On their second day, Hitomi actually woke up on schedule, able to make the trip to UA together with Momo this time. The taller girl walked with poise and silent elegance, while the pinkette beside her was anything but.

"Pretty crazy that we got in the same class as Todoroki, huh Mo?"

Momo hummed faintly, obviously lost in her train of thought.

Hitomi skipped ahead, backpack bouncing against her. Spinning around, she walked backwards to face Momo. "You're spacey, what's on your mind?"

Momo blinked, and her face fell in worry. "I'm just a little worried, that's all."

"'bout what?"

Momo frowned. "The class seems to have a few... interesting individuals, don't you think?"

Hitomi crossed her arms behind her head, looking up at the clouds. "I'd like to think we're interesting."

Momo shook her head. "No, I mean..."

While Momo talked, Hitomi got distracted by an oncoming figure, one who seemed to be in quite a rush. As it got closer, she could recognize the bushel of messy green locks.

Right arm sweeping in the air as she still walked backwards, Hitomi beamed at him. "Heya Midoriya! What's the rush?"

In his shock at being addressed, Midoriya tripped over himself, scrambling to avoid hitting the ground. The bulky duffel bag in his grip didn't help matters at all.

Taking quick long strides ahead, Hitomi put both hands on his shoulders to steady him. At the sudden contact and proximity, his face erupted into a shade of ruby red. Hitomi, oblivious of how her face was barely an inch from his, cocked her head questioningly.

"You okay?"

Stepping back, he nodded frantically. "Y-yes! Thank you!"

Hitomi shrugged. "I was the one who made you trip in the first place."

Momo sighed at the delay, knowing Hitomi was always one to make unnecessary conversation.

"What's with the bag?"

"O-oh, it's my Hero costume, actually." Midoriya stammered, but sounded proud. He jumped minutely, remembering something. "Ah, Saito, I wanted to ask you yesterday, are you related to the Heroes Silv—"

"Shouldn't your costume be on campus?" Momo quickly cut him off, not wanting him to go into that line of questioning already.

Midoriya quickly explained why he was in possession of his costume, which turned out to be that his mother made it for him. He looked rather proud of it, smiling warmly down at the bag.

A shameful jealousy burned its way up Hitomi's throat, but she worked to stomp it down with a tight grin. Midoriya seemed nice, and didn't deserve any wrongful ill will she was feeling towards him, all for the fact that he still had his mom.

She would have felt crushing guilt, if she had known his father hadn't been around for so long, that Midoriya would've forgotten what he looked like if it weren't for photos.

...

If she thought she was on his bad side before, then Hitomi for sure was now. The death-glare Bakugou sent her and Midoriya as they and Momo stepped through the door was burning brighter than the sun. But that might have been his palms exploding sporadically that gave that illusion.

While the green haired teen quaked under the glare, Hitomi only smiled at him, skipping to her seat and dropping down on it fearlessly. It wasn't that she thought the blonde was harmless, but rather that she felt there was no way someone would throw away a spot in UA just to throw a few petty punches.

Momo on the other hand, didn't hold the same fearlessness as Hitomi, watching the pinkette practically flaunt her courage to Bakugou as she herself was sitting at the edge of her seat, worried that she was going to end up having to break up a fight.

"She hasn't changed much."

Momo blinked, looking to her right, where a certain boy from their past sat. While she had almost no memory of ever talking to Todoroki personally, Hitomi had filled her in the previous evening about her encounter with him when they were all kids, specifically the night that Naomi had slapped Todoroki's father right across the face.

It made sense why he would ask that, seeing as how his experience with the bubbly girl was chipper on her end, and frosty on his. But she never wavered at the cold reception. Watching her casually ask how Bakugou's day was so far, get venomous curses back, and continue to smile and appear unfazed, was something that resembled Todoroki's introduction to her. Minus of course, the foul language and hateful glares.

But Momo was the only one who could see clearly, the true feelings beneath her smiles. While everyone else saw an admittedly ditsy girl, Momo saw the calculated and strong person Hitomi had become, all to be where she was sitting right now.

"No, she has."

