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***

"Wow! So, you really are blind!"

The next morning at the prestigious hero school, UA, came with an immense amount of attention from Y/n's classmates. 

By the end of the first day, it'd gotten out that the girl who hardly did any better than Midoriya on the quirk assessment was blind, and no one in the class had figured out her quirk yet.

When it was put like that, Y/n sounded pretty mysterious, kind of badass on paper. It was, however, a little more than nerve-wracking. Turns out, being the center of attention meant everyone's eyes were on Y/n, even if her eyes weren't on them— Y/n had proven that claim through her very own blindness. She could tell everyone who surrounded her was watching her intently, and she couldn't see anything, but the weight of the attention and the eyes was nothing short of intense.

"Yes."

Y/n smiled wide in response to their words (apparently taking it upon themselves to confirm her lack of sight, which—Y/n wasn't even going to get started on that one), eyes rather blank as she stared straight ahead.

"I have absolutely no concept of what any of you guys look like at all! Seriously what do people look like? Are they beautiful? Am I beautiful? Though, I guess I don't exactly know what that is, either." Y/n perked up curiously, "do I get to claim a sob story?"

"But really, how do you do it?" The voice belonged to the girl named Uraraka, her elbows resting on Y/n's desk. 

She continued, "I mean, I don't see any helpers or a walking stick or anything, and you seem to get by really well! Does it have to do with your quirk or something? I wouldn't have guessed you couldn't see if I didn't hear it from everyone else!"

"Oh." Y/n pursed her lips. "My quirk... are you asking if my quirk aids in helping me around, since I'm blind?" Uraraka hummed in confirmation. "Yeah, you know, I wish I could tell you, I really do, and I really would. But I'm not too sure about that one myself."

"Oh, really?" Kaminari said from where his desk was, beside her. "Then, tell us what your quirk is, and we can write down all the ways—"

"No, no, that's not what..." Y/n shook her head with a gentle laugh. "I mean, I'm really not sure. I can't be sure— I have no idea what my quirk is."

It was quiet, aside from the chatter of surrounding classmates amongst themselves—but for the ones surrounding her—nobody said anything and Y/n felt her brows draw, fingers tapping steadily against the desk, waiting for someone to say something; it never came. Was it really that shocking?

Y/n scratched the side of her head.

"You know, I feel like you guys should be, I don't know, talking right now? You know, because it's really embarrassing leaving me here to fill the silence with my own voice."

"Wait, so you're actually a pathetic loser who doesn't know what your quirk is?" Bakugou laughed from his own seat. "Doesn't that technically make you quirkless?" And that was the start of it— of course, he'd be the start of it.

"K—kacchan—!"

"Would it make her quirkless?"

"No, because she does have a quirk, so,"

"But would it count if—?"

"Guys," Y/n sighed, snapping her fingers. It was like junior high all over again. Except, they were talking like she wasn't sitting at the center of their little circle. "I'm right here."

"Well, I think it makes you real manly, if anything," A guy who sat behind Kaminari spoke, making his way toward Y/n. "I mean, how'd you get in without knowing your quirk? That's— is that even a thing? Do you think you might've used it during the entrance exam?"

Y/n shook her head, "I have no clue,"

"Do you at least have a concept of what it is?" Iida said, near her. "How will you improve your quirk if you don't know what you should be focusing on or what you should be doing to improve it?"

Yes, Y/n's thought about that— they were basically cutting her skin with rocks and wounding her with the sharpest pebbles.

"Yeah, and on top of that, we're gonna be doing a whole bunch of quirk training!" Kaminari threw salt into the wound, practically digging into it with his fingers as he continued to speak, "you know, like, to have better control of our quirks and do more stuff with it. How's that gonna work for you? Can't you do some kind of testing to at least try to figure it out? It'll probably be really hard."

Yes, yes—she'd truly thought about all of that. 

Granted, she didn't get very far into her thinking of all those things, they stressed her out, but they were still floating around in her mind. Kind of like things she didn't want to acknowledge, but she knew was still there. 

