Wonderful artwork by arneewenn on deviantART. 

Welcome to my feel-good story. Hope you enjoy, and that I can take away at least some of your stress.

Note: Next chapter will start with Aizawa's interlude to explain his actions in this chapter.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Once we were done eating, I grabbed Shōto's hands and our fingers naturally intertwined. In my other hand I carried a small brown bag that was filled with tasty croissants. As we stepped out the door of the cafe, I brought us straight to Izuku.

Izuku blinked in surprise, but smiled widely upon seeing us. He was waiting for us at the entrance of the school. "Kiyo-chan!"

"Sunshine of mine," I greeted back enthusiastically. Then I noticed his lack of winter clothing and my eyes narrowed. "No gloves? No hat? No scarf? No winter coat?"

"You want to wear this?" Shōto asked, gesturing towards the pink scarf I forced upon him.

"Ah, no thanks," Izuku said, then smiled brightly. "You must be... Sho-chan?"

"Shōto Todoroki," Shōto introduced himself. "Shōto is fine, though. You are Cinnamon Roll Jr?"

"Izuku Midoriya," Izuku corrected with a small laugh. "L-Let's become good classmates."

Shōto nodded. "Yeah. I look forward to... studying with you?"

I held out the bag of croissants to Izuku. "Here, Izu-chan." Izuku took the bag, crinkling the top part of it with his tight grip. It was apparent then that he was still nervous about the exam. I patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Izu-chan, you'll be wonderful."

Izuku only smiled nervously in response.

"I don't really know you," Shōto began, "but I'm sure you'll do okay."

"Thanks. Should we head inside now?"

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Unfortunately we had all registered for the exam at different times. Since I was on a scholarship and the school had all of my information, Nezu registered me automatically as soon as the process started. As register 0001, I was assigned to the front row. Shōto was registered shortly after me, but he was still 0032, which put him on the opposite end of the front row as me. And Izuku was somewhere in the middle with 2231.

We bade each other our temporary goodbyes before taking our seats. I still made Shōto hold onto my pink scarf.

It took about half an hour for everyone in the hall to be seated. When it was time for orientation to begin, the lights began to turn on in the front and Present Mic appeared on stage. Behind him, the screen lit up with U.A. symbol.

"For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today!" Present Mic began with his usual enthusiasm. He stretched up his arms to the sky and shouted, "Everybody say hey!"

Shamelessly I stood up from my desk and shouted, "Hey!"

I was the only one in the entire hall to do so, and I immediately felt all eyes on me. Unminding, I beamed at Present Mic.

Recognizing me as Nezu's fangirl (most teachers at the academy knew me by that point, since I had been at the academy at least three times a week for the past four years), he laughed. "Aha! At least there's one fun person amongst you all."

I beamed and took a bow before sitting back down. I could still feel the stares digging into the back of my head.

Present Mic's grin didn't falter. "Now I'll quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exam. Are you ready?!"

Anticipating the yeah that always followed behind Present Mic, I shouted, "Yeah!" at the same time he did (no one else joined in, the losers).

Present Mic gave me a wink, and I felt my phone go off as more students stared at me.

I checked it. Shōto texted me, How dare you call me the dork.

Dorks attract dorks, duh, I responded.

There was another text. That time from Katsuki, Shout again and I'll kill you.

Well.

What the hell did he expect me to do to that?

"I love you, too, Bocchan!" I shouted, turning my head around to the crowd.

I couldn't see him because it was pretty dark, but I had a feeling that Katsuki was red faced and furious.

"An-ny-wa-ay," Present Mic drawled out, unminding of my outburst and brimming with enthusiasm, "As it says in the application requirements you listeners will be conducting ten-minute mock urban battles after this. You can bring whatever you want with you. After the presentation, you'll head to the specified battle center, okay?"

"Okay," I shouted on behalf of the silent auditorium.

Oh my god please stop Kacchan is RIGHT next to me, Izuku texted me.

I responded, It'll be okay, dearie.

Then to poke the lion again, I texted Katsuki, ;) ;) ;)

YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD.

Bring it, Tsundere-chan.

There was a sudden pain in the back of my head and my face flew forward onto the desk. I winced, rubbing the back of my head and I found that Katsuki had thrown his phone at me.

With damn good accuracy.

I pocketed his phone, deciding to give it back to him after I messed around with it for a bit.

Ignoring the drama happening around me, Present Mic continued with his speech, "Three different types of faux villains are stationed in each battle center. You earn points for each of them based on their level of difficulty. Your goal, dear listeners, is to use your Quirks to earn points by immobilizing the faux villains. Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited."

My phone vibrated. Shōto texted me, Did something hit the back of your head?

Yeah, Bocchan threw his phone at me because I embarrassed him. :D I'm okay, though, don't worry!

You do have a hard head.

I pouted at that.

