Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Accepting the invitation to learn at Yūei had been a mistake, Natsumi knew that deep down she could never truly be a hero, but it was worth a shot. She had nothing to lose. She needed to deviate from the path that had been laid out for her, she needed to prove that she was her own person capable of making her own choices and mistakes.

The reflection staring back at her from the bathroom mirror was someone she didn’t even recognize, though she supposed that was her original intent. Her eyes were naturally narrow, framed by thick black lashes. Her hair, a pastel pink that came just past her shoulders in loose waves with bangs swept neatly across her forehead, hung freely and she momentarily contemplated whether she should put it up or not for her first day.

Not that she cared much for first impressions nor for what her classmates would think of her, but she was determined to not look like the emotional wreck that she was on the inside.

Pale fingers curled around the box of hair dye on the counter, Cotton Candy Pink, now an empty vessel that she no longer had use for. She deftly tossed it into the waste basket in the corner by the toilet before turning her attention to her eyes.

Dark crimson stared back at her.

That won’t do.

Glancing down at the mess scattered across her counter top, Natsumi pushed various makeup and personal hygiene products aside before her fingers brushed across the one item she was searching for; a small contact lens case.

She flipped it open, carefully pulling out the delicate lens and holding her left eye open wide so she could gently place it over her crimson iris. Once that eye was done she mimicked the action with her right, blinking rapidly to clear away the tears and staring at herself once again in the mirror, her eyes now a dark shade of brown.

Already dressed in her new school uniform she cast a glance over her shoulder, peering through the open bathroom door and squinting to see the LED numbers of her digital clock in the other room.

“Shit.”

She would be cutting it close but if she left now she would, hopefully, make it just in time for homeroom. Quickly she ran out towards her living room and snatched her black boots from the mat by the door, pulling them on and tightening the already tied laces.

The pink haired teen was thankful that her apartment was relatively close to campus otherwise she wouldn’t have made it in time for the first bell, signifying the start of class. She wasn’t looking to make any waves, especially on her first day, and definitely didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself.

Quickly checking the seating chart posted on the board she noticed that there was an odd number of students in the class, making the rows of desks uneven. Her designated seat was at the back of the first row, right up against the window.

She took her seat, from the corner of her eye she noticed her neighbor staring at her with an unreadable expression. Natsumi recognized him from the exam that she had taken with the other kids who had received recommendations, she never caught his name, not that she particularly cared to know it, but she did remember that he had been rather startled by her quirk.

The written portion of the exam was over and Present Mic had just announced that the next part would be an obstacle race where they would need to use their quirks if they wanted to finish within a reasonable time.

She cast a quick glance at the five other hopefuls at her side, most of them eagerly smirking at the course set out before them. The only person, besides herself, who stood emotionless was the boy directly to her left. He was taller than her, his entire appearance was a little eccentric looking from his heterochromia eyes (one grey and the other glacial blue) to his shaggy hair that was split evenly down the middle, white on one side and crimson on the other.

Not a single one of them had spared her much of a glance, something she was grateful for. They didn’t see her as much of a threat due to her small stature and she could use that to her advantage.

The race began and the other teens took off ahead of her, her lips twitched into a smirk. Most of them were opting to stay on the path carved through the territory ahead of them, but she knew that the quickest way to the finish line would be a straight line.

Her breath came out as a small cloud of cold air as she activated her quirk and propelled herself forward leaving a trail of ice in her wake. When she would arrive at an obstacle that she couldn’t go around, she would deactivate her ice and use the second part of her Quirk and turn her body intangible. Once she phased through the obstacle she would make herself solid again and resume using her icy path.

Once she neared the top she noticed that, after all this time, she wasn’t alone anymore. A growl burned at the back of her throat as the boy with dual-colored hair caught up to her, his eyes shifting to her and then to her icy trail and for a moment he was caught off guard. He was also using ice to propel himself, they were neck and neck, but she refused to take second place.

Another boy appeared to the right of Heterochromia, this one using some sort of wind-based Quirk to move his body forward.
Suddenly the trio came upon a large boulder protruding from the ground, the two boys quickly changed their directions to avoid smashing into it while she simply flew right through it. Because she was able to avoid going around the obstacle, which would have added more time and slowed her down, she was able to get ahead of the two boys once more.

She crossed the finish line first, the two boys tying for second place.

Windy was talking animatedly, presumably to Heterochromia, congratulating him on a great race but the other boy wasn’t paying attention, his cold stare was focused on her.

As she snapped herself out of her thoughts she realized that she and the boy had been holding an impromptu staring contest. Natsumi was the first to break eye contact, focusing her attention on the front of the class as the last of the stragglers entered just in time for the tardy bell to ring.

A giant, yellow caterpillar slinked inside the door and—no, it wasn’t a caterpillar, it was a grown man encased in a bright yellow sleeping bag. Her classmates voiced their thoughts on this new stranger in way of hushed whispers to their neighbors, wondering who this peculiar person could be.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta.” His voice was monotonous and bored sounding. He unzipped the sleeping bag and stepped out of it, discarding it behind his desk.

His eyes were blood shot, dark bags clung heavily beneath them. His hair was black and stringy, almost as if it hadn’t seen a brush in years. All in all their homeroom teacher looked incredibly unkempt.

“I know this is sudden but put these on and meet me outside.” He held up a blue gym uniform in one hand and motioned for them to check under their desks for their own uniform before he turned on his heel and stalked out of the massive doorway.

Curious whispers erupted from her classmates and they each pulled out their uniform, all voicing the same question, ‘what was in store for them on their first day?’

She rose from her seat, uniform in hand, and made her way towards the girls locker room to change with the rest of her female classmates. They were all excitedly chatting away with each other, introducing themselves and asking what they thought Aizawa-sensei had planned for them. Natsumi was the only one who remained silent and that didn’t go unnoticed for long.

“Hi there, my name is Uraraka Ochako.” A bubbly brunette appeared in front of her, her lips upturned into a bright smile.

“I’m Yaoyorozu Momo, you’re also here on recommendation, aren’t you? I remember you from the exam, you came in first place during the race.” A tall, busty girl with long black hair neatly tied back in a pony tail offered a friendly smile.

The pink haired teen felt a little overwhelmed at being put on the spot but decided that it wouldn’t bode well for her to ignore their friendly advances.

“Miyano Natsumi.” She introduced herself quietly, there was a chorus of ‘nice to meet you!’s followed by the rest of the girls giving her their names.

“Well, it’s nice to see a familiar face.” Yaoyorozu smiled before adding, “We should get outside.”

Aizawa-sensei explained that they were going to do a physical assessment like the ones they had performed back in middle school, only this time they could use their quirks. Excited chatter arose from the group of teens at that, everyone eager to show off their skills.

Natsumi had never gone to school before, her parents had opted to home school her on the basic subjects as well as a few extra-curriculars that no normal child should have learned. While her classmates wondered how their previous scores would compare now that they were allowed to use their quirks, she stayed silent and wondered what sort of tests they would be going through.

“Bakugou, you finished first place in the practical exam. What was your score in junior high for throwing the baseball?”

All eyes landed on the boy with spiky ash-blond hair and crimson eyes.

“Sixty-seven meters.”

Aizawa-sensei nodded, “Alright, well try it this time using your quirk. Step into the circle painted on the field, do whatever you want. Just don’t step out of the designated area.”

The boy’s lips twitched into a smirk as he sauntered forward, standing in the center of the drawn circle. Aizawa tossed the ball to him which he caught with one hand, gripping it tightly before yelling ‘Die!’ and using a series of explosions emanating from his palms to propel the ball forward.

The ball sailed overheard, fire and smoke trailing behind it.

“Know your own maximum first, that is the most rational way to form the foundation for becoming a hero.” Their exhausted homeroom teacher turned the device in his hands towards his students, the numbers standing out against the backlight; Bakugou had cleared the 700 meter mark.

The ash blond smirked triumphantly, impressed by his own score and feeding off of the surprised gasps of his classmates.

“How exciting we get to use our quirks, this is going to be fun!” One of her classmates squealed.

The mood changed suddenly, Aizawa’s eyes narrowed into a glare, “It looks like fun, huh? You have three years to become a hero. Will you still have that same attitude by the end?” His lips formed a rather sinister smirk, “All right, whoever comes in last place for all eight tests will be considered to have no potential as a hero and will thusly be expelled from Yūei.”

Panic rose in the voices of her classmates as they voiced their concerns over how terrible it would to be removed from the curriculum on the very first day. Some even went so far as to complain, out loud, to the teacher telling him how unfair it was for him to even suggest expulsion on the first day. Natsumi wasn’t worried, she was confident in her abilities to at least place well in half of the tests that Aizawa-sensei had planned for them. No, they wouldn’t be able to get rid of her that easily.

Her eyes immediately landed on a boy with unruly dark green hair who stood upfront. He began to sweat profusely, eyes wide with anxiety and fear. She almost felt sorry for him, almost, but there was no room for subpar heroes at Yūei.

The first test was a fifty-meter dash, giving everyone the chance to see what each other’s quirks were for the most part. Even Natsumi was curious to see what the others were capable of.

Several of her classmates had already gone in pairs before Aizawa addressed her, “Since this year we have an odd number we’ll have one group of three for this test. Miyano, Todoroki, and Mineta.”

Well, there’s my cue.
She glanced over at her opponents and realized that Todoroki was the same guy from the exam. They locked eyes for the briefest of moments as if challenging one another.

“Go!”

The two ice wielders took off, ice trailing behind them and a spray of snow crystals kicking up and assaulting anyone who was close enough to the starting line. Poor Mineta was left in their dust, heaving and struggling to catch up.

A collection of gasps erupted from the group of teens as they watched Todoroki and Miyano race each other, both seemingly using the same quirk to speed towards the finish line.
It was a photo finish.

4.03 seconds.

Todoroki furrowed his brows and frowned contemplatively, he wasn’t used to coming in second place—while he and Miyano had tied for first he still considered that a failure. The fact that she had bested him once before still plagued his mind and drove him crazy, even more so due to the fact that her quirk seemed similar to his own.

While the dual-color haired boy was having these thoughts Mineta, the small boy with strange purple hair, collapsed across the finish line out of breath.

10.08 seconds.

The rest of the tests passed in a blur, most of them testing strength and dexterity. Natsumi would admit that she wasn’t necessarily the strongest person, but she did pride herself on her agility and ability to control her quirk rather well with only few drawbacks.

Her scores up until this point had all mostly been above average with the exception of the grip assessment which measured strength and how much pressure she could assert at once. All in all, she wasn’t too concerned about being expelled especially when that poor emerald eyed boy with the freckles was performing so poorly.

It was time for the fifth test, the ball throw that the ash blond, Bakugou, had previously demonstrated.

The bubbly brunette from the locker room bounced up to the designated area, touched the ball and sent it flying so high and far that it blinked out of existence. She was given the score of infinity.

Don’t think anyone’s going to top that. The pink haired teen mused.

The freckled boy shuffled up to the starting position, the ball held tightly in his trembling hands. He was visibly nervous, he closed his eyes momentarily as if in prayer before they snapped open with newfound resolve. He wound back his arm and threw the ball.

It landed within the chalk outline, only 46 meters away.

The boy looked perplexed, startled even, by the short distance.

Aizawa’s eyes glowed red, what had been assumed to be a scarf around his neck turned out to be bandages that he was able to control.
“I erased your quirk, Midoriya.”

The boy stuttered, “You e-erased my quirk?” Suddenly his eyes widened, “Those goggles! I see, you’re able to erase quirks just by looking at someone. You’re Eraser Head!”

Aizawa’s hair was wild, floating around him alongside his bandages and he continued to condescend the young boy, “You can’t control your quirk, can you? Tell me this, do you intend to incapacitate yourself each and every time you use your quirk? You can’t rely on someone else to save you, that’s not going to help anyone and you’ll end up only being a burden to those around you.”

“That’s not my intention at all—” Midoriya started to object but the bandages around sensei’s neck shot forward, enveloping the boy tightly and yanking him forward so that he was eye to eye with Eraser Head.

“Midoriya Izuku, with your power you cannot become a hero.” His words were harsh, striking Midoriya where it hurt the most.

Suddenly, the bandages loosened and then released the boy altogether.

“I’ve returned your quirk, you have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with.” Aizawa stepped away from Midoriya, a bored expression on his face as he waited to see what the teen would do next.

The class watched with bated breath to see how Midoriya would react; would he call it quits and take his loss or would he fight to prove himself?

Once more he took his position, appearing deep in thought over what Aizawa-sensei had said to him, before pulling back his arm and letting the ball fly. It soared far, surprising everyone on the field who had yet to see Midoriya’s quirk in action.

“Sensei look….” He breathed, plastering on a wide grin, “I can still move!” His finger was purple and hung at a disgusting angle, signifying that it was broken.

Natsumi wasn’t sure why but her classmates clapped for him, cheering loudly. She rolled her eyes, yes the score was pretty impressive but he had bombed the rest of the assessment, one good score wasn’t going to save him from being kicked out of school.

They completed the rest of their tests without much incident and soon it came time for their scores to be posted and for them to see what their placement amongst the class was.

The list went on but she was only concerned with how well she had done, she frowned at the realization that she didn’t make it to first place but there was a part of her that was relieved that she at least beat out Todoroki. Things had silently and unintentionally become a competition between the two.

“By the way, I was lying about the expulsion. It was rational deception to draw out the best of your abilities.”

She should’ve figured it was a trick, but part of her truly believed that expelling students on the first day was something that the great Yūei was capable of to weed out those who didn’t belong.

“There’s a syllabus with all of the necessary information printed in it waiting for you on your desks. That’s all we have planned for the day, class dismissed.” Aizawa turned on his heel and stalked away.

What a bizarre way to start the school year, though she guessed that she should expect nothing less of the great Yūei. If one thing was certain it was that the next three years were bound to be interesting.

Chapter Text

She wasn’t a morning person and the likelihood of her ever becoming one willingly was slim to none. Yet, here she was sitting by the window of a local French café an hour before class was to begin, increasing her caffeine intake one cup of coffee at a time to wake herself up. Natsumi knew herself better than anyone else and if she didn’t wake up a little early then the chances of her oversleeping would skyrocket.

Currently, she was on her second cup of coffee with an extra turbo shot of espresso and slowly she felt energized enough to face the day ahead of her.
When her alarm had gone off that morning it was still dark out and she had to wrestle with herself to get out of bed, Natsumi treasured sleep and could have slept until late afternoon had she not had any responsibilities.

Peering out of the window directly to her left while sipping on the warm, soothing liquid in her mug sent tranquility pouring through her. It was still early morning so the café was filled with tired business men and women standing in line to get their caffeinated beverages to wake them up, much like she had done. The atmosphere was quiet and relaxing, soft instrumental music played over the speakers above her that dulled the idle chatter around her.

Outside the sun was beginning to peek over the rooftops, illuminating the city in a soft glow. The streets had been void of cars when she had first made it to the café but now things were starting to pick up as people rushed to get to their jobs on time.

Glancing down at the plate in front of her, Natsumi frowned when she realized that she had almost finished her tart. Raising the last piece to her lips she let out a satisfied hum, savoring the sweet flavor of the custard and fruit topping.

“Good morning, Miyano-san.”

The pink haired teen angled her face just enough so she could get a quick glimpse of the person who had just spoken to her. A small sigh escaped her as she realized it was a classmate, the one with the strange ear lobes.

“Ah, ‘mornin.” She spoke quietly.

“This place is pretty cool, you come here often?” Jirou asked, her fingers curling around a styrofoam to-go cup that had her name scribbled lazily in purple marker.
Inwardly Natsumi groaned, it was too early to be holding a conversation, “Often enough.”

The amethyst haired teen nodded, “You headed to school soon?”

Natsumi absently brought her finger down to tap on her phone screen to check the time, “Yeah, I guess it’s about that time.”

The other girl offered a small smile, “I was just about to head out, you wanna walk together?”

The pink haired teen contemplated the offer for a moment before shrugging. She pushed her chair back, grabbing her empty plate and mug, bringing them over to front counter and thanked the girl behind it before turning back to face Jirou with a small, half-hearted smile.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

“Okay, cool.”

They walked in silence for a few moments, neither girl feeling the need to disturb the quiet that had settled around them. The sidewalk was filling up with all sorts of people, a couple of times the two girls had gotten separated from each other by the early morning crowds, but they quickly found each other and resumed their walk side by side.

“Yesterday was pretty crazy, what do you think is in store for us today?” Jirou questioned, twirling one of her earjacks around her finger absentmindedly before bringing her cup up to her lips with her other hand and taking a long sip.

Natsumi let out a soft hum, considering the question for a moment, “Not sure, though I’m sure things will be just as hectic as they were yesterday, if not more.”

The other girl glanced at her classmate thoughtfully, “You’re probably right, this is Yūei after all. I would expect nothing less.”

They lapsed into another silence, something Natsumi was grateful for, prolonged social interaction could be just so mentally exhausting sometimes especially for someone who was used to being alone. She would admit, though, that Jirou wasn’t all that bad.

“You know…” The dark eyed girl started slowly, casting a hesitant glance towards Natsumi before finishing her thought, “I was surprised to see that you and Todoroki-san had similar quirks. I don’t think anyone was expecting that, least of all Todoroki-san himself.”

She was caught off guard by the observation, yes it had been surprising at first to see another ice-based quirk, but the way she saw it was that there were seven billion people in the world…quirks were bound to be repeated. Though, to be fair there were certain differences in their abilities.

“You should’ve seen his face during the exam,” Natsumi chuckled, “he was definitely a little startled…especially when I crossed that finish line first.”

Jirou grinned excitedly, an almost mischievous gleam in her dark eyes, “I would’ve paid to see that. I mean it’s only been one day, but he just seems so stoic and I bet coming in first place with the same quirk as him was such a satisfying feeling.”

Natsumi nodded, waves of pink falling over her shoulder from the motion, “Yeah, I think everyone was a little surprised when this tiny girl suddenly bested them all. I’m underestimated a lot because of my size, not that that bothers me, I know what I’m capable of and I’m not afraid to show it.” She shrugged her shoulders, suddenly finding her conversation with the other girl flowing so easily, her anxieties being ebbed way by the easy-going attitude of her classmate.

“Damn, we got here quicker than I expected.” Jirou commented with a slight laugh as they stood in front of the massive gates that surrounded Yūei.

The two continued on the path, following the hoards of students just arriving to campus as well. Once inside the two girls exchanged their shoes at their lockers for their school shoes before meeting back up and walking to class together in amicable silence.

They took their seats, half of the class already seated and chatting quietly amongst themselves. Jirou smiled and gave a small wave to Natsumi as she wandered over to her desk to take her seat and prepare for the day.

The majority of their classes were your typical high school courses such as English, History, and Math and Natsumi could tell that her classmates were getting more and more restless as the day progressed. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the moment their afternoon class, Hero Basic Training, would commence.

She didn’t mind the other, more normal, classes though. In fact, Natsumi quite enjoyed learning about different historical events it was math class, however, that she struggled with.

Pretty soon it was time for lunch, giving everyone a mental reprieve from trying to store all the information that their teachers were trying to shove into their heads.

The cafeteria was enormous, to put it lightly. Tables were scattered all throughout with cushioned seats, small vases with fresh flowers sat atop the tables giving off welcoming vibes.

All sorts of enticing smells overwhelmed her as she stood at the entrance, a low rumble from her stomach got her legs to move quickly towards the beginning of the lunch line.
She moved down the line, taking in the various meal components displayed before her before deciding on a bowl of rice and vegetables, a plate of teriyaki chicken, and a bottle of green tea.

I can splurge a little today but I should probably bring my own lunch from now on…

Once she paid for her food she turned around and made her way towards an empty table, setting her food down and pulling out the mystery novel that she had brought with her.

The teen had only been there for a few minutes, absently popping clumps of rice from her chopsticks into her mouth while staring, entranced, at the book in front of her before another tray was set down beside her.

“Hey, hope you don’t mind. This place filled up pretty quickly.” Jirou spoke, motioning to the already filled tables around them.

“Ah, no it’s fine.” Natsu offered the girl a smile.

Suddenly another tray and body appeared right beside the pink haired teen, followed by several more.

“I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, I’m Kaminari Denki.” The blond beside her grinned, wigging his eyebrows, “But a cute girl such as yourself can call me Denki-kun.”

She didn’t know how to react to that. He had completely thrown her off guard with that statement and his flirty attitude, she wasn’t used to dealing with anyone as forward as Kaminari and it truthfully made her feel a little uncomfortable.

“Ah, we’ll see Kaminari-san.”

He instantly deflated at the rejection, but quickly regained his composure, “No worries, in time it’ll grow on ya.”

Doubtful. She thought sourly.

“What’re you reading, anything good?” Ashido asked through a mouthful of soba noodles.

Natsumi glanced away from Kaminari and focused her attention on the messy haired, pink skinned teen sitting on the other side of the table, before shrugging her shoulders.

“It’s a mystery story I picked up from the library after class yesterday, I just started it but so far I’m into it.” She marked her page and closed the book, there was no way she’d be able to read in peace now that her classmates had occupied the empty seats at her table. Among them were Jirou, Kaminari, Ashido, and then the girl who resembled a frog, Tsuyu, and then lastly there was the invisible girl, Hagakure.

They quickly fell into conversations about this and that, the topic changing every couple of minutes, sometimes it would be about what they hoped to learn at Yūei and then it would be what everyone’s hobbies or favorite icecream flavor was.

Natsumi only answered when she was directly spoken to, but she learned that Jirou enjoyed mint flavored icecream and rock music, Kaminari wasn’t a creep as she originally thought he was just dumb, Tsuyu liked to hike in the rain, Hagakure was really into fashion, and Ashido loved to dance.

Once lunch was over the group headed back to the classroom together and took their respective seats.

The door to the classroom slammed open dramatically followed by the loud, booming voice of Japan’s number one Hero, the Beacon of Hope in the flesh; All Might, in all his shining glory.

“I am…” He bellowed, “coming through the door like a normal person!”

Natsumi’s elbow rested on her desk, her chin perched in her open palm as she watched the spectacle before her and she found her lips twitching into the smallest of smiles despite herself. Out of all of the Heroes and Pro Heroes out there she had to say that All Might was the sincerest, he was the reason she had decided to enroll at Yūei in the first place.

“Wow, he really is a teacher here!” The boy with spiky crimson hair grinned. She was pretty sure his name was Kirishima.

In front of her she could see Midoriya wiggling in his seat excitedly, he must be a big All Might fan.

“I can’t believe it’s actually him!” Ochako squealed.

All Might strode to the front of the class room, his signature grin plastered on big and wide, “I teach basic hero training. You will be trained in various ways to learn the basics of becoming a hero. All right, let’s jump right into it, shall we? Today we’ll be doing…” He spun around dramatically and pulled out a card that had the words ‘combat training’ written in bold, red lettering.

“Combat training?” Bakugou’s lips twisted into a wicked smirk.

The excitement was almost palpable and even she had to admit that she was eager to get out there and see what her classmates were capable of in terms of fighting.

“And to go with that, we have these!” He pulled out a remote and pressed the button in the center, suddenly the wall closest to the doorway opened up and out popped shelves with numbered brief cases, “These are the costumes that were made for you based on your quirk registrations and the designs that you submitted when you were accepted into Yūei. After you change meet me at Ground Beta.”

Chairs scraped across the tiled floor quickly as everyone raced to grab their designated brief case and change into their costume.

She hadn’t put much thought into the design of her hero costume, not as much as her fellow classmates had apparently. Natsu wasn’t a very flashy person though so having some over the top, ostentatious costume just wouldn’t have been her aesthetic.

Her outfit was rather simple, just the way she liked it. It was practical though, meant to keep her temperature from lowering even further with the use of her quirk.

“You look great, Miyano-san!” Uraraka beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she strode up next to the pink haired teen.

Natsumi’s costume consisted of a black bodysuit that covered her from the neck down, the inside of the suit was lined with a fleece-like material meant to regulate her body temperature when her quirk was activated. Around her shoulders and knees were three thin white rings, those same rings encircled the base of her fingers on her thick, black gloves. She wore a black Venetian mask around her eyes and lastly, she donned a pair of black laced thermal boots with white soles and laces that came up just below her knees.

Her lips twitched into a small smile, “You also look great. It’s very…you.”

Uraraka laughed a little sheepishly, staring down at her own costume, “Yeah, but it’s pretty tight and poofier than I was hoping. I guess it’s my fault for not giving them my exact specifications, oh well, I’ll know better for next time I suppose.”

“Praise the Lord above for Hero Training!” A small boy cried out eagerly, a string of drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth and traveling down to his chin. He eyed both girls like a hungry lion stalking an injured gazelle, “Your suits are so tight I can see every curve, and those asses—”

Uraraka and Natsumi stared at the boy in surprise and disgust, the latter stepped forward to punch the pervert when another classmate beat her to the punch—quite literally.

“Dude, that is so not manly.” Kirishima frowned, his fist recoiling from its small purple target, he turned back to the girls and smiled, “Sorry, I promise that he doesn’t represent our class’ male population in way of thinking.”

The bubbly teen next to her let out a breath that she had been holding as she watched Mineta scuttle away, clutching his throbbing head.

“Well that’s a relief.” Natsumi sighed, turned to the crimson haired boy, “Thanks, I feel like if you didn’t intervene then that kid would’ve ended up in the infirmary. I have no time for perverts.”

“Welcome to Ground Beta!” All Might’s voice boomed loud and clear, instantaneously the idle chatter ceased as everyone turned to give the Symbol of Peace their undivided attention.

“You all look great in your costumes.” He grinned that big, bright trademark smile of his, “From this day forward, you are all heroes.”

Hearing that from the Beacon of Hope himself was too surreal. Her breath hitched in her throat and she felt like her heart had skipped a beat. He couldn’t have been talking to her.

But he is. He knows everything about you and he still called you a hero.

Slowly, she looked up and met his gaze and returned his grin with a halfhearted, grin of her own. I can do this. I can be the hero he thinks I’m capable of becoming.

“Today we will be doing a battle simulation, one team of Heroes and one team of Villains. To decide who you’ll be paired with we will draw lots and then I will choose which team will play the part of the villains and who will be the heroes.”

All Might went on to explain the rules of the game, a couple of her classmates asked questions which seemed to fluster the Hero momentarily, but he quickly regained his composure and answered them quickly. Once he was done answering questions and explaining how things were to happen, he urged each person to come forward and choose a letter from one of the boxes he was holding.

She was confident in her ability to fight and wasn’t too worried about winning, what she was worried about was being paired with someone who would slow her down or didn’t have a Quirk suitable for battle.

The pink haired teen shuffled forward and took a deep breath as her hand plunged into one of the boxes that All Might was holding, her fingers curling around a tiny square of paper. She pulled it out quickly and opened it as she moved out of the way for the next person to draw their letter.
She glanced up from the sliver of paper, now crumpled, in her hand and scanned the crowd for anyone who hadn’t already found their match. Natsumi furrowed her brows, for the most part everyone was already paired up and chatting animatedly with their partner which only left….

Of course, just my luck.

“Looks like you’re with me.” She sidled up beside the ash blond, a frown tugging at her lips as he turned to her with a heated scowl.

“Don’t get in my fucking way, extra.” His voice was husky, crimson eyes narrowed.

“I was about to tell you the same.” She retorted, matching his tone.

She caught him eyeing her from the corner of his eye as if unsure of her and the truth behind her words. He quickly decided that she wasn’t worth the effort and stalked away from her with an annoyed huff.

“G-good luck, Miyano-san.” Midoriya shuffled towards her nervously, watching Bakugou’s retreating form apprehensively, “Kacchan is a little rough around the edges but—”

“A little?!” Natsumi let out a harsh bark of laughter, startling the green haired teen and causing several pairs of eyes to turn their attention to her because of her outburst.

“Sorry, “ She coughed awkwardly, “I’ll be fine, I can deal with his type.”

The boy didn’t seem too convinced but plastered on a smile despite his inner turmoil, “W-well, I’m looking forward to seeing you fight. You have a really interesting Quirk, almost exactly like Todoroki-san’s! If you’ve got a few minutes I’d actually really like to hear more about it.”

She groaned inwardly at the mention of Todoroki and she had half a mind to tell the emerald eyed boy to fuck off but he was so sincere and genuine and innocent that she simply didn’t have the heart, or the conscience, to purposely be rude to him. With an exasperated sigh, she met his eager gaze with an almost bored look of her own, ”Well, not sure how his works, but mine is the ability to pull water molecules from the air, and in dire cases from within either my body or someone else’s. From there I can use them to form ice, I can pretty much do anything I’d like with it---”

The boy quickly pulled out a dirty and worn looking notebook, scribbling down notes, “Fascinating! But what about when you turned invisible?”

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, “Not necessarily invisible, I’m not too knowledgeable when it comes to science and physics but how it was explained to me when I was younger was that I’m able to vibrate the molecules within my body so quickly that I essentially turn into a gas myself? So I can phase through solid objects, um, I can also do it with other objects.” At his questioning stare she continued, “So, for example, if I’m holding something and activate that part of my quirk it will also become intangible as well.”

“That’s really cool!” Midoriya gushed, furiously writing notes down, “Can you do that with people too?”

She faltered at his question, a small ghost of a smile pulling at the corners of her lips as she recalled all those times during her childhood that she had done just that.

Tiny fingers wrapped around a thin wrist, tugging her companion forward with a mischievous grin.

“C’mon! We just gotta go through here.” She urged, pointing towards a heavy door with a padlock and a large sign that said ‘DO NOT ENTER’ plastered across it.

“I don’t know…” The boy mumbled in uncertainty, “What do you think?” His gaze landed on another boy, almost identical in appearance to him, on the other side of her.

“Let’s go, the stars are waiting!” He shouted eagerly, only to be ‘shushed’ by the other two.

“Don’t be so loud or we’ll definitely get caught.” She chided him, “I’ll be right back for you.” She muttered softly before cllosing her eyes and pulling herself and one of the boys through to the other side of the locked door.

“Yes, I can.” Her answer came out breathy, almost wistful.

Midoriya noticed the change in her tone and blinked, before asking one final question for his notes, “Are there any drawbacks?”

“You’re pretty nosey, aren’t you?”

His cheeks tinged bright red and he quickly averted his gaze, “I-I’m sorry, I-I j-just find quirks to be so fascinating.”

She chuckled softly, “It’s fine. My core body temperature is pretty low to begin with to accommodate the ice so I’m always cold. But I suppose the biggest drawback happens when I use both parts of my quirk back to back…my body goes into shock and my immune system basically shuts off.” She grimaced, ”And then I get sick.”

All Might’s voice, once again, pulled them out of their conversations as he announced the first two teams which happened to be Team B and I—Todoroki Shouto and Mezo Shoji against Hagakure Toru and Mashirou OJirou.

The rest of the class followed after All Might to the control room while the four students set to go against each other were ushered to their designated waiting areas to get prepared.

“I wonder who’s going to win!” Uraraka grinned excitedly, eyes glued to the monitors against the wall as All Might announced that the fight would commence.

All eyes watched the screen with bated breath, eager to see a fight.

A thick sheet of ice enveloped the building and those who were watching in the control room could feel the drastic drop in temperature from Todoroki’s quirk.

“W-wow, this is t-too c-c-cold.” Mina whined, rubbing her arms frantically to create some warmth in her appendages.

Natsumi glanced over at her freezing classmates, funny enough, she didn’t feel much of a change as the temperature had gotten closer to what her core body temperature typically was.

Todoroki walked through the hallways on screen until he reached the room with the weapon was in. The ‘villains’ had been frozen to the ground so he was able to casually stride over to the weapon and claim it, immediately winning the match for his team.

“How anticlimactic.”

“That was…a little boring.”

Similar comments arose around her and she had to admit that they were all right, though she did admire the simplicity of his strategy and in real world context that would have been the best way to go to end things quickly before any sort of conflict could escalate further. But, for the sake of the class and the assignment, she planned on fighting.

“If you pull that shit, I’ll kill you.” Bakugou growled, suddenly appearing beside her.

She snorted, “No worries, I’m in the mood for a real fight. No cheap tricks from me.”

The irony was definitely not lost to her when All Might announced that she and Bakugou would be the villains in this scenario.

The two of them were currently stationed in a small room, their paper-mâché nuclear weapon sat in the center. While the ash blond wasn’t the friendliest guy there was, she could tell that he was confident and strong just as she was so their odds of winning were pretty high.

He angled his face over his shoulder, shooting a scathing look towards her and spoke with a sneer, “Don’t get in my fucking way.”

“Funny, I was just about to tell you the same thing.” Her lips twisted into a wicked smirk, “I’m here to win.”

Something in his eyes changed, it was the most miniscule change in looks but she had picked up on it immediately but chose not to comment on it.

“Alright hotshot, what’s the plan?”

His lips curled into a smirk of his own, his fingertips crackling menacingly, “We kill them.”

If All Might wanted her to play the villain, then she would play the part convincingly.

“They’re as good as dead, then.”

“Get ready…..START!” All Might’s voice sounded in their earpieces and they knew that Midoriya and Uraraka would be on their way into the building they were hiding out in.

The blond suddenly turned away from her and their weapon and stomped towards the door, the only entry-point to the room. She was confused for a moment, it would have made more sense for them both to stay there and protect the weapon and wait for the heroes to come to them. But he didn’t seem like the type to just wait around for things to happen, he was going to confront them before they made it far enough to find her and their weapon.

“They better not get by you.” She called out after him, his only response was to flash the middle finger over his shoulder at her. Her laughter followed after him.

Guess I’ll just be here by my lonesome then. Wouldn’t make sense for us both to leave our station.

She didn’t have to wait long before the sound of an explosion filled her ears and the foundation of the building shook tremendously, nearly throwing her off balance.

“This asshole is going to collapse the building.” She scowled. There would be no point in being pronounced the winners if they fell to their death ten stories below.

The pink haired teen contemplated her next move very carefully, eyes bouncing back and forth between the weapon she was in charge of protecting to the doorway yards away from her. She hated standing still, even as a child she always had to move whether it be tapping her feet, twirling her hair or pacing back and forth and now was no exception. She needed to do something.

With her mind made up, Natsumi held out her palm, ice sprouted at the base of the weapon before slinking upwards and slowly encasing in. It wasn’t much, but if the other team couldn’t technically touch the actual weapon itself then they couldn’t win, right?

She rushed forward as the building trembled again, making sure to freeze the thick door shut for good measure as soon as she made it out into the hallway.

That’ll slow them down a bit.

For a few spare moments she had wondered how she would ever find him in such a huge building…until she stumbled over smoldering rubble, the hallway looming in front of her crumbling all around her.

“He’s not very subtle, is he?” She mused to herself, continuing onwards as another explosion, sounding very close, rumbled the tiles beneath her feet, debris that lay scattered across the floor bounced from the vibrations.

She rounded the corner and found a stairwell, half caved in, and carefully climbed over the broken slabs of concrete until she made it to the level below her, squeezing through the opening.

Just as she was about to dash forward to find her teammate, Uraraka came skidding to a halt in front of her, lips pulling back into a sheepish grin.

“Oh, hi Miyano-san!”

“Fancy meeting you here.” Natsumi smirked, ice forming around the soles of her boots and slowly streaking across the tiles towards the bubbly brunette.

“Oh, I see. That’s how it’s gonna be then?” She sounded almost disappointed, but there was an almost mischievous undertone to her words.

The brunette leapt backwards as shards of ice erupted from the floor, narrowly missing her. Natsumi shot forward, “Oh don’t run, I promise to make it quick and painless, Uraraka-san.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem very promising!” Uraraka shot back over her shoulder, she knew she was at a disadvantage with her quirk and the fact that she wasn’t physically strong at all—Natsumi had a strong offensive quirk, her zero gravity wouldn’t stand a chance.

The pink haired teen let out a dark chuckle, fully immersing herself in her role. She was hot on her opponent’s heels and was gaining speed with the help of her ice, she started to wonder whether she would run into Bakugou and Midoriya any time soon. They had to be on this floor, it was where she had originally heard the explosions rattling the concrete.

Suddenly she came to a stop, eyes wide as she stared at Uraraka standing proudly at the center of twenty or so floating rocks and various other debris.

“Impressive.” Natsumi commented offhandedly, “But that won’t be enough to stop me.”

“Maybe not,” Uraraka smiled, sending the floating concrete whizzing towards her classmate who used her ice to swat away several of the pieces before turning her body intangible and allowing the rest to just phase through her, “but it’ll at least stall you long enough…”

The pink haired teen narrowed her eyes at the statement before rushing forward, feet pounding against the tiled floor, the only indication that she was even there were the sounds of her footfalls. As she got close the Uraraka she became tangible again, pulling back her left arm and letting her fist collide with the brunette’s cheek.

The other girl was caught off guard by the sudden quirkless violence and was thrown off her feet from the impact, an angry welt quickly forming below her right eye. The brunette let out a loud, painful, groan from the floor, she didn’t have time to nurse her injury though as Natsumi leapt towards her to continue her assault.

In a quick act of desperation, Uraraka rolled to the side to narrowly avoid contact with her opponent’s fist before slamming her fingers against the pink haired teen’s uniform.

“Hey wh-what the hell?!” Natsumi cried, startled as she lost her footing and began floating upwards. She frantically waved her arms around, as if trying to swim through the air to gain control of the situation.

“Sorry, Miyano-san,” The bubbly brunette offered an apologetic smile, pushing herself to her feet and rubbing her swollen cheek, “but I can’t let Deku-kun down.”

Deku? Oh, right, I think Bakugou has called Midoriya that a few times…

“Not so fast,” Natsumi awkwardly turned over in the air so that her back was against the ceiling, “Why don’t you just chill for a bit?”

Ice shot out of her palms and encased the other girl’s legs before she had the chance to scramble out of the hallway. Slowly, the biting cold worked its way up her legs, torso, enveloping her arms, until only her shoulders and above remained ice-free.

“I-if I wasn’t s-so c-c-cold I’d laugh at your p-pun.” Uraraka stuttered, teeth violently chattering.

Natsumi grinned, “The sentiment is there. Now, how about you release your quirk and let me down? You know, before frost bite sets in.”

“W-well, I k-k-kinda need my hands t-to do that.”

“Well, shit.” Natsumi’s lips curled into a thoughtful frown, she had never really considered how much she really relied on gravity to, you know, keep her grounded and all but now that she was lacking it she was beginning to really miss standing on her own two feet. From what she could tell, Uraraka had used her quirk on her clothing and not her actual body.

So…if I were to maybe slip out of my uniform would I drop to the ground and still have my clothes up here? She wondered absently, Not that I plan on letting my classmates see me in my underwear. She grimaced, Especially not that creepy purple kid..

Midoriya suddenly stumbled into their hallway, his eyes going wide as they landed on Uraraka’s frozen body and he tripped over his own feet as he skidded to a halt in front of her, “Uraraka-san, what hap—” Mossy green eyes trailed from his partner’s incapacitated form up to where Natsumi was sprawled, helplessly, across the ceiling.

She offered him a small, awkward wave, “Hey.”

“The fuck is going on here?!” Bakugou growled as he barreled down the hall towards the group, crimson eyes narrowed as they landed on the pink haired teen dangling above him,

“Fucking useless.”

The ice wielder narrowed her eyes and let out an annoyed huff of air, “At least I caught her. Midoriya’s still alive and well it seems, what’ve you been doing this whole time?”

“What did you say, ice bitch?!” He growled, the air around him crackled and small explosions sparked to life in the palms of his hands.

Midoriya exchanged a look with his partner, while the ash blond was distracted by shouting obscenities at his partner the green haired hero in training snuck by his childhood friend, pulling back his fist and letting it collide with the ice around the brunette’s arms.

The sound of ice chipping and clinking to the tiled floor brought the ‘villains’ out of their argument, their attention snapping to the Heroes.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Deku.” His lips pulled back into a sneer.

Bakugou thrust his palms forward and Midoriya, who’s eyes widened in fear for his stationary partner, leapt in front of her to protect her from the oncoming explosion. Natsumi shielded her eyes as a bright light engulfed the room, along with it came a searing heat that rose up and burned her uniform.

“Watch it, I’m on your side, remember?” She seethed through clenched teeth. Suddenly, she began to fall, her stomach dropped to her feet from the sheer force and Natsumi shot her arm out, creating a slide out of ice so she could roll down it to safety.

Her focus suddenly shot to Uraraka who was now free from her icy prison thanks to Bakugou’s blast melting the ice, her gaze then shifted to Midoriya who had taken the brunt force of the attack, his costume was in tatters, lightly tanned flesh exposed and burned raw. Her lips twitched into a frown, his burns looked painful, she shook her head, there was no time for distractions. She needed to win.

The ash blond shot forward, using his explosions to propel him across the hall towards the mossy haired teen, a vicious snarl erupting from within his throat. The two began a dangerous tango, blast after blast aimed at the boy who was quick enough to dodge most of them but he could only get so far with this strategy without actually using his quirk to fight back.

“Well, guess it’s you and me once again.” Uraraka grinned.

Natsumi deadpanned, “Yeah, and now I know not to allow you close enough to touch me. I’m not cut out for flying.”

Uraraka patted her clothing, using her quirk to make everything lighter and more suited for a quick getaway. Natsumi waved her hand sending shards of ice flying towards the teen who had just finished making her clothing lighter. The brunette dodged the brunt force of the attack, a sharp sliver of ice whizzed by her already injured cheek, leaving a fresh cut in its wake.

Ochako ran forward, determined eyes focused solely on the pink haired teen who let out a growl and jumped backwards as slender fingers reached out to grab onto her uniform once more. Natsumi dropped low, just out of reach, sweeping her leg out and successfully tripping her opponent who quickly righted herself and raised her fists in, what she probably thought, was a threatening manner.

Frost curled around Natsumi’s finger tips, her breath plumed out of her lips in a cloud that hovered in the air, she narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, frozen fractals spiraled around her feet. Time to get serious and end this.

Uraraka bit her lip, eyes wide and she took a step back to avoid the ice that slowly crept towards her. Her hands brushed over a pile of rubble to her left and slowly rocks of all size began to hover in the air behind her like an army of mindless soldiers.

Waves of pink fell over her shoulder as she took a slow, but steady, step forward and threw out her palm. Ice met with concrete slabs, shards splintered from the icicles that collided with the rock and Uraraka had to shield her eyes until the dust settled.

In that moment, Natsumi took her chance and dropped down low, using her ice to propel her forward. She threw her entire weight into her attack, her body slammed against the brunette who was sent flying and landing against the ground with a hard thud. The air immediately left Uraraka’s lungs and she gasped for precious oxygen.

The pink haired teen straddled Uraraka’s waist, ice spiraled out of her palms and shackled the brunette to the ground.

“Any last words?” Her lips twisted into a smirk.

“You’re pretty scary…” Uraraka uttered quietly. Natsumi faltered for a moment, staring down at the girl who looked up at her with wide eyes.

“Uraraka-san!” Midoriya burst back into view, Bakugou hot on his tail.

A cloud of smoke and debris left in their wake as they barreled towards the girls. Midoriya reached out to rip Natsumi off of his teammate but Bakugou was quicker, his fingers curled around the hood of the boy’s costume, yanking him back and sending him flying.

The mossy haired boy’s back smacked against the wall and he let out a groan, his vision blurred momentarily but once it cleared he was staring into the ruthless crimson eyes of his childhood friend. A shudder wracked his body from the snarl that escaped the ash blond’s throat.

“Now you fucking die, Deku!”

Bakugou pulled back his arm, sparks crackling between his fingertips and just as he was about to let loose his fury on the boy trembling before him Midoriya grinned. Strange, red veins pulsated along his arms and slowly engulfed all visible flesh as he brought his fist back and punched the wall with all of the strength he could muster.

“What the f—” Natsumi stared, transfixed on the boys before realization dawned on her, “Oh shit...”

The building’s structure began to crumble under the assault, concrete rained down around them and Natsumi quickly broke the icy shackles around Uraraka’s wrists and pushed her aside to avoid them both being crushed under the weight of the collapsing building. She activated her second ability, her body disappearing as debris fell around her and through her. Dust and smoke billowed around them, obscuring everyone’s vision.

Uraraka used the moment of confusion to make herself lighter, while the ceiling was collapsing, she jumped up and used the falling pieces of concrete and tile as makeshift stairs to take her higher and higher. Her legs pumped quickly and purposefully, she had a mission and she would not let her partner down.

Bakugou snatched the collar of Midoriya’s torn costume, shoving the palm of his other hand over the boy’s face roughly. His hand was calloused, moist with sweat, and so incredibly warm. Midoriya squirmed beneath Bakugou but he held on tightly, a sinister sneer pulling at his lips as he stared down at the boy that had been a thorn in his side for years. As he was about to create another explosion at point blank All Might’s voice rang out—

“HERO TEAM WINS! YOUNG URARAKA HAS CAPTURED THE WEAPON!”

Chapter Text

It was almost like clockwork, something that she had predicted from the very moment their simulation battle had ended; she was going to get sick. Natsumi always took extra precautions to keep her body healthy and happy, well, she tried to at least. She would drink herbal teas, take extra vitamins, and tried to eat as healthy as possible while still sticking to her tight budget. However, doing those things never seemed to make much of a difference when it came to her quirk working against her. She just had to suffer through the runny nose and the nausea and make it through to the end of the day.

She desperately wished she had a quirk that could freeze time so that she could just stay in bed and sleep for another twelve hours. Unfortunately, she did not have such an ability and was thus forced to wake up earlier than she wanted to get ready for class.

Her entire body was sore from a mixture of muscle fatigue and her oncoming illness. She chanced a quick glance at herself in the bathroom mirror and grimaced. Wavy pink locks clung to either side of her face from her sweat, the bags beneath her crimson eyes were much darker than usual, and her cheeks were flushed.

“You’ve had worse.” She reminded herself, “Don’t be so weak, Natsu.”

If you didn’t get accepted at UA in the first place you could still be in bed. Her traitorous mind taunted.

Yeah, yeah. But I did get accepted and I’m going to do something with my life other than wallow in my self-pity.

She pushed those thoughts aside and went to work to make herself look as presentable as possible for class. Her brown contacts were the first step, next she figured she’d do something to make the dark circles under her eyes less angry looking. Natsumi was no makeup guru by any means but she did know a few tricks that worked wonders with concealing unwanted blemishes, the bags under her eyes never stood a chance.

“Well…that’s a little better.” She mused, staring at her reflection one last time before turning on her heel and stalking out of the tiny bathroom and across the hall to her bedroom where the rest of her uniform lay sprawled across her bedroom floor.

Her uniform’s blazer lay crumpled on the floor with a little black lump curled up atop it, she let out a small sigh and smiled, “Why do you have to do this?”

One little ear perked at the sound and swiveled in her direction, but the cat otherwise made no motion to move from her comfortable spot. This prompted Natsumi to let out a groan and stalk forward, fingers gripped one of the sleeves and she pulled at it until the feline picked herself up and skittered away, but not before throwing a scathing look over her shoulder at her human companion.

“Yes, I already know I’m terrible. I’m sorry, Kaguya.”

She pulled on her blazer, relishing in the brief moment of warmth that she felt from the spot that Kaguya had been laying on before chills wracked her body and she violently shuddered. The pink haired teen snatched a face mask from her bedside table and positioned it over her mouth and runny nose before making a beeline for the front door.

“Are you alright, Miyano-chan?” Uraraka frowned, concern lacing her every word as she peered over at the girl in question.

Natsumi glanced over at the bubbly brunette, eyes immediately landing on the dark purple bruise on her cheek. How could she be worried about me after I did that to her?

Midoriya perked his head up, eyes widening, “Is that because of your drawback?”

Perceptive as always, though, she supposed that he took notes on her and the others for a reason so he could recall certain facts later on. A quick bob of her head was her answer to his question and his lips immediately downturned into a contemplative frown.

“Should you be at home resting instead?” He asked, mossy green locks falling into his eyes as he shuffled towards her desk.

“As much as I would love to be curled up in bed right now, I don’t think Yūei allows for sick days.” She shrugged her shoulders, pink waves falling out of place with the movement, “No worries, I should be right as rain in a few days as long as I don’t do anything too strenuous.” Suddenly, she shuddered, goosebumps prickled her skin and she let out a groan. The nature of her quirk constantly made her feel cold but when she was ill it was like being stuck in the arctic in just her underwear. It was awful.

Midoriya and Uraraka exchanged concerned looks, neither of them entirely convinced by her words.

It was the brunette who spoke next, her voice soft, “After school you should go straight home and sleep then.”

Natsumi hummed in agreement before frowning, “Well, I have to go get some groceries but then I’ll be heading home and cocooning myself in every available blanket I have for sure.”

Midoriya frowned, “You shouldn’t over-exert yourself, I can help you carry your things if you’d like.”

Uraraka perked up, “You’re going shopping too? We should go together!”

The pink haired teen bit her lip, trying to untangle their words as they piped up in unison. She was taken aback for a moment by Uraraka’s eagerness and Midoriya’s sincerity and she was glad for the mask that covered half of her face so they couldn’t catch sight of the color blossoming against her cheeks.

She quickly composed herself, glancing back at the two, “Well, if you’re already going Uraraka-san then I suppose it would only make sense for us to just go together. Midoriya-san, I think I can handle my groceries but if you don’t believe me then feel free to tag along just in case.”

Uraraka pumped her fist excitedly, “This’ll be fun! And I’ve got a ton of coupons you can use too.”

Natsumi felt her lips twitch and the subtle, yet familiar, ache of anxiety slowly began to creep over her at the thought of going out after school with two of her classmates. What had she gotten herself into? She was so used to doing everything by herself that the mere thought of having someone accompany her made her stomach twist in knots.

It’ll be fine, they’re both sweet. She tried to reason with herself, hating how her anxiety had popped up out of nowhere to torment her.

“Everyone get to your seats, class is starting shortly.” Iida commanded, his arms moving almost robotically as he motioned to his classmates who were still standing or milling about the classroom. As he finished speaking the warning bell rang and Aizawa-sensei, like clockwork, slid open the classroom door and slithered in.

The stubble poking through his pale flesh seemed to accentuate the heavy bags beneath his bloodshot eyes. He closed the door behind him, dark beady eyes scanning over each of the students as they clamored to their seats as quickly as possible out of fear of what their homeroom teacher would do to them if caught out of them.

“I expect you all to be in your seats and awaiting my instruction before I enter the room.” Exhaustion laced his words, though by now the class expected nothing less of their teacher. For all the naps he took during class time he should have been able to face the rest of the day well rested and with a fresh attitude. But no, it seemed as if he would never be well rested. Natsumi briefly wondered if he ever actually slept or if, perhaps, he was an insomniac which would explain so much.

“The decisions you make today will impact you immensely for the rest of your time here at Yūei, do not take this lightly. Think clearly and make the right choices.”

Suddenly the classroom was abuzz with panicked chatter, what could be so important that it would affect their entire high school career?

“Please don’t tell me it’s another exam.” Kaminari groaned, fear evident in his shaky voice.

“Oh man, I couldn’t handle another one of those tests.” Ashido frowned in agreement.

“We will be deciding who will be the class rep.” Aizawa droned.

A collective sigh resounded throughout the classroom as everyone expelled all thoughts of something unpleasant such as another exam. This was an ordinary, run of the mill, high school activity and almost every hand in the class shot straight into the air excitedly.

“Being class representative would be super manly, ya’know!” Kirishima’s lips parted in a toothy grin as he pumped his fist into the air.

“Sounds like fun!” Ashido giggled, waving her arm around.

“I’ll do it!” Kaminari piped up eagerly.

“It’s not just some fancy title! This is a serious undertaking that comes with many responsibilities such as being the bridge between the class and the academic leaders, making informed decisions based on the best interests of the class, leading class discussions, and helping to organize class events just to name a few.” Iida explained with a passionate fierceness, arms mechanically moving about in all directions as he spoke.

“Dude, your hand was raised the highest.” Sero called out with a laugh.

Iida didn’t seem deterred though, “To determine the best possible candidate we should bring it to a vote. The person who receives the most votes will be best suited for class representative. Is that acceptable, Sensei?”

Their disheveled looking homeroom teacher shrugged his shoulders as he unzipped his bright yellow sleeping bag and crawled into it, “I really don’t care what you do as long as you come to a decision before homeroom is over. Also, don’t disturb my nap.”

“But won’t everyone just vote for themselves?” Ashido called out, lips downturned.

“Not everyone intends to run for class rep.” Natsumi brought up with a shrug.

“Not interested?” Mismatched eyes regarded her suddenly with mild curiosity.

She was momentarily surprised by his acknowledgment, angling herself so that she was facing him, “Not at all. You?”

He shook his head, “Too much of an inconvenience.”

A light chuckle escaped her parted lips and she nodded her head in agreement, “Guess we have more in common than just the whole ice thing.”

“It’s decided then! We will put it to a vote.” Iida announced, “Everyone please write down your choice for class representative on a piece of notebook paper and then pass it to the front of your row.”

“He’s already acting like our class rep.” The pink haired teen mused but nonetheless followed the bespectacled boy’s instructions by tearing a piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbling down a name before folding it in half and passing it up to Yaoyorozu.

“Who’s going to count the votes? How will we know that they’re being truthful with who won?” Hagakure questioned worriedly.

Natsumi’s lips twitched as she watched her classmates shift in their seats, she ran a hand through her wavy pink locks and let out a sigh. From beside her she could feel Todoroki’s gaze on her once more as she pushed her seat back and sauntered to the front of the class, suddenly all eyes were on her.

“I’ll do it.” She began to collect the votes, “I wasn’t interested in running, remember? So, I guess I’m the best person to tally the votes.”

“Good idea, Natsu-chan!” Uraraka smiled encouragingly with a thumbs up sent in the other girl’s direction. The new nickname did not go unnoticed to Natsumi who was taken aback by the familiarity the girl had spoken with, but the pink haired teen made no motion to correct her.

As she reached out to take the pile of papers off of Shoji’s desk, she noticed Jirou peer over his shoulder at her, “Hey, is that a tattoo?”

Feeling panic rise in her chest her eyes shot down to her left wrist where the sleeve of her blazer had hiked up, exposing dark ink against pale flesh. Quickly, Natsumi yanked the sleeve down and snatched the papers, “Yeah.”

Jirou grinned, “That’s pretty badass, Miyano-chan.”

Several sets of eyes followed her curiously, trying to catch a glimpse of the now hidden tattoo as she moved on to collect the rest of the votes from her classmates. Once her arms were full of loose papers she went back to her desk and began the task of counting votes.

Idle chatter picked up after that, but she could feel the countless stares of her classmates watching her leaf through the papers regardless and suddenly she became self-conscious. Pale fingers glided over the papers stacked haphazardously on her desk as she separated it into piles based on name and the number of votes received. While it was true that most of her classmates had, indeed, voted for themselves there were several students that boasted multiple votes. It came as no surprise to her that Iida, Yaoyorozu, and even Midoriya had the most votes out of everyone and she felt a small smile pull at the corners of her lips.

Her fingers hovered over the last paper in the stack, lips suddenly downturned as she mentally read what had been scribbled in neat scrawl against the neatly folded sheet of paper.

Miyano Natsumi

Who the hell had the audacity to throw me into that mess? Wasn’t it obvious that I wanted nothing to do with this? Thankfully it’s just one vote. “The fuck is taking you so long? How hard is it to count twenty-one votes?” Bakugou sneered, a sharp glance in her direction pulled her out of her silent panic over seeing her name thrown into the fray.

With an annoyed roll of her eyes she answered, “I was pausing for dramatic effect.”

The ash blond scoffed, “Well fucking get on with it, we don’t have all day, ice bitch.”

She had to admit that his little nickname for her, while incredibly unoriginal, was rather funny and she found it a little endearing. For a moment she was glad that she was wearing her mask because if the blond had seen her smirk he probably would have lost it.

“Fine, fine.” She turned back to the papers and glanced over them one final time before turning her attention back to her classmates who were eagerly waiting with baited breaths for her answer.

“Congrats Midoriya, you won the title. Yaoyorozu was in second place.”

“Heh?! Who the fuck voted for Deku?!”

Ochako whistled inconspicuously, twiddling her thumbs almost comically. Natsumi caught the brunette’s eye for a moment and almost laughed.

The boy with unruly mossy locks turned a bright shade of red at hearing his name unexpectedly, “M-me?” He pointed at himself, disbelief colored his face as his classmates congratulated him.

“I can see why you were voted for, you seem like a pretty dependable guy.” Kirishima grinned, flustering the boy even more at his kind words.

Aizawa unzipped his sleeping bag from the inside, an impressive feat in and of itself, and stretched out an arm before bringing a juice pouch to his lips and slurping at the contents noisily. Once he was finished squeezing all of the liquid from inside out of it his tired eyes fell on the class, “Midoriya you’ll now be our class rep, Yaoyorozu you will be his deputy officer.”

Yaoyorozu flushed appreciatively and bowed, “Oh thank you so much for appointing me to such an important class role, I promise I will do my absolute best to serve you all.”

Mineta grinned, a string of drool slowly rolled down his chin and dribbled onto his desk, “I’ve got a couple of ideas on how you can serve me.”

A collective grown resounded throughout the class at the comment and Asui took it upon herself to smack him over the head with her long tongue, momentarily incapacitating the purple pervert.

The morning had dragged on at an almost excruciatingly slow pace and Natsumi had an inkling that it was because her body was more exhausted than usual. Keeping yourself awake through hour long lectures when your eyelids felt weighed down by bricks and your throat felt like sandpaper was no easy task. Periodically she would create a small icicle and stab the palm of her hand with it when she felt herself slipping, the sharpness and the cold would give her the quick jolt that she needed to get through another hour.

When the lunch bell rang she felt a wave of relief wash over her, momentarily wondering if she could get away with napping for the period. The more reasonable side of her brain argued that she would need to actually eat to have enough strength to stay awake through her afternoon classes. As much as she hated that voice of reason it was right, as always.

Her fingers curled tightly around the sides of her crimson bento box as she made her way towards the cafeteria. Originally, she had wanted to stay behind in the classroom where it was quiet but thought that the boisterous cafeteria would be a much better option because there was no way she would accidentally nod off with all of the loud voices around her.

It didn’t take her long to find a nice, secluded, table towards the back of the room, far enough away that she could enjoy her meal in peace without having to worry about her classmates joining her. They were all growing on her, she couldn’t deny that, but with her illness everything was amplified—sounds were much louder and made her temples throb, smells were much more potent and made her nauseous, and lights were so much brighter and only furthered to increase that dull pulse behind her eyes to a steady and intense pang of pain. Her classmates were pretty rowdy, most of them at least, and she just wanted a break to recoup.

Natsumi removed the lid of her bento and frowned down at the rice and fish nestled neatly amongst assorted vegetables. Her chopsticks dipped into her meal and she pulled out a clump of rice before shoving it into her mouth. She didn’t feel hungry and the cold rice made her nausea flare up, but she hadn’t eaten anything in over a day and knew that her body needed the nutrition.

Suddenly, a tray appeared across from her and as her eyes strayed from the table and trailed up the arms of the person to finally rest on their face, she bit back a surprised gasp.

“Is this seat taken?” Todoroki had already taken the seat, though she supposed he asked the question just to break the stunned look off of her face.

She swallowed the rice still sitting on her tongue and shook her head, “It’s all yours, though I can’t say that I’m not surprised? I mean, there’s plenty of tables…why would you willingly sit with the girl who’s got the plague?”

He raised a brow at her choice of words, “It seemed like the quietest option.”

She nodded in understanding, the other tables around them were bustling with loud chatter about classes and hobbies and the two of them were more content to just sit in silence enjoying their meals, “You’re not wrong there.”

They sat quietly for a few moments, Todoroki slurping his noodles while she halfheartedly poked at her lunch with her chopsticks before she felt a pair of eyes on her. Glancing up, she noticed him blatantly staring at her, her lips twitched.

“You’re not eating.” It was a statement, more of an observation on his part really, but for some reason it made her feel a little self-conscious that he had noticed.

Her lips pulled back into a sheepish smile as she readjusted the elastic string holding her face mask around her neck, “I guess I’m just not all that hungry.”

He was difficult to read, she found that she could not figure out what could possibly be going on behind that stoic façade of his. Heterochromic eyes turned back to his bowl of cold soba as he scooped up the last remnants with his chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth.

Once he swallowed what was in his mouth his eyes turned back to her, “Your body needs proper nutrition, especially now that it’s fighting off a virus. If you deny yourself that your body will become weak and you will be useless to your teammates.”

He picked up an untouched bowl of miso soup from his plastic tray and slid it over to her without a word. She stared at him with mixed emotions, unsure of his intentions or whether or not she should humor him and accept the damn bowl of soup.

Todoroki stared at her pointedly, “It’s better than cold rice and fish, soup is good for when you’re sick anyway.”

“Ah, you’re right. Thanks, Todoroki-kun.” Natsumi dipped her head in thanks, pulling the bowl towards her. She dunked her spoon into the broth and brought it to her lips, the warm liquid slid down her aching throat with ease and she absently closed her eyes, reveling in the warmth that a simple soup had brought her.

When she opened them again he was staring at her with a quirked brow and a subtle twitch of the lips that let her know he was mildly amused by her reaction.

“Our quirks are kind of similar, do you have to worry about drawbacks like getting too cold or getting sick?” She was genuinely curious, all quirks were different and had different side effects but they both had power over ice so it stood to reason that maybe he would have the same or a similar drawback.

“Not really.” He answered evenly.

Feeling somewhat disappointed by his answer, she responded with a thoughtful frown, “Lucky you, it’s a major inconvenience.”

Loud sirens suddenly began to wail throughout the lunchroom, causing her to jump at the intense shrill burst of sound and she wasn’t the only one, all around them students began to rise from their seats in panic.

“There has been a Level Three breach of security. All students are instructed to evacuate premises immediately in an orderly fashion.”

Dark brown met stormy grey and turquoise for a brief moment before they both simultaneously stood from their seats.

“That doesn’t sound too good.” Fuck.

Todoroki frowned, “Something doesn’t seem ri—are you okay?”

Natsumi swayed on her feet, a wave of dizziness hitting her, she waved it off and offered him a reassuring smile, “Yeah, yeah. Just stood too fast, no worries.”

He didn’t seem convinced at all but chose not to comment on her blatant lie as they followed after the hoards of students stampeding towards the exits.

Everyone was pushing and shoving and most definitely not exiting the building in an orderly fashion as the announcement had suggested. Natsumi wouldn’t have been surprised if some people would have to visit the infirmary from being injured in the hustle afterwards. They made it out into the hallway and found themselves crammed against the window, students were shoulder to shoulder and aggressively pushing and pulling to try and get themselves out of the building—it was every man for himself at this point. Someone roughly shoved past her and growled ‘out of my way!’, making her stumble forward and lose her balance for a brief moment before she felt firm hands grasp her shoulders to steady her. A quick glance to her right confirmed that it had been Todoroki who had helped her regain her balance.

She nodded in thanks to him before reaching forward, her fingers snagging the collar of the rowdy boy’s blazer and yanking him towards her. The boy let out a startled cry as he fell backwards but quickly regained himself just as she was reeling back her rime frosted fist. As she was about to take a swing at him, she felt a warm hand grasp her elbow, stopping her.

“You’ll make the situation worse.”

Her cheeks flushed and she tore her arm away from the bi-color haired boy, feeling embarrassed under his penetrating gaze. She turned back around to face the exit, not before shooting the boy she almost attacked, now behind her, a slightly apologetic glance, “Sorry, got caught in the heat of the moment I guess.”

She found that she couldn’t meet Todoroki’s gaze after that, but she could feel his eyes on her. All she could think about was how stupid it was that she had allowed her temper to get the better of her, while she was at school, no less! Here she was trying to do the right thing and be a better person and one idiot who couldn’t wait his turn had triggered her into almost relapsing.

You’re not a monster. Just fucking breathe.

She inhaled deeply and then let the air out before repeating the process several times. Being packed so closely together like a can of sardines was doing nothing to ease her nerves or the anxiety bubbling in the pit of her stomach. Natsumi needed to get out of this, she needed fresh air, she needed—

“Can I have everyone’s attention?!”

Iida?

She tore her eyes away from the head of hair of the girl in front of her and trailed her gaze to her classmate who was standing atop the glowing emergency exit sign.

“The alarms were triggered by the media, we are in no danger. I repeat, this was a false alarm. Please calmly disperse and head back to your respective classes in a calm and orderly fashion befitting that of the great Yūei!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd of students at the revelation that they weren’t being attacked by villains and the tightly packed hallway suddenly loosened up as everyone began to disappear in different directions.

She let out a breath, feeling her heartbeat thundering against her ribcage, the ringing in her ears amplified by her illness.

“That was anticlimactic.” Todoroki breathed beside her.

She nodded in agreement before groaning, “Yeah, didn’t even get to finish my soup.”

The classroom was in absolute upheaval when she and Todoroki made it back to their seats, loud chatter about the exciting lunch time rush bouncing back and forth between her classmates. When Iida entered the room half of the class stood and cheered, he took a step back in surprise and almost looked embarrassed by the attention before he repositioned his glasses and spoke to the class.

“Everyone, please calm down. Class has resumed, please be respectful to your fellow classmates and Aizawa-sensei.”

“As expected of Emergency Exit Iida! Always the voice of reason.” Sero grinned, but nonetheless took his seat.

“Way to go, Emergency Exit Iida!” Ochako cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

Iida was flustered by the nickname and the praise and bowed low to his classmates before shuffling to his seat.

Midoriya stood suddenly, cheeks burning red hot as all eyes fell on him. He swallowed his nerves and spoke shakily, “I-I want to thank y-you f-for believing in me and m-making me class representative but…after what happened earlier, I believe that Iida-kun would be b-better suited for the position.”

The class was stunned to silence by this unexpected turn of events before slowly claps and cheers erupted.

“You know, Iida-kun really is a great choice! He really pulled through and calmed the masses today during the panic.” Kirishima nodded his head before adding, “It was super manly.”

Iida stood abruptly with misty eyes, “Thank you for your confidence in me, I will treasure this moment and I promise to work diligently to keep the classroom running smoothly. I won’t let you down, thank you.” He bowed so low to the ground that Natsumi thought that he was going to faceplant into the tiled floor.

“It’s settled then, Iida will take Midoriya’s place as class representative.” Aizawa rolled over in his sleeping bag and peaked open an eye.

The relief she felt at the end of the day when the final bell rang was immeasurable, all she could think about was crawling into her bed and sleeping for the next three years. She shouldered the strap of her school bag and started for the door when she felt the presence of two bodies sidle up beside her.

Oh, that’s right.

“You ready to go shopping?” Ochako bounced on the balls of her feet.

Midoriya bit his lip, and for a moment Natsumi wondered if he regretted his decision to tag along considering how awkward he seemed to be around girls. “Yeah, I don’t need much. Just a few things to get me through the week.”

“Did you have a specific shop in mind? I know there’s a market close by and their products aren’t overpriced.” The brunette smiled brightly.

The pink haired teen smile behind her mask, her classmate’s energy was so contagious, “I know the one, I go there often.”

“You live nearby?” The curly haired boy piped up.

She nodded, “Yeah, so I usually just walk to school…as long as I can pry myself away from my bed.”

Ochako laughed, “I know the feeling, my bed is just so comfy in the early morning it’s so hard trying to convince myself to get up.”

They continued their walk to the market conversing amicably amongst themselves, Midoriya even began to open up and join the conversation as he found himself becoming more comfortable around the two. Though, Natsumi noticed, he was still rather shy and had trouble holding eye contact but she figured it would take longer than a couple of days to break him out of certain habits.

Once they reached the grocery store the brunette immediately grabbed a flyer from the stand by the automatic doors, her eyes roving over the photos and sale prices within to see what sort of deals the store was offering that week.

“Produce is on sale, so is rice…” Ochako mumbled to herself, mentally preparing her own shopping list.

Midoriya grabbed two shopping baskets, holding one in each hand, “I’ll carry your things for you.” He directed that towards both girls with a bright smile.

“Thank you, Deku-kun!” Ochako beamed, clasping her hands together.

“Thanks.” The pink haired teen nodded towards the boy.

“Okay, how do we want to tackle this mission?” The brunette asked, suddenly comically serious about grocery shopping.

Natsumi bit back a chuckle, “Well, not sure how much you need to get but we could start here in produce and then work our way towards the frozen and refrigerated section.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The bubbly brunette nodded emphatically.

The three started towards the produce section where the two girls picked out several varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables to get them through the week. Every once in a while, Ochako would hold up an awkwardly shaped vegetable and the two girls would start laughing while Midoriya’s face would flood with color.

Shopping was surprisingly fun with the two of them there with her and she found herself thoroughly enjoying the time spent with the duo despite her previous reservations. Natsumi wasn’t used to being around other people for prolonged periods of time and generally felt intense bouts of anxiety and unease when the thought of going out and being around other people presented itself to her. But…these two were so easy going, even if Midoriya was a little shy, and it was so refreshing and genuinely nice to not feel so utterly alone for once.

“I’m glad we did this together, we should do it again sometime!” Ochako grinned, clutching her bags of groceries as she waved to her two classmates. They had finished their shopping and were now ready to part ways, the brunette was heading in the opposite direction of Natsumi and Midoriya had offered to carry her bags home for her.

“Yeah, it was nice.” The pink haired teen agreed with a slight nod of her head.

“Maybe next time Miyano-san will be in better health.” Midoriya offered her a warm smile.

Natsumi’s lips twitched into a lopsided grin, “Eh, we’ll see. I’m sick more than I’d really like to admit.”

Ochako and Midoriya gave her sympathetic looks, they understood more than anyone the feeling of having an unfortunate drawback.

The pink haired teen waved it off nonchalantly, “No worries, it’s no big deal.”

“Well, we’ll have to plan something in the future for sure!” Ochako turned on her heel before glancing over her shoulder, “Have a good night!”

“Y-you too, Uraraka-san!”

“Call me Ochako!” She called back to Midoriya who shuffled uncomfortably, cheeks burning red. Her gaze flitted over to Natsumi, silently urging her to do the same.

After the brunette had departed Natsumi felt Midoriya’s stare and turned to meet his gaze, “You really don’t have to carry my things, I think I can manage it.”

He shook his head stubbornly, a bright smile upturned on his lips, “No, you’re ill. What if you become so fatigued while walking back home with your bags that you collapse? What if you hit your head? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something like that happened and I was able to prevent it.”

She was taken aback by his reasoning for a moment before a small laugh escaped her lips, “You’ve got an overactive imagination, don’t you?” She shut her eyes for a moment and let out a sigh, opening them again with a small smile, “All right, you win.”

Midoriya beamed, clutching the bags in his hands tightly, “You live close by, right?”

Natsumi nodded, pink waves bobbing back and forth with the action, “Yeah, just a couple blocks away, not too far I promise.”

He shook his head frantically at the realization of what his words may have implied, “Oh no, I-I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t mind either way.”

She laughed and waved him off again, “I know that wasn’t what you meant, don’t worry.”

They walked side by side in comfortable silence for the remaining distance and it was nice, no forced conversations or awkward silences….just an amicable quietness between the two that didn’t need to be filled by pointless chatter.

They stopped in front of an apartment complex that was a dull gray color and must’ve been at least six or seven stories tall from what Midoriya could tell from a quick glance upwards. There was a series of steps leading from the sidewalk up to the front door, chipped and worn in places from time.

The boy cast a quick glance over at his classmate, “Is this where you live?”

Noticing his slight trepidation at the sight of the worn-down building she laughed and nodded, “Yeah, it’s pretty old but I promise it’s nicer than it looks.”

She led him inside and up six flights of stairs, Midoriya silently thanked the deities above for all of the training he had done over the summer that kept him in shape and from getting winded by the insane amount of stairs they were climbing.

“Here we are.” She announced as they reached the landing on the sixth floor, standing in front of a crimson red door that stood out against cream colored walls. Her fingers fumbled with her keys for a moment before finding the correct one and pushing it into the keyhole, twisting it and opening the now unlocked door.

“It’s not much…” She muttered while slipping off her shoes, almost nervous about what he would think, “…but it’s home.”

Midoriya quickly slipped off his shoes and placed them neatly by the door, he glanced around the apartment, noticing its simple décor and minimalistic approach suggesting that maybe she didn’t come from money. Not that he was really one to talk when it came to money.

From where he stood in the doorway the apartment opened up to the family room on his left, it was a decent size and boasted a comfy, well loved, dark navy couch facing a little television and several gaming systems set up, controllers and game boxes strewn haphazardously across the floor. In the corner of the room was a dark wooden stand holding up a fish tank with live rock and brightly colored fish swimming back and forth, he caught himself staring at the tank for several minutes, almost mesmerized by the colorful creatures inside.

Natsumi noticed him staring and bit her lip to hide the grin forming, “Landlord found it after evicting this one guy that lived a few doors down, so I decided to take it. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

He angled his chin to glance over his shoulder at her, “Yeah, are they saltwater?”

She nodded eagerly in confirmation, closing the door behind him as he stepped further into her apartment. To his right was a wall with a large rectangular opening peering into the kitchen. Taking a few steps forward, bags still in hand, he noticed a narrow hallway off of the kitchen where two doors stood opposite each other—he assumed her bedroom and the bathroom.

But one thing seemed a little off to him.

“Where are your parents?”

The girl faltered at his question, her lips slipping into a neutral expression, “They’re gone.”

“Go—”

“Dead.” She quickly interjected.

He immediately regretted his question, eyes widened in panicked realization as he spluttered out a jumble of words, “I’msosorryIdidn’t—”

“It’s fine, Midoriya-kun. I know you didn’t know, it’s not exactly something that I broadcast.” She softened her gaze when she saw the glassy, teary-eyed stare he was giving her, “I’m serious, It’s okay. It happened a few years ago—stop looking at me like that!”

He bit his lip, mossy curls falling into his eyes as he dipped his chin and frantically wiped at his eyes before looking up to meet her gaze with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, sorry.”

“Good, now go put those bags on the kitchen counter.” She commanded playfully.

The boy bobbed his head and shuffled over to her small kitchen, lifting the bags in his arms and gently dropping them down onto the countertops.

She sidled up beside him, making him jump at her sudden appearance and eliciting an amused laugh from the young girl.

“Do you want anything to drink? I can make some tea really quick.”

He ran a had through his unruly mossy green mop, “Ah, n-no I would love to, but I promised mom I wouldn’t be out t-too late.”

She nodded quickly in understanding, bringing her fingers up to her mask and pulling it down to rest around her neck, giving him a crooked smile, “Well, I really appreciate all the help today.”

His lips pulled back into a bright grin, dark green eyes alight with such sincerity that Natsumi was momentarily lost in them, “O-oh, it was nothing. I was happy to help, Miyano-san.”

“You can call me Natsumi, or Natsu, or I guess whatever you’re really comfortable with.” She ended with a sheepish laugh, she had never really been one for formalities, that had been something she had adopted and practiced when she was first accepted into Yūei so she wouldn’t stand out too much.

The offer seemed to catch him off guard, a girl had asked him to call her by her first name…as that realization dawned on him, he found himself spluttering unintelligible words, his cheeks flaring bright red.

His obvious nervousness caused Natsumi to laugh at him once again, “Like I said, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

She led him back to the door where he slipped on his shoes, turning back to face her once he had calmed down and his cheeks were no longer a radiant red but more of a dusty rose, “Have a good night, Miy—N-Natsu-chan.”

Natsumi blinked, not expecting him to use her actual name so quickly, “Y-you too. G’night, Midoriya-kun.”

Chapter Text

“Our parents are going to kill us if they find out, you know.” A boy gave the two children before him a skeptical glance, one eyebrow cocked high above the other. Out of the three friends he was considered the more mature, level-headed, one who tended to thoroughly think things through.

Natsumi rolled her eyes, “By the time I see my parents again it’ll probably already be healed.”

“Yeah, quit being such a stick in the mud, Ryou.” The other boy grinned, his shaggy raven hair brushing against his forehead as he leaned forward to playfully shove his twin brother.

Ryou groaned, silver eyes set into a firm glare aimed at his brother, “Fine, but I’m dropping your name when they ask whose idea this was, Hibiki.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hibiki waved off the comment, lips pulled back into a mischievous grin, “All right, so who wants to go first?”

The ten-year-old raised her hand bravely before turning to the boy on her left, “You sure you can make it so I don’t feel anything, Hibi-chan?”

He nodded confidently, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure?” She parroted, unconvinced.

“Mostly sure.” He retorted, angling his face so that he was face to face with her, “Don’t worry, Mi-chan, I promise you won’t feel a thing.”

“To be fair, I’m sure the pain won’t even compare to what you go through in your training.” Ryou commented, a small chuckle leaving his parted lips. Crimson eyes fell upon him and she stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating what he had said before laughing and muttering a ‘that’s true’.

“All right, let’s do this.” She tucked a stray strand of snow white hair behind her ear, lips twitching into an eager, albeit rather nervous, smile.

Hibiki shuffled forward, reaching for her left hand and allowing his fingers to trail along her wrist gently. A bright blue ring glowed around the outer edges of his silver irises, indicating that his quirk had been activated, “Okay, the area should be numb to any pain from here on out. Ready, Mi-chan?”

She nodded, holding her wrist as still as possible while he pulled out a bottle of black ink and a sewing needle. Natsumi was no stranger to pain but the thought of having to sit still while she was poked over and over again wasn’t something she thought she would be able to handle, so to be extra sure Hibiki had used his quirk to erase all feeling to the designated area.

It took him a total of about twenty minutes, ensuring he had the shape as perfect as could be and that it was properly filled in with ink. Once he was finished, he leaned back and whistled appreciatively, “Damn, maybe I should be a tattoo artist when I grow up.”

The silver haired child pulled her wrist back and examined the star permanently imbedded in her flesh, a symbol of their friendship. Crimson eyes stared at the tattoo for what seemed like an eternity, slowly her lips pulled back into a bright grin, “I love it, Hibi-chan!”

He let out a relieved sigh, “Oh good, I was worried for a minute when you didn’t say anything.”

Natsumi’s right hand hovered over the tattoo, allowing a thin layer of rime to form over the ink to prevent it from swelling.

Ryou was the next one to receive his mark and then he and his brother switched off so that he could stick and poke Hibiki’s wrist. After all was said and done, the three children held out their rime covered wrists side by side by side, admiring their matching tattoos with unbridled appreciation and excitement.

“Now we’ll always be connected, no matter where our paths lead us.” Ryou spoke quietly, silver eyes slowly roving over the two in front of him before letting his gaze linger on Natsumi.

She bit her lip, “Yeah, but we’ll always be together, right?”

The two boys exchanged glances before leaning down and resting their foreheads against her’s, a gesture that they often did when she needed to be comforted.

“Of course, Mi-chan.”

“Never forget, you’re the brightest star in our darkest skies.”

“And you’re mine.” She answered back.

She absently rubbed at her wrist, pulling on the sleeve of her blazer self consciously to ensure that the mark stayed hidden. A small sigh tumbled over her lips, her tattoo was a constant reminder of her past; a life that she promised herself she would never return to and people who had abandoned her when she needed them the most.

Her right elbow rested against the smooth desk top, her chin placed delicately in her upturned palm as she stared boredly at the black board at the front of the room. It was the end of the day and her classmates were getting antsy, their excitement for Hero Training was nearly palpable. Natsumi couldn’t lie, she too was eager to see what they would be learning today.

Today her hair was pulled back out of her face by two small braids, one on either side of her head that curled around her head until they met one another and were incorporated into a somewhat larger braid that rested against the remainder of her loose, pink waves.

Thankfully, she was feeling much better than the previous day. She no longer had a fever or runny nose but her throat was still rather sore, something that usually lasted longer than the rest of her symptoms whenever she got sick. All in all, she was ready for whatever All Might had planned for them.

“Today we have something special planned for you.” Aizawa-sensei peeled away the fabric of his sleeping bag, stepping out of it and discarding it behind his podium to address the class. All whispers and chatter ceased immediately, everyone seemingly leaning forward in their seats eagerly to hear what their homeroom teacher had to say.

Once he had everyone’s attention, the dark haired man continued with a blank stare, “We will be taking an off campus trip to practice rescue training. Search and rescue are very important components of basic heroism, today you will be learning the proper ways to assess different situations and how to best assist victims with varying degrees of injuries.”

“How exciting, we’re going on a field trip!” Kirishima shifted excitedly in his seat, pumping his fists in the air enthusiastically.

“This’ll be so much fun!” Ashido grinned.

“I wonder if we’ll get to wear our costumes again, kero.” Asui wondered aloud, placing a finger to her chin in thought.

“Everyone settle down. We will be representing the great Yūei at an off-campus location and we must behave accordingly in a way that is befitting of this prestigious academy.” Iida called out over the conversations that had erupted around him, arms waving emphatically to get his classmates attention.

The disheveled man standing before the class rolled his eyes at the commotion and sighed heavily, “Iida is correct in that you will be representing the school as Heroes in Training. You can decide whether or not you want to wear your Hero Costumes or your gym uniforms, go change and convene outside where we will be boarding the bus.”

Her lips downturned in a frown, her sleeves were still singed from their mock battles as they hadn’t had the time to submit changes and repairs to the costume company yet. The damage wasn’t too extensive, however it made it so that she was unable to keep her arms fully covered which in turn meant that a portion of her tattoo was exposed. She wasn’t in the mood to answer any questions about it, truthfully, she would never be ready to speak about it or its connection to her past. She just wanted to forget.

“Miyano-san, please take better care of your costume. This is an extension of your Hero persona, wearing something damaged out in public will make a bad impression.” Iida readjusted his spectacles, staring pointedly at her burnt sleeves.

“I know, I know. I’ll have it looked at.” She mumbled, forcing a smile in an attempt to appease their class representative.

“Very good.” He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer before moving on to give her classmates the proper proceedings for boarding the bus. He called out over the crowd, commanding everyone to line up based on their seat numbers and to board one by one in an orderly fashion.

She lined up behind Yaoyorozu, arms crossed over her chest as the line moved forward slowly as her classmates boarded the bus. Once it was her turn, she paused, the seats definitely weren’t set up like an ordinary bus, instead they were long cushioned benches taking up the length of the vehicle on either side.

“Oh no, this is not the type of bus I was expecting.” Iida sounded mortified, hanging his head dejectedly.

“Guess we didn’t need to line up after all.” Sero laughed from his seat.

Natsumi slid into an empty space, crossing her legs over one another and angling her chin so that she was staring out of the window to her side. The rest of her classmates quickly piled on and it wasn’t until she felt the presence of someone taking the seat to her left that she broke her gaze away from the smudged glass to see that Todoroki had settled in beside her.

It looked as if his objective was to take a nap for the duration of the ride, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, tuning out his classmates’ voices. She eyed him curiously for a moment or two before leaning back, crossing her arms over her chest, and nestling into the cushioned seat comfortably.

As the bus rumbled to life, taking off down the street, the students settled into conversations amongst themselves. Natsumi was content with watching the scenery blur past the window until she caught bits and pieces of a conversation that piqued her interest.

“Midoriya-chan, your quirk is a lot like All Might’s, isn’t it?” Asui cocked her head to the side.

Suddenly all eyes were on the mossy haired boy who fidgeted in his seat nervously, shaking his head, “Y-you think so?” He began to mumble frantically under his breath, something the class was used to by now from him.

“Wait a minute, All Might doesn’t get injured every time he uses his quirk. They just look similar is all.” Kirishima brought up a valid point and Midoriya seemed relieved by those words, “But it is nice to have a simple augmenting type quirk. You can do lots of flashy things! My Hardening’s strong against others, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look as cool.” He held up his left arm, hardening his flesh to demonstrate.

Midoriya’s eyes went wide with admiration, his lips pulled back into a wide grin, “I think it’s really cool! It’s a quirk that you can definitely go pro with.”

The crimson haired boy offered Midoriya a crooked grin, holding his hardened arm out in front of himself to examine it, “Go pro, huh? But you have to also think about popularity as a hero, ya’know?”

“My navel laser is pro-level in both flashiness and strength and sparkles just like moi!” Aoyama piped up confidently from beside Ashido.

“Yeah, but it’s not great that it gives you stomachaches.” Ashido commented, laughing.

Kirishima leaned forward excitedly in his seat, “Well, if you’re talking about flashy and strong then it’s gotta be Todoroki and Bakugou!”

“Bakugou is always angry so I don’t see him as being a very popular hero.” Asui answered honestly with a shrug of the shoulders.

Natsumi bit her lip to try and contain her laughter but ended up snorting from holding it in, several pairs of eyes turned to her and she offered a lopsided smile, “You’re right, with his shitty personality there’s no way he’d be any one’s top choice.”

“The fuck did you two say?!” The ash blond growled venomously, his carmine glare bouncing between Asui and Natsumi.

“Maybe if you weren’t as explosive as your quirk people would like you more.” The pink haired teen shrugged coolly.

“Fuck off, ice bitch. I’ll kill you.”

“Do it, I dare you.” She retorted, meeting his glare with one of her own.

“Is that a challenge, snowflake?” His lips twisted into a menacing smirk.

“Not much of a challenge if you’re frozen solid and can’t produce any of that nitro sweat of yours that you rely so heavily on.” She commented offhandedly, “But feel free to try.”

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Todoroki shifting, ever so slightly, in his seat, before lazily peaking a grey eye at her, “Must you antagonize him?”

Her lips curled into an amused smirk, “How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to realize how much of a troublemaker you truly are.” He retorted, eyeing her for a moment before settling back into position and attempting his nap once more.

“You know…this is only proving their point about Bakugou…though maybe we should also be wondering about Miyano-chan as well.” Kaminari stroked his chin thoughtfully,

“Not sure if it’s scary or admirable that she can match his attitude…”

“Maybe a little of both.” Kirishima laughed, “Though I guess someone needs to put him in his place.”

The ash blond turned his narrowed stare to the two boys who had just spoken, “What was that, shitty hair?!”

“K-Kacchan p-please—” Midoriya started, his voice quaking as he attempted to diffuse the situation.

“What the fuck did I say about calling me that?! Shitty Deku.”

“We’re here, stop messing around.” Aizawa-sensei, who had been quietly ignoring his students the entire trip, called out over the commotion. He angled his chin so that he was glancing over his shoulder, fixing Bakugou with a heated glare that immediately quieted the rest of the class.

Natsumi shuffled around in her seat to peer out of the window at the large domed building that they had pulled up to. It was a magnificent building, very modern looking, but she wasn’t sure how training inside a giant dome would really help them to get a feel for different types of rescue missions.

Everyone exited the bus quickly, Ochako had a bounce in her step as she tried to contain her excitement but was failing miserably if the wide grin on her face was any indication.

As soon as they made it off the bus, they noticed a figure standing several feet away, wearing a spacesuit and offering a friendly wave.

“I’ve been expecting you!” They announced cheerfully.

Midoriya took a step forward as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, “It’s the Space Hero, Thirteen! They’ve rescued countless people from all sorts of disasters.”

Ochako clenched her fists and pumped them in the air while bouncing up and down, “I love Thirteen!”

Natsumi couldn’t help the smile that pulled at the corners of her lips, Those two are pretty cute, fawning over heroes like that.

“Let’s head inside, yeah?” Thirteen motioned for everyone to follow after them, shuffling towards the large double doors that would lead into the domed building.

The layout inside was not what Natsumi had been expecting at all. There were various terrains spread out across the landscape from mountains, to a crumbling city, to a shipwreck, what looked like a landslide, and even an area that seemed to be set aflame.

“Wow…they definitely covered all the bases.” She mumbled, taking in the absolute attention to detail that went in to designing everything.

“Wow, it looks just like Universal Studios!”

“You’re right, it really does!”

“Really?” The pink haired teen glanced over at Ochako.

“You’ve never been?!” The brunette cried out.

“No?” Natsumi answered, taking a step back.

Several of her classmates turned to her with scandalized looks painted on their faces.

“We’ll have to change that then! We’ll go together sometime!” Ochako decided with a nod.

“Hey, does that invitation stand for the rest of the class too?” Kaminari grinned.

“Of course!” The bubbly teen laughed.

“Ahem.” Thirteen cleared their throat, gaining the attention of the class once more, “This is a training ground that I designed specifically to give you experience with accidents and disasters of all kinds. It’s called the ‘Unforseen Simulation Joint,’ or USJ for short.”

“Where’s All Might, wasn’t he supposed to meet us here?” Aizawa questioned the Space Hero who shuffled closer to the scruffy man, the two Heroes spoke in hushed voices for a moment before their homeroom teacher let out a tired sigh, “I guess it can’t be helped then. Shall we get started?”

Thirteen glanced over at Aizawa before turning back to the class, “Okay, okay. Before we begin, let me say one thing…er…two, no three, four…five..six…seven…ah, sorry, got off track. Everyone, I am sure you are aware of my quirk, Black Hole. With it, I am able to suck up anything and turn it into dust.”

“You’ve been able to use that quirk to save people from all kinds of disasters, right?” Midoriya already knew the answer but was eager to hear the details from the Space Hero themself. Ochako stood beside the mossy haired boy, nodding her head emphatically, Thirteen was one of her favorite heroes, she was going to strive to have a rescue record as high as their’s.

Thirteen nodded in the affirmative, “Yes, but it is also a power that can kill very easily. Some of you also have quirks like that, right?”

At their words, several of her classmates shifted uncomfortably where they stood. Natsumi was no stranger to thoughts like that, she knew that with both of her abilities she could easily hurt and even kill a person if she wasn’t careful…it was another reason why she wanted to hone her abilities so that she would never have to worry about accidentally causing someone’s death.

Even though that’s how I was taught… She frowned at the thought, They’re dead. They have no hold over you anymore. Just forget everything they ever told you. That had become a mantra of sorts over the past few months as she tried to forget and unlearn everything her parents had ever taught her as it was all contradicting to the life she had decided to live now.

“In a superhuman society, personal quirks have been certified and strictly regulated, so that doesn’t seem to be a problem at first glance. However, please don’t ever forget that there are many quirks that can easily kill with one wrong step. With Aizawa’s physical fitness assessment you found out about the possibility of your own hidden powers. With All Might’s combat training you were able to experience the danger of using those abilities against others. This class is going to be a fresh start for you. You will learn how to use your quirks to save people’s lives. You weren’t born with these powers so that you could harm others. If you take anything away from this exercise today, I hope it is the understanding that you have these powers in order to help others. That is all, thank you for listening!” Thirteen ended their speech with a flourished bow, leaving the class speechless but inspired by their words of wisdom and empowerment.

Those words were something that Natsumi, especially, needed to hear and it further cemented her resolve to become a hero in the first place.

I guess when you’re told all your life that your powers were made for destruction you really start to believe it until someone helps you see the light.

“Bravo! Bravo!” Iida clapped, cheering loudly.

“As expected of the great Space Hero Thirteen!” Ashido thrust her fists in the air, pumping them excitedly.

The entire class was pumped up from Thirteen’s speech, everyone was ready to take on whatever situations and obstacles they would face during training now that they had those words of encouragement playing on repeat in the back of their minds.

“All right, then first—” Aizawa began but was cut off by a surge of electricity short circuiting the power, blue sparks fizzled above as the lights slowly went out around them.

Quiet murmurs erupted from the crowd of students, not a single person noticing the suspicious look that had overcome their teacher’s face.

“Is training already starting?” Sero wondered out loud.

“Guess they needed to set the mood.” Ashido giggled.

The fountain in the center of the facility began to sputter, water shooting out of the spicket in spurts before dying altogether. An uneasy hush fell over the group of students as they watched as a swirling vortex of purple and black opened up right in front of the fountain. From that portal a hand emerged, followed by a face covered in a series of grotesque severed hands, frenzied ruby eyes peeking out at them.

Aizawa’s dark eyes widened and he quickly whirled around to face his students, “Everyone, gather together and don’t move. Thirteen, protect the students.”

Natsumi froze, her heart thundering against her chest in growing panic, the distress in Aizawa’s voice implied that the new arrivals down below were not a part of any planned simulation event. They were an anomaly.

Suddenly, dozens of bodies emerged from the swirling mess of purple and black crowding the square below them. She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to focus on the details of each person down below, from what she could make out there were more than twenty humans with more appearing by the second. Many of them, from what she could tell, had mutant-type quirks but the rest were a mystery to her.

“What’s this?” Kirishima took a step closer to the edge of the landing that they were gathered on, squinting to get a better look, “Is this like the entrance exam where the lesson has already started?”

Natsumi didn’t think that was the case at all, but her gaze flitted over to their teacher for confirmation. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Midoriya and several others take tentative steps forward, prepared to jump right in to start their training until--

“Don’t move!” Aizawa called out firmly which made his eager students halt in their tracks, his fingers grasping the band that his goggles rested on around his neck and slid them up over his eyes. He was now Pro Hero: Eraserhead and he was on a mission to protect his students at all costs, “Those are villains.”

While she had suspected as much, the weight of his words crashed upon her like an avalanche and she felt her chest tighten and throat constrict as her anxiety bubbled to life within her. Eraserhead and Thirteen were the only heroes here supervising them—it was two against dozens. She didn’t like those odds at all. Natsumi knew that her teachers wouldn’t want them to join in on the impending fight, but she wasn’t so sure that they would have any other option but to fight with the enemies numbers rapidly growing.

She chanced a glance over to Midoriya, taking in every detail about his posture, the wide almost frantic emerald green eyes, the fists clenched at his side, everything about him screamed terror but his stance also said that he was ready to jump in without hesitation to protect his classmates. Typical Midoriya.

“Hm. Eraserhead and Thirteen, huh? The teacher’s schedule that we procured the other day also said that All Might would be here.” One of the villains spoke, seemingly a little disappointed that the Beacon of Hope wasn’t amongst the group on the landing above.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, lips pulled back into a tight frown, “The trespassing the other day was the work of these scumbags after all.”

The hoard of villains began to advance closer, closer, closer towards the group of students huddled together, prompting Eraserhead to go into full-on hero mode. The bandages wound around his neck loosened and sprung to life with the activation of his quirk, billowing out around him like serpents ready to strike at any given moment.

“Villains? There’s no way they could get into a hero school!” Kirishima’s voice held a trill of disbelief as he looked on with a nervous gaze.

“Sensei, what about the trespasser sensors?” Yaoyorozu stepped forward, brows knitted together.

Thirteen cast a quick glance over their shoulder at her, their voice holding a note of uncertainty to it as they spoke, “Well…we have them, of course, but…”

“Did they only appear here, or are they attacking the whole school?” Todoroki brought up a valid point that no one had even considered up until that moment, “Either way, if the sensors are not responding then that means they have someone with a quirk that can disrupt the frequencies which would disallow us from alerting the outside world. They chose today specifically because we would be isolated from the main campus, easy targets. They might be fools, but they’re not dumb. This surprise attack was carefully orchestrated with some sort of goal in mind.”

“Thirteen, begin evacuating the students now. Try calling the school.” Aizawa commanded, “These villains have something to counteract the sensors, it’s possible someone with radio-wave type powers is interfering. Kaminari,” His eyes landed on the blond who straightened up at the acknowledgement, “You try contacting he school with your quirk, too.”

“Yessir.” Kaminari nodded his head in understanding, willing to do what was necessary to help them get out of this predicament.

“Sensei! You’re not planning on fighting them alone are you? With that many, even if you can erase their quirks you won’t be able to take them all on at once and capture them—” Midoriya began, distressed and panic-stricken.

Their homeroom teacher glanced back at the boy and assured him, “You can’t be a hero with just one trick.” He glanced quickly at the Space Hero, “I’m leaving it to you.” Before leaping from the landing and entering the fray down below.

Natsumi ran forward alongside Midoriya who was just as curious as she was, standing atop the stairway to get a better view as their teacher landed at the bottom where three villains in particular were waiting for a frontal attack.

“This is no time to be standing around gawking! Hurry up, we’ve got to go!” Iida called out to get their attention.

Midoriya quickly met Natsumi’s gaze for a brief moment before they broke out into a sprint to catch up to their classmates who were rushing towards the exit with Thirteen. As the neared their destination, however, the man with the warping ability appeared before them.

“I won’t let you get away. Nice to meet you, by the way. We are the League of Villains. It may be a little presumptuous of us, but we have invited ourselves in in order to have All Might, the Symbol of Peace, take his last breath.”

The class let out a collective gasp. From the corner of her eye Natsumi could see Midoriya physically trembling. This was bad, this was very very bad. They were outnumbered and outmatched by villains who were intent on killing All Might, who wasn’t even there to begin with. If they were so bent on destroying the Symbol of Peace then she had absolutely no doubt in her mind that they’d happily kill her and her classmates to get to All Might and prove to the world just how dangerous they truly were.

“I believe All Might should have been here. Was there some sort of change to the schedule?” It was rhetorical, he knew that he wasn’t going to receive an answer, “Well, that is neither here nor there. This is the part I am to play.”

This is it.

Bakugou and Kirishima had the same idea. They burst forward with adrenalin fueled speed, both reeling back their fists, the blond released a powerful explosion that rocked the foundation and stirred up a cloud of dust and debris that billowed out around the two. The warp gate faltered from the attack.

“Did you consider that you’d get beaten by us before you had a chance to do what you came here to do?” Kirishima smirked confidently, arms hardened and poised to strike again.

“Oh my, that was very dangerous. I keep forgetting that even though you’re merely students, you are excellent golden eggs.” His voice took on a dangerous, more sinister note as he regained his strength.

“Move away, you two!” Thirteen cried out, the caps on their fingertips popping off to activate their quirk to vaporize the enemy…unfortunately the villain was too quick. Two portals appeared simultaneously, one in front of Thirteen right as they activated Black Hole and then another opened right behind them. Thirteen’s fingers disappeared into the portal in front of them and quickly reemerged behind them, the black hole from their fingertips sucking in parts of the hero’s costume and body, disintegrating it upon contact.

Cries of terror erupted all around them as Thirteen recapped their fingers, stopping their quirk from doing more damage, before crumpling to the ground in a broken heap. Now they were completely unprotected and Aizawa-sensei was too busy fighting his own battle to even realize how dire the situation had become.

Natsumi whipped her head around so quickly that she could hear a sickening pop in her ears, “Iida-kun, you need to escape and go get help.”

“Me? I can’t leave you guys, it’s my duty as class rep—”

“It’s your duty to ensure our safety in the events of an emergency—such as right now—and the only way to ensure that we make it out of this alive is for you to use your speed to rally together the teachers to come help.” She interjected quickly, voice firm as she fixated him with a sharp glare.

The bespectacled boy glanced around at the rest of his classmates, noting the various levels of fear and desperation showing on each of their faces before he nodded. A determined gleam entered his dark eyes as he got into position, activated his quick, and took off.

“Oh no you don’t.” The villain sneered.

Bakugou let loose a series of powerful explosions to distract the villain and attempt to do damage to his wavering smoke-like body. At the same time, Natsumi waved her arm and a barrage of tiny little ice daggers materialized and flew towards the villain.

He faltered as Iida made it to the exit and disappeared outside, “Minor setback, but no matter. My job is to scatter you all and torture you to death!”

Shadowed tendrils shot out from his core, enveloping the students in a thick, murky inescapable darkness. Natsumi felt her throat constrict as the darkness filled her lungs, making breathing almost impossible. She gasped, trying to take in the oxygen that her body desired but it was like trying to breathe underwater, it was thick and made her cough as the darkness entered her lungs. She tried to move forward but found that the force of the warp gate’s pull was much too strong, suddenly the cobblestone beneath her feet was wavering and she was no longer standing on solid ground.

She let out a strangled gasp, her body felt weightless and she frantically reached out to grab hold of something, anything, that could tether her to something solid and stable but her fingers grasped at air.

This is it. This is the end. Were her last thoughts before the darkness surrounding her invaded the foundation of her being, she fought to stay conscious but quickly succumbed.

Chapter Text

Everything was dark. The shadows around her were thick and suffocating and she felt so utterly alone and tangled amongst the dark tendrils. Natsumi wasn’t even sure if she was still alive---she couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything around her.

The darkness provided a quiet solitude that was almost welcomed by her, it was a peaceful escape from the chaos of the real world.

Did mother and father feel this at peace when they died? She wondered, Natsumi tried not to make a habit of thinking about them often because it would stir up mixed emotions that she still wasn’t ready to deal with, even after two years spent without them.

Maybe I can just stay here. Sleeping forever does sound nice.

Suddenly, she could hear noises. They sounded far away and muffled, distorted even, to the point where she began to believe it was her imagination’s doing. Then the sounds got closer and even though she was unable to see she was beginning to become more aware of her surroundings in that she could feel. She felt the hard stone beneath her back, felt a warmth at her side and a weight on her chest.

“Oi, wake the fuck up.”

Inwardly she grimaced. She knew that voice.

Someone laughed, “Hey, I think she heard you.”

Slowly, she felt the weight baring down on her eyelids lift, they fluttered open and she peeked up at the two boys through her thick lashes.

A soft, pained groan tumbled out of her lips as she laid her palms against the cement to push off and pull herself into a standing position. Her head was pounding from the fall and she wouldn’t have been too surprised if she had a concussion. She swayed on her feet and Kirishima instinctively reached out to steady her, a worried frown etched on his, otherwise, friendly face.

“Hey Miyano-chan, are you okay?” The redhead stared down at her, brows furrowed.

She nodded, offering him a lopsided grin as reassurance, “Yeah, no worries.”

“You better not slow us down, ice bitch.” Bakugou snarled, fingertips crackling with pent up explosive energy.

Natsumi rolled her eyes, “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Carmine eyes met hers for the briefest of moments as if deciding whether to comment on her snarky reply but then thought better of it. He let out a stream of air from his nostrils and began walking forward, not even waiting to see if his two classmates where following behind him or not. He didn’t care, he didn’t need their help.

Kirishima scrambled after the ash blond, a little put off by the fact that he would have left them behind so easily without a second thought. Natsumi let out a sigh but followed after the two boys nonetheless, bringing up the rear of their little group of misfits.

They marched through a desolate landscape of dilapidated buildings, slabs of concrete protruded from the ground where buildings and storefronts once stood. It was all very convincing and truly lifelike, resembling a town devastated by an earthquake or some sort of other natural disaster. Rubble littered the ground and they had to keep a constant watch over where they stepped to avoid tripping over loose bricks and chunks of concrete.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” A voice sneered.

“Looks like a herd of little lost lambs.” Another chimed in.

The three students stopped in their tracks, bodies rigid and eyes darting around the landscape frantically to try and pinpoint where the voices were coming from.

“Show yourselves, you fucking cowards.” Bakugou growled, eyes flashing dangerously as Kirishima and Natsumi moved closer to the ash blond. The three classmates stood back to back to back to ensure that they were able to keep an eye on all sides so there would be no chance of a surprise attack.

“Oh my, this one has a mouth on him.”

“Maybe we should teach him some manners.”

Suddenly two bodies appeared out of seemingly thin air holding hands. One of them had iridescent scales covering her body that would shift colors every few moments, her eyes protruded from the side of her head and swiveled in all directions. It was easy to see that her quirk was Chameleon based so the three could only assume that she was the only one with the power to camouflage and that her partner had needed to touch her for the quirk to work on her as well.

The other villain was more plain in appearance compared to her reptilian comrade, she was scrawny and thin with stringy blonde hair that was tied off in a low pony-tail that hung to her mid back.

The chameleon smirked, her jowls opened wide and an impossibly long and sticky tongue shot out of her throat, wrapping around Natsumi’s torso.

“Ugh, this is unsanitary.” The pink haired teen groaned, slamming her palms against the sticky pink appendage around her waist and freezing it in an instant. The villain let out a strangled screech and retracted her frozen tongue, jumping around and breathing heavily to try and thaw her tongue with warm air.

Natsumi glanced over at her two companions to see that they had been fighting the other villain who apparently had some sort of plant-based quirk which make the battle incredibly one sided. The ash blond quickly took care of her by burning her vine like whips with his explosions while Kirishima landed a well aimed punch to her abdomen.

“Ow you gawe me fwothbite.” The chameleon cried, tongue still encased in a block of ice.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You want me to get rid of the ice?” Natsumi taunted, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward.

“I’ll do it.” Bakugou sneered, pushing past the pink haired teen and igniting the chameleon with a series of explosions that shattered the ice and subsequently sent pieces of her tongue flying in every direction. The scream that resounded from within the villain was a horrendous sound but as quickly as it came everything went silent moments later as she presumably passed out from the pain.

“Maybe we should go join the others.” Kirishima offered, frowning at the two unconscious villains as Natsumi used her ice to bind their wrists together to ensure they didn’t come after them again.

Bakugou cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the crimson haired boy and scoffed, “Do whatever the fuck you want. I’m going to go kick some more villain ass.”

“We shouldn’t split up, regardless of how capable you are they could end up overwhelming you with an ambush.” Natsumi crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a pointed stare.

“Is that your way of saying you’re scared and want to come with me?” Bakugou taunted.

Her lip curled over her canines and she narrowed her eyes, “As if, though if you want me to come along to protect you all you had to do was just say so. Just so you know, I’m not going to hold your hand through this.”

“The fuck did you just say, ice bitch?!”

She brushed past him, purposefully knocking her shoulder against his as she strode forward with Bakugou seething behind her. Kirishima watched in silence, his lips twitching into a grin as he ran forward to catch up to the two, “Well, I guess I should keep an eye on you two so you don’t kill each other.”

Natsumi shot him an amused look over her shoulder, “Probably a good idea.”

“I’ll kill you both.” The explosive blond’s palms crackled to life with fizzling sparks as if to demonstrate the truth behind his words.

The pink haired teen snorted, “Oh, I’m so scared. Look, look—” She held out her hand and pretended to tremble, “—I’m shaking!”

Kirishima chuckled nervously, moving in between the two teens just as Bakugou went to lunge at the girl. He held his hands up to keep the ash blond back while angling his chin over his shoulder at Natsumi, “Uh, maybe this isn’t the best time to start a fight? We need to get out of here and make sure everyone else is okay.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.” She bit her lip sheepishly, standing on her tip-toes and leaning forward to peek around Kirishima at Bakugou, “To be continued?”

The blond huffed, eyebrows twitching in aggravation, “Whatever. I’ll kick your ass wherever whenever.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waved her hand dismissively as she and Kirishima started forward again, Bakugou stomping loudly behind them.

They decided to go search for their classmates after all, deciding that regrouping and coming up with some sort of escape plan would be the best course of action to take in their current situation.

“I’m afraid we can’t let you go any further.” A muscular, caramel skinned man sneered. His arms were crossed over his chest, thick spikes protruding from his flesh like some sort of porcupine hybrid. He was backed up by three other companions, all of them seemingly using various intimidation tactics to throw the teens off their game.

“Guess it can’t be helped.” Natsumi sighed, casting a quick glance to her two classmates who were already in position.

Bakugou seemed almost feral in appearance as he was propelled forward by a series of explosions crackling behind him. He landed in front of two of the villains and began an onslaught of punches and explosions aimed to incapacitate the nuisances.

Kirishima had a similar idea, his flesh hardened in an instant and he dashed ahead swinging his sword-like arm at the porcupine-like villain who brought his spiny arm up to block the attack.

The pink haired teen’s breath plumed out in front of her like a cloud, frost forming at the tips of her fingers at her quirk’s activation. The two remaining villains who weren’t already preoccupied with the boys set their sights on her and rushed at her from opposing sides.

She quickly turned herself intangible at the last moment and stepped aside as both bodies narrowly avoided colliding with each other. The two villains quickly regained their composure and began to frantically look around the surrounding area for her.

Grunts could be heard from her left and she chanced a glance over her shoulder to see that Kirishima was quickly overpowering his opponent. While they both had defensive quirks, the crimson haired teen had the advantage when it came to brute strength and the porcupine spines were clearly no match for Kirishima’s hardened skin.

Bakugou was also faring well against his two. She watched as the two barreled towards him and Bakugou simply vaulted over their bodies, twisting himself so that he would land right behind them, palms facing outwards as a series of explosive flames shot forward.

She made herself tangible again, she needed to focus on her two opponents and take them out quickly so they could continue on their mission to meet up with the rest of their class. Hopefully help would already be on the way so they wouldn’t have to stall too long before reinforcements arrived.

“There she is!” One of them pointed in her direction, sending a steam of water in her direction from the palm of his hand.

“Wow, how unlucky,” She commented with a frown and for a moment the villain believed that he had the upper hand until her lips twitched into a smirk, “for you, that is.”

Natsumi brought her palm forward facing the man, she abruptly clenched her fist and the water that had been shooting towards her started to solidify and didn’t stop at the man’s palms where the water had been produced. He began to panic as ice quickly shot up his arms, enveloping him in a cocoon of frozen shards in a matter of seconds.

While she was distracted by the first villain, she had failed to notice that his companion had snuck up behind her until she was flying through the air from a swift kick to her back. She twisted around in the air, holding her palms out and producing a curved slab of ice to break her fall before she hit the concrete rubble that her body had been hurtling towards.

Kirishima leapt through the air, arm drawn back before striking down the man who had attacked Natsumi, “Did you forget about us?”

The villain groaned under the pressure of the crimson haired boy’s body, saliva mixed with blood flying out of his mouth as Kirishima punched him again, this time rendering him unconscious.

“You all right, Miyano-chan?”

“Y-yeah. Just had the wind knocked out of me.” She laughed, her eyes darting over to where Bakugou had seemingly just finished off both of his opponents as well. She let out a sigh of relief.

As the blond stood over the body of one of the villains the first one he had knocked out slowly began to regain consciousness, quietly pulling himself to his feet and staggering towards the explosive blond. Natsumi took a step forward, knowing she wouldn’t make it in time she conjured up a cluster of sharpened ice daggers and hurled them towards the offending man stalking towards her classmate.

Three out of the five made contact, one piercing his shoulder, one his arm, and the other ripping through his torso. At the sound of cloth and flesh tearing Bakugou whirled around and finished him off with one final explosion.

As the last villain finally fell the blond turned his scathing glare to her, “I didn’t need your help.”

“I know.” She rolled her eyes, “But you were taking too long.”

“What was th—”

“Sorry for interrupting your lovers quarrel,” A boy called out from the second story window of a run-down building where he had been observing the trio and their fight, “but I must say that you’ve got a very interesting quirk. You know, it reminds me of someone that I used to know.” Although he was wearing a simple black mask, similar to Natsumi’s, she could still tell that his gaze was lingering on her as he spoke.

“Who the fuck are you?” Bakugou growled, his lips curling into a wicked grin as he prepared to blow this newcomer to smithereens.

The boy regarded the blond for a moment before answering, “That’s not relevant.”

“You’re right, because I’m going to kill you regardless.”

“Hm, is that so?” The boy answered disinterestedly, “I guess I should take care of you two first then.” A neon blue ring appeared around his irises as his gaze met with the two boys, their bodies instantly going rigid.

“Bakugou? Kirishima-kun? Hey…you guys—wait.” Her concern for her two companions was pushed to the back of her mind as she turned on her heel and stalked forward a few paces, her classmates were now behind her, trapped in their own minds.

The boy leapt from the window and landed softly in front of her, silver eyes rimmed by blue met her suspicious gaze and he lifted his hands in mock surrender, “I’m not here to cause trouble.”

“Well you could’ve fooled me.” She snapped.

He chuckled, “You’re right, I guess I didn’t make the greatest first impression. Though…” His eyes landed on her wrist and the dark ink peeking out from under her glove, “I thought it was you.” His voice softened and he took a step towards her.

She instinctively took a step back, staring back at him with a puzzled expression which made him cease in his advances towards her, a deepset frown etched on his face. Did she not recognize him?

“You can come down now, it’s her.” He called over his shoulder as a second body appeared in the shadows behind the window pane.

“Oh man, I felt like I was up there forever!” The second boy groaned, rubbing the back of his neck before lifting his arms high above his head in a stretch. He leapt from the window and landed in a crouch before straightening up and sauntering towards them confidently.

Both of the boys wore the same simple black masquerade type masks, the same beautiful silver eyes peeking out at her. They were both rather tall and lanky, not very muscular or strong looking at all from what she could tell.

Sudden realization struck her and her breath hitched in her throat, eyes widened as she took in the seemingly identical appearances of the two masked boys before her.

There’s no way…it couldn’t be…

“Ryou-ni? H-Hibi-chan?” Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper as she tested the names out loud, finding that they rolled off her tongue just as easily as they did all those years ago.

Their eyes lit up at the recognition, a faint smile pulling at the corners of Ryou’s lips while a wide grin engulfed Hibiki’s.

“Ya’know, I didn’t think it was you at first until I saw you usin’ that Quirk of yours.” Hibiki took a step forward and she noticed just how tall he and his brother truly were now and how long his hair had gotten. His hair now came down just below his ears in shaggy layers, curled up at the ends with razor cut bangs that swept across his forehead just above his right eye.

She noticed that Ryou had a similar style, except his bangs were swept across the left side of his forehead. They always enjoyed keeping their appearances, the things they could change at least, similar enough to each other so that it was difficult for most people to discern who was who.

“Why are you in disguise?” Ryou asked the one question that had been plaguing the two boys ever since they realized that it was, in fact, their Natsumi. “Are you infiltrating Yūei to bring them down from the inside?”

The pink haired teen faltered for a moment at the absurdity of such a thought, scrunching up her nose and furrowing her brows she shook her head, “No, nothing like that. I just—” She paused, what was she doing? They had abandoned her when she needed them the absolute most so why was she so willing to suddenly divulge information to them as if they hadn’t grown a part over the last two years?

“Ah, I get it.” Ryou ran a hand through his raven layers before fixing her with a pointed stare, “They don’t know who you are, who you really are. Just the fact that you feel the need to hide who you are from your teachers and classmates is enough of an indication that you don’t belong here with them. Natsu, don’t you see? You were never meant to follow the path of heroism. You know it, I know it, your parents knew it.”

She felt a tightness in her chest that was as if someone had taken her heart and crushed it in the palm of their hand until there was nothing left but a bloody pulp. His words struck a chord with her, he knew they would, but Natsumi just didn’t want to believe that this was the type of person he had become during his absence from her life.

“Maybe it’s not the life that was laid out for me but it’s definitely the better option and I will stand by my decision.” It had taken her a few silent moments to collect herself before she found the confidence and conviction to say what she needed to say in response to his hurtful words.

“You’re making a huge mistake, Mi-chan. Your parents worked so hard to train you and instill all of their ideologies into you it would be such a waste for you to give all of that up now to be something you always swore you hated. You’re powerful, you would be great. Come with us.” Hibiki frowned, tilting his head in confusion at her decision.

“I’m going to be the villain and I’m going to kidnap Natsu-chan and make her my bride. Hibiki, you’ll have to be the hero.” A young Ryou announced.

The silver haired girl let out a loud growl in protest, “I will not be the hostage! I want to be the villain who fights the hero, just like mother and father!”

“What makes you guys think I want to be the hero? I’m guaranteed to lose the fight!” Hibiki groaned, hands on his hips.

“Well we can’t all be the villains, someone’s got to play the hero or else there will be no conflict and the game will be boring.” The older twin explained to the two with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

“Ugh, but you always get to play the villain.” Hibiki whined, running both hands through his hair in frustration.

“Yeah! And you always designate me as the damsel in distress. This isn’t the 1800s, women can take care of themselves now you know.” Natsumi retorted.

