Heaven and Earth

Part II: Now, Head Out into the Great World!

"The deeper the darkness the more dazzling the light shines."


The following morning marked our first day back in class following the sports festival. I had actively avoided my father since I had arrived home from searching the city for him, and it seemed that he was committed to doing the same. Both of us were extremely obstinate individuals — like father, like daughter, I believe is the phrase. I had gone to bed early, taking a few crackers out of the pantry without a word before making my way to my room.

My father was gone before I even woke up, probably due to some kind of meeting with other U.A. instructors. I was sure that this day would not be just another day in class, considering the results from the sports festival. I slipped on my uniform, patting my skirt down in an attempt to clear the fabric of wrinkles. I glanced briefly in the mirror, rumpling my hair in an attempt to style it. It had been growing steadily for several weeks now, and had grown a tad longer than I was used to. I brushed it away from my neck, briefly observing how it fell around my neck before losing interest and instead focusing on my right eye.

I had removed the bandages earlier that morning while getting ready. The skin, thanks to the quick work of Recovery Girl, was not even slightly discolored. The lid hung loosely over the empty socket, wrinkling in a manner that I was not yet used to. I sighed heavily, tugging at the loose skin half heartedly as I stared at my own reflection. My left eye fell on the eyepatch on my dresser, which I had found outside of my door when I had arrived home the previous evening.

The eyepatch was a pleasant terracotta color — perhaps a little bit more red than that, even. Three deep, chocolate brown circles decorated the lower right edge, and were raised up slightly from the rest of the material. Each circle grew steadily larger the closer it came to the edge that, when worn, would be the closest to my nose. It had no string, indicating that it was meant to be held in place by the bones surrounding my now empty eye socket. I picked it up, holding it gently in my hands, my fingertips running over the three raised circles that decorated the other edge before putting it on. It looked nice, but my reflection made my heart sink. With a swift shake of my head I darted out of my room and down the stairs, determined not to get sucked into feeling bad while staring at my own reflection.

The school grounds were bustling with students, which was a welcome change from the emptiness that had plagued U.A. for the past two days. Up ahead of me upon my approach to the main building I spotted the familiar two-toned hair of Todoroki Shouto, which caused me to slow my pace to an annoyingly slow snail crawl in an attempt to avoid passing him. I was behind him all the way to our classroom, my gaze only leaving his head a few times to ensure that I was not bumping into anyone.

Once I entered the classroom my ears were met with an onslaught of chatter. Kirishima Eijiro and Sero Hanta were speaking animatedly with Tsuyu, Mina, and Hagakure Toru, their loud voices filling the classroom. Tsuyu was looking rather bored, having decided to rest her chin lazily on top of her arms, which were spread out across her desk. Mina was nodding enthusiastically — it was difficult to determine exactly what Toru was doing since as always, she remained quite invisible.

"I had so many people shouting my name on the way to school!" Eijiro said brightly, waving his arms through the air wildly. Mina continued to nod.

"I got so embarrassed, everyone was staring at me so intently!" Toru added. I held in a laugh, finding it somewhat comical that an invisible person could feel embarrassed about being stared at, just like the rest of us.

"Me, too!" Eijiro continued, giving Toru a nod in affirmation.

"I got consoled by some elementary school kids," Hanta admitted sheepishly. His face was contorted in an awkward sort of way.

"How nice." Tsuyu muttered quietly into her arms.

Tsuyu's head suddenly perked up, apparently noticing that I had entered the room. Shouto still had yet to notice my presence behind him, and he had stopped a little ways into the classroom, taking stock of the commotion caused by his fellow classmates. Tsuyu gave me a tiny wave, grinning a little when our eyes met.

"Daichi," she croaked, causing Hanta, Eijiro, and Mina to look at me. I could only guess as to what Toru was doing, but I assumed that she was looking at me, too. "We were worried about you. How are you?"

"I'm doing alright," I replied, doing my best not to let my nervousness show. "Hearing all of that makes me thankful I don't have to go off-campus." Eijiro nodded knowingly. Tsuyu jerked her wrist, pointing to her own right eye with a single slender finger.

