This chapter was released alongside chapters 56 and 58.

CW: Panic attack

==========================VI==========================

█ Audio Log: Corpus Obelisk: Capital Gains █

◖Tennic-42: Captain, we've lost contact with our probes monitoring the Veil Proxima for Sentient Incursion.

◖Sister Latsa Mussidieerro: Which ones, tech?

◖Tennic-42: A-all of them!

▓▓SYSTEM▓▓ WARNING: INCOMING SENTIENT ORPHIX DETECTED BRACE-

█ Signal Lost █

==========================VI==========================

[U.A. Multipurpose Emergency Center, April 17th, 2243]

Haylee's eyes fluttered open, slowly blinking as they adjusted to the bright lights of the room. The familiar glare brought back memories from last year.

She was in the U.A. Medical wing, wasn't she?

Groggily, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, casually pulling the IV out of her arm and yawning.

"Haylee!" Natah gasped, having just entered the room. She immediately rushed to her side and hugged her.

"Whuh…" Ordan shook himself awake, eyes wide. "Y-you're awake!"

"Mom, quit it, I just woke up!" Haylee groaned, not fighting back against the hug at all.

"I'm so glad you're alright…" Natah squeezed her tight, holding her for a few more seconds before releasing her.

Only for Ordan to immediately wrap his arms around her in a bear hug.

"Ordan!" Haylee squawked.

"He stayed with you as soon as he was able to, you know." Natah ran her fingers through Haylee's hair. "I don't think he left your room since then."

Haylee took a deep sniff and recoiled. "Ordan, how long have you been in here? You stink!"

"Uh, since Saturday night?" Ordan pulled back.

"Saturday night… wait, what day is it? How long was I out?" Haylee said with alarm.

"It's Monday, you've been unconscious for almost four days," Natah revealed.

"So it's a school day today?" Haylee shot up.

"Woah woah woah!" Ordan put his hand up and sat her back down. "Kiddo, you just woke up from a coma, take it easy. School's not for another three-ish hours, and you're on campus. Hell, you should take another day off to re-adjust."

"He's right, you know." Recovery Girl hobbled into the room. "You've been through quite the ordeal, young lady."

"But I'm fine now." Haylee shrugged.

"I swear, you're worse than Midoriya and Yagi…" The elderly nurse sighed. "I don't know how many times I need to tell you, but you're not invincible." She poked Haylee in the stomach with her syringe-cane.

"I told you, I'm fine." Haylee shrugged, then snuffed her arm. "Ew, smells like old bandages."

Chiyo stared up at her, concern marring her face. "Dearie, you died. You bled out at the USJ, and we had to keep you in a specialized treatment room while your limbs regenerated."

Haylee stared at her, blinking twice. "I know that I died. It just… didn't take."

Chiyo's lip twitched. "You shouldn't be so cavalier with your life." She warned. "Your quirk lets you regenerate, and it's very strong, but regeneration has its limits. Had that villain taken off your head, you wouldn't be speaking to me right now."

Haylee shrunk back. "Okay… geez. I get it. I'll be more careful."

"Now, I need to run some tests, and if you are feeling better you can head back to class today. Go get yourself washed up. You remember where the bathrooms are?" Chiyo ordered.

"Okay." Haylee hopped off the bed, grabbing the spare uniform that they had lying around as she bolted out of the room.

"... she," Ordan glanced to the Youthful Heroine. "Haylee has always been strong, and this isn't the first time she's been hurt. Hell, she got impaled last year and mostly… walked it off." He grimaced, remembering the scar that still remained on her chest and back.

"It's because she doesn't feel pain, I imagine. She has congenital analgesia, along with a quirk that regenerates her wounds, even if she didn't have the latter before, she could still heal." Chiyo hopped up on the stool across from Natah and Ordan. "Have either of you heard of Regenerative Apathy Syndrome?"

"I recall reading it somewhere, while I was studying. Something to do with how the brain of a regenerator copes with injuries?" Ordan scoured his brain.

"Right, it's a fairly old medical term, but people with regeneration quirks are generally less impacted by injuries. Their body parts grow back, so their brains are wired to… not register it as a traumatic experience. Not to say that they cannot develop traumatic responses if it is severe enough," Chiyo continued.

Ordan's frown returned. "So she just… doesn't care that she was hurt?"

"Essentially, yes." Chiyo nodded. "I've had multiple students with the ability to heal, and Tau, you have one in your class this year. Miss Tokage. Karris, you have Shoji and his ability to regenerate the limbs he creates with his quirk. To some of them, they might treat it as if they are regrowing a fingernail, or flexing a muscle"

"Tokage is one of Haylee's friends." Ordan nodded.

Natah chewed on her lip. Her quirk wasn't technically a regeneration quirk, but her body could shapeshift itself to repair injuries, though damaged cells took time and energy to repair. She'd never thought about how… unreactive she was to being injured. "I think… I think I have that as well. Is this something that we should be worried about for her?"

