lice came out on stage for the beauty contest with a determined look on her face. She had scrapped the dress and hat for a pair of Black ripped jeans and a zip up corset- a black leather jacket tossed over her shoulders. Truthfully, she had planned this the entire time. Between Mina and Uraraka harassing her to make herself known to the others in the school, she was going to make herself known her way.
There were some whispers in the crowd and from the other contestants as she gracefully stepped on stage. Uraraka's gaze widened and she reached out to tug Mina back to earth. "Mina..."
"Im totally seeing this." Mina was bouncing in place. She hadnt seen this side of Alice before, but had heard about it from Uraraka. The girl looked dangerous.
"Afternoon, a pleasure to be starting us off this beauty contest, especially since my version of Beauty might be a bit skewed to most of you." A smirk appeared on Alice's face. "My name is Alice Rise and Im happy to get this opportunity to introduce myself as the newest member of class 1-A." The girl gave a deep bow and held out her hand as Chess took form of the long bladed scythe their classmates had come to know and fear. She had gotten good with the blade, but lately she had been really practicing her agility and dexterity. Alice took a deep breath as the low beat of the song Mina had picked started in the background. It was a deep instrumental rock that Alice tapped her boot against the stage as she waited for the guitar to drop.
The girl's entire form shifted as the blade swung over her head effortlessly, which caused a few gasps from the crowd. Alice moved as if the scythe was an extension of herself- the handle gliding over her hand in a purposeful trained manner. She had started to incorporate her naturally flexible movements into her scythe work and it had really paid off. The girl's movements seemed almost as if she was dancing. Her version of beauty might have been skewed, but it took the crowd by the throat. Between the deep bass of the instrumental and her glided movements, the crowd had grown extremely quiet.
Alice took a deep breath and let the scythe swing in a circle around her left side and brought it behind her, the girl took no hesitation and whipped her arm outwards- letting the weight of the scythe take it spinning out over the crowd. Alice turned and kept her back to the crowd, the blade whirling in a large arch before coming back to her. The girl didnt look back to where the weapon was coming from, but held out her hand to grab the handle. The force from the swing whipped the girl around to face the crowd and she planted the staff down with a soft thud, her head held high as the crowd looked up at her with wide gazes.
It was Kirishima, Mina, and Uraraka that started the cheering; which soon erupted into the crowd going wild for her performance. It was a beauty contest for sure, but something the rest of the school might not have been used to. Alice held her head high, the anxiety of being on stage fluttering in her chest. She kept her gaze on her friends, her cheeks red as she gave a bow and hurried off stage to hide behind the curtain. Kendo was first to greet her, "Oh my goodness! Tetsu Tetsu said you were acrobatic, but I didnt thing you could do stuff like that!" She gasped, taking Alice's hands with excitement in her gaze. "What's your quirk? Is it shadow like Tokoyami has said?"
Alice felt her cheeks flush and she laughed, "Y-yeah! Kinda. This is Chess, he's my quirk. A bit like Dark shadow, but different." Chess appeared out of the girl's jacket, meowing defiantly on her shoulder. The redheaded girl gasped and reached out to let Chess sniff her. "He's super friendly, but can be a bit stubborn when he wants to be."
Chess rubbed gently against the girl's fingers. "He's adorable. Id love to see what else you can do in the future, how long have you been at the school?"
"A bit after Summer break. Its been a few months. I was in the support class to catch up, but they bumped me to the hero course only recently."
"Well. Color me impressed. Id love to see what else you can do." Kendo broke out into a wide smile before slipping off to do her own performance as her name was called- leaving Alice with the rest of the beauty pageant precipitants.
"Much more graceful than Kendo, my dear. Nothing compared to what I can do- but truly something to look at." The gold skinned girl smirked in Alice's direction- who kept her eyes on the ground.
"Leave her alone, Bibimi." Nejire said warmly and wrapped an arm gently around Alice's shoulder's. "Beauty can be whatever someone wants it to be." She mused. "I dont think we got the pleasure to meet, though Ive heard a lot about you from Uravity and Tamaki. My name is Nejire Hado, a pleasure to meet you!"
"Yeah! Uraraka and the others talk about you- you are one of the big three at the school, arent you? With Mirio and Tamaki?" Alice smiled up at the older girl. She reminded her of her older sister. Alice normally didnt talk about her sister. The older girl had stayed back with their father after Alice's kidnapping. She figured she could keep watch in Canada and update her if anything happened. The older girl, Cyn, could pull from someone's deepest fears just by looking at them. She'd then use her quirk to project them as holograms. Cyn had climbed the ladder at their school and was a force to be reckoned with, but she was protective of her younger sister. Most of the hand to hand combat Alice had learned had been through Cyn herself.
