Blink of an Eye

by Greenstars09

Summary:

Tsuki is a sociable, kindhearted, easygoing character. After being accepted into UA on recommendation, she is put into Class 1-A alongside her childhood best friend, Izuku Midoriya, and enemy, Katsuki Bakugo. Read as Tsuki maneuvers through family hardships and obstacles thrown at her during her time at UA, and as she constantly fights to become the hero she's always dreamed of being.

Izuku Midoriya x OC

Disclaimer: None of the MHA characters belong to me; I only own the OC's. The characters, most dialogue, and the basic plot belong to the creator of MHA. This story includes swearing, blood, violence, acts of abuse, and other mature subjects.

Chapter 1: Prologue: A Bully and A Hero

“Why’re you being so mean? You’re making him cry, Kacchan!” Izuku stood defensively, fists raised, in front of a small crying boy who lay helplessly on the ground. “If you keep hurting him, uh… I’ll- I’ll stop you myself!”

Bakugo and his friends brushed off the greenette’s threat and activated their quirks in response. “You wanna pretend to be a hero?” Bakugo sneered. “You don’t stand a chance without a quirk, Deku.”

The boys charged, simultaneously attacking Izuku until he lay next to the other boy before falling into a fit of laughter and running off. Izuku tried his best to stay conscious, although the edges of his vision were starting to gray. Then, his eyes fluttered shut.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go get help.” The smaller boy choked out as he struggled to his feet. He took off down the sidewalk as fast as his little legs could carry him, tears blurring his vision, until he came to a sudden stop, bumping into someone, and collapsed to the ground.

When he looked up, above him stood a taller, brown haired little girl. Her brows tugged into a frown at the sight of the kid, and she immediately offered him her hand and helped him to his feet.

“Whoa- are you okay?” She questioned, examining the scrapes and bruises that were littered across his limbs.

The boy’s face flushed, arms crossing over his chest as his gaze fell to the ground. “Ye-yeah, I’m okay.”

“What happened?”

“Bullies.” He stated, then held up four of his fingers with a shaky hand. “There were this many. Another boy tried to help, but he got beaten up too.”

“Can you show me where he is?”

The kid nodded, then started leading the girl back to Izuku.

“What’s your name?”

“Ruri.”

The brunette offered him a smile. “I’m Tsuki Hitomi. Nice to meet you, Ruri.”

As the pair approached the green-haired boy, he had regained consciousness. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, and his eyes flickered around the playground, searching for any sign of Bakugo and his friends. Instead, he saw Tsuki and Ruri, both looking equally concerned.

“Are you okay?” Tsuki knelt next to the boy. “I heard what happened. You were so brave taking on four bullies at once!”

The boy’s face flushed. “It was nothing. I had to help.”

“What’s your name?”

“Izuku Midoriya.”

Tsuki took his hand in hers and helped him to his feet. “Nice to meet you, Midoriya. I’m Tsuki Hitomi.”

The two sat on the swings, talking until the cloudy blue sky faded into a deep orange, the sun disappearing into the horizon. He told her how he and his bully, Katsuki Bakugo, were previously friends before his quirk developed. After, he became a whole new person and began bullying Izuku for not having one.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Tsuki asked, lowering her voice.

“Sure.”

“My quirk hasn’t developed yet either. Mom says I’m a ‘late-bloomer’, whatever that means. The doctor says I may not get one, but I don’t let that stop me from wanting to be a hero like my dad. I want to help people, quirk or not.”

“Me too!” Midoriya cheered, pumping his fist in the air. “I wanna be just like All Might when I grow up! I’m gonna be the number one hero one day.”

“When you get your quirk, you’re gonna be a great hero. You’re already so kind and brave! That’s the most important part.”

Midoriya’s face reddened at her words. His hands flailed around in front of his face, and he was a stuttering mess. “I-I don’t know about th-that. There’s so many cool qu-quirks- like Kacchan, his is amazing.”

“Just ‘cause his is cool doesn’t mean yours won't be cooler,” Tsuki offered. “And based on what you told me about Bakugo, he doesn’t seem nice. You can’t be a bully and a hero.”

Midoriya’s eyes widened. “I never thought about that.”

“Tsuki!” A deep voice called out from behind the pair. “Where are you?”

Tsuki hopped off the swing, then turned to the boy with a grin. “That’s my dad. I gotta go. I hope I get to see you again.” Then, without another word, she ran off towards the man, leaving Midoriya alone.

•• ━━━━━ 8 YEARS LATER ━━━━━ ••

Aldera Junior High- the sign at the front of the school read. Tsuki sighed as she entered the building, eyes glued to the floor. She hated the school. Between the people, and its disappointing reputation, it was embarrassing for her to be attending the place. It wouldn’t matter for much longer because she was going to UA High the next school year. She was sure of it.

“Hey, Tsuki-chan! Wait up!” Izuku called out, running to catch up to the girl. They were the same height now, unlike how she towered over him years ago when they first met. “Guess what I saw on my way to school this morning!”

Tsuki came to a stop, letting her friend catch up before they continued down the hall. “I dunno, a villain?”

“Yes!” He cheered. “It was so awesome! Mount Lady took him down fast! She’s so cool. I took notes on her.” He pulled his notebook out from his backpack and began flipping through it. “Here, see. Since she’s so big, it’s difficult for her to move through the city. She needs at least a two-lane road, so fighting in back alleyways is hard for her.”

“I can’t believe I missed that. I should’ve walked with you to school.”

Izuku laughed, snapping his notebook shut. “It’s okay. When we go to UA, we can see all the villains we want and even take them down our-”

Izuku’s notebook was snatched from his hands, and the boy's smile dropped. In front of the pair now stood Bakugo. He was flipping through the pages with an annoyingly smug expression.

“Give it back, Bakugo,” Tsuki ordered, reaching for it. He held the book over his head, out of Tsuki’s reach.

“Shut up, runt.” He scoffed before turning to Izuku. “You shouldn’t even be thinking about UA, Deku. They wouldn’t let in a quirkless loser like you. Only the best, like me, can make it. I’m going to be the number one hero one day, and you’ll regret being so naive.”

Tsuki activated her quirk, opening a portal in front of her and another over Bakugo’s head. She reached through and snatched the notebook from his hand.

“Hey! I didn’t give you permission to do that!” He snapped.

“Shut the hell up, Bakugo.” She handed the book back to Izuku, then shouldered past the blond. “We’re going to be late for class.”

Izuku sped-walked after Tsuki, not daring to look back.

Bakugo clenched his fists, feeling his face burn out of both rage and embarrassment. He called after the pair, shaking with anger, “You won’t always have her watching after you, Deku!”

Chapter 2: A Friendly Competition

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Tsuki’s dad, Toshi, rested his hand on his daughter's shoulder as they stared at her reflection. Her whole body tensed at his touch.

Tsuki ran her hands down her uniform in an attempt to brush out any wrinkles. “Yeah, I can’t believe it.”

“I can.” He said. “I never had a doubt in my mind that my daughter would get into UA, much less on recommendation.” The girl's face dropped. She knew him saying that came from a place of pride in himself, and not that he believed in her.

“Thanks.” She muttered, pulling away from his grip. “I’m going to Izuku’s.”

Toshi scoffed and turned his back to her, “Be back for dinner. Your mother and I are having company over, and you can’t be late.”

“Okay,” Tsuki muttered, closing the front door behind her, and before she knew it, she was climbing the fire escape up to Izuku’s bedroom and knocking on the window.

The window slid open, and she was met with her friend's freckled face. “Hey, Tsuki-chan!” He greeted, stepping out of the way so she could slip inside. “Why’re you in your UA uniform?” He raised his brow, taking in her appearance.

Tsuki looked down at herself and laughed, “My dad had me try it on so he could see it. I was in such a hurry to leave that I forgot to change. But, anyway, what was it that you had to tell me?”

Izuku’s face dropped, “Oh, yeah…” He trailed off. “I guess that is why you came over.”

“Is something wrong?” Tsuki pouted.

He shook his head and plopped down on the foot of his bed, “No, the opposite actually.”

“Then why so upset?” She sat next to him and stared expectantly.

“'Cause,” His voice was barely a whisper. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone. But I can’t not tell you.”

Tsuki paused before saying, “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not supposed to.”

“I know, it’s just that you’re my best friend, and I’m sure you’re wondering how I got into UA.”

“Yeah, I mean, I know you’re insanely smart and super strategic. Even without a quirk, you’re good at holding your own. But even so, getting into UA is hard. I guess I am a little curious. If the normal exams were anywhere near as difficult as the recommendation exams, then I don’t know how you managed without a quirk.”

Izuku’s cheeks turned a rosy pink. “Thanks, Tsuki-chan.” His voice cracked, so he cleared his throat. “I, I don’t really know the best way to tell you. So I guess I’ll get straight to the point. All Might gave me his quirk.”

“What?”

“All Might gave me his quirk,” Izuku repeated, but with more confidence.

Tsuki couldn’t help but laugh, “All Might? Gave it to you?” She managed to say between laughs. “I know you said you got to meet All Might, but there’s no way he’d give a stranger his quirk. Besides, that’s not even how that works. You can’t just give someone your quirk.”

Despite her laughter, Izuku stared at her with a blank expression.

Tsuki’s smile dropped. “You’re serious?!”

“Shh!” Izuku’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he slapped his hand over the girl's mouth. “My mom’s home, she’ll hear you.”

Tsuki peeled his hand off of her and whispered-shouted, “You’re serious?! And your mom doesn’t know?!”

Izuku shook his head.

“Izuku, this is crazy. I have so many questions. How did he give it to you? And why? What the-”

“Izuku?!” His mom’s voice rang throughout the hall. “Is everything all right?”

“Ye-yeah, mom!” His voice shook.

His bedroom door creaked open, and his mom’s head popped inside. Her eyes landed on Tsuki, and she mustered up a smile. “Oh, hey, Tsuki. I didn’t see you come in.”

Tsuki awkwardly laughed and opened a portal in front of her, “Oh, ya know, it was just quicker to use my quirk.”

His mom curtly nodded, then turned her attention to her son, “Dinner’ll be ready shortly, Izuku, honey.” Then she left the room without another word, leaving the door open behind her.

“I swear she hates me.” Tsuki mummbled.

Izuku waved his hands in front of him, “No, no, she doesn’t. She just feels like you, I mean, we are always sneaking around. She doesn’t know you come through my window, and I don’t think she appreciates you just randomly appearing in my room.”

“I only started using the window cause she’d never answer the door for me.” Tsuki rolled her eyes. “But anyway, tell me about your quirk.”

Izuku glanced at his open door and mouthed, “Another time.”

Tsuki sighed and stood from his bed, “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, Izuku.”

“Sorry, Tsuki-chan.” He pouted, then gave her a hug, which she returned. “See you tomorrow.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

The sound of brakes squealing pulled Tsuki’s attention from her phone as the bus came to a stop in front of her. She shoved her phone into her pocket and boarded. Her eyes scanned the rows for her friend until she saw his mess of green hair in the back, but he didn’t seem to notice her.

“Hey, Izuku.” Tsuki grinned, sliding into the seat next to him.

He snapped his notebook shut and returned her smile, “Hey, Tsuki-chan. I didn’t see you get on.”

Tsuki glanced down at his notebook, then back at him, “Whatcha working on?”

“I was sketching some hero costume ideas.” He answered. “I didn’t exactly turn in my form to the school. My mom ended up making me a costume.”
“That was sweet of her. Can I see?”

His face flushed, “They’re not that good.” He flipped through the pages until he got to a page with a couple of sketches. One was a costume that resembled All Might, while the other was a costume suited for a girl.

“Woah,” Tsuki snatched the book from his hands to get a closer look. “That’s so cool! Who’s that for?”

“For you,” He pointed to the corner of the page where he had written a few notes. “You said that when you overexert yourself with your quirk, you can get hot and super disoriented. So I thought if there was some sort of cooling system in your suit, maybe it would help a little. I know you get dizzy, and I don’t know how much it would help with that, but-”

Tsuki laughed, cutting him off. “Thanks, Izuku. That’s so thoughtful. I wish I had thought of that when I sent in my costume design.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem.” He smiled.

“Woah, look!” Tsuki pointed out the window as the bus slowly came to a stop. They had finally made it to UA and quickly made their way off the bus.
The pair stood at the gates of the school, marvelling at the ginormous building. Even though they’d both been to the school to take their exams before, it still felt unreal being there.

“I can’t believe I’m actually here,” Izuku murmured.

Tsuki grinned and grabbed him by his hand, “C’mon! Let’s go find our class!”

The two hurried inside, manoeuvring their way around the crowded halls until they found themselves standing outside a large door labelled ‘1-A’. They entered the classroom and were immediately immersed in pure noise and chaos.

“Take your feet off that desk now!” A tall, blue-haired boy with glasses shouted.

Tsuki’s eyes travelled to who he was shouting at, and there sat none other than Katsuki Bakugo. She clenched her jaw and glanced back at Izuku, who was watching the interaction between the two boys.

“Just my luck,” Izuku mumbled under his breath.

“I knew he got into UA, but I didn’t know he was in our class.” She grumbled. “What fuc-”

Before she could finish her sentence, a girl appeared behind them. “Hey! I recognize that messed-up hair! Falling boy!”

Tsuki and Izuku both whirled around.

‘Falling boy?’ Tsuki thought.

Izuku’s face burned, “Oh, hey, hi! Oh my gosh! So, uh, I should probably be thanking you for going in and talking to him.”

Tsuki looked between the two, “Thanking her for talking to who?”

The girl smiled and turned to Tsuki, “Hey, I’m Ochoco Uraraka! What’s your name?”

“I’m Tsuki.”

“Huh, I don’t recognize you from the exams. What group were you in?”

“Oh, uh, I actually got in on recommendation, so that’s why you don’t.”

Uraraka’s eyes lit up, “Recommendation?! You must be super powerful then!”

“Yeah,” Izuku laughed. “She really is.”

“I can’t wait to meet everyone else! I wonder if anyone else in our class got in on recommendations.” Uraraka’s eyes scanned her classmates.

“If you’re just here to make friends, then you can pack up your stuff now.” A man inside a yellow sleeping bag lay on the ground behind the students. The three jumped back and gasped.

“Welcome to UA’s hero course.” He unzipped the bag and stepped out. He had long black hair that fell just below his shoulders, a scruffy beard, and eye bags so bad he looked as if he hadn’t slept in months. “It took eight seconds before you all shut up. That’s not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that.”

He turned so that he was facing the class and reached into his bag. “Hello, I’m Shota Aizawa. Your teacher. Right, let’s get to it. Put these on and head outside.”

Everyone stood up and filed out of the room. Aizawa handed a uniform to each student as they walked by.

“The girls' locker rooms are down the hall, second door on the left. Boys, yours is the third.” Aizawa informed. “Meet down in the courtyard when you’re finished changing. Hurry.”

Tsuki heard a huff and then saw Bakugo walking next to her. His hand was tightly clenched around the uniform Aizawa had just handed him.

“Hey, runt,” Bakugo said through gritted teeth, not bothering to look at the girl.

Tsuki shot him a look out of the corner of her eye, “What, Bakugo?”

“How did Deku get into UA?” He asked quietly, not wanting anyone to hear him. “He doesn’t even have a quirk.”

“It’s none of your business,” Tsuki replied. “And don’t call him Deku, asshole.” Then, before he had a chance to react, she entered the girls' locker room.

A short girl with purple hair said, “Mr. Aizawa seems to be a grouch.”

“I know, right?” Another girl with pink skin and horns replied. “Hopefully, he’ll be a good teacher.”

Tsuki said, “I’ve heard that he’s a pretty strict guy, but if you listen, you’ll have a lot to learn.”

A few of the other girls agreed.

“What’s your name? I’m Mina.” The pink girl came up to Tsuki. “I didn’t see you at the entrance exams. It seems like you already knew Midoriya and Bakugo, though.”

“Tsuki Hitomi,” She answered. “But you can just call me Tsuki.. I wasn’t at the entrance exams. I actually got accepted into UA by recommendation. Izuku, Bakugo, and I all went to the same Junior High, though Izuku and I were friends long before then.”

The girl stared at Tsuki in awe. “You got in by recommendation?! That’s so cool! I met Midoriya and Bakugo at the entrance exams, but I didn’t get put into the same exam as Midoriya. I was with Bakugo, but after seeing how violent he was, I tried to stay out of his way.”

“Yeah, he’s always been that way. I’ve known him basically my whole life.”

“I heard you call him an asshole. Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear you in the hall.” Mina giggled.

“That’s just cause he didn’t get a chance to react. We don’t exactly get along. I’m sure you’ll see that in no time.”

A girl with purple hair budded in, “Hey, we should probably get going.”

“Right.” Tsuki and Mina said at the same time.

The two girls quickly changed and were the last out of the locker room. They left at the same time that Izuku was leaving his changing room.

“Oh, hey.” He waved to the two girls. “Is everyone else out?”

Tsuki nodded, “We’re the last.”

“Me too.”

Once the three were outside, Aizawa said, “Now that everyone is finally here.” He shot them a look. “We can start our quirk assessment test.”

“What? A quirk assessment test?” The class asked simultaneously.

“But orientation!” Uraraka complained. “We’re gonna miss it!”

“If you really wanna make the big leagues, you can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we’re not tethered to traditions. That means that I get to run my class however I see fit. You’ve been taking standardized tests most of your lives. But you never got to use your quirks in physical exams before. The country’s still trying to pretend we’re all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It’s not rational. One day, the Ministry of Education will learn. Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam.”

Tsuki glanced over at Bakugo and was surprised to see that he was shocked at that information.

“What was your farthest throw with a softball when you were in Junior High?”

‘Sixty-seven meters.’ Tsuki thought in her head as Bakugo said, “Sixty meters, I think.”

Tsuki chimed in, “Sixty-seven.”

“Huh?” Bakugo looked over at her, confused.

“It was sixty-seven, the same as mine.”

He rolled his eyes and turned back to Aizawa, “What she said.”

“Right. Try doing it again, but this time with your quirk.”

Bakugo nodded and walked over to the designated circle that was drawn for this test.

“Anything goes, just stay in the circle." Said Aizawa. “Go on. You’re wasting our time.”

“All right, man, you asked for it.” Bakugo drew back his arm, then just before he let go of the ball, activated his quirk, launching it into the air. It flew across the field and seconds later hit the ground.

“All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It’s the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero.” Aizawa held up the reader to show the distance, which read, ‘705.2 meters’.

Tsuki couldn’t help but be impressed, though she would never admit it. Going from sixty-seven meters to 705 meters in just one year was amazing. But it did help that he was allowed to use his quirk this time.

“Whoa, 705 meters, are you kidding me?” A blond boy with a strip of black hair stood there, shocked.

Mina gasped, “I wanna go! That looks like fun!”

“So this looks fun, huh?” Aizawa asked. “You have three years here to become a hero. You think it’s all gonna be games and playtime? Idiots.” His cold stare changed into a menacing smile. “Today, you’ll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately.”

A redheaded boy with red eyes who was standing next to her said, “The entrance exams were hard enough. I can’t imagine being sent home on the first day. I thought this was gonna be a friendly competition.”

“Well, just try your best.” Tsuki gave him a small smile, which he returned. “We’ve got this.”

“I’m Eijiro Kirishima.”

“Tsuki.”

“Nice to meet you, Tsuki.”

She gave him another smile, then turned her attention back to Mr. Aizawa.

“As I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand? If that’s a problem, you can head home right now.”

Tsuki couldn’t help but smile. She loved competition, although she did feel bad for whoever would get last place. But she knew for a fact that it wouldn’t be her going home.

“You can’t send one of us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn’t the first day, that isn’t fair!” Uraraka whined.

“Oh, and you think natural disasters are? Or power-hungry villains? Hm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No, the world is full of unfairness. It’s a hero’s job to try to combat that unfairness.”

Tsuki spoke up, “Mr. Aizawa, sir. I don’t mean any disrespect, but I don’t think sending the last-place person home is the right thing. Like Uraraka said, it’s only the first day, and like you said, we haven’t had a chance to use our quirks until now. This is a chance for all of us to grow in our quirks and have a better understanding. Sending someone home because they can’t control something they haven’t been taught isn’t right.”

“Yeah, what she said.” Kirishima agreed.

The whole class began murmuring in agreement, except for Bakugo, who wore a scowl.

“Tsuki Hitomi, right?” Aizawa asked.

She nodded.

“I can respect what you’re saying, but this is my class to teach, not yours. UA is for the exceptional. The reason we hold such difficult exams is to weed out the weaklings. If you can’t handle this, you shouldn’t be here. So why don’t you go ahead and go next? Prove to me you’ve got what it takes to be here.”

Tsuki walked up to the circle that Bakugo was standing in and shouldered past him. He grumbled and stepped out of her way, joining the rest of the class as Aizawa handed her a softball.

“Ready when you are,” Aizawa said boredly.

Tsuki concentrated on opening a portal in front of her, then drew back her arm. She launched the ball into a portal, then quickly created another one as far as she could see. The ball exited the portal and continued flying through the air before hitting the ground moments later.

Aizawa held the reader up to the class, and her number was ‘4820 meters’. Tsuki smiled, biting down on her bottom lip in an attempt to contain her excitement. She walked back over and stood next to Izuku.

“Impressive.” Aizawa nodded.

The whole class stood with their mouths dropped.

“Wow, that was even better than Kacchans!” Izuku cheered, giving his best friend a high five. “Good job!”

“I wasn’t even trying!” Bakugo shouted. “That was nothing! Just wait until you see me use my full strength! I was holding back so I wouldn’t blow y’all away!” He crossed his arms and huffed, turning his back to the class.

Tsuki rolled her eyes, still smiling, “Sure, Bakugo. I guess you were holding back, too, when that Sludge villain attacked you and Izuku had to save you?”

“He didn’t save me!” Bakugo screamed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Aizawa sighed, “That’s enough, let’s continue. Midoriya, you’re next.”

Kirishima took Izuku’s place as he headed to the circle. “That throw was insane! How’d you do that?”

“My quirk is teleportation,” Tsuki explained. “I can typically teleport things within my line of sight. On a clear day, I’m able to teleport things up to almost 5,000 meters.”

“Woah!” Kirishima gushed. “Can you even teleport yourself?”

To answer his question, Tsuki opened a portal and stepped through it, then appeared on the other side of him.

“You’re so cool!”

Tsuki laughed, “Thanks.”

Mr. Aizawa cleared his throat and shot the two a look of annoyance, quickly shutting them up.

Izuku glanced over at Tsuki before taking a deep breath. She was confused, yet curious about what he was going to do. She hadn’t seen his quirk in action yet.

‘I wonder if he’ll harness the power the same as All Might or not.’

Tsuki watched intently as Izuku prepared himself for the throw. She couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do.

“Hitomi,” Bakugo elbowed the girl. “Why are you watching him like that?”

Tsuki furrowed her brows, “What do you mean?”

“You look just as confused as I am. I mean, how did a quirkless loser like him manage to get into this school?”

Iida crossed his arms, “Uh, he has a quirk. Did you not hear about what he did in the entrance exams?

“Huh?” Bakugo asked.

She turned her attention towards Izuku, who looked unsure of himself. He seemed as if he were about to puke. Her stomach dropped as he prepared himself to throw the ball, but when he released it, it only flew a few meters.

“What?” Tsuki and Bakugo asked at the same time. They glanced at each other, and Tsuki clenched her jaw.

‘What the hell is going on? I thought he said he had a quirk.’

“What’re you not telling me?” Bakugo said lowly so that only she could hear. “I know you two are hiding something. Deku hasn’t got a quirk, I’m sure of it.”

Tsuki glared at him, “I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

“What gives? I was trying to use it just now.” Izuku stared at his hand, confused.

“I erased your quirk,” Aizawa told him. “The judges for this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school.”

‘Someone like you? What does that even mean?’

“Wait, you did what to my-” Izuku gasped. “Those goggles! I know you! You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The Eraser Hero, Eraser Head.”

Aziawas' hair floated over his head, and his eyes turned red as his quirk was activated, “You don’t have control over your power. Were you planning on breaking your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?”

“No! That’s not what I was trying to do.”

Aizawa wrapped his scarf around Izuku and pulled him towards him. “No matter what your intentions are, you would be nothing more than a liability in battle. You have the same reckless passion as another overzealous hero I know.”

‘All Might.’ Tsuki thought. ‘Of course, he’d adopt that reckless enthusiasm.’

“But even with that drive, you’re worthless if you can only throw a single punch before breaking down. Sorry, Midoriya. With your power, there’s no way you can become a hero.” Aizawa deactivated his quirk, and his hair fell back down into place. “I’ve returned your impractical quirk. Take your final throw. Hurry and get it over with.”

Bakugo placed his hands on his hips. “Deku is gonna be the one going home today. I’m sure of it.”

“You don’t know that.” Tsuki defended her friend. “It very well could be you for all we know.”

Bakugo smirked, “Yeah, right. We both know that’s not true.”

Of course, she knew it wasn’t true, but that wasn’t going to stop her from saying it. She knew that Bakugo had just as much potential as her and that his quirk truly was amazing. It was strong and versatile, which was more than she could say for herself. She felt very limited when it came to her quirk.

Izuku wound up and threw the ball. It flew through the air with amazing speed and power. Tsuki’s jaw dropped, but she quickly closed her mouth.

‘What the hell, Izuku?’

Everyone watched in amazement as the ball soared through the air. Eventually, it hit the ground, and the scanner read ‘705.3 meters’.

Tsuki burst out laughing and pointed at Bakugo, “He beat you by .1.”

“Shut up! I told you I was holding back!” He screamed, only inches from her face.

Tsuki laughed and shook her head, “Yeah, right. Why would you hold back in a competition?” She lightly pushed him away.

Bakugo jumped at her, but she just opened a portal and made him fall from a few feet up. He landed roughly on his back and lay there in a starfish position, staring at the sky. “I hate you, Hitomi.” He muttered before sitting up.

“What was that you said earlier about taking me down in a second?” Bakugo didn’t answer. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Gosh, why are you two so harsh towards each other?” Kirishima asked, looking between the two.

“Because he’s a bully.”

“Because she’s-” He paused. “She’s annoying!”

Tsuki snickered, “You don’t actually have a reason, hence why I called you a bully.”

Bakugo scoffed, “Whatever!”

Kirishima side-eyed Bakugo before turning his attention back to Mr. Aizawa, who was calling up the next person, which just happened to be him. Izuku came back and stood next to Tsuki.

She noticed his hand hidden behind his back. “What’s wrong?” She questioned, grabbing his wrist. His pointer finger was black, blue, and horribly crooked.

“Is it broken?!” She brought his hand to her face and took a closer look at it. “Wow…” Tsuki bit the inside of her cheek, refraining from asking any questions.

Taking his hand back from Tsuki, he glanced at her. “I can’t control it,” Izuku whispered. “Not yet, anyway.”

Tsuki nodded. Based on what she’d heard and seen about his quirk, she knew it was dangerous, both to himself and to others.

The rest of the class went and threw the softball, all of the scores varying. The highest scores were, of course, Bakugo with 705.2 meters, Izuku with 705.3 meters, Tsuki with 4820 meters, and Uraraka with infinity.

Once all of the tests were over, Aizawa revealed the results to the class. Tsuki scanned over the list of the twenty-one students for her name. She finally found it in the third-place spot, right under the name Shoto Todoroki. Tsuki contained her excitement but allowed herself to smile as she looked for Izuku’s name. But when she saw it, her smile faded, and she felt as if she were going to puke. He was in last place.

“Fourth place?!” An annoying voice shouted from behind her. “No way I lost to a damn runt!” Bakugo stormed over to Tsuki, who still had her back to him. He placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. “Don’t ignore me!”

“Shut up, for once in your life!”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He shouted, but took his hand off of her and backed away.

Normally, Tsuki would’ve argued back, but the sickening feeling in her stomach was growing as she worried for her best friend. No matter how upset she was with him, she knew that he would be crushed to be kicked out of his dream school on the first day.

Placing her hand on his shoulder, she patted it reassuringly, though there was nothing to reassure. It wasn’t going to be okay, and they both knew that.

“I, I failed.” Izuku’s voice cracked, and tears formed in his eyes.

Before Tsuki could say anything, Aziawa’s voice caught all of their attention. “And I was lying, no one’s going home.”

Izuku’s eyes went wide. Relief washed through both him and Tsuki.

“That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests.”

Tsuki frowned, ‘He’s lying, but I wonder what changed his mind.’

“That’s it, we’re done for the day.” Aziawa began to walk inside. “Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning.” He instructed, then came up to Izuku. “Midoriya, take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you’re prepared.”

As soon as he was gone, Izuku let out a sigh of relief and examined the paper in his hand. It was a slip for him to go see the school nurse, Recovery Girl.

“Want me to go with you?” Tsuki asked, bringing Izuku out of his thoughts.

He shook his head, “No need to wait for me. You can just head home.”

“Okay,” Tsuki frowned. “I’ll see you later.”

She and he parted ways as she headed back to the locker room to change.

Tsuki quickly got dressed and hurried to the front of the school, where she hoped to find Izuku, but instead, found a familiar blond-headed boy.

His red eyes hardened as they met hers. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it as a white SUV came around the corner. It parked in front of the two, and the driver's side window rolled down.

It was Bakugo’s mom, Mitsuki.

“Hey, Tsuki!” She beamed, waving at the brunette. “Katsuki, you better be being nice to her!”

Bakugo’s cheeks flushed, and he marched to the car, “I told you I was gonna walk home, you old hag!”

“You too embarrassed to have your mom pick you up?” Tsuki teased. “Or did you want the exercise?”

Bakugo climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut. “Oh, shut up! It’s not like we live far!”

Mitsuki placed her hand over her son’s mouth. “Tsuki, if you want, you can ride with us. It’s supposed to start raining, and I’d hate for you to have to walk in it.”

Tsuki looked up at the sky, which had gotten significantly darker since her class took the quirk examination.

“She’s fine!” Katsuki’s voice was muffled through his mom’s hand. “It’s not like she’ll melt!”

Tsuki smiled at the woman, then hopped in the backseat. Just as she did, it began to pour, and the ground shook with thunder. “Thanks, Mrs. Bakugo.”

“For the hundredth time, call me Mitsuki.” She smiled, then they left.

Bakugo hunched down in the front seat, grumbling to himself the whole way home.

Chapter 3: Just A Kid

“You rode home with him?”

Tsuki lay on Izuku’s bed, watching the fan blades spin around above her. “Yeah, and he started yelling at me. Then his mom got mad, and we ganged up on him until he shut up.”

Izuku, who was sitting at the foot of the bed, laughed, and Tsuki couldn’t help but smile. “Well, are you going to tell me about your amazing new quirk?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Izuku’s eyes fell, no longer meeting hers. “I feel bad, because All Might told me not to tell anyone, cause he said it could be bad if I did. I trust you, though, and you’re my best friend. Besides, I don’t know how it could possibly be bad.”

Tsuki sat up and propped herself up on her elbows. “I don’t know. Maybe he just didn’t want his secret to get out, and that’s why he said it.”

“Maybe, I dunno. He trained me at the end of last school year, so when he gave it to me, my body could handle it. He said otherwise, it could make my limbs explode.”

“Yikes, sounds extreme.”

Izuku laughed, “Yeah, you’re telling me. I still haven’t learned to control it yet, obviously. Right now, it’s all or nothing. So when I do use it, the backlash is that it breaks my body.”

“We should train together so that you can control it better.”

“Really? I’d love that!” He cheered. “Thanks, Tsuki-chan.”

“Of course,” She paused. “Wait, I have a question. How did he give you his quirk? I didn’t know that was possible.”

“It’s not something just anyone can do. All Might said that him being able to hand it off was part of the quirk. Apparently, it was given to him, too. He wasn’t born with it.”

“What? No way!”

“I know! That’s what I said. I thought All Might was a natural-born hero, turns out we’re more alike than I thought.”

“Izuku, I’m home!” A woman’s voice rang through the house. His mom walked into his room, and her eyes landed on Tsuki. “Oh, hey Tsuki. I didn’t know you were here.”

“Sorry, Mom. I should’ve let you know, I wasn’t planning on her coming over.”

“It’s alright,” She smiled at the two. “Do you want to stay for dinner? I’m making curry.”

Tsuki glanced at her phone to check for any messages from her parents, and since there were none, she said, “I’d love to, thanks.”

“Of course. How was your two’s first day at UA?”

“It was fun,” Tsuki answered. “Our homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa, had the class test our quirks and then ranked us.”

“That sounds like fun!”

Izuku nodded, “Yeah, and Tsuki placed third!”

“Woah, great job, Tsuki. How’d you do, Izuku?”

Izuku’s face flushed, “Oh, uh, I didn’t do the greatest.”

“It’s okay, though,” Tsuki reassured him. “It was only the first day, you’ll get the hang of it.”

His mom agreed, “Yeah, you’ll get there, Izuku. I’m going to start on dinner, I’ll call when it’s ready.”

Izuku got up from his bed and started looking through the different notebooks on his shelves. “You wanna see the notes I’ve taken on your fighting style?”

Tsuki laughed at his randomness, “Yeah, sure. Nerd.”

Izuku blushed, but grabbed his notebook nonetheless, then sat beside her.

“Based on the little bit I’ve seen. In Junior High, you didn’t have many chances to work with your quirk, things are different now that we’re in UA, though.” He continued to ramble on for a few minutes, and Tsuki took in every word he said.

He handed the notebook over to her, and she started scanning through it. He wrote about how she used more hand-to-hand combat with pure strength than she did her quirk when she fought.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that.” Izuku frowned. “Why do you rarely use your quirk? Like, yeah, your physical strength is insane, but your quirk applied in the right way is super powerful.”

“I don’t know.” She admitted. “I don’t like to rely on it.”

Izuku stared at her for a minute, not sure whether to believe her, but he settled with her response and nodded, “Well, since you don’t, I haven’t written a lot on your quirk. I noticed some similarities between your and Kacchans' fighting styles. You both start fights with big right hooks, which I think is something you should work on. It can become predictable and eventually a weakness.”

“Thanks for the input.” Tsuki stared down at the page, considering what he just said. “So you said we fight the same. Does that mean you’ve taken notes on him, too?”

Izuku nodded, a grim look on his face, “I’ve taken notes on every hero. A lot of them were ruined that day when Kacchan destroyed one of my notebooks. It’s okay, though. I have a lot more and have made up for the majority of the ones I lost.”

Tsuki flared her nostrils and glared at Izuku. He frowned at her, knowing what she was about to say. She always said the same thing when it came to Bakugo.

“Bakugo is such a dick! There was no reason for him to destroy your book, and he knows it. There is no reasoning behind his mean actions. He’d bully someone just because they breathed in his direction.” Tsuki huffed. “You know what he said about me today?”

“What?”

“You know Kirishima, the redhead boy in our class, right?”

“Yeah.”

“He asked us why we were harsh towards each other. His answer was, and I quote, “Because she’s annoying.” Tsuki held up air quotes. “Like he didn’t even have a valid reason.”

Izuku smiled and shook his head, “You’re not annoying, Tsuki. I don’t know why you let him bother you so much. He wouldn’t be so mean to you if you didn’t try and stand up for me so much.”

Tsuki elbowed his side, “Of course I’m gonna stand up for you, idiot. You’re my best friend.”

A small blush dusted his cheeks, “I know, but still. Thanks, Tsuki-chan.”

Tsuki smiled at the boy, “Of course.”

“Izuku, Tsuki, come in here, please!” Izuku’s mom called from the kitchen.

They gave each other a knowing look and laughed.

“Will you two run to the store for me and grab some ginger powder? I don’t have any, and I need it for dinner.”

“Sure, Mom,” Izuku answered and gestured for Tsuki to follow him.

“My purse is in my room, you can get money.” She informed them.

Izuku shook his head, “Don’t worry, I got it.” Then the two left the house.

The pair conversed on the short walk to the store, talking about Izuku’s training. He told her about how he had cleaned up Dagobah beach.

As they approached the store, a man with blond hair, black eyes, and hollow cheeks was leaving. Tsuki didn’t let the odd look he and Izuku shared go unnoticed as he held the door open for them.

“Thank you,” Izuku smiled awkwardly at the man. “Have a nice day.”

Once they were in the store, Tsuki glanced over at Izuku. “Do you know that man? He seemed familiar.”

He scratched the back of his neck and whispered, “That was All Might in his other form. That’s how he hides from the public.”

“What? Seriously? I didn’t know that.” She led him down the aisle where all of the seasonings were. “Your mom said garlic powder, right?”

He nodded. “Here it is.”

Izuku took the small bottle from her so she didn’t have to carry it, and led her to the checkout. “Tsuki, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Sorry if I’m overstepping, but I saw your dad on the news the other night, and I know you two don’t have the best relationship, and I know his-”

“Can you get to the point?” Tsuki deadpanned, annoyed by the mention of her father.

“Yeah, sorry.” He mumbled and set the powder down on the conveyor belt. They quickly checked out, and by the time they were back outside, he said, “Never mind, I know you don’t like talking about him.”

Tsuki stared at the ground as they walked to avoid his gaze, “Sorry.”

Izuku nodded, “It’s okay.”

She glanced over at Izuku. His brows were furrowed, and he looked as if he was deep in thought. Waving her hand in front of his face, she attempted to give him a reassuring smile, “Hey, you okay?”

He reluctantly met her eyes and nodded, “Yeah, I’m good.”

Deciding not to pester, Tsuki left him alone.

The walk back was quiet, and Izuku couldn’t help but think about her dad. He was a Pro Hero with the same quirk as his daughter. Tsuki would always talk to Izuku about her and her dad’s fights, but over time, he noticed her stories were never straight. He never wanted to pry cause he knew it would make her mad, and she never got mad at Izuku.

When they got back, the smell of food filled the house, causing Tsuki’s stomach to growl.

“Thank you, sweetie.” Inko smiled and kissed the top of Izuku’s head. “Dinner should be ready soon, don’t go too far.”

Tsuki understood that as to stay in the kitchen with her. So she and Izuku made themselves comfortable at the table beside each other. The three of them continued to talk. Mostly, Tsuki sat, silent, listening to Izuku tell his mom about his day.

Soon enough, Inko had food on the table. Tsuki and Izuku thanked her for cooking, then dug in. For the rest of dinner, they sat and reminisced about old times.

As dinner came to an end, Tsuki’s phone rang. Her dad's contact lit up on the screen, and her eyes widened when she read his name.

“Excuse me,” She stood from her seat. “It’s my dad.” With that, she stepped into Izuku’s bedroom and answered. “Hello?”

