Any of you guys read/watch The Promised Neverland? If so, would you be interested in reading a SI-OC fic I've been toying around with? The OC is an adult, unlike the few TPN fics I've come across, and it would follow the manga exclusively, because the anime original path they're going with season two is definitely not what I had hoped for. (Personally. I totally get why a lot of the manga readers are intrigued with the changes.)
"How's your mouth?" Momo hesitantly broached, wincing at the dejected frown on her best friend's face.
"Feels weird." Her voice lisped in an odd way, and her teeth noticeably stayed stuck together in an irritated clench.
"Well, you know what the dentist said. They should be all aligned right by the end of our third year."
"Yeah…"
Momo sighed, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder and picking up Hitomi's brightly colored backpack to hold out to her. "Are you going to be okay? I mean, so long as the braces are in, you can't…"
"I know." Hitomi huffed, running her tongue over the newly placed metal brackets lining her teeth. Her damn canines were too large for her mouth, pressing her teeth against each other so tightly her dentist told her it would cause some serious problems if they didn't put in braces now. Them combined with her reading glasses made her look like the resident nerd stereotype of Somei.
The worst part about it all, however, was that while she was like this, she was completely unable to use her Quirk, or risk seriously hurting her mouth.
Momo gave her a commiserating pat on the back, pursing her lips in a mirthless smile. "You'll be okay. You always bounce back."
Hitomi stood, debating the merit of that before following the taller girl out of the house. Sometimes that felt like all she ever did. Try to bounce back.
...
"Oh," Hitomi froze, standing in the middle of the sidewalk. "Well, shoot."
Clustered at the front gate of UA was a hoard of reporters, all clambering over each other to badger every passing student trying to get inside.
Of all the days not to walk with Momo.
The pinkette squared her shoulders with a frown, removing her backpack and shirking off her grey blazer, throwing it over her head, covering most of the brightly colored hair, and more importantly her large pointed ears. With a grounding breath, she marched onward, coming up to the mass of people blocking the way.
"'Scuse me, sorry." She murmured, squeezing through the gaps between bodies. She kept her head low, eyes on the ground, hoping no one would recognize her. Typically children of less famous Heroes weren't swarmed too badly, but that tended to change if said Heroes were dead. Hitomi and Nori still often had to duck away whenever caught in the crosshairs of the media.
Suddenly she was halted, bumping into something solid. Her nose was unexpectedly filled with the pleasant smell of burnt caramel, as it was buried in familiar grey fabric.
The body she stumbled into tensed, and Hitomi spotted the crackles sparking before he even turned to her. When he did, she was wholly unsurprised to see that same sneer she received the first time she collided with him.
Bakugou glared, hand raised and setting off sporadically. "You—"
Hitomi beamed. "Good morning!"
His eyes sharpened, blazing with anger she had no trouble shrugging off. Her unfazed smile must have only fueled his ire, and she noticed a stronger spike of that sugary smell.
She hadn't expected Bakugou to have such a nice scent, not naturally at least. It really didn't fit him, the sweetness. But it was nice nonetheless.
"Excuse me, kid!"
Hitomi flinched, ignoring the consequences and diving behind the still agitated Bakugou for cover. Before the blonde could demand the pinkette to back off, or yell at her in general, the female reporter who had called out to him was now in front of them.
The woman had an orange band around her left bicep, the initials HNA in bold across it. She held a microphone to her mouth, and a camera man stood resolutely by her side. "Are you in All Might's class— oh, hold on, aren't you that sludge Villain kid?"
Bakugou stiffened, turning and continuing on through the gate like he had before Hitomi stopped him. "Walk away."
The reporter seemed sufficiently affected by the venom in Bakugou's voice, backing off and rounding on the only other student in the crowd.
Hitomi, once again acting without thinking, whirled around and grabbed the back of the retreating blonde's blazer, keeping hold of it to escape the woman and her cameraman. He stomped forward, ignoring the girl latched onto him all the way to the entrance of the building, at that point he finally stopped and turned his head to snarl at her.
"Get. Off. Mutt."
Hitomi blinked, releasing her hold and taking a step back with her hands raised in surrender. "Sorry. I just didn't want them to stop me and notice who I was."
Bakugou's face remained unchanged, a scoff leaving his mouth.
After a few seconds she remembered her appearance, and sheepishly removed the fabric from her head, pulling it back down and sliding her arms through. By the time she looked back up, Bakugou had already put a fair distance between them, his hunched shoulders stiff, with his hands shoved angrily in the pockets of his drooping pants.
