When I Come Around

Midoriya hasn't felt this nervous since his first day at U.A. He didn't think anything could top the emotions he felt back then, but the universe must have taken that as a cruel challenge.

The worst part about it was that he didn't even know where it all went wrong.

Izuku Midoriya was used to being an observer, he grew to accept that reality after a certain amount of time. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd given up hope that he would become a great hero a long time ago. Whether it was his stubbornness or ignorance, he pressed on with that dream because it was the only thing that gave him any sense of purpose. Writing in those notebooks was the best he could do to work towards that dream at the time. Unfortunately it also cemented his position as someone who always watched, but never interfered.

He thought back to all those old All Might interviews he used to watch on repeat as a kid. The number one hero was able to keep the villains at bay with just his existence, but that wasn't the only thing his presence did. He instilled many of his own values in the people of Japan, showed them that it wasn't just strength and resilience that made justice prevail, but also unity. All Might showed them that even if there was nothing you could do to help in a certain situation, you did your best.

That was the essence of a hero.

Midoriya subconsciously hated himself back then, because his best was worth less than most. There was no amount of studying or training that would make his best more impactful than the bare minimum effort of someone who was born luckier than him.

That way of thinking was shattered the moment his instincts took over and he tried to save Kacchan from the sludge villain. After that day he'd been thrown nothing but curveballs that challenged the old habits he'd had ingrained in him since the day he was told he'd never have a quirk.

Being given the quirk of the number one hero was the first curveball. Then he was accepted into the hero school his idol had graduated from. He had also made some real friends who actually cared for his well being, not like Kacchan's old gang who just let him tag along.

It all felt like a dream, and while Izuku didn't hold any resentment towards Kacchan, the green haired boy even felt the smallest bit of satisfaction when he shook the explosion quirk user to his core yesterday with his big win.

But the problem with the curveballs was that they didn't stop coming, and now they were starting to reach an overwhelming boiling point.

This boiling point culminated with his most recent encounter, a moment he wished he could erase from his memory.

Midoriya's head shot up with surprise when he heard his classmates begin to shout all at once. He had been so buried in his thoughts that he'd forgotten he was even in class, it also didn't help that he was a bit sleep deprived.

Izuku had no idea what was going on, but he tried his best to figure out what was happening based on what everyone else was saying and doing.

Mr. Aizawa wasn't helping, burying himself in his yellow sleeping bag and collapsing on the floor. Izuku could almost swear he had started snoring before his head even hit the floor.

The green haired boy was rattled when he suddenly felt two small hands grab his shoulders and shake him furiously. "Midoriya! You'll vote for me, right buddy?!"

Now Izuku was even more confused, he turned to face Mineta and gave him an embarrassed smile. "Umm, sorry… What's going on here?…"

"We're voting for our class rep! Don't tell me you also fell asleep during Mr Aizawa's explanation!" Mineta crossed his arms, sighing as a sly smirk slowly spread across his face. "I've gotta say Midoriya, I had a feeling, but I didn't think you had it in you…"

"No no, I just spaced out for a bit there. Class rep, huh? That'll be interesting!" He tilted his head to the side when he processed the rest of Mineta's words, "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Mineta nodded towards a desk that was closer to the front of the class. The desk was occupied by a purple haired girl who had her head down, nestled comfortably in her arms.

Kyouka Jiro.

Most people wouldn't have noticed her sleeping without focusing on her first. Midoriya especially hadn't noticed, since he had been putting in an embarrassing amount of effort to avoid even looking in her direction.

Their conversation at the train station yesterday hadn't been a bad one, far from it actually. Midoriya actually found Jiro surprisingly easy to talk to, it was just the way it ended that made the green haired boy want to crawl under a rock and disappear forever.

Mineta went on when he noticed his classmate's reaction to the sleeping girl. "Aha! See, I'm kind of a genius when it comes to noticing these sorts of things. I knew there was something going on there from the start!"