“Where are you?!”

“The Midoriyas, they asked me to stay for dinner.”

“I didn’t say you could stay for dinner. I was expecting you home right after school.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t planning on it.”

“I don’t care what you were or weren’t planning on. Come home right now.” Then he hung up.

Tsuki clenched her hand around her phone and groaned in annoyance before leaving the room. Unsurprisingly, Izuku was waiting for her outside the door.

“Everything okay?” He looked worried.

Tsuki nodded and slid her phone into her pocket. “Yeah, my dad wants me home. He sounded mad. Sorry to have to leave so suddenly.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Hopefully, he’s not too upset. ” Izuku led her back into the kitchen, where his mom was putting up dinner. “Hey, Tsuki’s dad wants her home, so I’m gonna walk her there.”

She smiled and waved. “Alright, goodbye, sweetie. Be safe, Izuku.”

The sun was setting when they left his house. A cool breeze swept through the air, bringing chills to Tsuki’s arms. Her stomach churned at the thought of her dad being mad. The closer they got, the more anxious she grew. It wasn’t long before they reached her house.

“Thanks for walking me home.” Tsuki wrapped her arms around Izuku. “You didn’t have to.”

He smiled and returned the hug. “You’re welcome. I didn’t want you walking alone, especially since it’s getting dark.”

Tsuki returned his smile and reached for the door, “I appreciate it. Be safe going home, Izuku.”

He nodded, “See ya tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

Tsuki walked inside and was immediately met with her dad towering over her. He glared down at her, brown eyes full of anger, and a lump formed in her throat.

“You should’ve been home hours ago!” He stepped closer to her, not letting his harsh look falter. “You didn’t tell me you were going to Midoriya’s.”

“Mitsuki brought me home after school, and no one was here. So when Izuku asked me to come over, I thought-” Tsuki was interrupted by his hand forcefully meeting her cheek, causing her head to turn and bringing tears to her eyes. Her fingers jumped to her face, gently brushing her reddening skin.

“I don’t care what you thought!” He shouted, grabbing hold of her wrist. She struggled against him as he dragged her up the stairs towards her room. “You should’ve been home training!”

“We were just hanging out!” She sobbed, voice breaking. “Let me go! You’re hurting me!”

“You disappoint me.” He said, pushing her into her room. “Get out of my sight.” Then he slammed her door shut behind him.

As soon as the door was closed, she screamed and hit the wall, too angry to notice her aching wrist and stinging cheek. She felt her phone buzzing in her pocket and knew immediately it was Izuku calling to let her know he had made it home, but she needed a minute to collect herself.

She silenced her phone without looking at it, went into her bathroom, and began running water into the tub. While waiting for it to fill, she went to the sink and splashed her face with a handful of cold water.

After that, the stinging in her cheek started to fade, as did the redness, numbed by the cool water. Now feeling refreshed, she decided to call Izuku back.

“Hey, sorry, I was in the bathroom.” She said, only telling half the truth. “You make it home alright?”

“Yeah,” He said. “Are you okay? You sound off?”

“I’m fine. My dad was worried about me cause he didn’t know where I was. We argued a little, but we’re good now.”

“Okay, just making sure. I’m gonna get ready for bed. Goodnight, Tsuki-chan.”

“Goodnight.”

After finishing up her nightly routine, Tsuki decided to run downstairs and grab a glass of cold water to ease her mind before going to bed. Before she could make it down the stairs, she heard her parents' voices coming from the kitchen. It didn’t take a genius to know they were arguing, and she couldn’t help but listen.

“You expect too much out of her! She’s just a kid!” Her mom’s voice cried.

“She’s just a kid?! She’s not just any kid, she’s my kid! When I was her age, I was training twice as hard!” He roared.

Tsuki dared to take another step. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was her mom actually standing up for her?

“She’s not you, though! She already got into UA on recommendation! That’s more than you can say about yourself! You didn’t even get into UA!”

A loud thump followed by a blood-curdling shriek echoed throughout the house, causing Tsuki to freeze in fear.

There was a heavy silence before her mom sheepishly said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right, she does need to train harder.”

Tsuki’s eyes filled with tears at her mom's words.

‘Does she really think that?’

The sound of heavy footsteps walking towards her forced her from her thoughts. Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed back to her room, quiet as a mouse.

Chapter 4: Battle Between Rivals

The next morning, homeroom flew by. Surprisingly, there weren’t many announcements Aizawa had to make. So, he questioned the students on what was in the syllabus, ensuring everyone had read it.

“Now,” Present Mic said, tapping a piece of chalk against the board. “Which of these four sentences contains a mistake?”

Tsuki’s head bobbed forward, eyes heavy as she fought the urge to sleep. English was extremely boring, and she already hated the class even though it was only the second day.

“Hey, everybody, look alive! Grammar rules!” Present Mic shouted, startling Tsuki awake. “Hitomi, why don’t you give us the answer?”

“Huh?” Tsuki mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the board. There were four sentences scribbled across it. She sighed and looked back at Present Mic. “Sentence four doesn’t even make sense. It should say ‘Please tell me all that you know’ or ‘Please tell me all you know’.”

Present Mic smiled brightly at Tsuki and gave her a thumbs up, “Correct! See, class, this is what happens when you pay attention. You answer questions correctly.”

Tsuki frowned. She didn’t even know what the question was, much less how she got it correct. She shrugged it off and lay her head down on her desk, letting her hair cover her face.

“Good job,” Tsuki heard Izuku congratulate her. She gave him a thumbs-up, not bothering to look up.

Bakugo huffed, “Ptf, she wasn’t even paying attention. She got lucky.”

Tsuki tilted her head up and shot him a glare.

“Whoa, you look like hell today, runt.” He teased.

“And you look like hell every day, but you don’t see me saying anything about it.” She retorted, rolling her eyes at the boy.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!” Bakugo jumped out of his seat, pointing his finger accusingly at the girl. “DAMN YOU, HITO-”

“That’s enough!” Present Mic’s voice shouted, causing everyone’s hands to jump to their ears. Bakugo slid back into his seat, but not before shooting Tsuki a cold glare. “Anyway-”

The bell ringing sent a wave of energy throughout the room. Everyone sprang out of their chairs and started talking to each other as they packed up their belongings.

“About time,” Tsuki sighed, throwing her backpack over her shoulder. “I’m starving.”

Tsuki and Izuku walked side-by-side through the crowded halls, weaving in and out of people. Luckily, the lunchroom wasn’t too far from their class, so the line wasn’t too long when they got there. They quickly got their food and then found themselves a table by the windows that overlooked a courtyard.

“I saw you fall asleep last period.” Izuku pushed the food around on his plate. “Didn’t sleep well?”

Tsuki shook her head and frowned, “Yeah, last night was rough. My mind was racing all night. I only got like an hour or two of sleep.”

Izuku shared her frown, “I’m sorry, Tsuki-chan.”

“Hey, mind if we join you?” Izuku and Tsuki looked up to see Iida and Uraraka standing next to them with lunch trays. Izuku nodded and smiled, so they took the two seats across from where they sat.

“This is super good!” Uraraka scarfed down her food, smiling as she did so. “Much better than the food I had at my Junior High.”

“Where did you go to middle school?” Tsuki asked.

“Rozaryu Junior High, you?”

“Aldera Junior High.” She answered. “It was a shitty school.”

Iida gasped, “Language! I will not allow my classmates to use such profanity! It is unprofessional.”

Tsuki’s face burned with embarrassment. “Sorry, Iida.” She mumbled.

Izuku laughed at the girl and nudged her side with his elbow, “Hey, eat. We have Hero Basic Training with All Might next, so you’ll need the energy.”

“Oh, right.” Tsuki shovelled food into her mouth, listening to the group talk for the rest of lunch.

Soon enough, the bell rang, and the halls once again became flooded with students as everyone headed back to their classes. The four of them were the first ones back to class and collectively took their seats, waiting for everyone else.

Eventually, the rest of the class piled in, and the bell rang, but there was no sight of All Might. Everyone sat in silence, the anticipation growing with every passing second.

The class's heads snapped in the direction of the door as it was busted open. All Might bellowed, wearing his signature smile. “I am here! Coming through the door like a hero!”

Excitement built up in Tsuki that she could hardly contain. A smile came to her face as her favorite hero stood right in front of her. She couldn’t believe it. All Might in the flesh. He looked even more heroic in person!

‘This school year is gonna be awesome.’ She thought to herself, her smile widening.

All Might stood front and center, hands on his hips, “Welcome to the most important class at UA High. Think of it as ‘Heroing 101.’ Here, you will learn the basics of being a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good!” He started flexing his biceps, his voice becoming strained, “Let’s get into it. Today’s lesson will pull no punches!”

“Fight training!” Bakugo smiled menacingly.

“Real combat?” Izuku asked. Tsuki picked up on the slight nervousness in his voice.

“One of the keys to being a hero is looking good!” All Might dramatically pointed to his right as shelves full of cases slid out of the wall, numbered one through twenty-one. “These are based on your Quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started.”

Tsuki beamed, eagerly scanning the shelves for her case, “Hero costumes!” She cheered. She had completely forgotten about the form she had sent in.

“Get yourselves suited up.” All Might instructed. “Then meet me at the Training Ground Beta!”

“Yes, sir!” The class said simultaneously.

Everyone rushed towards the shelves, each grabbing a case with their assigned seating numbers. Tsuki reached for the case labelled twelve, but it was well out of her reach.

“Here,” A cool voice said, handing her her case.

She looked up to see who she recognized as Shoto Todoroki, from the recommendation exams. He looked pretty much the same, except he’d grown a bit.

“Thanks, Todoroki.” She gave him a small smile and then exited the class. His eyes followed her the whole way out.

Tsuki entered the locker room with all the other girls, each admiring the other’s hero costumes. She opened up her case and quickly changed. Examining herself in the mirror, she began to fall in love with it.

Her suit was skin tight and black, with purple accents along the chest, arms, and hips. Dark grey armor covered her torso for extra protection. The bodysuit cut off at the top of her thighs, but her legs were covered with thigh-high stockings. On the chest was an emblem of three circles, each inside the other, a symbol for her quirk. It was exactly what she had imagined, sleek, tactical, and surprisingly comfortable.

“Wow, your suit is awesome!” Uraraka cheered, standing next to Tsuki. “I love that!” She pointed to Tsuki’s chest. “Is that your family emblem?”

Tsuki smiled, “No, I designed it myself. Thanks!”

“So cool!”

The girls all complemented each other's costumes and then met up with the boys in the hall. The class walked together to Ground Beta, where All Might was waiting.

“Tsuki-chan!” Izuku called out and sped-walked to the front of the class to catch up to her. “I love your costume!” Izuku smiled, looking her up and down, cheeks a rosy pink. “It turned out just like your drawing.”

Tsuki examined his costume. She remembered him saying his mom made it, and it was painfully obvious that it was homemade. The ears, the metal mouthpiece, it all resembled All Might. She giggled at his dorkiness, “Thanks, yours is cool too.”

The class exited the building, and Tsuki became excited when she saw All Might standing out there waiting for them.

“They say that clothes make the pros, young ladies and gentlemen, and behold, you are the proof!” All Might beamed at the class. “Take this to heart. From now on, you are all heroes in training! This is getting me all revved up. You look so cool! Now. Shall we get started, you buncha newbies?”

A very short boy with purple balls for hair stood in front of Tsuki and Yaoyorozu, mouth agape. He was reaching up for the girls, drool dripping down his chin. “All the girls look so good in their costumes. I can’t wait to-”

Tsuki looked at the boy in disgust. She couldn’t remember his name from yesterday, but she did remember finding out he was a perv. She bent down so she was his height and flicked him in the forehead, hard. He stumbled backwards, holding onto his head where she had hit him. “Back off, perv.”

He gasped, “A girl… touched me!”

Tsuki rolled her eyes and stood back up, glanced at Yaoyorozu. She smiled at the girl and shrugged, “I guess a win is a win for a boy like him.”

Yaoyorozu laughed, “It would seem so.”

“Now that you’re ready, it’s time for combat training.” All Might informed.

“Sir!” Tsuki looked over at where the voice came from and recognized it to be Iidas. He was wearing a thick metal suit. “This is the fake city from our entrance exam.”

‘Wow, their setup was so much cooler than where my exam was.’ Tsuki took in the training ground. ‘UA is so awesome.’

“Does that mean we’ll be conducting urban battles again?”

“Not quite.” All Might held up his index and middle fingers for everyone to see. “I’m going to move you two steps ahead. Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evildoers take place indoors. Think about it. Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows. For this training exercise, you’ll be split up into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight indoor battles.”

“Isn’t this a little advanced?” A girl with dark green hair questioned.

‘He said he was moving us two steps ahead.’ Tsuki thought. ‘This does seem like more than two steps.’

“The best training is what you get on the battlefield! But remember, you can’t just punch a robot this time. You’re dealing with actual people now.”

“Sir, will you be the one deciding who wins?” Yaoyorozu questioned.

“How much can we hurt the other teams?” Tsuki glanced over a Bakugo, who had asked the ridiculous question. ‘Is he serious?’

People continued to bombard All Might with questions.

“Listen up!” All Might shouted to regain everyone’s attention. “The situation is this. The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes. Time’s limited, and we’ll choose teams by drawing lots!”

“Isn’t there a better way?” Iida asked.

“Think about it,” Izuku said. “Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that’s the reason we’re seeing that here.”

‘He’s right, but All Might is probably having us draw to save time on his end, not because of Izuku’s reasoning. It’s not like he knows the depth of all of our Quirks yet.’

“Let’s draw!” All Might cheered, ignoring Iida’s question, only proving Tsuki right. “Team A, let’s see…” He pulled out the three names and read them off. “Ochacho Uraraka, Tsuki Hitomi, and Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku and Uraraka were already together, so Tsuki walked over to them, giving them each a fist bump.

“We’ve got this!” She smiled, and they both agreed.

All Might went on to list the rest of the teams. “All right, now, for which team you’ll be going against.” He stuck each of his hands inside two boxes, one labeled hero and the other villain.

“I declare that the first teams to fight will be… these guys!” Out of the villain box, he pulled out a ball with the letter D written on it, and ball A was taken from the hero box. “Now, as you understand, there is an uneven number of students. Since team D has the disadvantage, I have come up with a rule. Midoriya, Uraraka, and Hitomi, only two of you can use your quirks at once.”

“What do you mean?” Uraraka cocked her brow.

“Say two of you are using your quirks, then the other one can’t. It doesn’t have to be the same person the whole time; you can take turns.” All Might further explained.

Bakugo grunted, “I don’t need them to hold back to win! I could take them all at once and come out on top!”

Tsuki rolled her eyes and turned to her team. She met Izuku’s eyes and could see he had a plan formulating, one she wouldn’t agree with. Before he could say anything, Tsuki spoke up, “I’ll be the first not to use my quirk. You two go ahead. I’ll only use mine if I have to.”

Izuku frowned at her. They didn’t have to say anything to know what the other was thinking. He didn’t want to use his quirk, but she wanted him to because he needed to learn how to use it. This was a perfect learning opportunity for him; he just needed to take it. If he got hurt, he could always get healed.

“Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch!”

“Yes, sir!” The class responded.

As the class walked away, the two teams stayed outside. Tsuki assumed this was the building they would be fighting in.

Tsuki looked around at everyone, her eyes landing on Bakugo. He shot her a glare, so she decided to confront him.

“What’s your problem?” She genuinely asked.

“Tch. You think you can beat me without your quirk? Well, you’re wrong! Don’t think for a second that you’re better than me.”

Tsuki laughed, “I’m just doing what All Might said. It’s not personal.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes.

“Bad guys, you can go on in and get set up.” All Might instructed. “In five minutes, the good guys will be let loose, and the battle will start. And take these.” He handed each student an earpiece and capture tape. “This is how you’ll communicate with your teammates if you get separated.”

Iida and Bakugo headed into the building, leaving the three of them outside.

“Ya think they expect us to memorize this building’s floor plan? It’s so big! You know, All Might’s just as cool in person as he is on television! I’m glad he’s not threatening us with some kind of punishment like Mr. Aizawa. We can relax- woah!” Uraraka rambled, but cut herself off when she noticed just how nervous Izuku was. “You’re sweating through your costume!”

“Uh, well, it’s just because we’re up against Kaachan.” He admitted.

Tsuki put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, “Which is exactly why we need a plan. Bakugo is a tough opponent, and we can’t underestimate him. I’m guessing he’s going to let his personal feelings get in the way of this training exercise and come straight for you, Izuku, leaving Iida to guard the weapon. We need to strategize against this, but also be prepared for anything.”

Izuku nodded, “We should be on our guard, who knows what they’ll pull? Kacchan can be a real pain, sure. But his strength, confidence, and ambition, not to mention his quirk. They’re all so much greater than mine. But that just means I have to do better. I refuse to lose today.”

“We’ll all have to step up for this fight.” Tsuki agreed, putting in her earpiece. “Don’t put yourself down either, Izuku. The second you get in your head, that’s when things go south.”

Izuku nodded curtly, “Right.”

Uraraka smiled, “So it’s a fated battle between rivals?”

“Oh, not that I’m trying to get you wrapped up in my fight or anything!” He held up his hands defensively.

“Are you kidding?” Uraraka asked. “We’re a team, right?”

Tsuki nodded, “Yeah, it’s all of our fights. You’re not alone.”

“Yeah, so let’s win this!” Uraraka cheered.

Izuku smiled, his whole body visibly relaxing.

“All right!” All Might announced. “Let’s begin the indoor combat training! Team A and Team D, your time starts now!” Then he left them to join the rest of the students.

“Follow me, “ Izuku waved for the girls to follow. “The front door is too obvious, let’s take this window.”

“Here, I’ll float you two up. Then you can warp me inside, right, Tsuki?”

“Yeah,” She nodded. “I can. But can’t you just float yourself up too?”

Uraraka blushed, “I could, yeah. But I wanted to try your portal. It looks so cool.”

Tsuki laughed, “Okay, you can.”

Uraraka tapped her hand against both of theirs, then floated them up to the third-story window. Once inside, Tsuki looked out at the girl and opened a portal in front of her. She stepped through it, then appeared next to Izuku.

“And just like that, we’re in,” Uraraka whispered and pumped her fist.

Izuku began walking down one of the hallways, “Careful, there are a lot of blind spots.” He led them down a series of halls, peeking down each before making a turn. Uraraka was in the middle, and Tsuki was behind them, watching their backs.

‘Since we haven’t bumped into anyone yet, Bakugo is probably patrolling alone, leaving Iida with the weapon. Splitting up against a group of three isn’t a good idea, so it was probably Bakugo’s. He’s gonna be angry going against Izuku, and he will be blinded by rage. If Izuku and I can handle him, then Uraraka can leave to find Iida. Two against one, even down a quirk, it’s a definite victory on our end. We just have to make sure we do it before time runs out and keep damage to a minimum.’

Tsuki was pulled out of her thoughts by being tackled to the ground. Izuku looked down at her and frowned. His mask was half missing. “Get your head out of the clouds, Tsuki! You almost got hit! Are you okay?”

“I’m alright, sorry.” She apologized.

Tsuki and Izuku rushed to their feet. Smoke filled the hall, and as it cleared, Tsuki saw Bakugo standing next to a large hole in the wall.

‘That blast would’ve taken me out for sure.’

“What’s the matter, Deku?” Bakugo glared at the trio. “Afraid to stand up and fight me?”

Izuku returned his glare, “I knew you’d come at me first and figured you’d try to catch us by surprise.”

Bakugo began to charge, ignoring Tsuki and Uraraka, and headed straight for Izuku, “I want to hurt you so bad they’ll have to stop the fight!” He drew his right fist back and swung, but Izuku caught his wrist, taking him by surprise, then flipped him over his shoulder. Bakugo’s back slammed into the ground hard.

‘A right hook, just like he told me.’ Tsuki looked at Izuku in awe. “Awesome, Izuku!”

“Kacchan,” Izuku said. Bakugo sat up and glared at him. “You always use a big right hook to start a fight. I know because I’ve watched you for years. I analysed every amazing hero, even you. I wanted to learn everything I could about them. It was all in the notebook you burned and threw away. You can call me Deku, but I’m not the same helpless, defenseless kid anymore! You hear me? I’ve changed. From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!”

Tsuki smiled. She was proud of him for standing up for himself for once.

Bakugo got to his feet and got into a fighting position, “Deku. You’re shaking in your boots, you're so scared. But you wanna fight me anyway. That’s why I hate you!” He activated his quirk and charged Izuku again.

“Uraraka, Tsuki, go!” Izuku shouted, catching Bakugo's foot as he went to kick him. Uraraka ran to find the weapon, but Tsuki found her feet planted. She couldn’t leave. She knew Izuku wasn’t going to use his quirk unless he had to, and Bakugo had the upper hand.

“Ballsy move. Think you can take me alone?” Bakugo’s smirk quickly faded when he realized Izuku had wrapped some of the capture tape around his ankle. He went to swing at him, but Tsuki appeared in front of Bakugo and knocked him in the face, sending him into the wall.

“He’s not alone.”

Bakugo quickly recovered and glared at the duo. He readied himself for another attack, but Izuku took off. He grabbed Tsuki’s wrist and pulled her behind him.

“Get back here, Deku!” Bakugo shouted, his voice echoing throughout the halls.

Tsuki stumbled behind Izuku but soon recovered and started running beside him.

“What’s the plan, Izuku?” Tsuki huffed. “That back there is exactly what I predicted from him. I told you that.”

Izuku frowned, “I don’t know. I was kinda hoping you had an idea.”

‘Uraraka is searching for Iida and the weapon. Doing that alone could take a lot of time, considering we don’t know where he is. Our best option would be to capture Bakugo and then help her find the weapon. Iida will be hard to take down, considering his speed, so I could use my portals to reach the weapon. Bakugo won’t be easy to capture, though. It’s a gamble.’

Izuku grabbed her wrist again and pulled her down a hall. They pressed their backs against the wall, and he whispered, “So?”

“Our best option would be to take down Bakugo and then help Uraraka find the weapon. We probably won’t be able to catch Iida, he’s too fast. But I can use my portals to capture the weapon if you two distract him.”

“That’s risky. Taking down Kacchan won’t be easy, but it might be doable if you use your quirk to get around him quickly with the tape.” He paused, then held out his fist, handing her the roll. “Let’s do it.”

Tsuki smiled, “Let’s find the bastard.”

“You shouldn’t talk so loudly!” Bakugo appeared from the corner, a trail of smoke behind him.

Tsuki opened and portal and pushed Izuku through it. She didn’t have time to jump through before Bakugo’s blast hit, knocking her back several meters into a wall. Getting to her feet, she wiped away blood that trickled from her forehead and glared at Bakugo, who wore a menacing smirk.

“Too slow, Hitomi!” He charged at her, preparing explosions in both hands. At the last second, Tsuki created a portal and skillfully dodged his attack. He tumbled into her portal and appeared out of another one coming from the ceiling.

“Nice one, Tsuki-chan!” Izuku cheered from behind.

“Deku, Tsuki,” Uraraka’s voice came over their earpieces. “Iida knows that I’m here. Sorry. Right now he’s monologuing.”

“Where are you?” Izuku asked. “Tsuki’s engaging with Kacchan right now. We’re gonna try and take him down, then meet up with you.”

“Middle of the fifth floor.”

Bakugo glared up at Tsuki, who was standing in front of him, spinning the roll of capture tape on her index finger.

“We’ve got places to be, Bakugo.” She stopped spinning it and got into a fighting position. “So let’s make this quick.”

“You think you can take me down?” He laughed, getting to his feet. “Well, think again.” He lunged at her, but Tsuki simply stepped to the side.

“You’re too obvious.” She stated, easily dodging his next attack as well.

Bakugo smirked, “I’ll make you eat those words, Hitomi.” He stopped and pointed his gauntlet at her, “You probably know how my Quirk, Explosion, works. I secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from my hands and make it blow up. Imagine what I could do if I had a lot of it. That’s right, these gauntlets aren’t just for show. They’ve been storing up my sweat inside for one monster blast. Try and dodge this!”

Tsuki’s eyes widened as he reached for the pin on the grenade and slowly pulled it. There was nowhere for her to go. The explosion shot down the hall in her direction. She froze, covering her head with her arms.

“Tsuki!” Izuku’s voice rang in her ears. She was tackled to the ground. The building shook from the impact of his explosion, and the wall behind them was completely blown away. Fire scorched both her and Izuku, and she could smell their costumes burning. Izuku lay on top of her, grunting in pain. Tsuki hesitantly opened her eyes and saw that the rest of his mask had been burnt off, and so had his right sleeve. As for her, her sleeve was also scorched, and the tips of her hair were smoking.

“Is that even allowed?” Izuku panted, climbing off of her.

Tsuki sat up and stared at the smoke-filled hall, searching for any signs of Bakugo. “That was too extreme, even for him.”

Through the smoke, Tsuki saw the outline of his figure walking toward them. She heard him laugh and say, “These things are awesome. The more nitro sweat that’s stored in these gauntlets, the stronger the explosion is. Go ahead. Use your stupid quirk on me, Deku.” Bakugo walked up to them, smiling crazily, “Even if you give me everything you’ve got, you’ll never beat me.”

Tsuki warped behind the blond and began unrolling the tape, and started wrapping it around his feet.

“Hey!” He shouted, sending an explosion at her, but she was already gone, now standing in front of him, and attempted to capture his arms. As she reached for his wrist, he grabbed hers and threw her off of him at Izuku.

She crashed into her friend, knocking him down.

“Sorry.” She muttered. “Almost had him.”

“Tsuki, Deku, I need help!” Uraraka’s voice came through both of their earpieces. “Iida has made it impossible for me to use my quirk!”

Izuku and Tsuki gave each other knowing looks.

“I’m coming, Uraraka,” Tsuki said. She nodded at Izuku and then took off down the hall.

‘Bakugo is so caught up in his anger towards Izuku, he’s not gonna bother stopping me. Ugh, I should’ve helped Uraraka from the start. I could’ve captured the weapon, and we could’ve won by now. Earlier, Uraraka said she was in the middle of the fifth floor.’ Tsuki glanced around the hall she was running down and saw a sign that said ‘F2’. ‘Gotta hurry, we probably don’t have much time left.’

Tsuki sprinted up three flights of stairs until she reached the floor labelled ‘F5’. Down the hall, she heard Uraraka’s voice say, “You’re not going to win this!”

‘Now is no time for a sneak attack. I just gotta barge in and help.’

A scream echoed through the room as Tsuki kicked through the door. She stared at Iida, who was chasing a floating Uraraka. Tsuki couldn’t help but laugh at the scene unfolding in front of her. She had to admit that Iida was not only taking his role to heart but playing it well.

“Hitomi,” Iida turned to Tsuki, “Nice of you to join us.”

Tsuki smirked, getting into a fighting stance, “You’re gonna regret saying that.” She created a portal and appeared on the other side of the room near the nuke. But Iida was fast. He sprinted in front of her and swung. Tsuki caught his fist, then flipped him over his shoulder.

‘I’ll have to thank Izuku for that move later.’

“Tsuki, Izuku said he’s gonna use his quirk!” Uraraka shouted. “One of us can’t.”

Tsuki dodged Iida’s leg, which attempted to kick her feet out from under her, “I won’t use mine. I have a feeling we’re going to need yours.”

“But-” Uraraka started, but Izuku’s voice came over the earpiece.
Over the earpiece, Tsuki heard Izuku’s voice, “Uraraka, the pillar by the window. Get there now!”

“Told you,” Tsuki laughed.

“Got it.”

“Uraraka, now!”

“Right!” Uraraka grabbed hold of a pillar as the whole building began to shake. A giant gust of wind shattered every window, sending glass shards everywhere. A huge hole appeared in the floor, and pieces of the ground floated around the room.

“This is it! Sorry, Iida!” Uraraka swung the pillar, sending pieces of the floor flying towards him. “Improvised special move: the Comet Home Run!”

“In the name of villainy, I demand that you stop this!” Iida shouted, shielding his body from the debris.

Tsuki took the opportunity and warped in front of the nuke, grabbing hold of it. They had won.

“No! The weapon!” Iida bellowed off the top of his lungs.

All Might’s voice came over the intercoms, “The hero team… wins!”

Tsuki let go of the nuke and ran over to Uraraka, engulfing her in a hug, which she happily returned. “We did it, we did it!”

Uraraka beamed, “Let’s go find Deku.”

Tsuki nodded, and the three filed down the stairs until they reached the second floor. As they rounded the corner, Tsuki saw Bakugo standing still in shock. Her heartbeat started to pick up. Something was wrong. She scanned the room to find Izuku lying on the ground, unconscious.

Chapter 5: Corner Store

“Young Hitomi,” All Might burst into the room, evaluating the situation. “Bring Midoriya to Recovery Girls' office! He needs immediate care.”

Tsuki bowed her head at her teacher, “Yes, sir.” She carefully lifted Izuku’s unconscious body off the ground and headed to Recovery Girls' office. If she was being honest, she didn’t exactly know how to get there from Training Ground Beta, so she hoped signs would point her in the right direction.

When she entered the main building, she realized there weren’t. Unfortunately, class was still going on for everyone else in the school, so it wasn’t like she could ask someone for directions.

‘Uh, I guess I’ll just head back to homeroom and see if Mr. Aizawa is there.’

Tsuki muttered curses under her breath as she trekked up the stairs. Izuku wasn’t getting any lighter.

“Hey,” Tsuki caught the attention of a blond boy who seemed a couple of years older than her. He whirled around and offered her a smile.

“You talkin’ to me?”

Tsuki nodded, “Can you show me where the nurse's office is?”

“Sure thing!” He beamed. “I’m headed there right now.”

“Thanks,” Tsuki let out a sigh of relief, and they began walking up a set of stairs.

The boy gestured at Izuku, wearing a puzzled expression. “What happened to him? His arm is completely mangled.”

“Heroing 101 with All Might.” Tsuki frowned. “He took it too far.”

“I guess you could say that.” The boy laughed. “I’m Mirio. What’s your name?”

“Tsuki.”

“Nice to meet you, Tsuki!” He stopped at a large door with a plaque on it that read, ‘Nurse’s Office’. “Here we are!” Mirio opened the door for the girl, then stepped in after her.

“Hey, Amajki.” He hurried over to who Tsuki assumed was one of his friends.

“Oh dear,” Recovery Girl appeared in front of her, shaking her head in disappointment. “Follow me.”

She led Tsuki to a bed in the farthest corner of the room and instructed her to set him down on it. “What happened?”

“We were doing a training exercise in All Mights class. I wasn’t there when he got hurt, but it looks like he used his quirk and messed up his arm. All Might told me to bring him to you.”

“Only the second day of school, and he’s already a regular patient.” She began inserting an IV into his arm. “Thank you, Hitomi. You can wait outside now.”

“But-” Tsuki protested.

Recovery Girl handed her some change out of her pocket and smiled. “There’s a vending machine at the end of the hall. Go get yourself something. I’ve got him from here. After he’s healed, I’ll tell him you’re waiting for him.”

Tsuki blushed, “Thank you.” Then made her way out of the room.

She made her way to the end of the hall, and just like Recovery Girl said, a pink vending machine sat against the wall. Tsuki tucked her coins into the designated slot with a satisfying click after each one, pressing the button for her favorite beverage. She rocked back and forth on her heels as she impatiently waited. Her drink clunked to the bottom of the machine. She plucked it out of the opening and turned on her heels.

“Hitomi,” A raspy voice came from behind her. Tsuki turned to see Bakugo turning a corner. “Don’t let this win go to your head. I’ll beat your ass next time.”

Tsuki rolled her eyes. “In your dreams.”

“Tch.”

“What did you do to Izuku to make him use his quirk? Did you hit him with that other gauntlet of yours?”

He held up his other gauntlet and showed her that the pin was still in it, “Hell no, All Might threatened to intervene if I did. He did that to himself.”

“What? He did? How?”

Bakugo ignored her question, “I’m going back to class.” He growled.

Tsuki watched as he walked off and heard him grumbling to himself under his breath. She sat on the bench outside the nurse's office, tilting her head back to rest against the wall.

‘I guess all I can do is wait.’

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Tsuki’s foot anxiously tapped the ground. She was watching the clock like a hawk. Their class had ended a while ago, and All Might had already been in and out to check on Izuku. What was taking so long?

The door to the nurse's office opened, and Izuku emerged. His right arm was in a sling, and the other was wrapped in white bandages up to his bicep.

“Oh, hey, Tsuki.” Izuku's voice was hoarse. “Recovery Girl said you’d be waiting.”

“Yeah, I just didn’t think it’d be for hours.” She laughed, and they started back to their homeroom. “How’re you feeling?”

“Exhausted.” He yawned. “Her quirk used what little energy I had left. That’s why she wasn’t able to finish healing me. I have to come back in the morning.”

“That makes sense. Does it hurt?” She pointed to his sling.

“No, not really anymore. The only reason I’m wearing it is so I don’t move too much.”

As they rounded the corner to their class, Kirishima and his yellow-haired friend’s eyes landed on the two. “Hey, Tsuki! Midoriya!” Kirshima grinned, throwing his arm around Tsuki’s shoulder. “You two did great in the training!”

“Thanks,” Tsuki and Izuku said simultaneously.

The yellow-haired boy stood in front of Tsuki, smiling from ear to ear, “I’m Kaminari! We’re gonna go get textbooks for Mr. Aizawa, wanna come with?”

“Sure.” She agreed. “I’ll meet you after?” She raised her brow at Izuku.

He nodded, “Yeah.”

“Actually,” Kirishima interrupted. “I think I’m gonna go back with Midoriya. Do you two have it?”

Kaminari grinned, wrapping his arm around Tsuki’s shoulder. “Oh yeah, we got it.” He led Tsuki into an empty class where two large stacks of English books were piled on a table in the back. “So, you and Midoriya, huh?”

“What?” Tsuki grabbed a stack, as did Kaminari.

“You know.” He shrugged. “You two seem really close.”

“That’s kinda what happens after you’re friends with someone for over ten years.” She retorted. “What’s it to you, anyway?”

“I didn’t think you two were anything, but Kirishima was convinced you were. I’m only asking cause I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner with me.”

“Tonight?”

He nodded.

“Can I think about it?”

“Sure!” He cheered, then skipped over to Kirishima, who was talking with Izuku.

As Tsuki brought the books to Mr. Aizawa’s desk, she felt three sets of eyes on her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the boys looking at her. Kirishima and Kaminari wore matching grins, but as soon as her eyes met Izuku’s, he quickly looked away.

“Um, guys.” Izukus's face was painted with a worried expression. Tsuki followed his gaze only to see that he was staring at Bakugos empty seat. “Where’s Kacchan?”

Uraraka frowned, “They tried to stop him from leaving. But he wouldn’t listen. You just missed him.”

Izuku nodded, then turned on his heel. Tsuki watched him as he sprinted down the hall until he was out of sight. She sighed, ‘I can’t believe he still chases after him.’

“Hey, Tsuki.” Kaminari stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the door. “Did you decide?”

She shrugged, “Sure, why not?”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

“I feel very out of place.” Kaminari glanced around the restaurant. It was outdoors, and lanterns were strung over the seating area. You could see the chefs behind the bar cooking hibachi style. Everyone was dressed in sleek, black dresses and suits.

“Yeah, I didn’t think about the fact that we’d be wearing our uniforms when I suggested it.” Tsuki apologized. “I come here with my parents a lot.”

“It’s a pretty sweet place.” He complimented.

“We could go somewhere else.” She offered. “Do you have any ideas?”

“No, not really. I don’t eat out much.”

Tsuki paused for a moment before saying, “Ooh, there’s this new corner shop over by my house that I’ve been wanting to go to.”

“Is it this fancy?”

Tsuki laughed, “No, not at all. It’s also a little bookshop, so it’s pretty chill.”

“Sweet,” He smiled. “Let’s go.”

Luckily, they were only a couple of minutes from the restaurant, and since it was relatively early, it wasn’t too busy. They were seated within minutes of arriving.

“Oh, yeah,” Kaminari relaxed into his seat. “This is much more my style. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place.”

“It only opened a few weeks ago,” Tsuki said, glancing through the drink options on the menu. “Izuku and I found it on the way to the park, but that was before they opened.”

“Hey, what can I get started for you?” A young waitress approached their table, interrupting their conversation.

“I’ll have a water.”

“Same,”

“Alright, I’ll have those out for you two shortly.”

Kaminari set his menu down and glanced out the window at the setting sun. “You said you live around here?”

“Yeah, how about you?”

He shook his head, “Nah, I’m on the other side of town. It’s beautiful out here.”

“Here you are.” The waitress returned with their waters, then quickly took their orders.

“When I first saw you, I thought you looked familiar. It just came to me where I know you from.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s that?”

“Your dad is the pro hero, Warplash, right? Well, last July I saw you on the news with him at the I-Expo on I-Island. That’s so cool that you got to go! It’s always been a dream of mine.”

“Yeah, we’ve gone every year for as long as I can remember. It’s lame ‘cause I have to follow my dad to all of his meetings and conferences. I tried to take Izuku with us one time when I had a pass to bring a friend, but he wouldn’t let me.” Tsuki rambled. “There are so many things to do, though.”

“Hopefully, this year will be better for you,” Kaminari reassured her. “If I were you, I would sneak off while he’s in his meetings. There’s no point in your being there. You’re supposed to have fun. You’ll have all the meetings in the world once you’re a pro hero.”

“That’s what I said, but he wants me to see what the meetings are like for when I’m a pro. It kind of makes sense, I guess.”

The two talked, enjoying each other's company for the rest of the dinner.

“Here ya’ go!” The waitress approached the table and slid the check in front of Kaminari. “Have a great night, and come again!”

Kaminari pulled cash out of his pocket and set it on top of the bill.

“Thanks,” Tsuki smiled. “I didn’t bring any money, or I’d pay for mine. I can pay you back tomorrow, though.”

Kaminari waved his hand, “Don’t worry about it. I’m the one who invited you, and I had fun.”

“Thanks, Kaminari.”

“Of course.” He slid out of the booth, then offered her his hand. “I’ll walk you home.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

11:30 p.m. Tsuki’s phone dinged.

Izuku: I screwed up.

Tsuki: What’d you do?

Izuku: Read 11:31

Tsuki: Hey?

Izuku: Read 11:32

Tsuki: I’m coming over.

Tsuki climbed out of bed and threw a hoodie on over her tank top, not bothering to change out of her pajamas, shoved her phone in her pocket, and then snuck out of her window.