Chiyo huffed. "That girl just needs to get a better sense of her own mortality. Regenerative Apathy Syndrome doesn't make you suicidal, it just protects your mental state from injuries sustained. Her classmates might be put off by how nonchalant she will be about it, but otherwise she will be fine." She slid off the stool. "Her and Midoriya keep charging into danger without worry for their own lives, just like someone I know." The elderly heroine grumbled. "So far, they have been very, very lucky that they haven't permanently injured themselves- or worse."

Natah sighed. "I'll.. I'll talk to her about this tonight."

"Good," Chiyo nodded. "And you-" She poked Ordan in the thigh with her cane. "Don't think you're off the hook mister! Don't go throwing yourself into fights recklessly."

"-oh fuck- Yes ma'am." Ordan jerked back.

"Now, you go wash up. You've been stinking up this room for days!" She shook her fist at him, causing him to sprint out of the room.

"That was a little harsh, he only got hurt because he put his all into protecting his students, same with Aizawa." Natah defended.

"I know, but someone has to keep all these idiots from getting themselves killed. I'm not going to be around forever. They can't keep relying on me for healing constantly." She shook her head, exasperated. "But… I know that sometimes I can be a bit hard on them for circumstances outside their control. I'm mad because I worry about those youngsters… or elders in Karris's case."

"You'd never guess he was a couple hundred years older than me." Natah snorted lightly.

==VI==

"What do you think you're doing?" Ordan watched as Shota forced himself out of his gurney, partially nude and midway into putting on his hero outfit.

"Getting ready for class," Shota responded flatly. "I'm fully capable of fulfilling my duties like this."

"Can you even see?" Ordan gestured to the man's bandaged face.

"Vaguely." Shota squinted through the bandages as he pulled up his pants, making out Ordan's shape. He tugged some of the extra bandages down.

"You need to rest more and heal up fully." Ordan crossed his arms.

"It's illogical to waste time resting in the medical wing."

"No, it's illogical to strain your injuries." Ordan shot back. "I'll teach the class today. You get more rest."

Shota glanced at him.

"I'm not going to change your mind, am I…" Ordan sighed.

"No," Shota replied stubbornly.

"Listen, I know that I'm new to this whole teaching thing, but I know what I'm doing." Ordan put his hands on his hips. "Can't you just… use one of Nezu's robots to remote in to the classroom?"

Shota muttered under his breath, before grumbling back. "You can lead the class, but I'll be there in the corner resting."

"I'll take it," Ordan shrugged.

"I take it that Tenno woke up?" Shota suddenly inquired.

"Oh, uh, yeah. She's awake." Ordan nodded.

"How is she?"

Ordan tensed. "She's fine, wants to go back to class today. I'm… I'm worried about how calm she is about all of this. Shuzenji says it's because of how her quirk affects her brain."

"RAS?" Shota guessed. "I've had a few students like that."

Ordan looked unsure, as the token normal human of whatever the Tau family's… unique dynamic, he was probably the only one who wouldn't understand. "Haylee has always been like that to an extent, she's… been through a lot, but it's always affected her a little. I might just be worrying too much." Could it be her new powers from the Man in The Wall messing with her mental state, or just the syndrome Recovery Girl was talking about? "How did they deal with it?"

"Fine, for the most part," Shota replied. "Are you asking as her teacher, or as her guardian?"

Ordan mulled it over. "Can it be both?"

"If you are worried about it, I'll add it to the list of students to check up on for behaviour issues. If it is something, we can send her to Hound Dog or Recovery Girl. Does that sound good?" Shota offered.

"Sure," Ordan nodded.

==VI==

[Near U.A. High, Musutafu, Japan]

There was a slight gloominess to the air as Toru made her way to school. Despite class being back in session today, she still felt down. She'd been unconscious for the latter part of the attack after her quirk awakened due to the stress it had put on her unprepared body.

Prismatic Battery was what the government had called it. The ability to stockpile and unleash light, as well as refract it.

The only reason she knew was because of Tenno. If her classmate hadn't noticed the similarities between their quirks, and whatever she did to detect the stockpile… would she have ever known? How long would it have taken her to figure that out? She didn't know, but she was grateful.

Toru had always felt… well, invisible. Sure, people thought her quirk was cool when they first met her, but the other kids got used to it, she kind of just… faded into the background. She had friends, but none that she really talked to aside from texting anymore. They were probably destined to fade as she grew closer to her new classmates at U.A. She just wanted to be seen.

Toru had seen a hero with an invisibility quirk before, and that was what inspired her. She'd planned on being a stealth hero, using her invisibility to take down targets undetected. That was what she trained for, and how she got into U.A.

The government assigning her a threat rating due to how powerful her reclassified quirk had kinda put a wrench in those plans. She heard them whispering about how she might grow to be as strong as Endeavor, or might already be. If she kept herself invisible, they weren't sure there was an upper limit to her capacity, only her ability to unleash it. Since she'd never used her quirk like that before, it wasn't very much. They explained it like she was opening a camera aperture.

