoffed, and despite myself I made a face- what was her deal?
"Don't worry about it, Yaoyorozu, she's a friend." Shinso said lazily, waving her away with a hand, to which the girl glared disdainfully.
"You know him?" Shouto remarked from my side. I met his gaze from the corner of my eyes, shrugging.
"I know his name." I replied easily. "We met at the gym."
"How nice." Yaoyorozu snipped, folding her arms across her chest. The two of us were now in identical stances.
"I see…" Shouto murmured, his mismatched eyes combing over Shinso in an almost embarrassingly obvious way. Shouto, however, being a reserved individual, caught himself; adjusting his bag on his shoulder, he cleared his throat and patted me casually on the back. "See you tomorrow." he said softly. The next second he was parting the crowd, making his way through the gaggle of new rivals.
"Who's that?" Shinso asked, still sounding bored even when asking a genuine question. I pursed my lips.
"A friend of mine." I replied. The more I spoke, the more sour Yaoyorozu appeared. For the life of me, I could not determine what it was that was making our interactions so difficult. "Will you please let us out of our classroom now."
"Do as you like," Shinso muttered, and as he spoke I noticed the students slowly begin to disperse, though Katsuki still insisted on brutally pushing through what few students still remained. I rolled my eyes as they called after him angrily- it was like he was determined to make enemies.
"What're you doing?" Shinso asked, turning on his heel to follow me as I brushed past him.
"Uh… Going home…" I replied, feeling Yaoyorozu's eyes on the back of my neck. "Why?"
"I was going to go train."
"Good for you."
"You should come." he said. It sounded less like an invite and more like a command.
"Um…"
"You can go home first." he continued, ignoring the fact that I was clearly on the fence. "I'll text you."
Despite his persistence, his behavior was not over eager at all. In fact, he still seemed bored. He was a fucking mystery.
"You don't have my number."
"Yes, I do." he replied airily. I shot him a look of confusion as we stepped out of UA, the late afternoon sun blaring down on us from where it peeked out from behind the UA front gates. "You gave it to me."
"No, I didn't." I insisted. He chuckled; I had previously been unaware that a laugh could could so disinterested.
"Yes, you did." he replied with his back to me. I had stopped walking, waiting for an explanation of some kind before I made my way home. "You asked me to show me my Quirk."
"Is your Quirk the ability to get anybody's cell phone number without asking?" I said snarkily, readjusting my schoolbag haughtily as I turned on my heel to go. He met my gaze over his shoulder, shooting me a small smirk as we parted ways.
"Something like that."
"Do you really think that you're going to do well in the festival if you keep neglecting your Quirk like this?"
Shinso's voice broke through my concentration, which had been focussed on making sure that my arms did not buckle as I completed my fiftieth pushup. My upper body strength- although fairly average- was something that I had always harbored a small desire to improve; and, since my father was returning my silent treatment with equal iciness, I figured that now was as good a time as ever to pour all of my efforts into strengthening myself.
"It's not like I don't know how to use it," I grunted out my reply as my chest hit the ground, sending up a small puff of dirt. I winced, both from the pressure of the ground against my chest as well as my tiny white lie to Shinso. Did I know how to use my Quirk? "I've been using my Quirk since I was four, just like you."
"Hm…" was Shisno's simple reply; he did not sound convinced. "What is your Quirk, exactly?" he murmured, drawing closer to where I lay on the ground. "I've never seen you use it."
"I could say the same for you," I retorted. I stood up swiftly- too swiftly, judging by the headrush I received- dusting the dirt from the front of my shirt in an attempt to ignore the sudden tension that surrounded me. "You've never talked about your Quirk to me…"
"Does it matter?" the purple haired boy replied, shrugging his shoulders boredly. "It's not like I'm in the hero class… Yet…" I arched an eyebrow incredulously.
"Someone sure seems confident in himself." I muttered as I stood, brushing off the front of my shirt. The longer we talked for, the more I found myself questioning why I had come here. Shinso and I were not close, despite our brief interaction the other day. What on Earth had brought me here? Curiosity?