She stepped onto the roof, then climbed down, careful not to make a sound. Her parents were home, and she’d be dead if she got caught. Jogging down the road, she didn’t need a flashlight because of the full moon.

Soon enough, she arrived. She climbed up the fire escape like she’d done many times before, then tapped on his window. His curtains were closed, but she could still see that the lights were on. He didn’t answer. She knocked again, harder. Still no answer.

‘Ugh, Izuku.’ She groaned and tugged on the window. Fortunately, it was unlocked.

“Izuku Midoriya!” Tsuki whispered-shouted as she climbed through his window, quietly closing it behind her.

Izuku lay on his bed, asleep with his phone in his hand. Tsuki couldn’t help but laugh. She walked over to him, grabbed his phone, and put it on the charger for him.

“Pst, Izuku.” She lightly shook his shoulder. He jolted awake, sitting straight up with wide eyes.

“Oh, Tsuki.” He rubbed his eyes. “You’re here, in my room.”

Tsuki smiled, “Yes, you dork. You got me all worried about you, only for you to be asleep. Why’d you text me that you screwed up?”

Izuku frowned, “Oh, I’m sorry. I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer.”

“I was at dinner with Kaminari.”

“Oh, yeah…” He trailed off. “How was that?”

“It was fine.” Tsuki frowned, “But you didn’t answer my question. How’d you screw up?” She climbed onto his bed and sat next to him. “Spill.”

Izuku sighed and dragged his hands down his face, “I kinda told Kacchan my quirk isn’t mine.”

“What, why?” Tsuki slightly raised her voice. “I thought it was supposed to be a secret.” She frowned at Izuku.

“I’m sorry. I only told him because I felt like I owed it to him. He grew up thinking I didn’t have a quirk, so he must’ve been confused and angry.”

“When is he not angry, though?” Tsuki sighed. She understood where he was coming from. “ I understand why you did it. It’s just weird, you opening up to him of all people.”

Izuku shrugged, “Yeah, it was weird. But I feel a little bit better now that he doesn’t think I’ve been lying to him all these years.”

Tsuki put her hand on his and smiled, “You’re a good person, Izuku.”

A slight blush crept onto his face. “Thanks, Tsuki-chan.” He paused, contemplating whether he should bring it back up. “How was your dinner?”

“We went to that new corner store near my house, and the food was good. We should go sometime. We mainly just talked about my dad and I-Island. It wasn’t anything special.”

“Was it a date?”

“No, don’t think so. I hardly even know him. He didn’t tell me much about himself.” She admitted.

“Oh, okay.”

“Are you alright, Zuku?”

He nodded and swallowed hard, “Yeah, I’m just tired from today. My arm’s starting to hurt a little.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll let you go back to sleep.” Tsuki stood from his bed and pulled her hood over her head. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Izuku’s voice was barely a whisper. “See you tomorrow.”

Chapter 6: Emergency Exit Iida

“What the hell?” Tsuki muttered under her breath as she approached the school. Reporters surrounded the gate, and from what she could see, it seemed like they were interviewing someone. “Excuse me.” Tsuki weaved through the crowd, and everyone she brushed past shot her dirty looks.

When she reached the front of the crowd, there stood a trembling Izuku. She frowned. It was obvious how nervous everyone was making him.

“Hey, you!” A reporter shoved a mic in his face. “Can you tell us what it’s like to work so closely with All Might?”

“U-um, sorry, I have to go to the, uh, the nurse’s office! Yeah, right away!” He awkwardly backed away.

Tsuki walked up to him and put her hand over the reporter’s mic. “We have class to attend to, so all of you should just clear out.”

The reporter completely ignored her statement while another one shoved a camera in her face, “Is All Might a good teacher? Tell us about him.”

Tsuki stared blankly into the camera, “Yeah, he’s great.” She slung her arm over Izuku’s shoulder and waved to the camera, “See ya.” Then she led him away from the bustling crowd and into the school. “Gosh, could the press be any more annoying? They have no right to be invading our personal space. We’re just kids.”

Izuku gulped, finally calming himself down. “Hopefully the teachers will clear them out soon.”

“I’m sure Mr. Aizawa will take care of them.” Tsuki smiled, removing her arm from his shoulder. “He hates the press. But I’ll see you in class. You’re going to the nurse’s office, right?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I’ll see ya later.”

The pair parted ways.

“Hey, Tsuki!” A cheery voice called out from behind her. Tsuki turned around and saw Uraraka running up to her. Iida wasn’t far behind, shouting at her not to run in the halls. “Wait up!”

“Oh, hey, Uraraka, Iida.” She smiled at the pair as they caught up. “Big crowd today, am I right?”

Uraraka nodded, “Way larger than yesterday. You’d think they’d have left us alone by now.”

“They won’t, not until they get their story.” Iida frowned. “Unfortunately, I don’t think they’ll be getting that anytime soon. The teachers keep turning them away.”

The three walked into their class, which was surprisingly already packed. Everyone was ranting about the media and what they said in their interviews.

Mina rushed over to them as they entered, “Did you guys see the press? Crazy, right?”

“They were kinda hard to miss.” Tsuki joked. “I had to save poor Izuku from them. He couldn’t handle the heat.”

Mina and Uraraka laughed, “I was a little nervous too, not gonna lie.” Mina blushed. “There were just so many!”

“Of course, you had to save Deku.” Bakugo shouldered past Tsuki. “That damn nerd could never be a hero if he can’t even handle that.”

Tsuki walked after him, leaving Mina and Uraraka in their conversation. “Oh shut up, dickhead. I’m sure you didn’t even talk to them.”

He sat down in his seat and glared at her, “So what if I didn’t? They’re just a bunch of extras who will never amount to anything. I don’t owe them my time.”

Tsuki leaned against his desk, “If you’re gonna be a hero, you need to learn how to handle them just as much as Izuku does. You have no right to look down on him for that.”

Bakugo glared at the girl, “Get off my desk, runt.”

Tsuki huffed, “Yeah, whatever.” Then took her seat next to his. “You know I’m right.” She muttered under her breath.

Shortly, the bell rang, and just as it did, Izuku sprinted into the class and over to his seat. Tsuki turned back to look at him, “You’re lucky Mr. Aizawa isn’t here yet.”

Izuku blushed and nodded.

Just then, Mr. Aizawa appeared in the doorway in his yellow cocoon. He sluggishly unzipped it and took his place behind the podium.

“Decent work on yesterday’s combat training, you guys. I saw the video feeds and went over each of your team’s results. Bakugo,” He turned in his direction, and Bakugo frowned, “You’re talented. So don’t sulk like a child about your loss, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“And Midoriya. I see the only way you won the match was by messing up your arm again. Work harder. And don’t give me the excuse that you don’t have control over your quirk. That line’s already getting old. You can’t keep breaking your body while training here. But your quirk will be useful if you can get a handle on it.”

‘Praise from Mr. Aizawa?’ Tsuki was stunned by his words. ‘Never thought I’d see the day.’

A smile appeared on Izuku’s face.

“So, show a little urgency, huh?”

“Right.” Izuku nodded.

Aizawa turned to face the whole class, “Let’s get down to business. Our first task will decide your future.”

‘Sounds important.’ Tsuki thought, tapping her pencil against the desk.

“Will you stop that?!” Bakugo glared at her.

Tsuki set the pencil on the desk. “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“You two, pay attention!” Aizawa shouted at the two, gaining their attention. “Anyway, you all need to pick a class representative.”

Tsuki’s eyes scanned the class as she thought about who would be the best to represent them. Her gaze landed on a certain blue-haired boy, and a slight smile appeared on her face. Of course, he’d be perfect.

“Pick me, guys!” Kirishima shot out of his seat. “I wanna be class rep!”

“I’ll take it!” Kaminari’s hand shot up, as well as Jirou’s. The rest of the class shouted similar things about wanting to be the rep, except for a select few, including Tsuki.

‘It would be cool, but I couldn’t handle leading this class. They’re all too crazy.’ She glanced over at the blond next to her. ‘Especially him.’

“What’re you staring at, Hitomi!” Bakugo shouted.

Tsuki rolled her eyes and waved him off, turning her attention back to Iida, who was now yelling at the class. “Silence, everyone, please!” Everyone fell silent and turned to him. “The class representative must lead others. That’s not something just anyone can do. You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom. Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader!”

“It’s pretty obvious you want us to vote for you.”

“Is this really the best idea?” Kaminari questioned.

Tsuki shrugged, “Do you have a better one? Besides, it isn’t terrible.”

“Yeah, but everyone will vote for themselves.” Kirishima pointed out.

“Most people will. But that means whoever does receive votes must truly be the most suitable person for the job.” Iida turned to Aizawa, who was back in his sleeping bag. “It’s the best way, right, sir?”

“Do what you want. Just decide before my nap’s over.”

“Thank you for your trust!” Iida began to tear a sheet of paper, then handed everyone a piece. “Everyone, write whose name you vote for on this. Then fold it up and put it up on the podium.”

Tsuki stared down at her slip and quickly wrote down Iida’s name. She was the first to walk up to the podium and place it down. Iida already had the whole class’s names listed on the chalkboard.

One by one, the rest of the class placed their slips on the podium, and then once everyone was up there, Iida began to tally them up. When he finished, Tsuki scanned the board for her name. She only had one vote, which was fine by her.

“How did I get three votes?!” Izuku broke the deafening silence.

Bakugo shot up, “Okay, you idiots, who voted for him?!”

“What, did you honestly think anyone was gonna vote for you?” Sero smirked.

Tsuki found Bakugo’s name on the board and laughed. He only had one vote, which he obviously gave himself.

“What’re you laughing at, half-pint?!” He shoved his finger in Tsuki’s face. “You only have one vote, too! I bet you voted for yourself!”

She pushed his finger away and met his eyes, “Actually, I didn’t, unlike you.”

“One vote…” Iida frowned. “I feared this might happen, but I can’t argue with the system I chose myself.”

“Did you vote for yourself?” Yaoyorozu asked.

He shook his head, “No, I didn’t.”

A yawn came from the corner of the classroom as Aizawa emerged from his sleeping bag once again, “All right, the class rep is Midoriya, and our deputy is Yaoyorozu.” He waved them over. “Come on up.”

Izuku shakily walked to the front of the class and froze when everyone’s eyes fell on him. Tsuki smiled and gave him a thumbs-up. He seemed to relax for a second, but went right back to being frozen when he looked at everyone else.

“Really? Uh, is it not a mistake?” Izuku questioned, his whole body shaking.

The class collectively agreed that the two would make for great reps, but this didn’t change Izuku’s nervous demeanor.

Suddenly, the bell rang and everyone began packing up. Izuku’s shoulders dropped in relief, and he rushed back over to his seat. Tsuki grabbed her bag and walked over to him.

“Hey, you sure you can handle this?” She was concerned for him. He always struggled to be in front of large crowds.

Izuku nodded, “Uh, ye-yeah, totally.”

Tsuki gave him a knowing look. He cowered down then sighed, “No, I don’t know what to do. I honestly didn’t think I’d be chosen. I didn’t even vote for myself to make sure of it. I voted for you.”

“Talk while we walk to lunch?” She cocked her head to the side.

“Sure.”

“So you just don’t think you’ll be good enough?” Tsuki questioned.

Izuku shyly nodded, piling food onto his tray, “Yeah, I don’t think I’m the right person to lead our class. How can I do that when I don’t even have control over my quirk yet? I can’t lead people when I can’t even lead myself. I still need All-” He cut himself off, face burning red. “I mean, uh, I don’t know.”

Tsuki raised a brow, “You still need all of what?”

Izuku sighed, “I can’t say right here.”

Tsuki reluctantly nodded, “Oh, yeah.”

He gave her a small smile, “Let’s go sit down.”

Tsuki followed him as he led her over to where Iida and Uraraka were already waiting at a table. Iida waved at the pair.

“Tsuki, Midoriya,” He nodded as they sat down, then turned to Izuku. “Are you excited to be our class rep?”

“Uhh, yeah,” Izuku’s voice cracked. “I wasn’t expecting to be picked, so it kinda took me by surprise. I’m kinda worried, I don’t think I’m qualified.”

“Your courage and quick thinking under stress will help make you a worthy leader,” Iida reassured. “Not to mention the strength you’ve demonstrated. Those are the reasons I voted for you, at least.”

“You were one of the three?” Izuku asked.

“Didn’t you wanna be rep really bad?” Uraraka questioned Iida. “I mean, you do look the part, ‘cause of the glasses.”

“Oh, so were you my one vote?”

She shook her head, “No, sorry, Iida.”

“I voted for you.” Tsuki chimed in. “I think you’ve already done a great job leading our class. Even today, you chose the voting method for class rep and set it up.”

Iida fought the urge to smile and said, “Thank you, Hitomi. I appreciate your vote, even if I didn’t win.”

“You voted for Iida?” Uraraka raised her brow. “I assumed you were one of Deku’s votes.”

Tsuki laughed, “Ha, no. Sorry, Zuku. As much as I love you, I know how you are in front of crowds.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he began choking on whatever he was eating. Iida rushed to his side and began roughly smacking his back. “Th-thanks, Tsuki-chan.”

Suddenly, an alarm rang throughout the school, causing Tsuki to jump. A voice came over the intercom, “Warning. Level Three security breach. All students, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion.”

“Level Three security breach?” Iida questioned. “What’s that?”

A boy sitting nearby answered, “That means someone managed to get past UA’s barriers.”

“That’s not good!” Uraraka began to panic.

The four joined the rest of the students in leaving the cafeteria into a very crowded hall. They went to turn around to find a different exit, but more and more students piled in, forcing them into the room.

“Ow.” Tsuki grabbed her side where someone had just elbowed her. “This is insane.”

“Move!” A boy yelled, shoving her to the side, sending her into Izuku.

“I’ve got you!” Izuku caught her right before she hit the ground and pulled her back up. “Ah.” A pair of hands shoved him further into the crowd, and he soon disappeared out of Tsuki’s sight.

“Oh, no, Deku!” Uraraka cried.

“Uh, what’s he doing?!” A voice shouted, pointing towards the ceiling.

Tsuki watched as Iida floated above the crowd and boosted himself through the air before roughly smacking into the wall.

“Listen up, everything is okay!” Iida shouted, managing to silence everyone. “It’s just the media outside. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about! Everything’s fine! We’re UA students. We need to remain calm and prove that we’re the best of the best.”

Everyone relaxed at his words, and Tsuki overheard a couple of people say that the cops had arrived. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “That was so much more stressful than it needed to be.”

“You’re telling me,” Izuku said, reappearing at her side.

Tsuki placed her hand on his shoulder, “Wanna go back to lunch?”

He nodded, then followed her as she walked back to the cafeteria.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

“It’s time, class rep. Let’s begin.” Yauyorozu and Izuku stood in front of the class, and he was once again trembling.

“Um. Okay, we need to figure out who the other class officers will be.” Izuku barely managed to speak. “But first, there’s something that I wanna say. I’ve thought a lot about this. And I think that Tenya Iida should be our class rep! He was able to capture everyone’s attention and get us in line. So I believe that he should be the one leading our class from now on.”

“Yeah, you know what? If Midoriya vouches for him, I’m good.” Kirishima agreed. “Plus, he was a big help. He totally manned up and took charge, right?”

Tsuki smiled, “I agree. I voted for him in the first place.”

“You did?” Kirishima asked.

Tsuki slightly nodded, the smile not leaving her face, “Of course. I knew before all of you that he is good at taking charge when needed.”

“Did you notice he looked like the dude on the emergency exit signs when he was on the wall earlier?” Kaminari laughed.

“This is a waste of time.” Mr. Aizawaa interrupted from his cocoon. “I don’t care who the rep is, just hurry up.”

Iida stood from his seat, “If Midoriya is nominating me for this job… then I humbly accept. I pledge to carry out the duties of class rep to the best of my abilities!”

“Sounds good, Emergency Exit!” Kirishima gave him a thumbs-up.

“Emergency Exit Iida.” Kaminari giggled.

Chapter 7: Deja-Vu

A bright light startled Tsuki awake, her hands immediately reaching to cover her eyes from the morning sun. Her mom stood by the window, drawing back the curtains.

“Good morning.”

Tsuki peeked between her fingers, “Good morning. What’re you doing?” She asked groggily.

“I thought I’d fix you breakfast before you left for school.” She smiled. “Your dad also has something for you.”

Tsuki sighed and sat up, reaching for her phone on her nightstand. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Her mom placed a kiss on Tsuki’s head before leaving.

Tsuki tossed her phone aside, deciding it was probably best she didn’t take too long. So, she quickly brushed her teeth and changed into her school uniform. She opted to pull her hair into a ponytail to save time before she hurried down the stairs.

The smell of pancake batter coming from the kitchen caused her stomach to growl. When she entered, she was amazed at what was happening before her. Her mom stood in front of the stove, flipping pancakes. Her dad was behind her, arms wrapped around her waist. He placed a gentle kiss on her temple before greeting Tsuki.

“Good morning, honey. Did you sleep well?”

Tsuki took her place at the table, a sickening feeling forming in her gut. “Yeah, I did.”

“Your mom and I have a surprise for you.” He said, pulling a box from seemingly nowhere. He walked over to her and gently set it in front of her before resting his hand on her shoulder. This time, Tsuki didn’t flinch. “Go ahead, open it.”

Tsuki smiled and reached for the box, and then-

Tsuki shot up from her bed and gasped. It was only a dream, a weirdly realistic one at that. The sickening feeling in her stomach, unfortunately, wasn’t just a dream. Her hand covered her mouth as she scrabbled out of bed to the bathroom. Just as she made it to the toilet, she vomited.

A sigh escaped her lips as she immediately felt better. The churning in her stomach had stopped, but the dream kept replaying in her head over and over again like a broken record.

She leaned forward, holding her head in her hands, her fingers tangled in the roots of her hair, and tugged at them. The image of her dad kissing her mom's head wouldn’t leave her mind, and it disgusted her. She couldn’t recall one time he showed her such affection.

Tsuki got to her feet and brushed her teeth before lazily climbing back into her bed. She gazed out of the window at the rising sun. The sky was painted a purplish-pink, her favorite.

‘I guess I should start getting ready.’ She thought, but her body didn’t move.

Instead, she stretched her arm out, reaching for her phone. It was 6:30.

‘The corner store.’ Tsuki remembered they opened at six and served breakfast. She smiled to herself before scrambling out of bed. If she hurried, she could grab her and Izuku some muffins before meeting him at the bus stop.

She changed into her uniform and pulled her hair into a ponytail, causing a sense of deja vu to wash over her. Her stomach churned, but she tried her best to push the feeling aside.

By the time she was ready and left her house, only fifteen minutes had passed, giving her plenty of time.

The crisp morning air nipped at her cheeks, and golden rays of sunlight cascaded down, warming her face. Birds chirped, and a slight breeze blew through the air, tousling Tsuki’s hair in the wind. A sigh escaped her lips as she exhaled. It was a beautiful morning.

Shortly, she arrived, and to her surprise, there were only a couple of people in line ahead of her. It wasn’t long before she had a couple of coffees and some muffins bagged up and was headed to the bus stop.

When she got there, Izuku was leaning up against the sign with his back to her. He had earbuds in, the cord running down into his pocket.

“Surprise!” Tsuki pulled at the cord, causing his earbuds to fall from his ears. She held the bag over his shoulder for him to see before stepping in front of him, greeting him with a smile.

His whole body jerked, “Oh, hey! What’s this?”

Tsuki handed him a coffee, “I woke up early, so I decided to get us breakfast. Hope you haven’t eaten.”

He shook his head, took a sip, then said, “You’re the best, Tsuk’s.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

“Today’s training will be a little different. You’ll have three instructors: me, All Might, and another faculty member who will be keeping tabs on you.” Aizawa informed the class.

‘Three? I wonder if they’re upping their security because of the break-in?’ Tsuki tapped her foot against the floor and propped her head on her hand as she stared out the window. The sun was out, and white fluffy clouds littered the sky. ‘I’d much rather be out there than cramped up in here.’

Tsuki turned to look at Sero, who was asking what kind of training they were gonna do.

“Rescue,” Aizawa answered. “You’ll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that.”

‘Makes sense. We’re not always just gonna be rescuing people from villains.’ Tsuki thought as the class voiced their excitement.

“Guys, I’m not finished.” The class fell silent. “What you wear in this exercise is up to you. I know you’re excited about costumes,” He pulled out a remote, and the shelves containing their costumes emerged from the wall.

“But keep in mind that you haven’t gotten used to them yet, and they might limit your abilities. This special training is at an off-campus facility, so we’ll be taking a bus to get there. That’s all. Start getting ready.”

Everyone got up and headed for their cases.

Uraraka came up behind Tsuki, “It would make sense to wear our costumes and get used to them, ya know? Especially since this is just training.”

“Yeah, I don’t get why we wouldn’t.” Tsuki stood on her toes, and her fingers brushed the bottom of her case, barely managing to pull it out. She caught it as it fell and smiled.

The two girls quickly changed and met the rest of the class outside the school, where a large silver and black bus was waiting.

“Uh, Deku? Why are you wearing your PE clothes?” Uraraka questioned as they approached him. “Where’s your costume at?”

“Is it still damaged from combat training?” Tsuki asked.

Izuku nodded, “Yeah, so I had to wear this. It’s trashed. I’m still waiting on the support company to fix it up.”

A whistle blew, followed by Iida’s voice, drawing everyone’s attention, “Gather around, Class 1-A! Using your student numbers, form two neat lines so we can load the bus efficiently.”

“Iida’s kicking it into high gear as our class rep, huh?” Izuku sighed.

“Well, line up everyone!” Iida shouted at everyone’s hesitancy.

The class lined up in numerical order just like he said. Tsuki took her place in line in front of Bakugo and behind Shoji. She hoped it would line up to where she sat with Shoji instead of Bakugo, but when they entered, everyone sat where they wanted.

Tsuki took a seat between Izuku and Asui, with her back to the window. Mina, Iida, and Kaminari sat across from them.

“The bus’s open layout ruined my boarding strategy.” Iida sulked.

“Iida, you really need to chill.” Mina laughed.

“If we’re pointing out the obvious, then there’s something I wanna say…” Asui turned to look at Izuku. “About you, actually.”

“About me?” Izuku’s eyes widened, his voice full of panic. “What is it, Asui?”

“I told you to call me, “Tsu.”

“Oh. Yeah, right.”

“That power of yours. Isn’t it a lot like All Might’s?” She asked.

Tsuki couldn’t help but laugh as Izuku tried to act surprised. “What? Really? You think so, huh? I never really thought about that.” He awkwardly chuckled. “I guess it’s kind of similar.”

“Wait, hold on, Tsu.” Kirishima interrupted. “You’re forgetting that All Might doesn’t hurt himself. That makes a huge difference.”

Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he and Tsuki shared a look.

“Still, I bet it’s cool to have a simple augmenting-type a’ quirk. You can do lots of flashy moves with it. My hardening is strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it doesn’t look all that cool.”

“Oh, no way, I think it’s really awesome looking.” Izuku complemented.

“Yeah,” Tsuki agreed. “It looks super tough.”

“You really think?” Kirishima’s face flushed at their words.

“Definitely!” Tsuki and Izuku said simultaneously.

“If anyone has pro quirks, it’s Todoroki and Bakugo,” Kirishima turns to face Tsuki, offering her a smile. “And you, of course. It runs in your family, so I heard.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tsuki trailed off. “It does.”

“Sure, but Bakugo’s always angry, so he’ll never be that popular.” Tsu pointed out, causing everyone to laugh.

Her words sent Bakugo to his feet, “Uh- what’d you say?! I’ll kick your ass!” He held up his fist at the girl threateningly.

“Y’know, we basically just met you. So it’s kinda telling that we all know your personality is flaming crap mixed with garbage.” Kaminari smirked, shooting Tsuki and Izuku a glance.

“You’re gonna regret the day you applied to this school, you loser!”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Izuku murmured. “Kacchan’s the one in class who’s getting teased.”

“All his bullying was bound to catch up with him one day.” Tsuki laughed. “At least you’re not the one in the hot seat anymore.”

“Hey, hey, we’re here.” Mr. Aizawa raised his voice above everyone else’s, bringing the bus to an awkward silence. “Stop messing around.”

“Yes, sir.” Everyone frowned.

Tsuki’s eyes widened as she looked at the huge dome-shaped building outside her window.

‘Wow, this is so cool.’

Aizawa directed everyone off the bus and to the front of the building. Waiting outside stood who Tsuki guessed to be the other faculty member, Mr. Aizawa said would be joining them.

“Hello, everyone!” She said cheerfully. “I’ve been waiting for you!”

Izuku’s eyes went wide with realization. He grabbed Tsuki’s shoulder and began to shake her, “It’s Thirteen, the Space Hero! The chivalrous pro who’s rescued a ton of people from disasters across the world.”

“Thirteen is one of my favorite heroes!” Uraraka cheered.

Tsuki smiled and peeled Izuku’s hands off of her, “Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

“I can’t wait to show you what’s inside!” Thirteen said, leading everyone inside. When she opened the doors, everyone marveled at the scenery in front of them.

“Wow,” Tsuki gasped. “This is awesome!”

A wide range of terrains was set up across the building. There was a massive lake surrounded by trees, a flaming city, a snow-topped rocky terrain, and more. The options varied for students whose quirks could excel in certain areas.

“Holy crap! It looks like some kind of amusement park!” Kirishima examined the building in awe.

“A shipwreck. A landslide. A fire. A windstorm. Et cetera.” Thirteen listed the different areas. “I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. But, you can call it, USJ!”

Mr. Aizawa walked up to Thirteen, “Hey, shouldn’t All Might be here already? Lemme guess, he booked an interview instead.”

The two teachers lowered their voices as their conversation continued in hushed tones. Tsuki turned to Izuku and whispered, “I wonder what they’re whispering about.”

“Something about All Might not being here.” His brows furrowed as disappointment set in. “I was looking forward to seeing him.”

“Before we begin, let me just say one thing.” Thirteen said. “Well, maybe two things. Possibly three, four, or five.”

“Listen carefully. I’m sure you’re aware that I have a powerful quirk. It’s called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust.”

“Yeah, you’ve used Black Hole to save people from all kinds of disasters, haven’t you?” Izuku asked.

“That’s true, but my quirk could also very easily be used to kill. Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can be. Please don’t forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly. Even if you’re trying to do something virtuous, like rescue someone.”

“Thanks to Aizawa’s fitness tests, you have a solid idea of your quirk's potential. And because of All Might's combat training, you likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people.”

Tsuki couldn’t help but glance over at Bakugo, her mind trailing back to him using his gauntlets against her and Izuku.

“Today, you’re going to learn how to use your quirks to save people's lives. You won’t be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. That’s what being a hero is all about.” She bowed. “That’s all I have to say.”

“Right. Now that that’s over.” Aizawa started, but was interrupted by the power flickering. Then the fountain in front of them started spewing water, and a purple warp gate emerged from the center.

“Hitomi, are you using your Quirk?!” Aizawa glared at the girl.

Tsuki cowered under his gaze, “No, sir! That isn’t me.”

The hole widened, and a person appeared from it. He had various hands that grasped his arms, shoulders, and one on his forehead, covering his face completely. His hair was a blueish-grey. His whole look made Tsuki’s stomach churn.

“Stay together and don’t move!” Aizawa ordered. “Thirteen, protect the students!”

Out of the warp gate came a large group of people behind the original man.

“Wait, has training started already?” Kirishima asked, squinting at the group of people. “I thought we were rescuing people.”

Tsuki shook her head. “I don’t think this is training, Kiri.”

“Stay back!” Aizawa ordered, standing protectively in front of the class. “This is real. Those are villains. So you scumbags used the press as a cover and snuck onto campus.”

‘So there really were villains yesterday…’

A pale-skinned man with the hands stood in the center of the villains, “Where is he? I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends who are eager to meet him. They want All Might. The Great Symbol of Peace. I can’t believe he’s not here. Maybe if I kill a few kids, he’ll come out to play.”

Aizawa spread his scarf out defensively, and Thirteen stepped in front of the kids.

“What? Real villains? No way.” Kirishima stood in disbelief. “How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure?”

“Yeah, Thirteen,” Yaoyorozu stepped up. “Why aren’t the alarms going off?”

“Good question. I’m not sure.” She admitted.

Tsuki frowned as the villains made their way toward the group. Her eyes landed on the purple villain in the back, who she had assumed opened the hole, “Could it be because of that villain?” She pointed at who she was talking about. “He seems to have warped him in here.”

“That’s a lot like your quirk, isn’t it?” Yauyorozu questioned.

“Uh,” Tsuki paused. “I don’t know, kinda, yeah. I can only warp as far as I can see, though, and I definitely can’t teleport that many people at once.”

“Thirteen, get them out of here. And alert the main campus. Actually, if they can block our sensors, then they might be jamming our regular communications, too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school.” Mr. Aizawa ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“What’re you gonna do? You can’t fight them on your own!” Izuku shouted. “There are too many of ‘em. Even if you can nullify their quirks, your fighting style’s not suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights. That’s not gonna help with a group.”

“You can’t be a pro if you only have one trick.” Aizawa deadpanned. “I’ll leave it to you, Thirteen.” With that, Aizawa jumped down into the large group of villains, prepared for combat.

“Everyone, follow me!” Thirteen waved over her shoulder, retreating towards the door. Everyone followed after her.

Before they could reach the door, a purple wormhole appeared on the ground in front of them, bringing everyone to a halt. A dark, foggy figure appeared with glowing yellow eyes. Tsuki took notice of the metal brace that was worn around what seemed to be a neck.

“There is no escape for you.” The ominous voice said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains. I know it’s impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn’t this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take his last breath?”

‘These villains think they can kill All Might?’

“I believe he was supposed to be here today, and yet I see no sign of him. There must’ve been some sort of change in plans we could not have foreseen. Ah, well, in the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter. I still have a role to play.”

All of a sudden, Kirishima and Bakugo charged the villain, fists drawn back, ready to land a blow. At the last second, Bakugo let out a large explosion, covering the surrounding area in a thick layer of smoke.

Tsuki coughed as she waved her hand in front of her face in an attempt to clear it so she could breathe.

As it somewhat cleared, the villain said, “You live up to your school's reputation. But you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone might get hurt.”

“You two, get out of the way, right now!” Thirteen demanded.

“I’ll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades and your deaths!”

A purple fog shot around them, blocking everyone's vision.

“What the hell?!” Tsuki began to panic at her sight being blocked. She felt as if she had been lifted off the ground. When the purple around her faded, she was surrounded by a demolished city. None of her classmates was in sight.

Tsuki got to her feet and started walking around, scanning the rubble for any movement. There was a crunch. Tsuki whipped around and saw a villain creeping up on her.

“You’ve gotta be sneakier than that.” She smirked, getting into a fighting position.

The villain charged, a sword drawn over his head, ready to attack. As he neared, he brought the sword down dangerously close to her head, but before he could do any damage, Tsuki opened a portal in front of him. He fell into it, and she made him appear behind her, with his back to her. She roundhouse kicked his head, knocking him out cold.

“Try taking us down.” A group of three villains appeared from out of a nearby building.

The first one charged, fist drawn back. Tsuki warped out of his sight just in time, throwing him off balance. As he stumbled forward, she took advantage of his position and hit him as hard as she could in the back of the head. His body went limp, and he fell face-first into the ground.

The next two villains attacked at the same time. But these two were different. One was a tall man, and his fist was on fire. The other was of average height, but his face took shape in the form of a lizard.

“Tell us where All Might is.” He slithered, holding the ‘s’.

“I don’t know where he is.” Tsuki jumped into a portal, narrowly dodging the fire guy's attack. She opened another one, aimed at him, and hit him with his own wall of fire. He let out an agonized scream. “Even if I did, it’s not like I’d tell you.”

The lizard man lunged at Tsuki, then disappeared.

“What the hell?”

Tsuki gasped as her back slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Above her, he reappeared and was wearing a menacing grin. “You’re not the only one who can disappear, sweetie.” He mocked before disappearing again.

She kicked him, still feeling him on top of her, and hurried to her feet. Scanning her surroundings, she saw that the first two villains and the fire guy were knocked out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a slight movement in the dirt.

‘There.’

Tsuki caught the man's fist. Using his momentum, she flipped over him and landed on his back. Pressing her knee into him, she said, “It’s best if you and your friends leave now. My classmates and teachers won’t hesitate to take you down and turn you over to the police.”

“Ha,” He laughed. “You don’t stand a chance. Shigaraki brought his new secret weapon, and his strength rivals All Might’s. You might manage to take a few of us down, but no one is leaving this building alive.”

‘Shigaraki? I guess that’s the freaky guy with all the hands.’

“All Might won’t let that happen.” Tsuki pushed her knee further into him, causing him to let out a groan. “No one’s as strong as him. Shigaraki must be mistaken.”

The man hissed, and a snake-like tongue slipped from his lips, “Just you watch. All Might will fai-.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Tsuki knocked him out and then climbed off of him.

 

“Hey!” A voice came from behind her. Tsuki turned around, knocking the guy in the face. He staggered back, holding his cheek where she had hit him.

“Oh my gosh, Kirishima.” She slapped her hand over her mouth and rushed to his side. “I’m so sorry! I thought you were a villain.”

Someone snickered, and she snapped her head in that direction only to see Bakugo. He had a smug look on his face, “Fuckin’ idiot.”

Tsuki glared at him, “Shut up! You would’ve done the same thing.”

“Relax, runt,” He smirked. “I was talking about him.”

Kirishima laughed, “I’m all good, Tsuki. Glad you had your guard up. That was a solid hit.” He examined all of the villains on the ground. “Did you take all of these guys out yourself?”

Tsuki nodded, “Yeah. Did you two bump into any trouble?”

“Only some lousy villains that thought they could take us down.” Bakugo scowled. “Buncha weaklings. Now we’re headed back to destroy that warpy bastard.”

“Uh, you guys didn’t even make a scratch on him before. What makes you think it’s gonna be any different this time?”

“Shut up!” Bakugo shouted. “I’m gonna take him down because he’s the villain's way in and out.”

“Tsuki, can’t you just warp us out of here?” Kirishima questioned. “Your quirk is a lot like his.”

Tsuki shook her head, “No, not until we’re a little closer. I can only warp one person at a time and only within my line of sight. So if I’m blinded, it makes me panic. Remember when Bakugo launched his explosion at me during training with All Might out of his gauntlet?”

Kirishima nodded.

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t do anything because I couldn’t see. I froze.” Tsuki looked over at Bakugo, who was watching her with wide eyes. “That warp villain was able to transport our class around the USJ without knowing the layout or anything.”

“Oh,” He frowned. “That-”

“You shouldn’t have panicked and shouldn’t have relied on Deku!” Bakugo sneered. “I can’t believe you let that weakling save you!”

“Yeah, well that ‘weakling’ beat your ass!” Tsuki snapped. “You have some audacity saying that since you lost!”

Bakugo stormed up to her and shoved his finger in her chest as they locked eyes, “Take it back! If we fought one-on-one, I’d beat the shit out of him!”

“You did fight one-on-one, idiot, and you lost!” Tsuki grabbed his finger and moved it away from her. “And don’t touch me!”

“Guys!” Kirishima placed his hands on either of their shoulders. “This isn’t the time to be fighting!”

Tsuki’s nostrils flared as she backed away from him, but she didn’t break eye contact.

“Bakugo, man, that was so unnecessary.” Kirishima pouted. “There was no need to snap.”

Bakugo held his glare as he said, “I’m going.” He turned on his heel and headed back to where the main fight was happening. The group walked in an awkward silence, taking down villains along the way.

“Is that All Might?!” Tsuki’s eyes went wide. He was inside the warp villain's portal, trapped by a monster nearly twice his size. Izuku was sprinting towards the two with an outstretched hand. But before he could reach All Might, the warp villain appeared in front of him.

“We gotta do something!”

Bakugo took off, using his blasts to propel in through the air.

“Come on.” Tsuki opened a portal and pushed Kirishima through before stepping in. They came out near Bakugo just as he blasted the warp villain in the face.

“Get the hell out of my way, Deku!” He shouted. He grabbed the villain by his metal neck plate and slammed him into the ground. Out of nowhere, ice appeared, freezing half of the Nomu’s body.

‘Todoroki.’

“One of your poorly trained thugs told me you’re here because you think you can kill All Might,” Todoroki said.

“Guess I found your body that time, ya smokey bastard!” Bakugo smirked at the villain. “You got careless, you dumb villain. It wasn’t hard to figure you out. Only certain parts of you turn into that smoking warp gate. You use that mist to hide your actual body, as a kind of distraction, thinking that made you safe. That’s why we missed. But if you didn’t have a body, you wouldn’t be wearing this neck armor, right? You’re not immune to physical attacks if they’re well-aimed.”

The villain attempted to escape Bakugo’s grip but was only blasted in response. Bakugo ordered him not to move. “You try anything funny, and I’ll blow your ass up right now, you got it?”

“Bakugo, you’re supposed to capture him, not kill him,” Tsuki stated.

Kirishima laughed, “Oh, that doesn’t sound very heroic.”

Tsuki turned her head in the direction of the Nomu. He had been let out of the portal, but his ice-covered arm fell off. Tsuki cringed as he regenerated another one. It was disgusting.

“Stay back, everybody!” All Might ordered. “I thought you said his power was shock absorption.”

“I didn’t say that was his only power. He also has regeneration. He was designed to take you on at 100%. He’s basically a highly efficient punching bag that punches back.” The villain, Tsuki now knew to be Shigaraki, explained. “First, we need to free our method of escape. Get him, Nomu.”

“What?”

Tsuki stared at the Nomu as he charged Bakugo. He was so fast it was almost hard to see him draw back his arm, ready for a punch.

“Bakugo!” Tsuki screamed. Without thinking, Tsuki dove for him. She wrapped her arms around him, shoving him through a portal. They appeared a few feet away and tumbled across the ground. Tsuki closed the portal in time for the Nomu not to go through, but was still a second too slow. His hand had reached through and was cut off when she closed her portal.

Tsuki groaned and climbed off of him. “Are you okay?”

Bakugo glared at the girl, “I didn’t need you to save me!”

“You weren’t moving! You’re telling me you would’ve rather died?! That thing is as strong as All Might!” Tsuki returned his glare. “Man up! You needed help.”

Kirishima ran over to the pair, “Tsuki, Bakugo, are you two alright?! That was way too close!”

Tsuki took a deep breath and averted her gaze from Bakugo to the ground, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Bakugo climbed to his feet and stared down at Tsuki. He muttered something under his breath as Kirishima helped her up.

“What?” Tsuki snapped.