Shit, that sounded good. She should use that.

Still, with all that… stress, Toru considered being able to be visible a fair trade-off, all things considered. Her life had become just so… complicated in the last week alone, between starting at U.A, her quirk, and the USJ. She kinda liked it when her life was simple and boring. It kept her grounded.

Ah well, maybe this just came with being a hero? Toru mentally shrugged. As she turned the corner, she recognized a familiar haircut. "Hey, Uraraka!" She jogged up behind her.

"Oh, hi Hagakure!" Ochaco yelped, slightly startled.

Toru blushed. "Sorry, did I startle you? I'm usually pretty quiet."

"Oh it's fine, I was just thinking." Ochaco yawned. "Uhm, how are you, by the way?"

"Fine, I had to go to some specialists again because of my quirk. Honestly, I was only conscious for part of the attack. Midoriya took out most of the villains by himself. He's pretty amazing." Toru praised.

"Yeah, he really is," Ochaco blushed, quickly looking away from Toru. "I heard that he uh, carried you all the way from the landslide zone from Shoji." Lucky.

"I was wondering how I got back." Toru opened her mouth, but stopped herself. She didn't need to ask what happened. "I uh, I heard what happened to Tenno. You've been living with her for a few days… how are you holding up? I know we haven't known each other for too long, but if you need someone to talk to…"

"I'm… I'm fine. I guess. I've only really known her for a few days. Ms. Tau… you know, 1-B's co-teacher? She's her mom, so she kept dropping by the house to keep me up to date, texting me if she couldn't make it back. Last night she said Tenno was still asleep, but her body was healed, and Mr. Karris, I mean Karris-sensei was better."

"That's good," Toru nodded. "So," She tried to lighten the mood by shifting the subject away from the attack. "What's it like living with one of our teachers?"

"It's pretty weird, not that I've spent too much time with all that's been going on. Karris-sensei is much more… tame? I guess?" Ochaco shrugged. "He's a really good cook though. Tau-sensei is really nice too… her dad is kinda…" She shivered remembering Hunhow's unblinking stare and menacing aura. "He's not very nice."

"Oh…" Toru gulped. "Well, at least the rest of them are nice, right?"

"Yeah…"

As they continued along, a familiar mop of green appeared over the horizon. Ochaco immediately perked up. "Midoriya!"

Izuku glanced over his shoulder. "Uraraka… and Hagakure?"

"We ran into each other on the way to school." Toru popped up behind Ochaco. "Mind if we join you?"

'Why are they so close?' Izuke began to sweat. He'd only known them for a few days and they were already so friendly. Maybe it was because of what he did at the USJ?

"So uh…" Ochaco twiddled her fingers together. "Has your hand healed up?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. It was only a few broken fingers." Izuku held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. "At least it wasn't the whole hand this time." He chuckled, though Ochaco noticed he lacked the usual light in his eyes.

"Midoriya…" Toru slowed down as U.A. came into view. "Are you alright?"

Izuku stiffened. "I mean, not really… but I think I'll be fine." He replied slowly. "It's been hard, but I've uh, my mom's boyfriend has been helping me through it. Haylee will be okay soon, I'm sure."

The trio reached the front gate of the school, passing through the new security measures, a UG unit scanning each arriving student intently.

PLEASE PRESENT YOUR STUDENT ID FOR REPLACEMENT The machine commanded. They each placed their old ID card into the slot, receiving a new one. Unbeknownst to them, they were imbued with magic that immediately bound itself to the first person it came in contact with. If someone else tried to use the card, it would immediately flag U.A's security system.

"Are these really going to keep us safe?" Toru examined the new card.

"Probably not, I think it's just so to make us feel safe. My mom said they sent out a notice to parents. I think a lot of it is behind-the-scenes stuff." Izuku shrugged. "Its to make the parents feel we are safe."

"Huh…" Ochaco glanced around, wondering what else was added.

"Hey guys, is it just me… or are people staring at us?" Toru whispered just loud enough for the two to hear.

Sure enough, as Ochaco and Izuku glanced around they could see people trying to take furtive looks at them, whispering as they made their way inside. The stares were more obvious inside, students pausing to watch them pass.

"Yo, they are from class 1-A, right? The ones that survived the villain attack?"

Izuku picked up the pace, uncomfortable with all the attention they were getting. It felt more like they were exhibited at a zoo or something rather than in school. He let out a sigh of relief as he spotted their classroom up ahead.

"That was intense…" Toru wiped her forehead as they walked into the classroom.

"Oh hey, its Midoriya!" Eijiro waved. "Hey guys!"

Izuku waved back shyly. Looking around, it seemed that everyone was present… except Haylee. Nobody had decided to drop out of the hero course, so that was good.

"I guess she isn't fully healed yet…" Toru said sadly.

As if on cue, Haylee walked in behind them. The chatter in the classroom grinding to a halt. "Oh, hey guys," Haylee said casually.

"Haylee!"