"You're wearing an eyepatch," she noted, gesturing at her own eye as if she had to indicate what she was talking about. Ahead of me I noticed that Shouto was glancing over his shoulder at me. "Is it still healing?" I pursed my lips awkwardly.

"Ah…" I muttered. I was suddenly very aware of my classmates' eyes on me. Katsuki had yet to arrive to class, but I knew what it was that everyone wanted to know. "No, it's done all of the healing that it can. Recovery Girl couldn't save the eye." Ochaco, who I had not realized was sitting at the far end of the classroom, let out an audible gasp.

"Oh, Daichi!" she squeaked. A moment later she slapped her palms over her lips, realizing that everyone in the classroom had turned toward her. "I-I'm sorry, I just… I didn't expect that."

"It's fine," I murmured, doing my best to shoot her the sweetest smile that I could muster. Even without being able to see my face, I could tell that it was awkward. I forced myself not to grimace from the embarrassment.

"But you were amazing out there, Daichi!" Ochaco said, quickly recovering from her own embarrassment. "I had no idea you could control other things,"

"Yeah, you were badass." Eijiro commented, giving Ochaco an affirming nod.

"You showed Bakugo what's what!" Mina said enthusiastically. She swung at the air with her fists as she spoke. "Even if he took your eye, no one's gonna forget how awesome you did in that fight!"

"Ashido…" Hanta muttered warningly. Mina flushed.

"It was scary." Mineta piped up from the other corner of the room. I could have sworn that I saw Shouto roll his eyes. "Scary women…"

"Quiet, you." I replied tartly, throwing Mineta a harsh look. Even with only one eye, I knew I could intimidate him. In fact, it probably made me scarier. I did have an eyepatch, after all.

A sudden noise caught our attention, stopping our conversation. The door had slid open, revealing an unusually sour-looking Katsuki standing in the doorway. His face was contorted in a glower, which was unsurprising. The look of pure outrage upon seeing me standing in the classroom, however, was somewhat out of the ordinary. Truth be told I was a little offended, because considering the circumstances, it seemed as though I was the only one out of the two of us with any place to look that angry.

"Katsuki." I said stiffly, throwing him a look over my shoulder.

Katsuki stepped into the classroom, dropping his bag onto the top of his desk with much more force than was necessary. Izuku had strolled in behind him with Tenya, both of them donning expressions of concern upon realizing that Katsuki and I were interacting. Shouto's eyes had not left Katsuki since he had appeared in the doorway, his mismatched eyes following him carefully, as though he suspected that Katsuki was going to throw a punch at me. Judging from Katsuki's expression, that possibility did not seem wholly out of the question.

"The hell is everyone lookin' at me for?" Katsuki hissed.

He shot a venomous glare around the classroom, but no one seemed to want to say anything. I could not blame them. At last his eyes settled on me, and I felt my body grow stiff beneath his gaze. I was doing my very best to give him nothing to work with. I had no desire to fight with him here. Somehow, now that I had seen him I realized that I was not even that angry with him. Certainly I was a little bit upset; he had taken one of my eyes, after all, and it had all been due to his blatant disregard for safety and his desire to win. I knew that I was right to feel upset with him.

Despite my best efforts, though, the mental image that I had of him — strung up like some sort of macabre ornament by the ropes of blood and rocks that I had been in control of — refused to stop tormenting me. I was not completely innocent in the situation, that much I was sure of. Katsuki was still staring at me, giving me a once-over before continuing.

"What's with the eyepatch?"

Against my better judgement, I laughed. It was not a humorous laugh — no, it was not a laugh of amusement. I could practically feel the bitterness drip out of my mouth like spit as the laugh escaped my lips, my breath catching in my lungs from disbelief. Katsuki had to be the biggest numbskull in all of U.A. — perhaps even all of Japan — if he was not able to put two and two together. My fingertips grazed my eyepatch for just a moment.