“Thanks.” He grumbled, then turned back to where All Might was speaking with the villains.

‘Wow, did he actually-’

“Come on,” Bakugo ordered, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Let’s go back.” Kirishima, Bakugo, and Tsuki regrouped with Izuku and Todoroki.

“Tsuki-chan!” Izuku wrapped his arms around Tsuki, throwing her off balance. “Are you okay?”

Tsuki nodded and pulled out of his hug, “Uh, yeah, I think so,”

Izuku smiled, “Good,” Then turned to Bakugo, “What about you?”

“Shut up, you damn nerd!” Bakugo scowled.

“Uh, guys,” Kirishima brought their attention to Shigaraki, who was charging them. “Heads up, we’re fighting after all.

Before he could reach them, All Might’s fist clashed with the Nomu’s. The force from the attack blew everyone away. The five of them flew backwards, but eventually regained their footing and watched as the fight progressed.

“He’s gonna fight that brain guy head-on?” Izuku asked worriedly.

Tsuki watched in amazement as All Might slammed the Nomu into the ground. All Might charged as the villain stood, landing his fist into the villain’s stomach. The Nomu rocketed through the air and broke through the glass roofing of the USJ.

“That was amazing!” Tsuki cheered, shaking Izuku’s shoulder. But he didn’t look at her; he stared at All Might in awe.

“That’s why he’s the number one hero, after all.” Izuku was grinning like an idiot.

“That was like the finishing move in a video game!” Kirishima exclaimed. “He beat the shock absorption right out of him. I’ve never seen that kind of brute strength.”

“Imagine having power like that,” Bakugo mumbled.

“Yeah,” Tsuki glanced at him. “He must’ve been hitting him so hard he couldn’t regenerate.”

Everyone stared at All Might in shock as he explained that back in his prime, it would’ve taken a lot less from him to beat the Nomu. Tsuki took notice of the steam-like whisps leaving his body. It was hard to notice through the cloud of smoke that surrounded him. She looked between him and Izuku, and something clicked.

“You’ve been bested, villains.” All Might turned to Shigaraki and the warp villain. “Surrender. We all want to get this over with quickly.”

“Tsuki, come on.” Kirishima grabbed her shoulder. “We’re gonna regroup with the other guys. We don’t wanna get in his way.”

“Oh, right.” Tsuki reluctantly drew her attention from All Might. “Let’s go.”

“Watch out!” Bakugo stepped in front of Tsuki and blasted a villain in the face, immediately knocking him out. “Pay attention, dumbass!” He shot her a glare. “You’re always distracted!”

Tsuki stepped back, startled, “Right.”

“Let’s take care of these guys,” Kirishima said. “All Might can hold his own against those two villains.”

“Wait, what?” Bakugo’s eyes widened.

Tsuki turned to see what he was looking at. Izuku was flying through the air. She could see his quirk activate as all of his limbs lightly glowed a shade of red. His legs were broken from the force of jumping.

“Wow, Midoriya!” Kirishima exclaimed.

But Izuku’s plan didn’t go accordingly. A hand reached through the warp villain before Izuku could land his punch. A shot rang through the air.

Everyone’s attention turned to the other heroes who had just appeared.

“They’re here.”

All of the villains charged, but things were quickly under wraps as the Pros took charge. It didn’t take long for the villains to realize that they no longer stood a chance, so they warped away, leaving the students and Pros alone. It was finally over.

The Pros went through checking on each student, making sure they were okay. Fortunately, everyone except Mr. Aizawa and Izuku was uninjured. Kaminari, though, went overboard while using his quirk.

Everyone who was uninjured regrouped at the front gate. A detective ordered everyone on the bus to head to the main campus. The ride back was silent as the realization of what had happened set in.

‘We could have died.’

Chapter 8: What Any Hero Would Do

The sky was a vibrant orange, and the sun was sinking below the cityscape in the distance by the time they arrived at the main campus. The ride back felt like an eternity, reflecting on what they’d all just gone through.

“Alright, everyone,” A detective greeted them as they exited the bus. “You all can change and go home. I know it’s been a scary day. Get some rest, you all have the day off tomorrow.”

‘I wonder how Izuku’s doing.’

Iida directed everyone inside the school, then released them to change.

“Tsuki,” Uraraka tapped Tsuki on her shoulder, “How are you?”

“I’m alright, thanks.” Tsuki smiled at her. “Are you okay? It was hectic back there.”

Uraraka nodded, “Still a little shaken, but otherwise, I’m fine. I didn’t have to engage in any close combat, unlike you. That must’ve been scary!”

Tsuki shrugged, “I mean, I only fought a few lowly villains. They were all pretty weak.”

“Yeah, but you must’ve been scared saving Bakugo like that! You barely closed your portal in time. I thought the Nomu was going to get you.”

“I was more scared of him being killed than I was of the villain. I can’t call myself a hero just to stand there and do nothing.”

Uraraka’s eyes lit up at her words, “You’re so brave, Tsuki!”

Tsuki blushed, “I did what any hero would do.”

The two girls arrived at the locker rooms and quickly changed back into their school uniforms. Just as they finished, Tsuki’s phone rang, and her dad’s name lit up on the screen. She excused herself before stepping into an empty classroom to answer.

“What are you doing?”

“I just got back to school from the USJ.”

“Is school over?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I need you home, now. We need to talk.”

Tsuki paused. She felt like she was going to be sick. “What about?”

“Your mother.”

“Is she ok?”

“She had an accident…”

Anxiety bubbled inside of her. “What? What happened?”

“Just get home!” He snapped, then hung up, leaving her in a deafening silence.

But it was short-lived.

“What are you doing?”

Her head snapped in the direction of the voice, and in the doorway, she saw Todoroki standing there, arms at his side.
Tsuki held up her phone and raised her brow at him, “Was talking to my dad, what’re you doing?”

He walked over to his desk and grabbed a jacket that was draped over the back of his chair. “Forgot this.” He murmured. “I heard you ask if someone was okay.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tsuki’s eyes fell to the ground. “My dad said my mom had some sort of accident and asked me to come home. I don’t know what happened.”

Todoroki studied her for a moment, then nodded, “You should go.”

“Yeah, see ya later.” She waved to the boy, then hurried out of the room.

‘He’s so odd.’

For the first time in forever, Tsuki walked home alone. Her mind drifted to Izuku, who was currently being healed by Recovery Girl. She missed walking with him and hanging out at the park before going home. A sense of nostalgia washed over her. Life felt different; they didn’t have as much free time since starting at UA, and it’d only been a few days.

When she arrived home, she barely made it in the door and into the living room before her dad was yelling.

“I told you to come home thirty minutes ago!”Tsuki cowered under his voice as he stomped towards her. He roughly grabbed her chin and made her look up at him. “Where were you?”

Tsuki frowned and pulled out of his grip, “I was at school, and I had to walk home. We got back late, and I missed the bus. What happened to Mom?”

“She fell down the stairs.” He stared at her, his face lacking any sort of emotion. “An ambulance just left to take her to the hospital. If you had been here when I said, you could’ve told her bye like a good daughter.”

“I told you I had to walk!” Tsuki defended.

“Don’t raise your voice at me!” He drew back his hand, causing Tsuki to flinch and mutter an apology. “That’s what I thought.” He lowered it back to his side. “You and your mother have the same issue. She thought she could raise her voice at me, too, so I had to teach her a lesson.”

Tsuki’s heart dropped at his words. “What?” She breathed, eyes wide with shock. “You pushed her?”

He curtly nodded, “Yes, she had to learn somehow. It’s what any hero would do.”

“You’re sick!” Her voice broke as she screamed. “Heroes save people! You’re a delusional monster!”

She was interrupted with a fist to her face, knocking her to the floor.

Sobs escaped her lips, and tears were streaming down her cheeks as he reached and pulled her up by the collar of her shirt. “Heroes help people in need, and your mom needed to learn that her behavior was unacceptable, and apparently, you do too. I thought my daughter would know better. I’m ashamed of you.”

He grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her behind him, up to her room.

“Dad! Let go!” She cried. “You’re hurting me.”

He threw her into her room and slammed the door shut behind her. Tsuki flinched at the noise. “I have a patrol shift tonight, I’ll be home in the morning. You'd better be more understanding when I get back!”

Tsuki scrambled onto her bed and pulled her knees to her chest. Her whole body shook, out of both anger and fear. Her chest was tight, heart drumming. She swallowed a lump in her throat as a burning hatred flowed through her. She tried to focus on something, anything. But she only shifted uncomfortably, realizing how much she had begun to sweat.

Her chest moved up and down at a rapid pace. Her eyes became clouded with tears. Tsuki stared at her trembling hands and tried taking a deep breath to calm herself down as she’d done many times before.

Finally, her breathing went back to normal, and she collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her phone ringing snapped her out of her trance. It was Izuku.

“Hey?” Her voice croaked, so she cleared her throat. “Hey?” She tried again.

“Tsuki?”

“Hey, Izuku.” She sniffled. “How are you feeling?”

“Recovery Girl healed me, I’m fine. But are you okay? You sound like you’ve been crying.”

“It’s just been a rough day.” She admitted. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried about you.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. Do I need to come over?”

“No, it’s okay.” Tsuki held back a sob. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Zuku. Go and see your mom. She’s probably worried sick.”

“Tsuki-chan, what’s wrong? Is it your dad?”

Over their many years of friendship, Tsuki hadn’t been completely honest about what kind of person her father was. Izuku knew he could get angry from time to time, and that they argued a lot, but he didn’t know what happened behind closed doors.

“It-it’s a lot, Izuku.” Tsuki curled into a ball. “Actually, could you come over? My Dad’s on patrol, so-”

The doorbell rang, interrupting her, “I was coming anyway.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “The doors unlocked. I’m in my room.”

The phone hung up, and seconds later, Izuku stood on the other side of her doorframe. He frowned, made his way over to her bed, and sat beside her. He examined her tear-stained face. Her nose was red, her eyes were puffy, and a bruise had started to form on her jaw.

“What happened, Tsuki?”

Tsuki sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, “My mom fell down the stairs and is in the hospital. Then my dad and I got in a fight.”

Izuku’s eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his head. “I’m so sorry, Tsuki. That’s horrible! Is she okay?”

“I dunno, I guess.” Tsuki shrugged. “My dad tried to guilt-trip me for not being here when the ambulance came. He didn’t say much about her injuries, so I’m guessing she’s not too hurt.”

“It’s not like you could’ve been here, you were at school.” He pointed out.

Tsuki rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, “I know, that’s what I said. That’s why we started fighting.”

Izuku glanced down at her, focusing on her jaw. “Di-did he hit you?”

“What?” Her brows furrowed, and she pulled away from him.

“Sorry! You just have a bruise, and it wasn’t there earlier.” Izuku’s face flushed with embarrassment. “I know you two don’t have the best relationship, and he’s always mad and-” He cut himself off. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. That was stupid.”

“It’s okay,” Tsuki ran her fingers over the bruise. Her eyes shifted from his to her white sheets. “I got hit by one of the villains. I guess the bruise just came a little late.” Guilt lay like a rock in her heart. She hated lying to him.

Izuku swallowed hard and nodded, “Sorry.”

“I said it’s alright. Can we just talk about something else?”

“Yeah,”

An awkward silence fell between them before Tsuki finally spoke.

“Izuku…I have a question.”

“What?”

“You said All Might gave you his quirk. Does that mean there’ll be a day when he doesn’t have one anymore? I know he still has one now, but after he fought the nomu, he admitted that if he were in his prime, he could’ve defeated it sooner.”

Izuku paused.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, he never said anything like that. I’ve never thought about it. He gave it to me, so, yeah, I guess he won’t have one.” The realization of what would happen set in, and tears filled his eyes. “We’re going to lose our Symbol of Peace.”

“I’m so sorry, Zuku.” Tsuki pulled him into a hug.

“Knowing it could happen any day is terrifying. No offense to Endeavor, but he could never replace All Might. No one could.”

“That’s not true.” Tsuki’s words caused Izuku’s brows to furrow. “You could.”

Izuku’s face flushed, “Me, no, I could never be as great as him.”

“You have so much passion, it’s admirable. You’re someone everyone can look up to. You’re someone I look up to, Izuku.” Tsuki beamed at her friend. “You’ve always wanted to be just like him. You even got his quirk, which is unbelievable. I believe in you, Izuku, so much.”

“Oh, well, I mean, uh.” He stumbled over his words, and his face got redder by the second. “Th- thank you, Tsuki-chan.”

“I mean it.” Tsuki smiled, nudging him with her elbow. “You’re such an amazing person, and you’re going to be an amazing hero too. You’ll be number one in no time. I don’t doubt it.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.”

“Of course. I-”

“Hold on, sorry. Mom’s calling me.”

Tsuki heard her freaking out through the phone and stifled a laugh. She probably saw the news before Izuku had a chance to tell her anything. It probably didn’t help that it was now dark out, and he still wasn’t home.

“No, no, I’m okay. I’m at Tsuki’s.”

More shouting.

“Sorry, I should’ve told you. Her mom got sent to the hospital, so I came by to check on her. Her dad is patrolling tonight.”

After a couple more minutes, he turned to Tsuki and said, “Mom asked if you wanted to stay the night so you won’t be alone.”

“Really?” Tsuki smiled. “Yeah, I’ll stay the night.”

Izuku blushed and nodded, “She said yeah.” He told her bye, then they hung up.

“She’s starting on dinner, so we should leave soon.” Izuku hopped off the bed.

“Yeah, let me pack real quick, then we can.” Tsuki slapped her hand over her mouth. “I forgot to do my math homework, and it’s due tomorrow.”

Izuku laughed, “Don’t worry, I finished it last night. I can help you after dinner. Besides, they cancelled class tomorrow, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. But help would be great.”

“Of course. Do you need help packing or anything?”

“Nah, I got it.”

She quickly got together a pair of pajamas, toiletries, and clothes for the next day, then tossed them in a bag. Then she grabbed her backpack from her desk chair and said, “I’m ready.”

“Here,” Izuku took her bag from her. “I got it.”

“Thanks,” Tsuki smiled, then led them out of her house, locking the door behind her. It wasn’t long before they got to his house.

An earthy, sweet smell greeted them as they entered. All the lights were off except for a couple of lamps, making the room feel cozier than it already was. They slipped their shoes off at the door, and before they could make it into the kitchen, Inko ran out and enveloped them both in a hug.

“Oh, I’m so glad you two are okay.” She cried. “I got a call from Principal Nezu when I was a work. I can’t believe you didn’t let me know you were okay.” She pulled away and turned to Izuku.

“I didn’t know you knew yet,” His face burned. “I was going to tell you everything when I got home, sorry.”

She waved him off and reentered the kitchen, “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Tsuki watched Izuku follow his mom into the kitchen, but found her feet planted. Her stomach burned with jealousy listening to the laughter emanate from the room. A mix of sadness and frustration swirled through her chest.

“Tsuki, you coming?” Izuku called.

“Yeah,” She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, then entered the room. “Ooh, is that soba?”

Inko nodded, dishing out plates on the table. “Your favorite, right?”

Tsuki smiled and took her seat next to Izuku, “Especially when you make it.”

“Aw, thank you.” She rubbed Tsuki back, then shuffled over to the stove. “Izuku told me your mom was sent to the hospital, is she alright?”

A lump formed in Tsuki’s throat. “Yeah, Dad said she fell down the stairs today, but he said she wasn’t too hurt. She was sent to the hospital while I was still at school. I haven’t heard from her, though.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sweetie. Hopefully, she’s feeling better. I know you’ve had a rough day.”

“It’s okay,”

Izuku’s eyes met Tsuki’s brown ones, and he noticed the glimmer of sadness in them. She quickly looked away as his lips formed into a pout, then turned to Inko, “How was your day?”

She took the seat across from the two kids with a grin, “It wasn’t terrible. The restaurant was slow, so I got sent home early. I ran a few errands, then came home and stress cleaned until I finally heard from Izuku.”

Izuku laughed awkwardly, “Sorry, Mom.”

“How was yours, despite everything bad that happened? I’m sure your dad was worried sick.”

Tsuki’s stomach dropped. Her dad didn’t say a word about the attack. Part of her wondered if he even knew. “Yeah, he was. But I think everything that happened with mom kinda overshadowed my stuff.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Inko pouted.

“It’s okay.”

The rest of the dinner, Tsuki sat and listened to Izuku and his mom talk. After, she helped Inko with the dishes before following Izuku to his room. She tossed both of her bags onto his bed, then sank into his chair with a sigh.

“I think I could sleep for days.” Her eyes shut as she rested her head against the back of the seat.

“I’ll get out so you can go to bed.”

“No, you’re fine.” Tsuki stood up and grabbed her bag. “I’m gonna shower, then I wanna do my homework so it’s out of the way.”

“Why don’t you do it tomorrow? You need a break.”

“‘Cause, technically, it was due tomorrow, so I should’ve had it done anyway. If I do it tonight, then we have more time to hang out tomorrow, too. But, I’m gonna go shower. I’ll be out in a few.”

“Okay, I’ll be here.” He took the seat she was just in and clicked on his TV.

When Tsuki got in the shower and felt the warm water washing over her, it felt as if the world came crashing down. Everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours hit her all at once, and no offense to Izuku, but watching him and his mom interact all evening, she couldn’t help but feel immensely jealous.

Her mind raced with memories of her and her dad. She didn’t know why he was angrier with her this week than usual. Maybe it was the fact that she was starting at UA that riled him up. Even though it was everything he had trained her for, maybe her getting into the school he had failed to get into irritated him more than he thought it would.

Soon, she finished showering and quickly changed into black sweats and a white tank top. She flipped her hair into a fluffy green towel before brushing her teeth and making her way back to Izuku’s room.

There, he sat curled up on his chair, a video of All Might’s big debut played in the background. Tsuki frowned. She could tell that he was feeling down. He wasn’t the only one.

“Oh, hey Tsuki,” Izuku spun in his chair to face her. “I never heard the water turn off.” He held up a packet of paper. “I started on your homework for you so you could get some sleep.”

Tsuki’s lower lip trembled, and tears formed in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Izuku stood from his seat and tossed the paper to the side.

“Nothing,” She shook her head. “Thank you, Zuku.”

Tsuki sat on the edge of the bed and took her hair down from the towel. “Can you hand me my brush from my bag?”

He grabbed it for her without a word, then sat on the bed next to her. “Why’re you crying, Tsuki?”

She ran the brush through her knotted hair, avoiding his gaze as she did. “Just a long day, and what you did was really sweet.” She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes before looking at him. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” He offered a smile. “I mean, I didn’t do much, sorry for making you cry.”

Tsuki laughed at his words, “You didn’t make me cry, I promise.”

“Hey, you two,” Inko peeked her head into the room, then stepped in. “I’m going to bed. I have to open the restaurant tomorrow. Goodnight, I’m glad you kids are safe.” She placed a kiss on each of their heads. “I laid some blankets out on the sofa for one of you.”

“Thank you.” Tsuki smiled. “And thanks so much for letting me stay the night and for dinner.”

“Okay, thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome.” Inko smiled and left the room, not closing the door behind her like always.

“Do you want to train tomorrow?” Izuku asked. “We could spar. Or just go to the gym.”

Tsuki shrugged, “Sure. I’m down to go to the gym. I packed clothes to go. I was hoping we would. And we could go to the park after?”

“I’d love to.” Izuku smiled and nodded.

Tsuki let out a yawn.

“I’ll let you go to sleep,” Izuku stood from the bed and started digging through his drawers. “I’m gonna shower.”

“I can sleep on the couch,” Tsuki said.

“No, I’m not gonna have you sleep on the couch,” Izuku glanced at her over his shoulder. “You know I always sleep on the couch.”

She started to walk towards the living room, but Izuku rushed past her and dove onto the couch with clothes draped over his arm.

“Sorry, couch is taken.” He fake yawned and curled into a ball, closing his eyes. “Goodnight, Tsuki.”

“Whatever,” Tsuki muttered under her breath, trying her best not to smile as a blush crept up her cheeks. “Goodnight, Zuku.”

Chapter 9: A Little More Than Friends

“Hey, guys!” Hagukure raised her voice so that whoever was listening could hear. “Did you watch the news last night?”

“Yeah.”

“It was so cool that we got a few seconds of screen time! Though I bet nobody noticed me hanging out in the background.” She whined.

“All there was to see was floating gloves.” Ojirou laughed. “I bet that gets old.”

Tsuki thought back to her and Izuku visiting her mom, who was said to be able to go back home today, watching their segment on the news. Izuku didn’t make it into any of the final cuts since he was injured, but there was a clip of Tsuki walking out of the USJ next to Kirishima.

“Who knows what would’ve happened to us hadn’t the teachers shown up?” Sero joked.

“Probably would’ve died,” Tsuki mumbled, but unfortunately, she was heard.

“Why’d you say that?!” Mineta cried. “I’m gonna pee myself just thinking about it.”

“Oh, shut up!” Bakugo shouted, glaring back at the boy. “Grow a pair, loser!”

“Attention!” Iida burst through the door, flailing both arms around. “Homeroom class is about to begin! Everyone, stop talking and take your seats. Mr. Aizawa should be here shortly.”

Tsuki looked around the room. “Uh, Iida, everyone’s sitting down.”

“Yeah,” Kirishima agreed. “You’re the only one standing.”

Iida shamefully walked over to his seat. The door slowly opened, and in the doorway stood Mr. Aizawa.

“Morning, class.” He grumbled, his whole body wrapped in bandages like a mummy. The only thing visible was his eyes and mouth.

‘I thought he was still in the hospital. He looks like shit.’

“Mr. Aizawa, what are you doing here?” Mina and Tsu asked simultaneously. “Are you okay?”

He limped over to his desk and faced the class, “My well-being is irrelevant. What’s more important is that your fight isn’t over yet.”

“Our fight?” Bakugo questioned.

“Are the villains back?” Tsuki asked, perking up. Anxiety bubbled inside of her at the thought. The USJ incident was terrifying enough.

“Not more bad guys!” Mineta shook in fear.

“The UA Sports Festival is about to start.” He said, dismissing everyone’s comments.

‘Oh, good. I was worried.’ Tsuki visibly relaxed at his words as the class complained about Aizawa scaring them.

“Tch, I wasn’t worried.” Bakugo kicked his feet up on his desk. “I could handle a few more villains. They ain’t got nothing on me.”

Tsuki side-eyed him, “Well, it’s a good thing we don’t have to.”

“That ego’s gonna get you trouble one day.” She heard Jirou whisper behind her.

“Feet off the desk,” Aizawa ordered.

Bakugo rolled his eyes and took his feet down, “Whatever.”

“A Sports Festival?!” Kirishima shot out of his seat. “Let’s go kick some ass!”

Kaminari shoved Kirishima back into his chair and turned to Aizawa with a worried expression, “Wait a second.”

“Is it really a good idea to hold a sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside one of the school's facilities?” Jirou asked. “It could come across the wrong way.”

“Or be dangerous,” Youyorozu added.

“Yeah, that’s like holding a sign saying ‘come and get us, ’” Tsuki said. “It seems a little ballsy considering everything that just happened.”

Ojiro nodded in agreement, “They could attack once we’re all in the same place.”

“Apparently, the administration thinks this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever,” Aizawa explained. “Plus, they’re beefing up security compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all students at UA. It’s not something we can cancel because of a few villains.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, but why not?” Mineta gulped. “It’s just a sports festival.”

“Mineta, don’t you know how important this competition is?” Izuku asked.

“Of course I do! I just don’t wanna get murdered.”

“Our sports festival is one of the most-watched events in the entire world. In the past, everyone obsessed over the Olympic Games. But then quirks started appearing. Now, the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition, there’s only one tournament that matters. The UA Sports Festival.”

‘It’s crazy how many eyes will be on us. I gotta do my best to stand out and win. If I do that, maybe some of the Pros will remember me and want to take me on as a sidekick.’

“It’s true that joining a Hero Agency can garner you greater experience and popularity. That’s why the festival matters. If you wanna go pro one day, then this event could open the path for you. One chance a year. Three chances in a lifetime. No aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival. That means you better not slack off on your training.”

‘I know what I have to do.’

“Class is dismissed,” Aizawa said.

“I’m so excited!” Tsuki whirled around to face Izuku and pumped her fist into the air. “I’m gonna train super hard and win!”

“Tch, that’s likely.” Bakugo huffed. “You’ll have to get through me first, and I’m not gonna go easy on you, Hitomi.”

Tsuki’s mouth twitched into a smirk. “We’ll see about that.”

Without a word, Bakugo turned on his heel and left the class.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Tsuki stood in front of a pair of dark oak doors. She took a deep breath before pulling on the handle, letting herself into the room. At the large desk sat her dad in front of a computer. His eyes stayed locked on the screen, not bothering to acknowledge her.

“Dad, the Sports Festival is coming up.” She started. “I want to win, but I know I can’t at my current state. I-”

He stood from his seat, and a smile formed on his lips. “You need my help. Let me guess, you’re ready to learn how to warp more than one person at a time. I told you that skill would be a vital asset. Once you learn that, and can open more than one portal at a time, you’ll be unstoppable.”

Tsuki nodded, “I did it once, at the USJ when I saved Bakugo, but I wasn’t thinking, I just did it. Can you teach me? The Festival is in two weeks.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask. Of course, I can.”

He led Tsuki through the double oak doors and out to their backyard, where he had a pad built for them to train on, concealed by large black pines from any neighbors.

“The key is to focus; you can’t overthink it. When you did it, your body moved on its own. That’s how you were able to pull it off without practice. It’s more straining on your mind the more you use your quirk. But you get used to it over time.” He explained, then sat cross-legged. “When my father taught me, we meditated first to ease the mind. While you do, try imagining carrying me through a warp gate.”

Without a word, Tsuki followed his directions and closed her eyes. They sat in silence for a few minutes as she focused on the image of teleporting herself along with her dad.

“Okay, what now?” Tsuki asked, reopening her eyes.

“Now you try it.”

“Wait, what?” She gulped. “I’ve never done it before. What if I mess up and-”

“That’s why you came to me.” He interrupted. “I’m the only one you can practice with ‘cause if you mess up, I can warp myself. You’d hurt anyone else.”

“I know…” She frowned and opened a gate in front of her between her and her dad. “Ok, let’s do it.”

They both stepped into the portal, and Tsuki immediately grabbed her head in pain and jumped out of it. Once her dad was out of the way, she closed it and collapsed to the ground.

“I said you had to ease your mind first!” He shouted.

“I know, I did.” She groaned. A sharp pain shot behind her eyes as she climbed to her feet. “It just hurts.”

“You’ll never reach your highest potential if you don’t fight through the pain, daughter. How do you think my dad got to be as powerful as he did? He didn’t let a headache stop him.”

Tsuki opened another portal in response.

“Good, you’re learning.”

Once again, they both attempted to go through it. Her jaw clenched when he dad stepped through, and as they appeared on the other side, her vision went spotty. She stumbled forward, but her dad caught her by the back of her shirt and pulled her to her feet.

“You did it. Now do it again.”

“I need a minute.” She panted. “I almost passed out.”

“I said, do it again.” He ordered.

Tsuki groaned in frustration as her vision came back and did as he said. She repeated this over and over for what felt like hours until she lay on the ground, clutching her head between both of her hands.

The world around her seemed as if it were spinning, and her entire head throbbed.

“That’s enough for today.” Her dad started towards the door that led back into his office. “We’ll practice every day between now and the Festival until this becomes second nature.” Then with that, he left.

The next week flew by, and before Tsuki knew it, after passing out a couple of times, she was able to warp multiple people at once. She was ready to try it against Izuku and show off the new moves her dad had taught her.

9:32 pm
Tsuki: U busy?

Izuku: Finishing up English homework, u ok?

Tsuki: Meet at the beach in 10

Izuku: Ok?

Tsuki clicked off her phone and slid it into her sweatpants pocket before heading downstairs.

In the living room, her mom sat on the couch, clicking through the different channels. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tsuki and set the remote down. “Where’re you sneaking off to?” Her mom joked.

“I was gonna head to the beach.” Tsuki awkwardly laughed. “Is that okay?’

Her mom's brows furrowed as she checked her watch. “At 9:30? Why?”

“I wanna show Izuku my new move.”

“You have a whole other week before the Festival. What’s the rush?”

“I’m just excited.” Tsuki smiled, taking a step towards the door. “I figured since Dad’s working tonight that it’d be okay.”

Tsuki’s mom grinned and rolled her eyes. “Fine, just don’t be out too late. I’m not tired, and since you don’t have school tomorrow, I thought we could watch a movie.”

“You’re the best!” Tsuki ran to her mom and hugged her. “Call me in an hour so I don’t lose track of time, and I’ll come home.”

“Alright, sweetie. Have fun and be safe.”

“I will.” Tsuki waved bye, then headed out.

The evening air was warm, just breezy enough to rustle her hair slightly as she walked. Soon enough, she reached the boardwalk and slipped out of her shoes, leaving them by the tall grass.

She made her way down the wooden walkway until she felt the cool sand touching the bottom of her feet. Her eyes scanned the beach for a familiar green-haired boy, but it was empty.

Realizing she was early, she walked over to the ocean, letting the water lap against her feet. The breeze blew her hair into her face, tickling her cheeks.

A sigh escaped her lips as she breathed in the salty air. She always felt at peace at the beach.

“Hey, Tsuki,” A voice came from behind her, and a hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to jump.

Tsuki whirled around and was face-to-face with Izuku.

“Sorry.” He laughed. “I thought you would’ve heard me walk up. Why’d you wanna meet?”

“I wanted to show you something.” She admitted. “I couldn’t wait. Sorry, I invited you out so late.”

“It’s okay. Whacha want to show me?”

“I learned a new move.”

A flicker of amusement glistened in his eyes. “Yeah? What is it?”

“Let me show you.” Tsuki grabbed his wrist and led him back to the cool, dry sand. There, she got into a fighting position, and he did the same.

Tsuki attacked first, charging at him with her right fist drawn back. Tsuki prepared herself to block his punch, but it was only a feint. At the last second, he pivoted on his left foot and attempted to land a kick.

Luckily, Tsuki was prepared. She turned around and grabbed his foot, throwing him off balance. As he stumbled forward, she created a portal at his feet and then opened it so that he landed flat on his back.

“No fair, I thought you were showing me your new move.” He looked up at her before climbing to his feet.

“Sorry,” Tsuki laughed.

The corners of his mouth turned up as he got back into position. “You won’t throw me off this time.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Before Izuku had a chance to react, she appeared behind him and landed a kick to his legs, knocking him to the ground once again. But as he fell, he grabbed hold of her wrist, bringing her down with him.

Tsuki hurried to her feet.

“This would be easier if I didn’t keep ending up on the ground,” Izuku said, causing Tsuki to laugh. He ran his hand through his hair, attempting to brush out any sand.

Izuku stood up, and then she charged, right fist drawn back. He grabbed her forearm right before her punch landed and flipped her over his back, just like he did to Bakugo in their fight.

Before she could slam into the ground, she opened a portal and fell into it. Since Izuku still had a grip on her, he was pulled inside. The two fell out of a portal she created in the sky and bashed into the ground, Izuku landing on top of her.

“Ow,” She groaned as she glanced up at Izuku.

Tsuki felt heat rise to her cheeks as Izuku propped himself up on his forearms. His knees rested on either side of her hips. When their eyes met, they both froze.

Izuku’s gaze flickered between both of her brown eyes, causing Tsuki’s stomach to flip. A cool breeze swirled around them, bringing chills to both their skin.

A bright light shone on the pair, and Izuku’s hand jumped up to shield his eyes.

“Yech, get a room.” A man grumbled, and then the light quickly moved from them. “Stupid teenagers.” He muttered under his breath, kicking up sand as he sauntered off.

Izuku rolled off of her and plopped on the ground beside her, and Tsuki sat up, her eyes locked on the sand.

‘What the hell just happened?’

“You warped us at the same time.” Izuku smiled, though he was still obviously flustered. “Is that what you’ve been working on?”

Tsuki nodded, brushing the sand off her back. “Yeah, I finally did it.”

“Good job, Tsuki! I’m so proud.”

“Thanks,” She blushed. “I think it’ll be a game changer in the Sports Festival.”

“For sure. I can’t wait to see you in action.”

Bzzz. Bzzz. Tsuki’s phone rang in her pocket. She reached into her sweatpants and pulled it out. Her mom's name read across the screen. She swiped her finger across the cool glass and answered.

“It’s been an hour already?” Tsuki asked.

“Yeah, but if you’re still hanging out, we can watch a movie another time.”

“No, we actually just finished. I’ll be back soon.”

“Alright, will you have him walk you home? I don’t want you walking alone at night.”

Tsuki laughed, locking eyes with Izuku. “I don’t think he woulda let me.”

Izuku’s brow raised at the mention of himself, but fell when Tsuki looked away.

The sound of distant thunder rumbled, and the stars that once littered the sky were no longer visible. The scent of the salty air had been replaced with the smell of rain.

“Okay, love you. Bye.” She said, and then hung up. “Mom asked if you’d walk me home.” She tucked her hair behind her ears, then climbed to her feet, and Izuku followed suit.

“I planned on it.”

“I know,” She grinned. “She also invited you to watch a movie with us, but I told her I wasn’t sure since it was so late.”

Izuku shrugged, “We don’t have school tomorrow, so I don’t mind.”

“Really?”

He nodded, bringing a smile to her lips. Then they began their trek through the sand and back across the boardwalk. There, they both slipped back into their shoes and started towards Tsuki’s house.

They walked side by side down the street, not in a rush.

Clouds covered the once bright moon, so the sidewalk was only lit by the few scattered lamp posts.

For a while, neither of them spoke. It wasn’t awkward, but comfortable.

Then Tsuki took a deep breath and said, breaking the silence, “Smells like it’s gonna rain.”

“Yeah, I noticed back at the beach. Did you not hear the thunder?”

She shook her head. “No. I hope it doesn’t storm.”

“Me either,” Izuku glanced up at the dark sky. A gust of wind came, blowing his hair with it. Then, a loud boom caused them both to jump. “Let’s hurry.”

They both picked up their pace and arrived at her house shortly. As they entered the home and took off their shoes, a downpour came.

Tsuki laughed, “Perfect timing.”

“Yeah, guess I'd better let mom know I won’t be home for a while.” He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message before slipping it back into his jacket pocket.

“Tsuki?” Her mom's voice rang.

“I’m home!” Tsuki called, then led Izuku through the house.

Her mom stood in the living room by the mantle, lighting a candle. The room smelled of vanilla and honey.

Warm, subtle, and comforting.

“I’m making popcorn if you two wanna choose a movie while it finishes?” Her mom offered, turning off the light. “I’ll be right back.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen, where Tsuki heard the faint sound of popping.

Tsuki turned to Izuku after her mom was gone and said, “I’m gonna change real quick since I’m covered in sand. I’ll be real quick.”

“Alright.”

She hurried upstairs to her room and changed into a purple off-the-shoulder T-shirt and a pair of black shorts. After tossing her sandy clothes into the hamper, she went back downstairs and met Izuku in the living room.

She plopped down on the couch and tossed a blanket over her legs before patting the spot next to her. “Anything specific you wanna watch?”

Izuku sat down. “Nothing I can think of.”

“Me neither,” She pouted. “I was hoping you had an idea so I didn’t have to choose.”

Tsuki’s mom rounded the corner with two bowls of popcorn in hand. “Did you two find something?” She handed Tsuki a bowl and then sat down.

“No,” Tsuki said, handing her mom the remote. “You choose.”

“Alright,” She smiled and immediately clicked on her favorite, ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’.

“I knew it.” Tsuki laughed.

“What’s this?” Izuku questioned, reaching into the popcorn bowl.

Both the girls shot him a look before her mom answered, “Only the best movie ever! I can’t believe you haven’t watched it with him, Tsuki.”

“I know, I’ve failed as a friend.” Tsuki dramatically placed her hand over her head and fell onto Izuku’s shoulder, bringing a blush to his cheeks.

She sat up and offered him a smile, “You’re gonna love it.”

Izuku laughed, “We’ll see.”

“Okay, shh, you two.” Tsuki’s mom hushed them, then pressed play.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Thirty minutes later, the three of them lay passed out on the couch. Tsuki’s mom was on one side, and Tsuki and Izuku were on the other. Her head lay on his shoulder, and both their hands rested in the popcorn bowl.

She slightly stirred, causing Izuku to wake. His eyes fluttered open and flickered around the room before settling on the weight against his shoulder.

His face flushed, and his chest tightened, but not in a painful way. He was scared to move, or even to breathe, in fear of waking her.

His shirt had started to warm from where her head pressed into it.

As he softly exhaled, her head slid from his shoulder to his chest, causing him to freeze.

He could feel his heart racing, and his hands began to sweat.

He turned his head away slightly, attempting to focus on something else. He watched the rain through the window, which was illuminated by the street lamps outside.

A loud crash of thunder shook the house, and his eyes shot back to Tsuki, who was somehow still sound asleep. Her lips were slightly parted, and her hand that wasn’t in the bowl rested on his arm. He wasn’t sure how she ended up in the position, but he didn’t mind.

Her legs were curled slightly onto his, knees resting on top of his.

Izuku swallowed hard. He slowly moved the bowl and set it on the end table next to him. But when he did, her hand fell into his lap.

His breath caught. Every muscle in his body tensed.

Then, her body shifted. She pressed closer, filling what little space there was between them.

Izuku looked back down at her.

Her face.

She looked so soft, so peaceful. Her soft brown hair stayed tucked behind her ear. In the warm candlelight, her smooth skin looked ethereal.

Then, his gaze dropped, unintentionally.

As he went to pull the blanket over her arm, which was covered in goosebumps, his eyes caught on something else.

He froze.

Her off-the-shoulder shirt had slipped, revealing the soft skin of her shoulder. But that wasn’t all. The neckline dropped further, showing more than he’d seen of her before.

Not inappropriate, but still enough to fluster him entirely.

The curve of her chest peeked through the droop.

His breath caught in his throat as he jerked his eyes to the ceiling. His heart was still pounding as he got lost in his thoughts.

She slightly shifted again, and a faint sound escaped her lips.

“Izuku?” She murmured, looking up at him through sleepy eyes.

“Mmm, yeah?” He croaked.

Her eyes widened as she realized their position, and she sat up.

Izuku felt as if he could breathe again and sighed.

“We fell asleep.” She frowned, ignoring the heat rising in her face.

“Yeah,” His eyes fell to the floor. “And it’s almost midnight.”

“I guess you’re stuck here.” Tsuki eyed the window. “I’ll stay on the couch with Mom. You can have my room.”

