Tori:

6:30, Training time comes. Henry and I walk into UA's massive gym, or at least, I trust that's where we're going. My nose is in my enormous anatomy book, a "present" from principal Nezu. According to him, no matter what happens, my quirk is a gift too great to waste. Not only that but if we're going to become EMTs, anatomy questions will be all over our written exam. Another professor, Mr. Ectoplasm, told us the breakdown- 15% language, 15% mathematics, 15% science, 15% social studies, and 40% anatomy. If we're going to specialize in medicine, we need to know the human body inside and out. More than that, though, without a good study of biology, my quirk will be useless for anything but mutilation.

Years ago, before all this crap with being informants and giving testimonies, before Charles, before ALL of it- back when I was eight, and Henry was only nine, something awful happened- or nearly happened. I have vague memories of what led up to it, but in one of our foster homes, a butcher knife fell and hit Henry's foot, digging in deep. Both of us being so little, we naively assumed we had the solution with my quirk. I used flesh fuse to seal Henry's skin back together. After that, he started walking funny, but we brushed it off, thinking his foot still hurting was a matter of course. He got more and more drowsy. In less than an hour, our foster mother had brought Henry to the ER after he passed out in a cold sweat. She had no idea what we had done till she discovered the knife.

The doctors were able to wake him up enough to make him make a clone of himself. The head physician had a suspicion about doppelganger, and it paid off. That was the day we discovered that not only did Henry's double not receive the same injuries as him when it was active, but it didn't inherit them when it was created. When Henry body swapped, he was still tired, but he was healthy again. He just slept off the episode- while I was chewed out by a doctor for "experimenting" with my quirk on a human being. All I had done was close the skin earlier, so Henry had almost died of blood loss. Apparently, internal bleeding is a thing... I almost committed fratricide at eight years old.

Well, never again. If my quirk was coming back, it would benefit everyone; I was determined. The next time someone needed me, I would do things right... even if this wonderful school didn't take me in.

We walk into the gym. I can tell because the smell of sweat is... well, it's not awful, but it's present, that's for sure. I can also tell we're here because I bump into something soft—aw, yes, clothing; I've crashed into a person for the... third time, I think. I really should look where I'm going, but- well, it's either properly navigate or study... study, study, study!"

I look up to see Aizawa staring down at me with his arms folded. He holds out his hand to me, presumably for my book. I reach up to fold the page, but he suddenly bats my hand away and yanks my book away from me. Still glaring at me, the professor takes a sticky note, pastes it to my page, then slams my book shut. He then hands the closed book back to me. "These books cost insane amounts of money, and they have more information than you could need- we don't even use all of them each year. At the very least, take care of them so your family can re-sell them- hm?"

"Um... yes sir..." I say, putting my book in my pink backpack.

"I'm sorry, sir. She's nervous about the written part of the exam," Henry excuses me.

"You're not even carrying a book bag like her, let alone running into people and walls. The question is- why aren't YOU nervous? Are you some kind of health expert?" Aizawa asks.

"Well, um..." Henry is at a loss.

"I see, " the professor interrupts. He then stands up straight with his hands behind his back and seems to take a measure of the two of us. Henry and I both step back a bit. We are a bit uncomfortable but unsure what to do about it. "I suppose you don't even know the basics of educational environments, do you?"

"Well, we went to school through... fourth grade in my case," Henry says.

"I guess that explains the total lack of disciplined presentation," the professor says.

"Oh!" Henry says. He snaps to standing up straight, hands at his sides, and stares straight ahead.

I just sort of look at him—he looks respectable, and I've seen him take this pose. I even watched him get trained to assume it... often while tied up in a corner. Needless to say, I don't look so great as I try to assume the same pose next to him.

"Stop trying; it looks better if you just commit to the scoundrel persona. One or the other, no one likes a lukewarm character." Aizawa says, both of us slumping a little, Henry putting his hands in his pockets. By the way, Henry is wearing a blue hoodie and jeans, while I'm wearing a bright pink shirt and pink jeans. Hizashi gave them to us and promised to take us shopping—for the first time in our lives, as before now, everyone has just handed us whatever and expected us to take it.