"Agk!" Haylee stumbled back as she was immediately tackle-hugged by Izuku, Toru, and Ochaco.

"You're alright!" Izuku wailed, tears threatening to drench the four of them.

"Morons, get off me!" Haylee transformed her arms, easily picking up Izuku and Toru, holding them by their uniforms like wet cats. Ochaco sheepishly let go, scurrying back. "Seriously Izuku, you're like, all muscle. I might be strong but you're fucking heavy." She huffed, an embarrassed flush spreading across her face as she set them down.

"Sorry, I'm just… I'm so glad you're alright!" He sniffled.

Katsuki glared from across the room. Fucking nerd was being a crybaby again. 'At least blue hair isn't dead. Can't prove I'm better than her if she gets killed by some villain.'

"It takes a bit more than that to keep me down Izuku." Haylee flicked him in the forehead playfully, before turning to Ochaco and Toru.

"You're alright…" Ochaco wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well duh, I can regenerate." Haylee shrugged. "Pretty fucking hungry though. I didn't really get to eat, I only woke up like… three hours ago?"

Toru stared at her, wide-eyed. "Tenno, when was the last time you ate?"

"Uh… I mean, I had a small snack before I got here, but otherwise, lunch before the USJ?" Haylee recalled. Her hand whipped out catching something thrown from across the room.

"You can have some of this. I had extra in my pocket." Inosuke offered.

Haylee unclenched her fist. "Beef jerky? Hashibira, why did you have beef jerky in your pocket?"

"I get hungry?" He quirked his head to the side in confusion, as if that were an obvious answer.

Haylee gave the strangely pretty boy an odd look. "Thanks… I guess?"

Inosuke gave her a confident thumbs up. He was glad she was fine now. "You better keep up your strength, I wanna have a rematch sometime!" He grinned.

Haylee smiled, taking her seat. "I'll hold you to it then."

'Why did she sit down?' Toru felt a chill run down her spine, looking behind her, she could see a mummified man standing in the doorway.

"Aizawa-sensei?" Mina gawked. "What are you doing here?"

"Listening in on today's class, because someone convinced me I should be getting more rest," He said begrudgingly, though a small bit of thankfulness slipped through.

"So manly… wanting to be her despite his injuries…" A single masculine tear slipped from Eijiro's eye.

"So then who is teaching the class today?" Hanta asked.

"I hope its Midnight…" Minoru drooled.

"Perv…" Kyoka rolled her eyes.

"It's meeeeee!" A white-haired man with a ponytail slid into the room, stopping right in front of the desk.

'Who the hell is this guy?' Most of the class thought.

"Oh Sol…" Haylee slammed her face into her desk.

"Most of you probably don't recognize me out of uniform…" Ordan started.

"It's Karris." Shota bluntly cut him off, unamused by his theatrics. Minoru immediately shrunk back, while Inosuke and Shoto tensed up. Ordan's smile briefly wavered, noticing their reactions.

"..." Ordan glared at Shota, who had already slithered into his sleeping bag without another word. "But yeah, this is what I look like out of costume. I'm glad to see you all back here, we've got a bit to talk about before the rest of your classes. First off -get ready to fiiiiight!-" Several students jumped, alarmed. "Ahem… the Sports Festival is coming soon."

"Don't scare us like that!" Minoru yelled.

"Sensei!" Tenya raised his hand. "Is it really wise to hold the Sports Festival so soon after we were attacked?"

"Yeah!" Denki chimed in. "What if they like, attack again?"

"Those are all good points, but the Administration wants to show that the crisis has been resolved, and to restore faith that U.A. isn't afraid of villains. If we were to shut down a major event after one attack, not only would it embolden villains to make future attacks, the public would lose trust in U.A. as an institution." Not to mention the intense pressure that the HPSC was putting on Nezu for "allowing" the attack to take place. "Plus, there will be additional security. Lots of top pro heroes will be in attendance, as well as additional security from the Military. They have classified the attack as a terrorist threat due to the armed mercenaries the villains used."

That seemed to calm some of the students down, though Todoroki and Haylee didn't seem to react much.

"While I don't agree with the reasoning entirely," Shota muttered from the floor. "The Sports Festival is an important event. Not just for hero students. It's a chance for you to put yourself out there, should you be so inclined. The U.A. Sports Festival is one of the most watched events in the world." 'Thanks to big shots like All Might and Endeavor' He griped to himself. "If you catch their eye, they might offer you an internship. That said, if you are aiming for the underground route you might not want the publicity. U.A. has always given students the option to use pseudonyms, or to disguise yourselves."

"So we don't have to use our real names?" Mezo asked.

"Correct." Shota nodded. "The Sports Festival is a balancing act of two of my least favorite aspects of heroism: Marketing and popularity. You are advertising yourself, whether you are a business course student running a stall, showing off your inventions as a support student, or trying to make a name for yourself as a hero student. But, that isn't all you have to worry about." He said ominously. "So don't go slacking off."

