Silence fills the classroom as the video ends.

"And now for your scores," Sensei McCaffery says casually, brandishing a piece of paper. Students murmur amongst themselves, but their teacher silences them by clearing his throat. "Yellow, red, orange, and silver teams receive no points for being eliminated without capturing any of their opponents."

Looking around the room, Takara sees a few people hang their heads in shame. She recognizes the people on the yellow team that her and Sugita had taken down. Their teacher invites the students on those teams to talk a little about their quirks. Takara listens intently so she can use the information later.

"Next is the green team, Kaylane Morita and Haru Ozaki." The curly haired girl and buff blond dude sit up straighter. "For eliminating one member of the pink team, you have five points. And now for your quirks?"

Morita stands and gives a smile to her classmates. "My quirk is called Torch! I can light myself on fire, and that's really it."

Her teammate, Ozaki, stands a couple rows over and projects in a rough voice, "Mine is Sunflower. I can grow sunflowers from my exposed skin, shoot the seeds from those flowers, and grow them from wherever they land as long as there's something for the roots to bury into."

He returns to his seat as their sensei moves onto the next group. "Pink team, Kaede Komatso and Tatsuo Araya, have ten points for eliminating one member of the white team and one member of the green team. Go on."

The front two feet of Araya's chair thunk back to the ground from where he has been reclining. He stands and simply says, "Animal Transfiguration."

"A little more than that, lad," Sensei McCaffery chides, giving the boy a knowing look.

"When I gain the ability to transform into a certain animal, a tattoo forms on my skin," he explains. "From then on, I can transform into that animal at will." The boy plops back into his seat, and his ears swivel attentively towards the teacher.

The sensei nods, turning to Kaede as she stands. "Our quirk is called Pixie," she chirps, motioning to her sister in front of her. "We obviously have wings, and we can produce pixie dust which makes things float!"

Aiya gives a small nod from her seat, affirming what her twin had said.

"The white team has fifteen points for having one of their team members still standing at the end since they chose to split up and hide. They are tied with the purple team who also received fifteen points for eliminating both members of the yellow team and one member of the black team."

The white team presents their quirks, followed by Sugita, then Takara.

"The blue team, Aiya Komatso and Akihiko Hirose, has thirty five points for capturing both the orange and purple teams, as well as remaining uncaptured by the end."

All eyes turn to the back of the class. Aiya doesn't stand, just shrugs and points a thumb over her shoulder towards her sister. "What she said."

Hirose takes the attention off his teammate by standing. His cloud of glass undulates in the air. "My quirk is Porcelain, which is what I'm entirely made out of. I can control any piece of me that breaks off."

"And in first place," Sensei McCaffery announces as the boy sits back down, "is the black team, Sumi Ohara and Kazumi Endo, with forty five points for eliminating six people and still standing by the end."

The girl with the pigtails, Ohara, readily stands. "My quirk is called Living Pictures. As you saw, I can reach into any printed photograph and pull out whatever is inside."

She returns to her seat as the shadowy girl in front of her stands. "I'm Endo, umm...but I guess you just heard that," the girl stutters. Takara notices the girl's glowing blue eyes have no iris or pupil. "My quirk is called Light and Shadow. I'm basically all shadow, but my light exoskeleton keeps those contained to my, uh, my body. But I can also control the light however I wish."

Endo hastily returns to her seat and begins chewing on her thumb. Sensei McCaffery sets his paper down on his desk and runs his cunning aqua eyes over the class. "Thank you for a great first day. I look forward to working with all of you. We'll start your training—as well as your other classes—tomorrow." He glances up at the clock and retrieves his cane. "Lunch is in fifteen minutes. Enjoy the rest of your day."

His cane clicks on the floor as he exits, dark coat billowing behind him. Most people are already out of their seats by the time the door closes behind him. Takara rushes to the twins' desk.