"Ah, wait up!"
...
"Izuku Midoriya. Shouto Todoroki. Ochako Uraraka. Mina Ashido. Bakugou… what was his first name?"
Momo sighed, sitting at her desk and redoing her ponytail. "I think it was Katsuki."
Hitomi nodded, legs kicking idly as she sat sideways in the seat in front of Momo's. "Right. Then there's Kyoka Jirou. Mashirao Ojirou. Uh, Eijirou Kirishima. Tsuyu Asui. Hanta Sero. Sato, didn't get his first name. Um—"
"What are you doing?" Kaminari leaned over from where he stood talking casually with Sero.
Ah, right, Denki Kaminari.
"She's trying to memorize everyone's names so she doesn't ever accidentally say one wrong or forget." Momo dropped her hands, her spiked black hair back in a pristine ponytail high on her head.
Hitomi nodded with a hum. "Yep! The sooner I memorize them all, the sooner we can all get better acquainted!" She chirped with a sharp toothed grin.
Sero shielded his eyes as if blinded. "So bright…!"
"Oh, so you want to get better acquainted then?" Kaminari raised a sly brow.
Hitomi nodded again, smile never wavering. "That's right. I hope we come to be great friends, Kaminari."
The blonde paused, wrong footed by the oblivious response he received. "Ah, yeah."
The pinkette hopped up, sidestepping him to return to her own desk. She may not have been the most honest with him about the name thing. Aunt Nemuri taught her that everyone likes hearing their own name, so if you happened to use it in conversation as often as you can without arousing suspicion, then it was a good way of garnering trust and friendship that much sooner.
Bakugou pointedly ignored her return, glaring out the window to their left, chin resting on his hand.
The door at the front of the classroom opened, and Aizawa stepped through, still looking tired and disheveled as he did every time they saw him.
"Alright, let's get this underway so I can rest." He sighed, stopping behind his desk and glancing over a few papers. To the class's great relief, he started out positive. "Decent work on yesterday's combat training, you guys. I saw the video feeds and went over each of your team's results." But it didn't last long, his eyes falling on a certain hothead first. "Bakugou. You're talented. So don't sulk like a child about your loss, okay?"
Hitomi's eyes widened, and she risked a glance back at him over her shoulder. To her immense shock, he only scowled tightly, looking away.
"Yeah, whatever."
Well that was unexpected. Maybe he could handle things better than they all originally assumed.
Aizawa looked to the desk behind Bakugou. "Midoriya. I see the only way you won the match was by messing up your arm again. Work harder. And don't give me the excuse that you don't have control over your Quirk. That line's already getting old. You can't keep breaking your body while training here. But your Quirk will be really useful if you can get a handle on it. So show a little urgency, huh?"
Midoriya, while taking the reprimands all in stride, even seemed emboldened by it, nodding once with a firm, "Right!"
"And Saito."
Hitomi winced, biting down on her bottom lip. She felt small under her teacher's heavy gaze, and prepared herself for a strict verbal lashing.
"You need to learn how to communicate. Your reaction time is impressive, but it won't do you any good if you abandon your teammates and assume they don't need your help. Not everyone can read what you're thinking, so work on how to share your ideas and concerns with others, got it?"
"Yes, sir." Hitomi nodded with a nervous half-smile.
Aizawa seemed satisfied, turning back to the papers. "Let's get down to business. Our first task will decide your future."
Hitomi sat straighter. Is it another Quirk test?
"You all need to pick a class representative."
Oh good, just normal school stuff.
Kirishima threw a clenched fist in the air. "Pick me guys! I wanna be class rep!"
Kaminari raised a relaxed hand. "I'll take it!"
"Yeah, you're gonna need me." Jirou threw in.
"Someone with style would be best—" Aoyama, Hitomi remembered his name to be, was again interrupted by Ashido.
"I'm, like, totally the right pick!"
Mineta leapt out of his seat. "My manifesto is for all the girls' skirts to end thirty centimeters above the knee!"
Hitomi's ear twitched, her smile going thin and tight. What?
"Hey, pick me damnit! I'm your only choice!" Bakugou raged behind her.
"Silence, everyone, please!"
Everyone turned to look back at Iida, the room quieting down.
Iida stood by his desk, arms moving stiffly to accentuate his point. "The class representative's duty is to lead others. That's not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader!"
