Chapter 1: The Beginning
Chapter Text
The first time you saw Katsuki Bakugo was at the UA Hero Course entrance exams.
You two both attended Aldera Junior High, but had never spoken before. You two had never even been in the same class.
Only once during your school's sports festival were you ever in the same vicinity. You didn't really care about the other classes, but Katsuki Bakugo was so loud he was almost possible to ignore. It didn't help that some girls in your class had crushes on him. Loudly. They kept asking you what you thought of him, wanting you to join in on their fangirling session.
Your first impression of him was obnoxious. Very obnoxious. He was cute, sure, but so incredibly obnoxious.
Thankfully, at the exams you weren't next to Bakugo. Instead, you had Izuku on your right and some other guy with red hair on your left.
Despite your fortunate seating arrangement, you were upset you were even sitting here in the first place. Your school refused to give anyone recommendations, which is also why Bakugo was here. You have to wonder if he was offered it but turned it down because it felt too easy. He seems like that type of guy.
Whatever thoughts you were having, Present Mic stopped them by speaking.
"Like your application said, today you rockin' boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in super hip urban settings!" his voice boomed.
"Super... What?" you whisper.
"After I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center. Sound good?"
To your right, you faintly hear Bakugo's voice, "I see. They're splitting us up so we can't work with any of our friends."
"Yeah... You're right," Izuku replied. He looked at your examination card, then at Bakugo's. "Our examinee numbers are one after the other, but we're all assigned different battle centers."
"Get your eyes off my card," Bakugo warned Izuku. "Damn... I was really looking forward to crushing you."
You cringed at his words. "Damn… what kind of beef do those two have? At least I'm not in the same battle center as Bakugo."
"Okay, okay, let's check out your targets!" Present Mic chimed in again. He explained how the exam was going to work.
There were four types of foes. Defeating three out of the four types would reward you anywhere from one to three points. However, the fourth type was worth no points. They advised avoiding that type at all costs. Use your quirk to defeat enemies and save others. Using your quirk against other examinees was forbidden.
☘️☘️☘️
Hearing the alarm indicating that time was up was like hearing angels singing. Ten minutes felt like ten decades. You were sweaty, tired, and definitely going to be sore tomorrow. Besides that, you were dizzy and shaking quite a bit. "Stupid quirk drawbacks," you thought to yourself.
You walked over to the healing area to rest. Whether you got into UA or not was now in the hands of God or whatever higher being there was.
A small old lady walked up to you. "How may I help you, sweetie?"
"Oh.. um, I was wondering if I could uh.. get some medication for dizziness? It's one of my quirk drawbacks," you awkwardly explained, trying to hold in your puke.
"Oh? Oh my! Come lay down, my child. You're shaking!" You couldn't even nod if you wanted to. The vomit was threatening to come out expeditiously.
The old lady, who you learned was Recovery Girl, brought you over to a bed. It was white, pristine, had no covers, and smelled an awful lot like bleach. Beside you was a bottle of medication and a glass of water. Both of which were brought to you by some robot thing. It probably looked cute, but your vision was being obscured because of your drawbacks.
"Take two pills, then lay down," the robot's voice came through. It was the stereotypical slow sort of speech robots in movies tend to have. "After some time, we will check to see if they helped."
"Thank you," you nodded as you reached for the pill bottle.
The effects of the drugs took a little too long for your liking. For five minutes straight, you fought puke from coming up every few seconds. Then, it felt like all your nausea disappeared suddenly.
The robot you saw before came back. "I noticed your nausea has gone away. Do you feel better?"
"Yes, I do," you nodded. "Thank you."
"Your bag was brought by one of the teachers. You can take it and leave. The exit gate is to the right."
☘️☘️☘️
When you got home, your older siblings immediately ran over and bombarded you with questions.
"How did it go?"
"Are you hurt?!"
"What took you so long?!"
"Did you drawbacks screw you over?"
"You passed right!?"
You blinked as you took in all of their words. "Uh.. guys?" you tried to interrupt them, but they kept going.
"Guys!" you yelled. That quieted them. "I don't know if I passed yet. The results are supposed to come in within a week. And yes, I'm okay. No, my drawbacks didn't affect me during the exam, it was only afterwards."
Your older sister, Verena, sighed in relief. Your older brother, Indra, wrapped you in his arms while crying. He muttered something along the lines of, "My baby sister is all grown up…"
"Dinner will be ready soon, so you can go shower and do whatever else you need to. You can tell us all about the exam later," Verena smiled.
You smiled back and got out of your brother's grasp. You were grateful you had siblings who cared for you, even if it felt overwhelming or bothersome at times.
You walked upstairs without struggling (somehow) and went to your room. Normally you'd just change and eat dinner, but your skin felt so disgusting from the exam. You had dirt in various spots and.. pebbles in your knee!? You don't remember hitting the ground that hard!
You grabbed clean clothes and a towel and walked into your bathroom. While waiting for the water to heat up, you took care of the scrap on your knee. Taking out the pebbles gave you chills. How do surgeons do this? You'll probably ask Verena that later…
Once your knee looked like it had no more debris inside of it, you hopped into the shower. The warm water immediately relaxed your body. "Jeez, was I really that tense?" you muttered.
When you got out, you honestly felt like you had a whole new layer of skin, one that didn't feel like you rolled around in mud.
"Y/N, are you done?" you heard Verena yell from downstairs. "Your food's gonna get cold!"
"Coming!" you yelled back. You ran downstairs and immediately started scarfing down your food. You hadn't realized just how hungry you were until you took a first bite.
"So, how do you think you did?" Indra asked.
You stopped stuffing your face for a moment and blinked at your siblings, "Uh… I think I did okay? I don't think I failed either exams."
"There were multiple?"
You nodded. "There was a written exam in the beginning, then we headed to this auditorium-like building. We were giving cards with our names, middle school, examinee number and battle center."
"Battle center!?" Verena looked petrified.
"We were spilt up into like… six different battle centers. You had to destroy these giant robots to get points. You also got points for rescuing people."
"And how do you think you did in those parts?" Indra inquired.
"I tried rescuing as many people as I could. A lot of buildings were collapsing because of the robots. As for villain points.. I took down quite a lot of robots. But I don't remember how many points each one I took down was worth.." you hummed in disappointment. "It's really all one big blur at this point."
"Because that's normal," Verena commented sarcastically, already skeptical of UA's examination methods. You nodded your head and continued to eat your dinner. Afterwards, you went upstairs and just laid in bed on your phone until sleep consumed you.
☘️☘️☘️
On the coffee table in front of you was a letter. It had a red wax stamp with 'UA' engraved on it. It arrived about fifteen minutes ago, but you haven't opened it. Just… stared.
"Y/N, are you gonna open it or not?" your sister sighed.
"I will! …Eventually," you muttered the last part.
You stared at the letter for another minute before finally grabbing it. You carefully ripped off the top. Inside was a piece of paper and some sort of circular metal piece. Out of curiosity, you took out the metal piece first.
"I am here! But now as a projection!" A familiar deep voice came through. In front of you was some sort of projection. Front and center was the number one hero, All Might!
"All Might!?" you yelled in surprise.
"Congratulations, young lady! You passed both the written exam and achieved second place in the practical exam! First place only beat you by a point! Y/N L/N… thirty-five rescue points and forty-one villain points!"
You took a big sigh of relief.
"Katsuki Bakugo… seventy-seven villain points!"
"Seventy-seven villain points? How did they not get any rescue points?" you muttered before it finally processed in your brain he was talking about Bakugo. Sarcastically, you add, "Wow, what a surprise."
All Might held out his held, "Welcome, Y/N. You are now part of the Hero Academia."
Chapter Text
You saw a familiar head of green, curly hair standing in front of the 1-A classroom door. Honestly, it was too early in the morning for you to want to socialize. You waited until he walked in to walk towards the door. Immediately when you walked in, you regretted it.
"Take your feet off the desk this instant!" a deep, punctual voice demanded. "It's only the first day and you're already disrespecting the school by scuffing school property."
"What was that guy's name..? Tenya… Tenya something," you pondered as you watched the scene unfold.
"You're kidding me, right? Did your old school shove a stick up your ass? Or were you born with it?" A voice you've come to find irritating replied. Of course Bakugo was already arguing with someone at seven in the morning.
"Let's start over," the taller male said. "I'm Tenya Iida from the Somei Private Academy."
"Iida! That was his name!" you were now satisfied that you knew the boy's name. It would've bothered you otherwise.
"Somei, eh? You think you're better than me?" Bakugo smirked. "I'm gonna have fun tearing you a new one."
At that, you cringed. "When will he learn that this is a hero course? Wanting to always fight your classmates isn't exactly heroic…"
You sighed and walked past Izuku. You gave him a look that suggested he also find a seat. There wasn't a seating chart, and it'd be unlucky to sit near the explosive one. You sat in front of a girl with black hair that was pulled into a ponytail. You could tell based on the way she sat, she was very well-mannered, likely from a prestigious junior high. At least she wouldn't cause problems, and you could even become friends.
You didn't really have friends in junior high. You were a foreigner, American at that, so people thought of you as a rare or exotic object rather than a person. You only had one classmate you considered slightly closer than an acquaintance, and then Izuku. But, it was hard to speak to Izuku during school given your different classes. It may seem naïve, but one thing you hoped to accomplish here at UA besides becoming a hero is to make lifelong relationships. Probably not anything romantic, but platonic was just as good.
Speaking of friends, Izuku, Iida, and a girl with short brown hair were all near the door. They all looked like they'd seen some sort of ghost or villain. They stood frozen.
A grown man with long black hair, some stubble, a weird-looking scarf, eyebags for days, and a yellow sleeping bag walked into the room.
"Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa, I'll be your homeroom teacher," No one could really process the announcement before he spoke again. "Let's get to it. Put these on and head outside."
The uniform in his hand was primarily blue with red and white accents. Your brain automatically thought of the American flag. But you realized it was just the color palette of UA's P.E. uniforms.
☘️☘️☘️
"What? A quirk assessment test?" the entire class said in unison.
"If you want to make it to the big leagues, you can't be attending pointless ceremonies," Aizawa said coldly. "This is UA. Here, we're not tethered to 'traditions'. In short, I get to run my class however I see fit."
"You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives. But you've never been able to use your quirks in physical exams before," he continued.
By this point, you began to tune him out. He went on some mini-rant about how society wants to hold back those with objectively better quirks or something. Again, you tuned him out, so you didn't know 100%.
You were brought back to reality by the reminder Bakugo beat you by one point. You weren't super competitive or salty by nature, but for some reason, Bakugo just brought it out of you. Maybe it was because he was kind of an ass.
"Bakugo, you scored the most points on the entrance exam," Aizawa started. "What was your farthest distance throw with a softball in junior high?"
"Sixty-seven meters, I think," Bakugo replied. For once, his voice wasn't super angry or passive-aggressive.
"Try doing it with your quirk. Anything goes as long as you stay in the circle."
You blinked and there was an explosion. You felt your ears throbbing for a few seconds afterwards. This annoyed you, especially when you pair it with Bakugo's score. 705.2 meters.
"-iots… Today you'll complete eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last will be expelled immediately," was the first thing you heard when you regained your hearing.
"Eight tests… expulsion if you get last place…" you repeated in your mind. "I'm tired of this already…" You told yourself that knowing damn well you'd try hard on each test, likely to get good scores too.
☘️☘️☘️
The first test was the 50-meter dash. You were up against this blonde guy with a belt. Aoyama, was it? Unfortunately, your quirk couldn't really be used in this test. While Aoyama projected himself to the finish line, you just ran as fast as you could.
"6.13 seconds!" the automated voice yelled. That wasn't a bad score—better than what you got in junior high, that's for sure.
For some reason, whenever someone made it past the finish line, their quirks were announced by.. Present Mic?
"Y/N L/N! Quirk? Bio-Hazard! She can assert telekinetic control over biological matter. Her quirk grants perfect control over blood, bone, hair, and flesh."
You felt a little queasy with the way Present Mic described your quirk. "That's not all my quirk lets me control. Hopefully people don't think of it as too weird or creepy.."
Part of the reason it was often difficult to make friends was because of your quirk. The name of it was scary, and oftentimes the description of it was too. But you pushed your insecurities down and attempted to comfort hype yourself up!
"It's fine. This is UA. Tons of unique quirks are here! They're not going to make fun of you. They're not going to laugh at you."
The second test was grip strength. You tried to use your quirk to amplify the blood flowing in your forearm. It seemingly worked, garnering you a score of 82 kg. You still weren't used to using kilograms as a valid measurement of weight. Calculating it in your head.. roughly 180 lbs. That was triple what you got in junior high!
"Maybe I won't fail!" you let out a small sigh of relief. When you did, however, you felt someone's eyes burning in the back of your head. Turning around, you met a pair of red eyes. You raised a brow. Why the hell was Bakugo staring at you?
"Weirdo," you muttered, turning around and waiting for the next test.
The third test was a standing long jump. Using the same method you did with your forearms, you amplified your legs slightly.
The fourth test was repeated side steps. It wasn't horrible, you just had trauma from the fitness gram pacer test…
The fifth test was the ball throw. You were also shocked at Uraraka's (you learned her name during the first test) infinite score. Others also seemed to get good scores, mostly getting above 100 or 150 meters.
You took the ball from Aizawa's hands and walked over to the circle. You took a deep breath before swinging your arm back. You threw the ball with as much force as you could, hoping your amplification was pointed towards the right muscle group. You looked at your score: 307.8 meters. You were content with that.
The real issues started when it was Izuku's turn. His arm was charged with energy, but nothing came from it. His throw was weak. Your gaze shifted from him to your teacher. His hair was floating and his weird scarf thingy was all over the place. You squinted your eyes in confusion. You could sort of hear what they were saying.
"The judges for this exam were not rational enough," he said coldly. It was like he wanted to scoff at Izuku's existence. "Someone like you should've never been allowed to enroll in this school."
You frowned when you finally glimpsed Izuku's face. He looked like his heart shattered.
Aizawa threw a bunch of harsh words before he finally said, "With your power, there's no way you can become a hero."
"What kind of teachers are they hiring at this school!?" you thought to yourself in horror. You were seemingly the only one who heard even a word of their conversation. Seconds later, Izuku threw the ball; he got 705.3 meters. Izuku's demeanor shifted and stayed kind of dejected the rest of the day. You felt a heavy pang of sympathy for the poor boy. First, he had Bakugo on his ass 24/7, and now his own teacher?
The remaining three tests were simple. A lot of stretching, lifting some weights here and there, etc.
Finally, after what felt like decades, you could leave.
Your legs felt slightly sore, but otherwise you were okay. You were convinced nothing could've been as horrible as the entrance exams. Thankfully, you felt no drawbacks from your quirk! You open your phone to text your siblings you were heading home.
Today was the first day you were going to use the train system as opposed to your siblings picking you up. It made you anxious since Nagoya station was super popular, so tons of people used it. You hated big crowds, the feeling of being pushed around, etc. But, you have to desensitize yourself now or else you'll forever be afraid!
You leaned against one of the pillars while waiting for your train. The area wasn't too loud, but it definitely wasn't quiet either. Most of the noise blended into each other. Most of it.
To your right, you heard a familiar voice. "Is that Bakugo?" you muttered. Why is he always where you are?
Poking your head out from the pillar, you see Bakugo also waiting for his train. Nothing is odd about that. What was odd, though, was a random old guy trying to talk to him. He was way too close for comfort. You didn't know Bakugo too well (you actually didn't know him at all), but you could tell he valued comfort and personal space.
The man was definitely on the older side, no younger than forty-five. He had uneven stubble, glasses (wait, were those fake?), a shit ton of blackheads, and oily hair. He couldn't seem to take the hint that Bakugo was not interested in speaking to him.
You heard the older man say 'sludge monster,' and that seemed to really tick Bakugo off. You saw his hand spark.
Your body moved on its own. You used your quirk to manipulate the older man's hair into covering his eyes and linked your arm with one of Bakugo's to pull him away. You ran a good distance away before you came to a stop.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, extra!?" Bakugo yelled at you. He pulled away from your grip harshly.
"What were you thinking?!" you retorted. "You can't use your quirk in public!"
"Yeah? Then why the hell did you use yours?"
"Mine is inconspicuous," you had a matter-of-fact tone. "Yours is loud and flashy. You're also wearing your uniform. What would you do if people reported to UA, detailing how one of their students went ballistic on an older, innocent man?"
"That old troll isn't innocent!"
"No shit, but to other people it's not gonna seem that way!" Your words seemed to shut up Bakugo. He had no good retort.
"I didn't need your damn help," his voice was calmer.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Just try not to blow people up in train stations."
"They should know not to mess with me," he scoffed.
"And villains still do crimes despite All Might's existence," you retorted. "People are always gonna do stupid things. Unfortunately, you gotta just learn to walk away or find another way to get out of the situation. Without violence."
The robotic voice over the speaker system spoke. "Please board: Train M to head to Northern Musutafu. Doors opening."
That was your train. You gave the blond a look and said a quick bye. You hopped onto the train just before the doors closed. You looked at Bakugo through one window. He didn't seem mad. There was a different emotion in his eyes. You wanted to figure out what was going on inside that stubborn head of him. Would that even be worth it? Maybe it was as simple as his ego being hurt by having to be saved by someone. Maybe it was deeper than that, a more personal reason. Something to do with the sludge monster the old man was talking about, perhaps?
You had a vague memory of seeing news about a sludge monster taking a middle school student hostage. Apparently, the student went to Aldera. Maybe it was Bakugo? If that was the case, you couldn't blame him for getting pissed off at that old man. But it wasn't an excuse to try and use one's quirk against the old jerk, especially when you attend a school like UA.
Either way, it wasn't really any of your business. Sure, you were curious (curious doesn't even begin to describe it), but you knew when and when not to pry.
You put in your earphones and played some music, hoping the train ride home wouldn't be too long.
☘️☘️☘️
English class the next day was both boring and mildly confusing.