"Excuse me!" a shout was heard from the crowd. The spotlight shown down as a young man stood up straight. "On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes. In addition—" The boy pointed towards me. "Your shouting is distracting. Please stop."

"No," I rejected immediately. "If you can't handle a noise, then what are you going to do when hell breaks loose on your first assignment?"

Then to see if I could annoy the man further, I stuck out my tongue.

"Now, now, Kiyo-chan," Present Mic chided, immediately placating me, "Okay, Examinee 7111. Thanks for the great message." The screen behind Present Mic shifted to show the fourth faux villain on the print out. "The fourth type of villain is worth zero points. That guy's an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle. An obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. It is not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it, either. I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it."

The man bowed, shouting clearly, "Thank you very much! Pardon the intrusion!"

He sat back down and the spotlight went out.

"That's all from me for right now," Present Mic declared. "Finally, I'll give you listeners a present—our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes."

(What about death's misfortunes?)

"Go beyond," Present Mic continued. "Plus Ultra! Now everyone, good luck in suffering!"

As soon as the lights turned back on, I gave a wink to Present Mic and he winked back cheerfully before leaving. I stayed in my seat as people began to leave, waiting for the hall to empty out before I teleported around.

The moment I stood up, however, I received a solid sucker punch into the gut by Katsuki.

I wheezed. "Hrrr."

Katsuki glared at me. "Phone. Now." I wordlessly handed it back to him. He looked it over, then stuffed it back in his pocket. "Thanks for the sh—the croissants. Bye, loser."

"Bye, buddy," I coughed. One punch in the gut wasn't too bad, all things considered. He certainly had done worse when I made the mistake of asking to spar with him. That seemed to open a door between us, though, because Katsuki became a lot more violent when he realized I could take what he dished out.

But, it was hard to take his actions personally or really be bothered by it. Katsuki simply had a hard time being sociable, and dealing with emotions and others. He was a genius when it came to combat, and academics, but anything and everything else threw him for a loop.

Over the summer, after school had closed out his only two "friends" stopped coming around. They were going to different high schools, after all, and neither of them considered it worth the effort to try to stay in contact with Katsuki.

He didn't have a lot of friends after that. Izuku and myself, really, and there was no way in hell Katsuki would admit that Izuku was his friend.

With me, he could tolerate because I didn't react to his rough personality in a negative connotation. I could take what he dished out, and serve it right back. I didn't question his strength, didn't make him feel insecure (typically), and in general, I sincerely tried to be supportive.

So the little fits he threw meant nothing. He didn't mean them (he definitely held back his punch), and I wasn't bothered by them.

There was no malice in Katsuki's eyes or tone when he talked or acted out.

He was a tsundere through and through.

Shōto walked up to me, his brow furrowed slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I reassured him. "Bocchan is simply very expressive with his emotions."

"That seems like an understatement."

"You're crazy," Izuku informed me as he hopped off the last step towards us. "Completely insane. Why would you antagonize him?"

I grinned in response. "Because he is a cute little angry duck. How could I not tease him?"

Izuku shook his head, smiling at me. "So do you know where these testing centers are?"

"Yep! Tell me what you were assigned and I'll take you there."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Luckily for me, Shōto was at the same testing center as myself. Izuku had a different area, sadly.

But, that was okay because I knew he would be fine.

The door swung open, and Shōto squeezed my hand once before I teleported us to the center of the simulated city. Of course my teleportation couldn't work unless I had a person, or destination in mind. I couldn't clearly see the center of the city from a ground view with everything in the way, but I could raise my gaze up to the sky and teleport us up there to an approximate center.

The cold air greeted us, and we could see swarms of robots below. Shōto gave me a smirk, and I teleported us back onto the ground in the center of the city (many students were still rushing to reach the center), where we immediately began destroying the nearby robots. By the time the other contestants reached the center, we had already destroyed every robot in sight and I was whisking us away to another far off location.

It was fun, actually. Letting loose with my friend.

I didn't have a lot of opportunities to use the second part of my Quirk.

The Magi Quirk was common in most Europeans. Enough so that they had their own private boarding school. Those born with the Magi Quirk were reliant upon their wands, and typically around the age of five they would unlock the first part of their abilities: transformation or teleportation.

The Quirk user could not teleport strangers with them, but could only teleport people the "wand" approved of. This was typically anyone who the user was in contact with for a year or longer.

In addition, the user could not teleport anywhere near Magi Dust. I didn't know how Magi Dust was created, or what exactly it was since I never personally encountered it, but I knew it stopped Magi Quirk users teleporting in the surrounding area. I also knew that it could only be purchased from the boarding school, and that it was expensive.

My second, and final part, of my Quirk developed when I was ten. I could call forth up to three "blobs" of smooth, hard, pink material. I could conform and twist it into any shape I want. They typically came out as bubbles, the size of basketballs. The more I focused on one of them, the stronger they become. I could not stretch them out too much without them losing strength and becoming more and more transparent (a lot like bubble gum, actually). But I could control them freely.

