Chapter 2: Enter the Stealth Heroine
Izuku sat across the mystery girl mostly as a necessity. If he had ignored her it would only have drawn unwanted attention to him. Plus it sorta solved his dilemma of where to sit but made a new one. Who was this girl?
"Took you long enough. Any longer and I would have thrown something at you," the female huffed.
Midoriya quickly responded, "W-What, why? Did I d-do something w-wrong?" But wait, he did. Izuku puked all over the school grounds, and now the boy knew he wasn't able to hide the fact. Izuku then spoke at almost run-on speeds; "I'm s-sorry about the w-week before. P-Please don't t-tell anyone! I-I already have had enough p-panic attacks as is a-around here. And-"
"Woah, slow down chatterbox," the girl interrupted.
Midoriya again was surprised and said, "Eh?"
The female raised one of her arms, probably pointing upwards as if to make a point, Izuku thought. "I only called you puke-boy so you would recognize me, I mean you never did turn around and see who I was when I spoke to you that day. Besides, I'm not gonna gossip over something as disgusting as throw up, meeeeh." Izuku swore she stuck out her tongue after her explanation, but he couldn't be sure.
The invisible girl continued, "And another thing, us losers gotta stick together."
Midoriya whined, "L-Losers?"
The female gave a drawn-out sigh, "Ah man, don't tell me you don't recognize me too." In a defeated tone she continued, "I guess it can't be helped, it's been my schtick for a long time." Izuku pondered, what was "schtick"?
"We're in the same class, bub. I'm in seat sixteen, two seats in front of you. We both did terrible on today's Quirk Apprehension Test, remember? Though I guess you did worse than me, that's not saying much since I placed in eighteenth," she said cheerfully.
Midoriya was speechless for a bit, again. Why was she not upset at her test results? Did she not want to be here? Did she know that the threat of expulsion if they scored last was a bluff? Did she just not care? Izuku wanted to process this question more but noticed the floating uniform in front of him tilt to the side a bit after the long silence.
"S-Sorry, I sometimes o-over think things and t-today's been going a m-mile a m-minute you see. I'm still s-surprised that I am here and all, and then to p-place in l-last place, hasn't helped my of c-confidence," the boy stuttered.
"That was a cheap shot done by caterpillar-sensei. You were the only one he used his quirk on," the girl fumed.
Izuku thought, Caterpillar-sensei? He then recalled back to his homeroom teacher's introduction. He did look somewhat like what she described when wrapped in his sleeping bag. The thought got a small chuckle out of the boy.
"Ha, I snuck a smile outta you. I knew I could," the girl beamed.
The female's behavior baffled Izuku, but he continued, "Cat-I mean Eraserhead-sensei was just trying to t-teach me something about my q-quirk, and I did learn something v-valuable. So I am not m-mad at him."
The boy's near mistake in his speech made the girl giggle a bit. "If you say so. Oh, by the way, I'm Tooru Hagakure," the now not a mystery girl proclaimed.
"O-oh, well my n-name is Iz-," Midoriya tried to say.
"Izuku Midoriya, I know. I'm sure the whole class knows. It's kind of hard not to remember your name when Caterpillar-sensei dragged you in front of his face with his cloth thingy and said your name so stern and loud. I swear he looked like a vampire pulling in his victim for a meal. It was a bit spooky," Tooru finished. This girl's imagination sure was something, Midoriya analyzed.
Hagakure reached out one of her arms and said, "Anywho, it's nice to meet ya Midoriya-san." And thus began Izuku's panic attack anew. Sure he had been talking to a girl.
(Actually true this time.)
But now he had an opportunity to hold hands with this girl. Okay, a handshake wasn't holding hands, but it was close enough to cause the boy's heart to go into a rush. This was too good to be true, he couldn't screw this up. He had to go for it. It's just a handshake, what was the worst that could happen? Midoriya weakly replied as he brought up his arm to shake, "N-nice to meet you too Hag-." The boy's heart sank. Nothing could go wrong he thought. Then why was he holding a fist? More silence. The boy groaned internally, why was there always silence?
