Before Rinne knew it, she was getting ready for her first day at UA High, internally thanking Hitoshi for constantly reminding her to set her alarm for early so that she could eat breakfast, make lunch and take a quick shower before heading out.
Imagine her surprise when upon stepping out her door and she saw Hitoshi stood there waiting patiently for her to exit the apartment "Let's go, there's a bus station a block that way UA's on it's normal route" he held out his hand, letting her take control of the situation.
"Okay" Rinne nodded quietly, allowing herself to be carefully pulled along by the hand, not a fan of being out in public any more than Hitoshi seemed to be a fan, in fact after reaching the bus and paying the bus fare, he made sure that nobody could sit or stand near her.
Considering the lingering stares, because of her wings no doubt "Relax I won't let what happened last week happen again" Hitoshi assured, glaring outright until people looked away from Rinne who would be an amazing hero by the time she was graduated from UA.
Plus, it was his hope that he'd be able to team up with her someday as a hero of his own, Rinne opened her mouth but closed it when Hitoshi looked at her, obviously knowing what words had been about to be spoken "Wh..What do you think our first day will be like...I me..mean there's orientation, so many people" Rinne asked quietly.
Always soft-spoken to his frustration because sometimes it was hard to hear her and he just shrugged because he had no answer for Rinne, at that moment the bus screeched to a halt, the driver speaking over the intercom that this was the stop for UA, prompting the both of them to stand and exit the bus.
"Well, I'll see you for lunch" Hitoshi reluctantly let Rinne's hand go when they got up to the big doors that led inside of the school "Make sure you talk to someone about your apartment and job okay" he reminded, knowing that if he didn't, she wouldn't speak a word of it to anyone at all.
Rinne watched him turn and head to a different classroom, 1-C, before heading in to her own class 1-A, there were many seats already filled by her classmates but she was too nervous to even speak to them, instead Rinne rushed towards the furthest desk in the back row and sat down.
No one bothered her thankfully and she was happily minding her own business reading the UA guide book a third time when a commotion towards the front of the room caught her attention, a boy with green hair was talking to a brown-haired girl as they stood in the doorway with another of Rinne's classmates.
The strangest part though was when all three of them turned and looked down at something in the hallway, that something turned out to be someone, to be more precise, their homeroom teacher Shota Aizawa who grumbled at them about taking too long to shut up and to put on their PE uniforms to head outside.
Uraraka complained about missing orientation but Aizawa-sensei said that he ran his class how he wanted and that they weren't there to make friends if they wanted to be heroes "Now here's the deal you lot will be taking a quirk assessment test" Shota informed.
Followed by a round of complaining as the next words out of his mouth were that the person in last place would be expelled on the spot from the hero course, dark grey orbs narrowing imperceptibly on Rinne when she paled, looking terrified as he began the tests.
She really surprised him though when she managed to at least get a good pass on six out of the eight tests, the grip tests and ball toss being her weakness and she hadn't even shown off her other quirk as the others took their turns and Izuku Midoriya threw him for an even bigger loop.
Before he explained that he wasn't going to expel anyone that day at least, in the future was a different matter if the little shits annoyed him to much "Dismissed, oh and Kuroyami after classes end meet Recovery Girl, she'll give you the run-down of your duties and studies there" Shota announced.
Drawing attention onto the young hero to be from the rest of her classmates 'Perhaps Hizashi was on to something there' Aizawa thought to himself when the girl panicked and managed to somehow vanish on her classmates as they all tried asking her questions about why she was going to see RG and what duties or studies she had to do with her.
Everyone scratching their heads in confusion at her disappearing act, only their sensei had seen her use her wings to fly towards the door and book it inside to change out of her PE clothes "Hey want to eat lunch together" Hitoshi found her first before she could even begin to look for him.
Rinne nodded quickly in acquiesce, letting him take her hand for once and lead them to a secluded spot to enjoy the afternoon meal together "So I didn't see you at orientation what was up with that" he asked once they were sat comfortably on the ground.
"O..Our sensei said that he ran his class his way and then had us do a b...bunch of quirk assessment tests, s...so that's why s..sorry Hitoshi" Rinne apologized quietly, feeling herself begin to relax finally after the last couple of nerve-wracking hours.
Hitoshi rolled his eyes "Seriously you don't have to apologize, I get it, the hero course is different than the Gen Ed course, did you at least have fun or make any friends with your classmates, you need someone on your side when I can't be with you yet" he grumbled.