The English they taught was different. People in the U.S. didn't speak like this, even in professional settings. It also felt kind of suffocating to have every person ask you for help since you were American. You liked that people weren't afraid to approach you, but it kind of stung that the only reason they did was for your so-called intelligence. It reminded you about this one time in junior high—
"L/N, right?" a smooth voice from behind you spoke. It was Yaoyorozu. "Have you gotten to the backside of the worksheet?" she inquired.
The current exercise you were doing was a review of identifying different parts of sentences in English. Conjunctions, adverbs, articles, that kind of jazz. Present Mic gave a hefty worksheet to finish and turn in at the end of class as your ticket to lunch. It was pretty easy for you since American schools practiced this in first grade.
"I finished the back," you nodded. "Did you need help with a certain problem?"
"Can you look over my answers? Specifically number fifteen, I'm not sure if I labeled everything properly."
The old, tired man was sitting under a tree and patiently waiting for his son to arrive.
"You pretty much got everything correct. Oh! Make sure to label 'and' as a conjunction and 'patiently' as an adverb, not an adjective."
"I see! Thank you, L/N."
"If you want, you can just call me Y/N," you offered.
"Really?" she had sparkles in her eyes. "In that case, you can call me Yaomomo!"
You smiled. She seemed happy. Maybe she thought you were becoming friends? You hoped so. "Got it!"
"Alright, class! We have five minutes until lunch. You can start turning in your papers and packing up!" Present Mic announced, placing a basket at the front desk. "Remember, no paper means no lunch!"
You were one of the first to turn your paper into the basket. Second was Bakugo, then Todoroki (that was his name right?), then Yaomomo, then Asui. The others were still working.
"Y/N," Yaomomo began, "Would you like to eat lunch together? Hagakure, Jirou, and Mina will also be there."
"M- me?" you blurted in surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Of course! Did you already have plans? It's okay if you do."
"No! I didn't — I don't," you stumbled across your words. Stupid brain! "It's just I'm not used to people asking me to join them in things. But I'd love to join you guys!"
Yaomomo clasped her hands and smiled. "Then it's settled!"
The bell rang around two minutes later. You slung your bag over your shoulder and walked with Yaomomo, Jirou, and Hagakure to the cafeteria.
"I'm doing it! I'm actually walking with a group of friends!" you cheered in your head. "Just act natural. I can't mess this up."
The four of you ordered your food and sat at a table near a large window. One thing you'll praise UA for is their nice architecture and landscaping.
"Do you guys actually think All Might is going to be our teacher?" Hagakure asked excitedly. You were mid-chew, so you waited for someone else to answer first.
"I hope so! Wouldn't that be so cool!?" Mina answered.
Yaomomo nodded. "It'd be an amazing learning opportunity! As number one, he's sure to have tons of experiences!"
"I just hope he's not like Aizawa," Jirou added with a smile and curved eyebrows. "That man is somehow intense, yet lazy at the same time."
You laughed, "Right? One minute he'll be staring into your soul, the next he's on the ground in his yellow sleeping bag."
"Minimum wage, minimum effort, I suppose?"
"Probably, especially compared to how much he likely makes as a hero."
The rest of lunch went smoothly. You and the girls talked about a bunch of different things. It was nice to be involved. They always made sure you got a word in at least once per topic. The people at your junior high weren't like that…
"I can't dwell on junior high. I'm in high school now. UA, even. The girls here are different," you reminded yourself throughout the lunch period. The bell rang, and you giggled at how Mina and Hagakure groaned.
☘️☘️☘️
"I am… Here!" a deep voice came from the door. "Coming through the door like a hero!"
Oh, damn. All Might was actually here. He was actually a teacher.
"Welcome to the most important class at UA High! Think of it as Hero-ing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it means to fight in the name of good."
The actual lesson your class was doing was… a bit nerve-wracking, to say the least. It was real combat training. Against each other.
"One of the keys to being a pro is looking good! These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you sent before school started!"
From the side of the classroom, briefcases were brought out of the wall. Each one was light blue with a large green number on it containing your costume. You were number 19. You didn't really remember what your costume looked like since Verena and Indra designed most of it.
Everyone stood up and formed a decently straight line out of the classroom towards the locker room. You, Yaomomo, and Jirou talked while heading down. Of course, you talked about your costumes and how you felt about the lesson.
"I'm a bit worried if I'm being honest," Jirou admitted. "We'll actually be getting hurt and stuff."
"I agree. We just have to hope our classmates exhibit sportsmanship and use logic over brute force," Yaomomo nodded.
"I'm particularly worried about Midoriya. Bakugo seems to hate his guts."
"I've noticed that too! It's pretty odd. Didn't you attend the same middle school, Y/N?"
"I did. I'm decently close to Izuku, but he never talked much about Bakugo. Whenever he did, it was memories from when they were super young. Like, five years old," you explained. "I know Bakugo's pissy because Izuku and I are here. He wanted to be the only one from our middle school to attend UA. But I'm not sure why he hates Izuku specifically."
"I hope those two don't go up against each other. Midoriya doesn't seem to have much control over his quirk," Yaomomo shuddered. "I can't imagine how hard Bakugo will go on him."
You and Jirou agreed with her.
Shortly after, you made it to the locker room.
You were surprised when you opened up your briefcase, and impressed once you had your costume on. Indra and Verena did a good job.
Your first layer was simple; just a black long-sleeve bodysuit under black shorts. On top of that was a hooded shawl. It covers you from slightly below the hips and up. The ends of it were stringy, giving a distressed look. Around your neck, hidden by the shawl, were vines. Around your hips was a belt that had a pouch on the side, full of biological material you could bring out to manipulate. Distressed bandages covered your legs with platformed wedge-sole boots over them. On your non-dominant hand, you had multiple rings on each finger joint of bones. On your dominant hand, you had sharp finger covers of pure bone. For your face, you had some sort of gas mask. The glass part that went over your eyes was retractable.
"Woah, Y/N! Your costume looks so cool!" Mina chimed. The rest of the girls looked over at you thanks to her.
"Thank you," you grinned. "I like yours too. The acid wash is a cute touch."
You closed your locker and gave yourself a little pep talk. "This is fine. It'll all be fine. Combat training is to be expected. You can heal yourself in case you get hurt or head to the nurse's office."
You and the girls walked out. Parallel to the girls' locker room was the boys'. It just so happened they finished at the same time as you.
"Woah, Sero's costume matches him perfectly. Why does Mineta have a diaper…? Izuku's is… uhm… something! What the hell is Todoroki's ice thingy? Kaminari's is so cool… Wait, why is Kirishima shirtless?" you blushed at that last thought.
The last person you glance at is Bakugo. It kinda pissed you off how his costume looked pretty good. The grenade gauntlets were creative, and the pointy things that stuck out of his mask matched the whole fit. Even the color palette suited him perfectly. Damn him!
"Take this to heart!" All Might's voice interrupted your thoughts. "From now on, you are all officially heroes in training!"
Notes:
Just to warn you guys for next chapter, I kind of suck asscheeks at writing fight scenes. I tried my hardest tho !!
Also, the following pins are what inspired me for Y/N's costume!:
https://pin.it/i/6sBO7EDLg/
https://pin.it/i/1lgNNVvC7/
https://pin.it/i/4MMaGklmc/
https://pin.it/i/5H8rVwmbV/Her costume will eventually change just a smidge.
Chapter 3: First Day of Training
Chapter Text
"Isn't this training a little advanced?" Asui questioned. You were glad someone else asked.
Essentially, you'd be battling each other to mimic real battles with villains. It was literally only your second day here. "We're here for like the next three years can we slow down a bit?"
"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!" All Might answered.
"Maybe it's time to go home," you thought to yourself, already feeling your soul leave your body.
Your classmates had other questions they needed answering.
"Sir, will you be the one deciding who wins?" — "Logical thing to ask."
"How much can we hurt the other team?" — "Of course Bakugo said that."
"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like earlier?" — "I hope not…"
"Will you be splitting us up based on chance or comparative skill?" — "Also reasonable, take notes Bakugo."
"Isn't this cape chic?" — "What the hell, sure."
"I wasn't finished talking," All Might deadpanned. He opened up.. a paper? "The situation is this: the villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hide-out. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evil do-ers or recover the missile. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect the weapon or capture the heroes."
You hummed as you processed the information. It was a simple concept but it didn't make it any less nerve-wracking.
"Time is limited and we'll choose teams drawing lots! Since there's an uneven amount of students, depending on the quirk of the odd one out, they'll either be added to the heroes' team or the villains'!"
You walked up to the box and prayed to whatever higher being there was that you got a good teammate (not Bakugo), and you didn't have to go against tough or overly aggressive classmates (Bakugo).
You pulled lot A. You look who else got A.
"Y/N, we're teamed together," Izuku smiled. "Uraraka is also going to be on our team."
You could sense your upcoming misery. With Izuku's luck, you're sure to end up going against Bakugo! "Yeah.. I'm so excited," you replied listlessly.
"I declare that the first teams to fight will be…" All might stuck his hands into two different boxes. One said Villains and the other said Heroes. He drew two letters. "These guys!"
A and D.
You were team A.
Bakugo was team D.
"Son of a—"
"Team A will be the heroes, team D will be the villains! Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch."
You stood next to Izuku who looked like he just shit his pants. You raise a brow, "Izuku, are you okay?"
You look to see the cause of his fear. Katsuki Bakugo. You furrowed your eyebrows. "Oi, stop glaring and move your ass. You and Iida have to be in the building before us."
Bakugo scoffed, muttering something under his breath before walking off.
☘️☘️☘️
You, Uraraka, and Izuku were outside the building studying the floor plans.
"Jeez, this building's huge," you commented.
"Right? I don't get how they think five minutes is enough to memorize everything," Uraraka replied. She looked over at Izuku to get his opinion, "Woah! Deku, are you alright? You're sweating a bit through your costume."
"Y- yeah, I'm alright. It's just because we're going up against Kacchan. Plus, there's Iida too. We should be on our guard. Who knows what they'll pull…" Izuku fretted.
You and Uraraka gave a sympathetic look.
"Hey, Izuku… if it'll bring you any comfort, I can face off Bakugo while you and Uraraka deal with Iida," you offered. You hated Bakugo, but Izuku feared Bakugo. For good reason too. You didn't mind sacrificing your own comfort in this scenario.
"No, it's fine. He'll probably target me anyways. If I need any help, I'll definitely let you know over the headset," Izuku gave a smile. "I refuse to back down if he comes after me."
You sighed and gave a small smile of your own, "Whatever you say. Just.. don't get killed, please."
All Might's voice sounded through a speaker system. "Alright! Let's begin your combat training. Team A, Team D… your time starts now!"
You gave each other a look before entering the building. Using Uraraka's quirk, you floated to a window and climbed through, careful about making any noise. Did they have to make the place so dingy? It gave you chills. You just hoped there weren't any bugs around…
Unfortunately, there was. It was big, blond, and loud.
Bakugo appeared from behind a corner and aimed an explosion straight at Izuku. You pushed the other two away and used your quirk to manipulate the rings of bone you had on your non-dominant hand. They melted into one another to create a shield.
Bakugo cleared the smoke with one swing of his hand. "Okay aura-farmer," you scoffed internally.
"What's the matter, Deku? Afraid to stand up and fight me?" Bakugo sneered.
"I lied, he's actually an instigator."
You converted the shield back into rings, semi-positioning yourself to be the first line of defense against the blond. Uraraka was strong in her own right but her quirk wasn't really useful against him. Izuku didn't even have an ounce of control over his quirk yet. He'd break himself down before Bakugo could even get a hit.
Bakugo ran towards you three, palm out and ready to aim another explosion, "I want to hurt you so bad they'll have to stop the fight!"
"Someone's a little too in character," you commented. You used your quirk to stop his movements. But with how much he thrashed, it was harder to stop him than the average person. "Move!" you yelled at the other two, throwing Bakugo down the hall to buy them time.
You grabbed a piece of puffball mushroom you had in your pouch and threw it to the ground. Using your quirk, you enlarged it to act as another wall. You ran to catch up with Izuku and Uraraka afterwards.
"What was that?" Uraraka asked through your headset.
"Puffball mushroom," you answered. "If Bakugo tries to explode it, it'll release tons of spores. It'll be a pain to deal with."
"Good idea!"
In front of you guys was a three way path.
"Do we split up?" Izuku asked, taking off his mask since the whole thing was practically destroyed already.
"If I'm remembering right… it was either the middle or right one that led to a staircase," Uraraka hesitated.
"I'll go middle, you two go right."
Before you could get a word in, Izuku ran down his respective hall.
"Guess we better hurry up, huh?" Uraraka smiled nervously.
The hall was unnecessarily long. "Is this what it felt like to run in the Hunter Exams?!" Eventually and thankfully, the staircase was just up ahead. You went down the right hallway! You informed Izuku of this quietly in case Iida was around.
There was no need to be quiet though. Bakugo's blasts shook the whole building. "Crap, he found Izuku again!"
"We need to hurry up and recover the missile before Bakugo blows Izuku's head off!" You whisper-yelled to Uraraka. That wasn't the only reason why you wanted to speed things up.
Your hands were starting to shake. That wasn't a good sign. It always started that way. Then it spreads down to your legs, back up to your chest, and before you know it, you're shaking completely with a side of puke waiting to come up.
Iida was standing right by the missile just talking to himself. It was almost comedic. Uraraka seemed to think it was, she blew her cover by laughing at him.
"There you are. I knew one of you would be here by now!" Iida pointed at her.
You threw a seed in her direction and made it grow, covering her from Iida's sight. Unfortunately, that gave away your position. He ran towards you and you dodged with ease. You almost ran into a wall though. "Seriously, who designed this building!?"
Uraraka on the other hand was floating towards the missile, running would've made too much noise. Despite that, though, Iida took notice and grabbed the missile.
She fell to the ground and rolled a bit. She was going to hit her head against a wall before you stopped her using your quirk. You sighed in relief once she was safe.
One of the pillars fell to the ground due to one of Bakugo's explosions. Uraraka ran towards it and used her quirk to make it and a bunch of surrounding rocks weightless. "This is it! Improvised special move, Comet Home-run!"
You ran towards the missile, making sure Iida wouldn't move from his spot. You jumped up and grabbed onto it. "I got it!" you yelled.
All Might announced the fight to be over. You slid off the missile and let yourself hit the ground. All the adrenaline that was in your body faded, slowly being replaced by fatigue instead. You were shaking violently, but at least you weren't about to puke. You couldn't say the same about Uraraka though. Iida was by her side making sure she didn't actually vomit.
"At least we won," you muttered. "I hope Izuku's okay."
☘️☘️☘️
Izuku was not okay. When you, Uraraka, and Iida made it toward one of the exits, you saw Izuku being taken away on a stretcher. Bakugo was just… standing. All Might was behind him, hand on his shoulder, speaking to him. "Did it finally occur to him that he went too far?"
Usually you would've eavesdropped, but you were more focused on Izuku. He seemed to have broken—no, shattered his arm again. Wait, was his other arm burned!? Why didn't All Might stop the fight before this? He was the adult here. He should've realized it was heading too far. Being taken away on a stretcher during the first week…? Was that just going to be Izuku's future? Your future? Your classmates, even? Your heart rate quickened and your shaking was no longer just from your drawbacks, but from anxiety.
You and Iida apparently tied for MVP. From what you understood, Uraraka and Izuku were way too reckless while Bakugo was blinded by personal vendettas. Iida embraced the challenge and you did a good job both defending teammates and holding off enemies. "At least I didn't fail," you sighed.
"Young L/N!" All Might pointed at you.
"Y- yes?" you said in surprise. You thought he was going to move on to the next set of teams.
"Go to the nurse's office. It's clear your quirk drawbacks are taking effect on you!"
"Is it seriously that obvious?" you frowned.
"Yes." your classmates replied.
"You guys could've lied and said no," you scratched your cheek. You turned around and walked towards the nearest exit.
Walking there took longer than usual because of your fatigue. But, at least it was quie—
"Why do you walk so damn slow?"
You snapped your head around to make sure you weren't having auditory hallucinations.
"Then walk past me?" you gave him a bored expression.
"Why the hell would I walk past you when I'm supposed to make sure you get to the nurse's alright?" Bakugo retorted.
"Why did they assign you to do that?"
"Think I can't do it or some shit?"
"No… well, yes actually. You were busy being emo and disassociating in the monitoring room. Plus, Izuku is also in the nurse's room. I doubt it'd be a good thing to have you two in the same room at the same time."
"They want me to apologize to the damn nerd, and to 'make up for my actions' by walking you to the stupid nurse."
"Common sense really isn't that common these days," you mumbled before turning around and climbing the stairs.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"
You stopped for a beat and turned to face him. "Izuku wasn't even conscious when they took him out on the stretcher, why would he be awake for you to apologize to him?"
"I know that! But what was I gonna do? Say no?"
"Yes? You always make a scene, it wouldn't be any different."
"Just keep walking, idiot. You're starting to really piss me off."
"Surprised it took this long," you quipped. You turned around again and continued walking up the steps. You would go a bit faster so you could get away from the explosive dog, but seriously, the fatigue you get after adrenaline wears off is disgusting.
"You can't fucking do anything by yourself, can you?"
"Oh piss off, I'm having quirk drawbacks and all my adrenaline wore off," you scoffed. In contrast, you make a small sound of surprise when you're lifted off the ground.
"You're so fucking annoying, making me do this stupid crap," he grumbled.
"I didn't force you into anything, this is your choice."
"You were taking so damn long and I want to get this over with."
"Just shut up."
"You first."
When you're right outside of the nurse's office, Bakugo puts you down rather gently. You honestly expected him to just drop you. He opened the door and pushed you in. "Andd the fantasy is gone," you deadpan.
"How may I help you, dearie?" Recovery Girl asked in her sweet tone.
"I was told to rest here. I'm having quirk drawbacks."
"Again? Is it the nausea?"
"No, just shaking. I also think I hit my back a little hard, I can feel it bruising."