Sometimes I liked to create one large bubble around myself and use it to carry me around. Other times I would flatten it out into a disc and throw it around willy-nilly.

It was a lot more costly to maintain rather than teleporting, but it was versatile in its uses. When time was up, I leapt up in joy. "Man we kicked so much ass!"

"Mm-hmm." Shōto stretched his arms up. "We can head now, though, right?"

"Yeah. Hey, wanna go see a movie?"

"Sure. I'll buy."

"Yay, thank you. Wanna invite Izu-chan and Bocchan?"

Shōto nodded his head absently. "Whatever you want."

I whipped out my phone and asked Izuku, Going to the movies now that the exam is over, wanna come my darling sunshine?

And to Katsuki, I texted: Mooooovie time. You know you wanna come.

Katsuki almost immediately replied with a, Fuck no.

When Izuku didn't respond within the next five minutes, I decided to teleport over to him with Shōto.

I was startled to find my friend unconscious on a stretcher while one of Recovery Girl's assistants carried him to the infirmary. "Uh. Hi. What happened to Izu-chan?"

The assistant, who I did not remember the name of, gave a jump at our sudden appearance. "Oh. He's broken some bones. I'm supposed to take him to Recovery Girl. Are you his friend?"

"Yeah, may we come with?" I asked, gesturing towards Shōto and myself.

The assistant nodded his head. "Would you mind contacting his guardian, as well?"

"Sure thing."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Izuku would make a full recovery, thankfully. He woke up a couple hours later, with Inko fussing over him worriedly. Recovery Girl put him a sling and sent him on his way. I teleported both of them back to their home, before heading out to the movies with Shōto.

We ended up asking the ticket girl which movie was the best movie to see and she took one look at us before directing us to Moonlight Strolls.

We got our popcorn to share and a drink for each of us and headed into the theatre.

While the previews played, we talked quietly.

"Any plans this weekend?" I asked him.

Shōto grabbed another handful of popcorn, frowning as he thought. "Father said he will be personally tutoring me until it was time to go to school. He took vacation day."

I winced, worry creasing my brow and I reached over to give his hand a squeeze.

That was about when the movie began with an incredibly sappy romantic scene.

Beside me, I felt Shōto stiffen, which made me reflexively stiffen.

I withdrew my hand, tucking it into my lap and watching the movie play. Shōto seemed incredibly awkward, for some reason, and I could only hope he would fall asleep soon.

Thankfully Shouto relaxed, his eyes drooping fifteen minutes into the film. When his head dropped onto my shoulder I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Shōto slept through the movie without any issue, and I got the rest of the popcorn for myself.

I woke him up once the movie was over, and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes before I dropped Shōto back off at home and went home myself.

Baba and Papa greeted me with a large dinner and many congratulations. It was a lovely way to end the day.

Come morning, I worked the farm for a bit and then worked my shift at the cafe.

We would know our results in a couple of days, and all of my friends were preoccupied with preparing to head to school to really hang out with me. Izuku kept thinking he failed, though, which was silly and I told him that he passed for sure.

Then on the day we got our results back, I got a text from Nezu to meet him in his office around ten.

With glee, I teleported to my mentor and sat down on his couch.

Nezu beamed at me. "Hello, Kiyo-chan. I have the results of your exam."

"Yay," I said, holding out my hands as Nezu placed the sheet of paper in them. "Oh my gosh I got second?"

"Mm-hmm. Teleporting Todoroki-san around counted as rescue points. Working together to bring down enemies is always encouraged in this business," Nezu said cheerfully. "You actually got the second highest rescue points in the exam, with your friend Midoriya-san taking first."

I beamed. "I knew he passed. What a silly, thinking he had failed."

Nezu laughed. "I'm glad you think so. I wanted to personally congratulate you for such an excellent showing, as well as check in on your homework."

Expecting such a thing, I pulled out a neat folder Nezu put together for me. In it contained numerous logic puzzles, complex scenarios to solve, and little bits of information Nezu thought essential for all heroes to know. The material wasn't covered in the school curriculum, because it wasn't deemed important enough to have a class to cover. However, Nezu still believed that everyone should know the stuff, and as such he assigned me to learn it.

I would agree with a lot of it. It was stuff like how to suture emergency wounds, what to do in case of amputation, etc. He was beginning to put psychological stuff in there (the minds of villains, for example), but he never relented in his logic puzzles.

Too many flounder in the face of a hard problem, he told me.

I wasn't very talented in his forward-thinking, but I had a gift for thinking unexpectedly.

Sporadic, and unpredictable, he would tell me.

