I know a lot of you have seen the news on what's going on in Ukraine with Russia. The world is incredibly scary at the moment. We're watching the third world war brew right before our very eyes and that's terrifying. My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine who are so scared right now, and to those in Russia who are opposed to the war and stuck in a country that won't stop. 

I send out my well wishes to any of you who have family, friends, even just acquaintances in the military right now. If anyone needs to talk, don't hesitate to message me. If anyone doesn't understand what's going on but desperately wants a run down on the details, I'm up to date and willing to talk to you about it. Or even if you just want to have a chat, my inbox is always open and I promise I don't bite! 

Third person pov

Harper survived, but Sero did start crying and blubbering about how she 'saved his life' and 'hunted through his mind and found the truth despite everything' and whatever the fuck else. He'd also refused to let go of her for half an hour. Did she really know what to say to that? No. She wasn't about to ask for suggestions either. Getting him to calm down had taken long enough as it was, and Kurogiri too. Her running down the hall spontaneously hadn't gone over well and now she's standing in front of Class 1-A with the warp gate by her side wondering if any of this is even worth it.

"Before we start class, Harper has something to tell all of you. I expect you to be quiet and respectful until she's done, and to keep an open mind about anything she says." Aizawa droned, sounding and looking more tired than Harper's ever seen him. There was a deep sadness radiating off of him and the rest of 1-A that seemed to leak into the air and fill the entire room. Harper slouched under its weight. "Good luck, Harper! Kirishima would be so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sooooo, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, soooo, so proud of you! Wow, I'm going to cry. Are you going to cry? We can cry together. We should do that. Do you want to hug? We should do that sometime. This hurts a lot. Are you okay? I don't think you're okay. Breathe if you aren't-- oh my god, you really aren't. I knew it. It's okay-- Dadzawa is here baby."

Yeah, she wasn't going to touch on that with a ten foot pole right now. Aizawa's thoughts had been erratic and tearful since that day in the hospital, and Harper can't help but wonder if they'll ever go back to normal. She's not sure any of them will be able to entirely bounce back from this, least of all her and Kaminari, who's mind is still free of the music that had bumped in it from day one. Harper still doesn't know exactly what that means, but but she's sure it can't possibly be good.

Harper gazed out at her classmates, who stared back with a varying degrees of curiosity and anticipation. They all looked exhausted. Harper wondered how they were going to react to this. It's something she hadn't really planned on holding off on, but she had wondered if waiting until everyone had more time to adjust to all that had happened would've been better. That wasn't possible with Sero returning to 1-A, as an explanation would definitely be needed. Speaking of which, he was another thing she didn't think her classmates needed. Taking Kirishima away and slotting in Sero wasn't going to fix anything. She wasn't sure Nezu understood that. Little sociopath. They weren't interchangeable, and Sero wasn't the friend they remembered either.

Her brown eyes met Bakugo's red, and he nodded to her. A quiet show of support that she couldn't help but appreciate a little. She took a deep breath, ignoring the way Kurogiri quietly hovered behind her

"Hey." She started off lamely, leaning forward and putting her weight on her elbows, which were propped atop Aizawa's teaching podium. She clasped her hands together against the cold wood, eyes roaming the room. She hoped she looked earnest. "I want to start out by saying that I didn't actually transfer to UA from another hero school, nor is my quirk 'Reflex'. That was actually the name of my brother's quirk before he died. It's why I used it."

Nobody said a word aloud, but a few glances were exchanged. She watched them shift a bit, looking a bit uneasy but not in a necessarily distrustful way. She let their thoughts flood forward despite the way her head was pounding, keying into what they were thinking.

"I mean, I always thought her quirk was kinda inconsistent. I think I always knew on some level." Ochako considered, leaning back in her seat as she thought about it. "She's always been sorta distant from the class, and she's always seeing the principal! Plus, she interned with the police and does super great there. How would a reflex quirk help with stuff like interrogation though? It's all super mysterious!"

"I knew it." Izuku looked the most excited out of all of them. "My money is on mind reading. Harper, is it mind reading? Are you reading my mind right now? Hold up two fingers if-"

"What? It's not? Why would she lie?" Mina's thoughts crowed before she was shaking her head to clear them away, seeming determined. "No! Mr. Aizawa said to keep an open mind. I bet she has tons of good reasons and explanations. And... And Kirishima was super close to her. I bet he knew, and he still clearly trusted and loved her tons!"