Hitomi glanced back, grinning excitedly to the ravenette, while her eyes shined with a look of determination. She was ready for the trials ahead, so long as her closest friend was there with her.

Through every class the room buzzed with muted excitement as everyone couldn't wait until after lunch, because that was when—

"It's me! Through the door like a normal person!"

With a gust of wind, All Might bursted into the room, an ever present smile on his face.

Hitomi, along with the rest of the classroom, targeted their attention right on the Hero, dropping any previous conversations with each other. It was the pinkette's first time ever seeing the man in person, surprisingly, so it came to a bit of a shock to her that he smelled faintly like a hospital.

"For this class we'll be building up your Hero foundation through various trials!" All Might excitedly bellowed, reaching into a pocket behind his cape. "Let's jump right in with this!" He thrusted his hand forward, brandishing a card with "Battle" boldly inscribed.

"The trail of battle!"

Behind her, Hitomi could hear Midoriya and Bakugou's vastly different reactions to the announcement. The former's being of trepidation, while the latter grinned eagerly. Both repeating the words just spoken by the Hero.

"And to go with your first battle..."

The wall to their right hissed, as several shelves slid out, holding numbered briefcases.

"We have the gear we had you send in requests for to match your Quirk!"

Hitomi stiffened, leaning back in her seat while the rest of her class rushed to grab their costume. But there was a major flaw with this, that being the fact that she had received the news that her costume had been rejected late, leaving not enough time for her to send in a new request. With a Quirk like hers, it was difficult making a suit that would look cool, and be practical. Because of this, Hitomi's original concept had been shut down due to the effect of her power.

That meant that whatever was in that briefcase was not what she had planned to be her costume, but simply a placeholder one until she could send them a new, functional design.

By the time she stood and went to take her case, it was the last one there. Trudging after the rest of the aspiring Heroes, Hitomi worriedly looked down, eyeing the 16 marking her case. Hoping that whatever was waiting for her inside wouldn't be too different from what she had planned for.

...

"You're kidding." She whispered.

With a red face, Hitomi looked herself over in the mirror, frowning deeper and deeper at her appearance.

All that had been in the case was a plum colored top and bottom and a set of arm and leg warmers, no shoes or extra gear to lose when shifting into her Akita form. The costume was made out of a stretchy fabric that was meant to grow with her when she used her Quirk, similar to Mt Lady's suit. The bottoms were just a simple pair of skin-tight shorts, not even reaching mid thigh. Her problem with the costume wasn't those, but rather with the top. Starting right under her breasts, the tight and rubbery material clung to her in a way that left little to the imagination, it was sleeveless, with the neckline reaching halfway up and clinging uncomfortably to her flushed neck. But the worst part of it all was a design choice she had no part in making.

"What even is the purpose of this!?" She desperately squeaked to her best friend beside her, looking down at her chest.

In the middle of the top was a diamond shaped window, showing off a fair bit of cleavage.

Momo grimaced slightly, securing her bright yellow belt. The taller girl's costume was even more revealing than Hitomi's, but that was because she herself designed it that way.

"Guess a perv got ahold of it, sorry Saito." Ashido said apologetically.

Hitomi shuddered at the idea, suddenly wishing to wash the accursed suit. Uraraka patted her shoulder, smiling sympathetically.

"My costume's a bit tighter than I expected too. Maybe you'll grow to like it though, who knows!"

Hitomi smiled tightly, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, then settled them to cover her bare stomach. She highly doubted she would have the self confidence to keep the costume long.

Walking down the concrete corridor, flanked by her female classmates on both sides, Hitomi took a deep breath to ready herself as they stepped out into the light.

"Let's see what you're made of, you embryos! It's time for the trail of battle!" All Might crowed excitedly, seeming to be looking forward to this as much as they were.

Hitomi jumped slightly when All Might appeared to look right at her, before coughing something awkwardly in his hand. Her brows furrowed, and she glanced behind her. What she saw was someone in a teal jumpsuit, with... bunny ears?

Taking a good sniff, Hitomi was able to deduce that it was Midoriya in the costume.

