Two years ago, back in America.
Alice was at school minding her own business, coloring in a coloring book, when one of the kids came over, and looked at what she was coloring.
"Hey! Alice is using the coloring book wrong!" The kid sneered.
Other kids came in to look and sneer at Alice's coloring book.
She had been coloring an ocean with a bunch of fish and other sea life in it.
But she had colored the sea light orange, and the fish and sea life a rainbow of various darker colors.
"The water's supposed to be blue. Is she stupid?" Laughed one of the other kids as they sneered and laughed at her.
"I know that, I just thought it'd look cool like this." Alice weakly defended herself, getting weird looks from all the other kids. Forcing her to go quiet once again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Later, Alice showed her coloring book to her mother and asked her a question. "Mommy, am I coloring it wrong? All the kids said I was stupid, and laughed at me for coloring it wrong."
"Well, they're the stupid ones then," Chole told them. "It's YOUR coloring book, so you can color it however you want."
"But…they all laughed at me." Alice moped.
Chole looked down at her daughter, with a troubled expression, before coming up with an idea. "Then why don't you just make your own drawings. You can draw whatever you want, and no one can tell you otherwise."
"My own drawings," Alice said, looking down at her coloring book, imagining what she would draw outside of just coloring what was already there. "Ok! That sounds like fun! Thanks, Mommy!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Alice and Chole were going shopping, when suddenly, Alice spotted something. "Mommy! I want that!"
Chole looked at what Alice was pointing at and cringed immdeatly.
It was a hat, that looked like a breakfast tray, with breakfast on top of it.
And it wasn't just a hat, there was a whole matching set. An odd breakfast-themed dress, socks and shoes.
"Ummmm. A-Are you sure about this honey?" Chole was about to try to dissuade her daughter from getting this dress, that would obviously get her picked on, when she looked down at her and saw her eyes sparkling. Full of wonder and admiration.
Chole sighed. Oh, this is not going to end well.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Chole was not at all surprised when she found her daughter coming home crying, her clothes covered in food that other kids had thrown at her, and her hat having been taken by some of the other kids.
She went to the school and recovered it, but her daughter never attempted to wear an outfit that weird again.
And Chole felt like she'd failed a bit as a mother that day.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I don't understand what the issue is?" Chole asked firmly as she sat in the principal's office next to her daughter, facing the principal and Alice's teacher. "She's getting everything right. So why are her grades down?"
"W-Well as we said Ms. Bate, your daughter may be getting things correct, but she's not using the correct method." The principal argued. "It's harder for her to show her work."
"But she TELLS you how she got there. She's done so multiple times." Chole argued, obviously irritated by the two. "You KNOW she's not cheating, so what's the problem?"
"L-Like I said, even if she gets the right answer, we can't give her full credit unless she uses the method we taught her." The teacher said.
"Why?," Chole asked. "That seems entirely arbitrary!"
"B-Be that as it may, it's just how things are." The principal said. "We were hoping that you could help your daughter understand that."
SLAM!
Chole got up and slammed her hands on the desk, making the two of them flinch. "So what you're saying is, that you called me away from my job working under the NUMBER. ONE. HERO. So you could try and convince me to into telling my daughter that she's wrong for finding the CORRECT answer, in a different way. Is that what you're telling me?"
"W-Well I wouldn't put it that way." The principal said defensively. "But in a way…yes?"
SLAM!
Chole slammed the desk again, as she got up. "Then I have no reason to waste my time here any further. Come on Alice. And if I see that she's not getting the grades she rightfully fucking deserves, I'm pulling her out of this school, and making sure everyone knows about it. Good day."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"God I hate traffic," Chole said as she was driving back from that meeting, with Alice in the seat next to her, still looking a bit down.
"Mommy…why am I so….weird?" Alice asked.
Chole took a deep breath, as she tried to figure out how to answer such a question in the best way possible. "You're just different honey. And that's not a bad thing. Not at all. It's just some people are really, really stupid. And don't understand that different people can like different things. And that's THEIR fault. Not yours."
Alice stayed silent, and Chole felt like her words hadn't really sunk in.
She decided some positive reinforcement was in order. "How about we go get some ice cream."
Immediately Alice perked up. "Ohh! Can I get the Cheetos flavor!?"
Chole fought the urge to cringe as it would undermine everything she just said. "Sure, dear. Anything you want."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Now in the modern day, Alice had just finished getting dressed in her outfit for the day.
It was eyeball-themed. With a purple dress covered in eyeballs. She also had on a pair of sandals with one eyeball on each of them.
And lastly of course was the hat. A big top hat, with an eyeball, that had a mechanism inside of it that made it move around and even blink.
It was wonderful.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
PEWM PEWM! PEWM!
Alice could immediately tell who was at the door, as there was only one kid in the house, who let off fireworks.
She opened the door and found Hanabi, Kei, and surprisingly Okui there as well.