"Not reflex?" Iida frowned. "Perhaps... is it something more emotional? Something that... that let her know? She's been distant as of late, but perhaps..."

"I bet Kirishima knew 100%." Kaminari clenched his hands into fists. "And if he trusted her, she's bound to have a good reason. Maybe... maybe it's related to Sero, and why she was kidnapped."

"I should've seen this coming from a mile away. She's too damn tired for her quirk just to be reflex." Jiro insisted. Harper sighed.

Kurogiri nervously jittered forward, bringing a misty hand to rest on her shoulder. Harper didn't seem to mind, lowering her head briefly and gathering herself before huffing and looking back up. Aizawa was sitting in his desk chair with his arms crossed, watching Harper with careful eyes to see if she'd throw up at SOS. She wished she could, but this had to get done. She articulated what to say for a moment before shifting her weight onto one leg and continuing. 

"After the attack on the USJ, Nezu became aware of a leak in UA's security. A traitor within the school that was giving information that would allow students and teachers to be harmed. As genius as he is, even he couldn't seem to find them. The plant was flawlessly hidden. They clearly knew who they were dealing with and planned carefully to get around him." Harper explained as simply and to-the-point as she could, trying not to wince at the wide eyes and gasps that erupted throughout the room. She pursed her lips. 

"W-Wait, a traitor?!" Mineta cried out. "No way! Someone ratted us out to the villains? Who--- why would someone do something like that?!"

"That's... wow. Holy shit." Hagakure breathed out. "What bitch ass hoe thought they could mess with me and get out alive? Are you literally kidding me? This is such a movie moment. Harper has been living in a spy movie. But how's she know about the traitor? If she isn't a transfer student and her quirk isn't what she says... okay, tell me she's not the traitor right now. Okay no that's really stupid. Come on, Hagakure!"

 Bakugo shushed them in a loud, angry way that made any other remarks die on the tongues of those with them. Harper patiently waited nonetheless until their attention strayed back to her. Aizawa had straightened in his seat, eyeing the class warningly for anymore disruptions. Harper didn't mind. Letting them slowly work it out as she said it was easier than her blurting it all out at once and then leaving them to blow up at the end. Giving them time to process was important. Especially with how much emotional turmoil they'd been in lately.

"Due to the nature of my quirk, I was brought in to help locate this individual. But to do that, my quirk couldn't be revealed nor could we outright tell everyone why I was here, since we didn't know at the time who was behind the leaks. It could've been a teacher, a student, another member of staff." Harper listed off. Tokoyami shifted in his seat, cocking his head. 

"The large janitor arrest shortly after you arrived." Tokoyami pointed out. "That must be connected."

"I remember that! The groundskeeper too!" Momo gasped. "My word! So many individuals. How did she catch them all? This is... far more complex than I ever would've thought."

"Those are prime examples, but they weren't the one we were looking for. They were bought off afterwards and had hoped to plant bombs at the Sports Festival in exchange for money and security of their loved ones, who'd been threatened." Harper agreed, sniffing a bit. The class looked extremely invested now, stunned to hear all that had happened behind the curtain. She continued, "After that arrest was made, the League of Villains got their eye on me and ended up kidnapping me on my way home from school. I was able to escape by shoving Kurogiri with my quirk, if you will, which stunned him long enough for me to run. After this I was forced to move out of my parents home and in with Detective Tsukauchi, using him as a guise to excuse my presence at the janitor's arrest. I lied and said he was my biological father and I had gone down to say hi."

"Sorry." Kurogiri sniffled pitifully, sounding like a kicked kitten. Several jaws dropped at the longwinded admission, which yeah. She couldn't blame them. Saying it out loud made her realize how batshit fucking insane and probably illegal this whole thing was. 

"Pardon my french, but holy shit." Aoyama gasped internally, face pale. "Mi amor has been through the wood chipper."

"No wonder she's so tired all the time." Shoji noted. 

"Dude, what the fuck?" Bakugo stared at her. "You didn't tell me any of this shit. This would've been nice to know. A little history. A little fucking background. Jesus fucking christ."

"My parents went into witness protection, and it was especially important my quirk not be revealed at this point. My quirk... is incredibly invasive and useful in the right situations. It ideal for information gathering and is always on. It's why I can't sleep and it's why I get headaches all the time. It isn't something I can turn off." Harper gave a meaningful glance to Izuku, who looked like he was about to start writing. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to tell you. It's called Mind Reader, and at the Sports Festival, I was able to detect the traitor and get him arrested before we were forced to fight, effectively accomplishing the goal Nezu gave me when I came here."

