The first Saturday of the semester comes around, bringing with it their first official quirk training. The class is paired up outside, the sun beating down on the first truly warm day of spring. Takara's body drips with sweat as she once again pushes herself off the dry ground.

She was partnered with Sugita—a painful matchup if you ask her opinion. His job is to keep sending plasma grenades her way while she learns to take powerful hits, holding her jade armor steady. Not only that, but she has to run around with it too, getting used to the restricted movement of her joints, and trying to dodge. The biggest problem is that Sugita has amazing aim.

Another plasma ball knocks Takara's feet out from under her, landing her face-down in the dirt. A horrible cracking sound resonates as tears fill her eyes. Blood trickles from her crooked nose as she once again stands.

"Are you okay?" Sugita calls over the distance, already walking closer.

"Why do we have to push ourselves like this?" Endo whimpers from a couple meters away, her shadows emanating ominously far around her as she rests on her hands and knees.

It's a shock to all of them when their teacher offers the girl a hand to help her back to her feet. Gila fixes them with his intense stare. "Up until a couple years ago, the hero program focused on strategy and teamwork the first semester, then strength training the second. It came to our attention that this put our students in a vulnerable position by only training a certain area of curriculum. If we hope for you students to have a chance at facing villains, you must be well equipped in all areas and master your skills in tandem. It was a lack of consideration on the teachers' side to not be doing this already. We have since adapted, and we expect you to as well."

Many of the students around him have paused in their training to listen to his speech. He glances around, a single look scaring them into returning to their work. "You all must continue to push yourselves past your limits for your quirks to grow. You aren't going to stop now, are you?" He asks the question to all of them, but his eyes are fixed on Takara as she wobbles where she stands.

She waves him off, wiping the blood from her nose with the back of her hand. "I can still fight!" she exclaims to Sugita, already settling her jade into its armored position. "Hit me with another!"

She holds her form strong, taking a battering of small plasma balls to the chest, fighting to hold strong against them. The brunette manages to stay standing, even if she's a little off balance by the end. She pushes on, running back and forth as she continues to take hits. The force is excruciatingly painful, and the constant explosions have compounded heat into her jade, scalding her skin from their constant touch.

When Gila finally announces the end of class, it's all Takara can do to not collapse.

"We should stop by Recovery Girl's office," Sugita suggests, approaching her. She notices the skin on the palms of his hands is covered in milky blisters.

"What happened?" she asks, warily reaching out.

He pulls his hands back to protect the sensitive skin. "It's just what happens. Plasma superheats the air, so my hands get burned if I summon too much."

Takara winces, imagining how horrible it must feel to experience that every time he uses his quirk. Her own burns seem measly in comparison. "Then let's go get healed up."

They walk silently through the school, following a couple of their other classmates who got mild injuries. Takara wipes the dried blood from her face, wincing from the pain in her broken nose. As they approach the infirmary, they hear an old, weary voice.

"Oh, when will they learn they don't have to break their students every day for them to grow?" the woman asks as kids file into the room. When Takara makes it in, she finally meets the school's nurse, Recovery Girl.

The woman's small squinted eyes look up at Takara, examining her briefly. Her wrinkled skin is covered in liver spots and stray whiskers. Takara doesn't say anything out loud, but she can't help but think Recovery Girl may not have much time left.

"Let's get a closer look at that nose, shall we?" the nurse asks, gesturing to a chair and hobbling over on her cane.

Takara dutifully sits, leaning forward as Recovery Girl climbs up on a step stool to get to eye level. She glances over at Sugita, assessing his hands before exclaiming, "Chika! This one's all you!"

A willowy girl with long white hair and a wistful smile steps out from a connecting room, looking around for the hero. Upon seeing her, she hastens around a hospital bed, tripping over one of the legs as she goes.

"Of course," the girl exclaims, her glittering eyes the color of a stormy ocean.

As Recovery Girl plants a kiss on Takara's nose and she feels it move back into position, the girl watches with interest as Chika raises Sugita's burned hands. He winces, but she keeps studying his palms.

"Chika," Recovery Girl drags out her name admonishing the girl.