(Like someone we—I—we—I—we—I?—knew so long ago)

Nezu flipped through the folder, quickly examining my answers. "Mm. I'm glad you've been working on it, despite it not being due until next month."

"Of course," I said, preening at his praise. Disappointing Nezu after everything he had done for me was absolutely unthinkable.

"Good, good. I expect you to stay within the top percentage while you're here. Fall behind third seat and I'll have to do remedial lessons with you!"

I bowed. "I understand. I promise I won't let you down!"

Nezu patted my head with his soft paw. "I know. I'm sure you'll do great, my student. I didn't call you here simply to congratulate you, though. I have something for you."

Nezu went back over to his desk and pulled out a shiny black box. My heart leapt into my throat, and I felt a strong sense of gratitude wash over me. "Oh, Shishō, you don't have to—I mean, you've already done so much—"

"Don't be silly," Nezu scolded me. "This is something I'm sure you'll need." He offered me the box and I took it with careful hands.

Biting my lip, I brushed back my stubborn pink curls and carefully opened the box. Inside was a small white holster and strap. Curious, I looked back up at Nezu, seeing him smile warmly at me.

"It's a holster for your wand. You should keep your wand on your inner thigh," Nezu told me, taking out the holster. "It's the least likely area to be targeted or hit during combat. Your enemies will always aim for your chest."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Nezu flipped the holster over and showed me a tiny little slit. Large enough that when my wand fit inside, it could press against my skin so I could still draw my power from it. Nezu handed me the holster, and I was surprised at how heavy it was.

"It's built to take a beating," Nezu told me. "Could drop it from a skyscraper with an egg inside, and the egg wouldn't have a scratch."

That seemed a little unbelievable, but who was I question the physics of a world that had Quirks?

"Oh, wow. Thank you so much, Shishō."

Nezu patted my knee. "Think nothing of it. Use it well, okay?"

"I promise!"

◟(◕◡◕❀)

The next day I appeared behind Katsuki before I threw myself at him and hug-tackled him. Without even missing a beat, he threw me over his shoulder and onto the ground, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Stop greeting me like that, you fucking dumbass!"

With the wind knocked out of me, it took me a moment to recover before I could respond. I beamed at him. "Good morning, Bocchan!"

He still had a grip on my arm, and with a furious glare he twisted it to an uncomfortable angle. He continued to glower for a full minute before releasing me and letting out a short, frustrated sigh. I took the chance to hop back up, rubbing at my arm and looking around. I had teleported to his bedroom, apparently. The room was the perfect picture of cleanliness, with an abundance of action figures, and books neatly lined up in one of the many bookcases. There were video games stacked up beside a small T.V. and many consoles on the other side of it.

Katsuki himself was still in his pajamas, or at least his boxers and slippers. He pulled out a shirt and tugged it over himself before turning back to me and glaring. "The fuck are you still doing here? Get the hell out."

"Did you get your results back?" I asked excitedly, holding up a piece of paper that Nezu had given to me that morning. "Lookie, lookie!"

Katsuki grabbed the paper out of my hands, looking it over before a smug smirk crawled its way across his face. "Oh. Looks like you placed second."

"Yep! Nezu-sensei's super proud of me. He promised to give me his early copy of his next book as a reward," I declared happily, brimming with pride.

"Not bad, not bad," Katsuki drawled, heading over to his desk. He lifted a paper. A wicked grin stretched over his face in place of his smirk, but he still brimmed with smugness. "Is what I would normally say, but in comparison to myself you might as well be last. You're looking at number fucking one."

I gasped, grabbing his paper. "Holy smokes! You did it without earning any rescue points, too. You must have been a beast."

Katsuki preened, scoffing. "It was ridiculously easy. How the fuck anyone could not do well is beyond me."

I looked up. "Can I take a picture? I'll show it Izu-chan when I visit him."

Katsuki smirked. "Go right ahead. Show it off to that loser. Did he fail?"

"Nah, he did really great. Broke a few bones, though, but he got the most points in rescue than anyone else did in the exam."

Katsuki's smirk faltered and he frowned. "What rank did he get?"

"Uhum, I don't know. I haven't seen his exact score. Nezu-sensei told me about how he broke the record for rescue points earned, though. I guess no one else in the history of the exam focused on rescuing people."

"Kacchan?" A feminine voice called from outside the room. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Hang on, Kaa-san," Katsuki shouted out, then glared at me. "Leave already, will you?"

"But, but, I wanted to ask if you—"

The door opened to the room and a beautiful youthful woman entered the room. Her bright eyes widened upon seeing me and she let out a small giggle. "Oh. I didn't realize you had a visitor, Kacchan."

"She was fucking leaving," Katsuki hissed, giving me a mutinous look.

"Uh," was all I said. Then remembering my manners, I curtsied. "I'm Kiyomi, but my friends call me Kiyo. I'll be a classmate of Bacchan's next year at U.A."