Absolute. Utter. Silence. You could hear a pin drop. Harper could practically hear the gears grinding, and she resisted the urge to close her eyes and wait for the blow and instead kept her gaze on the class and her lips set in a firm line. Something akin to guilt bubbled briefly, but she couldn't bring herself to feel it after all that had happened. Her quirk was something they would want, and she refused to let them have it if it was going to help them. They'd killed her brother, and they'd killed Kirishima too. They weren't getting shit from her that wasn't a fist to the face.

Aizawa sat forward in his seat, watching. Bakugo was the only one without an outward reaction, his arms crossed and eyes critical. He was waiting to see if anyone was going to give her shit, which was flattering, but Harper didn't need it. If they wanted to get mad, they were fully within the right. Harper had been here for ages gaining their trust, and invading their minds without their knowing. In her hunt for Sero, she had especially probed. She'd learned a lot about them, and hadn't given them any chance to know about her. It was unfair. A complete breach of a privacy everyone was entitled to.

"Y-You... Y-You can... read minds?" Iida's voice came out absolutely bone-chillingly terrified, and Harper gave him a smile so damn sad Mina felt tears well up in her eyes. Harper watched the glasses slip down his face and tried to ignore the way her heart tore. "No. No, no, no, Harper. Harper, you-- then that means Sero was... he, and she---"

"I can. It's... they just pop up in my head and I can't really stop it. I can only make my radius smaller, but not small enough not to hear. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you. Even after Sero was caught, we wanted my quirk secret for as long as possible. Especially after I took Kurogiri." Harper's voice came out shakier than she'd admit. She swallowed. "I-I never wanted to invade your privacy, and the private things I've heard in your mind aren't things I've committed to memory or shared. My quirk allowed me to open a channel of emotion into Kurogiri that he hadn't had before, and it put me on their shit list. Them finding out I could read minds would've motivated them to come for me and my family sooner."

It was a lot. A lot of them got caught on the Sero detail first, not quite weighed down by the implications of her quirk yet. Harper fiddled with her hands nervously, gulping and wishing she were anywhere but here. Kirishima told her to open up. He told her to and she was doing it, but if this backfired she was going to good-deed her way into heaven just to kick his ass down to hell for it. Fuck, she wished he was here. He'd know what to say, and what to do, and how to act. But he was gone and... fuck! Fucking League, and Nezu, and this stupid goddamn school!

"S-So... S-Sero, he... h-he was..." Kaminari squeaked out, eyes wide and hands sparking ever so slightly. Harper nodded, glancing down. He was the last person she ever would've wanted to tell this, but on some level, he was the one who deserved to know most. "He was... he wasn't ever our friend. He... and Harper can read minds, and... holy fuck. Sero was the reason we almost died at the USJ. He wanted to kill us."

"Sero? Really?" Ojiro's voice came out smaller than Harper had ever heard it. Everyone looked pale and shaky at the news, filled with absolute horror. "He... I can't believe it. He always seemed like such a laid back dude. You're telling me he..."

"No... No way..." Tsuyu croaked, looking especially shocked. "Then... Harper can hear us? And Sero... Shigaraki almost killed me at the USJ, and Aizawa-sensei almost died. That was all his fault? He did that to us? Why?"

Harper waited. She waited for them to ruminate. To go over her quirk. They hadn't really seen it at work so it hadn't hit yet, but it would later. Harper hadn't really elaborated on how deep it went or what aspects of a person she could detect, and she honestly didn't plan to right now. That was... it was too much for them right now, and for her.

"Before you completely villainize him, I want to note that he was placed under my care and held at the police precinct, where I got to deal with him directly during my internship and past that." Harper tapped her fingers on the podium. Attention was back on her in a heartbeat, all save for Iida, who was vaguely dissociated and in total shock. Understandably. She wished she could say something to him without calling him out. "I immediately noticed issues with his mental health and discrepancies in his memory. I found out pretty fast that he'd been manipulated from a young age, taken in by the villains and molded into a soldier that did whatever he was told out of fear for the consequences. He was tortured, trained rigorously, and kept isolated from the world for a long time. At his core, he wasn't bad. He was just being used."