Izuku gave Mineta a blank stare, genuinely having no clue what he was going on about.

"Playing dumb, are we? That's okay…" The short student adjusted his school sweater dramatically as he sat up straighter. "See, I've been doing a little detective work on the low. I made a bet with Kaminari over there." He pointed towards the right side of the classroom, where the electric quirk user was having a loud argument with Kirishima.

"It's a simple bet, but it's pretty high stakes, so I made sure to leave no stone unturned." Midoriya raised an eyebrow at the boy with the purple balls on his head, wondering where he was going with this.

"At first I saw potential in those two." He looked over at Hagakure and Ojiro, who were talking to each other in front of Aizawa's desk. "That girl might be invisible, but I can tell she can't keep her eyes off of tail guy there."

"You sure you're not just seeing things, Mineta?" Midoriya laughed nervously, thinking this whole conversation was starting to sound ridiculous, "It kinda sounds like you're reaching there, you can't even see her eyes!"

Mineta ignored him and kept going, "I thought I had this bet in the bag, and I was about to lock it in! Until I thought about something…" He rubbed his chin with a deviously wide smile.

"A certain student tried making a move on a girl during the first day of school, but got rejected. Then, during a certain student's match yesterday, it sounded like that girl was reaaaaally enjoying his little comeback!" He put his hands on his face and mimicked a feminine gasp, his eyelashes fluttering exaggeratedly.

"Only two students were sent to the infirmary that day… A bit of alone time perhaps? And imagine my surprise when those two students left school that day around the same time too… Thought no one would notice, huh? And now both show up to school today, coincidentally a little tired…"

Midoriya and Mineta had two vastly different ways of thinking, so what the short purple haired boy was implying was completely going over his classmate's head. Izuku narrowed his eyes at his fellow U.A student, staring at him like he had just spoken a different language.

Eventually Mineta gave up when he realized Midoriya wasn't connecting the dots. "I'm talking about you, dingus…"

The green haired boy still didn't understand at first, mostly because his brain was still lagging behind due to his lack of sleep. Slowly though he started to connect what the short boy had been saying to him, and his face started to burn a slight shade of red. "W-wait, what was the bet again?"

Mineta turned to Midoriya with a malicious smile, "Which students would be the first to screw."

A shrill sound woke Jiro up from her nap ten minutes before the bell rang. Kyouka was surprised that it was almost the end of the period already, since she usually didn't fall asleep in class like that, despite what her demeanor would suggest.

It was understandable though, since she'd hardly gotten any sleep last night. And it wasn't like she felt any guilt about it or anything. If Mr. Aizawa was allowed to take naps during class, why couldn't she?

Jiro hardly stood out in this sea of extroverts, so she doubted anyone had noticed her nodding off. The fact that she had even been able to was a marvel considering the students were in complete disarray. She vaguely remembered something about electing a class representative, but it looked like absolutely no one could come to a decision.

Kaminari and Kirishima were arguing with each other about something alpha male related, Jiro just rolled her eyes and ignored them. A few of the girls had gathered together and were pleading their cases to the others, but to Kyouka it just sounded like they were fighting for their voices to be heard.

Of course, Jiro understood the importance of choosing a class rep. She wasn't stupid.

Anyone who could prove their leadership skills at U.A no less would have a much more impressive resume from the get go. Jiro had volunteered for the position, but she already knew she had almost zero chance of actually being chosen. Half of the students didn't even know her name yet.

Kyouka glanced over at the corner by the teacher's desk. She watched as Mr. Aizawa snored comfortably in his caterpillar-esque sleeping bag. It would have been a pretty hilarious sight if she wasn't studying at U.A. 'So much for the most prestigious hero school in Japan…' Jiro mused as she looked over all the bickering and shouting faces in the classroom.

"BAHAHA! Your face is so red, I knew it!" She heard Mineta cry out from behind her.

