Do any of the thoughts in this chapter make you feel needlessly uncomfortable? Read the trigger warnings and the note at the beginning of chapter one, which specifies that there will be no endgame BakuDeku in this book.

Third person pov

Just as Harper had assumed, her parents ended up being ecstatic. She'd never felt them so happy and proud. Sure, they hadn't believed her at first, but a simple glance at the uniform she'd dragged home was enough to turn that around. They signed the papers at the speed of fucking light. It was like they were afraid the opportunity would vanish if they didn't. Harper was just glad it wasn't going to cost her family anything. She knew they'd pay it, but they were roughing it as it was.

Her mom and dad, Akiara and Elijah Rye, were so happy they actually took the time to drive her right up to UA. Normally they were up and off the work before she was even up for school, but this time they'd notified their bosses that they'd be coming in late. It was almost embarrassing. That being said, her not having to take the train this time around was definitely a relief. She didn't fancy being stuck in a metal can that hurtled across Japan with whatever creeps crawled on. Some pretty weird individuals lurked around the terminals. 

Her parents were under the impression that Nezu had taken notice of her just because of her potential, and not because he needed something. That was the only reason the mammalian principal had picked her out of the vast crowd was because she had a quirk he needed. She felt a little guilty as her parents awed over her, their pride evident and radiating. 

UA seemed bigger than it had the day before. Her student ID felt heavy in her hands as she slid out of the car. Awkwardly enough, her parents didn't drive away. They sat there with bright, teary eyes as she tugged uncomfortably tugged at her skirt. She had leggings on under it, but it still made her reasonably uneasy. She should've just said fuck all and worn jeans under it, regardless of how much of a lunatic she'd look. She already looked like a dumpster; there was really no crawling out of the hole she was in.

Taking a deep breath, she strode further. Nobody gave her a second glance as she crossed the gate's threshold. Just like the last time she'd came, nothing happened. No metal gate snapped up at the speed of light to crush her, and nobody called her out for being a poser. That's what she felt like. UA was a prestigious school, and she was... uh, well, she was her. Harper Rye, anti-social fuckwad that nobody seemed to like all that much if their thoughts were anything to go off of. Glancing back one last time at her parent's car, she started forward. God, she regretted this. Why had she agreed?! Life had been shit, but tolerable shit. Of course she'd have to go fuck that up.

Principal Nezu was supposedly waiting for her. She kind of hated that. Not only would it draw attention, but it would draw thoughts as well. This school was far bigger than hers, and half the kids in her previous high school were too stoned to hold coherent thoughts. They mostly drifted in a pleasant fog that was all too easy to block out. Here, she was sure everyone was at least fairly lucid. Not to mention a majority were probably super geniuses, and they always had complex thoughts.

Sure enough, Nezu was waiting for her at the front door to the gargantuan institution. He lit up upon seeing her. Harper didn't react at all, trying not to let his thoughts squeeze through. Of course, they did anyway. How could someone so small have such strong thoughts? His quirk probably didn't help. Complex minds were harder to block out. 

"I believe Miss Rye might be my new favorite human." Nezu thought distantly. Harper was flattered, really. "This traitor will get what's coming to them in no time flat! I'm sure it's only a matter of days before she finds them. Of course, even if she doesn't, that's quite fine. This is UA! There's bound to be some shady things going on. Like that orgy some of the third year teachers held last year in the-"

"Whoa, okay!" Harper choked. Nezu jumped slightly, seeming somewhat flustered. Yeah, Harper couldn't damn well blame him. Wait, actually, where was the orgy held? She swore to god, if she found out it was one of her classrooms, she was going to vomit. It was last year, so that meant they'd at least had time to sanitize, right? She sure as shit hoped so. The thoughts of those around here were going to be more than enough to overwhelm her. She didn't need a disease too just because she touched the wrong part of a desk. God, why? She should have never agreed to this. 