Finding himself outnumbered, Ryou let out a long drawn out sigh before relenting to the too and agreeing to play the dreaded roll of Hero while Natsumi would be the villain and Hibiki would be her hostage. It was a childish game they were all so familiar with, one that many children played together, though in this case the roles were a little reversed in that none of them ever wanted to play the Hero. In their heads Heroism was an outdated occupation that viewed the world as black and white. There was no room for gray areas. They had been taught to see things differently, from the opposite view point and that’s what made the most sense to the three children. No one was inherently good or bad. More often than not so called Heroes weren’t even the ‘good’ guys, they were only in it for the money and fame, all the wrong reasons to want to do something good. She pursed her lips, he wasn’t wrong but so much had changed since their last interaction. She had learned so much, seen enough to make her own informed decisions and had even met some decent Heroes who weren’t in it for all the wrong reasons like many were. But even so, she wanted to make a name for herself so she could help to change all of the things that were wrong with the world and the corrupt system that glorified Heroism. Natsumi wanted to make a real difference.

“They paved the path to greatness for you, Natsu. They were two of the strongest villains this country has seen in decades. They left behind a legacy for you to follow in their footsteps and you’re throwing away all of their hard work and everything they’ve done for you for what? A chance to be popular, to have a taste of fame? For money? Have you forgotten everything you were taught?! And don’t think we didn’t notice that you’re in the same class as his son, doesn’t that bother you?” Ryou clenched his fists at his sides, his voice becoming louder as he found himself becoming more riled up.

“Enough!” She growled menacingly, eyes narrowed, “You have absolutely no right to talk to me like that. You left, you both did. You left me alone with my parents and then when they died you didn’t even try to find me. I was alone, so alone. You always promised to be there for me, but you weren’t and now you show up after two years trying to tell me what I should be doing? No. Fuck that.”

The two boys were taken aback by the ferocity of her words and the almost dangerous glint in her eyes.

“It’s not that we didn’t come for you…” The younger of the twins frowned sadly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, right. You could’ve found me if you looked hard enough.” She spat.

“Well you apparently moved and changed your name to Miyano. We didn’t even know if you were still alive until today.” Ryou spoke softly, trying to diffuse the situation. He had no problem with fighting her classmates, or at least incapacitating them, but if he could avoid engaging Natsumi he would do everything in his power to keep things peaceful between them.

Afterall, she was still very special to him and his brother, regardless of the path she had chosen.

“Oh shit, Mi-chan, watch out!” Hibiki cried out in surprise, raising his hand to point at something moving behind her.

Natsumi whirled around quickly, a startled gasp tumbling out of her parted lips as her gaze fell upon a massive deformed creature ambling towards her. It was tall and brutish in appearance with muscle and sinew peaking out from beneath torn leathery flesh, small beady eyes stared her down as it ventured forward. It looked as if to be missing part of its jaw which gave her full view of his sharp canine-like teeth, thick muscled arms reached out as if to grasp her but she was too quick.

After examining the creature for a number of moments she leapt back to avoid being grabbed by it, a thin coating of rime began to form along her finger tips, steadily moving up her arms. A small cloud of chilly air plumed out of her chapped lips as she assessed the situation and the monster before her.

“The fuck is that?!” She cried out, the tremble in her voice belying the calm air that she was trying to exude.

“That…would be a Nomu.” Hibiki began, “They’re awful things, our boss is the only one who can really control them.”

“You’ll have to beat it if you want to protect your friends, we can’t call it off.” Ryou shrugged, his right hand on his hip.

She cast a quick glance in the direction of Bakugou and Kirishima, noticing that they were both as still as could be though there was a slight twitch in the former’s hands that made her believe he was fighting against the mental paralysis.

Although she knew she was playing right into their plan she had no other choice if she wanted to keep her classmates safe; she would need to defeat this monster that threatened their safety.

“And I suppose you will take no part in helping me defeat it.” Natsumi eyed her childhood friends from the corner of her eye, watching as Ryou chuckled and Hibiki shook his head. She knew that was a long shot but even so, part of her was sorely disappointed that they wouldn’t jump at the chance to assist her for old times’ sake.

“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised by that.” She rolled her eyes, bringing her full attention to the creature before her.

The beast tilted its head in what could have been perceived as confusion before lumbering towards Bakugou and Kirishima, arms held out and fingers reaching for the two boys. She quickly dove forward to place her body in between the Nomu and her classmates, thrusting her palms outwards and producing a wall of ice as a barrier.

“Your fight is with me.” She called out, phasing through the wall of ice so that she was now in front of the monster with the ice barrier against her back.

Natsumi clenched her fists, pulling back her left arm and swinging it up towards the creature’s jawline, she seemingly caught it off guard as her fist collided with leathery flesh and the monster stumbled back a step. She was just as taken aback by the fact that she had done some sort of damage to the Nomu as it was surprised by her attack but she quickly shook off her disbelief and went in for another attack.

This time the beast blocked her fist, swinging its own fist towards her mid section. She jumped out of the way, narrowly missing the attack before crouching low and sweeping her leg out to knock the creature off balance…but it vaulted backwards, missing her attack completely.

Frustrated, she darted forward and the two began a complicated violent dance that almost seemed choreographed in the way that their bodies moved—attack, block, crouch, leg sweep, block—neither could get an inch on the other edgewise.

“Fuck, this is…going….nowhere.” She huffed, out of breath. The monster was a lot quicker than she had originally anticipated from its size and keeping up with its movements had proven to be both mentally and physically exhausting.

She thrust her palm forward just as the monster brought its foot forward and stopped against the cracked cement beneath them. Walls of ice clashed and crashed against each other, frozen shards flew in all directions from the collision. As the spray of snow and ice dissipated, Natsumi was left staring stunned at the creature.

“Seriously?” She readjusted her jaw, eyes narrowed, “All right, you asked for it.”

Her fingers slowly started to close, and she began to do a motion that mimicked pulling an invisible rope towards her body, as she did this the ice from her opponent’s wall began to dissipate until there was nothing left as she pulled all of the moisture and water molecules to her.

The monster let out a huff, sharp icy shards shot out of the ground towards her but she was unafraid and dashed forward towards them, with a quick wave of her arm they disappeared. Her palms faced outwards towards the creature, shooting her own daggers of ice in the direction of the monster in quick succession.

It stumbled back as her frozen weapons bombarded it, piercing through exposed muscle and tissue. The Nomu fell to one knee and stared up at her as she neared it, her hands facing the creature once more as she summoned thick shackles of ice to bind its limbs.

As she stood before the Nomu she noticed that the ice keeping him stilled was slowly starting to melt from its left side, he was going to free himself if she didn’t act fast!

“Mi-chan, quick! Use your finisher!” Hibiki called out.

Her left hand shot out, fingers wrapping firmly around the throat of the Nomu while she made a fist with her right hand. She concentrated hard on her fist, using her ability to turn only that part of her body intangible. It wasn’t something she did very often because of the strain it put on her body and the killer headache that usually came from the intense focus she needed to perform such a task. She pulled back her fist and thrust it forward, straight into the chest of the creature. She could feel it’s beating heart and curled her fingers around the muscle, she squeezed it gently but then hesitated. This was the move she had practiced as a child, but she had never actually taken a life before…though she could reason that the situation was dire enough now to call for such a move if she wanted to keep her friends safe.

But still…

Her parents had taken numerous lives in the past, they had felt no regret or any sort of remorse for their actions and she was afraid that once she took her first life, once she put an end to this deformed being that she wouldn’t be much different from them.

“Destroy it.” Ryou urged from behind her, his words sent goosebumps prickling at her exposed skin.

“The fuck are you doing?!” Bakugou’s voice rang out, angry and true, bringing her out of her own thoughts. His mind had snapped out of the mental paralysis but his body was still stiff, unable to move completely just yet.

The first thing she noticed was the creature before her, staring up at her with…mismatched eyes. A gasp escaped her and she immediately untangled her fingers from the monster’s heart, pulling herself out of his chest and falling backwards.

The vision of the horrendous creature quickly faded away, leaving a bruised and panting Todoroki. His uniform was ripped, chest exposed and she could already tell that a good portion of his pale skin was beginning to turn various shades of purple and blue from their fight.

Her eyes widened and she found that she was unable to meet his gaze, instead she snapped her attention to the twins so fast that she could hear the little bones in her neck cracking from the stress, “You used it on me. I can’t believe you used your Quirk on me!”

Hibiki offered her an apologetic smile, raising his hands in mock surrender while his brother simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “It needed to be done, they needed to see the kind of person you truly are and that was the quickest way to do it.”

Natsumi felt her chest constrict, her breath hitched in her throat, “I…you…” She was at a loss for words, something that typically didn’t happen but in her momentary shock over what he had proclaimed…she just couldn’t muster enough mental strength to come up with something to respond with.

Bakugou and Kirishima broke free just as the two boys darted off, muttering something about too many heroes and being outnumbered. The ash blond chased after them while Kirishima ran across the field to assess the damage that Todoroki had taken. He brushed past the pink haired teen and crouched down to check the heterochromic boy for any serious injuries, though it was impossible to tell whether there was any internal bleeding but thankfully most of his wounds looked rather superficial.

The rest of the day passed by in a daze, colors and sounds all blurred together and her thoughts were a jumbled mess, impossible to untangle. She vaguely recalled reinforcements arriving with Iida leading the way, many of the villains were captured but quite a few of them were able to make their escape at the last minute. From what she could remember there weren’t very many injuries and absolutely no casualties—but still, the thought of what she had almost done to Todoroki…that she almost…

Natsumi bit her lip and dug her nails so deeply into the palm of her hand that she felt them imbed themselves into her flesh from the force. She couldn’t even look at him now but could feel his icy stare on her even now as he was being checked out by the medics.

How am I going to show my face in class after this shit show? She mentally groaned, feeling ashamed that she hadn’t realized sooner that she was under Ryou and Hibiki’s illusions.

“Miyano-san, a word, if you will.”

Natsumi pulled herself to her feet, eyes trailing towards the figure that stood across from her, “Ah, Kayama-sensei. What can I help you with?”

The 18+ Hero stood before her, her eyes softened as she stared down at her student and she offered the young girl an apologetic smile, “I hate being the bearer of bad news, especially when it’s to someone who is such a pleasure to have in class but…due to the events witnessed today we are being forced to reevaluate your application to Yūei.”

“W-what?” Wavy pink locks fell over her shoulder as she lurched forward, startled by what her teacher had just said, “I…can you clarify what you mean by that?”

Kayama-sensei’s lips pulled back into a small frown, “I’m sorry, Miyano-san. At this moment you are hereby suspended from Yūei, we will contact you once a final decision has been made whether or not you will be permitted to return to school.”

Chapter Text

Natsumi navigated the next couple of days in a daze, almost as if her autopilot switch had been turned on and she was no longer in charge of making her own decisions. A fog had settled over her, she didn’t even realize how much she truly enjoyed her time at Yūei, as short as it was, until she was no longer permitted on campus.

It had only been two days since the USJ attack and she had done nothing but stew in her thoughts, replaying the conversations she had with Hibiki and Ryou over and over again. Each time she would come up with different scenarios, things that she would have done or said differently if she had the chance to go back in time.

She missed her classmates, her teachers, and just all around having a routine schedule to follow. At home she wasn’t expected to do things at certain times of the day, hell, she could just lay around in her pajamas until it was time for bed again and no one was around to tell her any differently. In fact, that was exactly how she had spent her last two days at home—in sweatpants and an oversized sweater, wrapped in her comforter and overthinking all of her life’s decisions.

“Natsu, don’t you see? You were never meant to follow the path of heroism. You know it, I know it, your parents knew it.”

“Maybe he was right.” She mumbled, pulling her comforter tighter around her as she sat in the middle of her living room floor staring at the blank television screen.

She found immense comfort in her dreams and spent a majority of her time at home sleeping the days away. During the few hours that she permitted her body to be awake she would lay on the floor and stare at nothing in particular and when that proved to be too much for her she would down half a bottle of Nyquil to put herself to sleep. Being awake meant more time spent with her thoughts and that was something she wasn’t ready to do, she had never been very good at confronting her feelings.

Natsumi typically wasn’t the type to sit around and marinate in her depression and dark thoughts but at this point there was nothing else for her to do. She tried to do the right thing and be a better person, better than what her parents had wanted for her, better than what was expected of her. But, as it turned out, maybe she really wasn’t destined for greatness. Maybe she was fated to wind up just like her parents. Maybe she should’ve just waited for Ryou and Hibiki to come for her.

“Ugh, why am I stuck in this waking nightmare? Who did I piss off in my past life?” She groaned, running her fingers through her tangled locks and pulling hard at the knots out of frustration.

A loud gurgle caught her attention, her arms quickly wrapping around her sides in an effort to soothe her aching stomach. The growls became louder and the pain was more pronounced, no amount of sleep would take away the aches of an empty stomach.

With a tired groan, Natsumi shed her comforter and shuffled across the living room towards the kitchen after realizing that the only way to make herself feel better would be to stop denying it the nutrition that her body desperately sought.

Pale fingers wrapped around the brass knob of one of her cabinets, yanking it open to reveal empty shelves inside. A sigh escaped through her parted lips as she tried the next one. Empty. Empty. Empty.

“Shit.” When was the last time she had gone shopping?

“Oh right, it was when I went with Uraraka-chan and Midoriya-kun. Guess I underestimated how much I would eat in a week.”

Slumping her shoulders in defeat, the pink haired teen made her way to the bathroom where she took one glance at her appearance in the mirror and decided that the knots in her hair were not worth the time and frustration so, instead, she snatched a hair tie off of the cluttered counter and pulled her wavy locks into a messy bun.

She shed her sweatpants and pulled on a pair of black leggings, deciding that she’d keep the oversized navy knitted sweater that she had already been wearing on. Sure, it was the middle of Spring and the weather had been rather warm, but due to her quirk she always felt frigid in her own skin.

Shoving her feet into her black boots at the door, Natsumi quickly laced them up and snatched her small black purse from the hooks embedded in the wall by the door.

I shouldn’t spend too much, just grab a few cheap essentials to get me through the week. Maybe some ramen? Definitely should probably get some vegetables and maybe some fruit. What’re the sales this week?

The hand basket hung loosely from her right arm as she ambled through the produce section, face scrunched up in concentration as she mentally made a note of things that were on sale and what she could realistically afford with her budget.

Maybe I should start looking for a part time job. The money my parents had stashed away won’t last me forever.

She placed several different vegetables into her basket such as a cabbage, radishes, and a bag of carrots before moving on. When she shopped she liked to keep her total below a certain amount, the less money she spent the better because she needed to make sure that her money stash would last her as long as possible even with paying rent, utilities, and groceries.

Though she was lucky that the owner of the building that she lived in felt like he was indebted to her parents who had helped him keep from losing the building years ago so he let her live there for only half of the usual price. Natsumi was sure that if she asked or if she fell on hard times that he would allow her to live there for free but she already felt guilty about the hefty discount he was already giving her, she didn’t want to feel like she was taking advantage of him.

“The fuck are you doing here?” A familiar voice growled out from beside her just as she was reaching out to grab a package of noodles off of the store shelf.

She recoiled back in surprise, glancing to her left at the ash blond who fixed her with an unreadable stare as she quickly grabbed a couple noodle packages and dropped them into her basket of ingredients.

“Shopping.” She answered coolly.

He rolled his eyes, “No shit.”

“The better question is, what’re you doing here? Don’t you live on the other side of town?” She turned to face him, brown eyes narrowed questioningly at him.

“S’not like I had a fucking choice.” He hissed, glaring over his shoulder at an older woman who was browsing the shelves further down the isle. The woman in question was of average height and had wild ash blond hair styled similarly to Bakugou’s.

“Ah, how cute. Shopping with mommy?” Natsumi teased, leaning forward with a cheeky grin.

“I’ll kill you right here, right now, snowflake.” Bakugou sneered, carmine eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Oh Katsuki~! Who is this, a friend from school?” His mother practically glided over to them, ruby eyes dancing between her son and the pink haired teen.

“Hi, I’m Miyano Natsumi. We’re in the same class.” She answered, lips quirking into a polite smile.

“Oh, it’s you!”

Natsumi’s smile faltered. What did that mean? Had word gotten out that the daughter of two of Japan’s most prolific villains had been accepted into Yuei’s hero course? She knew that it couldn’t stay a secret forever but having to come face to face with such a reality was something that she wasn’t ready to confront. She wasn’t ready to confront a lot of things, but this situation was definitely at the top of the list of things she’d rather die than do.

“Katsu-chan has told me about you, you’re the one who protected him and your other classmate during that villain attack.” His mother went on to explain.

Natsumi had not been expecting that. Bakugou hardly seemed like the type to broadcast his moments of vulnerability, even if it was just to his mother. She cast a quick glance in the boy’s direction to find that he was glaring heatedly at the back of his mother’s head.

“Oh, I didn’t do much, Bakugou-san.” The pink haired teen bit her lip, waving it off dismissively.

“Nonsense! If it weren’t for you who knows what those villainous brats would’ve done to my pain in the ass son.”

Natsumi nearly snorted at the way the older woman talked about her son who was growing angrier and angrier by the moment.

“Shut the fu—”

“Be quiet, brat!” She immediately interjected, turning her head swiftly to give her son a warning look before turning back to the teen girl before her, “I would love if you would come over for dinner tonight, I understand that it’s short notice but consider it my way of thanking you for keeping this brat safe.”

Taken aback by the invitation, Natsumi smiled and shook her head politely, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly im—”

“Nonsense, it would be no trouble at all. I’ll have Katsuki and my husband come pick you up tonight, where do you live?”

With no room left to argue, the teen conceded and accepted the dinner invitation. She gave the older woman her address and apartment number and waved as she went to checkout, leaving just Natsumi and Bakugou alone in the aisle.

His lips were pulled into a frown and he gave her the impression that he wanted to say something but, instead, he expelled a stream of air from his nostrils and strode past her with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. She didn’t have much time to ponder his behavior though as the realization that she was going to be going to the Bakugou household in just a few short hours settled over her.

Why is this happening? Why couldn’t I just say no?

She quickly finished her shopping and paid before rushing back home to put her groceries away and mentally prepare herself for the night that was ahead of her.

Pacing her apartment, Natsumi found herself feeling more and more nauseous as the minutes ticked by turning into hours, the time that Bakugou Mitsuki had given her slowly inching closer and closer. Why had she been so set on having her over for dinner? What would they even talk about? Was her lineage common knowledge at this point or had the school kept it covered up? She wouldn’t have been surprised either way, if they had spilled the beans then it would’ve been because people would’ve wanted answers as to why they had expelled one of their students. But at the same time, keeping the fact that they had accepted and allowed the daughter of Spectre and Hydra to enroll in the first place seemed like a better option in the eyes of the school—that way people wouldn’t realize just how badly they had screwed up to begin with.

From the corner of her eye she noticed a little black bundle wake and begin her post nap stretches on the couch, letting out a wide yawn followed by a small squeak.

“Hungry?”

The cat made a sound that was halfway between a purr and a chirp which was the confirmation that the teen needed. Happy for the distraction, Natsumi strode into the kitchen and pulled one of the bottom cabinets opened, grabbing a can of wet cat food out and pulling on the pull tab on the lid to open it.

Kaguya sprung from the couch and dashed over to the girl, weaving in and out of her legs eagerly.

“You act as if I starve you.” Natsumi laughed, dumping the shredded meat from the can onto a small plate before setting it down for the cat to ravenously chow down on.

Knock. Knock knock.

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of knuckles rapping against her front door, her stomach twisted in knots at the thought of who would be on the other side of it. Were they going to berate and laugh at her for thinking she could join the ranks of the heroes that they adored? She just didn’t know and it was driving her crazy just thinking about all of the possibilities of what could be said and done over the next couple of hours.

Tugging at a stray strand of curled pastel pink hair, Natsumi shuffled towards the door while swallowing back the bile that was attempting to rise from the pit of her stomach.

Pale fingers tentatively wrapped around the doorknob before twisting the cool metal and pulling it open to reveal an annoyed looking Bakugou Katsuki on the other side.

When she opened the door she found him staring off down the hallway at nothing in particular, his lips pursed. Carmine irises slid in her direction as soon as the door opened and he gave her a once over before scowling, “Took you long enough.”

He was wearing a red buffalo plaid button up shirt and a pair of black pants, Natsumi was sure that his mother had probably made him dress nicely for the occasion.

“You’re lucky I even opened the door knowing your ass was on the other side.” She retorted with a roll of her eyes.

Natsumi had wanted to look her best as well, not for the boy standing before her, but for his mother who had been so eager and thoughtful to invite her over in the first place. She had curled her hair, styling it into ringlets that cascaded over her shoulders in thick waves. The teen didn’t own too many feminine outfits though as she did tend to wear pretty much the same thing, but she had been able to dig out a nice form fitting sweater from her pile. It was a deep crimson knitted sweater that opened up to a wide neckline, exposing her shoulders. She wore a pair of black leggings and finished off the simple look with a pair of knee high black boots with red trim.

He snorted, eyeing her thick sweater judgingly, “You know winter’s over, right?”

“I’m always cold regardless of what the weather outside is like.”

“Tch, whatever.” He turned on his heel and began to stalk down the hallway towards the stairwell that would take him down to where his father had parked the car, not even glancing back to see whether she was following or not.

Natsumi closed the door behind her, locking it for good measure, before hurrying after him. He was much taller than she was so she needed to jog to catch up to his long strides, something he noticed quickly, a small smirk twitching at the corners of his lips.

The ride back to the Bakugou residence was rather awkward as her classmate was forced to sit in the back with her per his father’s request, stating it would be rude to leave Natsumi by herself back there, despite the ash blond’s protests on the matter.

His house was much more spectacular than she could have ever imagined. It was a large three story tan brick house with large dark windows and bright green perfectly manicured bushes out front lining the sidewalk up to the front door.

“You coming or what, snowflake?” Bakugou called out over his shoulder, him and his father already by the front door.

Natsumi was pulled out of her thoughts by his comment, pushing her awe aside and quickening her pace to catch up to the two already making their way inside.

The inside of the home was just as immaculate and beautiful as the outside and she couldn’t believe that someone like Bakugou could actually live in such a nice home. Everything was bright and inviting, the warmth that hit her upon entering almost knocked her back and she had to collect herself before venturing forward.

“Natsumi-chan, so happy you made it!” Bakugou Mitsuki popped her head out of a doorway that Natsumi could only presume led to the kitchen, the older woman drying her hands on a blue polka dotted dish towel.

“Of course, thank you for inviting me.” She responded politely, “Do you need help with anything?”

“Oh no, no, you’re a guest in this household. Besides,” She leaned forward with a grin, “that’s what this brat is for.” She thrust her thumb in Bakugou’s direction, he scowled.

“Go set the table.” She commanded her son.

“Fuck off hag, do it yourself."

“Don’t fucking argue with me.”

Watching Bakugou and his mother argue with each other over something so trivial as setting the table was an incredible treat to see because it was just completely expected. It was an interaction that she wasn’t surprised by at all, Bakugou’s attitude had clearly been inherited from his mother, although from what Natsumi could tell, the older woman at least knew when to be polite and civil whereas her son was severely lacking in that department.

The older woman clenched her fist and brought it down on her son’s head, he let out a loud string of expletives before stomping off towards the dining room to set the table.

“I know my son can be such a little shit, thank you for putting up with his shitty attitude at school.” Bakugou Mitsuki’s lips quirked into a small smirk as she turned her attention to the pink haired teen standing behind her.

“We all just sort of ignore him most of the time, though every once in a while when I’m feeling confrontational I’ll egg him on.” Natsumi laughed sheepishly before a feeling of defeat overcame her and she let out a sigh and mumbled, “Though, I guess I won’t have to worry about that anymore.”

The older woman frowned for the briefest of moments before placing the palms of her hands on Natsumi’s shoulders, forcing the girl to meet her gaze, “Buck up, kid. I don’t know the full story but from what I’ve heard from Katsuki it sounds like it’s all just one big misunderstanding. I’m sure you’ll get the ‘okay’ to head back to class soon enough once they’re done with their investigations.”

“Oi, table’s ready. Let’s eat.” Bakugou must have popped back into the room while she and his mother were talking, he was positioned up against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest and an impatient look in his carmine eyes.

Natsumi could visibly see a vein throb on Mitsuki’s forehead, the corners of her eyes twitching in irritation, “If you’re so eager to eat then why don’t you go check and see if everything is ready?”

“Whatever.” He pushed off of the doorframe and disappeared once more.

“We’ve been trying to teach him some manners but he’s so goddamn stubborn.” She let out an exasperated sigh, closing her eyes momentarily before motioning for Natsumi to follow her into the dining room where Bakugou and her husband, Masaru, were filling up everyone’s cups with freshly brewed tea.

“Katsuki told me that because of your Quirk you’re usually very cold temperature-wise so I kept that in mind when deciding on what to make for dinner tonight. I hope you like Sukiyaki.” She smiled, gesturing to the large pot in the center of the table where their meal had been simmering. The scent of seared and seasoned beef and the various vegetables stewing in their own broth was so tantalizing that Natsumi could literally feel saliva pooling in her mouth the instant she got a whiff of it. She couldn’t remember the last time she had had a home cooked meal.

“Wow, that looks incredible.” The teen expressed, turning to the older woman and bowing, “Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

“No need to be formal, we wanted to thank you for keeping this knucklehead safe during the attack.” Mitsuki pulled Bakugou into a headlock, giving the squirming teen a noogie while he growled out various curses of protest.

They all sat down around the table, each of them picking up their own pair of chopsticks and beginning to dig in to the pot of food at the center of the table. Each of them had a small bowl with a raw egg inside that they used to dip their meat and vegetables in for added flavor.

“I hear they’re still going through with having the Sports Festival, are you two excited about that?” Mitsuki asked after everyone had already tucked into their meal, her husband quietly enjoying his meal from beside her. He didn’t seem to speak very much from what Natsumi could tell, the two adults were polar opposites.

“I’m going to be the indisputable winner.” Bakugou declared through a mouthful of meat.

“Mhm, if you say so.” Mitsuki rolled her eyes before turning to Natsumi who had just popped a piece of cabbage into her mouth, “What do you think?”

The pink haired teen chewed her food quickly before swallowing it, caught off guard by the question, “Well, I guess it all depends on whether they allow me to go back but…I’d really like to compete,” Her gaze then shifted to Bakugou, a teasing smile playing on her lips, “I’d give you a run for your money, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah right, enjoy eating my dust, ice bitch.” He shot back, a fire alight in his eyes as he stabbed at a piece of meat with his chopsticks before chomping down on it loudly.

“Katsuki!” His mother and father both interjected disapprovingly.

Natsumi laughed dismissively, “It’s fine, it’s his nickname for me.”

“Has becoming a Hero always been your goal?” His mother questioned her.

It was weird being asked questions, especially something so personal, no one had ever really cared to get to know her or ask her what she wanted to do when she was growing up. She knew that Bakugou Mitsuki was just doing it to be polite and keep conversation flowing but something about the way she asked her, so softly, and coupled with the warmth of the meal they were sharing just made Natsumi want to cry. She wouldn’t, but the moment was so sincere that if she wasn’t so well versed at keeping her emotions in check that she just might have.

“Not…really.” She answered honestly with a lopsided grin, “I’m…I’m not sure how much of my past has been dug up and exposed at this point but Heroism was never in the cards for me growing up. I was brought up to follow a completely different path and it took a very important person to finally set me straight and steer me along the path to becoming a Hero. I will forever be in his debt for seeing the good in me.”

From beside her she could see Bakugou tense up from the corner of her eye, his gaze sliding in her direction in an almost curious fashion, he wanted to know what person she was referring to. She was sure that after she had been suspended that information about who she was had been revealed to the class, there was a reason why she had gone by a different name and changed her appearance, but none of that mattered anymore.

“Well I’m sure you’ll be a great hero one day.” Bakugou Masaru smiled across the table at her.

“Not as great as me.” The boy next to her smirked, she rolled her eyes in response.

The rest of the night continued on in a similar manner with everyone enjoying their meal, the two teens periodically answering questions asked by Mitsuki, taunting each other at every chance they got. Somehow, they got on the subject of birthdays and Natsumi admitted that her birthday was actually coming up, she was going to be sixteen in the middle of May.

“Katsuki’s birthday is on the twentieth, I know he acts like he’s eight but he’ll be sixteen if you can believe it.” His mother joked while Bakugou flashed the middle finger.

It felt so natural conversing with the Bakugous, as unconventional as their relationship with each other was with the way they spoke, it was refreshing and she didn’t have to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. She could tease and taunt and use as much sarcasm as she pleased without having to worry about offending anyone. They all spoke their minds, with the exception of Bakugou Masaru who was the odd one out at the table in that he preferred to sit back and listen rather than jump into the conversation around him.

It wasn’t until Masaru chimed in stating that it was getting late and reminded his wife that Katsuki had school in the morning that they all realized how late it had gotten. With their stomachs full and plates empty and clean, Natsumi bowed politely and thanked the two adults profusely for allowing her to be a part of their evening.

Once back home Natsumi noticed how quiet and cold her apartment truly was in comparison with the Bakugou residence which only furthered to amplify the loneliness that had settled thickly over her heart the past few days. Dinner had been a welcomed distraction but now she was back to her solitude and her thoughts and wasn’t sure how much longer she’d last if left to her own devices.

Chapter Text

Time was a relative concept when you had no reason to actually worry about it. Two more days had passed at a snail’s pace and she was beginning to feel entangled in a web of hopelessness that further cemented the despair she felt in her heart. She was spiraling further into her dark thoughts and was no longer safe from those treacherous thoughts in her sleep as they plagued her conscious and subconscious in the form of violent nightmares. She found herself tossing and turning in her sleep only to wake in the middle of the night drenched in her own sweat with the harsh stares of her classmates burned in her mind as they called her names with such derision that she began to believe that must have been what they truly thought of her after this whole ordeal. She began to believe that they were right to think such things about her.

Natsumi wasn’t sure what time it was but knew that it was early evening from what she could gather from the position of the sun peeking through the thick navy curtains drawn shut around her living room windows. The stray light filtering through was warm but muted in brightness which she assumed was from the fact that the sun was beginning to set behind the cityscape outside her apartment building.

Maybe it was because of all of this that when she found the bottle of amber liquid hidden away in the cupboard under the sink that she thought it was a good idea to crack it open and pour herself a shot. It tasted bitter on her tongue and burned all the way down to her empty stomach but there was a sense of comfort that she felt as she breathed in the familiar scent. It reminded her of times when her parents were actually home.

Training had been particularly rough on her both mentally and physically and Natsumi just wanted to hear from her mother and father that she was doing a good job. Her parents didn’t sing words of praise often, if not at all, however. Instead, they had simply sighed with eyes narrowed and let her know what she needed to improve on. It didn’t matter that she was only six and her small body physically couldn’t handle the level of power they wanted her to reach or the amount of damage they wanted her to be able to create.

The disappointment in their voices hung heavy over her and stung as deeply as the daggers they had had her practice with that afternoon. In addition to wanting her to have mastery over her Quirk they also voiced the need to know how to wield various weapons in the event that a Hero or Law Enforcement would have someone on their side that could disrupt the use of Quirks. Natsumi had been the one to choose sharp, lightweight throwing knives rather than something that was heavier than she was. With the addition of weapons to her training Natsumi found herself struggling to keep up with handling her ice as well as learning to utilize the throwing knives. Her parents were visibly frustrated by her inability to keep up at this point.

She was sent to her room without dinner, something she was used to by now. Whenever they expressed their displeasure with her progress, or lack thereof, they would send her to her room until the next day without any form of nourishment.

Her parents weren’t home very often and more often than not she was left to her own devices even at such a young age. There was another family that lived in the warehouse with them though, they were acquaintances of her parents but had shown her more kindness than her own mother and father had ever spared her.

She had grown rather close to that family in her own family’s absence, the two boys who were two years older than she was had taken an immediate liking to her and would sneak her various snacks when they knew her parents were home so that she wouldn’t go without eating. In return, she would sneak them up onto the roof in the dead of night and spend hours stargazing and giggling amongst themselves. Sometimes they would even spar, the boys were better versed in hand to hand combat due to their Quirks being more psychological based so they taught her the ins and outs of the different offensive stances and how to defend herself.

Unfortunately, those soft moments where she could escape always came to an end and she would have to climb back down to her room and slip back inside where the overwhelming stench of liquor and cigarettes would greet her.

Her head felt heavy and light all at the same time, her throat burned and her lips were beginning to tingle with an early onset of numbness sneaking up on her. She had never ventured this far, alcohol had always been something she swore she’d stay away from, not because of her being underage but because she saw how it had made her parents go from bad to worse and she never wanted to be like that.

But, desperate times…

Maybe she would drink herself into a coma. She had nothing else going for her at this point, no friends, no family, wasn’t in school, no job, simply living off of stolen money that innocent people had died trying to protect.

How could someone like me even dare to dream of being a hero?

She snorted. What a fucking joke.

Knock. Knock.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knuckles tapping against her door hurriedly, as if the person on the other side had quickly decided on making their presence known after a long internal debate.

Confusion threaded its way through her as she paused in her pouring of another shot, she haphazardously set the bottle back down on the counter, liquid sloshing against the side of the glass. She shuffled towards the door and pulled it open with miscalculated force that sent her stumbling back and if it hadn’t been for a rough hand reaching forward and grasping at the collar of her sweater she would have tumbled to the floor.

Instead, her body awkwardly hovered above the floor teetering on the edge of her heels. Her crimson gaze glanced behind her momentarily before trailing to the angry blond holding her up. His carmine stare narrowed into an annoyed glared before he untangled his fingers from the fabric of her sweater, allowing her to fall unceremoniously to the tiled floor beneath her.

“Oof.” She winced, bringing her hand back to rub at her sore bottom.

“That’s what you get for being a fucking idiot.” He spat, taking in her disheveled appearance and rosy cheeks, the scent of whiskey on her breath was a clear indication of what she had been up to.

“Baka-gouu whatir you doing here?” She slurred, pulling herself back to her feet, a slight sway to her balance as she stared at him in confusion.

His eye twitched at her mispronunciation of his name, “I knew you were a moron but I didn’t think you were this stupid. Getting drunk, seriously?”

She blinked, “I’m not drunk, I only hadafew shots.”

He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I can see that. You fucking reek.”

“I do not smell.”

“You smell like a bar, dumbass.”

"You smell like a bar.”

“Nice comeback, very original.” His lip curled over his canines, “Go take a shower and scrub that fucking stench off of you.”

“Ugh, fine.” She groaned, stomping off towards the bathroom and slamming the door behind herself. She wasn’t sure why she was taking commands from him or even why he was there in the first place but if she wanted to find out she probably should heed his suggestion and clear her head a little first.

Natsumi showered in record timing, she mostly just stood there letting the scalding water cascade over her body until her skin was a bright pink. She had to admit that just doing that had made her feel immensely better, her head was still a little hazy but her perception was clear enough to be able to face Bakugou and hopefully not make a fool of herself.

“Better?” He sat on her couch with his arms over his chest, carmine eyes regarded her mildly as she wandered back out into the living room. She was wearing a pair of grey leggings, a large mint green sweater that swallowed her small body up in the fabric, pale pink hair was damp and clung to her neck.

“Much.” She answered, lips down turning into a frown, “Now that my head is somewhat clear…what’re you doing here?”

The ash blond turned his head to the side, stubbornly refusing to meet her gaze. He was still trying to figure out why he had bothered stopping by after school had ended for the day. There was something that he had wanted to tell her and it had been on his mind for a good portion of the day, in fact, he had been thinking about it ever since she had come over for dinner. Bakugou wasn’t the type of person who gave inspirational speeches or to soothe another person with kind words, but with that being said if there was something on his mind he wasn’t afraid of letting others know what that was as long as it wasn’t too personal.

She shuffled closer, crossing her arms over her chest and peering down at him, “If you came over here just to sit on my couch and brood silently then I’m going to have to ask you to leave…”

He rolled his eyes, she always had something idiotic to say and that was something that annoyed him beyond measure. But then the memory of her tipsy and barely able to manage opening the front door without stumbling over her own feet came to mind. Bakugou wasn’t stupid. He knew that the reason she had resorted to such a terrible decision was because of her current predicament with Yūei which lead him to why he stopped over in the first place…

“You shouldn’t worry about what those bastards think.” He mumbled.

She paused, unsure if she had heard him correctly at first but then he continued to speak.

“If they’re going to judge you based on who your shitty parents were then those fucking extras aren’t worth your time.” His voice sounded rough to her ears and even Bakugou himself seemed unsure of why he was even bothering to say such things to her, but he was working towards becoming a hero and he had found her acting out in desperation. Maybe this was his own way of stepping in to nip things in the bud before they progressed to her doing something much worse than getting drunk in her apartment.

She opened her mouth to say something but his sharp glare cut her off, “And don’t think I didn’t notice your eyes. You were wearing a disguise this whole fucking time? Are you really that cowardly that you’d change your appearance because you’re afraid of what people would think? Maybe you’re not cut out to be a hero after all.” He spat, eyes narrowed in a heated glare.

A frown tugged at her lips and she found herself unable to meet his unwavering stare, “You’re right, I was afraid that I looked too much like my father and people would put two and two together. I’m not meant to be a hero. But…I’d like to be and I’m going to work on that.” She finally met his gaze with a determined look of her own, “And I’m going to do it as myself. No more hiding behind a fake name and appearance. Even if Yūei doesn’t allow me to come back, I’ll find a way to make it.”

He seemed to accept her answer, closing his eyes and leaning back, “Maybe one day you’ll have enough talent to work at my agency as a sidekick.”

“When you’re out on the streets because your shitty attitude made you the least popular Hero out there, I’ll remember the words you spoke to me today and I’ll take you under my wing as an apprentice.” She leaned forward with a cheeky grin.

Carmine eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet, a growl emanating from deep within his throat, “Say that again, ice bitch. I dare you.”

She laughed, “How about I play you. We’ll see who comes out on top.” She gestured towards the gaming system sitting on the floor in front of her television, game controllers and game cases laying haphazardously across the floor.

“You’re gonna regret challenging me.” He smirked confidently, plopping himself down in front of the television and snatching one of the controllers before browsing through her game selection. His fingers brushed over cases of various rpg’s and he snorted. Of course this fucking nerd would be into those types of games. His gaze landed on a game cover that depicted several popular fictional characters all fighting in a battle royale, he quickly popped open the case and loaded the game system with the disc.

“Just so you know, I’ve had a lot of practice.” She sat cross-legged beside him, grabbing the extra controller from the mess on the floor.

The system started with a whir of noise and the two picked their characters from the available list before deciding to let the game randomize and choose the battle arena for them.

The next hour was filled with button mashing, loud strings of expletives, and confident gloating from whoever had taken the lead for that particular match. Natsumi realized, with a grimace, that Bakugou was also quite good at playing video games.

Just when I thought I had found something he would suck at.

“Take that, you fucking nerd.” The ash blond slammed the controller down, his lips curled into a triumphant smirk as the television screen displayed ‘WINNER!’ plastered over the image of his selected avatar.

“Best twelve out of twenty-three?”

“Tch. Whatever, you’re still going to lose.”

“All right, if you’re so confident then how about we make a little wager?”

He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes but ultimately his curiosity won over the suspicion welling up within him and he leaned forward, “Hah?”

Seeing that she had piqued his interest, Natsumi continued, “Whoever wins the next game will be declared the indisputable winner and the loser will be required to bring them lunch for the next two weeks. How’s that sound?”

Bakugou’s lips split into a wicked grin, “I like my food extra spicy, none of that tasteless shit I see you eating all the time. Keep that in mind when you’re making my lunch.”

“Just because it’s not smothered in hot sauce and pepper flakes doesn’t make it tasteless.” Natsumi’s lips formed a small frown.

They both seemed to play so fervently during their next match that beads of sweat formed above their brows from the intense concentration both teens exuded as their fingers mashed against the colored buttons on their controllers in strategic patterns previously memorized. The game seemed to last forever while in reality it was really only about three minutes, but with an actual prize waiting at the end of the match for the victor they both played as if their lives depended on it.

“Fuck you, stupid bitch. You cheated!” The ash blond growled, throwing his controller across the room and watching in angered fascination as it skidded against the floor and collided against the wall with a resounding thud.

Natsumi let out a loud bark of laughter at his reaction, rocking back and forth as she continued to laugh uncontrollably. Bakugou’s lips curled into a dark scowl, eyes narrowed angrily and he thrust out his palms and shoved her hard. The pink haired teen stopped laughing just in time to let out a startled yelp as she lost balance and fell backwards on to her living room floor.

“Uncalled for.” She groaned, knowing that she’d be waking up to a bruise the next morning without a doubt. She quickly jutted out her leg, kicking him in the side, sending him sprawling to the floor in an unceremonious heap, “Haha, you look fucking ridiculous.” Lips quirked into an amused smirk as she used her elbows to prop herself up.

“I’ll kill you.” Bakugou seethed as he scrambled to his feet and ran towards her. She was quick to roll out of the way, aiming a swift kick to the back of his knees and sending him toppling over to the floor once more.

His finger tips crackled, bright angry sparks fizzing to life as he picked himself up off the ground, an irritated twitch in his eye.

“Ah-uh, no explosives in my apartment.” She chided, wagging her finger at him and was actually surprised when he suppressed his quirk, the sparks between his fingers disappearing as quickly as they came.

The blond didn’t need his quirk to beat her though, he was content with using his fists. He leapt towards her, catching Natsumi off guard as he landed on top of her with his full body weight, almost crushing her against the hard floor.

“Don’t fuck with me, ice princess.”

“Aw, that’s a rather flattering nickname.” She teased, staring up at him with a toothy grin.

He clicked his tongue and let out an exasperated huff, “You’re so fucking annoying.”

“Story of my life.” Natsumi rolled her eyes and pulled herself out from under him just enough to prop herself up, leaning back on her elbows, “Mind getting off? You’re really heavy.”

“You’re just fucking weak.” He sneered but, nonetheless, pulled himself to his feet and refused to meet her gaze, “Whatever, I’m out.”

Bakugou turned on his heel and disappeared behind her door, leaving her dazed and confused still lying on the cold hard floor of her living room. She wasn’t hurt or upset by his sudden departure, she was more or less just…perplexed by how civil and normal their day together had been. Sure, he had flung around his typical insults and the night had ended in them tumbling around her living room but there had been no malice or true anger behind his words and actions. It all just felt so normal and that was exactly what she needed right now. Maybe that was why he had humored her by playing video games and spending the last few hours with her, because he knew that she needed it. She needed that distraction to get away from her self-destructive thoughts even if it was for a small amount of time.

He’s not as bad as he likes to pretend to be…

Over the next two days Bakugou continued to show up after school and, staying true to their bet, had brought her ramen from the convenience store on the corner by her apartment. They would both sit down in front of her television with their bowl of ramen beside them, throwing teasing taunts and sarcastic quips at each other as they started the game system.

It was a nice little routine that she began to look forward to, it took her mind off the fact that it had been a week since the USJ incident and she still had not heard anything back from Yūei about their investigation or whether she would be permitted to continue her studies. With each passing day it was looking less likely that she’d have the opportunity to continue to go to school and she had to face the fact that she would need to start thinking about alternative ways of getting to where she needed to be.

I’m sure it’s not too late to transfer to another school. A small frown marred her pale face, Though, would anyone take me after hearing that the famous Yūei had discarded me so quickly?

Natsumi continued to have dark thoughts here and there, it was hard not to with the way things went down during their field trip but just being able to have something to look forward to was enough to keep her spirits up throughout the day.

The fact that Bakugou wasn’t intrusive and didn’t bother asking her questions about herself, her parents, or her past had been a huge relief. The paranoid part of her thought that the only reason he was stopping by was to satiate his curiosity, and perhaps even the class’, about her, her parents, and her past but…she quickly came to realize that that was not the case at all. He didn’t care about her past or who the people from it were, he only cared about kicking her ass at fighting games and rubbing it in her face.

Knock. Knock.

She glanced at her phone to check the time and frowned. Confusion swept over her when she realized that school was still in session and despite his ‘i-don’t-care-about-anything’ attitude Bakugou was rather studious and never would have skipped a lesson.

If not him then who…?

Immediately on high alert, her heart beat rapidly against her ribcage with such ferocity that she could hear the blood pumping in her ears, drowning out all other sounds. Had Ryou and Hibiki found her? Where they coming to finish the job or perhaps they would take her away and their cohorts would do the dirty work for them. Crimson eyes flickered towards the window overlooking the cityscape, she could make a slide out of ice and safely escape but then where would she go? She didn’t know anyone and no one would take in the daughter of two prolific villains, especially when she was being hunted by villains…she was more trouble than she was worth.

“Young Miyano, are you home?”

She knew that voice, the familiarity of it sending shivers of relief down her spine. Her fingers had coated themselves in a chilling rime during her panic and she quickly made sure to extinguish the frost before opening the door to find not just All Might but Aizawa-sensei and Principal Nezu standing there as well. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach at the sight of them and despite All Might’s and Principal Nezu’s bright smiles she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was about to receive bad news. Were they here to officially expel her from Yūei permanently? Had they somehow come to the conclusion that she had colluded with the villains because of what happened between her and Todoroki?

“Ah, I’m sorry I wasn’t aware you were stopping by.” She answered hurriedly after a brief moment of awkward silence, “Please, come in. Would you like some tea?”

“No thanks.” Aizawa answered tiredly.

“Oh, yes please! Thank you.” Nezu grinned.

“Please, have a seat.” She offered, motioning to her couch as she shuffled into the kitchen to begin heating up the kettle for their tea. All the while trying to swallow the panic that was bubbling inside of her. If she wasn’t careful she would end up throwing up from shear nervousness over the entire situation that was about to unfold in her living room. After a few aching, awkward moments of waiting the kettle on her stove whistled and she quickly removed it from the heat source, pouring the scalding water into three mugs. She watched as the water interacted with the tiny bags of tea that sat at the bottom of the mug, slowly rising to the top and bobbing there, expelling a light brown. Unsure of how they took their tea she quickly padded out to the living room and set a mug down in front of Nezu and the Symbol of Peace before returning to the kitchen for her own and a small bowl of sugar cubes.

“Sorry about the wait.” She apologized as she pulled a dining room chair out into the living room to face the three adults smushed awkwardly next to each other on the couch. If the situation hadn’t been such a serious one she would have laughed at how ridiculous the three adults looked sitting on her tiny futon—All Might in the middle with Aizawa and Nezu on either side of him, crammed against the armrests. She tossed a couple cubes of sugar into her tea.

“I’m sure you’re aware of why we are here today.” Aizawa-sensei began, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and he looked as if he would nod off right then and there on her couch at any second.

She bit her lip apprehensively, “I…have an idea why, yes.”

“First and foremost, we would like to apologize for the amount of time it took us to conduct our investigation of the events that occurred at USJ.” The small mouse supplied, wrapping his paws around his mug and taking a sip of the warm amber liquid, “We had no intention of keeping you in the dark for this long, but new pieces of information came up that delayed our results initially.”

Natsumi gave him a bewildered look, tilting her head and urging him to continue with his train of thought.

“From an outsiders point of view the way things panned out seemed to point in the direction of you colluding with the League of Villains when you went after Todoroki Shouto.” Aizawa brought up what she had been having nightmares over since the attack, she knew it would be a major point against her when the time came for them to speak with her but it still hurt to hear it mentioned out loud, “And not to mention that you appeared to have some sort of pre-existing relationship with two of the villains, I believe someone even mentioned you having a matching tattoo with them?”

She swallowed the bile that was slowly rising in her throat before answering, “I do know them, those two at least, I didn’t know any of the others that were there. But those two boys…I grew up with them, once upon a time they were my friends which explains the tattoos.”

“And the reason you attacked young Todoroki was…?” All Might asked, genuine curiosity alight in his darkened eyes.

“Their Quirks are very psychological and when used in conjunction with each other can really make you believe that you’re seeing, feeling, and hearing anything that they want you to. For me…I thought I was fighting one of those…” She shuddered at the thought of the vision she had been forced to see, “monsters…with the exposed muscles and brain matter. I didn’t even know it was Todoroki-kun until…until I had him on the ground.”

“I see.” All Might nodded.

“We are here today because we reviewed the eye witness testimonies over and over again and spoken with your classmates on how they feel about what happened and we would like to welcome you back to class 1-A. We are very sorry that it took this long to come to this conclusion and know that the past few days have probably been rough for you, we do have counselors available who will happily talk you through any misplaced anger or feelings you may have about what went down at USJ.” Nezu took another sip of his tea, sighing in content.

The crimson eyed teen stared at the three before her for a moment while she processed what Yuei’s principal had just said to her. She felt immense relief and excitement swell within her at the prospect of being able to return to school after being away for so long but…

“Do…do they know?” She asked quietly, bowing her head in shame.

“They do. I’m sure you can imagine the types of questions everyone had after you didn’t return to school with the rest of them. It was not our place to reveal that information that you had entrusted us with, however, the media had caught wind of things and we decided, ultimately, that your classmates were better off finding out from us rather than from watching the news.”

Natsumi grimaced, so the media knew who she was? That wasn’t good, that would make things difficult for her and for the school in the long run and she was sure that parents wouldn’t be too happy with her returning either…

“If the secret’s out then…wouldn’t the safer decision for the school be to not allow me back?” She glanced up at them sorrowfully before hastily adding, “Not that I don’t want to come back because honestly I do. But…I would think that people wouldn’t want me to go back after finding out…”

The three adults exchanged quick glances before Aizawa answered for them, “Not going to sugar-coat things for you, kid, but there were a couple of parents who were uneasy with the thought of allowing you back, however the decision ultimately was mine to make since you are a part of my class. Your classmates also voiced their opinions on the matter and it was unanimous.”

She expected parents to not want their children to associate or go to school with someone like her, someone who, in their eyes, could snap and become the villain she was ‘destined’ to become. But, what surprised her the most was that Aizawa-sensei had admitted that her classmates actually wanted her back…and he chose to allow her back in his class. Her chest tightened and her throat was suddenly as dry as the Sahara, all moisture seemingly allocating to her eyes as tears began to well up, threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“Thank you so much for defending me and allowing me to come back, I won’t let you down.”

“Young Miyano---”

“—I guess, since the cat’s out of the bag and all, I might as well go by my real name. No more hiding.” She interrupted All Might, using the back of her hand to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes.

“You are aware that being a Hero with your past is going to make people judge you heavily before they get the chance to know you, your actions and any mistake you may make will be scrutinized more so than that of your peers. Are you prepared for this?” Nezu-sensei’s voice was serious, his bright smile disappearing in an instant as he locked eyes with her.

“I know, I guess I’ve always known that sooner or later people would find out who my parents were, I was always just afraid. But the thing is, I’m not as afraid anymore now that I have people on my side who believe in me and I now believe in myself. I’ll work extra hard to prove to those who doubt me wrong, I’ll show them that I can be a hero and I’m not like my parents.” She finished with a confident grin.

All Might and Nezu were both moved by her strong conviction and even Aizawa seemed to offer her a proud smirk after hearing what she had to say.

“In that case, you’ll return to class tomorrow morning. You will have a lot of catching up to do but I am confident that you’ll be able to do it, one of your classmates will be stopping by later on with your makeup work. Please be sure to complete it within a timely manner so that you do not fall too far behind your classmates.” Aizawa then rose to his feet and started for the door, he had said all he needed to say and was ready to go home and take a nice long nap. The past week had been stressful on all of them with the investigation, the media pestering them about the attack, and even disgruntled parents throwing in their two cents. But realistically he knew it wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

Nezu was next to hop off of the couch, placing his empty mug on the little black coffee table and offering her a bright smile and friendly wave, “Thank you for the tea, good luck with your studies!”

Once Aizawa and Nezu had both left it was just All Might and Natsumi left, his large frame filled up her entire couch and she had to stifle her giggles at the sight. Aizawa and Nezu had barely fit on either side of him and she was sure that they were relieved to no longer be smushed up against the arm rest any more.

“Young Kurosawa, I’m proud of you.”

There was a heavy weight to his words of praise and she realized that that was the first time anyone had ever uttered such a phrase to her. Her parents certainly had never given her words of encouragement or praise and she hadn’t really done much good in her life previously to warrant such a phrase to be tossed her way. But from the soft look in his eyes she could tell that he meant what he said and that made her chest constrict once more, but this time it wasn’t out of anxiety, it was out of love and admiration for the man standing before her.

“You have certainly come a long way and grown much since our first meeting.” His lips pulled back into a small smile, much different than the typical beaming grin he usually donned, this one was more subtle, more caring and gentle in nature.

Things hadn’t been the same since her parents’ untimely demise. With all the shit they had put her through with her rigorous training regimes, intense punishments, and the negative things they would say to her...she missed them. They weren’t the best parents but they were hers. She wasn’t even sure what her next step would be at this point, she was thirteen and speaking from a legal standpoint couldn’t live on her own. The thought of being scooped up by government officials and being thrust into foster care terrified her far more than living on her own did.

It had only been two days since they had been killed in action by Japan’s Number Two Hero and it was still the leading headline on all major news stations, on the front page of every newspaper, and just all around the only thing people could talk about. The fact that people were praising Endeavor for his valiant efforts and bravery in taking down the Ghost Villain Spectre and the Water Demon, Hydra, two of Japan’s more prolific villains was appalling to her.

Yes, they were villains and they had done terrible things, taken lives of innocent people but…they were still people, they were human and who the fuck was Endeavor to decide that their lives should be taken away? They were there one minute and then gone in one single horrifying burst of flames and ash.

They didn’t have cable or internet in their abandoned factory home because no one was supposed to be living there in the first place, but that didn’t mean that Natsumi wasn’t able to stay up to date with current events. She would often sneak out to steal meals from the local convenience store and while she was out would stop and snag a newspaper or watch the televisions blaring the local news channels from store windows. It didn’t take long for her to find out what had happened and why her mother and father hadn’t returned home after what was to be a simple heist.

They had warned her about Heroes, that they were only in it for the fame and the money and that deep down not one of them was a decent person. Looking back, it was rather ironic for a couple of villains to be saying things that also applied to them as well, but Natsumi believe every word they said to her and now she had her proof that everything they had told her had been the absolute truth.

A gentle knock vibrated against the door of their makeshift apartment inside of the old, worn-down factory causing the small girl to jump in surprise. No one knew where they lived, her family had protected the whereabouts of their home base for years…well, the only other people who knew had been Ryou and Hibiki’s family but they were long gone by now having skipped town half a year ago.

She shuffled closer to the door, apprehensively reaching out for the brass knob, fingers gently brushing against the cool surface before quickly recoiling back as if she had been burned. Whoever was behind that door was no friend of hers. She began to go through various scenarios in her head of who it could possibly be. Was it Endeavor? Did he find out about her existence and come to destroy her like he had done with her parents? No…he would have probably burst through the door in a flurry of flames rather than knock to announce his presence. Was it the police? No…they would have also announced who they were before breaking down the door. So then…who?!

“Young Kurosawa, are you there?” A familiar, yet unfamiliar, voice boomed from the other side.

“Who’s askin’?” She leaned against the door, voice indignant and suspicious.

“I am All Might, I would like to speak with you if it’s not too much trouble.” His voice was loud but his tone was soft, gentle even.

Her eyes widened, if Japan’s Number One Hero was on the other side of her door, if he had found her so easily then there was no way that she was safe anymore. He had found her and was likely here to finish the job his comrade had started.

“No thanks.” She growled, rime coated her pale fingers as she produced small dagger-like weapons of ice in the event that he barged in.

A sigh sounded from the other side, “I’m not here on official hero business, I’m here just to talk.”

Natsumi rolled her eyes, “I know that trick. Listen, I know all about probable cause, for the record, I haven’t done anything wrong, so you’re just wasting your time.”

Her lips pulled back into a small, nostalgic smile, “Yeah, I remember it took a whole month of you visiting me every couple of days before I finally let you inside.”

All Might chuckled, “You were an obstinate child, that was for sure. But I understood where your suspicions came from considering all you had been taught growing up. I just wanted to show you that you didn’t have to follow the path that had been laid out for you.” He stared down at her with a fond, gentle gaze and Natsumi noticed that he seemed more tired than usual, “You have strong instincts, you’re smart, and have great control over your quirk...you just need to reign in that temper of yours. But I know you’re going to make a great Hero one day.”

Hearing those words from the Symbol of Peace himself felt so surreal, if someone like All Might could see the good in her then she couldn’t have been all that bad. That’s why she wanted to succeed as a Hero…because he believed in her and she didn’t want to let him down after he put so much faith in her. That, and she also wanted to prove that she wasn’t destined to became the person that her parents had trained her to be.

She beamed up at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners, “Thank you for everything, it’s because of you that I even had this opportunity. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.” Those were his parting words as he offered her a small wave and ducked under the doorframe that was too short for his large muscular body.

A little while later, right as the sun was beginning to spill a myriad of colors across the horizon, another knock came at her door. This one was tentative, as if the person on the other side hadn’t even wanted to make their presence known in the first place.

A frown tugged at her lips, she had expected it to be Bakugou but he was more assertive and loud with the way he rapped his knuckles against her doorframe. Curious now, she shuffled forward, pale fingers wrapping around the cool metal knob before yanking it open to reveal an unreadable set of heterochromatic eyes staring back at her.

They stared at each other for a moment before the boy shifted his weight and held out his hand, in it was a thick folder, “You missed quite a bit, here’s your makeup assignments.”

“Todoroki I…” She bit her lip, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in his presence, shame colored her cheeks as his gaze rose to meet hers. “I could have killed you.” A frown tugged at the corners of her lips.

“You didn’t though.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

That didn’t make her feel any better about what had happened though. He was acting as if it hadn’t been a big deal, but it had been to her and the school. He should hate her. They all should hate her. She was the progeny of two of Japan’s most prolific villains, she had trained under them up until their deaths two years ago with the intent of following in their footsteps.

Seeing Todoroki in person after what happened suddenly brought on a cloud of self-deprecation that almost made her stumble back from the sheer mental force of it. She was the bad guy here, she had the ability to literally rip the organs right out of someone. Why would Yūei accept her back and allow her to stand among their precious students?

“Are you okay?” Todoroki’s brows furrowed in mild concern for his classmate as she stood there in silence, her face contorting into various expressions. He was curious, wanting to know what she could possibly be thinking.

“No.” She answered truthfully.

When Aizawa had asked the class who would be available to stop by Natsumi’s apartment to drop off her schoolwork many hands had shot up. People had missed her and were eager to see her again and see if she was okay. What surprised him the most though was that he was among those who had raised their hands, he had rehearsed what he had wanted to say over and over again for days. He just needed the opportunity to see her to say what he needed to say. Maybe it was because Aizawa was also a little surprised to see Todoroki’s hand among those raised, or perhaps it was due to his reliability to get the task completed that he had chosen the boy to deliver the assignments. Regardless of the reason, Todoroki had been chosen and was now at a loss for words. He had expected her to have strong feelings towards what had happened and he had wanted to tell her to get over it, it was in the past and he harbored no ill feelings towards her because of it. If anything, if gave him the opportunity to see what he needed to work on in his own training to better himself and his fighting techniques.

But now here she was having some sort of mental breakdown and he felt awkward, unsure of what to say, if he should even say anything at all to her.

“Sorry, I just feel like…” She began, crinkling her nose in contemplation as she grasped for the words to express what she was feeling, “I feel like maybe Yūei made a mistake with me.”

“Yūei doesn’t make mistakes and neither do our teachers.” Todoroki answered easily, “You fought hard to get to where you are and to claim a place at Yūei, regardless of what you think or what anyone may say, you deserve to be here.”

He had a point but she didn’t want to see it, she had spent so much time alone over the last week and those thoughts that plagued her weren’t going to disappear so easily. They could be masked and pushed aside but they would always be there waiting to spring up and bear down on her like a looming shadow.

Crimson eyes rose up to meet his mismatched stare and it was the first time he had ever seen her natural eye color. Her hair was different as well, the pink was faded to a light rose color while her roots were beginning to grow out white. He understood why she hid certain aspects of her appearance from them after learning who she was and it made him wonder if he would have ever done the same. He loathed his father and everything that came with being his son, he hated his left side which reminded him so much of that man…but would he have ever gone through with actually hiding it under hair dye and contacts? Probably not, he wasn’t that much of a coward but perhaps if his father had been a villain as opposed to a Hero maybe things would have been different.

“You know…” She started slowly, “I wanted to hate you.”

That statement didn’t surprise him, his face remained calm and neutral.

“You were the son of the man who ruined my life, so when you were at the obstacle course in my group, I knew I had to beat you. I just…I needed to be better than you because that would mean that I was better than something that he had created and would bring me one step closer to surpassing him.” She let out a small chuckle, “And then we were in the same class and you probably didn’t notice or maybe you just didn’t care but during the apprehension test on the first day I was competing against you. I needed to have a better score than you.”

“I remember that.” He acknowledged with a nod.

“But…I don’t know, I quickly realized that I was being a fucking hypocrite because here I am trying to prove that I’m not my parents all the while lumping you together with Endeavor. You’re nothing like him.”

The corners of Todoroki’s lips twitched for the briefest of moments but it was enough of a change in expression that she was able to catch it. Those were words that he needed to hear, though he would never admit it out loud, especially not to his classmates. He hated his father and, while he did want to be a Hero, he didn’t want to be a hero like Endeavor.

“There is one thing that I’m curious about.” The boy began, catching her attention, ”Who were you recommended by?”

She paused, running her fingers through her faded wavy locks before bringing her index finger down to her lips with a smirk, “Can’t tell, it’s a secret.”

“I should have known.” He closed his eyes, letting out an amused sigh, “Well, I better get going. See you in class tomorrow.”

“Wait.”

He had turned to leave but paused at the gentle urgency in her voice, quirking a brow curiously he angled his chin to peer over his shoulder at her, “Hm?”

“If it’s not too much to ask, would you stay and help me study? I’ve missed a week’s worth of class and I don’t think I can get all caught up on my own.” She answered sheepishly and averted her gaze in embarrassment over having to ask for help, “Though if that’s too much to ask it’s fine, I can work on it myself.”

He shrugged his shoulders and turned back around, “It’s fine, I can stay.”

“Ah, thank you Todoroki-kun.” Natsumi’s lips pulled back into a grin as they ventured towards the table in her little dining room.

She set the thick folder down on the table’s surface and went to pour the both of them some tea while the boy sifted through the papers. When she returned with their cups the entire table was covered in various papers and she began to feel incredibly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that she had to catch up on.

“What?”

“Nothing, just didn’t realize how much I really missed.” She let out a small laugh.

“Most of it is easy stuff, you’ll be fine.” He assured.

They decided to work on the math worksheets first to get them out of the way, he explained some of the equations that they had learned during her absence and went over how to use them properly. Natsumi was quick to pick things up, a trait that she had to develop from a young age out of fear of disappointing her parents, so they were able to breeze through the math portion of her makeup work rather quickly.

“Oh? I didn’t realize you had a cat.” Todoroki raised a brow as the tiny creature brushed up against his left leg, emitting a loud purr from the warmth that he exuded. He reached down, allowing his fingers to brush against the silky black fur which only made the cat purr even louder, content with the attention she was receiving.

“That’s Kaguya.” Natsumi introduced, straightening up in her seat to peer down at her cat shamelessly rubbing against her classmate, “Wow, she really likes you. Usually she hides when someone comes over.”

He shifted his gaze to the girl beside him, briefly wondering who it was that she was referring to before turning his attention back to the cat rubbing her body against his leg and hand. He had always loved animals and cats in particular had taken a liking to him due to the warmth from his left side. I guess that’s one good thing to come from my left side.

“Shit, it’s getting late.” She expressed suddenly.

He tapped his phone to check the time and found that she was right, it was well into the evening and they had to be up early in the morning for class.

“I’m sorry I kept you so late.” Natsumi apologized before straightening up the papers that lay haphazardously across the table, “If it’s not too much to ask, do you think you could stop by and help me again tomorrow?”

Todoroki Shouto wasn’t the type of person who gave his time to others so freely, he didn’t need friends and he thought that his aloof attitude had made that pretty clear at the beginning of the school year. However, he didn’t find Natsumi as obnoxious as some of the others in their class, she wasn’t star-struck by him and his Quirk or his father and that was refreshing. Maybe some part of him felt responsible for the acts that his father had committed against her family and helping her catch up on her studies would be his way of atoning for what his father had done.

“I think I can manage that.” He answered finally before collecting his things and starting for the door.

“Thanks, Todoroki-kun.”

Once he had left she busied herself with cleaning up the rest of the papers and putting them back into the folder they had come in because she knew if she left them out Kaguya would end up chewing and ripping them apart while Natsumi slept.

She was excited to be going back to school in the morning but another part of her felt anxious giving her those first-day jitters all over again. Aizawa-sensei had assured her that her classmates had all missed her but a small part of her wondered if that were true, she had hidden a huge part of herself from them…if the roles were reversed she wasn’t sure if she’d be as welcoming to someone rejoining their class after such a scandal.

With a heavy sigh, she plopped back down on one of the chairs in the dining room, faded pink curls spilling over her shoulder. Gingerly, Natsumi took a strand between her fingers and brought it eye-level, scrutinizing the faded dye with disdain.

“It’s probably time that I fix this mess.”

Chapter Text

Natsumi struggled with her thoughts on returning to school and thus had been unable to sleep the night before, tossing and turning anxiously. So, it went without saying that the next morning when her alarm rang just as the rays of early morning light were beginning to filter through her curtains Natsumi let out a loud groan of protest.

Slowly she untangled herself from the mess of sheets that she had created during the night from her constant movement, placing her feet on the floor and yawning loudly. She was beyond exhausted and sincerely hoped that whatever was in store for her at school wouldn’t be too strenuous or thought provoking.

She began to get ready for the day ahead of her, running a hand through her tangled locks a few times before deciding that she was going to braid her unruly waves of milky white. Natsumi had been letting the dye naturally wash out of her hair over the past week but the night before, after Todoroki had left, she had decided that it was time to finally strip the remaining color. Afterall, the pink had been part of her disguise and she had promised herself and those who had come to see her that she was done hiding. This was the first step in initiating change.

Natsumi stood outside of her classroom, fingers outstretched and hovering hesitantly above the handle, she chewed on her bottom lip anxiously. It shouldn’t have been this hard, but it was. She was terrified. To any outsiders passing by she probably looked ridiculous standing stock still, unable to push open the door to her class. She could hear bits and pieces of muffled conversations coming from the other side of the door and briefly wondered if they were talking about her.

Breathe. Just breathe Natsu.

Drawing in a deep breath and slowly exhaling in an attempt to calm her nerves, she dipped her chin and pushed through the doorway.

All chatter came to a halt as soon as she shuffled through the doorway, every single set of eyes immediately landing on her as she stood before her classmates as if for the first time.

Drawing in a deep breath she straightened up, eyes set forward, “My name is Kurosawa Natsumi and I apologize for any trouble I may have caused in the past. I will work hard to regain your trust.” Crimson eyes locked with carmine for the briefest of moments and she could have sworn that she saw his lips twitch into a satisfied smirk before Natsumi made her way to her seat, dropping her backpack next to her chair with a thud.

“You know…somehow I just knew you weren’t naturally pink.” Ashido frowned playfully, fingers tugging at her own unruly pink locks as she spoke.

“You look so intimidating…yet still hot. My feelings are so conflicted right now!” Mineta cried out, clutching his head dramatically.

Ochako turned around in her seat, her pink lips pulling back into a warm grin as she addressed Natsumi, “We’re glad you’re back, Natsu-chan.”

The silver haired teen bit her trembling lip, willing away the tears that were threatening to spill. She had never felt so appreciative for anything in her life as she was feeling at this moment in time. Maybe her classmates had had reservations about her returning, maybe they didn’t, but what mattered to her was that they were welcoming her back with open arms, kind words, and warm smiles right now. Heat rose across her chilled skin at the thought, it was a warmth that she had never known before and it brought along feelings and emotions that she had never felt before but...they were nice and she hoped that these feelings never faded.

From the corner of her eye she caught a pair of grey and turquoise eyes regarding her in silent amusement which she surmised must have been because of her changing facial expressions. But nonetheless she tilted her head slightly to offer him a small smile.

The door slid open to reveal Aizawa-sensei who stifled a yawn as he strode into the room, all conversations ceasing at the emergence of their homeroom teacher. Dark, tired eyes landed on her for a moment before he addressed the class, “As you all know the Sports Festival is coming up quick, we briefly discussed this last week after USJ but for those of you who are unaware,” His eyes landed on Natsumi once more, “the festival will be held one week from now, you have all been training individually to work on the things that you need to improve upon to be at your best for the festival, we will be continuing to train individually today.”

“Oh yeah, you totally missed the Sports Festival announcement, Natsu-chan! I bet you’re excited to show everyone what you’ve got!” Ashido angled her chin over her shoulder, her lips splayed into a cheeky grin.

“If you plan on competing, Kurosawa, I would suggest that you complete your makeup assignments in a timely manner otherwise you will not be permitted to join your classmates at the Festival.” At Aizawa’s words, all excitement that had begun to build up in the pit of her stomach fizzled out.

A chorus of ‘not fair!’s and ‘you can’t do that!’ rose from her classmates in protest of their homeroom teacher’s announcement.

“No worries, I’ll help you get caught up!” Ochako grinned, pumping her fist in the air.

“I will happily assist you with your studies.” Yaoyorozu added with a soft gaze and congenial smile.

“I’ll help with whatever I can, too!” Kirishima grinned toothily.

“Ah, thank you so much everyone.” Natsumi’s lips twitched into a bright, appreciative smile as she stared out across the classroom at all of the faces beaming back at her.

Seeing everyone so bright and willing to help her brought on a mess of emotions that she wasn’t accustomed to but had been feeling a lot of that day.

It was nice to feel wanted.

“Who was the first Hero on the scene of the Kyoto Riots of ‘45, placing themselves between the rioters and the water cannons aimed at them?” Todoroki’s eyes roved over the words printed on the study guide on the table to his left while he picked at his cold noodles with his chopsticks.

The silver haired teen bit her lip, scrunching her nose in concentration as she mulled over the question. She not only had to shove a plethora of information that she had missed over the last week from all classes into her head in a short amount of time but also had to focus on the information that they were presently learning in class as well. All in all, it was a lot to learn and keep up with.

“Uh…” Crimson eyes met with turquoise and stormy grey, her lips tipping into a sheepish smile, “can I have a hint?”

He rolled his eyes, “You’ll never learn it if I keep giving you the answers.”

“Ah, you’re right, you’re right.” She apologized with a chuckle, taking a bite out of the rice sitting on the table in front of her.

“You never answered my question earlier.”

“I can’t remember which hero was—”

“Not that one.” He shook his head, “Why did Bakugou, of all people, bring you lunch?”

“Oh!” She let out a loud bark of laughter as she recalled the annoyed blond slamming the tray of food down onto the table in front of her, nearly spilling the rice and fish all over the place before stalking away, “I challenged him to a game of Smash Bros. and he lost.”

Todoroki quirked one eyebrow high above the other, his lips twitched at the corners, “And he actually honored the bet? That’s impressive.”

“Thanks, I was pretty surprised that he stayed true to his word too.”

Todoroki nodded his head, focusing on his soba while glancing over the study guide again to decide what question he should ask her next.

“I think it was Aomori, right?” She spoke suddenly, piquing his curiosity, “The first Hero who stepped in to protect the rioters from the police.”

He shifted his stare from her to the study guide to confirm the answer scribbled beneath the question, “That’s right.”

“Mind if we sit here?” Ashido tilted her head to the side cutely, lips pulled back into a friendly grin as she and half of the class stood behind her.

“We’re here to help you study, Natsu-chan!” Ochako beamed, placing her tray down on the table next to Natsumi before digging through her bag and pulling out a notebook and laying it out on the table in front of her, “I brought all of my notes, I’ll quiz you too!”

From the corner of her eye Natsumi noticed Todoroki stiffen in his seat, heterochromatic eyes slightly narrowed at the newcomers but he stayed silent, finishing his meal and ignoring the chatter going on around him. No more questions were asked by him as their classmates took over the study session, everyone pulling out their own notes.

When the dismissal bell rang at the end of the day Natsumi felt herself heave a sigh of relief, she was grateful to all of her classmates for stepping in and helping her go over all of the information that she had missed during her absence. But at the same time, it had been incredibly exhausting having to keep up with all the conversations going on at once and taking in so much new material that she was just ready to go home and relax a little before having to come back the next day and start all over again.

The Sports Festival was only a week away and if she wanted to compete then she would need to be at the top of her game both physically and mentally. She wasn’t terribly worried about Quirk Training right now, Though, everyone else is taking this so seriously, maybe I should spend a little time at the gym…

Chairs scraped against the tiled floor in a cacophonic medley that almost made her ears bleed as her classmates rose from their seats to either leave or chat amongst themselves. She wasn’t in the mood for anymore loud conversations where she felt the need to keep a grin plastered on her face or work on keeping a light and excited tone to her voice.

She noticed that her seatmate had begun to pack his bag, carefully putting away his notebook and textbook into his backpack before noticing her crimson gaze on him and quirked a curious brow in response.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to stare. Are you still coming over to help me study? I can make us dinner.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Why not? I did say I would.”

She wasn’t sure why that simple answer had brought so much warmth to her but it did, she could hardly contain her excitement as her lips pulled back into an eager smile,

“Okay, great. We’ll just have to stop by the market on the way home so I can pick up some ingredients for dinner.”

Grocery shopping with Todoroki Shouto had been an interesting experience. He was an intelligent teen, there was no doubt about that, but when it came to everyday things such as shopping, he was absolutely clueless, Natsumi had quickly figured out.

“Just grabbing a few things, I figured since you’re helping me, I’d make your favorite meal.” She bit back a laugh as he gave her a questioning look, “Cold soba, which I’m only assuming is your favorite meal because you have literally never gotten anything other than that during lunch time.”

He shrugged his shoulders and hummed thoughtfully, “No point in getting something different when I already know what I like.”

“Well, variety is the spice of life, you know.” She grabbed a bag of soba noodles from the shelf and tossed it into her hand basket, “Sooner or later you’re going to get sick of eating the same thing over and over again.”

“When that day comes I will let you pick my next meal.” His lips twitched at the corners.

Natsumi glanced over her shoulder at him for a moment before a small smile stretched her pale lips upwards, “All right, I’ll hold you to that. I’ve got great taste so I won’t steer you wrong.”

She finished grabbing ingredients for their dinner as well as a few extra things that she needed in general and shuffled towards the self-checkout with Todoroki following behind her, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his uniform pants.

“I can carry those for you.” Todoroki motioned towards the two grocery bags filled with their dinner ingredients.

Natsumi quickly glanced down at the plastic bags, her fingers hovering above the handles before firmly wrapping around them and lifting them off of the self-checkout carousal, “It’s fine, I got ‘em. Thanks for the offer though, I appreciate the sentiment.”

He shrugged his shoulders as they headed through the automatic doors and back out into the bright afternoon sun. As they walked back towards her apartment in silence he found himself steeling glances in her direction, quick subtle looks from the corner of his eye.

She had a small, wistful smile adorning her lips and he briefly wondered what it was that she could be thinking about, clearly lost in her own little world. He wasn’t sure why he had agreed to help her study in the first place, he had his own life to worry about and he typically didn’t care to insert himself in the lives of others. Maybe it was because of what happened during USJ, he was curious about her and her past, he had witnessed her strength first hand and he wanted to know more about how she was trained and what she knew. Maybe it was something as simple as the fact that she kept him company at lunch, even though he never asked for a meal companion it was nice to have someone there sometimes, even if they just ate in silence.

They stopped in front of the tall grey concrete building that Todoroki had visited the night before to drop off her school assignments, a quick glance in her direction confirmed that she had now pulled herself out of her thoughts and had come back to the world of the living.

He hadn’t had much time to really look at the building that she called home the night before but now that he was standing there, he realized that the building didn’t seem to be kept in the best shape. Briefly, he wondered if the complex was up to code.

The steps leading to the front door were chipped and worn, dandelions growing out of the cracks in the cement. The side of the building had what appeared to be graffiti spray painted in various colors on it, before he could take a closer look, he was being beckoned inside by the silver haired girl who he had agreed to help out. He quickened his pace to meet her inside.

Once they made it up to her apartment and took their shoes off at the door Natsumi shuffled into the kitchen and began pulling the store bought items out of her grocery bags. He wandered over to the fish tank in the corner of her living room, heterochromatic eyes following the movement of the brightly colored fish inside as they darted around the live rock.

He watched them for a few minutes before the sound of clattering pans brought him out of his thoughts. Todoroki made his way back towards the small kitchen area, surprised to see that his classmate had already begun to make their dinner.

Natsumi had a pot of water on the stove to boil their noodles in, though her attention was on a small pot that she stirred periodically that held the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar mixture that would become their dipping sauce.

The dual-color haired boy, after watching her cook for a minute or two in silence, turned around and deposited his backpack on one of the dining room chairs before rifling through it to remove his notes for them to go over.

Once he had their study materials all set up he turned back around just in time to watch her drain the noodles and dump them into the ice bath.

“Have you always cooked like this for yourself?” He found himself asking, breaking the silence that had befallen them as he watched her flit about the kitchen and tend to the meal she was making for the two of them.

She almost jumped at hearing his voice so suddenly, she had gotten so caught up in cooking and the quiet that had enveloped the cozy little apartment that she had almost forgotten that he was there to begin with. With a sheepish smile, she answered him, “I taught myself to cook when I was really young. I got so sick of just eating junk food and stolen meals from the convenience store down the street from where I lived and my parents---” She paused, she didn’t speak about her parents or her past very often, “—they, uh, were never around so I had to learn how to take care of myself from a young age.”

“It’s a useful skill to have.” He commented, watching as she finished up with the sauce and noodles, pouring the noodles into a strainer while running cold water over them before portioning them out into two individual bowls.

Tilting her head curiously as she carried the two bowls out to the table she frowned, “Were you never taught how to cook?”

He shrugged, “It wasn’t something that my father deemed necessary for me to learn. That, and we had a chef who would come and prepare meals for us.”

She let out a low, impressed whistle while offering him a teasing smile, “Damn, my life would’ve been so much easier if I had someone cooking for me.”

Todoroki shifted his weight, walking into the small kitchenette to retrieve the two tiny bowls that contained their dipping sauce and bringing it back out to the table. Natsumi followed after him and poured them two glasses of green tea before settling down in the seat across from Todoroki.

Ruby red silently watched the boy across from her, analyzing his every facial movement to determine what his opinion on the meal was. Todoroki was always hard to read, but watching him dip the noodles clutched between his pair of chopsticks into the sauce and lifting them to his lips she suddenly felt self-conscious of her cooking. Sure, it was a simple meal, pretty hard to screw up, but for some reason she wanted his approval.

He arched a curious eyebrow at her, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing his mouthful of noodles, “What? Is there something on my face?”

She shook her head and laughed sheepishly, “No, no. Sorry, I know you’re a soba connoisseur…how did I do?”

Todoroki blinked, returning her gaze with a contemplative stare, “It’s good.”

Natsumi’s lips twitched into a small smile at his words before adding in a teasing tone, “Good to know I can do something right.”

They finished their meal in silence, Natsumi clearing away their dishes afterwards while Todoroki prepared their study material, mentally going over which questions he was going to ask her first. When she returned to the table, he had a sizeable stack of papers in front of him.

“You ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She replied with a small smile.

“Before Heroism became a profession, criminals ran rampant across the country, people were disappearing left and right—what was the main cause for those disappearances?”

“Well, aside from murder being a big thing…Quirk Trafficking was also a huge deal back then. I’m sure it still is, we just don’t hear about it. But back then the crime syndicates were all doing it—if you were born with a desirable quirk then you were at risk of being kidnapped and used for profit.” She answered easily.

He read over the notes scribbled on the paper he was holding before nodding in confirmation that she had answered correctly. They continued on like this for several more hours, him reading off questions from her study guide while she answered back. There were times when she was uncertain of the answer and he would give her tiny hints, but never would outright give her the answer—he made her arrive at a conclusion on her own.

As the night progressed, she began to feel more and more confident with her knowledge on the History of Heroes and Quirks, English, and Modern Literature.

“I can’t thank you enough for taking time out of your day to come and help me study.” She spoke softly, appreciatively, as she walked him to the door.

Todoroki shrugged indifferently, “No problem.”

Classes had gone by exceedingly slow the next day, Natsumi was feeling the familiar tug of exhaustion at the back of her mind. She had been up late after Todoroki had left, making a surprise for him to show her gratitude but since he had already stayed rather late helping her study that only meant that she had not been able to go to bed until much much later than she would have wanted.

Stifling a yawn, Natsumi packed away her belongings and prepared to leave the classroom and head to the cafeteria. Glancing around, she noticed that she was one of the only people left in the room, she had been so caught up in her own thoughts and battle with exhaustion that she hadn’t even heard the lunch bell ring.

She gently pulled out a box wrapped in red cloth, tied off with a white ribbon, her fingers delicately wrapped around the sides of the container, holding it tightly against her chest as she left the room. She wasn’t even sure if he liked sweets to begin with let alone strawberry, but she felt the need to do something to show her appreciation for his help.

As she was rounding a corner, she felt herself collide with another student and immediately clutched the confectionary box in her hand protectively. She quickly glanced down to make sure that the box hadn’t been dented or jostled in the accident before turning to the boy that she had walked in to, noticing that his lilac eyes were giving her the once over.

“Ah, sorry about that. Wasn’t watching where I was going.” She apologized with a tired smile.

The boy gave no indication that he had heard her, his blank stare and thin-lipped expression unnerving her. She took in his appearance during this time, his hair was a messy deep amethyst with spikes sticking out every which way. He was taller than her by a decent amount, making his expression almost seem condescending in nature as he stared down at her.

“No worries.” He finally said after an incredibly awkward moment of silence, “So you’re that villain girl from 1-A, huh?”

Natsumi reeled back from the comment, lips drawn back into a scowl. Was that how the rest of the school saw her? She was just that villain girl that had weaseled her way into the Hero Course? Her mood was instantly soured by this interaction.

Now on guard, she unclenched her jaw and met his lazy stare with a determined gaze of her own, “Hate to break it to you but I’m no villain and I plan on changing everyone’s perception of me by exceeding all expectations and becoming a Hero.”

The slight quirk of his lips let her know that he was amused by her words, “Calm down, I know what it’s like to be seen as the bad guy. I’m not here to judge. Just here to say that if someone like you can make it into the Hero Course then I’ll have no problem getting in after the Sports Festival.”

Oh. He was one of the kids who couldn’t originally get into the Hero Course, that’s why he was bitter. It all clicked in her head now that she thought about it. From what she knew of the entrance exams there had been hundreds of kids competing for a coveted spot in the Hero Course—a select few got in, but those who weren’t exceptional enough to make it in but still had potential to become Heroes were placed in the other courses such as the Business Course or General Studies. He must not have stood out enough during the exam.

Briefly, she wondered what his Quirk could be.

“Well, if you truly know what it’s like to be seen as the bad guy then maybe next time you’ll think before you outright insult someone that you know nothing about. I’m here to make something of myself, the same as you, and I’m working hard to prove that I deserve to be here.” Ruby eyes narrowed, locking with tired lilac.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and held them up in mock surrender, his lips curled into a lazy smirk, “Hey, I get it. People like us have to work harder for what we want.”

She admired his determination and resolve, though his delivery needed work, “Anyone can become a Hero regardless of their past or their Quirk. You just need to work on your people skills.”

A low chuckle rumbled past his parted lips, “Maybe so. I look forward to speaking again, Kurosawa.”

Caught off guard by his use of her name, she called out to him after he had already turned and begun to walk away from her, “What’s your name?”

He stopped but didn’t fully turn around, instead he angled his chin over his shoulder and glanced back at her, “Shinsou Hitoshi.”

Still rather annoyed by her run in with Shinsou, Natsumi made it to the cafeteria and scanned the crowds for that familiar head of peppermint hair. Once locked onto her target, she made a beeline for him with the box tucked safely under her arm.

“Here.” She took the seat across from him, pushing the cloth wrapped box towards him.

Understandably, Todoroki was confused by the action and stared down at the gift with an arched eyebrow before turning his gaze back to her, “What’s this?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, “Just a little ‘thank you’ for helping me last night. We covered a lot of material, thankfully I should be fine to go over the rest of it by myself but I just wanted to show my gratitude.”

He quietly pulled on the ribbon to unravel the bow that kept the cloth tied around the confectionary box before carefully opening the box to reveal a strawberry tart. The crust was golden brown and looked like the perfect balance between firm and flaky, the shell was filled with a light pastry cream and atop that Natsumi had cut up strawberries and arranged them in a geometric pattern.

“Did you make this?”

She nodded, lips upturned, “Yeah, after you left I started making it. I wasn’t sure what type of desserts you liked, if you even liked sweets to begin with, so I just took a shot in the dark.”

Turquoise and stormy grey eyes silently observed her for a moment before turning back to the pastry sitting in front of him on the table. If he hadn’t known that she had made that tart he would have assumed that it had been purchased from a local French bakery.

Todoroki lifted his gaze to meet her’s, “Thank you.”

A tray suddenly slammed down in front of her, causing both students to glance up at the offended, Natsumi in surprise while Todoroki remained indifferent. Bakugou had his typical scowl plastered across his face as he turned on his heel and stalked off.

“How’s that for service?” Kirishima walked by with a group of their classmates, marveling at the tray of food that the retreating ash blond had just deposited infront of the silver haired girl, “What do I have to do to get Mr. Sunshine to buy me lunch?” He joked, lips pulled back into a toothy grin.

“Ohh, maybe Bakugou-kun’s got a soft spot for Natsu-chan!” Ashido gushed, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“No way, looks like you’ve got some competition Todoroki-kun!” Kaminari added with a wink.

Todoroki stared blankly at the trio, unbothered by their comments and continuing to eat his noodles. He chanced a glance over at his seat mate and confirmed that she wasn’t as unbothered as he was. Quirking a brow, he watched as her face tinged a light pink from embarrassment while her brow twitched in annoyance.

“Trust me, no one is out here vying for my affection.” Natsumi answered, eyes slightly narrowed at the three.

The pink haired teen shared a look with the blond before shrugging her shoulders, “Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Natsu-chan.”

Kirishima watched the two tease the ruby eyed girl for a moment, chuckling to himself before turning his attention back to the two sitting down, “Hey, did you make that? I didn’t know you could bake.”

“What? No fair! That looks so professional, I want one!” Ashido frowned, peering down at the tart.

Natsumi bit back a smile, before letting a small sigh escape her lips, “When I have a little more time, I’ll make something for the whole class.”

“Sweet! I can’t wait to try it!” Kaminari pumped his fist in the air excitedly, grinning down at her.

Chapter Text

Once settled back into their seats after lunch, the class rumbled with excited theories of what they could possibly be doing in Hero Training. It was unanimously everyone’s favorite part of the day, they were aspiring Heroes after all, getting to hone their skills was what everyone looked forward to.

Aizawa-sensei entered the room shortly after the tardy bell rang, his tired eyes roaming over his students a moment before he spoke, “Today we will be working on hand to hand combat.”

The class seemed split down the middle in their responses to that, it was mainly the teens who were already physically strong who were voicing their excitement. Whereas Kaminari, Mineta, and several other of Natsumi’s classmates let out a groan at the thought of training without the use of their Quirks.

Their homeroom teacher continued, ignoring his class’ reactions. “While honing your Quirk is very important it is equally as imperative that you learn how to fight and defend yourself should a situation arise where you are unable to use your Quirk.” He pointedly stared at several students in particular, Bakugou being one of them, “Some of you rely too heavily on your Quirks as is, in order to be a successful Hero you will need to have a wide range of skills and abilities to fall back on. Go change into your gym uniforms and then meet back here to follow me to the Dojo you will be training in.”

The class dispersed to go change into their athletic uniform as quickly as possible so as not to invoke the wrath of their homeroom teacher. Once everyone had made it back to the classroom Aizawa motioned for them to follow.

“Hell yeah, I’m excited to learn some new moves!” Kirishima grinned as the class began to move in unison to trail after Aizawa-sensei.

“Learning how to defend yourself in combat is very important, not just for Hero work but also to protect yourself as well. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can today.”

Yaoyorozu’s gentle smile eased the nerves of those around her who were feeling anxious about their afternoon exercise. Mainly Mineta who seemed to be sweating bullets at the prospect of having to go up against any one of his classmates who towered over him.

Natsumi tilted her head and muttered, more to herself than anyone else, “I haven’t sparred in a while, I’m really excited about today’s activity.”

“Oi, Ice Bitch.”

She rolled her eyes and let out a loud, audible groan as Bakugou called over his shoulder to her.

“I want a fucking rematch, if I win, I don’t have to bring you lunch anymore.”

She paused mid-step before quickly apologizing to Todoroki who had been walking behind her and had to step aside to avoid bumping into her. Natsumi resumed her pace, a small amused smirk pulling at the corners of her lips, “And give up my free lunches? Oh, I don’t think so.”

The ash blond let out a feral growl, “Either way, I’ll enjoy kicking your ass.”

“You do realize that this is a training exercise, right? Meaning, that the teachers will be pairing us as they see fit so chances of us being put together are pretty low.” She laughed before adding in a teasing tone, “Though, I would love to beat your sorry ass all over again.”

“I’ll fucking kill you!” Bakugou snarled, ready to lunge at her if it weren’t for Kirishima and Sero holding him back as Natsumi let out a bark of laughter in response to his attitude.

“I see you two are as close as ever.” Todoroki commented from beside her with a raised brow.

She nearly jumped at the sudden sound of his voice, ruby eyes glanced up and were instantly met with stormy grey and turquoise. He was regarding her silently with that same unreadable expression that drove her crazy—she hated not being able to figure out what someone was thinking and he was so good at keeping his mask in place.

“Maybe a little too close, I think he’s obsessed with me.” She whispered back, almost conspiratorially.

“It does seem that way, doesn’t it?”

“All right class, enter here and be sure to pay attention to what you’re taught as it will come up on later exams.” Aizawa drawled, ushering the class through a pair of double doors that lead into a large open space with grey matted flooring.

Standing at the head of the room was a man who had to be at least 6’8” in height, his arms were crossed over his chest but the students could tell, even from the distance they were at, that he was well built from the way his muscles bulged. His skin was a rich umber hue that was further complemented by a thick head of dark tightly bound curls that he had pulled back into a bun. What stood out the most, however, were his eyes; a bright glacial blue, almost white in color.

“W-wait a minute.” Midoriya muttered from the head of the group, emerald eyes wide in recognition, “That’s Akimatsu Ken’ichi the Shield Hero, Tank!”

The man grinned, his eyes landing on the small mossy haired boy, “That’s Akimatsu-sensei while you’re in my Dojo.”

“Y-yes sensei!” Midoriya straightened up nervously at being called out.

“I will be teaching you hand to hand combat as well as defensive maneuvers this year. Today we will be focusing more on defensive strategies. I will be showing you some moves that you will then copy and use against your partner. Your goal today is to learn how to successfully block an oncoming attack without taking damage.” His voice was loud and deep, echoing across the empty gym.

Bakugou scowled at that. He had no need for defensive tactics if he didn’t plan on getting hit in the first place. The lesson, all in all, seemed like a complete waste of time to him. What was the point of learning combat training if he wasn’t able to beat the shit out of someone?

“The pairings will be as follows,” He pulled out a piece of notebook paper from his pocket, squinting down at it and reading off the names that he had scribbled down hastily before class, “Bakugou Katsuki and Midoriya Izuku.”

Midoriya let out a startled cry, glancing over at the ash blond who seemed eager to ruin someone’s day—specifically, Midoriya’s. The mossy haired boy bit his lip anxiously, already knowing the outcome of this exercise.

More names were called out and those people moved to stand with their designated partners, excitedly awaiting the rest of the names to be called so that they could begin their lesson.

“Kurosawa Natsumi and Mineta Minoru.”

Natsumi’s face fell as soon as her partner was named, ruby eyes sliding over to the purple haired boy who bounded over to her, a string of drool dribbling down his chin no doubt from some perverse thought.

“Sensei, you didn’t call my name and everyone is already paired up…” Ojiro frowned, glancing around at his classmates before turning back to their instructor.

“Ah, sorry about that, math was never my strong suit.” Akimatsu-sensei chuckled, “You will be paired with my assistant, she will keep you on your toes. I will be supervising everyone and correcting your form when the need arises.” He addressed the class as a whole with the final part.

“All right, I’ll be demonstrating some very basic defense techniques with the help of my assistant, be sure to pay close attention.” He grinned.

A young girl stepped through the double doors and made her way towards the front of the room to stand beside the teacher. She appeared to be a fellow student but was most definitely older than the teens of 1-A. She wore the U.A gym uniform, her long blonde hair tied back in a messy bun, deep amethyst eyes stared out over the class with interest.

“I’m Amehara Yuuna, second year and assistant to Akimatsu-sensei.” Her lips pulled back into a bright smile, giving a little wave to the first years.

“Alright, let’s begin! Amehara-san will help me demonstrate proper techniques that you will then, in turn, replicate and use on your partners. You will switch back and forth with one of you playing the part of the offender while the other tries to defend the attacks. Does everyone understand?” Glacial eyes scanned over the group of students standing before him, when they all cheered ‘Yes, sensei!’ he nodded to himself and turned to face the blonde second year.

“Alright, we’ll show you in real time what the moves are going to look like and then we will break it down and repeat them in slow motion for you to see, got it?” Amehara spoke up before turning her attention to her sensei and crouching down into a defensive stance.

Akimatsu rushed forward, swinging his fist towards her gut, Amehara brought her arm down and deflected the blow while pulling her other fist back and attempting to strike her sensei in his chest while he was distracted. Unfortunately for her her blow did not land, he was able to swiftly shield himself from her attack by bringing his arm down at an angle to block.

This went on for a few moments, class 1-A having a difficult time following along as the two exchanged blows and blocks at such a speed that made keeping up seem impossible. After what seemed like an eternity of the two going back and forth, seemingly forgetting that they had an audience in the first place, they stopped and turned towards the class

“Alright, now we’ll break it down slowly for you. Pay close attention to the form, each movement must be precise or else you risk taking damage and possibly breaking a bone in the middle of a fight.”

Suddenly, nearly all eyes were on Midoriya who let out a startled squeak at the attention from his classmates.

“Watch my movements as Akimatsu-sensei goes in to strike me. I’m moving my arm like this to deflect his attack but the exact angle that I’m holding it will keep it from breaking beneath the pressure of his blow. This is key to keeping yourself safe during an attack.” Amehara’s eyes remained trained on her mentor as he moved in slow motion towards her, the class watched in bated breath.

“Alright, please get together with your partner and find a space on the floor to practice what we’ve just shown you. I will be observing each of you and will step in to assist if need be.” Akimatsu announced, motioning for the teens to begin their training exercise.

Natsu inwardly groaned at the thought of having to work with, quite possibly, the creepiest kid she had ever met—and she had met her fair share of weirdos in the Underworld during her parents’ reign. But there was just something so unsettling about the purple haired boy and it didn’t help that he always had some sort of perverse thing to say when it came to the girls in their class. His very existence set her off and she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to control herself completely if he said something or made one wrong move towards her during their training exercise.

Just give me an excuse to knock you out. I dare you.

The pairs around them began to work together, using the knowledge they had attained during the demonstration. Natsumi and Mineta stood across from each other, the very obvious difference in height making the whole thing more awkward than it already was. She was waiting for him to make the first move as the attacker but he stood where he was, seemingly too nervous to make a move.

“Hey, not sure if you understood the point of the exercise at all but you’re supposed to come at me and I’m supposed to block your attack. Then we switch off and you do the same.” She explained slowly, trying her best to keep the irritation she was feeling from seeping into her voice.

Mineta straightened up, almost surprised that she was talking to him in the first place, “Y-you’re giving me permission to touch you?” He stammered, a determined look suddenly alight in his dark, beady eyes as he scrambled forward with his arms outstretched, fingers reaching for her.

Natsumi rolled her eyes and groaned, he was completely missing the entire point of the exercise and letting his crazed imagination get the better of him. He was small and quick which was the one thing that gave him any sort of advantage, but she was determined not to let his grimy little hands touch her in any way.

As he neared her, she crouched forward, angling her arm in the same way that Amehara-senpai had to block the attack. Mineta was a little quicker than her in that moment, however, and ducked below her arm before jumping up and clinging to her abdomen. His eyes glazed over as he rubbed his face against her stomach, a string of drool oozing out of the corner of his lips and creating a wet spot on her gym uniform.

Natsumi cried out in surprised outrage, completely forgetting the initial rules of the exercise dictating that that were prohibited from using their Quirks. She placed her rime coated palms on either side of him, allowing the frost to slowly move from her hands onto his shoulders, slowly enveloping him in a thin layer of ice.

“N-n-not f-f-air! C-c-cold!” He cried through chattering teeth as Natsumi tightly gripped his shoulders and threw him off of her roughly. His partially frozen body collided with the matted floor, skidding across it several feet.

A couple of her classmates paused in their own matches to watch the exchange curiously.

“Hey, hey. What did I say about the use of Quirks?” Akimatsu-sensei called out, voice stern and hands on his hips, “Don’t make me come over there.”

“Sorry, force of habit.” She shrugged, crimson eyes watching her partner warily as he began to pull himself back to his feet and brush off the melting ice from his uniform.

“You ready to properly try this again?” Natsumi narrowed her eyes, hoping that the emphasis in her tone was enough for him to understand.

“You ready to fucking die, Deku?” The ash blond smirked, readying himself for Midoriya’s oncoming attack.

The mossy haired boy faltered at his childhood friend’s choice of words; he should have been used to that sort of talk by now but it always took him by surprise. Midoriya shook his head and rushed forward, aiming a blow to Bakugou’s abdomen to which he immediately blocked with his arm, just as they had been shown.

The temperamental blond used his other hand to land a rough blow against Midoriya’s shoulder during the smaller boy’s moment of distraction, successfully knocking him off balance. Midoriya stumbled backwards a few steps before running forward once more, determination alight in his dark emerald eyes.

Bakugou sneered, tiny sparks lighting up the tips of his fingertips as the smaller boy came at him once more. Just the mere sight of Deku was enough to make his anger bubble up inside of him, that pathetic boy who always tried his best to look on the bright side of every situation—it made Bakugou absolutely furious just looking at his stupid face.

He grit his teeth and balled his fists, reeling his arm back and aiming a punch at Midoriya’s face. Luckily, the smaller boy was quick enough to bring both arms up, crossing them to protect his face from the attack.

“K-Kacchan!”

“Hey! No hits to the face! And what did I say about Quirks? Don’t think I didn’t see those pretty little fireworks of yours, kid.” Akimatsu growled out, his voice sounding almost tired at having to repeat himself so soon.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, his irritation for not only Midoriya but the instructor growing by the minute. He had no interest in learning these stupid defensive techniques, he really just wanted to hit something and Midoriya was the perfect target to take his aggressions out on.

“Kacchan, we are here to practice defensive and blocking maneuvers, can we put our differences aside for the sake of this exercise?”

“Shut the fuck up.” The explosive older boy growled, carmine eyes narrowed. He stalked forward, the action making Midoriya straighten up and reposition his feet to stand his ground. Bakugou pulled his fist back, letting it fly towards the boy’s stomach once more. Of course, Midoriya was ready for that and was able to block it with ease. However, what he wasn’t ready for was the swift kick to the side, sending him flying backwards and sprawling onto the matted floor.

At that very moment, across the room Natsumi had yanked Mineta off of her and slammed him against the floor, fingers wrapped around his throat.

“Touch me again and see where that gets you.” She seethed, ruby eyes glaring down at the terrified boy who struggled against her grip. He seemed torn between his fear and excitement at being pinned beneath an attractive girl.

A whistle abruptly blew in rapid succession, piercing the air around the students of 1-A and successfully halting any and all movement as all eyes turned to face the teacher at the front of the room. He stepped off of his platform, silver whistle dropping from his lips and bouncing against his chest as he strolled forward, arms crossed sternly across his chest.

“The majority of you are doing great, keep up the good work. However, two teams,” His eyes darted between Bakugou and Natsumi’s teams, “have made me yell out more than once and I’m starting to feel a little frustrated by it. I don’t like to yell, do I Amehara?”

From somewhere off to the side, where the young blonde haired girl had been sparring with Ojiro she piped up, ”You sure don’t! It makes your throat sore and in turn makes you super unpleasant to be around because you just complain about it all—”

He rolled his eyes, “Okay, I think they get it.” He turned his attention back to the first years, “Point of the matter is that I don’t think I’ve ever had to stop class in the middle of practice but watching you two interact with your partners in such a dangerous capacity has me questioning a lot of things—one of which is your ability to work well with others.”

Natsumi could feel the eyes of her classmates at her back and she slowly uncurled her fingers from Mineta’s throat and rolled off of him, pulling herself to her feet. The terrified boy scrambled to his feet and skittered away.

“I’m willing to give you both one more chance before I take action and subtract from your grade for the day.”

“May I suggest that maybe we switch partners?” Natsumi proposed hopefully.

He seemed to consider her suggestion for a moment, his glacial eyes piercing through her while he mulled over his options before, finally, letting out a sigh, “That’s probably for the best considering you both tried to kill your partners. Alright, we’ll switch it up; Kurosawa and Midoriya will be partnered and Bakugou and Mineta will also be partnered. Now, I don’t want to have to speak to you two again so play nice.” He turned on his heel and strode back over to the front of the room to resume his observations over the class.

Bakugou’s cold carmine eyes narrowed on Midoriya, “You lucked out this time.” Before he stalked away to find his next target. Mineta cowered, under the ash blond’s carmine glare.

The rest of the class resumed their practice with their partners while Natsumi strode over to the mossy haired boy, a lopsided grin pulling at the corners of her lips as she met up with him.

“Do I even want to know what happened?” Midoriya teased with a light chuckle.

“Ah, you know, just Mineta being his usual creep self.” She shrugged.

“Well, here’s hoping I’m a better partner than your last one.” He grinned, running a hand through his unruly, mop of green curls.

“Likewise, I hope I can live up to your high expectations of what a partner should be.” She joked, raking her fingers through her snow-white waves before pulling it back into a high ponytail to keep it out of her face.

The two squared off, taking turns exchanging blows and blocking each time the other went for a hit. It felt like a well-choreographed dance, the two teens bouncing back on the balls of their feet before jumping back in for more. Natsumi had to admit that Midoriya was a much better partner than the purple haired pervert had been, that was for sure.

“You know…” He started almost warily, glancing up at her as they practiced.

She hummed, urging him to continue with his thought.

Midoriya bit his lip anxiously, “I’ve been w-wanting to apologize.”

That piqued her interest, she swung around and jabbed at his mid-section but he quickly brought his arm down to counter, “Apologize for what?”

“I never reached out or tried to visit you when you were suspended.” He huffed, out of breath from the workout they were getting. It was much more labor intensive than he thought it would be, he was enjoying having her as a partner rather than the angry blond though, at least she wasn’t trying to kill him. Not yet at least.

Her lips formed an ‘oh’ at what he had said but she made no move to respond, instead she threw her body at him, trying to catch him off guard but he was on it and swung around, jutting his elbow out to strike her. She was pretty quick to counter the attack with a jab of her own, neither of them getting an hits in edgewise.

“It’s just been on my mind for a while now. I’m sorry, Natsumi-chan. I was stupid and bought into the rumors—everyone did—I shouldn’t have, we shouldn’t have, but it was so easy when it was all everyone else was talking about.” He admitted, voice going soft and eyes downcast before meeting her with a small smile, but the guilt was still shining brightly in his eyes, “You know, it was actually Kirishima and Kacchan who had spoken up first in your defense.”

Natsumi felt rather taken aback by such a revelation. She had suspected that her classmates had fallen prey to the rumors circulating around campus about her, she had hoped that they would have thought better of her but…she really couldn’t blame them. After all, she was the daughter of two prolific villains and her actions at USJ would have looked incredibly suspicious to anyone on the outside looking in. But it still hurt to hear it, especially from Midoriya.

“I think everyone was surprised when it turned out to be Kacchan, of all people, to bring us back to our senses.”

“You know…during that time, he was the only one that came to visit me.” She admitted quietly.

Midoriya faltered at her words, feeling a mixture of guilt and shock by her reveal. Guilt, because out of everyone in their entire class…only one person came to see her when she needed it the most. Shock, because out of everyone…it was Bakugou who visited her.

While he was distracted by his own thoughts, she took that as her opportunity to land a strike against his abdomen, sending him stumbling backwards. That pulled him out of his stupor and he quickly regained his balance, incredulous emerald eyes catching Natsumi’s gaze.

Her lips pulled back into a mischievous smirk, “Midoriya-kun, seriously don’t worry about it. I don’t hold it against you or any of the others. Honestly, I probably would’ve believed the rumors too if I were in your shoes.”

“I promise I’ll work harder to be a better friend.” He declared, lips twitching into a sincere smile.

Before she had time to respond, a loud commotion caught their attention. Turning to get a better look, Natsumi and Midoriya exchanged unsurprised looks as Bakugou roared with anger, chasing after a squealing Mineta.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?!” The angry blond growled, sparks flying from his finger tips as he ran after the tiny teen who was quick on his feet.

“I-I w-w-was j-just making an o-observation!” Mineta screamed, dodging in and out of bodies in an attempt to get as far away from the angry blond.

“Well you were fucking wrong, grape boy.” Bakugou seethed, eyes narrowed.

“What do you think Mineta-san said to set Bakugou-san off so bad?” Hagakure asked Jirou curiously.

“Who knows, it could literally be anything considering Mineta-san’s creepy personality and Bakugou-kun’s easily angered one.” The purple haired teen shrugged, twirling one of her earlobes around her finger absently.

Akimatsu-sensei blew his whistle right as Mineta found safety hiding behind his wide, muscular legs. The dark-skinned man narrowed his eyes disapprovingly as Bakugou skidded to a halt mere inches from colliding with the irritated teacher.

“I’m very disappointed in the way you kids are actin’, this behavior is not befitting of a Hero in the making.” He started, arms crossed over his chest as he stared the indignant ash blond down, “I’m going to use this as an opportunity, however. Learn from these two—do not let words spoken during battle get to you, your enemies will use any tactic possible to distract you and get under your skin. If you allow their words to get to you then you’re no longer focused on the fight and that can cost you your life.”

Bakugou scowled at being called out, carmine eyes narrowed and unwavering as they met the hardened icy gaze of their teacher. The rest of the class watched quietly, nodding their heads at the sage advice given by Akimatsu-sensei.

“Alright, class dismissed.”

The end of the day came soon enough, most of the class hung back to chat amongst themselves about the day and the defense techniques they had learned, some theorized about what Mineta could have said to Bakugou to set him off. Typical end of the day conversations.

Natsumi slid her chair back against the tiled floor before wrapping her fingers around the straps of her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, preparing to leave for the day. She bid her classmates goodbye and slid open the door before halting in her tracks, lips pulled into a frown and brows furrowed in confusion.

They were trapped by a sea of students crowded outside of the door, all attempting to get a glimpse of the students of 1-A.

“What’s going on? Who’re all these people?” Sero frowned.

“We’re trapped! How’re we supposed to get out?” Hagakure cried out in panic from her desk.

“Do you students have some sort of business with our class?” Iida stepped forward, his voice taking on an authoritative tone.

“Why’re they blocking us in?!” Mineta cried, raising a hand and pointing at the offenders.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Natsumi glanced over her shoulder towards the ash blond who had just spoken, his lips pulled back into an annoyed frown and his brows knitted together as he regarded the students blocking them in.

“They’re scouting out the competition, idiots.” He continued with a roll of his eyes, “We’re the class that survived a full-blown villain attack, they wanted to see what we looked like with their own eyes. At least now they know what a future pro looks like, now get out of my fucking way you extras.” He stood tall against the majority of the crowd, peering down at them through condescending crimson eyes. Many of the students cowered under his stare, taking a step back.

“Bakugou, you can’t just go around calling people extras!” Iida exclaimed, arms waving around mechanically as he spoke.

“They’re going to end up hating us because of your shit attitude.” Natsumi stared impassively at him, lips pulled into a thin line.

“As if I give a fuck, they’re all beneath me.” He shrugged, returning his sharpened glare to the ‘extras’ standing before him.

“Ah, so this is the famous 1-A? I had to see for myself.” Natsumi perked up as a familiar voice spoke up from the crowd, bodies moved aside to allow Shinsou passage to the front of the group, “I gotta say, you don’t seem as impressive as the stories made you out to be. From where I’m standing you look more like a pompous ass than a Hero. Is everyone in your class like this, or is it just you?”

From the corner of her eye she could see her classmates tense up, each of them frantically shaking their heads or waving their arms defensively while sputtering out a jumbled mess of nonsensical words. Most likely apologies for Bakugou’s atrocious behavior but with everyone speaking at once it was difficult to decipher.

“The fuck did you just say, raccoon eyes?!” The explosive blond seethed through gritted teeth.

Shinsou spared him a glance, lips pulling back into a smirk at the rise he had gotten from the boy before turning his head ever so slightly to meet Natsumi’s stare, “I’m a little disappointed in your classmates, Kurosawa. Though, I suppose it’ll be all the more rewarding for me when I pull the rug out from under their feet during the Sports Festival and take one of their spots here in 1-A.”

She suddenly felt the curious stares of her classmates and could practically hear their burning questions as to how she knew this kid. It was Mineta who broke the awkward, tension filled silence.

“What do you mean by that?”

“He means, that if he or anyone else from the other courses do exceptionally well during the festival then they have a chance to be transferred into the hero course and vice versa—if one of us doesn’t do too well then we could be transferred out.” Natsumi answered without missing a beat, crimson eyes still locked with tired violet.

“Bingo.” Shinsou’s lips twitched for a brief moment but his expression remained deadpan as he regarded the rest of Natsumi’s classmates, “Maybe the others are here to scout the competition but I’m here to tell you that if you don’t bring your A-Game then I’ll steal your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war, 1-A.”

The purple haired boy gave them one last look before turning on his heel and disappearing into the crowd of students as another boy emerged to declare his own challenge to class 1-A. Natsumi didn’t stick around long enough to hear what the loud boy had to say, however, as she pushed her way through the mass of bodies.

Once through to the other side she glanced down the hallway just in time to catch a head of spiked purple locks rounding a corner. She took off in a light jog after him, silver curls bouncing against the back of her uniform.

“You know,” She began as she caught up to him, crimson eyes watching as he paused in his step and cast a casual glance over his shoulder at her, “you’ll never make any friends if you keep that up.”

Shinsou tilted his chin ever so slightly towards her before bringing his shoulders up in an uncaring shrug, pulling his hand out of his pocket to wave off her statement in a dismissive manner, “I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to prove myself by getting into the Hero Course.”

She hummed in response before chuckling, “That was what I said too in the beginning but…those dorks grow on ya.” A small, wistful smile played on her pale lips as she thought of the teens probably still trapped in their classroom, “You know, if you make it into 1-A they’re not going to leave you alone until you call them your friends.” She turned on her heel, calling back over her shoulder, “Just a friendly warning to a future classmate.”

Chapter Text

The week had passed by so quickly that it made Natsumi’s head spin and before she knew it the day of the Sports Festival had arrived. She was thankful to Todoroki and her classmates for assisting her with her makeup work, making it possible for her to participate in the event. She wasn’t necessarily nervous about having to fight her peers, she was confident in her abilities and the control that she had over her ice. She was, however, feeling incredibly anxious over what the audience would think of her now that the metaphoric cat had been let out of the bag thanks to the incident at USJ.

What would everyone think? She was sure that there were quite a few people out there who felt uneasy about their children going to school with someone like her. Would she get boo’d and screamed at when her name was called? She really didn’t want to cause any trouble for the teachers and faculty of Yūei, they had defended her and done so much for her already. She didn’t want to let them down.

The past week had been a blur of training, during school hours she worked on strengthening her Quirk as well as self-defense moves. After hours she worked on her cardio and strength training, even going so far as to run up and down the stairwell in her apartment complex for hours, she was pretty sure that her neighbors hated her by now.

She had noticed the change in everyone’s attitudes over the last few days, her classmates were taking their training for the festival much more seriously. With the threat of potentially being removed from the Hero Course looming over them it was not hard to see why everyone had become much more invested in their training.

Todoroki had been much more distant towards her, though she assumed it was due to his focus on his own training, though she wouldn’t admit it out loud…she really missed having him as her lunch companion. He had been absent from the cafeteria for the entirety of that last week before the festival, leaving her to either sit alone some days or join Midoriya’s small group.

“Ahh I’m so nervous!” Ochako bit her lip, letting out a nervous cry from beside Natsumi as they entered the stadium and noticed the sheer amount of people who were already in attendance—and they hadn’t even entered the arena yet, this was just the part of the stadium where the vendors had set up to sell various snacks and trinkets.

“Yeah, knowing that all of these people are going to be watching us compete is a little daunting.” Natsumi responded with a grimace, nervously fiddling with the curly wisps of bone-white hair that poked out of the end of her braid. She usually only put her hair up when in her Hero costume but she reasoned that her long curly locks would only get in her way if left down.

The bubbly brunette hummed in agreement, leaning back on the balls of her feet and taking in the festivities already in full swing around them. Various stalls lined the walk way with vendors calling out over the noise of the crowd to try and entice festival goers to buy their products. A medley of scents mingled in the air around them, spices and charred meats, sugary confections and hot fudge, steamed vegetables and rice, all reminding Natsumi that she had forgotten to eat breakfast before meeting up with her classmate at the entrance to the festival.

A loud grumble caught Ochako’s attention and she immediately locked eyes with her classmate who was rubbing at the back of her neck sheepishly, “Oh! We should grab something to eat before heading in and meeting with the rest of our class.”

“Good idea, I totally forgot to grab something on my way out the door this morning.” The crimson eyed girl admitted almost embarrassedly.

The brunette offered a warm, understanding smile before wrapping her fingers around Natsumi’s sleeve and gently tugging her forward towards the food stalls. Ochako eagerly scanned over the vendor stalls, trying to decide what to order first before turning towards her companion, “What’re you in the mood for?”

Natsumi hummed in contemplation, eyes roving over the various street food options being sold before, ultimately, her attention was drawn to the sound of sizzling meat. She began moving towards the stall, fingers already reaching into her pocket to pull out what little money she had packed for the day.

“Two please!” The teen handed over exact change in exchange for two Yakitori skewers, her mouth began watering almost immediately as the aroma of seasoned chicken wafted towards her. She took a few steps back and waited for Ochako to order for herself as well, popping the tip of the skewer into her mouth and pulling off a chunk of chicken.

“Ah ah aht!” She opened her mouth, fanning herself with the hand that wasn’t holding her lunch, while gingerly chewing the piece that was scalding her tongue.

The bubbly brunette giggled, “Well yeah, he literally just pulled it off the grill Natsu-chan!” She blew on her skewer for a moment before pulling off the top piece of meat and chewing it thoughtfully, “Mm, so good!”

Swallowing the burning piece of meat, Natsumi groaned, “I know, I was just overeager.” She followed her friend’s lead and blew on the next piece before ripping it off the skewer, this time saving her taste buds from being singed.

“I could tell!” Ochako snickered before motioning for the girl to follow, “We should probably meet up with everyone else now, huh?”

“Oh man, you had the right idea in getting something to snack on.” Kaminari whined, “I wish I had grabbed something.”