Tooru cleared her throat, "Oh, um sorry, was going for a fist bump, seeing how you are a boy and thought that would be more appropriate, but I guess you can't see my hand. Silly me." Izuku tried to salvage the awkwardness and began to shake her fist. The boy was so glad he couldn't see Hagakure's face to know whatever expression it held. But her response again surprised him. "Heh, we suck at tests, and now we have a lame handshake, er fist shake. See we are friends!"
"Friends? But we just-," Midoriya tried to finish.
"Just means we got a lot to learn about each other buddy," Tooru proclaimed. The bell then rang. Lunch was over.
"See ya in class puke-boy. And don't worry, that's the last I'll call you that, maybe," the invisible girl teased as she got up to leave.
Izuku looked down at his plate. He hadn't even eaten one bite. He sighed as he brought a palm to his face.
Pain.
Physical pain.
Self-induced physical pain.
It had happened again. The following day was 1-A's first class with All Might. Indoor anti-personnel battle training, that's what the pro hero had called it. Maybe Izuku did this because All Might was watching. Maybe it was because he was paired with Uraraka. But he mostly felt it was because he was put up against Bakugo. This was an opportunity to prove to the blonde firecracker that he was a student of U.A. and he deserved to be there. Midoriya never got to see the outcome though, as he fainted before he could see the results of the exercise. He had again thrashed a limb using his quirk to blow a hole in the ceiling to give Ochako an opening to grab the objective. With the other, he took the brunt of Katsuki's quirk as a fake out. He hoped it had worked.
Izuku had been asleep for some time in the nurse's sickroom. But something was bothering him as of late. Something had poked his face. Midoriya thought it was nothing at first but after multiple pokes of his face he couldn't take it any longer and opened his eyes.
"Oh good, you're finally awake. I was this close to throwing something at ya bunny-san," came a familiar voice.
Eyes still groggy the boy looked up to see a floating school uniform standing next to his sickbed. Yup, that's her, Izuku thought. Though the nickname the girl had given Midoriya should have been a dead giveaway at who she was before looking at her. He guessed she was referring to his hero costume. The "ears" were supposed to be an homage to All Might's hairstyle, but the reference went over Hagakure's head. The boy whined as he asked, "You would throw something at an injured person?"
"Maybe like a pillow. Ya know something soft, I was thinking my shoe the other day, but that's an entirely different situation," Tooru stated.
"Throwing a shoe at someone across a cafeteria could have started a food fight you know," Izuku said in an annoyed tone.
"Oh, that would have made for an awesome first day of school," Hagakure chuckled.
"But then we would not have been able to, you know, t-talk," Midoriya stated.
"This brings me to why I am here today. You weren't at lunch. And it was soo boring to eat alone. So I thought, dominatrix-sensei never takes the role so I should be ok playing hooky during her history lesson to see ya," the female chuckled.
Izuku brought his left hand up to his head. He pondered, does she have a nickname for everyone? Midnight's hero costume and personality was quite, something though. " The sleepy boy then said, "Um, H-Hagakure-san it's only our second day in class. Midnight-sensei might not have taken role yesterday because who would want to miss the first day here? Besides, you are in the front row, even if she somehow doesn't notice your absence everyone in class would. Especially Ida-san."
"You would think that but trust me it won't be a problem," Hagakure dryly stated.
This statement piqued Midoriya's interest, as he remembered something similar from yesterday's talk.
Ah man, don't tell me you don't recognize me too.
I guess it can't be helped, it's been my schtick for a long time.
Izuku wanted to ask, but he wanted to not be blunt about it. Instead, he asked, "Shouldn't we be worried that Recovery Girl-sensei might walk in here?"