"Please, keep it down! It's not like that at all, Mineta!" A hushed voice said in response to the short kid.

Was that Midoriya's voice?

"So there is something going on then!" Mineta replied with a victorious tone.

Jiro's left eye twitched. She didn't dare look behind her as she felt a twinge of the awkwardness that had kept her up last night.

The purple haired girl had stayed up later than usual, trying to blow off some steam by playing the drums until she couldn't feel her arms anymore. Her parents would have thrown a fit had she not used the electronic ones.

'I'm such an idiot…' Jiro had cursed to herself when she'd finally laid in her bed. She couldn't block out that moment from her memory no matter how hard she tried. Every few minutes she would get up from her bed and pace around in circles, trying desperately to think of anything but that.

She had freaked out, plain and simple. She'd wanted to clear up so many things that had been confusing her, but in the process of getting those answers she initiated a conversation she clearly wasn't ready for. Midoriya had to deal with freshly broken bones for two days in a row, and a bully whose history with him probably went back further than she thought. Then along comes this random girl he barely knows, who starts talking to him… and then…

Jiro sighed as she fidgeted with her pen defeatedly. She knew she had to do something to clear things up with him. She kept considering walking up to Midoriya right now to do just that. She had started this whole misunderstanding in the first place, it was only fair that she make things right. But she hated to admit how nervous she felt about doing that, and either way now wasn't the time for surprise apologies. Maybe if they had a minute to talk in private she could work up the nerve…

"Here you go, miss!" Jiro looked up and saw that her thoughts had been interrupted by a serious, yet friendly looking set of eyes regarding her behind a pair of narrow, rectangular glasses. Tenya Iida. He was handing her a sheet of paper. "Be sure you're absolutely certain when casting your vote, also keep in mind that you are not allowed to vote for yourself." He raised an eyebrow towards Bakugou on her left.

"What are you looking at, four eyes?" The explosion quirk user grumbled as he put his feet up on his desk in indignance.

"What have I told you about defiling school property!" Iida shouted as he speed walked over to the troublemaker, raising one of his arms up and down like an action figure.

Kyouka was grateful for the distraction, she felt like her head would burst if she thought about her talk with Midoriya any longer.

She blew a raspberry as she looked over the list of names on the sheet. Jiro didn't know where to even begin with choosing a class rep. Iida had clearly thought this through though, he'd printed a unique copy for each student, omitting their respective names from their lists.

'This is harder than I thought…' Jiro thought as she scanned through the paper. In spite of her usual dismissive attitude, she took anything school related pretty seriously. She didn't want to half-ass her vote, and the last thing she wanted was a class rep that ended up making 1-A look like a bunch of buffoons.

Kyouka went through the list of names she could remember in the class, none of them really sounding like standout candidates for the position. She cursed to herself when she looked around the room and kept drawing a blank. She wished Aizawa had waited a few more days before making them select a representative, but she knew there was no point in complaining now.

After a few more minutes of hair pulling frustration, Jiro wrote a name down that she felt was one of the safer picks. She set her paper on the teacher's desk and waited for everybody else to finish voting. Most of the other students didn't look too confident when they turned in their votes.

'It is what it is though' Jiro shrugged to herself, 'Nothing we can do about it now.'

Iida picked up the papers and skimmed through them to make sure everyone had turned something in. "Okay class, I trust that everyone will come to accept whoever is sworn in as our representative." Iida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a glint reflecting on his lenses dramatically. "This was a very democratic process, therefore the results of the vote will be absolute. No exceptions!"

The class held their breath as Iida tallied the votes on the board. "While not displaying the names of students with 0 votes, the results of the poll are…"

Jiro: 5 Votes

Midoriya: 5 Votes

Iida: 3 Votes

Yaoyorozu: 3 Votes

Bakugou: 1 Vote

Ojiro: 1 Vote

Hagakure: 1 Vote

Kirishima: 1 Vote

Jiro did a double take, rubbing her eyes as she kept making sure she was seeing things correctly. There were a few quiet rumblings from the students behind her, and most of them seemed very confused about how to react to this result.