"Yes, Im glad you decided to do something at the festival. I saw you standing with Mirio and Eri during your classes event. Not a fan of concerts?" Nejire mused faintly and dropped her arm off the girl's shoulder, standing straight.
"Eh, I have social anxiety that Im trying to work through. This was hard enough." Alice laughed awkwardly, her face turning a deep red. "Im trying to push past it."
"Well I think you did fantastic." Nejire gave a warm smile down at the young girl. Alice was actively working to be better and it was obvious. She had only heard good things about her since she arrived. Nejire and the others had been briefed on what had happened to the young girl just a few days before she arrived. They already had a good rapport going with the school and were planned to meet Class 1-A, so it was smart for them to be in on what was going on. Nezu didnt know much about Alice, so he had tasked the three to keep an eye on her if anything were to happen. "You are actively working to be better. I think you'll be a great hero."
Alice felt her entire face turn a deep red and she nodded excitedly. It felt great to get a compliment from one of the top three at the school. She knew she wouldnt be able to beat Deku, Todoroki, or Bakugo in a fight to be one of the top three- but she'd get as far as she could.
The girls headed on stage after the performance portion of the beauty contest was done. Nejire had won, but Alice didnt care- there were students in the audience who had voted for her and a few others were giving her nods of approval. She quickly went to change into one of the band shirts that her class had made and went to meet them for the rest of the event.
Kirishima pumped the group up to go to the obstacle course and Bakugo agreed. Alice stayed in the stands, rooting for her friends with the rest of the group. She really didnt want to have to face Bakugo or Kirishima and risk making herself look stupid- even if Uraraka had tried to reassure that she'd be fine.
"Come on Alice, lets do the haunted house!" Mina grabbed the smaller girl's arm to drag her towards the haunted house. Alice automatically played dead weight as her friend tried to coax her into going inside. "You like spooky things! Come on!"
"Chess doesnt tho! I dont want him to hurt anyone." Alice whined. Chess, who didnt find Mina as a threat just sat on his owner's hip as she was dragged through the dirt towards the haunted house.
"He'll be fine! Shinso is there, he knows him! All the people in there are students!" Mina whined in response. Denki came around to scoop Chess up, cuddling the cat close.
"Im sure Chess would be fine if we explained it. Right little buddy?" He held the cat up and Chess just meowed in response. "See? He definitely agrees."
Alice just groaned. Chess liked the people in the class, including a few people from the other classes as well. He didnt understand what Denki was saying, nor did he really care. He just liked the attention. "We'll make Bakugo gooo!" Mina said in a singsong voice.
"He doesnt have to. I just dont like being startled-" Alice began, but she was cut off by the blond in question.
Bakugo- who had been watching this whole thing unravel just scoffed in response, "Who says I wanna go through some shitty stupid haunted house anyway?" He crossed his arms, irritation laced his voice. He'd been pretty quiet as they walked around getting snacks. Truthfully, he'd been watching Alice. The obstacle course had gotten his mind off her for a moment, but now that things had slowed down- he was back to thinking. Had he turned into that blasted bird idiot? Tokoyami had said he was flustered by Alice, which Bakugo hadnt been- but when the girl wrapped her arms around his neck in greeting. He'd felt his heart jump into his throat. He knew he liked her more than the other females in his class, but was romance even on the table for him? Would it get in the way of his studies? His goal to be number one?
"I do." Mina retorted defiantly with her hands on her hips. "Or maybe we can find Tokoyami, he wouldnt be scared." She tapped her finger to her lips, a faint smirk appearing. "Im sure he'd loveee to walk Alice through the haunted house."
"Id rather not go at all?" Alice opened her mouth to talk, but it seemed like no one was listening to her.
Bakugo just hissed in response, "I am not SCARED," he growled and got into Mina's face, who stood her ground with a smirk on her lips. "I just dont like haunted houses!"
"Awh, dont wanna take the opportunity to have Alice hanging on your arm?" Mina batted her lashes at the male, who only seemed to get more angry.
"I really dont wanna trigger Chess. I actually like haunted houses..." Alice said quietly, looking between the pair who really didnt seem to hear her.
"You know what? Fine! Ill take her through the stupid haunted house." Bakugo snarled, turning and grabbing Alice by the arm- dragging her towards the entrance. Alice yelped in surprise, her eyes widening as she stumbled along.
"Let go of me!" Alice ripped her arm away from him, irritation on her face. They stood in the doorway to the haunted house, facing off. "I can walk on my own." She hissed, heading deeper into the attraction. She might as well get this over with.