Katsuki's mother made a hmm sound, a smirk on her face (it reminded me quite a bit of Katsuki's). She looked over at her son, who was growing red in the face from anger. "Well, why don't you join us for breakfast, Kiyo-chan? It's okay I call you that, right?"

"Of course!"

"You can call me Mitsuki-chan, Nee-chan, or... Kaa-san," she offered, and Katsuki let out a funny choked noise. It made Mitsuki giggle and she wrapped an arm around her son before wrapping the other arm around me.

"Okay, Nee-chan," I agreed, smiling. "I don't want to impose, though. I only wanted to see if Bacchan would be okay to hang out this weekend."

"If you leave now, fine," he hissed.

"Bye-bye, then!"

"Aw," I heard Mitsuki whine before I teleported away.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

I greeted Izuku with a big smile. "Hi, Izu-chan! I heard you did great."

Izuku gave me a grin. "I passed. I can't believe I did, though."

"I told you you would!"

"Yeah. I—thank you."

I smooshed his cheeks together. "What are best friends for? Now c'mon, let's go get some baked goodness."

He laughed with his smooshed cheeks. "Okay."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

I wished I could visit Shōto, but his father was dominating his time. He didn't catch a breather until late at night, and he would send me a text saying he was too tired for company and was heading to bed.

I missed him, but I didn't want to cause him unnecessary stress, so I left him alone until it was time for our term to start in April.

The morning of my first day of school, I woke up to a text from Izuku.

Can you take me to where our class is? I'm not familiar with the academy.

I responded with a quick Yes! Of course! :) before I hopped out of bed and started getting ready. Baba made me a big breakfast to eat with Papa and herself before I grabbed Izuku and went to class.

I took us to the front of the education building, holding his hand and pointing at each of the doors. "The door with one will lead to the first year hall, door with two leads to second year, and three leads to third year. We obviously use the first door for now."

Izuku nodded along, and I guided him through the hall. I pointed at different turns, explaining where the general education hall was, support, etc. The school was as beautiful and pristine as ever. I adored the school, and had nothing but fond memories of studying there in preparation for when I would finally attend school.

After years of hard work, I would finally get to go to U.A.!

"And here's our classroom," I said, ending with a flourish as I pointed towards the large door.

"W-Wow that's a big door."

"Uh-huh," I agreed. "Ready to start the day, Izu-chan?"

Izuku gave a firm nod, his cheeks a little rosy. I released his hand and opened the door with confidence.

The first thing we saw was that boy who got upset with me at the entrance exam actually trying to scold Katsuki. In a firm voice he said, "Don't put your feet on the desk!"

Katsuki was sitting in his chair, his right leg on the desk in front of him. There was a neatly wrapped pink bento box on his desk.

"Huh?" Katsuki sneered.

"Don't you think that's rude to the U.A. upperclassmen and the people who made the desk?" the boy demanded.

"Nope," Katsuki growled. "What junior high did you go to, you side character?"

The boy was first taken aback, then adjusted quickly. "I attended Somei Private Academy. My name is Tenya Īda."

"So-mei?" Katuski drawled out. "So you're a damn elite, huh? Looks like I'll have fun crushing you."

Tenya was shocked. "Crushing? That's cruel. Do you truly aim to be a hero?"

Deciding I had better intervene, I leapt into the room and dashed towards Katsuki. "Bocchan! Are you being a tsundere-chan again?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Katsuki shrieked at me, grabbing the bento box and throwing it at me. "Here's your stupid lunch."

"Thanks, honey," I said cheerfully. "You're Īda-san, right? Hi, I'm Kiyomi Marin, but please call me Kiyomi!"

"You're, ah, the one who acted out in the entrance exam," Īda said, giving me a slight bow. "Nice to meet you, Kiyomi-san."

"Just Kiyomi," I reassured him. "We're going to be classmates, so you don't have to be formal with me!"

He smiled. "Then I return the favor. Please call me Tenya."

Then he noticed Izuku standing awkwardly in the back. "You're—!"

"Izu-chan, come on in and properly introduce yourself," I instructed, about ready to grab his hand and pull him in.

Izuku must have sensed that because he quickly stepped inside and bowed towards Tenya. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. P-Pleasure to meet you."

I noticed Shōto sitting in the back, a seat next to him empty. I beamed at him and hurried over to him, letting Izuku do his own thing. "Sho-chan!"

"Hello," Shōto greeted me. I threw my arms around his shoulder and pulled him in tightly for a hug. He patted my back.

"I missed you," I told him, taking a seat beside him after I was done hugging. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Shōto reassured me. "Is that a bento box?"

"Yeah. Bocchan lost a bet with me a while ago. He's gotta make my lunch every day for the first month now! Heh-heh-heh."

Shōto gave a wry smile. "That sounds dangerous. Is it poisoned?"