"You're kidding, right?" I replied, staring him dead in the eyes. Katsuki merely continued to frown. "I only have one eye now, thanks to you." Katsuki let out a derisive laugh.

"Yeah, right," he spat. In the outskirts of my line of vision I noticed Shouto bristle defensively. "So my attack grazed your face — big deal! I'm sure Recovery Girl had it handled. What, it still needs time to heal, or something?" The classroom had by then fallen completely silent.

"Did you not listen to me after the festival?" Shouto had, at long last, ceased to be able to remain silent. His eyes were still fixed on Katsuki, who now turned to him looking half annoyed, half intrigued. "Your attack didn't graze Daichi — you aim well." His gaze slid over to me, our eyes meeting for the first time in what felt like an eternity. I felt the tenseness that my stomach had been harboring for the past couple of days dissipate almost immediately. "Unfortunately." Shouto finished, his tone icey as he tore his eyes from mine to look back at Katsuki.

"Certainly not a heroic action." I heard Tenya mutter sternly somewhere to my rear.

Tokoyami, who sat in front of Shouto, nodded his head in open agreement. Katsuki by that point was looking mildly astonished, although his trademark frown had yet to disappear. That frown was in it for the long haul.

"You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me," Katsuki said through clenched teeth. I shook my head slowly. "You damn nerds, don't fuck with me!" Katsuki had stood up from his seat rather violently, sending it crashing backwards right into Izuku's desk.

"Kacchan, calm down," Izuku murmured, but Katsuki was not having it.

"Don't 'kacchan' me!" he roared. "She beat me to a fuckin' pulp! Shit happens in fights!"

"You seem pretty intact from where I'm sitting," Shouto said coolly. His arms were folded across his chest, and he was still glaring at Katsuki. "Feel free to let me know if I'm overlooking something."

"Hey, screw you!" Katsuki retorted, jabbing an accusatory finger in Shouto's direction. "I don't wanna hear a peep outta you! Or you!" he continued, moving his finger toward me. I made a face. "I only won first place because you two fuckers gave up! I'll never accept it, and I sure as shit won't accept whatever the hell kinda retaliation this is from all of you damn nerds!" He waved his hand wildly, gesturing toward all of our classmates as he spoke.

"Sorry, I'm having some trouble seeing your point," I smirked. I had finally taken my place at my desk next to Shouto and behind Izuku, relief washing over me when I was at last safe behind my desk. "Y'know, what with having only one eye and all."

"D-Daichi…" Izuku stammered, his eyes flashing back and forth between Katsuki and I. "Is now really the time for that?" I chose to ignore Izuku, keeping my left eye set dead on Katsuki. He was fuming by that point.

"Are you telling me I should feel bad for you because you won first place and you feel cheated out of a good fight, somehow?" I pressed, sarcasm dripping from each word I spoke. "Poor lil' Katsuki doesn't feel like he truly earned his keep~" I drawled. Katsuki bristled, and Shouto shot me a warning look. "Save your whining for someone who cares, Katsuki."

A second later I felt my own hands slap over my mouth, my eye wide. Shouto was staring at me out of the corners of his eyes, a faint look of bewilderment just visible on his face. I felt my cheeks getting hot, and I felt the eyes of everyone in class on me. My gaze fell on Tokoyami, who was giving me a knowing look. Our conversation from a day earlier flashed through my mind.

"S… Sorry…" I muttered, still trying to recover from my embarrassment and shock. Katsuki was giving me a look of pure outrage. "I didn't mean… To…" I trailed off, not quite knowing how to finish my sentence. Had I meant to say that?

My internal struggle was cut short by the door sliding open. The eyes of my classmates were thankful drawn toward the front of the classroom, and I realized that my father had just entered the room. He was looking somehow more disheveled than usual, and the scar below his right eye caught my attention yet again. I bit my lip, my thoughts again returning to Shigaraki Tomura and my mother, who I now knew to be Chisaki Izanami.