She looks over to see the old woman's disappointed gaze, then back to the purple-haired boy whose face is still scrunched up in pain. She loosens her hold on him, realizing her mistake. "Sorry! Sorry!" she apologizes to both Sugita and Recovery Girl.

"Just be more careful, I beg of you," the old lady says, reaching out to feel Takara's nose once more. "I think this is all set." She hands the girl a wet cloth to clean the blood from her healed face.

Takara thanks the pro and studies Chika as she glides to the counter to grab a small vial. "Is she an intern?" the brunette asks.

"An apprentice, let's say," Recovery Girl corrects, stepping down from her stool to check on the other students. "My granddaughter is one of the students in Class 1-B. This has been her first week training under me."

Granddaughter? Takara thinks in shock. The girl stands more than a foot taller than the hero and has basically none of the same facial features, though she concedes that it's hard to tell what Recovery Girl must have looked like in her prime.

"Chika Shuzenji," the girl introduces with a smile, using a pipette to drip the clear contents of the vial onto Sugita's palms. The moment the drops touch his skin, his entire hands are enveloped in a blue light, and they all watch as the blisters begin to shrink and disappear. "My quirk is Heal, just like my baa-baa." She gestures toward Recovery Girl as she recaps the vial. "Except where her kisses heal, it's my tears."

Shuzenji returns the glass to a bin of many more. Takara ponders to herself how much she's had to cry to collect all that, though she can't deny that it's extremely useful. Even if she's not there, a hero carrying a vial would help them out in the immediate aftermath of battle.

"I know what you're thinking," the elderly hero says, sending a warning glance Takara's way. "It still has the same drawbacks as my own. If you don't have enough stamina to heal, it could kill you. That's why we need to be the ones to administer the correct amount."

"That makes sense," Takara says, but has to admit she's a bit sad. Either way, if doctors and first responders were trained in how to use it properly, it could be very useful.

"We have to get back to class," Sugita reminds her, rubbing the healed skin of his palm. "Thank you again."

"Yes, thank you!" Takara follows the boy out, waving at the two healers. "How cool is it that she's in our grade‽ She has such a cool quirk."

"Mhm," Sugita affirms absentmindedly.

A quick glance up at him reminds Takara of their first day when they got paired up in their initial exercise. But now he seems tired and lost in his head.

"What'cha thinking?" she asks.

His lavender eyes look down to meet her gaze. She notices the sheen of sweat on his dark forehead. "I just want to get back to class before we miss any announcements. The healing process is an exhaustive one, but I don't want it to affect the rest of our studies."

"Yeah, I get that."

"We gotta get used to fatigue and soreness, so it won't drag us down in battle," he says, quickening his pace so much that Takara almost has to jog to keep up.

Damn long legged people, she thinks, slowing down and out of breath as they reach their classroom.

"Sensei," Sugita greets as he opens the door. "I hope we haven't missed anything."

When Takara passes through the doorway, she sees their teacher reclined in his chair, flipping through the pages of a book.

"Nah," he drawls, "haven't started yet. There weren't any huge injuries, so I'm waiting 'till the whole class is here."

Slowly but surely, the rest of the students trickle back from Recovery Girl. After a few more minutes where it's clear Sensei McCaffery just doesn't want to get up from his chair, he finally stands to address the class, interrupting their conversations.

"Alright you lot, listen up." The class falls silent, an excited air settling over the room. "There are a couple things I must announce for the upcoming week. I'm sure you're all excited to receive your hero costumes."

Students exchange enthused whispers, and Takara finds herself smiling so hard her cheeks begin to ache. She's excited to see which of her proposed logos the costume company went with.

The sensei levels a flat look at the class. "You were supposed to receive them by now, but the company in charge of them had some issues in one department or another. Either way, they'll be here on Monday."

He quickly moves to the next point before the class can get too out of hand. "I'm sure you're all aware of the U.A. Sports Festival: the most widely broadcasted sports event in Japan. This is coming up in exactly two weeks from now. Mark it on your calendars."