"My apologies, Miss Rye." Nezu cleared his throat slightly, looking away. He hoped she knew they'd burned the desks and bleached even the ceiling as a safety precaution before firing everyone involved. Truly, it had been a thing of nightmares. He had nightmares about it to this day, and he never had nightmares. No man, woman, child, or mammal should have had to bear witness to such a horrifying sight. Nezu was actually considering getting therapy, as fickle and meaningless thing as it seemed. Perhaps it would heal the part of him that had died that day.

"Who's that with the principal? She looks kinda like she doesn't want to be here."

"I knew I forgot my damn lunch money."

"Holy shit, he's so hot."

"Mirio is my best friend! I-I can't tell him I'm in love with him. I don't even know if he swings that way!" 

"Oh my god, where's my homework?!"

"Bop it! Twist it! Pull it!"

"Why is my quirk so fucking dumb?"

Harper snorted at that last one in mild agreement, shaking her head a little and going back to trying to block out the thoughts floating through the air. Nezu hummed a happy little tune to himself that seemed to convey his satisfaction perfectly. Though, she wasn't sure exactly where he'd gotten that cup of tea. She knew he hadn't been holding it when she first walked up. His quirk was high specs, so what the fuck? Whatever, she didn't need to be asking questions. She didn't doubt she was going to have enough of those as it was. Hero schools were full of peculiar types, and she was being thrown into the deep end.

"This is Class 1-A!" Nezu said with flourish, gesturing to the gargantuan door. Harper blinked, staring at it blandly. Cool, so she definitely regretted this. Was it too late to go home? If this traitor individual ended up murdering her sorry ass, she swore to god she'd riot. Hopefully she could catch them before they caught onto her real quirk. She knew it wasn't something she'd be able to hide forever. Eventually, she'd let something slip. 

When she spent too much time around people, and talked to them, sometimes their thoughts and what they actually said aloud muddled together. It was mostly small things, like them thinking their favorite color, or offhandedly wondering about their sister's field trip. Stuff Harper didn't bat an eye off, but still recalled later. Even if the facts didn't mean much, people she spoke to still recognized it. They remembered not mentioning it. It would end up being her undoing if she wasn't careful.

Nezu opened the door, somehow managing to reach the doorknob. She didn't want to know. The room quieted as Nezu let her inside. Though everyone was silent, their thoughts certainly weren't. Harper held her breath as they rushed at her. The instinct to try and put up a mental buffer between herself and them reared up, but she resisted. She was here to catch some idiotic villain who thought infiltrating a hero school was a good idea, which meant she had to stay open and ready.

"Who's that? Why is the principal here?"

"Ah, she looks as dead as I feel on the inside."

"Hot! I wonder if she's into girls."

"Is that what the extra desk is for?"

"The boss will want to hear about this... new development."

"She better not touch my Deku, or I swear to fuck-"

Harper jolted slightly, eyes scanning the crowd as her hand twitched. She tried to hone in on the voice she'd just heard. The thought. Tell the boss? New development? That was Shady with a capital S. If she could catch the traitor within her first five minutes of being here, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. The danger would lessen, anyway. Perhaps she'd even be able to change courses. You know, trade out of the hero course and go into one of the others, like Gen Ed or Business. Neither were all that appealing, but it was better than losing her life in the heroics department and letting her parents spiral into a depression because they agreed to send her here. They would blame themselves, and Harper didn't really want to be a hero anyway.

"This is Harper Rye! She'll be a classmate of yours from here on out, so play nice." Nezu chirped pleasantly. Harper felt her searching become a little more frantic, combing through for the voice she'd just heard. It screamed suspicious, for one thing, and keeping her mind open took a huge mental toll on her. It was exhausting to be constantly invaded by sound, and if she found the traitor, she could stop that by blocking out what she could. Keeping her mind open would no longer be so much of a requirement. 

"A new student?" Mina chirped. Aizawa stared at her blankly. Harper risked a glance at the intimidating man.