"Aizawa-sensei," Tsuyu chirped from her place on the other side of the classroom. "I'm happy you were able to remove your bandages."

"The old lady got over dramatic with her treatment," my father explain. His fingers ran over his face, lingering on his new scar for only a moment before pretending as though he had intended to brush his hair out of his eyes. "But let's put that aside. Today's heroics informatics period is… A little special." he finished lamely. His half hearted attempt at an introduction still managed to grab the attention of the class.

"It's time to formulate your codenames." my father said, raising his voice as the class broke out into excited chitchat. "Your hero names."

"Oh my god, yes!" Mina squealed from her chair.

"Finally!" Eijiro gasped. Katsuki cast him an excited, yet no less classically-Katsuki-aggressive, look. Shouto and I sat in our seats, simply staring stoically up at my father. "Now this is makin' my chest swell!" he declared. I made a face — what did that even mean?

"This is related to the draft nominations by pros, which I mentioned the other day." my father continued, his face remaining decidedly stony despite the sudden eruption of excitement from my classmates. "The nominations will truly start mattering only after you've gained some experience and your adaptable fighting ability is judged during your sophomore and senior years. In other words, the nominations you're getting this year are more akin to expressions of interest in your future potential." I noticed several of my classmates' giddy expressions falter.

"Those damn grown-ups, playing with our emotions…" Mineta hissed under his breath up in front of Izuku, who was remaining attentive in spite of my father's disheartening words.

"On top of that, be aware that it's not that rare that these interests can dry up come graduation, or may simply be dropped altogether." my father explained stoically.

I tilted my head, observing as Tsuyu and Mina exchanged nervous looks with one another. Ochaco caught my eye, giving me a comforting smile from her seat behind Tenya. Toru raised her hand, bouncing a little as my father gestured toward her, indicating that she was allowed to speak.

"So I guess the nominations we received are like personal hurdles, then!" she exclaimed.

The sleeves of her school uniform shirt moved closer together and farther apart several times in a row, indicating that she was clapping her hands together. My father gave her a nod before turning back toward the blackboard.

"Yes." my father replied. He was all business, barely pausing to answer Toru as he snatched a small piece of chalk from below the blackboard. "Now, the tally of nominations are as follows."

Each of us watched with bated breath as my father began writing the results up on the blackboard. The sound of the chalk on the writing slat only seemed to escalate the palpable tenseness in the classroom. I saw various pairs of eyes darting around, either to desperately seek reassurance from friends or to gauge reactions of their fellow classmates.

Shouto and I exchanged looks, and although we had not spoken much since our spat during the sports festival, I felt the knot in my stomach unwind a considerable amount as his eyes met my one, probably very nervous-looking, blue eye. His lips twitched slightly, indicating the classic Todoroki Shouto almost-smile. I smiled back, somehow not caring about the hot feeling in my cheeks as, unsurprisingly, I began to blush. A sudden tapping sound drew the two of us out of our silent exchange, each of our gazes directing themselves back to my father and the blackboard.

"Typically, the results are more balanced," my father explained, gesturing behind him toward the writing on the board. "But, this year, the attention was mainly aimed at three particular students."

My eye widened, and I felt the eyepatch held in my right eye fidget a little bit in response to the surprise that now decorated my face. I felt relief and excitement wash over me like a warm shower, my gaze fixated on my father's handwriting on the board. My own name had caught my attention: it sat directly below Shouto's, right above Katsuki's. Despite myself I felt an enormous smile stretch out across my face, and I noticed with excitement that my father was looking directly at me, a guarded smile tugging at his lips.

"Damn!" Denki exclaimed. He was now leaning back in his chair, his hands tugging at his hair in exasperation. "It's so clear it's practically black and white!"

I was desperately trying to get ahold of myself, not wanting to seem as though I was rubbing it in, but in spite of my best efforts I could not get a grip on my emotions, much less on my smile.

"Those pros have no eye for discernment," Aoyama Yuga sighed, observing the tips of his fingers delicately as he spoke. His name was not written on the board at all.