"I'll take a look at it, please sit down on one of the beds."
You nodded and walked towards the ones at the end of the room, right next to the window. Izuku was on one of them, so you picked the one parallel to him. You sat facing the window so you wouldn't be too bored while waiting to get checked.
Bakugo just seemed to stare at Izuku. It reminded you of the train station. He had a certain look in his eyes, one you still couldn't identify.
"Just write a note or something. He's probably not gonna wake up until school ends," you told the blond.
"Then I'll wait to tell him. I'm not some pussy who can't say something face to face," Bakugo retorted.
You held your hands up in mock surrender, not wanting to cause any disturbances in the nurse's office of all places.
Recovery girl walked over to you, "I can't exactly do anything about the shaking besides let you rest here. However, you mentioned hurting your back?"
You nodded, "I fell on it pretty hard."
"Could you show me your back?" You looked over to see if Bakugo was turned around. Thankfully he had more than half a braincell, so he already was.
The body suit you wore had a zipper in the front. You pulled it down and shrugged off the sleeves so your back was exposed. You made sure to cover your chest with your shawl, not just because of the blond's presence but for your own comfort.
"Oh my, what did you fall on?" Recovery Girl asked in horror.
"Uh… concrete, I think. There were probably some rocks where I fell too," you replied, slightly scared about the damage. "It's fine. You're at the nurse's office. Even if it was terrible, she can heal you!"
"You can put your costume back on properly."
She gave you a kiss on the forehead and some water. You could feel your back healing but also your eyes getting heavier. You didn't know if it happened with everyone, but Recovery Girl's quirk made your throat so dry. So, you happily drank the water before allowing yourself to close your eyes.
"It'll just be a small nap…" you told yourself. It was indeed, not a small nap.
Chapter Text
The next morning, you were tired out of your mind. Even after sleeping through the entire school day in the nurse's office and an additional eleven hours once you got home, you were still exhausted.
You got off your train with a yawn. If you just stood there for a second longer, you would've fallen asleep.
Thankfully, you made it onto school grounds without dozing off. You were just about to walk to the front gates when someone yanked your bag and pulled you behind a wall. "What the—"
"Shh!" they all shushed you at the same time.
"Why are we hiding behind a wall?" you whispered. Behind this wall was Bakugo, Kirishima, Kaminari, Todoroki, and Hagakure.
"Reporters are bombarding the school. It's impossible to get in through the main gate," Kirishima answered. "They're asking about All Might and how he is as a teacher."
"These reporters are getting on my nerves," Bakugo grumbled.
"Jirou and Shoji went to look for another way into the school," Todoroki informed you.
"Damn, is it really that bad?" you were shocked.
"Walk over there and find out," Bakugo said sarcastically. You rolled your eyes at him.
The six of you waited behind the wall for a couple of minutes before your phone started to ring. It was Jirou. How did she know you were already there?
"Hello?" you answered.
"You're with Hagakure and the others right?" she asked.
"I am, they told me you and Shoji went to find another way into the school."
"We did! You guys will need to walk along the wall until you see the willow tree. Across from it is an emergency exit. We can open the door for you guys when you get there. But be careful! Reporters are also starting to look around for different entrances."
"Alright, wish us luck."
"Stay safe you guys!" With that, she hung up.
You relayed the information to the other five. They all looked relieved that they wouldn't have to deal with invasive reporters. "How are they so comfortable doing this to high schoolers anyway?"
All of you made it to the willow tree. Across from it was a door that was slightly ajar. One of Shoji's limbs was sticking out just enough to see if you guys were close. Kirishima, Kaminari, Todoroki, and Hagakure all made it to the door. You were next to run over to the door, but you were stopped by Bakugo.
He grabbed you by the arm, "Wait."
His voice was low and deep, maybe even a little husky. It still had a sense of raspiness to it though. It actually sounded really nice like this since he was calm, it was almost melodic— "Pause, why am I analyzing this dude's voice right now??"
He pulled you a little closer to him so you'd be hiding behind the trunk of the willow tree completely. A stray reporter had wandered near where you guys were, also looking for another way in.
"Do you think you could use your quirk to distract that guy?" Bakugo whispered. You thought about it for a few seconds, thinking about what exactly you'd do.
Sticking your hand out slightly, you manipulated his hair into covering his entire face and pushed him to the left. He'd be farther from the door that way.
"Let's go," you whispered to Bakugo before sprinting towards the door. You made sure the reporter would struggle with his hair until Bakugo made it in.
Once the two of you were inside, you let out a big sigh.
"Class is starting soon," Hagakure informed, sounding a little too happy about it. "C'mon let's go!" She linked her arms with yours and Jirou's and walked upstairs.
When you made it into the classroom, you looked at the clock on the wall. Class didn't start for another twenty minutes. You put your stuff down then turned around to face the girls. Yaoyorozu was already behind you, but now Jirou, Hagakure, Mina, Uraraka and Asui were all by your desk.
"Wait why'd—" you started.
"Do you wanna tell us what happened back there?" you couldn't see Hagakure but you could imagine the smirk on her face.
"I'm sorry?"
"Y'know.. You and Bakugo," she whispered his name. While Hagakure was trying to question you, Jirou was informing all the other girls what happened.
"I don't understand. Nothing weird happened?" you scratched your cheek.
"Nothing weird? You call him grabbing your arm and pulling you towards him as nothing weird?!" Mina piped up.
"Shhh!" the other girls shushed her.
"Sorry!"
"He only did that because of the reporter," you tried to explain. You could tell none of them believed you. You would say you only knew the guy for three days, so having any sort of connection would be unrealistic, but they all knew you went to the same junior high. They probably thought you two had something that was bleeding over to high school. "I swear that's all there was."
"Sureee, we definitelyy believe you," Hagakure giggled, rubbing her hands together.
"If you guys are gonna tease me about it, don't let him hear. I'm not interested in getting an explosion to the face," you sighed. You knew your friends were just doing some harmless teasing. You didn't care all that much, but Bakugo probably would.
Eventually, class started and everyone had to take their seats. Class that day was alright. The only assignment was to vote for a class president and vice president. You voted for Yaoyorozu as president and Iida as vice-president. Izuku almost became vice-president, ranking third. Yaoyorozu and Iida were tied. The class agreed on Iida as president and Yaoyorozu as vice-president.
"I can't wait to eat lunch," your stomach felt like it was eating itself. You looked at the clock, thankful that class ended in ten minutes.
☘️☘️☘️
At lunch, you sat with all the 1-A girlies (minus Uraraka, she was with Iida and Izuku), eating your lunch and talking. It was peaceful, nothing out of the ordinary. You talked about homework, shopping after school, theories about what you were going to do next class, etc.
While you were mid-bite, the school's alarm went off.
"Warning, Level 3 Security Breach. All students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion."
"Security breach?" Mina gasped.
"I bet it was those reporters!" Hagakure added.
"It could've been… but UA is much more secure than that," Yaomomo argued.
"I agree. I doubt a small group of reporters could be the cause of a Level 3 security breach," you nodded.
Every student in the cafeteria ran to an exit, you and your friends included. You all quickly came to regret that decision once you were swept away from the mob. You were able to stick with Yaomomo near a window.
"Y/N, look!" she pointed to what was happening outside.
"What?" you breathed out in confusion. "How the hell did the press cause such a high security breach?"
Iida jumped up from the crowd and was standing on top of the exit sign. "Listen up, everything is okay! It's just the media outside."
"Ugh, I love you Iida!" you breathed a sigh of relief. His little speech calmed down the students, so you were no longer being pushed around by sweaty high school kids.
You and Yaoyorozu grabbed onto each other's hands to not get separated again. Soon, you were reunited with some of your classmates and friends. You were happy it was just the press and not anything more serious than that. But, you couldn't help but feel this nagging feeling in the back of your head. "Somebody else was responsible for the infiltration."
Notes:
sorry this is so short guys but I want to write the USJ stuff on a brand new chapter. I could've added this to chapter 3 but I felt like it didn't fit
Next chapter will be long, I promise!! (again, I suck at writing fighting scenes so forgive me)
Chapter Text
"Today's training will be a little different," Aizawa announced. "You will have three instructors. Me, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you."
"Sir, what kind of training is this?" Sero raised his hand. You were surprised it wasn't Iida who asked. He tended to have the most questions out of everybody.
"Rescue. You'll be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks, stuff like that. What you wear in this exercise is up to you. Keep in mind you're not used to your costumes yet so they may hold you back." Aizawa got the remote that brings out all the briefcases. "One last thing, the training will be on an off-campus facility. We'll have to take a bus to get here. That's all. Start getting ready."
You walked up to get your costume. Yours was quite simple, so you already felt like you were used to it.
Getting on the bus wasn't all that bad. You sat next to Todoroki. The guy didn't really speak, so you weren't mad about it. Besides, he looked like he was taking a nap. How he slept through Bakugo and Kaminari's little argument, you wish you knew. You were kind of jealous. You were still sleepy, but you couldn't trust that you'd be able to wake up.
"Stop messing around, we're here," Aizawa announced to the whole class.
☘️☘️☘️
The facility you'd be using was ginormous. The inside was just as impressive, having multiple domes with simulations of different natural disasters. "How much funding does UA have!?"
"A shipwreck, a landslide, a fire, a windstorm, etc. I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different natural disasters!" Thirteen exclaimed. "I call it, The Unforeseen Simulation Joint! But you can call it USJ."
"Just like Universal Studios Japan…" the whole class thought in unison.
Your classmates began to whisper amongst themselves in excitement. Being the nosy gal you are, when you heard Aizawa ask Thirteen something, you listened in.
"Hey, shouldn't All Might be here already?" Aizawa inquired. "Let me guess, he booked an interview instead?"
"Booking an interview when you have a class to teach?" you raised a brow. You could tell All Might was quite irresponsible or unprepared when it came to being a teacher, but planning an interview was a bit too far, even for him.
"Actually it's something else… Apparently, he did too much hero work on the way to work this morning and used up all his power. He's resting in the teacher's lounge."
"I guess all pros have their limits. If any other pro did as much work as All Might did, they'd probably be six feet under. But still… it seems kinda odd how she said 'used up all his power'…"
"That man is the height of irresponsibility." Aizawa concluded the conversation.
Thirteen went on to give a sort of lecture to the class about quirks. Specifically, the dangers of them stating, "Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all quirks are certified and regulated to the max. We often overlook how unsafe they can actually be because of that. 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 saving someone's life."
"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. Carry those lessons to this class. Today, you're going to learn to use your quirks to save people's lives."
"No using your powers against enemies or each other. Only to help. That's what being a hero is all about—ensuring the safety of others."
Aizawa took over, "Right, now that that's over—"
Electricity flew from the lights, rendering them useless. Near a water fountain down below, a dark purple portal began to appear. From the portal, a pale man escaped. He had light blue hair and what had to be about a dozen hands all over him.
"Stay together and don't move!" Aizawa instructed. "Thirteen, protect the students!"
The pale man wasn't the only one to walk out of the growing portal. Dozens, no, hundreds of villains walked through. They were never-ending. One of them specifically gave you the creeps.
It was a large, animalistic creature. Its brain was exposed, and its eyes were melted into it. It was unrealistically muscular and had razor sharp teeth. Its mouth was weirdly shaped. "Are those lips?" Whatever they were, they were a gold yellow color that contrasted the dark, almost black, purple skin.
"So you scumbags used the press as a cover to sneak onto campus," Aizawa sneered.
"Thirteen, why aren't any of the alarms going off?" Yaoyorozu breathed out.
"Good question… I'm not sure."
"Is the entire campus under attack, or is this the only place they've infiltrated?" Todoroki inquired. "Either way, if the alarm sensors aren't being triggered, then one of these villains must have a quirk that's masking their presence here."
"I'll take a gamble and say it's that purple mist guy. The portals he makes…" you trail off. "They're, in a sense, part of his body. If he can turn himself into nothing before manifesting the portals, it's no surprise he bypassed the sensors."
"Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school," Aizawa ordered. He handed the responsibility of your class to Thirteen and jumped down.
Seeing him fight was fascinating. Specifically the way he used his scarf. "Maybe I could have one of those… something similar. I have vines for a similar purpose, but they're easy to burn."
Your class started to evacuate, running behind Thirteen. The portal guy manifested himself in front of your class. He was huge, no shorter than nine— no, ten feet tall.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains," his voice came through. It was deep and loud, almost feeling like it vibrated the area. "I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves to 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?"
"I believe he was supposed to be here, yet he's nowhere to be seen. There must have been a change of plans we could not have foreseen. Well, I suppose in the end it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play."
Thirteen was ready to use her quirk, but Bakugo and Kirishima beat her to it. A giant explosion went off, but it hadn't affected the villain in the slightest.
"I'll scatter you across this facility, to meet my comrades, and your deaths!" the villain declared.
The purple mist only surrounded you at first. Then it flew out to grab you. It pinned you down, wrapping itself around your legs, arms, and shoulders. You tried to fight it as best as you could, but you were afraid you'd break or dislocate a bone if you used too much force. The mist covered the bottom half of your face. You didn't feel like you were choking or losing consciousness, but you did feel yourself slowly sink into the ground. Looking down, a purple portal was right below your feet, swallowing you slowly. It seemed that the only reason why your mouth was covered was so you couldn't scream.
You saw darkness for a moment, but not because you closed your eyes. No.. this labyrinth was just pitch black darkness.
"Am I dead? Will this slowly kill me?" you panicked. You still couldn't speak. "No, wait. He said he'd scatter us across the facility to 'meet his comrades.' He's going to separate us all, then leave us for dead with a bunch of the villains."
As soon as you finished that thought, you felt yourself falling. The portal had dropped you mid-air. You look down and panic. Throwing a seed, you quickly make it grow. You try to latch on to the giant plant, but end up sliding on it like it was some kind of slide. Except, it wasn't the shape of one, so you almost fell off of it several times.
The first part of your body to touch solid ground was your stomach. You effectively had the wind knocked out of you. You groan in pain and attempt to get up.
"Just my luck.. I'm in the stupid landslide area. At least it's not the fire area."
Luckily, you landed onto one of the only stable pieces of terrain. The area around you was a total mess. You couldn't see anyone near you. Was that a good thing? It meant no villains, but also no classmates.
To your left were a bunch of city buildings. They weren't too far away, but with the limited amount of land, it'd be difficult to get there. If you get swept up in the mud, you're likely to hurt yourself. Either you drown or get a fatal wound from debris.
You check your pouch to see what you have left. "Mushrooms, seeds, bones, wood… I could make a bridge out of bones or wood. I have my gas mask so I don't have to worry about mushroom spores. Seeds aren't gonna help me out too much here…"
You said a quick prayer and threw a bone in front of you. You enhanced its size to reach the next piece of stable ground. You continued the pattern until you made it to a safe part of the city. You looked around for any sign of life, both for your quirk and for your safety.
"There's one."
You turned around and were kicked in the stomach. You flew backwards until your back hit a building. You looked up to see three different villains.
One was a shorter girl with lots of hair. It burned bright red and the tips of it were on fire.
The second one was a beast of a man. Seven feet tall and covered in blood and fur.
The third one was an enigma. It wore a cloak that hid its features. "Is that a beak sticking out of it?"
You wrapped one arm around your stomach and attempted to steady your breathing. You debated your options. You could either run away and pray you were faster than them, or you could fight them off.
Your quirk allowed you to manipulate hair, bone, flesh, and blood easily. But, you weren't used to it. You've only had the most practice with plants and animal bones, never people's bodies. It's why you have a hard time stopping a person from moving. It took control and precision.
"I have no choice but to try my best. It's that or I end up dead."
The cloaked villain ran towards you. You swung your dominant hand and enlarged the bones on your fingers. You slashed the cloak off the villain, ripping it to shreds. You were right, he was a bird.
He seemed to excel at close-range combat, immediately attempting to fight you head-on. You dodged his attacks while also having to dodge the fiery girl's hair.
You threw a mushroom at his face and enlarged it. You kicked him square in the nose— er, well, beak. Spores flew everywhere. You took control over them and sent them towards the beast man. You took care of little miss fire hair with ease. You wrapped her own hair all around her, then entrapped her in a cage of bones.
The beast was the toughest physically out of the bunch. The spores didn't seem to affect him much besides making him cough a bit. The fiery one was captured and the bird wasn't able to see or take the mushroom off his beak.
You took a deep breath. You took hold over the beast's body so he wouldn't move. You dislocated both his shoulder joints and rushed all the blood to his head so he'd be lightheaded. Doing both things felt absolutely disgusting. It felt like you were inside of his body and manually dislocated his joints and moved his blood.
"Don't get distracted now!" you remind yourself. You want to scream and cry, feeling appalled at your own actions. You just had to keep reminding yourself it was either do that or die.
You ran and jumped up, swinging a kick at the beast's head. He fell over, seemingly unconscious.
"You brat! What did you do to him!?" the fiery one screeched. "You call yourself a hero in training?"
Your eyes widened at her words. One would expect it to be out of shame, but no, you were shocked at their audacity.
"I'm the evil one!?" you yelled. "You three tried to kill me! Don't act like you're the victim now!" You wrapped her hair around her mouth and tied it up, sick of her voice.
"Maybe you should think about your actions next time. Don't join some pathetic villain group," you spat. "That's never going to get you anywhere. You'll always be miserable in that environment."
Afraid that they might have back-up, you made a wall using some wood to block that area off.
The place felt like it was never ending. All you saw were the same four building types over and over again. It was horrible trying to navigate your way through them as well. Some parts of the ground were very muddy. One slip and you would potentially hit your head against a building.
You felt relief when you heard ice forming. It was probably Todoroki. You peeked your head around a corner and saw a familiar head of red and white hair.
"So the plan was to scatter us and then kill us. Tch, you were woefully unprepared," Todoroki grunted. "In fact, it looks to me that you've had no training. You haven't the slightest idea how to use your quirks."