Like a dead body in the backroom; Out of sight, not for a second out of mind, however.

"Okay, listen! I'll be fine. The answers to your concerns are for me to know, and you all to find out just how awesome I really am," Y/n tried for a smile, pointedly ignoring the nausea climbing up her throat and the bubbles of anxiety in her stomach. 

Yeah, she knew she was doomed, she didn't need other people pointing it out, too. 

"Have you guys ever been outdone by a blind girl who's practically quirkless? Well, now you'll have embarrassing stories to tell your children. You're welcome."

"Bluffing," Bakugou called from where he sat.

Y/n pursed her lips, "am not!" She countered, tugging nervously at her ear. "I'm telling you, I'm a damn mystery,"

"No, you're a big fucking question mark. You don't know what the hell's going on with yourself: acting like you do is embarrassing on your behalf,"

Y/n's face heated slightly, "Repeat those words when I kick your ass," She huffed. "Blind and all—!"

"We'll fuckin' see about that,"

Y/n huffed, "I won't."

Annoying. No—frustrating, if anything.

The rest of the class seemed willingly ready to believe her—or at least believe in her—and she didn't plan on having anyone ruin it for her, even if that someone was Bakugou. 

He was intimidating. More than intimidating: he was terrifying.

Y/n could recall what took place yesterday, just after he'd stormed off in a fit of rage, the fragrance of nothing but detest and loathing, all aimed at Midoriya was suffocatingly fearsome and Y/n truthfully didn't want to be on the receiving level of the realness to that hatred. 

The front he put up—the one he was putting up right at that moment—wasn't real. He wasn't actually angry, not truly. Slightly annoyed? Sure. Disliked half the people in his class? Most definitely.

Hate, though?

That seemed to be reserved for Midoriya.

They had history, those two, and it wasn't anything she wanted to explore. Judging, however, by Midoriya's tearful and nervous, insecure nature, with Bakugou's... Y/n didn't even know what she would call that— it wasn't anything good, obviously.

Midoriya certainly had an issue with Bakugou. 

Just because it wasn't as aggressive, doesn't mean his issue and dislike for the explosive teen wasn't as large and flaming. Bakugou was vocal about it and had no shame in charging into conflict. Midoriya, on the other hand, seemed to want to avoid it as much as possible.

All of this, just from two days of being at UA. 

Being able to feel what everyone else was feeling was truly exhausting. Y/n sighed, chin falling into her palm as it was called that class would begin—English. At least her brain could focus on something other than everyone else.

***

By the time lunch came around, it was like Y/n's blindness wasn't a hot topic anymore.

Maybe it was because she could make her way around so easily, most seemed to forget, maybe it was because the shock of being at UA in the hero course was still fresh and new to everyone, therefore stomped on any other amazing thing. 

Or maybe it was the fact they'd be taught by the All Might later on in the day that made everything else seem little and far less cool.

Whatever the reason was, Y/n both hated and loved it.

It crossed out the possibility of her fellow classmates wanting to be around her for the sole purpose of dumping her with questions of her blindness and the unneeded pity that often came with it. On the other hand, it made Y/n realize that without something so 'cool' to draw people toward her— she had nothing, was therefore friendless, and therefore alone as she wandered around the cafeteria with her lunchbox.

Y/n wanted to make friends.

It was actually one of her goals besides discovering unanswered questions to herself, and he truly was looking forward to it, but she had no clue how. Never in her life did she have to be the one to start a conversation, and she didn't exactly know how to start one.

Nobody invited her over, nobody made plans to sit with her beforehand, and it was kind of a foreign experience for her to be alone when she could typically never shake the people who surrounded her off. She didn't know which she preferred, but she did know UA was certainly on a different level if she wasn't at least some form of news. As vain as the thought may have been, it was the truth.

"Ouch!"

Y/n stumbled back, gripping her lunchbox even tighter when she bumped into something— most likely a person, considering the grunt that came from the contact, and most likely they're back considering the head of hair she was forced to practically eat.