Jirou raised an eyebrow, “You know, there’s breaks between events. You’ll have plenty of time to get food during that time.”

“Even more time once you get knocked out first round.” Sero smirked, elbowing the blond in the side.

“Wha—hey!” The blond attempted to protest but was only met with a series of teasing glances in his direction that quickly shut him up because, he realized, that they were probably right.

“Everyone!” Iida burst through the door, “Prepare yourselves! We are entering the arena soon!”

That seemed to grab everyone’s attention; backs straightened, eyes widened, and the anxiety began to set in. In a few short minutes they would be exiting the waiting room and joining the rest of the first years out on the stage, surrounded by thousands of onlookers and pro-heroes. It was absolutely nerve wracking to think of how many people would be watching them so closely.

Natsumi pulled the last piece of chicken off of her skewer, chewing it thoughtfully before shuffling over to the waste bin in the corner by the door to dispose of her trash. Right as she chucked the two skewers into the bin the door opened once more, this time Todoroki sauntered in. Her lips twitched into a small smile as she stepped forward to wish him luck but her words were lost on the tip of her tongue as he spoke first, eyes narrowed, and voice cold.

“Midoriya.”

The mossy haired boy jumped to his feet, nervously staring up at the heterochromatic eyed boy, “Todoroki-san? What is it?”

“Objectively speaking, I think I’m stronger than you.”

Midoriya let out a small gasp before bowing his head slightly and stuttering out a, “Y-yeah.”

Todoroki’s stare was cold and unwavering as he stared down at the smaller boy, “But All Might has his eye on you, doesn’t he? I’m not going to pry into your personal business, but I am going to beat you.”

A collection of gasps erupted from their classmates.

Kaminari laughed nervously, “Oh? Is the best in the class making a declaration of war?”

Kirishima’s lips pulled back into a frown as he stalked forward, placing a hand on Todoroki’s shoulder, “Hey, hey. Why’re you picking a fight all of the sudden? We’re all friends here—"

Todoroki roughly shoved the red-head’s hand off of his shoulder, his glare sliding to meet Kirishima’s surprised expression, “We’re not here to play at being friends.” He turned on his heel and began making his way towards the door, “So what does it matter?”

Natsumi furrowed her brows, crimson eyes narrowed on the boy who was now making his way towards the exit that she had been standing idly by. Even though his words weren’t specifically directed at her, they were still harsh and painful, leaving a sour taste on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to say something, anything to him, but the words wouldn’t form.

He wasn’t here to make friends? Why had he helped her get caught up on her assignments? Why did he take the seat at her table every day at lunch time? Why did he do the things that he did? She wouldn’t have called them close but…she had been sure that they could at least be considered friends.

She shook her head, I guess I was wrong.

“Todoroki, I don’t know what you’re thinking when you say you’ll beat me,” Midoriya began, catching the attention of the icy-hot boy who stopped and glanced over his shoulder, “but of course you’re better than me. I think you’re more capable than most people…”

Kirishima frowned, stepping forward, “Midoriya, you shouldn’t speak so negatively!”

“But everyone—the students from the other courses are aiming for the top with everything they’ve got.” He clenched his fists, his body trembling and eyes downcast, “I can’t afford to fall behind.”

Todoroki turned around fully to give Midoriya his undivided attention now, his interest piqued by what the unruly haired boy had to say. Did the smaller boy finally find his voice? Was he issuing his own challenge?

Midoriya pulled his gaze away from his shoes, a nervous habit of his, and met Todoroki’s stare with unwavering determination, “I’ll be going for it with everything I have, too!”

The dual-color haired boy smirked, so he’s got some fight in him afterall. He turned to leave once more, his eyes meeting narrowed crimson on his way out. He regarded her briefly before exiting the room without another word. He had made the mistake of getting to know her in the first place, his curiosity had gotten the better of him. That’s what he told himself it was, a simple fascination with someone who had a similar Quirk and also had an unconventional childhood. That’s all it was, nothing more, nothing less.

“Fuck him.” Natsumi spat, earning a few surprised looks from her classmates. She ignored their stares and slipped out of the room quietly, not in the mood to be around anyone. She needed to calm down before the start of the tournament, Todoroki’s words had gotten her all worked up and they weren’t even meant for her in the first place. I cooked dinner for him, what the fuck even was that then? She groaned, maybe it was her fault for opening herself up to the idea of friendship again after what the twins had done. I should’ve known better, I’m better off alone anyway.

“You seem distracted.”

She paused in her pacing, pulling herself out of her thoughts to meet the lazy lilac stare of Shinsou. Natsumi offered a weak smile and a slight shrug, “You could say that.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms over his chest, “Well, better get your head in the game, the tournament is about to start.” His lips pulled back into a teasing smirk, “Unless you’d like to just forfeit your spot in the Hero Course to me now.”

She snorted, the corners of her eyes crinkling in amusement, “Oh, you got jokes now? Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me. Just focus on yourself, I’ll be fine, I always am.”

“You think I’m pretty?” His voice was level and nearly monotonous but she could detect an underlying playfulness to his question.

“Don’t let it go to your head.” She rolled her eyes.

“I’ll try my best.” He quipped.

The sudden sound of cheers from the roaring crowd outside caught their attention and she could hear, what sounded like Present Mic excitedly announcing the beginning of the event. She locked eyes with the violet haired teen for a brief moment, “Guess the show’s about to begin.” Natsumi began to walk towards the designated area where her class was to enter the field from, angling her chin over her shoulder to call back to the boy who had begun to walk back to his classroom’s waiting room, “Good luck out there.”

Shinsou raised his hand in acknowledgment to her comment, returning to his class to prepare for their entrance. The classes were to enter one by one, starting with the Hero Courses first and then going down the line. His class would be one of the last ones to enter the stadium.

“Hey, you okay?” Ochako asked quietly from her position next to Natsumi in the tunnel that would lead them out onto the field. Class 1-A was currently standing together awaiting the cue from Present Mic to make their way out onto the stage.

Natsumi didn’t fully turn to give the girl her attention, instead, she glanced at the brunette from the corner of her eye briefly, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

The brunette shared a worried glance with Midoriya, but before either of them could comment on her response and attempt to get more information out of her Present Mic called for their class to enter the stadium.

The majority of the students were nervous, some even visibly shaking, but there were a few who stood tall with their heads held high and proud. Bakugou and Todoroki were among the latter.

As Natsumi emerged from the dark tunnel, stepping into the blinding bright rays of daylight she had the urge to shield her eyes from the light, but instead settled for squinting until her vision adjusted. The roaring crowd was almost deafening as they screamed and cheered for the first-year students, thunderous and nearly shaking the stadium from the sheer volume of sound.

She bit her lip, a nervous tick of hers that she probably would never get rid of. Was she nervous? Hell yes she was, but she had so much to prove. Not just to herself but to thousands of complete strangers who were likely judging her before they even had the chance to get to know her.

Also, she was now determined to show up Todoroki. His sudden 180 in attitude had thrown her for a loop and, to be quite honest, it pissed her off how aloof and dismissive he had been. Sure, he had never been the most social guy and didn’t make an effort to really include himself in classroom debates or conversations but…she had been so sure that she had finally started to crack that shield he had built around himself.

But I was wrong.

Natsumi had been so determined to keep her classmates at an arm’s length in the beginning, telling herself that she wasn’t there to make friends, just like what Todoroki had expressed moments before. But her feelings had changed drastically over the course of the few weeks that she had been attending Yūei. It was hard not to like them; they were all determined just like she was and they had all accepted the truth about her and her past. That was more than anything she could have possibly hoped for. So, in that regard, she also wanted to prove to her classmates that she could be a better person.

I can be a Hero.

“These are the guys that everyone is talking about! The class who went up against full-fledged villains and came out unscathed, Hero Course Class 1-A!” Present Mic was exuberant, getting the crowd pumped for the first years to take the stage.

Class 1-A walked across the field towards the podium at the center, almost everyone feeling their nerves taking hold of them to some varying degree.

Midoriya whipped his head back and forth frantically, taking in the thousands of people sitting in the stands, all eyes on the first year students walking across the field. He could feel sweat already beginning to bead on his forehead, “T-there’s s-so many p-people.”

Iida, from beside the mossy haired boy, had to agree, “Will we even be able to perform to our fullest potential with all of these eyes on us? This is part of our training required to become a Hero, this will help ready us for a life in the public’s eye.”

Present Mic continued to announce the arrival of the rest of the classes, starting with Class 1-B, “This class hasn’t been getting much air time, but they are also chock full of talent! Hero Class 1-B!”

Natsumi didn’t pay much attention to the next couple of classes being announced, until General Studies was called. She whipped her head back just in time to catch a glimpse of a familiar head of lilac spikes, his head held high.

She raised her hand slightly in a small wave which caught Shinsou’s attention for a moment, he offered a smirk in return, his own form of a greeting. If she wanted someone other than herself to succeed, it was him. Natsumi didn’t know him well at all, having only met him one week prior, but something in her told her that he was just like her and if she deserved to make it then so did he.

As the field filled with the remaining first years, Natsumi found herself amazed by how many people actually attended Yūei…and this was just the first years! It certainly put things into perspective; most of these teens were likely vying for a spot in the Hero Course and therefore she would need to work hard to ensure that she remained in class 1-A.

“Time for the Player Pledge!” Midnight, the R rated Hero, cracked her whip and declared to the crowd. The majority of the male population present, students and onlookers alike, were preoccupied with drooling over the Heroine who was usually scantily clad. Today she was wearing a costume that was a little less revealing, but it still appeared to be skin tight and showed off every curve.

“He not only scored number one on his entrance exam, but has also maintained top academic scores in his classes so far this year, from Hero Course Class 1-A, Bakugou Katsuki. Come on up and recite the Player Pledge.” She stepped aside, leaving room in front of the microphone for Bakugou to take the stage and say a few words.

The ash blond sauntered towards the stage, pushing through the crowd of students, his own classmates all exchanging looks of horror and trepidation at the thought of him, of all people, representing the first years.

He made it to the stage and took his place, leaning forward just enough so there wouldn’t be any feedback from the microphone when he spoke. His lips curled into a cocky smirk as he declared, “I pledge…to be number one.”

It seemed as though the onlookers weren’t sure how to react at first, confusion welled up within many of the people seated in the crowd before anger overtook them and boo’s and disgruntled cries rang out.

“Ugh, everyone’s going to hate us because of Kacchan.” Midoriya whimpered, biting his lip anxiously.

Natsumi bit back her laughter as Bakugou shrugged off the disapproving glares from his peers and made his way back towards his class. She sidled up beside him, keeping her eyes on the stage as Midnight began to speak again to announce the first event.

“You know, you’re gonna look even more idiotic than you just did when you come in second place.”

His eyes narrowed, “Hah? No one here can even hold a candle to my greatness.”

She shrugged, “I don’t need to, I work best in the dark anyhow.” Crimson eyes continued to stare forward, but her lips twitched into a mock-apologetic smile, “Anyways, no hard feelings when I beat you, yeah?”

“I’ll fucking kill you, ice bitch.” He growled lowly.

“Can’t wait to see you try.” She shot back.

“—an Obstacle Course!” Midnight announced.

Their focus was brought back to the center stage as the R-rated hero declared what the first event would be, the first years began to walk towards the tunnel that would lead them to their first event. Class 1-A were, naturally, at the head of the crowd since they were the first the take the field initially, everyone crouching into various stances to ready themselves to rush out onto the course.

Natsumi’s lips pulled back into a frown, crimson gaze peering ahead of her to see a familiar head of dual-colored hair standing calmly near the entrance to the obstacle course. Knowing him, he’s going to start out with a bang and do everything he can to slow down as many people as he can so he can take the lead and remain at the front of the pack for as long as possible. She reasoned, eyes narrowing, Not that his ice will have much effect on me but the few seconds it would take me to melt it is time lost. So the best course of action would be to ensure that I don’t get caught in his ice to begin with.

Right before the whistle blew to signal the start of the round she turned herself intangible, she could feel the temperature in the tunnel drop as Todoroki made his move. She burst forward past the students who had been frozen to the ground, running right through them. Several people looked up in surprise as she phased through them, leaving them to shudder and feel the prickling sensation of goosebumps forming against their chilled skin.

As she made it onto the field she deactivated her ability, startling several people as she blipped back into existence beside them. She was ahead of the majority of the students, several of them were still chiseling themselves out of Todoroki’s icy hold.

Lips downturned into a scowl as she glanced ahead to see several bodies leading the pack—Todoroki was one of them—she needed to figure out a way to get herself out in front. So far, no one had used their Quirks against their classmates but the event Moderators had mentioned that it was every man for himself and they were allowed to use their Quirks as long as they didn’t purposefully try to hurt anyone.

Tiny daggers of ice formed at her finger tips, she stared at the figures running ahead of her and with calculated precision let her icy weapons fly. They lodged themselves in the fabric of the students’ gym uniform’s pant legs before pulling them down to the ground. The three students that she had targeted each let out their own startled cry before they lost their balance and fell forward, glancing back to see the shards of ice anchoring them to the ground.

Natsumi rushed past the fallen trio, lips pulled back into a smirk as they glared back at her as they yanked the ice shards from their pant legs and scrambled to their feet. The ivory-haired teen was already far enough ahead that she didn’t have to worry about them catching up to her.

She skidded to a halt, nearly toppling over as dozens of large and intimidating robots loomed over her. The enormous enemies leered down at her with glowing red eyes, sending shivers down her spine.

“It’s just like the ones from the entrance exam!” Someone to her left cried.

They had to fight these things?! She felt an immense relief blanket her as she thanked her lucky star in the sky that the exam she had taken did not include any battles with gargantuan robots.

Deciding that it wasn’t in her best interest to waste time by fighting it, she felt a chill settle over her as her body turned intangible, allowing Natsumi to run right through the towering figure. Several students protested her quick escape while the rest figured out ways to get past the obstacle with their unique Quirks. Natsumi was just glad that the damn thing was there to slow the rest of them down for a few more minutes, giving her enough time to create distance between them.

Natsumi flickered back into existence moments later, still in a sprint. She could feel her calves beginning to tire, a stinging pain shooting up her legs while a dull throb pulsed behind her eyes. Sprinting up and down her stairwell had strengthened her endurance but after running for what felt like an eternity—when in truth it was probably only 10 minutes or so—she was beginning to feel the early stages of fatigue begin to grip her.

She stumbled over her own two feet as she came upon a large ravine dividing the field in half, she glanced over the edge, It’s a long way down. Taking several steps back, Natsumi thrust her palms forward and created a bridge of ice spanning across the entire gorge to allow her safe passage to the other side.

Once she had made it to the other side she whirled around, just as a couple students were about to use her bridge. Palm upturned, Natsumi willed the molecules of the ice bridge to deconstruct as they were no longer useful to her, the bridge disappeared in an instant.

“Sorry, not sorry!” Natsumi called out with a snort as she watched someone nearly fall into the ravine after stepping on the bridge seconds before it disappeared. Shouts of displeasure erupted from the students stuck on the other side of the crevice but their cries fell on deaf ears as the crimson eyed teen used her ice to propel herself forward.

She needed to get this over with quickly, she was tiring quickly and the ache in her chest was slowly becoming a steady burn each time she inhaled. In her mind she desperately hoped that this obstacle course was nearing its end, she was parched and needed a chance to catch her breath for few minutes.

“Out of the way, ice bitch.”

She let out a loud groan, crimson eyes glancing over her shoulder as Bakugou caught up to her, a series of explosions propelling him through the air towards her.

“None shall pass!” She lowered her voice, eyes crinkling at the corners from her own joke as she outstretched her hands, palms facing the angry blond, before letting a series of icy spikes soar through the air towards him.

“The fuck!” He growled, bringing his hands out in front of himself to melt the oncoming shards of ice, momentarily stilling him as his propulsion stopped. Natsumi slid onward, lips upturned in a cheeky grin at the ash blond’s angry expression and the slew of curses that slipped past his lips. As he began to start forward again, he was bombarded by several daring students from Class 1-B who thought if they could eliminate him as a threat then they’d be guaranteed a position in the next round.

“They won’t keep him busy for long.” She mused, turned to face forward after watching the fight break out behind her. She had no doubt in her mind that Bakugou would catch up to her quickly after teaching class 1-B a lesson.

Out of her entire class there were only a handful of people who she would consider real threats to her in this competition, though she knew not to count anyone out as they were all strong in their own ways—whether it was brute strength, their Quirk, or in their ability to strategize on the spot. But strength-wise, she knew that Bakugou and Todoroki were major threats. She needed to catch up to—

Ruby eyes landed on the back of familiar tufts of ivory and crimson.

--Todoroki.

Her expression hardened at the sight of the very boy who had been leading the pack, she had finally caught up to him. She was so close to first place, Natsumi could practically taste victory. And beating Todoroki after his declaration of war would make her victory all the more sweeter.

He seemed to be stalled in front of the final obstacle, signs that read ‘DANGER!’ and ‘LAND MINES!’ warned of the final challenge. From where she stood, she could see the darkened mounds of dirt littering the field ahead of them that signified the placement of the mines. They were everywhere. She wouldn’t be able to use her ice to get her across without triggering the mines.

“Heads up!” She warned as she took a running start and leapt at the last moment, placing her palms flush against his shoulders and vaulting clear over his head. She chanced a glance over her shoulder at him as she whizzed through the air, catching sight of his momentarily stunned expression. But it was fleeting and he quickly snapped out of his surprise, heterochromatic eyes narrowed at her challenge.

She landed haphazardously several feet away, swaying on her feet a bit when she realized she had come very close to accidentally stepping on and setting off one of the mines. She let out a relieved breath before zig-zagging through the maze of underground explosives as quickly, and carefully, as she could.

Todoroki was now hot on her tail, a fire alight in his eyes—he refused to lose to her, or anyone for that matter.

Natsumi thrust her right palm backwards and allowed a shower of icy shards to shoot towards the boy who was closing in on her, her attempt at slowing him down. Todoroki’s lips pulled back in an annoyed scowl, he brought his left arm out in front of him to deflect her attack. He still refused to use his flames, but he turned up the heat just enough so that the shards of ice melted when they came within inches of his flesh.

She narrowed her eyes, “Neat trick, bet you’re fun at parties.”

He frowned and gave her a perplexed look, “I don’t go to parties.”

The girl faltered at his comment but didn’t feel the need to respond, he took things too seriously and sometimes had difficulty understanding certain figures of speech—jokes and sarcastic remarks were two major weaknesses of his. He had a very straight forward way of thinking, something she had picked up on quite early in their relationship so with him she would usually take special care to choose the words she strung together quite carefully so there was no room for confusion on his part.

He raced forward, legs pumping impossibly fast as he dodged and weaved around the mines, momentarily Natsumi wondered how he wasn’t exhausted yet. But there was no time to be impressed by his stamina, Todoroki reached forward with his left hand, fingers outstretched until they made contact with her elbow. He wrapped his fingers around her tightly, she was stunned by the sheer heat he exerted that she didn’t even register that he was yanking her backwards until he let go of her and she watched him take the lead once more.

Natsumi fell back towards the muddy field, panic striking her as she realized he had tossed her at an angle so that she would fall right on one of the buried mines. At the last moment, before her body made contact with the explosive, she activated her intangibility to ensure that her weight didn’t trigger the mine.

A growl erupted from deep within her throat as she pulled herself to her feet and took off after him, still keeping her Quirk active so she could dart across the field without worrying about the mines below her to catch up to him. Todoroki was quick, but she noticed that he seemed to be slower than usual. Had he expended too much energy using his ice? It was very possible and she hoped that would be to her advantage.

I won’t lose to you.

As she neared him Natsumi made sure to steer herself back on the narrow pathway between the mines, watching where her footfalls landed before deactivating her intangibility. As she blinked into existence right behind the dual-color haired boy he scowled back at her.

“I told you, I’m not going to lose.” He narrowed his eyes, he stopped running for a moment but there was no time for confusion to sweep over Natsumi as the boy reared back his right fist and punched her square in the abdomen. All of the air immediately left her lungs and she stood there, doubled over and gasping for breath as he turned on his heel and continued on his way.

She wiped the saliva dribbling out of the corner of her mouth with the back of her sleeve, ruby eyes alight with determination. So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? She kicked off the ground, a cloud of dust billowing behind her from the action as she found enough energy within herself to dart after him. She was running on pure adrenalin and the will to one-up Todoroki now, despite the exhaustion that was beginning to settle over her aching limbs and the burning in her lungs.

“You don’t know when to quit.” He mused as she pulled up beside him.

“I’m done giving up, I told you and the rest of the class that I’m not going to back down ever again. I’m in it to win it.” Pale pink lips pulled back into a smirk, showing gleaming canines. Quicker than Todoroki could keep up with, she swept her right leg out underneath him, catching him off guard and sending him stumbling forward.

But he caught his balance quickly, shooting her a dirty look before swinging his fist towards her again but this time she was ready and ducked under the wide swing of his arm.

She used the moment of distraction to land a kick to the left side of his body, he fell back with a grunt.

“Enjoy second place!” She taunted haughtily, taking the lead right out from under him.

But her victory was short lived as a string of curses and crackling explosives finally caught up to her and Natsumi let out a long, drawn out ‘fuuuuuuck’ at the appearance of the angry blond.

“Gotcha, ice bitch.” He sneered, aiming a palm towards her and sending a particularly nasty explosion soaring through the air towards her.

She let out a startled yelp, dropping to the ground unceremoniously with a loud thud to avoid being hit by the fiery attack that had been aimed at her head. Her braided hair hovered in the air before falling flat against her back once gravity kicked back in, she could feel the heat of the blast fly over her and the scent of burnt hair permeated her senses.

Bakugou wasn’t kidding around, he was as volatile as ever and was coming for that first place spot.

The blond whizzed past her with a triumphant smirk but Todoroki was hot on his tail, Natsumi watched as they exchanged blows, slowing them down in their pursuit for first place as they focused on fighting each other.

She placed her palms flat against the mud beneath her pushing herself up just as another, much louder explosion went off behind her. Perplexed, Natsumi angled her chin over her shoulder to see what could have caused such a large-scale explosion. Her vision was clouded by a tsunami made of dust and debris and on those waves of smoke and mud she could see a blur of green, using the momentum from the blast and a sheet of metal to ride his way towards victory.

“Holy shit, he’s fucking brilliant.” She breathed, newfound determination welled up inside of her as Midoriya took the lead. Todoroki and Bakugou had stopped their violent dance long enough for her to stand on wobbly legs and run past them in their distraction, chasing after the mossy haired boy. No longer interested in fighting each other, the two boys raced after her.

The end was in sight in the form of a dark tunnel, much like the one they had started the race from. Her muscles ached from over-exertion, her lungs burned with each breath inhaled, and her entire uniform was caked with mud but she was so close. So fucking close to the finish line she couldn’t stop now, she needed to use whatever energy she had left to make it through to the other side.

Todoroki and Bakugou were basically at her heels, the latter letting out feral growls and shooting fiery sparks towards her, she could feel the heat from the small blasts caress her back and burn the fabric of her uniform but still she persisted onwards.

The tunnel was dark, but she was finally out of the minefield which meant she could use her Quirk to her advantage again. Though this also meant that the boys were also well aware of this fact, she heard the explosions start up behind her and the chill in the air from Todoroki’s ice forming beneath his feet.

She used her own ice, sliding towards the bright light at the end of the tunnel and just as she was about to cross out onto the field and into the sunlight…Bakugou passed her. The scent of cinnamon and smoke enveloping her senses as he took second place in the obstacle race.

She was next to cross the finish line, her ice abruptly stopped and she stumbled forward from the momentum before falling to her knees from the deafening sound of the entire stadium cheering. Realistically she knew that they weren’t cheering for her but for the fact that the first event was over now that people were starting to cross the finish line.

But in her head, she imagined that the cheering was all for her, that the masses were proud and exuberant over the fact that she had made it, against all odds.

Natsumi held her hand over her chest, trying to calm her erratic heartbeat and slow down her breathing, the corners of her eyes prickled with moisture that she refused to shed. She couldn’t believe—

“I made it.” The words ghosted over her lips, barely above a whisper, and yet, as Todoroki stepped past her, he cast a glance in her direction.

“Congrats.” Her eyes snapped up at him and she couldn’t tell if he was truthfully congratulating her or if that had been a snide comment meant to disparage her victory.

She narrowed her eyes at him, unable to read his stoic expression as he stared forward at the screen high above the stadium that listed everyone’s name in order of the position they finished in.

1. Midoriya Izuku
2. Bakugou Katsuki
3. Kurosawa Natsumi
4. Todoroki Shouto

The list continued as more and more first years burst through the tunnel, but all Natsumi could focus on was her name…listed right above Todoroki’s. Her lips twitched at the corners before pulling back into a pleased smirk. She wasn’t in first place like she had been gunning for but…

Maybe that’ll knock him back a peg. At the moment all she cared about was competing against the dual-color haired boy, his comments from the waiting room earlier had rubbed her the wrong way and she made it her personal mission to kick him right off the pedestal he had put himself on.

Chapter Text

As the remainder of the first years emerged from the tunnel and out onto the field minutes later, Natsumi found herself swelling with immense pride when she realized that her entire class had made it. With her chin angled over her shoulder, she watched as each student burst out into the sunlight, shielding their eyes momentarily before joining their friends with eager anticipation for the next event.

Crimson eyes locked on to tired lilac and she found herself grinning despite herself, he dipped his chin and smirked back at her as if to say— Told you I’d make it.

I knew you would. She offered him a thumbs up.

Turning her attention back to the front of the arena where Midnight was readying herself to reveal the next event. Natsumi continued to stay in her position, knees against the earth beneath her, just taking in the expressions of everyone and the excited chatter that sprung to life around her.

She felt the thudding against her ribcage slowly return to a normal beat per minute range as the adrenaline slowly fizzled out and her breathing returned to normal. A hand appeared in her line of vision, her gaze trailed up the arm and landed on the smiling face of Ochako, her chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath. The brunette was starting to calm down herself, her breathing still a little ragged from the exertion, but her smile was bright and exuberant as she stared down at the ivory-haired teen still sitting in the dirt.

“How did you even get so filthy?” The brunette giggled, staring at the mud staining the smaller teen’s uniform and caked to her arms.

Natsumi placed her palm in Ochako’s waiting one, allowing the other girl to help her to her feet, “Well, I’m going to have to blame Bakugou for that.”

A light gasp escaped the bubbly brunette’s lips, “Oh? Did he push you down?” She puffed up angrily, “Do I need to knock some sense into him?”

Her eyes moved on their own accord, scanning over the crowd of students gathered around the stage in front of her before landing on a familiar head of spiked ash blond locks. She snorted at the thought of Ochako beating the boy senseless, it was too comical to imagine.

“N-no, haha, that’s fine. He’ll get his.” Lips quirked into an amused grin, “I’ll be sure to take him out next round, just you wait.”

The brunette nodded eagerly, beaming at the ivory haired teen with a mischievous glint in her eye, “Oh, I’ll be sure to get in a few good hits too when I can.”

The crimson eyed teen elbowed the brunette in the side teasingly, “You would risk getting blown up by our resident hothead just to defend my honor? Ochako-chan, I’m touched.”

Ochako puffed out her cheeks and pounded her fist against her palm in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture, “I got your back, Natsu-chan.”

Natsumi couldn’t help the wide grin that stretched her lips back so far that her cheeks began to feel sore from the motion. She had never felt so grateful in her life than when she was given the opportunity to attend the famed hero academy but she was finding that the feeling was around all the time now. Every time she looked to her classmates, every time they spoke words of encouragement, she felt the emotion lingering around her, creating a warmth that clung to her. She hoped that it would never dissipate.

Without another word spoken between the two of them, the girls turned their attention to the front of the arena just as the last obstacle race participant crossed the finish line. Midnight cracked her whip, eager to announce the next event.

“The first forty-two students to finish the obstacle race will advance to the next round which will serve to cut back your numbers pretty drastically—so be sure to bring you’re A-Game!” At her announcement there were worried mutters from the students gathered around the stage, all wondering just how drastically their numbers would be reduced by this next round.

Midnight smirked as she took in the anxious faces standing before her, she was happy to have gotten the gears in their heads turning, they would need to strategize and work together as a team to make it through the next event.

“Our next event is Capture the Flag!” She announced before pointing her whip at the scoreboard behind her, big and bright, “Here’s how this is going to work. Everyone’s names are listed in the order that they completed the obstacle course, pay close attention to the rankings because they’re going to correspond with the amount of points you’re going to go into the next round with. I’ll come back to that later, however.”

Confused chatter rose up between the remaining first years, all wondering the same thing; what were the points needed for?

“You’re going to form teams of two to four people for this next event and you will have two jobs; knock the opposing teams out of the ring while simultaneously gunning for their flags that symbolize their group’s worth.” Midnight explained, “This is where the points come in. Each person will have their own flag that is worth a certain number of points, the goal here is for your team to accrue as many points as you possibly can in the short amount of time you have. But keep in mind that the other teams are going to be trying to steal your points away all the while working to push you out of bounds. By the end of this round there will only be four teams left standing—or sixteen people.”

“Only four!?” Sero grimaced, almost seeming a bit panicked as his eyes swept over the forty-two students standing around him, all of them seeming to have the same thoughts as he did.

“That means more than half of us will be cut after this round.” Ashido groaned, a thin sheen of sweat beginning to form on her brow.

Ochako breathed in sharply, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed in determination, “Kayama-sensei wasn’t kidding when she told us to bring our A-Game.” She nodded to herself before grinning brightly at her classmates, “Well, we’ll just have to do just that then! Do your best everyone!”

“I’m all fired up!” Kirishima’s lips pulled back into an over-excited grin as he clenched his fists in eager anticipation.

“I’ll go over the point system now as that is an important part of this event, the more points you have the stronger your chance of making it into the next round is—though keep in mind that also makes you more of a target to your peers as well. Points are given based on the position you finished in during the obstacle race, so for example—the person who came in forty-second place will have five points, the person in forty-first place will have ten points, each rank gaining an additional five points the closer they are to first place.” Midnight paused for a moment, chuckling as she watched every student before her take on the same, contemplative stare as they began to do the math in their heads to determine the amount of points they’d be awarded. Her lips curled into a mischievous smirk, “Now, here’s a little twist to the points system—the person in first place will be starting with ten million.”

What?! Natsumi’s eyes snapped to the mossy haired boy standing several feet away, in that moment he choked out a startled gasp, eyes wide as he garnered the attention of every single first year. He shrunk back under the penetrating stares of his peers, beads of sweat forming on his brow as he began to stutter something unintelligible while holding his hands up in front of his chest.

Poor kid’s got a giant bullseye on his back now.

Natsumi’s lips twitched into a small, sympathetic frown as she watched Midoriya display the tell-tale signs of a panic attack, she knew the feeling very well. She felt a strong urge to reach out to him, reassure him that everything would turn out okay, but she pulled back unable to move from her spot beside Ochako.

The score board behind Midnight buzzed to life, now displaying the amount of points that each individual student was awarded—Midoriya’s name at the very top of the list with his ten million. Crimson eyes landed on her name at third place, a pleased hum escaped her as she regarded the 200 displayed next to her name.

“You’re free to use your Quirks as you see fit. You have fifteen minutes to form your groups and strategize.”

The score board flickered briefly before displaying a timer counting down from fifteen minutes. Suddenly everyone jumped into action and began to frantically dart around the field, deciding on who to form a group with. It seemed as if the majority of the students played it safe and formed groups with their friends, it didn’t take long for Natsumi to notice that Midoriya was being avoided as if he had the plague.

She didn’t blame everyone for steering clear of him though, every team would be aiming to take him out first to claim his points flag. She didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself either, which was why when Midoriya’s eyes met her’s she offered an apologetic smile and turned away.

“Hey, be on my team.”

Lilac eyes narrowed ever so slightly in suspicion, lips downturned, “You don’t even know what my Quirk is.”

The ivory haired teen hummed in contemplation, “Well, what’s your Quirk then?”

Silence passed between the two for several minutes while Shinsou regarded her, as if he were trying to figure out what her true intentions were. Natsumi held his stare, offering him a lopsided grin.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” She teased.

The joke did nothing to smooth the creases between his brows, he was distrusting, she realized. A pang of sadness jolted through her core at the conclusion that he must have been hurt in the past—

The slight quirk of his lips let her know that he was amused by her words, “Calm down, I know what it’s like to be seen as the bad guy. I’m not here to judge. Just here to say that if someone like you can make it into the Hero Course then I’ll have no problem getting in after the Sports Festival.”

She recalled their first conversation, which felt like a millennia ago despite the fact it had only been a week, and again she found herself wondering just how similar their pasts may have been. Natsumi had always felt like some sort of pariah to society, given her lineage and what she had been trained to do, that was a dark, gut-wrenching feeling that she wouldn’t wish on anyone. When crimson met lilac she suddenly felt like he understood, in some way he knew what it meant to be an outcast.

“Hey, I get it. People like us have to work harder for what we want.”

“You should know,” She began quietly, when he glanced back up at her she found that she was able to piece her thoughts together more clearly, “that I’m that last person you should ever have to worry about being judgmental. If your Quirk is a little unconventional or out there then that’s no big deal, we’ll figure something out and push forward. I told you that I’m here to prove myself to everyone who has ever doubted me and I thought that’s what you had come to do as well.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting her words sink in. Shinsou had been bullied and teased ever since his Quirk had manifested. He had been called a villain and ostracized, unable to make any friends because of their fear that he would use his Quirk on them. No one had ever taken the time to get to know him. He wanted to be a Hero but he had been told time and time again that the only thing his Quirk was suited for was being a villain. From then on, he had learned that it’s best to keep his mouth shut—no use in broadcasting his Quirk or life goal’s to an uncaring world.

Finally, after a moment of silence, he opened his eyes with a newfound sense of determination. His lips pulled back into a smirk, “You’re very persuasive, aren’t you?”

A lazy grin tugged at the corners of her mouth, “I know how to get what I want.”

A soft chuckle left him at her comment, “I can see that. Alright, Miss Hero, you wanted to know what my Quirk was…”

She leaned in closer, eager to hear what he had been so hesitant to divulge earlier.

“It’s called Brainwash, I can control the actions of anyone who responds back to something I’ve said to them.” He watched her expression closely, waiting for her to reel back in fear or disgust, just like everyone else.

Natsumi placed a delicate finger to her chin in thought before snapping her fingers and grinning, “Okay, that’s perfect! You’ll be in charge of keeping the other teams off our tail, when someone starts zeroing in on us, you’ll just use your Quirk and make them go attack someone else for the rest of the time.”

A small frown marred his face, confusion setting in, “You still want me on your team even after knowing what my Quirk is?”

She nodded slowly, as if what he had just said was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard, “Well, why wouldn’t I? That’s a pretty amazing Quirk if you ask me. You’ll be able to just make the villains turn themselves in, or spill their guts about who they’re working for and their goals, think of how efficient that’ll be out in the field!”

Now it was his turn to stare at her, an incredulous look plastered on his face as he took in what she had just said. No one had ever told him that he could actually be a Hero and do good with his Quirk…

“You really are something else, huh?” He sighed, though there was an amused quirk of his lips that wasn’t lost on her, “Alright, so who else do we want on our team?”

“Oh, right.” She turned around to survey the area, seeing that most of the students had already grouped up. Though Midnight had mentioned that their groups could be just two people, Natsumi knew that there was safety in numbers and they’d have a better chance with a larger team, especially with players like Bakugou and Todoroki out for blood.

“I gotta say, I’m surprised you didn’t play it safe and choose your own classmates first.”

“To be honest, I thought it’d kinda be a big middle finger to everyone who ever called us ‘villains’ when we win.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, her attention suddenly focused on a girl from 1-B who had her hands clasped together and a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Her? Do you even know her?” Shinsou asked skeptically.

“Did I know you?” She shot back without so much as a glance back to him as she sauntered forward towards the girl. Truth was, Natsumi had never formally introduced herself to the girl but had seen her around and was vaguely aware of what her Quirk was.

This round wasn’t just about winning to her, it was also to prove to herself that she could work well with others, something that she admittedly had some trouble with. She was testing herself. She knew how her classmates Quirks worked and was fairly confident in her ability to fight alongside them. Natsumi wanted people who she didn’t know as well to challenge herself…and make her victory all the more sweeter.

“I don’t think we’ve ever actually met, I’m Kurosawa Natsumi.” She held out her hand cordially to the girl who had seemed a little surprised by her sudden appearance

Luscious locks of green thorny vines swayed against her back as she leaned forward to place a delicate hand in Natsumi’s waiting one, offering a congenial smile, “Shiozaki Ibara, it’s nice to finally meet you Kurosawa-san.”

“Yeah, you too.” She reclaimed her hand with a bright smile, “I came over here to see if you’d like to join our team.”

To say that the earthy girl was shocked by that offer would have been an understatement, she tilted her head curiously as she considered the invitation to join Natsumi’s team. She was quiet for a moment, almost hesitant, before the corners of her lips tugged into a shy smile, “I would be delighted to join you, Kurosawa-san.”

The ivory haired teen grinned, “Perfect! Now we just need to find a—” Before she could finish her thought, she turned around to see Shinsou with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his trousers, another student standing next to him.

“Found our fourth.” The lilac eyed boy smirked, interrupting Natsumi’s train of thought.

The boy was another student from 1-B, who Shiozaki greeted pleasantly. His name was Rin Hiryu, his skin was lightly tanned, dark eyes crinkled at the corners as he offered his classmate a smile. He kept his dark hair braided, neatly pulled away from his face.

A quick glance over her shoulder at the timer counting down behind her confirmed that they only had a few more minutes to strategize.

Natsumi hummed in thought, staring out at her group, “Alright, I know the basic gist of everyone’s Quirks with the exception of you Rin-san. What are you able to do?”

The boy in question smiled a bit sheepishly, before holding out his arm, “I can produce scales that cover my body like armor—” He demonstrated by producing shiny, iridescent green scales along the length of his arm, “—and I can also shoot the scales like projectiles, which I won’t demonstrate right now because I don’t want to accidentally hit anyone but you get the picture.”

Natsumi nodded her head, her lips slowly forming an eager grin, “Alright, cool. So, what I’m hearing is that we are totally going to kick some ass with the combined efforts of our awesome Quirks.”

Shinsou offered her a small smirk, Shiozaki smiled meekly, and Rin’s lips twitched into an almost embarrassed grin. Natsumi faltered a little at their lack of excitement, she’d have to work harder to get them fired up.

“Okay, I think our biggest threats are going to be Bakugou and Todoroki’s teams, they’re the heavy hitters here—”

“—Don’t count class 1-B out.” Rin interjected.

“—I’m not. We have to be on guard the entire time but what I’m saying is that Bakugou and Todoroki are the two, from my class at least, that I’m most worried about. Bakugou is brazen and will be all fired up and out to kill.”

“You mean figuratively, right?” Shiozaki tilted her head.

“Haha, we can only hope. Just don’t get caught in his line of fire and you should be fine.” Natsumi answered with a nervous laugh. The ash blond was volatile but she was pretty sure that he wouldn’t actually kill anyone to get to the top of the scoreboard.

“We will want to focus on defense, maybe not worry so much about pushing the other teams out of bounds, but collecting as many points as we can.” Shinsou spoke up, removing his hands from his pockets and crossing them over his chest.

The ivory haired teen bobbed her head in agreement, “That’s probably the best way to go, if any of the more unruly combatants come after us then Shinsou-kun will use his Quirk on them to get them off our backs.”

“Alright, time is up! Is everyone ready?” Midnight leaned forward eagerly, “Whether you are or not doesn’t matter because—ROUND START!”

There was a sudden panic as teams scrambled together to give each other one last pep talk before it was an all-out war—punches were thrown and Quirks were out in full force.

“Ojiro Mashirao has been knocked out of bounds by Bakugou Katsuki!”

Natsumi tuned out the voice of Present Mic as she concentrated on the clash happening on the field before her, reflexively she moved closer to her teammates, almost in a protective stance. It was her goal for all four of them to make it to the next round. She knew that, at heart, she was a selfish person so if she could keep the other three safe until the next event then she would consider herself successful.

I’m coming up with all sorts of fun challenges for myself today, She snorted at the thought.

Suddenly she felt a pressure wrap around her abdomen and pull her to the side of the arena, her eyes snapped back to meet Shiozaki, who had used her vines to remove Natsumi from being pummeled by the enlarged fist of Kendo Itsuka.

“That was a close one, thanks Shiozaki-san.”

“No problem,” The teen with thorny vines growing from her scalp smiled, “We’re a team so we have to look out for each other, right?”

“Absolutely! Sorry, I was zoning out.” Natsumi laughed sheepishly before turning her attention to the girl who had tried to attack her, she had seen her around campus and had had several very brief conversations with her in the past. She was a friendly girl who had taken on the role of keeping Monoma Neito, a boy from 1-B who had a personal vendetta against the entirety of class 1-A, out of trouble. A very noble act, indeed, considering Monoma enjoyed seeking out her class to taunt and start fights with.

“Hey, no hard feelings, right? I just really want your points.” Kendo grinned, her enlarged fist shooting out towards Natsumi again but this time the ivory haired teen was ready.

Natsumi turned herself intangible right as the fist was about to strike her, her arms reached forward and grasped Kendo’s fist. The girl from 1-B was confused, startled even, when she felt a pressure on her fist but her opponent was nowhere to be seen and then…she felt cold. Immense, uncomfortable chills ran up her spine and her frantic gaze landed on the tips of her fingers that had begun to turn blue as a frost slowly encased her fist.

“W-what—” Kendo stuttered as she retracted her fist right as Natsumi reappeared beside her, lips painted with a triumphant smirk as she dangled a white headband tauntingly in front of the orange haired teen.

Kendo was bewildered for a moment before her eyes wandered down to where her own points had been resting around her neck moments before only…they were no longer there!

Her attention shot back to Natsumi who had tied the band around her neck, “How? I didn’t even notice--!”

“I’m like a ghost.” Natsumi bit back a grin, using the back of her hand to wipe off a smudge of mud that had been caked on her cheek from the previous event.

Right as Kendo regained her senses and moved to fight back to reclaim her points, Shiozaki entered the fray with a flurry of dancing thorn covered vines, wrapping them around her classmate and very roughly throwing the other girl out of bounds.

“Kendo Itsuka has been thrown, violently I might add, out of bounds by Shiozaki Ibara!”

“I’m glad you’re on my side.” Natsumi laughed, her fingers subconsciously gliding over the two white flags tied around her neck. This is a good start…but we need more if we want to guarantee our spot in the next round.

“Heads up, ice bitch!” Bakugou sneered, explosions propelling him towards her so quickly that she didn’t have time to think before ducking under his outstretched hand at the last moment and whirling around to face his back. He had been gunning for her points but she knew that he would’ve wanted to remove her from the competition all the same and wouldn’t have held back.

“Fucking stand still and give me your shitty points.” He growled, spinning on his heel to face her.

“That’s no way to speak to a lady.” Shinsou sauntered towards them, sidling up beside his teammate with a lazy quirk of his eyebrow.

“The fuck di—” Bakugou’s eyes glazed over and the creases between his brows smoothed out, he looked almost at peace. Almost. Natsumi shot the lilac eyed boy an amazed look; that was the first time she had seen his Quirk in action.

“You’re going to turn around and leave our team alone, go be obnoxious and immature elsewhere.” Shinsou spoke quietly but loud enough for the dazed blond to hear in his brainwashed state before flying off to attack Todoroki’s team instead.

Natsumi let out a low whistle at the retreating back of Bakugou, “Wow, that’s some Quirk you’ve got there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something shut him up that quickly. I need you to transfer to 1-A immediately.”

He rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips tipped into a small amused smile at her comment, “I’m working on it.”

“Hey guys, look what I got!” Rin jogged over to the two, lifting his green scaled arm to show the white flag dangling from between his fingers, “That little purple guy over there started crying when I activated my Quirk and practically just handed over his points.” The tan skinned boy shrugged, letting out a chuckle as he tied the band around his neck, “I wasn’t gonna look a gift horse in the mouth—free points are free points.”

A quick glance in the direction that Rin had indicated confirmed that it was, indeed, Mineta who had surrendered his points to get out of having to fight someone much more skilled than he was.

“Good job, Rin-san.” Shiozaki smiled appreciatively.

“Ah, maybe we shouldn’t stand here for too long.” Natsumi piped up, they had only been there for a few short seconds in all reality, but it felt like much longer with the various battles raging around them. A stagnant group was an easy target.

“You’re ri—” Shinsou was cut off by a blur of green slamming into his side, knocking him off his feet and skidding against the stadium floor.

“Shins—ow!” Natsumi let out a startled screech as two fists came into her peripheral, she was able to duck both of them but then a third pulled back and collided with her abdomen, sending her flying backwards.

She used her ice to slow her body from skidding across the arena, letting out a groan of pain as she rolled onto her stomach, pushing herself back to her feet to see who her assailant had been.

“Shoji-kun, I should’ve known it was you when the fists just kept coming.” She wheezed, attempting to will the oxygen that had left her lungs during the attack to flow back into her.

“No hard feelings, kero.” Tsuyu croaked, her tongue firmly wrapped around Shinsou’s abdomen, keeping his hands tightly by his sides. Her fingers tugged at the band of points tied around the lilac haired boy’s forehead but before she could rip it away from him a bullet storm of sharp, iridescent scales shot at her. Tsuyu recoiled in shock and confusion, wide eyes turning to land on Rin who had his arm covered in a shield of scales.

“I think you forgot that there’s four of us and only two of you.” The tan skinned boy grinned, preparing himself for another attack on the frog-like teen.

“We don’t need the numbers. We’ve got brains and brawn.” Shoji retorted, swinging double fists towards Natsumi but this time she was quick to dodge, despite the ache in her ribs.

Vines shot out of Shiozaki’s scalp and rushed towards the boy with dupli-arms, the green tendrils wrapped tightly around his wrists, preventing him from initiating another attack on his silver haired classmate.

“That sounds like an insult, Shoji-kun, I’m surprised and hurt.” Natsumi placed a hand over her erratically beating heart, sending him a look of feigned hurt.

His eyes softened just a bit to let her know that he was sorry for what he had said, but he remained focused on the girl holding his arms tightly within her vines. He flexed his muscles, straining against his bindings before bringing his arms together and swinging violently to the left. The force from his movement sent Shiozaki tumbling to the side, vines still wrapped around her enemy’s arms.

“Shiozaki-san, release him!” Natsumi called out, her palms facing forward towards her classmate as the earthy girl relinquished her vine-y hold on the dupli-armed boy. As soon as he was free his gaze shot to his crimson eyed classmate, but before he had time to process what was happening ice was quickly sneaking up his legs, covering his torso, and freezing his arms in place. He was completely encased.

Natsumi knew that his strength was immense and he could easily break through his icy prison, for good measure she fortified her ice with extra layers to keep him in place. Bouncing on the balls of her feet she flitted over to him, jumping high so that she was level with his shoulder she grasped the thin material of his bandana, yanking it off triumphantly.

“Thanks for the points!” She shot him a cheeky grin.

Shoji rolled his eyes, struggling against the ice encasing his body, already starting to feel his extremities starting to go numb.

“Don’t worry, I’ll remove the ice before you get frost bite.” She laughed.

Rin raised his arms threateningly, eyeing the frog-like girl who was still restraining the lilac haired boy, though she had stopped in her advances to steal his points and was now nursing the cuts on her hands.

Shinsou let out a sigh, tired eyes sliding to meet the wide, dark irises of his captor, “This is pretty unsanitary, why don’t you just let me go.”

Tsuyu tilted her head, “Why would—”

She froze.

Shinsou smirked, got her.

“Hand over your points and walk yourself out of bounds.”

Natsumi quickly interjected, “Not everyone knows what your Quirk is yet and that’s kind of our trump card here. So, if she just walks out of bounds they’re gonna know something’s up. Make it look a little more convincing than that.”

Shinsou shrugged his shoulders and glanced back at the dazed girl in front of him, “You heard her. Release me. And then you’re going to allow me to push you out of bounds.”

Her tongue retracted and shot back into her wide mouth with a gross sounding ‘slurp’ before she hopped backwards, crouching into a defensive position as Shinsou stalked forwards. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but he was a decent actor and could put on a show to divert the suspicion away from him for a short while. He knew that sooner or later the metaphorical cat would be let out of the bag, but he did agree with Natsumi that the longer they kept everyone in the dark about his Quirk the better his odds at advancing were.

A smirk tugged at the corners of his lips as he dodged a slow, poorly executed attack by Tsuyu’s whip-like tongue. He knew that under normal circumstances that her attacks would’ve been much quicker and much more difficult to avoid but with her being under his command they were sloppy and easily avoidable.

He darted forward, sweeping his leg low and catching the brainwashed frog-like teen off guard. As she fell backwards, he quickly stood back up and jutted out his foot, kicking her across the white painted line that signified where the boundary was, he clumsily grabbed her points banner in the process.

“Good job, Shinsou-kun!” Natsumi grinned at him.

“What just happened, kero?” Tsuyu snapped out of her brainwashed state rather quickly but then the confusion set in as she realized she was no longer in the event. Her wide eyes shot up to meet Shinsou’s.

“He knocked ya out fair and square.” The crimson eyed girl shrugged, suddenly her eyes widened, “Oh shit, Shoji-kun!” She whirled on her heels and darted back over to where she had left her classmate half frozen on the field. She pulled the water molecules from his icy prison, watching as it quickly disappeared and he collapsed to the ground. Skin on the verge of turning purple and shivers wracking his muscular body.

“I’m so sorry, you should…ah, you should probably go see Recovery Girl.” Natsumi bit her lip sheepishly.

Shoji attempted to stand, his legs wobbled and he fell back down. His limbs numb.

“Shoji Mezo is unable to continue!”

In a flurry of movements, several Pro Heroes rushed the stage and helped Shoji to his feet, walking him out of the arena and presumably to receive treatment for his mild frostbite. Natsumi ran a hand through her sweat soaked bangs, waving guiltily to Shoji as he was ushered backstage.

“You just gave your classmate frost bite; how does that make you feel?” Shinsou smirked from beside her.

Natsumi shot him a feigned scathing look before shrugging, “All’s fair in love and war.”

“That’s cold.” He chuckled.

She was about to respond when a head of ivory and crimson caught her attention from her peripheries. Ruby eyes narrowed at the boy who was targeting a student from 1-B, not even sparing her a glance in his advances for more points. But just the mere sight of him was enough to send her on edge, all of the feelings of anger, betrayal, and sadness from the waiting room earlier crashed into her like a tidal wave.

Her lips pulled back into a scowl.

Shinsou eyed her for a moment, noticing her sudden change in disposition and followed her gaze to the boy in question, “Everything alright?”

Natsumi didn’t bother to answer him, instead she was off, skating against a sheet of ice down the field towards her intended prey. She would make him see, make him regret the words he spoke to her—well, to the class, but they may as well have been directed at her. They had felt personal.

Todoroki had just finished incapacitating Monoma and stealing his points when he felt something collide with his side, sending him veering to the side. He would’ve fallen completely to the ground if he hadn’t thought quickly enough to create a bed of ice to catch him.

Heterochromatic eyes widened by a barely noticeable fraction when his gaze landed on Natsumi’s tiny form next to him. After her tackle had failed she decided that she’d go a different route with her attacks, he was great at using his Quirk from a distance—so her plan was to keep him busy enough to where he was unable to use his Quirk. Not that his ice would have much effect against her but if he decided to use the other half of his abilities…

She shook her head. He wouldn’t use it.

He looked like he was about to say something to her, Todoroki parted his lips and made to take a step forward, but Natsumi was too quick. She dashed forward with her rime coated fist drawn back, eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.

Todoroki furrowed his brows, leaping out of the way of her attack right as her fist whizzed past his ear, he could practically hear the displacement of air from how close she had come to hitting him. She let out a feral growl and he crouched low to sweep his leg out in an attempt to knock her on her ass but she jumped over it as if she were playing jump rope.

She performed a spinning kick to his abdomen as he was straightening up from his previous attack, stumbling back a couple of steps and letting out a startled gasp as her foot made contact with his sternum.

Sweat beaded against his forehead, his own irritation towards the crimson eyed girl was quickly reaching its limits. He was frustrated that she had come for him in the first place, he had made a point to not acknowledge her presence during the event by going after the other teams. She had chosen to partner with three nobodies from various other classes, in his eyes that was a foolish decision—did she not care about winning? If that was the case then he’d remove her from the competition, he was aiming for the top and wouldn’t tolerate anyone getting in the way, not even Natsumi.

The boy clenched his fists and stomped his foot against the ground, a surge of icy spikes shot out towards her, but she remained rooted to her spot. The corners of her lips stretching into a smirk, she held out her hand as if reaching for him before clenching her fist. In a matter of seconds, the ice racing towards her shattered and then dissipated completely into a frozen mist that blew across the arena.

“Did you honestly think that an ice attack would work against me?” She taunted, laughing as she spoke, hands firmly planted on her hips as she stared him down in a condescending manner.

Shouto grit his teeth. Logically, he knew that his ice would have no effect against her, she had the ability to dismantle his attacks with a simple flick of her wrist. The only chance he had at landing a hit to her with his Quirk would be to use…

No. I won’t. He growled an internal reminder to himself, there was no way he would give his father, who was undoubtedly watching from the stands, the satisfaction of using his flames. Maybe I can tire her out with my ice or hand to hand…

He snapped out of his thoughts just in time as she aimed a rime coated fist at his face, but he was quick enough to duck beneath her arm and jut his leg out, kicking her in the back and sending her sprawling forwards.

“Cheap shot.”

He smirked, “Still took you down.”

A scoff passed over her pale, chapped lips, “Not for long.”

She shot back to her feet, her ivory braid whipping against her cheek from the movement, she was breathing heavily from the exertion of their fight but was ready to continue despite the fatigue beginning to settle over her.

One eyebrow rose high above the other as Todoroki regarded her, “Maybe you should quit while you’re ahead, Kurosawa.”

“Fuck off, Todoroki.” She spat, sending a wave of ice hurtling towards him. He seemed to have the same idea as her, stomping his foot against the ground and sending his own frozen wall surging towards her. The two attacks met in the middle, crashing and causing a loud clatter that disrupted all battles on the field for a moment as all participants whipped their heads around to see what had caused such a commotion.

The vulgarity of her statement, coupled with how sharp and cold her tone was directed at him stirred something within him that he wasn’t accustomed to feeling. It was a brief, fleeting feeling that left an icy grip on his heart. He quickly shook it off, narrowing his eyes and refocusing his attention on the fight at hand.

Right as the two walls of ice collided with each other, Natsumi took her chance. As the icy mist and frozen shards began to settle around them from the impact she raced forward and phased right through to the other side. Todoroki knew that he shouldn’t have been surprised, but in the heat of the moment he had forgotten that she had a second ability.

Natsumi pulled her fist back and it collided with the boy’s right cheek, sending him stumbling back from the force but not quite enough to cause him to completely lose his balance. Fortunately for him, physical strength wasn’t what she excelled in.

“I don’t know what spurred this fight to begin with—”

“—Oh? You don’t know? Then you’re not as smart as I thought you were.” She snapped back, now standing a couple yards away from him to catch her breath.

He rose a curious eyebrow, tilting his head slightly to urge her to continue, completely ignoring the insult that she had thrown in.

“Your little speech in the waiting room. When you made your declaration of war and told us that you weren’t here to make friends.” Natsumi clenched her fists at her side, hating the fact that she had to spell it all out for him. It was embarrassing admitting that what he had said had gotten to her.

Oh. Is that what this is all about? Todoroki frowned, regarding her with cautious heterochromatic eyes. She was a loose cannon when angered and all fired up, though her attacks seemed unpredictable they were messy and unrefined the more riled up she became. She became almost feral in her form and way of attacking and when that happened it was easy to see how she was raised by two villains. Todoroki shook his head, feathery locks of ivory and crimson brushing just above his eyes as he did so. She’s not a villain. He refused to think of her in that way and felt almost guilty that the thought had even crossed his mind in the first place.

“I’m here to win. Nothing else matters to me other than attaining my goal.” He spoke evenly, eyes never leaving her small frame.

“That’s selfish as fuck and you know it.” She growled, running a hand through her shaggy, sweat-drenched bangs.

Maybe it was selfish for him to turn his back on his classmates after the kindness they had all shown him over the last couple of weeks, but he couldn’t allow meaningless friendships to distract him from his ultimate goal. He would surpass All Might and, subsequently, his father.

“I have my reasons.” The bi-color haired boy shrugged his shoulders. Did he feel guilty about leading her on and letting her think that they were friends? Maybe he did, maybe some part of him deep down had also enjoyed their quiet time spent together. But he was determined in his resolve, she was the biggest distraction of them all and he was trying his absolute hardest to not let her get to him.

The silver haired teen was about to respond when her eyes went wide as she watched a blur of red shoot past her and towards her teammates that she had left behind, a hardened fist reeled back before striking an unsuspecting Rin in the abdomen. The tan skinned boy doubled over, sputtering in surprise and from the air being knocked right out of him. He stared up at the culprit, bright and determined crimson stared back at him.

“Sorry dude, nothing personal.” Kirishima apologized with a friendly grin despite the fact that he continued to pummel Rin with punch after punch, not giving the dark eyed boy any time to react or defend himself.

She cast one last glance at Todoroki before darting off to help Rin. Todoroki relaxed now that she was gone and no longer a threat, his gaze lingered on her retreating form for an extra minute before he whipped his head in the direction of his own teammates, running to return to them and to try and grab a few more points before the end of the match.

Natsumi thrust her hand forward, shards of ice shooting towards the red-head in an attempt to distract him from attacking her teammate. Kirishima held up his hardened arm and deflected the icy projectiles, his attention turning back to Rin who had activated his Quirk to try and protect himself.

Kirishima landed another punch, Rin brought his arms up in a defensive position but as his opponent’s fist collided with his forearm the scales protecting him shattered under the pressure. Kirishima’s Quirk was much stronger. Rin let out a pained gasp and stumbled backwards as the other boy reeled back his fist and sent the dark eyed teen from 1-B flying out of the arena.

“Gotcha!” The crimson eyed boy held up the white flag he had snatched last minute from Rin triumphantly in his fist.

“Hey! Those points belong to my team!” Natsumi growled, eyes narrowed. She was furious that her classmate had knocked out one of her teammates after she had vowed to get all four of them to the next round.

Kirishima offered her an apologetic, lopsided grin, “Ah, sorry Natsu-chan, but these are mine now.”

She lowered herself into an offensive position and rushed forward, her movements almost a blur. Kirishima was unable to follow her movements but prepared himself for her attack by hardening his entire body as a first line of defense against whatever she had up her sleeve.

He had never fought her before but knew that she had agility and the strength of her ice on her side, though knew that actual brute strength was something she lacked. She was tiny, but she was fierce and a force to be reckoned with, especially with that attitude of hers.

She reappeared in the air in front of him, a blade of ice clutched in her grip as she swung the icy weapon down against his arm. The ice splintered but didn’t shatter completely from the impact of it striking against Kirishima’s hardened forearm. A feral growl escaped her parted lips and she quickly jumped back, refortifying her sword with more ice before swing towards his abdomen with it.

The redhead jumped back to avoid the blow, “Oh man, good thing for my hardening otherwise you would’ve totally taken my arm off with that thing.”

“You don’t need it.”

He quirked a brow and sputtered out a quick response, “My arm? I beg to differ, I rather like having two of them.”

Her lips pulled back into a sneer, her anger getting the better of her at this point, especially after her run-in with Todoroki moments ago. She couldn’t believe that he had taken out one of her teammates—even though he was her classmate and one of the nicest guys that she had ever met…she needed to teach him a lesson for ruining her plans. Surely, he’d understand after all of this was said and done but for the time being she was living in the heat of the moment.

Natsumi disappeared in a blur of speed once more, this time reappearing above him, her palms roughly latching onto his shoulders as she vaulted over him. At the last moment she kicked out both legs into his back, promptly knocking him off balance and stumbling forward. He was strong, however, and was able to correct his balance.

Kirishima whirled around to face her, letting out a startled gasp as a wall of ice shot towards him. He reeled back his fist and struck through the ice as if it were glass, frozen shards flying through the air around him from the impact. As his vision focused after his attack he realized that the ice had been a distraction for her next attack as she shot out of the settling cloud of dust and ice, her own fist pulled back as she flew straight towards him. Her fist landed against his cheek, his face having been the one part of his body not covered by his hardening.

He let out a pained groan, stumbling back a few paces from the surprising force of her attack, “Damn Natsu-chan, you’re scary when you’re in the zone.”

She landed a few feet away from him, rubbing at her knuckles, very likely having bruised them from the attack, “You should’ve known better than to mess with my team.”

A light chuckle escaped him and he offered her a sheepish, toothy smile, “Ah, well duly noted for next time.”

Natsumi narrowed her eyes, “Next time?”

Kirishima laughed and pointed towards the scoreboard, the timer was nearly at zero, “As much fun as this fight has been—”

“Game over! We have our winning teams!” Midnight’s voice announced, over the roars of the crowd.

Natsumi straightened up, letting out a long, drawn out breath. Crimson eyes stared down at her throbbing hand, despite the fact that it hadn’t collided with his hardened skin and had just been his flesh it had still hurt like a bitch. She’d maybe have to pay a visit to Recovery Girl before the start of the next round to ensure that she was in tip-top shape to take on her next opponent.

She sauntered towards the red-head, running a handed through her sweaty bangs before offering him a small, apologetic smile, “Sorry, Kirishima-kun, I went a little overboard at the end there.”

He grinned back at her, waving his hand dismissively, “No worries, it was fun finally getting to go up against you. Hopefully next time we’ll actually get to finish our fight without having the timer run out.”

Her lips pulled back into an eager grin, “Yeah, you got it!”

Shinsou and Shiozaki suddenly appeared on either side of her, both of them out of breath from having been caught in their own battles. Both looked a little worse for wear, breathing heavily, dust and dirt coating their skin, but they stood proudly beside Natsumi.

“You guys did it.” The ivory haired teen grinned.

Shiozaki shook her head, thorny vines bouncing against the back of her uniform from the action, before offering a gentle smile to the girl from 1-A, “No. We did it.”

Natsumi laughed, nodding her head in agreement. Her previous rage and frustrations fleeing from her as she looked upon the remainder of her team, feeling immense pride that the three of them had made it to the next round.

Shinsou was the first to get control over his ragged breathing, raising an eyebrow as he turned fully to regard Natsumi. Something flickered in his lilac eyes as he stared at the small teen beside him.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Natsumi’s lips pulled back into a teasing smile.

He blinked when he realized he had been openly staring and she had caught him. Shinsou rolled his eyes and pointed down towards her hands, “You’re bleeding.”

She blinked, confusion settling in over her features as she brought her hands up to examine. The boy from 1-C was right. Natsumi really shouldn’t have been so surprised by it, that punch to Kirishima had hurt more than she would care to admit. But staring down at her knuckles, now a dark purple-blue, cracked open and bleeding freely she realized the extent of her injuries.

“Shit. I guess I should pay Recovery Girl a visit.” A sheepish laugh bubbled out of her.

“Will you be alright? I can walk you to the infirmary if you’d like.” Shiozaki’s worried tone was almost drown out by the sounds of the crowd roaring to life around them as Midnight began to speak again. The ivory haired teen shook her head, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to the earthy girl.

“That was quite the event wasn’t it? Much more intense than I thought it was going to be, that’s for sure! But we have our four winning teams—” The R-Rated Hero pointed her crop towards the scoreboard behind her as it lit up with the names of those who would be progressing to the next event. Not surprising, Todoroki and Bakugou’s teams had pulled through, as well as Midoriya’s.

Natsumi was still bitter over the loss of Rin, but she was grateful that they had snagged a spot in the third event regardless.

“To make the numbers of the qualifying contestants even we will be taking a student from the group that came in fifth place. Team TetsuTetsu, decide amongst yourselves who you would like to send into the next round. If you’re unable to make the decision then we will—”

“We will be sending TetsuTetsu!” Awase called out, pushing his silver haired teammate forward.

Midnight grinned, “Very well! Now that we have our sixteen contestants, we will be taking an hour-long intermission while we prepare the field for the next event! Oh, that reminds me—” She turned once again as the board behind her glowed, words flashing by at such a speed that it was impossible to read them until the movement stopped and one phrase lit up the screen.

Battle Tournament

“Well, there we go! Our next event will be one on one battles, the lineup will be determined after we return from our break.” Midnight waved to the crowd, blowing kisses to her adoring fans as they screamed from their seats in the stands

The students on the field all began to disperse, either to enjoy the rest of the festival, grab food, or meditate before the next event.

Natsumi cradled her throbbing hand, silently hoping that she hadn’t fractured anything, as she began walking towards the tunnels to go find the nurses station.

Up ahead she could see a burning light, a beacon against the stark darkness of the tunnel system and she immediately grimaced. I’d recognize those flames anywhereShe wanted to turn around to avoid having to see his face but…she needed to see Recovery Girl who was just past the Flame Hero.

Natsumi clenched her fists at her side, despite the burning, throbbing pain shooting through her from the action.

Endeavor didn’t notice her at first, but as she drew closer the sound of her footsteps alerted him that he was no longer alone and he turned to see who was approaching. Upon seeing it was a student he turned his gaze away…until she was just about to pass him. That’s when he recognized her.

How could he not? She looked exactly like—

“Spectre.” His voice was rough, cold despite the searing heat coming from his body, “I’m surprised they allowed the daughter of that villain to attend Yūei, Nezu must have lost his mind if he thought allowing a monster on school grounds was a good idea.”

She stopped abruptly and turned on her heel to face him, bristling at his comment, her eyes narrowed challengingly, “The only monster here is you, Endeavor. You’re no Hero, all you are is a ruthless murderer.”

The number two Hero scoffed, “What would you know about what it is to be a Hero? I did what needed to be done to ensure the safety of the people of Japan.” His eyes suddenly darkened as they settled on her smaller, unwavering form before him, “And I would do it again. Without hesitation.”

He was intimidating but she refused to allow his presence and his words to get to her because she knew that he absolutely would not hesitate to destroy her and finish the job he started years ago. After…

After incinerating her parents.

“No matter who you are, whether Hero, civilian, or villain…everyone should be made to face the consequences of their actions and their sins.” She spoke evenly, “When I’m a Hero I will ensure that you receive judgement for all the horrible things you’ve done under the guise of Hero-work.”

Endeavor let out a dark chuckle, “What makes you think you have what it takes to be a Hero?”

“Because I’m determined to show the world that I’m better than what people like you think I am. I will surpass all expectations of me, I will become a Hero and when that time comes I’ll come for you.” Her fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms to prevent herself from trembling. All of her pent up rage and anger and frustration was beginning to bubble up within her and she was afraid that she would end up doing something that would give him a reason to attack her.

For years she had wondered what an encounter with Endeavor would be like, if he would recognize her despite never having met her, and if he would take it upon himself to destroy her like he had done her parents. For a while, he had been the main antagonist of her nightmares that would lead to her waking in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and crying out for a mother that was no longer there.

But she was no longer afraid of him.

She was angered and furious with him. How could there still be people out there who looked up to such a cold-hearted Hero?

“Father.” Todoroki’s voice cut through the loud silence that had befallen the Hero and the defiant student.

Endeavor peeled his gaze away from the girl before him, his attention falling to his son who had stumbled upon them. His lips pulled back into a smirk, “Shouto.”

Todoroki strode forward, glancing towards Natsumi with a brief curiosity before he hardened his stare upon his father, “I would appreciate it if you did not harass my classmates.” He had just come from speaking with Midoriya and as his shitty luck would have it, the object of his conversation had been just down the tunnel.

The number two Hero scoffed, “Do you know who this is?”

“She is my classmate.”

“She’s a villain.” Endeavor shot back, his voice growing louder as his patience for the situation quickly disintegrated.

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, a sign of his own growing irritation, “She is no such thing and doesn’t need to prove herself to you.”

The Flame Hero matched his son’s stare for a moment longer, snorting he responded with a sneer, “We’ll see about that.” Before turning on his heels, he called over his shoulder, “I look forward to seeing you use your flames to win the Sports Festival, Shouto.”

The bi-color haired boy watched his father retreat with an unreadable expression until he felt the stare of his classmate drilling holes into the side of his head. Angling his chin over his shoulder, he glanced over at the ivory haired teen who had her brows furrowed in deep thought.

He took that moment to look her over. She was filthy, covered in mud from the first event and dust, sweat, and blood from the previous one. He dipped his chin, eyes landing on her bruised and bleeding knuckles that she had seemingly forgotten all about during her encounter with Endeavor.

“You should get that looked at.”

“Why?” She mumbled, barely above a whisper but she was standing close enough to him that he was able to hear her just fine.

The boy furrowed his brows, “Because you’re bleeding.”

“No.” She quickly responded, rolling her eyes, “Why did you defend me?”

Todoroki remained impassive as he held her stare, before shrugging his shoulders, “It felt like the right thing to do.” Though he wouldn’t admit, not even to himself, that maybe he had a soft spot for class 1-A’s resident ivory haired troublemaker.

“I can fight my own battles, you know.” She attempted to cross her arms over her chest but was met with a searing pain from her damaged knuckles, so she opted to awkwardly hang them by her sides.

He realized that she wasn’t going to head to the infirmary by herself any time soon so he began to walk in the direction of where Recovery Girl had set up her temporary clinic. As predicted, Natsumi picked up her pace to catch up with him out of her own growing curiosity towards his actions.

The boy dipped his chin, the corners of his lips upturning, “I know you can.”

The images of her in a frenzy darting across the arena to attack him replaying in his mind, her fist reeling back before knuckles collided against his cheek. Absently, he raised his right hand to his cheek to feel if it had become swollen from the impact. It hadn’t, but the spot felt sore beneath the graze of his fingertips and he wouldn’t have been surprised if it bruised.

Natsumi let out a huff, “I’m still mad at you.”

“I know.”

They fell into a comfortable silence with only the sound of their footfalls against the concrete tunnel floor echoing around them. It all felt so natural, being in each other’s presence once again that Natsumi almost forgot about her anger towards him. Almost.

Her lips pulled back into a small scowl as she remembered how hurt and betrayed she had felt a few hours ago when he had declared, for the entire class to hear, that he didn’t consider any of them his friends. After all of their quiet lunchtime conversations, after he had gone out of his way to help her study and catch up on all the work she had missed while she was suspended—none of it made sense to her. How could he just say that none of that mattered to him? She had felt so confident in the idea of Todoroki Shouto as her friend that she never stopped to think otherwise.

“You alright?” He asked after a moment of scrutinizing her, watching as her nose scrunched in contemplation and her eyes narrowed from whatever thought she seemed to be trapped in.

“No, not really.” She muttered, giving him a long side glance before looking away, “But it’s fine, it doesn’t really matter anyway.”

He continued to watch her from the corner of his eye, his brows furrowed and finally he let out a small sigh and stopped walking. Natsumi, surprised by his sudden halt in their walk turned to face him with a questioning look.

Todoroki regarded her quietly, waging a silent war within himself before finally, after a long silence that passed between the two of them, his lips parted to speak. Yet, no words came out. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, meeting her gaze evenly, “I’m not good with this sort of thing.”

“Talking? Yeah, I figured that out a while ago.” Her eyebrows rose, the tone of her voice teasing, though she urged him with her eyes to continue with his train of thought.

He shot her a look that silently said that he was being serious, but struggled with his thoughts and trying to word them. The girl next to him quieted down and watched him with a reassuring tip of her lips.

“I’m…sorry.” Todoroki managed, frowning down at her.

Natsumi stared openly at him, taken aback by his apology. That was the last thing she had expected him to say to her, mainly because he was so unapologetically Todoroki, so sure of himself and his actions that she never stopped to consider that he could actually feel remorse. Everything he did always seemed well thought out, he calculated his every move and always remained three steps ahead of his peers. The words I’m Sorry just weren’t in his repertoire. Yet, here he was…apologizing to her.

She cracked a teasing smile, “See? Now was that so hard?”

“It was excruciating.” He deadpanned, but the light lift of his brows told her that he was relieved she had accepted his apology despite her taunt.

The exchange felt so natural and normal, as if no hard feelings had befallen them in the first place but Natsumi couldn’t deny the existence of the nausea bubbling in the pit of her stomach. His words from before still hurt, still stung despite his apology. Was he apologizing for what he said or for their fight in the arena? Knowing him, he probably thought the bloody knuckles happened when she went after him.

“I noticed,” She started quietly, hesitating to choose the right words to convey what she wanted to say to him without causing the peaceful moment they were enjoying to spiral back to something they may both regret later on, “the subtle but definite change in your body language and tone when you spoke to him.”

Mismatched eyes met hers briefly before he tore his gaze away, his fingers twitching at his sides, “We don’t…see eye to eye on a lot of things.”

She leaned back on the balls of her feet, “Oh, no I totally get that, but you can’t let him have that negative hold on you. I don’t exactly know the extent of your relationship with him and I don’t expect you to sit here and tell me your history but, what I do know, is familial ties mean absolutely nothing if they’re being used against you. I mean, you know who my parents are—were—and for the longest time I allowed their presence to overpower me, I did as I was told because they were my parents, you know? But the truth is, he may be your flesh and blood but…if he’s only using you for his own personal gain then he’s no father figure and the sooner you realize that the sooner his hold over you is broken.”

Todoroki listened to her as she spoke and truth be told, he knew that she knew what she was talking about as she relayed her own experiences and thoughts to him but…

“He wants me to be just like him, only stronger.” Shouto would become stronger than his father, that much he was certain of as it had been his own goal as well as Endeavor’s for the longest time, “He wants me to use my flames—his power—to reach the top.”

“You may have inherited your Quirks from your parents but that power is all your own. Your flames are just as much a part of you as your ice is. It’s not him, it’s not his flames, they’re yours and it’s you who must decide what you’re going to do with that power.” She was now mere inches away from him, crimson eyes set into a fixed, determined stare, “You’re allowing him to rule your life and your thoughts and because of that you’re denying yourself the chance to become the great Hero that you could be if you just used both aspects of your abilities.”

He let out a loud exhale, not even realizing that he had been holding his breath as she spoke. Her words were blunt, truthful, and they made sense to him but…all those years of repressing his thoughts and emotions because his father saw feeling as a weakness came rushing back to him. Shouto resented his father for a plethora of reasons, most of which revolved around what had happened to his mother and the abuse that they both shared at Endeavor’s hand.

It was almost funny, how the conversation he and Natsumi were currently having mirrored the one that he and Midoriya had had in the dark corridors of the tunnels before he had run into her and his father. And despite the similar message they were both trying to get across to him…what ran through his mind were images of the powerful, destructive Quirk that his father possessed. Nothing scared him more than the thought of becoming just like that monster.

His silence didn’t bother her because she knew that it was a lot for him to think about, but she desperately wished that he was as easy to read as the rest of her classmates. His stoic posture and stony expression gave her absolutely no glimpse into the inner workings of his mind and that frustrated her, it always had.

“All I’m saying is, it’s your choice whether you use your flames or not but if you decide to then do it for you. Show the world the type of Hero you want to become, don’t just lock that part of yourself away from the world because you’re afraid you’ll be associated with and compared to your father. You’re your own person, you’ve got to live your own life and step out of his shadow.”

Todoroki’s lips twitched and he let out a quiet chuckle, barely audible and she would have missed it had she not been standing so close to him.

“You’re not half bad at this whole pep talk thing.”

Her left foot slid forward as she leaned back on the heel of her right, her shoulders rising and falling gently in a dismissive shrug, “Oh you know, one of my many talents.”

A small snort escaped him at her quick jump in attitude from serious to cocky, “Is that so?”

They continued their walk and in a matter of moments had finally made it to their destination, Recovery Girl was busying herself inside when they arrived but quickly strode forward to assess the damage to the young teen’s hand.

The medically trained Hero gently turned Natsumi’s hand over in her own, stretching out the fingers and moving her wrist this way and that while asking the teen if what she was doing was painful. For the most part it wasn’t, but Natsumi did have a high tolerance for pain.

“Luckily for you, it looks like it’s bruised with small abrasions along your knuckles. Ordinarily, I would send you home with some ointment and instruct you to keep the area clean, without using my Quirk on such a minor injury. But,” The older woman let out a small sigh, her bright eyes crinkling at the corners as she stared up at the teen who had seemed almost panicked by the thought of going into the next round with a damaged hand, “I will get this healed up quickly so that you may rest up before the next event. Don’t give me that look, did you really think I’d send you out there and allow you to compete with an injury?”

Natsumi grinned sheepishly down at the woman, “Well, I had hoped that you wouldn’t.”

Recovery Girl released her hold on the young teen’s hand and shuffled away to grab antiseptic and gauze. Once she returned with the materials she set to work, cleaning away the dirt, grime, and blood from Natsumi’s injured hand before sterilizing it. The ivory haired teen cringed as the antiseptic made contact with her opened cuts, the sting was quickly replaced by the feeling of Recovery Girl’s wet lips planting a big smooch right in the center of her bruised knuckles.

The relief was pretty instantaneous, though left Natsumi feeling mildly lightheaded.

“Take it easy until your next match. The abrasions and bruising should be healed by then but your body will be expending your own energy to do so. Rest up and grab yourself something to eat to replenish your lost strength.” The older woman shoved her hand down into her pocket, pulling out a handful of candies wrapped in brightly colored foil. She deposited the sweets into Natsumi’s outstretched hand and sent her on her way.

Todoroki had waited outside the door for her, amused when she shuffled out of the clinic while chewing on a piece of chocolate. She extended her palm, offering him the candy that she had just been given but he politely declined with a shake of his head.

He waited until they were a ways away from Recovery Girl’s office before casting a sideways glance in her direction, “I will think about what you said but I still stand by my oath from earlier. I plan to win and will not allow anyone to get in the way of my victory.”

She hummed contemplatively, her lips pulling back into a competitive smirk, “Good, then my victory will be so much sweeter. I’ll see you in the finals.”

He dipped his chin, his gaze rising to meet hers, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, “Good luck, I look forward to it.”

The bi-color haired boy took his leave, deciding that he’d go and strategize in his designated waiting room. There were only a handful of his classmates that he would consider actual threats to his victory and Natsumi was one of them, she could destroy his ice as quickly as he could make it. She was strong and he was sure that they would eventually meet in the finals, he needed to prepare for when that time came. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but inwardly he was relieved that the hostility between them had been resolved. Todoroki planned on winning, but maybe his victory didn’t have to come at the cost of their friendship.

Natsumi watched his retreating back as it became smaller and smaller the further away he got until he took a turn and vanished down another series of hallways. She really felt like they had made some progress in repairing whatever relationship they had and she looked forward to meeting him in the finals.

Ugh, hopefully I don’t have to fight Bakugou to get there. Just the thought was enough to bring a grimace to her face. Not that she was afraid of the ash blond, but she was sure that he would absolutely try to kill her on his way to the top.

I wish they had given us the names of our first opponents beforehand to make it easier to prepare for the next fight. A soft groan escaped her lips at the thought.

A loud gurgle caught her attention and she quickly whipped her head this way and that to make sure the coast was clear and that no one had heard the hungry protests of her stomach. Satisfied when she confirmed that she was, in fact, alone in the dim corridors she started forward with the intention of grabbing some lunch before the start of the next event.

Chapter Text

Natsumi found herself enjoying the peace and quiet of her designated waiting room while she watched the clock slowly tick down to their final event. After she and Todoroki had parted ways she had wandered back outside amongst the food stalls once more, this time ordering herself some Takoyaki and grabbing herself a bottle of herbal tea. After that, she had made her way back to her waiting room and laid down on the couch, eating her lunch and playing games on her phone. It wasn’t until the time on her phone showed that she had ten minutes left of her respite that she had locked the device and resigned herself to staring at the ticking hands of the clock on the wall above the door.

Realistically, she knew that she should have already been on her feet and making her way down towards the field but the couch was so comfortable. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, the cushions beneath her were so inviting, calling to her like a siren out at sea. She just wanted to close her…

“Nope, not today Satan.” She immediately shot up, willing the lull of sleep away. Running a hand through her tangled curls that fell freely around her, she let out a small groan when her fingers got caught in a particularly nasty knot. She could feel chunks of mud clinging to her milky-white tresses and she desperately wished she was able to shower to rid herself of the dirt and debris that still clung desperately to her body.

That was going to be the first thing she did as soon as the Sports Festival was over; run home and immediately stand in the shower for an hour to make sure she cleaned all the grime from her body. The teen allowed her eyes to drift closed to the soothing thought and was starting to drift away once again when her phone dinged, bringing her back to reality.

Standing quickly, so as not to allow the temptation of sleep to creep over her once more, she tossed her phone into her bag and made a beeline for the door. She needed to rejoin her classmates. They were a rowdy bunch and would surely be able to rouse her out of her exhaustion.

She made it to the tunnel without much of a hassle and was surprised to find her female classmates all waiting anxiously for her while wearing the most ridiculous outfits Natsumi had ever seen. She quirked a curious brow at the skimpy cheerleader costumes the girls were wearing, eyes suddenly widening as Yaoyorozu held up a matching set towards her.

“Oh no, absolutely not.” She growled, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly.

“Please, Natsu-chan. If we don’t go out there as a class we’re going to be reprimanded for our insubordination and inability to follow simple instructions.” The regal girl pleaded with her, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

Natsumi frowned, “I don’t understand why they expect us to wear these stupid outfits in front of that entire stadium of people. It’s embarrassing and not to mention demeaning.”

“I don’t get it either but I think we look super cute.” Ashido grinned, twirling in a circle and allowing her pleated miniskirt to fan out around her before shimmying and wiggling her pompoms cutely.

“It was decided by the teachers that we’d go out and do a cheer and get everyone pumped up for the next event.” Yaoyorozu explained, watching the silver-haired teen as she considered the words very carefully before finally, after a minute or two of complete and utter silence, resigned to her fate and reached forward to pull the costume towards herself.

“Fine.” Natsumi relented with a huff, turning on her heel and stomping towards the bathroom to change. She didn’t like the thought of wearing something so revealing in front of so many people, but she’d be damned if she and her classmates got punished simply because she refused to go along with some stupid, outdated, and sexist tradition. At least, she assumed it must’ve been a tradition for the girls in the Hero course to perform a cheer for the crowd—she had never seen the Sports Festival before so this was all foreign to her.

She pushed open the door to the girl’s bathroom and locked herself in one of the stalls, pulling the outfit off of its hanger and staring at it gingerly. A small groan escaped her parted lips as she slipped off her uniform and pulled on the atrociously bright orange, white, and green trimmed crop top, followed by the matching pleated mini skirt. Natsumi could honestly say that she had never worn something so short and revealing in her entire life and decided that she did not enjoy the chill that washed over her uncovered legs and arms. She was naturally cold due to the nature of her Quirk which was why she opted for wearing long sleeved clothing on a regular basis, she just hoped that they wouldn’t be expected to wear these outfits for too long.

She exited the bathroom and suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, absently pulling the hem of her skirt down in an attempt to cover more of her pale legs.

“Damn. Natsu-chan you look cute as fuck.” Ashido squealed, rushing over and circling the crimson eyed teen like a cat stalking its prey.

“I feel ridiculous.” Natsumi admitted, brows drawn tightly together and eyes narrowed.

“Aw don’t be like that; we all have to do it.” Ochako offered a small smile, “Now, let’s go out there and cheer our hearts out!”

As they made it out onto the field the sudden realization struck them all that, perhaps, this wasn’t an idea sanctioned by their teachers after all…

“What kind of fan service is this?!” Present Mic’s voice sputtered out in surprise across the stadium.

“What are you doing?” Aizawa’s deadpanned voice was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Yaoyorozu collapsed to her knees in defeat, eyes wide and a small whimper escaped her, “I can’t believe of fell for their tricks again.”

Off to the side of the field, Mineta and Kaminari leaned against each other, thumbs up in appreciation, drool slowly dribbling down their chins, and wide grins plastered over their faces at the sight of the girls.

“This was the greatest idea you’ve ever come up with.” The blond laughed, peering down at the purple haired boy beside him.

“I’m going to be dreaming about this moment for years to come.” Mineta sighed wistfully, “Just look how Yaoyorozu-chan’s boobs practically burst out of her top, and oh god look how bouncy Ashido-chan’s are as she jumps up and down! Oh my god I’m going to explode! Did you see Natsu-chan’s ass peeking out of the bottom of her skirt!? Kaminari, this is the greatest day of my life!”

“It’s also going to be your last, you fucking cockroach.” Natsumi seethed, pulling herself back to her feet after her initial collapse in defeat. Her eyes narrowed on the boys, lips pulled into a thin, angry scowl. Her fists shook at her side, she was so upset that she was trembling, actually quaking with rage.

“N-now now, Natsu-chan, d-don’t be so upset!” Mineta stuttered, eyes wide in fear as she stalked across the field towards him, “It was all in g-good f-fun.”

“Fun? You took advantage of us and made us look like fools on national television, to all these people here in the crowds.” A feral growl escaped her, fingers reached forward to grasp the lapels of Mineta’s uniform shirt, yanking him up to her level. His feet dangled helplessly as he stared fearfully into her angry crimson eyes.

“I’m s-s-sorry, p-please don’t hurt m-me.” He cried, biting his lip, sweat pouring down his face.

“Ah, Natsu-chan.” Tsu croaked, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder, “Maybe you shouldn’t do this here, in front of all these people, kero.”

Natsumi glanced back at the girl with kelp colored hair before trailing her gaze up to the stands of observers who were all staring down at her and muttering amongst themselves. She bit her lip and let out a frustrated huff of air from her nose before dropping the boy and backing away from him without another word. Mineta scrambled to his feet and ran back towards Kaminari.

A shiver ran through her, goosebumps pricked at her skin and Natsumi crossed her arms over her chest subconsciously. She just hoped that the rest of the boys in her class hadn’t been paying attention to the whole cheerleading debacle, her cheeks exploded with warmth at the thought. How embarrassing.

“Where’re you going?” Ochako called out to her, concern lacing her words, “They’re about to announce the matchups and we all have to be on the field for that.”

The ivory haired girl raised her hand dismissively as she stalked back towards the tunnel, “I’m going to change, there is no way in hell I’m going to wear this any longer. I’ll be out there soon.”

“Cutting it close, aren’t you, Natsu-chan?” Ashido offered her a teasing grin as Natsumi stumbled out onto the field with moments to spare as Midnight took to the field and pressed a button on her remote control. A combination of names flashed across the screen in rapid succession before the movement halted and the first round of brackets were determined.

Natsumi’s eyes landed on the two names listed next to each other for the very first battle.

Shinsou Hitoshi vs. Midoriya Izuku.

Her crimson gaze darted around the field until they landed on a familiar head of spiked lilac locks. He didn’t notice her stare, his attention was focused on his opponent, indigo eyes narrowed at the curly haired boy across the field from him.

That’ll be interesting, I don’t know who to root for. I want them both to win, logically that can’t happen, but ugh.

She turned her attention back to the battle lineup on the brightly lit screen above them, her eyes roving over the list of names until they landed on her own. Her lips curled back into a smirk, she angled her head to her left and locked eyes with Kaminari who gave her a nervous thumbs up.

This’ll be fun.

Now that the first round of opponents had been chosen, Midnight had dismissed everyone from the field. The students all dispersed, either heading towards the stands so they could watch the battles before having to participate in their own, or heading back out to enjoy the festival and grab some more food in the meantime.

Natsumi was tempted to grab herself another snack, not knowing how much time she’d truthfully have to herself later on once the event started back up. She was one of the last ones off of the field trailing quietly behind the mass of students grouped together in front of her as they made their way through the corridors beneath the stadium stands.

She was about to take the turn to head outside to the food stalls once again when she heard an awkward cough from beside her and chanced a glance over her shoulder. Midoriya stood, hand outstretched as if he were about to latch onto her sleeve, brows furrowed and chewing anxiously on his bottom lip.

“S-sorry Natsu-chan. I, uh, c-can we talk in private?” He stuttered, pulling his hand back and nervously fiddling with his fingers.

A small smile curled her lips upwards as she took in the boy before her. His mossy green curls as unruly as ever, several defiant strands falling just above his emerald eyes, downcast as he now refused to meet her gaze. She wondered what had gotten him so worked up that it made him too nervous to look at her and barely able to speak to her without stuttering.

Sure, Midoriya had a tendency to stumble over his words from time to time, especially if he didn’t know the person he was talking to very well but…she had thought he was over that nervous habit with her.

She fought back the frown that threatened to replace the soft smile she had offered him, “Of course, Midoriya-kun. Let’s head to your waiting room, we can chat there.”

They walked in silence the entire way there, it was excruciatingly awkward for both parties as Midoriya tried to piece together his thoughts and Natsumi attempted to figure out what it could be that he wanted to speak to her about. She knew that his match would be starting in fifteen minutes and didn’t want to take up too much of his time when he should’ve been strategizing so she would be sure to steer the conversation to a conclusion quickly.

They made it to the floor where each participant’s designated room was for waiting between matches. Yūei spared no expense when it came to the Sports Festival and that meant giving each contestant that made it to the final event their own quiet place to sit and think and be alone.

“What’s on your mind?” She asked once the door was closed behind her and they were alone at last.

The boy bit his lip once more, fidgeting with his hands.

“You can talk to me you know, I’m not going to bite.” Natsumi teased, stepping forward to take a seat at the table in the center of the room and motioning for him to sit with her.

Midoriya shuffled forwards, pulling out the chair beside her and taking a seat, bringing his chin up so that he could meet her gaze, “W-well…you worked with Shinsou-san in the last round. You two seemed rather comfortable with each other so I wasn’t sure if it was okay for me to ask you but would you be able to tell me what his Quirk is? I didn’t have much time to observe him since things were happening so quickly and everyone kept coming after me and my team but—”

She quickly brought up her hand and covered her mouth with her palm to stifle the laughter that began to erupt from her. Midoriya looked startled by the action, unsure as to why she was openly laughing at him. Suddenly a myriad of thoughts forced their way into his head, all negative in connotation. Maybe she and his opponent were closer than he had originally thought! He was foolish to ask for help from her against Shinsou. He didn’t want her to feel like she was betraying the lilac haired boy’s trust.

He opened his mouth to apologize but she quickly cut him off before he could stutter out an ‘I’m sorry’, “Midoriya-kun, I’m laughing because I thought you brought me up here to talk about something serious with how anxious you were acting down in the tunnel. Obviously I’ll help you, you’re my friend, I’m not going to leave you hanging like that.”

Relief colored his cheeks; how could he have doubted her? He knew they were friends, but he didn’t want to step on any toes and would have understood completely if she had turned him down in favor of protecting her friend’s element of surprise.

She sobered up, removing her hand from her face, leaning her elbow against the surface of the table and using her palm to prop her chin up, “I don’t really know all the details in all honesty, I only found out about it today but—he said his Quirk is called ‘Brainwashing’. If you respond to anything he says to you it activates and he has control over you. It was pretty handy during the last event, especially when Bakugou fell for it so quickly and then after that he was off our scent for the rest of the tournament.”

Bright green eyes widened at the revelation of his opponents Quirk, he placed his thumb and index finger to his chin and lowered his eyes in thought, “He can’t control me if I don’t speak to him? That shouldn’t be too hard, I’ll just focus on fighting him. He’s from General Studies and probably hasn’t done much strength training so I should have the advantage over him in that aspect—argh, I’m being presumptuous. He did mention how his dream was to become a Hero, who’s to say that he hasn’t been training himself on the side? This fight might be more difficult than I anticipated—”

As he started muttering to himself Natsumi took that as her cue to leave, he was oblivious to her presence at that point and she had given him all the information she had and would no longer be useful to his strategizing anyway.

With a content sigh, Natsumi picked off a piece of the blue spun sugar and popped it into her mouth, relishing in the sweet taste as the cotton candy instantly melted on her tongue. She was so impressed by the wide variety of snacks the festival had to offer, though she knew that she’d be regretting buying so many later when she went over her weekly budget. But for now, she was happy to live in the moment and eat as many treats as she could.

“You look happy.” Kirishima laughed as he took the seat directly behind her in the stadium as they waited for the first battle to begin.

Slowly but surely the rest of her classmates started filing into 1-A’s designated viewing box, many of them holding their own sweet or savory treats to enjoy.

“Mhmm.” She hummed happily, pulling a deep fried oreo out of the bag sitting in her lap and munching on it. She held up the bag of confections to the red-head who gratefully reached his hand inside and pulled out the fried treat, turning it over in his hand before chomping down on it and making a delighted grumble.

“I feel like every time I’ve seen you today you’ve been eating.” Ochako laughed, elbowing her friend in the side teasingly as she took the seat to Natsumi’s left.

“Fair food is my weakness.” Natsumi answered, voice completely serious as she met Ochako’s stare with a deadpan one of her own.

“That sounds about right.” Todoroki smirked as he took the seat to her right, quirking a brow at the pile of sweets in her lap.

“I don’t appreciate being ganged up on like this.” She shot back, eyes narrowed and never once breaking her gaze with Todoroki as she brought another fried oreo up to her lips, taking a large bite out of it.

He brought a hand up to his lips and used it to stifle a snort.

Ochako stared, wide-eyed, at the two, “I…Todoroki-kun did you just, did you just laugh?”

“Oh hey, you guys are back to getting along again? That’s awesome!” Kirishima grinned, leaning forward so that his face was between Todoroki and Natsumi’s before he reached forward over the girl’s shoulder and dug his hand down into her bag of fried cookies.

She rolled her eyes and furrowed her brows, “You know…if you wanted another you could’ve just asked.”

The red-head laughed sheepishly, pulling his hand back and munching on the oreo he had grabbed, “Ahaha, sorry Natsu-chan. They’re just so good, it’s like they were callin’ out to me.”

Natsumi waved her hand dismissively at him, “I’m just bustin’ your balls, Kirishima-kun.”

“Natsu-channnn, I would give anything to have you be anywhere near my balls!” Mineta cried out, attempting to climb over the tops of the seats to fling himself at her. Right as he was about to grab her, his little fingers groping for her, she turned herself intangible and watched as he sailed right through her, tumbling over the row of seats in front of her and smacking his head against the guard rail.

“Why have you not been expelled yet?” She deadpanned as she re-appeared in her seat, eyes narrowed down at the boy who was groaning in pain.

“You okay, Natsu-chan?” Ochako frowned, turning to face her friend.

“I’m the one who hit my head!” Mineta moaned, clutching at his throbbing head.

“Yeah, but you got what you deserved.” Jirou piped up from behind the two girls, one of her earphone jacks pointing at him in a threatening manner.

“Yeeeeeahhhh! Welcome back listeners, to the second event of the Sports Festival! Our first fight is bound to be a special one! We have Hero Class 1-A’s resident troublemaker, Midoriya Izuku, ready to battle it out against our mysterious newcomer, and only contestant not from a Hero course, Shinsou Hitoshi!” Present Mic’s overly exuberant voice pulled everyone’s attention away from their personal conversations and back to the stage down below as the two teens entered from opposite sides of the arena and converged together at the center of the stage where Midnight had them shake hands before their fight.

Natsumi leaned forward in her seat, peering down at the two teens below. She was having an inner struggle as to who she should root for. Midoriya is my classmate and my friend so I definitely should hope for him to win but…I just…see myself in Shinsou and he’s worked so fucking hard to get here. He deserves this too.

“Ugh. Fuck.” She groaned, cheeks immediately reddening when she realized she had said that out loud.

Several of her classmates, the ones within hearing range of her, turned curiously at her outburst.

“You alright?” Todoroki rose a brow questioningly.

“Ah, yeah.” Natsumi laughed sheepishly, “I’m just…not sure who I should root for is all.”

Her classmates all collectively gasped at the revelation, Ochako almost looked offended by the statement, “What do you mean? Aren’t you hoping for Deku-kun to win?!”

“Why would you even consider cheering for someone else?” Kaminari frowned.

Todoroki glanced at her from the corner of his eye, equally as befuddled by what she had said, though he made no comment on the matter. He would sit back and listen to the conversation around him and hear what she had to say without interjecting.

“Come to think of it,” Kirishima stroked his chin in thought, “you and that guy were on a team last round. I didn’t realize you were that close with that Gen. Ed kid.”

“I-I’m not!” She sputtered, “It’s just, he and I are similar is all.”

At that, Todoroki angled his chin so that he was staring at her, “How so?”

For a brief moment she appeared to fidget in her seat, unease flickering across her face at the question, “Well, he told me that he knew what it was like to be seen as the bad guy. And he was so…apprehensive about telling me what his Quirk was I could just tell that, in the past, people have judged him purely by his Quirk and not by him as a person.” Her lips curled into a frown as she remembered their conversation right before the start of the second round, “I just…in that moment I could relate. So I do want him to do well…but that’s not to say that I want Midoriya-kun to lose either, because he’s also worked really hard to get here.”

The boy beside her continued to stare at her, brows knitted tightly together in contemplation over what she had just said. He remained quiet, a small frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

Ochako hummed thoughtfully, “I see, in that case—” She leaned forward, raising a fist in the air as she stared down at the two boys, “Do your best, you two~!”

From down below the two boys, somehow heard the brunette’s shouts over the crowd, both turned to glance up. Midoriya blushed and grinned back towards the bubbly teen, while Shinsou cast a glance over his shoulder and raised a curious eyebrow. Natsumi leaned forward and offered a small wave, to which the lilac haired boy closed his eyes and smirked before turning back to his opponent.

“Realistically, who do you think has a better chance of winning?” Kaminari asked his class.

“Well, I didn’t really see that Shinsou guy’s Quirk during the last round.”

“I’m not really sure what he is capable of but he must be a formidable opponent if he was able to make it this far without having previous training.” Yaoyorozu muttered quietly.

“Natsu-chan, you know the most about him—”

“—I mean, I really don’t.” The crimson eyed teen interjected.

“—You know more than the rest of us, considering you worked with him last round. What’s his Quirk like?” Ashido had her elbows resting on her knees, her chin laying across her steepled fingers as she scooted forward to peer down at the ivory haired teen sitting in front of her.

Natsumi bit her lip, turning the thought over in her head as to whether or not she should come out and tell her friends what Shinsou’s Quirk was. It was their trump card in the last round but now that his battle with Midoriya was about to begin everyone would see his ability first hand anyway…so there really wasn’t much point in keeping it a secret after all.

“He has the ability to Brainwash anyone who responds to something that he says to them. It’s something that would definitely come in handy if someone doesn’t know what his Quirk is, but Midoriya-kun knows. So, unless Shinsou is able to trick him into saying something, this battle is going to be incredibly one sided.” Her lips twitched into a small frown.

The battle started and it did, truly, seem like Midoriya would take a quick victory against the boy from the General Education course. For a moment they stood there in silence, facing each other from opposing sides of the arena with Shinsou speaking words that were drowned out by the spectating crowds. Midoriya never faltered in his resolve to stay quiet, instead bursting forward with an immense speed with his fist pulled back.

However, Shinsou was somehow quick enough to dodge the impending attack, swiveling on his feet and appearing behind the mossy haired boy, a smirk painted his lips.

“What’s going on? They’re just standing there?” Hagakure trilled in confusion.

“I think…” Natsumi squinted against the harsh glare of the sunlight, peering down at the two boys on the field below before blinking rapidly, “he got him.”

“What? How? When?” Ochako blurted out questions in rapid succession, unable to conceal her panic.

“He must have provoked Midoriya with words that he could not ignore.” Todoroki supplied. It wouldn’t be hard, just belittle his friends and Midoriya is quick to lose his resolve and jump to their defense.

“What’s this?! Midoriya is willingly walking himself towards the barrier?!” Present Mic’s bewilderment fueled the crowd’s burning desire to understand what was happening down below and why one of the contestants would give up without a fight.

“Deku! Snap out of it!” Ochako cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed but the boy below continued to walk, in a daze, towards the designated out of bounds line completely oblivious to the encouraging shouts of the crowd.

“What’s this?! Midoriya has stopped just inches from crossing the barrier!”

The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats, none more so than that of class 1-A as they leaned forward to try to get a better vantage point of what was happening down below.

Midoriya’s foot was literally an inch away from the disqualification line, his fingers twitching at his side, though there was absolutely no change in his expression—it remained dull and blank despite his inner struggles.

“He’s fighting it.” The dual-color haired boy surmised quietly.

“That kid is stronger than most people give him credit for.” Natsumi breathed, a wide grin breaking out on to her face as the boy below was finally able to regain his senses and dashed across the field towards Shinsou.

Shinsou stumbled back in surprise, no one had ever been able to break out of his mind control before. He did his best to keep up, dodging when he could, but without the proper training of a Hero he was sorely lacking in experience and Midoriya was just so damn fast.

The actual fight, once Midoriya had broken Shinsou’s connection, had lasted a matter of seconds and the mossy haired boy was being declared the winner by Present Mic.

Shinsou’s lips pulled back into a scowl, he had so much to work on if he could even consider going up against the Hero course again like that. He turned to leave, disappointed in himself, when he caught bits and pieces of the conversations happening in the stands above him.

“Wow, that’s some powerful Quirk that kid’s got!”

“Why isn’t he in the Hero Course? He could do so much good with that!”

His sour expression melted away in an instant and was replaced by a softer look, a feeling he couldn’t quite place yet. People were finally starting to see him. Really see him. Despite his loss he was proud of himself for making it this far in the first place, not many non-hero course students shared that bragging right. Indigo eyes trailed up to the stands and locked on to eager crimson, a bright grin on her face as she offered him a wave followed by a thumbs up.

I’ll do better next time; this is just the start. Shinsou’s lips tipped into a small smile as he left the field.

The next couple of matches went by in a blur. Todoroki absolutely dominated Sero in a matter of seconds by encompassing him in a glacier. Shiozaki and Ashido fought against each other and everyone was surprised when the earthy girl from 1-B had taken the victory. The match that took place right before Natsumi’s was Iida against Hatsume, an eccentric girl from the Support Department.

That fight had been less of a battle and more of a way for the pink haired teen to showcase her inventions, or her ‘babies’ as she deemed to call them. Iida was absolutely mortified by his victory; he had won by default when the support student willingly forfeited.

Pretty soon Natsumi found herself leaving the stands where her classmates were seated and trekking down to the field for her first battle. Her fingers tingled with excitement, she couldn’t wait to show everyone what she was made of and it had been a while since she had a decent fight. That, and she was eager to get back at Kaminari for the whole cheerleading stunt.

“This next battle is sure to be flashy! From troubled past to bright future, it’s Class 1-A’s very own Kurosawa Natsumi versus fellow classmate Kaminari ‘Fast as Lightning’ Denki!”

She cringed at the introduction, quietly shooting a displeased glare towards the commentator’s box where she knew Present Mic was stationed. He had a big mouth and absolutely no tact whatsoever, she’d known this since her very first class with him. Still, she had expected a little more decorum when being introduced to the thousands of spectators…

“Wait…that name sounds familiar?”
“Isn’t she--?”
“She’s the daughter of Hydra and Spectre!”
“They allowed her back after that fiasco at USJ?!”
“What were they thinking allowing someone like her into Yūei?”

Her lips curled into a frown, picking up bits and pieces of the conversations happening around her. She knew this would happen, it was to be expected, but it still stung. Her chest constricted, mouth going dry with words on the tip of her tongue that she couldn’t bear, or bring herself, to retaliate to the crowd with.

“Hey, Natsu-chan!” Kaminari grinned, waving across the field at her and effectively pulling her out of her own self-deprecating thoughts, “I won’t go easy on you just ‘cause you’re a cute girl.”

She snorted, “And I won’t go easy on you because you’re you.”

“Good—wait, hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” He whined, unsure of whether he should be offended by her statement or not.

“That’s for me to know,” She tossed her ivory braid over her shoulder, crouching into a defensive position right as the buzzer rang to start the battle, “and you to find out!”

Kaminari knew he would have to end the fight quickly, he’d seen her fight in the last round, albeit very briefly, and he knew how intense Natsumi could be in the heat of battle. The blond needed to electrify her and take her down before she had the chance to lose her cool.

“You’re hesitating.” She laughed, producing icy projectiles and shooting them in his direction. Breaking into a grin as she watched him scramble out of the way of her attack, one of the frozen weapons whizzing past his cheek, leaving a thin cut in its wake. Kaminari absently lifted his hand, allowing his fingers to brush against the fresh cut and wincing at the stinging sensation that followed the action. When he brought his hand away from his face, fingers tinged by a sticky crimson, he shot a startled look towards the girl standing across from him.

“Ah, you know I’m no good at strategizing.” He chuckled sheepishly before widening his stance, “Guess I should get serious, huh?” Kaminari’s golden gaze remained trained on her, he couldn’t allow for any more slip ups on his part. He was in it to win it.

Crimson eyes narrowed at the boy across from her, she knew what his offensive position looked like and that could only mean one thing—he was about to use his Quirk. Quickly, she brought her arms up in a semi-circle, pulling the moisture from the air and freezing it into a dome of ice that fully encompassed her body like an igloo. Seconds later she could hear the crackling electricity and feel the pressure of his lightning slamming against her ice, small cracks formed like fissures along the ceiling of her protective barrier and she was quick to reinforce it with more ice. Static pulled her bangs towards the roof of her makeshift shelter and she let out an annoyed huff, trying to smooth down the hair before facing the stadium of thousands once more.

She waited a couple of seconds before phasing through the ice, eyes set in a narrowed, wary gaze as she searched the field for the electrifying blond. She took a few cautious steps forward, brows knitted together in confusion. He couldn’t have just disappeared—

Natsumi let out a gasp of realization, whirling around as a bolt of lightning crackled through the air towards her, there was no time to dodge out of the way. As the attack hit her, she felt her body convulse involuntarily, her eyes rolled back in her head and a string of drool slipped past her lips and dribbled down to her chin. White, hot pain coursed through her like thousands of fiery needles poking into her vulnerable flesh. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but to her it felt like an eternity of torture.

When she came out of it Kaminari was rushing towards her, she was too fried from being electrocuted that she was unable to move out of the way quickly enough to avoid the punch her landed to her stomach. She sputtered as the air left her lungs, coughing violently. Natsumi was able to snap out of her stupor thanks to the blow, wiping away the drool trickling down her chin with the back of her hand.

“Fuck. Now I know why they tell us not to stick forks in the electrical sockets as kids.” She groaned, fingers absently massaging her throbbing temples.

Kaminari stood a ways back, lips tugging into a taunting grin, “And I didn’t even use the full extent of my power on you.”

“Well good because that fucking hurt.” An annoyed growl slipped past her lips, she darted forward with a speed almost to fast to track with the naked eye. Kaminari decided to run, there was absolutely no way he’d just stand there waiting for her to strike him.

A laugh bubbled from deep within her as she chased after him, “Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

“No offense, but, you’re really scary sometimes—oof!” He cried out in surprise as she caught up, ramming her shoulder into his back and causing him to completely lose his balance. He fell unceremoniously to the ground with her on top of him, her fingers grasping at his arms to keep him pinned beneath her.

“Caught ya.”

His cheeks tinged a light pink and he winked up at her in a flirtatious manner despite the precarious situation he was in, “This would be so hot…under different circumstances.”

She let out a bark of laughter, tightening her grip on him, “I’m sure you’ll be fantasizing about this later on.”

Play time was over though. She needed to end the fight before she expended too much energy, plus she was hungry again and wanted to snag some more yakitori from the vendor stalls before the start of round two.

Kaminari wiggled beneath her but she kept a firm grip on his wrists, holding them above his head. He felt the rime forming beneath her finger tips, coating his wrists before hardening into a thicker block of ice. The boy let out a hiss of discomfort at the drastic drop in temperature, flexing his fingers but unable to pry his frozen wrists apart. A soft groan escaped him and he did the only thing he could think to do, he brought his knees up and plowed them straight into her back, knocking her off balance from the sheer surprise of his attack.

Kaminari used that brief moment of distraction to slide out from underneath her. He brought his wrists down to his side and used them as leverage to push himself to his feet. It would be difficult to fight her with his wrists still bound in their frozen handcuffs, but he needed to get away first before he could think about breaking through his bindings; so, he ran. He ran as fast and as hard as his feet would carry him to the other side of the field, not surprised that she had picked herself back up rather quickly and was aiming her open-faced palms at him in preparation of one of her famous projectile attacks.

As he predicted, shards of ice about 4 inches in length materialized and shot through the air towards him. He was able to dodge the majority of them, though he wasn’t quite as nimble as he could’ve been if he had use of his arms. A few of the blades of ice made contact, two pierced through the material of his uniform and left clean cuts along his shoulder, one lodged itself into his abdomen, and another glided across his left thigh. Kaminari let out a pained yelp, staring down at the ice sticking out of his stomach. It only pierced his skin by a few centimeters, not enough to actually cause any real damage but it still hurt like a bitch and was enough to halt his movements long enough for her to catch up to him.

“You’re lucky I like you, otherwise that could’ve been much worse.” She mused, reeling back her fist and striking him hard enough in his shoulder to send him toppling over. Without the ability to use his arms to catch himself, he landed harshly against the ground, staring up as she stood over him.

“I really am sorry.” Natsumi offered him a lopsided smile as ice slowly formed beneath her feet, crawling towards him in an eerie fashion that reminded him of some sort of classic horror movie. The cold suddenly enveloped him, starting at his feet and moving up towards his neck until he was encased in a block of ice.

“Kaminari Denki is unable to continue! Kurosawa Natsumi is the winner!”

Cheers echoed through the stadium, completely overpowering the whispers and jeers from the few civilians who had recognized her and had negative things to say. Natsumi pulled the water molecules from the ice trapping Kaminari in his icy prison until he was completely free, if not a little wet and cold. She offered him a hand, which he gratefully accepted, hoisting him to his feet.

“Ah, I should’ve known you’d kick my ass.” He laughed good-naturedly, flexing his fingers and wiggling his wrists to bring back the feeling and wash away the numbness that had settled in.

She tilted her head, “You gave me a run for my money in the beginning there.”

His lips split into a wide grin, “You’re right, I did, didn’t I?”

The blond motioned for her to follow him off the battle field so they could rejoin their classmates but she stood glued to her spot. Crimson eyes wandering over the faces of the cheering crowd surrounding the field, they were yelling and screaming their excitement for her win. Natsumi bit her lip to keep the flood of emotions from spilling out, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

“I know you’re going to make a great Hero one day”

“Yo, Natsu-chan, you coming?” Kaminari cocked his head, staring over his shoulder at her from the tunnel.

She nodded eagerly, taking one last look at the stands of people going wild, before jogging to catch up with her classmate.

“You we’re amazing out there, Natsu-chan.” Ochako grinned as the silver-haired teen made it back to her seat after her fight, slender fingers wrapped tightly around several yakitori skewers while she chewed thoughtfully on a piece of the flavored chicken.

“I never want to be on the receiving end of Kaminari-kun’s quirk ever again.” Natsumi groaned, swallowed her mouthful of food, “It fucking hurt.”

The blond in question pouted from his seat behind her, leaning forward with a wince as he disturbed the bandages wrapped around his torso, “Hey, being stabbed by your ice was no walk in the park either, Natsu-chan.”

She rolled her eyes, popping another piece of chicken into her mouth, “It was a superficial wound, stop being such a baby.”

Absently, she cast a quick glance to the boy next to her. Wispy locks of ivory and crimson tousled by the breeze that floated by, he caught her staring and quirked a curious eyebrow at her. Natsumi offered him a lopsided smile, holding out a yakitori skewer to him and was momentarily surprised when he accepted her offer of the fair food without a word.

“I can’t believe you’re still hungry after all that junk you ate before your match.” The bubbly brunette to her right giggled, watching her friend continue to chow down on her fair food.

“Hey, I worked up an appetite chasing after Kaminari-kun.” She retaliated with a shrug, pulling her attention away from the boy beside her and focusing on the brunette to her left.

The next match was announced and Class 1-A leaned forward to watch the fight between Kirishima and the boy from 1-B who had a similar Quirk. The fight itself was long and drawn out, both boys matching each other in strength and resilience until the very end when they overworked themselves, passing out in unison. The match was called a draw and both boys were rushed off the field, Present Mic promised a tie breaker when the boys recovered enough from their injuries.

From the corner of her eye Natsumi noticed the brunette beside her fidgeting in her seat, fingers nervously curling around the hem of her gym shirt.

“Don’t be nervous, you’re stronger than you think.” The corners of her lips tipped into a smile, attempting to encourage her friend.

Ochako jumped a little, glancing over at the crimson eyed teen before biting her lip, “Ah, I know it’s just…everyone’s watching and—”

“Fuck ‘em. Don’t pay any attention to the crowd or the cameras. Just focus on kicking his ass.”

Ochako let out a breathy laugh, nodding her head and clenching her fists, “You’re right.” She stood from her seat, “I’m going to prepare.”

“I’ll be rootin’ for ya.” Natsumi grinned.

“You know,” Todoroki started, startling her out of her thoughts and bringing her full undivided attention to him as he spoke, “I wouldn’t have thought to create an igloo as protection against Kaminari’s lightning. That was a good idea.”

The praise from him was unexpected and she found herself staring at him in surprise, lips parted in shock. Todoroki noticed her incredulous expression and tilted his head slightly, lips tipped at the corners into a small smile.

“Ah, thanks, Todoroki.” She quickly recovered, hoping the warmth she felt spring to her cheeks wasn’t indicative of how red they must’ve been from his comment, “It was a split second decision for sure, but, I’m glad that I did because I don’t know how many direct attacks I would’ve been able to realistically take from him.”

He nodded, humming in thought, “That attack looked painful, you looked ready to collapse then and there.”

She shot him a wry grin, “I’ve endured worse.”

Heterochromatic eyes widened slightly at her admission and he felt his lips tug into a familiar frown as he was reminded of her upbringing. Realistically, she probably endured just as rigorous of a training regimen as he did, it was something he tried not to think of often but…sometimes when he looked at her trying to hide the sadness in her eyes by plastering on a fake smile he was reminded that they probably weren’t quite so different.

Unaware of his unwavering, concerned stare Natsumi faced forward to catch the start of the next match. Her eyes glazed over despite her original plan to actually pay attention, instead, she found herself revisiting memories of training with her parents—anguished cries, hunger pains, throbbing bruises and bloody cuts all invaded her thoughts and she involuntarily grimaced at the remembrance.

Todoroki continued to watch her, brows furrowed in deep thought as he caught the subtle changes in her expression—lips twitching into a small frown, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth anxiously, fingers fidgeting in her lap, a wince as if she was experiencing some sort of phantom pain. His hand rose from his lap and he gently placed his palm against her shoulder, the action pulled her from her thoughts and she jumped in her seat, startled.

“Are you okay?” He asked, frowning at her jumpy reaction.

Her crimson stare slid to land on the hand resting against her shoulder before rising to meet his concerned gaze. She plastered on an unconvincing smile, “Yeah, sorry. Just lost in my thoughts, don’t worry about me.”

He wasn’t convinced, but was unsure of what to say in response to her dismissive statement. Todoroki removed his hand from her shoulder and faced forward, watching her from his peripherals.

The next battle was between Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu. The girl with the creation quirk was at a disadvantage in terms of speed, the boy and Dark Shadow were just too quick for her and had been able to push her out of bounds rather quickly in the time it was taking her to create a weapon for herself. The battle was over almost before it had even begun which meant…the battle between Bakugou and Ochako would be starting shortly.