"W-wait… me?" Jiro's eyes widened as she felt herself suddenly becoming the center of attention.

"So… Does that mean we have two class reps?" Sero asked with uncertainty. "How will that work?"

"Those two aren't the most outgoing…" Hagakure pointed out a bit too loudly.

"What a joke, who voted for that damn Deku?!" Bakugou growled.

Aizawa yawned and sat up, still snugly enveloped in his signature yellow sleeping bag. "Alright then, come on up you two."

Jiro took a deep breath in an attempt to hold back the feelings of embarrassment bubbling up inside of her. As she got up, the voices of her classmates making little side comments didn't help boost her self esteem much either. They seemed to be speculating with each other, whispering questions about how two relatively introverted students could have gotten the most votes for class representative.

As other comments kept piling on, Jiro began balling her hands into fists. She suddenly started to care less and less about all of the attention. The class was severely underestimating her and Midoriya, and her stubborn nature was starting to get the better of her.

It's not like any of them knew her all that well! Or at least well enough to make that kind of judgment. And to Midoriya's credit, he had shown the class time and time again that his perseverance and bravery were forces to be reckoned with when push came to shove. He was totally qualified to lead this class!

She took her spot next to the teachers desk, facing the class with an annoyed expression on her face. Her expression softened when she saw Midoriya, who was still seated at his desk. His skin was a sickly pale color, and there was sweat running down his face. Mineta was shaking the poor boy from the desk behind him, whispering something in his ear that somehow made him turn even paler.

He finally stood and walked towards the desk, almost like a robot. They avoided looking at each other, and Jiro could feel her amplified heartbeat getting uncomfortably faster as Midoriya approached.

It felt strange standing in front of the class next to Midoriya, mostly because the others didn't know about the pair's awkward situation. To the rest of the class, the duo could have just been nervous about standing in front of everyone. If only they knew though…

Tsuyu raised her hand. "So who's going to be our class representative? We can't have two, right?"

Mr. Aizawa lazily looked up at the pair standing in front of the class. "It was the class's decision to leave it up to a vote. I don't care how you decide to break the tie, just make sure you do it before lunch is over."

Almost as if on cue, the bell rang, signifying the start of the lunch period.

As the rest of the class started getting up for the start of lunch, and probably to gossip amongst each other, Midoriya began gasping for air, as though he had been holding his breath.

Jiro walked over to her desk to grab her bag as Ashido and Kaminari approached her. "That was… an interesting twist." Kaminari remarked with a soft chuckle. His hands were in his pockets, which was pretty uncharacteristic of him, at least compared to his usual boisterous mannerisms.

"Don't listen to what they're all saying, I think you'll do a great job as class rep, Jiro!" Ashido bounced from foot to foot, her enthusiasm flowing with her every movement. "Come sit with me at lunch! We can talk all about your big win today!"

Jiro smiled, appreciative, but still a little embarrassed about being put on the spot in front of the whole class earlier.

She looked over at Midoriya. His friends had gathered around him, trying to figure out what was up with him. She knew he would never tell them what was really going on with him. Jiro was still feeling awkward about their encounter yesterday herself, but she could only imagine what a timid guy like him must be going through.

Kyouka knew she wouldn't be able to think clearly until she cleared things up with the guy, now was probably the best time to make things right. And Mr. Aizawa did say they needed to discuss who would ultimately get the class rep position.

"Come on Deku, you've got this!" Uraraka said excitedly as she grabbed both of Deku's hands, "This class rep thing is a huge opportunity! Dontcha' think?"

"He's acting more timid than usual." Iida muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin pensively. Afterward, he began to address Midoriya. "Come, we can discuss the situation at lunch together."

"Room for one more?"