The cafeteria was crowded since everyone at UA ate lunch at the same time. Different and confusing, sure, but the main problem Y/n had with that was the clash of so many energies in one room at once. It made it harder to make her way around the room with so much happening in it, so bumping into someone wasn't really surprising.

"Damnit," That growl belonged to Bakugou, "ugh, can't you watch where you're fucking—?"

He seemed to turn around and realized who exactly he was talking to. Y/n frowned, "No."

"Fuck," She could feel the way Bakugou awkwardly stiffened, energy going sharp and rigid as he was probably thinking about how he could possibly respond to that. "Well— it's not my problem you can't see. Just— watch— or— fuck! I don't know— watch where you're going, or figure out how or something,"

"Could you give me a short tutorial on how to watch something without eyes?" Y/n rubbed at her neck sheepishly, "I accidentally ran out of sight back at home and— well, vision is expensive these days—"

"Are you serious." Bakugou breathed out a heavy sigh that sounded nothing short of frustration, "how the hell've you been getting around for years without seeing, and suddenly you're all over the place? You were doing just fine yesterday,"

Y/n raised her brows, "were you keeping tabs?"

"Shut up!" Bakugou quickly snapped, "In class— you were fucking fine—"

"Not at lunch I wasn't," Y/n shrugged, gesturing around her, "there are way too many people here, Bakugou!" 

She felt his energy spike when she actually addressed him by his name and it made her jump—scary. Did she have to earn his permission or something? 

"It's harder to focus and make my way around like that,"

"How does that—?"

"I have no clue how it works," Y/n rocked on her feet again, scratching at her cheek in a sheepish and shamefaced manner, her signature chuckle working its way up her throat speedily as she slurred the next words in bashfulness, "it just works for me so I, er, you know, go along with it..."

"You just go along with it." Bakugou clicked his tongue, energy sharpened—scary, scary, Y/n simply chewed on the inside of her cheek, "well. Maybe if you tried finding the answers to those damn questions, you could actually figure out what your shitty Quirk is. You're blind and make your way around the place with no problem. That's weird. You don't find that fucking weird?"

"Hm?"

"Wh— Oh my fuck— It obviously has something to do with— ugh, nevermind. You're a dumbass... And you're in my way; move," Bakugou roughly shouldered past the girl, stomping forward, "damn lunchbox,"

'If you tried finding the answers to those damn questions, you could actually—'wait.

Y/n frowned, "Lunchbox?" 

A sudden rack of shivers coursed through her and her teeth clattered. That sharp, intimidating energy never got old. But—she wandered further to find an actual seat, repeating the nickname in an almost horrified whisper.

"Lunchbox? Lunchbox? Ah—! Damnit," she bumped into something else; a table this time, granted.

Maybe that was something she could work on while she had no knowledge of her Quirk: figuring out how to function with so much energy in one place. 

She could typically neutralize the fragrance of a bunch of people, enough to get by at least, but this—this was intense. And Bakugou's words rang in her ear the more she lingered on the conversation they just finished.

She'd asked the question multiple times: Why does everything just work? How can she just get by and do things so easily? Without struggle? Of course, it was weird and creepy, but because she never looked into the answers to those questions— it seemed pretty normal to her, and well... Maybe she should look into that. But then, where would she even start?

Y/n exhaled a very heavy sigh as she dropped her lunchbox on the surface of the table from where she stood at the edge of it, not sitting down; she immediately knew someone was sitting—she didn't recognize the energy, so either the person wasn't in her class, or she just hadn't met them yet.

Everyone had a different energy about them and they were very distinctive. Personality isn't necessarily a dead giveaway to what their energy felt like— just because Bakugou was loud and brash and intimidating, doesn't mean his energy was necessarily the same.

Bad example, however, because his energy was exactly like his personality.

The person near her, though—Y/n perked up, curled her lips, and turned.

"There's someone there, right?"

It was quiet and Y/n frowned. 

