The news that All Might had come to teach at U.A shocked the whole country. The media uproar went on for several days. And ever since the first day of school, the media was posted in different corner nearby the school, hoping to catch a student that would be willing to give them some fresh food to deal with. It was getting very annoying, especially for those who just wanted to get inside the damn building.
…
…
…
Mizuha narrowed her eyes at the sight before her.
In front of the U.A school entrance, the same media mob with cameras and mics were trying to interview the students who were trying to get in.
Now they are in front of the school?
This was not what Mizuha wanted to deal with at the moment. This morning, she took her time eating her breakfast and was late for the bus she usually took to school. That was fine. What pissed her off this morning was that she was forced to endure a ride next to some chatty girl on the phone who wouldn't stop laughing out loud. And the fact that her laughter bypassed her noise cancelling headphones? She couldn't escape this laughing villain even if she wanted to because the bus was full, leaving no space for her to get away.
And now she was faced with a media obstacle?
With a heavy sigh, Mizuha moved to the side where there were less people and tried to use that as her entry point. She skillfully made her way through the crowd without almost being noticed.
"Oh! Excuse me!"
ALMOST.
Mizuha kept a straight face and kept walking through the crowd that was slowly starting to surround her. But she almost clicked her tongue when someone's fat ass head blocked her sight.
For fuck's sake…
All of a sudden, she felt someone grab her shoulder. Now, Mizuha was no saint but she did have some degree of patience. However, that patience could easily evaporate if things crossed a certain comfort line.
Like some random person touching her.
Instantly, Mizuha slapped off the person's hand off her shoulder, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. She glared at the lady dressed in blue, who was shocked at what Mizuha just did. "Who said you can touch me? Isn't that inappropriate?"
"I'm sorry, but you couldn't hear me so—"
"Huh?" Mizuha squinted her eyes and placed a hand around her ear. "Sorry, I'm having trouble hearing so…" she gestured to her headphones while forcing her way through the crowd, ignoring the protests and calls for her to wait. All she needed to do was make it past the school gates and then she was free from those news reporters.
"I just want a damn story about All Might!" The lady groaned in annoyance when Mizuha was out of reach.
"Don't care." Mizuha mumbled to herself and walked away from the annoyance without looking back. She didn't mind if they tried pursing her. If they did, then it would have been hilarious. U.A's barrier would lock them out for good.
"Hyoumei! Good morning!"
The girl looked up and saw Kirishima waving at her in front of the stairs at the front doors.
She nodded as a sign of acknowledgment. He was waiting for her to catch up with him ever since he spotted her getting surrounded by the media. He actually waited to keep an eye out just in case she needed help navigating through the crowd if they kept blocking her way. Thankfully, she made through okay.
But he chuckled when he saw how immensely annoyed she looked when that woman tried getting her attention.
Mizuha sighed internally but maintained a straight face when she came within earshot. "Good morning, Kirishima-san…"
"Loud morning, huh?"
Oh, you have no freaking idea.
"Mhm."
Mizuha and Kirishima looked back to see another student getting hassled by the media. The student had no choice but to run his way through them to escape their clutches.
"Wow… they are relentless." Kirishima remarked. "They weren't as intense with me though. I guess that's because I answered some questions…"
Mizuha was quietly climbing up the stairs while Kirishima watched the media gang. But he noticed she was gone only after he turned to ask her a question and spotted her opening the front door. Surprised, he followed after her. She could hear him climbing up the stairs so she at least held the door open with her arm for a few seconds.
"But you know, I get why they're so persistent. I mean, this is All Might we're talking about. Who would have thought he'd become a teacher here?!"
Mizuha scratched her cheek with a finger while Kirishima walked next to her. Still talking.
"We're lucky we get to learn from the living legend himself." Kirishima clenched his fists, grinning. "It's so cool! Don't you think?"
Like most children today, Mizuha was familiar with All Might's achievements. And of course, he played a part in nurturing her motivation to become a Hero. Who wouldn't be inspired to do the same after seeing all that? But that isn't to say he was the sole reason for her wanting to be one.
"Yeah." Mizuha replied simply, not really trying to make conversation.
But somehow Kirishima just kept on talking.
And Mizuha didn't find him as annoying as everyone this morning.
"Anyway, let's walk to class together! You could use some company!" He said with a grin.
Company? Does he think I'm lonely? Mizuha felt the corner of her mouth pull for a second, unsure how to respond to that assumption. Maybe without Byakuren he thinks I'm lonely? I'm not though.
"Um... having no company doesn't bother me. I just choose to be alone."
Kirishima quickly shook his head, he moved his free hand in front of him in a flustered manner, "No, I didn't mean it like that!"
Huh?
"It's got nothing about being lonely." Kirishima sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in defeat. "I just meant that we could just walk together to class." he clarified with a sheepish laugh.