He nodded and stood from the sofa. “Alright, goodnight, Tsuki.”

“Goodnight.”

Chapter 10: Aim for the Top

Before Tsuki knew it, it was the morning of the Sports Festival. The past week, she spent with her dad learning new techniques and perfecting warping multiple people.

Now, Tsuki and her classmates sat in the waiting room designated for their class. She was bummed that she couldn’t wear her hero costume, as were a few of her classmates. As much as she hated to admit it, she was nervous, not about failing as much as she was about performing in front of such a large crowd.

“Everyone, get your game faces on!” Iida burst through the door, pulling her out of her thoughts. “We’re entering the arena soon!”

“You okay?” Youyorozu placed her hand on top of Tsuki’s. “You look like you’re gonna puke.”

Tsuki nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Yeah, just nervous.”

Jirou frowned, “You’ve been acting off for the past week. Is that just nerves, too?”

Tsuki glanced over at Izuku, who was talking with Mineta. She nodded and then stared down at Youyorozu’s hand, which was still on hers.

“Yeah, I’ve been working hard the past couple of weeks. Between that and my nerves, it's thrown me outta whack.”

“I’ve noticed.” Youyorozu pouted. “You’ll do great today, Tsuki.”

“Thanks, you too.”

“Midoriya.” The sound of Todoroki approaching Izuku brought the room to a collective, tense silence.

“Hey, Todoroki. What’s up?”

“From an objective standpoint, I think it’s fairly clear that I’m stronger than you.” He said blatantly.

“Uh, um, yeah.” Izuku hung his head in shame.

“However, you’ve got All Might in your corner, helping you out.”

‘How does he know that?’

Tsuki saw a flicker of fear in Izuku’s eyes at the mention of All Might.

“I’m not here to pry about what’s going on between you two. But know that I will beat you.” Todoroki stared Izuku down, an intimidating look in his eye.

“Damn, what’s with all these declarations of war lately?” Kaminari joked, rubbing the back of his neck, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Kirishima approached Todorki, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. “Yeah, why are you pickin’ a fight all of a sudden? And right before we get started.”

Todoroki shrugged Kirishima off, “We’re not here to be each other’s friends. Don’t forget. This isn’t a team effort.”

“Wait a sec, Todoroki,” Izuku said. “I don’t know what’s going through your head, or why you think you’d need to tell me that you’ll beat me. And, yeah, of course, you’re better than me. In fact, you probably have way more potential than anyone in the hero course. That’s why you got in so easily.”

“Midoriya, maybe you’re being a little hard on yourself and us.” Kirishima held up his hands defensively.

“No, he’s right, you guys. All the other courses are coming for us with everything they’ve got. We’re all gonna have to fight to stand out. And I’ll be aiming for the top, too.”

“Stop with all of this, you two!” Iida shouted, waving his hands at the door. “We have to go! Present Mic is announcing our entrance!”

Everyone scrambled to their feet and down the hall. Tsuki could hear Present Mic’s voice echoing throughout the stadium, “Let me hear you scream as our students make their way to the stage!”

Tsuki walked next to Izuku as they exited the hall and stepped into the light. The crowd roared at their appearance.

‘Wow, that’s a lot of people.’

“Welcome back to the UA Sports Festival, where up-and-coming heroes leave everything on the field as they fight for the chance to achieve worldwide fame and celebrity! This first group is no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a villain attack, the dazzling students lighting up your TV’s with solid-gold skills. The hero course students of Class 1-A!”

‘Ugh, such a bold introduction. I just hope I can live up to it.’ Tsuki thought

“Uh, I didn’t know there’d be so many people.” Izuku’s voice wavered as his eyes scanned the roaring stadium.

“I hope we’re still able to give our best performances, even though all these eyes are watching us,” Iida said. “I suppose it’s just another aspect of being a hero we all have to learn to get used to.”

“Yeah, true.” Tsuki agreed.

“You’re pretty used to the spotlight, though, being the number seven hero's daughter, right?” Sero pointed out, nudging Tsuki with his elbow.

“Kinda,” She admitted. “I try to avoid it, though. I’d rather have a name for myself than be known as someone's daughter.”

“Makes sense,” Iida said. “But, personally, I enjoy being associated with my family and their fame.”

Present Mic continued to introduce every class as they made their way across the field. When they reached the center, Midnight stood on a platform waiting.

“Now, for the introductory speech!” She exclaimed. “And for the student pledge, we have Katsuki Bakugo!” Bakugo made his way through the class, sure to shoulder Izuku as he passed.

“Uh, he’s the first-year rep?” Izuku asked.

“I guess that hot-head did finish first in the entrance exams,” Sero stated.

“Ugh, that’s so not fair,” Tsuki whined. “What about the three of us who got in on recommendation?”

“And the other courses.” A girl from the support course grumbled.

Bakugo made his way to the stage and took his place in front of the mic. “I just wanna say, I’m gonna win.”

Tsuki frowned at him as he stared straight ahead, sure to avoid the dirty looks he was receiving from everyone.

‘That cocky bastard. Ugh, and he’s probably right.’ Tsuki dragged her hands down her cheeks and groaned.

The crowd began to boo, and insults were thrown at both him and their class by the other students. Everyone in 1-A hunkered down, hiding their faces in embarrassment.

“Why would you be so disrespectful?!” Iida shouted. “You’re representing us all!”

“Not my fault, the rest of you are just stepping stones to my victory.”

Tsuki clenched her jaw, and her fists were balled up at her side.

After Bakugo made his way back to the class, Midnight took back the mic. “Without further ado, it’s time for us to get started! This is where you start to feel the pain! The first fateful game of the festival! What could it be?”

The screen behind her spun through the options until it finally landed on ‘Obstacle Race.’

‘Hm, this should be interesting. I could teleport to the end, but that’s if it’s in my line of sight. But I should also use this as a chance to show off my abilities.’

“All eleven classes will participate in this treacherous contest. The track is four kilometers around the outside of the stadium. I don’t wanna restrain anyone, at least in this game.” She smirked. “As long as you don’t leave the course, you’re free to do whatever your heart desires.

The crowd cheered.

“Now then, take your places, contestants.”

Everyone was led outside of the arena, behind a gate that Tsuki assumed opened to the course. The three green lights on the top of the gate started to count down.

“You ready?” Izuku asked.

“Kinda have to be.” She laughed. “This is it.”

3…

2…

1…

“Begin!”

The gates opened, and everyone rushed forward, attempting to squeeze through the small opening. Soon enough, everyone was crammed together, unable to move. An elbow met Tsuki’s jaw. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Izuku being smooshed.

‘Oh, this is the first obstacle.’

Tsuki warped herself to the front of the crowd. Behind her, Todoroki slid on his ice, freezing almost everyone in place. Bakugo was using his quirk to blast himself through the air above her.

Most of Class-A managed to dodge Todoroki’s ice, unlike everyone else. He wasn’t here to play fair; he was here to win. Unfortunately for him, so was Tsuki, and she wasn’t going to put up with his tricks.

“Cheap shot!” Tsuki shouted behind her. “You gotta do better if you wanna win, Todoroki!”

Out of nowhere, a bunch of huge metallic robots appeared directly in front of her, bringing her to a halt.

“Terminate them.” One said, staring down at Tsuki.

“Ohh! Enemies have shown up out of nowhere!” Present Mic’s commentary sounded around them. “I bet we’re in for a treat here! A test of strength and cunning! It’s a Robo Inferno!”

“Dammit, I gotta do something.’

“Are these the zero-point robots from the entrance exam?!” Kaminari freaked.

“So,” Todoroki took a step forward with an outstretched hand. “These are what the other students faced in their exams.”

A robot launched forward towards Todoroki as his hand reached for the ground. “I wish they had prepared something a little more difficult.”

“Uh, oh.” Tsuki quickly warped in the air as he touched the ground, freezing most of the robots in their tracks, as well as some of the other students, before running ahead of the group.

Tsuki started to chase after him, but the robot in front of her collapsed forward towards the crowd of students who were frozen. So, she quickly warped herself up to the robot's head and kicked it as hard as she could, changing the direction it fell.

When she landed, she sprinted after Todoroki, and once he was in her line of sight, she warped in front of him.

“What a showing! Todoroki with an incredible display of power! Hitomi, saving students and maintaining first place! Aizawa, your students have me on the edge of my seat! Uh-oh!”

Both Tsuki and Todoroki came to a halt.

“Watch out!” Todoroki shouted.

Tsuki teetered over the edge of a cliff, but he reached out his hand and grabbed her shirt, pulling her back to safety.

“Thanks,” She muttered. Her heart pounded in her chest.

“You thought the first obstacle was hard!” Present Mic declared. “Let’s see how ya feel about the second one! If they take a spill, they’re out! If they wanna pass this test, they’ll have to get creative. It’s “The Fall”!”

“Well, that’s obvious,” Tsuki muttered, staring into the abyss below. She looked up, and there were multiple ledges scattered around, all connected by thin, tightropes.

‘Not a chance.’

Instead of the tightrope, Tsuki concentrated on the furthest platform she could see and warped over to it. She continued this process until she reached the other side. Everyone was far behind, except for Todoroki and Bakugo, who were right behind her..

“Get lost already!” Tsuki shouted, looking back at Todoroki. She opened a portal at his feet to trip him, then sprinted up the stairs in front of her.

“You suck!” Bakugo shouted, blasting after her. He was getting closer.

‘I’ll have to take care of him after I make it up these stairs. Damn, why are there so many of them?’

“And now, we’re finally approaching the last obstacle.” Present Mic announced. “Everyone had better tread carefully. You’re stepping onto a minefield! If you look carefully, you can see where those little bombs are buried, so keep your eyes on the ground, folks.”

Sure enough, dark brown spots littered the field.

‘I can see them if I look carefully.’

Someone behind her stepped on one and was launched into the air.

‘Wait, is that the finish line?’ Tsuki squinted her eyes. In the far distance, she saw it.

“Yeah, not a chance!” Bakugo shouted as he came up beside her. “I know what you’re thinking!” He blasted her in the face with a relatively weak explosion, but it was enough to blind her.

Tsuki attempted to cover her face, but it was too late; the damage was already done. She rubbed her eyes, and all she could see were little black spots. She managed to make out several people in front of her, two being Bakugo and Shoto.

‘Dammit, Bakugo.’

There wasn’t much she could do, not being able to see. So, just like everyone else, she slowly made her way through the minefield until her vision went back to normal.

“I'm coming for you two!” Tsuki warped herself up to Todoroki and Bakugo, tying the three of them in first place. “Get lost!” She opened a warp gate in front of the pair, then dropped them far behind.

A loud explosion sounded from the start of the obstacle.

‘That wasn’t a normal explosion.’

“Whatever the case, Class 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya is suddenly in hot pursuit of first place!” Present Mic announced.

A dark shadow appeared around her, and when she looked up, she saw Izuku clinging onto a large piece of green metal, soaring through the air. Bakugo and Todoroki had both caught up and were fighting tooth and nail for first place.

‘No, no, no.’

Tsuki’s eyes locked in on the finish line.

“Don’t even think about it!” Todoroki shouted and attempted to freeze her foot in place as Izuku came crashing down in front of them.

She narrowly dodged to the right, running into Bakugo, throwing him off balance. Her gaze quickly darted back to the end of the obstacle, and she warped herself there just in time to avoid one of Bakugo’s blasts.

Tsuki sprinted until the tunnel leading back into the stadium was in her line of sight, and she felt someone hot on her heels. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw a familiar freckled face behind her.

“Izuku?” She questioned, her eyes scanning for Bakugo and Todoroki, who were now nowhere to be seen. “Sorry.” She muttered, then focused on the finish line.

“The first to make it back into the stadium is…”

Tsuki appeared at the end of the tunnel, and the crowd erupted into cheers, practically shaking the stadium.

“Tsuki Hitomi is our champion!” Present Mic shouted, voice full of enthusiasm.

A grin broke out on Tsuki’s face, hearing herself being announced as the winner. Confetti fell from the sky and music boomed from the sound system. She waved to the crowd with both hands as her face appeared on the screen.

Shortly, Izuku came sprinting in, followed by Todoroki and Bakugo. She hurried over to her friend and engulfed him in a hug.

“You did great!” She cheered. “Were you the one who caused that huge explosion? That was insane!”

Izuku laughed, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Yeah, that was me. It was the only way I could catch up without my quirk.”

Tsuki pulled out of the hug. “You beat Todoroki and Bakugo. How exciting is that!”

“Yeah, but you won! I thought Todoroki had you when he tried to freeze your foot.”

Tsuki glanced over at Todoroki, who was observing them with a blank expression. “I did too. I think you crashing down in front of us threw him off, and that’s the only reason I was able to dodge.”

“Either way,” Izuku shrugged. “You did great. I’m so proud.”

“Thanks, Zuku. You did too.”

“The contestants are pouring in, one after the other! Let’s hear some applause for all our competitors as we prepare the results.” Present Mic’s voice echoed.

“The first game for the first years is finally over, and what a game it was!” Midnight announced. “Now, let’s take a quick look at the standings, shall we?”

Everyone regrouped back in the center of the stadium, and the screen behind her listed everyone’s place. First was Tsuki, second was Izuku, third, Todoroki, and fourth was Bakugo. Then the list went on to list the top forty-two contestants. All of Class-1A managed to place.

“Only the top forty-two will advance to the next round. But don’t be too let down if you didn’t make the cut! We’ve prepared other opportunities for you to shine.” Midnight smirked. “Now the real fun is about to begin. The chance to fully move into the limelight! Give it your best!”

The screen behind her rolled the possible options for the next round.

Midnight snapped her whip above her head. “Let’s see what we have in store for you next. Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be? The waiting is torture. Prepare yourselves, for this!”

The screen stopped, and it read: ‘Cavalry Battle.’

Chapter 11: Embrace for Impact

"Cavalry Battle?” Tsuki questioned. “What even is that?”

“Like the game?” Kaminari looked at her, confused, “You’ve never played? Lucky. I’m terrible at it. We used to play in Junior High during gym.”

Tsuki shook her head, “No, never heard of it.”

“Allow me to explain.” Midnight said. “The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit. In theory, it’s basically the same as a regular playground game. But there is one difference. Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course.”

‘So each team will have different points, and you win by having the most.’

“The point assignments go up by increments of five, starting from the bottom. For example, 42nd place is worth five points, and 41st is worth ten. So on and so on. The point value assigned to the first-place contestant is ten million!”

‘Oh no.’

Tsuki felt everyone's eyes on her, and her stomach dropped. She was the target. If her headband got taken, that person was guaranteed the win.

“That’s right.” Midnight smiled. “It’s the survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top! Those of you at the top will suffer the most. Of course, that’s something you’ll hear over and over again at UA. Show us what “Plus Ultra” means!” She cracked her whip.

“Tsuki Hitomi placed first in the qualifier. She’ll be worth ten million!”

‘Great, not only is everyone going to come after me, but no one is gonna want to be on my team.’ Her eyes darted to Izuku, who was watching her anxiously. ‘Maybe he’ll team with me. Between the two of us, we should hopefully be able to stay away from everyone.’

“First years! These are the rules that you’ll abide by. The game itself will last 15 minutes. Individual point values will be added together to reach your team total. Everyone will know how much you’re worth thanks to your headbands. Swipe as many headbands as you can to raise your team’s score.”

“Stolen headbands must be worn from the neck up. So the more you steal, the harder it’ll be to manage them. And another thing, even if your headband gets stolen or your team falls, you can keep playing until time’s up.”

‘That’s reassuring. Even if my headband gets taken, we can try and steal it back or take someone else’s. It’s not a matter of getting first anymore; it's a matter of survival. There’ll be ten to twelve teams, so we’ll have plenty of opportunities to steal. But it also means that many are going against us.’

“This is going to be rough. You may use your quirks as much as you like. But there are still rules. Make a team fall on purpose, and I’ll slap you with a red card. You’ll be disqualified!”

A timer set for fifteen minutes was set on the screen behind her. She instructed everyone to form their teams and strategies before the time ran out.

Immediately, a crowd formed around Bakugo, all begging him to let them on his team. He ignored them and stared Tsuki down. Before she had a chance to approach Izuku, he said, “Hitomi, get your ass over here!”

Tsuki froze and glanced over at him. “What?”

“I want you on my team! Your quirk will be useful for evading and attacking!”

“Hah, not a chance.” Tsuki turned on her heel and headed over to Izuku.

Everyone around him burst into laughter, and his face turned red.

“Damn, dude!” Sero doubled over in laughter. “She shut you down so fast!”

“Hey, Tsuki.” Izuku smiled. “I guess it’ll be just the two of us. I don’t think anyone else is crazy enough to team up with you.”

“You really wanna be on my team?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Tsuki let out a breath, “Like you said, I didn’t think anyone was crazy enough.”

Izuku laughed, “You shoulda known I wouldn’t leave you hanging.”

“Hitomi!”

Tsuki heard Mineta’s voice shout, and when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw him running at her. He jumped forward, grabbing hold of her pant leg with both of his hands desperately clinging to the fabric.
“Let me join your team, please! I’ll stop anyone who tries to take your headband with my sticky balls! I can ride on your and Midoriya’s shoulders!”

Tsuki stared down at the boy and shook her leg in an attempt to rid of him, but he only held on tighter. “I appreciate the offer, but I think we’re good.”

“You can let go of her now.” Izuku frowned.

Mineta released her leg and shot Izuku a glare. “Fine, team with broccoli for hair. You better watch your back, Midoriya.” Then he stormed off towards Shoji and Tsu.

“Heyyyy.” Izuku groaned. “That was uncalled for.”

“Don’t worry,” Tsuki laughed and ruffled Izuku’s messy green hair. “I love your hair. Besides, that came from the guy who has balls for hair, so I wouldn’t let it bother you.”

A blush crept up his cheeks, “Thanks, Tsuk’s.”

“Tsuki, Deku!” Uraraka jogged over to the pair. “I assume you two are already teamed up. Mind if I join?”

“Not at all,” Tsuki grinned. “You sure you wanna risk it, though?”

“Don’t discourage her!” Izuku waved his hands at Tsuki. “We need all the help we can get. We both have the most points.”

Uraraka laughed at the pair. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and offered Tsuki a smile. “Let’s do this!”

Izuku sighed, and then his eyes began scanning the field. “I have an idea, we just need one more person.”

“Better hurry,” Tsuki warned. “We only have five minutes left.”

He nodded, then approached Iida, leaving the girls alone.

“I wonder what he has planned.” Uraraka’s eyes stayed glued on the boy as his and Iida’s conversation quickly came to an end. “He’s always thinking ten steps ahead. It’s so amazing! That’s why I wanted to team with you two…”

Tsuki’s gaze flickered over to Izuku, and a pink-haired girl was talking to him, her face mere inches from his. She was smiling widely, and Tsuki could see Izuku’s flushed face, even at a distance. A knot formed in Tsuki’s stomach, and Uraraka’s words began to fall on deaf ears.

“Uh, Tsuki?” Uraraka tapped Tsuki’s shoulder. “You alright? You look like you’re gonna throw up.”

Reluctantly, she looked away and met Uraraka’s eyes. “Huh?”

“I asked if you were okay.” She repeated, glancing over at Izuku, who was now making his way back with the girl.

“Oh, yeah.” Tsuki smiled, but the feeling in her stomach didn’t go away. “I’m good, just nervous about the battle.”

“Tsuki! Uraraka!” Izuku jogged over to the girls. “This is Hatsume. She wants to join our team.”

“We haven’t met,” Hatsume turned to Tsuki. “But I’d like to use your current fame to my personal advantage. If I team up with you, then I’ll be in the spotlight! Part of the team that everyone is keeping their eyes on. That means my super cute babies will inevitably be seen by the big company CEOs who’re tuning in to the Sports Festival. And following that line of reasoning, this is the best way for me and my marvelous gadgets to get recruited!”

The words left her mouth at a mile a minute. It was hard for Tsuki to keep up with her talking so fast.

“Here’s what I was thinking.” Izuku started. Then, for the last couple of minutes that remained, he explained his plan to the group. Tsuki would be the rider, Uraraka would take the front, and he and Hatsume would take the rear.

The timer rang, indicating the fifteen minutes were up.

“Oh, goody. It’s time to get this party started!” Midnight cheered.

“Here goes nothing,” Tsuki muttered under her breath.

“After 15 minutes to pick teammates and talk strategy, 12 cavalry teams are preparing to go head-to-head!” Present Mic announced. “Come on, everyone, get your hands in the air!”

The crowd erupted into cheers as the teams got into their positions, and received their headbands from Midnight.

“It’s time for an area-thumping UA battle royal! Let me hear ya scream!”

“You ready?” Izuku asked, tying the headband around his head.

“Yeah, it’s only 10 million points we have to keep safe from 38 other people.” Tsuki joked. “Should be a breeze.”

Izuku laughed, but she noticed the hint of anxiety in his eyes.

“We’ll be fine.” She reassured him. “Even if we lose it, we’ll have time to steal it back. You guys just try and keep me safe, and if anyone gets close, I’ll warp them away.”

“We’ll do our best!” Uraraka cheered. “Let’s win this!”

Hatsume helped strap a jetpack to Tsuki’s back while Izuku put on a pair of mechanical boots. Uraraka quickly tapped herself, then Tsuki, making them both weightless, then lightened the other two.

Izuku lifted Tsuki onto his and Hatsume’s shoulders, but not before triple-checking that the headbands were secure around Tsuki’s head first. Uraraka took her place in the front.

“Okay, all you first years, I hope you’re happy with your chosen teams! Let’s get this party started! One final countdown before the game starts!”

 

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Begin!”

Immediately, every team rushed towards theirs.

“You know what to do!” Tsuki exclaimed.

“Right!” Hatsume and Izuku said.

But before anyone had a chance to move, a silver-haired boy from class 1-B shouted, “I don’t think so!” Then the ground beneath them seemed to turn to liquid.

Everyone's feet sank into the ground, and Uraraka started to panic, “Uh, we’re sinking, you guys!”

“It must be that guy’s quirk!” Izuku pointed to the front runner on the silver-haired boys' team.

“Jetpack!” Hatsume shouted.

“Watch your heads!”

Izuku and Hatsume both ducked as Tsuki fired up the jetpack and launched them into the air, out of the liquified ground.

“Deku!” Uraraka exclaimed, pointing to Jiro’s group beneath them. Jiro’s earphone jacks were shooting straight for them. “Watch out!”

“Tsuki warp us out of here!” Izuku shouted.

“I’ve got it.” Tsuki held out her hand, and a portal formed in her palm. The ear jacks went into Tsuki’s portal, and she redirected them to another team that was charging them.

“Nice, Tsuki!” Izuku cheered.

“We’re landing!” Uraraka announced, using her quirk to float them back down safely. The team started running again, away from everyone else.

‘Now just keep this up.’

“So, what do you think of my babies?” Hatsume asked. “Are they the best? Cuteness can be manufactured, you know.”

‘Babies?’

“Excellent mobility!” Izuku complimented. “They’re amazing, Hatsume!”

‘I’m the one who defended against an attack.’ Tsuki thought, frowning to herself.

“Woah! Barely two minutes have passed since we started, and it’s already a total free-for-all!” Present Mic laughed. “Watch those headbands! You can even ignore the 10 million points and go after the other chart toppers!”

Tsuki glanced down at Izuku and grinned. “I don’t think it helps that we’re the top two on a team.”

“Definitely not.” He agreed.

A familiar laugh came from behind them “This is too easy. It’s not a fight!” Mineta’s voice shouted. “It’s more like a massacre!

Behind them, Shoji ran at them at full speed. His arms covered his back, so Tsuki assumed that’s where Mineta’s voice was coming from. They were using his arms as a shield.

‘Dammit, that’s smart.’

“It’s Shoji! Is he all by himself? Where’s his team?” Izuku began to panic.

“No, I think Mineta’s hiding in there!”

“We can’t get trapped between multiple opponents!” Hatsume exclaimed. Two teams were closing in on them. “Get us out of here, Midoriya!”

“Uh, oh no!”

“What, is something wrong, Izuku?”

“Yeah, I’m stuck on one of Mineta’s balls! Where did it come from?!” Izuku shouted.

Mineta peaked out from behind Shoji’s limb, “From right over here. Hi, Midoriya!” He said tauntingly. “I told you to watch your back.”

“Oh no, they’re really close!” Tsuki tugged at Izuku’s hair. “We need to go!”

All of a sudden, Tsu’s tongue shot out, reaching for Tsuki’s headband. She dodged to her left, throwing all of her weight onto Izuku. Tsu missed and quickly retracted her tongue.

Mineta threw his balls at them while Tsu shot out her tongue again, not giving them a second to breathe. Tsuki dodged everything thrown her way and shouted, “I’m warping us out of here!”

She scanned the field for an empty area. When she found one, she opened a portal, engulfing their team. All four of them appeared on the other side out of harm's way. Unfortunately, Izuku’s boot, which was stuck on Mineta’s ball, was damaged.

“Sorry, Zuku! It was the only way I could get us out!” Tsuki winced and grabbed her head. A sharp pain shot through her head.

“Are you alright, Tsuki?” Izuku’s voice was full of concern.

“I’m good. Let’s keep going.”

Izuku nodded but knew she wasn’t telling the truth. “Only warp us if you absolutely have to.”

“Okay.”

“Come here, you damn runt!” Bakugo’s team charged, and they were coming in hot.

Tsuki looked into his flaming red eyes, then quickly pressed the button, launching her team into the air again. But this didn’t stop Bakugo from approaching. He used his quirk to chase after them, leaving his teammates on the ground.

“Wow, Bakugo has left his horses!” Present Mic’s voice screamed. “Is that even allowed?!”

“Technically, he never touched the ground. So it’s okay.” Midnight explained.

“Kacchan!”

“Don’t think for a second that you’re safe!” Bakugo lunged for Tsuki’s headband. “I’ve got you!”

Bakugo released a large explosion, but Tsuki opened a portal, redirecting the blast so that it hit him instead. He went crashing back down towards his team.

The crowd let out a roaring cheer which brought a smile to Tsuki’s face.

“Yes!”

‘Now I’ll take his.’

Tsuki opened a gate behind Bakugo as Sero pulled him back down with his tape. She reached her hand through, and right as she went to snatch it, Mina’s acid burned her hand.

“I don’t think so!” Mina shouted, wagging her finger at Tsuki.

Tsuki withdrew her hand and quickly closed the portal before anyone could launch an attack through it.

“Dammit,” Tsuki muttered, rubbing her hand on her pants. “That hurt.”

Izuku brought the team back to the ground, but not as gently as last time. Taking to the sky again would be a big risk now, considering his broken boot. So now it was up to Tsuki to move them around and block others’ attacks.

“Now who wants to take a look at each team’s points so far?” Present Mic announced. “It’s been seven minutes, so let’s get those rankings thrown up on the screen.”

For a moment, everyone paused to look for their team’s name.

“Hold on here. This is an unexpected turn. Other than Midoriya, Class 1-A’s not doin’ so hot! Even Bakugo is losing!”

“Wow, Bakugo’s team has no points?” Tsuki questioned. “Glad I didn’t team up with him.”

“Everyone, don’t worry, I think we’re okay.” Izuku tried to reassure his team, but just as he did, they came to a halt. Todoroki and his team had them cornered.

“I thought we had it made. Guess I was wrong.” Izuku’s eyes hardened when they met Todoroki's.

“I’ll be taking that now.” Todoroki deadpanned.

“Watch our surroundings! It’s not just Todoroki. Everyone’s after us! Tsuki, we have to rely on you now.” Izuku frowned. “Can you handle that?”

Tsuki nodded, “Yeah, I’ll have to!”

Five different teams, including Todoroki’s, were all making their way toward them.

“Indiscriminate Shock!” Kaminari shouted. “1.3 million volts!”

“Tsuki, now!” Uraraka and Izuku shouted.

Tsuki warped them out of the way of Kaminari’s electricity just in time, but all of the surrounding teams were shocked by his attack.

“Amazing, Tsuki!” Izuku cheered, smiling up at the girl.

A sharp, crippling pain shot through Tsuki’s head again, and the world around her felt as if were starting to spin. She held her forehead in her palm and her eyes squeezed shut.

“Are you alright?” He asked, voice full of concern.

Uraraka glanced back at the brunette and frowned.

“I’m fine, just had a sharp pain.”

“Hitomi!” Hatsume’s voice screeched. “Todoroki’s coming!”

Todoroki froze the surrounding teams in place and turned around to head back to their team. Tsuki looked up at him through her brows as he charged and pressed the button to activate the jetpack.

“Shit! It’s not working!” She pressed the button over and over, but still, nothing but smoke shot out of it. They were cornered.

“My baby! Guess it needs some upgrades. Sorry!”

“Team Hitomi has nowhere left to run!” Present Mic announced.

Their team was now surrounded by a giant ice wall that Todoroki created.

“Okay, all we have to do is hang on to these 10 million points, no matter what.” Izuku voiced his thoughts. “I have an idea. Right now we’re desperately trying to defend our points. But we could take someone else’s super easy..”

“How?” Uraraka questioned.

Tsuki caught on to what Izuku was saying. “I just have to open a portal in front of me, reach through, and take someone’s headband.”

“Right now’s a perfect chance.”

Tsuki nodded, “Right.”

Scanning the field, her eyes landed on a blond boy from class 1-B. He was currently taking on Bakugo’s team. Him, that’s who she would go for. She opened a portal and grabbed a headband. Looking down at it she read ‘305’.

She quickly tied it around her neck.

‘Todoroki will be so focused on the one around my head to notice this... hopefully,’

“You’re doing great, Tsuki.”

“Good job!” Uraraka agreed.

“Only one minute left!” Present Mic said. “Todoroki has cornered the ten-million-point team and is poised to seize the ultimate prize! At least, that’s what I would have predicted five minutes ago! Unbelievably, Team Hitomi’s been able to keep away from the ice master for the last half of the game!”

Todoroki’s team took a step towards them. Izuku was sure to lead the team to Todoroki’s left side. After paying attention in class, he noticed that he never used his fire. If he tried to use his ice, he would hit Iida. It was his only obvious weakness, so they had to use it to their advantage.

Out of nowhere, Iida’s engines started. He readied himself, then lunged towards their team, pulling his along behind him at an unbelievable speed.

“Watch o-” But before Izuku could even get the words out of his mouth, Todoroki had already taken the 10 million point headband off of Tsuki’s head. “No!”

The crowd erupted into cheers at Iida’s sudden display of speed.

“Do you still have the other headband?!” Hatsume asked.

“Yeah, luckily.” Tsuki gulped. “I don’t know if it’ll be enough though.”

“We could try for other headbands,” Uraraka suggested.

“We can’t! We got lucky when Tsuki grabbed 305 points, but we don’t know who has what! We have to try for the 10 million. This is our only chance!”

“Then let’s go!” Uraraka shouted, and their team started towards Todoroki’s. “We’ll get the points back, Deku. I know it!”

Izuku powered up his arm, causing Todoroki to freeze.

“Tsuki, I need you to make this hit,” Izuku muttered. “I can’t reach them from this position.”

“What? Where?”

Before he could respond, Todoroki ignited his left arm in flames in response to Izuku’s sudden power-up. Tsuki opened a portal, and Izuku reached through it for the 10 million points.

“Watch out!” Uraraka shouted.

Tsuki deflected Todoroki's left arm with hers as he reached for the headband tied around her neck and dodged.

“Damn, that’s hot!” She huffed.

While Todoroki was distracted, Izuku reached in and grabbed the top headband.

“I got it!” He cheered.

“Uh, wait a minute!” Hatsume’s voice trembled. “Please tell me I have something wrong with my eyes.”

Izuku stared down and the headband in terror, “They tricked us. It’s 70!”

“We mixed the headbands up,” Youyorozu explained. “There’s no way we’d leave the prize on top. You underestimate us.”

Tsuki looked up at the scoreboard. They were in fifth with 375 points. If they wanted to qualify for the next round, they’d need 200 more. And it wasn’t looking good. She quickly took the band from him and fastened it around her neck.

“The game is almost over!” Present Mic shouted. “Time for a countdown!”

There were ten seconds on the clock. Bakugo’s team came rushing in.

“Get over here, you stupid runt!”

They were attacking the wrong team.

Three teams.

200 more points.

Ten seconds.

“Tsuki, let’s go!” Izuku shouted.

Tsuki warped her team to Todoroki’s. With Iida’s engines being stalled, they had nowhere to run. Midair, Bakugo changed direction, realizing Todoroki was now the one with the points.

They weren’t going to make it in time. In a split-second decision, Tsuki opened a portal and reached with an outstretched hand. She grabbed a headband that was around Todoroki’s head and tied it around hers without looking at the points.

Right before Bakugo made it to Todoroki, Present Mic announced time was up. Everyone froze, and Bakugo fell out of the air and crashed to the ground.

“And with that, the second round is officially over!”

“Tsuki, how many did you get?!” Izuku was about to go into a panic.

She glanced down and read it. “615!” She cheered.

“No way!” Hatsume exclaimed.

“Yay!”

“Yes, Tsuki! Yes!” Izuku pumped his fist and gently lifted Tsuki from their shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

Tsuki blushed, “Well, I couldn’t have done it without any of you.”

“Now, let’s take a look at who our top four teams are!” Present Mic’s voice rang throughout the stadium. “In first place, Team Todoroki! In second place is Team Bakugo! In third, who made a surprising, last-minute comeback, Team Hitomi! And what’s this? Team Shinso takes fourth place!”

“We’re gonna take an hour lunch break before we start the afternoon festivities!” He announced. “See ya soon!”

Tsuki’s stomach growled and her head throbbed. There was a sharp pain in the back of her head that she was able to ignore until now. She grabbed the back of her head and doubled over.

“Tsuki are you alright?” Izuku rushed to her side, placing his hand on her back. Urarka came to her other side and knelt beside her.

“No, my head hurts really bad after warping all of us like that.” She closed her eyes. “The light isn’t helping much either.”

“Let’s get you to Recovery Girl and healed before the final round!” Uraraka put her arm around Tsuki and Izuku did the same on her other side. “Come on.”

Chapter 12: Quite the Pair

“Thank you, Recovery Girl.” Tsuki bid her goodbye and left to meet up with her friends.

Izuku and Uraraka had been asked to leave so Recovery Girl could perform her ‘surgery’, which consisted of kissing Tsuki’s temple and feeding her lunch.

‘I wonder where Izuku ran off to.’ She half expected him to be waiting outside for her, but he was gone. ‘Maybe he went to eat..’

“Bakugo?” Tsuki cocked her brow.

The blond was leaning against the wall, staring straight ahead in complete silence. Down the hall, Tsuki heard Izuku talking to what sounded like Todoroki. “What’re-”

Bakugo slapped his hand over Tsuki’s mouth and said, “Shh.”

Tsuki frowned and licked the inside of his hand.

“Ew,” Bakugo whispered and removed his hand from her mouth.

“Why does your sweat burn?!” Tsuki whisper-shouted. “Ew, and it’s sweet.”

Bakugo’s ears reddened, “I don’t know!”.

“What’re you doing?” Tsuki questioned. “I didn’t take you for an eavesdropper.”

“Deku and Icy-Hot were talking. I just happened to be walking by and decided to listen. I wasn’t eavesdropping.”

“That’s actually exactly what eavesdropping is, dumbass.”

He rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore her statement. “What do you know about Deku and All Might?”

“Huh?”

“You heard me.”

“Nothing,” Tsuki paused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to me, you stupid runt! I heard Deku and Icy-hot talking about him. You’re that nerd's best friend. If anyone knows anything, it’d be you.”

“If I did know, why would I tell you of all people? Besides, it’s none of your business even if there was something to know.”

Bakugo opened his mouth to say something, but the sound of footsteps approaching brought their conversation to a halt. Izuku appeared from around the corner, and his eyes fell on the pair.

“Tsuki? Kacchan? What’re you two doing?”

“None of your damn business, nerd!” Bakugo balled his fists at his side, then turned on his heel and left.

Izuku furrowed his brows and turned to Tsuki.

“He overheard your conversation with Todoroki,” Tsuki admitted. “I don’t exactly know what you two were talking about, but I know it had something to do with All Might, cause Bakugo was pestering me about you two.”

“Oh,” Izuku’s eyes flickered down the hall where Bakugo had just left. “Well, there’s nothing to know.”

Tsuki nodded. “That’s what I said.”

“Let’s go eat before the last round starts,” Izuku said, then started down the hall.

Tsuki followed after him, and they made their way up to the cafeteria, which was packed shoulder-to-shoulder full of students.

“Whoa, maybe we should’ve come sooner.”

“Yeah, hopefully you’ll have time to eat.”

“Are you not?”

She shook her head. “Nah, Recovery Girl gave me some lunch after she healed me. I’m not hungry.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Tsuki, there you are!” Kaminari shouldered through the crowd as he made his way to the girl. “Oh, hey, Midoriya.”

“Hey, Kaminari.” Izuku smiled.

“Where have you two been?”

“I had to go to Recovery Girl after the Calvary Battle,” Tsuki said. “You did good out there! Congrats on getting first!”

“Thanks!” Kaminari grinned. “You two did great, too. I thought you had us there for a minute.”

“I thought you did too when you electrocuted everyone.” Tsuki laughed. “I was barely able to get us out of there in time.”

“Could’ve fooled me. Your quirk is amazing.”

Izuku’s stomach growled, so he interrupted and tapped Tsuki on her shoulder, “Hey, I’m gonna go grab some food.”

“Alright, I’ll be over there in a minute.”

Once Izuku was out of sight, Kaminari said, “I actually came over here for a reason. The girls from our class are doing some sort of cheer thing, and Youyorozu said to hurry and meet them in the locker room.”

“Really? I didn’t know anything about that. I thought she would’ve said something beforehand.”

Kaminari shrugged, “That’s all I know. But you should probably hurry. The rest of the girls are already down there.”

“Okay, thanks for letting me know!” She smiled, then hurried out of the cafeteria and downstairs to the girls' locker room.

Tsuki pushed open the door and was met with the girls from her class, already in their cheer uniforms.

“Good, you’re here!” Youyorozu smiled and handed Tsuki a two-piece orange and white uniform with UA’s emblem on the chest. “I had to make these with my quirk, so I hope it fits.”

“Aw, thanks! They look great.”

Tsuki quickly changed and stuffed her other uniform into a locker.

“Hey, Tsuki,” Uraraka made her way to the girl. “How’s your head feeling?”

“A lot better now, thanks. Recovery Girl healed me up pretty fast.”

“Good, I was worried you pushed yourself too hard.”