"Looks like the pros have their own ideas about how the award ceremony should've gone," Eijiro commented, shooting Katsuki a sly look. "Aizawa forfeited, after all, but only after she'd been declared the winner." My smile flickered as Katsuki shot a glare in my direction. "Seein' a certain someone all straight jacketed on the winner's stand may've scared them off!" Eijiro jeered.

Katsuki turned his face away from him to shoot a terrifying snarl at Eijiro, who merely laughed. The two of them shared a camaraderie that, frankly, I could not understand no matter how hard I tried.

"Pros ain't gonna be scared!" Katsuki yelled in retaliation, balling his hands into fists.

"Congratulations, Shouto," I whispered as Katsuki and Eijiro continued to yell semi-playfully with one another. "Can't say I'm surprised. Papa said you won second — clearly the pros think you did well."

"A lotta that's gotta be because of my dad," was his muttered reply. He was glaring at the blackboard, clearly less impressed with the results than the rest of us were. I pursed my lips.

"Maybe some of it," I admitted, glancing back at the board. "But give yourself some credit. You're an excellent fighter, and you'll make an excellent hero."

My left eye slid over toward Shouto again while still facing the board, and my heart fluttered excitedly as I noticed that there was a light pink color appearing on his cheeks. His arms were still folded tightly across his chest, as though determined not to show any excitement. His expression, however, told a different story; I could see a faint smile on his lips, not to mention the blush. I could not tell how much of his expression was from what I had said, and how much was from the results.

"Wow! Wow!" Ochaco's exclamation drew my attention over to her, where she was shaking Tenya back and forth ecstatically from her seat. "Tenya, you and Tokoyami are practically neck and neck!"

I glanced back at the board, shooting an affirming nod in Tokoyami's direction upon realizing that his name was written right below Katsuki's. He returned my nod, though it was really more of an upwards jerk of his head. In front of me I noticed that Mineta had turned around to talk to Izuku, his face painted with disappointment.

"None, huh?" he said shakily, grasping at Izuku's hands. "I was afraid of that…"

"Yeah…" Izuku replied, nodding numbly as he shifted in his desk.

Whether it was instinctually or on purpose I could not tell, but Izuku removed his hands from his desk before Mineta could grab them. I held in a chuckle — Mineta was truly persona non grata in our classroom.

"Based on this," my father began. The classroom quieted, all of us redirecting our attention back to our teacher. "Regardless of whether or not you received any nominations, I'll be having you all go get some so-called workplace experience." Everyone in the classroom suddenly perked up. My father ignored this, choosing to barrel onward with his speech. "Well, you've all dipped a toe in the world of the pros, unfortunately…" His tone grew dark for just a moment. The face of Shigaraki Tomura flashed through my thoughts, but thankfully did not linger. "But, I think experiencing the activities of pros firsthand will prove to be more fruitful training than your experience in the U.S.J."

"And it's 'cause of that that we need hero names, huh?"

Sato Rikido, a classmate of mine with a Quirk called Sugar Rush, had piped up from his place beside Ochaco. She smiled brightly, engaging with him and eagerly matching his vigor. She pumped her fists in the air to display her excitement.

"Things have gotten fun all of a sudden!" she chortled.

Ochaco's cheeks were pink from the excitement, and I felt a smile tug at my lips again. It was people like Ochaco that made me thankful for a place like U.A., which until my enrollment, had merely been the place where I lived.

"Of course placeholder names are fine, too, at this point." my father explained. He was shifting through some papers on his desk distractedly while he spoke.

"Because if not, it'll be hell from here!"

I started, jumping slightly in my seat in response to the unexpected outburst. It had come from the door, which had slid open while my father had been talking. Every head in the classroom snapped in that direction, eyes widening as we realized that none other than Midnight had appeared in the doorway.

"The names you pick now," she continued, sauntering through the door with a sauciness that I had come to expect from Midnight. "Those are the names you'll come to be known by in the world, now!" Her arms draped seductively behind her head, and she came to a full stop next to my father, who was still staring at his desk in the front of the classroom. "In many cases, the names stick once you go pro!"