"Ah." Mizuha nodded slowly and apologized for misunderstanding. "Okay, sure."
I'm not going to tell him to fuck off. So, it's whatever.
Kirishima fell into step with her.
"Anyway, about yesterday, you know with Mineta's question?"
Oh god. Stop.
Mizuha deadpanned and stared at Kirishima. "We're not."
Kirishima only chuckled. "Yeah. I figured. But you two are close friends, yeah? It shows. Now that I think about it, you guys were sitting next to each other behind me. You're always together…"
"… We've known each other since elementary school."
"Good work with yesterday's battle training. I saw the video and results." Aizawa praised everyone, before setting down the papers on the teacher's desk. However, he looked unimpressed when he directed his gaze to the right side of the class.
"Bakugo. Grow up already. Stop wasting your talent."
Mizuha was resting her cheek in her hand when she slightly angled her head to look over at Bakugo who scowled and looked at his desk.
"Got it."
Very arrogant, very aggressive, and clearly violent. That boy was a ticking time bomb ready to go explode, very much like his Quirk. A literal manifestation. Despite those traits, Mizuha already knew he was going to be one of the best students in the class.
And even when he was clearly someone different from her, she could see something that she had something in common.
A capable foul mouth.
The only difference was that she kept her words to herself by not talking much. No one would ever know.
"I want to be class rep! Pick me!" Kirishima's voice suddenly boomed from the back.
Mizuha was startled when the classroom suddenly became very loud. She was too busy thinking about Bakugo that she didn't understand why everyone was yelling. She found her teacher wrapped up in his yellow sleeping bag, sitting on the floor, disinterested.
"I wanna be leader!"
"I'd like to do it!"
"Pick me!"
"Class president sounds like fun! I wanna do it!"
"Ah." Mizuha realized. Well, that was her cue to fold her arms on her desk and lie her head down. She had no interest in such a tedious temporary job so she chose to extract her brain from class and throw it into the pool of daydream, disconnecting completely.
At least she and her homeroom teacher agreed that this was a waste of time.
… I wonder if I'll be in the mood to buy a snack after all.
I haven't really had the chance to explore whatever's around U.A.
But this area is a hotspot for kids so maybe there's some yummy snacks somewhere nearby.
In the midst of her mind wandering, she was tapped on the shoulder by someone which forced her out of her reverie. She looked up and saw Iida pointing at the piece of paper he left on her desk.
"Huh?"
"Don't forget to write down your choice for the class president, Hyoumei-kun."
Huh… we still didn't choose yet?
"Uh… sure."
She didn't spend too much time on deciding who she wanted to vote for.
She just wrote the name of the person who first came to mind.
Or, specifically, the last person she thought of.
Bakugo Katsuki
However, she wasn't the least bit interested about who was going to be named their class rep.
After finishing her poor excuse of a lunch, she got up from her seat with her mango flavored juice box, making both Kirishima and Byakuren look up at her.
"Eh? Hyoumei, what's wrong?" Kirishima wondered, chopsticks an inch away from his mouth.
Mizuha looked at him with her juice in hand.
Despite it only being the third day, Kirishima somehow made himself their permanent table mate. And to make things worse, Kaminari was also invited to the table by Kirishima and Byakuren when they met him in line for lunch.
Kaminari did a double take when he saw that her things were tucked away. "You finished your lunch already?! I didn't even see you eat!"
"Mizuha has the habit of eating fast. I doubt she swallows." Byakuren shrugged, ignoring the glare she shot at him. "But seriously, where are you going?"
"Just gonna walk." Mizuha replied while walking away. "Watch my bag."
"Sure!" Kirishima responded, taking her bag off the table and putting it in her chair.
Byakuren frowned when he watched her form walk further away from their table while sipping from her straw.
…
…
…
Ever since she visited her reverie during the class activity of choosing a representative, she grew to anticipate the idea of looking around the school floors since she always had plenty of time whenever she finished eating. It also helped avoid conversation with Kirishima that Byakuren would try to initiate by mentioning something about her that would catch his interest. She knew he was doing it on purpose but she wasn't going to tell the red haired boy to shut up just because she didn't want to socialize with others.
She didn't want to be mean, not when he was genuinely a nice guy.
So, she did what she did best.
Turn away and stay alone.
When she stepped out of the cafeteria, she looked left and right, trying to recall where the vending machines were. From what her uncle told her, there were some near the cafeteria, but she just didn't know where exactly.
Vending machines weren't exactly something worth being excited about but she wanted to see them because U.A was a highly financed school. Surely, they had some rare goodies that regular schools didn't provide? Like those lunches premade in them.
"Ah… but with Lunch Rush making all kinds of food… I don't think they'd keep processed food and whatnot in vending machines…" Mizuha mumbled, finally choose to walk to the right.