There were roughly eight villains encased in Todoroki's ice. One was even fully covered. Two more ran at him, but he subdued them with ease. It almost made you a bit ashamed of yourself. It took so much effort and so much of your power to just fight three of them.
"No wonder he got in through recommendation…" You felt even more embarrassed when you remember how you were back at the entrance exams. You held yourself in such high regard, arrogantly thinking you should've made it via recommendation.
"Todoroki!" you called out, walking towards him.
"L/N," his eyes widened. "You're here too?"
You nodded, "I think we're the only two. I've basically been across this entire simulation area. The only people I've seen or heard are villains."
"Are you hurt in any way?"
"Overused my quirk a little bit, but for the most part I'm fine. We need to get out of here. More and more villains are probably coming and we're in one of the worst areas."
He looked at the villains before looking back at you. "I suppose you're right. But how do you think we'll get out of here?"
You didn't exactly have an answer to that. "Uh… hold on give me a moment."
You ran back to one of the buildings and used the bones on your hands to climb up. Looking over the area, you saw the center of the USJ. Aizawa was still fighting enemies and—
You felt your heart drop. The purpley-muscle creature from before had him pinned down. "Is that Mr. Aizawa's.. arm? That's not how it's connected to the body!"
"We have to get to the center fast!" you yelled to Todoroki. "We'll have to cross a large body of water to get there."
You jumped down and ran back to him, you whispered, "Whatever that giant muscle creature was before, it's taken down Aizawa."
Todoroki faltered for a second at your words. He simply nodded. "I understand. I can make a slide of ice, but you'll need to hold onto me."
"That's fine." At this point, you really didn't care. You needed to help Aizawa. The creature was made out of flesh and bones, so even if it meant overusing your quirk, you'd still try to help. You'd also be able to help Aizawa with his injuries to a good enough extent. At least until actual medical professionals arrived on scene.
☘️☘️☘️
By the time you arrived with Todoroki, All Might was mid-fight with the Nomu. From the corner of your eye, you saw Bakugo and Kirishima coming in from the left, and Izuku from the right.
Bakugo blasted the portal guy and held him down. Todoroki quickly put you down and used his ice on the muscle creature. "One of your poorly trained thugs told me you're here because you think you can kill All Might."
The muscle creature had a bit of a grip on All Might. You used your quirk to remove its hand. All Might was able to jump out of its grasp and landed near you and Todoroki.
"The symbol of peace will not be defeated by delinquents like you," Todoroki continued.
"Kurogiri…" the pale man started. "How could you let this brat get the better of you? You've gotten us into a real jam."
"You try anything funny and I'll blow your ass up so bad they'll be piecing you back together for weeks," Bakugo smirked at 'Kurogiri.'
"Woah, that doesn't sound very heroic," Kirishima commented. Damn his voice sounded good.
The pale man whispered, "Nomu."
The purple creature, 'Nomu' as he called it, became whole again. Thanks to Todoroki's quirk, one of its legs and arms broke off. The missing limbs weren't missing for long, though. The remaining ice broke away from its body, and muscle fibers shot out to make new limbs. It was a pretty disgusting sight. "It has no bones," you made a mental note.
"I thought you said his power was shock absorption!" All Might yelled.
"I didn't say that was his only quirk," the pale man chuckled. "He also has super regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you on, even at 100% of your power. He's basically a highly efficient punching bag."
"Get him, Nomu."
The Nomu flung itself at Bakugo. At first, it seemed like it had hit him. But Bakugo was on ground next to you. "All Might took the hit!"
"Kacchan? That's amazing you dodged it!" Izuku said in relief.
"Shut up, no I didn't you damn nerd," Bakugo replied.
"You didn't? Then how'd you get here?" Kirishima questioned.
"It was All Might," you pointed at him.
"These are kids and you didn't hold back?!" All Might coughed.
"I didn't have much choice, he was threatening my companion. Besides, these kids are no angels," the pale man spat. "The plain looking one? He tried to kill me with a maxed out punch. What kind of hero does something like that?"
"You think you can get away with being as violent as you want if you say it's for the greater good? Well you know what, All Might? That pisses me off. Why do people get to decide that some violent acts are heroic and others are villainous?"
You were starting to get irritated. "Who does this guy think he is? Some kind of shitty philosopher?" You manipulated the flesh on his lips, manually keeping them shut.
"If you're gonna have some villain monologue, make it worthwhile. You sound like some emo middle school boy who's discovered the concept of nihilism for the first time," you deadpanned.
Since the pale man couldn't command the Nomu, All Might took it as an opportunity to hit the first punch
Each punch All Might threw felt like a giant gush of wind. The speed that they were going at was so intense. You and your classmates were almost pushed back completely. At some point, it felt like All Might really was treating the Nomu was a punching bag; hitting left, right, up, down, smashing it into the ground. One final punch and the Nomu was sent flying.
That last punch was so strong, the entire USJ shook.
"Imagine having that much brute strength. He practically beat the shock absorption right out of 'em," Kirishima exclaimed.
"He must've been punching the monster so fast it couldn't regenerate," Bakugo added.
The pale guy was shaking with anger. You could see one of his eyes bulging out of his head. It was pretty nasty looking. He ran towards All Might, trying to speak but you still had his mouth shut, so it came out as angry humming.
Izuku jumped up to throw a punch at Kurogiri, but it didn't work. The pale guy's hand shot out and was close to completely disintegrating Izuku. Then, the sound of a bullet rang through the area.
The bullet hit the pale guy's hand and Izuku fell to the ground. You immediately jumped up and grabbed Izuku. The guy still had his other hand. If he acted quick enough, he still could've disintegrated Izuku. Too bad you were faster.
All of the re-enforcements brought in immediately got to work. You were evacuated from the building and reunited with your classmates.
"Y/N!" Mina jumped onto you. You almost fell but a hand shot out and placed itself on your back, stabilizing you. You looked to see who it was, but there was no one there. "Whoever that was has really warm hands." The warmth lingered for quite a while.
"Hi, Mina," you smiled.
"Are you okay?!" she checked you all over.
"I might have overused my quirk a little, but I'm okay, I promise," you reassured her. "How about you?"
"Physically? I'm good. I didn't use my quirk at all. Mentally? Uhm…"
You both cringed at that, knowing the school would force your class into speaking with the counselors. That was future you's problem though.
One of the medics that arrived on scene asked to look over the two of you really quick. Mina was unscathed, but you had tons of bruises and small cuts. The medic had a quirk that used water to heal someone. The water was freezing cold. You were glad your injuries weren't severe, otherwise that cold water would've been on you for more than a minute. It almost made you a bit sad that the warmth from the mystery person's hand was essentially erased.
"Hold on, what the hell am I thinking!?" you scolded yourself. This wasn't like you. "Just move on, Y/N. It wasn't anything serious… Am I really this touch-starved?"
Notes:
Okay low-key I feel like I have to explain something about Y/N's quirk:
Her manipulating a full person's body takes up more of her strength/stamina and manipulating a specific part of a person's body (ex. only their bones) also does. So it may seem like she's barely using her quirk but it's because what she's doing is very tiring !!
Also, her quirk is stronger the stronger her mental status is! So if she's super depressed, even with tons of training, she'll burn out easily and if she's super confident, she'll have a lot of stamina
Chapter Text
"Morning class," a muffled voice came from the doorway.
"Mr. Aizawa, what are you doing here!?" the whole class yelled. The guy was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. He seriously looked like some kind of mummy. Whatever pain medications they gave him must've been enough to sedate a horse.
"Uh.. Mr. Aizawa, are you sure you don't want Y/N to fix you up a bit more before you start teaching?" one of your classmates proposed. "Could I even fix whatever he has going on?"
"I don't think he should take off the bandages," you scratched your cheek. "Otherwise I would."
"My well-being is irrelevant," Aizawa grumbled. "What's more important is that your fight isn't over yet."
The whole class held their breath. What did he mean by that? Were you going to have to fight more villains? Practice evacuations in case another attack happens? Having to move into the school because you have targets on your back!?
"The UA sports festival is about to start."
You breathed a sigh of relief it wasn't anything severe. But you also didn't like the idea of the sports festival. It wasn't like sports festivals at junior high. "Being broadcast to the entire world? Hard pass. Besides, doesn't it seem a bit unsafe? And also odd? It's just watching overpowered teenagers fight each other…"
"Wait a minute..!" Kaminari started.
"Is it really a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the villains snuck inside?" Jirou finished.
"Apparently the administration thinks this is a good opportunity to show that the… 'threat has been handled,' and that our school is safer than ever," Aizawa explained. He himself seems a little skeptical (anyone probably would considering what he suffered). "Additionally, they're beefing up security compared to past years."
"This is a huge opportunity for all students at UA. It's not something we can cancel because of a few villains. Our sports festival is one of the most watched events in the entire world. It used to be the Olympics, but of course, humanity evolved and quirks started appearing."
"Top heroes will be watching as well. This is where you get scouted," Yaoyorozu commented, clenching her fist in determination.
"It's true that joining a famous agency can garner you great experiences and popularity. That's why the festival matters. If you want to go pro one day, then this event could open a 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," Aizawa glared.
You began to sweat in your seat. This was one of your biggest fears. Your career solely depended on whether or not a pro-hero decided you were worthy. Your quirk was often considered villainous, deadly, or straight up weird. Most of what you controlled was the human body. Without seeing how it works and just hearing the description, one might think you contort others. That's not heroic.
"I'm so cooked," you groaned, hitting your head against the desk.
☘️☘️☘️
You had your bag on your shoulder and you were ready to go home. You raised a brow when you noticed your classmates frozen by the door. "Hey, what's going— What the hell."
Practically hundreds of kids were outside of your classroom door. A bunch of mutters and whispers carried from person to person. It felt kinda creepy to have so many eyes on you at the same time. It was like those horror games where you're in some dark place and you just see a bunch of white eyes appearing everywhere, completely surrounding you.
"Why the heck are you all here!?" Uraraka shouted in confusion and surprise.
"Do you students have some sort of business with our class?" Iida calmly asked.
"They're scouting out the competition, idiots," Bakugo walked nonchalantly towards the crowd of students. "We're the class that survived a real villain attack. They want to see us with their own eyes."
"I'm suddenly understanding why celebrities value privacy so much," you mutter, looking kind of disgusted at some of the students in the doorway. Some of their eyes held simple curiosity. Others held a different emotion, something negative.
"So this is class 1-A. I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass," a tired voice pushed through the crowd. The guy who owned it had wild purple hair and tired eyes. Somehow they looked more tired than Aizawa's, and that was saying something. "Is everyone in the hero course delusional or just you?"
"Delusional?"
"I was sad to come here and find a bunch of ego-maniacs. I wanted to be in the hero course. But like many others here, I was forced to join a different track. Such is life."
"Alright, I'm getting deja vu.. He's starting to sound like that pale creep from the USJ."
"I didn't cut it the first time around, but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us to the hero course. They'll have to transfer people out to make space. Scouting the competition? Maybe some of my peers are, but I'm here to let you know that if you don't bring your very best, I'll steal your spot. Consider this a declaration of war—"
You bumped shoulders with the guy, making him lose balance for a second.
"My bad," you say calmly, giving him a bored expression. You were tired of the shitty monologues and your train was going to leave without you if you didn't hurry up.
The guy gives you a look back, "Another one just like Blondie I see."
"And what about it?" you countered. "You're the one starting problems, declaring war as you said? Grow up, dude. 'Blondie' nor nobody in my class is delusional. You just sound kinda bitter."
"Good luck getting into the hero course with that mentality," you concluded. You turned around and walked off. "If I miss my train because of those guys I'm actually gonna explode."
☘️☘️☘️
Training over the course of the next few days was decent enough. You practiced your precision using your quirk on realistic dummies and small plants, ran a whole bunch to higher your stamina, and generally worked out. You were even gaining some noticeable muscle definition. Admittedly, that one guy's words stuck with you. You weren't afraid. No, you were pissed. You wanted to do your very best just to spite him. Maybe not win the entire festival, but getting top five would be nice.
The day of the sports festival, you weren't as anxious as you thought you'd be. That was a good sign, no?
"Do good out there, Y/N! Verena and I will be watching you!" Indra gave you a hug.
"I called out of work just to see you participate. Don't disappoint me!" Verena gave you a kiss on the cheek.
"Because that's not scary," you said sarcastically.
You said goodbye to your siblings and got onto your train. You held onto one of the handles and looked at your phone, scrolling mindlessly on whatever social media app you were on.
"Damn perv," you heard a familiar voice mutter. It was Bakugo. He was right… right by you? Too close one might say.
You raise a brow, "You good?"
"Learn to watch your surroundings, you damn idiot."
"…Huh?" you looked at him confused. "It's barely seven in the morning, why is he already trying to start something?"
"Old ass man tried getting close to you," he explained simply.
"I take back my previous statement!" Your mouth hung open. "I— Thank you so much." You honestly didn't even know how to thank him. Maybe you'd buy him something? Like a drink? A snack? At least he didn't try to blow the man up like last time.
"Whatever," he scoffed.
Bakugo positioned himself in a way where he was practically only six inches away from you. No other person could really be near you. Likely a protective stance since there were so many men on the train, and one already tried to harass you. There were almost too many men. You took this train every morning and afternoon, so you basically recognized everyone who boarded and didn't, which led you to your next question.
"Wait, you take this train?" you ask the explosive blond.
"What's it to you?" he eyed you suspiciously.
"Last time I saw you at the train station, you didn't get on this train."
"Maybe I had to go somewhere else. Why do you even remember that? Are you some stalker?"
"Don't make it weird, it was just something I happened to remember," you deadpanned. "I was just curious is all."
"And curiosity killed the cat."
"But satisfaction brought it back."
"Smartass."
The rest of the train ride was peaceful. You were confused as to where you were supposed to look though. If you looked straight ahead, you'd just see Bakugo's collarbones. If you looked down, it'd be his chest. Turning your head to the left or right would be uncomfortable.
You opted for looking near his chest area. His shirt was kinda baggy, so it's not like you'd see anything. It wasn't weird, right? It'd be fine. Totally normal.
"Are those his pecs—" the tips of your ears turned red and you turned your head away. "I regret being born, why the hell did I have to notice that?"
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Bakugo questioned.
"I'm tired already…" was all you replied. You hoped your voice was steady enough to seem legit.
"From what? Standing for five minutes? How the hell do you expect to participate in the sports festival like that?"
"Don't ask so many questions so early in the morning."
☘️☘️☘️
"Everyone, put your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!" Iida burst into your class' waiting room.
"Kill me now…" you sighed to Mina who gave a slight giggle. "You'll do fine, Y/N. Just do your best."
Notes:
I'm so sorry this chapter is so short guys!! I wanted to mass post a bunch of chapters like I usually do but chapter 7 is taking a long time + I've had so much work to do 💔 high school sucks and I take advanced classes 🥹
Chapter 7 is super long though! Like, over 5k words long!! So be ready for that!! I'll try to upload it later today or even tomorrow
Chapter Text
Present Mic, just as energetic as ever, was announcing your class as you all walked into the arena. You could tell some classmates were scared shitless. Others were genuinely calm while the rest pretended to be calm. You didn't know how you looked but you were likely the latter.
"Now the introductory speech!" Midnight spoke into the mic. "And for the student pledge, we have… Katsuki Bakugo!"
You looked just as baffled as the rest of your classmates. "How is he the first year rep?"
"I mean… I guess he did get first on the entrance exams," Sero suggested.
"Only for the hero course exams," a girl with mid-length brown hair sighed. She was behind that purple haired guy from before.
"Here we go again," you rolled your eyes. "Can these people stop being salty like it's our fault? Jeez…"
Safe to say, Bakugo's 'speech' was a mess. "I just wanna say… I'm gonna win."
"You had one job!" you cursed him out in your mind. People were going to target your class anyway, but now they'd be more determined to prove him wrong.
You kind of wanted him to win just so he didn't embarrass himself, but also, do you really wanna cheer for Katsuki Bakugo of all people? You look around and see all the other students glaring daggers at you. "Maybe I do."
"Without further ado," Midnight took over again. "It's time for us to get started! The first fateful game of the festival. What could it be?"
Behind her, a large screen displayed a plethora of different games. The randomly chosen one was the obstacle race. You doubted your quirk would help you a ton. Maybe you could enhance the muscles in your legs? But how well would that work?
You didn't have much time to think, just do. At the same time, everybody ran through the very narrow doorway. "Whoever designed this needs to be fired expeditiously." It gave you flashbacks to that one time in the cafeteria.
Todoroki ran ahead, covering the entire floor in ice. You finally made it out of the doorway. First of all, it was a cheap move by Todoroki (you'd do the exact same thing if you had his quirk). Second of all, you saw trees all around. Midnight said as long as you stayed within the bounds, all would be well. So technically, using the trees to your advantage wouldn't get you in any trouble.
You manipulated the roots of the trees to break through the ice and carry you forward, acting like a sort of slide. You unfortunately weren't the only one catching up to the ice user. Bakugo, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima were all ahead or going at the same pace as you.
You looked behind you and saw the purple haired creep being carried by a bunch of students. "And he called us egomaniacs.." You looked straight ahead and gasped. The robots that were in the entrance exam were back.
"Seriously? The hero course had to fight those!?" you hear a random student yell. "At least you guys understand why we're in the hero course now."
Todoroki was busy trying to look cool, covering the ground and robot in front of him in ice. His mistake was taking too long doing so. When you passed by him, you heard something about his dad watching. Maybe that was why?
You used some of the roots to keep the robots down and the rest of the roots carried you forward. To not overuse your quirk, you'd run for periods of time. Thankfully you upped your stamina, so running wasn't horrible.
The next section was… interesting. There were a bunch of pillars with thin lines connecting them to one another. Who knows what would happen if you fell.
As boring as it was to continue doing the same thing over and over again, you just needed to use roots. However, instead of having them move under the ground, then to you, you grabbed a good chunk and just reused it. "Todoroki's only using ice, so me only using roots shouldn't really be an issue."