Natsumi was simultaneously excited and worried about the fight about to start. She knew that Ochako was strong and intelligent enough to form her own battle strategies but…Bakugou was a powerhouse and would stop at absolutely nothing until he had his way and was number one. She knew that her bubbly friend had been anxious about the battle, Natsumi just hoped that during her preparation time that she had overcome her nerves and was ready to take on the explosive blond seriously.

The fight itself was…hard to watch. Not just for her, but for everyone it seemed. Even Pro Heroes in the crowd were voicing their displeasure towards the fight, stating that Bakugou was being too rough. The insinuation that Ochako was some frail little girl didn’t sit well with Natsumi and made her feel uneasy, she knew how determined her friend was, how badly she wanted to be here and to win. How dare these strangers undermine her when she was giving her all?!

“Should they really be allowing this fight to go on?”
“He’s going to hurt her!”
“He’s an absolute monster, stop this now!”

“You’re shaking.” Todoroki stated, tearing his eyes away from the intense battle below to stare at her trembling fists in her lap.

“Don’t you hear what they’re saying about them?” She quietly seethed through clenched teeth.

He tilted his head curiously at her, “That’s why you’re angry?”

“They’re both giving it their all down there and all these assholes can think about is how Bakugou is taking it too far—because she’s a girl he should go easy on her, throw the match because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do. It’s fucking sexist. I have half a mind to freeze those assholes to their seats.”

Todoroki chuckled at the last part, lips quirking into a smirk, “I don’t think starting a fight with an entire section of pro-heroes would be the wisest decision you’ve ever made.”

She glanced his way, snorting at his sassy comment, “Yeah, but it’d be worth it if it taught them not to underestimate a girl.”

Moments later the stern voice of Aizawa-sensei echoed across the stadium, cutting out the words that Present Mic had been announcing over the crackling feedback from the microphone.

“Are you really a hero? How long have you been one? You should be ashamed of yourself. Bakugou is giving it his all and fighting without restraint because he recognizes her as a strong opponent and is taking this fight seriously. Anyone who disagrees with that and thinks he should go easy on her because of her gender should quit being a Hero.”

Aizawa’s words seemed to settle over the crowd, the pro heroes who had been voicing their concern over the battle sat back down, eyes downcast and feeling uncomfortable after being called out. But he wasn’t wrong for saying what he had said and it made Natsumi feel proud to call the Erasure Hero her teacher.

The fight progressed, Ochako was visibly slowing down with each hit she took and it was easy to see that she was quickly reaching her limit and wouldn’t last much longer. In a last-ditch effort to turn the battle around, she let loose a large-scale meteor attack, hundreds of various sized debris from Bakugou’s previously destructive attacks floated in the air around her before crashing towards him.

He was prepared for the attack though.

He was always one step ahead, that’s what made him a surprisingly good strategist.

The blond let loose a powerful explosion that knocked her off her feet. She attempted to crawl towards him, unable to come to terms with the fact that it was over for her and her determination seemed to startle the boy. A moment later he was declared the winner when Ochako fully collapsed, succumbing to her injuries and the exhaustion she felt from giving her all.

“That was…” Kirishima started, eyes wide as he processed what he had just seen.

“…so intense.” Kaminari breathed out.

“She was incredible.” Natsumi’s grin slipped into a frown as she watched as the Recovery Bots took her friend away. She would have to go visit her in the infirmary later, but now that Round One was over she knew that she’d have to start preparing for her next battle.

Midnight projected the next round of combatants up on the screen for all the world to see and Natsumi visibly paled at the name of her opponent. She rolled her bottom lip in between her teeth, a nervous habit of hers, crimson eyes never leaving the name beside her’s in the last spot on the teleprompter. Her fight would be the very last one of the round.

Silently, she glanced over across the faces of her classmates before her eyes locked with that of narrowed carmine. Bakugou smirked at her, bringing his thumb up to his neck and swiping across it in a silent threat to kill her during their match. She had no doubt in her mind that he absolutely would go all out, just like he did with Ochako.

It’s been a long time coming, I should’ve expected this. After all of their verbal assaults on each other, constantly threatening to beat the shit out of each other over the tiniest of disagreements, it all came down to this. They would finally see who the stronger of the two was.

I can’t let him best me. I have to fuck him up no matter what. She quietly declared to herself, eyes never leaving Bakugou’s as they stared each other down. He seemed eager, his fingers clenching and unclenching at his side with the promise of a good fight, sparks sizzling and popping along his fingertips as he held her gaze.

“I know if anyone can take him down, it’s you Natsu-chan.” Kirishima sidled up beside her on the field, his shoulder gently brushing against her’s as his lips pulled back into a toothy grin.

The sudden appearance of the red-head tore her away from her staring match with the ash blond, she tilted her chin and offered him a small smile, “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m looking forward to putting that hothead in his place.”

Kirishima let out a hearty laugh at her enthusiasm, bringing his hand up and clapping her on the back, “Your passion is so manly! I can’t wait to watch your match; I’ll definitely be rooting for you.”

The students made their way back to their stadium seats, the first match would be Todoroki against Midoriya and it was sure to be an intense battle. She could tell that the dual-color haired boy was still reeling from his talk with his father earlier, even if he was adept at hiding his emotions.

As she shuffled through the tunnel, on her way towards the stairwell to go back to Class 1-A’s observation box she passed by Midoriya as he nervously stood further inside, muttering to himself.

“Hey, Midoriya-kun.” She offered a small wave, chuckling as her words startled him out of his silent ramblings to himself and he jumped, glancing up at her through his wild, mossy bangs.

“Oh, uh, Natsu-chan. What’re you doing here?” He seemed eager for a distraction, jogging up to her with a warm smile plastered on his face.

“Oh, I just wanted to tell you to break a leg out there.” Suddenly, realizing what she had said and who she had said it too she quickly corrected herself, “I mean—good luck! Try not to break your leg, or your arms, or any other bones for that matter please.”

The boy regarded her for a moment before bursting out into a fit of laughter at her flustered state, stuttering through his laughter, “Ah, t-thanks, I’ll make sure to do my best. But to be completely honest with you, it’s Todoroki I’m worried about. I mean, I know that he’s extremely capable and has amazing control over his Quirk but…he’s been holding back and even if I can barely compete with his power I want him to fight with everything he’s got, he owes it to himself, you know?”

He was rambling again. But it came from a good place, Midoriya was such a kind-hearted and considerate guy that it was hard not to gravitate towards him and his positive energy. Natsumi found herself smiling warmly at him as he started to mutter to himself again.

She hummed contemplatively before taking a step forward, “I don’t know how many times we have to remind him that he’s not his father, but I think between the two of us we can knock some sense into him eventually and drill into his thick skull that it’s his power, and his alone.”

He ran a hand through his unruly curls absentmindedly before meeting her gaze with a determined, unwavering one of his own, “You’re right. If I have to beat it into him I will, I know deep down he’s a good guy and he’s been through so much. I just want him to realize his true potential and he can’t do that if it’s limiting himself to only using half of his Quirk.”

Natsumi nodded, “Well, I believe in you. If anyone can get the point across to him it’s you, Midoriya-kun.”

His lips pulled back into a grin and she was momentarily blinded by the bright sincerity of the gesture, “Thanks Natsu-chan, I won’t let you down.”

She quickly pulled herself together, nodding towards him with a grin of her own, “I know you won’t.” Before waving goodbye to him and ascending the stairs to take her seat amongst her classmates, now even more eager than ever to watch the next battle.

The first match was between Midoriya and Todoroki. The smaller boy had been studying the half-and-half boy for weeks, well he had been studying all of his classmates, but he was especially impressed with the level of control that Todoroki had over his ice and was eager to see him use his flames as well. Even if, logistically speaking, it wasn’t ideal for Midoriya to witness such strength directed at him when he himself could barely manage his own power in a battle.

But he was determined to draw out Todoroki’s full power and show him that he shouldn’t be afraid to use his Quirk. The only problem was that the dual-color haired boy was incredibly stubborn and steadfast in his resolve to limit himself to only using his ice.

Midoriya flicked his finger and a large gust of wind picked up, blowing Todoroki back several feet before he erected a wall of ice behind him to steady himself. From across the field he could see that the mossy haired boy’s finger was already bruised and swelling, a clear sign that he had broken it.

“I told that boy not to break any damn bones today.” Natsumi groaned, disappointment lacing her tone, “And what does he do?”

“Looks like he broke his finger.” Kaminari supplied, not realizing that it had been a rhetorical question.

Natsumi shot him a look before repeating, “He breaks his damn finger.”

The two boys went back and forth, blurs of motion to the crowds watching above as Midoriya broke yet another finger, to Natsumi’s dismay, as he sent another strong gust of wind barreling towards Todoroki. The dual color haired boy blocked with a wall of ice before pushing forward and sending a blast of icy spikes towards the mossy haired boy. Midoriya reeled back his fist, shattering the tsunami of ice careening towards him, a shocked expression crossed Todoroki’s face at the action.

The force of the strike sent Todoroki sliding back towards the boundary line, at the last moment he threw up a barrier of ice against his back to prevent himself from falling out of bounds.

“He’s on the same level as a pro!”
“As expected of the son of Endeavor!”

Bits and pieces of the conversations happening around them floated towards her and she immediately narrowed her eyes. Her mood soured by the inconsiderate comments of the crowd. She hated how easy it was for strangers to speak their judgmental thoughts and opinions—Todoroki was his own person, he was strong as fuck but that was all due to his own hard work, the fact that his father was a pro hero had nothing to do with it.

I’m sure Endeavor worked Todoroki to the bone growing up but…regardless of what that boy was put through by his father this strength, this power is all his. She let out a growl without realizing it, clenching her fists angrily against her lap.

“Oi, what’s got you so worked up, snowflake?” Bakugou narrowed his eyes, peering over at her.

She snapped out of her thoughts, glancing over at the ash blond, “The spectators are pissing me off with their fucking unwanted opinions and comments.”

He furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue, “Don’t listen to what those fucking extras have to say.”

Natsumi was momentarily surprised by his comment before nodding slowly and turning her attention back to the fight.

“Is…it just me or is Todoroki slowing down?” Kirishima questioned curiously, peering down at the two panting boys.

His observation was accurate though, Todoroki’s movements seemed much slower than they were previously. Natsumi squinted her eyes against the glare of the sun, noticing a familiar sparkle to his skin as she realized with a start that his arms were slowly being enveloped in a thin sheen of rime.

So he does have a limit with his ice, after all. She mused, recalling a time when he had lied and told her that his Quirk had no drawbacks.

Midoriya must’ve noticed it too, for he stopped his self-destructive advances on his opponent, panting from the exertion of his attacks and the pain he was feeling in his fingers and arm from shattering his bones.

“You’re trembling, Todoroki-kun.” Midoriya all but growled, his voice gravelly and strained as he fought against the pain in his broken limbs, eyes shadowed by his sweat-drenched mossy hued bangs, “Quirks are physical abilities, too. There’s a limit to how much cold your body can handle, isn’t there? But isn’t that a problem you could easily solve by using the heat from your left side?”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the accusation, no matter how truthful it was, he refused to give in and play the part that his old man wanted him to—he was no pawn. He vowed to win the Sports Festival and become the Number One hero by only using the Quirk gifted to him by his mother.

Midoriya locked eyes with his opponent, his voice becoming louder as he slowly gained the confidence he needed to say what he needed to say. His eyes briefly shot up towards the crowded stands, finding 1-A’s section and a familiar head of curly ivory before his attention shot back to Todoroki, “Everyone’s fighting with everything they’ve got; to win and get closer to their dreams, to become number one…and you want to win with just half of your strength?!”

His words cut deep; he could tell by the startled look on Todoroki’s face as the words the smaller boy spoke settled over him. Midoriya slowly flexed his damaged fingers before clenching them into a determined fist, “You know, you haven’t put a single scratch on me! So, come at me with everything you’ve got!”

The dual-colored haired boy narrowed his eyes accusatorily, lips pulled back into a sneer, “Give it all I’ve got? What, did my old man pay you off or something? Well, now I’m pissed off!” He growled, crouching low and darting towards Midoriya, hands poised to attack.

As Todoroki neared him, readying his attack Midoriya crouched low into a defensive position, quietly building his power up and focusing it on his good hand. At the last minute he reeled back his fist, striking his opponent in the stomach right as the ice from Todoroki’s right hand grazed Midoriya’s bruised flesh.

The dual quirk wielder was thrown back by the force of the punch, skidding across the arena floor unceremoniously. Midoriya let out a pained cry, he was running out of options now that his left arm was broken and encased in ice and the fingers on his right hand were now broken from the strength of his Quirk.

“Fucking Deku won’t last much longer.” Bakugou smirked, eager to see the boy lose the match

He’s right though… Natsumi thought with a frown, there’s no way Midoriya can pull a win out of this. He’s got no more fingers left…

Below, she could physically see each breath Todoroki took as it plumed out in an icy cloud with each exhale. He was losing his temper the more Midoriya spoke and the longer the battle between them progressed. His movements were slow and sloppy, the cold was becoming too much for him but he was stubborn and refused to give up. He had to win.

A glacier of ice shot towards the broken boy, who was able to easily dodge the attack at the slowed pace that it had shot out towards him in.

Both boys were coming to their limits. Yet still, they continued to dance around each other, throwing punches, bouncing back to avoid being struck before running back towards their opponent. Each time Midoriya got close enough, ready to flick his last remaining unbroken finger Todoroki would push him back with a wall of ice.

More words were exchanged between the two boys that were lost to the crowd through the deafening cheers of encouragement ringing though the stadium. Todoroki seemed stunned by whatever the other boy must have said, he stood frozen to his spot as Midoriya dashed forward, landing a punch to his stomach and effectively pulling him out of his stupor. Before the taller boy had a chance to retaliate, the mossy haired teen was back on him with another punch to the abdomen.

They fought for another couple of minutes, Midoriya shouting through clenched teeth and pulled back fists. Natsumi and the rest of their class weren’t able to hear the words but whatever they were…must’ve gotten through to Todoroki…

Moments later, the boy’s left side burst into a torrent of flames that flew high into the sky, completely destroying half of Todoroki’s gym uniform in the process. A hush fell over the stadium as the spectators watched in awe.

Natsumi clenched her fists in her lap, her lips pulling back into a wide grin, “Way to go, Todoroki! Use your full power, bring it home!”

Todoroki glanced back over his shoulder briefly, meeting her gaze before turning back to his opponent, a determined look overtaking his serious expression.

From across the stadium the shouts of Endeavor could be heard, smug as ever as he praised his son for finally using the quirk that he had bestowed upon him. It made Natsumi’s blood boil and she was sure that it was affecting Todoroki in a negative way, just hearing his father’s voice calling out to him…

Midoriya was breathing hard, shallow breaths and very much aware that this would be his last stand. His lips tugged into a grin at the display, he was proud of his classmate for finally accepting his full power. He leaned forward, flexing his broken fingers and powering up his next, and final, attack.

The flames billowed around Todoroki’s body, he stepped forward with his right leg, creating a tidal wave of ice the surged towards Midoriya. The smaller boy flew forward, running against the side of the glacier meant to trap him, rushing towards Todoroki as he also darted forward with the intent to end the battle.

As the two boys were about to clash one last time a wall of cement intercepted their attacks. Clouds of smoke, ash, and ice washed over the entire stadium, making visibility next to nonexistent. A harsh, stifling wind blew through the stands from the impact, blowing everyone’s hair back and threatening to uproot them from their seats from the sheer force of it.

Natsumi’s fingers clutched her arm rest so tightly that he knuckles turned white. She could hear the screams of Mineta as he clung to the back of one of the seats, his body wavering against the wind.

“Oh shit, who won?”

“What just happened?”

“They stopped the fight before it could get even more out of hand!”

It took several minutes for the dust to settle but when it did Midoriya stood amongst the smoke, head bowed, body swaying back and forth dangerously before, finally, he collapsed. Todoroki watched from across the field, an almost incredulous look painted on his face, conflicted emotions assaulting him from his win. Midoriya had basically forfeited his chance at victory so that he could help him, he was far too kind for his own good.

Even after everything I said and did to him. He still went out of his way to help me. Todoroki’s lips twitched into a small smile.

“Todoroki Shouto wins!”

The next battle was between Iida and Shiozaki, it was an interesting fight but she was no match for the class rep’s speed and soon she was all tangled in her own vines after he had zoomed around her as she tried to capture him. He was declared the winner as she was unable to continue.

That meant there was only one fight left before it was her turn once again. Her eyes shifted towards Bakugou who seemed to be impatiently tapping his foot against the seat in front of him, arms crossed over his chest. He was eager to get to their fight too.

She chewed her bottom lip nervously. Natsumi wasn’t afraid of him, but they had never actually fought against each other aside from their impromptu wrestling match in her apartment all those weeks ago. But that didn’t count. This was the real deal, an actual fight with Quirks, no pulling punches here. Bakugou was determined to be the indisputable winner and he would stop at nothing to reach the top which meant that she needed to give her all because he wasn’t going to go easy on her.

Running a hand through her curly ivory locks, Natsumi pulled herself out of her seat and left quietly as Kirishima and Tokoyami’s battle began below. She wasn’t sure how long the fight would last, but she hoped it was long enough for her to calm her nerves before having to go out and face the explosive blond.

“Getting ready for your match?”

She glanced over her shoulder, Todoroki stood several feet away from her in the darkened tunnel. She hadn’t seen him since his battle and had wondered where he had gone off to after his fight, she assumed that he must’ve gone to Recovery Girl because he was now wearing a new gym uniform.

Natsumi frowned a little, confusion coursed through her when she realized that she was a little disappointed that he had gotten himself a new change of clothes. Shaking her head, she plastered on a teasing smirk, “Ah, we gotta stop meeting like this. What would people think?”

He tilted his head, “Well maybe it’s fate that we keep meeting before our matches.”

She let out a small laugh, “Perhaps. Well, I gave you advice for your match so, lay it on me.”

Todoroki chuckled, his eyes softening, “Do you really need advice on how to beat Bakugou?”

A small, contemplative hum escaped her as she thought his words over for a moment, her shoulders rising and falling in a light shrug, “I know he won’t pull any punches just because I’m a girl, not that I’d want him to. I guess I’m…” She hesitated, biting her lip.

“What is it?”

A sheepish laugh ghosted over her parted lips, “I guess I’m feeling a little nervous. He’s such an arrogant hothead and I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually tried to kill me out there.”

“I don’t think he’d go that far. But,” He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, “I guess that just means you have to be just as aggressive. Don’t give him any openings, you’re fast and have impressive control over your Quirk. Just stay level-headed out there, don’t let him get under your skin like he normally does and you won’t have any problem kicking his ass.”

Startled crimson met encouraging heterochromatic, she felt a wave of appreciation wash over her as his words settled over her like a security blanket. Natsumi nodded her head slowly, lips twitching into a smile, “Thanks, Todoroki.”

“Of course.” His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer before he forced himself to tear his attention away from her, lifting a hand in goodbye as he started in the direction of their viewing box, “I’ll be rooting for you, Kurosawa.”

Tokoyami took the victory in his battle against Kirishima, signaling the beginning of Natsumi’s battle against Bakugou. A knot had formed in the pit of her stomach at the thought but after her encounter with Todoroki she as feeling less anxious.

“Welcome back everyone! Here we’ve got Class 1-A’s resident hothead, Bakugou Katsuki against, equally as ill-tempered but she’ll beat you with a smile on her face, Kurosawa Natsumi!”

Natsumi frowned, What is with Yamada-sensei’s introductions today?

Drawing in a deep breath, she entered the arena, squinting her eyes against the bright rays of the sun after having been in the darkened tunnel for the entirety of the last match. It took a few moments for her vision to adjust, but when it did her crimson gaze landed on the eager boy across the field from her, his lips curling back over his canines in an animalistic smirk.

“Ready to fucking die, princess?” He taunted, fingers curling at his sides, he could feel the sweat begin to form in his palms from the heat of the sun baring down on him. His Quirk was already advantageous over hers; he knew this victory was as good as his.

“You wish, Bakagou.” She smirked, reveling in the way her nickname for him made his eye twitch in irritation.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy beating the shit out of you.” Bakugou growled, clearly annoyed by the use of her stupid nickname for him. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he had been looking forward to finally getting to fight her in a real match. They always argued, teased, and provoked each other with the threat of violence but it was just that, an empty threat. Now was finally the time they could find out who was the better one between the two of them.

He had no doubts that he could kick her ass, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see what she could do in an all out fight against his explosions.

She rolled her eyes, “What a gentleman.”

Midnight eyed the two teens momentarily before announcing, “Round, start!” Before booking it back to a safe distance, and without a moment to spare as the blond let loose a round of fiery explosions aimed at the curly haired girl.

Natsumi knew he’d rush right into an attack, using her ice to skate away from the incoming explosion, the force of the blast propelled her forward, but she tucked into a roll and was able to get away before being hit. Whirling around, she let out a squeak of surprise as Bakugou was right there behind her with his palm aimed at her face. Quickly, she ducked beneath his outstretched arm and darted to a safe enough distance where she could hurl a massive wave of ice towards him.

“You can run, but you can’t hide, princess.” He sneered, blasting his way through the ice that shot towards him. Sparkling shards of frozen dust coated the arena floor from the blast, making the battle field look like a snowstorm had just hit after everything settled around them.

She scoffed, “Who said anything about hiding?”

As Bakugou flew across the field towards her, riding the explosive hot air of his Quirk, she readied herself. She let out a breath that plumed past her lips in a tiny cloud of frozen moisture, fingers outstretched at her sides in anticipation. She waited until he was mere feet away from her before ducking under his wide swing, pulling back her rime covered fist and letting it collide with his abdomen.

The blond flew back a couple of feet but quickly steadied himself, she wasn’t as physically strong as he was and while her strike had caught him off guard it didn’t do much damage. He’d probably have a bruise tomorrow, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

“I guarantee that’ll be the last time you land a hit, snowflake.”

She cocked her head to the side, lips curling into a competitive smirk, “Care to bet on it?”

Bakugou grunted, raising an eyebrow at her suggestion, “I ain’t bringing you any more lunches.”

“What’s going on here, dear listeners? They’re just standing there, what happened to all the action from moments before?” Present Mic’s voice flitted over them, his own confusion mimicking that of the crowd’s.

Natsumi pouted, “Aw, but you know exactly what I like!” She shook her head with a grin, “That’s fine, I was going to say that if I land another hit on you then you have to take me to the arcade for the entire day and pay for all of my games.”

He scrunched up his face in contemplation, weighing her words and the proposition very carefully. Bakugou would need to keep her at a distance if he wanted to win this bet, he knew how fast she was. Finally, his lips pulled back over his canines in a feral grin and he spat, “There’s no fucking way I’m going to be the one paying, so you better make sure you have the cash to cough up, princess.”

She let out a loud bark of laughter at his response, “Haha, okay deal. But I’m tellin’ ya I’m not backing down from this.”

“Neither am I.”

The two flew at each other again, meeting in the middle of the arena where his explosives collided against her wall of ice once more, spraying the crowd with a cold mist from the impact. They danced around each other, the ash blond using his Quirk to keep her at a distance, while she tried her hardest to rush around the fiery explosives to land a hit. They went at this for several minutes, neither of them giving in despite the fact that they weren’t getting anywhere.

Natsumi let out a frustrated breath, eyes set in a determined glare. She knew it wouldn’t be easy landing another hit on him, his Quirk was great for keeping people at bay, but she had hoped that with her agility she would have been able to breeze by and land another punch. Not only did she want to win to prove to everyone she could do it, she also wanted to win now because she really wanted to piss him off by making him pay for her at the arcade.

“Giving up already?” He grunted.

“Not a chance.” She laughed, using the back of her hand to wipe off the sheen of sweat that had begun to form on her forehead.

She pulled both of her hands back, raising her palms up and facing them outwards towards him as a torrent of icy projectiles shot across the field at him simultaneously as a surge of ice rushed across the arena floor in his direction. Natsumi kept her palms facing him as she ran forward, frozen missiles continuing to assault him.

Bakugou let out an annoyed growl, using his explosions to melt the majority of the ice being whipped in his direction, but it wasn’t enough to block all of the projectiles. He seethed as several of them pierced through his defenses, embedding themselves into his abdomen and upper thigh. His fingers dropped to the frozen weapons, wrapping around the ice and yanking them out with a pained groan.

Natsumi had taken advantage of his moment of distraction, as brief as it was, appearing out of thin air in front of him, her fist pulled back. She had become intangible during her large scale attack and easily slipped in amongst her ice.

The blond stumbled back a couple of paces, his eyes widening a fraction while he processed what had just happened.

“I go for the expensive games so make sure you bring enough money for that, Kacchan.” She smirked as she retracted her fist after landing a hit to his right shoulder.

“You’re going to fucking pay for that, ice bitch.” His teeth gnashed together.

“No, no. You’re going to pay because I just hit you.” She corrected teasingly.

“Time to die, you fucking extra.” He growled, swinging his fist towards her face. She dodged easily but was caught by surprise when his other fist swung around and nailed her right in the stomach.

Natsumi sputtered out a cough, flying back several feet from the force of the impact, landing roughly against the arena floor which successfully knocked the wind from her. She coughed again, pulling herself to her feet only to be knocked back down by another punch, her eyes narrowed up at the boy standing over her with his palms both facing down towards her. Sparks sizzled and crackled along his fingertips as he readied another explosion, intent on ending the battle now that he was pissed off for having lost their bet so quickly.

She slammed her palms against the ground and somersaulted out of the way as a gargantuan spike of ice shot at Bakugou right as his explosion went off, he shifted his weight just enough to avoid being impaled.

Natsumi let out a battle cry as she used her ice to propel herself towards him at such a speed that it was almost lost to him, daggers of ice clutched tightly in both of her hands. She brought both arms down in a wide-arc, plunging the frozen weapons into the soft flesh right below his shoulder blades before kicking off of his chest and flipping in the air, landing a short ways away from him.

Bakugou let out a noise that was in-between a pained cry and an angry growl, carmine eyes narrowing on the two large shards of ice imbedded just below both of his shoulders. His gaze slowly traveled down to his thigh and abdomen where he felt the sting of his wounds from her previous attack, his uniform clinging to his body from a mix of sweat and sticky blood.

“How brutal, she really is the kid of a villain, isn’t she?”
“She’s scary, should they really be allowing her to compete?”
“They should stop the match before she kills him!”

The ivory haired teen faltered before her next attack, her arms dropped to her sides as voices floated towards her from the crowded stands. She pursed her lips and knitted her brows together, had she really gone too far with her last attack? Crimson eyes flickered towards the ash blond, darting across the wounds she had inflicted and watching in horrified fascination as the blood from each seeped into the fabric of his uniform.

He caught her staring, noticing the conflicted way her eyes roamed over him and a burning rage seared through him at the thought of her pitying him for being injured by her attacks. She should feel proud that she had actually landed a hit on him, he was ordinarily invincible, completely unstoppable. He thrived off of the feeling of being superior to everyone, but he couldn’t revel in that feeling if his opponent wasn’t going all out in their attacks because then his inevitable victory would mean absolutely nothing to him. So why was she looking so distraught?

“I can’t believe they allowed a villain into the festival willingly!”
“She can’t be trusted!”

His eyes narrowed, watching as she visibly flinched from the words being uttered by the useless extras sitting in the stands. What did they know? They weren’t the ones competing, they didn’t know him, they didn’t know her. Their words meant absolutely nothing, but one glance in her direction told him that they meant everything to her.

A ferocious growl erupted from him, clenching his fists and locking eyes with startled crimson across the field, “The fuck are you doing listening to those fucking losers?! I thought you were here to prove something to yourself and show the world that you can be a Hero. All I see is a scared little girl who’s too caught up in what outsiders think of her when she should be worrying about fixing how she thinks of herself. Fucking pathetic.” His words were harsh but necessary, there was no way he was going to win this fight on a technicality if she forfeited, but he wouldn’t tell her that, instead he continued in hopes of reigniting the fire within her, “If you’ve already given up then you might as well just fucking forfeit and quit wasting my goddamn time.”

Natsumi watched him with cautious, disbelieving eyes, drinking in every word that he called out to her. His voice was rough and husky, eyes twitching in agitation, he could have easily beat her in her moment of weakness and won the fight but…he had chosen to shout words meant to encourage her, break her out of the spell she had fallen under. She bit her lip, letting out a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding. He was right. She had completely forgotten herself and her reasoning for being there in the first place all because of some harsh words. She glanced back towards the crowd, watching her, scrutinizing her, judging her for who her parents had been.

“You are aware that being a Hero with your past is going to make people judge you heavily before they get the chance to know you, your actions and any mistake you may make will be scrutinized more so than that of your peers. Are you prepared for this?”

Nezu-sensei’s words came rushing back to her and she bit back a bitter laugh.

Guess I got my answer, I wasn’t ready but… She tore her gaze away from the strangers in the stadium stands and met the intense stare of Bakugou, I am now, thanks to you. A small smile pulled at her lips before slowly widening into a grin, “As if I’d just hand you the win, dream on, hotshot.”

He seemed pleased by her words, lips pulling back into an eager smirk, “It’s about fucking time you took this seriously, princess.”

An old-fashioned box television flashed images of the Sports Festival, the screen dusty and filled with various finger prints imbedded in the grime. Two identical bodies crowded around the television, while several others remained a disinterested distance away, nursing alcoholic drinks at the bar but still occasionally glancing in the direction of the television broadcasting the coverage of the event.

“Sounds like the civilians are painting a very accurate picture of her.” Ryou mused.

“Mm, yeah. Maybe finally hearing the words spoken by strangers will pull her out of this silly delusion she has of becoming a hero.” Hibiki hummed, eyes glued to the dirty screen, taking a casual sip of his tequila sunrise.

Both boys hadn’t been very interested in the event until they caught sight of a familiar head of ivory curls as she progressed through the events with ease. They were torn between feeling proud of her for beating out so many hero hopefuls and feeling disgusted for her taking this whole thing so seriously in the first place.

But no one, not them, not their comrades, could deny that her strength, speed, and control of her Quirk was impressive. The twins had been around during her earlier years, knowing exactly the type of training she had endured that lead to such powerful control over her ice. But, even so, they could tell that since then she had become an even bigger force to be reckoned with.

“Patience, boys. Soon enough your little toy will be where she belongs.” The smooth, silky voice of Kurogiri reminded them from his position behind the bar as he polished a glass.

Silver eyes glanced towards the warp gate, an impatient huff escaping Ryou as he turned back to the television, tone bitter, “This is taking too long. The more time she spends with them the more time they have to continue their brainwashing. We need to rescue her before she completely loses herself and forgets who she is.”

Hibiki frowned, casting a worried glance in his brother’s direction, “You…do you really think that would happen?”

“Who knows what lies they’ve been feeding her.” Ryou whispered in a low growl that only his brother was privy of hearing.

The younger of the two knit his brows together before tilting his head, “It’s nothing that can’t be undone though, yeah? I mean, she’s ours, I’m sure after a bit of persuading she’ll come to her senses.”

Ryou’s narrowed silver gaze locked with his brother’s, suddenly his lips curled back into a smirk, “You’re right. We’ve always been her weakness; we just have to wait a little bit longer.”

Hibiki grinned satisfactorily, nodding his head and turning back to the television to watch the remainder of Natsumi’s fight, “Soon you’ll be home with us, Mi-chan.”

The two had been relentless in their attacks, neither of them willing to back down or let the other get a hit in edgewise. Their constant back and forth was beginning to weigh on them in the form of heavy breathing, sweat drenched uniforms, and trembling muscles.

Natsumi was pushed back by a swift kick to her abdomen, she let out a hoarse cough as she skidded across the field, righting herself just in time to bring up her arms and defend against a punch. She pushed back against his attack, but in a game of strength she was no match for the boy who spent countless hours in the gym building muscle. Their eyes locked, Bakugou leaned forward with a sneer, quickly overpowering her, causing her to step back under the weight of his body pressing against her.

She debated internally what her next move should be, using all the strength she had to push back against him before quickly making up her mind. Lips twitching into a smirk, she dropped low and swept out her leg, catching the boy off guard and causing him to stumble back. Taking her chance, she twisted her body and landed a roundhouse kick to his stomach. Bakugou let out a grunt, falling to the ground with a thud.

This was the opportunity that she needed and quickly leapt ontop of him, straddling his waist, fist reeled back before connecting with his cheek. Bakugou growled as his face was shoved to the side by the impact of her fist.

The crimson eyed teen went for another strike and gasped when his own hand shot up, catching her much smaller fist in his grasp. He was able to quickly overpower her, using his powerful leg muscles to flip their position so that he was now hovering over her, lips quirked in a devious, triumphant smirk. His left hand still clenched around her’s tightly, holding it high above her head to prevent her from escaping him. The blond pulled back his right fist, bringing it down against her face, splitting her lip from the impact. He went in for another strike but found his fist colliding against the frozen ground beneath him, brows furrowed in confusion before he let out a frustrated growl, “That’s cheating, ice bitch.”

She easily slipped out from beneath him in her intangible state, silently cursing him as she brushed her fingers against her swollen lip, feeling the sting of the cut and the sticky blood between her fingers.

Natsumi reappeared, landed a kick to his shoulder that sent him stumbling backwards but not before his fingers shot out, grasping her leg and swinging her small body as if she weighed nothing at all. He released her, sending her flying through the air, careening towards the boundary line. Natsumi twisted her body at an uncomfortable angle, pulling up a wall of ice to prevent herself from flying out of bounds. Her body collided with the frozen barrier with a sickening crunch, all air leaving her lungs from the impact. She was no doctor but…from the uncomfortable, painful way her chest constricted and burned with each breath she was pretty sure that she may have cracked or broken a rib or two.

“Fuck.” She groaned, pulling herself to her feet, suddenly feeling incredibly woozy as she swayed back and forth. If the metallic taste in her mouth was any indication of her condition…she wouldn’t last much longer, I need to find a way to finish this.

Bakugou was on her once more in a matter of seconds, explosions crackling behind him as he used them to propel himself towards her. She erected another wall between the two of them, turning herself intangible, Natsumi ran across the field to put some distance between him.

“What the fuck did I say about hiding?!” He snarled, carmine eyes darting back and forth in a mad attempt to find some sort of clue as to where she was, footprints in the dirt, dust kicking up in her wake, something, anything. When he found none, he curled his fingers at his sides before bringing his palms out in front of himself, angling them towards the arena floor ahead of him. If he couldn’t see her then he’d have to flush her out. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”

He let loose a powerful series of explosions that ripped through the stadium flooring, heating the air around them exponentially and increasing his own sweat production. He leaned back on his heels, admiring the destruction he had created, slabs of earth jutting out of the ground while dust and small particles of debris billowed around him like a cloud. The detonation of his next attack demolished the remainder of the level playing field and as the dust settled and visibility became clear again his grin turned absolutely feral.

Natsumi’s intangibility deactivated as the earth beneath her feet upturned from the sheer strength and force of the blond’s attack. She stumbled back, tripping over a chunk of concrete. The field was absolute chaos, slabs of earth and concrete jutted out at all sorts of angles from the ground, mimicking a disaster zone more than a stadium. She struggled to find footing amongst the wreckage, Natsumi wouldn’t be able to use her agility to her advantage anymore now that the field was no longer level.

“Thought you could hide from me?” A dark chuckle rumbled from deep within his chest, “Hide from this!”

He shot forward at the same time that she willed her ice to transport her across the disaster zone towards the fuming blond. As they neared each other, they both upturned their palms—a clash of explosive flames and ice meeting in a catastrophic blast that created a mushroom cloud of heat, debris, and moisture from the melting frozen shards.

“What happened?” Sero frowned, using his hand to shield his eyes from the cloud of dust blanketing the field and stands where they were sitting.

Todoroki frowned, leaning forward in his seat, eager to see the outcome of the clash below. He had watched the fight progress with bated breath, a seed of concern blooming for the reckless girl who seemed to derive some sort of enjoyment from antagonizing the class’ resident hothead. He wanted her to win, not only because he wanted to fight against her, but also because the thought of Bakugou garnering another win unsettled him. That boy’s attitude was exceedingly unpleasant, while he was strong in his own rights, Todoroki didn’t think he deserved the victory.

“Oh, it’s clearing up. I can just make out the field…if I squint real hard.” Kaminari jolted in his seat as the cloud of dust and debris finally began to settle.

Todoroki held his breath, squinting down at the field. He could just make out a body standing amongst the wreckage but was unable to tell who it was.

It took another minute before visibility was completely clear again.

Both Bakugou and Natsumi stood on opposite sides of the arena, drawing in ragged breaths, sweat dripping down their temples.

The girl went to take a step towards her opponent when she met Bakugou’s gaze, his expression hesitant, almost…worried? No, that didn’t make sense. If she had to describe the face he was making at her she’d have to say it was…horrified. She tilted her head, screwing up her face in confusion. She followed his line of sight, dropping her gaze to her trembling body and gritting her teeth.

The adrenalin of the fight beginning to wear off and the immense pain setting in. A startled gasp escaped her. Imbedded deep within her side was a long piece of shrapnel that must have been kicked up during their final assault on each other, her shirt was torn in various places and blood was quickly soaking through the fabric from the wound. Natsumi had been so caught up in the fight that the white hot pain hadn’t even registered until after the fact, once she was aware of her own injury it was as if a switch was flipped and all feelings came crashing down on her in an overwhelming wave of agony that had her crumpling to the ground.

Todoroki’s eyes widened, his hands shot out and gripped the railing in front of him as he leaned over the edge as far as he possibly could without risking the fall, “Kurosawa!”

“Natsu-chan?!”

“Kurosawa Natsumi is unable to continue, Bakugou Katsuki is the winner!”

The final battles commenced after a short intermission while Cementoss fixed the battle field after the damage that had been done during Bakugou and Natsumi’s fight. During that time her classmates all crowded around the doorway to the infirmary, straining their ears to hear what was happening beyond the closed door.

Recovery Girl had already shooed them away, “I need to work quickly to stabilize this young girl, I cannot afford to have any distractions.” She had said in a firm voice before locking them out of the room.

One by one the crowd of teens dispersed after realizing that the door wasn’t going to open to welcome them any time soon and, not wanting to miss the final battles, they returned to their seats. Todoroki lingered after everyone had left, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his gym uniform to hide his trembling fists.

He was hoping to catch a glimpse of her, that maybe Recovery Girl would open the door or someone would enter or leave and give him the chance to see her. Just to know that she was alive and well, that she’d be okay. But as it were, the door remained shut and the time was ticking down to his own battle against Bakugou.

He expelled an angry huff from his nose, fingernails digging into his palms within the pockets of his pants as he turned around, feeling disappointment claw at him.

“No word on her condition?” A new voice pondered out loud in a lazy drawl.

Todoroki frowned, his hardened stare landing on the boy leaning against the wall across from him, his hair was a wild mess of lilac spikes and he regarded the half-n-half boy with tired, indigo eyes.

That’s the kid from General Studies.

“What’re you doing here?” It came out much more harsh than Todoroki had originally intended, but he wasn’t aware of any reason as to why this guy would be checking up on her, especially if they had only just met during the festival. Heterochromatic eyes narrowed at his own silent accusation.

Shinsou glanced up, curiously quirking a brow at the other boy’s defensive tone, his lips pulled back into a vague smile, “Same reason as you, I suppose.”

Todoroki decided that he didn’t like this guy.

“Well, she’s not taking visitors.” He spat irritably, whether from his own feelings towards the lilac haired boy or from the fact that he didn’t get his chance to see how she was doing, Todoroki was unsure, but the bitterness settled over him like a blanket regardless, “So you might as well turn around and watch the rest of the finals.”

Shinsou hummed, dipping his chin towards his chest and closing his eyes as he settled in and made himself as comfortable as one could be up against a stone wall, “Think I’ll just wait then, I’m not interested in seeing the results of the final battles anyway.”

Todoroki bit back a growl, his chest clenching tightly and uncomfortably in irritation. He quickly reigned in his emotions and put on his usual mask of indifference, there was no way he’d allow this bizarre kid from General Studies know that he had gotten under his skin. He needed to prepare for his match anyway.

Casting one last glance towards the closed door of the Recovery Room, Todoroki turned on his heel and left, uttering an emotionless, “Whatever.”

She awoke slowly, eyes blinking back the bleariness from being unconscious for so long, a small groan ghosted past her parted lips as she attempted to pull herself into a sitting position, only to let out a pained gasp at the sharp sting from her side. Natsumi drew in a shaky breath, settling back down against her much-to-fluffy pillow and the plain white sheets that wrapped around her, constricting her movements.

Tentatively, her fingers glided towards the edge of the covers, gripping the fabric and lifting until she was able to see the extent of the damage done to her abdomen. She let out a breath as she regarded the bandages wrapped tightly around her midsection and in that moment she realized that her gym uniform had been discarded and she was only wearing her black sports bra and a pair of loose shorts that didn’t belong to her.

Bruises in varying shades of purple, green, and yellow littered her arms and legs all in different stages of the healing process.

Recovery Girl must’ve prioritized my ribs and side. Bruises and minor scratches can heal on their own. She mused to herself, now realizing that breathing didn’t have that familiar burn that made her choke from the pain like it had during her match. She could inhale and exhale without feeling like her lungs were going to pop like overinflated balloons in her chest.

“You’re finally awake.” The soft, motherly voice of Recovery Girl drifted towards her from the other side of the room as she busied herself with counting out pills on the counter, “You took quite the beating back there. Two cracked ribs, three broken ones—breathing must’ve been very difficult with those shards of bone poking and prodding into your lungs like that—I was able to correct the matter through a combination of my Quirk and a quick surgical procedure to remove any remaining bone fragments that would’ve caused you discomfort and issues later on. That wound in your side was another doozy, though not as worrisome as your broken ribs, I’d say. The shrapnel pierced through your left side and went right out the other side, luckily it missed any vital organs and blood vessels and I was able to remove the object with minimal damage to your body. You’ll have a pretty sizeable scar there, but no long-lasting damage.”

Natsumi listened to the older woman speak, absently tracing her fingers along the white bandages beneath the bedsheets. She couldn’t say that she was surprised at the mention of having a broken rib, but she was disappointed in herself for allowing her body to take such a beating in the first place.

If only I had been a little faster, a little stronger…

The older woman’s smile was warm and bright as she finished counting out the medication and sliding the pills into a bottle, turning around to finally face the girl laying in the hospital bed behind her.

“I’m surprised you’re awake already to be honest with you. You and the boy,” She motioned towards the other occupied bed several feet away that Natsumi had yet to notice. Midoriya lay there covered in bandages, blankets pulled up to his chin as he rested, “both did a number on your bodies, it’s almost like you were competing with each other to see who could come out of their fight with the most damage.” She shook her head, her eyes sharpened, “You need to be more aware of your limits when in a battle, that can mean the difference between life and death. I know that this was a school function, but if it were the real deal there’s a good chance that you wouldn’t have made it back for me to heal you.”

Natsumi bit her lip and hung her head in shame, still feeling the groggy after effects of sleep fueled by her body’s exhaustion. Her gaze flickered over to Midoriya, sleeping soundly in his own hospital bed, she found herself smiling softly at him. He’s so selfless, sacrificing his own victory to help his classmate. He’s going to make one hell of a Hero.

Recovery Girl shuffled over to her and checked her vitals writing down the data on her clipboard before pushing a small paper cup of several colorful pills into her hands.

“Take those, they’re supplements to help your body regain its strength quicker.”

Natsumi gratefully accepted the bottle of water that was handed to her next, throwing back her head and dumping the four pills onto her tongue, chasing the medication with a swig of water. She didn’t realize just how thirsty she truly was until that first drop of liquid splashed down her throat and she found herself greedily gulping down the remainder of the bottle.

The older woman let out an amused chuckled before turning towards the door, “You can come in now.” Before scurrying away to attend to other matters.

The door swung open slowly, cautiously, and a familiar head of unkempt lilac spikes peeked in. His indigo gaze landed on her and a small sigh of relief escaped him, he quickly shuffled inside and closed the door behind him.

“Shinsou? What’re you doing here?” She frowned, eyeing him up and down in an attempt to see if he had been injured in some way and was there to seek medical attention.

He chuckled, fingers wrapping around the back of a metal folding chair and pulling it closer to her bed before plopping down in it, he crossed his arms over the back of the chair and straddled the seat. She eyed him and his strange way of sitting, backwards in the seat, before tilting her head in a cute and curious manner.

“Came to make sure that hothead didn’t kill you.” He shrugged, leaning over the back of the chair, his eyes gliding over the parts of her body that were exposed to him, assessing the extent of her injuries. His cheeks tinged a light shade of pink as he realized that she was just wearing her sports bra and quickly turned his eyes away from her.

He had seen the fight, watched her falter from the insensitive words spoken by the crowd and in that moment he felt the gap between them close—he knew what it was like, having heard nothing but negative comments from his peers from the moment his Quirk manifested itself. But she had quickly snapped out of it and continued fighting with everything that she had and he admired that.

And then the battle had come to a head and he watched, much like the rest of the stadium, with bated breath to see who the victor would be. Both teens were strong, forces to be reckoned with in their own rights, but he had been rooting for her the entire time. Natsumi, the girl who welcomed him to her team without even knowing his Quirk—and once she had, had sung nothing but praise over how useful and efficient it would be in the field of Heroics. No one, not even his parents, had validated his dream of becoming a Hero like that.

Seeing her injured was another matter itself. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but in that quiet moment when the roar of the crowd dulled to low whispers, hushed voices speculating who would fall first, his heart clenched in his chest. His thoughts immediately thinking ‘that doesn’t look good!’ at the object sticking through her stomach and bursting through the other side of her back.

When she had finally fallen, collapsing, he was gone in a flash from his seat, not even waiting to hear Present Mic’s voice boom with the announcement of Bakugou’s victory.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be disappointed to see that I’m still alive and kickin’.” She placed her palms against the mattress and attempted to pull herself up into a sitting position, wincing in pain from the action, “Well, maybe not so much the kicking part, but I’m alive.” She finished with a weak laugh at her own stupid joke, she had managed to pulled herself up against her pillow enough so that she was more level with her visitor instead of laying down looking up at him.

The corners of his lips pulled back into an amused smile, “I’m sure you’ll be back to giving the rest of us hell in no time.”

She let out a mock gasp of offense, placing a delicate hand over her heart as if his words wounded her, “How dare you imply that you haven’t enjoyed our time together.”

Shinsou rolled his eyes but there was no denying the subtle tug at the corners of his lips, it was a nice change for him…having someone to talk to.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” He started, turning his eyes away from her to focus on fishing his phone out of his back pocket, nimble fingers unlocking the screen and scrolling through his photos before tapping on it and turning the screen towards her, lips pulled back into a teasing half-smirk, “What was this all about? I swear, I thought half the guys in the stands were going to pass out from the excitement.”

She squinted her eyes at the phone, he was keeping it at a distance, and she realized quickly that it was because Shinsou didn’t want her to snatch it from him to delete the photo he had taken. Her cheeks burned and she was sure that she must’ve been as red as a tomato. On his screen was a photo of her in that skimpy Yūei cheerleading outfit, the photo must’ve been taken the moment she had stepped out onto the field in it because she noticed that her expression wasn’t seething with anger yet. In the photo her expression was apprehensive, hands placed on her hips with her pom-poms fanned out beneath her fingers. She noticed, right off the bat, that the photo focused solely on her, though she could see random appendages of her classmates in the background of the photo but the fact that Shinsou had taken a photo of just her brought on a wave of confusion.

Natsumi leaned forward as far as she could before the pain hit her at full force, stretching out her hand to grab at the phone but he was too quick, snatching the device away from her and holding it above her head. His lips curled back into a taunting grin, “Oh no you don’t.”

A frustrated groan escaped her, “Why do you even have that?”

Shinsou quickly pocketed his phone and leaned forward, ready to respond to her when the door to the Recovery Room slammed open and in stormed half of her class. The indigo eyed boy frowned, staring back and forth between her and her classmates before making the decision the leave and allow her to catch up with them. His raised his hand in a silent ‘goodbye’ and made for the exit, turning to watch as the horde of teens crowded around her bed all asking a hundred questions a second. His eyes lingered on Natsumi for a moment or two before he slipped out of the door, quietly shutting it behind him.

“How’re you feeling?”
“I’m so glad you’re okay, I was so worried!”
“When are you allowed to leave?”

“That fight so was intense, I think my heart actually stopped when I saw you down there with that giant rock sticking out of you.” Ashido cried, reaching forward and clinging to Natsumi’s arm, the pink skinned teen’s eyes were glossy with unshed tears.

“I thought Bakugou had killed you.” Ochako choked on her words, biting her lip and staring down at her ivory haired friend. A series of nods all erupted from the rest of the group, all wordlessly telling her that they had thought the worst as well.

Natsumi faltered, taking in the sad faces of her friends crowded around her hospital bed, guilt began to claw its way through her chest. Her voice was quiet as she mumbled out, “I-I’m sorry for worrying all of you.”

“Honestly, I think Bakugou also thought that he had killed you. He’s been moping around ever since your fight, it also doesn’t help that his fight with Todoroki pissed him off even more than he already was, if that’s even possible.” Sero laughed awkwardly at the end.

The crimson eyed girl tilted her head to the side curiously, perking up at the mention of the fight with Todoroki, “Why’s that—did Todoroki win?”

“No, but he refused to use his flames and Bakugou totally had a meltdown over it, especially when he won. He kept screaming that he wouldn’t accept it as a win because Todoroki hadn’t been giving his all.” Sero continued, rolling his eyes with a half-smile at the memory, “He looked like a child having the biggest temper tantrum, just stomping his feet and yelling.”

“Oh! That reminds me, you missed the awards ceremony but I knew you’d get a kick out of this—” Ashido dug into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone, various cute little phone charms clinking against the back of the device as she pulled up a video and shoved it into Natsumi’s hands.

Cold fingers wrapped around the back of the device before pressing the ‘play’ button, on the screen were Bakugou, Todoroki, and Tokoyami all standing up on the stage as All Might slowly went to each of them to bestow their medals for placing in the finals.

When All Might reached the furious blond Natsumi bit her lip, eyes watering at the sight of Bakugou restrained in something similar to a straight jacket and a basket muzzle. He was thrashing against his bindings, screaming out expletives, All Might awkwardly shoved the medal into Bakugou’s mouth.

Natsumi lost it.

Peels of laughter escaped her and she quickly found herself struggling to breath, her chest clenching, but she could not stop laughing, “Holy sh-shit.” She swiped her finger across the screen, rewinding the video back to see Bakugou thrashing against his restraints, “He looks l-like a r-rabid f-fucking dog. Oh my god, t-this is gold.”

Her classmates were relieved that she was feeling okay enough to laugh like that and soon the entire room dissolved into fits of giggles as they replayed the video, all making comments about the explosive blond. It wasn’t until Recovery Girl came back and ushered everyone out, scolding them for being so loud when Midoriya was still sleeping close by, that the room finally fell back into a pleasant silence.

Natsumi fell back against her pillow, exhausted, but happy to have had the chance to see her classmates before making the trip home. Aizawa-sensei had mentioned earlier, before the festival had commenced, that they would be rewarded with two days off after the Sports Festival and that sounded absolutely heavenly to her.

Chapter Text

She shuffled towards the door, the thick comforter from her bed wrapped around her tightly and trailing behind her like a cape, as another tentative knock rapped against the wood. It was the day after the Sports Festival and Natsumi was a mess both physically and mentally—mentally mainly due to the fact that she became really emotional when she was sick. And boy was she feeling the after effects of using her Quirks in conjunction with each other, that coupled with the injuries she sustained made for an incredibly pathetic looking girl.

Her body ached and trembled with a persistent fever that made her feel too hot and too cold simultaneously, making it near impossible to get comfortable. At her discharge from the infirmary the night before Recovery Girl had told her that she would need to hold off on showering for a couple of days to prevent the nearly healed wound on her side from getting too moist and becoming infected. Natsumi had washed her hair in the sink to rid it of the mud and grime from the Sports Festival, but the rest of her body still felt dirty despite her wiping herself with a warm wash cloth to at least give herself the illusion of being clean.

Cold, shaking fingers reached forward, wrapping around the doorknob before pulling it open, she leaned against the doorframe for support.

The boy on the other side stopped fidgeting with the package in his hands as the door opened, emerald eyes peeking up at her through messy bangs. His lips quickly pulled down into a frown, brows knitting together in concern.

“I had a feeling this would happen.” Midoriya let out a sigh, stepping forward and placing the back of his hand against her forehead. He felt the heat radiating from her skin beneath his touch, his cheeks tinged pink when he suddenly heard the soft, appreciative hum she made as she leaned forward into his cool touch, “Are you okay?”

“Mm, yeah.” She mumbled drowsily, blinking when he removed his hand from her forehead and guided her back inside with his free hand, silently mumbling a ‘sorry for the intrusion’ as he removed his shoes by the door.

“No offense, Natsu-chan, but you don’t look so good.” The boy frowned, “I’m sorry I—”

She raised a hand, silencing him, “Don’t. I was already up, so you didn’t wake me or anything.”

He didn’t seem all that convinced, but nodded nonetheless, accepting her answer. Midoriya lead her over to the couch in her living room, gently pushing the stubborn girl down so that she was sitting, smiling down at her apologetically. Quickly remembering the original reason for him stopping by, Midoriya pulled out the package that had been safely tucked under his arm, “Oh! I brought you some Okayu, I figured that it wasn’t a good idea for you to be straining yourself when you’re trying to get better so I wanted to make sure you had something to eat.”

Natsumi bit her lip, staring up at him through glassy eyes before choking back a sob and managing to say, “You are too good for this world.”

She hated being sick. She hated how sensitive it made her.

Startled by her reaction, Midoriya’s face burned cherry-red from the comment, “A-ah, it’s n-nothing N-Natsu-chan. Are you hungry? I’ll, uh, go heat some up for you.”

He left her on the couch, fingers curling around the package that held the tupperware full of homemade Okayu, before shuffling towards her small kitchen. He opened three cabinets before finally finding where she kept her pots, pouring some of the rice porridge from the container into it and placing it on the stove to heat up. While he was waiting, Midoriya opened her fridge to put away the leftovers, frowning at how empty the inside of it was. When was the last time she went shopping?

Shaking his head, Midoriya decided that he’d ask her later if she needed him to run to the store down the street and get her anything. He didn’t want her to strain herself or leave her apartment when she should be resting anyway, that would only make her illness last longer and she needed her strength to return to her before having to go back to school.

The boy began searching her cabinets, intent on finding something bland to go along with the Okayu. He let out a small, frustrated, huff when he realized that her cabinets were just are barren as her fridge had been but he was able to find what he was looking for—a sleeve of crackers. Standing on his tip-toes, Midoriya leaned up to grab the plastic packaging off of the high shelf that it rested. I bet she didn’t even know this was up there considering her inability to reach that high. He quietly chuckled to himself.

With the rice porridge warmed to a suitable temperature, Midoriya pulled a bowl from the cabinet above the stove and tilted the pot over it, allowing the comfort food to slosh out and plop into the bowl. Holding the bowl in one hand, then snatching up the sleeve of crackers with his other one, he shuffled out of the kitchen and into the living room with a bright smile, “Natsu-chan I have your—”

He faltered, his grin dropping into a soft smile as he regarded her fast asleep while still sitting up against the back of the couch, her comforter slipping off of her. Midoriya set the porridge and crackers down onto the coffee table in front of the couch, moving to stand directly in front of his friend. Biting his lip, he contemplated his options. He could just leave and go home, she needed her rest anyway and he didn’t want to intrude any further but, as he turned to leave he frowned. He couldn’t just leave her sleeping in such an uncomfortable position like that! He was sure she was already sore from her illness and overworking herself the day before at the festival, she definitely didn’t need anymore aches and pains from sleeping while in such an awful position.

With his mind made up, Midoriya gently placed a hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her neck so he could guide her body, laying her down properly against the couch cushions. His eyes widened a fraction when he caught sight of goosebumps prickling at her visible flesh, a moment later her body was wracked with shivers brought on by her high fever. His fingers curled around the edges of her blanket, tugging it up and around her shoulders so that she’d stay nice and warm during her nap. Tentatively, he reached forward to check her temperature once more with the back of his hand, she still felt warm but not as burning hot as she had when he had first arrived.

Good. Hopefully her fever breaks soon.

He rolled his bottom lip between his teeth in contemplation, watching her take in slow breaths, occasionally shuddering from a fever chill. Emerald eyes landed on a pad of sticky-notes sitting on the edge of her tv stand, he shuffled over and grabbed the light blue pad and the pen that was beside it. He knew he’d feel better if he left his phone number with her, just in case he told himself. He quickly scribbled down the digits and a quick note telling her to text or call if she needed anything, peeling the layer off of the pad and sticking it to the coffee table, right beside her Okayu.

Midoriya released a small sigh before heading for the door, slipping on his shoes and making sure to lock the door behind him as he left her apartment.

The two days of rest did her wonders. She was still feeling a little sniffly, but her fever had broken finally after a day and a half and it was around that time that her appetite had returned with a vengeance. Natsumi had scarfed down the Okayu that Midoriya had left with her, feeling incredibly appreciative to have someone as kind and caring to look out for her. She wasn’t used to having anyone fret over her, but she wouldn’t deny the warmth that spread through her at the thought of someone being concerned for her well-being.

While the two days off had been nice, giving her time to catch up on her sleep, Natsumi was glad to be back at Yūei. Being stuck at home, sick and bedridden, was so boring. She had played through all of her video games multiple times, read through the same stupid Hero Weekly tabloids, and even changed around the rockscape in her fish tank. She had been starting to feel stir-crazy.

The walk to school was certainly a little more overwhelming than she had anticipated, strangers stopped her several times to either praise her for making it so far in the festival…or whisper behind their hands as she passed by. Natsumi, for once, paid them no mind and continued on her way, clutching her umbrella tightly and listening to the rain as it pelted against the surface.

With Midoriya’s, now cleaned, tupperware tucked safely under her arm Natsumi strode towards their classroom, donning an eager smile for the day ahead of her. Hopefully training wouldn’t be too strenuous since she was just getting over a cold, but even if it was, she was just happy to finally be back amongst the living and breathing in fresh air.

“Natsu-chan, I missed you!” Ashido sing-songed, flitting over to her with a wide, welcoming grin and wrapping her arms around the ivory haired girl as she entered the classroom.

“Yo, how’re you feeling?” Kaminari leaned across his desk, cocking his head to the side and eyeing her up and down as if trying to find something wrong with her.

Natsumi shrugged her shoulders when the pink haired teen released her from her death-grip of an embrace, “The pain is being managed with some pretty great pain killers and my cold is, like, ninety percent gone. So, I’d say I’m on the mend, feeling much better for sure!”

“Ahh, so you did get sick!” Ochako cried, bouncing over to her friend and examining her body. Natsumi bit back a laugh as the bubbly brunette lifted her arms, then placed a hand on the back of her forehead, when no fever was detected she circled around the ivory haired teen in an attempt to find an excuse to make her go home and rest more.

“Ochako-chan, I promise I’m well enough to be here.”

Ochako puffed her cheeks and looked away in mock indignance at being called out, “I’m just making sure.”

“Natsu-chan, you’re looking much better!” Midoriya beamed as he entered the room, making a beeline for her as she made it to her desk and set her belongings down. He gave her a once over, much like everyone else had as she arrived, his emerald eyes crinkling at the corners in satisfaction when he deemed her to be healthy enough to be moving around on her own.

Todoroki was already in his seat, eyes trained on the girl from the moment she entered the classroom, his own concern well hidden behind his own scrutinizing stare. He had been frustrated over the fact that he hadn’t been able to see her after her fight with Bakugou, he had stopped by the Recovery Room later that day only to be told that visiting hours were over. He had missed his chance to make sure she was okay and that alone was enough to piss him off, he had stewed in his anger and disappointment for those two days.

He could tell from the subtle changes in her body language that she was feeling overwhelmed by her classmates’ concerns but felt too guilty to voice her thoughts and tell them to back off. Todoroki felt his lips twitch into a frown.

“Ah, yeah.” She smiled warmly at the boy, “I really appreciate you stopping by and taking care of me. The Okayu really did the trick, thank you.” She let out a soft gasp, remembering the bowl that she had tucked away into her bag upon entering the classroom and being bombarded by her friends. Cold fingers dug in her bag and pulled it out, handing it to the boy, “I washed it out after I chowed down on the rest of it yesterday. Seriously thank you, you were a life saver. I don’t think I would have eaten anything at all had it not been for you.”

The curly haired boy brought his hands up, cheeks burned bright red as he stuttered out, “Y-you’re w-welcome. I just wanted t-to make sure you’d be o-okay. I know how severe y-your d-drawback can be sometimes.”

Despite his flustered state, Midoriya’s mind suddenly flashed to her empty fridge and cabinets after she spoke, a deep frown etching itself against his lips. She had yet to text him, meaning that he didn’t have her number yet. He had hoped that she would’ve sent him a message after waking up from her nap so that he knew she was okay and so he would’ve had a chance to ask her if he could bring her anything else. But his phone had remained disappointingly silent over their short break.

“What?! Midoriya! You took care of Natsu-chan after the festival? You sly dog!” Kaminari hopped over the desks separating him from the boy, slinging his arm around Midoriya’s shoulder and wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Midoriya’s jaw dropped open, cheeks flushed an even brighter shade of crimson, if that was even possible, at the blonde’s insinuation. He quickly waved his arms in front of himself in a defensive manner, horrified by the attention he was now receiving from the entire class as they all turned to stare at the scene unfolding, “N-no it’s n-not like that Kaminari-kun!”

Kaminari waved his hand dismissively at the comment, leaning in closer so that his cheek was pressed up against Midoriya’s, feeling the heat from the boy’s embarrassment. He winked at Natsumi who stared back at him blankly, lips pulled into a thin line.

“You know, you’ve got everyone fooled thinkin’ that you’re some goody two shoes but in reality…you’re one of us.” The blonde’s lips pulled back into a devious grin, motioning to himself and Mineta with his thumb.

“Midoriya-kun! I didn’t think Natsu-chan was your type!” Mineta gasped, he had just hopped up onto the empty desk in front of said girl, his eyes half-lidded and eyebrows wiggling up and down, “I thought you were into the more innocent, bustier type of girl.” His beady eyes drifted over to the bubbly brunette who was watching the conversation, cheeks puffed out. When Ochako heard the purple haired pervert stage whisper his thoughts about her being Midoriya’s type her face reddened and she immediately turned away from the conversation.

“I’m going to only say this once, so listen up,” Natsumi drawled slowly, “whatever creepy little fantasy your minds have collectively cooked up—it’s not that. Midoriya-kun came over to check and make sure I was still alive because he worries about people and knows that my Quirk’s drawback makes me incredibly ill. Leave the poor kid alone before he combusts.”

Kaminari and Mineta exchanged glances before backing off, hanging their heads dejectedly. They knew what an angry Natsumi looked like and they didn’t feel the need to poke the bear any further.

“A-ah, thanks Natsu-chan.” The mossy haired boy stammered, catching his breath as Kaminari released him.

She shrugged her shoulders, leaning back in her chair, “No worries. Though, you should probably get to your seat before Aizawa-sensei shows up and gives you the look.”

A small laugh escaped him, he knew the look very well, considering Aizawa was always reprimanding him for breaking himself during training. He definitely didn’t want to be on the receiving end of their homeroom teacher’s harsh glare today so he nodded his head and hurried to his desk.

Minutes later Aizawa strode through the door, his tired gaze landing on his students before slinking towards the podium at the front of the room. He was exhausted, not that that was any different from any other day, but he had been out late patrolling the night before and was barely able to catch three hours of shut eye before his alarm had blared at him from across his bedroom.

“Morning.” He greeted, receiving a chorus of ‘good morning’s in return.

Tsu tilted her head curiously, “Aizawa-sensei, your bandages are gone, kero.”

He nodded, scratching at his cheek. There was a brand new, crescent shaped scar below his right eye that hadn’t been there before, “Yeah. Recovery Girl went overboard with her healing. More importantly, today we will be having a very important Hero Informatics class headed by Midnight,” He started dryly, “you will be brainstorming ideas for what you want your Hero persona to be as well as choosing your Hero names. This is related to the pro hero draft picks I mentioned previously. The drafts begin, in earnest, in your second and third years after you’ve gained enough experience to truly become an asset to the pros. In other words, for them to extend offers to first years like you shows that they are interested in your future potential. These offers are often canceled if that interest dies down by graduation.”

“Ah, so we’ll have to prove ourselves even after we’ve already been picked?” Hagakure piped up, curiously.

“Exactly.” Aizawa confirmed before turning towards the blackboard, “And here are the totals for those with offers.”

His fingers wrapped around a small black remote, pressing the button in the center of it and watching as the blackboard lit up with a digital bar graph and the names of the students who had received offers from Pro Hero Agencies.

Todoroki Shouto – 4123
Bakugou Katsuki – 3556

Natsumi’s eyes widened at the numbers that flashed on the board, anxiously biting her lip in preparation of seeing her name. Don’t kid yourself, no hero agency is going to want to take in someone like you.

She nearly choked on her own saliva when her own name popped up on the screen with the number 569 bolded next to it.

“Usually the numbers are more spread out, but it seems that all eyes were on Bakugou and Todoroki this time around.” Aizawa explained, his knuckles absently rapping against the blackboard.

“Todoroki-kun’s first while Bakugou-kun is second…?” Jirou mumbled.

“Yeah, it’s the opposite of their placement in the festival.” Kirishima chuckled.

“Ah, Midoriya you didn’t get any offers.” Mineta shook the boy by his shoulders, unaware of the distraught look on said boy’s face as he continued to rub in the fact that he hadn’t received any offers, “They must be scared of you because of the crazy way you were fighting!”

Their homeroom teacher silenced the class once more, “Keeping these results in mind, whether you received an offer or not you will all be participating in internships with pro heroes. “

Midoriya perked up, furrowing his brows, “Internships?”

Aizawa hummed thoughtfully, “Yeah. You already got to experience combat with real villains at USJ, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see first hand how pros operate in the field.”

“So that explains the Hero names!” Sato clenched his fists in excitement.

“With that out of the way, as mentioned before, Midnight will be working with you today to choose your code names.”

Excited chatter erupted almost instantaneously.

So many of them had been thinking about what they’d want their Hero persona to be like, what they’d want to be called by the public, since they were little kids. It was finally time to make those thoughts and dreams a reality. This was the next step towards becoming a Hero.

Natsumi found herself frowning, deep in thought, as Aizawa’s words hung in the air. She was probably the only one in the entire class that had never actually thought about what her Hero name would be. She had never even dreamed that she’d make it this far to begin with and now she needed to figure out what she wanted the public to know her as. Other than that villain girl, she thought bitterly. It was overwhelming to say the least. The fact that she was going to be a Hero felt more solidified now, rather than just being a thought, an idle dream that All Might had gifted to her.

I’m…this is actually going to happen, isn’t it? She swallowed the nervous pooling of saliva in her mouth, eyes set in a straight stare at her teacher and briefly she found him meeting her gaze. Aizawa’s eyes softened a fraction, a subtle change to his demeaner that was lost to the rest of the class, it was almost as if he could read her thoughts and that small change in his expression was meant to reassure her.

Wait. You can’t read minds, right? Call Bakugou a whiny little baby if you can hear this. Natsumi watched him steadily and was momentarily relieved when he broke his gaze and stared out at the rest of the class. She let out a sigh, comforted by the fact that her teacher couldn’t look into her thoughts, that would’ve made him so much more dangerous than he already was and no one needed to know what went on in that head of hers.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in waltz Midnight, cracking her crop against her thigh, lips puckered in a playful pout, “I thought I told you to give me a spicier introduction, Eraser.”

Aizawa rolled his eyes, completely ignoring her playful attitude, “That would have been irrational and completely unwarranted. Just get on with the lesson and leave me out of it.”

She let out a laugh, “Of course, since we all know how awful you are at these types of things.”

He simply grunted in response before pulling his ratty, yellow sleeping bag out from behind the podium and rolling it out. He slipped inside the thick folds of the bag with ease and nestled in, ready to sleep for the rest of the class.

“Aizawa-sensei, how did you come up with your Hero name?” Natsumi decided that raising her hand and waiting to be called on would have been pointless considering that their teacher had already closed his eyes in preparation of his nap. She needed to know though, what his thought process behind picking a name had been because maybe it could help her figure something out for herself. She could use all the help she could get.

He peaked one eye open, hiding the surprise that he felt when he heard her call out her question. Natsumi rarely asked questions in class, the only time she typically spoke was when called on and caught off guard or when she was speaking with one of her classmates.

“I didn’t.” He finally spoke, voice slightly muffled against the fabric of his sleeping bag. Her expression dropped into that of disappointment at his short response and he felt a small pang of guilt, he had an inkling that she was struggling with this assignment and needed more guidance to help her choose the perfect Hero name. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the person who could help her with that, hence, the reasoning for Midnight being there in the first place. He assumed that Natsumi more than likely hadn’t thought about what she would be called as a Hero because she very likely didn’t believe that she could make it as a Pro Hero with a past like hers.

He let out a soft sigh, he would have to speak with her about her lack of confidence towards her future at a later time, “I’m not great at this sort of thing, nor do I care much for names and formalities to begin with. Present Mic is the one who came up with Eraserhead and I didn’t see any reason to put much thought into coming up with something else. If you’re having trouble thinking of something, Midnight will be more than happy to assist you, Kurosawa.”

Midnight grinned, nodding in affirmation, “I’d be delighted to help anyone who needs it, gives me an excuse to get my creative juices flowing.”

Several of the boys, namely Kaminari and Mineta, nearly burst a blood vessel as Midnight mentioned ‘her juices’. The girls simply groaned as the two boys started drooling, puddles of saliva forming quickly on their desk tops. Jirou and Tsuyu quickly stepped in to squash the nasty fantasies running through the boys’ heads, an earjack shoved itself in Mineta’s ear while a long tongue smacked Kaminari over the head.

“While these names are still temporary, it would be best for you to come up with something that you like, a name that truly suits you and how you want the public to see you. Oftentimes, the code names that you come up with here at school end up becoming the official names you’re known by to the public later on. And no one wants to be stuck with a professional Hero name that they don’t relate to or care for, so think long and hard—”

Mineta, Kaminari, and Sero all snickered while the rest of the class let out a collective groan.

“—about what you want the world to see you as.” Midnight finished with a flourish, winking at the three childish boys and sending them toppling over in their chairs from the attention.

Natsumi continued to feel an overwhelming onslaught of emotions but did her best to keep her neutral mask in place, not wanting to spoil everyone else’s fun. Small, rectangular white boards were passed back along with dry erase markers and she sat there, staring blankly at the board in her hand, silently willing it to tell her what she should call herself.

A small groan escaped her and she thought that she had been quiet enough in her inner turmoil to not draw any attention to herself. So when the boy sitting beside her glanced over and asked her what was wrong her back stiffened and she plastered on a fake smile.

“Oh nothing, Todoroki.”

He wasn’t convinced, raising a brow, “Don’t lie.”

A frown fell upon her lips and she turned away from him for a moment, crimson eyes staring down at the dry erase marker clutched tightly in her trembling hand. Letting out a small sigh, she glanced back at the boy, conflicted crimson meeting concerned heterochromatic eyes.

“I don’t know what my Hero name should be.” She admitted plainly, “I…it’s never once crossed my mind so I feel very overwhelmed being put on the spot like this.”

His gaze softened at her admission and he briefly thought of what words of encouragement he could tell her. Truth be told, he didn’t have any idea what his Hero name should be either. Nothing that he had thought of sounded remotely like the image he was going for, nothing fit.

“I guess we’re in the same boat.” Todoroki tilted his head.

She seemed confused by his words before realizing what he had meant and leaning towards him in disbelief, “Are you serious? You have two amazing Quirks, there’s so many names that you could choose from that would all be really cool and catchy. I can’t believe that you don’t have any ideas.”

“Well, do you?” He quirked an eyebrow, at seeing her continued confusion he quickly amended himself, “Have any ideas for me, that is.”

Seeming to think his words over for a moment, Natsumi tapped her index finger against her chin in contemplation. She really wasn’t good at this sort of thing which was why she was struggling so hard coming up with something for herself. This was a moniker that she’d likely be stuck with for the rest of her life, it was a huge deal. Maybe helping him with his would ultimately lead to her thinking of something for herself.

Returning her attention to Todoroki she grinned, “What about Winter Fire?”

He blinked once, twice, three times before bringing his palm up to cover his lips in an attempt to hide the soft laughter that spilled from him. Todoroki didn’t show this side of himself often, and honestly there wasn’t much that could make him laugh but…her absolutely ridiculous name suggestion was enough to send him over the edge. It was beyond amusing.

At his response to her suggestion she felt her chest tighten, not in displeasure or embarrassment over his clear rejection of the name, but because the simple sound of his quiet laughter stirred something within her. This was the first time she had ever actually heard him laugh, actually laugh, and even though it was directed towards her she couldn’t be mad.

“Alright, so that’s a ‘no’ on Winter Fire, got it.” Natsumi bit back her grin, “See, I told you I’m awful at this. Maybe I should pull an Aizawa-sensei and have someone else pick a name for me.”

Todoroki’s quiet laughter died down, his lips pulled back into an amused smirk, “I wouldn’t if I were you. You might get saddled up with something like ‘Winter Fire’.”

Her jaw dropped, did he just? She pulled herself together quickly and shot back, “Oh, Todoroki Shouto has jokes now, does he?”

“Seems that way.” He retorted coolly.

She pursed her lips, shooting him a look of feigned offense, “So rude.”

Midnight tapped her crop against the podium, successfully gaining the attention of all the students, “Alright, let’s go ahead and start presenting your names, starting with those who are ready.”

Expressions of panic washed over the classroom at the prospect of having to stand at the front of the room and share what they had come up with. Natsumi’s eyes widened, she still didn’t have any idea what she wanted to call herself and now she felt an immense pressure to come up with something decent quickly.

The silence was suffocating, dread slowly filling the room, the air was thick with tension as everyone tried their best to not draw attention to themselves out of fear that Midnight would call upon them to present their names. After a full minute of awkward silence, Midnight narrowed her eyes and tapped her foot against the ground impatiently, “I know I said that I’d start with those willing to come up here on their own accord and share but if no one is going to do that then you leave me no choice—”

The screeching sound of chair legs sliding against the tiled floor halted the 18+ Hero from finishing what she had been about to say, her eyebrows rose high into her hairline before a wide grin spread across her face.

Natsumi was aware that all eyes were suddenly on her, she noticed Todoroki, from the corner of her eye, give her an encouraging stretch of his lips. She still wasn’t ready, not really, but if no one else was going to go up and humor Midnight then Natsumi figured that she’d take one for the team to prevent anyone not ready yet from being called on.

She stood in front of the podium, facing her classmates with feigned confidence that probably fooled more than half of them. Her crimson gaze fell to the still empty white board in her hands before she uncapped the dry erase marker in her hand.

“This name was actually chosen for me by a dear friend,” Natsumi made sure to place a thick emphasis on the words ‘dear friend’, her eyes darting to meet Bakugou’s narrowed carmine stare.

“You don’t think she’s going to…?” Sero whispered.

“She’s not that bold, is she?” Kaminari wondered out loud.

Bakugou scowled, brows knitting tightly together in irritation at the girl’s implications behind her supposed Hero name. Don’t you fucking dare, he tried to convey with his expression alone, watching as her lips quickly pulled back into a mischievous smirk at his riled countenance.

“I think it’s a name that has a certain flare to it, a definite pizazz that’s going to have people talking about me for years to come.” She capped the marker and placed it on top of the podium behind her, her fingers gripping the edges of the whiteboard in her hand before turning it to show her classmates.

Ice Bitch.

Bakugou fought hard against the amused smirk that wanted to paint its way onto his lips because no way would he let her know how he actually felt, “Fuck off, don’t steal my nickname for you, you uncreative bitch.” The ash blonde growled, slamming his hands against the top of his desk.

Natsumi let out a loud bark of laughter as she watched everyone’s faces fall into various looks of horror and amusement at the big reveal. Todoroki let out a small sigh, though couldn’t deny the slight crinkling at the corners of his eyes, Why do you insist on causing trouble? Ochako placed a palm over her mouth to muffle her giggles, Ashido burst into fits of laughter, Midoriya kept his gaze solely on his desk top, his cheeks tinged a bright pink, Iida let out a loud gasp of abject horror, eyes wide and unable to form any coherent words to scold her with for being so vulgar.

Midnight strode forward, snatching the whiteboard from the ivory haired teen’s fingers and using her palm to erase what had been written before handing it back, “That’s a little too inappropriate for Hero work, try again. If you’re having trouble try envisioning what type of hero you’d like to become, what sort of work you’d like to specialize in, or even just think of words that tie into your Quirk. It doesn’t have to be some incredibly meaningful name, as long as it’s something that you like that encapsulates you as a Hero then that’s all that matters.”

The teen frowned at the teacher’s words. She had only gone up and presented Bakugou’s horrible nickname for her as a way to waste a little time and distract Midnight from calling on her unprepared friends. But she knew that sooner or later she would need to return to the front of the classroom and present something.

She returned to her desk with a huff, slouching against the back of her chair and staring down at the empty board in front of her.

Todoroki glanced over at her, “Maybe you should’ve gone with Winter Fire, after all.”

Natsumi snorted, “That name was for you.”

Aoyama danced his way to the front of the classroom, his trademark secretive little smirk present as he stared out at his classmates. He flipped his white board over and struck a pose, “The Shining Hero: I Can Not Stop Twinkling! Which means, you can’t stop my sparkles!”

That’s a whole sentence! I thought Hero names were supposed to be short, concise, and catchy? Ugh, are you telling me now that it needs to be a whole phrase? This is impossible. Natsumi inwardly groaned, leaning her elbow against the surface of her desk and plopping her chin into the palm of her hand despondently.

Midnight sidled up beside the blonde and took the white board from him, turning it towards herself to make adjustments to his name, “It’ll be easier to use if you take out the ‘I’ and shorten ‘can not’ to ‘can’t’.” She turned the white board around the show everyone Can’t Stop Twinkling.

Aoyama turned as well, giving the updated nickname an appraising smile, “You’re right, mademoiselle!”

“Ahh, that’s okay?!” Half the class voiced their concerns over the name being too long.

Ashido pushed back her chair excitedly, bounding up to the front of the room with an eager bounce in her step and a wide grin plastered on her face, “I’ll go next!” She turned her white board around and revealed to the class that she wanted to be known as Alien Queen.

Midnight blanched, “I wouldn’t if I were you. A name like that is more reminiscent to something that a villain would call themselves—or something from a horror movie.”

Ashido’s excited demeanor dropped and she hung her head on her way back to her seat, wracking her brain for another name she could choose. Natsumi shot her friend a sympathetic look, this was probably the hardest exercise they had to complete since coming to Yūei. Not even fighting against real life villains could compare to the level of anxiety they were feeling at having to choose an official Hero moniker.

The rest of the class began to panic, feeling as if they now needed to come up with funny names after the first three had gone up to present theirs in a less than serious manner. The pressure was definitely on.

“May I go next?” Tsuyu raised her hand, almost uncertain in her decision but figuring that it was now or never. She had been thinking about her Hero name and persona since she was a little girl and was finally ready to let the world know who she planned to become. Midnight nodded her head, pleased that finally someone had some manners to raise their hand instead of just barging on up to the front of the class.

Her back was slightly hunched, elbows tucked against her side while keeping her whiteboard flush against her chest, Tsuyu had a slight hop to her step as she positioned herself in front of the podium, “I’ve had this in mind ever since I was in elementary school.” She turned the board around, “The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy!”

Midnight slid over to Tsuyu, hands clasped adoringly as she gushed, “That’s so cute! It seems very friendly, I like it! It’s a great example of a name that everyone will love!”

A chorus of “Froppy! Froppy!” rung out across the classroom, half of the students pumped their fists in the air to show their support for their friend.

Kirishima was next, choosing the name ‘Red Riot’ named after his favorite Hero growing up, Crimson Riot. Jirou rushed up to the podium with a grin and the name ‘Earphone Jack’ written on her board. Kaminari went with ‘Chargebolt’, he seemed very proud for coming up with something clever enough to reflect his Quirk so well. Several more people went up to present theirs, all of them equally as good as the last.

Natsumi was becoming antsy as, one by one, her classmates gained the courage to go up and reveal their names, soon enough there were only a handful of them left who had yet to present anything. A frown marred her complexion, she continued to stare down at the blank board laying flat on her desk, she had a couple ideas now but was still unsure which one to go with. She tilted her head to the side to ask her seatmate’s opinion but was surprised to find herself staring at his retreating back as he made his way towards the front of the room.

I wonder what he decided on? Knowing Todoroki, it’s probably something clever. I wonder if it’ll allude to both of his Quirks…or if he’s still planning on mainly using his ice?

The boy had an almost bored expression as he glanced out across his classmates, mismatched eyes lingering on his seatmate for a moment before he flipped his board over, “Shouto.”

“Just your name? Is that okay?” Midnight questioned curiously.

He nodded, answering with a simple, “Yeah.” before striding back to his seat.

“Man, here I was so sure that you were going to pick something more clever, a name that was the epitome of creativity like Winter Fire.” She breathed out a sigh of feigned disappointment.

Todoroki glanced over at her with a raised brow, “I don’t think the world is ready for Winter Fire.”

She let out a hum of agreement, “You’re probably right.”

After a few more people went up front it was finally Bakugou’s turn to stomp up there, a confident smirk painted his lips, slamming the bottom of the whiteboard against the podium that he stood behind, “King Explosion Murder.”

The classroom was quiet, no one knowing what to say because he was absolutely serious about the name despite the fact that it was even more ridiculous than anything that had been said at the beginning of the class. The silence was broken by a loud bark of laughter, followed by a fist pounding against the desk top as Natsumi absolutely lost her shit.

“Oh my god. This is the best day ever.” She gasped between her bouts of laughter.

“You better shut your fucking trap, ice bitch, before I kill you.” He growled, which only furthered her amusement.

“I-I will never take you seriously ever again, holy shit. I can’t believe you were able to say that name with a straight face.” She was practically wheezing at this point, tears streaming down her face. Todoroki cast a glance over at her and quietly asked if she was okay, she quickly nodded in affirmation.

“Natsu-chan is bold.” Kaminari whistled appreciatively.

“I think it’s cute. It’s their own way of saying that they actually like each other.” Tsuyu commented, finger poking at the side of her lips.

Natsumi immediately sobered up at the other girl’s words and she stared, wide eyed and mouth gaping in disbelief, “E-excuse me, Tsu-chan?”

“You two yell, threaten, and provoke each other on a daily basis but they’re just empty threats, nothing ever comes from your hostility. Were it anyone else, Bakugou-kun wouldn’t hesitate to hit them, but with you it almost seems like he’s a little softer.” Tsuyu explained, before adding, “Could it be that you’re secret lovers?”

Natsumi fell out of her chair, her body hitting the tiled floor with a dull thud, she could not believe what the frog-like girl had insinuated! It made her nauseous just thinking about it.

“What the fuck did you say, froglips?!” The ash blonde snarled, fingers curling at his sides, “As if I’d ever stoop so fucking low as to date that loser!”

The ivory haired girl shot back to her feet at the blatant insult, eyes narrowed and lips pulled back into a scowl, “Dating me would be a fucking honor.”

“I’d rather die.”

“That can be arranged.”

“You wanna fucking go?!”

“Are you asking me out? I’m afraid I have to politely decline, you’re not my type, King Explosion Murder.” She slid back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest and upturning her nose, deciding that the conversation was over.

“As fun as it is to watch you two have your little lovers quarrel—”

Natsumi and Bakugou both shot Midnight their own brand of death glares.

“—I think we should get back to the task at hand. Bakugou, you can’t use a name like that. Sit back down and come up with something less murder-y, please.” The Pro Hero let out a sigh as the ash blonde growled, stomping back to his seat.

Iida walked to the front of the classroom, an air of uncertainty surrounding him as he chose the name ‘Tenya’. Natsumi noticed that he seemed a little off, not as excitable as he typically did, but she then recalled that Ochako had mentioned, when she visited her in the infirmary, that Iida’s brother had been attacked.

After he sat back down Midoriya presented the name ‘Deku’, surprising everyone with his choice. Bakugou seemed extra displeased that the name he had come up with tear the boy down had now become a symbol of strength for him.

This now left only two people left. Herself and Bakugou.

Midnight’s expectant stare had landed on Natsumi, “Kurosawa, you ready?”

Todoroki eyed her from his peripherals, wondering if she had come up with something during all that time spent watching the rest of their classmates present theirs. He was curious, though he did hope that whatever she picked for herself was much better than the name she had come up for him.

“Ah, yeah.” She mumbled, tucking a stray strand of curly ivory hair behind her ear as she slowly stood from her seat and shuffled up towards the front of the room. She could feel the curious stares of her classmates boring into her and it brought back her feeling of uneasiness.

It’s now or never. Midnight isn’t going to let me go until I actually come up with something.

She uncapped her marker for what felt like the millionth time that day, trembling fingers slowly writing down the name she had thought of, the marker squeaking loudly against the white board. Drawing in a steady breath, Natsumi flipped the board around, “It took me a while to think of something not cringeworthy and what I finally came up with was: The Frozen Hero: Hisame.” The kanji she had used for Hisame meaning ‘ice storm’.

Midnight’s lips pulled back into a pleased grin, “I like it, it’s cute and is the type of name that advertises exactly who you are and what you can do. Good job, Kurosawa.”

Her classmates cheered and clapped their hands for her, all voicing their own excitement over the name she had chosen.

Natsumi beamed at the praise, her anxieties over the situation melted away at the supportive comments chorused by her classmates. She immediately felt foolish for worrying so much in the first place. As she capped her marker and started heading back towards her desk, she could’ve sworn that she saw Aizawa-sensei’s lips twitch into a smile.

Ah, must be having a good dream. She mused.

Todoroki turned to look at her when she returned to her seat, his brows furrowed, lips pulled back into a slight frown, “Where was that creativity when you were trying to think of something for me?”

She bit back a teasing grin, “Couldn’t let you know that I was secretly a master at coming up with Hero names, now could I?”

“Sneaky girl.” He mumbled.

Aizawa woke up shortly after that, blinking the grogginess away before stifling a yawn. Midnight waved to the kids, telling them she was proud of them, before leaving.

“Those of you who were picked by pros, I have the lists of agencies that were interested in you here that I will pass out momentarily. You will have until the end of the week to decide who you would like to participate in your internship with, I expect all forms to be properly filled out and submitted to me no later than Friday.” He drawled as he pulled out a thick stack of papers from his sleeping bag, “Those of you who were not chosen will still have a chance, as previously mentioned. Your list will be much shorter in comparison, but please take this as an opportunity to learn from the pros that you choose as they will be your mentors for an entire week.”

He went down the aisles passing out the papers, some of them only received a singular sheet while others, like Todoroki and Bakugou, received literal novel sized stacks of names in tiny print. Excited chatter erupted as the students started reading over their lists and gushing to their neighbors about the Pro Heroes who had sent in a request for them. It was overwhelming but so exciting to know that Pros had actually seen potential in them, the teens could not wait until their internships began.

Glancing over at the enormous stack in front of Todoroki, Natsumi let out a small laugh, “That’s pretty intimidating, how’re you ever going to choose someone?”

“I already know who I plan on interning with.” He shrugged his shoulders, not even bothering to look through the thousands of names sitting in front of him.

She let out a small hum, turning back to her own stack of papers, not quite as impressive as Todoroki’s, but she was still reeling from the fact that so many Pro Heroes had deemed her worthy of interning with them. Natsumi didn’t even know where to begin, she didn’t know much about Heroes other than the Top Ten and the ones that taught her class so a majority of the names meant absolutely nothing to her.

Crimson eyes scanned over the names, hoping to catch one that sounded familiar to her. Maybe I should ask Midoriya-kun for his input.

Suddenly, her stare landed on one name in particular and she felt her chest tighten, eyes locked on the printed text with a heated glare. She found herself staring at the name for longer than necessary, realistically she knew that the Hero that name belonged to couldn’t feel her anger no matter how hard she glared down at the paper, though she absently hoped that wherever he was that he suddenly spilt his coffee on himself, or tripped in public, or something equally as embarrassing.

Endeavor Hero Agency.

For the life of her she couldn’t possibly begin to fathom why he had sent in a request for her in the first place. Mere days ago he had called her a villain, condemned the school for allowing her to even attend, and now he was asking her to intern with him? It didn’t make sense. He was a horrible, conniving man who had more villainous qualities than virtues…he must have been up to something. She wouldn’t have put it past him to request her only to humiliate and demean her the entire week.

Todoroki, from the corner of his eye, watched as Natsumi scanned through her own list before stopping completely on one name in particular. From his position he was unable to see who the name belonged to, but his curiosity was growing by the minute as she continued to stare with brows furrowed and an angry scowl painting her face.

“Is something wrong?” He asked softly.

Her fingers pinched the edge of the paper in her hands before quickly ripping off the bottom portion of the sheet and crumpling it up with an angry huff. There was no goddamn way she would choose him. She didn’t care that he was the Number Two Hero.

She grunted out a, “I’m fine.” Before going back to her list, the boy beside her definitely seemed surprised by her reaction but decided not to press the matter as she already seemed irritated and he didn’t want to make it worse.

Another name caught her attention, but not in a negative way like Endeavor’s had. She tilted her head curiously, I’m a little surprised that two of the Top Ten were on my list…

“Natsu-chan~!” Ashido danced over to her with a dazzling grin, seating herself atop the ivory haired teen’s desk and staring down at her eagerly, “Isn’t this so exciting!? You have a pretty big list there, any idea who you’re going to pick?”

Natsumi pulled herself out of her thoughts long enough to tilt her head up to meet her friend’s expectant gaze, lips pulled back in a teasing smile, “I have an idea.”

“Oh? Who?” Curly pink curls bounced as the girl leaned in closer, face inches apart from her friend’s.

“I think I’ll keep it to myself for now, wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.” That, and I don’t even know for sure I want to choose him to begin with, I need a few days to really think this over.

Ashido let out a loud, dramatic groan, “Ahh, Natsu-chan you’re such a tease!”

Once class was over for the day Natsumi bid her classmates goodbye, shoving her books and Hero Agency list roughly into her bag before booking it out of the room. She was on a mission and she needed to find him before he left school grounds, though she was pretty sure that he usually stayed pretty late to finish grading papers and work on lesson plans.

The closer she got to the teacher’s lounge the less students she saw ambling through the hallways. To be fair, no one in their right mind wanted to stay late after school and risk running into one of their instructors…yet here she was, standing outside of the teacher’s lounge with intent to barge inside and speak with her homeroom teacher.

As her fingers enclosed around the handle of the door, it suddenly was pulled open from the other side, sending her staggering forward. A pair of arms shot out, gripping her shoulders to steady her. When Natsumi was finally able to correct her balance and take a step back she was delighted and confused to see a familiar head of unkempt lilac spikes. Heavy bags clung to his lower lids, something she had noticed the first time they had met but now seemed even more pronounced than before. He stepped around her, closing the door behind him and meeting her curious gaze with tired indigo eyes.

“Not the most graceful entrance I’ve seen. I’d give it a three out of ten.” He drawled, lips upturning in a lazy smirk.

She let out a gasp, narrowing her eyes up at the taller boy, “How dare you. That was at least a four and a half.”

“You’re delusional, Kurosawa.” He scoffed, though she could see the playful glint in his dark eyes.

She let out an annoyed huff, leaning back on the heel of her right foot and running a hand through her curly ivory locks before glancing up at him with a small smile, “I was actually hoping to run into you.”

“Oh?” He tilted his head.

“You were great at the Sports Festival.” She breathed out quietly, lips pulled back into a grin so bright that he almost had to shield his eyes, “We’re going to be starting our Internships soon, but, when I come back I figured maybe we could train together.”

Shinsou’s eyes widened slightly at her invitation to train together, definitely not something he was expecting to hear from her. He absently brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck, a nervous tic of his, and he slowly met her expectant stare, his lips dipped into a suspicious frown, “Why would you want to do that?”

She supposed that she should have expected a guarded response from him. Because you deserve a shot. Natsumi wanted to say, but instead, settled for, “Because we need to work on those limp noodles you call arms.”

He blinked, his hand dropped from his neck and he snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on his heel, raising a brow at her, “Look who’s talking.”

Natsumi let out a soft laugh, “Hey, I’m working on it. But, I also have a Quirk that makes up for my lack of physical strength, too. You, on the other hand, aren’t receiving the type of training that we are which puts you at a disadvantage if you want to transfer into the Hero Course. So, I figured, if we trained together and built up your muscle mass, you’d be more prepared for when the time comes for whatever entrance exam or initiation they’re willing to put you through.”

He considered her words, truly shocked by the girl standing before him, but he reigned in his emotions quickly, replacing what he was feeling with his typical mask of indifference so she couldn’t see the mess he had quickly become over her words. She was a tiny thing, a little over half a foot shorter than he was with a lithe build, easy to underestimate if you didn’t know any better. Despite her unassuming appearance, she was strong, determined, had impressive control over her Quirk and, for some reason, she saw something in him that no one else had.

Shinsou found that he couldn’t say ‘no’ to her suggestion, not that he actually wanted to. She was an interesting kid, that was for sure, and he found himself not hating her like he did the rest of the student body. She was also willing to help him work towards his goal to becoming a Hero, Shinsou knew that he could use all the help he could get and after his talk with Aizawa and the conversation he was currently having with Natsumi he was certain that he was closer to his dream than ever before.

He smirked down at her, “You know, if you wanted to spend extra time with me all you had to do was ask.”

She blinked, completely ignoring his teasing remark, she leaned forward with a knowing grin, “Is that a yes to training then?”

He closed his eyes momentarily, dropping his shoulders in a light shrug, “Why not? I could use a workout buddy.”

“Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re pretty.” It was now her turn to smirk as his cheeks tinged pink, “We gotta whip your scrawny ass into shape.”

Shinsou recovered rather quickly, shoving his hands into his pockets and leaning towards her with a half-smirk, his face inches from hers, “You think I’m pretty and you’ve taken an interest in my ass? Kurosawa, are you flirting with me?”

Natsumi let out a long, drawn out groan, but met his teasing gaze with an unwavering one of her own, “As if, Shinsou. Now, I did actually come here to speak with Aizawa-sensei, not go back and forth with you all day.”

He shrugged his shoulders, stepped around her, a chuckle rumbling from his chest, “Whatever you say.”

“Oh! Before you go, give me your number.” She pulled out her phone and shoved it into his hands almost aggressively, “So we can work on a training schedule for when I get back.”

Shinsou stared down at the phone in his hands, noticing that the background photo was a selfie of Natsumi, laying on her couch with a lazy smile while she held the phone up to take the photo of herself and the little black cat that was curled up around her neck.

Cute.

He quickly clicked on the ‘new contact’ button, fingers quickly working to enter in his phone number before handing the phone back to her, “That your cat?”

She blinked, tilting her head before remembering that she had a photo of herself and Kaguya as her wallpaper, “Yeah, that’s Kaguya. She can be a pain in the ass so when she’s in an affectionate mood I like to document it because it’s not very often that she wants to cuddle.”

He nodded, the corners of his lips twitching, that’s another thing we have in common. Not many people knew, but, Shinsou absolutely loved cats. He wasn’t allowed to have one because his father was allergic so he lived vicariously through anyone who had one and oftentimes would spend lazy afternoons at the local cat cafes to get his feline fix.

Natsumi quickly sent him a text so that he’d have her number, “Alright, well I better head in there. See you later, Shinsou.”

“Good luck with your internship, Kurosawa.” He raised a hand in farewell as he turned and strode down the hallway out of sight.

She quickly turned around, taking a deep breath to steel her nerves before knocking on the door twice to announce her presence before pushing the door open.

Inside it was mostly empty, a couple of teachers hung around chatting in the back while sipping piping hot mugs of coffee. Her eyes immediately landed on the lonely figure on the far side of the room, half concealed by his signature yellow sleeping bag as he sat at his desk and typed away at his lap top.

Upon her entrance his eyes swiveled in her directly but he made no motion to move or invite her over. Natsumi let out the breath that she had been holding, shuffling towards her homeroom teacher and seating herself in the chair across from him. She was quiet for a few minutes, trying to piece together her thoughts.

“Something on your mind, Kurosawa?” His eyes stayed trained on the computer screen as he spoke, realizing that if she was just going to sit there without speaking then he’d have to initiate the conversation.

His gruff voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she straightened in her seat, “A-ah, yeah. Sensei, I know that it was mentioned before that those who’re in the General Studies department could potentially be transferred into the Hero Course if they showed potential and, I mean, I know my opinion probably doesn’t matter at all on this matter but—”

Aizawa let out a sigh, turning to give her his attention, pinching the bridge of his nose as she rambled on. She was reminding him more like Midoriya in this moment, “Out with it.”

“I want you to consider Shinsou Hitoshi for the Hero Course.” She blurted out, wide eyes moving up to meet the dark, intimidating stare of her homeroom teacher.

Initially he had thought that she was coming to speak with him about her insecurities over becoming a Hero, he was momentarily surprised when that was the furthest thing from what was on her mind. Aizawa leaned back in his seat, “Why should I do that?”

She scrunched up her nose, as if she was offended that he would be asking such a question because the reasons should have been obvious to him. He quirked an amused eyebrow at her.

“He’s worked so hard to get here; his Quirk is insanely strong and useful—can you imagine how helpful it would be in apprehending villains or during interrogations? He’d probably be the most efficient Hero when it came to getting confessions or just stopping villains without the need for violence.” She narrowed her eyes, “We worked so well together during that second event—we didn’t even know each other or the rest of our teammates but we still made it work. He was able to think up strategies on the fly and adapt to changes with impressive speed.” The longer she sat there in front of him the more passionate she became, her voice becoming louder and louder with her own resolve and determination, “It’s no secret that the entrance exams favor those with physical Quirks, making it almost impossible for someone with a mental Quirk to do well enough to pass. The entire system is unfair, he deserves the chance to chase his dream, sensei.”

His lips curled into a smirk, “Is that so? Well I, along with the other teachers, will be reviewing the footage from the Sports Festival over the next couple of days. I will certainly keep your testimony in mind.”

Natsumi nodded slowly, muttering a soft ‘thank you’. Aizawa turned back to his work, assuming that that was the end of the conversation and that she had said everything that she needed to. His fingers glided across his keyboard for another half minute before he let out another sigh, “Is that all? I have work to do Kurosawa and you’ve got your fair share of homework you should get started on as well.”

She fidgeted, “Well, that wasn’t the only reason I came here. With the internships starting soon I was starting to wonder, I mean, I’m pretty sure I know who I was going to go with and if I do it’s on the other side of the country. I just…”

“Who were you thinking of going to?”

She glanced up, fingers laced together in her lap, “I was thinking of interning with Hawks.”

Aizawa nodded mutely, leaning forward, “That would be a great opportunity for you to learn alongside one of the Top Ten Pros. I know that he rarely, if ever, chooses students to intern with him so he must have really been impressed by your performance. So, what’s the problem?”

“Well, it’s the distance, really.” She admitted, lips tugging into a frown.

“Why would the location of your internship matter?” He rose a curious brow.

“I’m just going to come out and say it; Aizawa-sensei I have a cat at home.” He blinked, but she continued, “I was hoping that maybe you could stop by my apartment every other day or so and just fill up her bowl while I’m gone? I know it’s a lot to ask and it’s not your responsibility and you’re probably really busy but I’m worried that if I choose an agency that far from home that she’ll end up starving in the span of that week that I’m gone. I mean, I can always choose a local agency—”

The older man let out a small groan, raising a hand to quiet her frantic mumbling, “Don’t make such an irrational decision. Go intern with Hawks.” He buried his chin into his capture weapon and grunted, “I will figure something out so don’t base your decision solely on what’s going to happen with your cat. If it ends up being me stopping by then so be it, if not then I will find someone to help out.”

Truth be told, Aizawa was going to be extremely busy during that time. Usually he didn’t take on interns for himself, he already had enough on his plate with assignments that needed to be graded, nightly patrols, and trying to catch up on his sleep. But this year was different. Though, he was sure that he could spare a few minutes to stop by and feed Natsumi’s cat in between his busy schedule. He had a particularly soft spot for felines, if he wasn’t such a busy man he would’ve had his own squadron of cats to return home to.

“Ah, thank you so much Aizawa-sensei.” She breathed a sigh of relief and he could tell that she no longer had any reservations about which agency she was going to choose.

“Any time, Kurosawa.” He nodded his head, as she stood to leave he called back out to her, “Don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any of the other teachers if you’re ever feeling unsure about why you’re here.”

Natsumi paused, fingers draped over the back of the chair she had previously been occupying, her eyes still trained on the exit but hearing his words drift over to her made warmth blossom in her chest. She dipped her chin and smiled, “I appreciate that, I’ll try my best to remember what brought me here in the first place. Thank you, sensei.”

With those final words hanging in the air, the crimson eyed teen left the teacher’s lounge and decided to head home to give Kaguya enough attention to last her through the lonely week she was sure to have when internships finally did start.

Chapter Text

Friday afternoon rolled around much quicker than Natsumi had anticipated as she stood outside of the Teacher’s Lounge with her completed Internship paperwork. She had thought long and hard about her decision, combing through the list of names several times before coming to the final conclusion that Hawks was, in fact, the Hero that she wanted to intern with. His capture rate was incredible, as was his speed. He was the youngest Pro Hero in the circuit, had his own Hero Agency and place in the Top Ten by the time he was eighteen, an incredibly impressive feat in and of itself.

Natsumi wasn’t the type of person to actually follow the exploits of Heroes but after reading up on the winged hero she found herself becoming more and more excited about working alongside him.

She peeked inside the teacher’s lounge, seeing it mostly empty, before making a beeline for Aizawa’s desk in the back. It was their lunch period so she had expected to see her homeroom teacher hiding out behind his desk, almost hoped that he would be there so she could hand in her form in person.

Her footfalls were quiet against the plush carpet as she made her way over to the desk, there was already a small stack of internship forms from her classmates starting to pile up so she quickly added hers to the top. As she turned to leave, she caught movement in her peripheries and halted mid-step, turning back around and peering over the surface of the desk. Behind it, nestled deeply into his worn-out sleeping bag, was Aizawa-sensei, perfectly as ease with sleeping on the floor.

Her lips tugged into a small smile at how peaceful he looked in his sleep, his trademark frown gone, his brows smoothed out and no longer furrowed in irritation. Natsumi bit her lip to keep herself from laughing, he looked almost like a normal guy and not at all the grumpy, unkempt mess that he typically was.

Aizawa shifted in his sleep and she panicked, not wanting to be found staring at her sleeping teacher like a creep. Natsumi quickly booked it out of the teacher’s lounge, having completed her mission of returning the paperwork.

“Okay, okay. You can’t keep it a secret anymore now that you’ve turned in your paperwork. Who are you interning with?” Ashido’s knees pressed against the seat in front of the ivory haired girl, pink fingers splayed across the surface of Natsumi’s desk as the curious girl leaned forward.

Natsumi glanced over to her seat mate for help, only to find that he was watching the scene unfold with a barely disguised curiosity of his own. That’s right, we never told each other who we were going with.

“You’re so persistent,” Natsumi laughed, turning back to her friend, “I’ll be heading out to Fukuoka to intern with Hawks.”

“Eh?! Hawks? As in the Number Three Pro Hero, Hawks?!” The pink haired teen’s voice rose several octaves, becoming more of a high-pitched screech that made Natsumi wince from the loudness.

Several other heads turned in their direction, now curious about the conversation with the mention of the number three top hero.

“What a coincidence, I will also be interning with Hawks for the week.” Tokoyami spoke up from his seat across the room from her.

“Ah, well, guess we will be spending a lot of time together, Tokoyami-kun.” Natsumi grinned, rubbing at the back of her neck, feeling slightly embarrassed by all of the attention she was suddenly receiving.

“Alright, spill. You totally chose him because he’s a major hottie, didn’t you? Don’t lie to me Natsu-chan~!” Ashido wiggled her hips excitedly, leaning forward until the tip of her nose brushed against Natsumi’s.

She leaned back against her chair in an attempt to put some space between her and her friend who, clearly, had no regard for personal boundaries. She let out an awkward laugh, “Mina-chan, you’re literally the only one that thinks like that. I chose him for a multitude of reasons, none of which have anything to do with how attractive he is.”

Ashido pouted, pulling back slightly, “That’s no fun.” Suddenly, a mischievous glint entered her eyes, “But you do think he’s attractive? I knew it. If you’re able to sneak a pic of him to send to me that would be great. Oh, he’s so dreamy!”

“I’ll do my best.” Natsumi grinned, watching as her friend’s eyes lit up at the thought, seemingly satisfied with the answer she received.

“Oh! You don’t have my number, here, give me your phone!” Ashido made a grabby motion with her hands, impatiently waiting for the crimson eyed teen to dig her cellphone out of her backpack. Once Natsumi found the device she handed it over without complaint, rolling her eyes as she watched the upbeat girl in front of her strike a cute pose and take a selfie, “For my contact photo” she explained with a giggle.

“What! Natsu-chan you only have three numbers in here besides mine—You have Bakugou’s number?!” Her cry of disbelief was enough to alert the rest of the class once more and Natsumi was quick to slap her hands over her face in an attempt to hide herself from the stares of her classmates.

She heard Bakugou scoff from his seat up front, mumbling some off-color comment when Kaminari and Kirishima teased him.

“Oh! Are we exchanging numbers? In that case, here, let me put mine in too!” Kaminari was suddenly at her side, snatching the phone from Ashido and quickly typing in his digits before passing the phone along to the next person.

The next couple of minutes passed with everyone taking out their phones and passing them down the line so that everyone could input their phone numbers.

“We should make a group chat!” Hagakure squealed in excitement.

“It would be a wonderful way to help each other out with questions on class work.” Yaoyorozu smiled, hands clasped together.

“There’s no fucking way I’m joining some stupid ass group chat.” Bakugou huffed, crossing his arms over his shoulders, “And don’t think for once second that any of you losers are going to be getting my phone number either, so fuck off.”

“Ah, no worries, Bakubro! I actually just copied your number from Natsu-chan’s contact list.” Kaminari shot the scowling blonde a teasing grin.

“Delete it now, Pikachu.” Bakugou snarled, hands shooting out in an attempt to snatch Kaminari’s phone from his hand.

“No way, dude!” The electric user laughed, dancing away from the explosive blonde, settling himself a safe distance away to continue to collect phone numbers.

Ashido had flitted back towards her seat again to exchange numbers with the others, leaving Natsumi to reign in her feelings about the entire ordeal. A small, tired sigh escaped her as she finally got her phone back after having it passed around, scrolling through her new, larger, contacts list and stifling a laugh at all of the cute and goofy looking selfies her classmates had taken.

A light tap on her shoulder drew her out of her thoughts and she quietly pulled herself away from her phone to meet Todoroki’s hesitant gaze. He held out his phone to her, and she realized that he hadn’t participated in the whole ‘passing around of the phones’ like the rest of the class (save for Bakugou) had.

She tilted her head, a small smile gracing her features, “Trade you?” She held out her own phone, his fingers brushing against her’s as they exchanged devices, sending a jolt of electricity coursing through her from the featherlight touch.

Natsumi bit her lip, startled by the goosebumps prickling her skin all of the sudden, quickly letting her gaze drift down to the phone to enter in her contact information. She hesitated over the photo option, debating whether or not to add a contact photo of herself.

I did it with everyone else’s phone, what’s the difference in this situation? I don’t want him to think I’m being weird by not taking one when he literally watched me take a hundred selfies for everyone else’s phones…

In the end, Natsumi angled his phone and snapped a quick photo of herself, smiling brightly to the camera, before saving it to her contact information. She turned back to Todoroki to find his heterochromatic stare locked onto her form, his lips quirked into a small smile, cheeks tinged the lightest shade of pink.

“H-here, let me take one of you.” She stumbled over her words for a moment as they handed their phones back to each other, she opened the camera on her phone and pointed it at him, “Okay, c’mon don’t just sit there with a blank stare like that. Give me a smile.”

He rose an amused eyebrow at her, but complied with her demands, lifting the corners of his lips into a small, soft smile at her request. She snapped the photo and showed it to him, wordlessly asking if he was okay with it. Todoroki shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and she took that as him giving her permission to save it as his contact photo.

“So, you never told me who you were going to intern with.” She stowed her phone away, turning in her seat to face him, her curiosity was getting the better of her. With all those options to choose from he must have picked some amazing Hero to—

“I’ll be interning under my old man.” Todoroki answered, the tone of his voice somewhat chilled, giving away his true feelings towards his Pro Hero father.

Her eyes widened, jaw slack at the revelation, “Excuse me? Why?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I hate him, nothing is going to change that, but he is the Number Two hero for a reason and I intend to use his position to my advantage and learn everything I can.” He spoke evenly, his fingers subconsciously curling in his lap.

Natsumi rested her elbow against the surface of her desk, plopping her chin into the palm of her hand while letting out a thoughtful hum, “That makes sense. If I had known you were going to choose him I might have chosen him myself—ah, who am I kidding, I wouldn’t have. There’s no way I’d be able to keep my temper in check with him around.”

His eyes snapped to her face immediately at the insinuation, “What do you mean you ‘would’ve chosen him’?”

She let out a scoff, not directed at him, as the memory of seeing Endeavor’s name on her list of Hero Agencies that had requested her resurfaced. Her lips downturned into a scowl, “That bastard had the audacity to put in a request for me to intern with him, can you believe it?” Her voice was quiet, but harsh, so as not to draw the attention of the rest of their classmates.

Todoroki’s brows dipped low, gnashing his teeth together in irritation, “Why would he--?” He mumbled to himself, suddenly his gaze hardened, “No, it absolutely does sound like something that asshole would do, now that you mention it.”

He knew his father well enough to know that he had put in a request for the girl because he wanted to demean her, put her through the wringer and make her regret every decision she had made that lead her towards the path to becoming a Hero. While Todoroki was mildly disappointed to learn of his lost chance at sharing an internship with her, he was satisfied that she had turned down his old man—she didn’t deserve the type of torture that he would have put her through.

“Well, as enticing as the thought of training with you for a whole week is…I’m happy with my decision.” She laughed quietly, “There’s no guarantee that I wouldn’t lash out and try to kill him and that wouldn’t be very Heroic, now would it?”

“That’s probably exactly what he’d be expecting, to be honest.” He answered back truthfully, his father would have wanted her to lose her temper, relinquish all control over herself and just attack him so that he’d have an excuse to put her in her place. He was a cruel man, after all, and would have no reservations about brutally beating up a young girl.

Aizawa sauntered through the door, commanding the attention of his students immediately upon his entrance, his yellow sleeping bag draped over his arm, “I know you will all be leaving Monday morning for your internships, so we decided to have one last training exercise before you all go your separate ways. Since your last trip to USJ ended in disaster before we even had the chance to teach you the proper techniques to use during a rescue mission, we will be revisiting that lesson today. This will prepare you, should you find yourself in a situation where you will need to aide in the rescue and evacuation of civilians.”

The class seemed excited about the lesson, but there was an underlying air of trepidation that waited beneath the surface of their eagerness to learn something new. Afterall, their last visit to USJ had brought on a full-blown villain attack, that wasn’t an event that would easily be forgotten.

“Change into you Hero costumes and meet in the courtyard. We will be boarding the bus from there.” He drawled, eyes bloodshot and half-lidded as if at any moment he would have dropped from exhaustion.

Natsumi wasn’t sure how to feel about the prospect of returning to the USJ after having such a traumatic experience last time. Realistically, she knew that the probability of another attack was slim to none, especially with the increased security around campus since the attack. But there was still a small part of her that felt concerned, fearful even, at the thought of going back.

The USJ was the place she had had her reunion with Hibiki and Ryou, where she had almost killed Todoroki, and where she had been suspended from school. Every single memory from that place was a negative one that she wasn’t ready to relive.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sounds of the girls in her class chattering amongst themselves as they donned their Hero gear and she was reminded that they were on a time limit and she, too, needed to get changed.

The metal case containing her costume felt heavy in her hands and she quickly set it against the wooden bench in the locker room, hesitantly opening the latch on the front of the case and flicking open the lid. Her eyes roamed over the fabric neatly folded inside.

Since her previous outfit had been singed by Bakugou’s explosions during their first week of school and deemed unwearable, Natsumi had gone to the Support Lab and asked the students there to help her redesign her look. Her original outfit had been very simple in appearance and function, mainly due to the fact that she had never seen herself as a Hero and hadn’t taken the design of her costume very seriously. Having the chance to improve her Hero gear felt like she was finally taking a step in the right direction, she was finally getting serious about the path she was on.

Running a nervous hand through her unruly ivory curls, Natsumi brought her fingers down to brush against the material of her new outfit, fingers delicately tracing along the simple, yet efficient design.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Natsumi quickly pulled out the outfit and tugged it on piece by piece, starting with the muted crimson long-sleeved undershirt. The next piece of her outfit was a set of black thermal leggings that had a crimson stripe running along the outer length of her legs, she let out a soft sigh at how soft and warm the material felt against her chilled skin. Her fingers wrapped around a white leather-like utility belt, pulling it out of the case and securing it around her waist, noticing that two matching pouches rested against her hips. Curiously, she unbuttoned the clasps keeping the two pouches closed, taking a peek at the medical supplies that were stuffed inside before closing the flaps once more.

She noticed two more parts to her costume still resting inside the case and eagerly pulled out a black cropped half jacket, tugging it on and admiring it. It was a black, long-sleeved coat that rested just above where her belly button would be, a hood lined with white faux fur fell against her back, a thin black string with a white pom-pom at the end of it fell on either side of her chest. Her fingers absently curled into the same white fur that accented the end of her sleeves. There was a pair of boots in that same muted red as her undershirt, thick white fur lined the rim of them, the soles were a matching white, she slipped her feet into them and wiggled her toes against the plush interior. Lastly, she pulled on a pair of black gloves to cover her chilled fingers.

“Natsu-chan, you got a new costume?” Ochako bounced over, already in her costume, and circled her friend to examine the new outfit, “I like it! I bet it’ll keep you nice and warm too, is the material made to help regulate your body temperature? I know how cold you always are…”

“Damn girl, lookin’ cute as hell.” Ashido giggled as Natsumi did a little twirl to satisfy the needs of her other friend to see her new costume from all angles.

Turning back to answer the bubbly brunette’s original question she nodded her head, “Yeah, some sort of nano-fiber technology that’s meant to regulate the temperature to keep it from dropping too low—that doesn’t happen often, but it’s another risk of my Quirk. Also, it’s water proof, which is pretty handy.”

“Oh, and no more mask?” Ochako grinned, leaning forward, “Not that it didn’t go well with your last costume, but your face is too cute not to show off.”

Warmth dusted over Natsumi’s cheeks, leaving them a light pink, “I’m not interested in hiding who I am from the world, the mask had to go.”

“You look like an adorable little snow bunny.” Ashido cooed, batting her eyelashes suggestively, “I bet the boys are gonna eat you up.”

Natsumi grimaced, “Ugh, the thought of Mineta paying any more attention to me than usual is nauseating. No thanks.”