The professor folds his arms. "Can you tell me your level of combat training?"

"Um... hard to finger, sir," Henry says. "I'm pretty good at dodging, but neither of us knows how to throw a punch, and Tori has no training at all."

"I see- and exactly how were you trained, Mr. Yamada?"

"I was shown a few tricks here and there to have a goal, I guess. But mostly, I was just hit until I dodged."

"Are you shooting for pity with that statement? Take off your hoodie- pull it over your head."

Henry looks at him with confusion but obeys, pulling his hoodie off over his head. Both of us get to see his bare torso for a bit and now his bare arms, as his shirt is only a green tank top. He readjusts his shirt.

"I see no bruises," Aizawa points out.

"Oh..." Henry says, looking at his arms and lifting up his shirt to see his stomach- yep, he looks alright, sure enough. He shrugs. "My duplicates don't inherit injuries, so when I body swap, all the bruises aren't retained. It's actually kinda-"

"Numbing," Aizawa interrupts. "Concerning." He walks closer to us and then- swings both of his hands. In that instant, I'm hit with the back of his fist in the face, but Henry ducks on instinct.

I hold my cheek and grit my teeth, though I admit the pain isn't terrible; it's more a reaction to the act. Henry resumes his earlier pose without a care. "Very concerning. Not many preteens have the life experience to dodge on a dime. Henry, you have skills that, at your age, shouldn't exist." Aizawa reiterates. "If it's any consolation, my desire to brutalize the man who hurt you two is only growing. However, that does nothing to help you now."

Aizawa waves to the bleachers. "Tori, take a seat, I need to gauge exactly where your brother's skills are." I shrug and go sit down, still holding my cheek. "Stop holding your face; I don't seriously hit my students just to test them. I don't believe that hurt, so stop embarrassing yourself." He looks back to Henry. "Now..." Suddenly, he jabs at Henry with his fist- Herny just moves his head slightly to the left, dodging. "I see you've continued to improve since our last encounter... what has it been... six months? Just a month or two before you turned yourself in, imagine my disappointment in learning you did. We heroes treasure or rogues galleries. I enjoy the chase- there's a reason I can't retire." Aizawa says, both males now smirking at each other.

"My life mission is resetting- no one said the skills are gone," my brother says, with a daring look in his eyes. Aizawa's hand opens as he tries to grab Henry's head, but Herny ducks low just in time. Then Aizawa quickly kicks at Henry's left shin, and my brother jumps back. Henry jumps into a pose with his hands in front of his head, and his right arm extended. He starts hopping lightly on the balls of his feet.

"Now we're talking," Aizawa says as he takes a stance, open hands up and feet shoulder-length apart. He launches his right fist at Henry, but my brother deflects it with his right hand, moving past the professor and behind him. He spins to keep his eyes on Aizawa, who quickly back kicks Henry's face, but Henry is able to put up his hands in time to intercept the attack, so it only pushes him back.

Henry punches forward in an attempt to call his clone, but Aizawa's eyes glow red- I guess that's his Erasure quirk. "Don't use your powers to bypass me; fight me!" Aizawa insists. And with that, he hurls a sidekick at my brother that hits home.

Henry has to dance back, favoring his side. My own fists tighten when I see that.

"I'm not looking for your skill in cheesing your way out of a battle. You're looking to become a hero, not remain a thief- FIGHT!" Aizawa shouts. He starts swinging at Henry over and over. Henry deflects and ducts and makes subtle dodges, but the professor doesn't sound impressed. "You can't dodge forever- can't you even redirect?" He starts going faster and faster, every so often landing an attack. "You can just heal when we're done, head in the game! Try to land something," But the longer they go, Henry doesn't spontaneously change his approach. He just starts to slow down, his bruises (well, really just red marks) accumulating.

"He doesn't know how to hit- STOP!" I suddenly say, starting to stand up.

But they keep going, Henry taking more and more hits until- I don't realize what I'm doing until I've already done it.

I throw my textbook at Aizawa, hitting him in the face. I then jump off the bleachers and run at him screaming- and just like that, before I can blink, I'm on the ground with Aizawa's knee on my back and my left arm twisted behind my back.