She knew the energy and presence of a person when she felt it—someone was there. Was this person really deciding to use Y/n's blindness to their advantage and stay quiet so they didn't have to engage in conversation? Did they really think she was that dumb? It happened more often than Y/n would pridefully admit. She raised her brow and her head fell to the side before poking out her lips with feigning disappointment.

"Man," She drawled, reaching out her hand, "I really thought someone was here," her fingers touched to cool skin— unblemished perfection, she pushed up against the person's thin nose and trailed her fingers up to be met with rougher skin. Rubbery, dry, burnt skin. She pursed her lips, wondering, for a moment, how long they'd let this go on. And then, she felt the person's face scrunched and twist under the tips of her fingers—

"That's—" He spoke, a little strained. "My face—"

"Oh!" 

Y/n brightened when she finally got a response, pulling her hand away just to snap her fingers and point at the boy.

"Ah, my bad. Didn't see you there..." The boy was certainly not impressed with her pun and Y/n found herself turning around so she could slide into the seat across from him.

She tripped.

Hardly caught herself with the table, knees banged against the floor hard enough to pull a wince from her, "ouch! Damnit—this keeps happening,"

"Uh," At least he kind of thought about helping her with the slight movement— he paused before he actually got to the helping part, though. "How did you get into the hero course if you can't make your way around? You bumped into Bakugou before, and now this..."

The worst part was this guy didn't sound like he was teasing or joking or taking light jabs at Y/n—his voice was flat, monotone, uninterested, but serious. 

Interesting: his energy matched up—seemed rather flat—there were no spikes, no waves, just... neutral. The point being: he was genuinely curious and it made Y/n's face burn with embarrassment as she rushed to her feet and dropped into the seat across from him.

"That's—" she hurriedly cleared her throat, crossed her fingers, and shifted, "er—that's for me to know and you to... never find out. Look, I have my tricks: you have no idea what I'm capable of when I'm in action."

"Tripping over nothing and bumping into everything is telling enough."

"I'm blind, you know,"

"Do you use that excuse every time you make a mistake?" His tone was still flat— his energy gave away what he felt about Y/n's words however— it spiked. "When you fail to save someone in danger out on the field, I don't think your blind excuse will exactly be a proper reason as to why you failed."

Y/n stayed quiet for a minute before she drew her brows.

"Who hurt you?" And though he didn't say a word, the air around him was sharp. Y/n jumped and brushed a hand against the nape of her neck in a fit of shaky laughs, "whoa, I just mean—you can't take jokes... I made two in one sitting and you reacted to both badly... I mean, where's your sense of humor?"

"Maybe you're just not funny."

"Damn," Y/n's head fell forward with a feign pained sob, "It's brutal out here,"

The boy simply sighed and, from what Y/n could guess, continued eating his food. From the vibes and waves he was sending out, he most definitely wanted to be left alone. And, if Y/n was a better person, she'd respectfully back up and let him have his silence. But she wasn't.

"What's your name?"

A pause. "Todoroki Shouto."

Y/n smiled; he didn't ask for her name. 

He had no interest in this conversation—let alone her—whatsoever. Y/n didn't know why it sparked her interest even further, she'd met a handful of people who were generally disinterested but it didn't seem exactly fit at UA. Everyone was so passionate about their dreams and goals and what the future could bring, there was so much to be excited about and he seemed like he just wasn't.

"I'm L/n Y/n, by the way," Y/n offered, letting her cheek fall into her palm. She traced circles onto the table slowly. "Wanna be friends?"

There was another pause. Todoroki seemed like a really hesitant person. Or maybe unsure. It made him less intimidating, in a way. There was practically no liveliness to him, and he clearly wasn't afraid to speak what was on his mind. He wasn't very cautious of being polite, but didn't go out of his way to be purposefully rude: he was the definition of someone who didn't give a shit, which was an intimidating look on anyone.

But that small bit of hesitance and question and confusion surrounding anything Y/n said, made it seem like he simply didn't know how to give a shit. He unapologetically couldn't if he tried and it made him a bit less robotic, more human.

"I'm not here to make friends."

The intimidation hit Y/n like a truck.

***

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