And her choice might actually be correct since she suddenly heard metal, more specifically something hitting metal.
Mizuha let her feet drag her towards the sound. It got louder. It's not because she was getting closer. No, it seemed more like the sound got louder because the vending machine got hit with a little more force this time.
"Fucking finally."
The girl paused when she recognized that voice. It made her deadpan and take a quiet step back since she had just arrived at the corner where he was on the other side of.
Okay… curiosity might get this cat killed.
I'll slowly get the hell away from here.
She recognized that angry voice anywhere. It was his trademark at this point. When she heard him pull out a drink from the vending machine while muttering another curse, he was already walking, his footsteps getting closer to where she was hiding.
Ah, fuck.
Get back, get back!
However, there was no escape. There was no where to hide. He spotted her immediately when she was going back the way she came. Obviously, the way she was trying her best to stay quiet and how she walked like she didn't want to get caught made him think she was lurking without him noticing.
"Oi, what are you sneaking around for?"
Mizuha flinched and slowly looked over her shoulder to see Bakugo narrowing his eyes at her. Now that he got a good look at her face, his eyes were now glaring because he obviously recognized her.
"You're in my class… the one who was with the icy-bastard."
Oh. So he doesn't know—
"And you're the one who also ranked first during the entrance exams..."
Never mind. Fuck.
Why did he say it like she was on his shit list now?
But Mizuha only frowned deeply, not liking how he could potentially give her the same look he gave Midoriya. She just wanted to have a smooth sailing school year. She didn't need this guy looking at her like she was trying to best him. God, no. Too much headache! Unwanted attention!
…
…
RIIIIIIIING!
"Ah?"
"… huh?"
Bakugo and Mizuha looked up at the ceiling when a blaring alarm went off.
"Security Level 3 has been broken. All students please evacuate in an orderly fashion."
"Security?" Mizuha tossed her empty juice box in the trash and went to look outside the window hurriedly. From where she was, she couldn't see the entrance of the school. But she didn't see anything worth the alarm to go off.
Bakugo turned around and was suddenly greeted by an enormous crowd of students filing up the hallway. Unfortunately, the crowd was too quick even for Bakugo to react. In less than five seconds, the space was filled with loud bustling students. Alarmed by the noise and screaming, Mizuha turned around to see what was happening only for her forehead to hit something hard.
She recoiled, wincing. "Ow!"
But she was able to catch what hit her. It was a mutant type student with a head that looked very much like a rock. However, she didn't have time to think about it when she suddenly felt her body get shoved back, making her collide with the glass window.
She was immediately greeted by a pair of red orbs. Bakugo.
And he looked ready to explode… with her in proximity.
He turned his head to start yelling at those who were pushing him.
Mizuha winced, putting her left hand up to her forehead where she got hurt. "Bakugo-san! Can you get off me?!"
The boy whipped his head so fast to look at her, she thought his head was going to fall off. "That's what I'm trying to do dumbass!" He responded harshly before getting pressed against her even more. Mizuha blinked slowly in disgust when she felt a drop of spit land on her cheek.
Mizuha was wondering where his soda went because both of his hands were planted on the glass near her head now, trying to push back against the mob. She flinched when he got angrier, resulting in him pushing back a student with a roar.
Her classmate was basically pinning her to the glass and she was scared that anymore pushing might break the window. She would be the first one to fall over.
With a groaned, she put her hand down from her forehead and used her arm to push against Bakugo's chest, to give her more breathing room.
Huh?
Her hand was red. It was blood.
"A Villain broke into U.A?!"
"This the first time in years! This has never happened before!"
Mizuha brought her hand close to her face.
"We have to get out of here!"
"They're going to attack us?!"
Her onyx eyes lifted to look at the students panicking, trying to run to safety. They all wanted to get away from the danger that might touch them next. Their bodies, the walls, the light, they all blurred, distorted and became static in her eyes. They were all replaced by a people wearing casual attires, some even wore festive yukatas, and the walls were replaced by dark skies, tall buildings illuminated with light.
... Huh?
But she was the only person that stayed the same. It was the same thing. She bled the same way too. Her heart was beating fast, she could almost hear the blood pounding in her ears which were deaf to anything but the voices from a memory that was extract from her past, plastered over the present.
"Mizuha! Move! Run!"
"Mizuha! What are you doing?!"
"Get back!"
Her eyes widened when she got swept away by the memory of the past, her head looked down while she covered the left side of her face. She could see drops of red falling down. And she felt like she was falling too. Instinctively, her other hand flailed around to grab onto the closest thing and she held onto it tightly. She vividly remembered holding onto the white shirt stained in her blood.
"Oi, let go."
The illusion of the memory was shattered when a familiar angry voice startled her. She blinked and shot her head up to see Bakugo scowling at her and he yanked his blazer away because she was holding onto him.