"Sir! Regarding the performance ground we'll be using, is it the mock-city from the entrance exam?" Iida's voice echoed out of a white and cobalt blue colored suit of armor. His arm doing the same stiff gesture it did when he was arguing with Bakugou.

"You'll see! In fact, take two steps and you'll already be there! This will be an indoor battle trail!"

Hitomi perked up, eyes alight with anticipation.

"Villain cleanup is usually seen out in the open, but statistically the better portion of it is an inside job. Most acts of villainy are committed indoors."

Tail starting to wag, Hitomi grinned as All Might explained. Hostage situations where one of her parents' most handled jobs.

"For this test, you'll separate into "Hero" and "Villain" groups. For a two on two team battle!"

"How do we determine who wins and who loses?" Momo asked, always the practical one.

"How much can we hurt the other opponents?" Of course Bakugou was the one who asked that.

"Is there a threat of expulsion like Mister Aizawa's exercise?" Uraraka fearfully questioned.

Iida's hand shot into the air. "If we're separating into different groups, what would be the best way to do so?!"

"What's the scenario?!" Hitomi shyly threw her own question in.

"I can't hear you if you all speak at once!" All Might shouted over them. "For this training, we'll have some "Villains" guard a nuclear weapon they intend on deploying! The Heroes must stop them and their nefarious scheme before it's too late! If the Heroes capture the Villains or reach the nuclear core before the time runs out, they win! If the Villains manage to keep the core the whole time, or capture the Heroes they win!" All Might explained as he very obviously read from a cheat-sheet.

Pulling out a box from God-knows-where, All Might brandished it, saying "Your team-mates and opponents will be chosen by lottery!"

"Is that really how we'll do it!?" Iida floundered.

Hitomi stood straighter, just as Midoriya did next to her.

"It makes sense, sometimes they have to—"

"Pros are often forced to—"

"Make impromptu team-ups with Heroes they might not know very well! This is probably... testing... that."

Hitomi blinked in shock, looking at Midoriya as he too seemed stunned. Slowly, even through his mask, Hitomi could see red start to shine through. A wide smile split across her face, barring her canines in an unintentionally intimidating way.

"Wow Midoriya! I've only ever done that with Momo!" She placed her hands on her hips. "You really know a lot about Heroes, huh?"

"I-I—"

"Anyway, let's start this!" All Might shouted, either trying to move things along so Aizawa wouldn't get cranky about him going over his allotted time slot with the students, or he simply hoped to get the attention off of Midoriya, who looked like he was going into cardiac arrest.

The pinkette hid her disappointment when Momo got paired with a fairly short guy, who looked mighty happy to be teamed up with her. When it was her turn, Hitomi reached into the yellow lot box, pulling out a ball with 'I' brandished on the front.

"Guess we're teammates?" The blonde who had also gotten the 'I' ball said, scratching his neck nervously. His costume looked like a typical karate uniform, and behind his back, Hitomi could see a large tail, almost bigger than his torso.

Her own tail wagged. "Yep! I'm Hitomi Sai-"

"I know." The blonde said, and immediately started floundering for the right words when Hitomi's ears drooped. "I mean— I already heard you introduce yourself to someone else yesterday. Your voice kinda carries."

"Oh…" Hitomi mumbled.

To avoid an awkward silence, the blonde cleared his throat and held out his hand. "Uh, my name's Mashirao Ojirou."

Hitomi smiled, happily shaking his hand.

Once the teams were set, All Might reached into two more boxes, one with 'Heroes' scrawled across, and the other with 'Villians'.

"Team 'A' will be the Heroes, and Team 'D' will be the Villains." All Might announced, holding up the two balls.

Hitomi looked to her right, over to Midoriya and Bakugou. Fate did not seem to be on good terms with the green haired teen, as he practically trembled at the fact he would be going up against the angry blonde.

"Everyone else, head toward the monitor room."

"Yes, sir!"

…

Five large monitors greeted them as the class, minus the two teams, walked into the observation room, each screen showing off a different room or angle in the prop building.