Finishing off a bite of his turkey and cheese sandwich "N..No um they ki..kind of swarmed me an..and I might have ran so they might not like me now cau..cause of that" Rinne murmured, eyes downcast, picking at her food and not feeling hungry anymore.
"What why, your perfectly likeable Rinne, though I am concerned about the reason they tried to swarm you like that, you need to speak up and tell them you don't like it" Hitoshi frowned, pausing mid-bite, unaware that the two of them were being eavesdropped on.
"A..Ah well sensei mentioned that after classes I...I needed to go see Recovery Girl to find out my list of duties and what she wants me too study while apprenticing under her" Rinne pushed her fingers together while speaking in the quietest voice.
In fact, she spoke so quietly that Hitoshi had to literally strain his ears to be able to hear what she said "First that incident in the mall last week and now this" Hitoshi grumbled, running a hand through his purple locks, and feeling tempted to punch something when Rinne flinched away from him.
Thinking he'd heard and seen enough to actually be concerned because no one should be that scared when confronted with people their own age Shota was about to reveal himself when the Gen Ed student leaned over waving his hands in a placating manner.
"Listen to me, I'm not mad at you okay, I could never be upset with you Rinne, your my best friend, which is pretty weird since I've never had a friend before you and when you figure yourself out, I'll be there with you the whole time, I know you're going to be an amazing hero, probably the likes of which this world has never seen" Hitoshi said.
Shota watching when his troubled student broke down in tears and listening when she spoke "Y..You to Hitoshi, you'll be an awesome hero to someday" Rinne sniffled, letting him hug her for the first time "B..Because to m..me you're already a hero" she murmured, feeling drained for the day.
Hitoshi on his part had no idea what Rinne was talking about as he rubbed his hand up and down her spine in a soothing way, he just knew that he loathed whoever had done this to his friend, broken her down so much that she could barely manage on her own sometimes.
"Come on lunch is almost over, try to eat something okay, you have no idea what your other classes are gonna be like today and you'll need the energy for Recovery Girl" Hitoshi pulled back eventually letting Rinne go despite her clear reluctance on the matter.
Who tried to eat her now cold lunch and only managed to finish half of it "W...Will you wa...wait for me if th..things take longer with R..Recovery Girl" Rinne asked on their way back inside, Hitoshi was opening his mouth to answer when the door was opened and she fell forward into something incredibly fluffy.
"Oh...whoops didn't mean for that to happen" a loud boisterous voice apologized in a roundabout manner, just before she was lifted off of the fluffy thing and set on her feet, not before she went positively rigid at the contact from the unknown.
And upon being released she hid herself behind Hitoshi, staring fearfully up at the new person with frightened green eyes "Oboro" Shota saw fit to intervene quickly when his student began to shake and his friend who had begun to frown looked his way.
Meanwhile Shota motioned for the two students to head in discretely while he had the other man distracted "Sho what was that, she looked petrified and kids usually love me" Oboro complained loudly, and Shota sighed not really up to dealing with his loudmouth friend at the moment.
"Hizashi suspects abuse and after what I witnessed, I believe him, so far she only seems comfortable with Shinso apparently, they were together on the day of the exam to weren't they" Shota frowned, rubbing his chin in thought before nodding to himself.
"Really that's awful...I guess all we can do is make sure she knows she's safe here at UA and no one will hurt her again" Oboro matched Shota's frown with one of his own as the pair headed in, tending to their own duties throughout the rest of the day.
Until the first official day was over "Hey I'll wait for you down at the bus stop Rinne" Hitoshi called over the crowd of fleeing students who wanted to get home as he exited his classroom and saw her stood in the doorway of her classroom.
Green met purple before she nodded then when the hall had cleared a little Rinne gave him a wave and headed in the direction of the medical wing of UA "There you are dearie...sit" Recovery Girl or rather Chiyo Shuzenji suggested, puttering about and putting on a pot of tea for the two of them old and young.
Rinne quickly did as asked not making a peep until a cup of tea was placed in her hands "U..Um b..before we start I sh..should let you know I have a p..part-time job" Rinne stuttered, remembering Hitoshi's words from that morning about how she needed tell someone about that.
"Yes, dearie I know, all students are given extensive background checks before being enrolled in UA, we also know that you live on your own Miss Kuroyami and we are concerned, in fact up until ten months ago you didn't exist in Japan" Recovery Girl remarked.