Shinso was wearing a smirk that I found very annoying, though not quite so annoying as Katsuki's. Katsuki's smirk always stunk of a crippling superiority complex that I found I had very little patience for; Shisno, on the other hand, smirked with a reserved smugness that told me he had worked hard and, despite his lackadaisical attitude, he looked forward to showing the fruits of his labor.
"I failed to get into the heroics class because I couldn't do well on the entrance exam with a Quirk like mine," he began, his tone deep and flat as usual. "I'm in general education because of that…"
"That doesn't mean you can't become a hero." I reminded him. He glanced in my direction, his lazy purple eyes giving me a once-over before continuing.
"Like I said before, based on the results of the sports festival, people like me can come under review and be transferred into heroics."
As he said this, his eyes locked with mine. The tension between us pressed in on me from all sides; I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.
"That means we're rivals- but that's not to say that we can't help each other out in the meantime."
My eyes travelled down, away from Shinso's gaze. Instead I stared at my palms, which were covered in a mix of dirt and sweat; I pursed my lips bitterly at the dirt mixed with the salty liquid escaping from my skin.
I knew what Shinso was getting at- despite my obvious social ineptitude, I was not clueless when it came to declarations of war. While Shinso and I were friendly, Katsuki and Shouto had taught me early on that friendliness did you no favors when it came to becoming the number one hero- or even just a good hero.
The sudden reminder of Todoroki Shouto's existence sent a soft heat through my body which was as frustrating as it was welcomed. The truth was that I had missed my class almost more than I could bear; my pride would not allow me to admit that there were a choice few who I had missed most of all.
"So…"
Shinso's lazy drawl drew me out of my musings, bringing my attention back to him. Our eyes met again, and his shoulders bobbed ever so slightly with what I could only assume was a subtle chuckle.
"Are you going to keep dicking around, or are you gonna train for real and give me a run for my money at the festival?"
I sneered, Shinso's goading kindling a small fire within me that I had not felt since my fight with my father the week before.
"You're gonna wish you never asked."
The two of us stood stoically across from one another, preparing for whatever spar was soon to come. In the back of my mind, an obvious nervousness had begun to claw its way to the forefront of my consciousness. If I wanted to, I could control Shinso to do whatever I wanted him to. At least, that was the impression that my father had given me the last time we had spoken. If that happened, if I did control Shinso, it could lead to his death.
What if I lost control like I had that time in the USJ? What if I lost my cool and before I knew it, I was contorting Shinso's body to my will like putty? That would be the end- for me, and for Shinso.
"Well, come on," Shinso drawled, hands in his pockets. "Let's see this Quirk of yours."
I pursed my lips, and with a soft grunt I lifted my arms upwards, bringing several chunks of rock away from the ground simultaneously. I could already feel the sweat prickling against my skin, and I quickly found myself wondering if I had already infected Shinso with my Quirk. My guess was that in all likelihood I had.
I allowed my arms to fall loosely against my side, spinning my body casually as my hands whipped through the air. One, two, three chunks of rock I sent spitting through the air in Shinso's direction. His eyes, wide with surprise while still somehow retaining a definite hint of boredom, darted left and right before he dodged the first rock. He rolled across the dirt, little puffs of dust rising from the ground to meet the first chunk of rock as it fell into the ground in the same spot where Shinso had been a moment earlier.
I frowned slightly, whipping my right arm lazily through the air as I directed the second hunk of earth toward Shinso's new location. He dodged again, though I could tell that he was having trouble keeping up. I sent the third rock towards him, watching carefully as he made his move to dodge. With a swift gesture from my left hand I thwarted his escape attempt, bringing a wall of dirt up to block his escape route.
A soft oof! escaped his lips as his face landed in the dirt with a splat. The resulting glower was difficult to take seriously, since his face was covered in dirt. Despite myself I left out a snort of laughter, which only served to deepen Shinso's expression of distaste.