The other two girls giggled, linking arms with Natsumi and leading her out of the locker room so they could meet up with the rest of their class in the courtyard where their teacher had indicated.

The three girls joined the rest of their classmates out in the courtyard, everyone huddled in their own little friend groups and chatting excitedly about the lesson in rescue they were about to receive. All former anxieties about returning to the USJ seemed to have fled from everyone as they waited for the bus to arrive.

“Oh, Natsu-chan! You have a new costume!” Midoriya bounded up to the girls, “It suits you!”

Natsumi laughed, rubbing at the back of her neck in embarrassment as half of the class turned to take in her new outfit, “Thanks, Midoriya-kun. I couldn’t very well wear my old one with those burnt up sleeves, Class Rep would have my head if I did.”

The bus arrived minutes later and everyone was ushered on board. Natsumi pushed Ochako down, rather roughly, into the open seat beside Midoriya, laughing as the brunette’s cheeks turned bright red. She’ll thank me later. Continuing towards the back of the bus, Natsumi found an unoccupied seat and slid into the spot closest to the window.

“You headed to the slopes?” Todoroki made himself comfortable in the seat beside her, lips pulled back into a teasing smirk.

“I will end you.” She seethed through gritted teeth.

A low chuckle spilled past his lips, “In all seriousness, it looks good on you.”

“All these compliments I’m getting today are going to go to my head.” Natsumi laughed, lips upturned in a lopsided smile.

“As long as you don’t get a Bakugou-sized ego I think we’ll be fine.” He retorted, causing her to let out an amused snort at the comment.

The rest of the bus ride passed without much incident, conversations sparked here and there, fluttering past her ears but not enticing enough for her to join in. She and Todoroki both settled in for the half hour ride and somewhere along the way she had decided to rest her eyes, just for a minute, she reasoned with herself but quickly, quietly, slipped into a peaceful sleep.

Todoroki had drifted off shortly after their conversation had died down, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. Maybe fifteen minutes into his nap he was awoken abruptly by a pressure being applied to his shoulder, he blinked slowly, clearing away the sleep before glancing over at the girl beside him only to find that her head now rested against his shoulder.

His cheeks tinged a light shade of pink and he quickly glanced around to make sure that none of their classmates had noticed. Once satisfied that they weren’t at risk for being caught, he settled back, a soft smile forming as he listened to her soft breathing that tickled the side of his neck, sending an involuntary shiver up his spine.

The rest of the ride passed with Todoroki stealing quick glances at Natsumi from the corner of his eye, too afraid to move a muscle out of fear that he’d accidentally wake the girl.

When the bus finally pulled into the parking lot of the USJ he let out a sigh of relief, his neck was starting to cramp from the position he had been sitting in. Natsumi began to stir as the vehicle came to a stop and everyone began to eagerly stampede towards the exit. Todoroki, slightly panicked, quickly leaned his head back and closed his eyes right as the ivory haired girl blearily blinked away the sleep, opening her eyes moments later and jumping back in her own panic with such a force that she smacked the back of her head against the window.

“Ahh fuuck.” She groaned, wincing and holding her palm securely over the back of her head as if the pressure from that action alone would stop the painful throb.

Todoroki peaked an eye open, parting his lips in a fake yawn to really sell the idea that he had been sleeping the entire time. He glanced over at her, brows knitted in concern when he heard the thud followed by her swearing, “You okay, Kurosawa?”

She reeled back, her back already pressed against the side of the bus with the back of her head against the cool glass of the window. Natsumi was already flustered over the thought of using Todoroki as a makeshift pillow, she was just glad that he had been asleep and wasn’t aware of it, Ugh how embarrassing.

“Y-yeah, no worries, Todoroki.” She inwardly cringed as she stumbled over her words.

His gaze lingered on her for another moment, as if trying to decipher the truth behind her words, shaking his head lightly Todoroki slid out of the seat, glancing back over his shoulder at her, “We should catch up, the rest of the class is already inside.”

“Ah, right!” The crimson eyed teen laughed sheepishly, scooting to the edge of the seat and pushing herself to her feet to follow after her friend.

The two hurried to catch up with the rest of their class, noting that Thirteen had already begun their speech.

“Today we will basically be teaching the lesson that you missed the last time you all were here. There are many aspects of being a Hero, most notably are the Rescue Operations. Keeping civilians safe and out of harms way is your number one priority, however, we know that realistically things happen that get in the way of your protection. Natural disasters, large scale villain attacks, just to name a few, and you need to be able to adapt and respond quickly to the situation and keep civilians calm.” Thirteen’s voice was matter of fact.

“If one person starts to panic it’ll set off a chain reaction and pretty soon you’ve got wide spread hysteria. This makes it absolutely imperative that you swoop in and diffuse the situation as quickly and calmly as you possibly can, reassure the victims that help has arrived and everything will be just fine.” Aizawa stepped in, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his baggy trousers, “Regardless if the situation is truly dire, you need to keep a smile on your face and speak confidently. If you have even an iota of doubt plaguing your mind the victims will be able to sense it.”

Thirteen nodded their head enthusiastically, “Right! So, for today’s assignment we are going to be utilizing the different disaster zones to simulate real life events—we will have a team of injured victims and a team of Heroes who will be tasked with rescuing them.”

“First round of victims will be, ah…hmm…you three~!” Thirteen pointed towards Midoriya, Natsumi, and Ochako, before turning to scan the remaining students, “The Heroes will be…you, you, and, um…you!” The Heroes selected were Bakugou, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu.

“There’s no fucking way that I’m saving shitty Deku.” Bakugou snarled, fists clenched at his sides and eyes narrowed into angry slits.

Thirteen laughed awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to the volatile blonde, luckily for them Aizawa stepped in to say something.

“Being a Hero means that you have to put your personal differences aside in the line of duty—sometimes you have to work with someone you don’t necessarily see eye to eye with.” Aizawa drawled, eyes set on the blonde. Said blonde scoffed and quickly turned away, unable to meet his teacher’s unwavering stare.

“Right this way, my victims!” Thirteen giggled, ushering the three students towards a deep ravine, the bottom of the chasm barely visible from where they were positioned, a wave of uneasiness passed between the three students as Thirteen spoke again, “You three will descend to the bottom and wait for the Heroes to rescue you. One of you will be unconscious, one will have an injured leg, and one will be in a state of panic and unable to speak.”

The three victims peered over the edge of the cliffside nervously before exchanging worried glances, “Ah, Thirteen-sensei, how do we get down there?” Midoriya was the first to voice their concerns.

“You’re smart, I’m sure between the three of you you can figure something out.” The Pro Hero chuckled, shuffling away to brief the rest of the class.

“Natsu-chan, do you think you could use your ice to get us down?” Ochako tilted her head, turning to the ivory haired teen.

Natsumi let out a contemplative hum, glancing down into the dark depths below before reaching out and curling her fingers around both of their wrists. She pulled the two towards her, her friends letting out startled gasps before settling in beside her as she created a slide out of ice.

Once at the bottom of the chasm, she released her hold on them and deconstructed the frozen slide.

“Alright, fellow victims, who wants to be unconscious?” Ochako giggled, hands loosely placed against her cocked hip.

At that moment a loud yawn escaped Natsumi, drawing the attention of her two friends so she meekly raised her hand, “I could use a nap, I’ll do it.”

Midoriya let out an amused chuckle, “Alright, just don’t actually fall asleep. It’s filthy down here.”

“Hmm, I’ll be the panicked victim, Deku-kun you can be the one with the broken leg since that’s right up your alley.” Ochako grinned, eliciting an amused snort from Natsumi as she settled down onto the stone ground.

“A-ah, r-right.” The mossy haired boy laughed sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly before getting into position by sitting down against a boulder and stretching his legs out in front of him.

The trio got as comfortable as they possibly could, given the rocky terrain they were forced to rest upon, while waiting for their saviors to come and rescue them. Ochako and Midoriya spoke quietly amongst themselves, they had tried to bring Natsumi into the conversation only to find that she had, indeed, fallen asleep.

Ochako hummed, whispering to the mossy haired boy, “I don’t know how she managed to pass out like that, there’s all these little rocks jabbing into me, I can’t imagine falling asleep on this.”

Midoriya nodded in agreement, repositioning himself for the umpteenth time after he felt his butt go numb from a combination of the ground being cold and the tiny rocks and pieces of concrete that were trying to rip through his Hero Costume. He cast a quick glance in the direction of the ‘unconscious’ girl, it was definitely a mystery to him how she could have gotten comfortable at all down there.

“Worry not! We’re here to save you!” Yaoyorozu’s gentle, yet firm, voice called down to them, “Is anyone hurt?”

Midoriya, realizing that he was the only one of them with a role that could technically speak, chirped back up to the girl, “Y-yeah. I-I think m-my leg is broken! S-someone down here seems to be unconscious and my friend here hasn’t said a word since the fall, please help us!”

A loud scoff was heard, “Of course fucking Deku broke his leg.”

“Can you pretend to be an actual Hero for five minutes?” Todoroki’s voice was laden with exasperation.

“Fuck off, Icy-Hot.” Bakugou growled, “I’m already a better Hero than you’ll ever be.”

“Oh?” The dual colored haired boy rose an eyebrow, “Then prove it.”

The blonde sneered at the challenge, but found himself unable to back down. With a determined huff, he launched himself off of the cliff, despite Yaoyorozu’s cries of protest telling him he needed to be more careful so as not to disturb the victims and the unstable terrain. Todoroki rolled his eyes, not surprised by the boy’s brash behavior.

He landed heavily, stirring up a cloud of dust that swirled around his boots, “Oi, gimp boy, I’m here to rescue you.” Bakugou pointed at Midoriya who shrank back against the boulder he was sitting against, eyes wide with panic. Would the blonde purposefully drop him on their way up to safety? He wasn’t too sure that he could trust his volatile friend and, moreover, thought that the Heroes should be prioritizing the unconscious victim. Why is he going out of his way to rescue me specifically after making a big deal about not wanting to save me?

Ochako exchanged a worried look with Midoriya before getting back into her character and crying loudly, unable to form words as she crawled over to the blonde and latched onto his leg.

“Oi, chipmunk, get off! Wait your turn.” He growled, shaking his leg in an attempt to pry her fingers from the fabric of his costume. Ochako wailed even harder as Bakugou shook her off of him.

“Bakugou-san, wrap this around yourself and we will pull you back up.” Yaoyorozu’s voice carried down to him as she tossed the end of a rope down the side of the cliff.

He let out a grumble at being told what to do, but quickly snatched the rope, tying it around his waist before scooping Midoriya into his arms and giving a harsh tug on the rope to let the two up top know he was ready.

“I’m, ah, glad you took the initiative and everything Bakugou-san, but I think you should be a little more gentle with the victims. Try not to use harsh words or jostle them around too much during the rescue, you could end up furthering their injuries or inciting panic.” Yaoyorozu spoke softly so as not to rile up the explosive blonde with her constructive criticism.

“I’ll go next.” Todoroki nodded to his two teammates.

“Wait, take this with you.” Her chest glowed momentarily as a stretcher manifested itself from the lipids in her body, she handed it towards the two-tone haired boy with a smile, “We don’t know what sort of injuries the unconscious victim has, better to be safe than sorry.”

He nodded, turning the stretcher sideways and tucking it under his arm as he lowered himself down the side of the cliff with the rope firmly secured around his waist. He scanned the darkened cavern as his feet touched down against uneven earth, his gaze landing on a trembling Ochako, “I’m a Hero and I’m here to help. Can you speak?”

She shook her head, tears trailing down her cheeks as she bit her quivering lip.

Todoroki made his voice softer, more comforting, “I’m going to save you. I was told that someone down here was unconscious, can you show me where that person is?”

Ochako bobbed her head, momentarily breaking character as she stifled a giggle behind a mud stained hand, pointing a little further away where Natsumi had curled up in the dark against a cluster of rocks. Todoroki nodded, “Wait here, I will be right back for you.”

Tiny rocks crunched beneath the soles of his boots, the only sound that echoed through the eerie silence that had befallen the dark crevice that they were in. He could just barely make out the ivory colored braid that fell over her shoulder, her back was to him and he had to step around her to assess the situation. Brows furrowed, was she…was she actually asleep? Or simply taking her role as an unconscious victim very seriously? Todoroki wasn’t entirely sure, but playing along with his role as a Hero, he stooped down low and placed his palm in front of her face and ensure that she was still breathing.

After he made sure the victim was still alive, he began to check her for any obvious injuries that would prevent him from being able to move her. Finding none, Todoroki set the stretcher down beside her and gently slid her onto it, mildly surprised when she didn’t so much as stir in her sleep. Just how tired is she?

“Hey!”

He almost jumped, startled by the sudden sound of her alarmed voice, heterochromatic eyes landed on her still form on the stretcher, frowning when he realized she was still asleep.

“That’s my…cookie…you asshole.” She grumbled quietly, letting out a sleepy huff.

Todoroki rose an amused brow, lips twitching into a small smirk. He bent low, removing the rope from his waist and looping it around the stretcher before dragging it slowly, carefully, behind him towards where he had left the panicked brunette.

“Stay close to me, I’m going to get both of you out of here, okay?” He spoke softly to Ochako. She nodded her head, scrambling to her feet and clinging to his side. Todoroki tugged on the rope to let Bakugou and Yaoyorozu know he was ready for them to start pulling. As the stretcher began to teeter he quickly reached out to steady it with his free hand, keeping Ochako in place beside him with his other, while creating a pillar of ice beneath their feet to slowly aide in their ascent.

As they made it topside, his two teammates quickly secured the stretcher, pulling it until it rested safely against the ground. Yaoyorozu kneeled beside the sleeping girl, brows knit in confusion, “Is she…is she really out?”

Ochako and Midoriya both exchanged glances before laughing.

“Yeah, she passed out waiting for you guys to come get us. Poor thing must be exhausted.” The brunette explained.

“Oi, ice bitch, wake the fuck up you fucking slacker.” Bakugou snarled, wrapping his fingers around her shoulders and giving a harsh shake. She mumbled something unintelligible, her head lolling back and forth roughly, Natsumi let out a loud groan before cracking open an eye.

Both eyes snapped open to glare heatedly at the blonde, her arms shooting up to grip at his wrists, prying his fingers off of her, “Fuck you, Boom-Boom-Boy.”

He sputtered, eyebrows furrowing in irritation as he returned the glare, “Hah?! The fuck did you just call me?!”

“Oh, I took the liberty of coming up with your new Hero Name since your previous attempts were shit.” Natsumi leaned back, using her palms to prop herself in a sitting position, lips stretched into a cheeky grin.

“Like hell I’d ever let you pick a name for me, you uncreative cunt.” He spat, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I dunno, man.” Kaminari chuckled, sidling up next to the explosive blonde, “She pretty much nailed it with the name.”

“Yeah, dude. It totally fits.” Kirishima grinned teasingly, winking at Natsumi in his own subtle way to let her know he was playing along, “Much more manly than King Explosion Murder. But what isn’t manly, is calling Natsu-chan such a horrible name.”

Natsumi shrugged nonchalantly, as if to say she wasn’t bothered by the vulgar nickname. She was used to it by now and honestly didn’t take offense to anything Bakugou said anymore.

Bakugou growled, seething, “I’ll kill all of you, you fucking extras!”

“That’s not very heroic.” Todoroki chided.

“Please, can’t we all just get along?” Yaoyorozu sighed in exasperation.

Natsumi and Bakugou bickered back and forth for a few more minutes before Thirteen and Aizawa pulled some other classmates away so they could try their hand at the rescue mission. This went on for another twenty minutes or so until everyone had had a chance to either play the role of a victim or a Hero. During that time, the two teachers had offered tips and advice on how to properly tackle the task.

“Okay, now that you’ve had a taste of rescue, we’re going to spice things up a bit! The next part of today’s training is going to be a race to see who can rescue the most victims in the allotted time! We will choose four of you to play the role of the Heroes while the remainder of the class will hide, anywhere in the Urban disaster zone. Don’t make things too easy for the Heroes, keep in mind that in real life situations sometimes civilians are trapped, unconscious, and unresponsive in places that are harder to access.” Thirteen went on, gesturing to the wide expanse of city scape that the students had full access to, “I’m going to hand select eight victims who will be unable to speak, so for my Heroes it will be your duty to be thorough in your search for your fellow classmates because some of them will not be able to call out for help to alert you to their whereabouts.”

“Ah! We’re playing hide and seek!” Ashido cheered.

“Essentially, yes!” Thirteen laughed.

Thirteen then designated Midoriya, Bakugou, Ochako, and Mineta as the Hero team. Bakugou physically bristled at the thought of having to work on a team with Midoriya, gnashing his teeth together in protest, fists clenched angrily at his sides.

“This means it’ll be totally acceptable for my hands to wander and roam the beautiful curves of every woman that I rescue. I’ll carry them to safety and get to feel every inch of their—”

“—you’re not allowed to carry anyone.” Midoriya interjected with a grimace.

Mineta visibly deflated, completely missing how every female in the class let out a sigh of relief.

Shortly after, the victims were given a head start to go find their hiding spots while the four Heroes huddled up to talk strategy—well, three Heroes, as Bakugou made it very clear that he would not be working together with Deku.

Natsumi found herself in a quiet, secluded part of the dilapidated city, walking quickly but carefully enough to avoid stepping on any sharp debris that littered the streets. A building loomed in front of her and, quickly glancing behind herself to make sure she wasn’t being followed, she took off towards it.

She climbed the decrepit staircase, taking the steps two at a time, sometimes three when there was a missing step. Her goal was to be high enough to have enough of a vantage point to be able to tell if someone was coming, but low enough to be able to safely jump from the window if need be.

The teen stopped on one of the middle floors of the building, exploring room by room. Yūei really went all out with making things seem realistic, she mused, fingers brushing against a photo frame hanging on the wall, the picture inside was old and gray, burns marked the edges of it. The actual picture was undiscernible, whatever blast that had broken the glass of the frame must’ve also been responsible for destroying the photo inside as well.

She went room from room, searching for a place to lay low and wait for the Heroes to come find her, silently praying to whatever God above that it wouldn’t be Mineta to find her.

Natsumi shuffled through a low hanging doorway, dead electrical wires hung from the ceiling of this new room that she entered. She was about to turn and head into another area of the building when the wide, open window and the view below caught her attention. Curiously, she strode forward, stopping just in front of the window frame, her boots crunching against broken glass.

A small gasp escaped her parted lips, “This is…”

“You can come down now, it’s her.” He called over his shoulder as a second body appeared in the shadows behind the window pane.

“Oh man, I felt like I was up there forever!” The second boy groaned, rubbing the back of his neck before lifting his arms high above his head in a stretch. He leapt from the window and landed in a crouch before straightening up and sauntering towards them confidently.

It was the exact same perch that Hibiki had been hiding behind, waiting to make his entrance, all those weeks ago during her first visit to the USJ. Her eyes glazed over, staring down at the battle field below, seeing but not seeing at the same time as the events replayed in her mind. She could see herself down below, Bakugou and Kirishima frozen to their spots, the Nomu—Todoroki—everything came rushing back to her in that one instant.

It was all too much.

She wanted to forget. All those negative memories, all the fear she felt that day intensified, all of it flooded her senses and all she could do in the moment, this very moment, was fall to her knees and give in to the anguish she felt.

I almost killed him.

He almost died because of me.

Fingers curled around broken glass, not caring that the shards dug into her palms and her knees, creating small cuts that began to bleed freely. She was no longer living in the present, Natsumi was stuck in the past reliving her failures and shortcomings over and over again as if the bad memories, and only the bad ones, were stuck on a loop.

Maybe Todoroki had forgiven her, but she had never truly forgiven herself. She was afraid to admit to her new found friends that she still had nightmares from that day, replaying scenes in her mind of what could have happened had Bakugou not called out to her, breaking Ryou’s spell.

“Get ahold of yourself, Natsu.” She mumbled, blinking against the moisture that had formed at the corners of her eyes. Absently, she brought the back of her hand up to wipe at her face, smearing tears, blood, and dirt against her cheeks in the process.

In the distance a cloud of dust and debris billowed high in the sky, she squinted her eyes to get a better view and realized that it was the wake from Iida’s quirk. What’s got him all in a tizzy? He’s supposed to be hiding…

Bits and pieces of her class rep’s alarmed cries floated through the broken window but her mind went into panicked overdrive as the word ‘villain’ passed by her ears. Her fists clenched tightly, the glass poking into her palms splintered and shattered into tiny shards that embedded themselves further into her flesh but she didn’t care. Adrenalin pumped through her, completely overshadowing the pain she felt.

It’s happening again.

Just like last time.

They’ve come to finish the job.

“He’s got Todoroki-kun!” The distorted voice of one of her classmates screamed, and in her panicked haze she was unable to tell who exactly had uttered those words but it was enough to pull her out of her daze.

Natsumi blinked back the tears that had been freely falling, now realizing that she had been physically trembling in a combination of fear and anger. Crimson eyes briefly glanced down to her hands, unclenching her fists and stretching out her fingers, wincing as pain shot up her arms. She picked out the larger shards of glass from both palms and what was sticking into her knees through her leggings, deciding that the smaller pieces could wait for later. She needed to move. She wouldn’t allow things to progress as far as they had last time. She was going to save Todoroki.

Pushing herself to her feet, Natsumi drew in a deep breath before vaulting out of the window, landing in a crouch below. She steadied herself on her feet, taking off in the direction that Iida had come from in hopes of running into the villain he had been running from.

She made it to the center of the destroyed city, finding that a majority of her classmates had already gathered there, staring at the looming figure that stood atop the roof of a car. He was intimidatingly large and muscular, his build rivaling that of All Might’s, a spiked gas mask covered his face. The man let out a dark chuckle, carelessly swinging Todoroki’s unconscious body around as if it were a ragdoll.

“Sensei!” Ojiro ran towards where Thirteen and Aizawa had previously been stationed, supervising over the exercise, only to cry out in shock as he found both of them on the ground, unmoving.

“I took extra care to dispose of those pathetic heroes first.” The villain’s voice was heavy, sounding almost gravelly through the mask covering his face.

Iida waved his arms to get his classmates attention, “Everyone! We must escape and alert the school!”

A foreboding laugh rumbled from deep within the chest of the villain, “Ah-uh. I will not allow you to escape, I am here to finish you all!” With a mighty stomp of his foot, a powerful gust of wind ricocheted across the cityscape, demolishing every building in its wake.

As the dust and smoke from the attack cleared away, everyone gasped at the sheer power that had been behind his attack.

“What?! How is he so strong?!” Kaminari cried out in alarm.

“Now that the terrain is clear I can focus on taking you out, Hero trash.” The villain taunted.

“You seem to have forgotten that you’re outnumbered here, scumbag.” Natsumi growled, lips twisted into a cocky smirk. Sure, this villain seemed overpowered and he had the leverage of Todoroki’s body under his arm, but her classmates were also strong. She was confident that together they could take this guy down.

The villain turned, as if seeing her for the first time and let out a chilling laugh, “You know, you’re the spitting image of your father. He and your mother had that same nasty, overconfident attitude.” He wagged his finger at her tauntingly, “They’d be awfully disappointed if they could see you now, defending Hero scum, fighting alongside them as if you belong amongst them.”

Her breath hitched in her throat at his words and the implication that he may have known her parents personally. She shook her head, eyes narrowed, he’s just trying to get under my skin, get a rise out of me, don’t trust anything he says, “Yeah? That’s rich, considering they’re buried six feet under while I’m still here, standing tall. Clearly, I did something right by deviating from the path they had laid out for me and, while I owe you absolutely nothing, I’ll show you how strong my resolve to become a Hero truly is, asshole!”

Rime began to form around the soles of her boots, her breath plumed out in a chilled cloud in the air in front of her.

Bakugou came forward to stand beside her, his lips pulled back into a maniacal smirk, “Enough talking, I’m going to fucking obliterate you!” His fingers curled into fists as he surged forward at the exact same moment that Natsumi decided to begin her attack.

Both teens were very conscious of each other, wordlessly coming up with a plan to attack the villain from opposing sides to try and overwhelm him. Bakugou shot out from the villain’s left side, setting off a series of strong explosions in rapid succession while Natsumi attacked from the right, a dagger of ice gripped firmly in her hand while a wave of frozen spikes rushed towards her target. Both students were very aware of Todoroki’s unconscious body, taking extra precaution to strike around him in order to avoid accidentally hitting him with an attack.

The blonde continued his explosive assault, various grunts and swears escaping him as he attacked the large villain. The villain had stomped his foot in retaliation to Natsumi’s attack, shattering the wave of ice and sending shards flying through the air, but she was quick to counter by ducking low, swinging her arm out to plunge the frozen weapon in her hand into the villain. The man chuckled, bringing his elbow down just in time to collide against the top of her skull.

Natsumi stumbled back a few paces, fingers splayed against her throbbing head, teeth gnashing together in irritation.

“It’s over!” The villain declared, swinging his large fist back and preparing to knock Bakugou back with it, but the blonde was too quick and vaulted over the man, landed behind him and letting off a rather powerful explosion.

The force of the attack had the villain stumbling forward, Bakugou took a moment to jump back towards his classmates before shouting a command at Iida, “Oi, get those weaklings to run away while I take care of this guy.”

The dark-haired boy pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and groaned, “Do you always have to be so insulting? We’re your classmates.”

“Don’t be such a twat, Bakugou.” Natsumi growled, pulling herself to her feet after letting loose another barrage of attacks on the villain, disappointed that the man didn’t seem to take any real damage despite her best efforts. Even Bakugou’s explosions, while grand and powerful, had only managed to inconvenience the man’s balance.

“Oi, Bakugou! Who’re you calling weaklings?” Kirishima rose an eyebrow as he appeared next to Yaoyorozu on a slab of concrete that jutted out behind the blonde. The rest of their classmates emerged from behind the sharp toothed red-head, all sporting looks of determination.

“We’re the students of class 1-A.” Yaoyorozu placed her palms against her cocked hip.

“We will all be heroes!” Ochako declared, fists clenched.

“My, my, how brave. However…” The villain used his free hand to conjure a powerful gust of energy that dislodged several loose boulders from the ground, sending the debris hurtling towards the group of students.

“I got this!” Aoyama struck a flamboyant pose, shooting his naval laser at the large rocks and effectively destroying several of them while Kirishima hardened his fists and took out a few more before they had the chance to make impact with their classmates.

The next couple of minutes blended together in a blur of motion as everyone came together to use their special attacks all at once to overwhelm and take down their enemy. Jirou’s ear jacks plugged into the amp in her boots, blasting a heart stopping wave of energy towards the man at the same time Yaoyorozu created a cannon, firing a heavy netting at the villain.

Natsumi took that as her chance, while the villain was distracted with his capture, struggling against the confines of the netting, she turned herself intangible and snuck forward. Crimson eyes locked on to her target, never once leaving his body as she crept closer and closer, her fingers stretched out in front of her, the villain completely oblivious to her invisible advances. She held her breath as her hand phased through the netting that held the villain in place, re-solidifying the appendage long enough for her fingers to grasp tightly around Todoroki’s arm before turning intangible completely once more…this time taking the boy with her.

She pulled him through the netting and held him close to her, backing away from the villain in their invisible state just as the enemy flexed his muscles and ripped himself free from his bindings. He growled out, “Where is he?! Who took him?!” Wildly whipping his head back and forth and stomping his heavy feet against the ground, causing a surge of energy to push everyone back from the sheer force of it.

Natsumi didn’t dare turn them visible again, not while they were still in close enough proximity for the villain to take back his hostage. She couldn’t risk Todoroki getting taken again, she would protect him because she knew that if the roles were reversed, he’d do the same for her, or for any of their classmates for that matter.

“I’ll keep you safe.” She whispered quietly, more to herself as she knew he likely couldn’t hear her in his unconscious state. Natsumi wasn’t very strong physically, though she had gained muscle mass since starting at U.A, she wasn’t strong enough to actually carry the boy who was almost a foot taller than she was so she settled for gently, slowly, dragging him as far from the rampaging villain as she could. She needed to distance themselves from the danger before she could release her Quirk.

“Don’t worry about that, your fight’s with us, asshole.” Bakugou snarled, launching into another explosive attack.

“Now that Todoroki-kun is out of the way we can go all out with our fighting.” Kirishima smirked, readying his hardened fists.

Natsumi pulled him far enough away from the battle, ducking behind a large upturned slab of concrete that would keep them hidden from the villain’s searching gaze. She deactivated her Quirk, leaning Todoroki’s body up against the concrete, crouching low and checking him over for any injuries that may have needed immediate attention.

“Not sure how you let yourself get caught off guard like that.” She mused quietly, “You’re the best in the class.”

His lips twitched, so subtly that it was almost imperceptible.

Crimson eyes narrowed.

“Todoroki.” Her voice came out dry, almost sounding like a low irritated growl, her left eye twitched, “You’re such an asshole.”

He peeked open one eye, lips splitting into a smirk, “Sorry, it wasn’t my idea, but it all worked out in the end.” He nodded his head towards the battle that was raging on mere yards away from them, “They’re all working together towards a common goal.”

She peered over her shoulder as the fight came to a head, the villain was captured and was seconds away from being blown to smithereens by a point-blank explosion---until the enemy revealed himself to be All Might. Natsumi let out a loud, audible groan, “I should’ve fucking known, and you—” She turned back to the two-tone haired boy, glaring accusatorily at him, “—I can’t believe you let me struggle dragging your ass all the way over here.”

“I was in character.” He shrugged.

“Unbelievable.” She narrowed her eyes, running a hand through her damp bangs.

Todoroki’s soft, teasing, expression fell almost instantly when he glanced up and got a good look at her. Blood and dirt were smeared across her cheeks, caked on and flaking, but when she brought her fingers up to run them through her hair, he noticed the new, bright streaks of red that stuck to her white curls. His gaze momentarily dropped to his own uniform, noting the crimson handprints staining his costume from where she had held him.

“Kurosawa.” He placed a palm against the concrete at his back, using it as leverage to pull himself to his feet before closing the short distance between the two of them. Turbulent turquoise and stormy grey eyes softened in concern, taking in the rough shape of her hands that she had completely forgotten about in her adrenalin infused state. He leaned towards her, absently taking one of her hands in his own, turning it over to inspect the damage done to her palms. The sun glinted off tiny shards of, what he assumed was, glass stuck in the bloody mess of her hand.

His questioning gaze shot up to meet her’s, “What happened? Did this happen while you were fighting All Might?” A sudden jolt of guilt shot through him at the thought of her having been injured while trying to save him from a faux villain.

Natsumi pulled her hand out of his grasp, cradling it gingerly against her chest, averting her eyes from his unwavering stare. Now that the adrenalin coursing through her had fizzled out she could feel the stinging pain in her hands and knees.

“No, it was before that.” She spoke finally, “It doesn’t matter, I’ll just pay a visit to Recovery Girl before heading home and I’ll be good as new.” She plastered on a reassuring smile, his chest clenched at the sight of it—of how fake it was. He furrowed his brows and parted his lips to call her out on it but was interrupted by their classmates calling out to them.

“So that’s where you disappeared to!” Sero grinned, several of their classmates peered over the cement slab at them after having searched the immediate area for the duo.

“That rescue was super manly, Natsu-chan!” Kirishima pumped his fists, grinning at her.

“Though, I still can’t believe Todoroki-kun was in on All Might’s ruse this whole time!” Ochako lamented, a sigh escaping her, “But you were really cool, Natsu-chan, because you got him out of danger we were able to go all out and beat up All Might!”

Natsumi tipped her chin, turning to face her friends with a small smile, “Ah, yeah, well I’m just glad that it was all a simulation and not an actual attack.”

“Though…does that also mean…?” Midoriya glanced over his shoulder to where their teachers had previously laid unconscious, jumping slightly when Aizawa and Thirteen both appeared a few feet behind him.

“Well done, everyone!” Thirteen exclaimed, clapping their hands together, “You were able to come together as a team to strategize against and defeat our villain!”

Aizawa nodded, half of his face obscured by the wrappings of his capture weapon, but his voice was clear as day, “You all did better than I expected. You quickly concluded that the best way to turn the tides of the battle was to rescue the hostage, good job Kurosawa.” His dark, praising gaze landed on her briefly before flitting over the rest of the students, “After reassessing the situation, you were able to come up with a sensible battle plan that utilized everyone’s talents without relying on one person solely—” His eyes quickly shot to Bakugou, who looked away, “—and even though the villain was lightyears ahead of you in terms of strength, you were able to outwit him and take him down.”

Everyone beamed at the high praise from Aizawa, knowing that he wasn’t one to just hand out compliments.

Though, several of the teens continued to shoot annoyed glares over Aizawa’s shoulder towards All Might, who grinned sheepishly.

“Don’t be like that, young zygotes!” The Symbol of Peace chuckled, hands on his hips, “We saw an opportunity to teach you a valuable lesson on teamwork and we took it.”

“Yeah but…don’t you think this was kind of in poor taste after what happened the last time we were here?” Sero’s lips pulled back into a small frown, several of his classmates nodded their heads in agreement.

“I admit that…maybe I went a little overboard here, but it was a learning experience that you otherwise wouldn’t have gotten from a regular training simulation. You needed to feel the urgency of the situation, feel as if your friends’ lives were at risk, the reactions you had were one-hundred percent real.” He beamed brightly, “Today, you were all real Heroes.”

Chapter Text

Natsumi gripped the handle of the metal briefcase that housed her Hero Costume tightly as she strode towards the platform to wait for her train. She and Tokoyami were probably going to be going the farthest in terms of distance for their internship with Fukuoka being on the opposite end of the country. She was not looking forward to the five-and-a-half-hour train ride to their destination, Natsumi wasn’t very good at sitting still.

A rolling suitcase teetered along behind her, her fingers wrapped loosely around the extended handle, crimson eyes scanning the crowded station before her gaze landed on several familiar figures up ahead. Her lips split into an eager smile as she picked up her pace to catch up to her classmates.

They had been instructed to all meet up to be debriefed before being sent their separate ways, it would be the last time any of them would see each other for an entire week. It was a bittersweet feeling. She had spent the last two months with her classmates, in that time she had found herself forming close relationships with the majority of them and she was going to miss them severely.

Don’t be such a baby. You have their numbers. You all promised to keep in contact. She chided herself.

“Natsu-chan!” Ochako called out, waving her over excitedly.

Natsumi met up with her friend, setting her briefcase down next to her suitcase so she could wrap her arms around the bubbly brunette, “You excited, Ochako-chan?”

“Mhm!” The brunette bobbed her head eagerly, “Though, I am going to miss you and everyone…”

“Yeah, it’s definitely going to be weird not seeing you guys every day…” The ivory haired teen admitted.

“At least you have Tokoyami-kun!”

“That’s true, having a familiar face there alongside me will help with my homesickness I’m sure.” Natsumi laughed, though she wasn’t sure how much company her male companion would really be during their time together. They hadn’t really interacted much during their time at school aside from a few spoken words here and there. He didn’t really seem like much of a conversationalist, he preferred solitude. She could understand that sentiment though, that’s how she had been for the longest time, but that was also before she had made friends. Now that she had formed bonds with people like Ochako and Mina she was more outgoing and better at putting herself in situations that required her to step out of her comfort zone.

“You all have your costumes, right?” Aizawa strode towards the group of students already waiting for him, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his baggy jeans, chin dipped down into the folds of the capture weapon wrapped loosely around his neck, “Remember, you aren’t allowed to wear them in public unless you’re under the supervision of a Pro Hero. Don’t do anything reckless like dropping or losing your costumes.”

Ashido squealed out a, “Yessir!” Pink fingers wrapped firmly around the sides of her metal case, exuberantly jumping in the air. She couldn’t wait to start her internship and kick some bad guy ass, while also looking fashionable and cute in her costume!

Their teacher’s bloodshot gaze landed on the golden eyed, pink skinned girl, his lips drawn into a thin line, “Speak clearly, it’s ‘Yes Sir!’, Ashido.”

Her grin faltered and she visibly deflated, “Yes sir.”

Tearing his bloodshot eyes away from Ashido, the disheveled Erasure Hero turned to address the entire class, his voice firm, “Make sure to mind your manners with the heroes at your internships! Now, off with you.” He turned on his heel and shuffled off towards the exit, he was a busy man and had a plethora of responsibilities he needed to get back to as well as his own protégé to start training.

The teens slowly began to disperse as their trains pulled up to the station, turning to give their friends heartfelt goodbyes and wishes of good luck and promises to keep in touch during their internships. Soon enough there was only a handful of class 1-A left on the platform, waiting for their trains to arrive.

“You ready for our departure? The train should be arriving shortly, Kurosawa.” Tokoyami sidled up next to her, his eyes never once leaving the train tracks as he waited for their train to arrive.

She jumped at his sudden appearance, “I am—Oh! Shit, no, actually I have something to do really quick. Mind watching my things for a second?”

He nodded quietly, quirking a curious brow as she unzipped the front pouch of her suitcase and pulled out a small, white cardboard box before zipping the bag back up and rushing off down the platform.

You better still be here… She grumbled to herself, upset that she had almost forgotten her own personal mission for the day.

After scanning the crowded railway station for a few moments, she finally spotted her intended target, a sigh of relief ghosted over her lips.

“Oi, Boom-Boom-Boy!” Natsumi called out, lips pulled back into a teasing grin as crimson met with angry carmine.

“The fuck did I say about calling me that, ice bitch?!” The ash blonde snarled, taking a step forward in what he thought was a threatening manner.

She hummed, ignoring his irritated response, her fingers fidgeting with the small box in her hand, “I know I texted you a ‘happy birthday’ on the day and all but I felt a little bad about not getting you anything. I just feel like I’ve been on autopilot for the last couple of weeks so….ah, here.” Words flew past her lips, half mumbled to herself as she apologized, before she shoved the little white box into his hands.

“Hah?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow at her, holding the box at an arm’s length away from himself as if whatever that was inside would jump out and attack him. “The fuck are you going on about? What did you do?”

Natsumi rolled her eyes, “I made you something, idiot.”

“Why?” He scrunched up his face.

She let out an exasperated huff, “Because it was your birthday last week. You know, for being at the top of the class you’re not very bright.”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes at the insult, “You want to fucking die, princess?”

Her shoulders dropped nonchalantly, “Sometimes. Not today though.”

He furrowed his brows, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She waved him off dismissively, “Ah, don’t worry about it. Just enjoy, okay? I know you’re not a big sweets person so I kept your tastes in mind when making those for you.”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes at her, mulling over her previous statement before flipping open the lid of the pastry box in his hand. Inside were tiny balls of chocolate, about two dozen of the little confectionary treats were piled on top of each other.

“They’re not super sweet, but I think they’re pretty good. They’re raspberry jalapeno chocolates! Dark chocolate as the base with a homemade raspberry jalapeno jam on the inside.” Her lips stretched into a lopsided smile.

“I didn’t ask for some shitty candy.” He grumbled, cheeks dusted a very faint pink.

She let out a small hum, shrugging her shoulders, “No, but that’s what you got. So, enjoy!”

Bakugou furrowed his brows, watching as she turned on her heel and ran back towards where Tokoyami was waiting for her. Absently, his fingers dug into the box of homemade chocolates, he pulled one out and examined it for a moment—smooth, dark chocolate with flecks of red (pepper flakes of some sort?) intermingled here and there. He popped it into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, relishing in the way the bitter chocolate complemented the subtle sweetness of the raspberry and the spice from the jalapenos.

He narrowed his eyes at her from afar, hating how she had known exactly what type of treat he would appreciate the most. He snapped the lid of the box shut, shoving it into his duffel bag and tearing his eyes away from the girl as his train arrived.

“Our journey is about to begin, are you ready?” Tokoyami watched her fidget with the hem of her school blazer nervously. It was a curious action that made him wonder what on earth she could possibly be feeling anxious about. He hadn’t had many chances to speak with her since the start of the school year, he had preferred to keep more to himself than to branch out and attempt to make friends with his classmates. But, from what he had observed of the girl she had always seemed rather confident in her actions, at least to him.

Was she nervous about training under the Number Three Hero? He had to admit that he was a little on edge at having to step out of his comfort zone, but his own eagerness far outweighed the negative thoughts and feelings.

Natsumi snapped out of her thoughts, focusing her attention on the boy standing beside her, “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

“From what I have gathered, Hawks has never taken interest in having an intern, let alone two of them. This will be the first time he has ever requested anyone from the Sports Festival.” The boy revealed, just that fact alone was enough to send another wave of panic coursing through her.

The pressure is on, I hope I can live up to Hawks’ expectations. She thought with a grimace.

“Well,” She started, eyes flickering with uncertainty, “that definitely makes me feel a little overwhelmed, not going to lie. But, I think that that just means that we’re a lot better than we originally thought. I mean, if the Number Three Hero took an interest in us then that’s gotta be worth something, right?”

He regarded her for a moment, his dark gaze trailing down to her hands, trembling ever so slightly at her sides, before shooting his stare back up to her face. Tokoyami nodded his head in agreement. He knew what it was like to feel uncertain in his own abilities, especially with a creature as volatile and unpredictable as Dark Shadow living within him. He was looking forward to a day when he no longer feared for the safety of others when the darkness around him was so dense, when he could fully control the dark spirit that inhabited his body. Training with Hawks was a step in the right direction in learning to have better control over his other half, that much Tokoyami was certain of.

“Let’s go, Tokoyami-kun.” Her lips were drawn back into a small smile as their train came to a screeching stop in front of them, doors sliding open and bodies rushing out around them.

The boy nodded, fingers gripping the handle of his own suitcase as he followed the ivory haired teen into the train car.

“Okay, okay. I got a good one.” Her lips pulled back into a mischievous grin, “You’re never gonna guess this one.”

“We’ll see about that.” Came his response, an underlying tone of amusement dancing on the edge of his voice.

“I spy something absolutely hideous.” Natsumi smirked, leaning back in her seat proudly.

He furrowed his brows, opening his mouth to protest her words before closing it just as quickly, Tokoyami let out a small sigh before glancing up at the beaming girl across from him, “Kurosawa, that’s not how the game is played. You can’t just spy an opinion of an object that you see, it has to be an actual—oh, I see.” A light chuckle rumbled deep within his chest, “Is it that man’s toupee?”

Natsumi teetered on the edge of her seat, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as she absolutely lost it, her laughter rang out through the train car. Maybe it was because she was exhausted, having not gotten a good night’s rest in ages, that made everything, even the smallest things absolutely hysterical to her. But, she wasn’t wrong in her opinion of the stranger’s faux hair—it was absolutely atrocious and was very obvious that it wasn’t his real head of hair.

“I spy….” Tokoyami’s words drifted off as he searched their immediate surroundings for inspiration, his dark eyes settling on the scenery whizzing past them out of the window that he leaned against, “something green.”

Ruby red eyes narrowed and she let out an amused huff, “Is it a tree? I sure hope it’s not because that would be the third time you’ve spied one, Tokoyami-kun.”

He shrugged his shoulders, feeling the worn fabric of the seat against his back as he did so, “It’s not like there are many options left after playing for the last hour, Kurosawa.”

She let out a loud groan, knowing that he was right but not wanting to admit it out loud. She was struggling to pass the time, coming up with silly children’s games to try and do so, but there were only so many different things that they could ‘spy with their little eye’ when trapped in a tiny train car with the same scenery passing by.

Natsumi had always had trouble staying still for too long. In class, she was almost always moving some part of her body, be it her foot tapping against the tiled floor, her fingers drumming against her desk, or moving her head side to side in tune to a silent rhythm. They were only a little over an hour and a half into their almost six hour journey and she was beginning to go stir crazy, especially now that their game had ended and she had nothing left to occupy her wandering mind with.

“I happened to bring a couple of novels with me if you would like to borrow one.” He mentioned as he dug through the backpack seated next to him, pulling out three different books and holding them out to her.

Natsumi leaned forward across their shared space, eyes roaming over the covers of each book and noting, while an amused chuckle, that all three books looked eerily similar to one another.

“I’m sensing a theme here.” She grinned, tapping her finger against the book that he held in the center of the three, gripping the edges and gently pulling it forward, “I will say, though, that you have good taste. I’m a sucker for a good mystery.”

“A good thriller should be enough to keep your mind occupied for the remainder of our ride.” He spoke evenly, choosing a book for himself and stowing the last one away once more.

Natsumi eyed him for a moment longer, a little perturbed that he had read her as easily as the book gripped loosely between his fingers. But he was right, she needed something to busy herself with if she ever hoped to survive the long journey to Fukuoka.

So, with that thought in mind, Natsumi leaned her back against the cool glass of the window, stretching her legs out on the seat in front of her before propping open the book in her lap.

After almost six hours of sitting on the train, they had finally reached their destination, much to Natsumi’s excitement. She had plowed through the novel that her companion had let her borrow, at one point she had started pacing the train car just so she could get up and do something. But after fifteen minutes of that, and receiving a multitude of annoyed glances from the other passengers, she had settled back down in her seat with a bored pout.

“Fresh air!” She nearly gasped, taking in a deep breath of the cool, crisp afternoon air as soon as she hopped off of the train and her feet touched the platform. The train car had been stuffy and a little humid with strange smells wafting towards them every time a passenger stood up and walked by.

“I think you’re being a little overdramatic here.” Tokoyami chuckled, following her off of the train with his own suitcase in tow.

She halted in her actions at his comment, her arms dropped down to her side as she peered over at the boy, “I think I’m being just the right amount of dramatic.”

“You are a strange one, aren’t you?” He rose one brow high above the other.

Natsumi took no offense to his comment, realizing that he was the type of guy to say things matter-of-factly but without any sort of malice to his words. She could appreciate that.

Her shoulders hitched before falling in a nonchalant manner, “Yeah, but being normal is vastly overrated anyway.”

Tokoyami let out an amused snort, but otherwise kept quiet as the two teens made their way towards the exit. They had been given explicit instructions to wait outside of the train station, from there a car would arrive for them to take them to Hawks’ Agency. So, that’s exactly what the two teens did.

After a mere minute and a half of waiting by the curb of the street for their ride, Natsumi began to sway back and forth on the balls of her feet anxiously. This continued for another five minutes where she would alternate between swaying back and forth and tapping her foot against the sidewalk.

“You know, patience is a virtue.” Tokoyami’s solemn voice interrupted her own thoughts, bringing her actions to a halt as she angled her chin to the side to look at her companion.

Her lips pulled back into a lazy smirk, “I’ve never been a very virtuous person, I’m sure you’ve realized that by now.”

He hummed contemplatively, “Even so, patience plays a key role in performing your duties as a Hero—”

“—Okay, okay. I get it, I’ll work on it, mom.” She let out a loud groan in response to his comment.

Realistically speaking, she knew that she needed to work on a lot of things, patience and her ability to focus being two of the major offenders that she needed to improve on. In the heat of battle, she knew that her ability to focus on the task at hand and get what needed to be done done was pretty spot on—but, outside of a fight? It was pretty dismal.

A bright and shiny red car pulled up to the curb in front of the two, the window rolled down to reveal a young woman, fingers loosely gripped around the steering wheel as she peered out at the two teens.

“Oi, are you Tokoyami Fumikage and Kurosawa Natsumi?” Her voice was soft, like the tinkling of windchimes. She observed the two teens from her spot in the driver’s seat, bright glacial blue eyes crinkling at the corners with unspoken mirth.

“That we are.”

“That’s us!”

The two paused, glancing over at each other the moment their own words left their mouths, intermingling in the air simultaneously. The stranger let out a giggle, “Well, great! I’m Kestrel, one of Hawks’ sidekicks. Hop in and let’s get this show on the road, yeah?”

The two teens exchanged a look of uncertainty. The girl, Kestrel, didn’t look much older than them—was it even legal for her to be driving? Resigning themselves to putting their lives in the hands of the young girl behind the wheel, they loaded the trunk of the car up with their luggage before sliding into the backseat of the car.

“So~!” Kestrel began as she peeled out of the parking lot, oblivious to the teens practically being sucked into the back seat of the car from the sheer speed at which she was driving. Natsumi and Tokoyami attempted to sit up, only to be slammed back against the back seat once more as Kestrel’s lead foot pressed harder against the gas pedal.

“To be honest with ya, we were all a little surprised when Hawks decided to put in a request for you two—well, I mean, not because it was you two, you were both amazing—but because he’s never actually taken an interest in hosting any interns.” She spoke quickly, her words jumbled together and it took a lot of concentration on Natsumi’s part to pay attention and digest everything that the sidekick was saying, “Though, after rewatching the footage from the Sports Festival it was pretty easy to see why he’d be interested. You were both powerhouses in your own right, both of you were super strong and fast. Tokoyami-san, you were incredibly clever with your strategies to take down your opponent, your strong intellect was definitely on display and made you an easy choice. Kurosawa-san, you were incredibly badass—you went all out against the explosion guy, we were all on the edge of our seats watching that fight. And how you tried to continue fighting after being impaled? Damn girl, that’s the kind of perseverance needed for being a Hero.”

Natsumi felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment, truth be told, she didn’t know when to quit and hated to lose, especially to someone like Bakugou. Because of that she had been scolded for her lack of self-preservation by Recovery Girl, though Natsumi wasn’t sure how strongly she would take those words to heart should the situation arise where she needed to put her all into a fight again.

“Ah, that’s such high praise, thank you.” The silver haired teen managed a smile, swallowing down the fear she felt in regards to the sidekick’s driving skills, already resigned to the thought that she was going to die before ever reaching Hawks’ Agency.

Kestrel bit back a laugh, peering in the rearview mirror at the two in the back, “You’re lookin’ a little green back there, everything alright? We’ll be there soon, so try not to vomit on the upholstery!” Was her attempt to ease their troubled minds, though she wouldn’t admit that she was getting a sick pleasure from watching the two kids squirm uncomfortably. Though, Hawks would kill her if she brought back the agency car with vomit stains in it. She wasn’t that bad of a driver! Kids and their need to be overdramatic.

Oh god I hope so, if I’m in this car any longer I just might throw up. Natsumi thought with a grimace, feeling her stomach clench in a familiar way that sent an uncomfortable shiver up her spine.

Kestrel slammed on the breaks right in front of a large, modern looking building, causing the two teens to lurch forward from the force of their stop.

Thank god for seatbelts. Natsumi groaned, unbuckling herself after the sidekick put the car in park and removed the key from the ignition. She opened the door and all but fell out onto the sidewalk, she was tempted to kiss the ground in a big display but thought better of it, not wanting to make a bad impression by offending Hawks or Kestrel. But seriously, that girl needs to retake her road test.

She tore her crimson gaze away from the ground, trailing it up to the building before them in awe. It was a multi-story, nearly all glass building, that rose high into the sky. The windows were made of some sort of reflective glass that made it impossible to see inside, but those who were inside would have no issue seeing out onto the street. It’s like staring into a mirror, Natsumi mused.

“You two gonna stand there gawkin’ all day, or you gonna come inside?” Kestrel laughed from the doorway, hands on her hips.

That was also the first time that the two teens had gotten a good look at the Hero. She was of average height, several inches taller than Natsumi, and had an athletic build. Her steely blue hair was kept short in a stylish bob, her bangs grazing the area above her almond shaped, glacial blue eyes. Her outfit was pretty simple, a muted orange sleeveless hoodie with black stitching accenting the collar, hem, and the holes in the side where her arms poked out, a pair of black shorts with orange pockets, and a pair of ballerina flats in that same muted orange color.

Tokoyami and Natsumi both snatched their luggage from the back of the car before jogging to catch up with Kestrel, not wanting to delay the start of their internship any longer.

As they passed through the threshold they were brought into the lobby of the agency, the only part of the building that was open to the general public. It was a wide, open area with plenty of natural light filtering through the windows, several comfortable looking couches in the same deep crimson color that was reminiscent of Hawks’ trademark wings, were pushed against the walls. Placed on the inner walls were large flat screen televisions that alternated between showing the News, various clips of Hawks’ recent exploits, and ads for local businesses.

On one side of the room was a refreshment station with several different high tech beverage making machines as well as baskets of all sorts of add ins—creamer, sugars, marshmallows (for hot cocoa? Natsumi assumed.) and the like.

All in all, it gave off a very cozy vibe.

“This way~” Kestrel had an added bounce in her step as she waved the two teens along.

They passed by the help desk, the receptionist smiling brightly and giving them a welcoming wave before they disappeared into the back where an open elevator waited for them.

“You guys ready to meet the boss man?” Kestrel asked curiously as the elevator doors closed behind them, her fingers smashed against the button meant to lead them to the highest floor of the building.

“I am eager to learn all that he is willing to teach me.” Tokoyami nodded his head.

Natsumi nodded in agreement, but otherwise stayed quiet, her eyes trained on the LED numbers above the elevator doors, watching as they rose higher and higher. Her nausea from their terrifying car ride had only just settled but she could feel the knot in her stomach slowly returning the closer their elevator got to the final floor. She had no idea what was in store for her over the next week and just not knowing made her anxiety flare up.

The ding of the elevator was enough to tear her out of her thoughts, the doors slid open to reveal another wide open expanse of a room, this one surrounded by windows on three sides, the only wall not covered from floor to ceiling by the reflective glass was the one to their backs where the elevator was. There was a seating area off to the side, two extravagant looking crimson couches with a long, glass coffee table between them. Straight ahead of them was a dark mahogany desk, stacks of papers littered the surface, a small desk lamp pushed off to the side. Behind it was a tall backed crimson chair, though the back was facing them.

I bet he has the best view of the city at night from here. Natsumi breathed, her eyes caught on the cityscape surrounding them.

Suddenly, the chair stationed behind the luxurious looking dark wooden desk at the back of the room swiveled around, revealing a young man with windswept blonde hair and piercing golden eyes hidden behind a yellow visor. A devious smirk painted his lips, he placed his elbows against the surface of his desk and steepled his nimble fingers together, resting his chin atop them.

“I’ve been expecting you.” His voice was low, almost threatening sounding and sent an involuntary shiver up Natsumi’s and Tokoyami’s spines.

It’s him.

The two teens stared, wide-eyed, at their mentor, unable to formulate words to say in response to the dark aura surrounding him.

Hawks unwove his fingers and leaned back in his seat, laughter erupting from his chest, “Sorry, sorry. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“You’ve seen too many mobster movies, Hawks.” Kestrel rolled her eyes despite her own amused grin.

Natsumi let out a breath that she hadn’t even realized that she had been holding.

He pushed the chair back before pulling himself out of it and sauntering towards the trio standing in the center of the room, lips stretched into a wide, easy-going grin. His trademark bright crimson wings were pulled tightly against his back. He was in his Hero costume, a thick high-collared tan jacket with white faux-fur lining the outer edges, a tight black undershirt with a golden geometric design stitched into the front of it, and a pair of tan pants. On his face he wore a yellow tinted visor that protected his eyes from the elements during flight, and lastly, a pair of black and gold head phones, currently resting around his neck.

“I’m glad to see that you made it back in one piece~!” He grinned, bringing a hand up to gesture towards his sidekick, “I hope her driving skills didn’t scare you too much?”

“Oi! There’s nothing wrong with my driving.” The girl protested, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting indignantly.

“It was…” Natsumi glanced over to the older woman briefly before finally resting her crimson gaze on the Pro Hero, “…an experience.”

Hawks let out a hearty laugh, “Well, just consider that your first test then. And you both passed, congrats!”

“So rude.” The steel-blue haired girl groaned out.

The blonde-haired Pro Hero offered them a lopsided grin, “It’s still pretty early so how about we go on Patrol? Kessie here will show you to your rooms where you can drop off your things and change into your Hero Costumes, then meet me downstairs in the lobby.”

The rooms they were to be staying in were just as nice and luxurious as the rest of the building’s interior with a wall of reflective glass that gave them the perfect view of the city outside. There was a large queen-sized bed up against one of the walls with a thick crimson comforter that was embellished with a golden geometric pattern, reminiscent to the one that was stitched into Hawks’ undershirt.

Next to the bed was a dark mahogany night stand, a lamp that was shaped like a feather sat atop it. Natsumi bit her lip to hold in the amused snort that wanted to spill out. The floor was a sleek, modern looking mahogany laminate that matched the wood of the furniture in the room.

The wall that the foot of the bed was facing was adorned with a large flat screen television, an entertainment stand resting just below it. To the left of the entertainment stand was a mini-fridge fully stocked with bottles of water. Several feet away from the television was another door, this one leading to the private bathroom that had a wide glass shower that could have fit at least five people inside. Natsumi wasn’t sure why anyone would need a shower that spacious, but after seeing that there were four shower heads inside meant to shoot the water out from all sides, she was excited to give it a try later that evening.

She quickly donned her Hero Costume and jogged out of the room to meet Tokoyami at the elevator that would take them down to the lobby where Hawks had asked them to meet him. While waiting for the elevator to arrive, she ran her fingers through her wavy ivory locks, pulling the strands back into a quick braid to keep it out of her way during their Patrol.

The ride down to the lobby was spent in silent contemplation, both teens mulling over their own thoughts and expectations of what patrolling with Hawks would be like.

When they shuffled out into the lobby they noticed quickly that their mentor was nowhere to be seen, in his place was Kestrel and another person they had yet to meet. The guy standing next to her was tall and lean with caramel colored skin, the left side of his head shaved while a mop of shiny raven hued hair cascaded over the right side of his head down past his ears. He stared over at the two interns almost impatiently, quirking an unamused eyebrow high above his grey eyes.

“The ability to get ready in a timely manner is something we take very seriously here. It took the two of you eight minutes to get dressed and make it down to the lobby where it should have only taken you two minutes or less.” The man spoke dryly, reminding the two interns of their homeroom teacher with the way he scolded them.

“My apologies, I will be quicker next time.” Tokoyami bowed.

Natsumi frowned, “I didn’t realize we were being timed.”

“You’re interning with Hawks, the Hero known for his impeccable speed, you should have known what is to be expected of you.” He spoke evenly, arms crossed over his muscular chest. He was wearing a white body suit that clung to his form nicely, accentuating every muscle, an electric blue line trailing up the suit on either side of his legs. There was a utility belt wrapped around his waist with four pouches attached to it, little pieces of colorful paper poking out from the flaps. There was a sharp, angular mask around his eyes in that same electric blue and had the texture of origami paper.

“Ah, don’t be so hard on them, Origami.” Kestrel chided him with a wag of her finger, “They’ve only been here for less than an hour. Give them time, they’ll figure things out.”

“Tch. Whatever, just don’t slow us down.” He grumbled, turning on his heel and striding out of the large glass doors.

“Sorry about him, he’s extra grumpy today because he and his boyfriend got into a squabble before work.” The blue eyed girl explained, waving her hand dismissively, “Anyway, you’re with us today.”

Natsumi frowned, pushing aside the negative thoughts she had towards Origami, “I thought we were patrolling with Hawks?”

Kestrel laughed, “Well, ah. Yes and no? No one can keep up with him, there’s a reason why he’s known as the man who’s too fast for his own good. By the time we’re able to catch up to him the bad guys are usually already defeated and restrained, it’s our job to finish up by cleaning up the scene and alerting the proper authorities to come and take away the villain before moving on to the next crime scene.”

As they followed her out into the city, both Tokoyami and Natsumi had the same thought in mind, a burning disappointment at the thought of being Hawks’ cleanup crew. How would they learn anything from him if they weren’t able to actually see him in action?

Three hours. They had spent three hours trailing behind Origami and Kestrel, running from crime scene to crime scene tying up all of Hawks’ loose ends. It was incredibly boring and both teens were starting to feel disheartened already and it was only the first day of their internship.

Each time they arrived at a different location the bad guy would already be tied up or pinned to a wall with one of Hawks’ incredibly strong feathers. Their task was to secure the scene and wait for the police to arrive to take the villain into custody, the sidekicks would give a quick statement to the police on behalf of their employer before it was off to the next location to clean up another mess.

Hawks was too good at what he did. He was fast and efficient, able to take down multiple villains in a matter of minutes with the power of his incredible feathers before darting off with a speed unmatched to the next calamity that awaited him.

Natsumi was frustrated by the entire situation. Her fingers twitched at her side, she was just itching to fight, to do something other than follow behind the two sidekicks like a little lost puppy. Ruby eyes narrowed as she caught the chatter from the police scanner tucked securely in the back pocket of the officer who was taking a statement from Origami.

Robbery in progress, it said. And…it doesn’t sound like it’s far from here. She mused to herself, mind already made up despite the consequences that she was positive she’d have to face later on. I’m sick of waiting around and doing nothing.

She took off down the street in a full-on sprint before the more rational part of her mind could convince her to stay put. The sidekicks didn’t notice her departure at first, too tied up with speaking to the police to realize that she had gone missing, but Tokoyami had seen the entire thing. He carefully weighed his own options, unsure if he should follow suit or follow the rules and stick with Kestrel and Origami.

Natsumi continued down the street, rounding corners and darting across crosswalks. She heard the security alarm ringing loudly, piercing the night with it’s shrill cry, before she saw the villains who had broken through the display window of the jewelry store.

“You’ve strayed pretty far from the flock, chickadee.” Came his voice, smooth as honey, as he descended from the sky and hovered inches above the sidewalk beside her, catching Natsumi off guard.

She jumped, startled by his sudden presence despite the fact that she had wanted to run into him so she could learn something from the No. Three Pro Hero Hawks. She cast a glance over at him, lips pulled back into a frown, “Cleaning up the aftermath of a fight isn’t my idea of a good time, I came to help you.”

He blinked owlishly at her, removing his hands from his pockets before whistling lowly, “Even so, I don’t think you’re ready to spread your wings just yet, chickadee.” In that moment, a flurry of crimson feathers detached from the base of his wings and darted forward towards the robbers. Hawks glanced back at Natsumi, “Stay here where it’s safe.”

He flew forward, chasing after his own feathers as they darted towards the group of robbers who had piled out of the store with bags full of stolen jewels. There were four criminals in total, each of them carrying multiple bags of jewels as well as had watches and necklaces stuffed into the pockets of their pants. Each of them visibly paled as Hawks hovered before them, an army of feathers floating behind him threateningly.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Drop the merch and get on your knees with your hands behind your heads, the police will be here shortly.” Hawks’ voice was firm, despite his nonchalant appearance. His hands shoved deep into his pockets, head tilted slightly to the side.

The four criminals exchanged glances, before dropping the bags of jewels and rushing towards the Hero. One of the villains activated his Quirk, transforming his arms into long, sharp swords. Another stretched out his arms, needles of varying sizes grew from his skin, covering him completely. The other two must not have had very impressive Quirks, or at least nothing that would help them out in this situation, and instead brandished knives in an attempt to protect themselves.

Hawks let out a small sigh, turning his gaze skyward for a split second before returning to the motley crew before him, “Why are villains so predictable? Can’t be helped, I suppose~!”

The vermilion feathers surged forward, shooting towards the four men in a menacing wave while Hawks hovered in the air, watching as the men attempted to fight off the onslaught of feathers.

The two men who weren’t relying on their Quirks were apprehended immediately by several feathers digging into the sleeves and legs of their clothing. The momentum of their flight pulling the two men backwards until they were pinned against the brick wall of the jewelry store they had robbed.

Knives-for-arms and Pin Cushion seemed to be faring much better than their Quirkless friends and were able to fend off a majority of the feathers.

Natsumi let out a groan. She had finally found Hawks with the intention of fighting alongside him and here she was, sidelined once more and useless. Crimson eyes narrowed in irritation as she watched the scene unfold before her. There was no doubt in her mind that Hawks couldn’t handle himself and wrap this whole thing up quickly, like he had been doing the entire evening, but she was getting antsy goddamn it and needed to do something!

Mind made up, the ivory haired teen burst forward, leaving frozen footprints in her wake as she ducked under the vermillion wings of her mentor who was watching the villains fight against his feathers. His eyebrows shot straight into his windswept hairline as she ran past him to join the fight, “Where’re you going? I said to stay back!”

“I’m going crazy just standing by and doing nothing!” She called back over her shoulder.

In one hand she formed a long, frozen dagger, leaping towards the Pin-Cushion villain with little regard for her own safety. The villain swatted away a feather, eyes narrowing on the girl before bringing his right arm out in front of himself, using the needle-like protrusions in his flesh to protect himself. Her icy weapon collided with the needles, splintering upon contact.

“You’ll need something a little stronger than ice cubes if you want to take on my needles.” He chuckled darkly, swinging his arm at her.

She leapt backwards, out of the way of his attack, stomping her foot against the ground and allowing a surge of frozen spikes to burst forward towards the villain. He clumsily dodged out of the way of the brunt of the attack, though his leg did get caught against her ice, nicking his skin despite his sharp defense mechanism.

“Oi, don’t just rush recklessly into a fight like that.” Hawks chastised, a long feather, larger than any of the ones she had seen him use previously, gripped firmly in his hand as he intercepted an attack from the man with swords for arms. The clanking of metal against metal rang out, a curious noise considering it had been caused by a sword striking against a feather. Though, she supposed that they weren’t ordinary avian feathers.

Natsumi cast a glance over her shoulder as Hawks appeared at her back, protecting her from an attack that she had been completely unaware of. His wings tucked tightly against his back as he struck back against the villain, he was so close to her that she could feel the gentle tickle of his feathers against her back. A shaky breath escaped her as the realization hit her that she had almost been cut in half by the villain that she had completely neglected to think about.

Way to fucking go. You’re supposed to be showing him that you can handle yourself. You just proved his point. She inwardly scolded herself, feeling ashamed for letting such a crucial detail escape her.

The villain she was up against brought back his fist, before letting it fly towards her face, sharp needles poking out from between his knuckles promising an incredibly painful hit. Natsumi ducked under the wide swing of his arm and somersaulted forward out of his direct line of sight.

She popped up behind him, outstretching her palm and allowing a barrage of frozen projectiles to assault his exposed, spikey backside. He let out a grunt and stumbled forward, but was quickly able to correct his balance before whirling around and running towards her.

Thinking quickly, Natsumi formed a long, thick blade of ice in her right hand and brought it up in a defensive position against her chest right as the man barreled into her. She pushed back with all of her strength, though realistically knew that it wouldn’t be enough to fend him off. He pushed against her blade and she could feel her legs sliding out from under her, pushing her backwards towards the store front behind her.

The icy weapon began to crack under the pressure the man was exerting on her and she knew she had seconds before it would shatter completely. Gritting her teeth, Natsumi’s eyes narrowed as she caught sight of him retracting his other arm, the one that he wasn’t using the push against her, and bringing it down towards her. In the blink of an eye she ducked under his arms once more, right as her ice shattered and his other arm connected with air—missing the crown of her head by a split second.

Natsumi ran backwards, keeping her crimson gaze on her enemy the entire time as she made her way back to where Hawks was.

Pin cushion let out a growl, “Enough playing around! I’ll fucking kill ya, kid.” He leapt back, away from her and her ice and puffed out his cheeks, straining in a way that made her think that he was trying to hold his breath or—ruby eyes widened.

Natsumi brought her hands out in front of her, creating a massive wall of ice to separate her and Hawks, who was still fighting against his own villain, from the needle user. A moment later the sound of quills lodging themselves into the ice echoed across their urban battlefield.

“Quick thinking, kid! Good job.” Hawks praised, glancing over his shoulder as he felt the temperature drop drastically due to the ice at his back. Her pushed forward with his feather sword, knocking his enemy off balance and using his own momentum to spring forward. He brought he leg up and landed a swift kick to the man’s sternum, sending swords-for-arms sprawling against the concrete unceremoniously.

The villain attempted to pull himself to his feet but stopped short as the sharp, vermillion feather in Hawks’ hand fell to rest just below the man’s chin.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” The Winged Hero smirked down at the villain triumphantly. He briefly glanced over his shoulder at his intern, “Don’t move, kid, I’ll take care of the other one too.”

“No need, I got it.” She called back, her breath a frozen cloud breezing past her lips.

Natsumi turned intangible and phased right through her frozen barrier, the villain on the other side had begun to back track towards the spilt bags of jewels, attempting to gather as much as he could and make a hasty escape. She exhaled sharply, her intangibility still activated as she padded forward, using the balls of her feet to sneak up on the man. Her footfalls were quiet against the concrete, but she was almost sure that the man would be able to hear her ragged breathing—to her surprise, he didn’t.

She took a running leap, deactivating her Quirk at the last moment just before her foot made contact with the back of the villain’s head, the only part of his body not covered in sharp protrusions. He stumbled forward, a startled gasp escaping him and he quickly jutted out his palms to catch himself.

In that moment, Natsumi took a step closer to him, a river of ice racing towards him and coating his limbs in a thick rime, freezing him against the concrete.

“You’ve caused enough trouble for one night, how about you chill out of a bit, yeah?” Her lips pulled back into a smirk, leaning down to peer at the man as he struggled to free his hands from his frozen shackles, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, unless you want to rip the skin from your hands, that is.”

She straightened back up and turned towards where Hawks was still keeping the other villain pinned with his feather sword. A stomp of her left foot against the concrete had more ice snaking its way towards them, passing by her mentor and sneaking up the arms and legs of the man that he had captured.

The Winged Hero retracted the weapon from the man’s throat, now that he was apprehended and no longer needed the threat to stay in place. He leaned back on the balls of his feet, twirling the elongated feather between his fingers before telekinetically allowing it to rise out of his grasp and fly back up to reposition itself at the base of his wings.

“Those were some pretty risky moves you made back there.” Hawks spoke coolly, his golden gaze shifting to land on her and she froze mid-step under his stare, suddenly hyper-aware of her blatant disregard for his earlier commands to stay at a safe distance.

Crimson eyes glazed over and she was suddenly transported back to another time and place.

Her father’s boot clad foot made contact with her side in one swift motion that sent her small body flying back against the concrete floor of the warehouse they called home. Her chest burned with each breath she drew in and vaguely she wondered if he had bruised her ribs again.

Natsumi was no stranger to pain, whether inflicted accidentally or deliberately during her training, she could handle whatever her parents tossed her way, physically at least. Their hurtful words, laced with disappointment and disgust were another story. Nothing stung worse than seeing the displeased scowls marring their faces as they hovered over her. She aimed to please, absolutely yearned for their approval, they didn’t hand out praise often but when they did, she basked in it for days. Today was not one of those days.

“We gave you explicit instructions on what we expected from you today and you’ve done nothing but disappoint your mother and I.” Kurosawa Kiyoshi stared down at the trembling form of his eight year old daughter, his dark crimson eyes narrowed into tiny slits, “You’re too impulsive, rushing in without first considering the situation before you. Careless mistakes like that are what will land you in police custody, or killed.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, apprehensively meeting his gaze, “I’m…sorry, Hawks-sensei.”

He blinked at her reaction, noting the subtle flicker of fear in her expression, his expression softened, fingers rising to rub at the back of his neck, “Listen, I’m not trying to be the bad guy here, ya know. I know that you kids are more capable than most, especially after the things you’ve faced early on in your first semester.” He paused, regarding her for a moment. He was no good at these sorts of things. Hawks was a lot of things; a skilled fighter, observant, quick, highly intelligent—but was he good at reprimanding others? No. It was awkward, he never knew what to say in those sorts of situations so he tended to avoid them altogether and make someone else from his agency do it for him. But, in this moment, it was just him and her (and the four villains who were restrained), and so the responsibility fell on him.

“I appreciate your help; you were pretty quick on your feet back there.” His gaze flickered up towards the sidewalk behind her as his sidekicks, with Tokoyami in tow, skidded to a halt after running the entire way there, “But, going forward, if I think a situation is too dangerous for either of you to be involved in then I need you to follow my orders and stay back.”

Natsumi nodded her head, albeit slowly, biting back the stinging shame that pinched the back of her throat, “Of course.”

Tokoyami, despite the fact that he was not on the receiving end of the scolding, bowed, “Yes sir.”

Kestrel and Origami hung back, fighting back the urge to apologize to their boss for allowing their young charge to slip away from them so easily. The mood was already a somber one, however, and they knew that their added words weren’t warranted.

Officers rushed the scene and began to surround the villains, though when they got to the two encased in ice they scratched their cheeks, discussing amongst themselves the best way to chisel the men out. Natsumi, upon hearing their dilemma, brought a hand up, curling her fingers and pulling apart the water molecules that froze the men to the concrete and thus giving the police better access to the villains to apprehend them.

The Winged Hero let out a long, drawn out breath, his lips suddenly splitting into a cheerful grin, “Whew, that took a lot out of me! Who’s hungry? I’m famished! I’m thinking yakitori, and I know just the place~!”

Natsumi flopped onto her bed with a loud thud, thoroughly exhausted both mentally and physically after the day she had had. She was still reeling from being reprimanded by Hawks, she knew that she deserved it and should have expected such from her reckless actions, but it still stung.

She buried her face into the pillow, letting out a loud groan. She suspected that, maybe, it wasn’t Hawks’ words that had her stomach in knots, but the memory that it had unintentionally dredged up. Natsumi hated thinking about her parents and the life she once knew and typically did her best to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. But the disappointment in his golden stare…reminded her too much of her father.

Realistically, Hawks was nothing like her father. He was a respected Pro-Hero. Her father had been a super villain. Their personalities were complete opposites as well. Her father had been a strict man with a penchant for violence under the guise of life lessons. Hawks, though she had only known him a few hours, seemed much more easy-going, the type of guy that just goes with the flow and makes the best of every situation—and enjoyed bird puns far more than he should.

I’m such an idiot. I should’ve just stayed back with Tokoyami-kun.

It was late in the evening and Hawks had promised an early day for them the next morning, sending her and her classmate off to bed after taking them to his favorite yakitori spot. She had been rather amused by his eagerness to eat his fill of the seasoned chicken skewers. There had been a joke about cannibalism mentioned, to which he laughed and clarified that he was no chicken, so it was okay.

A sudden ping from her phone caught her attention. She mustered up enough energy to roll over and reach towards the nightstand where her phone had been resting for the last several hours while she was out on patrol. Cold fingers wrapped around the device, pulling it towards her and tapping the screen.

46 messages.

“You guys talk too much, holy shit.” A laugh escaped her as she unlocked her phone and read through the group thread where everyone detailed their first day of their internships in great detail. Most of them had gone on patrols with their mentors, none of them had run into any trouble and were excitedly texting about what they hoped to learn over the next week.

Her thumbs glided across the digital keyboard, recounting her eventful evening to her classmates, though decidedly leaving out the part about her and Tokoyami being on the cleanup crew.

Ashido.
Okay but girl, where is that photo of Hawks you promised? A girl has needs.

Hagakure.
Sounding a little thirsty over there, Mina :P

Iida.
Please be sure to stay hydrated, Ashido-san.

Ashido.
OMG

Kaminari.
LOL

Sero.
I fucking can’t omg.

Natsumi squinted at the conversation, biting back her own laughter at their class rep’s innocent response, suddenly a whole slew of texts flooded in from her classmates as they all expressed their amusement in the form of emojis.

Natsumi.
It’s only the first day Mina-chan. Patience is a virtue.

Tokoyami.
That’s like the pot calling the kettle black.

Natsumi.
How dare you. D:<

That was the only time Tokoyami had participated in the conversation, out of all the texts from their classmates, he chose to respond with a jibe towards her and their conversation from earlier on the train. Her eyes trailed back up through the conversation between the class, eyes slightly narrowed in concern when she noticed two names had yet to comment.

Bakugou did basically say that he’d rather die than be apart of a group chat, but…

She opened her contacts list, scrolling through it until her index finger landed against one name in particular. Natsumi hesitated, wondering if maybe it was too late or too intrusive to send him a message. She was curious about how his day had gone, but didn’t want to overstep any boundaries in case the subject was a sore one.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she opened up a new message, her fingers hovering over the digital keyboard, unsure of what to write or how to even start a conversation.

Shouto grumbled to himself as he lay on his back atop the futon in his childhood bedroom. With him interning with his old man it didn’t make much sense for him to stay in the guest rooms at the Endeavor Agency since they weren’t far from home to begin with. At least, that had been what his father had said. Not that Shouto minded, but there were just too many negative memories attached to this home and the man holed up in his study down the hall.

Typically, Endeavor would be away performing his Hero duties at all hours of the day and night, leaving Shouto to his own devices. The boy preferred having the home to himself, when Todoroki Enji was around Shouto found himself easily riled up and more irritable than usual.

I suppose this is what I signed up for when I accepted his offer. His lips tugged into a small frown.

His phone vibrated beside him, the screen lighting up to alert him that he had a new message. Quirking a curious brow, he reached over to grasp the device, wondering who it could’ve been. He had long since muted the group chat, electing to not remove himself completely in case something important happened. They talk too much. He couldn’t deal with the constant vibrations from his phone every twenty seconds as a new text came through from his classmates. In the beginning he had skimmed through the messages, seeing how the others had fared during their first day, but the conversation quickly turned into a jumbled mess of idiotic jokes and memes that Shouto had no time, or patience, for.

He unlocked his phone with a quick swipe of his thumb, dual-colored eyes squinted against the brightness of his phone screen as it lit up his dark room. Once his vision adjusted, he found that his previous pent-up frustrations and anger towards Endeavor disappeared with one simple message.

Natsumi.
Hey, you up?

His eyes softened at the screen, fingers hovering over the keyboard, typing out a quick response.

Shouto .
It’s late, shouldn’t you be asleep?

Natsumi.
Probably, but I couldn’t sleep. What about you?

Shouto .
Same. How was your first day?

He stared at the conversation, waiting for her response to pop up. When it didn’t after waiting for a couple of minutes he let out a small sigh, bringing his arm down and laying the phone beside him once more. She must’ve fallen asleep, he reasoned with himself, figuring that he should try and do the same.

His phone vibrated.

Shouto’s hand shot out with lightning quick reflexes, fingers quickly tapping in his password to unlock his phone.

Natsumi.
It was a little disappointing. Hawks is an amazing hero, maybe a little too efficient. He basically had us on cleanup duty with his sidekicks for hours—Todoroki I was so fucking bored.

He snorted, he could just imagine her standing there, impatiently tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest—he’d only known her for a few short months but he quickly learned that she wasn’t the most patient person.

Natsumi.
So when I heard on the police scanner that there was a robbery in progress I took off. Ended up fighting alongside Hawks, it was exhilarating.

Shouto.
Why am I not surprised?

Natsumi.
Ah. I’m sure you also won’t be surprised to hear that he told me I was reckless and to never do it again.

Shouto.
I’d be disappointed in him as a Hero if he didn’t.

Natsumi .
Fucking rude.

He smirked at her response.

Natsumi.
How was working with Endeavor for an entire day? Ready to kill him yet?

Shouto ran his free hand through his messy, dual-colored locks, forcibly expelling a stream of air from his nose. He should’ve known that she would ask that, it was only natural considering he had asked her about her day. He wasn’t keen on talking about his feelings or his strained relationship with his father, though somehow Natsumi, as well as Midoriya, had weaseled their way into his good graces over the short course of a couple of months.

He brought his other hand back up to where he cradled his phone above his face, typing out a response.

Shouto.
It…went as well as can be expected. That bastard doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Always trying to force his skewed ideologies on me and doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Natsumi.
You know what you should do?

He let out a curious hum, typing out a ‘what?’.

Natsumi.
Steal his credit card and treat yourself. It’ll relieve stress for you while teaching him not to fuck with you.

Shouto snorted in amusement. He had to admit that the thought was incredibly tempting. But what would he even spend the money on? He was a simple guy, he wasn’t into materialistic things like the rest of the world was.

Shouto.
Doesn’t sound very heroic.

Natsumi.
Nah, but we’re not talking about ethics here. We’re talking about a son rebelling against his father in the best way possible.

The two continued with their conversation for another hour or so, bouncing off ideas of what they would spend Endeavor’s money on. Shouto’s ideas were much more practical like a new futon, school supplies, and soba, while Natsumi had come up with more ridiculous thoughts—such as a cardboard cutout of Aizawa-sensei, twenty pounds of gummy worms, and the entire collection of that hideous Ganriki Neko clothing line.

It was pretty late when the two decided to bid each other goodnight in favor of getting some rest before having to be up early to start day two of their internships.

Chapter Text

The next day Natsumi woke earlier than she would have normally liked to, heading down to the shared common room area to grab a quick bite to eat before starting the day. When she arrived the overwhelming scent of maple syrup and bacon pummeled her senses, eliciting a loud growl from her stomach.

Kestrel let out a loud laugh, “Good morning to you too! Have a seat, I made breakfast! I hope you like pancakes, bacon, and eggs!”

“Thanks, this looks great.” Natsumi grinned, piling her plate with food. She wasn’t usually a breakfast person, and when she did eat early in the morning it was usually something quick from the bakery on the way to school. The last time she had a real breakfast was a memory lost to her.

Tokoyami shuffled into the room moments later, taking a seat beside his classmate, “Thank you for taking care of us, Kestrel.”

The girl waved off his comment with a grin, “Of course! Now eat up, you two are going to be busy today so you’ll need plenty of energy to keep up!”

That piqued their interested. Tokoyami and Natsumi both exchanged curious looks, both of them collectively hoping that perhaps Hawks would be taking their training more serious and not relegate them to cleanup duty.

“It’s about damn time he took this training seriously, I’m ready to pummel some bad guys!” Dark Shadow made his appearance, hovering behind Tokoyami and pumping his clawed fists in excitement.

Tokoyami’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance of his other half, he fanned his hands out in and attempt to calm Dark Shadow down, “Please don’t make a scene, it’s too early in the morning.”

Natsumi bit into a particularly crunchy piece of bacon before pointing the piece of crispy pork at her classmate, “Mm, he has a point though. I mean, last night aside, I’m ready to learn some real fighting tactics from on the job experience from Hawks.”

Dark Shadow beamed, placing his shadowed hands on his hips and peering down at his host, “Oi, oi. I like her.”

“He’s new to this whole intern thing so go easy on the guy,” Kestrel laughed, pointing a batter splattered spatula at the two kids, “remember, if he slows himself down enough to allow you to keep up on patrols that leads to the potential of villains getting away because he won’t be able to apprehend them in time.”

The two teens huffed out indignant sighs at the statement. It made sense. He really was too fast for his own good. Though, the nagging thought of ‘why did he send me an offer then?’ plagued the two as they quietly contemplated their internship.

“Wait, so I’m not going with you on patrol?” Natsumi bit out, eyes narrowed and fingers curling at her sides, “Is this because of last night? Because I really am sorry about that, I’ll listen from now on.”

Hawks rubbed at the back of his neck, he really hated to disappoint others. He made a career out of being a people pleaser, that was how he had flown through the ranks so quickly when he was just starting out as a Hero—well, that and the fact that he was exceedingly efficient when it came to getting the job done.

“Don’t think of this as a punishment. You wanted training, yeah?” Hawks tilted his head, lips pulled back into an easy-going smile, “You’ll be working with one of the best today, ah—you know, I never got your Hero names.” He scratched at his cheek sheepishly.

She blinked at his sudden change of the subject, still sore at the thought of being left behind as a form of punishment, regardless of how he saw it, she knew that that was exactly what this was about. He was right about one thing, however, she and Tokoyami had never given him their Hero Names.

The ivory haired teen brought her arms up, crossing them over her chest as she grumbled out, “Hisame.”

The blonde Pro Hero perked up, leaning forward with a curious grin, “Oh? Is that a play on the fact that your signature move is frozen projectiles? Clever girl.”

Tokoyami stood beside her, “Tsukuyomi.”

Hawks tore his golden gaze away from the ivory haired teen, his attention now settled on the dark figure of Tokoyami, “Oh?” He regarded the boy with an appraising look, “It suits you well.”

“Oi, you guys sound so unenthused. Lighten up, show a little excitement, will ya?”

The two teens whipped their heads toward the door as a new voice cut into their conversation.

In the doorway stood a woman barely an inch taller than Natsumi, with dark caramel skin, slanted ruby red eyes, and long silver hair that cascaded down her back and rested against her thighs. The woman’s muscles bulged with every subtle movement made, she exuded strength and confidence.

Natsumi tore her eyes away from the impressive muscular figure the woman bore and slowly moved up to stare at the tall, silver rabbit ears perched atop her head. Cute, she couldn’t help but to think despite the fact that the woman looked as if she could easily crush Natsumi between her thighs without a second thought. The teen blinked at the intrusive thoughts, cheeks burning bright red, God, that’s something Mineta would fantasize about.

The newcomer was wearing a sleeveless white leotard with purple trim, a bright golden crescent moon design on her chest, and thick metal plates accenting her hips. A large, fluffy cotton-ball shaped tail protruded out of her backside. On her lower half were purple thigh-high boots with metal plating around her feet, shaped to look like rabbit feet.

“Nice of you to hop over on such short notice, Mirko.” Hawks angled his chin over his shoulder, sending a teasing smirk her way.

The Rabbit Hero placed a hand on her cocked hip as one eyebrow perched precariously above the other, “Don’t you have a city to patrol, tweety-bird?”

The Winged Hero waved his hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah, Thumper.” He then turned his sharp, golden gaze to Natsumi who stiffened under his stare, “If the Commission heard that I let you go without any sort of discipline after last night they’d clip my wings. Just keep in mind that this is just for today, little dove.”

The Commission? Natsumi wondered curiously before grumbling, “Yeah, fine, I get it.”

“Don’t think of this as punishment, think of it as a privilege—you get to train with me today, kid! Lucky you!” Mirko smirked, “Get ready for the workout of your life.”

“Good luck, Hisame!” Hawks waved to the two girls as he and Tokoyami joined his sidekicks out in the hallway. Her classmate sent her one last fleeting look, eyes softening apologetically, before he followed their mentor out of the common room.

Crimson met ruby as the two girls regarded each other coolly. Natsumi tilted her head, lips downturned, “So, what? Hawks called you to come babysit?”

Mirko let out a hearty laugh, “Nah, kid. That bird-brain doesn’t tell me what to do. I was in the area and thought I’d hop by and pay my good friend a visit.”

“So, you’re not here on official Hero business with your agency? This was more of a social call?” Natsumi asked curiously.

“I don’t affiliate myself with a hero agency, so I’m free to come and go as I please.” The rabbit hero explained with a shrug of her shoulders, “So, yes, this was more or less a social visit. Though, I will admit that I was pretty damn shaken when I heard that Hawks had taken interns. That kid has never been interested in guiding future heroes. So you bet your ass I had to come and see who piqued his interest.”

Natsumi rose an eyebrow, “And?”

Mirko smirked, “Color me impressed. After Hawks told me about that little stunt you pulled last night it made me realize that you and I have something in common.”

“And what’s that?” Natsumi’s curiosity was genuinely piqued by the No. 5 Hero’s statement

The dark-skinned woman laughed, “We’ve both been considered reckless by our peers. The only difference between you and I in that aspect is that I’m properly trained and know how to assess the situation and make the best decision based on my observations.” She closed her eyes momentarily, humming to herself, “But, you’re still a kid, you’ll get there.”

The ivory haired teen blinked back her surprise, taking a tentative step towards the rabbit Hero, “So then…today…?”

Mirko opened one eye and focused her stare on the curious teen, lips pulled back into a devious grin, “Oh today I plan on working you till you drop—and then I’ll make sure you keep going.”

The car they had taken pulled into the parking spot and Mirko graciously paid the driver before she and her young charge for the day slid out and into the burning sun. The first thing Natsumi noticed was a heaviness to the air, a certain scent to it that was both salty and fishy as it tangled through her curly white locks. The second thing was the sound of birds crying in the breeze, their sound being drown out by the roaring waves—waves?

Natsumi bounced on the balls of her feet, attempting to hide her own excitement, and failing miserably, when she realized that Mirko had taken her to the beach. The Rabbit Hero began to walk towards the boardwalk that ran through the sand dunes, creating a clear path from the parking lot to the beach on the other side.

The teen was beside herself, she had never seen the ocean before but it had been at the top of her list of things to do. Growing up, she had never been permitted to stray far from their warehouse home so she had never gotten to see or do many things that most people took for granted. Natsumi trailed behind the older woman, crimson eyes darting back and forth, taking in every detail surrounding her which only fueled her growing eagerness.

The Pro Hero cast a glance over her shoulder, watching the teen pause to admire the seagulls flying above before her eyes darted to stare with rapt attention as a crab scuttled past her, hurrying over the wooden planks beneath their feet and disappearing into the tall grass of the sand dunes.

“You act like you’ve never been to the beach before, kid.” The Rabbit Hero laughed, amusement dancing across her ruby eyes.

Natsumi’s head snapped back to stare at the Hero waiting for her at the end of the boardwalk, a sheepish smile etched itself onto her lips as she answered the woman back, “Well…I haven’t. My childhood wasn’t exactly a…conventional one, so I missed out on a lot, I guess.”

Mirko’s gaze softened at the young girl’s admission, that’s right, she’s the kid who came from a home of villains. She crossed her toned arms over her chest, lips quirking into a half-smirk, “Well, you’ll have plenty of time to ogle the pretty scenery today because this is where we will be training.”

Natsumi spent the next couple of hours with her shoes off, running up and down the beach in an attempt to catch the swift Hero. The sun burned brightly, beating down on the teen who had long since stripped down to just her crimson tank-top undershirt and rolled her leggings up as far as she could. Despite removing all of her extra layers, Natsumi still found herself feeling more overheated than she had ever felt, even with her lowered body temperature and Quirk working to cool her off. Her clothing clung to her sweat drenched body, face flushed from heat and overexertion, her legs were beginning to cramp but she continued to push herself towards the Rabbit Hero who showed no signs of slowing down.

“What’s this? Kid, you’re slowin’ down, you tired already?” Mirko teased, turning around to face Natsumi while jogging backwards. Her pace had also slowed down considerably, but not because she was also tiring, it was because she recognized the signs of fatigue beginning to present themselves in her young charge and she wanted to make the goal of their training more attainable. Though, Mirko was by no means willing to hand over the win to Natsumi, the girl still had to work for it.

Natsumi stumbled forward, bringing the back of her hand up to wipe the sweat from her brow before it had the chance to sting her eyes, “A-absolutely not, I could do this all day.”

The dark-skinned woman smirked, “Good to hear! And here I was thinking we should stop and take a break, but if you’re so confident in your ability to continue then I guess we’ll just keep at it.”

The ivory haired teen faltered, anxiously chewing on her bottom lip. A break sounded glorious to her, even if it was a quick five minute pause in training just to grab a drink and cool off.

The Rabbit Hero tilted her head and stopped moving backwards, instead she jogged in place, crimson eyes trained on the teen as she sluggishly moved towards her. Usagiyama Rumi could honestly do this for hours on end without needing a break, in fact, she had done just that many times in the past. But, she needed to take the limits of the teen into consideration. Bird-brain would kill me if his intern dropped from heat exhaustion.

“Alright kid, I think you’ve proven yourself plenty for now. Lets stop for a bit and cool down, yeah?”

Natsumi visibly perked up at that, letting out a silent sigh of relief when she was finally able to catch up to her, now stationary, mentor for the day. Her entire body ached and burned from the nonstop movement as well as the beginnings of a sunburn on her cheeks and arms.

“Thank god—I mean—yeah? Sure, we can take a break if you need one.” The teen quickly covered, attempting to hide the fact that she was utterly exhausted by waving her arms animatedly around her as she spoke.

“Yup, you caught me. I totally needed to pause the training to catch my breath here.” The Rabbit Hero guffawed, eyes crinkling at the corners, “I’ll go grab us some drinks, why don’t you plop yourself down and take a breather.”

You don’t have to tell me twice.

The crimson eyed teen felt her legs wobble and give out beneath her as her own exhaustion took hold of her, her aching limbs screaming at her to take it easy. She dropped down onto the sand, stretching her legs out in front of her while leaning back on her hands, palms digging into the granules beneath her.

Natsumi felt herself relax as she watched the navy blue waves roll in, racing along the shoreline to meet her. The water’s edge lapped against her throbbing feet, her toes curled involuntarily from the shock of the cool water surging around her burning skin.

I finally made it. I can’t believe how beautiful the ocean is.

She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on her already burned skin, listening to the sound of the waves breaking against the shoreline was enough to ease her mind of any and all worries. In that moment of respite, Natsumi found herself wishing that her friends were there with her enjoying the beach.

Ah, maybe we can take a trip during summer vacation. She mused with a blissful sigh.

A startled yelp escaped her as a frosty bottle of water was placed against her cheek, Mirko’s laughter rang in her ears as the Pro Hero removed the bottle from Natsumi’s face and tossed it towards her. The teen brought her hands up, catching the chilled beverage with deft fingers.

“Drink up, kid. Can’t bring you back to Tweety-bird all dehydrated and shit.” The Rabbit Hero plopped down next to the teen, taking a long swig from her own bottle of water before pulling out a thin, white cardboard box and setting it between them. With nimble fingers, Mirko flipped open the box and eagerly plucked out a skewer with a perfectly round, fried golden brown dough situated at the end of the stick, “Mm, this is the best takoyaki in all of Fukuoka. I always have to stop by whenever I’m in town.” She grinned, shoving the fried treat into her mouth and relishing the texture of the fluffy fried dough on the outside before her teeth hit the soft, chewy octopus hidden inside. She had been stopping by the little shack on the boardwalk for the last 5 years, the owner was always sure to send her away with more than enough Takoyaki to last her her entire patrol. He was a sweet old man and she was always happy to over-tip him, despite his protests.

The Pro Hero nudged the box towards Natsumi, who watched the woman enjoying her snack momentarily before taking one for herself. A delighted hum vibrated from the back of her throat as she took a bite, appreciating the almost sweet taste of the breading as it complemented the saltiness of the octopus.

The two sat in silence, watching the waves roll in, allowing their toes to curl in the wet sand while they enjoyed their snack.

“Alright kid, once we’re done with this I have one more thing I want us to do before we head back.” Mirko tore into another Takoyaki ball, her eyes trained on the horizon as a swarm of seagulls flew past overheard. Several of the birds landed on the sand mere feet away from the two young women, hopping forward with tilted heads and loud chirps.

Natsumi absently ripped a piece of breading off of her Takoyaki ball and tossed it to one of the birds, watching with rapt attention, a small smile gracing her features as the birds quickly dove forward to fight over the morsel. She quickly tore a few more pieces off, throwing them towards the birds so that they’d each have their own portion.

After a moment of watching the birds happily bounce side to side, begging for more, Natsumi turned away from them and glanced at her mentor for the day, “Sorry. What else did you have in mind?”

The swift Pro Hero quickly wiped away her own soft smile, replacing it with a half-smirk, “We’re going to walk this stretch of the beach and pick up any trash we find. Beachgoers leave this place an absolute mess every day and all that litter, if not picked up, ends up back in the ocean during high tide and that pisses me off. So, we’re going to clean up as much as we can before we leave.”

Natsumi bit her lip, her exhaustion mixed with the sunburn she had earned during the hours spent training under the sun without any sort of skin protection were starting to get to her, she felt so tired! And, ordinarily, she probably would have complained about being on cleanup duty—much like she had the night before, even though the situations were completely different—she couldn’t deny that she felt a tug at her heartstrings at Mirko’s heated declaration.

The older woman’s ruby stare slid over to land on the teen who was quietly mulling over what she had previously said. Her long, silver ears twitched against the salty sea breeze, “I know it ain’t the most glamorous of gigs, but helping out in the community in any way, even if it’s picking up litter, is still a very important aspect of being a Hero. Civilians will see that you are actually taking the time out of your day to do something so mundane and the fact that you care about little tasks such as that will earn you a ton of respect, remember that, kid.”

Natsumi turned fully to face the Rabbit Hero, her chapped lips pulling back into a bright smile as she stared up at the woman with admiration, “I think it’s great. Knowing that you and other Heroes care so much about the environment really gets me all fired up—I just wish more people took conservation and keeping the environment clean and free of trash more seriously. We only have one planet, right?”

Mirko blinked at the young girl, before nodding enthusiastically, “That’s right! And who knows, maybe when you go Pro one day one of the major proponents of your Hero Campaign can be Environmental Conservation. I feel like the younger generations these days are more eager and willing to protect the planet than their predecessors are, so, you know, you guys could really make some big changes to the world moving forward.” The Rabbit Hero finished with a wide grin, pulling herself to her feet before offering a gloved hand to the teen, who eagerly accepted and allowed the older woman to pull her to her feet.

Mirko had brought her back to Hawks’ Agency well after the sun had already set on the horizon, waving goodbye in an exuberant fashion before hopping along down the street. Natsumi had wandered back up to her room, guiding her hand along the wall on her way so that she’d be able to catch herself should her legs give out again.

She made it back to her room without much trouble and decided to jump in the shower to wash the seasalt and sweat from her body, taking great care to carefully, gently, lather her bodywash across her reddened skin. A groan escaped her, “I don’t even remember the last time I had a sunburn…”

After her shower, Natsumi stood in front of the fogged up floor length mirror with a frown, rubbing her arm across the cool surface, the image projected before her became clearer with the action. A light pink dusted over her cheeks and the bridge of her nose courtesy of the harsh rays of the sun. Her shoulders and forearms were also reddened, an annoyed huff left her at the sight. Luckily, the sunburn didn’t look too terrible and she hoped that it would go away on its own very soon.

Natsumi shuffled over to her open suitcase and rummaged through it until she found a dark crimson sweater and a pair of black leggings. Once pulling on her undergarments she tugged the sweater over her head, fingers reaching back to pull her damp ivory hair out of the back of her sweater, letting it fall over her shoulder.

Once fully dressed, she fell back onto her bed, deciding to check her phone after having left it on the nightstand all day once more. The group chat had blown up once more but that wasn’t what caught her attention.

2 new messages from: unknown number

She slid her finger across the screen to unlock it, ignoring the group chat and opening up the messages from the unknown number, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Hey kid! I nabbed your phone number from your file at Hawks’ agency, hope ya don’t mind. Just wanted to say good job today! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever need anything! Here’s a cute pic I took of you today, thought you might want it! -Mirko

Natsumi quickly saved the phone number to her contacts list before clicking back to the message and downloading the photo that had been attached. Once it finished loading she felt her lips pull back into a soft smile at the image—it was a photo taken from behind that depicted her staring out at the sea, ivory curls floating in the breeze, the sky painted in a myriad of colors as the sun set beyond the horizon, dark orange, pink, purple, and various shades of blue all swirling together to create the perfect back drop.

The photo had been taken at the tail end of their training, during their mission to cleanup the shoreline, the sun had started to set and Natsumi had found herself mesmerized and unable to look away. She had no idea that Mirko had apparently thought to capture the moment on her phone but…Natsumi was glad that she had.

She tapped against the image, saving it to her camera roll before typing out a quick, ‘thank you for today, I love the photo!’ punctuated by several happy and heart filled emojis to the Rabbit Hero.

With nothing else to do, she found herself scrolling through the group chat to catch up on what was going on with her classmates. Biting her lip, she clicked on the ‘add image’ button and sent the photo that Mirko had taken of her to the group chat.

Natsumi: Did some training at the beach today with Mirko! The sunburn was definitely worth it with a sunset like this waiting for me at the end of the day~
Kaminari: What?! You got to go to the beach? Not fair Natsu-chan! T_T
Ochako: Did you say Mirko?! What’re you doing with her, aren’t you at Hawks’ Agency?

She was about to respond when the sound of footsteps outside of her door caught her attention and she realized that Tokoyami must have just returned from his patrol with Hawks. She leapt from her bed, leaving her phone behind on the mattress as she raced to the door, hoping to catch her classmate before he disappeared into his own room for the night. Delicate fingers gripped the doorknob, ripping the door open with more force than what was really necessary and effectively startling the boy who had been about to enter his own room next door.

The boy blinked, hand hovering over the handle to his own room as they both stared at each other awkwardly. She was the first to break their silent stare down.

“How did it go today?” She shuffled out into the hallway, balancing on the balls of her feet in eager anticipation, hoping to hear that Hawks had at least started taking things seriously so that she would have that to look forward to when she joined them the next day.

Tokoyami let out a long, drawn out sigh, retracting his hand and letting it fall at his side, “Similar to how things went last night, minus you being there, of course.”

Natsumi frowned, “What? So…cleanup duty?”

Dark Shadow suddenly appeared behind him, crossing his arms over his chest, “It was bullshit! Didn’t even see the guy at all tonight!” She quickly deduced that he meant Hawks, meaning that her classmate had been dumped on the sidekicks again.

He nodded solemnly, his fingers twitched at his side, “I will not lie, I am feeling discouraged about this whole ordeal.” Ordinarily he would have shushed Dark Shadow, doing his best to keep his other half in check, but he felt too disheartened to really care about his vulgar familiar.

“You’re right, Dark Shadow. That is bullshit.” Her voice came out as more of a growl, she felt a sharp ache in her chest at her classmate’s admission. Just knowing that the boy was doubting himself and feeling disappointed in the situation was enough to set her off. They weren’t close by any stretch of the imagination, but she couldn’t deny that she was also feeling dispirited by this whole internship, even if it was only the second day.

If Hawks wasn’t serious about ‘guiding the next generation’ as Mirko had so eloquently put it earlier, than why the fuck did he put in offers for her and Tokoyami?

Tokoyami glanced up abruptly, almost wincing at the sharpness of her voice. He tilted his head and frowned, “It can’t be helped I suppose. We have five days left, I guess it’s just best to resign ourselves to the fact that we will be working alongside Origami and Kestrel for the remainder of our time here. We’re still learning something at least, even if it’s the cleanup aspect of a crime scene.”

“No, I’m sorry but I can’t accept that.” Natsumi clenched her fists at her side, brows dipped down angrily, “We’re not learning anything practical here—we should be learning, I don’t know, fighting techniques, how to operate stealthily on a mission, interrogation—something, anything!”

“Yeah! That’s more like it! Let’s go beat ‘im into submission!” Dark Shadow howled eagerly, pounding his fist against his palm, earning an amused snort from the ivory haired teen and a reproachful glare from Tokoyami.

“Let’s not do anything shameful that could get us sent back before the end of our internship.” Tokoyami reasoned firmly, his dark eyes shifting between his other half and Natsumi almost warily.

She waved her hand dismissively in the air, her lips curling into a lazy smirk, “No worries, we won’t get sent home. But I do think we should go talk to him, tell him how we really feel, ya’know?”

Tokoyami’s frown was persistent, much like the girl standing before him with fire alight in her crimson gaze. He was the type of person who sat back and did what he could to get by without making any waves, he left the troublemaking up to his classmates. But…he couldn’t deny himself the need to improve upon his own abilities and to gain better control over Dark Shadow.

A low sigh breezed from his beak, “I don’t know, Kurosawa.”

“Look, I didn’t want to say anything before because it’s really not my place and we don’t know each other like that but…I could tell that you’ve been having self-doubt. From what I can tell, it’s been fueled by this stupid situation where we were forced to sit on the sidelines, being unable to engage in the fight is incredibly frustrating and honestly makes me want to scream and hit something, but for you? You’ve been internalizing that shit and that’s not healthy physically or mentally.” Her voice came out much softer than it had been previously and she took a tentative step forward, stopping herself when she was just a foot away from the boy. Damp curls of ivory fell over her shoulder as she tilted her head, “You can trust me. Though, I understand if you’re wary of talking things out with me since we’ve never really talked much before…”

Tokoyami blinked back his own surprised thoughts, he couldn’t believe that she had been able to read him so well in the short amount of time that they had been on this journey together. Perhaps I’m simply not as good at hiding my true feelings as I originally thought. He mused, allowing a dark chuckle to escape him.

“I cannot deny your astute observations, I have indeed been feeling doubtful towards my own strength and abilities while on this journey. I understand that it’s only the second day and maybe I’m simply overthinking things, perhaps my expectations were far too great and now I’m just realizing that the internship I imagined is far from actuality.” He closed his eyes, letting out a tired sigh as the weight of his own words permeated the empty hallway.

Natsumi let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding when he began to speak, she didn’t think that he’d be willing to open up to her considering the fact that the number of conversations they had had could be counted on one hand. This is a start in the right direction, though, right? She thought hopefully.

“Okay, okay, but are we going to give Hawks a piece of our minds or not?!” Dark Shadow groaned impatiently, waving his dark arms around in the air to get the two to focus their attention on him once more.

Natsumi exchanged an amused look with Tokoyami as Dark Shadow successfully dispelled the heavy atmosphere that had settled around them, “Yeah, yeah. We’re going now.” She nodded her head towards her companion, her lips pulling into a soft, appreciative smile that silently told him she was happy that he had been willing to talk to her.

Tokoyami let out a quiet hum, almost reluctant to follow after his classmate as she started down the hallway to confront their mentor. Her temper was legendary amongst their class, rivaling that of their resident hothead Bakugou Katsuki…which made the impending conversation with Hawks make the boy feel a bout of nervousness slip over him. An almost inaudible groan escaped him as he jogged to catch up to her, he needed to be there to keep her in check and make sure she didn’t step out of line and say anything that could truly get them kicked out of their internship.

They rode the elevator in silence up to the top floor where Hawks’ office was, it was late and there was no telling if he would actually be there or not, but Natsumi assumed that being that he was a Pro Hero that he’d probably have paperwork or other official business that would keep him up for a little while longer. She tapped her foot against the tiled floor of the elevator impatiently, but still in rhythm to the instrumental music that played through the speakers.

Tokoyami watched her from the corner of his eye warily before drawing in a calming breath, “Kurosawa.”

She tilted her head, angling her chin to the side to give him her attention as the digital screen above the elevator doors dinged, signaling their arrival at the top most floor of the building.

He let out a quiet sigh, “Just…don’t go overboard.”

Natsumi let out a small laugh, her lips twitching at the corners, “Hey, hey. We’re just here to get some answers and try to convince him to take things more seriously.” She strode out into the room as the doors opened, peering back over her shoulder at him, “You worry too much, Tokoyami-kun.”

The boy rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling after her. The first thing the two noticed upon arriving at the large office space was that the Hero they sought was hovering in the air on his back, his wings fluttering slowly beneath him. His hands were stretched out, holding a brightly colored tabloid magazine above his face as his lazy golden stare flitted over the images printed, reading through the article, failing horrendously to disguise his own amusement, “Childish? Me? Psh, as if. At least they got the part about me being a ‘pretty bird’ right. Ha ha.” Hawks didn’t seem to notice the entrance of his two interns and they quickly realized that he had his headphones pulled up over his ears, loud music drifting out of the device.

A bright crimson blur whizzed up to the two teens, fluttering around them, and Natsumi instinctively reached out, running her fingers across the soft downy feather.

Hawks’ wings fluffed up around him and he felt an involuntary shiver run up his spine, his golden gaze slid over to land on his two interns as he felt the young girl’s fingers graze one of the feathers that he had been using for surveillance. Oftentimes, he would allow a multitude of his feathers to zoom across the city as a way to keep watch over his patrol routes, in a way he was able to be in multiple places at once. He was able to pick up on subtle vibrations and hear snippets of conversations, it was the best way for him to keep an eye on the city and gather information. He had sent them out earlier in the evening when he had been out on patrol and they were just now returning to him.

“Ah! Hey, you two. What brings you to my humble abode, hm?” He righted himself, hovering in a vertical position now. He quickly tossed the tabloid onto one of his couches uncaringly, his fingers rose to remove the headphones from his ears, allowing them to rest around his neck so he could give the two his undivided attention.

The feather flitted away, out of her grasp, and returned to its place amongst Hawks’ impressive plumage. Natsumi’s hand fell to her side and she found herself suddenly too nervous to bring up her complaints, despite having just had such strong resolve about having the conversation in the first place.

Tokoyami glanced over at his companion from the corner of his eye, immediately noticing the change in her demeanor, his brows dipped down over his dark eyes.

The blonde Hero tilted his head to the side in a curious manner, “What’s got you two lookin’ so down, hm?”

Tokoyami glanced over to Natsumi once more to see if she had snapped out of her thoughts, but realized that she still seemed lost in her own mind. He closed his eyes momentarily, allowing a small sigh to slip out before meeting Hawks’ curious golden stare. All the self-doubt and questioning thoughts that had invaded his mind the last two days suddenly overwhelming him. The over-flowing insecurity he felt for his own strengths and abilities activated his inner rage and he clenched his fists at his sides, “Why did you extend the invitation to me to come intern at your agency?”

The blonde blinked in surprise, his lips drawing themselves into an amused grin, unbothered by the sudden hostility in Tokoyami’s stance, “Because we’re both birds~!”

Natsumi’s head snapped up, successfully pulling herself out of her own thoughts of being intimidated by the No. 3 Hero, an incredulous look overtaking her countenance at the words uttered by the Winged Hero.

Tokoyami’s eyes narrowed, “Are you joking?”

Hawks shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, bringing a hand up to wave around dismissively as he spoke, “No, I’m twenty-percent serious. It was mostly because I wanted to talk with someone from class 1-A about those little punks who attacked your class, calling themselves the ‘League of Villains’. And, well, I figured if I had to pick one of you then it would have to be someone who could potentially keep up with me, someone with a lot of promise. So, I thought, ‘why not that birdman from the top three?’”

Tokoyami frowned, his brows knitting together as he drank in the words spilling from the Pro Hero’s mouth. On the one hand he was disappointed to hear that he had only been sought out to satiate the Hero’s own curiosities about his class and their run-in with those villains…

He thinks I have potential? Tokoyami still had his self-doubts but hearing those words uttered from his idol was enough to quell the self-deprecating thoughts for the time being.

“Well, last I checked, I’m neither a bird nor was I in the top three. So, what was your reasoning behind sending an offer to me then?” Natsumi finally found her voice, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat and taking a step forward with her arms crossed over her chest.

His attention flitted from Tokoyami over to the silver haired teen, his lips pulled back into a lopsided smirk as he brought his index finger up to tap against his chin, “You would’ve been if you hadn’t been impaled during that last match, and even then you tried to soldier on. That was impressive and took major guts. Your drive and overall will to come out on top, coupled with the sheer speed and agility you demonstrated during the obstacle race as well as those final battles, were enough to have me thinkin’ that I wouldn’t mind having you on my team. Also, I was curious about your take on this supposed League of Villains, considering your background and all.”

At first, she felt a small wave of relief mixed with pride caress her as he spoke highly of her abilities and the reasoning behind choosing her but then as he ended his speech her irritation seeped back in through the cracks of her resolve. She kept her arms crossed over her chest, fingers digging into the fabric of her sweater to keep herself grounded through her anger. She had promised Tokoyami that she wouldn’t get them kicked out of their internship and she was afraid that if she let her hands fall from their current position that she might act on her anger.

“Considering my background?” She seethed, teeth gritting together, “You mean how I was raised by Hydra and Spectre? How they taught me everything they know with the intention of me surpassing them one day? Or, how my two childhood friends happened to join that same group of villains that attacked us, that you’re so curious about? I’m not some novelty to keep around because I have ties to the Underworld. I’m serious about my training and fully intend on becoming a Hero.”

Hawks placed his hands up in front of himself defensively, his lips pulled back in an apologetic grimace, “Whoa, whoa, little bird. I didn’t mean it like that, though I guess I wasn’t being very tactful in my approach for information so I’m sorry about that.” He raised one of his arms to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly, nimble fingers tangling through his windswept blonde locks as he did so.

Tokoyami eyed his classmate from the corner of his eyes, he couldn’t exactly blame her for feeling the way she did after Hawks’ uncouth way of mentioning her upbringing. From what he knew about her, which wasn’t much to begin with, her past was a notoriously taboo subject to speak of and was something that she was working towards overcoming. He knew that their classmates weren’t bothered by her past and who her parents were, not anymore at least, but a good portion of the general public were still sore over the matter if their reaction to her participating in the Sports Festival were any indication. And he knew that the ‘boos’ and angered whispers from the crowds in the stands had affected her, but she still fought on and gave it her all despite the public backlash.

Because of that, Tokoyami was surprised by Hawks’ tactless approach. He was a highly intelligent Hero, wasn’t he? Shouldn’t he have known that it was a sore subject that shouldn’t be encroached upon? The boy found himself frowning to himself.

“Ah, now I really feel bad.” Hawk frowned, averting his gaze briefly before meeting her unwavering glare, “I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and information on a wide variety of subject matters and the fact that Yūei did their best to keep all the details from the attack under wraps had my interest piqued—sorry if my way of trying to seek answers was a little unconventional and rude.”

Natsumi angrily expelled a harsh stream of air from her nostrils before drawing in a deep breath in an attempt to calm her grated nerves. Quit acting like a brat, you should be used to people bringing up your shitty childhood like this. Use this to your advantage. She brought a hand up to her face, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes as she mentally debated with herself.

“Kurosawa, are you okay?” Tokoyami fully turned to face her, his voice soft and tinged with concern as he watched.

Her eyes snapped open, all her previous anger was replaced by heated determination as she met Hawks’ stare, “You only sent us offers because you wanted information. Well, how about we make a trade?”

The Pro Hero perked up at her proposition, an eyebrow rising high into his blonde hairline. He had to admit that he was curious by her sudden change in demeanor and was interested to hear what she had to offer. He lowered himself to the ground, allowing his wings to curl against his back as he leaned forward, eager for her to continue her line of thought, “Oh? What did you have in mind, chickadee?”

Her lips curled into a devious smirk, “We’ll tell you everything we know about the League of Villains and our experiences with them and you will take our training seriously, no more leaving us behind on patrols. We’re giving you the intel you want so all that we ask is that you give us the information we need to take back with us and apply to our own hero training.”

Hawks let out a low whistle, leaning back on his heels and averting his gaze to the ceiling of the office, he tapped his index finger against the stubble on his chin, making an exaggerated gesture of contemplating her offer. He let out a long, drawn out sigh, as if her words spelled some sort of defeat for him, when in truth it was all an act that he put on to give off the impression that he wasn’t easily swayed by such a tempting offer. It was only five days that he’d have to slow himself down enough to give the teens what they wanted from their internship. He could do that. It would be torture not being able to work at his usual fast pace, but the intel he’d be learning from them about the League would be worth it in the end. Knowledge was power, after all.

“You drive a hard bargain, little bird, but you got yourself a deal.” His easy-going grin returned, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he spoke, “Gotta say, I’m impressed by your ability to negotiate.”

Her hands dropped to her side, palms digging into her cocked hip as she fought back her own excitement over Hawks actually agreeing to her proposal. She was able to school her expression into a neutral one, only allowing the corners of her lips to twitch subtly before she answered him coolly, “I know how to get what I want, considering my background, and all.”

The blonde let out a burst of laughter at her response, quickly realizing that she was teasing him by throwing his own words back at him. She’s got spunk. He turned to saunter back towards the plush, crimson couch where he had previously thrown his tabloid, placing his palms against the soft material and hoisting himself over the back of the couch. He let himself drop down on to the cushions, stretching his legs out in front of himself and repositioning his wings to make himself more comfortable.

Natsumi and Tokoyami exchanged glances when the Pro Hero beckoned them to join him. They did so, taking the couch across from him before delving into the story of what happened during their training at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. The two went back and forth, telling Hawks what happened to them individually, who they fought, and what they saw, sparing no detail in their explanation of that fateful day. The Pro Hero listened with rapt attention, his piercing stare never once leaving the two teens that sat on the other couch across from him.

“So, this Nomu creature had a combination of multiple Quirks?” Hawks asked once they finished the retelling of their experiences, his thumb and index finger stroking his chin thoughtfully.

“Indeed.” Tokoyami supplied, “From our understanding, the League of Villains bioengineered the beast with the sole purpose of beating All Might with it.”