The last obstacle were mines. God, you wish you were Toph Beifong right now. You couldn't sense what was underground when controlling biological material. You could see the mines, sure, but you had to really look.
Todoroki was trying his best to quickly make it to the end, not using his quirk. You knew Bakugo was probably coming soon, and his quirk could easily allow him to avoid the ground all together. You used the chunk of root you had to push yourself forward. It would ground itself into the small spaces in between the mines so you wouldn't activate any of them. You passed Todoroki, but you soon heard explosions.
"Just like that, a new student takes the lead! Uh oh, is that Katsuki Bakugo behind her!?" Present Mic yelled.
Somehow, without you realizing, Izuku was also catching up. While you wanted your friend to win, you already put a little too much effort into this.
You, Bakugo, Todoroki, and Izuku were all running essentially in unison. Izuku was slightly ahead of you three, but you caught up. "I can't thank my past self enough for running so much."
"The first to make it back into the stadium is the first place winner! Y/N L/N is the champion!" Present Mic yelled.
Izuku was mere inches behind you. "I didn't know you were so fast," you joked.
He smiled back at you. "I could say the same. I've never seen you run for that long without getting tired."
"During training, I did a lot of running on purpose. I know my quirk isn't gonna help me everywhere, y'know?"
☘️☘️☘️
"Prepare yourselves for this!" Midnight advised. Behind her, the screen from before said, 'Cavalry Battle.' "Allow me to explain how this game will work."
"The participants will form teams of two to four 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. The points assignments go up in increments of five starting from the bottom. For example, 42nd place is worth 5 points and 41st place is worth 10. The point value assigned to the first place contestant is…"
"10,000,000!" Midnight announced.
"So what you're saying is I should jump right now?" Everyone turned to look at you, their greedy eyes already figuring out ways get those points for themselves. "Now I really gotta be careful when picking who I want to be with."
For fifteen minutes, you had to fight for your life. Your quirk was arguably the most desirable for this sort of game, and you knew that. But it didn't calm the evergrowing pit in your stomach. It reminded you how in junior high—
"You have fifteen minutes to build your teams," Midnight declared.
You were both surprised and relieved people didn't immediately come up to you trying to recruit you. You looked over at Bakugo and saw just under a dozen people surrounding him. "Wait, remind me what your quirks are. And your names!"
You covered your mouth to stifle your laugh. He was being so genuine when saying that too. He almost seemed a little awkward. It was almost cute—
"Pause. What was I about to think." you instantly turned straight-faced, appalled at your own thoughts. "Okay but it was a littleee—"
"Hey, Y/N!" Jirou walked over to you. "Do you have a team yet?"
"Uh.. no," you're a bit embarrassed to say it out loud. "No one's asked me.. like… at all."
"Seems like they're all scared, huh?"
"That or they hate my guts so much they want to crush me," you sighed.
"Hey, do you two need any more members?" a girl neither of you knew walked up to you. She was a taller than average girl with orange hair tied into a side-pony. Behind her was another girl with a similar stature, but she had green hair instead. Wait, was it made out of vines? "I'm Kendo and this is Shiozaki. We're from class 1-B of the hero course."
You and Jirou looked at each other. Despite being from the other hero course class, they didn't seem to hate your guts. If they did, they were good at hiding it.
"You guys can join us! It was just going to be us two otherwise. My name's Y/N, and this is Jirou. We're from class 1-A," you smiled.
You learned Kendo's quirk allowed her hands to grow really big, and Shiozaki could control her hair offensively and defensively. You climbed up at the rider and took a deep breath. "It's fine. It'll all be okay."
☘️☘️☘️
You had your band around your neck, specifically placing it there so you'd have a better chance at dodging or removing someone's hand. Your goal was to avoid getting your band stolen. Considering the hefty amount, you didn't need to steal anyone else's.
Shiozaki would be your main line of defense after yourself. She had incredible control over her quirk. Unless someone had a fire-adjacent quirk, they wouldn't be able to bypass the vines.
Kendo was in charge of carrying you around the most. If you fell, it'd be both easy to take your band and embarrassing for it to happen on live television. Since you had the highest score, everyone would be watching you.
Jirou would be your team's alarm system. She would alert you guys, specifically Kendo, about people coming towards you. She'd also be able to do some defensive moves using shockwaves.
"Let's get this party started!" Present Mic yelled over the speaker system.
3…
2…
1.
"Begin!" Midnight yelled.
People immediately began to run straight towards you. Before the games began, Kendo informed you of the quirks of all her classmates. The one you needed to avoid most was a guy by the name of Monoma. He was blond, blue-eyed, and very cocky. "Sounds like our class blond," you joked with them. Both Bakugo and Monoma had good quirks too.
The first group to charge after you was… Shoji? Wait, was that Mineta inside!?
"We have a bit of an issue!" Jirou whisper-yelled. Both her and Kendo had one foot stuck thanks to Mineta's… balls (that felt really weird to say).
A tongue flew out and almost snatched your band. "He's got Tsu in there too!?"
You used your quirk to remove the balls from Kendo and Jirou's feet and threw them at other teams. They were technically biological material since they not only were produced from Mineta's body, but were also his hair.
Izuku and his squad were the next ones to try and grab your band. Izuku missed, unfortunately. Dark Shadow tried to run it back, but Shiozaki made a shield of vines to protect each attack.
Your team ran off to an emptier corner, hoping you wouldn't have to move for a little.
"We got Todoroki at twelve-o-clock!" Jirou warned. He nor any of his teammates used their quirks. They just kind of stood in front of you guys.
His stare was… something. It felt eerie and threatening but at the same time it was kinda funny how he looked like he had a maximum of three thoughts going on in his head. You held back your laughter, not wanting to come off as mocking.
"Y/N! Your band is mine!" Bakugo's loud voice yelled.
"Since when were we on first name basis!?" Had he ever even said your last name? Maybe it was because he couldn't care to remember your last name and all your friends called you Y/N.
Todoroki used the chance to use his quirk. He froze the ground, but you used your quirk to move his hand away, so the rest of the ice directed itself at Bakugo's team. It kept them at bay while you dealt with the other team.
Kendo broke the ice on the ground using her enlarged hand, freeing Shiozaki who got one of her legs caught in it.
"Can't the timer go any faster!?" you cried internally. With Kaminari on their team, you were kind of screwed. Plants were a conductor of electricity, so you'd risk everyone on your team (including you) getting severely electrocuted, or Shiozaki in particular.
"I see you're playing this smart," Todoroki commented, meeting your gaze.
"That's kind of the point, I fear," you raised a brow, voice hesitant. What was he trying to do??
For the first time since the game started, a particular blond started running towards your team. Monoma.
"We're going to need to run to the left," you alerted your team. "When I say, go, go as fast as you can!"
Kaminari was about to use his quirk, but you were faster at using yours. You shifted his entire body to face Monoma and his team, leading the electricity straight to them. It didn't look like any of them had quirks to combat it.
"Go!"
Your team immediately ran in the opposite direction. The entire game, you'd been conserving as much energy as you could for the final stretch. Now was time! Whenever you were even within ten feet of another team, you pushed them away or made sure they stayed still.
"And with that, the second round is officially over!" Present Mic announced. You've never been happier to hear that man's voice. "Now let's take a look at who our top five teams are!"
"In first place, Team L/N!"
"In second place, Team Todoroki!"
"Third place, Team Bakugo!"
"Fourth place, Team… Shinsou!? Woah, when did they climb up the ranks!?"
"And finally, in fifth place, Team Midoriya!"
You breathed a sigh of relief. "At least I can relax for a little."
☘️☘️☘️
You were the opposite of relaxed, you were actually shaking. Not because of your quirk drawbacks, but because you were so fueled with anger.
"Looks like class 1-A is going full fan-service!"
"Don't say it like that!" you huffed in anger. "We're high school girls. This is not fan-service!"
You and the rest of the 1-A girls were tricked by Kaminari and Mineta to wear the stupid, way too exposing, cheer uniforms. You should've known..! But it was also Yaoyorozu who told you, how could you not trust her?
"Well, we do have a little time before the finals start, and I kind of like these uniforms!" Hagakure piped up in a cheery voice. "How about we just roll with it?"
"Are you crazy!?" Jirou shouted. You shared the same sentiment.
"Have fun competing in these little side games everyone! After they're over, the twenty students of the top five teams will be duking it out one on one in a tournament style fighting competition!" Present Mic yelled.
"We're fighting each other?" your jaw dropped in horror. It was different when you did it during training since you had your costume, were fighting people you knew well, and oh yeah, it was training! Not in front of millions of viewers!
"Uhm, excuse me," Ojiro raised his hand. "Sorry, but I'm withdrawing."
Everyone looked at him in confusion. "But this is a rare chance to get scouted," Iida reasoned. "Why would you want to withdraw?"
"It just wouldn't be right. I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until the very end of it. I.. I think it was that guy's quirk."
Your gaze immediately went to the purple haired guy you'd deemed an enemy. Shinsou, was it? He was the only guy you had zero idea what his quirk could be. Thinking back to the obstacle race, it'd make sense he'd be able to mind control others. He's clearly not considered royalty, so people breaking their backs to carry him across an icy path was unrealistic.
"But how does it work?" you wondered.
"I know this is a great opportunity, and I want to take advantage of it.. but my conscience won't let me. Everyone gave their all in round two, but I was just someone's puppet. I don't want to advance if I don't even know how I got here. It wouldn't be fair."
"You're making way too much of this! Just kill it in the finals and prove why you should be there!" Hagakure jumped up.
"Yeah, what she said. I didn't do much in the second round either," Mina attempted to comfort him.
"That's not it… I'm talking about my pride here. I refuse to give that up!" Ojiro shook his head, placing a hand on his forehead. "And also… why are all the girls dressed up as cheerleaders?"
"Remind me to kick Mineta's ass, 'kay?" you smiled at him.
A boy from class 1-B walked up to Midnight. "Nirengeki Shoda from class 1-B, I think I should withdraw for the exact same reason, regardless of how strong I am. This isn't how I wanted to get here. It would go against the spirit of the festival to advance without having earned my spot myself!"
"Listen to these guys.. they're so manly!" Kirishima teared up. You wouldn't describe it like that, but he had a point.
"It just makes Shinsou look even worse," you hummed. "He'd never do the same thing these guys are."
"This sounds really naive, boys! That turns me on! Shoda, Ojiro, you are withdrawn!" Midnight announced, a little too excited. Your jaw dropped in horror at her reasoning.
You looked back over at Ojiro and gave a soft smile. "Maybe you should rest in the nurse's office. Shoda too. I doubt you guys would wanna see Shinsou or whatever his name was participating."
☘️☘️☘️
You were up against Shinsou in the first round. "Just my damn luck."
"Y/N L/N? A pleasure."
You got the chills. He was right behind you, almost as close as Bakugo was that one time on the train. "What—"
"Not so fast," Ojiro interrupted. He placed his tail in front of your mouth.
Shinsou grinned, letting out a little chuckle. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked off.
You were putting two and two together in your head. "Is… is that how his quirk activates?"
Ojiro nodded. "You can't say a word to him."
"It's a good thing I'm up against him then. I can keep my mouth shut when it counts. Since he replies on his quirk so much, he either doesn't know much hand-to-hand combat, or he's really advanced in it. I'm gonna bet on the former considering how lazy his actions feel…"
Minutes after Ojiro helped you, it was time to get into the arena. It was a large box with concrete as its floor. You can imagine how painful it'd be to get slammed down on it. Ahead of you was Shinsou. He seemed to have a glint of cockiness in his eyes. You couldn't blame the guy. For the maximum five minutes he's known you, you talked back to him. He probably thinks he'll get a rise out of you, make you speak.
When it was time for you two to start, it was awkward at first. Neither of you made the first move. Instead, he opened his mouth and started yapping about whatever. You didn't pay attention to it, too wrapped up in your own thoughts.
"I could just send him flying to the other side…no that'd be too harsh. I could also take a risk and do some hand-to-hand combat, maybe as a way to practice it? But do I really want to practice it during the sports festival of all times?"
You decided to just take the risk anyways. It'd give you a better grasp on him as a person. Back in junior high, you read a book about the psychology of people and how they defend themselves or fight others shows their mental capabilities.
You ran up to him and started off with simple combat moves. Based on how easily he seemed to dodge them, you'd up the complexity of them.
"Oh, so you attack me when I mention your little Blondie?" Shinsou smiled as he dodged. He wasn't horrible at dodging your attacks, but not anything professional.
"My little what??" you raised a brow at his words. Just what had he been saying beforehand?
"I knew there was a little something between you two when you defended him. That day in the hall, remember? Is it one-sided or mutual?"
"Who are you talking about!?" the confusion without being able to speak was irritating you. You were so curious!
You landed a solid kick to him that sent him a good three yards back.
"Somebody has strong legs," he coughed out. "Y'know I'm almost jealous of you."
"Thanks to the way my quirk works I've always been at a big disadvantage. But someone as blessed as you wouldn't understand that!"
"What is he talking about?"
"At least you have a useful quirk, one that's more heroic!"
"Heroic? You're the first to ever say that. Actually, no, second. Izuku's the first."
"It'll be so easy for you to reach your goal!"
At that, you paused. Would it really? After everyone had shamed you, abandoned you over your quirk? There's no guarantee winning the sports festival would make any pros want you at their agency. You accepted that the minute Aizawa announced the sports festival was primarily used for scouting opportunities.
To hear Shinsou say those words so easily was both offensive and nauseating. He was disregarding all that you've been through, but it was clear he experienced the same thing. He was projecting. Plain and simple. That irked you. Thinking about the amount of people who were made to feel disgusting because of something they couldn't control was infuriating.
Every second being in this fight just added to your sense of unease and annoyance. It was not healthy for your brain. "I need to get this over with. And fast."
You went back to attacking the boy, but this time also using your quirk. You'd move a limb to get a more precise hit, one that wasn't as painful but had force to push him back. He attempted to fight back but you blocked most of his hits easily, dodging all the others. You aimed a kick to his head, but stopped when there was barely two inches left.
"Y/N advances to the second round! Shinsou has stepped over the line!" Midnight announced. Shinsou's left foot was completely over the line. You pushed him without him realizing.
"You and I are more similar than you think," you put your foot down and stepped back a bit. "People have always looked at me as a monster or destructive object. The only difference is I put all that negative energy into proving them wrong."
Shinsou looked at you with a mixture of confusion, understanding, irritation, and slight admiration.
"And also, who was the 'Blondie' you were talking about earlier?" your tone shifted to something more casual. "I zoned out like the first few minutes of the match."
"Uh… Whatever the explosive guy's name is."
"Ohh, you mean Bakugo?" you asked casually. Then you realized, "Wait. Bakugo!?"
☘️☘️☘️
You walked to the nurse's office with not much energy left. Both in terms of your quirk and mentally. At this point the office might as well be your second home, maybe even first. You laid down on one of the beds and took a deep breath. You drank some water and were provided nausea medication.
Shinsou refused to repeat what he said to you about Bakugo, no matter how much you begged him. You thought back to what you did hear.
"'I knew there was a little something between you two when you defended him … Is it one-sided or mutual?' What the hell does that mean? How is there 'something' between us? I wasn't just defending Bakugo, I was defending everyone in 1-A. What would the 'something' even be?"
You heard Present Mic yell about the next few rounds.
Kirishima and Tetsutetsu fought and tied, but had an arm wrestling match afterward which Kirishima ended up winning.
Then was Uraraka and Bakugo. You were glad you weren't there to see it. Seeing Uraraka getting hurt would've made you more upset than you already were.
After that, it was Izuku's and Todoroki's. From what you could hear, it was a very dramatic and exciting fight from a third person view, and personal between the two boys.
Kirishima and Bakugo's fight was next. If you won your next match against Tokoyami and Bakugo won against Kirishima, you'd be going against him. Whichever one of you won after that would fight against Todoroki.
"Damn. I was hoping I'd be able to fight Todoroki first, then Bakugo. He has less control over his ice, so it'd be easier for me. Easier than Bakugo's dumbass, anyways."
"Dearie, your match is going to start soon. You best be on your way," Recovery Girl informed.
You nodded, "Thank you, I will."
You walked out with a pit in your stomach and a desperate craving for good food. You couldn't eat comfortably during lunch for whatever reason. You only really ate some bread and drank a bunch of water. "Damn, I should've just shoved the food down my damn throat!" you scolded yourself.
You walked into the arena, opposite Tokoyami. He gave you a small nod of acknowledgement and respect. You had to appreciate the guy's manners. You gave one back, and then the match started.
"Begin!" Midnight yelled.
Dark Shadow sprouted herself from Tokoyami's body and immediately flew towards you. You dodged most of her attacks, but she got one good hit on your arm. "Damn, she hits hard!"
You couldn't waste anymore time. Dark Shadow wasn't going to let you get close to Tokoyami to be able to fight him.
You used your quirk quite a bit during the cavalry battle. It didn't affect you until your match with Shinsou. The nausea medicine you were given was already wearing off. Did it even take effect in the first place? Didn't feel like it. You were hit again by Dark Shadow. It was in the same spot. "That'll leave a nasty bruise.."
Afraid of getting hurt any more, you pushed Tokoyami's body using your quirk. He tried to fight against it, but it was futile. He and Dark Shadow were pushed out of bounds.
"Y/N L/… wins this rou…! She will adv… to the…. round!"
"What? Why can't I hear?" Your hearing was going in and out. Once Midnight stopped talking (you looked at her lips to check), it was pure silence. All you could hear was your breath going in and out of your body at an alarming rate. Yet, none of the oxygen was going in. You brought a hand to one of your ears to make sure something wasn't trapped in there. Of course it wasn't likely, but you couldn't think of any other reason why you'd suddenly lose your hearing.
"Why am I breathing so heavily? What's going on?" You looked around and everyone seemed normal. You walked off of the arena and made it to the hallway. The further you walked in, the harder it was to keep your balance. You leaned against the wall and grabbed at your collar. It felt like it was wrapping itself around your throat. Not to mention the horrific migraine coming in.