Bakugo's brows pinched when he saw the blood coming from her forehead.
And the way her hand and eyes shook were enough to tell him she got spooked from the false alarm.
Clicking his tongue, he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look out the window. Mizuha gasped from the sudden treatment, it wasn't gentle but it wasn't too harsh either.
"Open your ears, you idiot. If you just look behind you then you'll see that there's nothing to worry about. It was just those shit heads from this morning."
Mizuha watched as the media was getting dragged away from the school grounds by the police. The situation was sinking in. There was no villain, no one was in danger.
It was a false alarm.
Everything is okay.
"Fix your face." Bakugo huffed, walking away from her. It was only when he moved away did she notice that there was more space now that the students returned to the cafeteria to resume eating lunch. And most of them were giving her looks because her face literally had blood on it, visibly, very hard to miss.
"What happened to her?"
"Whoa…"
Embarrassed, she kept her head down and firmly pressed her bloody hand against her forehead where she felt the cut. It wasn't a serious deep cut but it was long enough for a lot of blood to come out.
I need to find a bathroom…
"H-Hyoumei-kun?!"
Mizuha looked up and saw Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka standing in front of her, the two shorter students were behind Iida and they immediately gasped in shock at the sight of her face.
"What happened to you, Hyoumei-san?!" Midoriya freaked. "Blood! You're bleeding a lot!"
"Did you get hurt during the panic?" Uraraka asked worriedly.
"I'm okay… I'll be fine." Mizuha nodded. "I just need to go to the bathroom…"
"You should see the school nurse if you're hurt!" Iida exclaimed, clearly worried about his classmate who was eager to just move around them and walk away. "Do you want me to take you there?"
"No, it's fine… now, if you'll excuse me—!" Mizuha said quickly, running around them, using this chance to speed down the hallway in search of the bathroom on the floor she was on despite their voices of concern echoing behind her.
Even while she navigated with one eye, she quickly spotted the girl's bathroom and entered to check herself in the mirror. She grimaced when she saw how far the blood traveled down her face, mostly because of her hand. It made sense for Midoriya to freak out at the sight of her. Without wasting anymore time, she quicky washed her face and also cleaned some of her hair since the blood was visible on her gray hair. When she made sure the water was clear after several splashes of water, she looked up and saw that her face was clean.
She saw how there was a jagged line across her forehead. As she thought, it was a light cut.
"What a pain… A sharp rock literally ran into me…"
But as she stared at her reflection, her mind wandered back to what just happened to her during the panic.
The memory that resurfaced felt fresh.
And the guilt in her heart pumped it full of life, making her temporarily relive that moment of despair.
"… Damn it."
She scooped a handful of water and wiped off the fresh blood coming out of her cut.
…
…
…
"Whoaa! Little listener, what's with all the blood?!"
Sitting at his desk, Aizawa turned to see that Present Mic was shocked at the sight of Mizuha holding up bunched up bloody toilet paper. She had knocked on their teacher's room door so quietly that it she made it seem like her cut was dismissible when the amount of blood on the tissue said otherwise.
"Um, where is Recovery Girl?" Mizuha asked quietly, timid. "I tried knocking on the door but no one answered… And I didn't want to snoop around her office."
"Hyoumei. What happened to you?" Aizawa asked, getting up to check on his student who was solemnly staring at the floor.
Kazuei was sitting at his desk, a sandwich in his mouth, tapping away at his computer when he overheard his niece's voice. When he looked up, his mouth fell open but he caught his sandwich in his hand before it could fall on the floor. Quickly, he saved the document he was writing in and got up from his seat to check up on her with his colleagues.
"During the panic, someone ran into me and I think their head cut me. They had a rock for a head."
Present Mic scowled. "See? I told you we should have blasted those media people away. Now, one of our students got hurt during the panic."
Ignoring his colleague, her teacher sighed. "This is why we tell people to evacuate in a calm and orderly fashion."
Aizawa moved her hand to reveal the cut she got. It was still bleeding. The platelets didn't full seal the wound closed yet. And for her to be asking for Recovery Girl meant that she didn't try to treat it yet.
"Eh… it's not that bad." Present Mic noted.
Reflect took a bite out of his sandwich. "It's still not nice to look at."
Mizuha looked at her teacher. "Uh… are you sure it's okay?"
"You tend to bleed more when you get cut anywhere on your face. It's not serious but it can be a hassle, especially when you're trying to see." Aizawa explained when he let go of her hand.
"Oh… okay."
That was good to know. No one told her that before, not even when she got hurt four years ago.
"And unfortunately, the old lady is on her lunch break somewhere. And I don't think it's a good idea to use her Quirk on you when you have Basic Hero Training in the afternoon. Her Quirk uses up your stamina to heal it."