That was what Jiro wanted to ask them at least, but she couldn't move towards them no matter how hard she tried. What was this feeling that was holding her back? She thought about it more and more as she watched Uraraka drag Midoriya towards the exit, with Iida following close behind.

Jiro's face got a bit warm, and she closed her eyes tightly as another wave of embarrassment washed over her, the feeling disappearing almost as fast as it had manifested. In her mind it was best to ride these feelings out when they crept up, likely because she had no idea how to face them otherwise.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised when she made eye contact with the gravity quirk user.

For some reason Jiro could swear Uraraka was watching her intently. The moment she noticed Jiro looking back though she turned away, disappearing out the door with the two boys.

Kyouka blinked, pulling on her earphone jacks subconsciously.

What was that about?

As she quietly assured herself that it was nothing, she felt a hand gently place itself on her shoulder. She turned to find all of her friends looking at her expectantly, Kirishima had joined the rest of them, meaning everyone was here.

"Well, guess we better get going too, huh?" Jiro said with an embarrassed smile.

Jiro had never sat at such a crowded table in her life.

Some of the other students had decided to join her group for lunch, probably not wanting to miss any new developments regarding the class representative thing. It was interesting that in a school that trained future heroes, a class election was the most interesting thing happening that day.

Her three friends sat around her, same as yesterday. Then there was Hagakure and Ojiro on her right. They had pulled up a couple chairs to sit with them, along with Tokoyami and Sero who sat at the left side of the table.

Kyouka couldn't help but daydream like she used to as a child, imagining what life would be like as a rockstar with adoring fans who always crowded around her. She hadn't asked for all of this attention, but at the moment she didn't mind it too much, mostly because she knew she wouldn't have to do much talking. Everyone else at the table had that part covered.

Hagakure's body swayed from left to right in her seat, almost like she was moving to some sort of inaudible tune. "It'd be nice to have a girl as our rep! There are so many more guys in our class… I'd like for our voices to be heard, y'know?"

Mina nodded in agreement, scratching her chin as though she were in deep thought. "I couldn't agree more, we'll need to start a political campaign. Posters, slogans, merchandise!"

"Wait, back up a bit." Kirishima cut in, smiling and motioning for Ashido to slow down with his hands, "Mr. Aizawa told us that we only have until the end of the lunch period to come to a decision. Unless you plan on creating the world's shortest political campaign."

While that was true, Jiro wasn't sure how Aizawa expected everyone to come to an agreement during lunch of all periods. Maybe he just didn't care enough about the decision to give it much thought… He did fall asleep as soon as he announced their task.

While Jiro didn't blame him for not caring, the least he could do was put in a little effort for the students' sake. If Iida hadn't stepped in the class's competitive nature would have probably torn the classroom apart!

'He could have at least put in as much effort as he did when he threatened to expel one of us…' Jiro thought bitterly.

"I don't mean any offense, but I'm more curious to know who voted for whom." This time Tokoyami spoke up, his tone as serious as ever. "Because personally, this result doesn't make much sense to me. Especially considering we haven't seen any meaningful showings of Jiro's leadership skills."

Jiro felt all eyes turn to her as she smiled sheepishly

'I know everyone was thinking the same thing, but it's still hard not to take offense when you're that blunt.' She thought to herself.

Kaminari sat up quickly. "Hey! I don't think it's fair to put the people who voted on the spot like that!" While he had been surprisingly quiet for most of the conversation, for some reason he decided that now was the best time for him to speak up.

"On the spot?"

Ojiro raised an eyebrow at the electric quirk user. The tailed student had only been listening for a majority of the conversation too, but what Kaminari had said must have necessitated a response. "Why would that be putting anyone on the spot?"

Hagakure quickly supported Ojiro's interjection. "Yeah, if we couldn't vote for ourselves what's the harm in knowing? It's not like anyone can look selfish if they're voting for someone else, right?"

"Doesn't take a genius to know who voted for those two." Sero whispered to Kirishima as he nodded towards the pair who had just spoken.