"W-what does that mean?" Denki asked nervously. 'Why are our teachers so dramatic…'

"U.A. is a competitive school, I bet you can figure it out." Ordan offered a little hint. "Anyways, I have some news regarding the school's new security measures that I've been asked to go over with you all…"

==VI==

The rest of the classes went by fairly quickly, and soon it was nearly time for lunch. As soon as Cementoss left the room, Haylee and Izuku's desks were predictably surrounded by their classmates.

"Oh my god, you're okay!" Mina squealed.

"Yeah, that was kinda established." Haylee raised an eyebrow.

"You seem awfully calm considering all that happened," Momo noted. "How are you doing?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Haylee asked.

"Didn't it hurt?" Mashirao asked. "I uh, hope that wasn't too forward."

"I mean, getting your limbs ripped off isn't really pleasant, but yeah, I'm fine. I don't feel pain." To prove her point, Haylee grabbed a pencil and jabbed it into her hand.

"Holy shit!" Mina took a step back, unnerved.

"Tenno! Please do not intentionally harm yourself!" Tenya shouted, chopping his hand in the air.

Haylee held up her hand, wiggling her fingers as the wound sealed itself up. She licked the f blood off. "See? No pain."

"Is that part of your quirk?" Momo asked, weirded out but intrigued.

"No, it's a medical condition," Haylee answered. "Congeni…" She snapped her fingers after thinking for a moment. "Congenital analgesia. Fuck, I can never remember the name."

"So you've never felt pain before?" Eijiro asked.

Haylee shook her head. "I have, there's certain… materials that can make me feel it, but they are super rare."

"Woah…" Eijiro mused. "That must be really useful in a fight!"

"I mean…" Haylee scowled. "It can be, since it's hard to pass out from the pain or shock. It doesn't help if I bleed out like last week or get clocked really hard in the head though."

'Hit to the head, huh…' Katsuki narrowed his eyes, filing away that information for later.

"It kind of got me into a lot of trouble as a kid though. Kept running into things, I couldn't heal as well back then so it really worried my parents…" She trailed off, smile disappearing at mention of her family. "Sooooo… Izuku was pretty badass fighting off that beaked villain, right?" She laughed awkwardly, changing the subject.

"Yeah, you were awesome Midoriya!" Ochaco beamed. "You just flew in and went like- BAM!" She punched her hand with a resounding smack.

All eyes went to Izuku, who noticed Haylee mouthing a 'thank you' for freeing her from being the focus of discussion, slumping back in her chair with a relieved sigh.

"Yeah, you just kept going after your sword broke, were you scared?" Rikido asked.

"Yeah," Izuku confirmed. "He was so strong. The uh, hand guy? He said he had shock absorption."

Shoto frowned. "I thought he had regeneration?"

"Yeah," Mina interjected. "Didn't Todoroki freeze him and then he healed after you smashed him?"

So that cat was out of the bag. "Their leader said he was 'made' to kill All Might. I think he had multiple quirks or something."

Yuga tensed, unnoticed by his classmates.

"What, like Todoroki and Tenno?" Kyoka wondered.

"People don't have two quirks, cord-ears." Katsuki snorted. "Half-and-half can do ice with one side and fire with the other. Don't you remember who his fucking dad is?"

Shoto nodded slowly, clearly displeased with how the explosive boy worded it. "My quirk is called Half-Cold Half-Hot. It's not two quirks."

"Like when you warmed yourself up?" Inosuke inquired.

"No, I just… I have been working on strengthening the fire side of my quirk." Shoto clammed up, looking uncomfortable. He looked away, avoiding his classmates' gazes.

"And Tenno's quirk is just weird, no offense." Denki leaned over.

Ah fuck, she was the focus of conversation again. She just wanted to get out and go eat. "Oh, no… that's fine." She handwaved. "My quirk is kind of a fucking abomination." Unbeknownst to her classmates, she meant that literally. Her stomach finally reached its breaking point, growling loudly. Her face flushed red.

"We should probably go get something to eat!" Toru said, saving Haylee a bit of embarrassment. "Come on guys, let's get to lunch before the line gets long!"

Haylee and Izuku stood up, the rest of their classmates funneling out ahead.

"Midoriya, Tenno." Shota sat up from the floor. "A word, before you head to lunch."

"Yes, sensei?" Haylee stopped.

Slowly, Shota stood up, gesturing for them to come closer. He looked around, making sure that everyone was out of the room before he began to speak. "First and foremost, what you did at the USJ was incredibly stupid and reckless."

Izuku shrunk back, staring at the floor.

"However… considering I'd most likely be dead had you not intervened, I don't think it's very prudent of me to hold it against you, not that I was going to anyways." He parted his hair, shifting his bandages so he could look at both teens. "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"Sensei…" Izuku looked back up, eyes wide.

"We just did what we thought was right." Haylee said.

"That said," He slowly raised his hand and gave them both a soft, playful chop to the head. "You should never have been put into that position to begin with." His expression softened. "You're just kids."

Izuku noticed Haylee tense up.