Tooru was quick to respond, "Oh Granny? She was snoozing in the front office with headphones in her ears. She won't be a problem. I bet you are the only student she has seen since school just started." Before Midoriya could point out the flaws in her plan his back was starting to ache, making him push the thought away for the time being. He needed to move. The boy tried to sit up but both his arms screamed at him not to. "Hey there, am I that much of a bore," she joked.
"Was just trying to get into a more comfortable position. Still hurts to move through," he groaned. After waiting a few seconds for the pain to subside the boy continued, "So if you don't mind me asking, how did your battle training go?"
Tooru happily explained, "Oh me and my partner lost spectacularly. The other team found our hiding spot pretty quickly. Popsicle boy then froze my partner, and the ice exposed my position via my footprints."
Izuku responded with, "You seem quite pleased about failing."
"Oh it's fine, it was a lesson by All Might-sensei. And besides, I got to meet someone new. My partner was neat, mind if I bring him to our table tomorrow? I think he is in need of some friends too," she said in a begging tone.
The green haired boy noted that she didn't give a nickname to his mentor but then said, "Um Hagakure-san you don't need my permission, but of course it's okay."
Tooru seemed to make pump fist as a sign of victory and said, "I just wanted to ensure it was okay and all, didn't know if you wanted to keep our lunches exclusive or something." Izuku pondered the thought, was that an option? No, they just met, she's just teasing him again, right? Even then, having another guy at the table might calm his nerves a bit. "So you wanna hear how you did," Tooru asked. Midoriya grumbled a bit, but nodded, expecting the worst. "You let your personal grudge get the best of you, and you did too much damage to an indoor environment," Tooru said in a sarcastic serious tone.
Izuku asked, "Who were you trying to imitate there?"
The invisible girl responded with, "I don't remember her name, it was really long. She was tall, had long black hair in a bun, and some big boobs. Either way, All Might-sensei had asked us how your match went and she responded with what I just said." Midoriya seemed to recall the student Tooru mentioned with the revealing hero outfit. His face blushed a bit at the invisible heroine's last detail. Tooru was quick to say, "But hey you won, so that's all that matters right!"
Winning wasn't everything though, Izuku thought. "I could have done better though. I did let my past with K-Kacchan interfere," the boy sighed.
Perplexed Hagakure said, "Kacchan? You have some history with that firecracker?"
"Since before he got his quirk, so yeah. We got a lot of, h-history," Izuku struggled to say.
Tooru then started asking multiple questions, "Doesn't sound like any fun times in that history of yours. Why did you give him a cute nickname if he's an asshole to you and almost everyone he meets? Is he a rival or something? Or did you use to be friends? If you were friends, what stopped that? Did he steal your girl?"
Again that imagination of hers. The boy shook his head, "N-No, n-nothing like that. We were pals back in daycare and I always knew he was a good person. Kaachan was just not the best at expressing it once he got his quirk. I admire the strength of his quirk and his dedication to wanting to be the best at everything. But he just belittles those below him, and since I was quirkless, I was at the bottom and an easy target I think."
Tooru took a step forward and said, "Quirkless?"
Midoriya froze. One for All was supposed to be the secrets of all secrets. Sure he hadn't said anything about his actual quirk but stating he used to be quirkless could open up more questions about it. The boy had to think of a response, fast. "Y-yeah, I was a l-late bloomer is a-all," he quickly stated.
Hagakure was silent for a bit before inquiring, "How late?"
Izuku gave pause, might as well tell her the truth at this point, he thought. "The m-morning before the e-entrance exam," he said slowly.
"Wait, doesn't that mean you signed up for U.A. not knowing you had a quirk? Registration is many months in advance," she inquired.
Izuku was backed into another corner. How would he explain this? As the teen's mind raced, he thought back when he applied for the entrance exam before he ever met All Might.
It's just been my dream. Since I was little. And well, there's no harm in trying…
The boy breathed in and began with, "I've always wanted to be a hero. They're so cool, and they get to help people by saving lives every day. They make a quantifiable difference in the world. Something I can't be and do if I'm quirkless. I was so desperate to be a hero; I guess I applied hoping for something, and just got lucky my quirk manifested in the end." Midoriya wasn't lying; he was very fortunate. He did apply just because he could, and lady luck had shined on him in the form of a hulking hero that was his idol and now his mentor. Izuku looked back at the girl at his side.