Hanabi's habit of letting off explosions constantly, actually reduced Okui's appetite a bit. So he was one of the people Okui would actually hang out with(although still at Fu's request).
"Heya Alice! Cool clothes! You wanna play outside with us!?" Hanabi said.
"Sure!" Alice responded. She loved playing pretend. Mostly because she never knew what they'd be next. Pirates, astronauts, racers! It was all so exciting!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Later that day, Alice and Fuku were in Fuku's room, brainstorming.
Fuku had come up with the idea of making a game exploring an entire alien planet, but that was a BIG project. Mostly when it came to the creative side because on the programming side…well Ken existed.
The shy girl had come up with many strange alien areas, but it wasn't nearly enough. After hearing about the project, Alice eagerly asked Fuku if she could join her on this project.
"Hey! SO what if we add a race of people who aren't affected by gravity, so they live in caves to make sure they don't go into space, and all their villages are both right side up and upside down since they can go either way!"
"That sounds so cool! How would they farm!? What would they eat!? How would they trade!?" Fuku's creativity had been lit by the spark Alice had just thrown her way.
Immediately they got to work, drawing concept art for this new part of their new world.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Mmmmm. This is really good." Alice said as she and Mina enjoyed some Natto outside.
"Finally! Someone else with good taste!" Mina said, overjoyed to see someone else enjoying Natto. "Everyone always called me a weirdo for liking this, but it's not my fault that I have better taste buds!"
Alice smiled a bit after hearing that, feeling a connection to her pink-skinned friend. "Being weird isn't bad. Mommy said that some people can't understand that people like different things."
"Yup, and those people are the real losers," Mina said.
"Hmmm." Alice continued eating Natto with Mina, with a strong smile on her face.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Once again Alice was in a brainstorming session, but this time with Yami and Amai. They tried to figure out how to make Grimm that would be good at rescue, evacuation, or securing hostages.
"How about an Armadillo?" Alice proposed.
"An Armadillo?" Both of them questioned.
"Well, people could get inside of it, and the Armadillo would roll them away to safety," Alice suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Amai said as Yami started writing that down. "Oh, if we're thinking about shells, maybe we could make turtle Grimm. They can use themselves as shields for others."
"But won't they be too slow?" Yami brought up.
"What if they could fly?" Alice suggested. "If they could fly, they could probably get all sorts of places to protect people."
"Yeah, that would be wonderful!" Amai complimented. "You're really good at this kinda stuff Alice."
Alice giggled. "Thanks."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"A band?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, a second band. Different from the one Shina has." Kaioku said. "Eri really wants to try singing, and Okui likes music too. So This would be good for him. Hanabi also agreed to be the drummer. So now they're just looking for a last member. Right now it's mostly just practicing since no one there has any experience with that stuff, but someday it could be a real band."
"Hmmm. Okay, I guess I could give it a try." Alice said. "Trying new things is always fun. And I love music!"
"And I love your attitude!" Kioku said. "Thanks a bunch, Alice!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So who's you're favorite hero here in Japan?" Hanabi asked her, as the two took a break from their guitar and drum practice.
"Hmmmmm." Alice thought about it. She'd spent a good bit of time looking at the heroes in this Country, but it was hard to assign any of them as a favorite. "I don't know. I like Wash and Majestic."
"Majestic is super cool!" Hanabi said, his fingers sparkling in excitement, a blush appearing on his face. "I think the way he saves people is super awesome! And he's totes cool! But I think Endeavor and Hawks are even cooler! Ahh! I'd love to get rescued by them one day!"
"Hmmm. They're cool. But feel a kinda…basic." Alice said.
"Isn't your favorite hero Star and Stripe?" Hanabi asked, with no malic whatsoever.
"...That's different," Alice said with a pout.
"I guess, oh! I need to go help in the kitchen." Hanabi said as he looked at the time on his phone.
"You're working with Mr Heart?" Alice asked, surprised yet another person could tolerate that man.
Chef Heart was someone Alice felt a mixture of conflicting ways about. On the one hand, his food was amazing. On the other, he was also the only person in this place who actually had a problem with her. As he while he did fulfill her requests for all kinds of strange food combinations, he did so while openly mocking and degrading her for asking him for them. And while that of course sucked, she wasn't sure if the fact that he insulted her in rhyme made it better or worse. I definitely made it more interesting to the point where she couldn't bring herself to avoid the man.
In short, she admired his mastery of words and stove, it's too bad her taste he seemed to loathe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As Alice was drawing something in her room, she suddenly felt the ground shake(not an uncommon occurrence), and something big and green move past her window.
She looked out the window and saw Yaba, Inu, and Ji playing tag with Kai.
On one hand, looking out your window and seeing, someone play tag with a Kaiju is awesome. But on the other hand, she was a bit sad she couldn't join in without the risk of being turned into a ketchup pancake.