"I- we couldn't just let you die, sensei…" She uttered softly, looking up, she imagined Teshin standing behind Aizawa.

"Behind this," Teshin had smacked her with the flat of his nikana. "you're still just a child -"

You're just a child. You were just children.

She'd always hated it when people played that card against her. Treating her like she was fragile because of her age- as if she wasn't a veteran of multiple wars. Even if she was a child, they didn't have to act like she was just a stupid, naive, reckless kid.

She knew her limits, she had the experience.

But she also knew Aizawa-sensei didn't know that.

The old her probably would've snapped at him, but…

Over the past year, Haylee had come to realize how much she loved just… being a kid. The childhood she had missed out on, school, friends, even if it was in a world full of heroes. It was the happiest she'd been in a long time. She even liked it when Ordan and Natah treated her like she was their daughter, granted it took a while to accept that and longer to get used to it.

She still wasn't used to it, not really.

"You're both clearly talented, I don't want that potential to be cut short." Shota summarized. "But I know your type, like a certain other hero I know." He imagined All Might flexing his muscles and laughing, much to his annoyance. "Don't let all your strength go to your head. This just means I'm going to be pushing you harder. You have the combat skills and instincts to make excellent heroes… when you are licensed."

"Yes sir." Haylee nodded curtly.

"Of course, Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku rapidly bowed repeatedly in apology.

Shota's mouth twitched, forming a slight smile. "Alright, I've said my piece. Go on now. Go eat lunch."

==VI==

Lumine's head hung low as she gloomily walked into the lunchroom. The first day back had gone by at a snails pace. As she joined the other students in line, her breath hitched.

"Dude, I thought Aizawa-sensei was gonna be pissed." Haylee stifled a laugh at the other end of the line, lapis-blue hair unmistakable. She stacked several slabs of medium-rare steak onto her plate.

Lumine's eyes were wide as the moon. "Haylee…?" Her voice but a mere whisper. She could feel her heart thumping rapidly in her chest.

She was alive and well, already back in school.

'Why… why didn't she say anything?' She wanted to rush over, but Haylee was already sitting down with the rest of 1-A surrounding her. If Lumine hadn't been so slow, maybe she would've been able to…

"Lumi?" Setsuna poked her in the ribs. "Earth to Lumine. You alright?"

"C'mon blondie, you're holding up the line!" A third-year shouted.

"Sorry!" She rushed forward, grabbing a tray and moving down the line.

"Hey, what was that all about?" Setsuna elbowed her.

Lumine glanced over her shoulder quickly. "It's her, Set. She's okay!" She whispered back.

"Wait, for real?" Setsuna barely spun her head 180°, causing a student behind her to squawk in alarm. "Oh damn, it really is Tenno."

Lumine scooted her tray down the line, knuckles white from how hard she was holding it.

"Are you going to… are you going to talk to her?" Setuna whispered. "I mean, obviously you are going to talk to her, but like, are you going to… you know?"

Lumine grabbed a bowl of rice. "Of course not, she just recovered from… I'm going to just see how she's doing." There was a time and place to confess her feelings, and this was definitely not it. 'Yeah sure, you were just attacked by villains and critically injured. I'll go and tell you how I feel about you while you are dealing with all that trauma.' Clearly, that would go over well.
She finished up at the other end of the line, grabbing her a glass of water and followed Setsuna to an empty table. "Where's Neito?"

"He brought food from home, he's been eating in our classroom a lot now." Setsuna shrugged. "Is it just me… or has he been acting weird these past few months. He's been a lot flakier when we wanted to hang out. Before we started school I mean."

Lumine sat down. "I mean, he was pretty stressed about the exams. He can only copy quirks for five minutes, so if ours ran out it would all be down to whoever was nearby he could borrow from."

"I guess…" Lumine snuck a glance at Haylee's table as the the rest the girls of 1-B sat down with them.

==VI==

"Haylee… no." Izuku pleaded.

"Listen here Izuku, I've been in a coma for almost half a week. I can eat whatever the hell I want!" Haylee declared, holding her bottle high. "I haven't eaten anything besides Inosuke's weird pocket jerky!"

"Hey, its not weird!" Inosuke glared.

"Do not put chocolate on steak!" Izuku repeated.

"Actually, I've heard chocolate can go quite good with steak. Though usually they rub it on as a powder or rub…" Momo mused. "Not whatever it is you are doing. Is that the kind of stuff you use on ice-cream and cakes?"

"Mhm!" Haylee nodded, squeezing out way too much of the syrupy substance. "I asked Lunch Rush for some." For some reason, the hero knew what she was going to be doing with it, muttering something muffled by his helmet along the lines of 'Ms. Tau being the only one with any taste in your family.'

"That's a lot of meat." Inosuke hungrily eyed the large stack of steaks towering on Haylee's plate. "You gonna eat all that?"

Haylee narrowed her eyes, pulling the plate closer. "Of course. I don't like to waste food, especially not when it has all this delicious chocolate…" Her mouth began to water. "Besides, you have a shitload of tempura and stuff."