"So you control dirt, huh…" he said thoughtfully as he stood up again. He tried to wipe off his face, but the light sweat that had broken out following our brief spar made that difficult. "Elemental Quirks are good for heroics, I guess…"
I shrugged, content to allow his personal musings to continue while I turned my own attention elsewhere. My blue eyes, glistening in the low evening light, fell on a patch of weeds which had cropped up in the middle of the dirt-covered training ground. My eyes darted briefly to Shinso, who was toeing the now lifeless chunks of earth apprehensively, and then came back to the weeds. Curiosity pulled at my fingers, and without thinking I had turned my concentration entirely onto the weeds, which were no larger than my pinky nail.
Slowly, carefully, I lifted a single hand, moving my hand and fingers in a manner reminiscent of a jellyfish as I tugged at the small patch of weeds with my consciousness. They immediately began to move- at first just a small twitch, followed by a more graceful ebb and flow as the plants began to dance to and froe, growing slightly larger with each movement I made with my hand.
A smile broke out across my face- this wasn't bad at all! I watched with glee as the plants grew in height, and I soon was moving my hands in a twirling, upward motion. The plants mimicked my movements, growing ever upwards, dancing closer and closer towards the sky. Before I knew it I was laughing, dancing around the plants as my arms played gracefully above my head; the plants were now taller than I was.
"Uh… Daichi…" Shinso's voice, once again, broke through my concentration. "What are you doing?"
I whipped around to face him, allowing my arms to dance limply around around my head as I spun my body to face him. The plants twisted around me, mixing with the small rocks that had begun to float along with the plants, which were now twisting through the air as though they were vines and not weeds. I smiled broadly.
"Shinso, look!" I called from my place across the training ground. He was staring at me, his expression somewhere between his usual blank expression, and shock. "I thought it'd be a disaster to control something living- but look! It's fine! I can make it do whatever I want!"
"Daichi, you should be careful…" I heard Shinso murmur from his place opposite me. He no longer looked bored; he looked very serious. "Controlling things like this is-"
"What's your problem?" I snapped, dropping my arms to my side and making my way towards him. The weed vines followed me, twirling around me without my direction. "I'm just having fun- it's fine, isn't it?"
"Ok, so your Quirk isn't controlling dirt- I get it." Shinso assured me. His tone of voice was concerning me. "It seems like this part of it is pretty new to you… My Quirk is similar. Why don't you cool it with the plants, we can-"
"Why is everyone treating this like it's dangerous?" I protested, not bothering to pay attention as the vines began to whip around to reflect my anger. "It's going fine, nothing bad is happening!" Shinso's lips pursed into a thin, grim line.
"Check again, Daichi." he said calmly.
I froze, realizing that the air around me was no longer stirring with the movement of the weeds. My eyes met Shinso's gaze; his expression had not changed, and yet, in his eyes, I could see that he was taking me very seriously, now. Tearing my eyes away from him I slowly began to turn in place, my peachy hair ruffling in the small evening breeze that only served to deepen the intensity of the situation.
When I finished turning around, my smile was no longer present. My eyes, previously filled with the joy I had felt from observing my Quirk in action, now felt hot with tears. A pile of withered, browning vines met my gaze; the corpses of what had been that small pile of weeds just moments ago now littered the training ground, crisp dead leaves shifting in the cool wind. I let out a breath, though it came out of my lips as a choke as a tear spilled down my cheek.
A comforting hand arrived on my shoulder, Shinso's grip on me tightening as he realized that I was in tears. A mixture of shame and guilt filled me, an ailment that Shinso's presence- or anyone's, for that matter- could do little to improve.
"You good?"
Despite myself I let out a scathing choke. Tearing my teary eyes away from the plant cemetery in front of me, my watery blue eyes met the stern purple gaze of the boy standing beside of me. I opened and closed my mouth- I imagined that I looked quite like a fish out of water- but was unable to get a word out.
"My Quirk is mind control, Daichi." Shinso said finally, his gaze moving away from mine to come to rest on the ruined plants in front of me. So, that was how he had gotten a phone number out of me. "Controlling another living being is a dangerous game. I know that better than most."
"I didn't… I…" My stammer was little more than a pathetic, watery whisper. Shinso simply nodded knowingly.
"Having a Quirk like ours is intimidating, and it's easy to be misunderstood." Shinso said softly. His hand on my shoulder was suddenly guiding me away from the dead plants, and off of the training grounds. My body, numb with shock, could do little to resist. "They're dangerous, Quirks like ours."