"Go easy..." Henry says, his fist clenched as he stands only a few feet from us.

"She attacked me- you love her, don't you- are you just going to stand there? Attack me!"

Henry's face changes, his assurance disappearing as he steps back. Aizawa applies pressure to my arm, and I clench my teeth at the pain.

"I could break her arm- attack me!"

"Alright, that's enough," Comes a female voice behind us.

"He needs to-" the professor starts, but this time he's interrupted.

"You're not gonna follow up on that threat anyway." I squirm on the ground until I look up and see who's talking.

"Mirko?" I hear my brother label her. I see an absurdly muscular woman- I'm serious; most dudes would envy this chick, let alone how I'm feeling at the moment. Her biceps and triceps bulge like near loaves of bread, and you could grind meat on her washboard stomach, which is apparent even under her t-shirt. She has rabbit ears on top of her head, which are naturally occurring, somehow. I'm not sure if just rabbit ears make you a heteromorph, but that's the only real difference I see between her and a normal woman- well, a normal woman with a very gifted physique. She's wearing a t-shirt stretched to the breaking point and shorts. She's folding her arms while looking down at me, and that simple motion stretches her gym shirt again.

"Let her up," Mirko says.

"She attacked unprovoked." Aizawa objects, but Mirko just rolls her eyes.

"You just don't understand the provocation. I've seen it before; that was shell shock." Mirko says, kneeling beside me as Aizawa gets off my back. "Better known these days as PTSD, but I prefer the stronger connotation. Point is, it's not something you can fight." She looks into my eyes. "I remember seeing something like this in middle school from my best friend- he was a quiet kid- turns out his mother tried to force him to be a girl and hit him whenever he tried to assert himself... the things adults do to kids sometimes... it's sick."

"You mean she was "triggered". Oh please, another kid who-" Aizawa starts, but then he's interrupted by... himself. "Wait... you said Charles beat your brother?" He steps back and seems to not know what to do with his hands. "That's real trauma... most kids just make up a trigger to make me go easy on them."

I slowly sit down and hug my knees to my chest, shaking a little. I still don't understand what I did. "What just happened?"

Mirko pats my back. "You had an episode, honey. You've been through a lot. Reconditioning doesn't happen overnight."

"What does this mean?" Henry asks. "She's going to jail no matter what now? Let me guess, you all won't train her because of-"

Shouta stands up and stands between me and Henry. "Slow down, will ya? Why is her getting in so important to you anyway?"

"Because if we return to jail, Charles' agents could await us. At least here, we would be able to fight!" Henry says. "Fine, toss me back, but I've spent my life protecting her from whatever came our way, and I'll be damned if I'm stopping now."

Aizawa seems to stop to process that. "I... hm. A part of me figured you were using her to get in yourself. I see it in your eyes, though- you really don't care if we send you back, just as long as we take her in."

Without hesitation, Henry says, "Yes."

Aizawa looks between the two of us for a moment. "The only thing you two had while living in hell was each other." He keeps looking back and forth between the two of us. "I could have you both tossed out of here, but regardless, maybe we should show the judges how far gone you both are and push for a retrial. Prison seems too harsh. You both need treatment, not cells."

"Maybe both of them are completely selfless, but I'm not," Mirko says, pulling me up. She then forces Henry and I both to look at each other. She looks at my brother. "Henry, I'm here because I am PISSED at you. How many times did you evade me? Sometimes, you had the nerve to even make it look easy. I would search for you for an hour and find you enjoying a burger at a restaurant."

Henry looks to the side, "I sometimes planned ahead pretty well..."

"I'm not here for excuses," Mirko says. "I'm here to make you an offer. I'll train you and your sister, and in exchange, we play a game..." she gives my brother a malicious grin. "Oh, don't worry, nothing too nasty. There's a district not far from here- empty warehouses, debris all over the place, no one lives there- you're gonna train ME. How do you get past people the way you do?"

"I mean- you're on?" Henry seems unsure this time. So am I.

"But one thing." Mirko continues. "Look into her eyes," she motions to me. He looks into my eyes- and I feel trapped. I look away, but Mirko forces my head to look back. "Every time you say you don't care what happens to you- what do you think that does to her?"