"Nah. Worst he'd do would put laxatives in it." I paused. I turned back towards Katsuki who was watching Izuku with narrowed eyes. "Bocchan did you put laxatives in my lunch?"

He flipped me off.

"Phew, he didn't," I said cheerfully.

Then a positively adorable girl appeared by the front door behind Izuku, beaming. I had the sudden desire to run over to her, hug her, and swing her around like a little princess. She was talking animatedly towards Izuku, and Izuku was growing redder in the face as she did so.

It made me giggle at the cute display and I nudged Shōto. "Lookie, lookie! Izu-chan has a little crush."

Shōto watched the exchange quietly. "Is that a good thing?'

"'Course it is, silly," I told him. "Crushes are fun!"

"Do you have a crush?"

I laughed, not answering his question.

There was more commotion at the door and in stepped Aizawa, one of the teachers at the academy. I had run into him on plenty of occasions—such as teleporting into Nezu's office when he was there, or on my way to the library.

Despite our terrifying first meeting, I instantly warmed up to the man, much to his displeasure. I got a strong sense of comfort for him that I couldn't quite place, as well as a powerful fondness—even more so than Present Mic.

He was polite to me, if a bit distant at first, but he always answered questions I had (which mostly circled around some of Nezu's more convoluted logic puzzles)

"Everyone put this on and meet up at the grounds behind the building." Aizawa instructed, his voice coming out in a lazy drawl.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

We had to get dressed in our sports outfit, so the class split up at the locker room.

I took the moment to introduce myself to the cute girl. "Hi! I'm Kiyomi Notenshi Marin, but please call me Kiyomi."

The cute girl beamed. "Oh wow you have a middle name?"

"Uh-huh. My papa actually comes from America."

"That's neat. I'm Ochaco Uraraka. Please go ahead and call me Ochaco since I can call you Kiyomi."

I smiled at her. "Thanks. I get the feeling we'll be good friends. Wanna walk out together?"

Ochaco returned my smile with one of her own. "I'd love to, thanks."

I offered her my arm, and Ochaco hesitated for a split second before she linked her own arm through it and off we went in our U.A. uniforms. The rest of the girls in the classroom followed behind us, because I had made it clear I was familiar with the academy grounds and knew exactly where he wanted us to go.

We met up with the boys about halfway there and Shōto walked on the opposite side of me, with Izuku beside him. We stepped outside and onto the dirt training field. Aizawa was waiting for us at a far end, sucking on some kind of drink pouch.

When the class arrived as one he said, "We'll be doing a Quirk assessment test."

"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?" Ochaco asked, unhooking her arm from mine.

"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events," Aizawa said flatly. "U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how teachers run their classes. You kids have been doing these since junior high, too, right?" Aizawa held up a black electronical device with blue kanji on it. "Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your Quirks. The country still uses averages taken from results from students not using their Quirks. It's not rational. Well, the Ministry of Education is procrastinating."

Aizawa put the device away, his eyes on Katsuki. "Bakugō, you finished first in the practical exams, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Katsuki said, frowning.

"In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?"

"Sixty seven meters," Katsuki responded.

"Then, try doing it with your Quirk." Katsuki shrugged, then moved over towards where a circle was chalked in the ground. He stood at the center, and Aizawa gave a curt nod, tossing him a ball. "You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in that circle. Hurry up. Give it all you've got."

With a bored expression on his face, Katsuki stretched his arms out first. Then he took a firm step and threw the ball, adding a blast onto the end of it. "Die!"

I laughed out loud at how so very like Katsuki that was.

"Know your maximum first," Aizawa muttered, turning back towards the class and holding up the black device again. On it, it read seven hundred and five point two meters. "That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero."

The class awed and began to excitedly chatter at the idea of getting to use their Quirks.

"That looks like fun," a pink-skin girl exclaimed.

"Finally!"

"We get to use our Quirks?! As expected of U.A.!"

I could practically hear the sneer in Aizawa's voice, despite his face remaining a perfect mask of indifference. "Looks like fun, huh? You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time? All right. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."

The class gave out loud gasps, but I only grinned cheekily. Call me crazy, but I had a strong feeling that wouldn't happen. Aizawa noticed my grin and scoffed. "Give it your all, students. Demonstration is over, let's begin."

The first test was the fifty-meter dash. I volunteered right away to go first, alongside Tenya, and another cute girl with frog-like qualities.

"Ready, start!"

I teleported towards the end, giving a bow as I did so.

".05!" The little robot chimed. "3.07," it said again when Tenya crossed the finish line. "5.58." After the froggy girl made it.

More and more people took their turn, although Izuku looked a little concerned.

Okay more than a little concerned.

When he finished his run, I approached him and squeezed his hand. "You okay, Izu-chan?"

"Ah—yeah," Izuku said, looking away, and anxiously twisting his hands.