This seemed to subdue some of the more ramped up members of class, who slouched like puppets with their strings cut into their seats. Harper resisted the urge to massage her temples. This was too much for them, but she didn't know how else to say it or explain it. That was just... that's what happened. And so much more she really didn't have time to say. She wished she could touch more on Kirishima, but that would bring out the waterworks from her and the rest of the class, so his involvement in everything would be a story for another time.

"So... when Sero came to save you in Kamino..." Izuku trailed off. "And Stain, but Iida seems like he's having issues right now so maybe I shouldn't mention that."

"He came because he is her friend, and he was extremely worried." Kurogiri nodded, giving Harper's shoulder another squeeze. "I must thank him again for his help. Harper Rye could've been harmed further if not for his aid. All For One knows too well how to interfere with my warp gates."

"He's been doing so much better. He understands his actions were wrong and even regrets them, but with the influence he was under, I can't blame him. He was under a quirk that warped his perception and caused immense fear when certain... things were referenced." Harper said carefully, thinking of the box. It still couldn't be brought up without him breaking down. "The Sero you knew was an act, but he's someone I consider a close friend and he wants more than anything to be better. And I think he can be, if he's given the chance. I don't want him in Tartarus for life because he caught a bad break and got kidnapped as a child. I think he should be able to heal and move on past the mistakes he was forced to make."

Harper looked at them, gaze unwavering and a little pleading. She held her breath as they took in what she'd said and considered it. Personally, she hadn't been at the USJ. She hadn't feared for her life the same way they had and she hadn't almost gotten her face dusted off on her second day of school. But... Sero had been young when he was taken. In another world, Harper could've ended up the same way. They could've deemed her quirk not useful for the mindless creatures they were making and could've kept her as she was. What would've become of her? Would she have been sitting where Sero used to, a traitor with a twisted mind and all-consuming fear of what would happen to her if she didn't listen? Someone with no sense of morals because her memories of them had been dashed through?

They heard her. Even though she'd lied to them and kept secrets, her classmates were listening and their support wasn't wavering. Harper wondered how much that would change over the next few days as they adjusted to her quirk. They'd be like Kirishima, who would catch himself in his thoughts and remind himself that she could hear over and over again. The difference was that Kirishima was overwhelmingly patient and didn't bother trying to hide. A lot of her classmates didn't have that sort of open kindness, and she feared some would grow defensive at her constant ability to pervade their minds.

"This story is insane. There's no way I can be mad at Harper for hiding her quirk, though. Clearly she saved us from certain death, and she's coming clean about it now and being super open." Mina noted, staring down at her desk so hard Harper thought she may burn a hole through it with her eyes. "Sero... I can't believe it was all an act. But if he was really taken so young, that's terrible! I... I definitely trust Harper on this. She's done all this to protect us. She had to leave her parents, and has been interrogating villains and trying to hard to help Sero. She's obviously campaigning for him! She deserves this much!"

"It wasn't his choice." Shoto thought coolly. "He should get a chance to choose his own path. How is it fair to lock him away?"

"You fucker." Bakugo growled. "He's outside, isn't he? Is he coming back? I'll beat him to a pulp!" 

"Heck yeah! If Harper says Sero is good, I'm with her 100%. She's a mind reader, so she'd know best!" Hagakure exclaimed before pausing. Harper got the impression the invisible girl was looking her way, and she cocked her head at her. "Oh my god. Oh my god, she's a mind reader, you dumb fuck. She can hear you and has heard you. Right now. Why is this just now clicking? Hi. Hey. Hello. Welcome to casa de Toru. Cerebro de Toru? I'm humiliated. Sorry I thought your boobs were nice those like, fifteen times. They just are. It's not like a homo thing it's a compliment. Unless you want it to be a homo thing? I can take my socks off."

"Harper, I... Uh, I've been reading articles. I know Sero leaving got played off as him being sick, but the news is quoting Nezu saying that he's recovered and will be returning to 1-A soon, and had come to rescue you because you're his classmate." Sato's voice came out a little stuffy and awkward, and Harper bit the inside of her cheek hard. "If Nezu is saying that..."

"Yeah. He's in the hallway right now." Harper admitted tiredly. A few jaws dropped again. Harper shrugged. "But if you don't want him here, Nezu owes me more favors than I can count on both hands. I love Sero and I want the best for him, but he's the reason for the USJ and you're the ones who went through that. You're in your full right to blame him. So just say the word and I'm not going to force you. No one will. Just know that if he does come in, he'll be under quirk restraints for the time being just in case and he'll be under my full supervision. I know better than anyone how to handle him and if I ever catch a sliver of anything in him, he'll be out before he realizes what the fuck's happening."