Kaminari looked around in defeat as the table seemed to come to a consensus. He sat down and tried to make himself smaller.

Jiro knew she had to say something, although she was still pretty confused. "Kaminari, it's only a dumb class representative vote. I wasn't expecting any votes in the first place, do you really think it'd bother me if you didn't vote for me?"

She may have only known the guy for two days, but she'd had enough conversations with him by now to know this wasn't normal for him. If anything, she expected him to take this the least seriously of all her classmates.

Kaminari's hand twitched as it rested on the table. A small electric spark shot out of his fingers at the same time. He sighed and took a deep breath, making eye contact with the purple haired girl "I did vote for you Jiro… But only because I thought you wouldn't win."

Ashido stood up in shock as she put her hands on the table. "Wait, what?!"

Kaminari winced as the pink girl's expression turned sour. "I got competitive! I really wanted to win, but I didn't do it out of disrespect for Jiro!"

"How is that not disrespectful? And would you really be satisfied even if you did win that way?" Kirishima looked disappointedly at his blonde classmate, "A real man would have voted for who they honestly thought should lead!"

"Oh, come on man… You probably did the same thing as me…" Kaminari muttered while avoiding eye contact.

"I didn't vote for Jiro if that's what you're implying, but even if I did that doesn't change anything!" Kirishima's tone was getting uncharacteristically more annoyed.

"Can we not talk about Jiro like she's not sitting right there?!" Ashido waved her arms towards the purple haired girl. When she raised her hands she revealed that her acid had melted small indentations into the table.

"This just calls into question how many other people voted with less than noble intentions." Tokoyami said as the chaos unfolded.

"I think it's a fair strategy." Sero rebuked. "Cut him some slack!"

"You're only saying that because you did the same thing as him!" Hagakure accused Sero with an invisible finger pointed in his direction.

Jiro couldn't believe it. Were they really arguing like this over a stupid little class election?

She didn't care that Kaminari had used voting for her as a way to boost his own chances of winning. But it did sadden her to see her new friends at odds like this. Especially when she was at the center of it all.

"Guys please, this isn't worth arguing over-"

The purple haired girl was promptly ignored as the shouting match began to escalate.

Jiro realized there was nothing she could do while everyone was in the thick of it. She could try getting their attention. But even if she did, she didn't have any clue what she could say to calm them down.

The whole situation served as a stern reminder to Jiro though. These were all still high school kids. No matter how noble the career they were trying to pursue was, it didn't change the fact that these were all teenagers who barely knew each other. Hell, even Jiro knew she would let her own stubbornness and temper get the better of her in a situation like this. At least if she was as invested in it as they were.

Stubborn people did make the best heroes, so she wasn't surprised when no one would back down. Kyouka wasn't having any more of it though. While everyone was too busy arguing, the purple haired girl slipped away from the table unnoticed.

"You sure you're doing okay, Deku?" Uraraka kept an eye on Midoriya. She was still concerned about his reaction to the class representative vote. "You didn't even look that pale while fighting Bakugou!"

Izuku had needed a moment to breathe after being forced to stand in front of the class with Jiro back there. Especially after hearing about Mineta's little 'bet.'

While the bet itself was a shock to hear about, he was also caught off guard by the idea that some of his classmates were paying such close attention to his actions behind the scenes. That's something he should expect if he wants to become a hero, sure. But he still doubted he would get used to that thought anytime soon.

"You should feel honored!" Iida's voice cut through the green haired boy's thoughts, "Being offered the position of class representative at such a venerated establishment is no minor feat!" His voice rang out in the cafeteria, causing the students around them to give them weird looks. Midoriya wanted to melt into his seat with all the attention he was getting.

Still, he was right about one thing. Even being offered the position could be a huge opportunity to get a jump start on his hero career. Pros look for that kind of stuff when taking up potential work study students. Hero work is tough enough without needing to babysit a first year student. If they've proven themselves capable enough to lead their peers, that alone is enough of a reason to invite them to their agency.