'Hmm. Is he really so concerned?'

Next up was the grip test—which I used my bubbles for—then a standing long jump. Izuku looked even more worried after the grip test, so I decided to bend the rules a bit.

When it was Izuku's turn to jump, and he leapt with all his might, I formed a pink bubble underneath him before he landed and then shot him towards the far end.

"Wait isn't that cheating?" Tenya asked, looking over at me.

I grinned at Aizawa who was giving me an annoyed look. "He didn't say we had to use our Quirks exclusively for our own tests."

"Cheeky brat," Aizawa told me.

"Shoulda specified the rules," I said.

He gave a small nod, allowing the score to be added to Izuku, so Izuku wouldn't be in last place for that test. "Fine. No more using your Quirk to help, though."

"Stinker."

"I know."

Izuku walked back over to me, giving me a thankful smile. "Th-Thanks, Kiyo-chan."

I patted his shoulder, then squished his cheeks. "Don't worry about it. You were clearly stressing out about it, and ya can't do that, you know? Take a deep breath, and calm yourself before you overthink it and can't use your Quirk."

Izuku's eyes were watery, but he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I made him do it several times until he had some semblance of calm.

"No matter what happens," I told him, "you'll still be a great hero."

That seemed to settle his nerves, and I stopped squishing his cheeks.

The tests went on, and Izuku struggled to keep from placing last. When it finally came to the ball-throwing contest, Izuku stood still for a solid minute before he threw the ball.

To my amazement, he threw it with such force that the ball soared high into the air, and with enough force that wind whipped around where Izuku still stood. Izuku stared at where he threw the ball in quiet surprise, then looked down at his hand.

I noticed the very tip top of his right index finger was bruised, but it didn't look particularly bad.

A huge grin split across his face and he turned towards me with triumph in his eyes. I clapped my hands. "Well done, Izu-chan!"

I noticed Aizawa watching our exchange with half-lidded eyes, and after another pat on Izuku's back, I headed over towards our teacher. "Something wrong, Sensei?"

"No," Aizawa said quietly, his gaze turned toward me. "He is... the one you mentioned? Trained by Cinnamon Roll?"

A vague memory popped in my head, the first year I had officially met Aizawa. "Yes. You promised, remember!"

"I didn't promise," Aizawa corrected.

"Close enough. Look, if you have any doubts about Izu-chan you should talk to Cinnamon Roll-san! Although I'm not sure how you would..."

Aizawa gave another small nod, his lips twitching. "I have a good idea on how to contact... Cinnamon Roll-san."

"Good! I personally haven't been able to talk to him outside of training with Izu-chan. Do you know Cinnamon Roll-san?"

"You could say that," Aizawa answered, his lips twitching more violently before he finally let out a grin. "In fact, I bet you could find Cinnamon Roll-san at the academy."

I gasped. "Really?"

"Yes. Once you see him, you'll know right away. Do you greet him like you greet everyone else?"

"You mean a hug-tackle?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Of course! Do you want your hug tackle today?"

"Is it a holiday?"

"No," I admitted sadly, remembering that Aizawa would only allow physical contact on holidays, and even then only for a split second. Most of the other teachers were pretty okay with hugs, and many of the upperclassmen I had run into. A lot of them required a little bribery on my end (treats from the café, mostly), but it was well worth it. As a hug-craver, I had to meet my daily quota of hugs or I'd be heartbroken at the end of the day.

And there were simply so many wonderful people that I adored at U.A. They all deserved hugs.

"Then no," Aizawa told me. "But, be sure to greet Cinnamon Roll-san like usual, then. If you do... I may pat your head once in praise. If you somehow get it on video, I'll even allow a hug on a day that's not a holiday."

Happiness bloomed inside me.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

At the end of the tests Aizawa showed us the results—I placed second again with Katsuki above me, and boy was he smug about that!—and then offhandedly said, "I was lying about the expulsion, by the way."

As most of the class stiffened in surprise, Aizawa grinned cheekily. "It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks."

"Rude," I called out, and his grin widened at my remark.

"With that, we're done here," Aizawa said, walking away. "There are handouts with curriculum and such in the classroom, so when you get back, look over them."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

With the day over, I bid goodbye to Izuku (via hug), Ochaco (via hug), and Katsuki (via giving back the bento box and cooing on how feminine his cooking was) before I grabbed Shōto's hand and the two of us began a pleasant walk back towards his compound.

Neither of us were in enough of a hurry to teleport, and the day was far too pleasant not to enjoy.

I swung our hands back and forth, our fingers interlaced per usual. "What'dya think? Not bad for a first day."

"It was okay. Do you know Aizawa-sensei, too?"

"Uh-huh. He's a bit of a cactus on the outside, but he's honey on the inside. You can trust him to always do the right thing."

Shōto looked down at our hands, a small smile on his face. "Do you have work today?"