They stared at her. Mina looked like she was going to cry, but in a fond, bubbly way. Ochako looked like she was about to board the same boat.

"Well... he did come to save you." Tsuyu noted uneasily. Harper gazed at her intently. As one of the ones most deeply effected by the USJ, her saying that was a big deal. Sero was a pain but Harper did want him in here. It was the big break she'd been fighting for. It was better than she ever could've hoped. "He was manipulated. It could've happened to any of us if we'd been taken young, right?"

"Yeah... Yeah, you trust him, right? You said he's doing better?" Jiro asked. Harper nodded. "Alright... hell yeah. It's not his fault and if Harper's in, I'm in. Wait... she's a mind reader. Shit, like a mind reader-mind reader? Can you hear me?" 

"I can hear you." Harper said apologetically. Jiro looked like she'd been slapped in the face by god himself.

"Bring him the fuck in. If nothing else, at least we can watch the fucker more closely. What's he going to do with quirk restraints? Guy is fucked if he tries anything!" Bakugo bellowed, palms sparking. "You owe me for saying shit, Depresso ass bitch. And I want the full story on this shit!" 

Harper nodded. Kaminari shifted in his seat, eyes looking a little red from holding back tears. Harper immediately zeroed in on him, her attention undivided as he glanced up at her. 

"Was... did Kirishima know about him?" Kaminari's quiet question cut through anything else in the room. Aizawa shifted in his seat. Kurogiri's mist flared. "I have to know before I say anything."

"He did." Harper struggled for a steady voice. She tried not to think too hard about it, blinking a bit. "He... He helped me a lot in uncovering what actually happened to Sero. We were both gunning to get him out of there and prove he was being manipulated. He was... involved as he could be." 

That sealed the deal, Harper realized. And when Kaminari nodded, the rest of 1-A nodded too.

~~~

Read up to chapter 77 on Patreon early access, in which Harper is forced to deal with Endeavor, everyone's an emotional mess, and Harper is reconnecting with Inasa! 

Other Patreon exclusives: 

Mind Reader For Hire-- in which Harper does go to UA right off the bat, but has somehow ended up coparenting Eri and Hawks with Kaminari of all people. Her best friend is a billionaire, she's got a dog and man, the Yakuza really never lets up huh?

Harper in Naruto-- in which Harper is stuck in the Naruto universe with Dabi. She's Naruto's roommate, trying to stop a war between Suna and Konoha so she doesn't die in the crossfire, Gaara won't leave her alone, everyone has stomach demons and damn, why does Danzo have a bunch of eyes in his arm?

Unrelated: But "I Don't Know A Shoto" is a story about Etsu, who kidnaps Shoto from a hospital and is now raising him. Only she can't seem to stop collecting children. She's now got three, technically four? Dabi's here and Tensei is too and nobody is sure what's happening, but whatever it is, it's definitely... well, happening. 

Some of the recent one shots and headcanons available, along with some personal favorites, though there are so, so many more than what's listed here: 

-Harper gets trapped in Harry Potter and falls in love with Cedric Diggory in the process. Also, Peter Pettigrew is a little bitch so fuck him. (There's also one where Lillian goes into Harry Potter as well, though that was ages ago. Victor Krum's dead in love with her and Lillian is stuck in the triwizard tournament against her will)

-Harper Swap: Two parts, going on three!-- Harper swaps with a more chaotic version of herself. Tired Harper is suddenly in a world where her brother and Kirishima are alive whereas Happy Harper, who can't actually read minds, only intentions, finds herself kidnapped by the League of Villains. 

-Three feet forward: Harper and Katsuki find themselves in another dimension. The Katsuki here's a bitch and Kirishima is still alive, but at least Katsuki finally got to bang Izuku.

-Harper Rye Villain AU: Harper's a serial killer and Stain vibes with that

There's tons others on there! One where One For All is a sentient quirk and Izuku can't seem to shake it, an AU where Touya takes Shoto the night he leaves, smart Kaminari, the beginnings of a Demon Slayer story, a whole lot of Freeze Frame, and more. The link is below and in my bio! If you have questions about content, let me know (: I'd be glad to tell you about more of the stuff available. 

https://www.patreon.com/strawhatpirate