"If she lives and I don't-" Henry starts, tightening his fist, but Mirko doesn't let him finish. I don't want him to either. I'm sick of hearing it.

Mirko takes the words out of my mouth. "When you hurt, so does she. Can't you see it? I saw it in just a few minutes. She lets you talk for her, obeys your every word without question- she's only here because you told her to come, right? When she convinces herself you're being attacked, her body acts without her permission. When you get hurt, so does she. You can't truly care for her without caring for yourself."

Then the rabbit-eared lady—yes, I would be laughing if this were any other circumstance—turns to me. "You seem to be convinced you're not contributing enough—and you aren't. Not when you sit in the corner and only obey orders when they're given."

I close my eyes and look away from Henry. "Well... what am I supposed to do?" I clench my teeth. I can't look my brother in the eyes. All he's done is to protect me, and what have I done but be a tool to manipulate him? "I have no talents, I have no experience- I have NOTHING!"

"Oh... honey," It's not a cooing "honey" but more like a mocking "honey." Mirko grabs my head and makes me look into Henry's eyes again. "No, that's not how it works. You were probably the only one who cared what happened to him in his darkest hours. There you were, hoping for him, wanting the best for him—you did what only you could do. But you want to know what you can do now?" Mirko gives me a side smile. "Are you proud of him?"

"Of course," I say. Then, I see it. When I say that, Henry looks confused.

"Are you proud of her, Henry?" Mirko asks.

"I mean... yeah..." Henry says. It's my turn to be confused.

"How long have you two been operating in crisis mode? You don't even cheer each other on; you just wait for the next thing to break." Mirko asks. I bite my lip, and so does Henry. "Stop acting like one mess-up means the end of your life because I guarantee it won't. Even if you fail to get in, I promise that I will get you books and supplies myself, in jail even, to help with your education, and I will have agents make sure you are safe and able to communicate... no way I'm letting that freak Charles win something- not if I have anything to say about it. What you're fighting for here is the chance to do this," she says, taking our hands and making us hold hands. "To be physically together. This isn't about losing everything; this is about fighting for something better. So stop fighting like you're afraid of something bad- fight like you want something good. Cheer." She gets up and pushes Henry towards Aizawa. "Cheer each other on. Act like you WANT to be here, or no one is letting you in." It sounds friendly, but her tone clarifies that this isn't an encouragement but a demand.

Mirko tosses a pen into the bleachers on the other side of the gym and yells, "Henry, get the pen and get it to your sister. Mr. Aizawa and I will guard it. Tori, do whatever you can think of besides getting directly involved to encourage him. As proud as you are," Now she almost screams at me, nearly intimidating me, except for the subject matter. "You better be that loud!"

Aizawa shrugs his shoulders, and both adults stand between Henry and the pen in the bleachers some thirty meters from me. Henry looks unsure, and Mirko looks at me. "Well..."

"Wooo- you got this!" I yell in a loud-ish tone.

"Not good enough- he's evaded both of us in the past; what, you don't think he can do this?!" Mirko yells.

"GO, Henry!" I scream, "They got nothing on you—go!" And then I see him grin—but it's a different grin. It's not a sadistic one; it's like he's actually starting to have... fun. Can we still have fun?

Henry runs, grabs his discarded hoodie from earlier, and then turns on a dime, heading straight for Aizawa. Aizawa's eyes glow red, erasing Henry's quirk for the moment as Henry throws his sweater at Aizawa's face, blocking the professor's line of sight and thus the effects of erasure. Henry then dives straight at the professor's feet as a copy of him appears behind the man and runs for the bleachers. Aizawa starts having to wrestle with the first Henry.

"ONE DOWN! THEY GOT NOTHING!" I scream. Mirko quickly runs up and grabs Henry, throwing him. She moves so fast my eyes can't even track her, her legs pumping so fast she's a blur. She actually throws Henry; my breath catches with fear as he crashes into a bunch of foam mats on the floor. I pause. I think back to when Aizawa was fighting Henry alone... something was different. Henry didn't constantly body swap like he did when Charles would "train" him. I realize- he doesn't have to. These two are pulling their punches. They're not trying to hurt my brother... he's safe. He doesn't need me to protect him.