"Congrats Aiya!" she exclaims, patting the blonde girl on the shoulder. "You got second place!" The blonde shrugs, giving her thanks with, what seems to Takara, to be an incomplete smile.

A tall figure approaches the group. Araya's fuzzy ears twitch in the commotion of the class as he addresses the redhead. "You good? Your wing isn't hurt?"

Kaede flaps her wings a couple times, responding, "a little sore, but nothing's broken."

"Good," he says with a smile that has his canines glinting. His golden eyes search over the little group and focus in on Aiya who pointedly looks down at her fiddling hands. "I don't think we've met."

She raises her pale green eyes to meet his. "Aiya," she introduces quietly.

"Tatsuo Araya," he responds, flashing her another toothy grin.

Aiya swivels her chair around to face her sister. "Bathroom?"

Kaede agrees, and they hurry out of the room. Takara meets the gold gaze of the boy. "She's still shaken up from all that."

His smile fades into something more composed. "I can tell."

"That was quite a fight you put up out there," Takara muses, sitting on Kaede's desk. "I guess you weren't exaggerating."

The boy snickers, causing the bridge of his nose to crinkle. "When it comes down to it, I'm just glad I took down Ozaki. He landed some pretty heavy hits on me."

The two glance over to where the sunflower boy sits, scrolling through his phone as Morita tries to loop him into conversation. "He seems plenty strong without his quirk," Takara observes.

"I can't wait to get to training so that we're all on the same level."

"Same," Takara agrees. "But I also can't wait for lunch. Let's go, I'm starved."

Araya concedes to that with a grin. "I can always eat."

•°•☆•°•

The twins meet back up with Takara and Araya in the lunch line. The group grabs their food, then finds an empty table and is joined shortly thereafter by Morita. The girl explains how Ozaki had told her to get lost when she tried to sit with him.

"He didn't tell the others to leave," she grumbles, looking over at the table by the window. The tall boy stares outside while the other students quietly converse around him.

"Well, they seem..." Kaede trails off.

"Quiet," Araya suggests, earning a smack to his arm from the curly-haired girl.

"I'm sorry if I just wanna make friends!"

"Yeah, keep hitting me," Araya says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "'Cause that's exactly how to make friends."

She takes a couple bites of her food and continues, "he doesn't seem all that friendly, but he's strategic. I wanna be on his side when we all become pros!"

"As long as I'm not against him," the boy shrugs.

"Was the wittle kitten afwaid of some seeds?" Morita asks in a high-pitched baby voice.

"Yeah, I'd prefer to keep my eyes, thanks."

Takara interjects, "Guess that's something to be prepared for in the Sports Festival."

"Ooh!" Kaede squeals. "I'm so excited for that! We're gonna get to show the world what we're really made of!"

"I'm made of 60% water," Aiya quips dryly.

"I'm 40% rock!" Takara adds, covering her fist in jade.

"Fire!" Morita exclaims, her dark hair smoldering like hot coals.

Kaede and Araya share a glance, and she shakes her head. "Well, I'm not gonna be the airhead."

"Why not?" Aiya inquires, absently prodding at her vegetables. "Your head is up in the clouds more often than not anyway."

Kaede rolls her eyes but can't fight the giggle that slips out of her.

•°•☆•°•

The lunch bell rings, and the five students join their class in walking back to the dorms. Everybody can't seem to stop talking about their first hero class.

"Was it really smart to pit everyone against each other on the first day?" Sugita can be heard asking as they open the front door and file into the common room.

The girl with the pigtails, Ohara, shrugs and fiddles with her camera. "Maybe not, but when working with our classmates, we should know each other's capabilities." She glances around, her electric blue eyes lingering on a few students in particular.

"I would have preferred to keep mine in the dark a little longer," Hirose grumbles with a scowl.

"Agreed," Sugita nods, "I do want to keep some things close to my chest."

Ohara scans the room with her piercing stare. "I'm sure plenty of us were smart enough to hold back in our descriptions."