"Midnight!" gasped several students in unison. Midnight gave us a nod of acknowledgement, reveling in the excitement that had returned to the classroom. My father peered over at Midnight from beneath his shaggy hair.

"Well, she's not wrong." he muttered, ignoring the animated chatter that was bubbling across the classroom. "I'll be having Midnight evaluate your naming sense, since I definitely can't."

"Eraserhead's not the worst name," I shrugged as my father shot a smirk in my direction.

By my side I was certain that I heard Shouto chuckle, but when I turned to check he was still staring at the front of the classroom with his arms over his chest. My father cleared his throat to indicate that our attention should still be on him. He tapped his desk listlessly before continuing.

"The way your futures end up will approach the image projected by the name you choose." he said. "It's all down to that old saying: names and natures often agree. Take All Might, for example."

My father raised his hands as he spoke, and I noticed that he was gripping his trusty sleeping bag in his fingers. The worn mustard yellow fabric stood out against his usual monochromatic outfit, a low rustle meeting my ears as he fluffed up the sleeping bag, preparing it for his coming relaxation time. For what felt like the millionth time that day, I stifled a snicker.

The class grew quiet as Midnight passed a stack of white cardstock out to each row of students. A dark blue border decorated the edge of the thick white paper, which my fingertips traced gingerly as my thoughts turned to the daunting task of hero names. My gaze darted around the classroom, watching as my fellow classmates pondered the same thing. My one eye returned to the blank paper in front of me, and I bit my lip in concentration while I flipped a pen around in my fingers.

It was not easy, thinking of a hero name. The most difficult part, at least for myself, was that I still was uncertain as to what my Quirk actually was. It was clear enough by only briefly considering the pro heroes that I was familiar with that in many ways one's Quirk determined the name. Or, at least one's name often took considerable inspiration from the Quirk that the hero possessed.

My Quirk was viral; that was what my father had told me. Rather, the process it worked through greatly resembled how viruses operated. It copied itself into other objects — into other creatures — infecting them with itself, thereby allowing me to control them. My brow furrowed thoughtfully as I continued to consider my options. In truth, I was still in denial about the new aspects of my Quirk that had come to light in recent events. At that time, I was much more disposed to continuing to think of my Quirk as a simple elemental Emitter type. My ability to control rocks and dirt represented my Quirk comfort zone.

My gaze returned to the paper. I pressed the tip of my pen to the blank sheet of paper, focussing on precision as I began to write my name of choice. The thought did not cross my mind, at least at that point, that this name would be merely a placeholder during my upcoming journey of growing familiarity with my Quirk.

Aoyama Yuga was the first of us to go. He stood at the front of the classroom, boldly declaring that his hero name would be "I Cannot Stop Twinkling." This, of course, was met by unanimous blowback from the class, my father, and Midnight. Clearly, a full sentence would not work well as a hero name. Mina was next, instructing for us to call her "Alien Queen." This, too, had problems, because it was a reference to the movie Alien: the alien in the movie was supposed to be the villain.

At last it was my turn. I stood up from my desk, for some reason suddenly feeling a little nervous. I felt the eyes of my classmates — as well as my father, who was slumped in the back of the classroom in his sleeping bag — on me as I made my way toward the front of the classroom. Taking my place behind my father's desk I fiddled with the piece of paper that I held in my fingers, which was still facing toward my stomach.

"Ah…" I muttered shakily, gazing around the classroom. Katsuki was looking sour, as usual, but Ochaco was giving me an encouraging smile from the back of the classroom. Shouto gave me a nod, urging me to continue. "After some thought, I decided on this…" I said while flipping my paper around.

The word "Golem" stood out in black marker on the front side of the paper. I kept my good eye fixed on my classmates, who were absorbing my name choice diligently from their seats. Shouto was wearing an expression that I was having some trouble interpreting, but Ochaco was still beaming from her seat. My father's eyebrows were knotted together, apparently concentrating very hard on my name choice.