Clearly still sharp despite her age and Rinne felt her hands begin to tremble "...M..My parents sen..sent me abroad to atten...attend UA" Rinne confessed, feeling tears sting at her eyes that were still raw from her earlier crying session with Hitoshi.
"I see, you should still have a guardian, which I'd like to sort now if you don't mind, in fact someone has already offered to take on that role for you" Chiyo informed, grabbing a file and presenting it to the young girl in front of her who had a healing quirk.
Rinne took the file in confusion, wondering how this conversation had turned from talking about her duties into having a guardian and what had brought her to Japan as she flipped open the folder she saw a picture of a man, not just any man, but the one that had helped Hitoshi and her out when they'd gone out on errands together.
Present Mic or Hizashi Yamada, Hitoshi's homeroom teacher "W..Why h..he doesn't k..know me" Rinne inquired, looking frightened of the prospect of having someone be her guardian, or rather having someone have control over her again like her parents had, had.
"Dearie the first thing you need to know about that young man is that Hizashi is a sucker for kids, he adores them that's why he teaches and has a radio show" Chiyo tsked, realizing why the loudmouth blonde was offering his guardianship to the young heroine to be.
She appeared terrified at the idea "C..Can we t..talk about my duties and the like um Recovery Girl plea...please" Rinne requested, wanting to get off the topic of having someone have her life in their control again, though she knew there was no getting out of it when it seemed Present Mic had already made up his mind on the matter.
"Of course, dearie, and you can call me Chiyo when it's just the two of us" Recovery Girl announced, getting into the main reason she'd asked Rinne here today after classes had ended for the day and the explanation took an hour "Any questions...good then I'll see you tomorrow and make sure you study" she declared.
Not surprised when the girl booked it out of the ward, nearly slamming into Oboro a second time on her way who conjured a cloud to follow the pinkette all the way down to the gates of UA, where Hitoshi was stood waiting patiently for her apparently.
When he turned and held out a hand for the fuchsia haired girl "Hey that didn't take as long as I thought it would" Hitoshi remarked, checking Rinne over as if he was afraid that someone would have hurt her while she was busy speaking to Recovery Girl about her apprenticeship.
Just as Rinne was about to speak someone called out to the pair "Kuroyami hold on a sec, didn't Chiyo tell you to meet me in 1-C after your meeting with her" Hizashi came bounding down the long road up to the school and skidded to a stop in front of his ward.
"U..Um I...I'm sorry...no s..she didn't" Rinne shook her head, gripping Hitoshi's hand tightly when Present Mic reached out to pat her shoulder in a reassuring manner and despite her trying not to, she still flinched away from his touch like he'd struck her instead.
Hizashi could count on one hand how many times he'd been furious and this was definitely the angriest he'd felt for a while at the abuse this young heroine had suffered "It's alright little listener no need to worry okay, I just need to get in contact with your parents and let them know that I've become your guardian no biggie right" Hizashi smiled.
Attempting to make her relax but at the mention of her parents, Rinne paled, shaking her head no as she backed away releasing Hitoshi's hand as she did so "Rinne" even Hitoshi was starting to look worried when the girl swayed on her feet, feeling faint.
"Y...You...I...can't" Rinne stuttered, not making any sense at the moment as she continued to back away despite Hitoshi reaching out to her, that's when her foot slipped on the grass and she went tumbling forward into the road, in front of the approaching bus.
Oboro chose that moment to swoop in with one of his clouds and bring Rinne to safety in the nick of time after she'd curled into a fetal position and covered her head just as the bus came to a screeching halt, having seen the young girl fall and manage to stop mere centimeters from the spot Rinne had just laid.
Hizashi was immediately at his wards side, but he didn't reach out to touch her, he left the soothing to Hitoshi for the moment "Come on Rinne it's just like that time before in, one, two, out, one, two, match your breathing to mine yeah" Hitoshi murmured.
Seeing how panicked she was at the moment, "I..I'm sorry...I..I don't have t...their number to g..get in contact wi..with them" Rinne finally confessed, face buried in her hands as she calmed down some and Hizashi had to close his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down.
"That's alright little listener, we'll figure out another way, now come on up, I need to visit your apartment and get a better idea of your situation alright" Present Mic assured, having a few things he wanted to say to Rinne's parent's what kind of monsters were they, that they would send their child away without giving them a way to get in contact.