"True." Inosuke chomped down on his fried fish, devouring half in a single messy bite.

"You uh, you're eating a lot more than you usually do." Izuku noted.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Ochaco wondered, having only shared a few meals with Haylee.

"I dunno, I just woke up with a big craving for meat." Haylee shrugged, licking the melted chocolate from her lips, already having devoured one ribeye. "Like, I was hungry enough to consider just eating it raw, which would be gross."

"Ew…" Izuku grimaced.

"Tenno, I can't believe I have to say this, but please don't eat raw beef." Toru begged.

"I kid… mostly." Haylee smacked her lips. "But in all seriousness, Lunch Rush is an absolutely godly cook. I don't get why some people still bring lunches."

"I know, his food is so good!" Ochaco rubbed her belly, already halfway through her meal.

"He's just as talented as some of my family's personal chefs." Momo praised.

"Wait, you have personal chefs?" Haylee stopped mid-bite.

"Yeah, Momo's super rich. Don't you know?" Mina leaned in, teasing the Yaoyorozu heiress.

Momo blushed. "Sorry if it felt as if I were bragging. But yes, my family runs one of the most successful companies in the country, Yaoyorozu Group."

Haylee glanced at Izuku with a blank look on her face. "Never heard of it."

"No way, seriously? They are the biggest company in Japan!" Mina nearly shrieked.

"I don't follow corporations." Haylee shrugged absently. "But I have to ask, Class Rep, why did you decide to become a hero if you are so loaded?" She asked casually. Was Yaoyorozu doing this just for publicity, or a rich girl living out a hero fantasy? Eh, probably not, or she would've dropped out after the USJ attack. Yaoyorozu didn't seem like that kind of girl. She was quick on her feet, having stopped the warping villain's lightning attack with a well timed lightning rod.

"Well uhm…" Momo twiddled her fingers, anxious at being put on the spot like that. "My… my family has always been focused on their business. The Yaoyorozu Group is very… well, nepotistic. You're right. If I wanted to, I could live a cushy life as a corporate executive, I'm sure my parents just think this is a silly hero phase I'm going through." Almost every kid wanted to be a hero with how focused their society was on them, though a lot of them gave up come high-school once they realized how hard it would be. "I want to help people. Not in the way my family does. Sure, we donate to charity, provide hundreds of thousands of jobs across Asia… but I want to be someone people can look up to, like All Might. That's my dream."

"Huh…" Haylee thought, before holding her hand out in a fist. "Respect." If Yaoyorozu were Corpus, she would be one of the good ones. As much of a prick as Parvos Granum was, he would probably like her drive to achieve her goals.

Haylee briefly wondered if he was still alive, but considering he was tucked away in the Granum Void it was likely he didn't survive when it started to break down. Good riddance, in her opinion. Even if he was one of the better Corpus, it was a monumentally low bar to pass. He was at least up there with the likes of Darvo and Ergo Glast, but significantly lower in Haylee's opinion. She remembered that Ordan mentioned he never trusted the man, and he knew him long ago during the Orokin days.

"What about you, Tenno? Why did you want to become a hero?" Toru asked, Momo nodding in agreement.

What was she going to say? 'Oh, I'm a hundred year old space warrior so of course I want to be a hero!' or 'Izuku suggested it, so I kinda just went along with it because I want to support him and my quirk-slash-whatever the fuck my abilities are don't really have a lot of other uses.'?

Izuku, the absolute lad, stepped in, giving her time to think. "I wanted to be a hero like All Might, someone who saves everyone with a smile!"

That was it, his overwhelming positivity cleared up her mind immediately. "I mean, you've all seen my absolute scuffed mess of a quirk. I'm strong. I know that. I didn't want to be a hero before I got my powers… but things happened that kind of made that impossible anyways." She stared down at her knees briefly. "But, I have all this strength. I don't like seeing people suffer when I can do something to stop it. That's why, I guess. I can't stand still when I can stop the injustices in this world."

A beat.

"And because that dumbass-" She pointed to Izuku."-would get himself killed if I wasn't around."

"Hey!" Izuku shot back. "You are one to talk, Ms. constantly-getting-injured. You've hurt yourself more than I have!"

"I can regenerate, and I don't feel pain. You can't, even if you are a crazy bastard with an insane tolerance for it!" Haylee argued back playfully.

"Didn't you say he broke your bones a lot?" Inosuke remembered what she said during the bus ride.

"Yeah, when we were training. He used me as a punching bag, which was my idea, to train his strength so he would know how much to use without, you know, killing someone." Haylee elaborated.

"Not gonna lie Tenno, you're kinda crazy." Mina shivered. "But like, in the badass way, like Hashibira and Midoriya."

"Damn straight." Haylee chomped down on her last ribeye.

==VI==

Lunch ended, and Haylee exited the cafeteria with a full stomach. A she left, she heard a voice call out to her. "Haylee!"

She turned around to see Lumine. "Oh, heya Lumine!"