"Now, let's start the indoor combat training with Team A and Team D!" All Might turned away from the monitors, securing a small listening device in his ear, so he could keep track of what the teams were saying to one another. "Pay attention, you should think about what you would do."

Next to her, Hitomi saw Momo create a small notepad and pencil. It brought a smile to the pinkette's face, despite the stressful situation.

At first it seemed rather laid back, with Uraraka and Midoriya slowly slinking through the halls in search of the bomb. But everything quickly changed gear when Bakugou jumped out from around a corner, blasting the Hero team ruthlessly. Even managing to blow off the left half of Midoriya's mask as the green haired teen tackled and shielded his teammate.

"He almost got the jump on him!" Ashido said, unclear if it was in praise or disapproval.

"What kinda man pulls cheap crap like that?!" Kirishima said in outrage. "A surprise attack isn't manly at all!"

"But isn't it like a Villain?" Hitomi pointed out, eyes locked on the monitors. "They aren't fussed with what is considered cheating or unfair, right?" She quickly looked to All Might, worried she was incorrect in his eyes.

All Might nodded in agreement. "That's right. He's playing the part."

"It didn't work! Midoriya dodged him!" Ashido cheered.

"Look, there he goes!" Kaminari pointed up to where Bakugou could be seen, charging at Midoriya.

To the surprise of the room, when Bakugou reached him, Midoriya reached under his left arm, grabbing onto him, and using the blonde's own momentum to throw him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground. Bakugou clearly hadn't expected that of Midoriya, as did the rest of the class. Even All Might made a sound of shock when it happened.

"Hey, who is Bakugou talking to? I'm not hearing anything. Can we get any sound with this video?" Kirishima asked.

All Might gestured to his ear. "He's got a radio in his ear so he can talk to his partner. I gave it to him before the match started. Along with a map of the building." He reached into a pocket that Hitomi didn't realize he had in his costume. "Also this. A roll of capture tape! Wrapping this around your opponent means you've apprehended them, and they're out for the rest of the game."

Ashido pointed up at the large clock by the other monitors. "So there's a fifteen minute time limit. And the good guys have no idea what floor the nuclear weapon is hidden on, right?"

"Correct!"

"Then the Heroes are clearly at a disadvantage here! A big one!"

"Real Heroes have to outwit Villains on a daily basis. That's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favor, we fight!"

The class seemed appeased by that, smiling and cheering at what their famous teacher had to say.

All Might threw a fist in the air. "All together! Let's hear a—"

"Plus Ultra!"

"Monsieur. He's on the move." The blonde in the sparkling cape said, bringing everyone's attention back to the monitors. Just in time to see Midoriya dodge another attack.

"Little guy's really good!"

"He's holding his own and he hasn't even used his Quirk yet!"

"I think…" Hitomi mumbled, then spoke louder. "It's partially because the other guy— Bakugou, is, well…"

"Reckless? Ribbit."

"Careless?"

"I was gonna say," Hitomi winced as Bakugou blew apart a wall. "Feral."

Through the smoke, Midoriya ran away, vanishing in the maze of hallways, As Bakugou gave chase.

"He retreated. Smart." Momo crossed her arms thoughtfully.

They could see Bakugou's mouth moving, as he undoubtedly was snarling something vicious at Midoriya.

"That guy has some real anger issues. Kinda scary…" Kaminari chuckled awkwardly.

"At the rate he's going, there won't be a building left to train in for the rest of us." Jirou sighed, faintly annoyed.

At the six minute mark, Bakugou finally found Midoriya, right after Iida spotted Uraraka in the weapon room. He pulled some piece of his right gauntlet, revealing a pin, similar to that of a grenade's.

All Might, hearing what it was the blonde was planning to do, picked up the mic. "Young Bakugou! Don't do it, you'll kill him!"

"What?!" Half the class shouted in alarm, while the other half watched in silent shock.

Bakugou pulled the pin, a raging fireball shooting out from his gauntlet, aimed straight for Midoriya, who it seemed to hit, right before blowing a hole in the wall behind the green haired teen.

"This is nuts!" Kirishima gawked.