Tooru had the sleeves of her shirt up to her face. "Just like a fairy tale, if you believe hard enough, anything is possible," she beamed. A small chuckle escaped Izuku's lips. He was glad the Hagakure had such a positive outlook on everything. Had she been a heavy thinker like himself, she might have pushed further about the origins for his quirk. Tooru continued with, "I guess that explains why you always get hurt when you use your quirk. Do you have a name for it yet?"
Midoriya responded with, "Oh um, S-Super Power."
"Hmmm a bit generic, though I guess it isn't off the mark," Hagakure stated with a tone of disappointment in her voice.
Izuku sighed internally, it was the best he could come up with on the spot when filling out his application before the entrance exam. It wasn't something he and All Might discussed at all during his training on what his quirk's fake name would be for public eyes. Trying to change the subject he then inquisitively asked, "Hey, um what exactly is your quirk's name Hagakure-san?"
"Oh, well I call it Transparency! Not exactly meant for fighting but it's got plenty of other uses," she excitedly explained.
Wanting to know more, Izuku continued by asking, "Do you know how it works?"
Tooru groaned, "Eh, it's boring science mumbo jumbo."
The boy was quick to respond, "But I like boring science mumbo jumbo! Please?"
The girl sighed but spoke, "I don't remember that much, something about my skin being able to bend light or something. My dad went into more detail about it once, but I mostly zoned out during his explanation. That enough for you, Midoriya-san?"
Izuku responded, "So your skin can refract light around your body to the point that you are completely invisible."
Hagakure crossed her arms and said, "I guess. I mean it works, and that's all that matters to me."
Midoriya, hoping it wasn't odd to ask, slowly said, "You can turn it off, right?"
"Trust me, dude, I wish I could. But that's just how things are sometimes," Tooru exhaled.
Izuku roared, "That's terrible!" This caught Tooru off guard. She flinched at the boy's change in volume. "Ah, sorry." Izuku collected himself and continued, "It's just that means you haven't seen your face since you were a small child, right?"
Hagakure responded, "Oh it's fine Midoriya-san, I mean that was over a decade ago and-"
But the boy cut her off, "But don't you wanna know what you look like? What makes you, you?" Tooru didn't respond. Which got Izuku to rapidly apologize, "Sorry if I sounded pushy. I'm just trying to understand. Knowing me, that would be something I would ponder daily if I were in your position."
Hagakure chuckled a bit and then turned plus walked up to the window by the boy's side. Sometime past before she spoke again. The wait made Izuku think he had gone too far but didn't know what to do in the situation.
"Heh, you know where to push one's buttons," the girl finally said to break the silence. Tooru's arms came up to the windowsill, and she responded with, "You are somewhat right. When I was younger, the thought never bothered me. I mean, I had a neat quirk, and for a while, I was the talk at daycare and even when I started primary school. But things changed when I got older. Puberty started, and I got interested in how I looked for the first time. That's when we change the most right? But no matter what I do I'm still like this." Izuku face was quite red at this point. He thought the subject of a girl going through puberty would be a more sensitive subject. Or maybe that's just how open this girl was. It still confused the teen to no end. But he was glad that the girl had opened up to him, either way. The invisible girl gradually left the window and turned herself towards the bed. She continued the conversation again by saying. "I splurged there, sorry. But hey you revealed a bit about yourself, I should say something as well. I mean we are friends right?"
Izuku gave a decent smile in response. But the recent subject had brought back an earlier thought. A certain one that he thought would be too blunt to bring up at the time. Now was the time he thought, if ever today. The green haired boy then stated, "I do have one l-last question H-Hagakure-san. A f-few times, today and yesterday, you said you had a 'schtick' about people not noticing you, what's that a-about?"