Rinne took the proffered hand cautiously, expecting to be thrown back down and for the man to laugh in her face until she was stood properly on her feet a second later "Ah you're a bit scraped up there" Oboro pointed out suddenly seeing the blood seeping through the gray uniform top.
After a second, he wanted to hit himself when she pressed her arm tightly to her side and gave him that petrified stare again "Come on let me see" Hitoshi sighed, feeling exhausted all of a sudden, Rinne jolted but allowed him to take care of her little scrape.
It was then Hizashi gestured the pair of them on the bus, waving at Oboro who sighed when the blonde followed the two onto the bus "Did you see Present Mic" Shota decided right then to scare the living daylights out of the cloud user and got a mouthful of cloud as Oboro glared at him.
"Yeah, he just left with that girl and one of his students, gods Sho, her parents didn't even leave her a way to get in contact with them in case of an emergency" Oboro tugged at his wiry blue hair, torn between wanting to treat the kid kindly and beating whoever had hurt her so badly that she was afraid to even talk about her parents.
Just then as if the obvious had been thrown into his face he cursed under his breath startling Shota this time "It's her parents, they're the ones who have abused that girl" Oboro stated calmly though he was anything but "Time to have Nezu do some deeper digging I suppose" he commented with a smile.
Meanwhile during this time Hitoshi, Rinne and Hizashi had made it to the bus station near Rinne's apartment "Guess I'll see you tomorrow Rinne" Hitoshi tried to smile reassuringly at his friend as he turned to head home when her panicked eyes met his.
Before her gaze dropped to stare at the ground as she waved solemnly after him, wings drooping as she led Present Mic to her apartment "S..So th..this is...um home I guess" Rinne informed, the door swinging open after she'd unlocked it and letting the pro enter her place.
Not that he wanted to admit it, but the apartment was actually alright "And the part-time job you have" Present Mic inquired, taking a seat at the two-seated table in the small kitchen that was somehow just right for Rinne, the place was even clean.
"I h..have later hours now but I do at least 20 hours a week" Rinne explained quietly, placing a cup of tea before her guest...guardian, she had to get used to it unfortunately since Present Mic didn't seem to be going anywhere now that he'd already committed to the role apparently.
As the man drummed his fingers on her little kitchen table in thought "Did Recovery Girl explain to you how much you'd be receiving as her apprentice, are you sure you want to continue working at your part time job" Hizashi came right out and asked that particular question.
Because he didn't like the idea of having her out on her own in the dark, especially when she was already skittish of everything "U..Um I...I do..don't know to be ho..honest, everyone is so nice the..there" Rinne frowned, not wanting to give up her job, something she'd been doing for the past almost year.
Something Present Mic had probably figured she would say when he sighed and took a sip of his tea "Okay I'm going to be honest I don't like it little listener, so here's the deal, you find someone, a coworker, that you trust and have them walk you home every night and I want you to share your location with me" Hizashi informed.
Rinne blinked at him in confusion "Share my location...how do you do that" she tilted her head to the side, brows furrowed in an adorable way, it was also the first time she hadn't stuttered when speaking to him and that little bit of progress no matter how small made Hizashi proud.
"Easy, you have a phone right...good, also one other thing, I'll try not to interfere too much, I'll make my visits a once-a-month thing, but if you're struggling, you'll have to move in with me and I expect you to call me to check in at least once a week alright" Present Mic informed, laying down his two singular ground rules.
Biting his cheek when Rinne looked surprised no child should look that way "O..Okay I can do that" Rinne nodded quietly, stuttering just a bit this time when she spoke, it was still better than before at least as Hizashi finished his tea and even washed the mug out.
"Now let's see your part-time job" he informed, making sure that everything was set up on his phone with the tracking app he'd installed on her phone and that he had her number and vice versa as they headed out and walked a few blocks in the opposite direction of the bus station to Rinne's place of employment.
For the second time he was surprised when they entered the building and Rinne relaxed, feeling more comfortable around those she'd spent the most time with in Japan so far, their friendliness left him feeling satisfied with the outcome of his first visit so far as they left and headed back to her apartment.
"Right, just remember little listener once a week phone call, it can be a day of your choice" he made sure to remind Rinne as he left to call him as per their agreement, the young heroine to be nodding quietly before the door shut behind him and she locked it, then after dinner she headed out to work, before returning home for the night.