Endo shifts in discomfort as Ohara's eyes fall to her and linger as if she's trying to untangle what her teammate might have held back. Araya lazily stalks over and flops down on the couch, taking the attention off the shadowy girl.

"I tried to say the least I could," he reminds them with a rueful grin. He stretches his gangly arms above his head. "You saw where that got me."

"Oh c'mon," Takara says, going over to join the discussion. "All you gave at first was just the name of your quirk. Besides, you still haven't told us what you can turn into. We already know the lion, but what else?"

The boy gives her a sharp grin, pointing between Ohara and Sugita. "I'm choosing to keep that to myself, just like they said. I need to have the element of surprise, don't I?"

"Damn," Morita swears, dipping her chin. "I guess it's too late for me to go back, then?"

"Good thing I'm not alone there," Takara mumbles to her, elbowing her friend in the side.

Morita grins and swings her arm over Takara's shoulder. "Yeah, we don't have anything to hide from each other." Takara can't help but smile back, wrapping her arm around Morita's waist and tugging her close.

Sugita laces a purple strand of his hair around a beautifully manicured finger. "Sure, you explained what you can do, but whether it's ultimate moves or weaknesses, it's best to keep some things private."

"Personally, I wouldn't have had students stand up and say all that," Araya continues, "especially on the first day. I mean, look at All Might. All throughout his career, we never knew what his quirk was. That worked in his favor because he seemed unbeatable. A hero with no weaknesses."

"Everybody has their weaknesses," Endo points out quietly.

"My point exactly," Araya says, shaking a stray hair from his face. "By refusing to give out information, he was the sort of impossible hero that could lower the crime rate just with his presence."

"As heroes, we have to present the most powerful versions of ourselves as we can," Sugita concludes, and nobody argues.

Morita releases Takara to go join Sugita. She plops down next to him. "Best versions of ourselves, huh? You're making me hype about hero costumes!"

As the class begins to discuss, Takara notices Ohara zip her camera into its case and leave without a word. She figures it's about time for a call home and follows after the girl into the elevator. As the doors close on the two, silence fills the air.

"So what's your plan for the rest of the day?" Takara asks the small girl. She has to remind herself to not flinch under Ohara's striking eyes as the girl turns to look at her. The same eyes that stared down her classmates just hours earlier, daring them to fight back.

"Probably get a head start on readings for class then go for a walk," she replies, tilting her head to the side. Her ears poke through her hair, tapering into rounded points. Where the pixies have long, rigid ears, Ohara's appear more soft and floppy. "Get a feel for the school grounds. Enjoy the day," she continues.

"That sounds nice," Takara remarks with a smile as the doors open on the third floor. "You're on this floor too?" she asks as they both step out.

"Mhm, last room." Ohara points to the end of the girls' wing.

"Well, I'm in this one if you ever need anything," Takara offers, unlocking the second door.

"Noted," the petite brunette says over her shoulder as she continues walking.

How direct, Takara thinks to herself as she rolls her door closed behind her and pulls out her phone.

After a quick call to her parents at work, she promises to fill them in on everything later when they have more time. She takes a moment to examine her room, only letting it sit in that she'll be living primarily at the school for the next three years.

She thinks of her brother, Kei. That little chunk will have grown so much by the next time I see him. I hope he'll be okay without me. And he'll stay safe. We'll always call and keep in touch, right?

It occurs to Takara that she never asked her brother what he thought about her becoming a hero. It's a dangerous profession. And he seemed to think I couldn't do it. Ever since he's understood quirks, he's always told me mine was useless.

The girl clenches her fist, extending the jade crystals. "I'm not helpless," she says aloud. "I can do this."

So, now that you've met the main cast, I want to know, who is your favorite so far? 

Featured Character: Sumi Ohara
Quirk: Living Pictures
Likes: Scrapbooking

Featured Character: Kazumi Endo
Quirk: Light and Shadow
Likes: Puzzles