Hawks, who had picked himself up into a sitting position at some point during their story, leaned back, draping his arm across the back of the couch, “Hoo boy, that’s one hell of a story. Makes you wonder if they’ve got more of those creatures stashed somewhere, doesn’t it?”

Natsumi rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, the thought had definitely crossed her mind once or twice before but she abruptly squashed it by convincing herself that regardless of numbers, All Might would always be there to thwart the villains’ plans. But she couldn’t deny that growing anxiety that bubbled in the pit of her stomach when Hawks mentioned the possibility of more of those abominations.

“Let’s hope that was the only one.” She let out a breath she hadn’t realized that she had been holding, garnering the attention of both males from the action.

Hawks watched her quietly for a moment before cocking his head to the side and offering a bright smile, “You’re right, there’s no point in dwelling on the ‘what ifs’ at this point in time.” His amber gaze flickered briefly to the clock hanging on the wall behind the two teens, in place of numbers were various colorful birds, while the ticking hands were bright red feathers, “Whew, look at the time. I kept you two up pretty late, you should probably head off to bed if you want to be in tip-top shape for your training tomorrow.”

Natsumi made it back to her room and flopped unceremoniously onto her bed, her lips splitting into a satisfied grin as her mind drifted back to earlier in the evening when Hawks agreed to take their training seriously. She turned off the lamp on her bedside table, enveloping the room in a pleasant darkness that was only interrupted by the glow of the moon hanging high in the sky outside of her bedroom’s tall windows.

Quietly, she shuffled underneath the comforter before reaching over to check her phone. She was exhausted and eager to go to bed so that she could wake up and start her training, but she couldn’t deny her curious mind the knowledge of what her classmates had gotten into. So, she found herself reading through the massive wall of text that was her class’ group chat.

They seem to be having a good time. She smiled softly, I’m so glad.

After reaching the end of the chat thread she realized that there was still an unread notification hovering over her text message icon. Tilting her head, her finger tapped against the icon to open up the new message that was waiting for her.

Shinsou Hitoshi:
[image attached]
Your cat loves me.

Crimson eyes widened as she took in the image that he had attached. It was a selfie of Shinsou holding his phone out in front of himself, his lips curled in a teasing smirk at the camera as Kaguya stood on her hind legs, placing her tiny paws against his chest as she leaned up to nuzzle against the boy’s chin.

She had to admit that it was a cute photo but it begged the question…

Kurosawa Natsumi: WTF? What’re you doing in my apartment?

Being that it was already two in the morning, she didn’t expect to receive a response until much later, so it went without saying that she was surprised when her phone vibrated, alerting her that she had a new message.

Shinsou Hitoshi: Earning your cat’s love and affection, obviously.
Kurosawa Natsumi: Did Aizawa-sensei send you to take care of her?
Shinsou Hitoshi: In a way, yes.
Kurosawa Natsumi: What’s that supposed to mean?
Shinsou Hitoshi: Technically, he’s taking care of her. I just came along for the ride…and I was curious about what your place looked like. Your room is a mess btw, when was the last time you cleaned it?

Warmth blossomed across her cheeks at the implication that Shinsou had snooped through her apartment and taken a peek at her room.

Kurosawa Natsumi: …I didn’t plan on having visitors. And excuse me! You can’t just go rummaging through a girl’s room, you know!
Shinsou Hitoshi: I didn’t ‘rummage’ through anything. I’m not a creep, you know.
Kurosawa Natsumi: Says the boy who went snooping around my room without permission -.-
Shinsou Hitoshi: Yeah, yeah. How’s the No. 3 Hero treating you?
Kurosawa Natsumi: Good, now that he’s finally going to take this internship seriously.
Shinsou Hitoshi: Oh? He wasn’t taking it seriously before?

She filled him in on how the last two days at the Hawks Agency had been and how frustrated she and Tokoyami had both felt which lead up to her and her companion confronting the Pro Hero. Shinsou offered quips here and there, and when she had asked him how he had been and expressed her interest to know what he was doing with Aizawa-sensei in the first place the boy seemed hesitant to give her the answers she sought. He teased her, dancing around the subject with skill, offering vague answers before directing the conversation elsewhere.

By the time the clock struck three in the morning she bid him good night, unable to keep her eyes open any longer.

Chapter Text

“You wanted to see me?” Natsumi stepped out of the elevator and into Hawks’ office, her head tilted in a curious manner as she stared up at the man who sat cross-legged mid-air with another magazine in hand.

He perked up at her entrance, a lopsided grin etched on his face as he tossed the magazine into the air, only to have it be caught by one of his detached feathers. He swooped down to her level, hands on his hips and leaning in closely to examine her, “I was curious about your Quirk.”

Her brows knitted together and she took a tentative step away from him when he invaded her personal space, “My Quirk? I thought it was pretty cut and dry—ice manipulation and invisible intangibility.”

Hawks remained in his position, hovering a foot off the ground, back hunched as he brought his face up to her’s again, a contemplative hum escaping his throat, “You think so? Considering the type of Quirk that Hydra had I’m a little surprised that you’ve only mastered the manipulation of ice and gas—”

“—Gas?” Natsumi interjected, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, “Oh! I mean, yeah I guess that was how that aspect of my Quirk was originally explained to me but I’m not really good with the whole physics of it all. It’s just something that came naturally to me during a time when I needed it the most.”

The blonde Pro Hero tilted his head, raising a curious brow at her choice of words, “When you needed it the most?”

She bit the inside of her cheek, averting her eyes and suddenly feeling embarrassed, “Ah…it, uh, developed one night after I, um, was locked in my room for a few days. After that, when I realized what I could do, I did my best to hide that aspect of my Quirk from my parents so that if I was ever in a situation where I hadn’t been able to eat or was denied medical attention I could literally sneak by them without them ever knowing that I wasn’t still in my room.”

Hawks’ smile faltered at her admission; he knew what it was like to have a harsh, unconventional childhood. He was often denied meals when he didn’t produce the results that the Commission wanted him to, even as a small child, they would urge him to continue for hours upon hours until he had gone well past his physical and mental limits. It certainly wasn’t something he would ever want another child to experience.

“So, it manifested itself when you subconsciously realized that you were in danger, interesting.” His nimble fingers stroked his chin thoughtfully, “Well, that’s two out of three forms of water that you’ve come to be able to manipulate. Have you ever tried working with it in its liquid state?”

Natsumi shrugged, “Honestly? Not really. Ice has always been easiest for me to work with and was what my parents had me focus on, though I assume that’s because they didn’t think I was capable of anything else?” It was her turn to bring her thumb and index finger to her chin, staring ahead at nothing in particular as she mumbled, “Could there be a possibility that there’s a whole other aspect of my Quirk that I never explored?”

“It would make the most sense. Hydra had the ability to manipulate water in all forms as well—though, from what I knew of her exploits, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her being able to turn herself into a gas to escape evasion. You think that part of your Quirk was a mutation of her’s and your father’s?” The blonde allowed his feet to touch the floor, his wings curled against his back as he leaned back on his heels.

The young girl nodded her head slowly, crimson eyes rising to meet his, “I always assumed that it must’ve been. She could control water in all states of matter but she was never able to physically alter her body like I can in that aspect. Father, on the other hand, with his Quirk Phantom was able to turn himself intangible but not invisible. So, I always figured that it was a combination of both of their Quirks that allowed me to become both invisible and intangible.”

He let out a low whistle, a wide grin splitting his lips, “That’s a pretty handy ability to have, think of how efficient it would be on a mission when stealth is your top priority. You’re also able to transfer that ability to other people by way of touch, yeah? So in a hostage situation you could literally slip in unnoticed and get the hostages out of harm’s way without being seen. Do you have a limit to how many people you can use your Quirk on at one time?”

That was such high praise coming from the No. 3 Hero. The fact that he was telling her how useful she would be in stressful situations when the stakes were high made her swell with pride. Just knowing that the Quirks she had inherited from her parents could be used for good was enough to make her dizzy with excitement over the blatant encouragement that Hawks was showing her.

His last question made her falter, pursing her lips together as she considered his words carefully. She didn’t really have an answer to what he had asked because she had never had the opportunity to really test her limits in that respect. Hibiki and Ryou were the only other people she had used it on. For the longest time it had just been the three of them in their own little world, she never would have considered the thought of expanding the walls around her heart to include anyone else.

But time changes everything.

It certainly had changed her perspective on life.

“I’ve never really experimented with it. I mean, I’ve been able to pull two people in with me simultaneously, but I’ve never tried any more than that before so I really don’t know what my limit would be.” She answered honestly after a long silence had passed between the two.

He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans, beaming brightly at her, “Well, I think we should work on expanding your limits as well as exploring the possibility of liquid manipulation.”

Natsumi presently sat in the middle of a kiddy pool filled halfway with water, situated off to the side of the expansive training room that the agency harbored. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to be doing to activate her potential, she had always assumed that she had everything figured out about her Quirk. But Hawks had made her question if perhaps she had been looking at it incorrectly—maybe she didn’t have two Quirks after all. Maybe it had always been just one.

She lowered her gaze, her hands falling to her lap and making a splash as they fell into the cool water. She knew that concentration was the key when training and it had certainly played a major part in harnessing her power when she was a child just learning the ins and outs of her Quirk.

I hope he’s right about this or else I’m going to feel like a major idiot just sitting here in a baby pool.

She felt disappointed in herself for having never actually considered the thought that maybe she could do more with her Quirk than what she had been trained to. Her parents had certainly been distraught over their masterpiece only having the ability to control ice and not the full spectrum of their combined Quirks. She had been purposefully bred to hopefully wield both Quirks, but as luck would have it, she was destined to be a disappointment to her parents.

A scoff passed over her lips at the thought and she rolled her eyes, shoving the thoughts and memories aside so that she could focus on the task at hand. Cupping her hands together, Natsumi collected a small pooling of the liquid in her palms and brought it up so that it was eyelevel.

She narrowed her eyes, focusing all of her energy on the liquid as it rippled from the movement of her hands before stilling as she held it out in front of herself.

Creating ice is like second nature to me, using my already low body temperature to freeze the water molecules around me…so it should, theoretically, be just a matter of not lowering the temperature of the molecules and then working to manipulate it as is. She let out a groan, Ugh, but that means I need to find a way to regulate my own temperature…I’ve never been able to do that before.

Natsumi closed her eyes, focusing all of her energy on the water held in her cupped palms, she imagined little tendrils of sloshing liquid forming from the surface of the fluid, rising up and twirling in her hands. She snapped her eyes open and immediately let out an exasperated sigh. The liquid in her hands, as well as what she had been sitting in, was frozen solid.

“This is harder than I thought it would be.” She quietly groaned to herself, pulling the molecules away from the frozen water in her hands before running her fingers along the smooth surface of the ice that encased her bent legs, watching as the ice thawed around her.

Loud grunts drifted past her ears and she momentarily took a break from heatedly staring at the water rippling around her legs to glance over to the other side of the training room.

Tokoyami and Kestrel had been at it for about as long as she had been trying to work with the water in her kiddy pool. The two were exchanging blows, blocking, and dodging each other’s movements with swift precision.

She was taken aback by how quick and unpredictable Kestrel’s movements were. She had activated her quirk, a pair of transparent, holographic looking wings appeared at her back giving her the extra boost in speed that she’d need to keep her opponent on his toes.

Unfortunately for Tokoyami, this exercise was one that he was strictly prohibited from using Dark Shadow’s abilities in, so he was forced to rely on his own personal strength to match wits with the sidekick.

Natsumi hummed quietly to herself, tearing her eyes away from the sparring duo and returning her attention to her own training task once more.

The two interns had spent the better part of their morning and early afternoon in the agency training facility. Tokoyami was sore from his long-lasting sparring match with Kestrel who, at one point, had tapped out and switched with Origami who showed absolutely no mercy when it came to hand to hand battle.

Natsumi had managed to form a half-frozen whip of slush out of the water in the kiddy pool, it was sloppy and not very easy to control, but she was proud and excited nonetheless. Baby steps, she reminded herself.

It was close to sunset when Hawks appeared in the common room, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his pants, lips pulled back into a lazy grin, “You kids ready to go on patrol?”

Natsumi had been nursing a bowl of soggy cereal for the last fifteen minutes, mulling over the training she had done earlier in the day, the voice of the Pro Hero successfully drawing her out of her thoughts. She jumped up, dumping the remnants of her snack into the trash before placing the bowl in the sink and turning to the blonde with an eager nod of her head

Tokoyami had just finished off an apple, rising to toss the core in the trash before dipping his head as well, “We appreciate you taking the time to take us with you tonight.”

Hawks laughed, bringing one hand out of his pockets to wave emphatically, “Ah~! I’m a man of my word, you know!”

He wouldn’t allow for his mask to break in front of the kids, but he was silently dreading the thought of having to slow himself down enough for them to be able to keep up. That wasn’t his style. He was known as the Hero who was too fast for his own good, for a reason. He got shit done efficiently and quickly, more often than not, he was able to resolve situations before they even had a chance to escalate and become dangerous.

But, he had struck a deal with his young charge and he certainly wasn’t about to go back on his word, especially after the two had supplied him with all the information he had been curious about. Hawks had gotten what he wanted, now it was time for him to give the kids what they wanted, even if the pace he had to keep was torturous to him.

“Patrol hours for me can vary day to day. Yesterday, I set out in the early afternoon, but today I figured we could do an evening patrol so you could see the difference the time of day makes when it comes to the crime rate.” He explained, hovering a foot off the ground as the two teens followed him out of the agency and out into the warm Spring evening.

The sun was just beginning to set behind the cityscape, leaving a trail of orange rays of light to beam across the sky, standing out against the purples and blues of the encroaching night. The city certainly seemed to come alive at this time of day, street lamps flickered on, the streets and sidewalks seemed busier, crowded with people on their evening commute home from work, and the bar and restaurant scene was booming as guests crowded in through the opened doors to grab dinner.

“Hey look, it’s Hawks!” Someone called out from across the street and the Pro Hero in question turned his head, waving jovially at the excited woman.

“Oh man, Hawks! Keep up the good work, the city feels so much safer with you keeping an eye on it!” Another bystander piped up as he walked by with his wife.

“Of course! Just doing my part to keep the bad guys at bay and the lovely people of my hometown safe~!” Hawks grinned so wide that his eyes crinkled at the corners.

Natsumi and Tokoyami exchanged glances as their mentor stopped to sign a couple of autographs for his adoring fans. They both simultaneously wondered if maybe this was another reason why Hawks took to the skies during patrol, so that he wouldn’t have to worry about being stopped every couple of feet by his fans.

“He is quite the people pleaser, isn’t he?” The boy beside her commented, tilting his head as he watched the blonde Pro take a selfie with a group of giggling girls. He grinned brightly, holding up a peace sign as two of the girls placed their lips delicately against his cheeks for the photo.

“No wonder he’s so popular in the polls.” She hummed in response.

“Thanks for the continued love and support, everyone!” He detached himself from the small crowd of fans that had formed around him, waving animatedly to them before strolling towards his two patiently waiting interns, “I hope you were taking notes~!”

Natsumi tilted her head, scrunching her nose at the comment, “Notes on what? How to waste time while allowing strangers to slobber all over you?”

Hawks expression never faltered, not even once, instead he let out a loud burst of laughter at her response, digging his hands into the plush lined pockets of his coat, “On how to keep your fans happy, of course! They’re the ones who’re going to be placing their vote for you in the polls after all. I’d like to think that the popularity polls are the most important judge of a Hero’s true character because it shows that they care enough about the people. It’s the people who’re showing their support and placing their trust in you to get the job done and keep them and the city safe from the bad guys. Going out of your way to snap a few photos, kiss a few babies, and sign a few autographs really shows them that you appreciate their support. Remember that, you two.”

That was probably the most advice The Winged Hero had given either of them since the start of their internship and both students wondered what happened to his whole ‘I-don’t-care-to-guide-the-future-generations’ attitude.

He really is taking this seriously. I can’t believe we got through to him. Natsumi felt her lips twitch at the corners as she followed behind the blonde Pro and her classmate.

Though, his declaration lead to another thought, “That’s easy for you to say, but what about someone like me? Someone stigmatized by the public to be a villain and in no way suited for this line of work? I highly doubt I’ll ever rank in the popularity polls, not that that really matters all that much to me to begin with. I just want to help people.”

His piercing, golden gaze slid to land on her from the corner of his eye, his lips still retaining the pleasant grin that he had adorned previously but his voice held a new, underlying element to it when he spoke, one she was unable to decipher, “No matter how hard you work, all the good you do for the world, you’re always going to have people who doubt your intentions and your abilities. Try not to let their negativity bring you down, use it as a force of motivation. Remember, they don’t know you personally, they don’t know the hurdles you’ve gotten over, the hardships you’ve faced, or how much progress you’ve made. All they’re going to focus on is what they know from the media, which, I’ll be honest, can be pretty brutal sometimes. But you just gotta keep your head held high and stay focused on what really matters—helping as many people as you can.”

Natsumi had stopped walking at some point during Hawks’ speech, her crimson gaze focused on the back of his head as he spoke. The Pro suddenly stopped, turning to meet her stare after he had realized that she had stopped following him and Tokoyami.

He had taken an interest in her originally because of who her parents were, which, admittedly, probably made him just as bad as the rest of the world. Though, while everyone else judged her for what her parents had done, projecting their fears onto this fragile fifteen-year-old, Hawks had been intrigued by other thoughts. He had been curious to see the type of person she had become after growing up in a hostile and unconventional environment and curious to determine for himself whether she was worthy of the title Hero. Maybe it was presumptuous of him to have such thoughts, making him just as guilty as those who believed what the mass media had laid out for them.

But Hawks was an excellent judge of character and from the observations he had made of her since their first meeting a few days ago he knew there was nothing to worry about in terms of where her alliances lied. She was determined to become a Hero despite her shady past…just like he had been.

“You may have those who wish to see you fail, but also keep in mind that you have an even larger group of friends who are rooting for you and are eager to see you succeed.” Tokoyami broke the silence, his back was still to her but he had angled his chin over his shoulder, allowing his dark eyes to land on her quiet form, “I don’t believe you realize just how much you have changed and progressed since the beginning of the school year. You should be proud, Kurosawa.”

Hawks glanced over to Tokoyami briefly before settling his golden gaze back onto the subject of the conversation, interested to see her reaction.

Natsumi bit her lip, eyes widening at the unexpected kind words and praise gifted to her by her classmate. She let out a shaky breath, blinking back the moisture that had gathered at the corners of her eyes. She still wasn’t used to being praised; it sent a fluttering sensation rippling through her chest that blossomed into an indescribable warmth…but it wasn’t unpleasant.

“You’re right, both of you.” She let out a breathy laugh, crimson eyes crinkling at the corners as she brought her gaze up to meet theirs, “Thank you.”

Hawks chuckled, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck as his lips slipped back into an easy-going grin, “Sure thing, little bird!”

Silver eyes narrowed, lips drawn into a displeased frown as the boy peered over the edge of the rooftop he was standing upon to gaze at the Winged Hero and his two interns below. He peeled his eyes away from the trio beneath him as the sound of footsteps crunching against the gravelly rooftop behind him caught his attention.

“What’s wrong, Hibiki?” Ryou sidled up beside his brother, hands crossed over his chest as he, too, glanced down towards the ivory haired girl below, his gaze lingering on her.

Hibiki let out an uneasy sigh, silver eyes gliding to focus on his brother, “I don’t know…should we really do this? What if she gets hurt?”

Ryou scoffed, running a hand through his shaggy, raven locks, “Don’t get yourself all worked up, Shigaraki has these things programmed to follow his orders to a T. They won’t kill her.”

“Argh! I know that, but the thought of her getting roughed up by them at all is enough to send me on edge.” Hibiki let out a frustrated groan, his fingers rising to fidget with the black mask on his face. He stared down at the girl that he and his brother loved so dearly. Suddenly, an image of Natsumi appeared on the rooftop before them, her body still as it lay crumpled against the gravel, a smattering of dark bruises covered her pale skin as sticky crimson pooled around her.

“Control yourself.” Ryou barked, eyes narrowed.

“Sorry, sorry. You know I can’t help it sometimes.” He blinked and the battered and defeated image of the girl disappeared in an instant before he shot his brother an apologetic grin.

“Shigaraki gave them explicit orders not to kill her. We just need to help ease her into the realization that Heroes aren’t almighty beings—they’re not Gods, and they can’t save every life that’s in danger. The sooner she sees that the sooner she’ll come to realize that this silly goal of hers is not realistic.” Ryou let out a chuckle as a swirling portal of purple and black opened up once more behind them, this time three creatures emerged, quiet snarls escaping them as they stomped forward towards the edge of the roof, “Plus, if we can manage to take out that overgrown parrot with the Nomu I think that’d be a plus and the extra push she needs.”

Hibiki glanced over to the Nomu before turning back to his brother, “Right, and then she’ll come back to us. She’ll run right into our arms and be ours again.”

Ryou nodded, She’s always belonged to us, we just need to remind her of that fact. He moved to take a step back from the ledge he was perched upon when, from the corner of his eye, he caught the subtle movement from the Winged Hero below. Silver eyes narrowed, meeting piercing gold briefly before a slew of vermilion feathers detached from the Pro Hero’s back and flew towards the twins.

“Shit. Time to go, Hibiki.” Nimble fingers curled around the collar of his brother’s shirt, yanking him away from the ledge with dire urgency as the feathers flew high into the sky before changing trajectory and diving down towards the two teens.

“Fuck shit up.” Hibiki’s silver gaze drifted over to the three Nomu standing on the edge of the building as they awaited their orders, all at once the creatures jumped into action and took off in different directions.

The two teens dove straight into the swirling mist, narrowly escaping the crimson feathers honing in on them as the gateway closed behind them.

The trio had been trotting along, Hawks’ feet planted firmly on the ground now as he walked in between his two interns. He tilted his head back, laughing, as he recounted a recent villain capture of his to the two teens, “And then he said, ‘I woulda gotten away with it if it weren’t for that meddlin’ chicken!’, I can’t make this shit up, he was a regular ol’ Scooby Doo villain if I’ve ever seen one.”

Suddenly his entire demeanor changed, which didn’t go unnoticed by the two teens on either side of him. His eyes narrowed behind his visor, shooting a hardened stare up towards the skyline as his bright, vermilion wings ruffled behind him. A flurry of feathers shot out from the wide expanse of his plumage, taking to the sky and chasing towards an unseen threat.

“Things are about to get interesting.” The blonde’s voice took on a more serious timbre, “Look sharp, you two.”

Dark Shadow manifested, hovering behind his host protectively while chuckling darkly at the prospect of pounding some bad guys into the ground. Tokoyami shifted into a defensive stance, still unsure of what sort of threat they were facing but he was ready for whatever came their way.

Natsumi narrowed her eyes, her gaze trailing up to where the feathers had disappeared from sight, she caught sight of three large looming figures as they crouched on the ledge of the building above before leaping down and darting in various directions.

Her breath hitched as one of the creatures stomped towards them, it towered over them by several feet, staring down at the trio with beady, glowing red eyes. Its body was a mass of thick, pulsing sinewy muscles that glistened under the light of the street lamps. Its wide mouth opened, strings of saliva keeping its jaws connected.

“Hisame, Tsukuyomi, stay back and assist with the evacuation of the civilians while I handle this.” Hawks ordered, barely sparing them a glance as he took to the air with a powerful flap of his wings, in a flash he was upon the creature, blasting it with a barrage of feathers. The Nomu didn’t so much as flinch, instead, it clapped its palms together and a strong gust of wind formed, taking on the appearance of a small cyclone that disrupted the air flow around Hawks’ wings, sending him tumbling backwards in the air before he was able to correct his flight path.

Crowds of panicked bystanders gathered on the sidewalks, cars stopped in the middle of the street while the passengers leaned to peer out of the window to catch sight of the No. 3 Hero in action. Some of the smarter civilians began to run, putting distance between them and the fight at hand, however, there were still a good majority of people who stood around gawking and cheering on their favorite Winged Hero.

Multitudes of feathers detached from Hawks’ back and flew back towards the crowd, plucking as many civilians up as possible and flying them to a safer distance away. Tokoyami turned on his heel and ran towards the crowd, Dark Shadow expanded, his arms shot out to guide a large group of bystanders away from the fray.

“Everyone, listen up! Tsukuyomi and I are here to help get you all to safety!” Natsumi projected her voice as loud as she could above the panicked cries of the people and the sounds of the fight behind her. Many of the civilians turned to her as if just noticing her for the first time, “Follow me! We will guide you to a safer location to keep you out of harm’s way!”

She waved her hand, urging the people to follow after her as she ran down the sidewalk with Tokoyami and Dark Shadow deciding to bring up the rear in order to keep the people safe from any attacks. They came upon a hospital several blocks away from the main battle and ushered the people inside.

“Please remain calm and stay within the confines of the hospital until the danger has subsided. We will alert the proper authorities and will return to you once it is safe for you to leave.” Tokoyami spoke calmly, evenly, his dark eyes dancing across the faces crowded together in the lobby of the hospital.

“We’re going to round up as many more people as we can and bring them back here, please stay where you are, thank you for your cooperation!” Natsumi shot a grin over her shoulder in hopes of reassuring the people that they could put their trust in her and Tokoyami.

The two teens exited the sliding doors of the building, even being blocks away from Hawks and the Nomu he was fighting they could still hear the guttural cries of the creature. The terrifying sound sent chills up their spines.

“Oi, oi! Watch out!” Dark Shadow growled, shoving the ivory haired teen to the side as a creature detached itself from the building it had been climbing up the walls of and fell towards them. Natsumi corrected her balance at the last minute, keeping herself from falling to the ground from the force of Dark Shadow’s push. She shot him a thankful nod for pulling her out of harms way, the creature had landed precisely in the same spot she had previously occupied.

It stood on all fours, taking on the vague appearance of some sort of canine with an elongated maw, rows upon rows of sharpened fangs and narrowed, red eyes that focused on the two teens hungrily. Its skin stretched taut over rippling muscle, it opened its jowls wide to allow a thick, purple tongue to poke out and lick its chops as it stalked forward predatorily. The creature let out a piercing growl so shrill it shattered the glass of every building within the vicinity and had Natsumi and Tokoyami covering their ears tightly.

“I’m going to lead it away before it gets too close to the hospital!” She winced through gritted teeth, her head throbbing in pain from the sharp, piercing sound the Nomu emitted. Finally, the creature’s battle cry ended and the two teens were able to catch their bearings just in time for the beast to leap forward with incredible speed, its large heavy paws thundering against the pavement.

Tokoyami’s eyes widened, his back straightened before he dodged out of the way of the oncoming beast. Dark Shadow flared up angrily around his host before shooting forward, matching the speed of the beast as he closed in on his target, shadowy claws stretched out. Dark Shadow let out a growl, sinking his claws into the back of the Nomu.

The Nomu let out a feral cry, bucking its back and swinging its head back and forth, snapping its jaws in an attempt to get ahold of the shadowed entity clinging to its back. In one swift movement, it jutted out its back legs and kicked Dark Shadow off of it. It whirled around, lowering its head threateningly.

“Hey! Over here! You hungry? I’ve got a snack for you~!” Natsumi called out, having already put several yards between herself and the creature. She held her palms out in front of herself, shooting icy projectiles at the Nomu and watching in satisfaction as her frozen weapons made contact with the beast, leaving small wounds in the side of its body. The pained growl it let out had her running farther down the street now that she had its attention, the sound of its thunderous feet against the pavement had her chancing a glance over her shoulder. She let out a string of curses as it gained momentum, getting closer and closer to her with every stride.

Shit. SHIT. SHIT! She swore with each footfall, she was fast but not fast enough. The Nomu let out a triumphant growl as it leapt forward, it’s massive body colliding with hers and sending her tumbling to the pavement. Its massive paws were on either side of her head, trapping her beneath its body as it brought it’s head down, lips curled back to show yellowed fangs. Strings of drool slipped out from its jowls; a rope of saliva splashed against her face but she was too stunned to turn away.

“Heads up, ugly!” Dark Shadow screeched as he flew forward at top speed, body slamming into the Nomu and successfully knocking it off of Natsumi.

Tokoyami skidded to a halt at her side, his eyes briefly rising to catch a glimpse of Dark Shadow as he swiped at the creature with his claws again, dodging out of the way of the Nomu’s powerful jaws. He tore his gaze away from his familiar, holding a hand out to the teen who accepted it without hesitation, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

“Are you alright?” He frowned, noticing that the sleeves of her costume had been hiked up from skidding against the pavement and there were various scrapes and bruises already forming against her pale skin.

She waved off his concern, “Yeah, I’ll live. Thanks for coming to my aid.”

He nodded his head, “We should lead it closer to where Hawks is, we’re still too close to the Hospital for my liking.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to use my ice to travel, it’ll make me faster and I should be able to out-maneuver the Nomu this time. Is it okay if I hold onto you so that we can go together? I don’t like the thought of leaving you behind.” Crimson eyes searched his own for permission, she didn’t want to do anything that would make her classmate feel uncomfortable but they needed to move fast and get away from this part of the city.

Tokoyami pursed his lips together, staring between her and where Dark Shadow and the Nomu were viciously attacking each other, before turning back to her and nodding, “It makes the most sense in this situation.” Her turned to Dark Shadow and called out, “We are going to lead it away, Dark Shadow let’s go!” The familiar perked up at the sound of his Host calling out to him, getting one last swipe in before returning to Tokoyami and Natsumi, waving his arms around in a taunting manner to keep the beast’s attention on him.

Natsumi nodded, reaching forward and allowing her fingers to curl around his wrist to tug him closer to herself. The temperature around them dropped drastically in a matter of seconds as a thick sheet of ice formed beneath her feet and she used it to propel them forward down the sidewalk, “Is it following?”

Tokoyami’s breath had caught in his throat the moment they began to move, almost surprised by the velocity at which she was able to move them. He blinked against the wind stinging his eyes and glanced back, Dark Shadow was clinging to his back and blowing raspberries at the Nomu that was hot on their tail, “He has taken the bait and is following closely behind us.”

Her lips pulled back into a pleased smirk, “Perfect.”

They were so close. The sounds of Hawks fighting against his own enemy had become much louder the closer they got to the city center. Several lesser known Pro Heroes were now on the scene and fighting against a third Nomu, this one had the appearance of some mutated, overgrown lizard.

Natsumi breathed a sigh of relief when she caught sight of familiar crimson plumage hovering over the street, his fingers curled tightly around two extra-long primary feathers that he was currently using to slash relentlessly at the Nomu with.

“Kurosawa, it’s gaining on us!” Tokoyami hissed in her ear, his eyes widening as the beast burst forward with incredibly speed, its jaws opened wide in anticipation of making an easy meal of the two Hero Course students.

Dark Shadow growled menacingly bursting forward and shove the creature away when it came too close for comfort.

Natsumi slowed to a stop and both teens whirled around to face their opponent properly, realizing that that needed to take it down before it got bored of their cat and mouse game and ventured off to cause damage elsewhere.

Hawks was still preoccupied with his own Nomu, but knowing that he was in the same plaza and could aide them should the need arise gave them an extra boost of confidence.

“I think we’re far enough away from the hospital now.” Natsumi huffed as she worked on catching her breath.

Tokoyami nodded in agreement, narrowing his eyes at the creature as it shook off Dark Shadow’s attack and turned to face the two teens with renewed vigor, “Let’s end this as quickly as possible.”

Her lips split into a wide grin, “I like the way you think.”

She placed herself in a defensive stance, sliding her left leg forward while bringing both of her hands forward, palms outstretched towards the creature as he barreled towards them. A flurry of sharp, frozen shards materialized before her and shot towards the Nomu at breakneck speed. It was able to dodge quite a few of her icy weapons but, ultimately, was struck down by the remaining multitudes of ice.

The Nomu was down for only a few seconds before it shot back to its feet with an irritated growl, lunging towards the teens once more. Tokoyami growled out commands to Dark Shadow who eagerly obeyed, shooting forward with shadowed claws outstretched.

Natsumi ground her foot against the pavement, watching as a sheet of ice raced alongside Dark Shadow towards the intended target. The beast lowered its head as the ice and shadowy opponent neared it, the teens watched in startled horror as the Nomu opened its jowls wide, an amber spark lighting the back of its throat before a sudden burst of flames shot out, melting the incoming ice instantaneously. Dark Shadow awkwardly maneuvered his body out of the way to avoid taking a direct hit.

“Well, that’s new.” Natsumi’s eyes narrowed in concern as she watched the flames dance across her line of vision, turning her ice into puddles that then evaporated into the air. Her ice was at a huge disadvantage.

Dark Shadow was back by his host’s side hovering protectively around the boy while glaring at the beast as it spewed flames from its gaping mouth. Tokoyami bit the inside of his cheek, “The situation has escalated far beyond what we are capable of containing. We should fall back and alert Hawks and the other Pro Heroes of our plight.”

Crimson eyes darted to meet the dark gaze of Tokoyami as she considered his suggestion. She knew he was right, but the feeling of utter and absolute defeat clung to her at the mere thought of giving up and seeking help from someone else. But…they were outmatched in that aspect, they couldn’t beat a damn fire Quirk. It wasn’t as if they were even supposed to be engaging the Nomu in the first place, Hawks had instructed them to help with the evacuation of the civilians.

“I know I—move!” Her eyes widened and she rushed forward as the Nomu sprung towards her companion, catching the boy off guard as its jaws tightly wrapped around his right arm.

The beast chomped down harder, fangs piercing through soft flesh, angry streams of crimson oozed from between the Nomu’s teeth, droplets splattering against the pavement below as Tokoyami grit his teeth, determined not to cry out despite the agonizing pain he was experiencing. He swung his free arm around, fingers digging into one of the Nomu’s eyes as Dark Shadow let out an ear piercing screech, using his large shadowy appendages to attempt to pry the jaws off of his host’s arm.

Natsumi was upon them in seconds, teeth gnashing together in white-hot rage as she sent a wave of ice barreling into the side of the creature. It let out a pained yelp, but held its ground, teeth tightening around Tokoyami’s arm with a sickening crunch.

The boy hissed in pain, fingers digging further into the eye socket of the Nomu.

“I’LL fUcKinG KiLL yOu!” Dark Shadow growled out menacingly, clamping his beak around the muzzle of the creature.

Natsumi cried out in frustration, simultaneously sending a large ice spike as well as her trademark frozen daggers shooting towards the Nomu. The spike lodged itself in the side of the creature, catching it by surprise long enough for it to let out a cry of pain and releasing Tokoyami’s arm in the same breath before shaking its head to rid itself of Dark Shadow’s presence.

“Tsukuyomi, get back!” She commanded, her eyes never once leaving the Nomu’s form as she constructed a wall of ice between her teammate and the angry beast.

The Nomu faltered, stumbling sideways as it contorted its body so that it could get a better view of the thick ice spear protruding from its abdomen. It opened its jaws wide enough to spew flames from within, melting the ice instantly and leaving a gaping hole in its side.

“Dark Shadow, if possible can you put pressure on his arm to help stop the bleeding? Tokoyami, it’s going to hurt like a bitch but it’ll help keep you from bleeding out.” She called out to the two hidden behind her wall of ice.

“Aye, aye!” Dark Shadow gave her a mock salute, though she was unable to see him do it, before wrapping his hands around the bleeding wound on his host’s broken arm. Tokoyami let out a hiss of pain, eyes stinging with his attempt to focus on keeping a lookout to ensure the beast didn’t come back for them.

“Kurosawa! Go get help, you can’t take it on yourself!” He shouted to her through gritted teeth.

“I also can’t just leave you here by yourself.” She shot back, “I’ll keep going as long as I can, until one of the Pros are able to come take over.”

The Nomu let out a loud screech, stumbling over its own feet as a trail of crimson leaked from the wound in its side, but the beast was determined to continue fighting. It dragged its claws against the concrete, lowering its head in a sweeping motion while letting loose a flurry of dancing flames.

The fire burned brilliantly, catching on anything that it could cling to, ravaging store fronts and eating up outdoor plants, climbing the walls of the buildings around them.

Fuck, fuck, Fuck!

Natsumi shifted her weight from one foot to the other, biting her lip anxiously as the flames grew, she could see from the corner of her eye the wall of ice she had created as a protective barrier had begun to melt. Thankfully, it was only the two buildings closest to the monster that he caught fire, but she knew that if something wasn’t done quickly that the entire row of buildings would go up in flames.

Palms outstretched towards the beast, she knew it was a long shot and likely wouldn’t make much of a difference, but she was desperate. Ice shot forward towards the flames, her hope was that the ice would melt upon contact and that moisture would help put out the fire—unfortunately, that’s not what happened. As the ice met with the extreme heat, it melted, sizzling steam rose forward but it did nothing to quell the angry flames.

The creature snorted, bursting through its own wall of flames and lunging straight for the ivory haired teen, jaws snatching her arm tightly before shaking her body as if he was attempting to rip it off. He let go of her and her body was flung through the air until her body collided with the brick wall of one of the store fronts. Her head crashed against the stone with a sickening crack, there was a high-pitched ringing in her ears and the feeling of warmth trailing down her face from the impact.

Tentatively, Natsumi reached up to brush her fingers against her throbbing skull, when she pulled her hand away she wasn’t surprised to see the sticky crimson clinging to her finger tips. A pained groan escaped her as she worked on pulling herself back to her feet, albeit, much slower than she would have liked to.

She stood on shaky legs, the stinging pain in her skull almost too much for her to handle, but she needed to keep Tokoyami safe and couldn’t afford to fail.

The Nomu let out a low growl, running at her again, she was able to hastily dodge out of the way and scramble to her feet just in time to somersault out of the way of yet another attack. Natsumi was beginning to feel dizzy from a combination of the blood loss as well as the throbbing in her head.

I need…I need to figure out a way to put out that fire. Her breathing was shaky, warm thoughts, Natsu, there’s gotta be a way to activate the other part of your Quirk.

She erected a large wall of ice, deciding that she would start with that as the base of her attack. Her hands rose up slowly from her sides, fingers twitching as she concentrated solely on the frozen molecules of water, tugging and pulling at them, willing them to vibrate quickly within their frozen state. Slowly, her wall of ice began to sweat, beads of water dripped down the block of ice as it melted. It wasn’t until the ice had become more of a slush that she thrust her palm forward, willing the sloppy wave of slushy liquid to surge forward towards the crackling flames slowly engulfing the storefronts. It shifted forward in a disorderly fashion as she struggled to maintain control over the half-liquid form, her natural instinct was to re-freeze it but she knew that ice wouldn’t help much, she needed it to be as melted as possible in order to do any real damage to the burning embers.

With a final push, the half-frozen wave sloshed forward, dousing the flames with a sizzling hiss, splashing against concrete and brick.

Natsumi’s lips curled into a small, satisfied grin at the sight, “Ha! Not pretty, but it work—oof!”

The wind was knocked out of her as the Nomu tackled her from the side, taking advantage of her momentary lapse in judgement and distraction over her brief victory. She skidded against the pavement for a moment before creating an icy slope behind her to prevent her body from continuing with its trajectory.

“Kurosawa!” Tokoyami’s voice called out in concern, he was unable to see her past his protective barrier of ice, but had heard what he could only assume was her body colliding with concrete once more.

“’m fine.” She groaned out, tasting a familiar tangy, metallic taste on her tongue. Her eyes widened as the beast reared back, ready to fire off its flame attack point blank…when suddenly a barrage of vermilion feathers barreled into its side, sending it flying into a nearby brick wall with a horrifying thud.

“Need a hand, little bird?” Hawks swooped down from the sky, hovering with his back to her as he twirled the two extra-long primary feathers between his fingers, preparing to finish off the Nomu that had plagued his interns.

The blonde was a little beat up from his own fight, his hair was messier than usual, feathers were ruffled and looking a little sparse, and a thin crack spread across the right side of his visor from a hit he had sustained. But he had successfully defeated his own monster and then helped the other Pros take out the other one, now he was here to finish off the final beast.

“Good work putting out those flames, chickadee.” He grinned over his shoulder at her when he noticed the blackened scorch marks that licked up the side of several buildings, a sheen of condensation clinging to the bricks and dripping to the pavement where puddles had already formed, “I caught the tail end of that attack, you’ve improved a lot and it’s only been a day! Gotta say, super impressed~!”

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, wrapping an arm around herself in an attempt to dull the blossoming pain in her chest. Natsumi let out a low groan, I got more fucked up than I anticipated.

Hawks shot forward with his feather swords and sliced through the Nomu, though it was already on death’s doorstep from its previous injuries and therefore didn’t put up much of a fight at all. The Winged-Hero fluttered back over to his interns after ensuring the danger was over, “Ah, shit. You two don’t look so hot.” His trademark grin faltered, slipping into a frown, “Paramedics are on their way, you should both get looked at.”

Natsumi nodded mutely, halfheartedly raising her free hand to recall the frozen molecules of water that had formed the protective barrier around Tokoyami until it no longer existed. The boy was breathing raggedly, teeth clenched uncomfortably as the pain in his arm took over all other senses now that there was no longer an imminent danger for him to concern himself over.

She cradled her pounding head with her free hand while keeping her other hand tightly wrapped around her abdomen as nausea washed over her. The adrenaline had worn off completely and now she was beginning to feel the pain induced by the fight.

The paramedics arrived shortly after, fussing over the two teenagers before gently placing them on stretchers, sliding them into the back of the waiting ambulance to cart them off to the hospital a few blocks away.

Natsumi thought that the extra attention being paid to her was unneeded, she was exhausted, her eyes grew heavy with the promise of sleep on the horizon but every time her eyelids dipped closed one of the paramedics would abruptly wake her.

“I apologize, but we suspect that you may have sustained a concussion. Until it has been confirmed or denied I am unable to allow you to fall asleep.” His voice was gentle, but firm, in his resolve to keep a watchful eye over her and prevent her from drifting off.

The next couple of hours were spent at the hospital getting checked over by the doctors on staff, it was determined that she had a mild concussion, three broken ribs and a plethora of bruises and scrapes scattered across her body. She hadn’t seen Tokoyami since they had first arrived at the hospital, his injuries had been more severe than hers and he had been immediately rushed off to the emergency room to stop the bleeding and determine just how damaged his arm had gotten.

It was close to two in the morning when she and Tokoyami were finally discharged from the hospital, the boy was sporting a sling for his broken arm while she had bandages wrapped tightly around the top of her head.

“Well aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes.” Hawks chuckled, arms crossed over his chest as he pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning against while waiting for the two teens.

Natsumi rolled her eyes and shrugged, “It could’ve been worse.”

The Winged-Hero blinked, his lips upturning at the corners, “You’re right, it definitely could have been. You two were able to get as many civilians to safety as you could and then fought bravely to protect them. You were even able to put out the fire before it caused too much destruction.” His fierce amber gaze bounced between the two, “So, good job, kids~!”

Tokoyami bit the inside of his cheek, dark eyes rising to meet his mentor’s stare, “So we are not going to be punished?”

Hawks carefully observed the two teens for a moment, his piercing golden stare raking over their forms, before letting out a laugh, “Nah, I think your injuries were punishment enough. Plus, I technically never told you that you couldn’t fight, I emphasized that you needed to evacuate the bystanders and that’s exactly what you did. You prioritized their safety first before jumping in to defend the hospital against the Nomu.”

The three had left the hospital together, slowly making their way down the street and towards Hawks’ Agency while they talked. The streets were eerily quiet, much calmer than they had been hours before, but it was a welcomed silence that bordered peacefulness.

“Though,” Hawks scratched at his chin thoughtfully, “with those injuries I guess we’ll have to end your internship early.”

Both teens abruptly turned their attention to the Pro Hero, startled by the words that had tumbled past his lips. Natsumi let out an indignant squeak, while Tokoyami choked on his own saliva at the revelation.

“You can’t do that!” The ivory haired teen argued.

“Face it, you two aren’t exactly in any shape to be going on any more patrols with those broken bones of yours and the hospital here doesn’t have anyone with a healing Quirk sufficient enough to fix the injuries you sustained.” The blonde shrugged his shoulder lazily, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his plush-lined jacket.

“He’s right, Kurosawa.” Tokoyami frowned, hanging his head dejectedly.

She narrowed her eyes at her classmate before turning her heated glare to the Winged Hero, “No.”

Hawks tilted his head, raising one eyebrow precariously above the other and donning an amused smirk at her stubborn attitude, “Oh?”

“We can take the train back home to visit Recovery Girl for a day and get our injuries healed enough for us to be cleared to go back to work. There’s absolutely no way I’m willing to give up the chance to learn more from this experience now that you’re taking things seriously.” She crossed her arms over her chest, wincing as a sharp pain pulsed through her from her arms brushing against the bruised flesh beneath her costume.

The blonde hummed lowly at her offer, tipping his chin back in thought before sliding his amber stare over to her from the corner of his eye, “You drive a hard bargain, little dove.”

“So, we have a deal, then?” Her lips curled into a hopeful grin.

“Oh, I suppose~!” He sing-songed with a laugh, “We’ll get everything squared away in the morning. You two had a rough night and probably should get some rest before being stuck on a train for another six hours.”

Her grin slipped. Fuck, I forgot how long the ride was…

Despite the promise of a good night’s rest lingering in the air from the night before, neither Tokoyami nor Natsumi had the chance to rest much between the time they arrived back at the Agency to when they had to be up to catch their train the next morning.

“Oi, oi, we’re here, wake up, rise an’ shine!” Dark Shadow rose up from within Tokoyami, hovering over the sleeping girl in the seat across from the bird-boy. He nudged her with a shadowy appendage, grinning when she began to stir from his prodding.

“I am so tired. Why did I suggest this?” Natsumi let out an irritated groan, sitting up in her seat and stretching her arms high above her head until she heard a satisfying pop of her joints. She settled back into her seat, resisting the urge to scratch at the itchy bandages still wrapped around her forehead.

“Because you were just as eager to continue our internship as I was and the prospect of having to cut our time with Hawks short due to our injuries didn’t bode well with either of us.” Tokoyami answered her rhetorical question for her as they both stood from their seats as the train came to a stuttering halt.

Dark Shadow retreated to his resting place once more, unwilling to stay out in the open now that they would be venturing out into the brightness of the early morning.

The two teens shuffled off of the train car, sidling up next to each other as they stepped onto the platform. They were mildly surprised to not only find Aizawa leaning against a concrete pillar, but Shinsou was next to him staring blankly at his phone. Upon seeing the two students, Aizawa pushed himself away from the pillar and strode towards the them, his face half hidden by the capture weapon wound loosely around his neck.

“Why am I not surprised that you have, once again, found yourself in the middle of trouble, Kurosawa?” He drawled, dark eyes boring into her before his gaze shifted over to the boy fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater beside her, “I am surprised that you allowed her to drag you into a fight you couldn’t possibly win. You both still have much to learn.”

The two teens dropped their heads in shame, finding themselves unable to meet the stern and disappointed stare of their teacher.

“I don’t regret it.”

Aizawa’s brow lifted, eyes narrowing at the ivory haired teen as she mumbled under her breath, “Care to repeat that?”

She lifted her head, meeting his gaze, “Tokoyami-kun and I were able to get the civilians to safety and keep the Nomu from attacking the Hospital by leading it away. Yeah, we sustained injuries from the fight but it was worth it knowing that there were no casualties last night because the Nomu was focused on fighting us. So, I don’t regret it.”

Tokoyami nodded his head, finding his own confidence to meet their teacher’s stare head on, “Neither do I. We kept the beast at bay and wore it down until Hawks was able to finish it off and end the fight.”

Aizawa observed the two teens for a moment, he wasn’t surprised by Natsumi’s bold way of speaking to him but he was caught off guard by the ordinarily calm and polite Tokoyami speaking up for their actions. He closed his eyes briefly, expelling a stream of air from his nostrils before dipping his chin further into his capture weapon to hide the smirk pulling at his lips.

“We’re wasting valuable time by idling around the station.” He gave the two a pointed stare before turning on his heels, knowing that they’d follow after him.

Tokoyami and Natsumi exchanged a brief look before moving to catch up to their teacher, trailing behind him a few paces. Shinsou had taken the time to stride towards the ivory haired girl, falling into step beside her with his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his trousers.

“Should I be concerned by your propensity for getting yourself into messy situations?” His lips twitched into a small, amused smile. The lilac haired boy wouldn’t admit it, but when Aizawa had mentioned that they were taking time away from their training that morning to pick up the two teens from the train station to guide them to the hospital Shinsou had felt mildly panicked. Not so much for the bird-boy, but because the thought of Natsumi being severely injured, again, literally a week after having been impaled at the Sports Festival just didn’t sit well with him.

He had sent her several text messages the previous day, none of which had been responded to, and now he knew why. Because she had somehow gotten herself mixed up in a fight with one of those Nomu creatures. The news stations had glossed over the fight in Fukuoka in favor of covering the one in Hosu due to the Hero Killer’s involvement, so Shinsou wasn’t privy on the nitty gritty details of what had happened but he was keen on getting the full story from her later in the day.

His indigo stare lingered on the bandages wrapped firmly around her head, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Trouble just seems to follow me wherever I go.” Natsumi glanced up at him, a breathy laugh escaping her.

He pulled his lips into a tight line as he considered her answer, doing his best to ignore the sudden pounding of his heart against his ribcage as she gently bumped her shoulder against his arm. Shinsou furrowed his brows, shaking his head to clear away those intrusive thoughts before turning to her and rolling his eyes, “So it would seem.”

The walk to Hosu General Hospital wasn’t a very long one, thankfully, as both Tokoyami and Natsumi were still very sore from the night before and wouldn’t have been able to handle extended bouts of exercise at this point.

Once checked in, Aizawa guided them to the third floor, stopping outside of one of the rooms and turning to the students trailing behind him, “Join the other three problem children, I’ll go let Recovery Girl know that you’re here.”

Tokoyami nodded his head and obediently pushed through the door with his good hand, greeting the three boys on the other side with a solemn smile. Natsumi picked up her pace and was about to join her classmates when she felt a gentle tug on the sleeve of her sweater, stopping her just as she crossed the threshold of the room, the four boys inside staring at her expectantly.

She tilted her head to the side, curious crimson meeting imploring indigo, the two teens stared at each other for a brief moment, having their own silent conversation that was lost on the four boys already inside the room. Natsumi turned to face her classmates with a soft smile, “I’ll be in in a few minutes!” The subtle change in the expressions of her classmates waiting inside for her went unnoticed by Natsumi—Midoriya’s encouraging smile, Iida’s curious but tight-lipped stare, Tokoyami’s soft hum and nonchalant shrug, and Todoroki’s narrowed eyes, lips pulling into a frown at her disappearance. She turned on her heel, feeling Shinsou’s grip on her sleeve loosen before his hand fell back to his side once he was sure that she was following him out into the corridor of the hospital.

They ventured further down the hallway until they came to a small sitting area tucked away from the rest of the ward, it was just the two of them in the quiet corridor. Once satisfied that they were far enough away from prying eyes, Shinsou turned to face her.

They stared at each other for a couple of moments, silently urging the other to break the quietude that had settled over them.

“What exactly happened?”

“So, Aizawa-sensei, huh?”

Words tumbled out simultaneously, melting into a confusing, jumbled mess that hung awkwardly in the air around them. They blinked, slowly an amused smirk curled its way onto his pale lips while Natsumi laughed quietly at the exchange.

Shinsou brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck, averting his indigo gaze from her while he contemplated his next words. He had been perplexed by Aizawa’s proposal to train him to begin with considering he wasn’t in the Hero Course and no one had ever heard of someone in General Studies interning with a Pro Hero.

“That day you, oh so gracefully, ran into me as I was leaving the teacher’s lounge was the day he had asked me to meet him there to discuss the terms of the internship.”

She furrowed her brows in thought, I didn’t even need to say anything, did I? He had already asked Shinsou to intern under him.

His eyes were back on her, watching the subtle changes in her expression—the scrunch of her nose, the dip of her brows, and the soft smile playing on her lips that signified she was lost in her own thoughts. Cute.

Natsumi pulled herself out of her thoughts, beaming brightly at the boy, “That’s great, Shinsou. I knew it was just a matter of time before you were noticed, especially after how great you were in the Sports Festival.”

Shinsou bit the inside of his cheek, a light pink dusting over his cheeks at her compliment. He wasn’t used to receiving praise, especially when it came to his Quirk and the utilization of it and therefore wasn’t sure how to react to such sugary words.

“I didn’t get that far in the Sports Festival.” He mumbled awkwardly after a beat of silence.

She narrowed her eyes, leaning closer to him so that she was in his line of sight, “Are you kidding me? You were one of only two people not from the Hero Course to make it into the third event. Not to mention the fact that your Quirk is solely mental based and you were up against kids who not only had physical quirks but also weeks of training under their belt—your performance was seriously impressive; you should be proud.”

Shinsou angled his chin to the side to hide his embarrassment from her, when she slid over to his side, getting closer to him than he was currently comfortable with he let out a quiet grunt. Natsumi raised a curious brow at his response, letting out an amused laugh.

“Oh? What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” Her lips pulled back into a cheeky grin.

He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, “As if. I was trying to remember if you’ve always been this obnoxious.”

She leaned back on her heels, bottom lip jutting out in an indignant pout at his reply, “So fucking rude.”

Shinsou smirked, “Alright, you’re turn. I answered your initial question, now answer mine.”

Natsumi let out a hum, clasping her hands behind her back, “Oh, nothing really to say other than we were on patrol with Hawks and three Nomu just…appeared out of nowhere. Tokoyami-kun and I ended up evacuating the people in the plaza before taking on one of the Nomu. It was a pretty intense fight, we almost died a few times, we saved each other a couple times, you know, hero stuff.” She ended with a mischievous grin.

He let out an annoyed snort at her lack of a detailed explanation, “Hero stuff, huh?” He leaned forward a little with a cocked brow, “Sounds like you hit your head pretty hard there, Kurosawa.”

“Oh, I did.”

The lilac haired boy frowned at her unexpected response, he had just been teasing, “Right. I guess I should get back to Aizawa-sensei before he comes looking for me and you should probably get your injuries tended to.”

She nodded her head, bringing up a finger to sheepishly scratch at her cheek, “You’re right, the pain killers I’m on right now are amazing but I’ll feel so much better once my ribs are healed and my head stops feeling like its in a vice.”

He felt his chest clench at her admission as he turned to walk her back to the room where her classmates were waiting. She really does have a penchant for getting injured, he mused darkly.

When they made it back to the room she pushed the door open and then paused, smirking over her shoulder at the wild haired boy, “Don’t let Aizawa-sensei rough you up too bad.”

He snorted, turning on his heel and lazily lifting his right hand to motion ‘goodbye’ to her as he stalked off down the hallway, presumably to go find his mentor to get back to their training.

Natsumi fully entered the room and offered the four boys inside a bright smile, “Sorry I was late to the first meeting of the Aizawa’s Problematic Children Club, or the APCC for short, I’ll be sure to show up in a timely manner for our next meeting.”

Midoriya chuckled, offering her a teasing smile, “So, he gave you the same speech as us then, I’m assuming?”

She cleared the distance between them, taking a seat on the edge of Midoriya’s bed, “Oh I have no doubt about that—said that he wasn’t surprised to see that I had gotten caught up in some serious shit.” Her laugh echoed through the quiet of the room, easing the tension that had built up during her absence.

“In all seriousness though,” She started, her lips tipping into a soft smile as she gave the boys each a once over, “I’m really glad that you’re all okay.”

Iida spoke from his bed across the room, “I will strive to regain the trust of you and the rest of our classmates, I apologize for letting my thoughts of vengeance get the better of me.” He hung his head in shame, still feeling guilty over the whole ordeal and that he had pulled Midoriya and Todoroki into his personal vendetta against the Hero Killer.

Todoroki frowned, he was sitting up in his own hospital bed next to the mossy haired boy, his heterochromatic gaze lingering on her thoughtfully, “I’m happy that you and Tokoyami made it out of your ordeal alive and well too.”

Natsumi turned to give the dual-color haired boy her attention, offering him a teasing grin, “Oh, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. It’ll take way more than some bioengineered freak of nature to take me out.”

“There were some close calls though!” Dark Shadow appeared, peeking over Tokoyami’s shoulder, “If it weren’t for me you wouldn’t be here~!”

Tokoyami grimaced, turning his head to glare at Dark Shadow, lifting his good arm and swatting at the creature, “Be more considerate of the situation.”

Natsumi laughed, splaying her palms against the itchy sheets of the bed and leaning back on them, “No, no, he’s right—thank you Dark Shadow and Tokoyami for keeping me alive last night. There were definitely a few moments where I probably wouldn’t have made it to see today if you hadn’t jumped in to save me.”

The other three boys all stared at the two with varying degrees of horrorstruck expressions over the words being exchanged between Hawks’ two interns. The story that Tokoyami had told them about the night before hadn’t been incredibly detailed and had certainly left out the parts that the two were referring to.

Tokoyami turned away from the pest clinging to his shoulders and settled his stare on the ivory haired teen staring over her shoulder at him, “You also kept me alive with your actions. Thank you for protecting me against that heinous beast, especially after it broke my arm.”

She brought up a hand to wave dismissively, “Don’t mention, we’re even now.”

Todoroki furrowed his brows, “It seems as if the situation last night was much more dire than we were originally lead to believe.” He shot a pointed stare in Tokoyami’s direction, silently questioning the boy why he would have left out the details of their near death experiences.

“A-ah, well I-I’m happy that your injuries weren’t more severe and that you were both there to have each other’s backs!” Midoriya interjected, his eyes glinting with appreciation, “And I heard you both saved a lot of people by evacuating them before things got too intense. You’re real Heroes!”

Natsumi laughed awkwardly, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of her neck while trying to fight back the blush that threatened to spill across her cheeks at his praise, “Ah, I don’t know about that….”

Midoriya shook his head, “No, you really are. You both jumped in without hesitation to not only get the civilians to safety but to protect them from the Nomu that threatened the hospital they were staying in. You risked your lives for those people, those were acts of true heroism.”

“What about you guys? You went head to head with the Hero Killer despite the fact that he was out of your league in terms of strength and strategy—he was an S Rank villain—that’s so brave I can’t even wrap my head around it.” She brought up in an attempt to deflect the conversation away from her and Tokoyami, feeling too uncomfortable by the praise she had been receiving.

The three boys all shared a look that didn’t go unnoticed by the two not involved in the attack. Iida frowned shamefully, “That entire situation was my fault and I take full responsibility for seeking out Stain to enact my revenge. There is nothing heroic about my actions, I am truly grateful for Midoriya-san and Todoroki-san for risking their lives to protect mine.”

“I don’t regret my actions, they kept Iida-kun alive and lead to the capture of the Hero Killer, but…I won’t lie, I am disappointed that as a result of my injuries I will not be able to continue my internship.” Midoriya’s lips tilted into a disappointed frown.

Natsumi hummed sadly, she could relate to the feeling of failure and disappointment that the boy felt at having to end his training and internship early. Luckily, she had been able to convince Hawks to allow them to seek treatment from Recovery Girl and keep them on for the remainder of the week, but they had been so close be being sent home.

Moments later Recovery Girl strolled into the room, smiling pleasantly at the students inside before her eyes landed on Tokoyami, “Come with me, I will work on you first as it seems that your injuries are greater than Kurosawa’s were. Let me see what I can do for you.”

The boy nodded absently, pushing himself out of his seat, allowing Dark Shadow to retreat back to his hiding space, before following the healing Pro out of the door and into a more private room so she could assess the extent of the damage.

“You know,” Midoriya began, index finger and thumb resting against his chin in contemplation, “it’s a strange coincidence that the Nomu appeared in two cities on the complete opposite ends of the country on the same night. At first, I thought that maybe the attack was staged by the League of Villains to detract from the attention that the Hero Killer was gaining but…if that was the case then why also attack Fukuoka?”

Natsumi had been wondering the exact same thing to be completely honest, it didn’t make sense to her for the League of Villains to attack Fukuoka—it seemed so completely random. Maybe it was just a random attack meant to keep the Heroes on their toes. But, something in her told her that the League was more thoughtful and strategic than that, there had to be some sort of reasoning behind the assault.

“Do you think…” Todoroki started, his voice quiet as he contemplated the next words that would come out of his mouth. His eyes snapped up, meeting Natsumi’s curious crimson gaze,”…maybe it had something to do with your ties to the League, Kurosawa?”

Her brows furrowed and her jaw dropped open at the insinuation. The thought had crossed her mind very briefly after she had left the hospital the night before but she wasn’t that conceited and self-centered to think that the League would stage an attack just to get her attention. In the grand scheme of things, she was nobody worth such an effort.

“I don’t think that’s the case, Todoroki.” Her lips pulled back into a frown, “I could’ve died last night. I know that Hibi-chan and Ryou-nii haven’t been in my life the past couple of years but I can’t imagine that they’d willingly put me in harms way just to get my attention.”

The dual color haired boy narrowed his eyes just a fraction, his chest clenching at the familiarity with which she had addressed the twin villains with. Even after all this time it was evident in her tone and the subtle facial expressions that she adorned when speaking about them that she still cared about the two villains.

“I’m just offering it as a possibility.” He responded, meeting her level gaze with a raised eyebrow.

“I appreciate your input, it’s just unlikely.” She retorted quickly, never once tearing her eyes away from his own to emphasize her own resolve.

Midoriya awkwardly coughed, effectively pulling his two friends out of their silent staring match and bringing their attention to him. He fidgeted a little under Natsumi’s curious gaze, playing with the edge of the bedsheets draped around his lower body before giving her an eager, hopeful look, “C-could you maybe tell me a little bit about Hawks?”

Natsumi blinked, letting out a laugh at the innocent question posed by the boy, “You’re such a Hero Otaku.” But, nonetheless, she delved into a detailed conversation with the wild mossy haired boy, telling him about her and Tokoyami’s experiences with the Winged Hero as well as letting him know about the man’s easy-going goofy personality and his love for chicken and bird jokes.

After another twenty minutes of easy conversation between her and the three boys, Tokoyami returned looking much more refreshed than he had before he had left. His arm was still in a sling but when she questioned him on it he mentioned that he was to keep it restrained until the next morning, by then his body should have healed the injury completely.

“Kurosawa, dear, you’re up.” Recovery Girl smiled warmly, beckoning the girl to follow her for her treatment.

“That’s my cue, I’ll see you boys in a bit.” She eased herself off of the edge of Midoriya’s bed and padded softly towards the older woman who was waiting patiently in the doorway for her.

Natsumi followed close behind the Pro Healer, it didn’t take them long to reach their destination; a small examination room at the end of the hallway. Recovery Girl motioned for the teen to take a seat in a green cushioned chair with wide arm rests, Natsumi did as she was told while watching the older woman flit about to gather the proper instruments she’d need to conduct her examination.

“I have read over the medical history report sent over by the emergency clinic you visited last night so I am familiar with your injuries. I’m going to start with a basic exam before starting the healing process, okay, dear?” Recovery Girl smiled kindly at her, pulling up a chair next to the teen before setting to work checking Natsumi’s vitals.

It was a basic exam, she listened to Natsumi’s heart and lungs, assessed her reflexes, took a temperature, and checked her blood pressure. The results were pretty unextraordinary, all coming back completely normal with the exception of her body temperature being in the low 40s but even that was normal to Natsumi’s personal biology.

“It is my understanding that you sustained a concussion as well as several broken ribs that are preventing you from continuing with your internship. The treatment I give you today may take up to twenty-four hours to reach its maximum effect so I strongly advise that you take it easy the rest of today, understood?” The older woman locked eyes with the crimson eyed teen, once she received a quick nod in response, the healer puckered her lips and gave the girl a few kisses.

The pain in her head and chest subsided instantly and Natsumi found herself letting out a satisfied breath as relief flooded her.

“Thank you! I’ll be sure to take it easy the rest of today, I promise.” The ivory haired teen grinned, pushing herself out of her seat and starting for the door.

“You better!” Recovery Girl teased, eyes softening, “I must warn you that my Quirk will very likely make you feel exhausted beyond belief as it begins to work on your internal injuries, which is why I stress strict bed rest for the rest of the day.”

Glancing back over her shoulder, Natsumi nodded in understanding, “Got it, thanks again!”

She made her way back to the room where her friends were currently holed up inside, already feeling much better physically then she had been. There was an extra bounce in her step as she practically skipped through the doorway, “You ready to go, Tokoyami-kun?”

Midoriya tilted his head, “Are you feeling better?”

She nodded, “I’m as good as new! Now its time to get back and finish the rest of our week with Hawks.”

Tokoyami nodded reverently as he pulled himself to his feet and bid the other boys farewell on his way out of the door, “Good luck to you all, I look forward to exchanging more stories with you once we return to class.”

The other boys nodded their heads, each muttering their own forms of ‘goodbye’ to the two teens as they ambled out into the hallway, ready to head back to the train station and finish out the rest of their week with Hawks.

“You looking forward to the six hour train ride back?” Tokoyami smirked over his shoulder, knowing that the answer to his question was a big fat no.

Natsumi let out a loud whine, her shoulders drooping, “Abso-fucking-lutely not.”

Suddenly, she felt warm fingers wrap around her wrist, despite the gentle grasp the shock of the contact had her stumbling backwards. She tilted her head back against the broad chest pressed against her back, her startled crimson stare meeting with amused stormy grey and turquoise.

“Todoroki.” She pulled herself away from him quickly, turning to stare up at him quizzically.

Tokoyami stared between the two before quirking an eyebrow and announcing that he would wait for her outside.

“Sorry, if what I said back there made you uncomfortable or upset you in any way. That wasn’t my intention.” He realized he was still holding her wrist and immediately let it go, his lips tugging into an apologetic frown.

For a moment she was unsure as to what he was referring to but then the conversation from earlier fell back to the forefront of her mind and she quickly shook her head, offering him a reassuring smile, “No, it wasn’t anything like that, I’m sorry if I made you think that.”

He let out a quiet breath, relieved by her words of reassurance. He still kept his belief that the reason the Nomu had attacked Fukuoka had more to do with her presence there, but he decided that he’d keep his theories regarding her and the League to himself from now on, just to prevent upsetting her in the future.

“You heading back to Endeavor’s Agency soon?” Natsumi tilted her head curiously.

Todoroki nodded, “I’ve been cleared for discharge already, my injuries weren’t as severe as Midoriya’s or Iida’s. Just have to wait for my old man to get his ass over here to get me.”

She let out a quiet hum at his response, “I don’t know how you’ve been able to put up with him for this long, I’m so impressed, it’s definitely not something I’d ever be able to tolerate that’s for sure.”

He cracked a small smile, “Years of practice. Trust me, I get absolutely no joy out of being stuck with him for any period of time but the knowledge I’m taking back with me is worth it.”

“Well, at least something good is coming from you teaming up with dear ol’ dad.” Her lips pulled back into a teasing grin, she leaned back on the heels of her feet, “I should probably get going, don’t want to keep Tokoyami-kun waiting.”

His smile faltered. Shouto knew that she needed to go, she had a long train ride ahead of her, but he couldn’t help but to feel disappointed at the thought of them not getting enough time together. He didn’t think it would be so hard being away from his friend for an entire week, but he had found his thoughts wandering throughout the days during training—wondering what she was currently up to. Sure, they texted late at night once they were both back from their patrols, but it was never enough, not for him at least.

“Be safe.” His voice was quiet at first, but then he quirked a brow and offered her a teasing smile, “Try not to get into any more trouble.”

Natsumi let out an indignant huff, crossing her arms over her chest, “How dare you insinuate that I can’t go the next three days without getting caught up in some shit.”

Todoroki chuckled and retorted back challengingly, “Prove me wrong then.”

She rocked back and forth on her heels, glancing up at him with her own teasing grin, “Aw, sounds like someone cares about lil’ ol’ me.”

He rolled his eyes, holding her gaze, “Of course I care about you. That’s why I need you to take care of yourself.”

Natsumi’s breath hitched in her throat. She supposed it shouldn’t really have come as a shock to her, she cared about him too, but hearing it verbalized had her heart stutter in her chest.

She brought a hand up, tucking a stray strand of ivory hair behind her ear almost shyly before regaining her confidence, “Well, since you asked so nicely.”

Todoroki let out a quiet snort at her sassy reply, “I expect you to come home in one piece.”

A laugh drifted past her parted lips, “Yeah, yeah. Same goes for you. Don’t take any shit from that asshole, you hear?”

“You have my word, Kurosawa.” He smirked down at her.

She found herself lost on what to say next to him, finding that his confidence and teasing words were enough to fluster her to the point that her mind couldn’t formulate proper sentences. Letting out a quiet, shaky breath, Natsumi tore her eyes away from him, biting her lip, “I’ll text you later, have a good day Todoroki.”

His remained rooted to that spot in the hallway, watching her retreating form until it disappeared down another corridor where he knew the elevators were located. All Todoroki could think in that moment was, it’s only for three more days…

Chapter Text

The walk to school the following week was a pleasant one as Natsumi thought back on the events of the week prior. Her internship with Hawks had started out pretty shaky and disappointing, the Number Three Hero having blatantly expressed that he had no interest in taking part molding the younger generations of Heroes. He had admitted that he basically sent in his request for her and Tokoyami so he could satiate his own curious mind and learn more about the League of Villains.

Her lips pulled back into a frown at the thought, she had felt so humiliated and angry over the admission made by the flighty blonde. Thankfully, I am a master negotiator, her lips twitched into a small smirk.

After the night of the Nomu attack, the rest of the internship had passed without much incident. She and Tokoyami would train from morning to late afternoon, then in the evening Hawks would come and collect the two for a patrol around the city.

Her control over water had gotten a little better with all the practice she was getting, it still was absolutely nowhere near the level of control she had over her ice, but she was getting there and she was proud of herself nonetheless.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she quickly dug it out, her lips tugged into a grin as she stared down at her lockscreen. On the last day of the internship she had asked Hawks if she could take a picture of him for her obsessed friend, instead of allowing her to take a quick snap of him he had quickly pulled her and Tokoyami to him, using one of his arms to snap a selfie of all three.

The picture depicted a mildly surprised Tokoyami who’s eyes were a little wide, Hawks in the middle with a big cheesy grin and his arms slung around the shoulders of his interns to keep them in place and pressed up against him. Natsumi was on the right side, her cheek smushed up against the Winged Hero’s with a bright grin of her own.

It was probably her favorite photo that she had even been in and had immediately become the lock screen on her phone.

Natsumi tapped her phone’s password in to unlock it and read the text message she had just received, rolling her eyes.

Mina: Hey girl~! Can’t wait to hear allllll about your time with Hawks! You better spill all those juicy little details girl, I’m serious! You owe me since you never sent me that pic I asked for D:&lt;

The ivory haired teen let out a quiet laugh, she had decided she’d show her friend the photo in person so she could see her expression. Natsumi enjoyed keeping Mina waiting in suspense, barely giving her any details about what was happening while she was away on her internship other than what she divulged in the group chat—which wasn’t much to begin with.

She made it to Yūei shortly after, exchanging her boots for her school shoes at her locker before making her way up to her classroom. Natsumi was eager to see her classmates again, it had been a long week away and, while she didn’t want to admit it out loud, she had dearly missed each and every one of them. Even Mineta, though admittedly not as much as the rest of the class.

Once making it to class, Natsumi slid into her seat and turned towards the aisle to face her seat mate, a pleasant smile pulling at her lips, “I see you made it back in one piece.”

He quirked a brow, tilting his head towards her with a slight upturn of his lips, “I could say the same about you.”

She let out a quiet huff, rolling her eyes, “You act as if all I do is get into trouble.”

Todoroki scoffed in a teasing manner, “Don’t you, though?”

“Todoroki Shouto, you wound me with your hurtful words.” Natsumi let out a gasp, placing her hand over her heart.

“Should’ve thought about that before you became the resident troublemaker.”

“Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute here. Have you forgotten about Midoriya-kun, because he tends to get himself involved with way more shit than I do.” At the mention of his name, the mossy haired freckled boy glanced up from his conversation with Ochako and Iida and offered the ivory haired girl a smile before turning back to his friends.

“That’s debatable.” Todoroki smirked.

She narrowed her eyes, “Why you little—”

The sound of Ashido squealing excitedly caused Natsumi to pause and glance over to the pink haired girl who was fawning over the rest of the girls in their class. A bright grin split Ashido’s lips a part, “What~?! You got to fight villains? I’m so jealous!”

Jirou frowned, absently twirling one of her ear-jacks around her index finger, “I just helped people evacuate and did logistical support, so I didn’t do any actual fighting.”

Ashido laid her palms flat against Tsu’s desk and leaned forward, “It’s still really cool, though!”

Tsu tapped her index finger against her lips as she thought back on her own internship, “All I did was train and go on patrols, too. Though, there was that one time when we caught smugglers from a neighboring country.”

Ashido and Jirou’s eyes simultaneously widened at the implication of their sweet friend going up against real life bad guys out on the open sea.

“That’s crazy!” Jirou stared at her frog-like friend incredulously.

Tsu turned in her seat, a curious smile playing on her lips, “What about you, Ochako-chan? How was your week?”

The brunette stared off into the distance, as if she were in a trance, while slowly punching the air, “It was very informative.”

“Ochako-chan has awakened, huh?” Tsu tilted her head.

“She went to that battle hero’s agency, didn’t she?” Jirou wondered out loud.

Natsumi perked up, deciding to interject right then and there, her lips pulled back into a competitive grin, “We should spar sometime, I’d love to see all the fun new tricks you learned under Gunhead!”

“Think you can handle these guns?” Ochako giggled, flexing her arms to show off her newly forming arm muscles.

Kaminari quirked a brow, his bottom seated against his desk top while his legs hung over the sides, despite Iida’s scolding against such behavior, “That’s a pretty big change for just one week…”

Mineta sat atop the desk in front of the blonde, his body turned sideways to make conversing easier on the two, “Change? That’s not it, Kaminari.” Suddenly the boy’s demeanor did a complete 180 from the jovial, teasing expression he had previously donned to one of abject horror as he anxiously chewed on the skin around his finger nails all the while mumbling, “Women are all demons. They’re just hiding their true personalities.”

“What the hell did you see at Mt. Lady’s?!” Kaminari’s eyes widened as he took in the change in his friend’s countenance. In an effort to lighten the mood, he reached forward and pulled Mineta’s hand away from his mouth to keep him from biting his nails, “I was kinda fawned over and had a really good time to be honest with you. But, the ones that changed the most, or at least went through the most were you guys, right?” He glanced over right as Midoriya and Iida crowded around Todoroki’s desk to talk to him. The three boys in question peered up at him with varying expressions of unease.

“That’s right!” Sero chimed in, “You guys went against the Hero Killer!”

“I’m glad you guys made it out alive, seriously.” Kirishima smiled softly.

Suddenly, nearly everyone in the class began to crowd around the three boys, all sharing curious looks. It was Satou who spoke next, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned forward, “I heard it was Endeavor who came to your rescue, right?”

“That’s amazing! As expected of the Number Two hero!” Hagakure gushed appreciatively.

Todoroki bit the inside of his cheek, silently fighting back the urge to correct his classmates and reveal the truth of that fateful encounter to them. But the memory of their conversation with the Chief of Police replayed in his mind. His gaze fell to his desk top in quiet resignation before he brought his stare back up to peer at his curious classmates, “Yeah. He saved us.”

Kaminari then tilted his head towards the girl sitting beside Todoroki, “I also heard that Natsu-chan and Tokoyami fought some pretty tough foes too, almost identical to that one from USJ! Man, I’m definitely not jealous of you guys, I’m glad my internship was relatively easy-going.”

Natsumi exchanged a glance with Tokoyami from across the room, before turning back to the expectant stares of her classmates, automatically feeling uneasy as their attention now turned to her thanks to Kaminari.

“Yeah, those Nomu were no joke.” She laughed quietly, doing her best to hide her discomfort, “We’re just lucky that Hawks and the other Pros were there.”

“What?! Don’t downplay our part in the fight! We totally kicked ass.” Dark Shadow peered out of his hiding spot, placing his shadowed hands upon his hips as he called her out.

Tokoyami massaged his temples with his fingers, letting out an exasperated sigh as he quietly fought with Dark Shadow over the matter. The two bickered back and forth for a couple of minutes before the creature let out an overdramatic huff and disappeared once more.

“I saw on the new that the Hero Killer Stain was connected with the League of Villains, which means that both attacks weren’t a mere coincidence.” Ojiro brought up, he tapped his index finger against his chin as he began to speak his thoughts, “Though, I just can’t seem to figure out the connection between Hosu and Fukuoka. I get why they choice Hosu, that was because of Stain and his pattern of attack, but what was the significance in choosing to attack Fukuoka, a city on the opposite end of the country?”

“I know, right? I’ll never understand the reasoning behind villain attacks.” Hagakure sighed, “Though, the thought of Stain working with the League of Villains has my mind jumping back to the USJ attack. I just keep imagining how much scarier it would’ve been if he had been there.” She shuddered at the thought, her voice wavering.

Kaminari stepped forward, one hand shoved deep into his pants pocket while he waved the other around for emphasis, “He is scary, but did you guys see the video?”

Ojiro tilted his head, “Video? You mean the one of the hero killer?”

“Yeah! Seeing that, you can really see how he’s single-minded and pretty tenacious when it comes to defending his own ideals. Doesn’t it almost make you think he’s cool?” The electrifying blonde cocked his head, raising a curious brow at his classmates.

“Kaminari-kun!” Midoriya whispered harshly, worrying his lip while sliding his gaze, not so subtly, over to Iida who was standing beside him.

Catching on to the warning, Kaminari faltered, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth as if to prevent anymore unintentionally offensive words from spilling out, “Oh, Iida—sorry!”

Iida shook his head, quietly tearing his eyes away from the frantic and apologetic stare of Kaminari. Slowly, he brought his left arm out in front of his chest, eyes locked on his clenched fist, “No, it’s fine. It’s true that he was tenacious and it’s easy to see how people could find him to be cool. But he chose to purge the world of Heroes as a result of his beliefs. No matter what he thinks, that part is definitely wrong. In order to keep anyone else from turning out like me, I will once again walk the path to becoming a Hero!” He ended his speech with a flourish, a determined fire burning passionately behind his dark eyes.

Those closest to him began to cheer and offer praise, moved by his powerful speech. Iida waved away their apologies for momentarily finding the hero killer to be cool, the bespectacled boy then strongly urged his classmates to return to their previous conversations and prepare for class to commence soon.

Kirishima and Sero suddenly pushed themselves away from their seats with a burst of energy that should have been illegal at such an early hour of the day. They crowded around the doorframe, laughing hysterically at the figure who had yet to make it fully into the room for the rest of the class to see what was causing the two boys to lose their minds.

“S-seriously, Bakugou!?” Sero was in tears, unable to keep his voice steady as the words tumbled out in a hysterical stutter.

“W-what h-happened, bro?” Kirishima was also having a hard time keeping it together, his lips spread apart in a wide, toothy grin as tears freely fell from the corners of his eyes.

An irritated snarl rumbled from deep within the chest of the blonde pushing his way through the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, carmine eyes narrowed in a glare, “Stop laughing! My hair’s gotten used to being styled this way, I can’t get it to go back even after washing it.”

As Bakugou stomped farther inside, the rest of the class got a good look at his new hair style, many of them doing their best to contain their amused giggles while some could not contain themselves. Bakugou’s normally wild and unkempt head of ash blonde spikes had been tamed, brushed and slicked down with gel and hair product.

“Oh my god. Happy birthday to me!” Natsumi choked on her own laughter, quickly digging through her bag to pull out her phone, holding it up and snapping several photos of Bakugou in rapid succession.

Todoroki tore his eyes away from the scene at the front of the room, glancing over at his seat mate, “It’s your birthday?”

She grinned, tilting her head over her shoulder at him, “Close enough.”

Carmine eyes snapped up, meeting amused ruby red. A growl ripped through his throat as he stalked forward, “You got a death wish, princess? You better delete those.”

A loud bark of laughter escaped her, nimble fingers typed quickly against her digital keyboard for a moment before she looked up at the fuming blonde, a taunting smirk pulling at her lips. Moments later several ‘dings’ and loud vibrations were heard around the classroom, half of the class reached for their phones out of curiosity while the rest of the students kept their eyes trained on the two hotheads.

Kaminari was the first to check his phone, immediately falling out of his seat in a fit of giggles, “Thanks Natsu-chan! This is going to be my new wallpaper!” He flashed the photo of Bakugou to those who were sitting closest to him, his lips pulled back into a wide grin.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” He growled, launching himself forward.

Natsumi couldn’t control her own bouts of laughter as she leapt up from her seat, her feet planted firmly against her chair as she leaned back as far as she could without completely toppling over herself. Bakugou leaned forward across her desk, his fingers stretching to snatch her phone from her, intent on smashing it despite the fact that the damage was already done and the entire class already had a copy of his embarrassing photo. But, he was angry and petty and would stop at nothing to get her back.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out for too long, being that his body was much longer than her’s was and all he had to do was just lean a little more towards her and he’d have her right where he needed her to be. Natsumi couldn’t pull back any farther without falling completely out of her seat, her back was already bent at an uncomfortable angle over the back of her chair and hovering in the air.

His lips twisted into a feral smirk as his fingers curled around her wrist, the one that held the cell phone just out of his reach, “You lose, snowflake.”

The smaller teen let out a surprised yelp from the contact, she unintentionally scooted backwards to attempt to put some distance between the two of them, only to realize that there was nothing behind her to hold her body up. A loud screech tumbled past her parted lips as she fell backwards, Bakugou still clutching tightly to her wrist was pulled along for the ride.

Time seemed to stop altogether as the two fell unceremoniously to the floor behind her desk, all chatter and noise around them abruptly ended, all eyes were now focused on the two teens.

Natsumi grunted from the impact of her back hitting the tiled floor, her eyes wide as she stared up at the explosive blonde straddling her, his hand still firmly wrapped around her wrist and holding it above her head, restraining her. Bakugou also donned a surprised look in place of his usual angry scowl, the gears in his head slowly turning, coming back to life after a few quiet, tense moments of silence where the two teens just stared up at each other in shocked horror.

It was the click of photo being taken that finally snapped the two out of their horrified trance.

“Oi, Dunce-Face, I’ll fucking kill you.” Bakugou growled, shooting the electrifying blonde a seething glare.

Kaminari’s lips pulled back into a cheeky grin, “Sorry, dude. But I needed to commemorate the moment.”

Bakugou was back to his feet in a flash, his previous goal of smashing Natsumi’s phone pushed to the far side of his mind, “Commemorate what, volts for brains?”

Ashido giggled and sing-songed, “The day you fell in love with Natsu-chan~!”

Natsumi pulled herself to her feet and blanched at the thought, making an exaggerated gagging noise, before turning her gaze towards her pink friend. A disappointed pout tugged her bottom lip forward, “Mina-chan I thought we were friends, why have you betrayed me?”

The pink haired teen frowned, “Oh, don’t be like that Natsu-chan, you know I love you! Consider this payback for not getting me a cute pic of Hawks!”

The ivory haired teen groaned, begrudgingly holding out her phone and showing the other girl her lock screen.

Ashido’s eyes widened and she emitted a high-pitched squeal, fingers darted out to grasp the phone and pull it towards herself so she could examine every detail of the photo of Hawks, Natsumi, and Tokoyami.

“Girl this is so damn cute, I can’t handle it!”

Natsumi rolled her eyes, “Glad you think so.” Though she was still sore about the fact that Mina had plotted against her to goad Kaminari into taking that embarrassing photo of her and Bakugou.

Kaminari let out a nervous chuckle, golden eyes focused on the angry blonde quietly seething on the other side of the room. The two boys stared at each other, as if daring the other to make a move first. Kaminari’s fingers slowly rose from his side, intent on doing exactly what Natsumi had done earlier and send the incriminating photo to the group chat to immortalize it. However, as soon as Bakugou saw the movement he was leaping into action, sliding across desk tops while Kaminari let out a horrified screech and took off to keep his distance.

In that moment of seething anger, Bakugou’s ash blonde hair popped back up into place, though he took no noticed to it as his fingertips crackled with angry sparks. He was in no mood to take shit from anyone today, not that he ever was, but his temper was already shortened over the past week from his joke of an internship.

“Oh shit! His hair responded to his explosive anger!” Sero brought a palm up to his face to attempt to stifle his laughter, tears freely rolling down his cheeks.

Kaminari snorted, dancing out of the angry blonde’s grasp once more before dashing farther away, remaining just out of reach.

“Everyone please get back to your seats, class will be starting momentarily!” Iida reprimanded firmly, karate chopping the air like he typically did when he was trying to emphasize his words and get the point across.

“Shut it, four eyes.” Bakugou growled, tiny explosions popping off against his outstretched fingertips, one of the sparks jumped a foot from his hand and landed on Kaminari’s blazer, sizzling upon contact. The electrifying blonde let out a small shriek, quickly turning his attention away from the ash blonde to pat down his uniform to prevent it from getting ruined. It was during that moment of distraction that Bakugou was able to make his move, his hands lashed out, fingers curling around the collar of Kaminari’s blazer, roughly yanking the boy towards him so they were face to face.

“H-hey, Bakubro, it was j-just a j-joke.” Kaminari stuttered through his fear, eyes warily darting down to Bakugou’s hands, noting the sweat glistening along his fingers. Kaminari hoped that the other boy had enough restraint not to use his quirk at such close range, but then again, this is Bakugou we’re talking about…fuck, I’m going to need a new uniform after this, aren’t I?

“You kids are too rambunctious this early in the morning.” Aizawa drawled as he shuffled into the classroom, his back hunched over slightly as a clear sign of his own exhaustion, “Bakugou, put Kaminari down and both of you return to your seats, if I catch either of you fighting again in my classroom I will not hesitate to suspend you both.”

Bakugou clicked his tongue in annoyance, glancing over his shoulder at their homeroom teacher before slowly lowering the blonde in his grasp back to his feet but not before giving the boy one final shove for good measure. Kaminari ducked his head and scrambled back to his desk, plopping down with a quiet thud while Bakugou stalked back over to his own seat with a scowl.

Class resumed as normal from that moment forward, Aizawa commanded their attention from the moment he entered the room and no one was brave enough to step one toe out of line now that he was there. All chatter ceased for the time being, picking back up again between class changes and during lunch time.

It wasn’t until the very end of the day when the hype over being back at Yūei after a week away really began to build up once more. After being told to change into their Hero costumes and meet up at Ground Gamma for Basic Hero Training, the excitement was barely contained, even Natsumi was eager to show everyone what she had learned while away.

All Might stood before the group of Heroes in Training, his hands resting against his hips as he flashed them his trademark grin, “Alright, I am here! Long time no see, boys and girls! For Hero Basic Training today we’ll be doing a rescue training race! I’m sure all of you are eager and raring to go after being away from each other for a whole week, so put all of your newly acquired skills to the test and show us what you’ve learned during your internships!”

Iida’s hand was immediately in the air, straight and unwavering, he spoke before All Might had the chance to call upon him, “If we’re doing rescue training then shouldn’t we be doing it at USJ?”

The Symbol of Peace was ready for this question, leaning forward with a wide grin, “That place is for training for disasters. Do you remember what I said earlier?” Without giving the kids time to react or answer, he chuckled, “The keyword was ‘race’, which is why we are here at Ground Gamma; a dense area filled with factories laid out in an intricate labyrinth. You’ll break up into three groups of five and one group of six and go through the training one group at a time. When I send out a distress signal from somewhere inside, you’ll all start at once from the outskirts of the city! This is a race to see who will rescue me first!”

He drew in a breath, allowing his words to settle in over the students before he continued, his eyes immediately finding the narrowed carmine gaze of Bakugou in the crowd, “Of course, you’ll have to keep damage to the buildings to an absolute minimum.”

Bakugou scowled, turning his head away with an annoyed click of his tongue, muttering, “Don’t point at me!”

Lots were chosen once again to decide who would be on what team to make things fair to all participants. The first team consisted of Midoriya, Iida, Ojiro, Natsumi, Ashido, and Sero who all took their respective places around the outer edges of the map, far enough away from each other so that they couldn’t sabotage the start of the race for anyone.

Natsumi found herself positioned atop a steel platform overlooking the industrial jungle stretched out before her. It was the perfect vantage point and she knew it would be easy to maneuver across the metal piping with her ice, the victory was practically her’s already.

She crouched down, fingers curling and uncurling at her sides impatiently as All Might counted down from ten. Once he finished his count down, he cried out ‘Start!’ and suddenly Natsumi was off, tearing across the rooftops of metal factories, using her ice to speed across steel pipes towards the center of the cityscape.

From where she was, she could see the tell-tale signs of some of her other classmates also taking to the rooftops, no doubt realizing that that was the quickest and most efficient way to rush through the metal maze.

Ahead of her on her left Sero was swinging through the air like Spider-Man, using his tape to latch onto pipes and building outcrops to propel himself forward. Her lips downturned into a frown, this was a race after all and if she planned on winning then she’d need to get herself ahead of him.

Natsumi found a particularly long and slanted metal pipe that seemed to span across the industrial wasteland from one end to the other. That’ll work. It was angled downward with twists and turns in various directions, ice burst from the bottoms of her feet, catapulting her several feet in the air to align herself better with the pipe. As she came back down, she used the frozen particles to propel her forward, her feet sliding against the metal tubing. With the pipe having a downward slant, the momentum was far greater than if she had continued sliding along the rooftops and she found herself catching up to and passing Sero quickly.

“Huh? Argh, Natsu-chan get back here!” Sero called out, gritting his teeth in frustration as she passed him.

Natsumi grinned, glancing back over her shoulder briefly to stick her tongue out tauntingly at the boy, which only further riled him up. Sero let out an annoyed huff within his mask, he was already going as fast as he physically could.

Out of nowhere a blur of green electricity fizzled into existence on the rooftop beside her and she momentarily had to squint her eyes against the brightness of the sparks. When her vision cleared she stared slack jawed at Midoriya’s form leaping and bounding across the rooftops at such an incredible speed that she had to pinch herself to make sure she was really seeing what she was seeing.

When did he get so fast? His bones aren’t breaking! He’s moving just like Bakugou, oh man I bet he’s absolutely fuming right now! She found herself distracted by her thoughts and during the brief moment of her mind’s preoccupation Midoriya was able to push himself ahead of her and Sero.

The distance that the boy had put between them in just a few short seconds was astounding and left Natsumi openly gaping at his retreating form. A low growl tore through her throat at the thought of not reaching All Might first. Her victory was slowly slipping further and further away from her when just moments ago it had been right in her grasp.

The ivory haired teen channeled her inner strength into her feet, feeling the buildup of rime coat the spiked bottoms of her boots before using the slick ice to propel her forward. She leapt from the pipe that she had been gliding on, free falling several feet before maneuvering herself closer to the wall of the factory to her left. She stretched her legs out, feeling the iron wall beneath her feet, she was able to stabilize her descent quickly by creating more ice beneath her boots, using that as an anchor to keep her body attached to the side of the building. Once her grip on the smooth building’s wall was established, Natsumi began running at full force with the help of her ice to give her an extra boost.

“She’s running sideways along the wall! Has…has she always been able to do that?” Ochako tilted her head curiously as she watched her classmates on the television screen chase after their victory.

It was a trick that she had been working on the last couple of days of her internship with Hawks, when she realized that she needed a better way of keeping up with him when he took to the skies.

Midoriya glanced back over his shoulder the moment he felt the temperature around him drop and he knew that that could only mean one thing….”N-Natsu-chan!”

She was closing in on him, a competitive grin stretching her lips back, “Surprise!”

“New move?” Midoriya’s eyes widened, watching as she sped up alongside him as he bounded across a metal pipe. In the moment that it took for him to glance over to observe her movements, his foot slipped as it made contact with the pipe beneath him and he let out a startled yelp as he tumbled over the side and fell towards the ground below.

Natsumi fought over whether she should be concerned for her friend or if she should continue towards the objective. In the end, she decided that she should continue onward and claim her victory now that the leading contender was out of the race.

At the center of the arena stood All Might in all his glory, beaming brightly, hands placed upon his hips in his signature stance that exuded confidence. She grinned, he was so close, just a few yards away now. She outstretched her hand towards him in an attempt to bring herself just that much closer to the Hero, his booming laughter ringing across the field.

“Not so fast, Natsu-chan!” Sero chuckled, his tape shooting out towards All Might, as he sidled up beside her, his feet pounding against the pavement. Suddenly it was an all out race between the two, their brows creased in determination, jaws clenched.

“Oh no you don’t, sticky boy.” She called out, pulling more water molecules from the surrounding air to use as ammunition against her opponent. She shot one hand out towards Sero, tiny balls of ice shot out towards him, pelting against his helmet and making him wince.

“Hey! Not fair!” Taking a page out of her book, he shot a sticky line of tape out towards her, it wrapped around her arms, pinning them against her torso.

Natsumi let out a startled shriek and began to lose balance from not being able to use her arms as a counterweight. She was able to quickly right herself, though, and continued forward despite how awkward it was to run without the use of her arms.

The two cleared the distance between themselves and All Might in a matter of seconds, both leaping towards the towering Hero and colliding against his chest simultaneously. The combined weight of the two students wasn’t even enough to knock the man off kilter, he simply wrapped one imposing arm around each student to keep them steady, while letting out a loud, amused chuckle.

“Well done, you two! I’d say it was a photo finish ending in a tie!” All Might declared, “Though Young Kurosawa and Young Sero finished with a tie, I’d say that you all have gotten a lot better at using your Quirks since the beginning of the year! Keep up this momentum and start preparing for your final exam! I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that each and every one of you will pass with flying colors!” He addressed the last part to the entire class.

A tie!? She groaned, hanging her head dejectedly at the thought, those were the only words she had taken away from the Number One Hero’s spiel.

Sero laughed, taking his helmet off and flashing the ivory haired teen a wide grin as All Might set them both back on their feet, “That was fun.”

She struggled against the sticky binding wrapped around her torso for a moment before glancing up and catching the amused stare of her classmate, “Little help here?”

He chuckled, nodding his head and shuffling towards her to help her remove the tape keeping her arms pinned to her sides. Once she was free of her sticky confines, she stretched her arms above her head and wiggled her fingers to help chase away the numbness that had begun to set in when her limbs had started to fall asleep from disuse.

The rest of her classmates involved in the first race pulled up shortly after, breathing heavily and congratulating Sero and Natsumi for their tied victory, subsequently rubbing salt in Natsumi’s metaphoric wound.

She joined the rest of her classmates, ready to watch the remaining matches, still feeling a little annoyed that she hadn’t been able to come out on top.

“Those were some pretty impressive moves, Natsu-chan!” Ochako beamed, bouncing over to her side.

Natsumi let out a quiet huff, “Not impressive enough to win me first place.”

“You were close, though.” Todoroki sidled up beside her, raising an eyebrow at her, “You were all giving it your best and it showed. You should be proud of your victory, even if it was a shared one.”

She let out a contemplative hum, eyes darting between the eagerly nodding brunette beside her and the solemn, but supportive, dual-color haired boy on the other side of her. With a resigned sigh, she tilted her head slightly, the corners of her lips tipping into a small smile, “Yeah, I suppose you’re both right. I was being a little too hard on myself.”

“You always are.” Todoroki shrugged his shoulders, peering down at her, “You really have come a long way. I remember when you could barely run a mile before getting winded.”

Natsumi’s jaw dropped at his comment, “I can’t believe you just brought that up…how dare you!”

He smirked, “You’re not denying it, though.”

Her cheeks tinged a light pink and she turned her head away from him with an indignant pout, “Well, no, but you still didn’t have to bring it up.”

Ochako started laughing, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to quell the bubbling amusement inside her, “I-I can’t g-get over how c-cute you t-two are, ohmygod.” She began to wheeze from how hard she was laughing, causing the two teens next to her to turn in her direction and stare at her in concern.

“C-cute?” Natsumi sputtered, her cheeks growing darker in color.

“I don’t understand.” Todoroki frowned, “Kurosawa are you alright? You look flushed did you overexert yourself during the training exercise?”

Ochako shot her friend a cheeky grin, “Yeah, Natsu-chan, you’re looking a little red in the face. Maybe Todoroki-kun should escort you to see Recovery Girl.”

“Absolutely not.” Natsumi rolled her eyes before narrowing them at her friend, “I never thought dear, sweet Ochako-chan would end up betraying me like this.”

The brunette shrugged her shoulders, giggling, “Oh hush, you had it coming after all the times you’ve literally pushed me towards—ah—“ Her eyes momentarily landed on Todoroki before peeling them away and frantically whispering to Natsumi,”—you know who.”

Todoroki quirked a curious brow and tilted his head, “Are you sure you don’t want to see Recovery Girl? You look feverish, is it from your Quirk’s drawback?”

The ivory haired teen shot her friend an annoyed look, only to be met with another amused grin from the brunette, before turning towards the concerned boy next to her, “Ah, no, I’m fine. Thanks for the offer though, I think I’ll live.”

He didn’t look convinced but was wise enough to drop the subject. The three turned their attention to All Might who announced the next team.

Natsumi stretched her arms high above her head, humming appreciatively once she heard a loud pop and the tightness in her shoulders had receded from the action. School had ended over half an hour ago and she found herself waiting idly by the forest that surrounded Yūei. She had changed into her gym uniform and placed her school bag by a boulder jutting out of the ground.

The sound of leaves crunching beneath boots and twigs snapping pulled her attention towards the entrance of the forest, her skin prickling in anticipation of who it could be venturing towards her.

“Sorry I’m late, Aizawa-sensei wanted to talk to me.” Shinsou stepped out of the shadows the trees were casting, his hand brought up to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly.

Natsumi relaxed, feeling silly for having been on guard in the first place when she was the one who had asked Shinsou to meet her in the woods from the get go.

“No big deal, I wasn’t waiting long.” She shrugged, taking a step towards the boy, “Are you still training with him?”

He nodded, “Yeah, we’re going to be continuing my training five days a week. I figured that the two days he doesn’t do anything with me I can train with you.”

Her eyes widened, “Whoa, whoa. So, you’re planning on training seven days a week? Every week? Without a break in between? You do realize how idiotic that is, right? There’s a reason Aizawa-sensei gave you two days off—its so you don’t overwork yourself.”

Shinsou shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, peering down at her, “No pain, no gain, am I right?”

“You’re gonna be gainin’ a whole lot of pain if you put your body through that nonstop training schedule.” Natsumi narrowed her eyes up at him, “I’ll do one day with you—I literally cannot condone you overworkin’ those noodle arms of yours like that.”

One well-manicured indigo eyebrow rose high above the other at her comment, “I think I should be the one who decides what I can and can’t handle in this situation. Either you help me on the days Aizawa isn’t, or I do it myself. Either way I plan on training the full seven days of the week, it’s your choice whether you want to be present or not.”

She squinted her eyes up at him in irritation, abruptly bringing her arms up to cross them over her chest while tapping her foot against the soft earth beneath her. She was agitated and the smug smirk that Shinsou was shooting in her direction was making her blood boil. He had her. He knew that she was too nice to just walk away from him now, especially with the threat of him working by himself hanging in the air. It could be dangerous to train alone, especially someone who was inexperienced and didn’t exactly know what he was doing when it came to strength and cardio training.

“Well?” He asked, almost impatiently.

Natsumi let out an annoyed growl, “Fine. But if your body can’t handle it then you have to take at least one day off. I’m serious, if Aizawa-sensei finds out that you’re not doing this properly and overworking yourself he’s not only going to punish you but he’ll come after me too and I am not about to get put on house-arrest or cleaning duty or whatever for the rest of the year because of you.”

Shinsou chuckled, holding up his hands defensively, “Alright, alright. Don’t worry, Aizawa-sensei won’t find out.”

“He better not.” She threatened with a glare, “Alright, we’re wasting too much time. You ready?”

“Wait, let me just…” He mumbled, shrugging off his backpack and kneeling on the ground beside it, he dug through it until he found what he was looking for. With a triumphant tug, he pulled out a long, light grey roll of material, swiftly wrapping it loosely around his neck before standing before her once more.

Natsumi quirked an amused eyebrow, cocking her hip to the side and leaning forward slightly to get a better look, “Did you steal Aizawa-sensei’s capture weapon…?”

His brows furrowed at the implication and he scrunched up his nose indignantly, “Absolutely not, you think I could even get close enough to him to swipe it off his shoulders? You’re dumber than I thought, Kurosawa.”

“You dare insult the girl who is going out of her way to help train you behind her teacher’s back?” She shot back, crimson eyes narrowed.

He leaned back on the balls of his feet, running his thin, nimble fingers through his unruly lilac locks, “Fine, I’m sorry for insinuating that you were dumb.” Indigo met crimson, his lips perked up at the corners, “You happy?”

She shot a harsh stream of air from her nose before nodding her head, “Yes, very much so.”

The two teens started warming up by doing a variety of stretches, most of which Shinsou had been shown by Aizawa during his week of training, so he was able to catch on pretty quickly to the routine she was demonstrating. Natsumi was curious to see what he had learned during the week with her homeroom teacher so that she could determine what he needed to work on the most.

For the most part, she knew that the days that she would be training with Shinsou would more than likely be spent in the gym working on strength or cardio to better help him prepare for the tougher exercises that Aizawa would be putting him through. But she needed to see what she was working with, which was why they were going to spar today to see how much help he needed.

“So, you actually know how to use that thing?” Her head tilted curiously at the indigo eyed boy who was fumbling with the capture weapon wrapped around his neck. It was sort of comical, the amount of material sitting heavily upon his shoulders, weighing his movements down—it was clear to her that he wasn’t yet used to it.

Shinsou chuckled nervously, peeling his eyes away from his support item to meet her amused gaze, “Not exactly. It came in a few days ago from the support company, Aizawa-sensei has started teaching me how to use it, it’s not as easy as he makes it seem.”

“Oh?” Natsumi grinned, “Show me.”

He furrowed his brows at her command, watching as she got into a defensive position, her eyes urging him to make a move. Shinsou shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his mind running through various scenarios on how to beat her—he knew he was horrendously outmatched. But, he had to try, right?

Sliding one foot forward, readying himself as he had seen Aizawa do many times during their sparring matches over the last week, he reached up, feeling his fingers curl around the thick material of his capture weapon. Truth was, he still had no idea how to properly use the damn thing, Aizawa had admitted to him that it had taken him five years to really get a handle on how to use it—and Shinsou had only been practicing with his for five days. He shook his head to clear away his thoughts, strands of unruly lilac hair falling into his eyes from the action.

“You just gonna stand there all day, or you gonna come at me?” Natsumi’s voice was taunting, her eyes crinkling at the corners in a teasing manner as she watched him get lost in his thoughts. He must be trying to come up with a strategy.

Shinsou narrowed his eyes, kicking up a spray of loose soil as he made his move, bursting forward with a speed that he knew wouldn’t last considering how low his stamina currently was, but he was hoping it would be enough to give him the upper hand.

Natsumi stood still, feet firmly planted against the forest floor as she scrutinized his form, watching closely how he moved sloppily towards her, his breathing already ragged. At the last moment he yanked a long strip of his scarf from around his neck, pulling it taut in his grip, his eyes narrowed and focused solely on the ivory haired girl standing several feet away from him.

She was prepared to dash out of the way of his attack, she bent her knees slightly in preparation of her escape but…the moment never came.

As Shinsou thrust his hand forward, slinging the strip of material towards the girl in an attempt to capture her, he misjudged the amount of force needed to manipulate the weapon. Instead of shooting forward and wrapping around Natsumi, it only flew a couple of feet before hitting the ground. Shinsou, unable to stop his own momentum in time, stumbled over the support item and fell forward with the weapon unwinding from around his shoulders and wrapping around his body.

Natsumi straightened up from her semi-crouched position, laughter bubbling from deep within her at seeing the lilac haired boy all tangled up in his own support item, “Holy shit, Shinsou we have a lot to work on.”

He wiggled on the ground in front of her, attempting to pry the scarf from around his arms while muttering various curses at his own predicament. Shinsou eventually heaved a loud sigh and ceased his struggling, tired indigo eyes rose to meet amused crimson staring down at him, “A little help, Kurosawa?”

She chuckled, stepping over his entangled body and walking in the opposite direction, “You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it.”

Chapter Text

Natsumi had been dreading her birthday, it was a reminder of what she didn’t have in her life—a family who loved and cared for her. Ordinarily, she was able to push such thoughts aside and focus on more important thoughts and tasks, but it was hard to do so on the one day of the year where she actually felt the suffocating loneliness that came with spending a birthday all by herself.

She did her best to distract her mind from such intrusive thoughts by allowing herself to spend a little extra time and money on herself—it was her birthday after all and if no one was going to celebrate with her then she might as well treat herself, right?

This would be the third year where she’d be spending her birthday alone, but she had developed her own little tradition in that time. Natsumi slept in until around 10am, mulled around her apartment in her pajamas for half an hour, and then ventured out into the city where she would treat herself to a nice lunch at one of her favorite cafes. Lunch usually consisted of something a little more extravagant than what she was willing to order on an ordinary day, and the meal always ended with a giant slice of cake.

After lunch she found herself browsing the isles at a local pet store that specialized in aquatics. She was barely able to contain her excitement when she realized that the shop had recently acquired Black Storm and Orange Storm Clownfish, while a little pricey, Natsumi decided that today was the one day of the year where she could condone spending the extra money on fish.

I’ve been good, I’m not failing any classes, I’m working on strengthening my Quirk and my body, I’m helping a friend train to get into the Hero course, I deserve this. She reasoned with herself, eyes flickering to the price of the fish painted brightly on the outside of the fish tank. It had been a while since she had introduced a new fish to her tank, mainly because she couldn’t justify spending exorbitant amounts of money on marine life when her funds were as limited as they were.

Biting her lip, Natsumi realized that she just needed to bite the bullet. With her mind made up, she flagged down a store associate and had him bag up the two fish that she had been eyeing. Maybe she was spending a little too much money on frivolous things, maybe she would end up regretting it weeks later when she went over her monthly budget and realized that she wouldn’t be able to buy groceries for a week or two. But in the moment, she was happy to be doing something for herself, the consequences really didn’t matter all that much to her as long as she could keep her mind occupied and stave away the wandering thoughts of her lonely home life.

Ugh. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You’re better off, dumbass. She scolded herself when she realized that her mind had begun to wander once more into dangerous territory when her gaze landed on a mother and father holding the tiny hands of their little girl, swinging her back and forth between them and smiling down at her as she giggled uncontrollably. Seeing families out and about, happily enjoying their time together, sometimes left a sour taste on her tongue and left her heart clenching in her chest. The jealousy she felt wasn’t unreasonable, she knew that, but it was irrational considering who her parents were.

They weren’t even good people; I don’t have a single happy memory with them. She frowned, tearing her eyes away from the family laughing and chatting away merrily several paces in front of her. Instead, she chose to focus her attention on the brown paper bag in her arms that housed the plastic bag with her two new fish inside. Her lips pulled back into an excited smile as she stared down at the two uniquely colored Clown Fish. She was eager to get home and get them acclimated to her tank. Not very many things brought actual joy to her life, but her fish tank was definitely one of the things that did.

It didn’t take long for her to reach her apartment and begin the process of slowly getting her new fish acclimated to the temperature of her tank water by allowing the bag to float atop the surface of the water for thirty minutes. During that time she busied herself with cleaning the apartment, picking up the clothes that she had carelessly thrown on her living room floor the night before, dusting various surfaces around the room, and putting away the piles of dvds that lay scattered across her floor in front of the television.

Finally, it came time for her to release the two new additions to her tank. She made sure to bring the bag over to her kitchen sink, carefully pouring it out into the fish net in her other hand until the two fish plopped out, flopping against the mesh material. She was quick to cup her other hand around the bottom of the net where she could feel the bodies of the two creatures wiggling around against her delicate grasp before rushing across the room and gently lowering them into the water.

She spent the next hour and a half simply sitting, cross-legged, in front of her fish tank, just watching the new fish explore and check out their tankmates. Observing the brightly colored fish swim around had always been a stress reliever for her and her favorite way to pass time.

It wasn’t until later in the afternoon when a loud banging at her door pulled her out of her relaxed daydreaming. Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet, casting a fleeting glance back at her fish tank before shuffling towards her front door, eyes narrowed and wary, confused as to who would be on the other side.

“Oi, hurry and open the fucking door.” Bakugou’s husky voice carried through the door and she immediately relaxed, no longer on guard for an unknown assailant. Though, still curious as to why he would be stopping by in the first place, she tilted her head, fingers wrapping around the knob on the door before unlocking it and pulling it open.

Bakugou stood on the other side, a scowl painted his lips and he was doing his absolute best to look at anything but her. In his hands was an ornate glass tray with a two-tiered cake perched atop it, coated in a white frosting and decorated with light blue hand-piped snowflakes. She took a step closer to him and took in the detail of the piping, her eyes landed on the top of the cake and she nearly choked, laughter spilling past her lips as she read the words ‘Happy Birthday’ written with red frosting, underneath that in blue were the words ‘Ice Bitch’.

“You gonna stand there like an idiot, or are you gonna let me in?” He growled, shoving the cake platter into her hands before stalking past her.

Natsumi stood stunned for moment, staring down at the cake in her hands with barely concealed adoration. No one had ever gotten her a birthday cake before. She turned around, peeling her eyes away from the dessert in her hands long enough to rest on the blonde who stood in the middle of her living room with his arms crossed.

He rose an eyebrow at her expression, “Would you stop looking at me like that?”

She let out a laugh, shaking her head as she stepped back and closed the front door, bringing the cake to her kitchen where she set it on the counter, “Sorry, I’ve just…never had someone bring me a cake or anything for my birthday. It’s just…really nice, thank you so much, Bakugou.”

Carmine eyes widened just a fraction, almost imperceptibly before returning to his usual narrowed and annoyed glare, though the pale dusting of pink on his cheeks remained. He clicked his tongue against his teeth, “Yeah, whatever.”

His own grumpy way of saying ‘you’re welcome’.

Natsumi chuckled, “Though, I am curious to know how you convinced a bakery to write that message on top. I feel like that’s something they’d deem too inappropriate.”

Bakugou scoffed, taking full offense in her words, “As if I’d ever go to some shitty bakery.”

“…then, you convinced your mom to make me a cake with your favorite vulgar nickname for me on top?” She tilted her head, somehow not entirely sold that Bakugou Mitsuki would do such a thing considering how much she adored Natsumi.

He rolled his eyes, leaning forward and invading her personal space with a smirk, “Try again.”

Her eyes widened as it clicked in her head. She peered up at him through her thick lashes, her lips down turning in to a skeptic frown, “You made it? You, Bakugou Katsuki, baked and decorated a birthday cake for me? Oh shit, maybe Mina-chan and Kaminari-kun were right, you are in love with me, aren’t you?” She shot him a cheeky grin.

He scowled, uncrossing his arms and bringing one forward to push her, sending her stumbling back laughing, “Don’t start that shit again.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever, hothead.” Natsumi grinned, “You wanna play?” She gestured towards her game system laying on the floor in front of her television set, her assorted video games piled neatly beside it.

“You sure are eager to lose, and on your birthday no less.” He rose an eyebrow, a competitive smirk curling his lips upwards.

“You sure are confident for someone who hasn’t won a single game of Mario Kart against me.” Her lips tugged into a wide, teasing grin as she took a step towards him, bringing them chest to chest as they squared off. Ruby red stared up into intense carmine, a challenge being issued between the two teens.

“Fuck off, princess.” He growled, shoving her gently away from him, rolling his eyes as her laughter rang out.

They dispersed, Bakugou heading into her living room to set up her game system and load Mario Kart while she ventured into the kitchen to make them some tea and grab a bag of chips to share. It was their typical routine whenever he’d stop by to play games with her.

The blonde had just finished getting the game started up to the home screen where they would select their characters when she shuffled out of the kitchen, a bag of chips clamped between her teeth while she held a piping hot mug of tea in each hand. He snorted at how ridiculous she looked, reaching out to take one of the mugs from her and setting it down on the coffee table behind him.

She tossed the bag of jalapeno chips down on the floor between them before gently lowering herself into a cross-legged sitting position beside him, her fingers still wrapped delicately around her steaming mug of green tea. Natsumi reached forward to grab her controller, balancing it on her knee and using one hand to scroll through the character selection while lifting her mug to her lips with her other hand.

Bakugou’s character choice was as predictable as the sky being blue, or water being wet; it was always Bowser. Natsumi liked to think that she was more fluid in her character decisions, but truth of the matter was, that ninety-percent of the time she chose Waluigi (“His moustache is just so impressive!”).

The two played against each other for an hour, Bakugou becoming more and more frustrated by his losses as time dragged on before he finally turned the game off and put in a two player fighting game instead. Natsumi had laughed at his tantrum but otherwise didn’t tease him too much, they both knew that she was the Queen of Mario Kart. They continued playing their fighting game for another hour, throwing taunts and insults at each other each time a hit was landed.

“You plan on staying for a while?” She asked after they finished a fight, the television flashing back to the home screen for them to select whether they wanted to continue playing or not. Natsumi dropped the controller onto her lap, leaning back on her arms as she glanced over at the boy beside her.

He smirked, “What? You trying to get rid of me now that you’re no longer winning?”

A scoff breezed past her lips at the comment, “No, idiot. I’m wondering if I should make us something for dinner, or do you want to order takeout?”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes, pursing his lips in contemplation before, not so subtly, tapping on the screen of his cellphone laying on the floor beside him to check the time. He turned back to her with a nonchalant shrug, “Let’s give it another hour before thinking about food.”

She rose a curious brow at his answer and behavior, but decided not to question it. It was still early after all and maybe he had eaten before he came over, that coupled with the fact that they had polished off a whole family-sized bag of chips together probably helped to satiate any hunger he had. She nodded her head, leaning forward and picking her controller back up to continue their game. Bakugou picked up his phone and sent a quick text message before snatching his controller from the floor and pressing the ‘start’ button.

Twenty minutes later there came a knock at her door.

She pursed her lips, brows knit in confusion. Bakugou is already here, who else would that be? Rarely did she ever have visitors, other than Bakugou that is. Natsumi cast a quick glance to the blonde beside her who was making a point to look away from her, his carmine stare trained on the glow of the fish tank on the other side of the room.

Weird. She thought, before hastily pulling herself to her feet and shuffling towards the front door. Hesitantly, she reached out, her hand barely resting over the knob of the door, before Bakugou barked out a, “Hurry the fuck up and answer it so I can keep kicking your ass.” With a roll of her eyes she yanked the door open, almost stumbling back from the shock of seeing half her class standing on the other side.

“Happy Birthday, Natsu-chan!” They chorused cheerfully, it was then that she noticed that almost everyone was carrying some type of snack or beverage in their arms.

“I—what?” Natsumi breathed out after the initial shock washed away and bled into confusion, “How’d you know it was my birthday?”

Midoriya offered an awkward smile, peering over her shoulder at the blonde refusing to acknowledge the presence of their classmates, “Ah, well,” The boy scratched at his cheek sheepishly, “a little birdy told us.”

“A little explosive birdy.” Kirishima grinned toothily, wiggling his eyebrows.

Natsumi paused, examining each and every one of their faces, crimson eyes taking in their bright, beaming smiles before she angled her chin over her shoulder to cast a quick glance at the blonde who had, apparently, staged this whole setup. There was no stopping the warm, appreciative smile that pulled her lips upwards, she blinked back the tears that threatened to blur her vision as she turned back to her friends patiently waiting in the doorway.