"Oh my god!" Aizawa's thoughts crooned in contrast to the cold look on his face. Harper immediately paled. He was one of those. The kind who hid their personality behind a mask. "A new student! She's so cute and short and small. I'm sure she'll make a great hero! This is amazing. What an awesome day! Another kid? This is the best day of my life. I wonder what her quirk is. I'm sure it's amazing. All my kids are amazing. I didn't even expel any this year! I wonder if she likes cats! Even if she doesn't, that's just fine-"

Harper tried not to let her horror show. How could someone so composed and stoic be so bubbly on the inside? With boisterous thoughts like those pervading her mind, hearing the traitor was going to be a lot harder. Those who didn't say much tended to have louder thoughts. This man, Aizawa, had a quiet and cold exterior, while his inner thoughts were warm and bubbling. He kept them all locked up, and that meant they were rampant. But literally... literally why?

"She's a transfer." Nezu patted her leg. She looked down at him with slightly alarmed eyes, subtly jerking her head towards the crowd. She saw his beady eyes sharpen. "Do you have any questions for your new classmates?" He was asking if she knew who it was.

"Ah, I'm not really sure." She admitted, sounding grumpier than she intended. Nezu nodded just slightly. "If I have any questions, I'll be sure to ask."

The class filled with excited chatter while Nezu nodded, his own gaze drifting across the mass of students in search of anyone out of the ordinary. Everything was fine, however. Not a person out of place. It looked like a regular classroom, and for some reason, that scared Harper just a little. She swallowed heavily, forcing a smile that she was sure looked far more like a grimace. So far this was going totally great! So fun!

"Well, if you don't have any questions, go take a seat. We're wasting time." Aizawa's voice was tired and cold. Harper eyed him oddly. Seriously, what the hell was up with this guy? If she tuned into his thoughts, it was all: "-she's looking at me! I hope she's not disappointed that I'm her teacher. Am I being too harsh? Maybe I should give her time to socialize with the rest of the class. It would be a shame if she didn't make friends! I remember when I had to wear a uniform to school. She's so cute, like a little puppy. I like puppies. I wonder if she likes puppies? No, wait, that doesn't actually matter. Or does it? What if her quirk is puppy related-"

"Sure... Mr. Aizawa..." Harper turned away from him with furrowed brows and started towards the only empty desk, which sat between a tall kid with large lips and someone with two-toned hair, split right down the middle. The left was red, while the right was stark white. She hid her cringing expression well as she settled down into her new seat. Her backpack thumped down to the ground, and Harper huffed to herself tiredly. Was this even worth it? Probably not.

Nezu gave her one last nod, and Harper suddenly felt like she was being sent off to war as he walked out. Wonderful, now she was stuck in a room full of curious teenagers, an oddly hyper teacher who hid by a strikingly convincing mask of indifference, and a traitorous villain who was going to try and kill everyone here. Who had already tried to kill everyone here, via the USJ. It was unsettling to know a literal murderer was sitting in the room with her. She'd met people who'd planned kills in their heads before, but she wasn't sure she'd ever run across someone who'd actually taken a life, or tried. She never stuck around long enough to find out.

A pair of red eyes met hers, and she raised an eyebrow. A teenager with bright red hair that was spiked up oddly on his head was staring at her with wide, round eyes, and parted lips. He was twisted around completely in his seat-- not at all subtle about it. Didn't seem like traitor material, but she reached through the thoughts bouncing around the room and grasped onto his anyway. She tried not to flinch at how hurried they were. 

"So manly! Is this what love at first sight feels like? No, don't be stupid Eijiro. That's not how things work! She's just... really, really pretty. I should try to talk to her later. What if she's my soulmate?! That would explain everything. Oh man, she's looking over here too. Am I creeping her out? Shit, of course I am! I've been staring for-"

Harper clued out of that... unique train of thought with a sigh, bringing her hands up to cover her paling face. Just her luck. How had this happened? Who even was that guy, and why the fuck did he think they were soulmates all of a sudden? She knew UA was full of oddballs, but what the hell? Was he a psychopath? Socio? She'd never run across this problem befo-

"I wonder who this new student is." The thoughts of the large-lipped individual beside her invaded her mind before she could stop them, cutting of her mini panic session over the gaping redhead who had evidently decided he'd fallen in love with her trash ass at first sight."Maybe she likes cupcakes. I brought some cookies to share with everyone else, so maybe I could give her some to welcome her to the class!"

Finally, a thought she could fucking get behind.