"What if that had been a person?" I whispered finally, staring over at him desperately. "Shinso, they would be dead…"
"Like I said: Controlling another living thing is a dangerous game." he repeated, his tone still serious.
I nodded sadly, feeling more and more at a loss as to what to do. I looked up at him again, and to my astonishment I found a ghost of a smile tainting his expression.
"But, it's also just as you said: That doesn't mean you can't still be a hero."
By the time I arrived home, the sun had begun to set. The inside of my house was warm and inviting, suggesting that my father was cooking. Letting out a heavy sigh, I allowed my gym bag to fall to the floor in the hallway by the door as I removed my shoes. I crinkled my nose, cracking open the door to toss them onto the concrete steps that led to the entrance of the home my father and I shared; they stank to high heaven.
The warm pads of my feet pitter-pattered down the wood floors of the hallway. The closer that I got to the kitchen, the warmer it became. Halfway down the hall I paused abruptly, my eyes widening as noises made their way to my ears- someone else was here, someone who was not my father. The deep, loud laugh that erupted a moment later solved the mystery of just who it was who was apparently joining us for dinner.
It was All Might.
It was a raucous laughter that I would recognize anywhere. In fact, I doubted that there was anyone currently in attendance at UA that would not recognize his iconic guffaw. While the sheer volume of it was something that I sometimes found to be off putting, there was something about this gesture of All Might's that never failed to put me at ease. It was truly the laugh of a person who lived to help others, who cared for others; it was the laugh of a hero. That was, possibly, the thing I most admired about All Might.
I had never quite been able to grasp the power dynamics of men- or the dynamics of most people, for that matter- but I was certain that my father, for whatever reason, had never been so fond of All Might. This begged the question: what the hell was All Might doing at our house for dinner? I tiptoed to the end of the hallway, peering around the corner into the kitchen carefully in order to assess the situation.
My father stood beside the counter, deftly chopping scallions into small rounds. He faced away from All Might, who was gazing around the common area of our home with an expression of extreme satisfaction. My father's expression, even though it was still masked by layers of bandage, I could tell was one of annoyance.
"Are you sure you don't want me to take care of that?"
The booming voice of All Might made me jump a little where I stood at the end of the hallway. My father flinched, peering over his shoulder only briefly before continuing his cutting.
"That's quite alright," my father mumbled, scraping the scallions into a small bowl and setting down the knife. "I was done, anyways."
"Excellent." All Might replied jovially. My father set down the bowl of scallions on the table, where a pot of sukiyaki sat steaming. Despite myself, my mouth began to water. "Now, where is-"
"Daichi is already here." my father said with a tired sigh. My heart jumped, realizing too late that I had been foolish to think that I had entered unnoticed. "Are you going to come out, Daichi, or are you going to keep skulking in the hall?"
I grimaced, my cover clearly having been blown since the moment I stepped in the door. Slowly, guiltily, I slid out into the kitchen, clutching the wall like a lost child. I bit my lip, meeting my father's gaze from between his bandages where he stood at the stove. All Might's smile, juxtaposed with my father's displeasure, was quite a sight to see.
"Mom, Dad," I muttered sarcastically, nodding to the both of them. "I'm home."
hello all!
so sorry for the delay on this. i have been very busy with summer classes, as well as work and i moved homes. thanks for your patience and continued support! i'm hoping that next chapter i can finally dive into the sports festival arc!
i was very excited to introduce Momo in this chapter as a potential rival and a member of the Gen Ed course. since this is slightly AU, due to her not being in 1-A, i thought it could be interesting to still have her around but in a very different way from canon. to be frank, i never really understood how she got into the hero course with recommendations- her fighting skills i thought had a lot of potential (since her Quirk is useful) but they never really seemed to work out well for her.
i also was really excited to develop Daichi and Shinso's friendship, because i felt like with her new-found Quirk nature being the way it is, he can offer a lot of insight and it will develop into an important and interesting friendship.
as always favorite, follow, review and let me know your thoughts! thank you to everyone for your continued enthusiasm, critiques, and support!