Mizuha looked down when Aizawa let go of her hand. "Oh… okay. Sorry for bothering you." She bowed her head and immediately started walking away, easily baffling Present Mic from how quick she was to basically shrug her shoulders and go 'oh well'.
She should be fine without any first aid stuff. She would just have to deal with the red jagged line on her forehead for the rest of the day.
I'll just keep pressing on it just like when I accidentally scratch a damn pimple.
That usually helps stop the bleeding…
"Ah, ah, ah." Kazuei called after her, snapping his fingers. "Wait up."
Mizuha stilled obediently, looking back, questioningly. She found her uncle walking after her with his sandwich in hand. Her eyes narrowed at the food in he carried.
"I assume you got it?" Aizawa said. The only response he got from the fellow teacher was a dismissive hand. "Don't take too long. She has class soon." Aizawa said before going back to his desk inside the teacher's room with Present Mic.
"I know, I know. Come on, kiddo."
Mizuha frowned, keeping step with her uncle when he pushed her along with him. "Where are we going?"
"Back to Recovery Girl's office."
…
…
…
Unlike her, her uncle went ahead and started going through drawers and cabinets, looking for what he needed while Mizuha sat on one of the beds, looking nonchalant as both her hands were busy, one on her forehead while the other was holding the damn sandwich.
When he found what he needed, he told her to push up her bangs after he tossed the bloody toilet paper in the trash. Wary, she watched as he shook a bottle of alcohol and immediately flinched when sprayed it on her forehead without saying any heads up.
She hissed, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. "No warning?"
"You're fine." Kazuei said. With a frown, she shoved his sandwich in his mouth, muffling his surprise. She basically and literally force fed him when he bit off a piece when she yanked it away. "Mizuha!"
"Finish your freaking sandwich."
"Feed it to me while I fix your busted forehead, will you?"
"What—?! Man, damn it."
Grumpily resigning herself to her fate, she helped her uncle eat his freaking food while he tended to her forehead. Thankfully, she didn't have to be his feeder for too long since he got giant bites. Kazuei stretched out a bandage patch, measuring it with his eyes to make sure it was a good length. Meanwhile, Mizuha simply played with her finger, keeping her eyes mostly on the sky behind the clear windows. She was tracing the shapes of the fluffy clouds with her eyes.
"After your Basic Hero Training, you can go see Recovery Girl. She'll heal it without a problem. I'm sure Eraser will let you go then." For now, she would have to deal with the obvious bandage patch square on her forehead.
She nodded softly, avoiding too much movement. "It's so I can focus on class. I get it."
"Mhm. Without your full stamina, your Quirk and body lags behind. It's better to be in top shape for your hero training classes." He said just as he cut the bandage and firmly pressed it on her forehead, and then gave her the cue to stop holding up her hair.
"Thanks." Mizuha said, curiously touching his first aid gingerly.
Kazuei picked up the trash he made, tossing them into the garbage bin next to the desk. "No problem. But for a student to run into you and make you bleed like that when we're only three days into the school year? That has to be some omen. Meh, I just hope no one else got hurt."
While her uncle was busy with his back turned, her mind went back to the moment during the crowd panic, specifically the way she reacted to it and what resurfaced. She couldn't believe how easy it was to get swept away by a past memory. It just somehow threw her back in the past from the similarities alone. The only time she felt something similar was when the incident was still fresh in her mind. Afterwards, it was pushed back, locked away, in a small dark corner of her mind. And for something stupid like media people to unravel and shine a light on it…
It was irritating.
The rusting sounds of the bed sheets and a heavy sigh made him turn around.
Mizuha was lying on her back with left her arm over her eyes. He couldn't clearly see her face but the way she blew air out of her mouth hinted that something was on her mind.
"Mizuha? What's wrong?"
She lifted her arm away to stare at her palm, the same one that had blood on it. Just like back then. She opened and closed her hand a few times before dropping it down on the bed, and she closed her eyes.
"Tummy ache…"
Her uncle stayed quiet for a few seconds.
"Just a tummy ache?"
"Mhm…"
…
…
…
"Whoa?! Mizuha?! What happened to you?!"
Mizuha squinted when Byakuren came over to hold her by the shoulders. She allowed him to move her hair around to check the first aid her uncle gave her. Standing behind him, Kirishima and Kaminari were also shocked to see that bandage on her forehead considering they were one of the last people who saw her just before the crowd went on a full-blown panic.
Earlier, Byakuren tried calling her phone to try and figure out where she was when everything called down. But she never answered, mostly because her phone was set on a Do Not Disturb mode, which was very annoying in times of trying to check up on her. In the end, Byakuren opted to returning to class with her bag after the first bell, planning on interrogating her about her whereabouts.
However, he didn't expect to see her looking like that.