With sparkling eyes, Hitomi stared in awe at Iida. He managed to get everyone to calm down and listen to the very sensible points he made, all in the name of making sure the class received the best person for the job.
Like a pack alpha…
The pinkette looked back over her shoulder, raising a silent brow at her best friend.
Momo caught the glance, gleaning the message clearly from it. With an inaudible sigh, she nodded her reassurance.
Hitomi knew who she was voting for, and Momo was fine that it wasn't her.
"Is this really the best idea?" Kaminari asked.
"We've only known each other a few days." Asui put a finger to the corner of her mouth. "How do we know who we can trust?"
"Besides, everyone'll just vote for themselves." Kirishima added on.
"Most people will. But that means whoever does receive multiple votes must truly be the most suitable person for the job." Iida turned to their teacher, who was zipping himself up in that yellow sleeping bag he came out of their first day. "It's the best way, right sir?"
"Do what you want, just decide before my nap's over." He flopped down onto the floor.
"Thank you for your trust!"
"So, how do we do this?" Uraraka questioned, glancing around the room to see if anyone had any ideas.
"We could put our votes in, like, a hat or something. Kind of like a lottery draw, but counting them up!" Ashido eagerly suggested.
"Does anyone even have a hat in here?" Sero raised a thin brow.
"Ah, Mo!" Hitomi perked up, shooting up and turning in her seat, leaning over the back. "Can you make something?"
Momo blinked, cheeks flushing as everyone seemed to stare at her now all at once. With a faint murmur of confirmation, she reached under the bottom of her white button-up shirt. A light glow emitted from underneath, and after a few seconds she pulled out a plain ceramic bowl.
"Will this do?"
"Yes, thank you Yaoyorozu!" Iida took the bowl and set it down on Aizawa's desk. "Alright everyone, write down your vote and place it in the bowl. Don't try to write more than one, this needs to be honest and fair!"
Hitomi happily scribbled down her answer, using a pink glitter gel pen to do so. If she wasn't allowed to use it for homework, she was going to use it for everything else.
One by one each student stood and dropped in their ballot, monitored by Iida who stood by it, having already cast his vote.
In the end each of their names was written down on the chalkboard, with their number of votes next to them. Most had a single one to their name, some were clear that they had voted for themselves, but two at the top. Midoriya had three, and Momo had two.
Hitomi rested her chin on her hands with a soft hum. She was unbothered that she didn't receive a vote, but was a little down that no one else seemed to have been impressed by Iida's vigor and sense of justice, as he only had the single vote she gave him. It only went to show she was right, as he prioritized the class by not simply voting for himself.
"How did I get three votes?!" Midoriya sputtered, the most shocked out of everyone that he had won.
Bakugou slammed his hands on his desk, standing and scowling. "Okay you idiots, who voted for him?!"
"What, did you honestly think anyone was gonna vote for you?" Sero said snidely, unfazed when Bakugou's blazing glare turned on him.
"What did you just say?! You wanna go? Don't tell me you voted for that weak nerd!"
"One vote…" Iida stared at the chalkboard, seeming unable to decide between being upset that he lost, or being honored that someone had chosen to vote for him in the end.
Midoriya and Momo walked to the front of the class, the former shaking noticeably while the latter remained poised as always.
Aizawa sat up from his spot on the floor. "Alright, the class rep is Midoriya, and our deputy is Yaoyorozu."
Hitomi pumped a fist in the air. "Yeah! Deputy Momo!"
"Hitomi, please…" The ravenette ducked her head to hide her warming cheeks.
Midoriya still looked to be in shock. "Really? Uh, it's not a mistake?"
"How did this happen?" Momo sighed, hands clasped primly at her front.
"This might not be so bad." Asui said optimistically.
"Yeah, I can get behind Midoriya, I guess." Kirishima agreed.
"Yaoyorozu was totally on top of it when it came to our training results."
Just when the redness was leaving her face, Momo heard Kaminari and flushed again.
"Way to go Mo!"
Their teacher disappeared back under his desk. "Sit down Saito."
"Yes sir!"
…
"De-pu-ty! De-pu-ty! De—"
"Hitomi please."
"Sorry." Hitomi fell silent, sitting across from her friend in the cafeteria. "I'm just excited for you. This is so cool!"
Momo sighed, poking around at her food. "If you thought so, why not vote for yourself?"
Hitomi paused, looking down at the large bento Nori had made her, full of hearty nutrients and vitamins. Perfect to fuel her Quirk.