“Ahh, Natsu-chan, did we do something wrong? Why’re you crying?!” Ashido rushed forward, Ochako hot on her heels, as the two girls shoved the bags of snacks they had been carrying into Midoriya’s and Kaminari’s arms so they could envelop the ivory haired teen in a tight embrace.

Echoes of concern rattled around them from the rest of the class, but all Natsumi could hear was the th-thump of her heartbeat in her ears. Her two best friends held her tightly, Ashido nuzzling into her shoulder, while Ochako was busy frowning and staring worriedly into her bleary crimson eyes.

Natsumi rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, “N-no, nothing’s wrong, I’m sorry for worrying you guys it’s just—I’m not used to…having friends and I’ve never had anyone fuss over my birthday and it’s—”

“Wait.” Ashido pulled back, golden eyes staring at the smaller girl in shock, “You’re never had a birthday party before?!”

The rest of the class was suddenly inside her apartment, crowding around her, speaking softly, uttering affectionate words to help ease her out of the miserable thoughts they could tell were plaguing her mind.

Natsumi shook her head, “Never. In fact, the cake Bakugou brought over today is the first time I’ve ever had a birthday cake.”

Kaminari scratched his cheek, frowning, “Really? I mean, I know your parents were villains and all but they were still your parents. They never did anything special for you on your birthday? No dinner? No cake? No presents?”

She pulled away from Ashido and Ochako, her cheeks tinted pink from embarrassment over what she was about to reveal, “Well, we did have a…” she paused, choosing her next word carefully, “tradition.”

Her friends all seemed to lean closer, unable to contain their curiosity. She never spoke about her past or her upbringing, they were eager to learn more about her and the events and experiences that had shaped her into the person that she was today.

“Oh? What was it?” Sero tilted his head.

“Yeah, don’t just leave us hangin’ like that! What was the tradition?” Kirishima grinned excitedly.

She bit her lip, tearing her eyes away from their expectant stares, finding that she was unable to meet their gazes, “Ah, well, I could have anything that I wanted for my birthday but…the stipulation was that I would…” Natsumi swallowed hard, worried that they would think less of her if she continued.

As if he had read her mind, Todoroki stepped forward from the back of the crowd of students, a tentative frown playing upon his lips as he urged her to continue, “I promise that whatever you’re about to say will not affect the way anyone here thinks about you.”

Nodding her head, she turned back to see her friends all smiling encouragingly back at her, “If I wanted something, I would have to steal it myself…without getting caught. If I was caught then that equated to failure and my parents didn’t take very kindly to failure.”

“How old were you when they first took you out to steal stuff?” Kaminari was curious and he knew that a majority of their classmates wouldn’t have the nerve to ask her personal questions about her past like that out of fear that they’d strike a wrong chord with her. So, the task fell upon his shoulders.

Natsumi angled her chin towards the ceiling, tapping an index finger against it while humming thoughtfully, “I think the first time they brought me out to test my skills I was…maybe…hmm…I think I was six actually. They took me out onto the streets to practice pick-pocketing.”

“Six?!”

“You were so young!”

“Just a little baby!”

She laughed, “Well, yeah, but remember that my upbringing was much different than all of yours. I’ve been undergoing survival training since my Quirk first manifested. Anyway, you guys can go set all of that stuff down in my kitchen so you don’t have to stand around awkwardly holding it all night.” She gestured towards the snacks and beverages still in everyone’s arms before nodding towards the tiny kitchenette to the right of the entryway.

Her friends, taking the hint to end the conversation, all wandered towards the kitchen to set down the goodies they had brought. Sero grinned, walking towards the dining room table instead and setting down the pizza boxes that he had stacked on top of each other in his arms.

“You guys seriously didn’t have to bring all of this…” Natsumi felt a pang of guilt strike through her at the sight of everything that her friends had brought with them.

“Of course we did! It’s not a party without pizza, or snacks for that matter!” Ashido beamed, slinging an arm around the ivory haired teen’s shoulders.

“Yo, Bakubro, how long have you been here?” Kirishima laughed as he plopped down next to the irritable blonde.

“That’s none of your fucking concern, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou growled.

“He’s been here for the last three hours.” Natsumi piped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Hey, not that I’m condoning theft in any way but I just gotta ask; what was the biggest thing you were able to swipe as a kid?” Kaminari popped his head out of the kitchen, a plastic cup filled with soda in his hand as he sauntered back out into the living room where the rest of their friends had begun to gather with their own cups and plates of snacks in their hands.

“Kaminari-kun!” Midoriya scolded, frowning at the blonde who put up his hands defensively.

“It’s okay, Midoriya-kun.” Natsumi assured him, her voice soft as she addressed the boy with unruly mossy green hair, “As a kid the biggest thing I was able to swipe without getting caught was a bicycle. As I got older and started using my intangibility more and more, I was able to take bigger and more expensive things like televisions and game systems—though that was all done without my parents’ knowledge, since they actually never found out about that ability of mine.”

The small group of teens made themselves comfortable, some squeezing themselves together on her tiny couch, while the majority of them sat themselves in various spots on the floor. After hearing what she had to say in response to Kaminari’s question, they began to glance around the tiny apartment with curious gazes, all wondering the same thing; how much of the décor had come into her possession as stolen goods?

As if sensing what her classmates were thinking she tilted her head, offering a small, teasing smile, “Don’t worry, most of the things here were obtained legally.”

The keyword there was most.

But they knew that that life was behind her now and none of them could fault her for doing what she needed to survive before being accepted into Yūei and starting a new life as a Hero in training.

“Okay, okay, so who’s ass am I about to kick in Mario Kart?” Sero grinned excitedly when he noticed the open game case laying on the floor. He crawled on his knees over to the game system, removing the current game and putting it back where it belonged before plucking Mario Kart from its case and inserting it into the game system.

Natsumi and Bakugou both exchanged a knowing look, their lips twitching into identical mischievous smirks for the briefest of moments before they were able to school their expressions—her’s a nonchalant smile and his his typical annoyed scowl.

“I’ll play but…I’m not that great so go easy on me, yeah?” Natsumi bit her lip, staring up at Sero through her thick, fluttering eyelashes. Bakugou choked in his attempt to stop himself from cackling at her display.

Sero winked at her before settling in between her and Bakugou, “Well, you are the birthday girl after all.”

Natsumi played against Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima that round and made a spectacle of herself by purposefully driving into walls and hitting almost every trap laid out on the racetrack. Bakugou, who had been leaning back against his arms was having a hard time keeping himself together as he watched her opponents do their best to be gentlemen and allow her to push ahead of them in the race.

After losing horribly, Natsumi decided to play two more games before sitting out and watching the rest of her classmates take their turns. Ochako was surprisingly good at it, Ashido was getting a little too competitive and kept calling Kaminari a “little bitch ass”, Todoroki kept driving his character continuously into the wall because he was staring at the wrong screen, and Midoriya kept apologizing every time he hit someone with one of his specialty items.

In between matches, the teens would wander over to the pizza boxes or the plethora of snacks lining her kitchen counters and fill up their paper plates to bring back with them. Natsumi had already stuffed her face with three slices of cheese pizza and was leaning up against the front of her couch, Ochako sat behind her on the cushions, her fingers absentmindedly carding through Natsumi’s ivory locks.

“That feels so good, Ochako-chan.” Natsumi practically purred, leaning her head back against the brunette’s knees to stare up at the girl.

Ochako beamed, “Sorry, I didn’t even realize I was doing that! Your hair is so soft, Natsu-chan!”

Todoroki sat on the edge of the couch to the left of both of the girls, his fingers clasped together in his lap. He had decided that maybe video games weren’t for him and resigned himself to just watching everyone play instead. He wasn’t one who typically enjoyed parties or any sort of social gathering and even though these were his classmates he still felt disconnected from them. He was trying, he had decided after the Sports Festival that he wouldn’t keep them at an arm’s length anymore, but he also wasn’t going to go out of his way to interact with them either.

But, when a new group chat had been formed, minus Natsumi, to plan surprising her for her birthday he found that he couldn’t say ‘no’. Ordinarily, he ignored the group chats, they were incessant and annoying, some of their classmates just didn’t know when to stop talking. But when the subject of the group chat happened to be the birthday girl he just couldn’t ignore his own need to help ensure that she had a good birthday.

His heterochromatic gaze shifted, landing on the ivory haired teen leaning her head back onto Ochako’s lap, a satisfied smile pulling her lips back. His chest blossomed with a sudden warmth at the image laid out beside him and he was unable to fight back the smile that tugged at his own lips. She seemed to be having such a good time, which in turn made his chest feel light.

Todoroki was glad that he had put aside his own discomfort for social gatherings and had come out to support Natsumi, even if he was spending the majority of the evening sitting awkwardly on her couch.

“Eat shit you fucking extras!” Bakugou cackled as his character crossed the finish line, winning him the match.

“Aw c’mon, don’t be such a sore winner, Bakubro.” Kirishima frowned, tilting his head to the side to give the explosive blonde beside him a pointed look.

“Hah? Sorry, didn’t hear you over the sound of me beating your ass.” The blonde barked back, a feral grin curling his lips back.

Natsumi’s head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at the blonde, “Hey, don’t be picking any fights in my apartment—you know my rules.”

“Fuck off, princess.”

“C’mon Bakugou, that kind of language is so unmanly.” Kirishima huffed.

“Yeah, dude, it’s her birthday, can’t you play nice for one day?” Kaminari sighed, his fingers still gripping the controller in his lap.

Natsumi laughed, “I appreciate you guys coming to my defense, but it’s totally fine. Besides, I think I’m ready to play again. Though, this time I think I’d like to make things a little more interesting.”

That piqued the boys’ interest.

“How about, the winner of this match gets one favor from the losers. Doesn’t have to be immediate, it can be something that’s requested at any time with no expiration date.” She grinned as Bakugou thrust his controller in her hands, not wanting to take part in the wager—he didn’t want to owe her shit. He already owed her a day at the arcade, which he was still pissed about.

“Natsu-chan sure likes to gamble, doesn’t she?” Ochako leaned towards Todoroki and whispered conspiratorially. He quirked a brow at the brunette before nodding slowly, turning his attention back to the ivory haired girl as she waited for the boys to give her an answer.

“Sounds fun, any guidelines for what these ‘favors’ can and can’t entail?” Kaminari grinned.

She rolled her eyes, “No inappropriate shit.”

The electrifying blonde chuckled, “Fine, fine.”

“I’m in!” Sero selected his character and clicked the ‘ready’ button, leaning back to wait for the other three.

“Alright,” Kirishima laughed, “let’s do this.”

“Just know that we won’t go easy on you this time just because it’s your birthday.” Kaminari glanced over at her with a wink before turning to choose his character.

Natsumi smirked, “Good, I hoped you wouldn’t.”

Todoroki didn’t miss the way Bakugou and Natsumi exchanged glances before the game started, he furrowed his brows at the subtle interaction that went unnoticed by the rest of their classmates. It was no secret that the two resident hotheads of class 1-A were always at each other’s throats, throwing insults and picking fights with one another, but he had had an inkling that maybe their relationship wasn’t as heated and volatile as they lead everyone to believe. Maybe there was more to it than that.

That thought alone made his chest ache.

Bakugou was the one who mentioned that it was her birthday to begin with. How was he the only one who knew? Todoroki frowned as another thought entered his mind, If he hadn’t let us know, would she have kept her birthday a secret and spent the entire day by herself?

His attention quietly wandered to the girl in question once more, watching as she scrunched up her nose in concentration and pursed her lips together, fingers mashing expertly against the controller in her hands. She was in last place.

The boys didn’t seem to be taking her seriously as competition, she was remaining uncharacteristically quiet while taunts and teases spilled past their lips towards each other. It wasn’t until the final lap when her demeanor changed into a more ruthless one and she began firing turtle shells at each of them, quickly taking the lead and outmaneuvering each of their attempts at retaliation. It wasn’t long before she was crossing the finish line in first place and the boys were left hanging their heads and pouting.

Bakugou cackled like a gremlin at their crestfallen faces, “That’s her signature move, you idiots. She always purposefully falls behind in the first lap before sneaking her way up the ranks to first place.”

“Wait, what?” Sero scratched the side of his head.

“First of all, how often do you play with her to know what her ‘signature move’ is?” Kaminari rose a curious brow.

“Second of all,” Kirishima furrowed his brows, whipping his head around to stare at the girl in question, “you were pretending to be bad at playing this entire time?!”

“Bingo.” Natsumi smirked, sticking her tongue out at the boys, “In the words of Aizawa-sensei, that was a rational deception to lure you into a false sense of security to make you believe that your own victory was inevitable all the while taking all attention away from me so that you’d never see me sneaking my way ahead of you.”

“Damn, you’re vicious.” Sero laughed, shaking his head, “Alright, you won. Do you want to cash in any of your favors from us?”

She hummed, tapping her index finger against her chin before shaking her head with a grin, “Nope, gonna save those bad boys for a rainy day.” She clapped her hands together and rose from the floor, garnering the attention from her friends, “Anyway, who’s ready for some cake?”

Hands shot up immediately as if they were still in class, followed by the sounds of scuffling feet as everyone rose from their sitting positions and shuffled towards the dining area and tiny kitchenette. Natsumi laughed, grabbing onto Todoroki’s sleeve and yanking him to his feet when she realized that he was still planted firmly against the couch cushions, “C’mon, you too. Bakugou made the cake so if it’s poisoned then I’m taking you down with me.”

“You’re taking a pretty big risk by trusting anything that he made.” Todoroki’s eyebrows shot up into his feathery crimson and ivory hairline.

She hummed, pulling him along with her over the short distance from the living room to the dining area where the rest of their classmates had situated themselves, “Well, he did bring me lunch for two weeks that one time and I’m still here so I think I can trust him this time too? Unless…he was just waiting for the opportune moment to take me and half the class out in one fell swoop.”

“Fuck off, if I was going to kill you extras I wouldn’t do it with a fucking cake.” Bakugou rolled his eyes, digging through her kitchen drawers for a knife large enough to cut the cake.

“That’s exactly what someone who was plotting to kill us all with a cake would want us to believe.” Kaminari stroked his chin, mumbling conspiratorially to the rest of the group.

Bakugou growled, “I’ll take the fucking cake and leave.”

Natsumi laughed, releasing Todoroki’s sleeve and bounding over to the angry blonde, “Okay, okay. I’m sorry, I really am appreciative, thank you for going through all the trouble of making me a cake and inviting everyone over.”

“Well it’s not like you were going to tell them it was your birthday.” Bakugou grumbled, finally finding what he was looking for in her miscellaneous utensils drawer, pulling out the large knife and bringing it over to where the cake was.

“I still think it’s adorable that you made and decorated a whole ass cake for our little Natsu-chan.” Ashido giggled, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, “Perhaps love truly is in the air.”

“I swear to fucking God if you start that shit again, I will shove this entire cake down your throat.” Carmine eyes narrowed threateningly at the pink teen who in turn giggled and waved off the comment.

Midoriya laughed nervously at the display, doing his best to stay closer to Ochako and Kaminari so as not to invoke the wrath of Bakugou. With a curious tilt of the head, he glanced over at the birthday girl, “I’ve been wondering, why didn’t you let us know that it was your birthday?”

All eyes were on her suddenly and she swallowed the nervous lump in her throat at the attention before straightening up and smiling sadly, “I didn’t want to make it seem like you guys had to acknowledge that it was my birthday or feel like you needed to do something for me. I’m used to spending today alone and I just didn’t want to be a bother.”

“And that bullshit is exactly why I did it.” Bakugou rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, the knife still in hand as he stared pointedly at the girl.

“It’s not a bother at all, we’re all happy to be able to celebrate with you. We invited the whole class, minus Mineta because we figured you wouldn’t want him to know where you lived. But, since it was so last minute most of our classmates already had prior engagements but they did want to be here.” Midoriya smiled softly at her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t ever think that you’re a bother to us.” Todoroki spoke up from her left, angling his chin so he could stare down at her, the fringe of his bangs partially obstructing the view of his mismatched eyes from her, “You’re our friend, Kurosawa, and we want you to be happy.”

The rest of the group sang affectionate words of praise, making Natsumi tear up at the sentiment. She furiously wiped away the moisture in her eyes with the back of her sleeve before beaming brightly at the teens amassed in her dining room, “Thank you so much, this means so much to me I don’t think I could ever voice properly how much I appreciate each and every one of you.”

“Alright, enough of this sappy shit. Let’s eat the fucking cake.” Bakugou groaned, he wasn’t the type of person to get sentimental like the rest of those extras he had class with.

“Oh! I brought some candles, Todoroki-kun, mind helping out a little?” Ochako smiled sheepishly after arranging sixteen candles around the top of the cake. The fire and ice wielder nodded, stepping forward and igniting his left hand with a bright flame before passing his hand gently over the top of the candles, lighting each and every one of them. He extinguished his flame and took a step back, gently pushing Natsumi forward so that she was positioned right in front of the cake.

Someone dimmed the lights in the room and then all at once her classmates, minus Bakugou and Todoroki, began to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. Ashido held up her phone while she sang, recording the entire moment to send to the group chat later for everyone who missed out on being there in person.

Natsumi stared wide eyed at her friends gathered around her, all grinning while singing to her, and she felt her throat tighten and her chest constrict. The amount of love she felt radiating from them was overwhelming, she wasn’t used to this much affection being shown to her and quite honestly didn’t know how to react.

This was the first birthday she had ever truly celebrated, she knew that she would never forget these moments with her classmates for as long as she lived. Ever since coming to Yūei these people had made her chest blossom with such warmth on more than one occasion, it was a feeling that she found that she didn’t mind. It replaced the empty cold that had otherwise been such a constant reminder of how lonely she truly felt.

I don’t have to feel that way anymore though, she realized, her eyes crinkling at the corners from the wide grin that pulled her lips back to reveal her pearly whites as she took in the faces of everyone huddled around her, I finally found somewhere I belong. These dorks are my new family.

As the singing came to an end with Kaminari wiggling his body and doing jazz hands, Natsumi peeled her eyes away from the group of teens, now watching as the candles’ lit flames flickered and danced against the darkness of the room.

I don’t know what to wish for, I feel like…I already have everything that I need. Her attention left the cake for a moment, flicking up and meeting the striking stare of turquoise and grey, but…I do wish that we can all be like this forever. She leaned closer to the cake and blew out every single candle in one breath, her friends cheered afterwards.

“So, what’d you wish for? A date with me, perhaps?” Kaminari teased, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

“And waste a perfectly good wish? I don’t think so.” She mock-scoffed at the mere suggestion of a date with the boy, her lips twitching at the corners to show that she was joking so as not to accidentally offend him.

“You can’t ask her what she wished for, or else it won’t come true, idiot.” Ashido leaned forward, hands on her hips and shooting Kaminari a teasing glare.

He removed his arm from the birthday girl’s shoulder and held up his hands in defense, an amused chuckle spilling past his lips, “Alright, alright. I won’t ask again.”

The cake was cut and pieces were passed around to everyone, compliments were given to Bakugou over how, surprisingly, tasty and moist the cake was. The cake itself had been homemade strawberry with a strawberry compote slathered in the middle of it, a homemade cream cheese frosting coating the outside of it.

“So, since Jirou-chan couldn’t make it she asked me to give this to you.” Ashido held out a white cardboard pastry box to Natsumi after everyone had finished eating their cake and had helped clean up some of the mess they had made with the snacks. The pink teen tilted her head with a grin, “She said that these were all of your favorites from that café that you two go to before school.”

The ivory haired teen delicately plucked the box from Ashido’s hands and tipped the lid open, her eyes sparkling with excitement over the assorted French pastries neatly tucked away inside, “Ah, I’ll have to send her my thanks! And thank you Mina-chan for being the delivery girl. We go to this café at least every other day for coffee and a quick breakfast before class, seriously their pastries are to die for.”

Ashido bounced on the balls of her feet, clasping her hands behind her back as she swayed back and forth, “Well, guess I’ll just have to tag along one of these days and try them for myself~!”

“Sounds like a plan!” Natsumi laughed, moving around her friend to place the confectionary box on the kitchen counter.

Ochako stepped forward, her fingers fidgeting with the handle of a sparkly blue giftbag as she held it out to her friend, “This is kind of from all of us girls, we know how your Quirk keeps your body pretty cold and how when you’re not in your school uniform you like to wear warm cozy things so here~”

Natsumi almost stumbled back as the bag was thrust into her hands, curiously, she peeked inside, moving aside the colorful tissue paper and pulling out several items. The first of which was a grey knit sweater, it was thick and chunky and long enough to fall a little past her thighs, this would be perfect with my thermal leggings! A pair of thick, crimson thigh high socks fell out when she opened up the sweater all the way, having been rolled up inside when the garments were shoved into the giftbag. The final item she pulled out was a crimson knit scarf, she unraveled it and reveled in how soft it felt, even going so far as to lift it up to her face and rub the material against her cheek.

“Yaoyorozu-san made that. I mean, not with her Quirk, can you believe that she knows how to knit? I had no idea, that girl is full of surprises! But she said that the color reminded her of your eyes and she’s sorry that she couldn’t be here today, she had to attend some sort of fancy banquet with her parents.” Ashido giggled as she watched her friend rub the soft material of the scarf against her face, humming in delight.

“Seriously, none of you had to get me anything. You guys just being here with me was enough to make this the best day ever.” Natsumi’s cheeks felt sore from all the smiling she had been doing for the last several hours, she couldn’t even remember the last time she felt this warm and light and happy.

Several more gifts were passed out, a black backpack in the shape of a cat’s head (“Because it looks like your cat!” Mina had grinned and flashed a peace sign), a crimson plaid Sherpa blanket, and lots of different types of candies.

Her friends had stayed to help her clean up the mess they had made before one by one bidding her one last chorus of ‘happy birthday’ and leaving for the evening after realizing how late it was. Todoroki was the last one left after everyone had already gone home, Natsumi tilted her head and smiled warmly, “Thank you for stopping by today.”

He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his pants, fidgeting with the small parcel that he had kept tucked away there all evening. Todoroki shifted his weight, staring over her shoulder, captivated by the glow of her fish tank before meeting her curious stare, “Did you have a good birthday?”

She nodded, tucking a stray curl behind her ear, “It was the best, I seriously can’t thank you guys enough.”

A small smile graced his features as he stared down at her, noting how bright and happy she truly appeared to be. His fingers slowly wrapped around the object in his pocket before pulling it out all the way and awkwardly holding it out to Natsumi. Her eyes lit up at the small rectangular gift box, reaching forward to take it, her fingers briefly brushed against his, sending a static shock tingling through their fingers. They both jerked their hands back in surprise.

Natsumi fiddled with the tiny box in her hand to distract herself from the piercing stare of Todoroki, she lifted the lid of the box. Inside was a thin chain of silver laying upon a bed of red velvet, attached to the chain was a tiny white-gold snowflake. She brought her free hand up, the tips of her fingers delicately ghosting across the snowflake charm.

“I wasn’t sure what to get you, I’m not very good at these sorts of things, so I asked my sister for ideas and she said that girls like jewelry.” Todoroki started, words tumbling out in uncertainty, “I saw that and it reminded me of you, but if you don’t like it, I can take it back and get you something else.”

She tore her eyes away from the pendant, snapping her gaze up to meet his, “Don’t be dumb, of course I like it. I’ve never been given anything this nice before, thank you, Todoroki.” She handed the box back to him, much to his confusion, and turned around so that her back was facing him, running her fingers through her hair and lifted it away from her neck, “Mind helping me put it on?”

The boy bit the inside of his cheek at the request, his fingers lifting the necklace from the case it was in before lifting it over her head so that the pendant rested against her clavicle. His fingers brushed against her collarbone as he wound the chain around until the clasp rested on the back of her neck where he secured it. He paused for a moment, the tips of his fingers brushing against the smooth, pale skin of her neck before he came back to his senses and realized what he was doing, pulling his hand away.

Natsumi let her hair fall back into place and whirled back around to face him, her cheeks tinged a light pink. She glanced down at the pendant resting against her collarbone before allowing her crimson gaze to meet his, “How does it look?”

“Perfect.” Todoroki found that the word spilled from his lips before he had the time to really think about a response.

“Also, I didn’t know you had a sister.”

He blinked, nodding his head slowly, “I have a sister, Fuyumi, and then a brother, Natsuo,” He paused, as if he were about to list another sibling, but caught himself and inside said, “we only recently have started to reconnect.”

She found herself frowning at the vagueness of his response, “Reconnect?”

“I was kept away from them when I was younger, my old man didn’t want there to be any distractions from my training so I wasn’t allowed to interact with my siblings.”

Natsumi couldn’t really say that she was surprised to learn that Endeavor had kept his youngest child separated from the rest of his family in order to focus on his training. Her lips pulled back into a scowl at the thought, further cementing the fact that she absolutely loathed the man. What sort of man isolated his youngest child for the sake of working him to the bone? A heartless man, that’s who.

“I’m sorry, Todoroki.” She said quietly, “I’m glad that you’re able to make up for lost time now though.”

His lips tugged into a small smile, “Me too.” He drew in a breath, “We should train together some time, Fuyumi really wants to meet you.”

She was not expecting to hear that, not only was he inviting her over to his house but he had also inadvertently admitted to talking about her to his sister. Though, she supposed that there was a logical reason for that considering he did previously mention that he had asked his sister for gift ideas. Regardless, the thought of him talking about her to his siblings still sent a warmth blossoming in her chest.

“I’d like that but…” Natsumi’s smile faltered, “…what about Endeavor?”

“He won’t be there, more often than not he is off on missions; he doesn’t come home all that often.” Todoroki supplied, his words reassuring, “We have a dojo that is resistant to all manners of damage that can be caused by Quirks, so if you’re interested we should spar some time.”

She nodded her head, lips pulled back into an eager grin now that she knew that she wouldn’t have to deal with Endeavor’s attitude if she stopped by, “We’ve never actually fought against each other, you know. So we’re long overdue.”

“That’s not true, we fought at USJ.”

Natsumi vehemently shook her head, “No, that doesn’t count.”

A frown painted his lip and he let out a quiet sigh, “No, I suppose it shouldn’t.”

They stood facing each other, barely a foot apart, for another excruciatingly long moment, turquoise and grey staring down into curious crimson, before the automatic timer on her fish tank had the day lights turn off, bathing the living room in a comfortable darkness. That sudden change in lighting snapped them out of their own thoughts and Todoroki cleared his throat awkwardly, averting his gaze from her, “I should get going, have a good night, Kurosawa.”

“You too, Todoroki.”

She watched as he slipped his shoes back on and grasped the doorknob in his hand, glancing over his shoulder at her for one more fleeting moment before twisting the knob and disappearing outside. Natsumi let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding, snapping the bolt lock in place and turning back to face the living room.

A light breeze filtered in through the large opened window against the far wall of her living room and she closed her eyes for a brief moment to enjoy the cool air caressing her flushed cheeks.

I never opened the window. Her eyes snapped open and narrowed suspiciously, she crept forward, staying alert to her surroundings and peering out into the darkness outside. She reached forward and pulled the window closed, as she did so her crimson gaze landed on her reflection in the glass, two figures stood behind her.

She whirled around quickly, a dagger of ice forming in both of her palms, ready to throw with expert precision at the intruders.

“Easy there, Mi-chan.” Came the smooth voice of Hibiki, arms raised in defense, a lopsided grin adorning his handsome face. He wore a pair of dark washed jeans with holes in the knee, a sleeveless black hoodie, and a pair of teal and white Chuck Taylors. Beside him stood his brother, wearing an opened red plaid button up over a black short-sleeved tshirt, a pair of black skinny jeans, and a pair of black Vans with red laces. It was as if they had stepped right out of some sort of skater-boy styled photoshoot.

Panic surged through her veins at the sight of the twins and she found herself casting a weary glance around the room to see if any other members of the League of Villains were hiding, waiting to ambush her.

Hibiki’s grin slipped into a frown as he watched her eyes dart around the darkened room, “No need for that, it’s just us.”

“No one else knows we’re here, or even where here is.” Ryou spoke from beside his brother for the first time, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

Still on guard, Natsumi narrowed her eyes at the two, her fingers curling tightly around her frozen weapons, “How did you find me? Why’re you here?”

The two seventeen-year olds exchanged glances before returning their attention to their childhood best friend. Ryou shrugged his shoulders, “You weren’t that hard to find. As to why we’re here—”

“—We wanted to wish you a happy birthday, obviously!” Hibiki interjected, bouncing on the balls of his feet and lurching forward, arms spread wide open as if to envelope her in a tight embrace. Natsumi took a step back, dodging the affectionate gesture, in turn causing the boy to falter and let out a dejected sigh.

“We waited so patiently for all of your friends to leave; we didn’t realize how popular you were with those Hero wannabes.” The elder twin’s silver eyes twitched, his lips pulling back into a sneer at the thought of those filthy Yūei students hanging all over his Natsumi.

Crimson eyes narrowed at the accusatory tone that Ryou had adopted, she leaned back on her heel and allowed the ice in her palms to deconstruct, deciding that even though the situation was tense she didn’t think it called for violence, not yet at least. She quirked a brow at the boys, “You do know that I am also a ‘Hero wannabe’ as you so eloquently put it. What would your boss say if he saw you seeking out someone like me? We’re on opposite sides of the spectrum.”

“Aw, don’t be like that Mi-chan. Tonight…can’t we just be us? Not Hero or Villains, just Mi-chan, Ryou-nii, and your Hibi-chan; best friends, family, no matter what.” Hibiki offered with a hopeful smile, brows dipped over imploring silver eyes.

It felt as if her heart stuttered in her chest at the desperation dripping from the younger twin, practically rolling off him in waves. She had always had a soft spot for both boys, but for Hibiki especially, even though he was older than her by two years he still held a child-like quality that she was absolutely weak for.

“What about last week when I was at my internship with Hawks and one of your bioengineered monsters attacked me?” Her voice came out as a quiet growl, fingers clenched into trembling fists by her side as the all too fresh memory invaded the forefront of her mind once more. She had been plagued by the memory of her fight against the Nomu in Fukuoka ever since she had gotten back from her internship, adding further fuel to the nightmares that already tormented her subconscious.

Hibiki adopted a look of unease, averting his silver gaze and staring at the laces on his shoes instead, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Ryou, on the other hand looked positively affronted by the accusation in her tone that implicated that they were behind the attack in the first place.

“You think that Hibiki and I would do something so reckless to put your life in danger on purpose?” Ryou seethed quietly.

The younger twin glanced up, following his brother’s lead and swallowing the guilt he felt about the attack, “The League’s target was Hawks, we didn’t even know that you were there in Fukuoka, let alone interning with him.”

“That’s no excuse. I just…I can’t believe you guys have gotten yourselves mixed up with this group. You’re going to end up making a reputation for yourselves that you won’t be able to come back from, once the Heroes find out who you are, you’re never going to have the option of living a normal life ever again.” She let out a shaky breath, biting her lip and attempting to will away the urge to cry, “Not to mention, if someone dies because of you, whether directly from your actions or indirectly…I don’t know if I could ever forgive you.”

“Aw, c’mon Mi-chan.” Hibiki took a step forward, tilting his head and speaking in a soft, soothing voice, “You know us, we aren’t monsters.”

She wanted to hate them, she really did. They had disappeared with their parents right before the demise of her own family, leaving her without a friend in the world, no one to talk to, no one to run to when life got rough. The absence of her safety net of the twins drove her nearly mad with depression and hysteria in the beginning but over time she became more accustomed to the loneliness that followed her.

But now she had a chance to have them back. Was she really willing to put aside their differences and push past the negative thoughts and feelings associated with them and work towards a future where they could be close once again?

This is probably a bad idea…

Natsumi took a tentative step forward, her nose scrunched up and brows dipped in uncertainty of her own thoughts and actions. She closed the distance between them and walked right into Hibiki’s open arms, wrapping her own around his thin waist and burying her face in his chest. His scent was sweet, like vanilla with a hint of spice, it was comforting to know that after all this time he still smelled the same.

Ryou came up from behind and enclosed his arms around her, trapping her between the two of them in a tight embrace while leaning down just enough to bury his nose in her curly, ivory locks. Her hair was so soft and gave off the faint scent of lilacs, he drew in a deep breath and committed this moment to his memory.

“I missed you.” She mumbled, her voice muffled by the fabric of Hibiki’s hoodie.

“We missed you too.” The two boys answered in unison, nuzzling themselves closer to her.

After years spent apart, they were finally reunited and it felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest, her legs wobbled beneath her weight and she collapsed from the overwhelming onslaught of emotions that suddenly bombarded her. The twins were quick to tighten their hold on her, lowering themselves along with her so that the three of them were kneeling against the floor in a more comfortable position. Natsumi could feel herself losing the inner battle she was having with herself and all at once the dam broke and the tears began to fall freely.

The two boys held her against them, both of them alternating between whispering affectionate words of reassurance and rubbing soothing circles into her back while she sobbed. Natsumi didn’t cry often, they had known her long enough to know this, not even when her parents had beat her into submission did she shed a tear. She was strong and stubborn and had years of practice at keeping her emotions in check. But everyone had their breaking point and she had happened to hit hers from the mental overstimulation of being reunited again with the twins.

She cried until her eyes were red, raw, and sore, unable to produce anymore tears. Hibiki’s hoodie was drenched in her tears and snot from her ugly crying but he didn’t say anything about it when she finally pulled away and stared up into his soft, silver gaze, her own crimson eyes glassy and swollen from crying.

Natsumi sniffled, choking back a half-laugh-half sob, “I’m sorry I’m such a fucking mess.”

Hibiki and Ryou both laughed and shook their heads, the younger of the twins reached out and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear while smiling fondly at her. Ryou still had his arms wrapped around her torso from behind, leaning forward and resting his chin against her shoulder, he slid his silver gaze over to take in her appearance. Her face was red and blotchy, half-dried tears tracked down her cheeks, and even though she definitely did look like a mess, she still looked perfect to him.

“After everything you’ve been through, I’m surprised you kept yourself held together this long on your own.” The older twin chuckled quietly, a sad faraway look in his eyes, “You’re so strong, but you don’t have to be all the time. It’s okay to let your walls down every once in a while.”

“You’re safe here with us.” Hibiki caressed her face gently with his hand, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear that rolled down her cheek.

She drew in a deep, calming breath, blinking away the bleariness before nodding her head slowly, “Thank you, Hibi-chan, Ryou-nii.” She brought her hand up, using the back of her sleeve to wipe the moisture from her cheeks, “I’m gonna make some hot chocolate, you want some?”

Natsumi pulled herself to her feet, tilting her head down at the two boys who nodded eagerly at the offer. She turned on her heel and shuffled into the kitchen, pulling out the milk to start heating it in the saucepan before adding in cocoa powder and sugar. Once that was thoroughly mixed in, turning the milk a creamy, chocolatey-brown, she stirred in chocolate chips for extra sweetness, watching as they quickly melted while she slowly stirred the liquid in lazy circles.

It had been a while since she had made homemade hot chocolate, as a kid it had been something that she would make to comfort herself and soothe the ache in her heart after a long day of training and being left to her own devices. She had made it for the boys many times in the past before they’d sneak up to the rooftop to stargaze and escape the confining walls of the warehouse they grew up in.

Once the beverage was ready, she carefully poured the piping hot liquid into three mugs, topping them all with a generous portion of whipped cream and mini-chocolate chips before squeezing one between her arm and her side to keep it in place while she wrapped her fingers around the handles of the other two.

She slowly made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room, nearly dropping all three mugs when she realized what had kept the boys so quiet the whole time she had been fixing their drinks.

Her living room had been completely transformed. Her coffee table had been pushed back against a far wall, and blankets and pillows were arranged like a cozy little nest on the living room floor. Once she stepped farther into the living room was when it happened, when the transformation really took place.

A ring of electric blue encircled Ryou’s pupils as he activated his Quirk and all at once they were standing atop a grassy hilltop with a wide expanse of stars and blinking constellations surrounding them. Hibiki’s eyes glowed in the same fashion and the quiet hum of her fishtank suddenly faded away, being replaced by the chirping of crickets.

She stood at the edge of their blanket nest, eyes wide in awe as she stared up at where her ceiling had previously been. The boys turned their attention to her, each wearing an identical, boyish grin.

“Well, what do you think?” Ryou asked, voice as smooth as velvet as he reached out to take the mug that sat snuggly in the crook of her arm to lighten her load.

Hibiki took a sip out of his mug when she handed it to him, humming in appreciation as the sweet, creamy liquid cascaded down his throat, “This is just like when we were kids, yeah? Drinking hot chocolate and staying up late to stare up at the stars, competing to see how many constellations we could name.”

Natsumi laughed, lowering herself onto the blanket, clutching the warm mug of cocoa in her hands, her eyes never once leaving the twinkling stars above her, “Your Quirks really are amazing, I almost forgot that I wasn’t actually outside for a moment.”

“That’s the point.” Hibiki replied with a cheeky grin, placing his mug of cocoa beside him and out of the way so that he wouldn’t accidentally knock it over. He laid back on the blanket and gestured for her to do the same.

She rolled her eyes in amusement, but obliged nonetheless, laying back and nestling herself in between the two as they stared up at the dark sky above them. They spent the next hour pointing out various constellations, quizzing each other to see if they still remembered the names for each cluster of stars. After a while the three of them simply laid there in silence, enjoying each other’s company and watching the stars twinkle.

“Remember when we used to joke about running away together?” Hibiki spoke, disrupting the comfortable silence that had befallen them,

Natsumi let out a quiet laugh at the memory, lips pulled back into a toothy grin as she turned her head to stare at the boy who had spoken, “Yeah, we were going to run away and become carnies. I was going to run the snow-cone stand while you two would be in charge of the Fun House.”

“You know what’s funny?” Ryou chuckled, “We were one-hundred-percent serious about that plan. We were just waiting for you to say the word and we’d take you and run in a heartbeat.”

She scrunched up her nose, eyebrows furrowed in contemplation before turning her head to her left to take in the older boy’s expression, “I mean…I’m not going to lie, I thought about it more often than I’d really like to admit. Sometimes I like to imagine how different things would be if the three of us had just left and never looked back.”

“We could still do it.” Hibiki breathed out, eyes trained on the sky as a shooting star zoomed across the blanket of darkness above them.

“It’s a little late for that.” She smiled wryly, “It’s a nice thought but…I’m serious about wanting to be a Hero. I’m not going to run away from my past anymore.”

“Well, the offer will remain on the table.” Ryou tilted his head, fingers twitching at his sides, “I won’t pretend to understand why you’re choosing to put everything you know behind you to pursue becoming a Hero but…I hope you know that even if we’re on opposite sides, Hibiki and I will always be on your side.”

“I know.” She said quietly.

“Never forget, you’re the brightest star in our darkest skies.” Hibiki recited the line they had always said in the past to convey their love for one another.

Her heartrate picked up, feeling as if it were going to burst right out of her chest “And you’re mine.”

The younger twin beamed at her response, running a hand through his shaggy, raven locks before bolting up into a sitting position abruptly, startling the two laying beside him.

“Oh! That reminds me!” He leaned over her body, curling and uncurling his fingers rapidly in a ‘gimme’ motion towards his brother.

Ryou rolled his eyes and let out a loud sigh, digging his hands into the pocket of his jeans and pulling out a small silver bracelet, handing it over to his overexcited brother. The younger twin grinned, motioning for Natsumi to sit up, which she did, while staring up at him with a half-cocked eyebrow and an amused smirk curling the corners of her lips upwards.

“We got you a present, it’s nothing too fancy or flashy but I hope you like it.” He held out the bracelet in his hand, it was a silver bangle with a crescent moon with a star on either side of it stamped into the metal. On the inside of the bangle were the letters ‘H+N+R’ etched into the silver. It was a simple gift but she was a simple girl with simple tastes.

“I love it, thank you.” She smiled a soft, genuine smile, as she delicately plucked the bracelet from his palm and fastened it around her left wrist. It fit snuggly against tiny wrist, which was perfect, meaning that there was less of a chance of it snagging on anything during training exercises.

The twins stayed a little while longer, the three of them curling up against each other, laughing and talking as if they hadn’t gone almost three years without seeing or speaking to each other. In the back of Natsumi’s mind there was a nagging feeling that she was making a mistake by letting them back in, but the part of her that felt nostalgic for the relationship she shared with them in the past was louder and easily smothered any and all red flags that had popped up.

It was well past midnight when the boys bid her farewell, deactivating their Quirks and leaving the three of them back in her little living room once more. They exchanged phone numbers and she filed theirs under ‘Thing 1’ and ‘Thing 2’ to play it safe.

With the promise to seeing each other again real soon lingering in the air, Natsumi locked the door behind them and shuffled her way towards her bedroom, immediately collapsing onto her bed. She was exhausted after having such a long day filled with celebrating with friends new and old and her social battery needed recharging. The last thought on her mind before she succumbed to her exhaustion was, I hope this wasn’t a mistake.

Chapter Text

Natsumi and Shinsou had only had two training sessions, the first one having been a huge mess of a day where he had gotten himself all tangled up in his new capture weapon and had spent half an hour working on wiggling himself out. It had started to get dark by the time he had freed himself so they had run a couple laps around the perimeter of the forest before calling it a day. The second time they had met for training they had spent several hours in the school gym working on their cardio and easing their way into a little weight training.

It was now their third time meeting, considering she only had two days a week with him while he spent the other five days with Aizawa. Already she could tell that there was a significant improvement to his stamina as he was able to push himself a lot farther during their exercises now than he could that first day they trained together.

No surprise there considering who his mentor is. With how hard Aizawa-sensei pushes us past our limits during class I can only imagine how hard he must be on Shinsou.

Her crimson stare slid over to scrutinize the taller boy’s form as he did a couple sets of pushups while she leaned against one of the trees, taking a water break. Today Shinsou was sporting a black tank top with an orange cartoon cat face smack dab in the center of it, a pair of dark gray athletic shorts, and a pair of black and purple accented sneakers. It was rather humid out which was what prompted him to forgo wearing his regular gym clothes, no sense in allowing himself to overheat.

The muscles in his arms bulged slightly from the exertion of supporting his own weight and she was mildly impressed to see that his muscles even appeared to be larger than last time she had seen them.

His noodle arms are evolving! She thought with a snort, the sound broke Shinsou’s concentration and he pulled himself into a sitting position after finishing the push-up that he was on.

He quirked a curious eyebrow at her, lips dipping into a lopsided smirk when he caught her staring, “See something you like, Kurosawa?”

Natsumi blinked, a scoff passing over her lips at the insinuation, “You wish, noodles.”

Shinsou furrowed his brows in confusion over the nickname, lips pulled back, “Excuse me? What did you just call me?”

“Noodles, you know, as in ‘noodle arms’ because that’s what you fuckin’ got, now keep working on those pushups.” She barked out the command, pushing herself off of the tree she had been leaning against and placing her water bottle on the ground so that she could take a step towards the lilac haired boy.

He let out a groan and rolled his eyes, “You’re cruel.”

“Oh please, you train with Aizawa-sensei. Exercising with me must be a walk in the park compared to that.” She laughed when Shinsou grumbled something unintelligible while he lowered himself back into position to complete the reps he had originally started on before she had distracted him.

The two did various exercises together, from push-ups to sit-ups to squats and jumping jacks, as was their regular routine whenever they met up. After an hour and a half of their warm-up exercises, she stood up and ambled towards the backpack she had left propped up against a tree. Shinsou stood a ways away, taking greedy gulps from his frosty water bottle, all the while keeping a curious eye trained on her as she dug through her bag.

They were both covered in a sheen of sweat, their hair matted down and stuck to their faces, but they were nowhere near ready to call it a day despite the aches in their muscles that screamed for them to take a break.

Natsumi let out a triumphant hum when she seemingly found what she had been searching for, from the angle he was watching her from he was unable to discern what the item in her hand was but noted that there was a slight jingling sound coming from her palm as she made her way back to him.

Her lips pulled back into a smirk as she held her hand out, allowing the string with two bells attached at the end to dangle in front of him.

Quirking an eyebrow at her, Shinsou capped his water bottle and stashed it away before pulling himself into a standing position, “And what do you plan on doing with those?”

“You’re going to try and take them from me.” She wiggled the bells teasingly, placing her other hand on her hip and cocking it slightly.

He reached forward and she yanked them away quickly, tutting her tongue in a taunting manner at him, “Ah-uh, you’re going to have to catch me first.” At seeing his confusion, she continued, “As it stands now, I’m much faster than you are so we’re going to have an ongoing game. Every time we meet for training you’ll need to try and chase me down and take these bells from me—I don’t care if you use your Capture Weapon or your hands or whatever, anything goes. This is a basic test of endurance, agility, and willpower.”

Shinsou bit back a chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on the heel of his foot, “You stole that from watching anime, didn’t you?”

She coughed awkwardly and averted her gaze from him, letting out an indignant huff at the accusation, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about. But good luck, lesson starts now!” Natsumi promptly took off down the dirt path that lead further into the forest, the bells clinking against each other from where they were now tied through the loop of her jean shorts.

He blinked, stunned by her sudden disappearance before scrambling after her, a groan leaving his lips as he realized that she had already put a large distance between them.

She wasn’t kidding, she’s so much faster than me. I have so much catching up to do—literally and figuratively. He thought dismally, adding his lack of speed to the ever-growing list of things he needed to work on before he could even hope to catch up to the Hero course students. He still had a long way to go before he would be a Hero himself.

He spent the next forty-five minutes chasing after her as she zig-zagged through the trees, bells tinkling softly as if taunting him, always just out of reach. It frustrated him to no end and hearing her teasing laughter echoing through the otherwise quiet forest didn’t help.

“Fuck this.” Shinsou panted, coming to a complete stop to catch his breath, “I can’t, I’m done, Kurosawa.”

Out of seemingly nowhere, she appeared at his side with a disappointed frown as she gave him a once over before letting out a small sigh, “Alright, you do look pretty beat. I guess we can call it.”

“How merciful of you.” He deadpanned, indigo eyes meeting amused crimson as he straightened himself up after taking a moment to compose himself and regulate his breathing.

“Just consider me your benevolent queen.” Natsumi waved her arms with a flourish, lips quirking into a teasing grin.

He let out a groan, running a hand through his sweat-drenched lilac locks, his hair was no longer spiked towards the heavens but was now falling around his face in unruly, damp tendrils. His fingers combed through the strands that brushed over his eyebrows, attempting to pull them back and away from his face only to have them fall back into place. How annoying. Indigo eyes flickered up to meet her stare when he heard her let out an amused snort, “Absolutely not.”

“You’re no fun.” She laughed, brushing her own damp bangs out of her eyes before letting out a contemplative hum, pulling her cellphone out of her bag and tapping the screen to check the time.

Shinsou rose a curious eyebrow, “What?”

“Nothing, just thinking about how hungry I am.” She admitted with a sheepish grin.

He rolled his eyes, his lips twitching subtly at the corners, “You’re always hungry.”

“You don’t know shit, Shinsou.” She shot back, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

A chuckle spilled past his lips, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he leaned forward, lips curling back in a smirk, “I know that every time I saw you at the Sports Festival you were eating something different.”

“I…” She opened her mouth and closed it again, at a loss for what to say in response to his observation. She settled for narrowing her eyes and scowling up at him, crossing her arms over her chest and letting out an annoyed huff, he smiled smugly at her.

“You know…I was in the viewing box with my class that entire time so that means that you were purposefully seeking me out if you were able to see me at various times eating different things.” She quirked a brow, “What, was that photo you took of me not enough for you?”

He blinked, shrugging his shoulders and peering down at her through the damp, lilac fringe that had fallen over his eyes, “I suppose it wasn’t.” Shinsou wasn’t about to elaborate on his answer, despite the questioning look she was giving him, he merely glanced over his shoulder towards the trail that would lead towards the exit before turning back to her, “Weren’t you just complaining about how hungry you were?”

She straightened up and nodded, laughing, “Oh yeah. You want to come grab something with me?”

Shinsou shrugged once more, donning a bored expression, “Why not? I’ve got nothing else to do.”

“You know,” Shinsou began, his voice a low drawl, “when you said that you were hungry I assumed you meant for real food.”

A soft gasp escaped her and she immediately brought a hand to her chest as if she was appalled by his words, “Ice-cream is real food. It’s made with dairy, that’s one of the major food groups.”

“Sorry, that reasoning is not going to work on me because I’m not five, besides, ice-cream is not a proper dinner.” He let out a long, tired sigh, keeping his expression schooled enough so she couldn’t catch a glimpse of what he was actually feeling—amused by her antics. Of course, she’d be the type to suggest dessert for dinner. He really wasn’t all that surprised by her choice.

Natsumi narrowed her eyes and huffed indignantly, “I think people who have dessert before dinner are all around much happier with life. Also, they’re less grumpy.”

He furrowed his brows and stopped walking, when she paused and glanced over her shoulder to see what was holding him up, he crossed his arms over his chest and mumbled loud enough for her to hear, “I am not grumpy.”

A grin spread across her face at his pouty expression and she let out a soft, teasing laugh, “Are you kidding? You’re on par with Aizawa-sensei with your moody attitude.”

“Oh, I’m definitely not that bad yet.” Shinsou ran a hand through his tangled lilac locks, letting out a soft curse when his fingers got stuck in a particularly nasty knot. He felt absolutely filthy, covered in drying sweat that made his skin feel tight, his hair in a shaggy disarray with clumps of dirt matting his hair together. Even though he felt and looked like an absolute mess, the thought of going home now and missing out on ice-cream and more time spent with Natsumi made his chest clench uncomfortably.

She snorted, “Yet being the keyword here.”

He hummed in agreement, the corners of his lips twitching as he stared down at the short girl before him, “I suppose it is only a matter of time before I start threatening you with expulsion every time you step one toe out of line.”

“Oh man,” She laughed, “are you going to start lugging around a sleeping bag too? Please say that yours will also be in some obnoxiously bright color—oh, oh! It better be lime-green or neon orange, no other colors will be acceptable.”

Shinsou scrunched his nose at the thought of owning something as hideous as a sleeping bag in either of the colors she had suggested. Lime-green and orange were colors that were much too loud for his personality, not to mention how they would clash horribly with his hair.

“Ugh, I guess if I’m really going for the color-blind hobo aesthetic then I don’t have much of a choice in the matter, do I?” He quirked an amused brow, a chuckle breezing past his lips as she shook her head eagerly with a laugh.

Shinsou wasn’t a particularly funny guy, at least he never thought of himself as such, but the fact that he was able to make her laugh with his dry humor meant more to him than it should have.

“Oh, hey, it’s Natsu-chan!”

The two teens standing outside of the ice-cream shop were pulled away from their conversation when a new set of voices called out to them. Shinsou inwardly grimaced at the approach of Natsumi’s classmates, he quickly shoved his hands into the pockets of his athletic shorts and pretended not to be bothered by how her face lit up like the sun as the three teens rushed towards her.

Natsumi smiled brightly, turning just in time to brace herself as Ashido nearly knocked her over from the force of her hug. The shorter teen returned the hug before pulling away, “You act as if I didn’t just see you the other day when you came over for my birthday.”

The pink toned girl giggled, “Girl, you act as if I don’t miss you every time we’re apart!” Ashido sighed overdramatically.

“You’re right, you needy bitch.” Natsumi laughed.

“That’s me!” Ashido grinned, slinging an arm across the shorter girl’s shoulders.

Sero and Kaminari caught up to them, having been left behind when Ashido had spotted the ivory haired teen and darted across the street to reach her.

“You’re that Brainwash guy from the Sports Festival, right?” Sero questioned, his smile bright and friendly, but despite the warm intentions to bring the General Studies student into the conversation, Shinsou felt guarded and wary. Sero continued, “Man, you were great! Seriously, you’ve got a pretty cool Quirk there!”

Shinsou felt his lips dip into a small frown, one of his hands slid out of his pocket to rest at the back of his neck, “Ah, thanks.” He still wasn’t used to having his Quirk acknowledged positively by others, but since the Sports Festival he had been receiving more and more compliments.

Sensing his discomfort, Natsumi stepped forward with a small smile, “Guys this is Shinsou, our future classmate!”

The three shared grins at her statement while Shinsou merely stared, feeling a warmth blossom in his chest at how confident she was in what she had said.

“Well, guess that means we’re friends now! You know, since you’re going to be stuck with us in the future anyhow, might as well get used to having us around!” Kaminari clapped Shinsou on the back good naturedly, sending the lilac haired boy stumbling forward from the impact of the unexpected touch. The blonde took a step back, stroking his chin with his index finger and thumb, “You know, with looks like that I bet you’re popular with the ladies.”

“Huh?” Came Shinsou’s confused response.

Sero stood back with a quirked brow, but that same large, friendly smile splitting his lips a part. He couldn’t really say that he was surprised by the words Kaminari had said, the blonde was unpredictable in that respect—no one ever knew what was going to come out of his mouth. That, and he’s the biggest flirt I know, Sero thought with a chuckle.

“I…Kaminari-kun, what?” Natsumi choked out, trying her hardest to not laugh but was finding it increasingly hard to keep a straight face as she kept replaying the blonde’s words over and over in her head, “Did you just…Kaminari-kun did you just indirectly tell Shinsou that you think he’s hot?”

Shinsou tilted his head and in all seriousness said, “Sorry, I don’t think you’re my type. But I appreciate the compliment.”

Kaminari blinked before quickly waving his hands defensively in front of himself while sputtering, “I didn’t mean it like that!” Golden eyes met indigo briefly before returning to defending himself against Natsumi’s allegations, “I-I just meant that he’s a good-looking guy and probably has chicks falling all over him. I mean, you’re with him, so he’s gotta play a pretty good game, right?”

Natsumi’s cheeks burned a bright crimson as Kaminari’s insinuation reached her ears and she quickly ducked her head and averted her gaze in an attempt to hide the color in her face. She pursed her lips and mumbled defensively, “It’s not like that, I’m literally helping him train—”

“—Yeah? Why’s your face so red?” Ashido teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Oh? Did I hit the nail on the head? You hiding something, Natsu-chan, hmm?” Kaminari smirked, tilting his head, “Oh man, what’re Bakugou and Todoroki going to think?”

Natsumi brought her hands up to cover her crimson painted face, letting out a loud annoyed groan, “Ugh, you guys are fucking impossible.”

Shinsou quietly observed the exchange happening around him, he wasn’t quite sure what to say, if he should say anything in response to the strange situation he had found himself in. Though, he did find it amusing to watch the tiny ivory haired girl become increasingly flustered by her friends’ teasing words.

“I think she’s had enough, any more teasing and she’s bound to spontaneously combust.” Shinsou stepped forward with a low chuckle, watching as Natsumi quietly shifted the fingers over her eyes so that she could peek out at him.

“Well look at that, Natsu-chan, your knight in shining armor came to your rescue.” Kaminari grinned, deciding he’d tease her one last time on the matter.

“I hate all of you.” She grumbled lowly, removing her hands from her face and glaring at the boys.

“Hey, hey, I had no part in this.” Sero waved his arms defensively in front of himself, laughing as he spoke.

Ashido giggled and blew a kiss to the shorter teen, “You could never hate me, babe.”

“Whatever, I’m getting my ice-cream.” Natsumi pouted, turning towards the door to the specialty ice-cream parlor behind them and disappearing inside.

“Kaminari, you pissed her off so you should probably make it up to her by buying her ice-cream.” Sero laughed as the remaining teens piled into the shop after the curly haired girl.

As soon as they entered the shop they were greeted by the sweet, sugary scent of homemade waffle cones and sweet cream. The base color of the walls was white with brightly colored paints splattered across to create a fun and whimsical backdrop. The color palette screamed unicorn vomit, at least that’s how Shinsou would have described it, with seats and tables aligned in a rainbow pattern up against the wall on the far right of the entrance and decorative abstract lights hanging from the ceiling. The display case to the left held the various homemade flavors of ice-cream, varying from the normal chocolate and vanilla to some more peculiar ones like lavender and earl-grey.

Shinsou felt as if he was going into sensory overload, Of course they’d also be playing bubblegum pop over the speakers.

“You know, I’ve never actually been here before. All those flavors look so good!” Sero pressed himself closer to the display case, staring down at the different flavors.

Natsumi tilted her head, glancing over at him, “Oh? I come by at least once a week; they’ve got the best ice-cream around. And, they have gelato macarons that are to die for.”

Her complete 180 in personality had Kaminari letting out a sigh of relief, glad that she wasn’t actually upset about all of the teasing. With his own anxiety over the matter suddenly gone he was able to focus on the important task at hand; choosing what flavor he wanted to order.

“Ah, Kurosawa-san! You here for your usual order or do you actually plan on branching out today?” The boy behind the counter grinned when he recognized the ivory haired girl staring longingly at the container that they kept the extra cookie dough pieces that people could elect to add in as a topping.

Natsumi blinked, her crimson stare rising to meet the amused steel grey gaze of the boy waiting for her response. He was tall and lanky, a couple years older than the 1-A students, with an unruly mop of teal hair and an easygoing smile.

“You’re really going to do me dirty like that?” She frowned, narrowing her eyes at the boy behind the counter who simply shrugged his shoulders with a laugh. Natsumi tore her eyes away from him and grumbled, “…I’ll have the usual, thanks.”

“You got it, sis.” The boy laughed, pushing away from the counter to grab a waffle bowl before scooping two scoops of cookie-dough ice-cream into it, followed by a very generous helping of cookie dough pieces thrown on top for good measure. He then shuffled towards the other end of the cooler and pulled out two chocolate gelato macarons and placed them in the bowl. He handed her the edible bowl, “You know, I’m surprise that you don’t just order a bowl of nothing but cookie dough.”

“And give you even more incentive to tease me? I don’t think so.” She retorted, handing over the correct amount of change before stepping aside so the rest of her friends could place their orders.

One by one the small group of teens strode up to the counter to let the boy know what they wanted, most of them were pretty quick to order and knew exactly what they wanted. However, when it came time for Kaminari to decide he hesitated, biting his thumb anxiously.

“I don’t know, man. I mean the cotton-candy sounds good but so does the Lemon Cream.” The blonde groaned, running a hand through his hair as he stared indecisively between the two flavors in the cooler.

“Dude, it’s not that big of a deal, just eeny-meeny-miny-mo that shit.” Sero laughed, clapping his friend on the back.

Kaminari reeled back, a quiet gasp escaping him, “But what if I make the wrong choice? What if my decision haunts me the rest of the night? What if all I can think of is ‘what if I had chosen differently’?”

Natsumi rolled her eyes, digging her spoon into the mountain of tiny cookie-dough spheres that were piled atop her own ice-cream, “Why don’t you just get a scoop of both?”

Kaminari perked up at the suggestion, “Natsu-chan, you beautiful soul, you!” He turned towards the counter with renewed vigor, watching as the boy behind it laughed at the antics of his strange customers, “I’ll have a scoop of each, as the pretty lady suggested, please!”

“You got it.”

Once Kaminari was given his chocolate dipped waffle cone the group made their way back outside, congregating under the awning of the ice-cream parlor to enjoy their frozen treats. Shinsou wasn’t much of a sweets fan but had elected to try the lavender and earl grey flavor. Sero was happily enjoying a heaping helping of mint chip in a cup, leaning against the wall of the shop while humming happily into his bowl. Ashido stood beside him, spooning bite after bite of vanilla-fudge swirl into her mouth.

“So, you come here often enough that you and the guy working here have a playful relationship, huh?” Kaminari wiggled his eyebrows, taking a lick of his sugary-sweet frozen treat.

“Don’t even start, Kaminari-kun.” Natsumi pointed her index finger towards the blonde, a threatening gesture.

“Fine, fine.” He laughed, “Seriously, though, best ice-cream ever.”

She beamed at him, “That’s why I come here so much. They make everything in house, and these macarons are too amazing.” She plucked one of the macarons from her bowl, taking a bite of it and letting out a satisfied hum.

“I think this is my new favorite spot, we def have to come after school more often!” Ashido grinned, her pink plastic spoon teetering between her lips as she spoke.

The teens continued to chat for another ten minutes or so before Ashido, Sero, and Kaminari bid the duo farewell. Shinsou had long since finished his ice-cream and was watching curiously as Natsumi began to break tiny pieces of her waffle bowl off to eat.

“I told you.” She mumbled while chewing thoughtfully on the edible bowl.

A lilac eyebrow raised precariously above the other, a curious glimmer in his indigo stare as he waited for her to continue her thought, “Oh? And what did you tell me?”

Natsumi thrust a spoonful of cookie dough into her mouth, lips curling upwards at the edges, “That you’d end up becoming friends with them.”

Shinsou rolled his eyes, “Even if I wanted to be friends with them, one conversation doesn’t equate to friendship, Kurosawa.”

She shrugged nonchalantly, “Regardless, it’s inevitable.”

“You’re delusional.” He drawled, leaning forward and plucking the last macaron from its place nestled amongst the cookie-dough pieces in her edible bowl and shoving it into his mouth. He fought back a smirk at the wide-eyed, open mouthed look of incredulity that she now sported before whistling appreciatively, “You were right, those really are amazing.”

Aizawa stood before his class in the final moments before the bell rang to signal the end of the day, his tired gaze passing over each and every one of his students. He exhaled quietly, “I want to take a moment to remind you that final exams are coming up in the following weeks. There will not only be a written portion of the exam but also a physical component to the test so I hope all of you are studying the course material very closely as well as keeping up with your training. Your score on the final exam will heavily influence my decision to allow you to participate and attend the training camp during summer break.”

Their teacher shuffled towards the door after saying what he needed to say, giving one last pointed look to his students before slipping out of the classroom. As soon as the door closed behind him panic ensued, as he expected, he could hear from the other side of the door as Kaminari and Ashido both cried that neither of them had been studying. Several other voices groaned about the very real possibility that not everyone would be able to attend the training camp, which only further exacerbated the panic that many of the students were currently feeling. Aizawa exhaled a heavy sigh, they’re in for a rude awakening if they don’t get their act together.

“Argh! With the Sports Festival and Internships starting right after I haven’t had time to study at all!” Kaminari groaned out in panic, running his fingers through his blonde locks while Ashido laughed uncontrollably, her own form of a breakdown.

Tokoyami shook his head, “It’s true that we had one event after another but that’s no excuse to skip out on studying.”

Natsumi tapped her fingers against her desk top as she listened in on the conversations happening around her, it seemed as if half of the class was prepared to take the exam while the other half was panicking over not having a chance to review the course material.

She turned in her seat so that her legs were now stretched out in the center of the aisle separating her desk from Todoroki’s before speaking loud enough for her classmates to hear her over their own panicked chatter, “We still have plenty of time before the exams, you know. So just get your shit together and review everything we’ve gone over in the past few weeks. If you do that you should have no problem acing the finals.”

“That’s easy for you to say, Natsu-chan, you’re currently sixth in class ranking so you’ve got nothing to worry about here.” Kaminari jutted his lip out in a pout.

“Doesn’t mean I know everything; I still have to study just like the rest of you.” The ivory haired teen laughed, “We all have our academic weaknesses that we need to work on.”

Todoroki lifted a brow, his elbow was placed against the surface of his desk top with his chin resting against his open palm. He tilted his head to the side just enough to catch the girl’s attention as he spoke, “Speaking of academic weaknesses, do you have a strategy in place for taking on the math portion of the exam?”

She instantly deflated, slumping forward and shaking her head, “I don’t even know where to begin with a math review. Every time I look through my notes its like trying to read French; can’t do it.”

“I can help you with that, mon ami!” Aoyama wiggled his fingers in her direction, shooting a wink at her.

“It was a figure of speech, Aoyama-kun, but thanks.” She let out a sheepish laugh as the dazzling boy shrugged his shoulders, lips curled into that familiar secretive smirk he always seemed to sport before turning back to the magazine he had been reading.

“Ashido-san! Kaminari-kun!” Midoriya called out, gaining the attention of the two teens currently stewing over their low class rankings, “Let’s do our best on the exams! We all want to go to the training camp together, right?”

Iida perked up, moving quickly to stand at the head of the class to offer his own words of encouragement, “Yes! I firmly believe that the threat of not being able to attend the Training Camp will light a fire under all of us and push us to work even harder to strive for exemplary scores on our final exams. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you pass so that we may train even harder together this summer at camp!”

Todoroki let out a quiet sigh, tearing his eyes away from Natsumi to glance around the room boredly, “It’s almost impossible to fail if you actually pay attention in class.”

“Ouch, man.” Kaminari whined, clutching his chest as if Todoroki’s words had physically harmed him. It was no secret that the blonde had trouble focusing during lectures, it was so easy to let his mind wander and to tune out the monotonous drawl of their teacher’s voice. For this reason, he had fallen behind and was in last place when it came to class ranking.

Yaoyorozu bit her lip, watching the scene unfold before her, the last thing she wanted to see was any of her classmates fail and not be eligible to attend the summer training camp. She cleared her throat, drawing the attention of her classmates to her with the gesture, “Hey, you two, I may be able to be of assistance with the class lectures.”

Kaminari and Ashido both instantly perked up, matching grins lighting up their faces as they excitedly exclaimed, “Yao-momo!”

The taller girl’s countenance quickly did a one-eighty and she hunched over her desk, mumbling self-deprecatingly to herself, “I can’t help at all with the practical, though…”

Natsumi tilted her head at the girl sitting in front of her, a frown marring her pale lips, “What was that Yaoyorozu-san?”

Before Yaoyorozu had a chance to come up with an answer, Jirou shuffled over to her desk, fiddling with her ear-jacks anxiously while addressing the creation hero, “I’m not one of those two, but can I also join? I’ve been having some trouble with quadratic functions…”

The musician’s sudden approach seemed to have pulled Yaoyorozu out of her thoughts, she tilted her head and uttered a confused, “Huh?”

Sero jumped out of his seat, clasping his hands together in front of himself, “Sorry, me too! How are you with classical Japanese?”

Suddenly it wasn’t just Sero and Jirou asking to be let in on the study session, but nearly the entire class began to approach the kind-hearted girl, asking to be a part of the study group. Yaoyorozu felt tears prickle at the corners of her eyes as she was surrounded by her classmates and she was unable to contain her own happiness. Her lips pulled back into a bright smile and she nodded her head, clapping her hands together, “Yes, of course!” She rocketed out of her seat in her excitement, “Then let us hold a study session at my house this weekend! We still have a couple weeks left before the actual exams take place, so we can meet up every weekend until then.”

“Ahh! Are you serious? Oh my God I cannot wait to see your house!” Ashido squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

A light dusting of pink brought color to Yaoyorozu’s cheeks, “Oh! In that case, I must tell mother and have her open up the hall!”

The hall? Natsumi blinked, W-what kind of fancy ass house does she live in?

“What kind of tea are you all partial to?” The creation hero asked, her voice heavy with excitement over the thought of having friends over, “In my family, we usually drink Harrod’s or Wedgewood, so if you have any preference just let me know, please! Of course, you can count on me to help you study!”

The group of students huddled around her desk all stared blankly, blinking dumbly as Yaoyorozu continued. All of them thinking something along the lines of, I knew her family was rich but…shit.

Todoroki shifted his gaze over to his seatmate, the corners of his lips lifting slightly, “Will you be joining them?”

Natsumi blinked, tearing her attention away from the large group gathered around the girl seated in front of her, turning herself towards the boy to her right once more, “Nah, I’d never actually get any studying done with a group that large. I wouldn’t be able to focus with that many distractions.” She shrugged, “I’ll figure something out.”

Without taking the proper time to think about what he should say in response, the boy blurted out, “I could help you study.”

She furrowed her brows, casting an almost surprised look in his direction, “You sure about that?”

He shrugged coolly, “I’ve helped you study before, I think I can handle it for a few hours.”

“Oh? So, I’m manageable in small doses, is that what you’re trying to say?” Natsumi quirked a brow, silently daring him to answer her.

“Basically.” He shrugged his shoulders, lips pulling back into a small smirk.

Natsumi let out an indignant huff, crossing her arms over her chest, “So rude.”

Todoroki chuckled, “If you want we can train in my family’s dojo for a couple of hours and then work on reviewing for the written portion of the exam after.”

She bit the inside of her cheek as she mulled over his offer, crimson eyes searching his own mismatched gaze for…she wasn’t sure what. The prospect of spending an entire day with Todoroki was incredibly appealing to her and she couldn’t fathom why that was but it simultaneously excited her and filled her with anxiety.

He regarded her quietly, she appeared to be deep in thought and that confused him more than anything. What’s there to think about? Is she not interested in my help?

After what felt like an eternity where the two teens spent an awkward amount of time staring down the other, Natsumi blinked, as if pulling herself out of her own stupor. She peered up at him from beneath her long lashes and offered a small smile, “Okay, text me the details later. Make sure it’s a day where you’ll have the extra patience to deal with me and my inability to perform basic mathematical functions. Because I’m fucking useless when it comes to math.”

Todoroki closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them, she could see the amusement dancing across grey and turquoise. “I can’t guarantee that you’ll be any less useless at it, but here’s to hoping we can get you a passing grade.”

She snorted, “You’re a Saint.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, “I do what I can.”

Chapter Text

The week passed by in a blur of half-finished study guides, intense training hosted by a very annoyed Aizawa and overly exuberant All Might, followed by trips to the ice-cream parlor. Word went around pretty quickly after the initial trip to the cute specialty ice-cream shop and pretty soon it had become a group thing after training. In the span of six days Natsumi had gone four times after school with her classmates, she felt absolutely no regret over the amount of ice-cream she had eaten in less than a week.

It was now Saturday and, while her usual plans included training on campus with Shinsou, she had had to cancel with him today in favor of her study session with Todoroki. Guilt knotted in her stomach as she reread the text message she had received from Shinsou in response to her bailing on him, and while it had only been a simple ‘ok’ she knew that the boy wasn’t actually okay with canceling their training.

Maybe this will force him to take a break, he’s been working himself too hard and desperately needs a day to rest and recuperate. Natsumi reasoned with herself in an attempt to rid herself of her own anxiety over letting him down.

But she really needed help with her math review and Todoroki was one of the smartest guys in her class, she would have had to be an idiot to turn down a day of studying with him. I suppose it’s not entirely a day of studying, he seemed pretty keen on training together too.

Currently, she was leaning back against her couch cushions with her legs outstretched in front of her, feet propped against the top of her coffee table. Her phone vibrated on the seat beside her and she found herself tearing her gaze away from the movie that had been playing on her television to glance at the name that lit up her phone screen.

At seeing Todoroki’s name, she pulled her legs away from the coffee table and leaned forward in her seat, phone gripped loosely in her hand as she read over the address he had sent her.

A frown tugged at the corners of her lips, it’s now or never, I guess.

She felt a nervous fluttering in the pit of her stomach that she associated with the growing anxiety that came with the thought of spending an entire afternoon alone with Todoroki. He had assured her on several occasions that Endeavor would not be in the picture whatsoever that day so there really was nothing to worry about. It was just going to be two friends helping each other out for their final exams. But still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen.

Glancing down at the map on her phone that pinged with a ‘you have arrived at your destination’ notification, she bit her lip nervously and stared up at the large traditional-styled Japanese house looming ahead of her. A cobble stone pathway wound its way up towards the ornate wooden exterior of the home and she found herself hesitantly moving towards the door.

Shoving her phone into the pouch of her messenger bag, she brought her hand up and tapped her knuckles against the door to announce her arrival. After a few tense moments of silence where she assumed her knocks had gone unheard, she raised her hand once more. As she was about to knock once more the door slid open to reveal Todoroki.

He regarded her with a soft smile, his crimson and ivory locks slightly disheveled and his breaths coming out in quiet huffs as if he had run through the entire estate to come open the door for her. She quirked a curious eyebrow at his appearance, tilting her head slightly as she stared up at him. He was wearing a plain black v-neck t-shirt and a pair of grey athletic shorts, already prepared for their training.

“Did you start training without me?” Natsumi laughed as he stepped aside to let her in.

For a moment he was quiet, standing in the doorway drinking in her appearance as if for the first time. Well, to him it was the first time he had ever seen her wear something other than her school uniform or a large sweater. Today, Natsumi had decided to wear a long, crimson tank-top with arm holes that extended all the way down to her hips, showing off a fair amount of skin, much more than he was used to seeing of her that was for sure. Underneath her tank top she wore a black sports bra, and rounding off the outfit was a pair of black leggings. Her hair was already tied back in a braid, several wavy wisps of ivory left out to frame her face.

He tore his eyes away from her and shook his head, “No, I was busy helping my sister in the garden when I heard you arrive. I had to run to make it to the door in time.”

So he literally did run across the estate to get here, she chuckled to herself.

She took her shoes off at the door and slipped on the pair of house slippers that her classmate had laid out for her, her eyes immediately wandering to the elaborate, yet traditionally styled woodwork of his home. Natsumi crossed her arms over her chest and self-consciously dug her fingers into her forearms, “Your home is so nice, Todoroki.”

He glanced over at her and shrugged nonchalantly, “Thanks.” It had never really felt like much of a home to him in the first place, the walls were bare, the rooms were cold, and the hallways were empty and quiet. Todoroki typically kept himself locked away in his room for the better part of the day when he was home, only coming out to train alone, or to have dinner with Fuyumi and Natsuo (when he was home from college, that is).

“You ready to get started?” He asked curiously, tilting his head over his shoulder at her and watching in mild amusement as she tore her wonderstruck gaze away from the ornately carved molding lining the tops of the walls.

“Oh, yeah, I’m ready.” She blinked, lips upturning in a small, sheepish, smile at being caught admiring his home once more.

He motioned for her to follow him down the long, narrow hallway, leading her further and further into the compound with each step. She noticed how sparsely decorated the home was, no photos on the wall, no decorative chachkies, no potted plants—nothing that really showed that a family resided there, that the home was actually lived in. An involuntary shiver ran up her spine, goosebumps prickling at her skin as she realized how chilled the air was.

Kind of ironic considering Endeavor’s Hellflame Quirk, She mused.

They took a left turn and ventured down another long hallway making Natsumi wonder just how large the estate truly was as it was beginning to seem never ending. A splash of color caught the corner of her eye and she halted mid-step, turning to face a small shelf that was built into the wall. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be an altar of some sort with various little candles and small offerings surrounding a photo of a small boy with brightly colored crimson hair and vibrant, turquoise eyes staring emotionlessly into the camera.

She must’ve been staring for quite some time, the silence surrounding them was deafening, but even so she still didn’t notice Todoroki’s footsteps drawing closer to her as he realized that she was no longer following and had backtracked to come and get her.

“That was my older brother, Touya.” His voice was quiet, carefully void of any emotion that could give away his true feelings. He stood beside her, peppermint fringe falling into his eyes as he tipped his chin down, angling his face so that he could stare at the photo of the boy, staring out of the gilded picture frame listlessly.

“Was?” The word had left her lips before she had the chance to really think about the implication behind her friend’s words. As soon as it was uttered, she quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in panic as she stared up at the stoic boy beside her, “Ah, I’m sorry!”

Todoroki shook his head, peeling his eyes away from the photo of his brother and meeting her panicked stare with calm heterochromatic eyes, “No need to apologize, it happened a while ago. Touya was training with our old man and there was an accident,” his chest heaved out a quiet sigh, “I was young when it happened and Fuyumi and Natsuo would never tell me exactly what happened.”

Her hand slowly fell away from her lips, dropping back to her side, her brows dipped low, lips tugging into a sympathetic frown, “I’m sure they did what they thought they needed to do to protect you at the time.”

He regarded her quietly for a moment, slowly his lips twitched at the corners, “I was young and don’t have many memories of my siblings from back then, the old man would keep me separated from them because he thought they’d be a distraction from my training. But,” suddenly, a wistful look shone in his eyes, “I do remember that sometimes late at night Touya would sneak into my room and bring me little snacks or trinkets, sometimes he’d even read me a story to lift my spirits. I guess that was his way of trying to show me that things weren’t as bad as they seemed and that I wasn’t alone, even though it felt like it most of the time.”

She stayed quiet, crimson eyes trained on him as he opened up to her about his past. The moment felt intimate in a way that she never expected from Todoroki. He was typically a quiet and reserved person, yet here he was telling her things that she was pretty sure no one else in their class knew of. Her chest constricted and she could feel every palpitation of her heart in that moment, it made her feel special to be let in on something so important, for Todoroki to trust her enough to divulge something so personal and painful to her.

“You must really miss him.” Natsumi’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper as the words tumbled past her lips.

The boy beside her let out a quiet hum, closing his eyes briefly as he attempted to sort out his thoughts before answering her. After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes and met her soft, sympathetic stare, “I think…I miss the thought of having him around. Don’t get me wrong, if I could go back in time and prevent such a tragedy I would. But, as I said, I really don’t have very many memories of him or my other siblings from back then so it’s not like I actually knew him all that well aside from the few times he would seek me out at night to cheer me up and ensure I was okay after a rough day of training.” He brought a hand up, running his fingers through his peppermint locks, a frown marring his face, “That makes me sound horrible, doesn’t it?”

She blinked in surprise, shaking her head, “Not at all! You can’t help how you feel, especially with how you were kept isolated from them, it’s natural and normal that you’d feel that way. If he were still around, you’d be working on your relationship with him, just as you’re doing with your other siblings, and I think that’s probably what bothers you the most; the fact that you won’t ever have that chance with him.”

He considered her words very carefully, a sharp pang of understanding and recognition igniting in his chest as he realized that she had hit the nail right on the head. Todoroki tilted his chin down towards his chest, giving himself a better view of the tiny teen standing before him, watching as her eyes searched his own for any sign that she had maybe stepped over an undisclosed boundary line with her words. His mismatched stare lingered on her form for several, silent moments, drinking in her hopeful yet concerned expression, before trailing down to the nape of her neck where a glint of silver caught his attention. Todoroki blinked, she’s wearing the necklace I got her. The mere thought of her wearing the simple pendant that he had gifted her sent his heart racing at an irregular pace, making him involuntary squint his eyes in surprised confusion at the sensation happening within his chest.

His lips settled into a soft smile as he tore his gaze away from the necklace and let it rest back on her face, “You’re right.”

Natsumi bit the inside of her cheek and rose a brow at his answer, she wouldn’t give him any indication that during his moment of silence she had been quietly squirming on the inside, worried that maybe she had said the wrong thing. He can be so hard to read sometimes, she let out an airy sigh.

“We’ve wasted enough time; we should start our training.” His quiet voice pulled her out of her thoughts once more as he nodded his head towards the path they had originally been on before getting sidetracked by Touya’s altar.

Natsumi bobbed her head in agreement, following closely behind him as he led her back down the hallway before stopping at a wide set of wooden double-doors. He gripped the handle and slid the door open, his hand groped the wall beside them before flicking on the light switch, illuminating the dojo with bright fluorescent light.

It was much bigger than she had anticipated, though considering the grandiose size of the Todoroki compound itself she wasn’t sure why she expected anything less. The floors were inlaid with soft mats, so that the occupants could be as rough with their training as needed without worrying about getting hurt every time their bodies hit the floor. The walls looked as if they were made of wood, but she knew from the conversation she had had with him on her birthday that they must’ve been made from a more resilient material considering that the room was Quirk proof.

Todoroki quietly slid the doors closed behind them, slipping off his house slippers near the entrance and venturing further into the room to begin stretching. Natsumi blinked, sliding the slippers off of her own feet and shuffling towards the boy who was working on a set of toe-touches. She settled in beside him and began her own warm-up routine for the next couple of minutes.

Once they had completed their own personal routines, the two teens took their places on opposite sides of the room and faced each other.

“Quirks or no Quirks?” Natsumi tilted her head to the side as she addressed him, crimson meeting turquoise and grey.

“I am curious to see what you learned during your internship, but maybe we should start with some hand to hand first.” Came his even-toned response, a teasing smile lit up Natsumi’s face, of course he’d be curious, she hadn’t told anyone about her newfound water manipulation abilities and had been rather hush-hush about everything she had learned in general.

She wasn’t sure what lead to her initial decision to keep her new ability under wraps, but now that she had gone this long without giving her classmates a peak at it, she was determined to keep it a secret until she had a firmer grasp on it. Natsumi wanted the final reveal to blow everyone out of the water, metaphorically speaking.

Her head bobbed in a slow nod of agreement, her ivory braid flopping over her shoulder and resting against her chest from the movement. Natsumi and Todoroki both readied themselves, crouching into their own signature defensive positions, alert and ready for the other to make a move.

“Ladies first.”

“Oh, what a gentleman.”

Natsumi took off towards him, her footfalls silent against the mat beneath them and Todoroki was momentarily impressed by how light on her feet she truly was. She was fast, nearly a blur as she cleared the distance between them in record time, Todoroki was quick to block her incoming attack, sending her stumbling back.

She was able to correct her balance just in time to duck under the wide swing of Todoroki’s right arm as he made his move, she popped back up behind him with a grin. Her own fist reeled back as she pushed herself forward, knuckles colliding with the side of his cheek right as he whirled around to face her once more.

A grunt escaped him from the impact, but he was able to shake off the pain that blossomed across his cheek, her hits are harder than the used to be, she’s definitely improved. He swept his leg across the mat in an attempt to knock her on her ass but she was able to leap over it and put some distance between them to catch her breath.

“Running away already?” He taunted lowly, one eyebrow quirked high above the other as he stalked towards her in an uncharacteristically predatory fashion.

Leaning back on her heels, she shot him a mischievous smile, “Not running, just strategizing.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

She danced just out of reach of his extended fist as it crashed through the space beside her, the displacement of air creating a whizzing noise that brushed past her earlobe. Todoroki was quick to recover his momentum, however, sending the two teens into a well-choreographed dance of parries and strikes. In movement, they seemed almost evenly matched, though in brute strength it was quite obvious that Todoroki was still the undisputed victor. Each time he lurched forward with an attack she would quickly bring her arms up in a defensive position but the force behind his strike would send her sliding against the mats beneath her. Natsumi was quick to lock her knees into position to strengthen her stance, though it still wasn’t enough to keep him from pushing her back farther and farther with each hit she took.

A strained grunt left her lips as she defended herself against another attack from the dual-color haired boy, he was relentless with his strikes, not even giving her a moment to compose herself and retaliate. Biting the inside of her cheek, she mulled over her options on how she could get herself out of her current situation. She felt cornered like a mouse in the claws of its feline adversary, Natsumi did not enjoy feeling like prey, regardless if it was just a training exercise between classmates.

With her mind made up, she winked at him, causing Todoroki to falter from his own surprise by her sudden change in demeanor before she blinked out of existence. He lurched forward from the lack of physical contact as their bodies were no longer pushing against each other.

An annoyed huff left his lips as he whirled around in the direction he was certain she had escaped to, “That’s cheating.”

Her voice sounded somewhere off to his left, an amused lilt accentuating her words, “In a real fight against a villain, they’d use any sort of underhanded tactic to get ahead.”

“In that case…” His lips curled into a smirk, he stomped his right foot against the mat and released a glacier that raced forward, encasing everything in its icy prison. He knew that his ice would have nothing to cling to when she was in her intangible state, but with the drastic drop in temperature he knew there would be subtle signs to look for that would pinpoint exactly where she was hiding.

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed in concentration as he surveyed the layout of the room, the ice coating the floor shimmered beneath the fluorescent lighting above, creating an almost whimsical looking scene before him. His own breath plumed out in a tiny cloud of condensation as it escaped his parted lips and made contact with the chilled air around him. Movement caught in his peripheries, while it was incredibly subtle, it registered in the back of his head almost immediately and his smirk grew, almost taunting.

“You can run, but you can’t hide, Kurosawa.” He chuckled as he noticed her breath hanging in the air closer to the left-hand corner of the room. He bit the inside of his cheek, if I can’t touch her with my ice then I’ll have the flush her back out into the open somehow, maybe by turning up the heat…

Todoroki was still hesitant about using his flames in the midst of battle, he was slowly becoming more accustomed to the idea of them, but despite all of his own personal growth over the last couple of months his flames still brought back bad memories. Absently, he brought a hand up to run his fingers through his sweat soaked peppermint fringe, lips settling into a thin line as he narrowed his stare at the corner of the room.

He thrust his left hand forward and allowed a flurry of vibrant flames to dance across the room, quickly enclosing in on the space where he was almost certain she was hiding. The ice was gone in an instant, melting and evaporating in the air, an uncomfortable dry heat settled in and he had to activate his right side to keep himself from overheating.

A startled yelp echoed across the dojo as Natsumi did her best to dodge the onslaught of flames pushing towards her. Trapped with nowhere else to go, she tumbled through the wall of fire and blinked back into existence, panting heavily as she felt the intense heat sear at her back.

“Not fair.” She whined, taking the back of her hand and wiping away the sweat that had coated her forehead and threatened to fall into her eyes, “That could’ve really hurt, you know.”

His eyes softened; a small pocket of guilt expanded in his chest at her words. The boy started walking towards her as the sprinkler system activated, a torrent of water falling around them like a summer storm to put out the fire. The two teens were drenched instantly, Natsumi let out a satisfied hum as the water cooled down her hot skin.

“I was confident in your abilities to find a way out of the situation.” He responded finally, stopping in front of her and holding out a hand to help her to her feet.

She stared up at him through ivory bangs that clung to her face, blinking at the proffered hand before allowing her gaze to trail up to land on his face. Todoroki had his chin dipped towards his chest so that he had a better view of her, his own hair stuck to either side of his face from the constant stream of water falling over them. His clothing was soaked through, clinging tightly to his body and accentuating his toned muscles underneath. Natsumi swallowed hard when she realized she had been staring a little too long and immediately turned her head away from him to avoid his gaze.

His lips pulled back into a smirk as he caught her eyes lingering on his form longer than he was sure she had intended, his eyes lit up in amusement as he watched her cheeks flood with color. Tilting his head, he leaned towards her, “You feeling alright there, Kurosawa?”

A small groan escaped her at his comment, her gaze slid back over to rest on the hand hovering in front of her face and she hesitantly placed her own palm against his and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

She quickly pulled her hand out of his grip as soon as she was steady on her own two feet once more, a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she lurched forward and swept her leg out, knocking Todoroki off balance. His eyes widened in surprise as he tumbled backwards, completely caught off guard by her sudden attack. Todoroki was able to catch himself by jutting his palm out behind himself and launching into a back hand spring to correct his balance and get him back on his feet.

“What a dirty trick.” He chuckled, shaking his head and flinging the excess water clinging to his dual-colored locks every which way. His actions were far quicker than she had anticipated and Natsumi found herself barely dancing out of the way of a right hook, ducking low enough to the floor to be just out of reach of his swing. However, she quickly realized that it had been a bluff and his real retaliation came in the form of him jutting out his leg and sweeping her right off her feet.

The ivory haired girl hit the mat with a harsh thud, kicking her legs out at the last minute and hooking her foot around the back side of his knee, dragging him down with her. Todoroki let out a startled grunt as he was pulled forward, arms shooting out in front of himself to break his fall so that he wouldn’t completely crush her under his weight.

The sprinkler system turned off in that moment after sensing that the room had returned to a normal temperature now that the fire had been extinguished. The center of the floor opened up to reveal a large drain that sucked in the water that had pooled atop the mats while a high-powered fan descended from the ceiling to dry the walls.

The two teens were unaware of everything happening around them, however, as their sole focus was on each other. Natsumi laid stiff as a board beneath the fire and ice wielder, crimson eyes wide and unblinking as she stared up at the boy. His arms held himself inches above her, placed on either side of her shoulders and effectively trapping her beneath his body. One leg fit snuggly between hers while the other rested on the outside of her thigh.

Todoroki’s breath hitched in his throat and he was absolutely certain that she could probably hear his heart beating erratically against his ribcage with how close in proximity they were to each other. He swallowed hard but found that he was unable to tear his eyes away from hers.

Natsumi wasn’t in any better shape, internally she was screaming at herself for being an idiot and getting them into such an awkward situation in the first place all because she refused to lose so easily to him.

His shaggy hair hung around his face like a peppermint curtain, movement caught her attention as excess water collected at the tip of a crimson strand, lingering for a moment before falling and splashing gently against her cheek.

Silence enveloped them save for the sound of their ragged breathing from exerting themselves during training.

Todoroki tore his dual-colored gaze away from her eyes long enough to notice a stray strand of ivory hair clinging to her cheek. Without thinking, he brought a hand up, his knuckles gently brushing against her cheek. In that moment, Natsumi felt the air leave her lungs as his fingers pushed the strand behind her ear, his brows furrowed in concentration.

“Hey Sho?” A gentle voice called out from beyond the door to the training room, effectively pulling both teens out of their trance and sending them scrambling away from each other just as the door slid open to reveal a young woman with a head of ivory hair with crimson highlights. Grey eyes lit up behind a pair of black framed glasses as she took a tentative step into the still partially damp room. Either she was unable to feel the tension of the room or she chose to ignore it, a wide grin spread across her face as her eyes landed on Natsumi, “Oh! You must be Kurosawa-chan! I’ve heard so much about you, I’m so happy to finally have a face to the name, I’m Fuyumi.”

Natsumi blinked, still reeling from the strangely intimate moment she had just shared with Todoroki and now feeling even more caught off guard by how forward and friendly his older sister seemed to be. She wants me to call her by her given name…?

“Ah, it’s nice to meet you too.” Natsumi offered the older woman a lopsided smile as she pulled herself to her feet, inwardly cringing at the feeling of her wet tank-top rubbing against her uncomfortably, “In that case, you can call me Natsu-chan if you’d like.”

Fuyumi excitedly clasped her hands together in front of herself, “You’re even cuter than I imagined!”

The small teen blinked in confusion, staring between Fuyumi and Todoroki, the latter who was staring hard at his sister as if trying to convey something to her with his eyes alone, a light tinge of pink dusting across his cheeks.

“I see you two were going hard with the training,” Fuyumi giggled, giving the two teens a knowing look, “Sho, why don’t you go find something dry for Natsu-chan to change into. And then the both of you can meet me in the dining room, I made lunch.”

Fuyumi tore her eyes away from her brother’s and turned on her heel to leave, there was an extra pep in her step and she was humming a jaunty tune to herself.

As soon as she disappeared down the hallway beyond the training room doors, Natsumi turned to her companion with a raised eyebrow, “So, I was absolutely not expecting your sister to be so…chipper and carefree.”

“Oh?” He turned his head towards her, a curious lilt in his voice.

“Well, yeah. I guess I had this image in my head of her and your brother just both being a combination of you and Endeavor personality-wise.” A light laugh escaped her and she brought a hand up to absently rub at the back of her neck sheepishly at how presumptuous she had been.

“I suppose that would make sense; their upbringing was very different from my own so they were able to experience more than I did.” He shrugged his shoulders, “Fuyumi and Natsuo are…” He scrunched up his nose as he searched for the right word to say, it was a very subtle change in expression, “more optimistic and upbeat. I’m sure you’ll meet my brother eventually and you’ll see what I mean.”

While she was trying to decipher the meaning behind his words, Todoroki had already started towards the door, slipping on his house slippers and turning to wait for her to follow after him. She tilted her head up at him, shuffling towards him and slipping into the guest slippers she had borrowed.

Natsumi followed him down a series of twists and turns before they stopped at another door, he seemed to hesitate for a moment, peering at her over his shoulder. Todoroki bit the inside of his cheek, he had never invited anyone over to see his home, let alone had a girl in his bedroom, this was all new territory for him. Swallowing his uncertainty, he slid open the door to his room and gestured for her to follow him inside.

Crimson eyes scanned the decently sized bedroom, her lips twitching at the corners at how traditional the setup was. In the back corner of the room lay a futon with his bedding neatly folded ontop of it, across the room, closer to the door where they had entered was a dark colored wooden desk with various writing utensils placed delicately next to a stack of stationary. An opened door near the futon gave her a peak of what his bathroom looked like, spacious and clean from what she could tell at the angle she seeing it from. Another dark wooden door was against that same wall but was closed, she assumed that must’ve been his closet.

“So you’re a minimalist, hm? Gotta say I’m not surprised, but I am surprised that you don’t have any Hero merch lying around.” She laughed, “Not even an All Might figurine or poster.”

“I admire him as a Hero, but I’ve never been the type of person to show my appreciation by buying merchandise. I don’t like clutter and anything extra would just end up collecting dust.” He shrugged his shoulders, ambling towards the closed door and sliding it open to reveal a walk-in closet with all sorts of clothing items hanging up, sorted neatly by color and the type of clothing that it was—hoodies all hanging from one side, t-shirts and casual wear next, button-ups and more formal clothing last.

He disappeared inside of his closet, his index finger tapping against his chin in contemplation as he tried to decide what to give her. Todoroki finally decided on a pair of grey sweatpants and a black v-neck tshirt, handing the comfortable clothes to her moments later, “You can change in my bathroom.”

She nodded her head, shuffling into the bathroom and closing the door behind herself so that she could change into the dry clothing he had given her. Her fingers curled around the uncomfortably damp material of her tank top and she quickly pulled it over her head, letting it fall to the floor with a disgusting wet slap. Next, she peeled off her leggings, groaning as her foot got stuck and she nearly toppled over herself trying to stand on one leg while pulling the garment all the way off of herself.

“You okay in there?” Came Todoroki’s amused voice from the other side of the door after he heard the sound of her back thumping against the wall and an irritated grunt escape her.

“Y-yeah hold on.” She called out, embarrassed, as she pulled the dry set of clothing on over her still partially damp undergarments. The sweatpants were not only too wide for her but they were also too long, and she nearly tripped over the bottoms as she took a step forward. Letting out a laugh at how comically large the sweatpants were on her, she quickly pulled on the drawstrings in the waistband as tightly as she could before tying them to secure them around her waist. While it did tighten the top half to keep them up on her hips, there was absolutely nothing she could really do about the drag of the pant legs.

The shirt was large on her as well and fell almost to her knees, when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, she couldn’t help but to let out a snort of laughter at how ridiculous she looked in such oversized clothing. Bringing a hand up to muffle her laughter was when it hit her. The strong, overwhelming scent of campfire smoke and mahogany invaded her senses, she paused and took a step back, leaning up against the bathroom wall and taking in deep breaths of the intoxicating scent that she associated with the boy on the other side of the door.

She felt delirious, basking in the aroma of Todoroki’s clothing draped around her, and she figured that the erratic beating of her heart in her chest and the funny thoughts running through her mind were fueled by the strange interaction they had had before Fuyumi had interrupted. It was all insanely confusing, she had never cared before how any of her classmates smelled to her, or the way they smiled—

Nope. Fuck off. She growled to herself, pulling herself out of her own intrusive and inappropriate thoughts, cheeks ablaze. None of this means anything, things just got a little weird during training, that’s it. I’m not going to think about how good he smells, or the way his eyes soften when he looks my way, or how he saves a smile just for me—ugh. Why. Why are hormones like this? You’re looking too far into things that aren’t there, idiot.

Running a hand through her damp bangs, she exhaled sharply, counting to ten slowly in her head to calm her racing heart before shoving open the door and startling Todoroki who had been leaning against the wall opposite of the bathroom. Grey and turquoise had been transfixed on the floor in front of him until she came barreling out of the bathroom with an annoyed huff, his gaze quickly snapped up and he bit back a small laugh at how she was practically swimming in his clothing.

Cute. He couldn’t help but to think as her attention darted to him and she glared.

“Don’t laugh, you knew they’d be too big, you’re almost a foot taller than me.” Natsumi crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant pout.

“I guess it would’ve made more sense to give you some of Fuyumi’s old clothes to wear instead…” He chuckled, “Should I go ask her to find something else for you to wear?”

She bit her lip and shook her head, even if the t-shirt and sweatpants were too big on her there was a sense of comfort that came with them that she wasn’t ready to give up, “No, it’s fine. This is actually insanely comfortable; you’ll be lucky if I ever give them back.” She shot him a teasing grin.

Todoroki shrugged nonchalantly, “Keep them, then.”

“W-what?” She choked out, not expecting him to say something like that.

“You heard me.” He chuckled, “Fuyumi has lunch ready; we should go before she comes looking for us.”

Natsumi sat next to Todoroki at the table with Fuyumi across from them, an assortment of dishes laid out across the low table in front of them. The elder Todoroki insisted that Natsumi take from the dishes first as she was the guest, once her plate was filled with rice, fried fish, and vegetables did the two Todoroki siblings begin to take their fill as well.

“I’m so happy that I finally got to meet you, Sho has told me so much about you I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to meet you or if he had made you up!” Fuyumi giggled at her own joke, sharing a look with her brother who was silently asking her to drop the subject with his eyes. She, of course, ignored her brother’s wordless pleas, “He doesn’t invite people over often, in fact, this is actually the first time he has ever had anyone over. So you can imagine my surprise when he mentioned that not only was he having a friend over, but that friend was a cute girl from his class.”

“Fuyumi.”

Grey eyes landed on her brother’s pained heterochromatic stare, “Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Sho. I’m just so excited that you’re making friends and finally coming out of your shell.” She apologized, a sheepish smile spreading across her lips.

Natsumi shoved a clump of rice into her mouth, watching the two Todoroki siblings exchange looks back and forth. It was funny how expressive and open Fuyumi was while Todoroki was the complete opposite, watching them interact made her feel lighter, happier, just being around them.

“So, Sho tells me that you interned with Hawks a couple of weeks ago. That must’ve been so exciting, how was it?” Fuyumi seemed genuinely intrigued, leaning forward against the table with a friendly grin, glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose in her excitement to learn more about her little brother’s friend.

The boy beside her continued to chew the piece of fish in his mouth thoughtfully, though Natsumi could tell that he was paying close attention. She hadn’t spoken much about her internship other than when she had originally complained about being on cleanup duty.

She swallowed a bite of fish and smiled, “It was interesting, that’s for sure. He’s a very efficient Hero, gets a lot done in a short amount of time, his work ethic is impressive and honestly, I hope to one day be as accomplished as Hawks.”

Fuyumi beamed, “It’s wonderful that you found someone that you can look up to like that, I can tell that you really appreciate him as a Hero just by the way you speak about him.”

“I definitely learned a lot while with him, he gave me a lot to think about in terms of the different uses of my Quirk that I’m working on incorporating more of in my daily training.” Natsumi absently twirled her chopsticks between her fingers.

Todoroki’s interest was piqued by that, he placed his chopsticks down and turned towards her with a curious gleam in his eyes, “Different uses of your Quirk?”

She blinked, tilting her head to meet his gaze, “Yeah, he made me realize that my Quirk wasn’t what I thought it was. I’m still figuring it out myself, so I’ve been pretty quiet about it because I don’t want to tell everyone about it until I have good enough control over it.”

He nodded, though he didn’t quite understand what she meant by that. Todoroki was curious, he wanted to know what she had learned from Hawks about herself and what she meant when she said that her Quirk wasn’t what she thought it was. Wasn’t it pretty cut and dry? Ice manipulation and her invisible intangibility, what else could there be to it? How could there possibly be another aspect to her Quirk that she hadn’t previously been aware of?

“Sounds like you had a very enlightening internship, I know I can’t wait to see the sort of things you can accomplish with your newfound abilities, once you’re comfortable showcasing them.” The elder Todoroki’s eyes softened, the kindness radiating off of her crashed over Natsumi like a tidal wave, making her throat constrict at the way Fuyumi stared at her as if she was proud of her. Proud of someone she had only met that day.

Natsumi turned back to face Fuyumi, a soft smile pulling at the corners of her lips, “Thank you, Fuyumi-san.”

The rest of the meal passed with idle chatter, mainly between Fuyumi and Natsumi, while Todoroki listened attentively. Afterwards, the two teens sat out in the garden and worked on their study guides together, though they focused mostly on the math section which was what she had the most trouble with. Todoroki was a very patient teacher, going over each equation slowly and explaining how to use each mathematical formula multiple times until she understood how to accomplish the task on her own.

It was sundown by the time Natsumi packed her things and left, bidding the two Todoroki siblings farewell, Fuyumi yelling that she better come back soon and have dinner with them.

I like her. Natsumi had decided that the moment she had met his sister, but the thought was further cemented in place when she received a tight hug from the older woman as she was stepping out to go home.

Thing 2
We miss you Mi-chan! (´,,•ω•,,)♡

Thing 1
Found a place I think you’ll like, meet us here in 30 minutes.

She stared down at the screen of her phone for the hundredth time, running a hand through her loose ivory curls and letting out a quiet sigh. Natsumi knew that meeting them in public was risky, especially if someone she knew happened to walk by and see them together. The twins had worn disguises during the USJ attack but it really didn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together considering that the chances of her knowing another set of twins wasn’t very likely.

The map app that she had used to input the address sent to her dinged with a robotic voice stating ‘you have arrived at your destination’ and she quickly turned the app off and glanced up at the building she had stopped in front of. Large glass windows stood before her, inside she could see various cats lounging about in the rays of sunlight that beamed in from the outside. Crimson eyes widened, a bright smile tugging at the corners of her lips as one cat rubbed itself up against the glass. Natsumi bent her knees to lower herself to its level, tapping her fingers gently against the window to gain the feline’s attention.

“I knew you’d approve of my choice to grab lunch here.” She didn’t even have to turn around to know that Ryou was standing behind her, she could hear the satisfied smirk in his voice.

“They just opened a few weeks ago and I’ve been dying to come and see all the cute kitties, we figured that you’d also appreciate the cozy atmosphere of a cat café too!” Hibiki bounded towards her, light as ever on his feet, and slung an arm across her shoulders as she straightened up to turn and greet them.

Today Hibiki wore a black tank-top beneath a jean vest with various band logos stitched into the dark washed material, a pair of black skinny jeans, and his black and teal Chuck Taylors. A top his head was a dark grey beanie pulled down over most of his shaggy dark hair.

Ryou, on the other hand had his hair pulled back into a messy top-knot, a pair of thin black framed reading glasses sat perched upon his nose. A tight fitted dark grey t-shirt clung to his thin form, paired with form-fitting dark washed jeans, a studded belt, and his black Vans.

She really had to hand it to them, though their outfits were simple, they really did the trick in making them look less recognizable.

“I’m impressed that after all this time you still know exactly what I like.” Her lips pulled back into a smirk, crimson meeting two pairs of silver.

Hibiki pulled her closer to him, dipping his head and speaking lowly against the shell of her ear, “We’ve never forgotten a single thing about you, even after all these years the thought of you is what keeps us going.”

She tilted her head to the side to get a better look at him, raising an eyebrow at his comment, “I’ll just pretend like I believe that,” a teasing laugh escaped her before she gently pushed him away, “enough with the small talk, are we gonna go inside or what?”

The younger twin pouted, following after Natsumi as she breezed through the front door, the tinkling of bells above alerting the staff of her entrance. Hibiki mumbled a forlorn, “But I meant what I said…” as he trailed behind her.

Ryou rolled his eyes, shaking his head at his brother, bringing up the rear of the small group as they were led to a cushioned booth on the far end of the café, far away from the other patrons. Silver eyes softened as he watched Natsumi’s face light up as she took in the cutesy décor and the even cuter furry occupants of the café who meandered lazily around them.

They were seated at the booth, both boys opting to sit next to each other while Natsumi took the empty booth across from them where a large, white cat with piercing green eyes had already taken up residence in the space next to her.

“This is literally the coolest place I have ever been to.” The ivory haired teen declared in all seriousness, causing both boys to share a look before laughing.

“I’m glad that you like it.” The eldest twin smiled softly, his fingers sliding a menu across the table towards her, “I think you’re going to also be impressed by all the cat themed treats they offer as well.”

Her eyes lit up as she glanced down at the menu in front of her, noticing the artsy photos of each menu item, an amused laugh bubbled up within her throat, “Are you kidding me? They have cat shaped donuts and hot chocolate with marshmallows shaped like little cat paws? That is fucking adorable.”

“Isn’t it though?” Hibiki leaned forward across the table, lips split into an excited grin, “They also have a pudding that’s molded into the shape of a fat little cat that I cannot wait to try.”

A little while later a waitress stopped by with hot chocolates for Natsumi and Hibiki, a large white marshmallow in the shape of a paw print with pink toe beans floated a top the dark, creamy liquid. Ryou had opted for a latte, a cute little cat face drawn with steamed milk greeted him when he pulled the mug closer to himself.

A plate of donuts in the shape of cat faces sat in the center of the table, all glazed in various colored frostings with sprinkles for eyes, little mouths drawn in icing, and little pointed ears poking out of the top of the pastry.

“Mi-chan let’s take a cute picture together~!” Hibiki whipped out his phone, grabbing one of the donuts and moving around the table to slide in next to her, making the sleepy cat that he been napping on the spot beside her to let out an annoyed mewl before hopping down.

The younger twin put his camera in selfie-mode and held out his arm to get a better angle of the two of them. Natsumi snatched a donut from the center of the table and they both turned it so that it’s little face was also facing the camera, both teens gave cheesy grins to the camera and snapped the photo.

“You know,” Ryou’s chin rested against his fist, elbow pressed against the table top as he watched the two across from him with a fondness that was solely reserved for them and them alone, “you could have just asked me to take the picture rather than raising your phone at odd angles.”

“Psh, where’s the fun in that? Besides, now we know which angles work best for us.” Natsumi shrugged, taking a bite out of the side of her blueberry glazed donut and sighing in satisfaction as the flavor burst against her taste buds.

Hibiki pulled his plate from across the table towards him, deciding that he was going to stay seated next to his best friend for the remainder of their stay. The pudgy cat-shaped white chocolate pudding jiggled from the movement, he nudged Natsumi and pointed towards the wiggly treat, both teens laughing at how absurdly cute it was.

“Why do I always feel like a babysitter when I’m with the two of you?” Ryou’s amused comment made the other two laugh even harder.

“Don’t even pretend that you don’t fucking love it.” Natsumi teased, loose ivory curls falling over her shoulder as she leaned forward to snatch another donut off the plate after finishing her first one.

The elder twin rolled his eyes, though could not hold back the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips, “Damn, you caught me.”

“Oh, we should get a picture with all three of us in it.” Hibiki pointed a finger at his brother and curled it to beckon him over, “We can ask one of the servers to take it for us, that way we don’t have to do all the angle bullshit since it upsets you so much.” His voice was light and teasing towards the end, lips pulled back into a small smirk as his brother rolled his eyes.

The three decided to move away from their booth and sit on a plush couch that was up against the far side of the café, a seven-foot-tall cat tree next to it and multiple cats lazing around and grooming themselves. Ryou called over one of the servers and she was more than happy to oblige and take their photo. Hibiki sat on the left of Natsumi, Ryou on the right, and each of them had pulled a cat into their laps for the photo—Hibiki and Natsumi grinning eagerly while Ryou offered a subtle smile, barely noticeable save for the slight upturn of the corners of his lips.

“Look how cute we are, this is definitely going to be my new background.” Hibiki declared, setting the photo as has wallpaper immediately.

They migrated back to their table, taking the cats in their laps along with them so that they could continue to give the purring felines more attention. The three continued to chat and snack on pastries for another hour before Natsumi decided that she should head home and work on her homework.

“We should do this more often.” Hibiki tilted his head, eyes shining hopefully.

She glanced over at him as the trio excited the café, her fingers absently fiddling with the bracelet wrapped around her wrist, “I…think I’d like that. I have finals coming up so my free time is going to be pretty nonexistent, but we can figure something out.”

Ryou’s interest was piqued by the mention of her final exams, his lips curling into a smirk as he leaned forward, “Oh? Well, perhaps we’ll have more time over the summer to be together since you won’t be worried about that hero school of yours.”

An uneasy feeling briefly overcame her, her eyes hesitantly rose to meet penetrating silver, she bit the inside of her cheek before quickly doing her best to squash the anxiety slowly creeping over her, “Maybe, though just because it’ll be summer doesn’t mean that I’ll be slacking on my training. But, I think, I should have a little more time on my hands to make plans.”

“That’s all I needed to hear!” Hibiki leaned back on the balls of his feet, “Oh, I’ll start making a list of all the things we’ll have to do this summer together! Of course, the beach will be at the top of the list, and I think a trip to Disney is in order too, oh! We should go to the aquarium!”

Her eyes widened and she found herself nodding eagerly at the thought of visiting the aquarium and seeing her favorite sea creatures. Natsumi laughed at her friend’s easily excitable disposition, “Sounds like a plan, you work on that list, alright?”

The three teens exchanged hugs and words of goodbye before parting ways, heading in opposite directions. As soon as she was far enough away from them she let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she had been holding, I know I shouldn’t worry, or maybe I should? But the look in Ryou-nii’s eyes… She shook her head, I’m overthinking things, it was nothing.

Chapter Text

The wind whipped past her cheeks, leaving a stinging red in its wake. Strands of ivory were pulled from the tight braid flopping against her back from the quick, harsh movements she was making as she darted from tree branch to tree branch to outmaneuver her opponent. Natsumi tried her best to focus and steady her breathing in a way that wouldn’t give away her location, but she couldn’t deny the burning in her lungs or the stitch forming in her abdomen that begged her to stop and take a break.

They had been running around for almost an hour now, her taking to the treetops pretty early on in their game of cat and mouse in an attempt to throw him off her trail. But he was so fast, much more so than when they had first started training together and she was impressed by his personal growth in stamina, endurance, and strength.

“Did I give you permission to train on school grounds without supervision, Kurosawa?” The sound of her homeroom teacher’s disappointed and stern drawl took her by surprise and she slowed her pace, angling her head over her shoulder with a confused ‘huh?’

Suddenly, she felt a tight grip wrap around her ankles, yanking them together and causing her to lose her balance. A startled yelp escaped her as she tumbled off the side of the branch she had been running along, the ground was coming up fast and she did the only thing she could think of to break her fall without the use of her legs—she held her arms out in front of herself, knowing full well that she’d likely break them.

But the impact never came.

She opened her eyes, unaware of when she had even closed them to begin with, and realized with an annoyed groan that she was strung upside down, dangling precariously in the air with her ankles tied together by a very familiar grey scarf.

“That was low.” She growled out as Shinsou lowered his artificial vocal cord mask and sauntered towards her with a satisfied smirk, reaching forward and allowing his fingers to curl around the bells hooked to her waistband before yanking them away. He dangled them triumphantly in front of her face.

“You’re just mad that you fell for it.” A teasing chuckle escaped his parted lips as he leaned forward, admiring his handiwork with his capture weapon and how Natsumi was perfectly strung up and swaying back and forth in the breeze.

She groaned irritably, “I am, I should know better by now.” She was beginning to feel lightheaded from hanging upside down for an extended period of time, blinking back the involuntary tears that formed at the corners of her eyes from the discomfort, “Alright, you win, now let me down.”

“You sure you want down? This is such a good look for you.” Shinsou’s face was mere inches away from her’s now, amusement dancing across his indigo stare as he watched her expression go from annoyed to flustered in record time.

“I—w-what?” She stuttered, eyes wide.

“Relax,” He laughed, fingers gripping a loose strand of sturdy material of his weapon and yanking on it, immediately it began to unravel from the tree branch above, sending Natsumi plummeting the final three feet to the earth below her. She let out an ‘oof’ from the impact, landing unceremoniously in a pile of tangled limbs loosely woven together with his capture weapon.

Class 1-A had spent the previous three days slumped over their desks with fingers cramped from continuously writing essays and working out long mathematical equations. They were finally finished taking their written exams and were feeling much lighter and optimistic now that they were so much closer to summer vacation. All that stood in their way was their practical, which they had heard from Class 1-B would be a fight against the same robots from the entrance exam. All in all, Class 1-A was feeling pretty confident about their upcoming fights.

Natsumi felt a vibration from within her jacket, curious, she dipped her fingers into her pocket and pulled out her phone to see who had texted her. An eyebrow rose at the name that appeared on her screen and she scrunched up her nose in confusion, she hadn’t heard from her mentor since internships had concluded.

Big Bird
Heard your final exam practical was today, good luck, chickadee! 😉

“Everything alright, Kurosawa?” To her right, Todoroki tilted his head as he noticed her expression change into one of bewilderment as soon as she pulled out her cellphone.

She blinked, tearing her eyes away from the text message from Hawks and meeting the curiously concerned eyes of her seatmate. A light tinge of pink dusted over her cheeks and she nodded her head, shoving her phone into the bag beside her desk instead of back into her pocket, “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just Hawks wishing me good luck today for some reason.”

Tokoyami’s head perked up from the other side of the room as he caught what she had said and turned in her direction, “He sent you a message as well?”

Natsumi nodded in affirmation, shrugging her shoulders to show that she was just was confused as he was about the entire thing.

“And that’s concerning to you?” Todoroki asked slowly, observing her carefully.

She propped her elbow against her desk top and plopped her chin against her fist boredly as she angled herself to look at the boy beside her, “Well, yeah. I haven’t heard from him since the end of our internship. Why would he even care about our final exam anyway?”

He seemed to think it over for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, unsure of what to say as he didn’t know much about the Winged Hero or his personality to know whether it really was as strange for him to text out of the blue like that as she was making it out to be.

Before any further conversation could be had, Aizawa slid open the door and shuffled inside, his hands dug deep into the pockets of his dark trousers, “With the written portion of the exam out of the way, that just leaves the practical for you to complete. I hope you have taken every constructive criticism given to you to heart and have learned from every mistake pointed out to you because today’s test won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Now, go change into your Hero Costumes and meet me out at the Center Plaza.”

Upon arriving at the Center Plaza as their homeroom teacher had instructed, they were met by a group of Pro Heroes, most of which taught a class or two at Yūei, however there were two anomalies that stirred up even more confusion than what was already being felt. Hawks teetered back and forth on the balls of his feet, brilliant crimson wings tucked neatly against his back, his lips painted with his signature cocky smirk as he surveyed the group of students gathered before him. Beside him, stood Endeavor, flames ablaze in an intimidating fashion, though he looked just as miserable as ever as if he questioned why he was even there to begin with.

Todoroki was glaring holes into the side of his father’s head, fists clenched at his sides.

From the corner of her eye, Natsumi spotted a familiar head of lilac locks and turned fully to the boy making his way towards her class. She furrowed her brows in confusion, tilting her head slightly, “Shinsou? What’re you doing here?”

Indigo met crimson as he sidled up beside her with a smirk, but before he could give her an answer Aizawa cleared his throat and drew their attention to him.

Aizawa stood at the forefront of the group of assembled pros, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his trousers, “We will begin the practical exam momentarily. Keep in mind that it is possible to fail this exam, so if you are interested in attending the training camp this summer then don’t make any stupid mistakes.”

Jirou raised an eyebrow, “There are a lot of teachers here…”

“I expect that you all have gathered information ahead of time and have some idea of what you’ll be up against today.” Aizawa continued, lips drawn into a tight line as he surveyed his class and Shinsou.

Kaminari grinned, leaning back and clenching his fists in excitement, “We’re fighting robot warriors, just like during our entrance exam, right?”

Ashido joined in, pumping her fists in the air, “Fireworks! Smores! Test of courage! Here we come!”

“Too bad!” The voice of Principal Nezu immediately silenced Kaminari and Ashido’s excited cheering, all eyes were suddenly on Aizawa, or more specifically the capture weapon loosely wrapped around his neck as it began to wiggle. Suddenly, out popped their furry principal, “For various reasons, the exam will be different this year!”

Various sounds of surprise escaped the students of class 1-A as they watched their principal pop out of the thick scarf around their homeroom teacher’s neck. Once out of his hiding place, Nezu maneuvered himself so that he was sitting on the tired Erasure Hero’s shoulder.

“Has he been in there this whole time…?” Natsumi wondered out loud.

“Different?” Yaoyorozu questioned, lips pursed together.