Bakugo grumbled hotly and fell in next to her. Alice looked downright irritated and Chess was puffed up on her shoulder. "I didnt want to go into this fucking haunted house because I didnt want to trigger Chess." Alice took a deep breath to calm herself and Chess seemed to relax a bit.
The male looked just as irritated, "Why didnt you say that?"
Alice turned a deep hiss in her throat, "I TRIED. No one was listening to ME." She glared up at the male, who just rose his brows. Alice wasnt one to yell, let alone have the type of venom in her tone. "Im sorry for taking this out on you, but no one keeps asking how I feel! I didnt want to trigger Chess because I dont like feeling like Im going to be JUMPED around every corner. I want just kidnapped, I was HUNTED. Haunted houses REMIND ME of that." She clenched her hands until her knuckles turned white. Chess flickered as he spiraled down her form to put himself between Alice and Bakugo, who opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "I do not like being SCARED unwillingly! I just wanted to enjoy today without being triggered!"
Bakugo held up his hands, realization had dawned on him. He remembered when they had contained him for the sports festival. How the panic had set in when they restrained him. It reminded him of that sludge monster. She was having a panic attack and Chess was triggered. He was just trying to protect her from the only other person in the room. "Hey... Hey. We can leave. Its okay. The first person we find we can get out of here."
Alice hadnt even realized she was hyperventilating. Her breath had caught in her throat and she was shaking. She didnt think Haunted houses like this would trigger her so bad. She had been worried about Chess and triggering him that she had put herself on high alert. The girl recoiled slightly, her gaze wide as Bakugo reached for her.
Chess' hand shot up and grabbed the male's wrist, holding him in place. Bakugo didnt pull away from Chess, nor did he respond to the tightening grip. "Come on, Support. We can leave." Bakugo tried again and Chess' grip slowly loosened.
Alice's eyes welled up with tears and she swallowed thickly. "Okay." She nodded slowly and Chess released the male with a disgruntled meow. He snaked his way back up onto Alice's shoulders as she wrapped her arms around her core.
Bakugo glanced around, spotting Shinso in the rafters. "Hey, Mini Aizawa. I see you, can you let us out the back? Alice here doesnt wanna be in the haunted house." He called out firmly, his voice calm. He didnt want to escalate the already pissed off cat again.
Shinso dropped down, a look of concern written on his face. "Yeah. Here, there is a door behind this curtain here. You okay Alice?" Shinso had limited interactions with the girl, but she seemed friendly enough. Right now, her face was red and she was sniffling quietly.
Alice nodded slowly and made a beeline to the door. Bakugo followed along, "Give the rest of those assholes hell for us. They are the reason she was forced into this mess to begin with." He snarled under his breath. Shinso gave the male a thumbs up and smirked. Oh, he'd enjoy this one.
Outside, they made their way over to an empty area to calm down. Alice leaned against the wall, softly muttering under her breath. "You sounds like that bastard Deku," Bakugo glanced over at Alice, who sniffled again, but was able to choke out a laugh.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Alice glanced up to the calm male, who was leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets.
"Tsh, he's always been shitty Deku. We've known each other since we were kids. Its a long story." The male looked out over the crowd and puffed his cheeks. "Call it a weird rivalry."
"Oh." Alice ran her hands over his face. "Did Chess hurt you? I saw him grab your wrist."
"No. He didnt hurt me, just a bit of pressure." Bakugo rubbed his wrist. The male was lost in thought a moment. "He didnt know what was going on, did he?"
Alice shook her head, "No. We arent connected mentally like that. I can understand his emotions, but we dont share thoughts. So when the anxiety and fear took over, he thought it was you that was causing it- but you've never done that before. So he was confused. He didnt want to hurt you, but didnt know why you were scaring me."
Bakugo made a soft, "Hn," noise and held his hand out to Chess- who sniffed at his fingers. "He's just an animal. Its all instinct. When people are scared, they run off instinct." Chess rubbed his cheek on Bakugo's hand before turning his attention back to the crowd.
"Yeah..." Alice let out a breath, the anxiety was edging off and now she was just tired. "He doesnt want to hurt people, but he doesnt understand that people are just playing. I didnt want him to react to a student he doesnt know and hurt them."
Bakugo nodded, he got that. Truthfully, if this had happened anytime before the league kidnapped him, he would have reacted differently. The whole situation had really put his attitude in perspective. He regretted a lot of things and wanted to do better. "You want a candy apple? Ill buy." He glanced over at her. Alice was calming down, but she looked exhausted. "Maybe some sugar will help wake you up."
Alice hesitated, but nodded. She glanced around before scooting closer to him and bumping her head against his shoulder. She really didnt need anyone seeing them and making this whole situation more stressful then needed. Bakugo felt a faint smile tug at the corner of his mouth, "You're welcome."