"Ah! Hyoumei-san!" Midoriya exclaimed when he entered the classroom with Iida and Uraraka, with them less than half of their class was back. "Are you alright now?"
Iida spotted the bandage on her forehead. "You went to see Recovery Girl, I assume?"
More like Recovery Uncle.
"What exactly happened?" Uraraka wondered, coming over to check her forehead. Mizuha took a step back reflexively.
"Wait, you saw what happened?" Kirishima asked, pointing at his own forehead.
"No," Uraraka shook her head and started making hand gestures. "After Iida-kun calmed every down, we were walking back to the cafeteria and she was bleeding!"
"The hell? Did you get stomped over?!" Kaminari guessed, shocked.
Ugh… this is getting very annoying. If only Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka didn't see me. There would be less questions and everyone could just mind their own business.
But, ugh, this thing of my forehead is like a literal post-it that basically says 'Ask-me-what-happened'.
Mizuha deadpanned as her classmates looked at her for an answer.
One she did not want to give.
How weird and pathetic would it sound like to them if they heard her say 'someone ran into me'.
With a sigh, Mizuha moved away from Byakuren, pushing his hands off her shoulders. "I fell."
The white haired boy did a double take. "Hey, hey, that's a blatant lie!" He said when she took her seat.
"Yeah! How do you fall and end up with that?!" Kaminari was having a hard time trying to understand if it really were the case.
"You're lying." Byakuren frowned.
"Do you have any proof that it is?" Mizuha challenged, frowning as well, going through her bag to make sure Byakuren didn't forget anything. She'd hate to run to the cafeteria to get back what was forgotten. "Look, I'm fine. That's all that matters."
"Does it hurt?"
Mizuha looked up to see Kirishima looking at her with obvious concern. He was crouching with his arms resting on her desk so he could get a good look at her face. The genuine concern on his face was not one she wanted to just brush off coldly. Instead, it made her feel timid. She eyes averted away from his, and she tucked her bag away properly under her desk.
"No. It wasn't a bad cut. It doesn't really hurt anymore." She said, looking down at her desk.
He smiled in relief. "Then that's good."
Mizuha kept her gaze on the desk, nodding softly, puffing her cheeks out slightly. She was completely unaware of the way purple eyes were looking back and forth between her and the smiling boy. But his gaze didn't linger for too long since he had to take his seat in the back before their teacher returned.
Only when everyone returned from lunch and took back their respective seats did she lift up her head. It was safe to expose her damn face without being questioned. And her classmates were too busy hurrying to their seats to ask about it. That was good.
Just to be sure, Mizuha messed up her bangs to have them hang over her forehead instead of parting them.
As soon as Aizawa entered the classroom, he quickly told Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, the president and vice-president of the class, to hurry up and choose other council members for their class. She didn't realize that the shaky boy at the front was their chosen representative. He certainly didn't look thrilled to be the one, he was stuttering at the front while his vice was watching him with concern as they stood next to each other in front of the black board.
"Hurry up, Midoriya." Aizawa spoke from his spot on the floor where he was sitting in his sleeping bag once again. He didn't look thrilled about wasting time on a mundane and time wasting task.
"Ah… wait, before that…!" Midoriya quickly said, gesturing his hand in front of him towards the left. "I believe that Iida-kun is better suited to be class president…! You all saw how well he led everyone in that crisis." Midoriya slowly looked a little more confident as he spoke in front of the class. "I think… he's the correct choice for the job."
Mizuha discreetly glanced over her shoulder to see Iida looking shocked by Midoriya's suggestion. Judging from the look on his face, he wasn't expecting Midoriya to trust him with such a position.
He was the one who stopped the panic? I didn't realize.
The girl looked back in front of her.
… Well, at least we know someone is capable of making good spontaneous decisions when it counts…
… Must be nice.
"I will accept the job, then!"
The first week of school was going by fast, and before the end of it they were already introduced to all their teachers for the year. And everyday was interesting thanks to the hero training classes they had everyday which was completely new thing for everyone. Those classes helped everyone get quickly acquainted with one another since they had to work together.
Since teamwork was necessary for these kinds of classes, Mizuha had no choice but to force herself to communicate with her partners. It was difficult. She couldn't help feeling like it was the hardest thing to do, which was often considering that the teachers made sure to switch around the students so that they wouldn't always be with the same person.
But that didn't change anything for Mizuha. She would do the bare minimum and communicate with her partners during class. But when they changed out of their costumes, she'd quickly disappear from the girls' changing room and return to class first.
The only person that she was comfortable talking with was Kirishima.
And that was only because he sat at the table that she and Byakuren ate at.
But other than that, she still kept a reasonable distance, figuring just barely close was close enough.