"Na-uh. But I do tomorrow after school."

"Want to come over after I train? We can work on our handouts."

"Mn! Yes please."

And on we walked, our shoulders brushing, small smiles on both our faces.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

After a morning of typical classes (according to Izuku), and a lovely lunch (I thanked Katsuki again, and he flipped me off again), it was time for the much anticipated afternoon hero classes.

I stared at All Might, a frown on my face as a wiggling sense of familiarity penetrated my mind. I knew I had met him once, many months before, but that wouldn't explain why he seemed so damn familiar.

My brow furrowed and I leaned forward in my seat, letting out a hum. His voice, and especially his eyes, made me think of—of—

Well, I wasn't quite sure what they made me think of.

"I teach Hero Basic Training. It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn basics of being a hero. You'll take the most units of this subject." All Might struck a pose. "Let's get right into it. This is what we'll do today." He held out a card that read BATTLE. "Combat training!"

He then pointed at the wall to our far left that began to open up and reveal containers with numbers. "And to go with that are these! Costumes made based on your Quirk Registrations and requests you sent in before school started. After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

It was at the tip of my tongue.

What did All Might remind me of?

"Something up?" Shōto asked me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I scratched my cheek. "Does All Might-sensei remind you of anyone?"

"No," Shōto replied. "You?"

"Yeah, but I can't seem to place it."

Beside me sat Izuku, who stiffened. "U-Um, maybe you watched too m-many All Might videos?"

"Nah. There's something behind it... Hmm..."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

I was the first to finish changing and I teleported straight to Ground Beta in hopes of getting to talk to All Might a bit. Maybe that would trigger my memory.

"Afternoon, Sensei," I greeted, landing on the ground with a gentle click from my combat boots. My outfit was certainly reminisce to a magical girl/witch. I had short pink boots that ended halfway up my calves, with a bit of heel to them. I was accustomed to moving around in heels from my time at the café, and I found that I actually enjoyed the extra height.

I was painfully shorter than everyone else around me. Even with the extra height from heels, Izuku was still a solid three inches taller than me.

I wore thick white leggings that were resistant to tearing, and warm enough I could wear them in the winter. I had sleeveless white undershirt, and my overshirt was a pink corset. I had a fluffy—because who doesn't like fluffy?—pink skirt, and long gloves that ended on my upper arm. To finish the ensemble was a reddish witch's hat.

"Afternoon Kiyomi-chan," All Might returned in that booming voice of his. Then he grinned at me, and I realized why he was so familiar.

"CINNAMON ROLL-SAN!" I squealed, launching myself at him and hugging him as tightly as I could. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it."

"Ah—Um—I think you have me mistaken—"

"I know that smile anywhere," I told him, immediately dismissing his silly attempt to cover up. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, but you can't hide from me, Cinnamon Roll-san. I can't believe you're All Might. You're too cute to be such a billy bad ass."

Cinnamon Roll rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thank you? You can't let the other students know, though, Kiyo-chan."

"I promise," I told him seriously. "Can I call you Cutie-sensei, though? 'Cause you are a cutie patootie."

He laughed, patting my head. "All Might-sensei in front of the other students, but otherwise than that, sure."

I was about to respond, but I heard the footsteps of the other students, so I decided to step away.

Still.

'I can't believe Izuku is being trained by All Might. Or that Cinnamon Roll is All Might.'

Then remembering Aizawa's words yesterday, I looked around for the security camera. Once I found it, I grinned widely.

'Hello future hug.'

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Cantrona (deviantART) drew a lovely picture of Kiyomi in her hero outfit for Inktober. Links on profile, so please check it out.

Answer: Arcane Warrior Quirk. Although the Gamer Quirk does sound like it would be fun, too.

Question: What about your hero / villain outfit? What would you wear into battle?

Reviews are love.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Extra:

I flew through the halls, trying to get to the library as fast as I could without teleporting (as Nezu insisted I didn't become too reliant on teleporting, and that I knew my way around the academy). So preoccupied in my hurry, I wasn't able to stop when I ran into a head-on collision with one of the teachers.

He had dark hair, tired eyes, and was dressed in black and bandages. He stumbled a bit when I ran into him, his eyes narrowing.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," I said, bowing lowly. "I'm Marin Kiyomi. I'm so sorry for running into you. Do you need a hug?"

"Yes, I need a hug for you running into me," the man said, his voice flat. Hindsight I realized it was also laced with sarcasm, but I was in such a rush I didn't notice.

I hugged him. He froze.

Then I ran away.

Until a couple of bandages grabbed my foot and yanked me down. Turning my head, I let out a yip of surprise at seeing glowing red eyes. I tried to teleport away, but found that I was unable to. The man gave me a positively evil grin as he slowly had the bandages drag me closer towards him.

I shamelessly screamed in horror.

And that was how I met Aizawa.