Tsuki waved her hand at her, “Nah, I’m good. Gotta push through the pain, ya’ know.”

“Tsuki, Uraraka, we gotta go!” Mina placed her hands on either of the girls' backs and pushed them out of the locker room with everyone else. “You can talk on the way. Present Mic is about to announce us.”

The group made their way back into the stadium, which was once again erupting into cheers.

“Get those foam fingers in the air!” Present Mic shouted. “It’s almost time for the last round! But before that, good news for everyone who didn’t make the finals. Since this is a sports festival, we’ve prepared some super-fun side games everyone can participate in! We even brought in cheerleaders from America to get your blood pumping! Hold up-”

“What’re they doing?” Mr. Aizawa’s voice came through the speakers

“Looks like Class 1-A is goin’ full-on fan service!”

“Uhh,” Tsuki’s face flushed. “We weren’t supposed to dress up?”

Kaminari and Mineta stood in front of the girls, both grinning from ear to ear with devious expressions.

“What?! You tricked us?!” Youyorozu shook her pom-pom at the pair. “You’re gonna regret this!” Then she fell to her knees and sighed. “Why is it that I always end up falling for that little pervert’s stupid schemes?”

“Ugh, I hate those guys!” Jiro threw her pom-poms on the ground in frustration.

“Sorry, Youyorozu.” Tsuki patted her back reassuringly. “The uniforms look great, though.”

“Well, we do have a little time before the finals start, and I agree with Tsuki, these uniforms are cute, so…” Hagukure went on, convincing the girls to cheer.

“Have fun competing in these little side games, everyone! After they’re over, the students from the top teams will be duking it out one-on-one in a tournament-style fighting competition!”

“Now, come closer and draw lots to see who you’re up against.” Midnight called the students to the center of the stadium. “Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start. The eighteen finalists have the option of participating in those activities or sitting out to prepare for battle. I’m sure you all want to conserve your stamina. I’ll start with the first-place team.”

Everyone drew lots, and who they were going against appeared on the board. Tsuki scanned for her name. Since there was an uneven number of people, she would be going against some winners from the first round.

In one bracket was Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, and she’d fight whoever won that. In the other bracket were Youyorozu and Tokoyami, and again, she would fight that winner.

‘This’ll be interesting..’

“Let’s press pause for a momentary interlude! Before the fights begin, it’s time for some pulse-pounding side games!” Present Mic exclaimed. “Everyone who wants to participate, line up on the side of the field! We’re gonna have a two-legged race!”

Tsuki turned to Youyorozu. “You wanna play before we might have to fight each other?”

“It sounds like fun, but I think I’ll pass. I want to save my energy. But I’ll cheer you on!”

“That’s okay!” Tsuki took off her pom-poms and handed them to her. “Can you hold onto these for me?”

“Sure! Have fun!”

Tsuki gave her a smile and then made her way to the sidelines, where the other students were gathering.

“Hey, Izuku!” Tsuki skipped over to the green-haired boy. “Sorry, I didn’t come find you at lunch. Kaminari tricked us into wearing these.” She gestured to her orange uniform.

Izuku’s eyes ran down her body. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and quickly looked away. “Oh, uh, it’s okay. I like your uniform.”

“I’ll be pairing you up!” Midnight cheered and made her way towards the students.

She started with Uraraka, who she paired with a silver-haired boy from 1-B. Then Kaminari with Mina, and so on, until she stood in front of Tsuki.

“Well, aren’t you two quite the pair?” Midnight smirked, handing Tsuki a rope. “Here, you go.” Then she turned on her heel, making her way back to the stage.

Tsuki knelt and double-tied the knot around their ankles, then gave it another tug to make sure it was secure before standing back up.

“Inner feet, then outer feet?” She asked.

Izuku nodded, “Sure.”

“We at least have to beat Bakugo.” Tsuki smiled, eyeing the blond who was arguing with his red-headed partner.

“I don’t think that’ll be difficult.” Izuku laughed. “I think he’ll be his own downfall.”

Midnight’s voice came over the intercoms, “For this race, no quirks are allowed. The first one to the finish line wins! Three, two, one, begin!”

Everyone took off, many teams tripping on their first steps.

“You got this!” Youyorozu shouted, waving at her friend. “Whoo!”

Tsuki and Izuku’s eyes both locked in on their feet, moving in sync as if it were second nature. They drowned out the noise coming from the roaring stadium, and their competition all tripping around them. Then, before they knew it, Midnight announced, “And just like that, we have our winners! Team Midoriya and Hitomi!”

Tsuki lifted her gaze from the ground and cheered, “Hey, we did it!” She held up her hand for a high five, which he immediately gave her, and returned her grin.

“I didn’t even realize we were at the finish line.” Izuku laughed.

“Me neither.”

Tsuki’s eyes scanned the field and saw that Bakugo and Kirishima were still at the starting line, lying face down.

“Oh my gosh, look, Izuku!” She pointed across the field at them and doubled over in laughter. “I’m never gonna let him live this down.”

Izuku burst into laughter at the sight. His hand landed on Tsuki’s back to brace himself from falling.

“Let’s go-” He took a step forward, and they both went crashing face-first into the ground, ending up in the exact same position as Kirishima and Bakugo.

“Ow,” Tsuki propped herself up on her elbows and glanced over at Izuku. “You forget we were tied together?” She giggled.

Izuku turned his head to the side and lay there in defeat. “Yeah, sorry.”

Mineta ran over to the pair from the sidelines, where the American cheerleaders were, and stood in front of Tsuki with an extended hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you up, Hitomi.” His eyes were glued to her exposed cleavage.

“Ew, get away, perv.”

Izuku swatted Mineta’s hand out of the way and quickly helped Tsuki to her feet, shooting the boy a glare.

“Stupid Midoriya,” Mineta grumbled, then returned to the other cheerleaders.

“Are you alright?” He asked, kneeling to untie the rope, then tossed it aside.

“Yeah, I-”

“Tsuki!” Mina called out. She stood on the other side of the field with Hagakure by her side. “Come here, real quick!”

“Be right there!” Tsuki shouted.

“Well, I guess I’ll go see what they want. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

“Guys, guys,” Mina gathered everyone’s attention. “Does anyone know how to tumble? Like cartwheels, backflips, and stuff?”

“Yeah, actually, I do.” Tsuki smiled.

“Samesies!” Hagakure cheered.

“Yay!” She cheered. “Let’s do backhand springs until we reach that wall over there,” She pointed at a wall to their right. “Then we’ll flip and cartwheel back. Got it? Midoriya can judge and see who’s better.”

“What? Not Midoriya!” Hagakure whined. “He’ll play favorites.”

Mina rolled her eyes, then turned to Youyorozu. “Fine, will you do it?”

“Sure!”

“Okay, three, two, one!”

In sync, the three girls did back handsprings until they reached the wall. They stopped and did a flip. After sticking the landing, they high-fived and cartwheeled back to where the rest of the girls were cheering.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t really see you, Hagakure. But I’m sure you were amazing!” Youyorozu cheered.

“Aww, I didn’t even think about that.” Hagakure pouted.

“I bet you did the best.” Tsuki smiled and threw her arm around the girl's shoulder.

“Thanks, Hitomi! You and Mina were amazing!”

“Hey, ladies.” Kaminari strutted over the Tsuki, Mina, and Hagakure. “Go again and let me try. Youyorozu can judge.”

“Uh, can you even flip, Kaminari?” Mina tapped her chin.

Kaminari stretched out his arms and popped his knuckles, then shot Tsuki a smirk. “I mean, how hard can it be?”

“So, no?” Tsuki laughed.

“Watch me.” He pointed to himself with his thumb, then bent his knees and lifted his hands above his head. He jumped, forcing all of his weight backwards, then his back slammed against the ground with a loud smack.

The girls burst into laughter, all three doubling over.

“Oh my gosh. I’m gonna pee.” Mina wheezed and tightly crossed her legs.

Present Mic’s voice boomed over the sound system, drawing everyone’s attention, “Thank you, Cementoss! Hey, sports fans. Are you ready?”

The crowd cheered.

“After all the action you’ve already witnessed, it’s time for the real battles to begin! Can ya feel the excitement?”

Everyone made their way to the stands except for Izuku and Shinso, who were up first. Tsuki took a seat next to Youyorozu.

“Are you nervous?” Youyorozu asked.

Tsuki shrugged, “Yeah, a little, I guess. Those minigames distracted me, so my nerves aren’t too bad. Are you?”

“A little, I’m going against Tokoyami.”

“You’ve got it!” Tsuki smiled, “Oh look, it’s starting!”

“Welcome our first fighters. It’s Izuku Midoriya from the hero course versus-” Youyorozu and Tsuki let out a loud cheer for their friend. “Hitoshi Shinso from general studies!. The rules are simple. Immobilize your opponent or force them outta the ring. Bring on the injuries, ‘cause we’ve got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby!”

“So put your morals aside and don’t be afraid to play dirty! But of course, no life-threatening crap, folks. It’s not allowed.”

Tsuki unintentionally glanced at Bakugo, who was sitting alone a few seats over from her.

“What’re you looking at?!” He shook his fist threateningly.

“Nothing.” Tsuki pressed her lips into a line and looked away.

“That’s what I thought!”

“Ready? Begin!”

Chapter 13: Teenage Teleportation Prodigy

The match began, and though Tsuki couldn’t hear what was being said between the boys from the stands, she could tell that Izuku was angry. With his fists clenched at his sides, the charged Shinso, but before he could reach him, he came to a sudden stop.

“Agh, I warned him not to say anything!” Ojirou screamed and shot out of his seat.

“Huh? What happened?” Tsuki's brows furrowed, and she found herself leaning forward in her chair.

“The fight has just begun, and Izuku Midoriya is… completely frozen?!” Present Mic’s voice boomed through the sound system. “He’s not moving a muscle! And what’s with that look on his face? Could this be a quirk at work? Hitoshi Shinso seems to have Izuku Midoriya completely stunned!”

Izuku’s face was drained of any color, and his eyes were glazed over as if there wasn’t a thought behind them. He had turned around and was walking agonizingly slow, towards the out-of-bounds.

“Oh, no, Deku!” Uraraka gasped. “What’re you doing?”

“He can’t walk out of the ring! He’ll lose the match if he does!”

“Ojirou,” Tsuki turned to the boy, heart racing. “What did you mean you warned him not to say anything?”

Before he could answer, Present Mic announced, “Hitoshi Shinso! His quirk: Brainwashing! When an opponent answers his question, it flips a switch in their minds, forcing them to do whatever he says. Not every question does it, though. He only brainwashes when he wants to.”

“Oh, no.” Tsuki bit down on her bottom lip.

“Shinso used his quirk on me during the cavalry battle,” Ojirou explained. “I don’t remember anything, except the end after a player from another team bumped into me. I was myself again and was able to think clearly. I’m thinking that with enough force, you can escape his mind control.”

“That’d be great, but it’s not like there’s anything down there that he could bump into.” Tsuki pointed out, growing more anxious for her friend by the second.

As Izuku’s foot began to step over the out-of-bounds line, a strong gust of wind came from seemingly nowhere. He came to a halt, then doubled over, panting right before he crossed the line.

“What’s this?! Midoriya stopped just in time!” Present Mic announced.

The stadium erupted into cheers.

Though her heart was still racing, a smile broke out on Tsuki’s face. She and Uraraka rushed down to the front row of their section and started cheering for their friend.

“Great job, Deku!”

“You’ve got this, Izuku!”

Tsuki’s eyes narrowed at the boy. It was hard to see from the stands, but his index and middle fingers on his left hand were purple and bent out of shape.

“What the- did he break his fingers?” Tsuki muttered, leaning over the railing to look closer. ‘Is that what caused that random gust of wind?’

All of a sudden, Izuku ran at Shinso. He grabbed him by his shoulders and tried pushing him out of the ring. But Shinso wasn’t going down without a fight. He drew back his fist and landed a hit to Izuku’s cheek.

Izuku was resilient; he recovered immediately and continued pushing the boy.

Shinso whirled back and punched Izuku’s hand, hitting his broken fingers. This was enough to throw Izuku off, and he released his grip on Shinso’s shoulders and stumbled forward.

Shinso pushed Izuku, nearly knocking him out of the ring, but Izuku was fast. He grabbed Shinso by the collar of his shirt and his wrist, then flipped the boy over his shoulder and out of bounds.

Midnight raised her hand and exclaimed, “Shinso is out of bounds! Midoriya advances to the next match!”

Tsuki and Uraraka turned to each other, both grinning from ear to ear. Everyone erupted into cheers.

“And with that expertly performed throw, we have our first victor of the finals! Class 1-A’s Izuku Midoriya!”

“Ugh, that was so nerve-wracking!” Uraraka sighed and collapsed into a seat.

Tsuki took the spot next to her. “Tell me about it.”

“Turning the tables at the last moment- a classic Midoriya maneuver!” Iida beamed.

“He’s pulled that shoulder move on you before, huh?” Kaminari teased, nudging Bakugo with his elbow.

“Shut your damn face, Sparky.” He muttered.

“Yeah, that was that time he beat you in All Might’s class, wasn’t it?” Tsuki joined in, shooting the blond a smirk.

“The hell did you just say to me, Runt?”

Tsuki laughed to herself, deciding not to push him any further, and turned back to face the screen that Present Mic was now speaking on.

“That was actually kind of a boring first match, kids. But both of you fought bravely. Let’s show them some love, everyone!”

Once again, the stadium erupted into cheers, and everyone was clapping loudly.

“I’m gonna go find him.” Tsuki stood from her seat, excusing herself. “I’ll be right back.”

She made her way down the series of halls and staircases, down to where she assumed Izuku would be with Recovery Girl, since he broke his fingers.

As she reached the bottom floor, she heard two voices, one of which she recognized as Todorokis.

“You’re acting disgracefully, Shoto. If you had simply used the power in your left side, you would’ve had an overwhelming victory in the first two rounds. It’s time to stop this childish rebellion of yours. You have a duty to surpass that imbecile All Might.”

‘What the?’ Tsuki found herself frozen in place, just around the corner from the two. ‘Is that Endeavor?’

“Is that all you have to say to me, you bastard?” Came Todoroki’s voice. “I’ll win this match and advance using only Mom’s quirk. I won’t give you the pleasure of seeing me use yours.”

‘Todoroki won’t use his flames because of his- shit, I was giving Bakugo a hard time for eavesdropping earlier, and now here I am.’ Tsuki furrowed her brows and let out a huff before turning on her heel and heading down a different hallway.

Slipping out of one of the rooms, she saw her green-haired friend and instantly smiled. She ran up to him and engulfed him in a hug before he even had a chance to react.

“You were amazing, Izuku!” Tsuki cheered, then released him and took hold of his hand. Two of his fingers were wrapped in a clean white bandage. “Are your fingers okay? It looked like you broke them. Is that how you got out of Shino’s mind control?”

Izuku stared down at his hand in hers, feeling the heat rise in his face. “Uh,” He gulped. “Ye-yeah, they’re fine. Recovery Girl healed me.” His eyes shot around the hall, then landed on a door on the far end. “I actually have something to tell you.”

Tsuki dropped his hand and met his eyes. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He started down the hall and led Tsuki into the empty room. “Something happened when I used my power.”

“What? Really?”

Izuku nodded. His brows furrowed, and his gaze dropped to the floor as he said, “I had some kind of vision, if you would call it that. There were people, eight of them, I think. I can’t exactly remember. After I saw them, I was able to use my quirk and stop myself from walking out of bounds. But the weirdest thing is, one of them looked like All Might.”

“Did you tell All Might about this?” Tsuki questioned, wearing the same confused expression as Izuku. “Maybe he’s seen something like that before.”

Izuku nodded and met her eyes. “Yeah, we talked while I was being healed. He said he saw something like that one time. We think it’s all of the past users of One For All. Like spirits or something.”

“Spirits?” Tsuki cocked her brow. The corner of her mouth twitched as she tried her best not to laugh.

“It’s not funny.” Izuku frowned.

“Right, sorry.” Tsuki bit the inside of her cheek and took a breath before continuing. “Maybe not spirits…” She shot the boy a grin, but he looked unamused. “Maybe something like the remains of the people that had the power before you.”

“That sounds gross.”

“Well, I don’t know! It’s better than spirits. How could All Might’s spirit be inside of you? He’s still alive.”

Izuku opened his mouth, paused, then closed it. This time, Tsuki couldn’t help but laugh.

A blush crept up Izuku’s cheeks.

“Sorry, sorry,” Tsuki placed her hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Continue. I’ll be serious.”

“I don’t even know what I was saying.”

“You saw spirits.” She couldn’t help but tease.

Izuku shot her a look, then said, “All Might said that seeing whatever it was is a sign that I’m closer to making One For All my own power.”

“That’s so exciting, Izuku!” Tsuki cheered. “I’m so happy for you.”

The door swung open, and on the other side of the threshold, All Might was revealed. He was wearing his infamous grin, and his eyes landed on Tsuki, then moved to Izuku.

“Ah, I thought I heard voices in here!” He said, not breaking his smile. “Young Hitomi, Midoriya, shouldn’t you two be with the rest of your class, watching the next match?”

“Uh, y-yes, sir, sorry.” Izuku stuttered. “I was just-”

“Let’s go.” Tsuki interrupted, grabbing Izuku by his wrist. “You’re fighting the winner of this match, so we should hurry.”

“O-oh, yeah.”

“Sorry, All Might.” Tsuki apologized, then led Izuku out the door.

All Might watched them carefully until they rounded the corner out of his sight.

Up next was Sero’s and Todoroki’s fight, and it was over almost as quickly as it began. At first, it looked like Sero would easily throw Todoroki out of bounds by wrapping his tape around him. But Todoroki was quick. He placed his foot on the ground, and a humongous blast of ice shot out. He not only immobilized poor Sero but froze nearly the whole stadium.

It took a while for the next match to begin since Todoroki’s ice attack had to be melted. Half an hour later, things were back on track for the next fight. Up next was Ibara Shiozaki against Kaminari. Tsuki was rooting for him, but was surprised when his electricity did not affect the girl, as she put up a large vine wall. After his big attack, he was useless and easily immobilized.

The next two fights were over just as fast. Iida was the winner of his bracket, and Mina was the winner of hers. Now it was Youyorozu’s turn to go against Tokoyami, and whoever was the winner of that would face Tsuki.

“Now, let’s not let this hot streak cool! Time to move on to the sixth match!”

Youyorozu and Tokoyami made their way to the center of the arena.

“Offense and defense in one! The dark samurai and his darker shadow! From the hero course, Fumikage Tokoyami! Versus…. The great creator! She was admitted because of recommendations, and I think we can all see why. Also from class 1-A, Momo Youyorozu!”

Ojirou leaned forward and rested his arms on the backs of Tsuki’s and Izuku’s seats. Izuku was hunched over, scribbling notes in one of his many hero notebooks.

“Don’t you fight next?” Ojirou tapped Tsuki on her shoulder with the back of his hand.

“Yeah,” Tsuki frowned and stood from her seat. “I guess I should head down.”

“Good luck!” Uraraka grinned.

“You’ve got this.” Iida gave her a thumbs-up.

Izuku stopped writing and closed his book. “I’ll go with you.”

“It’s alright, I don’t want you to miss the match.”

Izuku’s eyes flickered to the arena where the fight had just begun. Tokoyami released his dark shadow and was relentlessly attacking Youyorozu, who was deflecting the hits with a shield she had made.

“It’s okay.”

Tsuki shrugged, then made her way out of the stands with Izuku trailing after her.

“Are you nervous?”

“Surprisingly, no.” She admitted. “That might change once I’m actually out there, though.”

Midnight’s voice came through the intercoms, “This match goes to Tokoyami! Tsuki Hitmoi, please make your way to the arena for your match!”

“Holy shit- that was fast!” Tsuki picked up her pace. The sound of their footsteps echoed throughout the empty halls. “Poor Youyorozu, I wonder what happened.”

“He probably overwhelmed her with attacks and didn’t give her a chance to strategize. He might try the same with you. Be careful.”

“Yeah, but I know how to think on my feet.”

They approached a set of double doors, which led out to the arena. Through the glass, Tsuki could see Tokoyami and Midnight waiting for her.

Her stomach knotted, and she turned to face Izuku.

“Okay, I’m nervous now. I don’t wanna lose my first match, that’d be so embarrassing.”

“You’ve got this, Tsuk’s.” He gave her a reassuring smile and gently squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll be cheering for you.”

Tsuki took a deep breath, then nodded. “See ya’ on the flip side.” She turned on her heel, then pushed past the doors into the arena.

Present Mic’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Let’s give a warm welcome to Class 1-A’s teenage teleportation prodigy, Tsuki Hitomi! She’s quick on her feet, and not just fast, but precise. One wrong move and she could easily throw herself out of bounds. Not that that would happen, as she was let into UA on recommendation. Give it up for our girl!”

The stands erupted into thunderous cheers.

‘Great, now I can’t lose.’

Tsuki stepped up onto the platform, and her gaze fell on Tokoyami. He stood on the opposite side, arms crossed and composed. He wore a blank expression, and if she didn’t know otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to tell that he had fought just minutes prior.

“Seventh match… Begin!” Present Mic exclaimed.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tsuki warped in front of the boy, fist drawn back. She landed a hard right hook on his cheek, causing him to stagger back.

Dark shadow appeared, wrapping himself around Tsuki and lifting her into the air. He attempted to drop her out of bounds, but Tsuki opened a portal beneath her and reappeared in front of Tokoyami.

She dropped to the ground, kicking the boy's feet out from under him.

“Oh, snap!” Present Mic laughed. “Quick recovery from Hitomi!’

Tsuki went to open a portal beneath Tokoyami, but dark shadow lunged at her, hitting her square in the stomach and knocking her to the ground. The impact knocked the breath right out of her, leaving her gasping as the wind was swept from her chest.

They both hurried back to their feet, and this time, Tokoyami attacked first. He sent dark shadow at her, but Tsuki warped herself out of the way every time. She knew what he was attempting as she was being backed further and further to the edge of the arena.

Tokoyami attempted to throw one last attack at her and push her out of bounds for good, but she side-stepped into a warp gate and appeared behind him.

She placed both of her hands on either of his shoulders before saying, “You did good.” Then she opened a portal at his feet and pushed him inside, and he appeared a few meters in front of her, out of bounds.

“And that concludes the seventh match! Tsuki Hitomi wins and advances to the next round!” Midnight cheered.

Tsuki walked over to Tokoyami, who sat on the ground. She offered him her hand, which he took, and helped him to his feet.

“You’re strong.” Tokoyami bowed his head in respect. “I see why you got in on recommendations.”

“Thanks, you are, too. You put up a good fight.” She smiled, and they made their way back up to the stands.

“Thank you, Hitomi.”

As they walked, they passed Kirishima. He held up his fist and bumped it against hers, grinning from ear to ear. “Hey, you were great out there! You too, Tokoyami.”

“Good luck! You’re going against Tetsutetsu, right?” Tsuki asked.

“Yeah, I am.”

“You’ve got this, Kiri!”

“Thanks, I’ll try my best.” Kirishima blushed. “See ya’ later!”

After Tsuki made her way back to the stadium where the rest of her class awaited, she took a seat next to Izuku. He immediately greeted her with a huge smile.

“You did great, Tsuki-chan!” He cheered. “I thought you were gonna fall out of bounds, then bam- you knocked him off his feet!”

“Tch.” Bakguo glanced at her. He sat a few seats down with his arms crossed and his feet kicked up on the back of the seat in front of him. “You got lucky.”

“That’s not true!” Izuku defended.

Tsuki rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore Bakugo. She grabbed Izuku’s wrist, then pointed down at the arena. “Look, Zuku. Kirishima’s match is starting!”

As Kirishima’s match started, Tsuki watched with interest. He was going against Testutetsu from Class 1-B. With each exchanged blow, Tsuki grew more and more worried for Kirishima. His hardening was cracked, but so was the other guy’s steel.

Halfway through the match, both Uraraka and Bakugo left to head to their waiting rooms.

The matchup of Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu couldn’t have been any worse due to the similar nature of their quirks. The fight ended with a draw when they simultaneously knocked each other out.

Midnight announced that when they awoke, they’d settle the winner with an arm-wrestling competition.

“That’s kinda dumb,” Tsuki muttered.

“Yeah, but if they fight again, it’d probably end the same way. I don’t know what else they could do.” Izuku shrugged.

Now, it was Uraraka and Bakugo’s fight. From the get-go, it was an intense match. Uraraka continuously charged Bakugo despite how many times he blasted her with his explosions.

Using her jacket as a diversion, Uraraka made an opening to land an attack on Bakugo, but his reflexes were too quick. He blew her backward, and she barely recovered.

As the match progressed, booing arose in the stands. Everyone was voicing their anger at Bakugo for his brutality in the fight, calling him a variation of harsh names.

Fortunately, Aizawa was quick to defend Bakugo, silencing the harsh crowd. He claimed Bakugo was treating Uraraka with the respect she deserved by not going easy on her just because of her gender.

Uraraka attempted to take Bakugo out with a finishing move. But, even when taken by surprise, her move was nothing. His strength greatly surpassed hers.

Bakugo let out an enormous blast, larger than any explosion that Tsuki had seen before. The entire stadium shook from the impact of the blast; small bits of rock flew in every direction. A massive cloud of smoke engulfed the arena, blocking everyone’s vision.

“Huh, what happened? Did Kacchan win?”

“I dunno.”

When it finally cleared, Tsuki saw Bakugo and Uraraka standing in the center, staring each other down with intense glares. They both charged each other, but before one could reach the other, Uraraka collapsed, no energy left after her stunt.

Bakugo froze, and Midnight declared him the winner.

The first matches were officially over.

Chapter 14: Point Blank

“Well, I’m up next, so I’m gonna go to the waiting room.” Izuku stood from his seat. His brows were furrowed with determination.

“Want me to come?” She offered.

Izuku shook his head. “It’s okay, you don’t have to. My match is about to start anyway, so you’d just have to come right back up.”

“Oh, well, if you’re sure.” She frowned, but quickly replaced it with a smile. “Good luck, Zuku!”

“Thanks,” He grinned, then turned on his heel and headed downstairs.

“Hey, Bakugo!” Sero exclaimed, pulling the class’s attention to him and Bakugo. “Playin’ the villain, huh? Musta been tough.”

“Even if it was just because of who you were up against, you did make a pretty convincing bad guy,” Tsu added.

Tsuki looked up at Bakugo, who was walking down the stairs wearing his usual scowl. “Shut up, you idiots! Or else!”

“For real, dude.” Kaminari agreed. “I don’t know how you were able to aim a powerful blast at a frail girl like that. I couldn’t help but hold back against Shiozaki.” He yawned.

“You’re full of it. She completely overpowered you.” Tsuki retorted.

Kaminari groaned, “Can’t you just let me have this?”

Bakugo huffed as he took the seat directly behind Tsuki. “Hhmp. I definitely wouldn’t call that girl ‘frail’.”

Tsuki turned in her seat to look at him. “I think you did great.”

Bakugo scowled and met her eyes. He was mindlessly massaging his right arm. “Shut up, runt. Of course I did.”

Tsuki rolled her eyes and turned back to the arena. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu’s arm wrestling match was over. Everyone cheered as Midnight declared Kirishima the winner.

It was time for Izuku and Todoroki’s fight.

‘Izuku will have to use his quirk more this time. He lucked out in his fight against Shinso, but it won’t be so easy going against Todoroki. I hope he doesn’t get too hurt.’

“Tsuki, are you alright?” Youyorzu pouted and took the seat beside her since Izuku was gone. “You look troubled.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Tsuki gave her a reassuring smile. “I was thinking about the next match.”

“Midoriya and Todoroki.” She glanced up at the screen that had each of the boys' faces on it, and they both now stood in place on the concrete platform. “I haven’t seen Midoriya use his quirk much, but he seems to get injured every time he uses it. It’s kind of strange.”

“Yeah, he can only use so much of his power before he hurts himself. He’s training super hard to be able to use more with less of a backlash, though.”

Tsuki felt a pair of flaming red eyes burning a hole through the back of her head. She knew he was listening to every word, and since Izuku slipped up and admitted that his quirk was ‘borrowed’, she had to be careful of what she said in front of him.

“I haven’t known him as long as you, obviously, but he’s grown so much. I remember I thought he was going to be expelled on the first day for placing last in the quirk assessment test.”

Tsuki laughed, thinking back to the day. “Oh my gosh, yeah. I was so scared for him. I’m glad Mr. Aizawa was lying about last place getting sent home.”

Their conversation came to a halt as Present Mic announced, “Let’s get the party started now, ya dig? I can feel the anticipation in the stadium! And that’s because the second round’s first match is gonna be epic! It’s the guy who won his last fight by a landslide and literally left half the audience frozen! The hero course’s Shoto Todoroki!”

‘He’s so powerful, even with only using half of his quirk.’

“And this kid almost walked out of his first match-up, but made a stunning comeback by showing off some impressive moves! Also from the hero course, Izuku Midoriya!”

“Whoo, go, Izuku!” Tsuki cupped her hands around her mouth and cheered. “You got this!”

“Tch, he doesn’t stand a chance against icy-hot,” Bakugo muttered.

Tsuki glared at him, “You don’t know that.”

“Both of the heroes-in-training have been frontrunners in the Sports Festival! But which one of these rivals will advance to the next round? Prepare for… Midoriya versus Todoroki! Begin!”

Todoroki started with a large ice attack, but Izuku knocked it back with a simple flick of his finger. A freezing gust of wind blew throughout the stadium, sending shivers down Tsuki’s spine.

“Wow! Midoriya managed to break Todoroki’s insane opening move!” Present Mic roared.

Todoroki went in with the same attack, but once again, Izuku easily countered. Another wave of ice-cold air rushed through the crowd. Tsuki shivered, her body now covered in goosebumps.

“What’s that you said about him not standing a chance?” Tsuki raised her brow at the blond, who merely rolled his eyes in response.

Two more times, Todoroki sent large ice attacks, and two more times they were blocked.

‘So, he’s trying for an endurance match. Risky, considering he breaks something every time he uses his quirk.’

Todoroki rushed Izuku, running on a large bit of ice. Izuku broke the ice with another flick, but Todoroki jumped into the air, over top of Izuku. As he landed, he punched the ground, and Izuku narrowly dodged. A block of ice was left where Todoroki had hit.

‘That was too close.’

Another large ice attack trailed after Izuku and froze his foot in place.

Izuku punched through the ice, causing the whole stadium to shake. Pieces of ice flew everywhere. A cloud of smoke blocked everyone’s vision.

“Did he launch Todoroki out of bounds?” Tsuki narrowed her eyes. “Ugh, I can’t see anything.”

“No,” Bakugo said, pointing at Todoroki. “He stopped himself with an ice barricade.”

“Of course he did,” Tsuki grumbled. She hoped the fight was over before Izuku hurt himself even more. “This is so intense! Izuku’s holding up better than I thought.”

“So you did doubt him,” Bakugo said.

Tsuki's cheeks flushed. “No. Todoroki’s a tough opponent. I’d be nervous to go up against him, is all I’m saying.”

‘He’s already broken multiple fingers, and now his arm after that punch. He can only push for so much longer.’

“WOAH! Todoroki continues his overwhelming attacks! Could this be his finishing move?!”

Todoroki launched another ice barrage at the green-haired boy.

With a flick of his already broken finger, Izuku shattered the ice and sent Todoroki flying backwards. He nearly went out of bounds, but managed to stop himself with another ice wall just in time.

“Oh my!” Youyorzu leaned forward in her seat and narrowed her eyes at Tsuki’s friend. “Are his fingers broken?!”

“Yeah,” Tsuki muttered. “He’s crazy.”

The fight continued, and Tsuki could see the frustration building inside of Todoroki as he charged Izuku, though his movements were much slower than before, and his body was covered in frost.

Todorki lifted his foot, preparing to kick as he approached. But Izuku drew back his fist and landed a punch to Todoroki's gut before his kick could hit.

“A solid punch!” Present Mic exclaimed. “That’s the kind of action I like to see!”

“He hit Izuku, though.” Tsuki pointed at the ice that enveloped Izuku’s broken arm.

Izuku staggered around, a pained expression etched across his face.

Tsuki felt as if she were going to be sick as Todoroki sent yet another ice attack that Izuku barely dodged.

This continued, again, and again, and again.

Tsuki’s nerves were shot. She couldn’t imagine the pain Izuku was going through. Though he probably had enough adrenaline pumping through him to not even notice his injuries.

Eventually, Izuku got Todoroki to use his fire, but it cost him the fight. Izuku and Todoroki both charged up their quirks, and it was too much.

As they launched their final attacks, the stadium was engulfed by a blinding light, and the floors shook. If the hits landed, it would’ve been detrimental.

Cementos and Midnight worked together to stop the fight.

Izuku was knocked unconscious and out of bounds. Miraculously, Todoroki was still standing.

“I’m gonna go and check on Izuku.” Tsuki frowned.

“Alright, girl. Tell him I said he put up a great fight.”

“Sure thing.”

‘I hope he’ll be okay. He looked pretty beaten.’

Tsuki knocked on Recovery Girl’s door.

“Oh, uh, hold on a second!” All Might’s voice came from the other side. A moment later, the door swung open, and All Might was flashing his famous smile. “Young Hitomi! Coming to check on your friend?”

Tsuki nodded, “Yeah, if that’s alright. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” She peeked her head in the room but still couldn’t see him. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, not at all! Come on in!” All Might stepped out of the way to let her inside the room.

In the far corner, on one of the beds, Izuku lay unconscious with each of his arms in a sling. His left leg was in a cast as well, and both of his hands were wrapped in white bandages.

“Any idea when he’ll wake up?” Tsuki pouted as she walked over to him. “Is he okay?”

All Might stood next to Tsuki and gently placed his hand on her head. Recovery Girl stood on her other side.

“He’s in no state for visitors. All Might should’ve asked before letting you in.” She glared at All Might. “He shouldn’t be out for much longer. As for his injuries, his arms are pretty damaged, and his right hand is crooked. He pushed himself too much.”

“He always does.” Tsuki sighed.

“Hey, Tsuki-chan.” Izuku’s eyes fluttered open. Tsuki's stomach felt as if it were doing flips. “Shouldn’t you be watching the matches?”

Tsuki’s brows furrowed as she carefully sat on the edge of his bed. “Iida’s going right now, then I’m next. I wanted to make sure you were alright before my match. How’re you feeling? That fight was intense.”

“My body hurts, but that’s what I get for being so reckless.”

“Tsuki Hitomi and Mina Ashio, make your way to the arena!” Present Mic’s voice came over the intercom.

“Oh, that was fast. I suppose Iida won.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to watch your match, Tsuki-chan.” Izuku frowned. “I’m sorry.”

Tsuki smiled and ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry about it. You can watch my next one. I don’t plan on losing this.”

“Good luck! You’ve got it!”

“Thanks.”

With that, Tsuki made her way out of the infirmary and to the arena.

Present Mic breezed through the introductions, then the match began.

Mina started the fight by charging, using the acid beneath her feet to glide across the ground faster. She slung an acid attack at Tsuki, who was able to narrowly dodge through a portal.

‘That was too close for comfort.’

Tsuki opened a portal in front of Mina as the pink girl attempted to charge her again, but Mina was smooth. She skillfully sidestepped to the right and dodged.

“You’ll have to do better than that.” Mina laughed.

“Yeah, yeah.” Tsuki huffed.

‘I just have to keep my distance so she can’t hit me with her acid.’

“Dodge this!” Mina exclaimed as she rushed at her. She launched a larger attack of acid at her.

Tsuki opened a portal to absorb it since it was too much to avoid this time, then redirected it a Mina.

‘Now, while she’s distracted.’

Tsuki ran at Mina and, right before she reached her, slid on the ground.

Mina released acid out of her hand in anticipation, but missed.

Tsuki kicked up, hitting Mina’s stomach and knocking her back, but not before Mina released acid from her shoes, burning through multiple places of Tsuki’s shirt.

“Ouch!” Tsuki rolled out of the way and then hurried to her feet.

‘This is harder than I thought.’

“You like to stay low to the ground.” Mina pointed out. “But I can secrete acid anywhere, not just from my hands.”

Tsuki cursed under her breath as she took off her shirt, leaving her in a black tank top. There were many holes in it from being burned so much.

‘I’ll surprise her by charging at her despite any acid she throws at me.’

Tsuki ran at Mina, letting the globs of acid hit her as she did. Her skin burned, and the bottom half of her tank was now missing.

“Any more and you’re about to make this super embarrassing for me, Mina!” Tsuki shouted. She grabbed Mina and flipped her over her shoulder, out of bounds.

“The winner is Tsuki Hitomi!” Midnight’s voice cheered.

Tsuki smiled and waved at the cheering crowd before heading up to her seat in the stadium.

When she got back, Bakugo and Kirishima were gone since their match was next, and Izuku still wasn’t back. So Tsuki took a seat next to Youyorzu instead.

“Nice job out there, Hitomi.” Kaminari gave her a thumbs-up as she passed by him. “You and Midoriya really like that finishing move, huh?”

“Huh?” She raised her brow.

“That shoulder move.” Jirou chimed.

“Oh, heh, yeah. I didn’t realize.”

“Wow!” Present Mic shouted. “Bakugo is countering again! But what’s this? It seems to be working this time!”

Tsuki’s head snapped in the direction of the arena. “I didn’t even notice their match started! I should’ve been watching since I’m fighting the winner.”

“I’d hate to be you.” Kaminari kicked his feet up on the seat in front of him. “Going against either one of those guys would be terrifying. Maybe if you fight Kirishima, he’d take it easy on you since you’re a girl.”

“I’d be pissed if he took it easy on me,” Tsuki muttered. “I’d rather walk out of bounds on my terms than be treated like less than an equal.”

“I don’t think either of them would take it easy on you,” Youyorozu said. “They both recognize your strength, and they’d have to give it their all to beat you.”

“Thanks, Youyorozu.”

“Oh, you can call me Momo.” She offered Tsuki a smile, which she happily returned.

Bakugo’s and Kirishima’s fight neared the end. Bakugo relentlessly attacked, releasing explosion after explosion on Kirishima. With a finishing blow, Kirishima’s hardening cracked, and he was knocked unconscious, making Bakugo the winner.

“With that vicious carpet bombing, Bakugo advances to the third round!” Present Mic exclaimed. “Ladies and gentlemen, our final four!” A picture of Todoroki, Iida, Tsuki, and Bakugo flashed up on all of the screens, earning a cheer from the crowd.

“Deku?” Uraraka perked up at his sudden appearance.