Tooru asked, "Trying for a grand slam, huh? A bit bold don't ya think?"
Meekly, Izuku responded, "You d-don't have to a-answer, I was-"
"I'm just teasing dude, cool your jets," Tooru interrupted. There were a few moments of silence before she answered, "If you remember earlier, I said things changed when I got older. I mean yeah puberty was a big thing and all, but there was something else. Maybe it's because other people in my class started to get better at controlling their quirks so they forgot about mine. Maybe it's because people began to get over my invisibility quirk as being fresh and unique. For a while, I thought maybe it's some stupid secondary effect of my quirk, but that's just silly." Tooru paused then breathed in before continuing and said, "But either way, my classmates just started to not hang out with me, talk to me, or even notice my presence. It was slow, but eventually, even my tiny brain started to see, and it aggravated me."
She paused a bit to collect her thoughts before continuing. Midoriya recalled back to her response when he didn't know she was two seats in front of him during the first day of class. There was a hint of anger, a bit a disappointment, but she soon switched back to her usual bubbly self. Hagakure then continued, "I felt betrayed by my friends. But me getting mad about it never really helped and just drove them away even more, when I confronted them about it. So I thought what if I just stayed more positive about my situation? My change in behavior wasn't able to get my friends back, but I did at least lessen the distance between me and my former friends. And now I am in high school with new people that have I've never met before and already I have such a good friend like you Midoriya-kun."
Izuku's heart skipped a beat. Midoriya-kun? Things were moving too fast; the boy was having a hard time keeping up. "Y-you don't have to say my n-name like that H-Hagakure-san, we've only t-talked like t-three times," the boy said nervously.
Tooru rebuked his response with, "Gives you an idea of how bad my social life was in middle school, doesn't it? Plus you're different Midoriya-kun. I've never opened up to someone like this so quickly. Guess you got a way with words. Or maybe it's because you look so cute when you look surprised or confused. Which is quite often by the way." She walked to the end of Midoriya's sickbed and straightened up her skirt. "Well, I'm sure class is almost over. I should get going before granny comes back for a check-up. I will call us even after this for leaving me bored at lunch." She then made her leave.
And a few minutes passed Izuku sank back into his bed and only had one thought on his mind.
.
..
...
C-Cute!?
Some of you might be wondering, why Izuku x Tooru?
To be honest, my favorite Izuku pairing is actually with Mina cause of their contrasting personalities. But it's been done; I mean it's not super popular, but it's been done. I never considered I would like a Mina pairing, but QuirkQuartz proved me wrong, but it's not something I think I could write about that he hasn't already explored. There were three girls however that I figured that would be interesting to write about, that I saw only in harem fics (which almost always turned me off, unless you are The World God Only Knows, and even then that ended with the best girl, Chihiro Kosaka). I read a neat one-shot of a possible Kyoka pairing, but after wracking my brain I couldn't think of much to write about that pairing (mainly cause of quirk was hard to write about). Momo was another possibility (her quirk is a goldmine for unique things to write about). The idea of a girl smarter than even Izuku could be fun to write, plus she was taller than him and could be a good source of humor. However, once I started considered Tooru, the scenarios that I could write with her just clicked.
Writing Tooru has been a challenge though since she has so little showing in the manga. I think it's pretty much a joke at this point that she's invisible to the story. Unless she's being saved for some backstory in the future (which I will act accordingly if it fits what I write as I'm open to edits if the manga does something interesting enough). Tooru's personality does seem very similar to Mina, though she's a bit more bubbly and girlish (I mean did ya see her room?). So I hope you like my take on her, and again, I am open to criticism about how I write her.
There will be more pairings in this story. One will be kind of tame; the other will be a curveball. Other characters outside the main six (which I will focus on introducing in 1-4 and 7), will pop in and out but the story but it will mainly be about this group of friends I am building up. I want to include All Might and Eraserhead as regular side characters at some point.
Until then, see you next Sunday!