Then Mirko saying she would kick us out if I didn't cheer replays in my mind. I smile and cheer my heart out. "C'mon, big bro—that was nothing. Go!"

My brother rolls off the mats as Mirko bounds towards him. Aizawa has his Henry pinned, hands at his sides, as the second Henry runs for the opposite bleachers again. Aizawa's eyes glow red as Henry pushes his head up and screams directly in the teacher's ear, causing Aizawa to lose focus.

Mirko grabs the second Henry again, moving so much faster than Henry can hope to, but my brother's mind moves faster than bunny legs- I would feel sorry for the speed of light in a race against Henry's thoughts. I hear a snap as the version of Henry with Aizawa disappears, leaving only the one with Mirko. Mirko slams Henry to the ground, but I don't hear a loud thump, realizing she's controlling how hard she hits. A second Henry appears in the air and jumps off of Mirko's back, crashing into the bleachers. Mirko is able to pin her version of Henry as the one in the bleachers grabs the pen.

Aizawa puts his hands on his silver scarf, tearing it off as the mobile Henry sprints towards him. I hear a snap, and the version of my brother with Mirko disappears. I'm screaming my lungs out, "Go, go, go!" This is getting more and more exciting.

And as the action continues, I start to see something I was afraid I would never see again. Henry is genuinely laughing. His laugh is a little haughty, with flashes of uncertainty, as if he's afraid to look too confident. His eyes sparkle and shoot side to side, but not in paranoia. For years, I've grown used to seeing him keeping his eyes open to constantly watch for danger- but now it's like in foster care, back when he was a goofy and somewhat vain prankster searching for who to pull a trick on next.

Aizawa's eyes glow again as he throws his oversized capture scarf at Mirko, who moves behind my brother. My brother quickly jumps back into Mirko before the scarf can wrap around him.

There's suddenly a brawl on the gym floor as Aizawa's scarf fails to trap my brother alone. Mirko is now struggling to get out of it as well; Aizawa is easily overpowered and pulled to the ground.

In a few seconds, another clone of Henry busts out of the sprawl and runs towards me. I cheer again as he throws the pen to me just before getting wrapped up in Aizawa's capture scarf again. I jump up and grab the pen out of the air. "You did it! Hhahahahahhaaha ahhh- well um... does this count?"

I see one version of my brother wrapped up in a scarf and the other with his arms pinned to his sides, being held by just one of Mirko's arms.

Herny is laughing, and I find that so am I. Aizawa chuckles, too saying. "Yeah, why not? It counts."

Mirko grins and shakes her head.

"Snap this one away; you're staying tied up, twerp," Mirko says. She's the least relaxed of all of us, but she does seem to be giving in. She holds up the Henry she captured, which disappears with a snap, and the tied-up version of my brother is deposited next to me.

"So what exactly did you win for all that?" I ask as my brother sits there, breathing hard but smiling. It's a genuine smile like I haven't seen in years. He's genuinely happy, not just confident. If seeing him like this is possible here, I really want to go to this school. It's not just that I'm afraid not to; I actually want to —so I can see his smile.

(***)

Aizawa:

Typically, no, I don't do things for the express purpose of making students happy; I usually don't care if they're happy or not; I'm not here to be a friend; I'm here to teach. But I must admit, when Mirko quizzes Tori on anatomy, and Henry squirms in his bindings to cheer her on, getting tickled by his sister for his troubles- it's cute. Tori's smile reminds me of Hotaru's. She squeaks when she laughs, her eyes widen, and her whole body shakes with the mirth.

Soon enough, Mirko does what she's actually here to do: teach the pair strikes. I often ask Mirko for help, but she decides if she shows up or not. After all, she's not a teacher; she's a big-time hero and only interested in particular students. Henry caught her eye when she couldn't catch him when he was a thief.

Mirko teaches the four basic punches, the jab, the cross, the hook, and the uppercut. And... yep, sure enough, Mirko has a heart, but she has priorities. She shows the strikes to both of them, but when it comes to correcting their forms, she struggles with Henry and basically ignores Tori. As one might expect, since Henry is somewhat familiar with combat, his form is much better than his sister's, but Mirko isn't paying attention. Eventually, I must join in and ensure the girl has at least SOME guidance.