"I, uh… I chose this one because in folklore Golems are made from clay or mud," I explained, not really sure about how to proceed. "Since I can manipulate earth I thought it was fitting, since Golems are basically just earth molded into a human form and controlled through magic…" Midnight was staring at my paper intently from her place next to me. "I… I thought it seemed fitting…"

"But you can control other things besides dirt," Denki said.

Denki clearly had said what almost everyone else was thinking, judging from the several nods of agreement I saw from other classmates. From his desk Katsuki was eyeing my paper shrewdly.

"You can fuckin' say that again," he growled. I made a face.

"My thanks to the peanut gallery." I bit back, shooting him a glower that matched his own in intensity. "Is it weird?"

"I think our fellow classmates are merely surprised that you would limit yourself in such a way," Tenya offered from his seat. I glanced away nervously.

"Aizawa may not fully understand her Quirk just yet," Tokoyami interjected. I felt relief wash over me as he came to my rescue. "Obviously none of us do, either."

"Until that happens, Golem seems like a fine placeholder!" Midnight declared. I felt her hand being placed on my shoulder, which gave me reassurance. "It communicates your specialty, which in the end boils down to how you're probably going to use your Quirk out in the field!"

"You can always change it to something more suitable down the road." my father added from his sleeping bag. He gave me a reassuring nod, and I felt my stomach settle. "When you understand your Quirk better, it'll be easier."

Ochaco and I exchanged smiles as I sat down, and Tsuyu gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up as she headed to the front of the classroom to share her own hero name. I grinned from ear to ear as she turned her paper around to reveal her name: Froppy.


Class ended without much of a hitch. Shouto grew steadily more stoic as class went on, which was made more obvious by the fact that he had chosen to simply use his birth name as his hero name. Tenya had followed suit, and I could tell that the two of them were both still relatively rattled from the sports festival. More than that, I had seen the news of Tenya's older brother, Ingenium, on the news very early in the morning. I had not had the chance to speak with him about it, but I also figured that it was not my place, as I did not know him extremely well.

I was waiting outside of an office for the Department of Support, several sheets of paper grasped tightly in my hands. I had drawn a quick sketch of a new hero costume in response to our pending workplace experience requirements. What with the choosing of hero names and all, it seemed that my simple black leotard may have outworn its welcome, literally.

We only had two days to choose where we wished to perform our workplace experiences. My goal for this experience was to get stronger, and I had been given many options for places to work. I had briefly considered taking Snake Hero Uwabami's offer, but had been swiftly repulsed upon realizing that she was very much in the public eye — while it was certainly true that Uwabami was a pro hero, even more than that, she was a celebrity. When it came to the media, I took after my father: I was not a fan.

"What are you doing here?"

It was a girl's voice that had broken my concentration. I glanced up, realizing to my extreme annoyance that none other than Yaoyorozu Momo was standing in front of me. She was also holding some papers in her hands, and was eyeing me as though I had done something to offend her just by sitting outside of the Support Department office.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied tartly, meeting her gaze. "Is Shinso with you?" Momo rolled her eyes.

"I haven't seen that guy," she told me. "We aren't in the same class anymore."

"What happened?" I asked, suddenly feeling very concerned for my friend's well being. Momo smiled smugly.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" she said. I could tell that she was making fun of me — Momo was many things, but she was not subtle. "Someone dropped out of class 1-B after the festival. I made my appeal, and I've been granted the opportunity to enroll in the hero course." My one good eye widened. "At the moment it's only probationary."

"Did Shinso try as well?"

"Maybe." Momo told me. "But I had a few recommendations up my sleeve."

"I see…" I muttered. I looked down at the paper in my hands, wondering silently how Shinso was doing in the face of all this. "Well, good for you." Momo snorted, and I felt something stir in the back of my mind.

"I don't have time for your sarcasm." Momo said, making to knock on the door I had been waiting outside of. I smirked.

"Oh, well, in that case," I said through a sneer, my one eye meeting hers. "I think that the wrong person got into the hero course."