She'd make sure to thank him again later. As much as he pretended otherwise, he really did hope to see her excel in UA.
"Well, I wouldn't be a good pick for it. So I chose someone who I thought would be."
Momo nodded. "Iida."
"Yep." She took a heaping bite of rice and vegetables. "He got everyone to listen to him. Plus he smells trustworthy." She mumbled through the food.
Momo had long since grown used to Hitomi casually mentioning people's scents and what they said about their character. The pinkette had once said that Momo herself smelled like intelligence and compassion.
The raven haired girl wondered if smell even had anything to do with it, and if it was actually just Hitomi's instincts telling her people's true intentions.
"So, have you spoken to anyone in the class?" She tried to sound nonchalant in her tone.
Hitomi hummed questioningly and cocked her head, her mouth too full to open and ask for an elaboration, or risk spilling and making an embarrassing mess.
Momo frowned, gently stabbing her lunch with her chopsticks. "Well, I was just wondering if you had gotten around to really talking with anyone. And if… you had happened to mention anything."
Hitomi swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry. "You mean… mention that thing?"
Momo nodded once with a sigh. "Yes. I… I think Midoriya might already suspect something."
"I know."
Momo's head shot up. "What?"
Hitomi smiled, though it was rueful. "Every time we run into each other he gets this starstruck look on his face. I think my name and Quirk were enough to clue him in."
Momo reached a hand out. "Hito—"
An alarm bell rang shrilly through the cafeteria, causing Hitomi to wince and cover her ears.
"Warning. Level three security breach. All students please evacuate the building. In an orderly fashion."
"Mo?" Hitomi squeaked, tail tucking.
"Let's go!" Momo stood, taking Hitomi's hand and pulling her along towards the exit.
Of course, they weren't the only ones. The exit soon clogged with panicked students from every year and department, all pressed up against each other to try to squeeze through. The hall outside didn't fare any better. In fact, it was even worse, everyone packed like sardines, tight enough no one could even make much headway.
The deafening cacophony of so many raised voices drilled painfully in Hitomi's head, her hands instinctively raising to cover her ears. Which was a mistake, as Momo was pushed along and lost in the sea of students, leaving Hitomi to stand curled in on herself, eyes shut tight, teeth grinding. The mass of warring smells didn't help, and turned her stomach with sudden nausea.
"Hitomi!"
The pinkette flinched, raising her head and looking toward her friend's call.
"Mo— Ah!" Hitomi yelped as a body bumped roughly into hers, knocking her back. She careened towards the floor, and tensed in preparation for the painful landing. But two strong hands caught her from behind, holding her biceps and hoisting her upright.
"Whoa, you okay?"
"Yea—"
Oh, wow.
Hitomi blinked, the noise and smells dulling as she stared at the person who saved her from a nasty spill.
He was… Wow.
Towering over her, the very well built male student holding her was imposing to say the least. His arms and chest were muscled, enough that Hitomi could see them pressed against his white button-up, his blazer missing. He bore a kind smile, one that filled her chest with a warm feeling, and his sky blue eyes looked her over to make sure she was alright. They were… an interesting shape. And his shining blonde hair was perfectly coiffed atop his head.
Why was it always blondes?
"I— um… Thank you." Hitomi stammered, cheeks flaming.
The blonde smiled wider, showing off his white teeth. "No problem. Any idea what's going on here?" He looked up, peeking over the heads of the crowd. She noticed the way he kept his smile in place, despite his eyes now holding a gleam of calculation.
"D-did you hear the alarm?"
"I did. But everyone panicking is making it an even worse problem than it already is." He gave her biceps a reassuring squeeze, and with a start she realized he had never let go. "Stay here, close to the wall, I'm gonna go try to—"
Something flew overhead, the gust blowing Hitomi's hair in her face. There was a harsh slam, followed by a stern voice calling out for everyone's attention. She brushed the pink locks away just in time to see him stabilize himself before his voice boomed over the crowd.
"Listen up! Everything is okay!" Iida declared to the mass of students, his body held in a strange position under the exit sign over the doorway everyone had been scrambling to get through. "It's just the media outside! There's absolutely nothing to worry about! Everything's fine! We're UA students, we need to remain calm and prove that we're the best of the best!"
Hitomi stared, mouth parted in surprise. Like magic, everyone fell silent and stopped, looking around at each other, checking on those who looked a little jarred from the mob. It was really quite impressive, for Iida to be able to get through to them so quick and concisely.