He picks up a sheet of paper from his desk and reads over it. "Next week, we'll begin rescue training during some of your heroics classes. Gila and myself will accompany you to an off-campus facility with another teacher. So you have that to look forward to as well."

He throws the paper back down and leans against the blackboard behind him. "Now, in more relevant news, apparently we were supposed to decide on a class representative and vice representative, but frankly, I forgot. So let's do that now. Who wants it?"

He doesn't seem surprised when the whole class jumps up, raising their hands. "Alright, I figured as much. Take a paper and write your vote down."

After collecting and tallying up the points, without much grandeur, their teacher announces Ohara and Sugita as class rep and vice rep, respectively. "Go on and enjoy your weekend," Sensei McCaffery simply says, heading out the door.

As Takara meets up with her friends walking back to the dorms, she gushes about her hero costume. "I'm so ready to see it already! It's a little simple, but when it comes to my jade, it's best to avoid over the top accessories. Though I had a really cool idea for some shoes and gloves. I just hope they work."

"Sounds great," Aiya mumbles from one side of the girl.

"What's your costume look like?"

"Green," is all the blonde girl says in reply.

"Mine too!" Takara exclaims, but her friend doesn't seem nearly as excited as she is. She figures the girl is just tired, so she turns to her redheaded friend on her other side. "What about yours?"

"Purple," Kaede replies, just as cooly as her twin. The tall girl looks straight forward, not bothering to look at her friend between her and her sister.

"Okay, what happened?" Takara asks, immediately thrown off by the twins' behavior.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Aiya whispers in a scathing tone.

The brunette doesn't understand, but Kaede rolls her eyes and replies exasperatedly, "You're being over-dramatic. As usual."

"Yes, of course," the blonde bites back, her tone dripping in sarcasm. "Please, Miss Control Freak, lecture me more about how I'm being over-dramatic."

"I'm not trying to control you!" Kaede exclaims, making Takara severely regret walking between the two.

"That's all you've ever done," Aiya states, her blonde eyebrows pitched downwards. "And I'm telling you I'm tired of it."

"You're being unreasonable."

"And you're being ignorant."

"Fine," Kaede spits out. "Find me when you're done being petty."

"Find me when you are ready to apologize!" Aiya yells after her sister as the redhead flies ahead to the dorms.

"What happened here?" Araya asks, falling into line with the two girls. Takara turns to Aiya, silently asking the same question.

"It's nothing," she replies, rubbing her arms. "Don't worry about it."

"Of course we're going to worry about it," Takara exclaims. "We're your friends!"

"It's complicated," the blonde says. Takara can't help but wonder if Aiya sees them as her friends at all. Because, if so, why was that not enough to convince her to let them in?

"Help us understand, then," Araya requests gently.

The girl sighs, keeping her eyes locked on the pavement in front of them. "She just pushes so much. Always pushes whatever she wants or thinks is right onto me. Like today in class, she was trying to organize my notes for me. Like, is how I take notes not okay? Or in hero training, she tries to critique everything that I do. How much does she need to control? Can't I just do what I want?"

Takara loops her arm through the girl's, hoping to lend her some comfort. "You don't ever have to do something you don't want to do."

Aiya sighs. "Not like that. I mean...it's just her critique of everything. Like she always makes herself out to be oh-so-perfect, and suddenly everything I do or want or feel is wrong." The girl fiddles with her sleeve. "It's just exhausting. Especially when we're training. I'm a hero student too, you now? It's not like I can't protect myself. We're learning these things together. But it's like she can't bear to think that I'm not beneath her."

The trio walks in silence as they arrive back at the dorms. "And you explained all this to her?" Araya finally asks.

She nods, looking away. "And you saw where it always gets me. She just doesn't get it. And she never will."

When they walk through the door, the room falls silent. On the couch of the living room is the auburn-haired twin, surely explaining her version of the story to Morita and Ohara, but stops mid-sentence as soon as she sees her sister.

The two groups look between the twins. Aiya clicks her tongue and walks away, whispering "typical" under her breath.

Uh oh, the girls are fighting! Any theories about what sparked this?

Featured Character: Chika Shuzenji
Quirk: Heal
Likes: K-Dramas