Alice sighed, as she looked down at her hands.
Her quirk was another thing she had complicated feelings about.
She wouldn't say she liked it. How could she? It literally drove her out of her home(although to be fair she was learning to like this place better anyway) and nearly got her mom killed because of how badly the government wanted to get their hands on her power.
On the other hand, it was VERY powerful. And basically assured her a position as a pro hero. Theoretically, she could even help out in situations right now if they let her. Given that she never had to put herself in harm's way to use it effectively.
But that was something that also made her feel…uneasy about her quirk. Could she really ever call herself a hero if she never had to take the risk that other heroes did? Never had to step foot onto the battlefield, never had to meet a villain face to face.
Heroes were supposed to be brave. But there was nothing brave about taking down bad guys from a safe place, miles away.
Then again, if you opposed evil then you were a hero. Alice supposed that just made her weird in even more ways.
Maybe she shouldn't be complaining. Or wishing for a more flashy, yet standard quirk. But as her mother said. The grass was always greener on the other side.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Just before dinner time, the fashion club had all gathered, to welcome their new member, Hanabi. Who was being very careful not to aim his fingers at any of the clothes or materials?
As the club continued their ascites, a question that had been eating at Alice for a while, finally wound its way to her lips. "Hey guys, I know you guys all love fashion, and my sense of style is…weird. So why do you let me be here? And why haven't you said anything about it."
Kano and Shiruku both took a deep breath, and looked at each other, communicating with their eyes before coming to a decision.
"At first your style did leave me…at a loss for words," Shiruku said.
"I knew what words I wanted to say, but Shiruku stopped me from saying them," Kano added.
"And for a little while, I wasn't really sure how to deal with you. Until I looked at your style for a different lens." Shiruku explained. "I look at your clothes more like an art piece than an outfit. And after that, it was easier to accept you and your wardrobe."
"Like I said, at first I was going to speak to you about it, but when Shiruku told me about the art thing, I learned to accept it as well," Kano added. "If anything it's kind of brilliant. You can't put a price on human life, so whenever you wear your clothes, they become priceless in a way."
"Awww." Alice blushed after hearing that.
"Um, even if you're a bit weird, you still have the right to be here. This place is for people who like fashion and want to make clothes so, that includes you." Fuku said quietly.
"You can't help what you like, and it always sucks to be judged for things you can't control," Shina said.
"Yeah, if there's any place to welcome weirdness, it's this place, so don't worry about it too much." Kuki shrugged. "A lot of people think MY choice of clothes is weird. And those people can go fuck themselves."
"Language." Shiruku scolded, and Kuki just rolled his eyes.
"I think anything can look good, so long as it makes you happy," Hanabi concluded, smiling brightly. "Because a smile is always the most fabulous thing you can wear!"
"You guys." Alice nearly started to cry at how touched she felt. But decided instead to smile.
Because no matter how odd she was, smiling was something she loved just as much as everyone else.
So yeah an Alice-focused chapter. Haven't put much focus on her in a while, so I decided why not.
Fun fact, that part of finding the right answer but the school not taking it because you didn't solve it the way they wanted you to, is a real-life thing that happened to me.
Anyway, Hanabi's not likely to get his own chapter like the other two. You can probably understand his character by now without me having put a spotlight on him.
All three of the Bakugo-inspired character, take parts of Bakugo and then have other parts that are completely opposite to Bakugo.
Hanabi shares Bakugo's looks, his cooking ability, his intelligence, and even his fashion. But is completely opposite to him in terms of personality. He was a ball of rainbows and sunshine that wouldn't harm a fly if he could help it. He's also kind of a spin on how many people interpret Bakugo as gay.
Listen, in this fic, Bakugo's not gonna be in relationships, and I don't recall his sexuality ever being confirmed in canon, but I can see why many people would think he's gay considering how he acts in the series.
With Hanabi there is no interpretation going on, he literally shoots rainbows from his hands.
Yoshina was most like Bakugo in personality, but whereas in canon and in this fic, Bakugo had to go through a long journey of his ego being chipped away at for him to change, Yonda took one look at that, and said, how about we try some war crimes, and thus her character growth is happening much quicker.
Shuku possesses a powerful quirk and is even more talented than Bakugo, but there are two things that make him very different from Bakugo. Whereas Bakugo is constantly screaming and angry and quick to start exploding things for any reason, Shuku is pretty chill, until his anger builds up to the point, that he makes something literally explode. And even then, he'll never figuratively explode as in yelling, he'll just start making everything else explode.
He also, opposite to Bakugo, has absolutely no ambition whatsoever.
Much like Bakugo, people told Shuku he was the best, and that he could be a great hero with his powerful quirk. But unlike Bakugo, Shuku just didn't really care. Because none of it had to do with what HE wanted, which was to chill, play video games, watch T.V, and occasionally blow off some steam with a good fight.
Anyway, please review and have a nice day.