…
…
…
Mizuha, Ashido and Sero stepped out of the building with Kirishima, Yaoyorozu and Satou, the team that was opposing them for the exercise. They had just finished their timed exercise which was being watched from the monitor room by their classmates and Aizawa. The exercise was similar to their first class with All Might. However, this time, it was more like a capture the flag activity. Both sides had a flag they needed to bring back to their territory while avoiding capture from other teams.
"Aghh! Soo close! I was so close to capturing Satou!" Ashido whined, fists clenched in frustration.
"If it makes you feel better, you almost did…" The big student chuckled softly, trying to make her feel better. "I slipped on your Acid…"
"But I ended up being tied up in rope for the rest of the exercise." Ashido deadpanned. "I barely got to do anything!"
"When Satou got you, Sero came in quick to capture him with his tape. I didn't realize it could stretch that far." Kirishima said, making a hand gesture and sound effect to show how fast the tape flew out of the black haired boy's elbow. "I didn't even see it coming!"
"Heh, you only saw a bit of how far it could stretch so far, so I don't blame you." Sero grinned, rubbing the underside of his nose with his finger.
"We weren't expecting all three to be on the offensive." Yaoyorozu sighed, lamenting over the glossed over possibility.
Ashido and Sero were the capturers while Mizuha remained the sole defender thanks to her widespread ice. At least, that's what they made the other team think.
Not long after Sero captured Satou and Kirishima, he headed off to capture the flag from the opposing team which was in a room filled with traps thanks to Yaoyorozu. However, Mizuha had actually been trailing behind Sero, out of sight, as planned, and was quick to freeze everything within the room once he put himself within range of the traps, revealing their positions.
Of course, it was only logical to believe Mizuha would stay behind as the defender thanks to her ice.
But well, lessons were learned.
"Yeah, Hyoumei's follow up timing was fast." Sero said, looking around for the girl he was paired with only to realize she wasn't walking in the same horizontal line as everyone else. "Where'd she— oh there she is."
Mizuha, who was busy brushing off the frost off her clothes, looked up to see the others looking at her. She was actually walking behind everyone, not really paying attention, mostly thinking about if she should swing by the place that had bubble tea since she was craving for something sweet. Maybe some food too… she was getting hungry.
Her hands paused. "What?"
"Must be nice to have strong Quirk like Bakugo and Todoroki." Ashido whined. "It looks easy for you guys."
She didn't know how to respond to that. But her hand rubbed her elbow while she shrugged slightly. "I guess." She replied before going back to brushing off the frost off her clothes.
Within the first week, it was very easy to see who would stand at the top of the class with their Quirks. Mizuha was already up there with Todoroki and Bakugo. She had many years of practice with a Pro Hero. It would be disappointing if she fell short in her class. She would have been satisfied for a middle tier ranking, too.
She remained quiet as she followed her classmates back to the monitoring room where their teacher told them to hurry up and get ready to watch since the next matchup was about to begin. He would give them the feedback later, when everything was over.
Her Quirk was no longer in effect. There was no ice on her skin. Most of the frost on her clothes were gone, leaving the smaller fragments to melt away.
And yet, she couldn't help but feel a chill when Aizawa kept his gaze on her when the people from her group scattered to watch in different spots, leaving her exposed without a wall of people. He was looking at her in the same apathetic manner, and she felt uneasy not knowing why.
She turned her eyes away and stared at the ground.
Under her desk, Mizuha was checking the time on her phone. It was almost time to leave. The first week of school was finally going to be over in just a few…
The familiar sound of the school bell resounded, signaling the end of the day. Immediately, everyone started getting up from their seats.
But just when Mizuha thought she could relax, she heard her name being called by Aizawa who remained at podium.
"You stay." He said, leaning back against the blackboard, crossing his arms. "Everyone else, make it quick and leave the classroom."
Some of her classmates were looking at her curiously and whispering about why she suddenly got called out while the rest simply left, obviously disinterested. Byakuren spared the girl one look as she sat back down and didn't look at those who were free to leave.
"I'll wait for you outside!" Byakuren told her before promptly leaving as Aizawa told him to.
Discreetly, Mizuha dropped her phone in her bag while waiting for everyone to leave. If she was getting called out by Aizawa then it was probably serious. She was going to pay close attention.
But why the hell am I getting called out like this?
Do I look like that problem child Bakugo?
She put her hands on the desk and remained still and silent.
What the heck did I do?
Because he sure as hell doesn't look like he wants to give me a reward!
And then finally, the door shut.
Mizuha lowered her head and peeked at her teacher from behind her gray bangs.
"I thought that my little trick about expelling you if you scored low on the Quirk Assessment Test was a clear message. You are to bring out the current best of your abilities. But if you only work with a third with what you have, what are we supposed to do?"
…
…
Mizuha stilled, eyes widening by a fraction.
… Damn it.
Aizawa narrowed his eyes when she knew what he was talking about.