"Can we talk?" Lumine asked, glancing to Haylee's classmates. "In private?"

"Yeah, sure." Haylee shrugged. "Guys, I'll meet you back at class." She waved goodbye, following Lumine down a few hallways until they were alone. As soon as they stopped, Lumine whirled around and hugged Haylee, openly sobbing. "You're okay… I knew they said you were going to be okay… but still."

'Man, everyone is hugging me today…' Haylee thought. "Yup, all healed up!"

Lumine pulled back. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Haylee blinked. "Oh, well I woke up like three hours before school started, then Recovery Girl pulled me aside to run some tests to make sure I was fully healed and didn't have any permanent damage." She gestured to her limbs. "My sleeves don't pull up that far, but it didn't even leave a scar."

"That's good." Lumine nodded. "I was so worried when Izuku texted me…" She gulped. "Are you… are you okay though? Like, mentally? Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Haylee shrugged passively. "Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal for me. I can heal, and everyone made it out alive. I'd call that a win all things considered."

Not a big deal?

Not a big deal?!

"Haylee, you…" Lumine sputtered. "Izuku said you died!"

"But I'm better now. See?" Haylee grabbed Lumine's hand and planted it on her chest. "You can feel my heartbeat, right?"

Badump, badump, badump~

Lumine's cheeks blossomed into a bright pink, mind stalling for a moment. 'Tiddy…' She thought, before yanking her hand back, anger quickly shoving her intrusive thoughts off to the side. "You… how can you treat this so calmly!" It wasn't just her flippant indifference to the attack that was pissing Lumine off. Combined with how fucking dense her crush was, it had gone past the point of being endearing to just being insulting.

Did she not see how much Lumine cared? At this point Lumine was starting to believe that Haylee knew how she felt and either didn't care or was just fucking with her. Her hands balled up into fists. "You moron, people care when you get hurt, even if you don't. I care. I care about you a lot!"

Haylee blinked, caught off guard by Lumine's sudden outburst. "We're friends, of course you care?" She blinked again. "I'm just… injuries don't bother me much, I guess? They never have."

Thinking back, Haylee had always been like this, from the moment they met. But… this was different. It wasn't broken bones from training, or a split lip. Haylee had capital-d died. "Haylee, you had all your limbs torn off and you bled out! How does that not qualify as a big deal!"

"And my head was split open, it just healed fast," Haylee added unhelpfully.

"That's even worse!" Lumine all but shouted. "You might not care if you get hurt, but do you ever stop and think about how everyone who cares about you feels? If Izuku got hurt, or I did, would you care?"

Haylee blinked. "Of course! You both are my best friends, duh. Why do you think I stepped in to save the idiot when he was in trouble? The villain was hurting my friend, my teacher, and my… kinda-dad. I had the means to save them, so I did."

"So you understand why I'm so worried then?" Lumine asked, red-faced from frustration.

"I mean, I guess. I don't see why its as big of a deal though. I can heal from pretty much anything."

Lumine's brow twitched. "But not everything! You died! I could've never seen you again! I might not have been," She swallowed the icky dry feeling in her throat. "Been able to tell you how I feel…"

She didn't want to do this, not after everything Haylee had been through, putting the pressure of a confession on someone who had just been through a traumatic experience. Dropping a love bomb on someone in a fragile state felt like a scummy thing to do, she didn't want pressure Haylee into answering when she was likely in a fragile state of mind, like most people would be after a near-death experience.

But apparently, Haylee just didn't give a damn, and in that moment, Lumine's frustration with her overtook any rational thought. It kind of just slipped out in the heat of the moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I…" She squeezed her eyes shut. "I wanted to wait until you were in a better headspace but apparently you don't care… I didn't want to drop all this on you so suddenly." Lumine took a deep breath, clenching her fists. She'd let it slip, no point in backing down now. "I have feelings for you, I have for a long time!"

Haylee took a step back, mind racing. Wait. Lumine had feelings for her? Like, romantic feelings? Her breathing sped up. 'No… what? Is that… it has to be what she means. There's nothing else that could mean.'

Lumine opened her eyes, blinking away the small tears and looked to see what Haylee's response was. The blue-haired girl was frozen, a haunted look in her eyes with the expression of someone who had just been punched. Her breath was shaky, lower lip trembling.

Haylee took another step back, before sprinting off without another word.

Lumine just stood there in shock, before the tears started to roll down her face.

'Oh no… what have I done!'

She messed up. She really messed up.

Shit.

==========================VI==========================

I have several issues with U.A's lunch line that we see in canon. You mean to tell me that like three windows serves a school of hungry teenagers with likely various dietary needs due to exercise and specialized stuff for quirks? My high school had a bigger lunch line. Most restaurants do! Thats why i made it take up the whole wall.

Big oof Lumine, though its not her fault, Haylee would've reacted like this regardless of when you asked.

I made up the regeneration thing as a bit of worldbuilding, because it makes sense for people who can heal to care less about their injuries since most quirks drive you to use em.