Eventually, Mirko and I sit on the bleachers, watching the two preteens practice. "So, just the four strikes?" I ask her.

"For now," Mirko says. "You have to get the four basics down and perfect before training anything else- at least that's what I say. I train in phases when I train. Perfect every stage to get to the next. If you put in the time, it's possible."

"Monotonous."

"If you want something bad enough, you'll get past that," Mirko says. "Besides, they only have a week to prepare, right? Well, I'm teaching what can be learned in a week."

"Good point," I watch for a beat, then continue, "What you did earlier was really nice."

Mirko gives a wide smile. "Not how I normally act, huh? Well... I couldn't help it this time. Henry took on the world for that girl, so I respect him. At ten, he took on pros like you and me- for his sister's sake, it seems. I say that's a kid who could grow into something amazing, and I wanna see it." She grits her teeth. "But men like Charles... he uses his strength to brutalize and intimidate... to control people..." she tightens her fists. "I hate people like that. He took everything from those two, two mere children. What a pathetic monster. I want to destroy every last vestige of freaks like that."

"How does that explain being so nice to Henry and his sister?"

"It explains it perfectly. I helped them wipe out his presence in their minds. He won't define them if they stop being afraid. Don't get me wrong, that boy will have to work his butt off to keep my interest, and the girl I really don't care about. What I did wasn't about being nice to them; it was about fighting Charles."

"So you're just using them to fight him? Some people would think less of you for that."

"Let them. I'm about fighting evil, not raising brats." She looks over at me. "I can see it in your eyes, though. You're not particularly interested in them yourself."

I sigh. "Teaching is my job. I'm not going to withhold it from them. Nezu said they could use the resources in this place, and I believe that includes the staff. But don't worry, they probably won't make it into the school. So far, both seem to only care about the subjects that interest them. Tori is throwing herself at that health book," I motion to the biology textbook by her backpack. "But her form is still terrible, and she keeps going in spite- not even asking for help. Henry paid careful attention when you were teaching him. However, Henry isn't even carrying a backpack, so he's apparently not even looking at the books."

"You know, you could correct them on those points."

"They asked me to help them learn to fight- so I'm doing that. They didn't ask for anything else."

Rumi cocks an eyebrow at me. "They trust you to care about their education..."

"I doubt those two trust anyone for anything. And I don't want them teaching my daughter to be like them."

Rumi folds her arms. "And what do you mean by that exactly? A brother who defends his sister to the death? A sister who puts her heart into cheering him on?"

"You made it clear to both of them that they're not in danger if they go back to jail, so why aren't they rethinking and volunteering to go back? They're here to avoid the consequences of their actions. Tori is lazy, and Henry is a cynic... they're crooks through and through. I offered Henry help several times when he was on the street to have him just run off, and he never even tried to ask for help. I guess he thinks he's better than everyone so he stuck to his own plan."

Mirko rolls her eyes. "Henry has every right to be a cynic after what he's been through, and Tori was trying so hard to learn biology that she crashed into you while reading—there's your "laziness. "As to them not wanting to be in jail, it's perfectly fine not to want to be somewhere you don't belong."

"Oh? They don't belong in jail?"

"If someone held a gun to Hotaru's head, what would you do to keep her safe? Where would you draw the line when doing so hurts someone you love?"

I stare ahead at the two preteens, knowing I can't answer that question.

"That's what I thought. You would have been no better than Henry in his position, and I bet you know it."

"Why didn't he ask for help?"

"From a guy who couldn't catch a ten-year-old?"

"I was holding back."

"Doesn't change that you couldn't catch him. Why would he have that kind of confidence in you- enough to change his sister's life? You could think of all that, though. You know what coercion is, you know the insecurities it fosters in someone's mind. You've dealt with informants and manipulated people before. What is this really about?"

"What do you think it's about? Hotaru goes to this school. If they go here too unless I play a total tyrant, they will meet and be friends- they're the only people here who can see her as an equal. If they want to be students at UA, they better be good. They better be perfect if they're gonna be my daughter's first true friends."