"Watch your mouth, Aizawa." she warned. No one had come to answer the door, and so she instead put her papers in the small mail holder outside of the door. "You'll have to learn to fight with no eyes if you aren't careful."

"If I recall correctly you lost to me at the festival," I murmured. I stood up, putting myself on eye level with her. "You may be in the Heroics Department now, but don't think that makes any difference to me. I don't acknowledge you."

"Like I need your acknowledgement," Momo bit back, taking a step closer to me. I followed suit.

"You talk big for someone who lost," I jeered. "What was it that you told me? I stole your place here, or something?" Momo sent a ferocious glare at me. "If you don't think that you could pass the entrance exam, then you shouldn't even be here."

"Why you —"

"Daichi."

The voice of Todoroki Shouto tugged Momo and I out of our brief turf war. I turned my head, allowing my good left eye to settle on him. He looked calm, his two-toned eyes moving smoothly back and forth between the two of us, gauging the situation. He sighed, putting both of his hands into his pockets. He had his school bag slung over his shoulder, indicating that he had intended to be headed home.

"What are you doing?" Shouto said, his eyes at last coming to rest on me.

I felt a shrill voice in my head yell at Shouto to butt out, but I chose to instead remain silent. I shot a look at Momo, and the two of us backed away from one another, neither of us saying a word. Shouto continued to stare at us, waiting for one of us to speak. Instead of talking, Momo simply turned on her heel and walked briskly away from the two of us, muttering something that I could only assume was an insult under her breath.

"That's not like you." Shouto commented as I, too, began to walk away from where I had been sitting. I stuffed the papers I was holding into the mail holder, brushing past Shouto.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. Shouto matched my pace, walking next to me as we both made our way out of the building.

"Picking fights with other students in the middle of the halls," he clarified, his tone stony. "That's not like you."

"Because you know me so well." I muttered. Shouto was quiet for a moment, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a vague look of hurt cross his face.

"Well enough." he said finally. We were outside now, the evening sun temporarily blinding me. "Well enough to know who you're going to choose for your workplace experience, anyways."

"Oh yeah?" was my incredulous reply. Shouto shot me a small smirk, but did not say anything. "You don't know."

"I do." he insisted. The two of us lapsed back into silence. After a few minutes, he spoke again. "I'm sorry for what I said at the festival."

"Yeah, you've already apologized."

"I'll keep apologizing until you forgive me." Shouto said. He took a step closer to me. "Not to mention that I was obviously wrong about you… About your Quirk."

"You think?" I scoffed. Shouto was by now quite close to me.

"Like I said, I'm sorry."

I allowed my left eye to come to rest on his face. His expression was one that I had not seen on him before. It was serious, persistent, intent. His white and red hair shifted in the light breeze, and I suddenly became very aware of both his eyes, which had been locked on me and had not moved since we had come outside. I shifted uncomfortably, suddenly feeling very hot.

"Try again tomorrow." I said softly, at last looking away from him. I thought that I heard a low chuckle escape from his chest.

"I'll try every day until the internships are over." he replied. He turned away from me, making to leave campus. "I hope you'll forgive me by then."

"It'll be hard to do that everyday when we're in two different places!" I called after him as he made to exit the gate. He paused, turning around to meet my gaze one last time. A triumphant smirk was plastered on his face.

"You're going to the Endeavor Hero Agency," he stated. I blanched. "I am, as well."

Without another word Shouto turned on his heel and strode out of the gate, disappearing into the streets of the city. I was left alone on campus, my one eye wide with shock. Out of all of the places that had made me offers, I had chosen Endeavor Hero Agency for two major reasons: one, he was the number two hero, and I knew that if anyone could help me get control of my powers, it was Endeavor; and two, Shouto hated his father, and I was still upset with Shouto. I frowned.

Damn. He got me.


Thank you again to all who reviewed/followed/favorited. Thanks very much to RosanaDoodles for making some fanart for this story! it's adorable, so if you would like to check it out let them know!