You fell to your knees, doubling over in what was now pain. Your chest felt like it was on fire. Your lungs felt like they were being incinerated. Your head was about to explode. In addition to all those things, your arm was still injured. It was a deep purple color and even had some broken skin here and there. You wanted to use your quirk to mend the flesh, but it felt like your body was overloaded. Another command and it would break.
You heard footsteps running towards you, but you couldn't bear to look up. Your muscles were hurting so bad.
"I just want to go home." You thought to yourself. "I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home. I want—"
The words repeated in your mind like a mantra. You weren't safe here. It was dangerous. It was too much. You were back to where you were mere months ago. Dozens of eyes on you, looking at you with disgust because of your quirk. How could you have thought you could become a hero? Someone some people look at in admiration instead of contempt.
You felt multiple hands on your body before it all just stopped.
You saw black. It would've made you panic more, but the darkness that surrounded you was, in a way, calming. Once it came, all the pain stopped.
The pain, unfortunately, was back in full swing when you blinked. Above you were blinding white lights. "God damn.. those lights must be 10,000 Kelvin or something."
You tried to get up, but someone ushered you to lay down. "Wait! Don't get up yet!" It was Uraraka. What the hell was she doing here? Matter of fact, where were you!?
You turned your head around to observe your surroundings. "I'm back in the fucking nurse's office!"
"Uraraka? I—"
"You overused your quirk," a voice from your left said. It was Aizawa.
"I… huh!?" you were confused. "That didn't feel like I overused my quirk. I've never had drawbacks so severe!"
"We're just as confused as you are. We have our theories, but we're waiting for your siblings to arrive to be able to confirm any of them. They were called immediately once you were found passed out. You'll leave as soon as you receive your medal to head to a proper hospital."
"My medal?"
"You placed third since you weren't in proper condition to go up against Bakugo. Originally, you were supposed to go up against him after you woke up, but he angerly declined."
"He said he didn't want to fight you if you couldn't give 100%," Uraraka informed you. "Actually, Bakug—"
Todoroki knocked at the door, interrupting what Uraraka was going to say. "Is L/N awake? The top three need to be at the podium soon to receive their medals." He cracked the door open and looked inside. "Oh, hi L/N."
"Hi?" you replied, still confused about how your drawbacks could've been that serious.
"She'll be there in a minute," Aizawa dismissed him. He looked back at you. "Due to your body's condition, Recovery Girl couldn't use her quirk on you. Your arm will likely have to heal on its own."
"Alright, I understand," you nodded. You sat up with the help of Uraraka. She also helped you put your jacket back on and your shoes.
You met up with some of the teachers who led you to where you'd be standing. Once you got into your spot, the ground began to rise. "So it's a platform."
You squinted your eyes as you moved upwards. The sun was really bright for whatever reason. That or your eyes were just sensitive after your whole situation.
You looked to your right to see who got first place. "What the— Why is Bakugo tied to a cement block!? Is that a muzzle!?"
"Now, let's break out the hardware! Of course there's only one person worthy of distributing the awards!" Midnight announced.
It was All Might, of course. He jumped down with his signature smile.
"So now that you're here All Might, why don't you start the presentation?" Midnight held up a box that had three medals in it.
As third place, you got the bronze medal. "Young L/N, congratulations. You showed great strength, strategy, and resilience. It'll be interesting to see how you grow."
You nodded, "Thank you, sir."
He gave you a hug. "We just have to make sure what happened earlier doesn't happen again. I heard it was drawbacks. You can easily work on that during training, so do not fret. Your journey as a hero is not over."
"Yes, sir."
He moved on to giving Todoroki and Bakugo their respective medals. Bakugo fought getting his. "Seriously, did they have to tie him to a cement block? Isn't that a little too much for a 15 year old boy?"
After the three of you received your medals, you were escorted by Midnight to a special room. Inside, your siblings were sat at a table talking with Mr. Aizawa.
Immediately when you walked in, your siblings ran towards you.
"Y/N! Oh thank God you're okay!" Verena threw herself onto you.
"When we got the call we dropped everything and came. Does anything hurt?" Indra checked your temperature.
"No, nothing hurts. Well, besides my arm but it has a bruise from one of my earlier fights," you reassured.
"Please, take a seat," Aizawa called from behind.
The three of you sat down and your siblings were told what happened. Verena looked visibly stressed, hand on her forehead, and sighing. Indra was rubbing her back with a concerned expression.
"If you have any idea why this might've happened and how to fix it, we'd be very grateful," Aizawa bowed slightly.
Verena paused before looking up at Aizawa. "I have the same quirk as Y/N, down to the specifics. There was a time where I experienced such drawbacks…"
She looked over at you, "Y/N… are you getting bullied?"
Your eyes widen, "What?!"
"Back when I was still training as a hero, I was getting pushed around by students and staff. Using my quirk too much would cause me to have panic attacks, internal bleeding and memory loss. I'd always pass out as well."
You shook your head. "No! I'm not!"
"You can tell us if you are," Indra looked at you with concern.
"I promise I'm not! I…" you trailed off. You never wanted to tell your siblings what happened to you in middle school. All the lies and judgement you faced. But you couldn't lie now. What if they thought you were getting bullied and pulled you out of UA? You'd been much happier at UA than you have been all three years of middle school!
"I got bullied in middle school," you muttered.
"I'm sorry?" Verena blinked at you. "You were bullied in middle school?"
You nodded. "All three years…"
"Why didn't you ever tell us?"
"That.." you didn't have an answer to that. Embarrassment? Shame? "I'm not sure. I just never wanted to, I guess. I felt like it wasn't important after I graduated too since only two people from my junior high were going to attend UA. One of them was my friend and the other was a guy I had never interacted with before."
"Well, that explains that," Aizawa chimed in. "But how did you stop getting those drawbacks?"
"I stopped being in that environment and healed. Granted I also had a therapist at that time," Verena explained. "Our quirk's strength and the user's ability to control it is solely based on the user's mental health. Even with lots of training, let's say the user is depressed, the quirk will start to break down the body. Doctors have told me it was because the quirk thinks the threat is inside the body. It can't be controlled since it thinks someone who isn't the user is attempting to use its power."
"UA offers therapy of all kinds to students, free of charge. Getting L/N a therapist would be no issue. We would just need her guardians, you two, to give permission to do so."
"I'm getting a therapist?" The logical side of your brain fought the emotional side. The emotional side wanted to deny that getting bullied affected you. The logical side however concluded that yes, getting bullied really does mess somebody up. You were not excluded from that.
The three adults continued to chat and do paperwork. You took the medal off of you and held it in your hands.
"Third place. At least it was top five. I wonder what would've happened if I fought Bakugo… granted that I didn't pass out and stuff. Would I win? Would he? I wonder how the fight between him and Todoroki went down. Todoroki looked fine when I saw him in the nurse's office. But Bakugo was tied up and had a muzzle."
"Y/N, we're going to visit a hospital," Indra broke you out of your trance. "Then we can finally go home. You have a few days off, too."
Notes:
this chapter took a long time to write I hope you enjoyed it!! I hope I did well showing how fast certain parts of the sports festival must've felt like
I also hope I did decently explaining Y/N's whole quirk situation 😓
Chapter Text
Thankfully, UA had half a brain to give all students a week break before resuming classes. During that break, you were able to meet with a therapist who you'd be seeing roughly twice a week. It was scary, but you knew it was what you needed in order to become a proper hero.
While waiting for your train, you were stopped by two little kids who wanted a picture with their, 'favorite future hero'. They told you they cheered for you during the sports festival. "They're so cute!"
Their words made your heart swell, and it gave you motivation to do better. Kids were cheering for you!
When you actually got onto your train, you were recognized by a few people. They all wished you well in your studies and hoped your drawbacks wouldn't affect you as much going forward.
"I think I understand why pros do what they do. Well, besides to save people's lives, obviously. The support is so heart-warming!"
You walked happily into class, a first for you. You didn't hate school, but at the end of the day, it was school.
"Morning."
"Good morning, Mr. Aizawa," the class said in unison.
"We have a big class today," he began. "Hero informatics."
The class went rigid.
"You need codenames. It's time to pick your hero identities. This is related to the pro-hero draft picks I talked about the last time we were in class together. Normally students don't have to worry about the draft yet, not until their 2nd or 3rd year actually but your class is different."
"In fact, by extending offers to first years like you, pros are essentially invested in your potential. Any offers can be rescinded if their interest in you dies down before graduation, though."
"So we'll still have to prove ourselves even after getting recruited?" Hagakure inquired.
"Correct. Now here are the totals for those of you who got offers."
Todoroki — 4123
Bakugo —3556
L/N — 2993
Tokoyami — 360
Iida — 301
Kaminari — 272
Yaoyorozu — 108
Kirishima — 68
Uraraka — 20
Sero — 14
"2993!? I get I placed top 3 but that's still an egregious number! At least it means I have lots to choose from..?"
"In past years it's been more spread out, but there's a pretty big gap this time," Aizawa commented.
"Todoroki got the most offers?" Jirou raised a brow. "Ahead of Bakugo?"
"It's the opposite of how they placed in the festival," Kirishima added.
"They probably weren't excited about working with the kid who had to be chained up in the end," Sero theorized.
"If I scared a pro, they're just weak!" Bakugo yelled.
"Dude's got a point," you added. Pros fought villains all the time. How does one first year scare them? You weren't scared of him (technically), and you were a fifteen year old girl who'd only seen villains once.
"Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros. Got it? Even those of you who didn't get any offers," Aizawa interrupted.
"We're all interning?" Izuku asked.
"Yes. You already got to experience combat with real villains during the attack of the USJ facility. But it'll still be helpful to see pros at work up close in the field, first-hand."
"These hero names will likely be temporary. But take them seriously or—"
"You'll have hell to pay later!" Midnight opened the door, finishing Aizawa's sentence. "What you pick today could be your code name for life. You better be careful, or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent."
"Yeah, she's got a good point. Midnight is going to have final approval over your names. It's not my forte. The name you give yourself is important. It helps re-enforce your image and shows what kind of hero you want to be in the future. A code name tells people exactly what you represent."
Whiteboards were passed down via rows. You grabbed the ones Izuku handed to you. You placed one in front of you and gave the last one to Yaoyorozu.
"Now students, who among you is ready to share?" Midnight asked.
"I haven't even thought of mine. How are some people already done!?"
Aoyama went first. His was… unsurprising. "The shining hero: I cannot stop twinkling!"
"Oh wow…"
"It'll be better this way," Midnight grabbed the board. "Take out the 'I' and shorten the 'cannot' to 'can't'."
"She likes it!?" Multiple students said in shock.
Froppy, Red Riot, Earphone Jack, Tentacole, Cellophane, Tailman, Sugarman… Pinky. Chargebolt. Invisible Girl! Creati! Uravity! Tsukuyomi— "How is everyone coming up with their names!? And they're all so creative too! Well, I guess besides Todoroki's but he's chill so he gets a pass."
Turns out picking a hero name for one's self is actually very difficult.
"Hey, Izuku," you whispered. "Have you come up with anything?"
He looked back at you with a blank whiteboard. "Not a single thing," he deadpanned. "Have you?'
"I have about as much hero names in my head right now as I do gold medals."
"None?"
"None."
Izuku laughed. "I guess we're both struggling bad, huh?"
"All I have is what I want to put for like.. the part prior to the actual name. I've come up with 'The Body Script Hero'. I want my hero name to convey something like, 'I'm not affected by my past anymore,' y'know?" Izuku, being your friend since junior high, knew about your bullying. You were comfortable mentioning/alluding to it to him.
"That's good! Just build off of that. Something that says you've moved on.. Like a sort rebirth?"
"I guess…" you hummed. "Maybe.. something like Regenesis?"
"I think that sounds good!"
"Really? Or are you just saying that because I'm your best friend?"
"What? No— really! I think it suits you! That or something that pertains more to your quirk. Like Biomancer or something."
"I feel like Midnight would tell me no on that one. Kinda like how she rejected Mina's 'Alien Queen' idea."
"Fair enough… But I think you should go for whichever one you want. After all, it's your hero name."
"True.." you sighed with a smile. "Thanks Izuku for the help."
"Your welcome! I need to get back to thinking about my own hero name…"
You paused for a moment. "Hmm… what about 'Deku'?"
"'Deku?' Why that?"
"Well, number one, during this conversation you wrote the 'De' part on your board. Number two, you've changed the meaning of it, no? For it to be something more positive? That's why you've keep it as your nickname, right?"
"Uh.. yeah! Was it a little obvious?"
"Just a tad," you smiled. "All because of Uraraka~"
"Huh? What!?"
You got up and walked up to the podium. "I'm the Body Script Hero: Regenesis!"
"Oh! I like that a lot! You're mentioning your quirk while also having a name that gives out hope for a new future!" Midnight complimented.
☘️☘️☘️
"Now that everyone's decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about upcoming internships. They'll last for one week. As for who you'll be working with, those of you 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 about 40 agencies across the country who have agreed to take on interns from your class," Aizawa explained. "Each agency has a different specialty that its heroes focus on. Keep that in mind."
"Imagine that you were Thirteen. You'd want an agency that focuses on rescuing people, not fighting villains," Midnight gave an example.
"Think carefully before you decide. Turn in your choices before the weekend," Aizawa declared as he and Midnight walked towards the door.
"We only have two days?!" Sero yelled in surprise.
"Yeah, so you should start now. You're dismissed."
Your classmates began to talk about what they wanted in an agency. Some wanted specific environments while others wanted to purely do rescues. You looked at your list of offers. It was a giant stack on your left that had thousands of names.
"How do I even begin to choose?" Thinking about it made you stressed. "My quirk wouldn't be super great at rescuing people, so I should look for an agency that deals with fighting villains. As for what city… uh…I guess I don't have a particular preference?"
Towards the bottom of your pile, more of the well-known heroes were listed.
"Kamui Woods.. Best Jeanist.. Endeavor.. Hawks.. oo, there's Snipe.. oh wow Edgeshot too.. Mirko's— wait, what?" You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. Your eyes scanned the words carefully over and over. You questioned if you were even reading that name right. You weren't exceptional at Japanese yet, maybe your brain was having a fart?
"Uh, Izuku, can I ask a favor?" You tapped your friend on the shoulder. "Am I reading this wrong or does it say Mirko for number 2989?"
Izuku took the paper from your hands and read it himself. "It does! That's amazing, you got an offer from a top hero! This entire page has all the top heroes; Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Edgeshot."
"I thought Mirko didn't have an agency though? Isn't that kinda her thing?" you tilted your head. "What if it's a typo?"
"Well, if you're concerned about it being a mistake, I'd ask the teachers about it or pick a different top three."
"Hmm, alright. Thank you, though!"
"Of course!" Izuku turned back around when some of your other classmates came by his desk.
You tapped your pencil against the desk softly as you debated your options. "If Mirko really did give me an offer, I'd want her at number one. But who else..? I guess Edgeshot is pretty cool. Snipe reminds me of America, but he wouldn't really help me with my quirk… I just don't like Endeavor, so he's off the list. Kamui Woods isn't horrible either, but his help would be limited."
You wrote an admittedly random selection.
-
The Rabbit Hero: Mirko
-
Naruhata, Tokyo
The Ninja Hero: Edgeshot
-
Esuha, Kansai
The BMI Hero: Fat Gum
You got up from your chair, packing up all your things in your bag. You pick up the paper and hold it in your hands as you walk to the teacher's office.
You turn in your paper as quickly as you can. You did not want to second-guess your choices. "This is the best for my quirk.. yeah! Best for my quirk. Those are the three I'd want to work with most."
You got on your train home, sighing at the amount of homework you'd have to do when you got home. "Curse you Present Mic and your stupid English projects!" Sure you knew English well, but that doesn't mean you want to do projects for the class. It felt so tedious.
You let out a small 'oof' sound when the back of your bag was pulled. You almost bumped heads with the person standing behind you as you attempted to turn around.
"What is up with you and pulling my bag?" You deadpanned. You got deja vu to when he pulled your bag the day the reporters were bombarding the school.
"How'd you come up with your hero name?" Bakugo demanded an answer. Not a hi or hello. Not even an oi.
"Do you need help with yours?"
"Dumbass teachers think all the names I come up with are shit. They told me to ask you for 'advice,'" he made air quotes.
"Well, have you come up with anything besides things involving 'explosion,' 'murder,' or 'god'?"
He looked away from you for a brief moment. "He's gonna get wrinkles by the time he's 20 with how much he furrows his brows."
He looked back at you, "You're not gonna steal it?"
"Why would I—" You paused. His demeanor was different. You couldn't risk making him close up. "I like the one I made plus our quirks aren't similar at all."
There was a small moment of silence. "Dynamight."
"Dynamite? That's pretty good, though?" You tilted your head. "Did Midnight reject it again?"
"It could be better."
"Do you want the name to focus on your quirk or you as a person?"
"I don't give two shits. Just as long as it sounds cool."
You hummed quietly in thought. "Explosions, loud, heavy, powerful…" you spat out simple ideas in your head. "He usually propels himself… something to do with his fighting style?"
You thought back to the sports festival. That was when you saw him fight the most. What did he do? What was something you constantly noticed?
"What about Ground Zero?"
"The fuck kind of name is that?"
"Alright bro, forget I even tried," you scoffed and turned away. You actually liked the name and were pretty proud you came up with it.
When you turned around, the distance between you and Bakugo grew. Not necessarily because you made a conscious decision to do that, but it just happened. He reversed that action though by pulling you back.
"Don't walk away from me," he glared.
"Not that I'd ever try," You commented sarcastically. You changed the topic, "Did you finish the English project?"
"I'm not giving it to you."
"I'm just asking! And I'm better at English than you, why would I need to copy off you?"
You two quietly bickered until you got off the train.
It's been an ongoing phenomenon that after you talk to Bakugo, you suddenly get a sort of.. clarity. Your actions, words, and thoughts. It's like it all rushes back to you in a single minute. You remembered how you paused to reword what you were going to say. "Why did I care about Bakugo closing off from me? Why was I so careful?"