“Hi, Midoriya.” Tsu croaked. “It looks like your surgery went okay.

Izuku made his way down the stairs and sat next to Uraraka, a few rows back from Tsuki. “Yeah, Recovery Girl healed me up enough to walk.”

Tsuki looked back at him and frowned. “Hey, Izuku.”

“Oh, hey, Tsuki.” He grinned. “I didn’t see you. I thought you were downstairs.”

“Nope, not yet.” She muttered, then turned back in her seat and crossed her arms with a huff, ignoring the confused look on his face.

“Shouldn’t you be taking it easy?” Uraraka asked.

“I wanna watch these matches in person. Especially since Tsuki and Kacchan are going against each other next. I already missed one of her fights, and I don’t wanna miss another.”

Kaminari, who sat behind Tsuki, hopped over the seat beside her, then slid into it and shot her a grin. “Sup, Tsuki.”

“Hey, Kaminari.”

“So, when you wanna go on another date?”

“Another date?” Tsuki raised her brow at the boy. “When-oh.” She thought back to when they had gone out for dinner at the Corner Store, but she hadn’t exactly considered that a date.

“You forgot?” Kaminari dramatically held his hand over his heart and tilted his head back. “How could you?”

Tsuki laughed and shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I just didn’t consider it a date.”

He paused, then shot a look at Youyorozu.

“What?” Tsuki questioned.

Momo placed her hand on Tsuki’s shoulder and smiled. “Well, Tsuki, typically when a guy asks a girl to dinner, and they go, it’s considered a date.”

Tsuki felt heat rise in her cheek, and she turned to face Kaminari. “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry. I- I didn’t think-”

“It’s okay, I’ll just crawl in a hole and die.”

“What?! No!”

Kaminari broke out into a fit of laughter. “I’ve never seen someone look so embarrassed.” He pointed at Tsuki’s tomato-red face.

The girl sank into her seat, hiding her face behind her hands.

Momo patted Tsuki’s shoulder. “You good, girl?”

Tsuki nodded, still cowering behind her hands. “Yeah.” Her voice cracked.

“I’ll take all of this as you don’t wanna go on another date.” Kaminari tapped his finger to his chin. “At least we had one, even if you didn’t count it. A win is a win. Good luck in your match against Bakugo.” He smiled, then stood from his seat and returned to his original one.

“The first match of the semifinals!” Present Mic roared. “Both come from hero families, making this a battle of the elites! From the hero course, Tenya Iida! Versus, his classmate, Shoto Todoroki! Start!”

Tsuki got up from her seat. “As much as I’d love to watch, I should go ahead and prepare for my match.” She smiled at Momo. “Wish me luck.”

Momo returned her grin, “You got this!”

As Tsuki walked past Izuku and Uraraka, she felt a hand catch her wrist. Her eyes trailed down to the crooked, scarred hand, and her brows furrowed.

“What?” She asked, her voice sharper than she had intended.

“I was just gonna say good luck.” Izuku frowned, then stood from his seat. He turned to Uraraka and said, “I’ll be back.”

Tsuki and Izuku headed down to the waiting rooms, and a sense of déjà vu washed over her.

Once they were out of earshot from their classmates, Izuku asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You seem off. Did something happen?”

Tsuki shook her head, ignoring the look he was giving her, and kept her eyes forward. “Nothing happened. I’m just thinking about my fight against Bakugo.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re probably nervous, aren’t you? Kacchan is strong, sure, but if you can keep your distance, you should be fine.”

“I don’t have any long-range attacks. I need to keep close, and maybe I can redirect his blasts so that he hits himself, but he’ll be expecting that.”

“If you’re quick enough, it doesn’t matter if he expects it or not. You need to take him out as fast as you can and avoid a drawn-out match.” Izuku started. “You could try what you did with Tokoyami and throw him out with a portal, but again, he’s fast and could probably stop himself from falling out of bounds. His reflexes are insane, and he adapts fast. You’re good at coming up with moves on the fly, so you might be able to throw him off enough to find an opening.”

Tsuki nodded along. “Yeah, then I might be able to warp him out of bounds. I just need to distract him. It’ll be hard, but I think I can do it.”

“And now, Bakugo versus Hitomi!” Present Mic announced. “Make your way to the arena!”

Once again, Tsuki and Izuku stood outside the double doors that led out to the concrete platform.

“Here we are… again. Gosh, I’m more nervous than last time. This is going to be harder than my other two fights.” She frowned and glanced down at her burnt tank top. “Mina about had me with her acid.”

Izuku’s eyes traveled down her torso and landed on her bare skin. Her stomach was exposed and slightly red from Mina’s acid, and her shirt cut off at the bottom of her ribcage.

His cheeks were a rosy pink as he stripped his UA jacket off and offered it to Tsuki. “Here.”

“Oh, thanks.” She smiled and slipped it over her tank. It fell just below her hips as it was slightly too big for her.

He took in her appearance, and his blush deepened, so he quickly averted his eyes.

“Well, guess I'd better get going.”

“Good luck!” Izuku’s voice cracked, and his hand jumped to his throat.

“Thanks.” Tsuki laughed, then waved to the boy before disappearing behind the doors and making her way to the arena.

“It’s class 1-A’s Tsuki Hitomi, again!” Present Mic announced, and everyone broke out into cheers. “She’s not just any heroine; she comes from a family of heroes, just like our last two contestants! As many of you might know, she’s Japan's number 7 hero’s daughter! No wonder she’s so amazing! Personally, she’s the one I’m rooting for in this match!”

“You can’t play favorites.” Aizawa scolded.

“Anyway! She’ll be fighting Katsuki Bakugo! He’s displayed impeccable strength along with a terrifyingly powerful quirk! This might be the matchup of the year, folks! Begin!”

They didn’t attack immediately, unlike all of their other matches. Instead, they both stood in place, examining the other, trying to predict their first move.

“Are we gonna get this party started or not?!” Present Mic’s voice boomed.

Bakugo’s flaming red eyes met Tsuki’s brown ones, and he lowered into a fighting position, letting small explosions out of the tips of his fingers.

“Are you gonna fight me or stand there and put on a light show?” Tsuki’s lips tugged into a smirk. She widened her stance, readying herself for his attack.

“Shut up, Runt!” He charged at her, right hand drawn back, and as he approached, he tried to set off an explosion in her face.

Tsuki warped herself away from his blast, appearing behind him, and reared back her leg. Before her kick could land, Bakugo whirled around and his fist struck her cheek.

She staggered to the side, reeling from the hit.

Bakugo attempted to hit her with another blast before she could recover, but she merely warped herself out of the way. His blast hit the air, and he shot her a glare as she appeared on the other side of the concrete pad.

A coppery taste filled Tsuki’s mouth, and she gently brushed her fingers over where his fist had struck her.

“Taking a break already?” He sneered. “Come and give me everything you’ve got, prodigy.”

Tsuki huffed before charging him. She opened a portal as she ran, then, in a flash, appeared directly in front of him. Before he had a chance to react, her fist landed in his gut, nearly knocking him to the ground.

Bakugo gasped as the air left his lungs and released a large blast at Tsuki, not giving himself time to recover from her hit.

Once again, Tsuki redirected his blast with a warp gate, making him hit himself instead.

Bakugo whipped around and glared at her, “Why don’t you just warp me out of here?” He asked while throwing punches at her. With each punch, he let off an explosion.

“Why don’t you land a hit?” Tsuki caught his fist. His explosion burnt her palm, but she ignored the pain and flipped him over her shoulder.

Bakugo saw his chance and took it. Using the advantage of his position, he held up his hand and launched a large explosion into her back. A large cloud of smoke surrounded them.

Tsuki fell on top of the blond, then quickly rolled off of him and climbed to her feet, waving her hand in front of her face in an attempt to clear some of the smoke.

‘Famous last words…’

“Whoa! Where’d they go?! It’s impossible to see through all of the smoke!” Present Mic wailed. “Oh, there they are! Looks like Hitmoi took quite the hit!”

“Over here, dumbass!” Bakugo’s voice came from her right. He landed a solid hit to her left cheek and sent her staggering back.

The smoke had cleared, so now she could see him clearly again.

Tsuki rubbed the blood from her lip while glaring at him. “Wipe that cocky smirk off your face, Bakugo!”

Tsuki warped in front of him and hit him in the gut again, but harder. Bakugo doubled over, so she took that chance to land another blow to his face.

He recovered quickly, lunging at her and tackling her to the ground. Tsuki struggled beneath him as he pinned her down.

“Don’t even think about warping! That’s getting old!”

Tsuki reached up and grabbed the boy's shoulders, then quickly flipped their position. Her knee pressed into his abdomen, and she kept her grip on his shoulders firm.

Her jaw clenched when their eyes met.

“It looks like Tsuki Hitomi has Bakugo pinned-” Midnight started.

Bakugo reached up, holding his palm in Tsuki’s face. “Die, dammit!” He shouted.

Tsuki’s eyes widened, and she quickly rolled off of him as he let out a loud, ground-shaking explosion.

They hurried to their feet and stood just meters away from each other, both panting.

“Holy shit, Bakugo! You were gonna hit me with that point blank?!”

“I knew you would dodge!” He exclaimed, then charged, sending blast after blast at her.

Tsuki warped herself out of the way of each attack, growing dizzier and dizzier after each warp gate she opened.

“Your movements are slower!” Bakugo launched another large explosion that Tsuki was barely able to dodge. “Your head his spinning, isn’t it?”

With each step Tsuki took, she could feel her heart pounding in her ears, and the edges of her vision greyed.

Bakugo let out a grunt as he aimed another explosion at her, and this time she was unable to dodge.

Tsuki skidded across the ground.

‘No, no, no.’ Tsuki squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Please don’t be out of bounds.’

Slowly, she opened her eyes. She had stopped mere inches from the line. A sigh escaped her lips, then she stood to her feet, though the ground beneath her felt as if it were moving.

Bakugo didn’t let up, as he charged again.

Tsuki warped out of his, and he barely managed to stop himself before running out of bounds. He turned himself around and used his quirk to fly up in the air. Then he launched a series of explosions at Tsuki as he came to the ground.

Deciding not to dodge, she opened a portal and absorbed all of them.

“I know that stupid trick of yours!” He shouted.

Tsuki opened a portal in front of him, releasing his attacks on him. But Bakugo jumped into the portal and came out in front of Tsuki.

“What the h-”

His hands roughly grabbed either of her shoulders, and he shoved her as hard as he could.

Tsuki stumbled backward, unable to stop herself as she fell. Her head slammed against the ground, and the world around her went black.

Chapter 15: Limited Edition

There was a hint of warmth in the air, comfortable and inviting. The sun was dipping into the horizon, painting the sky various shades of pink and orange.

Tsuki ran her hands down the sleek material of her black dress, attempting to brush out any wrinkles as her parents slipped out of the front door, bickering back and forth in hushed tones.

With a faint click, the car doors unlocked, and Tsuki slid into the backseat. The black leather was cool against her skin. She fastened the seatbelt over her lap as her dad climbed into the driver's seat, and her mom into the passenger seat.

“Thanks for taking me out.” Tsuki hummed as her dad reversed the car out of the driveway.

“Of course, sweetie.” Her mom grinned, turning in her seat to face her daughter. She wore a matching black dress, and her dark brown hair was pulled into a sleek bun. “We’re so proud of you for placing third in the sports festival.”

“She could’ve placed first if she fought harder.” Her dad grumbled, shooting Tsuki a look in the rearview mirror.

“Toshi, we don’t have to do this again.”

Tsuki’s brows furrowed as she slipped her phone out of her purse and clicked on Izuku’s contact.

7:45 pm
Tsuki: I don’t wanna be here.

She took a quick video of herself, then flipped the camera and showed both of her parents before hitting send.

Tsuki: Send help.

Izuku: Haha
Izuku: You’re really dressed up? Where you going?
Izuku: I like your hair:)

Tsuki: Thanks!
Tsuki: Mom insisted that we go out to dinner as a family since I placed in the sports festival yesterday. Kill me now.

Izuku: That was nice of her!

Tsuki: You’re no help. Bye.

Izuku: Wait!

Tsuki: Wtv lol. Wyd?

Izuku: Just had dinner. Mom was rambling about the sports festival and how many times she passed out watching.

“Tsuki, get off your phone and talk to us,” Toshi ordered. “You better not be talking to that damn quirkless boy.”

“Dad, I told you he’s not quirkless anymore. Did you even watch the festival? He used his quirk.”

“So you are talking to him.”

Tsuki huffed and slid her phone back into her purse. “No, I’m not.”

“I don’t like him.” He continued, ignoring Tsuki. “I never have. He talks too damn much and-.”

“Dad, please stop.”

Tsuki’s mom reached over and gently squeezed Toshi’s hand, which rested lazily on the shift nob. He shook her off of him and shot her a glare.

“Can we please not argue tonight?” Kira pleaded.

Toshi and Tsuki both muttered something under their breaths, and then a heavy silence filled the car.

After shooting a glance at her dad to make sure he wasn’t looking, Tsuki pulled out her phone and went back to Izuku’s message.

7:51 pm
Tsuki: Srry. Can’t be on my phone. Dad’s orders.

Izuku: Yikes, ok.

Tsuki: I’ll ttyl

“Tsuki, I said off the phone!” Toshi snapped.

“Sorry, Dad.” Tsuki nervously bit down on her lip as she clicked off her phone and slid it back into her purse.

“Oh, good. We’re here.” Kira chimed.

The car slowed as they pulled into a parking lot on their left, then into a spot right at the entrance.

It was an outdoor restaurant, well-lit by hanging lanterns that were strung over the seating area. In fact, it was the place she had tried to bring Kaminari weeks prior.

Toshi turned off the car, and the family climbed out, making their way to the host, who wore a professional, black and white three-piece suit.

“Reservation for Hitomi.”

The man's face lit up at the sight of the family. “Toshi, Kira, it’s been a while.” He grabbed three menus before leading the family back to their table. “I watch your fights from the Sports Festival, kid. You did great.”

“Thank you.” Tsuki grinned as he pulled out a chair for her.

She eased into the seat across from her parents and took the menu from the man. Soon enough, the waitress came and the family ordered their drinks and appetizers.

“I didn’t realize how many people watched the festival,” Tsuki said, her eyes scanning over the laminated menu. “When mom and I went out earlier, I got recognized from it.”

“It’s the most watched event in all of Japan,” Toshi stated. “You know this. Of course, people are going to recognize you.”

Tsuki shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The waitress returned, setting a cup of steaming green tea in front of Tsuki and then a glass of water in front of both of her parents.

“Is everyone ready to order, or do you need more time?” She asked, flashing a smile.

“I think we’re ready.”

The waitress made her way around the table, taking each of their orders before disappearing and leaving the family alone again.

“How’s work been, honey?” Kira met her husband's eyes before taking a sip of her drink with a raised brow.

“Tch, there’s this new villain right now. He’s trying to make a name for himself, but I think he’s a pathetic excuse for a villain, going on and on about these false heroes. Actually, he just attacked a young hero yesterday in Hosu. His name was Ingenium, I think.”

‘Ingenium? That sounds familiar.’

“What’s the villain's name?” Tsuki asked.

“Stain.”

“Hm.” Tsuki tapped her chin thoughtfully, then it hit her. “Oh my gosh! Did you say Ingenium?”

Toshi nodded.

“That’s my friend’s older brother. Is he okay?”

“I’m not sure. Anyway, next weekend I’m going to Hosu to help the smaller agencies out there catch him. He’s causing too much trouble to be left on the streets.”

“Next weekend?” Kira and Tsuki questioned simultaneously.

“You’re going to miss my sixteenth birthday.” Tsuki’s stomach dropped.

Toshi’s expression remained neutral, though his eyes fell from Tsuki’s to the table as he cleared his throat. “Yes, well, this is important. That’s why I agreed to dinner tonight.”

Tsuki nodded in agreement, despite the lump in her throat. He was right, this was important. There were people out there being injured and killed because of this villain. It was bigger than her birthday. But, still… it hurt.

“I understand.”

“I knew you would.”

The conversation came to an end after Toshi’s announcement about Hosu. Only the sounds of clinking cutlery and distant chatter were left to fill the heavy silence.

While the family ate, Kira made comments about how the food was pleasant or how the waitress was lovely, but was only met with a soft grunt from Toshi or a hum of agreement from Tsuki.

Only after the check hit the table and everything was paid for, Tsuki felt as if she could breathe again. She followed her parents back to the car, her heels crunching lightly under the gravel curb.

She eased into the backseat and slipped her phone from her purse, not caring if it bothered her dad anymore or not, then clicked on Izuku’s contact.

9:04 pm
Tsuki: U alive?

Instantly, he responded.

Izuku: Alive and well. You make it through dinner?

Tsuki: I’ll tell you allllll abt it when I’m home.

Izuku: I’ll be waiting!

Tsuki: Gimme 30

Then, with that, she clicked off her phone and turned her body towards the door. Her head rested against the cool, glass window, and unintentionally, her eyes fluttered shut.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

“Tsuki, wake up.”

A hand gently shook the girl's arm, causing her to wake.

Tsuki’s brow knitted into a frown as she brought her hand to her eyes, shielding them from the dim lights of the interior of the car. Her dad was nowhere in sight, and her mom stood crouched next to Tsuki, one hand on her arm and the other on the door to keep herself balanced.

“About time.” The woman laughed. “I’ve been trying for five minutes. Toshi gave up and went inside, saying to leave you out here.”

“Sorry, Mom.” Tsuki’s voice was rough, groggy from sleep.

She climbed out of the car, closing the door softly behind her, then followed her mom inside.

“What’re your plans tomorrow?” Kira slipped out of her shoes, leaving them by the door. Tsuki did the same. “They canceled school, right?”

Tsuki nodded, readjusting the strap of her purse over her shoulder as she stifled a yawn. “I don’t have any plans. I thought about going to the mall with Izuku, if that’s alright with you. They just opened this new store that we both wanted to check out.”

Kira’s lips tugged into a grin. “I figured you two would hang out. That’s fine with me. What’re you going to tell your dad, though?”

Tsuki shrugged as they made their way further into the home. She glanced down the hall at his office. The doors were shut, but a warm light seeped beneath the crack, and she could see the shadow of his figure pacing back and forth. His voice was muffled, but sounded tense.

“That I was training, I guess.”

“Alright,” She nodded in agreement. “I have an appointment tomorrow morning with Daniel Parker-”

“Oh, I didn’t know he was in town. Is Sam with him?”

“Not this time, he’s still on I-Island for school. Anyway, I have a meeting with him in the morning to discuss a few new marketing ideas I have for the hover soles he’s currently working on. After that’s over, I should be off for the day. You and Izuku are welcome to come here and hang out, after you go to the mall, of course.”

“Sure, I’ll ask him.”

“Alright. I’m gonna get ready for bed, though. I have to be up early. Goodnight.” She pressed a kiss to Tsuki’s temple before saying. “I love you.”

“Goodnight, love you too.” Tsuki grinned, then they parted ways.

She tiptoed upstairs to her room, careful not to disrupt her dad, whose office was directly below her room, then shut the door behind her. Tossing her purse onto her bed, she padded over to the dresser while unzipping her dress.

Slipping out of it, she kicked it to the side, then grabbed a pair of black sweats and a green t-shirt, which she had borrowed from Izuku a while ago and had been meaning to give back.

After changing, she grabbed her phone and clicked on Izuku’s contact, then the FaceTime button, before heading to the bathroom. The phone only rang a couple of times before he answered, greeting her with a smile. At the bottom of the screen, she could see his All Might-themed bedsheets.

“Hey, Tsuk’s.”

“Sorry, were you going to sleep?”

‘Not yet.”

Tsuki propped her phone up on the counter and turned on the faucet. She let the water run until it was warm, then cupped it in her hands and began washing her face.

“You’ll never believe it.” She started. “Dad is missing my birthday.”

“Again?! That’s so crappy.”

Tsuki shot Izuku a look before spreading a clear serum across her cheeks. “Yes, but I can’t be mad about it. At least not this time. He has to go to Hosu to help take down a villain.”

“That sucks. I’m sorry, Tsuki.”

“It’s okay. I just wish he had waited to tell me.” Tsuki picked up her phone and left the bathroom, flipping off the light behind her, and then collapsed stomach down onto her bed. She blew her hair out of her face before continuing. “He broke the news before we even got our food, so the rest of dinner was super awkward. No one said a word except for my poor mom, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore. Enough about my night, though. Do you have plans tomorrow?”

Izuku shook his head. “No, I was going to ask you the same. I wanted to go to that new store at the mall with you.”

“No way,” Tsuki couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what I was gonna say.”

“Really?” Izuku broke out into a grin and rolled onto his back, holding his phone in the air above his face. “So, I’ll take that as we’re going?”

“Duh- ooh! We should get breakfast at the Corner Store first. I can’t believe we still haven’t done that. It’s been open for like three or so weeks now.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Okay, what time?”

“I dunno. I was gonna wake up around eight or so. I can be at your house around nine.”

“You don’t gotta come here. I can just meet you there.”

Izuku’s freckled cheeks turned to a light shade of pink. “I know, but it’s not like you’re out of the way.”

“Alright,” Tsuki grinned. “I’ll see you at nine. Goodnight, Izuku.”

“Goodnight, Tsuk’s.” His voice was soft, and the way he said her name caused Tsuki’s stomach to flutter.

Tsuki waved bye before hanging up, then clicked off her phone, though she didn’t move a muscle. She lay there, staring at the black screen, and her mind trailed back to the night they had spent on the beach a week ago.

She’d be so busy between training and the festival, but at night, when life seemed to slow down, she often thought of that moment. The way he looked at her and how it made her feel. It was unlike anything she’d felt in their years of friendship.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t place the feeling the memory gave her. But every time the scene replayed in her head, her brain went haywire, and her stomach felt as if it were doing cartwheels.

Her phone dinged, pulling her from her thoughts. Across the screen read an unknown number.

9:59 pm
Unknown: Hey, girl! It’s Momo. I got your number from Midoriya, if that’s okay. How’re you feeling after yesterday?

Tsuki quickly saved her contact before replying.

Tsuki: Hey! I’m feeling better now, thanks!

Momo: Happy to hear that. You had all of us worried when you passed out. You were in Recovery Girl's office forever.

Tsuki: Haha, yeah, I definitely overdid it between the fights and the cavalry battle. I just recently learned how to teleport more than one person.

Momo: No way! I couldn’t tell. You were amazing out there.

Tsuki: Thanks! So were you.

Momo: I could’ve done better, but thank you. Sorry for texting so late. I totally meant to reach out earlier.

Tsuki: You’re good, girl! I was up anyway.

Momo: See you Thursday :)

Tsuki: See ya!

Tsuki opened her alarm app and set one for 8:00 am before reaching over towards her nightstand and plugging her phone into its charger. Then, she climbed underneath her fluffy white sheets, and her eyes fluttered shut.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

An annoying, repetitive buzzing sounded from Tsuki’s phone, waking the girl, stirring her from a peaceful, dreamless sleep. Her eyes slowly opened and landed on the window where the morning sun was seeping in, giving the room a warm glow.

She yawned, shielding her mouth with the back of her hand, before pushing herself up and stretching. Then, she reached over for her phone and turned off the alarm, and climbed out of bed.

Her stomach growled as she made her way into the bathroom and started her usual morning routine.

After she had finished, she changed before taking in her appearance in the mirror. Her outfit consisted of a white tube top paired with a cream colored cardigan layered loosely over top.

She wore black cargo pants with a drawstring waistband that sat low on her hips, accentuating her figure. She completed the outfit with a pair of black, high-top Converse and a dainty, silver chain necklace.

The doorbell rang, then her phone dinged.

‘Is it nine already?’

Tsuki grabbed her purse, slipped her phone into her pocket, the hurried downstairs to the foyer. Through the frosted glass door, she could see the outline of Izuku’s fluffy green hair and smiled.

“Right on time.” She grinned, slipping outside and locking the door behind her. “I’m hungry.”

Izuku’s eyes trailed down her body, then back up to her face. A blush crept up the back of his neck, so he promptly turned on his heel and started down the stairs of her porch with Tsuki following suit.

“Me too.” His voice squeaked, bringing a laugh from Tsuki’s lips.

The streets were bustling with people and cars alike. The sound of traffic filled the cozy spring air.

Fortunately, the walk to the Corner Store wasn’t long, and the two had arrived in no time.

Izuku pushed open the door, and a cheerful bell jingled as they entered, announcing their arrival. Inside, the place was packed with people, and a soft chatter echoed through the small building.

Tsuki led Izuku over to the bar and took a seat on a white metallic stool.

“Welcome in!” A man who wore a black apron greeted them from behind the counter and set a menu in front of each of them.

“Thanks,” Tsuki and Izuku said simultaneously.

“I already know what I’m gonna get.” Tsuki turned to Izuku, though her eyes scanned over the menu nonetheless. “Those muffins and coffee I got us last time were
super good.”

“Yeah,” Izuku agreed. “I think I’m gonna try something new.”

After a couple of minutes of eyeing the menu, Tsuki and Izuku both ordered and shortly received their drinks. Tsuki got a hazelnut coffee with cream and sugar, and Izuku a chai latte.

Izuku slipped his phone out of his pocket and clicked on a link that he had already saved on his browser. “Look, there’s this new limited edition All Might statue that was released. It’s from his Golden Age-”

“His best era,” Tsuki added, bringing a smile to Izuku’s face.

“Right! I heard that the new store we’re going to sells it. I hope it’s not sold out.”

“That looks like one you already have, though.” She zoomed in on the screen, examining the figure.

Izuku shook his head, still grinning from ear to ear, and double-tapped on All Might’s head. “Nuh-uh, look.”

Tsuki’s brows furrowed as she looked closer at the image, and then she realized. The front two strands of All Might’s golden-blond hair, which normally stood straight up, were drooping.

“You’re serious?”

Izuku nodded, proud as ever.

“You’re such a nerd.” Tsuki laughed, nudging the boy with her elbow.

His ear reddened at her words. He opened his mouth to say something, but the man returned with their food.

“Blueberry and banana muffins for the lady, and pancakes for you.” He set a steaming hot plate in front of Izuku. “Can I get anything else for you two?”

“No thanks.” Tsuki grinned, then he turned to help a different customer. “Let’s hurry and eat so we can go see if they have that figure.”

“But you said-”

“I was just messing, Izuku. You know that.”

“Alright,” He cheered.

The two ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence. After going back and forth on who would pay, Tsuki nudged Izuku out of the way and handed the waiter some cash. Then, they were off to the mall.

“That only worked ‘cause my arm is still in a sling,” Izuku muttered, gently shaking his right arm for her to see.

Tsuki glanced down at the clean white bandages. “When do you get that off?”

“Hopefully tomorrow.” He frowned. “Doing everything with my left hand is harder than I thought.”

“Should’ve thought about that before you broke all of your bones.” Tsuki teased, though he knew there was truth in her words. “You can’t break your body like that every time. It’s gonna leave permanent damage.”

“I know that. I just - I mean, I had to help Todoroki realize that his power was his own. I know I may have gone about it the wrong way, but I just wanted to help.”

Tsuki sighed, and her shoulders dropped in defeat. This wasn’t the first time they had a conversation on this topic, and she knew it wouldn’t be the last. So, she decided to best to change the subject.

“Look, we’re here.” She pointed to the large concrete building in front of them, bustling with people.

As they approached the mall, two large glass doors slid open, letting them in. Inside, it was even busier. The escalators were lined with people waiting to ride.

“Don’t people have work? It’s 10 am on a Wednesday.”

“For real.” Izuku laughed. “I guess we’ll make it quick.”

“Do you know where the store is?”

“Uhh,” Izuku’s eyes scanned the large building before landing on the third floor, where a store with a huge crowd sat. The name above the entrance read ‘Collector’s Shelf’. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that’s it up there.”

“It would be, wouldn’t it?” Tsuki sighed, then grabbed Izuku by his wrist. “Let’s take the stairs. I’m not waiting in that ridiculous line for the escalators.”

Izuku trailed after her up the first flight of stairs, and as they reached the landing, her eyes caught a clothing store, and she came to a halt.

“O-” Izuku, whose gaze was on the floor, walked straight into her back, causing her to stumble forward. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s all good.” Tsuki giggled as his face turned tomato red. “After we go to Collector’s Shelf, I wanna go there.” She pointed across the mall at a display window. “I need that shirt.”

“That looks like one you already have, though.” Izuku joked.

Tsuki shot him a look, but it quickly faltered, and her lips tugged into a grin. “Don’t mock me.”

Izuku laughed, then they started towards the second flight of stairs until they arrived. The store was even more crammed than it looked from the first story.

“I didn’t know it would be this busy.”

“That must mean they have the figure I want!” He beamed, making his way into the crowd.

“Yeah, if they even still have it,” Tsuki muttered under her breath, not wanting to get the boy’s hopes up.

The two weaved their way through the crowds, desperately scanning the shelves for any signs of the All Might figure.

“Izuku, over here.” She led him into a packed corner, making a sure path so that no one bumped into his injured arm. “Oh-”

The shelf that held the label for the figure was wiped clean, and Izuku’s face dropped. “I knew this would happen. I should’ve just ordered it.”

“I’m sorry, Zuku.”

“It’s okay. I kinda expected it. We can go get your shirt now.” Izuku started towards the exit, but a hand on Tsuki's shoulder brought them both to a halt.

“Hey, wait a sec.” A guy said.

Tsuki turned around to face the person and was met with a tall, muscular guy with messy dark brown hair styled much like Izuku’s. He looked to be around her age. His eyes were a bright shade of brown, and his smile was warm. But more importantly, he held two boxes of the limited edition All Might figures in his hand.
She looked at the guy expectantly and felt Izuku standing next to her, watching him like a hawk.

“Whoa, calm down.” The guy eyed Izuku and laughed, then turned to Tsuki. “If I realized you had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t have stopped you.”

“Oh, uh,” Tsuki’s and Izuku’s faces turned to a similar shade of pink as they said simultaneously. “We’re not together.”

“Well, in that case.” The guy smirked. “I’m Shindo. You’re Tsuki Hitomi from UA, right? I watched the Sports Festival. You’ve got a hell of a quirk.”

“Aw, thanks.” Tsuki grinned.

“I’m a second-year student at Ketsubutsu Academy. Not as flashy as UA, I know, but I’m in the hero course there.”

“I’ve heard of it. Isn’t Ms. Joke a teacher there?”

“Yeah, she’s actually my homeroom teacher.”

“No way, that's so cool!”

Shindo reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Yeah, she’s great and all, but you know what would be better?”

Tsuki cocked her brow, but her smile didn’t falter. “Hm?”

“If I could get your number. Not to be cocky or anything, but taking out a girl like you, I’d instantly gain bragging rights.”

Tsuki eyed the phone suspiciously, then her gaze lowered to the boxes in his hand. “Let’s make a deal. You let me have one of those figures, and I’ll give you my number.”

Shindo’s eyes flicked between hers suspiciously before he responded. “Deal.” He handed her one of his boxes, then she took the phone from him and typed in a number.

“Talk to you later.” Tsuki grinned, then made her way to the checkout, where Izuku bought the figure.

After purchasing the item, she and Izuku left the store, and she pulled him towards an empty corner of the mall. His gaze was glued to the floor, and his brows were furrowed as if he were deep in thought.

“I know I wanted that shirt, but we gotta leave. I totally gave that guy your number and not mine, and I don’t wanna be around when he figures it out.”

“Wait, what? Izuku’s eyes shot up to hers.

“I gave him your number,” Tsuki repeated, heat rising in her cheeks. “I wasn’t interested. I was only tryna get you that figure. So, here.” She extended the bag to him, and his face lit up.

“I- thank you! But why my number?”

“Are you listening?” She laughed. “I said I wasn’t into him. I don’t want him texting me. He’s your problem now.”

“What? Why would you do that? What am I supposed to say to him?!” Izuku pulled out his phone and stared at it as if it were about to explode in his hand.

“Nothing, just block him. Or mess with him. Whatever you want. I don’t care.”

“I’m not gonna mess with him. That’s mean.”

Tsuki rolled her eyes, smiling from ear to ear. “You’re no fun.”

Izuku’s face flushed at her words.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

Chapter 16: A New Meaning

The walk to school was a rainy one. Droplets pattered against the black umbrella Izuku held over both him and Tsuki. His arm was no longer in its sling, but instead wrapped neatly in bandages.

“Have you heard anything else about Ingenium?” Izuku questioned, eyeing Tsuki out of the corner of his eye.

Tsuki shook her head, her lips forming into a frown. Her heart hurt for the boy. “No, only what my Dad told me the other night. You and Iida are close, I figured he would’ve said something to you.”

“No, he wouldn’t talk about it.”

“Good morning, Midoriya! Hitomi!” Iida appeared behind the pair, jogging up the hill, as cheery as ever, despite the dreary weather.

“Speak of the devil.”

“Ah- Whoa, Iida?” Izuku gasped at the sight of him. “You really went all out with the rain gear.”

Iida sprinted by in a lime green raincoat and bright yellow rainboots. “Why on earth are you two walking so slowly? You’ll be late.”

Tsuki and Izuku shared a look before picking up their paces, following after the blue-haired boy.

“Late? But there’s still five minutes until the first bell.” Izuku questioned.

“UA students should always arrive ten minutes early, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s too gloomy a day to be early.” Tsuki chimed in, stifling a yawn.

Tsuki followed Iida inside the school while Izuku attempted to shake as much of the rainwater off the umbrella before placing it with the others, before catching back up with them.

“So, Iida. Um…” Izuku started, a nervous flutter in his voice. But before he could finish, Iida interrupted.

“If it’s about my brother, don’t be concerned. I’m sorry if I made you worry. Everything’ll be fine.” He offered Tsuki and Izuku a smile before disappearing down the crowded hall.

“I dunno about you, but I don’t believe him,” Tsuki whispered, sure to keep quiet in case anyone was listening. “Stain must be a pretty big deal if they’re bringing in my dad to help.”

“Yeah,” Izuku gulped, eyes frozen on where Iida once stood. “I was thinking the same thing.”

The warning bell rang, causing them both to jump.

“Guess we should hurry.”

The pair made their way through the halls, which were littered with students, each rushing to their homerooms. Just as the second bell rang, Tsuki and Izuku made it to their class and took their seats.

The classroom door slid open, and on the other side of the threshold stood Mr. Aizawa. He was no longer wrapped in bandages and now looked like his usual, tired self.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Mr. Aizawa.” The class greeted him as he took his place at his desk.

“Mr. Aizawa, you don’t have bandages anymore- ribbit. That’s good news.”

“The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment.” He sighed. “Anyway. We have a big class today on Hero Informatics.”

‘Oh no, was there a test I forgot about? I was totally distracted the past two days. I should’ve studied.’ Tsuki felt the color drain from her face.

“You need codenames. It’s time to pick your hero identities.”

‘Phew.’ Tsuki visibly relaxed, her body sinking into her seat as she let out a sigh of relief.

“This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned the last time we were in class together. Normally, students don’t have to worry about the draft yet. Not until their second or third year, actually, but your class is different.

‘Different?’

“By extending offers to first-years like you, pros are essentially investing in your potential. Any offers can be rescinded if their interest in you dies down before graduation, though.”

Mineta slammed his fist down on the desk, “Stupid, selfish adults.”

Tsuki glanced back at him, shooting him a look as she said, “You only have to worry about that if you suck. You don’t suck, do you?”

His face turned a deep shade of crimson. “I, uh, no, obviously.” He crossed his arms, turning his body away from her with a pout. “Dumb Hitomi.”

“Now, here are the totals for those who got offers.”

A projection appeared on the board, displaying numbers indicating the number of offers each student received.

Tsuki’s eyes scanned the board for her name, and when she found it, she couldn’t help but smile. She had the second most in the class with 4,013 offers.

“In past years, the numbers were closer. But there’s a pretty big gap this time.”

“Whoa, Tsuki.” Izuku gaped. “You got so many!”

“Duh,” Kaminari leaned over, out of his seat, and nudged Tsuki’s arm with his. “Being a top hero’s daughter has its perks, am I right?”

Tsuki’s face burned. Deep down, she knew there was truth in his words, but her stomach churned at the thought of only being scouted due to who her father was.

“Yeah.” She murmured. “You’re not wrong.”

“Todoroki got the most, ahead of Bakugo?” Jirou questioned.

“Yeah, it’s the opposite of how they placed in the festival.” Kirishima frowned.

“They probably weren’t too thrilled to work with the guy who had to be chained up at the end.”

“If I scared a pro, they’re just weak!” Bakugo shouted, glaring back at Sero.

“Chained up?!” Tsuki whirled around to look at Bakugo, but the boy kept his gaze fixed on his desk. “What did I miss?”

Sero laughed at her reaction, “Yeah, Bakugo was pretty pissed at how he’d won and wouldn’t accept his medal. You shoulda seen it.”

Tsuki looked at Bakugo and raised her brow. “Huh.”

“Don’t look at me like that or else!” Bakugo waved his fist threateningly.

“Izuku, you didn’t get any.” Tsuki pointed out, ignoring the blond’s threat. “That sucks. I really thought you would, since you placed so high.”

“Everyone was probably grossed out by the insane way you were fighting.” Kaminari laughed. “I sure was.”

Izuku’s face reddened, and his voice wavered as he said, “Yeah, probably.”

“Anyway, despite these results, you’ll all be interning with pros. Got it?” Aizawa said. “Even those of you who didn’t get any offers. You already got to experience combat with real villains during the attack on the USJ facility. But it’ll still be helpful to see pros at work. Firsthand.”

“And for that, we need hero names!” Sato exclaimed.

“Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!” Uraraka cheered.

‘I have a few ideas for names, but I thought I’d have longer to decide.’

“These hero names will likely be temporary, but take them seriously or-”

Midnight burst into the room, cutting him off. “...You’ll have hell to pay later! What you pick today could be your codename for life. You'd better be careful, or you’ll be stuck with something utterly indecent.”

“Yeah. She’s got a good point.” Mr. Aizawa agreed. “Midnight is going to have final approval over your names. It’s not my forte. The name you give yourself is important. It helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you wanna be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent. Take All Might, for example.

Shoji passed a stack of boards to Tsuki. She took one and then handed the rest back to Jirou behind her. She pulled out a marker and stared at her whiteboard.

One name she and her mom had come up with when she was in Junior High was stuck in her head, though she wasn’t sure if it was what she wanted.

She knew if she used that name, it’d be a lot to live up to. She would have to be fast, precise, and quick on her feet. It would take work to maintain such a name, but deep down, she knew she could handle it.