"Guys, do you really think I'm cut out for something like this?" Midoriya didn't mean to sound so negative, but he genuinely had no clue as to why he was even being considered for this position in the first place.

"You've got to admit you made an impression on the class yesterday!" Uraraka was quick to interject between mouthfuls of rice. "You earned their respect after that fight, it only makes sense they'd vote for you!"

"Respect won't translate to leading a class though…"

"You won't know until you try!"

Uraraka stared down Midoriya, challenging him to contest her on this. He had never seen her get this intense before, she really wanted him to take the position.

Iida looked back and forth between the two like he was watching a tennis match. It was pretty strange to him that the pair was getting this intense about whether Izuku should take the position. If he had to guess it was because Midoriya had been putting himself down during this whole process, which didn't sit well with Ochaco.

"At the end of the day, the discussion is trivial at best." Iida finally decided to jump in, "The runner up will be given the title of vice representative, either way you'll be in a leadership position."

"I think it should be Midoriya too!" A short purple blur jumped into the seat next to Iida out of seemingly nowhere. "He's got balls to go up against Bakugou like that! And we need a leader with balls!"

Iida raised an eyebrow at his short classmate. "Language, please."

"Balls isn't a swear." Mineta replied, confused.

"Back on topic…" Uraraka interrupted the two boys, "Deku is clearly qualified enough, and the rest of the class will agree with me on this. We can settle this matter, no problem!"

"B-But-"

Midoriya gave her a pleading look. Clearly he was getting overwhelmed by the torrent of compliments. No matter what he said he couldn't convince her that he didn't have what it took… No, that wasn't it. It was more like he couldn't convince himself that he was capable.

Before he could even formulate a sentence to express this, something unexpected happened.

The room went dark as a loud banging sound rattled the inside of the student's skulls. The sound was coming from large metal walls that were covering all of the windows and doors leading outside.

Red lights strung up along the walls flashed brightly as a speaker blared out the numbers, '602' repeatedly.

Iida stood up and turned towards a student at a neighboring table, shouting over the noise. "What's the meaning of this!?"

"It's a 602… A trespasser! But why would they block off all the exits?..."

Several U.A students started panicking, signifying that this wasn't some sort of drill. The room being illuminated by the red alarm lights wasn't helping calm anyone down either. Several staff members entered the room and seemed to look about as confused as the students, looking around like a villain had broken in or something.

Midoriya desperately tried to make sense of what was happening, but the situation was so chaotic he could only muster one clear thought.

'Are we under attack?!'

(AUTHOR'S NOTE)

Hello!

Usually I avoid putting notes on this platform for the sake of immersion, but since this chapter took so long to come out I wanted to give a quick explanation. This is a pretty long note too, just an fyi since I don't plan on writing any more notes here in the future.

This was originally a much longer chapter, and it took around five rewrites for me to feel satisfied enough to post it. I ultimately decided to split the long chapter into two to three smaller ones, this being the first. That means chapter four is around the corner, I just need to make sure it's refined enough to post.

There's gonna be a lot more canon divergence from here on out, so I hope people are ready for some unexpected changes, as anything could happen now! I know the focus may seem more on the side characters at some times, especially in this chapter, but it's for the sake of the main pairing's development so don't worry. I also think it doesn't hurt to give the less noticed 1-A characters a little more love.

The train conversation was a part of this chapter at first too, but I think it fits better a bit later in the story. It's not cut completely though, I have it written out, but not seeing it immediately adds to the drama and excitement in my opinion. I also wanted people to subconsciously insert their own awkward first conversations into the story, just to give it that uncomfortable edge.

Thank you all for reading! I love reading your reviews! And rest assured I haven't forgotten about the story, I'm just never satisfied with my own work. Hopefully that's made the quality of the story better for you all though!