"Why am I making this weird? I only did that so he wouldn't be afraid to ask me again for stuff. Not for anything odd. Just so he doesn't harm himself by bottling everything up. That's all…"
Notes:
It's my birthday today so I thought I'd post this chapter early 😋 (I usually post on weekends (I was in a good mood))
I hope you guys enjoyed it even if it was a little short 🫶
And also just in case you guys were wondering, the romance is still slow burn I swear. It might seem like it's going a bit fast, but I plan to make them realize their feelings more down the line and they don't get together until even farther down the line. My beta reader asked about that 🥀 so I thought I'd clear it up !!
Chapter 9: Stains
Notes:
I'M SORRY THIS IS LATE I WAS BUSY ALL WEEK 💔🥹 MIDTERMS ARE SOON SO MY TEACHERS ARE GIVING US EXTRA WORK
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Hosu City?" You asked in confusion.
"Yup, with Manual," Uraraka nodded.
"Iida probably got way better offers than that," you frowned.
"That's what we thought… we're assuming it's because of the hero killer. The one who's been going on a rampage all over Tokyo. His last killing was apparently in Hosu."
"We're worried he's going after him. We can't really pry into Iida's life or mind," Izuku added. He looked just as worried. "That's just how it is between us."
"I'm surprised the class president, sharp and rule-following, would go after the hero killer. What could he possibly be planning?"
"I'm sure he'll be okay," you attempted to comfort the two. "I think he'll come to realize soon enough there isn't exactly anything he could do, as sad as that may be."
"We can only hope," Uraraka sighed.
The two left first, leaving you with your own thoughts.
"I just hope Iida doesn't get himself into too much trouble. He really is like an enigma. You think one thing and he goes and does the opposite." You sigh, "I can't think about him too hard. I trust the logical side of his brain will stop him from engaging in a fight with Stain, at the very least."
☘️☘️☘️
Your class was waiting in Shinkansen Station. Aizawa was giving you a basic run down of what's to be expected of you and your classmates (i.e., mind your manners and focus on the work).
Some classmates had trains that left earlier, while others left later. You were a part of the former.
Apparently, Mirko really did give you an offer. You were really surprised when you got the final paper saying which hero you'd be with. She wanted to meet in a city in Tokyo. "A… hotel?" You squinted your eyes at your phone to really make sure you weren't tweaking.
"It's run by heroes, so don't worry about security." Mirko messaged.
"I don't know how much I trust this… Maybe it's gonna be like, my first test or whatever."
Without much choice, you got on the train and put in your earphones. The ride there was going to be a couple of hours, so it was good that you left early in the morning. You let Mirko know an estimated guess on what time you'd be getting there.
For the majority of the ride, you either listened to podcasts on your phone or music on your ipod (you didn't want your phone to die so quickly).
When you got to the city, your legs were basically both asleep. It'd be a pain in the ass to walk to the hotel. And also dangerous… UA uniforms were easily recognizable and you were literally holding a briefcase. Thugs are everywhere and you're a teenage girl. You can't even use your quirk without a license, so it's not like you could do anything about it. Well.. maybe you could. It's quiet and basically invisible.. you just use your hands more often than not for precision.
"Turn right to reach your destination," your GPS said. You turned right and stopped.
In front of you was one of the biggest buildings you had ever seen. Big and lavish. "Is it encrusted in crystals or something? Why is it so shiny!?" It hurt to look at after three seconds.
You walked in with a pound of anxiety. "What if they think I'm some random high school student who's trying to sneak into this super fancy hero hotel using the excuse of Mirko because she never works with people!??!?"
The receptionist was a tall male. He looked at you with a skeptical expression. "What do you need?" He rolled his eyes and looked back down at his computer. Such a rude tone and for what?
"I'm here to see M—"
"She's with me," a deep feminine voice called from near the elevators. You looked over and saw what had to be the most beautiful woman ever. She was tall—no shorter than 5'9"—had white long hair, tan skin, some of the best eyelashes you've ever seen, and bunny ears.
"I feel kind of creepy for staring but damn…"
"Oh my, my sincerest apologies, Ms. Mirko," the receptionist's tone immediately shifted to something more professional, apologetic, even. His expression also brightened.
You gave him a glare, "Asshat!"
You walked with Mirko to the elevators. You arrived on what was probably the twelfth floor. "How is it fancier than the lobby…? Is that a water fountain!?" There was, in fact, a water fountain in the middle of the hall. It was honestly kind of disturbing how it was just placed there, but rich people don't often have good taste in decor… or anything creative, for that matter.
Mirko unlocked one of only four doors that were on that floor. "This is where we'll be staying."
The place was huge. Huge was actually an understatement. It looked like you were in some sort of penthouse rather than a hotel.
"I'm not for all this white marble crap," Mirko knocked on one of the marble pillars that had gold details on it. "But, it's the safest place beside an agency."
You nod. "Understandable. You said it was run by other heroes, right?"
"I think Endeavor funds it the most or something. That or the government cuts some of his pay to fund this place."
You laugh slightly at that thought. You never really liked Endeavor, so imagining him being forced to fund some hotel he'd never stay at was comedic.
"Now, let me see your hero costume," Mirko smiled.
"Pardon?" You blurt out, shocked at the fast change in topic.
"I need to see what I'm working with here. What parts will hold you back and what parts could help."
You laid out your costume on the closest table. You explained your decision for most of the pieces, specifically the gear and how it helps you with your quirk. Mirko just.. stared at it. It was like she was analyzing it.
"Do you want me to be honest, kid?"
"It's shit?"
"Kind of shit."
"Figured," you nod. You had a feeling it wouldn't be up to her standards.
"It has good individual pieces, but falls flat all together. It's awkward. It's stuffy. You're going to need something better in order to maximize strength."
You take mental notes in your head, already picturing what you'd replace from your old costume. Specifically having small pieces of biological material such as wood chips or small bones. "My fighting style will probably change to something more resembling Mirko's style. Using small pieces like that would feel out of place… Am I thinking too far ahead? I'm only here for a week. But a lot of things can change in a week…"
"Luckily for you, we aren't going to be needing it just yet. Put on some gym clothes," Mirko grabbed some of her own from a drawer and walked to the bathroom.
"So first thing I'm doing is exercise… wonderful…" you thought to yourself as you walked to a door that connects to an identical area. Same bed, drawer, tv, bathroom, etc. All the same placement too. You placed all your stuff onto the bed before digging into your bag for athletic wear.
Simple sweats, a slightly tight t-shirt, and tennis shoes were your choice. You walked out to see Mirko in similar clothing. But, she wore shorts instead. You could see just how much muscle her legs had. It was more than admirable.
☘️☘️☘️
"We're done for today," Mirko announced, barely phased from all that you did.
You, on the other hand, were one step away from walking to the afterlife. Sweaty, dirty, and laying on the floor of the training gym in a starfish position. Remember how you thought nothing could be worse than the entrance exams? That was a lie. Training with Mirko was 10 times harder.
You did warm-ups and stretches at first. Simple, expected.
Then, you worked out. Hard, tiring, low-key almost injured yourself because of how heavy the weights were.
After almost tearing multiple ligaments, Mirko practiced hand-to-hand combat with you. During this, you weren't allowed to use your quirk. It was some of the hardest combat training you've experienced yet. She was so fast and precise, not to mention she didn't hold back on strength… You definitely had over ten bruises in various spots.
Having studied your movements, she gave you pointers on what to do better. Mirko used pure strength when it came to hits and moves, but she had you practice enhancing parts of your body. During your first day at UA, you did this by making the blood pump faster. But, with Mirko, you made your bones denser to pack more of a punch. It worked, but damn it was tiring.
The last part of training involved parkour and more working out, but this time focusing on the legs. It was to build up agility (which it did) and instinct (you didn't understand how that played a part but oh well, whatever the pretty bunny lady says).
Mirko grabbed your hand and hoisted you up. Your legs felt like jelly so your knees almost gave way. You two walked out of that hot training facility and walked into cold air. It gave you both whiplash and a sense of relief. "At least I won't overheat."
"Tomorrow, we'll do something similar. So make sure you prepare yourself," Mirko informed.
"At least she's giving me a warning beforehand…"
When you got back to the hotel room, you immediately took a shower and laid down onto the bed you'd be using for the next week. It was very comfortable, way more than your bed at home.
You grabbed your phone and opened up your messages.
IZUKU 💚 (2)
I just finished training
I think I was reborn
You would laugh at his messages, but training genuinely left you so tired you physically couldn't.
Bro me too 🥹
My entire day was spent either sparring, working out, or finding some new way to use my quirk 💔
This was worse than the extrance exams
And I literally broke like 2 bones there
BRO I KNOW
How is Mirko btw?
Is she super intense?
Mmm
She kind of reminds me of Baku—
You immediately backspaced that entire sentence.
She's loud, passionate, pretty intense
But her advice is great like you can tell she's a professional
I'm jealous of her in multiple different aspects God has favorites I swear 💔
How's your mentor?
I want to die
Fair
I need to get to sleep or else I'm going to be a zombie tomorrow and training is hard enough as is
Goodnight 😞 pray for me 💔
Please don't die Izuku and good luck 💔
You turned off your phone and stared at the ceiling for a bit. "My life for the next six days… yay…"
Your eyelids got heavier and heavier until you eventually fell asleep. It was some of the best sleep you ever had "God this mattress is heavenly," was the first thought you had after waking up. Despite how tired you were yesterday, you actually woke up pretty early. It was just after 7:30.
As you were rubbing your eyes, Mirko knocked on the door. "Hey, kid, you up? I heard you moving."
"Yeah, I'm up," you yawned.
"We're getting breakfast then training again," Mirko notified.
"Sounds good." — No, no it didn't. You really did not want to train any more. "Consequences of my own actions…"
You got up, brushed your teeth, washed your face, fixed your hair, and got dressed. You met with Mirko who led you to one of her favorite cafes. You ate, then left. You felt like you were disassociating at some points. One minute you were at the cafe, the next you were on the floor after Mirko took you down.
You slowly sat up, looking at Mirko who took a call. She had this almost manic smile as she hung up. "Get up kid, we're going after some villains."
"…huh?"
☘️☘️☘️
Apparently, a fire broke out in Hosu suspected to be caused by villains.
You and Mirko were dressed in your costumes. She jumped around building to building while you used the vines around your neck to swing around.
The first thing you saw was… "Nomu!" you gasped in horror.
"Nomu?" Mirko questioned. The two of you stopped atop a building.
"That weird looking creature with its brain exposed? It looks exactly like the one that attacked my class at the USJ facility. It's got crazy regeneration and shock absorption. It doesn't seem to be conscious. It's like a puppet."
"That so? What the hell are we waiting for then?"
You and Mirko jumped down, but the Nomu was… getting burned?
You snapped your neck to your right. "Endeavor? Since when did he patrol Hosu City often? Wait, if he's here, Todoroki must be as well!"
Before you could search for your classmate, your phone buzzed. You opened your phone and saw Izuku sharing his location. "Why the hell is he at some random alley?" You furrowed your brows. That wasn't like Izuku… Not at all. Especially at this time. There's no way it's some sort of mistake he could've made in his sleep.
Mirko had jumped off to fight off the Nomu, leaving you by yourself. You looked down at your phone and back up towards her. "Please don't kill me later!"
You opened your GPS and input Izuku's location. You ran as fast as you could, using some poles here and there to swing around.
You turned a corner and immediately had to dodge a small knife. Looking down the alley, "Izuku? Todoroki? Iida!? Who is that guy on the floor? A hero?"
Closer to you was a creepy looking guy. No nose, two masks, blades, rugged clothing.
"Y/N!" Izuku exclaimed.
"Another one of you kids join," the creepy dude spat. Putting your thinking cap on (i.e. common sense), you deduced that was likely Stain, the hero killer. "Gotta give it to him, he matches his name."
You dodged one of his attacks. You used the opportunity to run towards your classmates. "How many of you guys are injured?"
"Iida and the hero are immobilized. Midoriya broke free from the hero killer's quirk. I haven't lost too much blood," Todoroki gave a brief rundown.
"He immobilizes you by ingesting your blood, don't let him take any!" Izuku added.
You nodded and turned around. "I'm assuming you and Todoroki aren't in any position to carry the other two, yes?"
"We'd only injure ourselves further."
"I'm going to need one of you to go and find something to tie him up with. I'll deal with him," you let out a sigh before running towards him.
Stain swung his longer blade at you, but you caught it in between two fingers and redirected it. You kicked his side, sending him to a wall. You heard tiny cracking sounds but couldn't tell if they were from the wall or him. Either way, you weren't going to take any chances, so you used your quirk to stop him from moving.
"I'm sorry for the amount of force," you apologized. You sent him flying a little too hard… "I only wanted to stop you in your tracks."
Todoroki came to your side with some rope. You brought Stain away from the wall using your quirk and let Todoroki tie him up.
By the time he finished tying the knot of the rope, both Iida and the hero regained their ability to move. A small old man came up and kicked Izuku in the face.
"Who's this?" Todoroki inquired.
"Gran Torino, he's the hero I'm interning with."
Seconds later, a bunch of other heroes ran over. They called an ambulance and were mostly talking amongst themselves. You let the three boys—Izuku, Todoroki, and Iida—have their own little moment. Iida seemed to be apologizing, but you didn't feel like you deserved to be part of it. It's not like you got hurt or anything.
"Watch out!" you heard a familiar voice yell. "Mirko!"
Up above was a Nomu with wings. It snatched Izuku within the blink of an eye.
Before you could use your quirk, Stain got out of his ropes and licked the face of one of the heroes. "He ingested the Nomu's blood!"
The Nomu came flying down, Stain running after it with intense speed. He took his blade and slashed the brain. "That must be the Nomu's weakness," you made a mental note.
Unfortunately for Stain, after monologuing for a bit, he knocked out cold. You furrowed your eyebrows. Using your quirk, you checked his insides.
"A fractured rib punctured one of his lungs! He's severely injured!" You announced with slight panic and a layer of disgust coursing through you. Using your quirk to get a feel of others' blood, bones, etc. was still kind of nasty. Especially since you did it across his whole entire body.
☘️☘️☘️
You were in the hospital alongside your three classmates. Except, for once, you weren't in a bed. Mirko allowed you to visit. Especially since you could use your quirk to help with some of their injuries like cuts.
The door to the room opened.
"This is Hosu's Chief of Police, Kenji Tsuragamae," Gran Torino introduced the tall dog.
"This can't be good…"
"So you're the UA students who brought down the hero killer?" The chief questioned.
"We are," Todoroki confirmed.
"Stain has some serious injuries, severe burns and several broken bones. Right now, he's being treated at a hospital under strict servailience, woof. Here's a lesson you should've already learned: when quirks became the norm, the police force sought to maintain the status quo. They decided we wouldn't use quirks as weapons. That's when heroes came in."
"We're getting in trouble for using our quirks, aren't we?" You cringed. There was no other reason why the chief would be wording his words like this otherwise.
"Heroes could do what we couldn't—with a license, of course. It would be impossible for the police to condone the use of deadly quirks. After all, we're here to stop such harm from being done. The only reason pros can use their powers now is because of the strict code of ethics, crafted by the early heroes. That's why it's against the law for uncertified people to use their quirks to cause injury."
"Fucking knew it."
"Whether you were up against the hero killer or not, none of you have the authority to harm a villain. That means the four of you, and your supervisors, Endeavor, Manual, Gran Torino, and Mirko, are sure to receive harsh punishments for this gross abuse of your powers."
"Wait a minute!" Todoroki, anger bubbling up inside of him, spoke, "If Iida never stepped in, Native would be dead! If not for Midoriya and L/N, both of them would be dead. No one else realized that the hero killer was in Hosu. Are you saying we should have just stood by and watched people die?"
"So it's okay to break the law as long as it goes your way?"
"We're not saying you should praise us or give us some sort of reward, but we are questioning why the punishment needs to be so severe given the circumstances. The situation isn't just black and white," you frowned.
"This is why you're not fully-fledged pros yet," the chief closed his eyes as if his point was solidified by your words. You felt your eye twitch in annoyance. The chief directed his next words at Todoroki, "It's obvious UA and Endeavor haven't taught you nearly enough of what they should be. What a shame."
You stopped Todoroki from walking towards the chief and potentially starting something worse.
"What I've said is the official stance of the police department. But, any punishment would only be necessary if this information went public. If it did, you'd probably be applauded by citizens everywhere, but there's now way you'd escape being reprimanded."
"On the other hand, we could say Endeavor saved the day. Stain's burns would support this theory completely, and we could pretend your involvement never existed. Thankfully, there were very few witnesses. This could be the last you heard of any punishment. It would mean no one would know about you though. You'd receive no acclaim at all. The choice is yours."
"Personally, I know where I stand. I don't want to damage any young promising careers."
"Either way, we'll need to take responsibility for being negligent as supervisors," Manual sighed.
"So the chief scared us for nothing? Couldn't have started with that?" You let out a sigh of relief as you bowed.
You left the hospital shortly after, saying your goodbyes to your classmates.
"Back to training I suppose…"
Notes:
I hope this chapter wasn't shit it's low-key 1 in the morning and I'm fighting to stay awake
also I had my ao3 author moment:
on the 11th at 1 am I woke up covered in hives 😍 I had an allergic reaction to something and had to be driven to the ER because it was spreading like wildfire and was genuinely so painful and itchy and UGH -10/10 would not recommend
Uhm so anyways! I'm okay now and I'm going to schedule some sort of appointment to test what allergies I have in early October soooooooo do not fear you will still be getting new chapters #dedication
Chapter 10: Final Exams
Chapter Text
Eventually, internships came to a close.
Walking out of the hotel was tough. Your body was so numb, it almost felt like an out-of-body experience. It made you realize your brain was just some lump of muscle that's controlling a suit of bone, more muscle, and flesh. When you got home, the first thing you did was collapse on your bed and nap for six hours. It was much needed. Afterwards you felt very refreshed.