"You've had plenty of opportunities to use it properly. The Entrance Exam. The Assessment Tests. The Mock Battle. This whole week. Not once did you use anything other than ice when you had the opportunity to use them. You're not like Midoriya who can't control his Quirk. You're not like Todoroki because he has already used his left side for the bare minimum. You make it look like your Quirk is cryokinesis and only cryokinesis, but that's not true."
Mizuha looked down. She started playing with her hands, a clear sign of uneasiness
"Your Quirk lets you generate water in all three forms, solid, liquid, and gas, depending on the temperature choose."
Water States.
That was her Quirk.
Todoroki wasn't the only walking thermostat in 1-A.
Her mother possessed a water Quirk while her father's Quirk was one that allowed him to take control of the temperature. Their Quirks fused together and gave her a new one, making her one of those hybrid children. A versatile Quirk, really. She knew that such a Quirk gave her many options.
"In the Hero Course, you're going to have to use your Quirk completely and not just a third of it. Do you understand?"
But there was just one problem.
"… I can't. It's not like I'm trying to hide it." Mizuha's right hand gripped her left wrist. "I can't use liquid and gas. It's not possible… I can't."
Aizawa's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean you can't use it?"
Mizuha lowered her head even more, hiding her face behind the curtain that was her hair. "Three years ago, I haven't been able to use it all no matter how hard I tried. I can only use solid. That's all that works for my Quirk."
Quirks don't just change drastically like that. When people get older and use their Quirks more often, they learn that it wasn't exactly what they thought it was. But it will never stray too far from what their parents and siblings have. They could have similar functions but be expressed in different ways. Ice was another form of water. However, she couldn't just possess ice as her Quirk.
It was hard to believe it.
Especially since he had already seen her use water before thanks to someone close to her.
Mizuha pulled herself upright and exhaled heavily while looking down at the floor. Her face expressed shame and discomfort. She was beginning to tug at her sleeves to hide her hands in them.
"Was your Quirk factor damaged in the past?"
"… No."
Aizawa frowned deeply. "So, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't use liquid or gas."
Mizuha briefly made eye contact with her teacher before looking away, rubbing her sleeves together as if she was cold. "I don't know… Does it matter? I use ice just fine. Uncle Kazu— I mean, Reflect-sensei says I'm very good at it. I passed the Entrance Exam with it. I did well for my Mock Battle. I'm doing well in class, aren't I? Isn't that good enough?"
"Well, he's right. You are good at it. You are doing well. But that's still not good enough. The more tricks you have up your sleeve the better. In the real world out there, Heroes with more cards in their deck have a better chance at succeeding and surviving. Your goal here is not to become a minimum hero."
Mizuha didn't answer. She only looked solemn as she dropped her gaze to the empty seat next to her.
She looked very uncomfortable talking about her Quirk. She didn't look like she was lying, especially when she was known not to show much emotion.
And seeing that made him sigh.
"Look, Hyoumei, as you know, the Hero Course is not going to be easy and it requires its students to overcome many hardships. You are not going to be an exception. If you Quirk is not damaged then you'll have to figure out how to use it at its full potential."
Mizuha looked at him with furrowed eyes brows and a frown. "… How am I supposed to do that?"
"Quirks don't just disappear or malfunction. Think of that as your goal from now on. You're someone with a lot potential so it would be a shame if you kept going like this." Aizawa straightened up and picked up the papers on the podium. "But we'll talk more about it next week. For now, just go home and enjoy your weekend. It'll only get harder as we progress further into the semester."
She bit her lip.
"… Okay."
...
...
...
There weren't many students lurking on the upper floors where she was. They would mostly be downstairs changing out of their school shoes, excitedly running out the door to enjoy the Friday afternoon, the pre-weekend high.
That left Mizuha's lone footsteps echoing around the stairs. But in her mind, the only thing she could hear were the echoes of her homeroom teacher. She was honestly dreading Monday now. She wanted to avoid another conversation about her Quirk.
With a frown, she stopped moving after reaching the end of the short staircase. From where she was, the view the window gave her was mostly the big tree in front of it. Its darker colours thanks to the shade of the building allowed her to see her faint reflection. For some reason, she moved her feet to look at herself properly.
The U.A uniform was perfectly in place. Her long gray hair that reached her hip, some of it hung over her chest, and her bangs that leaned over her right eye was shadowing her melancholic face.
"..."
Her lips parted, blinking, slightly taken back, the sight of it irked her.
What a face.
Her hand quickly rubbed her face as if to physically scrub away her thoughts and scatter them in the air, quick and abandoned.
The new face that looked back at her was better, much better. No need to happy, sad, angry, or anything else. Just a normal looking face because it was the only one that suited Mizuha, devoid of anything but a blank nonchalant look. As if approving the new look, she nodded at her reflection, glad to see that order was back in place.
I'm okay.