Just like an alpha.
"Do you know him?" The blonde asked when seeing the proud look on Hitomi's face.
"O-oh, yeah." She nodded, sheepishly putting some distance between them now that she could move freely. "We're in the same class, his name is Tenya Iida."
The blonde blinked, then dropped a fist in his open palm with a nod. "Iida, yeah I thought he looked familiar."
"Mirio."
The blonde and Hitomi both looked toward the low voice, finding a black haired boy awkwardly trying to squeeze through the crowd. Once he reached them, he looked the blonde, Mirio, over worriedly. "You okay? You disappeared."
Mirio nodded with a smile. "Yep, everything's fine. A first year handled the situation pretty well."
The black haired teen let out a small sigh of relief, but tensed when he noticed Hitomi staring at him.
"A-ah…" He turned, aiming his face toward the wall.
Mirio chuckled goodnaturedly, patting his friend on the back. Before leading him away from the cluttered hallway, he glanced back to Hitomi.
"Welp, see you later, firstie!"
"Yeah." Hitomi murmured, waving as the flush returned to her cheeks. "Huh." She looked down at her shoes, shaking her head at her own silly feelings. Crushes were the last thing she needed while trying to become a Hero. So, with herculean effort, she forced it all down, not letting herself relax until she felt her face cool.
"Hitomi!" Momo rushed to her, splitting from the crowd and looking her friend over like the dark haired boy had done for Mirio. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to let you go—"
Hitomi waved her off. "It was my fault, besides, I'm totally fine."
Momo sagged, releasing a breath she had been subconsciously holding in. "I'm glad. Come on, we should head back to the cafeteria."
Hitomi started to nod, when she remembered they had left their lunches behind. Including her bento full of food made with care by Nori.
"Oh shoot you're right! Let's go!"
Momo had no time to protest, being dragged away by the frantic pinkette.
…
"It's time, class rep, let's begin."
"Um, okay." Midoriya practically trembled behind the podium. Standing patiently next to him was Momo. "So, we need to figure out who the other class officers will be." He managed to get out without stuttering.
Hitomi was looking down at her desk, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth as she tried making a tower of balanced erasers and pencils. However, it toppled when she peered back up to the front of the class, her ears pinned straight ahead at what Midoriya said next.
"But first, there's something that I wanna say. I've thought a lot about this." He closed his eyes and shouted his next sentence. "And I think that Tenya Iida should be our class rep!"
The class all looked to Midoriya in shock and confusion, though no more so than Iida himself.
Midoriya relaxed slightly, standing taller and speaking softer. "He was able to capture everyone's attention and get us in line. So I believe that he should be the one leading our class from now on!"
Hitomi's lips slowly turned up into a tooth baring smile.
"Yeah, you know what? If Midoriya vouches for him, I'm good. Plus he was a big help. He totally manned up and took charge, right?" Kirishima looked to Kaminari next to him.
"Yup! Oh, and did you notice he looked like the dude on the emergency exit signs when he was on the wall earlier?" Kaminari snorted.
"This is a waste of time."
The class turned to their teacher, who was once again wrapped up in his yellow sleeping bag.
"I don't care who the rep is, just hurry up." He laid back down.
Iida's chair squeaked as it was pushed back, the teen standing ramrod straight. "If Midoriya is nominating me for this job," His right arm shot into the air. "Then I humbly accept! I pledge to carry out the duties of class rep to the best of my abilities!"
Kirishima gave him a thumbs up. "Sounds good, Emergency Exit!"
"Emergency Exit Iida! Don't let us down, man!"
"Yes! Emergency Exit Iida!" Hitomi cheered, throwing her arms up and rocking her chair back. Tipping her head over the edge of her chair, she beamed at the upside down snarl Bakugou gave her.
His eyes narrowed with a realization. "Tch, you were the idiot who voted for him." It wasn't posed as a question, but a statement.
Hitomi blinked, smile vanishing, replaced by a slightly astonished gape. She had no idea how Bakugou pieced it together, and her stunned reaction led to her forgetting her position. The chair tipped, and with a yelp Hitomi fell to the floor, banging her head on the edge of the blonde's desk.
Laying there, holding the crown of her head with low whines, she again considered there must be more to Bakugou than just an angry jerk. Whether or not that was a good thing, she had no clue.
"Saito, quit goofing around."
"Yes sir."