But, breaks only last so long. You only had two days before classes started up again.
"Back to hell I go…"
While sat down on the train, you saw these two middle schoolers. One was a girl, slightly small in stature with pastel pink hair. The other was a boy who wore the same uniform as her. He was taller and had brown hair. The boy seemingly protected the girl from a weirdo.
"Aww, cuties," you smiled softly. They obviously had crushes on each other given how pink they were in the face.
"Him saving her reminds me of that one time Bakugo shielded me from that creepy old man. Even our height differences are the same—" you deadpanned. "Why do I remember Bakugo and I's height difference? Matter of fact, why am I thinking about him at six in the morning!?"
You got to school and upon entering the classroom, multiple of your classmates were talking about their internships. Some only did training while others actually got to experience real things like hostage situations and drug smuggling.
"What did you do, Y/N? Anything super heroic?" Hagakure was at your desk, energetic as ever.
"No, not really," you placed a hand on your neck. "I just trained… like a lot. I probably grew my muscles by tenfold."
"What!? Seriously!? You never got any breaks?" She said in horror.
"Nope. The training wore me out a lot. I'm kind of dreading the rest of today because of it," you hit your head onto your desk.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine!" Mina jumped in. "You're strong. You can manage!"
☘️☘️☘️
Training with All Might wasn't super difficult. You were at Field Gamma, a weird training ground built like a maze. Your goal was to reach All Might as quickly as possible. You mostly jumped around with your newfound leg strength and agility.
Another thing you learned from Mirko was knowing how to angle yourself when jumping off some type of wall or pole. You weren't terrible at this exercise, being second to find All Might in your group.
"I'm beat!" Mina whined as all of the 1-A girls walked into the locker room.
"Me too. I'm not good at traveling through weird metal pipe mazes!" Hagakure complained.
"Me either," Jirou nodded.
"I didn't think it was that bad," Tsuyu added.
"You have your tongue to help you swing around, though!" Hagakure countered.
You were all just chatting while getting undressed. You turned around to ask one of the girls for a hair tie, but stopped when you noticed something.
"Hey guys, not to alarm you, but is that a hole in the wall?" You pointed.
All of the girls froze and slowly turned their heads to where you were pointing.
"No way!" Mina gasped. "Do you think one of the boys did it just now?"
"The only boy stupid enough to try something like that is Mineta. His quirk can't create holes," Yaoyorozu shook her head.
"Does it actually go through all the way?" Uraraka inquired. "Maybe it was an attempt but didn't work..!"
You bent down, not exactly peering through the hole. You jumped back and covered your face in embarrassment. "No, it definitely goes all the way through!"
"You didn't even look closely through it!" Mina pointed.
"I didn't have to! That's how easy it is to just peer through it!"
"Maybe the boys haven't found it yet?" Uraraka added hopefully.
"With Mineta around? Not a chance," Tsuyu corrected.
Jirou stuck one of her earphone jacks into the wall to listen in. Moments later, she stuck her other earphone jack into the hole. You could all hear Mineta yelling in pain, practically screaming.
"Thanks, Kyoka!" Hagakure thanked.
"How despicable! Y/N, do you think you can use some wood or bone to plug up the hole?" Yaoyorozu asked.
You walked back to your locker and dug through your costume. You grabbed a bone and walked back. Jirou took out her earphone jacks so you could place it into the hole. Using your quirk, you made it fit perfectly.
"I'm scared to think about how long that hole was there for…" you commented, shivering at the thought.
"Maybe we should hang up posters on that wall…" Mina shivered too.
You all heard a few explosions and thuds come from the boys' locker room.
"The boys are so weird…" Mina whispered, shaking her head as she finished tying her tie.
☘️☘️☘️
"Alright, that's all for today's lesson," Aizawa's voice rang through the classroom. "There's only one week left before final exams begin. I'm sure you're all studying constantly, right? Don't forget to keep training as the written exam is only one element, there's also the practical portion."
Aizawa wished you guys good luck and closed the door. Almost immediately, the classroom erupted.
Mina and Kaminari were the bottom two in the midterms. They—well, mostly Kaminari— were the first to whine about finals. Mineta was being weird as usual, flexing about his top 10 placement in the midterms. Yaoyorozu was cheering about having a study session over the weekend.
You fanned yourself with one of your notebooks when Tsuyu asked, "Hey, Y/N, what place did you get in the midterms?"
You looked over casually, "2nd."
"What!? You got 2nd!?" Kaminari yelled.
"Is that so hard to believe?" You looked with a tear drop at your eye. "I'm kinda smart… sometimes."
"Her sister's literally a surgeon and her brother's an engineer. Of course she'd be smart!" Hagakure scolded him.
"Can Tsu and I study at with you? The group at Yaomomo's house is a little big," Uraraka scratched her cheek.
You looked at her with wide eyes. "Really? With me!?"
"Yeah, is that okay..?"
"Oh, uh, yes, of course! I've never had anyone over at my place.. that is, assuming you'd want to go to my place!"
"I'm fine with that!"
"Me too," Tsuyu nodded.
"I have to clean up my room before they come over," you made a mental note. "I haven't been able to clean it properly since before internships…"
☘️☘️☘️
"Y/N! Your friends are here!" Indra yelled.
You ran downstairs to greet Tsuyu and Uraraka. "Hey guys! We can head to my room."
Indra had work, so he gave you a kiss on the forehead, reminded you there was food in the fridge, and left. You led Tsuyu and Uraraka to your room.
The three of you opened your notebooks and started. You helped Tsuyu first with different types of math, then helped Uraraka with English. You continued the pattern of helping one then the other for about three hours. After that, you all agreed to take a break. You gave them some agua de jamaica and sat down.
"Remember that hole in the wall in the locker room?" Uraraka suddenly brought up. "Aizawa was informed of it and the staff apparently made the walls thicker and used a stronger material. That way no holes can be made to peep!"
"Really? That's great news," you sighed. "It probably wasn't safe as long as Mineta exists. Or any other future pervs."
"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Tsuyu turned to you. "When you bent down to see how far the hole went, you turned kinda red. What was that about?"
"I did!?" Your voice cracked.
"Oh yeah! I noticed that too!" Uraraka nodded. "I just assumed you were embarrassed by something you saw, so I didn't really question it."
"Uhm.. well," you scratched your cheek as your memory went back to that moment.
☁️☁️☁️
You bent down, not exactly peering through the hole. You barely had to look through it to see everything in what was essentially 4K HD quality.
When you looked, one of the first things you saw was one of the boys'—admittedly impressive—abs. He didn't have his shirt on and his pants weren't on all the way, being halfway unzipped and unbuttoned. You could see the band of his boxers and a little bit of the fabric below it.
He would've stayed a mystery if it wasn't for his body language. Oh, and also that fact that he backed up a little so you saw a familiar pair of red eyes and blond hair.
You jumped back in embarrassment. "No, it definitely goes all the way through!"
☁️☁️☁️
"I just saw one of the guys without a shirt on and got embarrassed," you admitted. "I didn't expect to see anything so clearly, but the hole was so easy to look through. That's also why I was so creeped out thinking about how long it had been there."
"Ohh! That makes sense. I'd be super embarrassed too if that happened to me. I'm just glad it was fixed," Uraraka smiled.
"Who was the guy? Did you see?" Tsuyu asked.
"Why is she so curious!?" You mentally cried out. "I didn't see, no. Frankly I don't want to know. I feel guilty for looking in the first place, even if it was for like three seconds."
"I wish they knew who made the hole. I'd beat them up with my new skills I learned from Gun Head!" Uraraka made a punching motion. You and Tsuyu laughed.
The conversation slowly shifted into internships and how they went. After about an hour, you all went back to studying. It was getting late by the time you finished up, so you walked Tsuyu and Uraraka home safely.
When you got home, you ate some leftovers then flopped into your bed.
"Why do I keep thinking about that stupid Bakugo!?" You yelled to no one in particular. It was genuinely frustrating you how he kept popping up in your head, how you could find him in everything. It didn't help that the image of his abs kept popping up.
"I'm not even that into abs! Why do I keep remembering that!?"
Part of it was being flustered, the other part was being jealous about how much muscle he had. How was it so easy for him to get good size and definition? You didn't have nearly as much on your back and legs and you worked those areas out the most!
"Calm down, Y/N. You're fine. Just.. take a shower, and you'll be okay!" You took a deep breath in and walked to your dresser. You grabbed clothes, a towel, and turned on the water.
Spoiler alert: taking a shower did not help.
No matter what you did, you just couldn't stop thinking about him, or about that fact you couldn't stop thinking about him.
You scrubbed your body aggressively when suddenly a voice popped into your head. "Do I have a crush on him?"
You stopped scrubbing at the revelation.
"I think the hot water's getting to me," you muttered, letting out a small chuckle. It kind of felt like you were going crazy. "Don't be stupid, Y/N. You don't like him. No. Absolutely not. Not Bakugo. Not in a million years."
By the time you got out of the shower roughly twenty minutes later, a towel around your body, you had accepted your fate.
"I have a crush on Katsuki Bakugo…" You had a straight, slightly dark, expression. Usually girls would be giddy about developing a crush. But no, not you. Not when you have a crush on the Katsuki Bakugo. You felt like the girls at your middle school during Aldera's sports festival.
"Of course I have to have a crush on the most emotionally unavailable guy in my class! The guy is so focused on being a hero, number 1 at that, that he might not consider getting a girlfriend even if he does like me back!" You pouted as you brushed your teeth. "Would he even be a good boyfriend? I don't know him all that well… To me he's just loud and obnoxious. Strong sure, but not the nicest."
"But I also don't know him that well, basically at all! Maybe he's actually like, nice or something," you paused then laughed at yourself. "Yeah right. Even if he was caring, it wouldn't be verbally. He kind of sucks at using his words."
"But would I be okay with that?" You paused again. You looked at yourself in the slightly foggy mirror. Then, you aggressively applied your skincare with an angry expression. "Why am I trying to make excuses for him?!"
Thinking about all of this was stressing you out. Keeping it all inside was worse.
"Who could I even tell about this? Verena hasn't had a crush since middle school, Indra would be too overprotective, Izuku would ask if I'm dying or okay, and I'm not sure if I can trust all of the girls. Mina and Hagakure are pretty loud, so I can't trust they'd keep it under wraps for a while. Would any of them even have solid advice? They might just all tell me to try and move on as quickly as possible…"
"Is that what I need to do? Move on? I have zero chance?"
Your anger disipated and was replaced with a sense of sadness.
You never really crushed on anybody before. At least, not like this. To not even try a little bit because you knew you'd likely face rejection was disappointing. Even a little heartbreaking.
You shook your head, "I need to stop thinking negatively! I also can't keep this to myself forever. It's already eating me up inside and I've barely accepted the crush. I'll eventually tell the girls. I have to. I need advice. Something is better than nothing."
You were satisfied with your plan, and headed to bed shortly after. You had finals, you can't be stressing over a boy.
☘️☘️☘️
There were three days of written exams. The first day involved science, computer tech, and math. The second day involved classical Japanese and English. The third day involved hero informatics and art.
You were confident you passed all of them with at least a 95% or higher. Well, besides classical Japanese. "I probably got like an 80 or 85% on that one."
After the written exams it was the practical. You had to dress up in your costumes and meet at a specialized exam area, also known as the Center Plaza.
"Now then, let's begin the last test," Aizawa stood front and center. The rest of the teachers were behind him. "Remember: it's possible to fail this final. If you want to go to camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes."
"Woah, Y/N, you're shaking!" Uraraka whisper-yelled.
"Nervous," was all you said with a forced smile on your face.
"Stop sweating and focus! Or else your weakass body will collapse," Bakugo yelled at you.
"He's annoyed by my shaking," You sighed. You moved slightly more towards Uraraka so you wouldn't bother him. You didn't want to be yelled at any further.
"I expect many of you have gathered information and believe you have some idea of what you'll be facing."
"We're fighting those big ol' robots!" Kaminari yelled in excitement and happiness.
"Actually," something rustled in Aizawa's scarf. "This year's tests will be completely different for various reasons!"
"Principal Nezu!?"
He climbed down from Aizawa's scarf. "The tests now have a new focus. There will be hero work, of course. But there will also be teamwork and combat between actual people!"
"So you're saying I should jump?" You were getting deja vu to your first hero lesson with All Might.
"You students will be working in pairs—and one group of three since you're uneven—and your opponents will be one of our esteemed UA teachers! Isn't that fabulous?"
"…You know… flipping burgers doesn't seem so bad."
"We're fighting the teachers?!" Uraraka squealed.
"Additionally, your partners and opponents have already been chosen. They were determined at my discretion based on various factors including fighting style, grades, and interpersonal relationships."
The teams went:
Sato and Kirishima against Cementoss.
You, Tokoyami and Tsuyu against Ectoplasm.
Ojiro and Iida against Power Loader.
Yaoyorozu and Todoroki against Aizawa.
Aoyama and Uraraka against Thirteen.
Mina and Kaminari against Principal Nezu.
Koda and Jirou against Present Mic.
Hagakure and Shoji against Snipe.
Sero and Mineta against Midnight.
And finally, Izuku and Bakugo against All Might.
In order to win, the team needed to put a set of handcuffs on the teacher they're up against or if they manage to escape from the combat stage.
You, Tokoyami, and Tsuyu made a plan before it was your turn. Use Dark Shadow and Tsuyu's tongue to get around quickly, and use whatever biological material you have to hide yourselves, create distractions, and freeze Ectoplasm at the right moment to put on the cuffs. However, you all agreed you'd prefer to use the exit than fight Ectoplasm head on.
"Team Asui, L/N, and Tokoyami, practical exam. Ready, go."
Immediately after the monotone speaker finished talking, clones completely surrounded you.
Dark Shadow threw up Tsuyu who caught you two with her tongue. She threw you guys two floors up then came up herself. You ran off, peering into the various doors to see if they actually led somewhere.
You and Dark Shadow fought the clones that appeared in front of you. You'd handle close combat while Dark Shadow handled long ranged combat. Tsuyu would help wherever she could, covering for you guys.
Tsuyu used her tongue to bring Tokoyami to the next floor. You used a mushroom you enlarged to bounce up. You kept the spores down below. You had zero idea if they affected Ectoplasm, seeming like he had no nose, but at least you'd protect Tsuyu and Tokoyami that way.
About ten more clones appeared in the hall in front of you.
"Down there is probably the exit," you told your comrades. You all fought them off with Tsuyu being the one to finish off the 10th.
"That was clone 28," Tokoyami informed, having been keeping count.
"Look! The goal," Tsuyu signalled with her head where she was looking. "That means that's probably his real body down there."
"Excellent work getting past the others…" Ectoplasm started. "But tell me, how will you go against this!?"
He spread out a bunch of his plasm goo. It turned into a giant clone! "Since when could he do that!?"
The clone crashed into you three, effectively trapping you all into it.
Dark Shadow tried to bypass the real Ectoplasm but to no avail.
"I don't think she has a chance against a real pro," Tokoyami faltered.
"Well, if she can reach him, then we have a chance," Tsuyu countered. "Call Dark Shadow back. I have something to give her."
Tsuyu regurgitated the hand cuffs and handed them over to Dark Shadow. She and Ectoplasm fought for a little while longer before you used your quirk to freeze Ectoplasm. That was when Dark Shadow placed the handcuff onto him.
"Team Asui, L/N, and Tokoyami have passed the final."
"That was wonderfully clever, I must commend you all," Ectoplasm complimented.
You bowed, while Tsuyu and Tokoyami thanked him in their own way. Ectoplasm then escorted you three to the exit, leading you to where your classmates were. You and Tsuyu made your way to the room with the big screen.
Uraraka and Izuku were already in there.
"Hey you two! You guys did great out there!" Uraraka greeted.
You took off your mask and smiled, "Thank you."
You low-key zoned out for most of the time you were in there. You were thinking about what you did during the final.
"Mirko's training helped a lot. My combat skills have gone up a lot. She was also right about my costume. It feels a bit awkward now… I'll have to make some changes. But I'm so lazy I don't want to sketch it out…"
You were brought back to reality when Uraraka was up. Her and Aoyama struggled against Thirteen at first, hanging onto some railing while Thirteen used her quirk.
Uraraka seemed to lose focus and let go. She used martial arts to apprehend Thirteen. With some final assistance from Aoyama, she placed the handcuff onto the teacher.
You didn't see Uraraka until after Mina and Kaminari's battle. Unfortunately, they lost.
Unfortunately for Uraraka, Tsuyu questioned her. "Ochaco, what were you talking to Aoyama about right before the end of your match against Thirteen?"
"I'm getting deja vu again."
You watched the rest of your classmates' battles. The one that gave you the most anxiety though was the final one: Bakugo and Izuku up against All Might.
"What if they have a disagreement and get into a fight instead?! What if because of their clashing personalities Izuku fails!?" You shook Iida in panic.
"You're gonna make him queasy!" Uraraka used her quirk to stop you. It was honestly pretty comfortable just floating.
"I don't wanna look…" you frowned. Of course, you did. And of course, they won.
After that, finals were officially over.
Your next headache, though, was just around the corner. Summer Camp.
Notes:
OoOoOo y/n knows her feelings but won't do anything for who knows how many chapters OOOOOOOO
Also I put y/n with tsuyu and tokoyami because tsuyu is well rounded and emotionally grounded so she'd help with y/n's anxiety + she'd opposite tokoyami's purely long range attacks. They all have pretty different quirks so they'd have to come up with creative ways to use them (except I'm not that creative but ykw I tried my best that's all that matters)
I hope I conveyed that well 😖
AMB3R_ST4R on Chapter 1 Thu 04 Sep 2025 12:45AM UTC
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antique99 on Chapter 1 Thu 04 Sep 2025 01:11AM UTC
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consumemymiind on Chapter 9 Mon 15 Sep 2025 03:03AM UTC
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antique99 on Chapter 9 Mon 15 Sep 2025 03:39AM UTC
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