“How so?” Tokoyami was just as puzzled as the rest of the class.

Nezu went on to explain his point as he slowly slid down Aizawa’s shoulder by using one end of his capture weapon, as he neared the ground Thirteen reached out and helped him steady himself on his feet, “Well, from now on we want to focus primarily on person-to-person combat and hero work, this will give you a better representation of what a real fight will be like. So,” He leaned forward, a shadow falling over her face as his little lips pulled back into a devious smirk, “we will have you form teams of two and fight against one of the Pro Heroes you see here.”

Natsumi’s eyes widened at the revelation and she involuntarily swallowed the nervous pooling of saliva that had gathered on the tip of her tongue. Anyone but Hawks or Endeavor, please, please. She desperately pleaded in her head, hoping that her thoughts would somehow speak her wish into existence. The thought of fighting against the Winged Hero, aptly dubbed the fastest man in all of Japan, sent her stomach churning…though not as much as the thought of being pitted against the man who had destroyed her family.

“The pairs and their opponents have been chosen ahead of time and were determined at my discretion based on various factors including, but not limited to; fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships.” Aizawa explained, slouching forward and scrutinizing the panicked expressions his students donned, “Furthermore, I’m sure you may have noticed the addition of class 1-C’s Shinsou Hitoshi amongst your ranks today.”

Several murmurs rose from the gathered students, all eyes turning to the lilac haired boy who kept his head forward and gaze locked on Aizawa’s, doing his best to ignore the uncomfortable attention he was receiving.

Their homeroom teacher continued, “The other teachers and I carefully considered every variable when deciding how today’s exam should be executed. As it stands, there is an odd number of students in your class which would mean that either one of you would take the exam alone or there would need to be a team of three—both options are unfair and irrational. Shinsou will be placed on one of your teams, I urge you to not underestimate him because he isn’t in the Hero Course as he has been working around the clock to train and better himself over the past month and a half.”

Natsumi lips curled back into a lopsided smirk and she playfully nudged the indigo eyed boy in the side with her elbow, his hand shot up, fingers tangling into the lilac strands at the base of his neck in a sheepish manner.

“We realize that the Heroes standing before you have years of experience under their belts and are leagues ahead of you in strength and strategic thinking. Now, to combat this severe disadvantage that you are facing being pitted against them, each Hero will be handicapped by Quirk suppressing weights that will more or less slow them down and weaken their Quirks to an extent.” Nezu tilted his head, his paws gesturing towards the thick metallic anklets and bracelets that each of the Heroes wore. He bounced on the balls of his feet, pulling out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, “In order to pass, you’ll need to either reach the exit or get these handcuffs on your Hero within the allotted time.”

Aizawa noticed how several of his students sent uneasy glances in Shinsou’s direction, he had an inkling that it wasn’t because they were nervous about his Quirk, but were worried about his lack of training coming from the General Studies course. He was quick to dispel their worries, “The team that Shinsou joins will have an added handicap, keep in mind that this is also doubling as his final exam for the semester as well so he will be working just as hard to pass as the rest of you. Now, on to the matchups.”

The Erasure Hero pulled out a piece of crinkled notebook paper, unfolded it and smoothed it out to the best of his ability before reading through the pairings.

Aoyama and Uraraka vs. Thirteen
Koda and Jirou vs. Present Mic
Kaminari and Ashido vs. Nezu
Mineta and Sero vs. Midnight

Mineta let out an appreciative howl, his eyes bugging out of his head and a long string of saliva spilling from the corners of his lips as he elbowed Sero in the side and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively while staring pointedly at the 18+ Hero.

Ojirou and Iida vs. Powerloader
Satou and Kirishima vs. Cementoss
Hagakure and Shoji vs. Hawks

Natsumi breathed a sigh of relief, ecstatic that she wasn’t going up against the Winged Hero, there was no way she could keep up against him. Though, with the list of Heroes left available quickly dwindling, a new knot began to form in the pit of her stomach in anticipation of who she might be paired with. Her crimson gaze warily danced across the remaining heroes that had yet to be called and she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

Shinsou and Tokoyami vs. Ectoplasm
Bakugou and Midoriya vs. All Might

She could literally see Midoriya’s soul leave his body as his matchup was announced, his body trembling from anticipation and fear of the beating that was surely to come—not only from All Might, but from his teammate as well. The ash blonde had a dangerous smirk plastered across his face, his fists clenched in excitement at his side.

Todoroki and Yaoyorozu vs. Aizawa
Kurosawa and Asui vs. Endeavor

There it was.

Natsumi suddenly found herself unable to breathe, eyes locked on to cold, narrowed turquoise. The only sound that she could register was the beating of her heart against her eardrums, she didn’t even realize that she was shaking until she felt a warm hand grip her shoulder tightly and lead her away.

Todoroki’s brows were tightly knit together, his lips parted and she found herself focusing on the way they moved, forming words that she couldn’t comprehend in her mind’s hazy state.

“…sawa…hear…me…?” His voice sounded disjointed, almost staticky as only fragments of what he was trying to say to her actually reached her ears.

Natsumi was stuck in her own head, visions of flames hot enough to melt flesh from bones in seconds, her parents faces, and their collective screams and pleas for mercy flashed through her mind. Of course, she hadn’t been there or even seen the actual event on the television, but over the years her imagination had created a very detailed visual representation of what she thought had happened during their final moments.

Is he going to finish the job? She found herself wondering. This is a school proctored event but…even with those Quirk suppressing bindings I’m sure his power is still unmatched in intensity and sheer heat, he could easily…

The boy standing before her now had both hands on her shoulders, tightly gripping her and shaking none too gently, his brow pinched in concern as his eyes searched her vacant ones for any sign that she was there with him. Physically she was, but mentally she was far away.

“Snap out of it!” His voice was low and gravelly, the harsh timbre snapping her out of her own head though it took her a few seconds to get her bearings.

Natsumi blinked wearily, “S-sorry, what were you saying?”

Todoroki squinted his eyes, scrutinizing her for a moment before removing his hands from her shoulders, “I know you’re nervous about your fight, and you have every right to be. He won’t hesitate to use his abilities at max power regardless of the fact that this is a school mandated event and not an actual fight against villains.”

She frowned, “Trust me, I know.”

He bit the inside of his cheek, realizing he was still close enough to smell the vanilla and lavender scent of her shampoo, Todoroki swallowed hard and took a step back to put some space between them. He still couldn’t believe that they had asked his father to take part in this exercise, out of all of the heroes and especially the ones employed at Yūei…they had to ask him.

“Kurosawa.”

“Hm?”

“Be careful.” He knew that that went without saying, she of all people knew how dangerous Endeavor was, but he felt the need to reiterate and emphasize his need for her to stay safe.

Her lips twitched into a lopsided grin, but he noticed quickly that it didn’t reach her eyes, “I will.”

Todoroki’s gaze hardened, his mind reeling with all sorts of worse case scenarios that could come of her upcoming fight, “He’s not the type of person to take into consideration the lives on the other end of his flames when he’s all fired up and the cameras are off.”

Natsumi bit her lip, raising a hand so that she could absently play with the end of her braid, twirling the loose ivory wisps between her fingers, “I’ll be careful, I promise. I think my best strategy is going to be to make it to the exit and not engage, as much as I want to punch him in his stupid face, I don’t think I could get close enough to land a hit on him.”

“Don’t even entertain the thought of fighting him, just get yourself to that exit as quickly as you can.”

She blinked, somewhat startled by the seriousness in his tone of voice coupled with the way he was staring her down, expectantly and awaiting her confirmation that she would refrain from any sort of attempt at fighting Endeavor.

“Todoroki are you…worried about me?” Her lips pulled back into a cheeky grin, though she couldn’t deny the way her heart stuttered in her chest at the thought.

He knew that she was capable of taking care of herself, that wasn’t the issue, and had they chosen any other Hero for her to go up against he wouldn’t have been making such a big deal out of it. But they had chosen his old man; a man who had no qualms about destroying his own family let alone someone elses, someone who had difficulties reigning in his own temper and often let it flare out of control when provoked, the very man who she had vowed to take revenge upon all those years ago. So, yes, he was worried about her and the outcome of her fight against his old man.

“I’m more worried that he won’t be able to control himself or differentiate between this being a mock fight for educational purposes as opposed to a real fight where it’s appropriate for him to go all out.” Todoroki answered honestly with a frown.

“Yo! There you are, chickadee!” The sound of Hawks’ exuberant trill had both teens turning their heads in the direction his voice had come from, Natsumi tilting her head in confusion and Todoroki staring impassively at the Winged Hero.

“You were looking for me?” She asked curiously, raising a brow as he sauntered up to the two teens, a bright grin plastered on his face as he stopped a foot or so away from her.

Bright red wings were stretched out behind him in an impressive display, his feathers fluffed up and twitched slightly in the passing breeze. He planted his hands firmly against his hips and leaned forward, “I figured that part was obvious, little bird.” Hawks chuckled, his piercing golden gaze sliding over to Todoroki briefly before meeting her stare head on, “I wanted to wish you good luck against Endeavor and to remind you of your training, kid.”

“My…” She paused, squinting her eyes in contemplation over his words. Why would she need to be reminded of her training? She’d been training at Yūei for an entire semester already, all of that progress wasn’t just going to be forgotten in the matter of—oh. Her lips tugged into a lopsided smile, “Of course, I can’t wait to show you how much I’ve improved.”

He smirked, golden eyes sharp and focused solely on his former intern, noting the surge of confidence that she suddenly exuded as she figured out the meaning behind his words. Hawks was looking forward to watching her fight the most, curious to see how much stronger her newfound abilities had become since he’d last seen her over a month ago. He ran a hand through his wind-swept blonde locks, all the while maintaining eye contact with Natsumi, “I’m looking forward to it. Douse those flames, little bird.”

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed at the Pro Hero’s choice of words, his mismatched gaze jumping back and forth between Hawks and Natsumi as they seemed to be referring to an unspoken secret. He quickly picked up on the change in her demeanor that had been brought on by the short conversation between her and the Winged Hero. A knot was quickly forming in the pit of his stomach as he took in her confident stance, the grin on her face, and the way flames danced behind her crimson stare. Did she forget our entire conversation that easily? He wondered with a frown.

Hawks’ eyes flickered over to Todoroki and the boy rose an unimpressed eyebrow at him, causing the Winged Hero to chuckle, “The first match is about to start, better head over to the viewing area, kiddos.”

The blonde ended up walking with the pair back to the rest of their class, much to Todoroki’s chagrin because that meant that he was unable to ask Natsumi about her conversation with the pro hero. He had a feeling that Hawks had done that on purpose, which left a sour taste in the peppermint haired boy’s mouth.

“Alright, see ya, chickadee! Kick some ass, yeah?” Hawks gave her a two fingered salute before flapping his wings and taking off to get ready for his match which would be taking place soon.

First up was Satou and Kirishima against Cementoss. Their strategy was to face the Pro Hero head on, activating their quirks and rushing at the walls of cement that were blocking their path. They had a strong start, bursting through every obstacle with ease, but it soon became apparent that they were reaching their limits and their opponent wasn’t even close to breaking a sweat yet.

In their exhaustion, they were unable to fight their way out of the cement dome that Cementoss encased them in and promptly passed out, thus failing their practical.

“What? No way! It’s already over?!” Kaminari cried out in shock, eyes glued to the television screens that broadcasted the match.

“Oh dear, it’s only the first match and I already have work to do.” Recovery Girl let out a tired sigh, jumping down from her perch in the corner of the room as soon as the match ended, shuffling towards the exit to go to the arena where Kirishima and Satou were.

The television screens flickered to the next arena which appeared as a two tiered coliseum of sorts with stone pillars encircling the area, Ectoplasm stood at the center of the open arena facing off against Tokoyami and Shinsou.

In the blink of an eye, the duo was surrounded by a over a dozen of Ectoplasm’s clones. Shinsou hardened his stare, indigo eyes bouncing across each enemy as his mind worked overtime to come up with a strategy. Tokoyami stood beside him, Dark Shadow raising up behind his host and pounding a shadowy fist into his palm threateningly.

“You’re pretty close with Shinsou-kun, right?” Midoriya didn’t dare to tear his eyes away from the television screen, afraid that he’d miss a pivotal moment in the battle.

Natsumi shrugged her shoulders, hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket, “I suppose you could say that, why?”

“I was just curious to know your prediction for the battle, based on your knowledge of his Quirk and his fighting abilities.” The boy angled his chin so that he could give her his attention while still keeping an eye on the screen in front of him, his messy curls falling into his eyes from the motion.

She didn’t even have to think about her answer for long, “I think he’s got a good shot at victory; he’s been training hard since the Sports Festival so naturally he’s a lot stronger and much more confident in his actions now. Plus, he’s got a better handle over his support items too.”

Todoroki shifted his weight, standing on the other side of Natsumi and listening to her conversation with Midoriya. His lips downturned into a small frown as she complimented the lilac haired Brainwasher, he turned his attention back to the screen just as multiple clones pushed forward with the intent to attack the two teens.

Dark Shadow let out an ear-piercing screech, surging forward with his shadowy claws outstretched and slashing wildly at several of the clones that dared to get close enough. He was able to dispel several enemies in one fell swoop, but was disappointed when more appeared in their place.

Shinsou narrowly dodged a double attack from two clones, before swinging his leg around and connecting it with the chest of one of his attackers. The clone dissipated, leaving behind a fine mist that soon evaporated as well.

The fight continued like this for a few minutes before it seemed as if Shinsou and Tokoyami both realized that they needed to work together if they wanted to pass. The class gathered in the viewing area watched as Shinsou swung himself up towards the second level of the arena using his capture weapon while Dark Shadow lifted Tokoyami off the ground so that he may join his teammate.

“They should have an advantage now that they’re on higher ground.” Midoriya mumbled, eyes glued to the screen.

They couldn’t hear what was being said on screen, but Tokoyami and Shinsou both looked as if they were having a serious discussion, huddled next to each other while keeping a close eye on the figures below them. The two teens nodded at each other, their signal to begin whatever plan they had come up with.

Dark Shadow swelled in size, swooping over the precipice they were perched on and weaving in and out of the space in between the clones below. It was hard to tell which one was the real Ectoplasm, so Dark Shadow made his way to the center of the arena before swinging his wide, sharp claws in a circular motion in rapid succession, destroying many of the clones in the process.

Shinsou’s sharp eyes watched the scene from above, calculating his next move with skilled precision, just waiting for the slightest change in movement from the enemy down below.

Suddenly, his lips curled into a smirk and he swung himself over the ledge, fingers gripping his capture weapon tightly before swinging it towards his target. The thick fibers of the weapon wrapped around Ectoplasm, while Tokoyami darted around the second level of the arena before dropping down behind the Pro Hero, digging the handcuffs out of his pocket and slapping them against the wrists of their captive.

“I knew you could do it.” She breathed out quietly, feeling an immense wave of pride surge through her as Shinsou and Tokoyami’s victory was announced and they worked to unwrap Ectoplasm from his bindings.

The next couple of matches passed by without much incident; Aoyama and Uraraka winning against Thirteen, Jirou and Kouda outsmarting Present Mic by sending a hoard of insects after him, Kaminari and Ashido unfortunately failing against principal Nezu who took the whole scenario far too seriously, Shoji and Hagakure were both captured by Hawks’ feathers in under 5 minutes, thus failing their exam.

Natsumi knew that her match was fast approaching and made the decision to slip out of the viewing room and to go prepare herself for her upcoming fight.

“Are you ready, kero?” Tsuyu tipped her chin back, the tip of her tongue poking out from between her lips, a habit that she seemed to not even realize that she had.

After leaving the viewing room Natsumi had run into her partner for the exam and they had decided to strategize, agreeing that it was in their best interest to aim for making it to the exit as opposed to going up against Endeavor. They were not only outmatched in strength, but his flames put both girls at a severe disadvantage and would dry Tsu’s amphibious skin out as well as melt any ice attack that Natsumi might throw his way.

The ivory haired teen smiled wryly, “As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

They stood at the entrance to their arena which was essentially a desert wasteland; sand for as far as the eye could see, peppered with dilapidated buildings and crumbling concrete walls here and there. The heat was dry and intense and Natsumi could already feel her skin prickle with beads of sweat.

We’re in trouble. She thought in a panic, realizing that the air was too dry to be able to pull any significant amount of moisture from it, I’ll need to use my Quirk sparingly…

Kurosawa and Asui vs. Endeavor START! A robotic voice sounded over an intercom, echoing across the barren wasteland before them.

The two girls exchanged a glance before skirting along a crumbling stone wall, keeping their bodies low to avoid potentially being seen by their opponent. They kept quiet, bodies pressed as close to the stone as possible, sand crunching beneath their feet.

After several minutes of staying out of sight by dodging around the back side of buildings, they found themselves staring out at a large open area with nothing to hide behind.

“We’ve been walking straight for the last five minutes but…we don’t actually know if this is the direction that the exit is in.” Natsumi frowned, crimson eyes scanning their surroundings, narrowing in suspicion, “Also…there’s been no sign of Endeavor and that doesn’t bode well with me.”

Tsuyu nodded sagely beside her, peeking her head around the ice-wielder to take a look at the desert that stretched out before them, “I think we should get to higher ground, or at least one of us should to have a better vantage point to see where the exit is, kero.”

“Good idea, how about you go high and I’ll go low and cover you.” Natsumi was thankful to her Quirk for keeping her body cool despite the dry heat, though her skin still felt sticky with a thin layer of sweat and she mentally cursed herself for wearing her full Hero Costume, winter coat and all.

Tsuyu nodded before turning to face the stone wall that had been to their backs, she planted her palms against the building and used the sticky secretions from her skin to safely climb up the face of the wall. She perched herself at the top, using a hand to shield her eyes from the unforgiving sun like a visor, peering out at the vast landscape before her. Dark eyes landed on a clearly labeled exit on the far side of the arena, she tilted her head down to let Natsumi know when a low whoosh sound caught her attention, followed by an intense blaze of heat at her back.

Natsumi barely had time to react, erecting a large wall of ice to block the flames from enveloping her teammate. The dark-haired girl quickly jumped off the ledge and joined Natsumi down below as a spray of melted ice rained down upon them, cooling their flushed skin.

“That was a close call.” Tsuyu swallowed hard, dragging the other girl along behind her as they skirted along the edge of the broken-down building. They could hear Endeavor’s heavy footfalls as he searched the area for the two girls, occasionally letting out a low grumble of frustration when he’d turn a corner and they were nowhere to be seen.

“Did you see where the exit was located?” Natsumi whispered to her partner while glancing around the surrounding area in search of their enemy.

Tsuyu bobbed her head, tapping her index finger to her chin, “It’s straight that way, but the field is completely open between here and there. We’ll have to make a run for it and I’m concerned that Endeavor will be able to catch us quickly if we do that.”

“Fuck.” Natsumi growled, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, the thought of having to engage in battle with the Number Two Hero was terrifying but was starting to feel like it was the only way for them to make it out of this mess.

Tsuyu frowned, watching the girl beside her clench and unclench her fists at her side while gnawing on her lip nervously. It was no secret that Endeavor had been the Pro Hero who had ended the terrifying reign of Hydra and Spectre nearly three years prior. And while all of Japan had breathed a sigh of relief at the untimely demise of the two villains, Tsuyu knew that, villains or not, it must not have been easy for Natsumi to lose her parents in such a horrific way. Being paired against the very man who had changed her life so drastically must have sent her mind reeling, Tsuyu couldn’t even imagine what sort of thoughts must’ve been bouncing around the inside of her head.

“Natsu-chan, we need to come up with a plan.” She spoke evenly, placing a comforting hand on the other girl’s shoulder to pull her out of her thoughts.

The soft gesture startled Natsumi to the point where she bit down too hard on her lip, instantly tasting bitter copper coating her tongue. Crimson eyes slid to rest on her teammate, “Sorry. You’re right, I’m just not seeing a way out that doesn’t involve going head to head with Endeavor.”

As Tsuyu opened her mouth to respond, her partner’s eyes widened a fraction before she moved into action and shoved the dark-haired teen roughly out of the way.

Tsuyu grunted but was able to correct her balance and hop away as a wall of flames scorched the earth before her. Her eyes widened as she watched Natsumi narrowly dodge a flaming fist that connected with the stone wall at her back, mere inches from where her head had previously been.

Natsumi stumbled forward ungracefully before taking off in a sprint in the direction that Tsuyu had indicated where the exit was earlier. The amphibious teen felt her feet move before her mind had time to process what was happening, leaping in the opposite direction of her partner but still making her way towards the exit. Maybe it was best that they took different paths with the same end goal in mind, Endeavor wouldn’t be able to focus on both of them that way.

Of course the Pro Hero went after the ivory haired teen as if he had some sort of score to settle, flames burst forth around him in a dangerous medley of orange and red that brought with it such an intense heat that Natsumi could feel her costume sticking to her body from the amount of sweat that was pouring down her back.

“Running away like a coward, I see.” Endeavor’s low baritone voice hit her ears and she felt her anger spike at his words, she had to remind herself that he was merely trying to get a rise out of her so that she’d screw up.

“Even a seasoned Pro should know that it’s okay to fall back and regroup when you’re outmatched.” She answered easily, glancing over her shoulder at him. Big mistake.

In her moment of distraction, he was able to send a wall of flames out to encircle the two of them, trapping her in an instant.

“That is very true, too bad your partner left you behind. Poor little mouse, you have nowhere else to go, admit your defeat and maybe I’ll allow you to walk out of this unscathed.” He chuckled, slowing his pace down to a walk, his entire demeanor feeling like a threat on her life and in that moment, she forgot that this was a school exam—she felt trapped, frightened by the thought of being burned alive by his Hellfire.

She clenched her teeth, eyes narrowed at the man before her as he stared her down with cold, taunting turquoise eyes. Natsumi was afraid, but despite that fear she wanted to win, above all else, and show him that she was nothing like her parents regardless of how he viewed her to be the spitting image of them.

“I’ll give you until the count of three to forfeit before I end this.” His voice rumbled from deep within his chest, lips twisted into a smirk as he took in her frightened appearance. She looked like a meek little lamb, cowering in fear before him, which gave him great pleasure. At least she finally knows her place.

“One.”

Natsumi grit her teeth, eyes darting wildly around her in an attempt to come up with an exit strategy. Tall flames blazed all around her, creating a circular wall that went well over her head, effectively fencing her in the small area with her enemy.

“Two.”

She was drenched in sweat; the heat was becoming too much for her and she was beginning to feel the familiar grip of nausea and fatigue from it. Her fingers rose from her sides, hesitantly she gripped the bottom of her coat, ripping it from her body and tossing it to the sand beneath her feet. She was left wearing her crimson long sleeved undershirt, black thermal leggings, and her combat boots. The outfit was still inappropriate for the intense heat baring down on her but it was a little more bearable without her thick coat curling around her body.

“Three. Say your prayers, kid.”

He thrust his palm forward and a wide blast of red and orange shot through the air towards her, the flames crackling loudly. The moment he released his attack was when she jumped into action, rolling forward towards the attack and hoping to whatever deity above that what she was about to attempt would work in her favor.

The air was dry and void of any moisture that was usable so in an act of desperation, Natsumi focused on the water within her body, pushing the molecules out through her pores and coating her entire being in a layer of it. It was a strange sensation, essentially being encased in a bubble, but it did effectively cool her scorched skin and somewhat protect her from the incoming attack.

Natsumi’s movements were much quicker than they had been when she had been wearing her bulky cropped winter coat, she rolled right through the flames being spat at her. Her protective layer of water quickly began to sizzle and evaporate under the heat being inflicted upon it and she had to work quickly to replenish what was lost to keep herself from being burned.

She popped up on the other side of him, sweeping her leg out and striking at the back of his knees. Endeavor was a large, sturdy man which unfortunately meant that her attack did little to no damage to his burly body, it only furthered to anger the already short-tempered man.

“That was ill-advised, child.” He scowled, eyes narrowed as he stalked forward, wildly swinging his arm.

She ducked under his arm, springing up once more at his back. She needed a way out of the tiny space that she was trapped in, it wasn’t big enough to fight him in, not that she really wanted to fight him head on.

The body is roughly made up of 60% water, I still have enough left within me to attack a few more times but if I’m not careful I could use up too much and dehydrate myself. That would slow me down too much, I can’t afford to allow that to happen. This heat isn’t helping either, I’ve already lost enough from sweating. She grimaced, warily watching the man as he readied his next attack. She could see the beads of sweat forming along his brow which meant that the heat was starting to take its toll on him as well.

Fuck it, I need to get out of here and get to that exit. She clenched her fists at her side, pulling forth as much water from her body as she could, it manifested before her in the form of a tiny barrier, constantly wavering and sloshing about as she did her best to keep it contained. At the last moment, right before Endeavor was on her once more she thrust her palms forward and willed the tiny wall of water to burst forward. She ran along behind the barrier and as it reached one side of the wall of flames, momentarily extinguishing a small portion, she was able to break through the flames and make it to the other side safely.

Out of breath and feeling heat exhaustion beginning to grip her, Natsumi let out a cough as the dry air invaded her lungs. She didn’t have the luxury to being able to stand around and rest, however, Endeavor had diminished his fiery prison that she had previously been trapped in and was starting to stalk towards her once more.

“Did you see that?!” Ochako cheered excitedly as she watched Natsumi clear a path through the wall of flames. She knew that her friend was nowhere near safe and out of the danger zone yet, but that small feat of escaping the fiery confines had been impressive enough to warrant an eager shout.

“Since when could she manipulate water? I thought she could only control ice?” Kaminari scratched his cheek in confusion, eyes glued to the screen.

Todoroki had returned from his own match not long after her match had begun and he found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the screen either. His heart racing in his chest, threatening to burst out of his ribcage, the amount of anxiety he felt secondhand from watching her fight was becoming almost unbearable. He was scared for her safety. He had half the mind to go find Aizawa and demand that he stop the fight, as irrational as that thought was.

“She’s been practicing.” Hawks spoke up from the back of the room, a hint of pride evident in his voice, “Though, after that last move she’s gotta be feelin’ the exhaustion and dehydration taking effect. She won’t last much longer at this rate.”

Todoroki glanced over his shoulder at the Winged Hero and narrowed his eyes, “Don’t count her out just yet.”

The blonde hero chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, piercing golden eyes meeting an unwavering heterochromatic stare, “Wouldn’t dream of it, kid. I’m just stating the facts here, she’s in an area with little to no moisture in the air so she’s obviously using up what’s stored within her own body. The heat itself is enough to deplete her reserves through her sweat, after using only two water based moves she’s gotta be running low. The body can only lose so much water before it gives out.”

Hawks leaned back on his heels, rocking back and forth, “Though, I am impressed with how much control she’s managed to get over it since I’ve last seen her.”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes a fraction at the Winged Hero before returning his attention back to the fight on the television screen in the viewing area.

“That was a neat little trick, girl.” Endeavor rose a brow, lips upturned in a smirk as he watched her eyes widen at his reappearance, “However, your water manipulation is no match for the heat of my Hellfire.”

Natsumi took a step back, her fists clenched at her sides as she watched the flames enveloping his own fists grow with a burning hot intensity that could rival that of a supernova. Even from several yards away, she could feel the heat from his flames caress her flushed cheeks.

As a form of protection against the heat being hurled at her, she coated her body in another layer of water, she knew that she couldn’t take his attack head on, even with her liquid barrier encasing her. The water would boil and evaporate, leaving her raw and exposed to the elements.

I hope Tsu-chan at least made it to the exit, at least one of us should pass. She bit her lip as he let loose a flurry of dancing flames that barreled towards her.

“Look out!” Tsuyu called out, her tongue darting past her lips and extending to wrap around her partner’s midsection, yanking her out of the way before Endeavor’s hellfire swallowed her.

Natsumi let out a startled grunt as she was flung through the air, landing unsteadily on her feet beside Tsuyu some distance away. The two teens quickly took off in the direction of the exit, well aware that Endeavor was seething and quickly gaining on them once more.

The exit was in sight, though the distance between them still felt vast and intimidatingly far with how close their enemy was, flames licking against their heels as they kept themselves ahead of his attacks by inches.

“This has gone on long enough.” His baritone voice rumbled past their ears and in a split second a wall of flames was erected before them, making the two girls stumble over their feet in an abrupt halt to prevent themselves from barreling headfirst into the fire.

Tsuyu choked as smoke entered her lungs, her body visibly shaking as the heat began to dry out the moisture in her own skin. Natsumi cast a sideways glance over to her partner who was having trouble handling the scorching heat that berated their already flushed and worn out bodies. She knew that Tsuyu wouldn’t be able to make a quick escape like this, she was too dehydrated, her movements would be too slow and would make her an easy target for Endeavor.

Natsumi could feel her own fatigue steadily growing within her, making her own actions and movements appear more sluggish. They needed to end this quickly or else neither of them would have the energy to make it the rest of the way to the exit.

I don’t have much left in me but I have to do something…

She brought a hand up and rested her palm on Tsuyu’s shoulder, eyebrows pinched together in concentration as she focused her energy on willing the water molecules escaping her pores to sweep up her extended arm and to coat her friend’s body. The dark-haired girl let out an involuntary sigh of relief as her body absorbed the moisture through her breathable costume material.

“Thank you, Na—” Tsuyu let out a startled croak as Natsumi removed her palm from her partner’s shoulders, crimson eyes hardened as she held out her hand and outstretched her fingers. Droplets of water gathered at the tips of her fingers, slowly pulling together and forming a liquid whip that Natsumi wrapped around Tsuyu’s waist. With a flick of her wrist the shorter girl was sent flying over the wall of flames and closer towards the exist.

“How very heroic of you,” He sneered, looming over her with dangerous intent sparking in his narrowed, turquoise eyes.

“It’s about time you noticed.” She shot back, lips pulled back into a snarky smirk, despite the fear forming a knot in her stomach she met his gaze with a defiant, unwavering stare.

Endeavor scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Brats like you need to learn their place in society. Your fight ends here, girl.”

“I have a name,” She growled out, “It’s Kurosawa Natsumi, but you’ll come to know me by my Hero name, Hisame. Remember it, because I’ll be taking your place in the Hero rankings before you know it.”

He grit his teeth at her statement, reaching out with a flaming hand to grasp her shoulder tightly, reveling in the way the girl tried her best to keep herself from uttering a hiss of pain, “Why you insolent little—”

“Natsu!” Tsuyu’s voice called out over the roar of the crackling flames at her back.

Natsumi shot him a cheeky grin, giving him a two-fingered salute before using the last of her stored up water reserves to form a weak wall of liquid, breaking out of his grasp during his brief moment of surprise and pushing her way through the wall of flames one last time. Once on the other side she was relieved to find her partner close to the exit, tongue extending to wrap around the ivory haired teen’s wrist, yanking her forward with such force that when Natsumi landed beside Tsuyu she immediately tumbled to her knees.

“We have to go!” Tsuyu urged frantically, her gloved fingers wrapping around her friend’s shoulders and pulling her to her feet, though she didn’t miss how Natsumi visibly winced at the touch.

Natsumi stumbled to her feet but was able to muster up enough adrenalin fueled energy to push herself through the exit, collapsing immediately on the other side with a heavy exhale.

Team Kurosawa and Asui pass!

“Are you alright, kero?” Tsuyu knelt beside her, dark eyes shining with concern as her gaze landed on the scorch mark in the shape of a hand print burned through the crimson fabric of Natsumi’s right shoulder.

“’m fine.” Natsumi breathed out, a lopsided smile pulling at the corners of her lips, “Guess who’s going to the training camp in the woods?”

Tsuyu blinked at the sudden change in attitude, letting out a small sigh at the obvious deflection before ultimately settling her eyes on her friend’s face, “We are.”

“That’s right, we are.” A stuttered breath left her lips.

“We should get you to Recovery Girl.” Tsuyu insisted, moving to help Natsumi to her feet.

“I’m fine, it’s really not that bad, just stings.” Natsumi argued back weakly in an attempt to reassure her friend.

Tsuyu rose a skeptical eyebrow, “…your costume is literally still sizzling.”

“Psh, I’m fine. Just let me take a quick nap, so tired.” She mumbled towards the end, eyes closing as she slowly shifted her body until she was fully lying down against the warm sand.

Tsuyu frowned, darting forward to gently shake her friend awake, “You can sleep once you’re back at Recovery Girl’s tent, get up, Natsu-chan.”

“Mm five more minutes.”

After a quick visit to Recovery Girl and having the burn on her shoulder tended to, Natsumi found her way back to the viewing area to catch the last battle, the one that she was most looking forward to; the one between Bakugou and Midoriya against All Might. She wasn’t sure how they would fare considering Bakugou’s unpredictable personality and quick temper when it came to the boy that he was partnered up with.

As she made it across the threshold and into the viewing room she immediately felt several pairs of eyes land on her, glancing up she met Shinsou’s imploring indigo stare from across the room. His eyes raked over her form for any injuries before landing on the burnt hole in the shoulder of her costume, his brows furrowed and he shifted his weight, moving towards her. However, another body appeared within her line of sight, which prompted Shinsou to halt his movements and remain where he was, though she could feel his eyes on her the entire time.

“Are you okay?” Todoroki frowned, his eyes trained on the raw pink flesh peeking out from the hole in her costume. Recovery Girl had been able to heal the worst part of the injury, but it would be a day or two before the irritation of her skin dissipated.

A light laugh escaped her, though his concern was endearing, “I’m fine, seriously. It could’ve been worse than it was, it was just a small burn.”

His lips were drawn into a thin line, fingers clenching and unclenching at his sides, she could practically feel the anger and hatred towards his father seeping off of him in waves.

“Really, don’t worry about it, I appreciate the concern, Todoroki.” She tilted her head, a small smile present on her face as she met his unwavering gaze.

“Congrats on the win.” He finally said after a beat of silence fell between them.

“Thanks, for a moment there I wasn’t sure if I’d make it out of there.” Natsumi laughed, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly at the admission.

“Oi, little bird.” Hawks sauntered over to her, a bright grin lighting up his face as her attention fell on him, “I gotta say, super impressed by the level of control you’ve managed to obtain over your water manipulation. I was not expecting you to be able to do so much with it already, I could really tell that you’ve been training hard.”

Natsumi blinked, her lips slowly splitting apart to form a wide grin at his praise, she rocked back on the balls of her feet absently, “I’ve been training every chance I get, though I’ll admit that some of those things I did were thought of on the spot, I wasn’t even sure they’d work out, haha.”

“Well, luckily for you they did, so good job, kid.” He chuckled, crimson plumage twitching behind him, “I’ve gotta head out, I look forward to seeing where you are with your training next time I see you.”

She nodded, raising a hand to wave goodbye as he left the room and took flight. With the distraction of her mentor now gone, she was able to focus her attention on the battle raging on the screens at the front of the room.

“What the fuck did I just miss?” A confused whine left her as she watched Midoriya leap into action right as the ash blonde lost consciousness in the streets of their exam area. The curly haired boy wrapped an arm around his childhood friend and bolted towards the exit.

A good portion of her class had passed their exams, those who did not sulked in the corner, depressed over the fact that they would not be allowed to attend the training camp in the woods with the rest of their classmates. Natsumi bit her lip, feeling a rush of sympathy towards her downtrodden friends, but knowing there was nothing she could do to change the outcome of their final exams, she stayed quiet.

After all the battles had ended the students made it back to the Center Plaza per Aizawa’s instruction, waiting for their official dismissal.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I elected to have you all meet back here as opposed to simply dismissing you to go home after the completion of your practicals.” The group of pro heroes parted to allow Aizawa through to the front of the pack, facing his bewildered students who nodded their heads and mumbles various words of confusion, “Earlier, you questioned the presence of Shinsou Hitoshi and his participation in today’s activities and I gave you an answer, however, what I told you was only half of the truth.”

Shinsou tilted his head, feeling all eyes on him once more, which only furthered the growing pit of anxiety that bubbled up within his stomach. When he had been asked originally to even out the numbers for class 1-A he had put two and two together rather quickly, “This test also doubled as my entrance exam into the Hero course, didn’t it?”

“How did he know?” Cementoss blinked.

“Bright kid.” Midnight grinned.

Aizawa’s lips twitched into a small smirk, “I had no doubt in my mind that you’d come to that conclusion all on your own, and you would be correct in that assumption. Despite the fact that you’ve only been officially training for a little over a month you were still able to keep up and put up a good fight. You’ve taken every painful lesson that I’ve taught you to heart and applied it to not only your training with me, but your extracurricular training with Kurosawa—”

Shinsou and Natsumi both exchanged panicked looks at being called out, most of the class shot them curious glances, Kaminari wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Todoroki frowned.

“—oh? You thought I wasn’t aware of that fact?” Aizawa’s voice hitched at the end in an amused lilt, raising an eyebrow at the two teens who seemed nervous under his intense stare, “I am not here to punish you for going behind my back so relax. I am here, however, to officially welcome you to the Hero Course, Shinsou.”

Time seemingly stopped in that moment, the only sound Shinsou registered was that of his heartbeat pulsing loudly against his eardrums. His body stiffened, eyes wide in disbelief. Slowly, he brought a hand up and covered his mouth to hide his trembling bottom lip.

I can’t believe it. This has to be a joke. He couldn’t help the thought though.

In a beat, Natsumi was in front of him, blocking his view of Aizawa and smiling brightly up at him, “I knew you’d make it.”

He blinked, glassy eyed, tearing his gaze away from his mentor and meeting the eager crimson stare of the tiny girl in front of him. Slowly, he lowered his hand, dropping it back to his side, his eyes softened, “You never doubted me once, huh?”

She shook her head, ivory bangs swaying from the movement, “Not for a single second.”

Their moment was interrupted seconds later as everyone else chimed in with their congratulations and well wishes for Shinsou, making the lilac haired boy shift uncomfortably from the attention.

“Your fight was amazing; I can really tell how much you’ve improved since the Sports Festival.” Midoriya grinned, “You deserve this, I look forward to training alongside you in the future!”

Shinsou bit the inside of his cheek, his hand absently rising to rub at the nape of his neck awkwardly, “Thank you, Midoriya.”

Kaminari jumped forward, clapping the taller boy on his beck, donning a cheeky grin, “Now you’ll be able to show me all your tips and tricks to getting girls attention.”

Shinsou rose a brow at that, “I really don’t have a particular method…”

The electric blonde frowned, “Guess I’m not all that surprised, they must just flock to you because of your looks…”

Natsumi doubled over from her laughter, palms pressed against her knees, “Kaminari-kun, stop flirting with him.”

Golden eyes widened at the implication and he immediately shook his head, “That’s not it at all and you know it, Natsu-chan!”

The wild lilac haired boy chuckled at the interaction, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as the ivory haired teen and the blonde began to bicker back and forth.

“Deliberations are still being made as to which class Shinsou will officially be a part of.” Aizawa’s voice demanded his students attention once more before his dark eyes landed on the newly appointed hero course student, “You will be notified within the next 24 hours which classroom you are to report to Monday morning. Class dismissed.”

Chapter Text

“What do you think we’ll be doing today?” Jirou asked conversationally as the two of them made it through the school gates, coffees in hand and backpacks slung over their shoulders.

The two girls had made a habit out of meeting up at their favorite café at least twice a week, sometimes more if they knew the day was going to be rough and they’d need the extra boost of caffeine to carry them through it.

“Not sure, I hope nothing too stressful considering it’s the end of the semester but then again, knowing Aizawa-sensei he’s going to put us through hell so we don’t forget the pain over our summer vacation.” Natsumi groaned, bringing her styrofoam take away cup to her lips and taking a long swig of the rich, warm coffee inside.

“I’m glad to know that you think so highly of me, Kurosawa.” Aizawa’s deadpan voice carried over their shoulders, causing Natsumi to sputter and choke on her coffee, slowly, almost mechanically in movement she glanced over her shoulder to see her homeroom teacher peering down at her with a raised eyebrow.

Jirou brought a hand up and coughed into it in an attempt to muffle her own amused giggles before turning and offering a pleasant smile, “Good morning, sensei.”

His eyes briefly met the darker haired girl’s stare, nodding in greeting to her before turning back to the crimson eyed teen who was still working on trying to control her rapidly beating heart. His lips pulled back into an amused smirk, “Well, I will say that you’re not too far off from the mark.” Aizawa glanced up towards the looming building ahead of them, “Now, hurry to class before you’re marked late.”

They didn’t have to be told twice, quickly adding some pep to their step and hurrying off towards the building. It didn’t take long for the two girls to exchange their shoes at their lockers and make it up to their classroom, sharing uncontrollable giggles between themselves.

“The fuck’s got you all giddy, snowflake?” Bakugou growled, feet propped on top of his desk, he rose an eyebrow as Natsumi entered the room with the purple haired teen.

Natsumi’s head snapped in his direction, “Don’t worry about it, hotshot.”

Bakugou’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline at her retort and he quickly removed his feet from the top of his desk and leaned forward to glare at her, “Care to repeat that, princess?”

Jirou smirked beside her friend, raising her cup to her lips to take another sip of her coffee before lowering it and leveling her gaze with the blonde’s, “It’s too early in the morning for your loud mouth, Bakugou.”

Natsumi snorted, bringing a hand up in an attempt to muffle her laughter before heading to her seat in the back, sending a quick wave over her shoulder to Jirou who merely nodded her head and smirked in response.

“It took longer than necessary for you to settle down this morning.” Aizawa shuffled through the door, a stack of papers loosely clutched against his chest. His dark eyes scanned the room, briefly landing on the ivory haired girl who caught his stare and immediately ducked her head, eliciting a small smirk from the man as he sauntered towards the podium and dropped his papers upon it.

“Before we start class, we will be making some adjustments to the seating chart.” He glanced down at the papers lying against the podium, fingers deftly flipping through the stack before pulling on the edge of the one he sought out. Whispers broke out amongst the students, curious as to why Aizawa would feel the need to change the seating arrangements before realization dawned on the majority of them.

Natsumi straightened in her seat, lips slowly curling back into an eager grin, “Does this mean that Shinsou will be joined our class?”

Todoroki glanced at her from the corner of his eye, noting the excitement in her tone and the way her eyes lit up at the mention of that sleep-deprived boy that their homeroom teacher had taken an interest in. A sudden sharp pain shot through his chest at the thought of her being so happy to have the lilac haired boy in their class. His lips tugged into a small frown and his brows furrowed in thought, confused as to why he was feeling this way in the first place. It shouldn’t matter to him who she got along with…but for some reason it did when it came to the boy that had waited outside of the hospital room during the Sports Festival for her.

Aizawa peered over the top of the paper that he had been reading over, quietly regarding her before slowly nodding his head and expelling a stream of air from his nose. At that moment the door slid open and in walked Shinsou, fingers loosely gripping the strap of his backpack that he had slung over his shoulder.

“Sorry I’m late, my classmates thought it was necessary to give me a ‘proper send off’, which was just an excuse to keep me longer.” He rolled his eyes, stepping closer to the podium and taking the spot next to Aizawa.

“Its fine, just don’t make a habit of being tardy.” Aizawa sighed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Shinsou responded casually, his indigo stare roaming over the faces of his new classmates briefly before landing on the smirking crimson eyed teen in the back of the room. One lilac eyebrow rose high above the other before he offered her a smirk of his own in return.

“Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted,” Aizawa cast a pointed look in Natsumi’s direction before shifting it over to Shinsou, both teens offered sheepish, lopsided smiles in response, “we will be changing the order in which you are seated since we will be adding an extra person to our roster. Grab your bags and move over to the side of the room and wait for your name to be called.”

There was a brief moment of silence as Aizawa’s words sunk in before he cleared his throat loudly and narrowed his eyes, signaling to his students that he meant for them to get their butts in gear. Almost immediately, the class pushed back their chairs in unison creating a cacophony of sound that grated on the most sensitive ears as shoes shuffled and squeaked against the tiled floor in tune with the scraping of the metal feet of their chairs.

Everyone gathered their backpacks and belongings and collectively moved to the side of the room by the door, awaiting further instruction from their homeroom teacher.

Once the students had settled down, Aizawa glanced down at the seating chart scribbled on the paper in his hands and he began to read off names, “Starting with the row closest to the windows, first we have; Iida, then Ashido, Bakugou, Uraraka, Shoji, and Hagakure.”

As he read off their names the students in question moved towards their new assigned seats and began to set up whatever notebooks and utensils they would need for the next period.

“Next row is; Midoriya, Kurosawa, Shinsou, Kaminari, and Satou.”

Natsumi shuffled across the classroom and slipped into her new seat, dropping her backpack next to her chair and shooting the ash blonde beside her a dirty look when he sent a glare her way. Shinsou passed by and took his seat behind her before resting his elbow against his desktop and plopping his chin against the palm of his hand, indigo eyes half-lidded in boredom.

Bakugou jutted his leg out right as Midoriya went to sit down, kicking the leg of the unruly haired boy’s chair, causing him to yelp in surprise.

“Bakugou.” Aizawa’s voice was low and gravelly, eyes narrowed.

When the ash blonde narrowed his eyes and turned away indignantly their teacher continued reading down the list of names. The next row started with Jirou, then Tokoyami, Todoroki, Sero, and ended with Koda. The last row, closest to the door, started with Mineta, then Kirishima, Asui, Yaoyorozu, Aoyama, then Ojirou.

Once everyone was settled in their new seats, Aizawa shuffled through the stack of papers on the podium once more before clearing his throat to draw his students attention back to himself, “Now that that’s out of the way, we will be discussing the results on the final exam and the practical. Unfortunately, there are those who did not pass the final exams.”

Mina bit her lip and sniffled, leaning back in her seat and draping her arm across her eyes dramatically in an attempt to shield her tears so her classmates wouldn’t see them, “You guys promise to tell me stories about camp when you get back?”

“Think of me when you’re enjoying your s’mores.” Kaminari sobbed, dropped his head to lay against his desk dejectedly as he blubbered loudly, causing Shinsou to scoot his chair up more in an attempt to put distance between him and the sobbing blonde.

Aizawa rolled his eyes at his students overdramatic attitudes, “Accordingly, for the training camp in the woods,” he plastered on a wide grin, “everyone’s going!”

“A last minute twist!” Kaminari, Mina, and Kirishima cried out in excitement while wiping away their previous tears of failure.

“What a kind, benevolent teacher we have!” Sero joined in, his lips pulled back in a bright grin.

“We can go, too?!” Kirishima eagerly shouted, needing to confirm that their teacher wasn’t trying to pull a sick prank on them.

“Really?!” Mina bounced up and down in her seat, fingers clasped together in front of her.

“Yeah.” Aizawa answered, “Some failed, but no one failed the written exam. In the practical, Kirishima, Satou, Shoji, Hagakure, Kaminari, and Mina failed.”

Sero’s eyes widened at the realization that despite the fact that his partner had won their match for them it didn’t count towards his personal grade.

“For the exam, we on the villain side made sure to leave a way for the students to win while watching to see how you would all take on the task at hand. If we hadn’t, then most of you would’ve gotten stuck before you even had a chance to formulate a strategy.” Aizawa continued over the excited chatter of his students.

“So, when you said that you were really out to crush us…” Ojirou trailed off, confusion evident in his voice as he tilted his head slightly.

Aizawa had an answer immediately, “That was to make you feel cornered. The training camp in the woods is, first and foremost, a way for you to increase your strength. So those who failed need it the most, they have to get stronger. It was a rational deception.” His lips curled back into a mischievous smirk.

“What?! A rational deception?!” The class cried out in disbelief.

Iida’s fists shook against his desk top as he whispered to himself, “I can’t believe I was tricked again, as expected of Yūei.” He stood abruptly, raising his hand high in the air, though spoke without waiting to be called on, “However, since you’ve lied to us twice, our faith in you will waver!”

“Wow, you’re being a wet blanket, Iida-kun.” Ochako teased.

Aizawa shrugged his shoulders, “That’s true, I’ll take that into consideration. However, I wasn’t lying about everything.” His eyes narrowed as they danced across the faces of each student who had failed, “Failure is still failure. We have prepared extra lessons for those who have failed. Frankly, it’ll be tougher than the extra lessons you’d get if you stayed at school.”

He watched as the bright and cheerful faces of his celebrating students quickly dimmed at the realization that they’d be working extra hard to make up for their failure.

The rest of the day had been filled with strength training exercises that left their bodies screaming for relief and muscles aching from overexertion. Aizawa had always been tough on them when it came to training but he seemed to drive them even harder throughout the course of the day as if to drill every exercise into their head so they wouldn’t forget over the summer.

“I want to lie down and never wake up.” Natsumi groaned, her arms dangling at her sides like limp noodles. She had been lifting weights for the better part of the day and was starting to feel as if her limbs were going to fall right off of her body.

“I never want to see another dumbbell for as long as I live.” Kaminari slouched against his desk, his voice muffled against his arms as he laid facedown against them.

“Quit your complaining you weak ass extras.” Bakugou rolled his eyes as he shoved his textbooks into his backpack, preparing to leave for the day.

Kirishima frowned, “Hey man, calling someone out because they’re tired from overworking themselves is super unmanly.”

“I don’t fucking care, if they can’t handle a little weight training then they need to either fuck off or worry about getting stronger.” The ash blonde retorted with a sneer.

“Don’t yell at me, I am baby.” The ivory haired teen grumbled from her desk beside him while jutting out her lower lip in a pathetic pout, to which he simply rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, a whiny baby.” Bakugou snorted at his own quip, crossing his arms over his chest, his backpack forgotten on his desk top.

“Bakubro, dude, you can’t use that nasty tone of voice with her—she’s baby!” Kaminari leaned across his desk to call out across the aisle.

Crimson eyes narrowed at the electrifying blonde, “I’m leaving, I feel my braincells dying with every minute I spend here listening to your idiocy.” With that, he forcefully slung his backpack strap over his shoulder and left without a second glance.

“Aw, you guys scared him away.” Sero chimed in with a laugh.

Mina suddenly threw herself out of her seat, standing in the center of the aisle between her row and the next row of desks, her hands clasped together excitedly in front of herself, “Oh! I have such a great idea!”

“Yeah? Let’s hear it then.” Jirou rose a curious brow.

“Since we all need to get things for summer camp we should go as a class!” Mina grinned, teetering back and forth on the balls of her feet.

“That does sound like a splendid idea! We haven’t hung out as a class outside of school yet and it would serve two purposes—us getting the things we need, and also give us time to bond with each other.” Yaoyorozu smiled, clapping her hands together as well, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of getting to know her classmates better.

“Ahh, that sounds like so much fun!” Ochako giggled, surreptitiously glancing in Midoriya’s direction and accidentally catching Natsumi’s eye, who wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at the brunette, causing the poor girl to turn bright red and glance away.

Iida found himself standing behind the podium at the front of the class, “We should coordinate the date and time now while we are all together and then reconfirm the night before to remind those who may have forgotten.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Tokoyami shrugged his shoulders.

The class representative nodded his head, lips pressed into a thin line as he took on the role of leader in the discussion, “I believe that Saturday at noon would be the most optimal time to go, we can do our shopping as a group and then gather for lunch afterwards.”

“Saturday sounds good to me.”

“Yeah, I don’t have any plans, so that works!”

“Fantastic! Then it’s settled, we shall meet Saturday at noon—”

“—Uh, Iida-kun? Where exactly are we meeting? We never discussed a location.” Ochako lowered her hand meekly after raising it to gain his attention before deciding on interrupting him.

The bespectacled boy visibly deflated, his mouth hanging open in aghast as he realized that they had, in fact, not decided on a place to convene. A sudden feeling of embarrassment washed over him at forgetting the most important part of their plans had not even been touched upon.

Mina waved her arm around ecstatically, calling out ‘ooh ooh ooh!’ to gain everyone’s attention before speaking, “Can I suggest Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall?! It literally has everything we could ever need for our trip!”

“Oh! I love that place! It’s huge, we’ll absolutely have no issue finding everything on our camping supplies list!” Hagakure chimed in from the back.

Iida nodded his head in agreement, “Then it’s settled!”

“You’re coming too, right, Todoroki?” Kaminari grinned at the boy as he silently stood to leave now that the discussion had ended.

The dual-color haired boy shouldered his backpack and glanced over his shoulder at the blonde, “I’m visiting my mother that day so I’ll have to pass.” Without another word, Todoroki sidestepped around a group of chattering classmates who had taken up half the aisle between his desk and the one on the other side of him before exiting the room.

Natsumi was about to prepare for her own departure when she felt a light tap against her shoulder, turning in her seat she noticed Shinsou slowly retracting his hand, his lips pulled back into a crooked smile.

“You plan on going with everyone?” He asked when she rose a brow questioningly at him.

She nodded her head, “Yeah, I have some things I need to pick up so why not? It sounds like fun, you going?”

In truth he hadn’t planned on going, he had nearly everything listed on the itemized list that Aizawa had handed out, but despite that he found himself quickly responding, “Yeah, I’ll be there. You want to meet up beforehand and head over together?”

She tilted her head, ivory curls cascading over her shoulder and onto his desk from the movement, Shinsou found himself mesmerized by the simple action, his fingers twitching in his lap, the urge to reach forward and touch her soft locks stronger than he’d like to admit to himself.

“Oh? Shinsou, are you asking me on a date to the mall?” Her lips twitched into a teasing smirk.

He promptly scoffed, ignoring the racing of his heart in his chest, “You wish, Kurosawa. I only asked because you’re the only person I actually know in this damn class.”

She rose an eyebrow at his response before offering a small smile, “Well, I’ll admit they can be a bit…overwhelming but—”

“—just a bit?” He chuckled.

Natsumi rolled her eyes at his interjection, “You already know some of them though; Midoriya-kun and Kaminari-kun, for example.”

Shinsou brought his hands up, elbows flush against the tabletop, and rested his chin against his interlaced fingers, he leaned closer towards her with an amused look in his eyes, “You think I want to spend my Saturday with those idiots?”

“And you want to spend it with this idiot?” She laughed incredulously, pointing at herself.

“I think the answer should be obvious by now, Kurosawa.” He smirked, watching as her expression went from confused to flustered in record time.

“I—” She found herself gaping like a fish out of water, unsure of how to respond.

Shinsou chuckled, deciding that he had tortured the poor girl enough for one day, and decided to grab the rest of his things and make his leave, “I’ll see you Saturday.” He waved over his shoulder at her before leaving the room.

Half the class remained in the room to discuss the shopping trip further, while several students packed up and decided to leave for the day and head home. Natsumi was among the latter, shoving her books into her bag haphazardously, she was hungry and sore and wanted nothing more than to soak in her bathtub for the rest of the night to loosen up her aching muscles.

As she was about to leave, Yaoyorozu waved her over to the small gathering of girls huddled around her desk. Curiously, Natsumi tilted her head and shuffled towards them to see what was going on.

“Everything alright?” The crimson eyed teen tilted her head.

“Of course, Natsu-chan! I just wanted to announce that in the following week I will be representing the Yaoyorozu family on I-Island and I was given two extra tickets to the premiere so that I may bring along guests. I would love to bring all of you if I could, unfortunately I was only given the two tickets but…if any of you were interested in coming along as my guests then we could figure out a way to choose from amongst ourselves who goes.” The dark haired beauty bit her lip, she already felt bad over the fact that she didn’t have enough tickets to bring all of her friends and she knew that she couldn’t just choose two girls out of her group, they would need to figure out a way of selecting the two that would be fair.

I’ve never gone on a trip like that before, I’ve never even ridden in a plane… Natsumi thought, quietly getting herself worked up with excitement over the prospect of leaving the country for a weekend with her friends.

“We could always play Rock, Paper, Scissors!” Mina suggested, “That way whoever wins gets to go fair and square.”

“Good idea, Mina-chan!” Ochako grinned.

“A wonderful idea!” Yaoyorozu agreed, happy to have the responsibility of the decision fall from her shoulders.

They decided to play in two groups of three and the winner of each group would be the one to go with Yaoyorozu to I-Island. The first group happened to be Jirou, Mina, and Hagakure, with the winner being Jirou.

Ochako bounced on the balls of her feet, a determined look alight in her eyes, “Good luck guys!”

Natsumi, Tsuyu, and Ochako all stood in a semi-circle, their fists hovering above the palm of their hands as they waited for the signal from Yaoyorozu to start.

“Go.” The taller girl announced for them to begin.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!” The three girls chorused, their fists bouncing against their palms in synchrony with their chanting before landing on their final choice.

Rock.

Rock.

Paper.

“Well, there’s always next time, kero.” Tsuyu tapped her chin with her index finger, head tilted slightly as she smiled towards her two friends.

The brunette quickly wiped the disappointed frown off her face and plastered on a small smile, patting the ivory haired teen on the shoulder good naturedly, “Be sure to tell me all about it, Natsu-chan. You’re going to have so much fun!”

As much as she had wanted to win and have the chance to travel somewhere outside of her city for the first time in her life, Natsumi felt her excitement wash away in an instant as she peered upon her friend’s saddened expression. Biting the inside of her cheek and expelling a quick stream of air from her nose, Natsumi let out a small laugh, “Oh man, I’m such an idiot. I just remembered that I promised Aizawa-sensei that I’d help him do a joint training session with Shinsou that week.” She shook her head, “I can’t believe I totally forgot, I’m sorry, Ochako-chan, you’ll have to take my place. Make sure to send me tons of pictures, okay?”

The brunette’s countenance instantly brightened, “Really? Wait, are you sure?”

“Absolutely, I have a prior engagement. There will be other trips, so don’t worry about me, just make sure to have lots of fun, okay?” Natsumi grinned, her fingers absently fiddling with the strap of her backpack, “Anyway, thank you for the offer Yaoyorozu-chan. I’ll talk to you guys later; I need to get home.”

Natsumi awoke early Saturday morning to the sound of her phone vibrating against her bedside table, an annoyed groan escaped her as her fingers stretched towards the device to swipe it. Blearily opening one eye, she glanced at the time and let out another groan when she read 7:06am. However, the name flashing on her screen had her perking up instantly, confusion etched on her features as she quickly answered the phone.

“Todoroki…?” Her voice was still thick with sleep, something that he picked up on immediately on the other end.

“Ah, sorry for waking you.” He muttered quietly.

She shook her head, rubbing at her eyes before sitting up in her bed, “No, no, it’s fine. Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing like that I—” Todoroki paused to collect his thoughts, “—I was wondering if you’d come with me to visit my mother today.”

Natsumi wasn’t sure what she had been expecting him to say but it certainly was not an invitation to meet his mother in the hospital. For a moment she stayed silent, awestruck and dumbfounded and at a complete loss for words, so she simply sat there in bed just trying to process what he had asked her.

Todoroki, on the other hand, frowned into the receiver of his phone, feeling more and more anxious as the silence stretched on. Did he overstep some unspoken boundary? Was it too soon to have her meet his mother? It may have been, but he considered Natsumi to be a very important person to him and there was a part of him that desperately wanted to have two of the most important people in his life know each other and get along.

“I’m sorry for bothering—” He began with the intent on hanging up after apologizing, but she had other plans and interrupted him quickly.

“—No don’t apologize.” She interjected, a smile evident in her voice as she spoke quietly into the morning air, “I was just caught off guard, sorry for going quiet for a sec there, but I would love to meet your mom.”

Relief flooded him as he heard her quiet utterance of agreement, he knew it was a bold move to make but it just felt right to him. He felt the pull at the corners of his lips as they stretched into a wide smile, “I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

“Wait, you’re closer to the hospital than I am. It makes no sense for you to backtrack just to come get me, I can meet you there.”

Todoroki frowned, “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

Natsumi laughed and shook her head, “It’s fine, I need the extra time to wake up anyway.”

“Alright then, see you at the hospital at 9:00 then.” He conceded with a small sigh.

“Sounds good, see you then, Todoroki.”

After hanging up she fell back against her pillow and closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a loud sigh in an attempt to try and expel the ever-growing bubble of anxiety that had taken residence in the pit of her stomach.

Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open and snatched her phone off of the comforter beside her, unlocking the screen and sending a text to Shinsou.

Fuck, I had almost forgotten that today was the trip to the mall. She groaned.

Me
Hey, I’m sorry it’s short notice but something came up and I won’t be able to go today.

It was early and she was certain that he’d still be asleep and therefore wouldn’t see her message until much later, so it came as a surprise when her phone pinged a moment later.

Shinsou
You’re bailing on our date? I’m devastated over here.

She rolled her eyes.

Me
Raincheck? Besides, I wouldn’t want to be the third wheel to you and Kaminari.

Shinsou
I hate you.

Me
Too bad I don’t believe that. :P

Shinsou
Whatever, there’s no way I’m spending an afternoon with those clowns by myself.

Me
It’ll be good for you, you need to make friends with them eventually and now is the perfect chance! Besides, I already texted Kaminari and he’s planning on swinging by your place on his way so you don’t really have much of a choice.

A tired sigh escaped him as he sauntered towards the front of the house after hearing a very excited series of knocks on the front door. Shinsou paused, contemplating whether he should open it or simply pretend that no one was home.

She owes me. He thought with a groan, hand outstretched and fingers wrapping around the handle of the front door, pulling it open just as Kaminari was about to knock again.

“Shinsou, hey! Good morning!” The blonde retracted his extended fist, quickly turning his would-be knock into an excited wave.

Too loud. Shinsou’s eyebrow twitched, but he was able to quickly school his expression so as not to give away his mild irritation at being stuck with the overly loud blonde, “Morning.”

Kaminari ran a hand through his hair, lips pulled back in a bright grin, “Gotta say, I’m a little bummed that Natsu-chan won’t be joining us today. But no worries, I know we’re gonna have a blast!”

The lilac haired boy hummed in response, slipping his shoes on and snagging his black hoodie from the coat rack by the door before shuffling outside with the blonde.

Lord give me strength. He thought with a grimace as he and Kaminari began their journey to the train station, the blonde chattering a mile a minute with Shinsou barely able to

She made it to the hospital with fifteen minutes to spare so she had taken that extra time to go grab a coffee for herself, she hoped that maybe the caffeine boost would help ease her growing anxiety over meeting Todoroki’s mom.

Todoroki was there precisely at nine o’clock, loosely gripping a colorful bouquet of flowers. His eyes immediately landed on the ivory haired teen who had been sitting on one of the benches located outside of the hospital, slowly sipping on a Styrofoam cup of coffee and absently staring down the street in the opposite direction of where he had come. A small smile graced his face as he watched her nervously fidget with the sleeve of her red buffalo plaid flannel while simultaneously bouncing her left leg up and down.

Shaking his head, he sauntered up to her to make his presence known, “Don’t be nervous.”

She whipped her head in his direction and smiled, pushing herself off of the bench and closing the gap between them, “Who said I was nervous?”

He rolled his eyes, “I’ve known you long enough to know your tells, Kurosawa. Relax, she’s going to love you.”

Natsumi bit her lip in uncertainty, her fingers tightening around the takeaway cup, “How do you know that?”

Todoroki’s gaze softened at her apprehension over the situation and he let out a quiet chuckle, “I just do. You ready?”

She let out a loud sigh, “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

He nodded towards the entrance of the hospital and gently guided her with the hand that wasn’t carrying the bouquet of flowers for his mother. They made it inside and he began to lead the way to the elevator and down the twisting hallways of the hospital out of muscle memory until they arrived at the door labeled ‘Todoroki R.’

Todoroki brought his hand up and gently rapped against the door, a quiet ‘come in’ was heard from the other side. Natsumi took a deep breath, catching his attention with the action.

He angled his chin down so that he had a better view of her, his gaze softened when he caught her fidgeting once more with the sleeves of her flannel, “Relax, take another breath.”

Natsumi glanced up to meet his gaze and drew in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then expelled it slowly, “I’m ready.”

His lips pulled back into a small smile, “Alright.”

With his free hand he turned the handle of the door and gently pushed it open, gesturing for Natsumi to enter first, before following after.

The room was illuminated brightly by the natural light filtering in through the opened windows, a gentle breeze billowing the curtains ever so slightly and ruffling the feathery ivory locks of the woman seated beside them. She turned as they entered, stormy grey eyes lighting up as they fell upon her son and the smaller teen beside him.

“Shouto, it’s good to see you!” She beamed, pulling herself up and out of her chair to meet her son halfway across the room to greet him. Being that they had only very recently reconciled and started to mend their relationship, Rei still felt as if she wasn’t allowed to hug him or touch him in any way yet, so she resigned to smiling warmly and clasping her hands in front of herself. She turned her attention to the small girl fidgeting with the sleeves of her flannel, “You must be Kurosawa-san, my Shouto has told me so much about you. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

Natsumi briefly side glanced over at Todoroki, wondering what exactly he had told his mother, before straightening her stance and thrusting her hand forward towards the older woman, “It’s nice to meet you too. You may call me Natsumi or Natsu-chan if you’d like.”

Rei smiled brightly and happily accepted the proffered hand, shaking it gently, “In that case, please call me Rei, it’ll cut down on some confusion so that you don’t have to refer to us both as—”

Todoroki cleared his throat, noticing the light in his mother’s eyes dim ever so slightly at her train of thought, knowing that thinking of herself as a Todoroki was still a touchy subject. Both women slowly turned to give him their undivided attention, he readjusted his weight before holding out the bouquet of flowers towards his mother. Tired, grey eyes lit up and her cheerful demeanor returned as she took the multi-colored flowers being offered to her.

“Oh, they’re beautiful. Thank you, Shouto.” She brought the flowers up to her face and took a long whiff, sighing happily before turning to find a vase to put them in, “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I have drinks in the mini fridge over there if you’d like something.”

Todoroki nudged his friend in the side to get her attention before lowering his voice and whispering, “Would you like a drink?”

“No, I’m okay for now, thanks.” She offered a small smile and he accepted her answer, guiding her over to one of the chairs set up in the small living space of his mother’s hospital room.

Rei returned shortly after finding a vase, filling it with water and placing the bouquet inside, “How are your classes going?”

Todoroki shrugged as he took the seat beside Natsumi and across from his mother, “They’re going fine, even with it being summer break we are still expected to work hard and Aizawa-sensei has training exercises planned for us still.”

She smiled, hands clasped in her lap, “Sounds like you guys are working really hard, is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to, Natsumi-chan?”

The ivory haired teen blinked, caught off guard at being address by the older woman. She straightened her back, suddenly conscious of her posture, her slender fingers twitching towards the hem of her flannel, “I…well, we do have a training camp trip coming up soon. I know it’ll mostly be us being worked to the bone, but I’m sure there will still be some normal camping aspects to the trip and…I’ve never been camping before so it should be fun.”

Todoroki watched her from the corner of his eye, noting how her fidgeting seemed to stop the more she spoke and gained more confidence in her words. He knew she had a tendency to have social anxiety, but she usually did well at hiding it behind faux confidence, especially when around their classmates. It felt strange to see her so out of her comfort zone, he wasn’t even sure why she was so anxious in the first place. It was just his mother; she was the last person that Natsumi should have been nervous around. Even so, he felt his expression soften the longer his gaze rested upon her, admiring the way her lips formed around the words she spoke, the fluttering of her long eyelashes, the little scrunch in her nose that gave away her excitement for their upcoming trip.

His own lips upturned into a subtle smile.

Rei’s attention had been focused on the girl before her, a pleasant smile present on her pale face the entire time, though out of the corner of her eye she noticed the change in her son’s expression. A warmth enveloped her, starting in the pit of her stomach and working its way outward. He talked about this young girl quite often, whenever he would come to visit. At first, it had been a brief mention, but then she had worked her motherly magic and gently urged him to speak more about her. Rei was just happy that he had made friends at Yūei and was starting to open up more, and she had a feeling that Natsumi had been a major contributing factor in the positive change in her son’s attitude.

“That sounds like a fun time, I’m sure as a reward for all of your hard work they’ll have some fun activities planned to keep morale high.” Rei smiled warmly, leaning forward and tilting her head lightly.

From there on, the conversation flowed smoothly between the three, discussing everything from school to summer plans, to favorite foods. Natsumi’s anxiety over meeting Todoroki Rei quickly washed away the longer she spoke to the kindhearted woman. They stayed until well into the afternoon, when it was time to leave the three stood at the door saying their goodbyes.

“It was such a pleasure to finally meet you, Natsumi-chan. Don’t be a stranger.” Rei’s voice was soft and warm as she spoke to the teen.

Natsumi grinned back, “It was great meeting you too.”

The ivory haired teen turned to leave with Todoroki when Rei called out, “Shouto?”

Todoroki paused, glancing over his shoulder briefly before turning back around to face his mother as Natsumi closed the door behind her to wait in the hallway for him.

“Was there something else you wanted to speak to me about?” He asked, confusion filtering into his tone.

His mother took a step forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, soft, tired grey eyes meeting the heterochromatic stare of her son, “I like her a lot. Be sure to bring her around more often, Sho.”

Todoroki let out a quiet breath, his lips forming a small smile at her statement, “I will.”

Satisfied with his answer, Rei bid her son farewell once more and watched as he turned and exited her room to join the ivory haired teen on the other side of the door.

Natsumi was grinning while staring down at her phone screen when he met back up with her, her quirked a curious brow at her expression, “What’s so funny?”

“Huh?” She glanced up and let out a quiet laugh, “Oh! Kaminari-kun is sending me pictures from the mall trip and Shinsou looks so miserable, but I can tell that he’s secretly enjoying himself, he’s just putting on an act for the camera and I think it’s so funny.” She turned her phone around and thrust it towards his face. On the screen was a photo of Kaminari using the front facing camera to take a selfie, his grin was bright and he held up a peace-sign, while in the background Shinsou was staring off to the side, arms crossed over his chest, and a frown tugging at his lips.

“Why is he there if he didn’t want to go?” Todoroki questioned out loud.

She pulled her phone back and stared fondly at the photo, “Oh, that’s easy; because I didn’t give him a choice in the matter.”

Todoroki rolled his eyes, nudging her in the side playfully, “You’re not even there and you’re terrorizing the poor guy, you’re a monster.”

Natsumi choked on her laughter, “Okay but listen here, if you knew the sorts of things he put me through during our training together then you’d absolutely agree that a day spent with Kaminari-kun and the others is just what he needed.”

For reasons unknown to him, he felt his chest tighten at the brief mention of their time spent training together which quietly led his mind to wander down a path of thoughts regarding her and the lilac haired boy spending time alone together, thoughts that he would rather not entertain.

“You okay?”

He was pulled from his thoughts by her stepping infront of him and waving her hand in front of his face to get his attention. Todoroki blinked, his heterochromatic stare focusing on her face, full of concern, staring up at him.

“I’m fine.” He answered back simply.

“You looked like you were far away, where did you go?” She frowned, taking a step back to give him his space.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Just zoned out, I suppose. Nothing to worry about, Kurosawa.”

Natsumi let out a quiet sigh, “If you say so.” She turned on her heel and fell back into step beside him as they began their journey towards the exit.

Todoroki was quiet the entire way as he took the lead and guided her back outside. Once they were out front of the hospital, they turned towards each other to say their inevitable goodbyes and part ways since they lived in the opposite direction of each other.

“Thank you for inviting me today, it was really nice.” She beamed up at him.

The luminosity from her smile alone was enough to chase away the thoughts of her and Shinsou that had been haunting him since their conversation outside of his mother’s room. He nodded his head, a soft smile playing on his lips, “I’m glad that you agreed to come today.”

“Of course, I know how much she must mean to you, I’m honored that you’d introduce me to her, honestly.” She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, “Well, I guess I should probably head back home. Thanks again, Todoroki.”

As she turned to leave, waving over her shoulder at him, Todoroki found himself feeling a brief panic wash over him. He reached forward, fingers wrapping around her wrist to pull her back and keep her from leaving. A startled gasp escaped her from the abrupt movement, as she turned back to face him, brows knitted in confusion, Todoroki’s grip tightened ever so slightly on her sleeve. Not enough to harm her in any way, but it was a subtle gesture that confused her even further.

“Sorry, I had one more thing I wanted to ask.” His fingers loosened around her wrist but he didn’t let go, turquoise and grey met crimson, “My old man was invited to that Premier on I-Island but he has duties here that he can’t step away from so he asked me to go in his place.”

“That sounds like it could be fun, you’ll get away from him for a few days, honestly sounds like a great weekend getaway to me.” She laughed.

“Yeah, it does.” He admitted quietly. At first, he hadn’t been interested in attending in his father’s place, he had a strict training regimen that he wanted to stay on track of but then Fuyumi had made a suggestion that had been rattling around in his head for days now. Todoroki held her gaze, his fingers absentmindedly tracing shapes into the fabric of her sleeve, “Come with me.”

The combination of his lingering touch in addition to his invitation had her short circuiting like Kaminari after an intense training session. She stared up at him blankly, lips slightly parted. It took her a moment to come back to her senses and when she did, she caught the way his eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement at her flustered state.

“I’m sorry…what?” Came her intelligible response.

Todoroki quirked a brow, lips drawn back into a slight smirk, “Come to I-Island with me, I could use the company and you could use the vacation.”

Natsumi could feel her heart beating a mile a minute against her ribcage and she was certain that her cheeks must’ve been tinged pink at that point. She was hyperaware of his hand still wrapped loosely around her wrist and briefly wondered if he could feel her erratic heartbeat pulsing beneath his palm.

“Are you sure?” She bit her lip in uncertainty.

“Of course, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it.” He responded coolly.

Regaining some form of composure, she expelled a breath that she had been holding and met his gaze with a level one of her own, “I mean, are you sure you could tolerate me for a whole weekend?”

He blinked by the sudden change in her demeanor, a quiet snort escaped him, “I think I can handle your attitude for a whole weekend, but I suppose there’s only one way to find out.”

“You brave soul.” Natsumi grinned, taking her free hand and tucking a strand of curly ivory behind her ear, “Alright, I’ll come with you.”

She had never seen Todoroki smile so wide and in that moment she felt as if her heart might burst right out of her chest and then melt on the spot from the sheer warmth that he was radiating.

“Perfect.” His gaze softened and he released her from his grip, taking a step back so that they weren’t quite so close in proximity, “I’ll call you with the details later and we can plan accordingly from there.”

“Can’t wait.” She absently rubbed the spot on her wrist where he had been holding, instantly feeling the loss of his body heat. The two said their brief goodbyes before turning to head back to their respective homes.

Chapter Text

It was a well-known fact that Natsumi was not a morning person. Her ideal day would start with waking up at noon and not a minute sooner, unfortunately, sleeping in that late was a luxury she could rarely afford due to school. Even though it was summer vacation, she found herself up at the crack of dawn, blinking back her grogginess as she shuffled through her front door, fingers loosely wrapped around the handle of her rolling suitcase.

“Good morning.” Todoroki rose a brow as he watched her stumble past him without so much as a ‘hello’, as if she hadn’t even seen him. A low chuckle escaped him as he strode forward, easily catching up to the half-asleep girl and gently yanking the handle of the suit case away from her, “I’ll take this. I don’t need you falling down the stairs and breaking your leg before our trip.”

She blinked up at him before grumbling something unintelligible, he let out a soft, airy laugh at her sleepy response, slowing down his own stride so that he was walking beside her. Todoroki knew how uncoordinated she could be when in such a sleep-deprived state and wanted to be close by to catch her in case she really did tumble down the stairs.

They made it down the several flights of stairs that it took to reach the ground level of the building without any incident and he let out a small, relieved, sigh. He had almost anticipated having to catch the ivory haired girl, but she navigated the stairwell with practiced ease, even with her eyes closed the entire time.

“Did you not go to bed early like I suggested?” He questioned as they neared the black SUV waiting by the curb outside of her apartment building. The trunk popped open as soon as they stepped outside into the brisk morning air and he quickly lifted the suitcase into the back beside his own before closing the trunk.

“Mm, no.” She mumbled, “Kaminari-kun made me download tiktok and I stayed up all night watching videos.”

He walked back around to the side of the car and opened the back-passenger door for her, helping her inside before sliding in beside her. He tilted his head to the side and shook his head, “Well, I suppose you have no one to blame but yourself for your lack of sleep then.”

“I think I’m still going to blame Kaminari-kun.” She retorted quietly, resolutely, before leaning her head back against her seat and closing her eyes.

“Good morning, Natsumi-chan~!” Fuyumi grinned from the front seat, glancing back at the two teens through the rear-view mirror as she pulled away from her parking spot.

“Mm, morning Fuyumi-chan.” Natsumi’s voice was sleep heavy and slow, her mind slowly beginning to drift in between consciousness.

The older woman let out a quiet giggle as she turned her attention back to the road, “I suppose it’s a good thing your flight is three hours, you’ll be able to catch up on your sleep during that time so you’re nice and refreshed for the rest of the day.”

Todoroki nodded, glancing over to the girl beside him. Natsumi let out a noncommittal hum, though it was quite obvious to both Todoroki children that she was past the point of no return and was no longer conscious enough to pay attention to anything that was said.

Turquoise and grey flickered up to meet the soft grey stare of his sister as she inconspicuously glanced back at the two teens in the rearview mirror once more. He rose a brow in her direction before letting out a quiet breath, “Think we have time to stop and grab her a coffee? We have a long day ahead of us and she’s going to need the energy boost.”

Fuyumi tried her absolute hardest to hold back her squeal, which ended with her making some strange sound that was between a cough and a snort. For years, she had watched her youngest brother become distant and cold, shutting himself away from the world outside and refusing to let anyone in. Herself and Natsuo included. It pained her to see how broken their family had become over the years due to their father’s treatment, but Fuyumi remained optimistic as always, even giving their father the benefit of the doubt when neither Shouto nor Natsuo would do the same.

It wasn’t until recently that Shouto’s cold exterior had begun to crack, his walls breaking away just enough to let her in and it was no coincidence that the change in his behavior had started after he began his Hero training at Yūei. Fuyumi was grateful to everyone who had a helping hand in showing her brother the meaning of friendship, but the sleepy teen beside him in the backseat held a special place in her heart. And she knew that there was a special place in Shouto’s heart for her as well.

Her lips pulled back into a giddy smile, he’s so soft when it comes to her. Her eyes flickered up to the mirror once more, meeting her brother’s expectant stare, “Absolutely, we’ve got plenty of time and I know just the place~! It’s right on the way and has the best coffee in Tokyo.”

They arrived at Narita International Airport right as the sun was starting to rise above the horizon, painting the cityscape in a soft orange glow. Fuyumi bid them a farewell by embracing both teens tightly, wishing them a safe trip and making her brother promise to text her as soon as their plane arrived on I-Island.

Currently, Todoroki and Natsumi were walking side by side on the way towards their gate after checking in their baggage and stopping to grab the smaller teen a second coffee. His gaze slid over to her, watching as she hummed happily while absently chewing on the straw shoved into the cup of iced coffee, taking large sips and letting out appreciative sighs.

“Feeling more awake now that you’ve had two coffees?” Todoroki asked, an amused lilt to his voice.

She swallowed a large gulp of coffee, tilting her head sideways to stare up at him, “Mm, a little but we’ve got a long way to go before I’m fully ready to take on the day.”

Todoroki quietly snorted, “And how many coffees is that going to take?”

Natsumi hummed thoughtfully, bringing the brightly colored straw of her drink to her lips before taking a long sip. She lowered the straw and grinned, “At least two more, I’d say.”

“That’s a lot of caffeine. Something tells me that you’re going to be up all night.” He shook his head in amusement before staring forward as he navigated them through the busy airport towards their boarding gate. Natsumi caught herself staring, mesmerized by the way his feathery peppermint locks swayed with each step he took, several strands of crimson seemed out of place against an ivory backdrop and she suddenly had the urge to reach up and fix his hair. But she swallowed back the temptation, distracting herself by taking another gulp of her overly sweet drink.

“Hmm, I’m sure I’ll crash from a sugar high eventually, so no worries.” She laughed, tossing her empty to-go cup away as they passed by a trashcan.

A sigh breezed past his lips, “You say no worries, and yet here I am feeling even more concerned for your health.”

She gave a flippant wave in response to his comment, lips pulling back into a cheeky smile. The two finally made it to the designated waiting area for their flight and sunk into the massively uncomfortable chairs while waiting to be called up to board the plane. Natsumi pulled out her phone and began to play a strange game that Todoroki had never seen before that involved various colorful virtual candies. He leaned over to get a better view, his curiosity getting the better of him in that moment.

“This is a stupidly addictive game that Kaminari-kun showed me the other day after class and I literally cannot stop playing it.” She laughed sheepishly, angling the phone so that her seatmate could see the screen more clearly as she swiped quickly to destroy a row of similar looking virtual sweets.

The two sat like that for the next fifteen minutes or so with Todoroki peering over at her phone and occasionally giving her advice on what candies to click on next. It wasn’t long before the fire and ice wielder was gently elbowing her in the side to get her attention, “It’s time to get on.”

“Todoroki, they just called people in first class.” Her voice was heavy with confusion, quirking a brow at him, “We have to wait our turn.”

He let out a breathy chuckle at her comment, “Yes, and we happen to have first class seats. So, get up and let’s board our flight.”

She eagerly scrambled to her feet, shoving her phone into the pocket of her hoodie. Not only would it be her first time ever on a plane but she’d be flying in style in first class? I can’t wait! Her lips parted as an excited grin lit up her face.

The two teens waited in line together before being ushered through the terminal that would lead them right onto the plane, Natsumi glanced around in wonder at her surroundings. They were greeted by a flight attendant with an overly cheerful smile, despite the early hour of the morning, and were directed towards the first-class cabin.

“Are you serious right now?” Natsumi’s jaw dropped, her feet stopping abruptly as they entered the first class cabin and she took in the spacious area surrounding them. The aisle was much wider than she had anticipated, with sectioned off seating on either side of it that was more reminiscent of an office cubicle than anything she had seen in movies of how planes were supposed to be on the inside. Essentially, every pair had their own tiny little room with wide, cushioned seats that had the option of reclining all the way back should the occupants choose to do so. There was a little tv in the center of the wall that separated one tiny little cubicle from the one in front of it.

Todoroki nudged her forward with his elbow, a curious tilt to his head as he glanced down at her, “What’s the matter?”

“Todoroki there is no way I can afford to pay you back for this, I can only imagine the ridiculous amount of money you must’ve spent on our plane tickets.” Her voice was trembling, anxiety welling up inside of her as she mentally tried to figure out how much money she’d need to pool together to be able to pay him back for the plane ticket.

He shook his head, raising his palm to gently place it against her back to guide her forward and into their private little cabin. Once they were both seated, he in the seat closest to the aisle so that she could have the pleasure of having a window to stare out of, he turned to stare at her, “I invited you along as my guest, that means that you owe me absolutely nothing for this trip.” He leaned back in his seat, a soft sigh escaping him, “So stop worrying so much.”

She bit her lip, her crimson gaze still on him, “Okay but…I feel bad because I know this trip must’ve cost—”

A chuckle breezed past his parted lips, he didn’t bother to turn to face her this time, but he could see her from the corner of his eye, “—Don’t worry about the cost, it was all taken care of by my old man.”

At that, she raised an eyebrow and leaned towards him, “Oh? Does he know that I’m the one you invited? I can’t really see him willingly shelling out the cash to cover my part of the trip.”

Todoroki shrugged nonchalantly, “He doesn’t actually know. I took the liberty of charging everything to his credit card while he was on patrol.”

She nearly choked on her own saliva, eyes wide in shock as she sputtered out, “Y-you’re kidding right?! You actually stole Endeavor’s credit card and went on a spending spree?”

“Wasn’t it you who originally told me to do just that?” He shot back, a quiet laugh escaping him as he took in her overly excited appearance—she was now practically bouncing in her seat at the thought of Endeavor unknowingly paying for her half of the expensive trip they were embarking on.

“Well, yeah,” Natsumi shrugged her shoulders, “but I never expected that you’d be bold enough to actually do it, color me impressed.”

“Guess I’m just full of surprises, then.” He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, a light smirk playing on his lips.

She continued to admire him for a moment or two, appreciative of having a friend like him in her life, someone who was willing to piss off his dad for the pettiest of reasons. Natsumi leaned back in her seat, turning her head to the side to stare out the window, the plane would be taking off soon and she was both excited and anxious about being so high in the sky, but was eager to see the view of the world below them.

Shortly before landing, the two teens had changed into their Hero costumes per the instructions left for them in their invitation letters. Going through island security had taken quite some time, however, as she had been stopped and questioned as part of a ‘random’ search. Natsumi knew that it was anything but random and the reason she had been stopped was because they had done background checks on every person entering the island and needed to know if she was a threat like her parents had been.

Todoroki had been the one to bail her out of such an awkward situation after ten minutes had passed and the security team still continued to ask her questions. Forever grateful to the boy beside her, Natsumi shot a glare over her shoulder at the two security agents who had occupied so much of her time unnecessarily.

“Sorry about that, they had no right to do that.” He quietly seethed, angry that his companion had been judged due to her lineage right in front of him. Todoroki felt the need to protect her from such people, having gotten to know her better over the past several months and seeing the type of person that she truly was really cemented the fact that she did not deserve any of the shit that she had to put up with on a daily basis.

Natsumi shrugged her shoulders, already over the situation, “It’s fine, what’s done is done. I’m just ready to explore the island.”

He regarded her as they walked side by side through the tiny island airport, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, though he kept his thoughts to himself. That is, until she turned her head just enough to meet his gaze and ask a curious, “What?”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Todoroki asked quietly, he came to a gradual stop, turning to face her with an almost pained expression painted on his face.

She slowed her pace before halting in her walk, turning towards him with a small smile, “It used to, now it’s more annoying than anything else. There’s always going to be people who don’t trust me because of how I grew up, and maybe I’ll never be able to change everyones mind about me, and that’s okay. I’m not here to try and please everyone, I’m here to better myself and be the best Hero that I can be.” Crimson eyes stared up at him, watching his expression carefully, “I appreciate the concern, Todoroki, but it’s unneeded, I’ve heard it all over the years and I’ve grown some pretty thick skin because of it.”

“Regardless,” He began, his facial expression relaxing as he took in the tiny figure staring up at him with a reassuring smile of her own, “it doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s not right for complete strangers to judge your character based on who your parents were.”

Natsumi closed her eyes briefly and shrugged her shoulders, “I mean, I’m not going to argue with you over that, but I’ve learned to just take it, there’s no use in getting upset over it anymore. Anyway, I’m not going to let what happened ruin my day and neither should you, so let’s get going, yeah?”

He brought a hand up, running his fingers through his dual-colored feathered locks while expelling a stream of air through his nostrils. Slowly, Todoroki nodded his head and motioned towards the double doorway mere yards away that would take them out to the expo, “You’re something else, Kurosawa. Alright, let’s go.”

After grabbing their luggage, the teens made their way to the extravagant hotel where they’d be staying for the weekend, deciding that they should get checked in before exploring the island.

The hotel itself had eighty floors for its patrons to stay on, each room and area of the hotel lavishly decorated, making Natsumi feel uncomfortable just by standing in the lobby knowing that she would never be able to afford a single night’s stay in such a place. The few people who were milling about the lobby were all dressed fashionably in expensive clothing, several of them were Pro Heroes decked in their hero costumes, though she had no idea who they were.

Natsumi nervously ran her fingers through her milky-white curly locks, having opted out of braiding it just yet for the sole purpose of having something to fiddle with while she waited for Todoroki to rejoin her after checking them in. She felt so out of place, standing in the grandiose lobby of the five-star hotel where they’d be staying for the weekend.

Her eyes trailed up when her peripheries caught the sparkle and shine of a double chandelier dangling above, reflecting the light coming in through the windows. Large, ornate pillars lined either side of the red-carpeted walkway that lead from the main entrance up to the check in desk. Beyond the pillars, there was a series of sitting areas with loveseats and several armchairs with plush crimson cushions scattered around glass coffee tables. Expensive looking oil paintings from artists she knew she’d never be able to pronounce the names of decorated the walls around her.

Todoroki returned while she was busy observing the people around her, his fingers loosely wrapped around two plastic card keys. He held one of the keys out to her, bringing her out of her own thoughts and earning her attention, “I have our room keys, we’re on the top floor.”

“Of course we are.” She mumbled, reaching out to take her key and pocketing it, though she was eager to get away from the lobby and the curious stares of the few patrons that continued to loiter.

He frowned at her somber disposition, but knew better than to ask, so instead he guided her towards the elevator and pressed the button for the eightieth floor. They rode in relative silence, save for the classical music coming from the speakers. Once they reached the top, the doors opened to reveal a long hallway, though what surprised her was that there were only two doors lining the entire expanse of the hall. One door stood on either side of the hall, facing each other, and it made her wonder just how large were the rooms on the other side?

Natsumi got her answer moments later when Todoroki marched up to the door on the left side of the hall and inserted his card key into the slot above the door handle. The red light flashed green and he was able to turn the handle and open the door to the darkened room inside.

She peeked over his shoulder, squinting her eyes to try and get them to adjust quicker to the darkness before Todoroki’s finger flicked the switch on the wall, bathing the suite in bright fluorescent lighting.

“Are you serious right now?” Natsumi cried out incredulously once the initial shock wore off from the bright lights momentarily blinding her and her vision cleared to give her a glimpse of the suite inside.

Todoroki frowned, tilting his head as they stepped further into their home for the weekend, “Is it okay? I tried to find something that was comfortable but also practical.”

A choked laugh escaped her, crimson eyes wide as they took in the enormous living space before her, “Practical? Todoroki, the living-room is bigger than the entirety of my apartment back home, and there’s two bedrooms and a kitchen? This is literally a house, how much did you even spend on this room?”

He blinked before opening his mouth to respond, Natsumi quickly interrupted, “How much did Endeavor spend on this room?”

Todoroki rose an eyebrow at her question, crossing his arms over his chest and peering down at her, “Do you really want to know?”

She averted her gaze briefly before frowning back at him, “On second thought, maybe it’s best that you don’t tell me.”

He chuckled at her response, the two of them parting ways to drop off their suitcases into their own respective bedrooms before meeting back up in the living room so that they could venture off to explore the island together.

The island itself was a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors, it was difficult for her to focus on one attraction before something bigger and brighter caught her attention moments later. Todoroki found himself taking long strides to keep up with her as she flitted from one attraction to the next in an excited flurry of movement.

“You do realize that we have all day to explore, right? You don’t have to try to see everything in one go.” He reminded her, the corners of his lips upturned in amusement as they stopped in front of a booth where a man was playing a guitar and creating what was essentially a holographic music video in the air above him. Images appeared as clear as day, depicting an exciting adventure between two friends lost in the wilderness, the music that it went along to was jaunty and loud. A crowd of people had stopped to watch, some even deciding to dance along to the tune.

Natsumi found herself swaying her hips to the catchy rhythm, her lips pulled back into a permanent grin it seemed like from all the smiling she had been doing ever since their arrival on the island. She turned to glance up at him, “I know, but there’s so many exciting things happening I just want to make sure that I get a chance to see it all before we have to go to that gala thing tonight.”

He had almost forgotten about that. They were expected to make an appearance at some frou-frou ceremony later that evening, truthfully that sort of scene wasn’t his style and he knew that the same could be said for Natsumi. But, it was a stipulation that made the entire trip to I-Island possible so neither of the teens had a choice in the matter.

A quiet sigh escaped him and he dipped his chin towards his chest, “Fine, but keep in mind that we also have most of the day tomorrow as well so whatever we don’t see today we can always get to tomorrow.”

She laughed and nodded, “Ever the voice of reason.”

“Someone needs to be.” He retorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Rude.” She shot back, elbowing him in the side teasingly before perking back up and darting off towards the next exhibit. Todoroki watched as she practically danced away from him, her movements light and airy from years of stealth training, but in that moment she wasn’t someone who had been taught to take down her enemy by any means necessary—no, in that moment she was just a girl who didn’t have a worry in the world and was unable to control her enthusiasm for the world around her.

He found himself watching her from afar, a feeling of serenity overcoming him, his eyes softening into a fond expression as she chatted with a stranger about some sort of support item that they were showcasing at their booth. She stopped suddenly and glanced over her shoulder, her brows furrowed when she couldn’t locate him immediately. Todoroki took long, purposeful strides towards her and in a few short moments was by her side once more.

“I thought you were right next to me.” She bit her lip in embarrassment before laughing, “I was talking to you and you weren’t even there.”

“Sorry about that, I got distracted.” Came his simple response, admiring the way she scrunched her nose and pursed her lips together in thought.

“Oh? Well, I’m just glad that I noticed you weren’t with me before I moved on. I definitely don’t want to get lost in this crowd.” Her voice trailed off towards the end as she mumbled the words more to herself than to him. He decided against telling her that she couldn’t have gotten lost because his eyes had been on her the entire time, instead he nodded his head in agreement and followed her to the next booth.

After another hour of visiting various exhibits, Natsumi was beginning to feel the caffeine from earlier wear off as evident in the way she was starting to drag her feet. Her companion noticed her drop in energy when he glanced over his shoulder to see her falling behind when she had been the one leading them for the better part of the day.

With a curious quirk of one of his eyebrows, he asked, “Are you alright?”

She let out a tired hum at the question, “I need more caffeine.”

Todoroki chuckled, “I’m surprised you made it this long without having another coffee.” He glanced around the plaza, his eyes landing on a café not too far from where they currently stood, he motioned towards it, “Ready to grab some lunch?”

She perked up at the suggestion, nodding eagerly before picking up her pace to catch up with her companion, her ivory braid bouncing against her back from the movement.

The two made it to the café and elected to sit on the outdoor patio when prompted by the hostess to let her know their preference. Once seated, the two teens picked up their menus and browsed through the selections.

“Order anything you’d like, this is all going on Endeavor’s tab.” Todoroki felt the need to assure her that her options were not limited by cost, otherwise he had a feeling that she’d choose the least expensive meal. His eyes never left the laminated menu that he was gripping on to loosely, so he completely missed the way her eyes lit up in amusement.

“Hey, my name is---Todoroki?” A familiar voice began to greet them before stumbling over his words at the sight of the half-and-half boy casually sitting in his section of the café.

“Your name is…” Todoroki blinked, tearing his eyes away from the menu in his hands to glance up at their server.

“Kaminari-kun?” Natsumi furrowed her brows in confusion, “What’re you doing here?”

The blonde laughed sheepishly, “Ah, well, I heard the expo was going on and it sounded cool so I did a little research and found that—ugh, you have to be invited to attend it—but loophole; if you get a job working at one of the local establishments you get to check out all of the public attractions at least! So, Mineta and I signed up and here we are!” He spread his arms out in a flourish, proud of himself for thinking up such a scheme.

Natsumi blanched, “Did you say Mineta is also here?”

Kaminari blinked, bringing his attention back to the ivory haired girl, “Yeah, we both came together. Speaking of which, Todoroki you sly dog, asking Natsu-chan to be your plus one! Please tell me there’s only one bed in your hotel room.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively while bringing his index finger and thumb up to his chin, grinning down at the two.

Todoroki tilted his head with a frown, “Why would there only be one bed if there’s two of us?”

Meanwhile, Natsumi found herself burying her face in her hands, expelling a loud sigh, was she surprised by Kaminari’s suggestive remarks? No, no she was not. But were they still embarrassing nonetheless? Yes, yes they were.

The blonde let out a loud laugh, resting his palms against their table and leaning towards the oblivious heterochromatic eyed boy, “So that the two of you could share it, duh! Think of—”

“Kaminari-kun.”

He froze, eyes wide as he tore his gaze away from Todoroki and let it slide over to Natsumi, a dark aura surrounded her. There was a warning in her tone, a threat that if he continued with his line of thought that he might not live to see another day. Kaminari swallowed thickly, straightening up and rubbing at the back of his neck apologetically, “Ah, sorry Natsu-chan, got a little carried away there. Anyway, what can I get you two?”

After lunch they decided to head out and explore for a little while longer before their sights were set on a battle simulator. It was essentially a competition to see who could take out the most targets in the least amount of time and contestants were lining up to show off their abilities.

“It looks like fun, lets give it a shot, yeah?” Natsumi nudged him in the side, nodding her head towards the arena where a young man with what looked like an electromagnetic based Quirk was just finishing up his round.

“You just want to show off.” He teased, but nonetheless urged her forward towards the queue where they’d wait for their turn.

An affronted gasp left her parted lips, she placed a hand against her chest in mock-offense, “I cannot believe you would say such a thing. I am just trying to participate in some good natured, friendly competition.”

Todoroki rolled his eyes as they slowly shuffled their way towards the front of the line, “Oh I’m sorry, I must have mistaken you for my other friend who becomes overly competitive to the point of going feral.”

She nearly choked on her own saliva at his response, clearing her throat and turning her nose up slightly she responded airily, “Well, as long as you recognize your mistake. But damn, she sounds like she’d be fun to be around.”

He hummed thoughtfully, “She definitely keeps things interesting.”

They made it to the front of the queue when the sound of loud crackling explosions caught their attention followed by familiar angry shouts. The two exchanged a looked before peaking through the archway that led out to the arena, their eyes immediately landing on the source of the ruckus.

“Bakugou’s here too?” Natsumi wondered out loud.

Todoroki let out a long, drawn out sigh, “So much for a nice, peaceful weekend.”

She gave him a side long glance, her lips twitching into an amused smirk at his comment before pushing him forward, “Go it’s—” As she was about to urge him to take his turn, Midoriya jumped over the banister at Bakugou’s insistence, looking as anxious as ever before taking a shot at the course.

“I can’t believe he just cut in line, that’s not very heroic.” She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting at the fact that she’d have to wait even longer for her own turn now.

“You’ll survive.” Todoroki chuckled, eyes trained on their messy haired friend who zoomed through the course so quickly that he was a blur to them. The targets were all destroyed quickly, in fact, he was only behind Bakugou’s score by one second which set off the ash blonde even more than he already was.

Natsumi’s eyes lit up as she nudged her companion forward, “You can beat that score, go on, ruin Bakugou’s day.” She snickered mischievously towards the end.

He glanced down at her for a moment before facing forward once more, shaking his head, though Natsumi did not miss the way his lips upturned very briefly. After the arena was reset, Todoroki strode forward to take his turn and as soon as the countdown reached zero he let loose a powerful ice attack, freezing and rendering every robot target immobile.

“Wow! I can’t believe it; we have a new number one with a time of twelve seconds!” The announcer gushed, her voice sounded in disbelief at how quickly and efficiently Todoroki had breezed through the competition.

“What?! You’re here too, you half-n-half bastard?!” Bakugou growled, leaning over the edge of the railing that overlooked the arena, his eyes narrowed into angry slits. He was so enraged by the thought of someone beating his high score that he activated his Quirk and blasted himself through the air, landing directly in front of Todoroki and clenching his fist threateningly, “The fuck are you doing here, icyhot?! You can’t just appear out of nowhere and show me up like that!”

“It’s good to see you too, Bakugou.” Todoroki’s face remained impassive, despite the close proximity that the blonde was in.

“What’re you even doing here anyway, hah?” Bakugou grit his teeth.

“My father was invited as a special guest, however he was unable to attend so I’m here to represent him.” The dual-colored haired boy responded evenly.

“Oi, get off the field, you’re holding up the line!” Natsumi called out as she stormed over to the two boys with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Natsu-chan, you’re here too?!” Her friends called from the stands in confusion.

The ash blonde’s head whipped in her direction so fast that she could’ve sworn that she heard it crack, “You’re here too?! What is this, a class reunion? What does it take to get rid of you losers?!”

Her lips drew back into a wide, cheeky grin, “You’ll have to try harder, I guess~!”

“I’ll kill you, snowflake!”

She waved off his threat with a dismissive flick of her wrist, “Yeah, yeah. Now, get off the damn field, it’s my turn.”

The two boys were quickly ushered off the stage as Natsumi took her place at the center of the arena, waiting for the countdown to reach zero. She knew that if she used her ice, the strongest aspect of her Quirk that she could absolutely match Todoroki’s time, maybe even surpass it if she pushed herself enough. But, where was the fun in that? She wasn’t going to pull the same move that he had done moments before—that wouldn’t be very exciting. So, with that in mind, she decided that she’d use her newest ability even if that meant not placing very high on the scoreboard in terms of speed.

The buzzer rang, signaling the start of her turn and she was quick to move her arms in a wide arc as she pulled the water molecules from the surrounding area, combining them into a large wave. The giant wall of water wavered before her but held its shape, a clear sign of the amount of control she now possessed after all the training she had been doing on her own.

She thrust her palms forward, sending the tidal wave surging forward, crashing violently over the entirety of the field and removing all enemy robots from play.

“And yet another stunning performance, folks! That impressive display of water manipulation cleared the field in fourteen seconds!” The woman’s voice announced excitedly.

The arena was drenched, the floor flooded by several inches of water from the move Natsumi had used, but the hosts of the competition were prepared for every situation. The middle of the arena opened up, displaying giant drains that quickly sucked in the flood water to clear the stage.

Natsumi angled her palms down towards the ground and formed a pillar of ice beneath her feet, sending her bursting upwards toward the upper level of the arena where her friends were all gathered. Once she was close enough to the railing she placed her hands against it and hoisted herself up and over before deconstructing the ice pillar she had used for transport.

“That was amazing, Natsu-chan!” Ochako beamed, bouncing forward and nearly tackling the smaller girl to the ground in an aggressive bear-hug, “Also, I missed you~!”

The ivory haired teen stumbled back from the force of Ochako’s affection, her back slamming against the metal guard railing, prompting a harsh breath to leave her parted lips. The brunette loosened her grip and smiled apologetically while helping to pull her friend away from the hard metal pressing into her back.

“Ah, sorry, Natsu-chan. I just got excited when I saw you.” Her voice took on a high note towards the end as she fidgeted with the sleeves of her Hero costume.

“I literally saw you two days ago,” Natsumi laughed, rubbing at the aching spot on her mid-back before tilting her head with a soft smile, “but, I missed you too.”

“I can’t believe that you’re here, you said you weren’t interested in coming when we were trying to figure out who should be Yaomomo’s guests!” Ochako puffed her cheeks out, almost offended that her friend hadn’t told her that she had planned to come the entire time.

Natsumi brought a hand up to rub at the back of her neck sheepishly before facing her friend with a lopsided grin, “Well, I didn’t want to take the spot away from one of you guys so I just said that I didn’t want to go. I had kind of resigned myself to the thought of spending my entire weekend training with Shinsou but then Todoroki asked if I wanted to be his plus-one.”

Ochako and Jirou exchanged glances before donning matching smirks, it was the dark haired musically inclined teen who spoke, her voice smug, “Oh? So if it’s Todoroki-kun asking then it’s completely different, hmm?”

“T-that’s not it at all! I told you, I didn’t want to be selfish, you guys seemed more excited about going than I was so I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Natsumi’s voice rose in pitch as she became more defensive.

“Mhm, sure, Natsu-chan.” Ochako giggled at her friend’s reddening face, slinging an arm across her shoulder and pulling the ivory haired teen towards her.

Todoroki rose a curious brow at the exchange, his eyes darting back and forth between Ochako and Jirou’s smug expressions and Natsumi’s flustered one.

“Will you also be attending the Gala tonight?” Yaoyorozu changed the subject with ease, noticing the appreciative look that Natsumi sent her way and offering a soft smile in return.

“Yeah, we’ll be there. Though, not really looking forward to dressing all fancy…” Natsumi bit her lip and looked away, mumbling, “it’s not really my style.”

Ochako grinned, flexing her fingers around her friend’s shoulder to get her attention, “I’m sure you’ll look great, Natsu-chan!”

“What if we get ready together in my room, would that make you feel better about getting all dressed up if we’re doing it together?” Yaoyorozu suggested, her eyes lighting up in excitement at the thought of being able to help her friends get ready.

Natsumi nodded her head, not even having to think about her answer before responding, “That would be great, actually.”

“Since we’re all together now, what do you guys think about exploring the Expo together for a bit?” Jirou suggested with a grin. She was more or less directing her question at Natsumi and Todoroki since she had already been hanging out with the others, and she knew that Bakugou wouldn’t hang out with them anyway.

The ivory haired teen glanced over to the dual-color haired boy beside her to gauge his reaction, she knew that he didn’t really have a problem with anyone in their class, but he wasn’t the most sociable person to begin with. He met her gaze and shrugged his shoulders, his subtle way of telling her that he didn’t mind the extra company while they meandered about the island.

Natsumi smiled brightly, turning back to her friends who hadn’t missed the silent exchange between the two and were all sporting smug grins. Natsumi’s smile faltered for a second as she began to regret the words she was about to say, she just knew that the girls would inevitably tease her about her relationship with Todoroki again later.

“Yeah it…sounds like fun.” She eyed Ochako and Jirou suspiciously as she hesitantly finished speaking.

“Yes! Okay, where should we go first?” The brunette giggled excitedly, linking her arm through Natsumi’s and pulling her flush against her side while marching off towards a cluster of tents, dragging Natsumi along with her.

The next couple of hours were spent seeing the sights of the Expo with Melissa as their guide, explaining what various buildings were used for in the scientific community, the purpose of certain inventions being showcased, and even introducing them to some of the top inventors living on the island.

The group of Yūei students were having a great time going from exhibit to exhibit and it was made more fun by the fact that they got to spend the day and share these experiences with their friends from class.

“You know, I feel bad for your friends who’re spending their time working at the café while the rest of us are out having fun.” Melissa frowned, her brows knitted together in contemplation.

“I’m actually impressed by the fact that they’re working so hard, who would’ve thought?” Natsumi mused, pulling her arm out of Ochako’s death grip when the brunette’s eyes lit up and she attempted to drag the smaller teen towards another exhibit tent. The brunette pouted when she felt Natsumi remove herself from their linked arms, but otherwise didn’t say anything.

The blonde’s eyes lit up as an idea struck her, “Oh! I know, what if we reward them for all of their hard work by giving them tickets to the Gala tonight?”

Yaoyorozu stepped in, a sympathetic smile gracing her, “That sounds like a delightful idea, however, none of us have any spare tickets to share with them.”

Melissa beamed, clasping her hands together and bouncing on the balls of her feet in a cute manner, “Oh, no worries! I actually have a few extra tickets and I’d be more than happy to gift them to your friends. They’ve worked so hard all day, they deserve the chance to relax with the rest of us.”

“That is so incredibly kind of you.” Midoriya wasn’t the only one taken aback by the blonde’s thoughtfulness, the entire group felt the need to offer words of thanks for her generosity.

She waved off their comments with a bubbly grin, “Oh, it’s nothing really, those tickets weren’t going to anyone anyway, so might as well let them be of use, right?”

After the exchange, the group decided to head over to the café where Kaminari and Mineta had spent their day waiting tables. The sun was beginning to set and the shops were starting to close for the evening, it was time to surprise the two boys with their reward.

When the small group made it to the café they noticed both boys slumped over with their backs against each other’s right in the middle of the outdoor seating area.

“Ugh, the Expo isn’t even open to the public yet. If we’re this slammed now, will we ever get to relax?” Mineta whined, tears steaming from the corners of his eyes.

Kaminari groaned pathetically, “Shut up! I don’t want to think about it.”

“Hey, Mineta, Kaminari!” Midoriya greeted with a wave, “How did your shift go?”

“You should be proud of the work you’ve done today!” Iida chimed in with a smile as the group marched towards the two boys.

Melissa bounded towards the two defeated boys, a joyful grin plastered on her pretty face as she excitedly reached into the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out two pristine tickets. She thrust the slips of paper forward, inches away from their faces.

“What’re these things?” Mineta perked up, his eyes roving over the tickets momentarily before allowing his gaze to rise to meet the group gathered in front of him and Kaminari.

“Invitations to the big Expo Reception later tonight.” Yaoyorozu supplied.

“There’s a party?” The small sticky-purple haired boy’s voice trembled as he and his electric blonde friend reached forward to each take a ticket.

“And you’re inviting us?” Kaminari frowned in confusion.

“Melissa took pity on you for some reason.” Jirou teased.

Ochako burst forward with a giggle, “We figured you could use a break.”

“Yeah, didn’t want you guys to burn out your first day.” Natsumi laughed.

Melissa nodded, “Well, I had a few extras. Please, I’d love for you to have them.”

“K-Kaminari, a beautiful angel has rewarded us for all our hard work!”

“Mineta, a beautiful angel has rewarded us for all our hard work!” The two had cried out in unison.

After the two boys got over their dramatics, Iida called for the group to gather around so that he could debrief them on the plans for the evening. It was no surprise that he was going to take charge of the moment and make absolutely certain that his classmates would be on their best behavior.

“I heard there will be quite a few Pro Heroes at tonight’s party as well, it’s imperative that we don’t tarnish Yūei’s reputation. We’ll change into our formal clothes and go as a group, everybody meet in Lobby 7 of the Central Tower at six-thirty pm sharp.” Iida stared out at the group as he spoke, his arms moving robotically per the usual as he spoke with an authoritative tone, commanding the attention of his classmates. His eyes then landed on Natsumi, before bouncing over to Kaminari and Mineta, “Don’t you dare be late. I’ll contact Bakugou and share this information. Thank you, you’re dismissed.”

And with that, Iida turned abruptly on his heels and activated his Quirk, zooming off into the horizon and leaving a cloud of dust in his wake as his classmates just watched him leave, all sporting various forms of incredulous and unsurprised facial expressions.

Midoriya gave a thumbs up to Iida’s retreating form, “There he goes, always at full throttle!”

“Well, since he’s off to get ready, I’m going to assume, do you think we should head back too?” Ochako asked curiously.

“Yeah, I just need to grab my things from the hotel room and then I can meet you guys.” Natsumi nodded, glancing over at Todoroki who had remained silent for the better part of the day after joining up with their classmates, “You ready to head back or was there anything you wanted to do beforehand?”

He shook his head, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his Hero costume, “No, I’m ready to go back if you are.”

“Sounds good.” She turned back towards the group, “Okay, I’ll see you guys in a bit then.”

The two began their journey back to the lavish hotel in which they were staying, the silence that fell between them was a comfortable one that was only interrupted by the occasional ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of Natsumi each time her attention was caught by the colorful exhibits as they began to close shop for the day.

Todoroki found himself watching her from the corner of his eye, a subtle smile playing upon his lips as he caught her staring in awe of her surroundings. She never expressed this sort of excitement back home and it was just so…innocent and pure and he found that one word kept coming to mind every time he glanced over and caught her grinning widely at an exhibit as they passed.

Cute.

“I know I keep saying it but…”

The sound of her voice cut through his thoughts and Todoroki turned fully to face her, his heterochromatic stare meeting dazzling crimson as she beamed up at him, her hands clasped behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

“Thank you for bringing me with you, this is amazing, really. I never imagined being able to leave the country, let alone having friends to do it with.” She admitted, her voice tapering off towards the end.

He shook his head and let out a quiet sigh, “And what did I tell you last time you said that?”

Natsumi blinked and rolled her eyes, before deepening her voice, making it sound as low and gravelly as she could to imitate his voice, “Don’t mention it Kurosawa, I brought you because I knew you could use the time away and I wanted the company. Also, you’re the coolest person in our class., I wish I was as talented in all aspects of life as you.”

Todoroki furrowed his eyebrows, lips pulled down, “I don’t sound like that. Also, you’re paraphrasing, I definitely didn’t say all of that.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe not out loud.”

“You’re delusional.” He snorted, “But see? If you weren’t here then I wouldn’t be quite as entertained as I am right now.”

She rolled her eyes and let out a laugh, “Well, I’m glad I’m good for something then.”

He frowned as they resumed their walk back to the hotel, “You’re good for a lot of things.”

She glanced over at him from the corner of her eye but decided not to respond to his comment, instead, she focused on navigating the two of them through the lobby of their hotel towards the elevator.

They stopped outside of it, standing side by side as they waited for the elevator to reach the lobby and take them up to their designated floor. The light above the door showing the progress of the elevators descent until it finally reached them, a high pitched ‘ding’ alerting them of its arrival right before the doors opened and they stepped inside.

Once inside, she selected the correct floor number on the push pad of buttons and stepped back to stand next to her classmate. Todoroki glanced over at her from the corner of his eye when he noticed her start to fidget with the sleeves of her Hero suit, her frowned.

“What’s the matter?”

Natsumi blinked and smiled sheepishly up at him, feeling a little silly that he had called her out once more on her nervous habits, “It’s really dumb.”

He quirked an eyebrow, “Oh? I’ll be the judge of that.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, “Okay, but I warned you.”

“Your warning has been taken into consideration, now tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Fine, fine.” She sighed, “Is there going to be dancing at this thing?”

Todoroki tilted his head in slight confusion at her question, “It’s more of an award ceremony, but I think there will be dancing after the speeches are given. Why?”

A light dusting of pink spread over her cheeks as she abruptly averted her gaze, unable to meet his unwavering stare, her voice quiet as she mumbled in embarrassment, “I don’t know how to dance.”

He blinked at her confession. That definitely wasn’t something he had been expecting to come out of her mouth and he almost laughed at how absurd it sounded, but her downcast gaze and worried countenance had him reconsidering his reaction.

Todoroki’s eyes softened as he took in her anxious stance and instinctively shuffled closer to her just as the bell dinged to signal their arrival. He nudged Natsumi in the side, catching her off guard as he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his costume, “Guess I’ll just have to teach you then.”

The door slid open to reveal a long hallway and Todoroki was the first to exit the elevator, the corners of his lips pulled back into a small smirk at her dumbstruck expression. He was halfway down the hallway when Natsumi snapped out of her stupor and jogged to catch up to him.

“You don’t have to go out of your way to do something like that for me.” She laughed awkwardly as he pulled out the card key and scanned it against their door to let them back into their room.

“I wouldn’t have offered if it was something that I didn’t want to do.” He responded coolly, shrugging his shoulders as the door clicked as he turned the handle and pushed it open, holding it for Natsumi to enter first.

She ducked under his arm that stretched out to keep the door open wide, “Alright, but don’t complain when my uncoordinated self steps on your toes, because you asked for this.”

He chuckled, shaking his head as he closed the door behind them, “Duly noted, but I promise that with my guidance you won’t be breaking any toes.”

“You’re very confident in your abilities, Todoroki.” Natsumi shot him a cheeky grin over her shoulder, “But you’ve never had a partner as uncoordinated and clumsy as I am.”

He blinked, slightly confused by the gentle tightening in his chest as she uttered the word ‘partner’, it was a strange feeling and he was unsure as to why his body reacted in such a way when she was simply referring to dancing. Todoroki shook his head, peppermint tresses swaying from the motion and falling gently into his eyes, he cleared his throat, “I guess we will find out who’s will is stronger on the dance floor. Though, speaking of dancing, shouldn’t you be on your way to meet up with the girls to get ready?”

Crimson eyes widened and she immediately turned on her heel and sped off towards her bedroom to retrieve the bag that her dress was hanging in as well as her makeup case. Todoroki stood in the entryway of their shared living space, watching through the open door as she flitted around her bedroom in a flurry of panicked movements.

After gathering everything that she thought she would need, she hurried out of her room, her arms filled with more things than what she could comfortably carry. Todoroki rose an eyebrow and took a step forward to offer her his assistance when she shook her head and mumbled an “I got it” before rushing out of the room, presumably to meet up with the girls.

Now completely left alone in their suite, Todoroki let out a breath that he hadn’t even realized he had been holding in. He carded his fingers through his hair, bring his hand down towards the base of his neck and letting his cool touch linger against his heated skin for a moment.

“What is wrong with me?” He expelled a tired sigh, leaning against the wall behind him.

He had a couple of hours before the event and knew that realistically it would take him half an hour at most to get ready, so he had plenty of time to stew in his confusing thoughts.