"Come in Midoriya! Come in! Young Midoriya!" All Might shouted worriedly into the mic, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"That was insane! Is he okay?!" The boy with tape dispensers in his elbows gaped.

"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand?" Kirishima questioned. "That Bakugou is getting real crazy. He's gonna kill him!"

"I—" Hitomi's ears went back as several pairs of eyes turned on her. "I don't think he will."

"What?! Did you see what he just did?!" Kaminari gestured wildly to the monitors.

"Yes." Hitomi nodded, looking up and watching the blonde march intimidatingly over to Midoriya. "But, this is UA. And who would possibly get themselves expelled so soon. It's only our second day, and while he definitely seems, well, feral, I don't think he's intending to actually kill Midoriya."

Everyone looked back over to All Might, who remained silent for a beat. Finally he picked back up the microphone.

"Bakugou! Use that stored up power again and I'll stop this fight. Your team will lose. To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting. That's a poor strategy, whether you're a Hero, or a Villain. The penalty will be a massive loss of points."

Bakugou clearly hated the rule, but still lowered his arm. Instead he charged at Midoriya, going for hand-to-hand. At first it seemed like Midoriya would turn this attack back around on him, like the previous ones. But Bakugou switched gears, launching himself over Midoriya with a well aimed blast, turning in the air and shooting Midoriya in the back.

"Whoa! What was that move?!"

"He doesn't come off as a guy with a strategy. But he's actually quite intelligent." Todoroki remarked from the back of the class, speaking up for the first time.

Hitomi stared at him in wonder, surprised to hear how soft and nearly velvety his voice sounded.

"What are you talking about?" Kirishima asked.

"He changed his trajectory while in midair using a blast that doubled as a smokescreen. Very clever."

"A feint attack like that requires an extreme amount of precision. He had to calculate the physics and demonstrate control over his Quirk." Momo explained, easily wording it in a way to show off her own intelligence, while also keeping it simple enough to understand.

"Ugh, Bakugou is uber talented. I hate it." Kaminari complained, sticking his tongue out.

In a flurry of attacks, Bakugou gave Midoriya barely any time to breathe, let alone fight back. Finishing it off by throwing him into the ground like what had been done to him shortly before.

"This is too hard to watch. All he has to do is wrap tape around him, not kill him!" Ashido covered her eyes.

"Bakugou certainly is acting like a Villain." Tokoyami, as Hitomi remembered his name to be, shook his head in shame at his classmate.

"I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing at the start of the fight. But he's completely outmatched in terms of combat power. Not to mention, Bakugou seems like a natural at all this stuff." Kaminari lamented.

"You're forgetting." Hitomi looked back at everyone, arms crossed. "Midoriya still hasn't used his Quirk."

"He's running away!"

"Not very manly, but he doesn't have a choice. He's outgunned, unless he's got some kind of plan. It's possible…"

Cornered, Midoriya shouted something at Bakugou, right before they ran at each other. Midoriya's right arm glowed, as he powered it up, and Bakugou's gauntlets sparked with crackling explosions.

"They're gonna kill each other! Sir!"

All Might seemed pained, as he raised the mic to his mouth. "Both of you, stop—"

Midoriya yelled something, which made All Might fall silent. Instead of hitting Bakugou, Midoriya aimed upwards at the ceiling. With the crater it made in the floors above, Uraraka used the debris as projectiles to hit at Iida with a stone pillar she made weightless. And as Iida ducked for cover, she leapt over him, landing on the bomb, officially winning the match in favor of the Heroes.

Right as the time ran out.

"You did it." All Might whispered, seemingly more aimed to one specific person. "The Hero team wins!"

Kirishima blinked. "That was…"

"Feral." Kaminari nudged Hitomi, winking.

The pinkette nodded, staring at the monitor with Bakugou and Midoriya. "Yeah…"

The face the blonde was making, shocked and almost broken, made something stir in her. A strong curiosity started forming inside her about the explosive boy, who until now had seemed so unshakably hostile.

Maybe one day, she would look back on this day, and mark it as the first time she considered there might be more to Katsuki Bakugou than just a feral bully.