A couple of people got up to present their names. Some were approved, and some were denied. Every time Bakugo went up, Midnight shut him down for his name being too violent. This time, he went up with ‘King Explosion Murder’.

“I’m gonna say that one’s a little too violent.” Midnight frowned at the angry blond.

“Huh, what do you mean?!”

“Why don’t you be explosion boy, huh?” Kirishima offered.

“You shut up, weird hair!” Bakugo exclaimed and stormed back to his seat.

Tsuki leaned over and poked his shoulder, “What about Dynamight? Murder doesn’t sound too heroic.”

“No, I want murder.” He grumbled. “Leave me alone and work on your own name.”

Tsuki smiled and stood from her seat, “I’ve got one.” She made her way to the front of the class and held her board up for everyone to see, “Hero name: Vanisher!”

“How creative! I just love that.” Midnight looked at the girl in awe. “All we have left is Young Bakugo, who needs to rethink his, and Iida. Oh, yes, and Midoriya, too.”

Tsuki returned to her seat and looked at her friend, “Oi, Izuku. I thought you would’ve had a name picked out a long time ago. I remember when you read me your list of names. They were all-”

Izuku’s face reddened, “They were all bad. Very bad. That’s definitely what you were going to say.” He shielded his face with his arms and stared down at the board in front of him.

Tsuki frowned and turned back to face the front.

‘That was weird.’

“Well, Midoriya, are you ready?” Midnight asked.

“Oh, yes.” He shyly made his way to the front of the class, then held up his board for everyone to see. Tsuki squinted her eyes to read what he had written: ‘Deku.’

‘Deku?’

“Really, Midoriya?” Kaminari asked, his voice an octave higher than usual. “You sure about that?”

“Yeah, man, remember, that could be your name forever.” Kirishima agreed.

Tsuki’s brows furrowed as she met Izuku’s eyes, but his gaze quickly flickered down to the floor as he explained. “Right. I used to hate it. But then, something changed. I guess…” He paused, taking a sharp breath before looking to the other side of the room.

Tsuki followed his gaze to see that he was looking at Uraraka, and her chest tightened.

“Someone taught me that it could have a different meaning, and that had a huge impact on how I felt. So, now I really like it.” Izuku laughed, though it was a dry, awkward one. “Deku. That has to be my codename!”

“Yeah, Deku!” Uraraka beamed. The rest of the class cheered him on as well. Well, everyone but Bakugo who sat at his desk, dumbfounded.

Mr. Aizawa unzipped his sleeping bag and climbed out, taking his place at the front of the classroom. He cleared his throat, eyeing each of his students before saying, “All right, now that everyone’s decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about your upcoming internships.”

“They’ll last for one week, beginning next Monday. As for who you’ll be working with, those of you who were on the board will choose from among your offers. Everyone else will have a different list. You have a lot to think about. There are around 40 agencies across the country that’ve agreed to take on interns for your class. Each one has a different specialty that its heroes focus on.”

‘I wonder if there's a hero out there with a quirk like mine. It’d be nice to have a fresh perspective on it from someone other than Dad.’

The bell rang, indicating it was time for lunch, and everyone jumped out of their seats.

“Not so fast.” Mr. Aizawa deadpanned, causing everyone to freeze in place. “These are the agencies you have to choose from. Turn in your choices before the weekend.”

He passed everyone a sheet of paper with their names and a list of agencies printed on it, then followed Midnight out of the classroom without another word.

Tsuki made her way to the cafeteria, alone, as Izuku was caught in conversation with a few of their classmates.

‘Uraraka? When did she convince him that Deku was such a great name? What could she have even said? As long as I’ve known him, he’s hated it. So, how did she do it?’

She weaved between people as she entered the lunchroom, keeping her head down, trapped in her thoughts. Mindlessly, she piled food on her plate, not paying attention to the fact that a certain blond was in front of her, or that he had come to a sudden stop.

She crashed into him, her tray tipping forward, and her food smashing into the back of his uniform. Her hand jumped to her mouth as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

Bakugo turned around, shooting daggers through her. “WHAT THE HELL?! DO YOU NOT WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING?!”

“I’m so sorry!” Tsuki set her tray down on a nearby table and grabbed a handful of napkins. “Here.” She started to wipe the food off him, but he sidestepped away from her.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” He took off his uniform jacket, balling it up in his fist, leaving him in his white, long-sleeved undershirt. Then he stormed off, muttering obscenities under his breath, leaving Tsuki standing alone.

‘Great.’

She glanced over at her tray, and what was left of her food had turned to mush. So, she picked it up and trudged over to the trash cans, then threw it away.

“Hey, Tsuki.” A voice came from behind her, startling the girl.

Tsuki turned on her heel and saw Momo standing there. She offered her a weak smile. “Hey, Momo.”

“I packed my lunch today.” She held up a black zippered bag that looked more like a purse than a lunchbox. The name ‘Youmomo’ was embroidered in white thread along the side. “We can share if you want.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t wanna take your food. It’s okay, I appreciate it, though. I wasn’t that hungry anyway.” Betrayingly, Tsuki’s stomach growled and her face flushed.

Momo brought her hand to her mouth and laughed the most polite laugh Tsuki had ever heard. “I insist. Besides, I have more than enough.”

Tsuki eyed the bag and then sighed in a sense of defeat. “Thanks, Momo.”

“Of course.” She grinned, then led Tsuki to a table by the entrance.

They took seats next to each other, and Momo unzipped the bag to reveal several glass containers, each holding a different type of foods- from hour dervs to side salads to entrees.

“Whoa, you weren’t kidding.” Tsuki laughed.

“Our chef likes to give me options.” She stated as if it were the most casual thing ever. “I can never eat it all, so I end up giving some of it away to Kaminari or Sero.”

“Hopefully they won’t mind my eating it today.” Tsuki joked, eyeing the table at which the two boys sat. They looked as if they were in a heated discussion. Bakugo sat with them, still fuming from earlier.

“It’ll be our little secret.” Momo grinned, pressing her finger to her lips, shooting Tsuki a wink.

Tsuki laughed, then opened a container that held riceballs. “Thanks, Momo.”

The cafeteria doors swung open, followed by a fit of rowdy chatter. Tsuki and Momo’s eyes followed the noise and landed on a familiar head of unruly green hair with a shorter brunette by his side.

Tsuki’s stomach dropped, and her eyes fell to the food in front of her. Suddenly not feeling hungry anymore, she placed her chopsticks on the cafeteria table.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the deal with you and Midoriya?”

Tsuki felt the girl's charcoal grey eyes burning through her, and couldn’t bring herself to lift her gaze from the table before she hesitantly responded, “What do you mean?”

“I know you two are friends, and sorry if I’m overstepping here, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder if maybe there’s something more between you two.”

‘Something more?’

The brunette's stomach fluttered at the thought, but she pushed the feeling aside. That was her friend. What was she thinking?

“We’ve been friends practically our whole lives.” She reiterated, poorly dodging her friend’s question. “That’s all.”

Momo’s gaze stayed on Tsuki for a moment longer until she finally looked away, taking a delicate bite of a rice ball. After swallowing, she quietly hummed in response to Tsuki’s statement, then said, “You should eat.”

“Yeah, probably.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

The rain hadn’t let up by the time school let out, worsening Tsuki’s already unpleasant mood. All Might’s class dragged by; instead of hero training or spars, they were quizzed on strategies for backroom invasions.

English was as boring as ever, and the weather didn’t help. Tsuki found herself dozing off a couple of times and only managed to keep herself awake after being threatened with detention by Present Mic.

Now, she and Izuku walked under their shared umbrella with the sound of rain pattering against the concrete being the only thing to fill the silence.

Tsuki could feel her friend's eyes on her, though she kept her head forward, eyes locked on the gloomy cityscape ahead.

“Are you alright, Tsuki-chan?” Izuku finally asked, shoes scuffling against the concrete walkway.

Tsuki was silent at first, her mind flashing back to homeroom. Her brows furrowed at the thought, and she swallowed the small lump that sat uncomfortably in her throat.

‘Deku.’

Deciding to voice her thoughts, she responded quietly, voice barely heard above the sound of the rain. “Deku? What made you choose that of all names?”

Izuku picked up on the hint of irritation in her words, though chose not to say anything about it. At least not yet. “At first, I wasn’t sure. You of all people know the history behind the name.”

At this, Tsuki shot him a knowing look before he continued.

“But, a few weeks ago, Uraraka helped me realize that the name doesn’t have to mean that I’m useless anymore, ‘cause I’m not. I can use the name that used to bring me down and make it something better.”

“Tch, you were never useless,” Tsuki muttered under her breath, picking up her pace. “You’re stupid if you think that.”

Izuku’s brows furrowed as he trailed after her, trying his best to hold the umbrella over both their heads at her new pace. “I was pathetic. I didn’t have a quirk, I couldn’t stand up for myself, I-”

“So you find your worth in your new quirk? Is that it? Who cares if you couldn’t stand up to Bakugo before? He was a dick. But don’t put yourself down like that. Quirk or not, you were never pathetic. You rushed in to save Bakugo when every hero stood and watched, remember? You didn’t have a quirk then. Did you forget about that?”

“What- no? Of course I didn’t. Things are just different now, is what I meant. I’m different now. I appreciate you saying those things, but-”

“But what?” Tsuki snapped.

Izuku froze, his whole body coming to a halt. “What’s wrong with you, Tsuki? You’ve been acting off all day.”

Tsuki stood just out of his reach, the rain soaking into her wavy brown hair and bringing chills to her skin. “I dunno, okay? Just- just drop it.”

“Do-” Izuku stepped forward, his foot splashing into a puddle, soaking his shoes. The girl shot him a look, causing him to freeze before asking, “Do you not like the name?”

Tsuki’s eyes flickered between both of his, and her brows furrowed, her lips turning into a pout. “I think it’s great that you found a new meaning in the name. I’m glad you don’t let it bother you anymore.”

“You look upset with me, though.” He stated, frowning in return at the girl.

“How did she change your mind about the name?”

Izuku paused, confused by her question. “I already told you.”

Tsuki pinched the bridge of her nose and sharply inhaled as her eyes shut. She knew there was no valid reason to be as upset as she was, especially since he hadn’t done anything.

But still, the annoyance in her voice was evident when she repeated, “How did she change your mind? I’ve been here for you basically our whole lives. I’ve looked out for you when it came to Bakugo. I would’ve beat the shit out of him when he told you to take a swan-”

“Tsuki.”

“I would’ve, and you know it.”

Izuku repeated himself, “Tsuki-”

“I know, I know.” She rolled her eyes before continuing. “My point is, I’ve been here for you this whole time. I’ve stood up for you. I’ve been your friend. I know it sounds stupid, but I thought if anyone would change your mind, it would’ve been me. I just thought I would have more impact than a girl you just met.”

Izuku’s gaze dropped, as did his shoulders. His frown deepened, and he felt a knot forming in his stomach. “Of course you’ve impacted me, Tsuki. I’m sorry if I don’t show it, but I am super grateful for everything you’ve done for me-”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Izuku. I’m not trying to throw everything I’ve done or make you feel guilty in any way. We’re best friends, so of course I would help you. I’m not keeping score or anything.”

His eyes shot back up to hers, feeling slightly relieved at her words, then continued, “I know you dislike Kacchan. You two butt-heads a lot, even when he isn’t bullying me. I don’t know if this makes sense, but getting an outside perspective on everything helped me.”

“You know mine and Kacchans' history; you were there for most of it. You have a resentment for the name, just like I did. But, Uraraka didn’t, and hearing someone say that I could use the name for the better was eye-opening. It wasn’t because of who told me that I chose it.”

Any anger Tsuki had dissipated hearing that, and was replaced with an overwhelming sense of relief.

She nodded, feeling as if she could breathe again, and said, “No, yeah, that makes sense.” Then she paused, taking a step closer as the rain started to come down even harder. “I’m sorry for getting so upset. I don’t know why it bothered me so much.”

Izuku grinned. “It’s okay, Tsuki-chan. I think I’d be upset too, if the roles were reversed.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner about the name. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Izuku,” Tsuki stated. “As long as you’re happy with the name, then I’m happy with it.” She paused, offering him a cheeky smile. “Deku.”

Heat crept up the back of his neck, and his cheeks were dusted a rosy pink, hearing his Hero name leave her mouth.

“I am happy.” He responded, his voice hushed as if hiding the double meaning of his words.

Tsuki’s smile widened. “Then I’m happy too.”

Chapter 17: Essence of A Hero

Chapter Sixteen
Essence of A Hero
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Tsuki flipped through the pages of the packet Mr. Aizawa had given her, and she felt as if the room was spinning. She chewed on the end of her pen, head throbbing as she read through the list of 4,000+ agencies that wanted to take her on, listed alphabetically.

“Tsuki!”

The sound of her name being called caused the girl to jump, and, unintentionally, she bit down on the pen, hard. The taste of the sour ink filled her mouth, and black liquid dripped down her chin onto the white sheets of paper.

“Shit.” She muttered under her breath and jumped from her seat at the kitchen table, hurrying over to the sink. As she cut on the water and spat the ink from her mouth, her dad entered the room.

“What the hell are you doing?” He questioned, eyeing his daughter as she scooped water from the faucet into her mouth.

Tsuki spat out the water and turned to face the brunette. Her chin and tongue now stained a faded shade of black. “My pen broke.”

Toshi’s brows knitted into a frown as he sharply exhaled. “I’ve been calling for you.”

“I didn’t hear you, sorry.” Tsuki took in his appearance. He wore a black, three-piece suit with a matching black tie. His chestnut brown hair was swept neatly to the side, held in place by a sweet-smelling gel. In his hand, he held a silver briefcase that Tsuki knew contained his hero suit. “I guess you’re leaving for Hosu?”

He nodded, eyes shifting to the packet that sat on the table. “Those are the agencies that scouted you?”

“Yeah, a whole 4,013 of them. I don’t know who to pick, and it’s due tomorrow.”

“The choice is obvious,” Toshi stated, setting his case on the table and picking up the packet instead. He flipped to one of the last pages, then pointed to a line at the bottom: Hero Agency: Hitomi Toshi. “You’re going to mine.”

“What?”

He handed her the packet, eyes locked on hers. “Don’t sass me. You knew you were going to mine the second you saw my name on that list. Don’t bother arguing about it either, what I say goes.”

“But, Dad-”

“Dammit, Tsuki!” He snapped, slamming his fist against the table.

Tsuki jumped at the sound, a slight gasp escaping her lips.

“You’re coming to my agency, and that’s final!” Toshi grabbed his case, then turned on his heel. “I’m leaving now. I’ll see you at my agency on Monday.”

Then, without another word, he disappeared out the front door, leaving Tsuki in a deafening silence. She stood frozen in place, the packet of paper clutched to her chest as she stared where her dad had previously been.

Her jaw clenched, as did her fist around the paper. She stormed over to the table, grabbed the pen, and crossed out her dad's agency from the list, ignoring the ink that splattered onto her hand from the broken end.

‘Yeah, right. Like I’m spending a week with him at his agency for school.’

Tsuki huffed and stared down at the scribbles, the name of her father's agency no longer visible. She tossed the pen in the trash, deciding it was best to take a break from the list.

Pulling her phone out of the pocket of her sweatpants, she plopped down on the couch with a sigh. Immediately, she clicked on Izuku’s contact.

After he walked her home from school, he said he had to meet with All Might about something. Tsuki had been itching to ask, since she hadn’t heard from him since he left.

6:28 pm
Tsuki: How’d ur meeting with All Might go?

Then, she turned off her phone, resting it on her chest as she clicked on the TV. As she scrolled through the channels, boredom settled in, and the silence in her home was beginning to drive her crazy.

The sound of the front door unlocking with a faint click caused her to perk up.

“Tsuki, I’m home!” Her mom’s voice echoed from the foyer before she appeared around the corner. The two’s eyes met, and her mom’s lips tugged into a grin. “Oh, good. You’re here. I didn’t know if you’d be with Izuku or not.”

“He had somewhere to be after school.”

Kira nodded, then started back towards the door. “I have groceries in the car. Can you help me carry them in?”

“Yeah.”

Tsuki pushed herself off the sofa and then helped her mom carry in all the bags. After putting everything away, Tsuki sat back at the table.

“These are all of the agencies that scouted me from the sports festival for work studies.” Tsuki began, showing her mom the thick packet of papers. “I have to choose my top three by tomorrow and turn them in. It’s so overwhelming, I don’t even know where to start.”

Kira padded over to the table and took the packet from Tsuki, then started flipping through the pages. When she reached the last one, her eyes hovered over the black scribbles before glancing at Tsuki.

“That’s a lot.” She agreed, handing the papers back. “Did any of them stand out to you?”

“I dunno. I guess Endeavor’s offer did, but other than that, no, not really. Dad told me I had to go to his, though.”

“When do the work studies start?”

“Monday, and we’ll be gone all week.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “Your father is an idiot. He’ll still be in Hosu for work. Even if you choose his agency, he wouldn’t be there anyway. Go where you want, Tsuki. This is for your future, not his.”

“I know that. It’s just- I don’t know where would best suit me. Going to Endeavor’s would be cool and all, since he’s the number two hero, but our quirks are nothing alike. I don’t even know what half of these agencies are.”

“You don’t have to choose a place just because your quirk might be similar to someone's. Choose a place where you think you can learn the most. Take Endeavor, for example. Sure, your quirks are completely different, but there’s so much you could learn from him.”

Tsuki paused. She hadn’t even considered going somewhere that didn’t seem compatible with her power.

“Or, is there somewhere in Japan you’d like to visit? Like Tokoyo? Or Osaka? You can see if any agencies from there scouted you that you’d be interested in.”

Tsuki’s eyes scanned over the paper, just now realizing each agency had its location listed beside it.

“Mom, you’re a genius.” Tsuki beamed, then stood from her seat.

“Where are you going?”

“My room,” Tsuki answered, turning on her heel and starting for the stairs. From her pocket, she felt her phone buzz, and her smile widened, knowing who it was.

She entered her room, closing the door behind her. Then she grabbed her laptop from her desk and sat down at the head of her bed, then answered Izuku’s message.

6:41 pm
Izuku: An agency scouted me!

Tsuki: What?! That’s so exciting!

Izuku: Are u home?

Tsuki: Obv

Izuku: Can I come over? I’ll tell u all abt it.

Tsuki: Sure!

Izuku: Be there in 10!

Tsuki cut off her phone, then opened her laptop and started at the top of the list, researching each agency that caught her eye. Soon enough, she had marked off at least a hundred random agencies- not that she had anything against them.

The sing-song sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the home, and Tsuki perked up from her computer.

‘Izuku.’

She climbed out of her bed and then hurried out of her room. As she made her way down the stairs, she caught Izuku’s eye and her lips pulled into a grin.

“I’m so happy for you!” She cheered, engulfing the boy in a hug.

“Thanks, Tsuki.” He laughed, stumbling backwards from the eagerness of her embrace before returning it.

“So, spill. Which agency scouted you?”

Izuku pulled away, then slipped off his bright red shoes and left them by the door. “A hero named Grand Torino.”

“Huh,” Tsuki’s brows furrowed as she tried to place the name, but drew a blank. “I don’t think I’ve heard of him.”

“Is that Izuku I hear?” Kira’s voice came from the kitchen, and then she appeared from down the hall. “Tsuki didn’t tell me you were coming. Are you eating here?”

Tsuki and Izuku shared a look before he answered, “I mean, I don’t wanna intrude.”

“You could never. You’re more than welcome to stay. I’m starting on dinner right now.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Hitomi!”

Kira’s gaze shifted to Tsuki, a knowing look in her eyes. “Are you gonna let the boy inside or keep him trapped at the door?”

“Oh-” Tsuki’s face flushed, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. “Sorry. We can go to my room. I’m trying to decide on what agency I wanna go to.”

“I’ll call when dinner’s ready.”

“Okay, thanks, Mom.”

“Thank you.”

Kira nodded and offered the two a smile before returning to the kitchen.

“So, tell me more about this Grand Torino.” Tsuki started, leading Izuku upstairs to her room.

Once inside, she closed the door behind them and then plopped down on her bed. She placed her computer onto her lap and started typing the next agency on the list into the search engine.

Izuku sat down across from her at the foot of the bed and pulled his knees to his chest. “He knows All Might. Apparently, he helped train him when he first received One For All. He was super close with All Might’s predecessor.”

“Does that mean he knows the truth about your power?”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded. “I think that’s why he scouted me. I know I should be grateful and all, but I have to admit, after seeing how nervous All Might was just talking about the guy, I’m a little scared to work with him.”

“Nervous? What do you mean he was nervous?”

“He was practically shaking, telling me about him.”

“Whoa,” Tsuki looked up from her screen to meet Izuku’s eyes. “Sounds like Grand Torino must be pretty intense, then.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Tsuki offered him a reassuring smile. “You’ll do great, though. I’m sure you’ll learn so much with him. Especially since he knows the truth about your power. It’s a perfect fit.”

“Yeah,” Izuku sighed. “I sure hope so.”

“I’m jealous you know where you’re going. I still have no idea, and this is due tomorrow.”

Izuku shifted forward and reached for the papers. “Can I?”

Tsuki nodded, and then he picked up the packet and started scanning through it. After a couple of minutes of looking, he set it back down with furrowed brows. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was deep in thought and knew better than to interrupt. So, she sat patiently, awaiting his response.

“You got a lot of good offers. Mirko is a great hero, though she is super fierce. She’s a close-range fighter, and so are you. There’s a lot you could learn from her. But she believes in solo work, so she might pawn you off on her sidekicks a lot.”

“Best Jeanist on the other hand-”

“No, definitely not him.” Tsuki interrupted and crossed his name off the list. “He and my dad don’t get along at all. He probably only sent me an offer just to get under my dad's skin. I would never hear the end of it if I went there.”

“Alright, then,” Izuku laughed. “Not Best Jeanist.”

Tsuki glanced down at the paper, a certain agency catching her eye. “What do you think about Endeavor?”

“Endeavor?” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. “I saw him on the list, but I didn’t think you’d consider going with him.”

“What if I did?”

“I think that would be great! There’s a lot you could learn from him, being number two and all.” Izuku beamed. “It’s so cool that so many high-ranking heroes scouted you. I bet if you went there, you would be with Todoroki. I overheard him and Yaoyorozu talking about him possibly going with his dad.”

“I’m just scared that all of these agencies want me because of who my dad is. I honestly didn’t even think about it until Sero said something, but he had a point. What if I’m not wanted because of my skill?”

“There’s no way. You were amazing during the festival- I mean, you’re always amazing, just now everyone got to see it. You’re so talented, and you have great control over your quirk. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“You work too hard to put yourself down. I mean, sure, there are some people out there who might’ve scouted you because of who you are. But there’s no way any top heroes did that. They would need to have a real interest in you to take you on. You’re going to be a great hero, and over 4,000 agencies in Japan alone noticed that. Do you know how amazing that is?”

“I didn’t think about it like that. Thanks, Zuku.” She paused, feeling a bit guilty since he had only gotten one offer. “Sorry, I probably sound selfish complaining about this.”

“Not at all. I went overboard using my quirk during the festival. That’s part of why I didn’t get any. But you were great. You deserve this.”

Tsuki tore her eyes from the screen and met his. “You deserve more than what you got- more than me, too. Out of the two of us, if anyone's gonna make it further, it’s gonna be you.”

“Don’t say that, your quirk is-”

“I’m not talking about my quirk. Or yours, for that matter. Quirks aside, you are the essence of what it means to be a hero. For better or worse, you put everyone else’s needs above yours. I might be a little biased, since you’re my best friend and all, but you’re the kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever met. You always have been, and that’s what I admire most about you. I’d go as far as to say it’s what drew me to you in the first place. Every day, I realize a little more just how amazing you really are.”

Izuku’s eyes were misted, tears threatening to spill over. His freckled cheeks were dusted a light pink, and his lips were slightly parted as he was at a loss for words. He felt his heart racing, pounding so hard it felt as if it were about to explode in his chest right then and there.

Tsuki looked at him, and for a long moment, neither of them said a word. Just letting each other's words sink in, her brown eyes were locked with bright green ones.

“That means a lot, Tsuki-chan.” Izuku finally said with a slight sniffle. He blinked back his tears before smiling. “Thank you.”

“I meant every word.” She blushed.

Izuku’s eyes flickered between hers. Something heavy and unspoken was threatening to escape his lips. His gaze was soft and peaceful, causing Tsuki’s stomach to flutter.

The air between them shifted.

“What is it?” Tsuki breathed, voice barely a whisper.

Izuku’s blush deepened as he swallowed the lump he hadn’t realized formed in his throat. But before he could respond, a knock came at the door, causing them both to jump.

“Tsuki, Izuku,” The door swung open, revealing Tsuki’s mom on the other side. She wore a neat, clean black apron. If Tsuki hadn’t known otherwise, she never would’ve guessed her mom had spent the last hour cooking. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Okay.” They said simultaneously, both of their voices cracking and strained.

Kira’s gaze landed on Tsuki, and for a brief moment, they shared a silent exchange- her mom with a questioning expression and Tsuki’s brows slightly furrowing at her look. Her mom then turned on her heel and disappeared around the corner.

It wasn’t until Tsuki heard her mom's footsteps going down the stairs that she finally spoke again.

“I think I know where I wanna go.”

“Yeah?”

Tsuki nodded, meeting the boy's eyes again, and smiled. “Endeavors.”

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

The next morning, Tsuki’s first few classes seemed as if they flew by. She and her classmates handed in their final decisions on which agencies they wanted to go to during homeroom. Mr. Aizawa said everyone would have an assigned place by the end of the school day, and everyone was ecstatic.

Now, it was their last period for the day: Heroing 101 with All Might. The class entered the training ground, Beta. Instead of their hero costumes, which were still undergoing some last-minute alterations before work studies, they all wore their UA gym uniforms.

“Today’s lesson is going to be tough,” All Might began. “I’m making sure each of you is prepared before starting your work studies next week.”

“What’s the lesson, sir?” Iida questioned.

“A cavalry battle!” All Might cheered.

“Really?” Tsuki questioned. “That’s… different.”

“Exactly my thinking.” Momo agreed.

“If you don’t mind my asking, sir,” Iida pushed up his glasses as his brows pulled into a frown. “How is this supposed to be difficult?”

All Might’s grin widened as he pulled out a sheet of paper from seemingly nowhere. “I’m glad you asked! I’ve assigned six teams of three to four people. These teams are based on factors such as personality and quirk compatibility. I’ve also assigned a team leader to each group. This person will be the one to strategize.”

“But, sir,” Izuku interrupted. “Shouldn’t we work together?”

“Yeah. What about teamwork?” Uraraka chimed in.

“The team leaders I’ve assigned are students I feel need to be more comfortable taking charge in a group.” He explained. “And to make sure that happens, if anyone tries to take charge other than the group leader, your team will be eliminated.”

“Whoa, that’s kinda harsh,” Jirou mumbled.

“Agreed.”

“Totally.”

All Might ignored his students' remarks and continued. “Each team will begin with a 100-point headband that must be worn from the neck up. You will have fifteen minutes to keep your points safe or attempt to steal. Now, a couple of things will be different from how you played during the Sports Festival. This time, you’ll be allowed to knock other teams down. If your team falls, you’re eliminated.”

“What if the team that falls still has points?” Kirishima asked.

“Then the points are no longer in play. Everyone will be graded individually, and based on how well your team did. The two grades will be added together, then averaged out for your final grade. So, take this seriously. Are there any questions before I announce the teams?”

“Tch. This is so stupid.” Bakugo muttered. “I thought this class would be for real hero stuff, not to coax people out of their shells. If you’re weak, just say so.”

“I wouldn’t be so cocky, young Bakugo. Once I announce the teams, anything you say can lead to points being knocked off your grade.”

“Now, here are your teams: First, we have Hitomi, Midoriya, and Bakugo.”

“WHAT?! LIKE HELL I’M WORKING WITH THEM!”

“Bakugo, shut up.” Tsuki nudged the blow roughly with her elbow. “You’re gonna get us a bad grade.”

“The leader of the team is Hitomi.”

Tsuki raised her brows at the teacher. “Me? You think I can’t take charge?”

All Might ignored the girl, then announced the next group: Uraraka, Sato, Kirishima, and Mineta. Uraraka would be the leader of that team.

The third team consisted of Aoyama, Tokoyami, Ashido, and Hagakure, with Aoyama as the leader. The fourth team would be Kaminari, with him as the one in charge, with Yauyorozu and Iida.

“For our fifth team, I assigned Jirou as the leader. Todoroki, Sero, and Koda, you three are her teammates. Then, finally, the last group's leader is young Ausi with Ojirou and Shoji. Now, everyone get with your teammates. You’ll have five minutes to strategize before the game begins.”

Tsuki, Izuku, and Bakugo branched off from the rest of the class and huddled in a small circle. Both of the boys’ eyes were on her, waiting to hear her plan.

“I dunno why he made me the leader,” Tsuki muttered. “It’s not that I have an issue taking charge in a group. I just take instructions well.” Her gaze shot up from the ground to Izuku. “You would’ve been better at this. He should’ve made the leader someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”

“Tch, you’re only proving All Might’s point, dumbass.” Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Give us the damn plan already.”

“You’re smart, Tsuki. You can figure something out.”

“Right,” She took a breath. “I’ve got this.” Then she glanced around at the other teams, all of which were hunkered down, making their plans in hushed voices.

“Hey!” Bakugo snapped his fingers in her face. “We don’t have all the time in the world.”

Tsuki pushed the blond’s hand out of her face and turned back to the boys, shooting Bakugo a look before saying, “I’ll be the rider and use my quirk to evade and steal headbands. Bakugo, you’ll be our offense. Izuku, you’ll be the lookout. You can guard my blind spot and defend against attacks.”

Silence.

“Uh, or not. Was that dumb?”

Izuku broke out into a grin. “No, that’s a great plan. Offense, defense, and stealing other headbands. It’s solid.”

“It wasn’t the worst plan I’ve ever heard,” Bakugo muttered, purposefully avoiding the brunette's eyes.

Tsuki’s lips tugged into a grin at their words, feeling reassured. “Great.”

A buzzer rang, indicating the end of the five minutes. All Might distributed a 100-point headband to each team.

“Everyone, take your places.”

Bakugo and Izuku lifted Tsuki into the air, holding her there by hooking one arm each under her thighs and the other around her back. Tsuki threw both of her arms around the boy's shoulders, then secured the headband around her neck. Izuku was on her left, and Bakugo was on her right.

“Only one of you will be able to use your quirks at a time; otherwise, I’ll fall,” Tsuki stated. “Just use your best judgment, please. We can win this.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“That’s kinda her job, Kachhan.”

Bakugo shot the boy a glare.

“Begin!” All Might announced.

The fifteen-minute timer started, though the six teams all stayed in place, each eyeing the others.

Tsuki’s attention turned to Tsu’s team, who seemed to be paying her more mind than the others. Ojirou and Shoji were the base, though Tsu wasn’t in sight. Her eyes narrowed on Shoji’s arms, and inside, she saw Tsu hunkered down.

“Tsu’s team is using the same strategy as last time,” Tsuki stated. “She’ll probably try and take our points with a sneak attack.”

“Let’s murder them!”

“Bakugo, you try and knock them down, and I’ll snatch the headband. Izuku watch the other teams. Let’s go.”

Bakugo’s jaw clenched at her order, but he and Izuku started towards Tsu’s team nonetheless. Then, just like Tsuki predicted, out of Shoji’s arms came Tsu’s tongue. It was aimed straight at Tsuki’s headband.

“You’ll have to do better than that.” Tsuki laughed.

Izuku and Bakugo worked together, sidestepping out of the way of the attack just in time. From Izuku’s side came Ojirou’s tail. It viscously swung at the boy's legs, attempting to knock them out from underneath him.

“Tsuki!”

“I got it.”

Right before the attack could make contact, Tsuki warped her team out of the way. The three reappeared behind Tsu’s team, and Tsuki locked in on the girl's headband.

Opening a portal in front of her, she released her grip on Bakugo and reached through, grabbing hold of the band.

“Knock ‘em down, Dynamight!”

“Don’t call me that!”

Bakugo let go of Tsuki’s leg and launched an explosion at the team, but it wasn’t enough to knock them over.

“Don’t fall, Runt!” Bakugo exclaimed, then set off another explosion.

Izuku’s grip on Tsuki’s thigh tightened during Bakugo’s attack, causing heat to rush to Tsuki’s face. She glanced down at her friend only to see that he was already looking up at her. They both quickly averted their eyes, turning their attention back to Bakugo as he screamed, “DIE!”

Then, with one final blow, he had knocked Tsu’s team down. They were officially eliminated. Tsuki secured what was previously Tsu’s headband around her neck, along with the other one.

“Team Hitomi has eliminated Team Asui with thirteen minutes still on the clock!” All Might announced, despite there being no crowd. “Ah- I see why Hizashi enjoys this. Anyway, Team Aoyama seems to be having some internal conflict.”

Tsuki found Aoyama’s team in the middle of all of the chaos, and All Might was right. While all the other teams were fighting it out, Aoyama’s team was too busy arguing among themselves.

“I wonder what their problem is,” Izuku said.

“Aoyama, I swear-!!” Mina exclaimed. “If you don’t sit still!”

“You’re gonna make us fall!” Hagakure whined, her gloved fists pounding against Aoyama’s leg. “You didn’t even give us a plan!”

Then, the blond rider crossed his arms with a huff, nose in the air. “Girls, girls, you complain too much. Just find someone’s headband to steal and I’ll shoot them with my dazzling beam.” He shifted his weight, and it was the final straw.

Tokoyami was the first to collapse, and Mina wasn’t too far behind. Aoyoama crashed down on the two, and Hagakure was the only one left standing.

“Uh-oh! Looks like Team Aoyama has self-eliminated. Only four teams left!”

“Kaminari and Jirou’s team seem to be fighting right now,” Izuku stated, eyeing the field. “Uraraka’s team is just watching.”

“Then let’s attack!”

“No,” Tsuki shook her head, earning a glare from the blond. “Kaminari’s team has the edge over Jirou’s, look.” She pointed at the teams, and both the boys followed her gaze.

Momo created a shield against Todoroki’s ice, and it was obvious Kaminari was preparing to hit the team with an attack. Sero had two bands around his head and was yelling at his team to run.

“So we’ll take the bands from elbow-tape! Let’s go!”

“Wait,” Tsuki muttered. “Uraraka isn’t gonna bother to attack us right now. They’re keeping their distance. Let Kaminari take down Jirou’s team, then we’ll swoop in and take his headbands.”

“Aghh! I hate this!”

“Just be patient, Kachhan. Everything she’s come up with is working.”

Bakugo merely huffed in response.

Then, just like Tsuki predicted, after Momo covered her team, Kaminari attacked.

“Indiscriminate shock: 1.1 million volts!” Yellow electricity shot out, shocking the entirety of Jirou’s team. While stunned, Kaminari reached and took both of Sero’s headbands and tied them around his head. He was grinning from ear to ear, face flushed with pride. Then, Jirou’s team fell.

“Aw, now I kinda feel bad that I’m about to take his headbands.” Tsuki frowned, earning an amused huff from Bakugo. “Did you just… laugh?”

The blond’s eyes hardened, though she didn’t miss the way the tips of his ears reddened. “YOU’RE HEARING THINGS! SHUT UP!”

“Izuku, you’ve got it this time,” Tsuki instructed as their team approached Kaminari’s.

“Wh-what?!”

“Attack!” Tsuki and Bakugo shouted simultaneously.

“Uh!” Unsurely, Izuku channeled five percent of his power into his fist, then drew back. Without making contact with anyone, he punched the air. This caused enough force to throw Kaminari’s team off balance, but not enough to make them fall.

“Tsuki’s moving in!” Momo shouted.

Iida and Kaminari glanced over their shoulders at the three, then the team whirled around to face them.

“Look what you did!” Bakugo sneered. “If you weren’t so damn weak, you could’ve knocked them over the first time!”

“Remember what I said, young Bakugo!” All Might voiced.

Bakugo’s jaw clenched, and unintentionally so did his grip on Tsuki.

“Ow!” Tsuki shot forward, throwing off the team's balance. “Watch it, Bakugo!”

“What happened-”

“Recipro burst!” All of a sudden, Kaminari’s team was directly in front of Tsuki’s. The golden-haired boy’s arm was outstretched, reaching for the bands around Tsuki’s neck.

“Look out!”

Tsuki opened a warp gate, sending Kaminari’s arm through it, then opened another one at his face. His hand punched against his cheek, hard, turning his face from the force. Unfortunately for him, his body followed, and he started to fall.

“No!” Iida exclaimed.

Before he hit the ground, Tsuki reached through her portal and managed to snag one of the bands from the boy.

“Yes!” She and Izuku cheered.

Kaminari hit the ground. His team was eliminated.

“We’re down to the final two teams: Hitomi vs. Uraraka! Only five minutes left!”

“They’ve kept their distance this entire time,” Tsuki began. “Likely, they didn’t wanna give away their strategy and instead observed everyone else's. My guess is that Mineta will try to trap us with his balls. She put Kirishima and Sato as the rear horses ‘cause she knows they can handle your two’s attacks. Maybe with my quirk, we can keep our distance for the remaining time.”

“Like hell we are! I need a total victory!” Bakugo stepped forward, but Izuku kept his feet planted.

“She’s right, Kachhan.”

“You would agree with her, wouldn’t you? I’m sick of always being stuck with the two of you, dammit!”

“Bakugo, calm- shit! Watch out!” Two of Mineta’s balls came flying at the group.

Tsuki warped one out of the way, but the other had latched onto Bakugo’s foot, grounding him in place.

“Why didn’t you dodge?!”

Before he could respond, Uraraka’s team charged. Mineta was launching balls at them left and right. It took everything the three had to pivot and dodge while being trapped. Tsuki warped as many out of the way as she could.

“We have to do something!”

Then, it hit her.

Tsuki focused on one of the balls and opened a warp gate. The ball flew inside, and then she redirected it back at Uraraka, specifically, her feet. The indigo ball landed perfectly under the girl's foot.

Uraraka fell forward, hitting the ground with a loud smack. The rest of her team followed suit, crashing on top of her.

“Team Hitomi wins! Everyone regroup in class for review.”

Bakugo and Izuku set Tsuki back on the ground, and the girl was grinning from ear to ear. “We did it, guys!” She held up both of her hands.

Izuku high-fived her, but Bakugo merely shot the girl a look.

“Like hell I’m doing that.” Then he turned on his heel and followed the rest of his classmates back inside.