It took a while to wrap her mind around Shine's reveals, but finally Momo faced the idea head on.during training. Maybe it wasn't so impossible. She couldn't picture Shine or Wally lying, not on purpose, and the sword... Plus it's not like Christianity wasn't widely believed in some countries, America included...at least, it used to be. There were always things you couldn't explain...and Shine herself admitted, knowing it was real didn't mean you bought into all of it. Surely there was a line there somewhere...but also...should there be? And spirituality being behind everything, that was... not a new idea, but not one she'd really thought about much. How to solve this problem.

"Momo! Look out!" Jiro yelled. Cement came flying at her head, she jumped back barely in time. She hadn't realized how distracted she was.

"Are you awake, Yaoyerozu?" Aizawa asked.

Momo reddened. "Yes, sir. Sorry."

"I suggest you pay closer attention, there's a lot of debris in here." Tightly.

"Yes, sir," Momo looked around.

She saw Shine giving her a knowing glance and then an apologetic smile. But it wasn't the lack of sleep. It was the puzzle. Momo tried to focus. She'd deal with this later.

At lunch the students discussed the news coverage, Kendo offered the consolation that their parents had been mostly pleased. Naturally some people were still worried. Shine was more worried about Yaoyerozu. She regretted telling her so much and she wasn't sure the girl would keep it to herself. Wally even admitted it was a lot to accept.

"You can't expect everyone's experiences to be the same," he mused. "I kind of got slapped in the face with reality, the Remnant kids grew up more aware of it, and you were taught it. I don't see much faith of any kind here... Maybe with quirks, people ignore a higher power."

Shine peeled a banana while replying: "That reminds me of something Miss Joke said, about science and interplanetary travel. Basically, quirks advanced certain sciences, but they kept humanity grounded. Focused on this world and managing that society."

"Is that so wrong?" Wally asked, between mouthfuls of rice. "Well, reaching for the stars can be a problem," Shine admitted. "But so can never looking up at them. 'When I considered the heavens the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you visit him?'"

"'For you have made him a little lower than the angels'" Wally nodded thoughtfully, "'and have crowned him with glory and honor'  Psalm 8 right?"

"Yes," Shine sipped her juice. "You see what I'm getting at?"

"True glory comes from God?"

"Basically," she affirmed. "Not to be snobbish, but you know, superpowers don't impress me much without a meaning there."

"You know, I get a lot of Christian fans telling me they feel safer knowing a godly man is in the League's top 7," Wally said. "And Sheyera, Diana, they get that too. Even people who hate us admit we're more...firm? I guess. Did you know that would happen?"

 "Of course not, but I knew God changes things for the better, even if people hate Him. I'm not surprised." She smiled. "But I wonder, how does that apply now? I sense no hunger here, Remnant was open, desperate, humble. They knew."

"Some people knew," Wally said. "But it's not like all of them were open... I wonder how things are going there."

"Well, I think, I have dreams..." Shine paused, but then returned to the subject. "They seem full."

"Nah," Wally sat back complacently, "it's just a front. Supers do that. Give it a while, you'll see, they're just as desperate as anyone else, and as messed up. And you've already built trust even in a week and a half, give it a month and I think they'll be asking you to tell them more. You're compelling." 

Shine looked down. "Thanks," she said softly.

Wally touched her hand. "God wouldn't send you empty handed, Shine, you don't see it, but I do. Just give it time."

"I wish I knew what you saw, but you are right," Shine nodded slowly.

Behind the wall Wally was sitting against, Bakugo walked away, muttering "A front."

A couple days of regular training (if you could call it regular) went by and the time Miss Joke's class was supposed to come was almost upon them. Everyone wanted to make an impression. All but Shine and Wally, who referred to it like most people refer to meeting at a coffee for a fun study group or regular hangout, not a contest of skill.                                                                               

 Todoroki asked Aizawa if he and Bakugo should participate, being unlicensed.

"It shouldn't be a problem," Aizawa shrugged. "Even Likstar and West are being allowed... Joke asked specifically for everyone. She wants to see all the best in action." He walked away.

"But... I'm not technically the best now," Todoroki muttered.

"Dude," Wally said. "What was all that? You don't want to see how Miss Smiley's class operates? I think it'll be a riot."

"I'm not sure it's meant to be a humorous occasion," Todoroki replied stoically.

Shine laughed at him.

"Please. Even if it wasn't, that would be funny considering the source. I love Miss Joke's style. Wait, you're not still mad about the bubble wrap are you?"

"Of course not," he shrugged, "but they are all semi-pros."

Shine got closer, twisting her sword. "I see, you're worried they can't keep up?"

She got a frosty look in response to this. Wally chuckled. "Yeah, don't think anyone's in the mood for that, Shine."

"Yeah, okay... want to practice?" Shine asked Todoroki.

"I... don't really train with other people--" he stopped.

"Mmmhmm," she nodded, "well, okay then." She glanced at Wally.

"I'm not sure with my quirk..." Todoroki tried again.

"Do you have 1 or 2 quirks?" Shine suddenly asked.

 "Technically 1, but it's so evenly distributed it seems like 2," he explained.

"And Endeavor's your dad," Shine mused. "And he's clearly fire, so your mom must've been ice."

"Yes..." looking away.

"Cool," Wally said.

"Anyway, why's it a problem?" Shine asked. "Actually, maybe we could help. Wally's fast, might be a challenge."

Not actually a bad point.

"What did you have in mind?" Todoroki asked.

"Let's start with your fighting style," Wally suggested.

After some time spent demonstrating and discussing his quirk, Wally had some notes for him.

"So, you're crazy strong, quirk-wise," he said, "and pretty fast. And you can do precision attacks. How often do you go up against people on your level?"

"If you mean of raw power, only a few people could match that I've met," Todoroki shrugged.

Shine was practicing her stance while watching, and here she kind of blinked.

"Well..." Wally looked at her. "Any thoughts?"

"I was thinking, in superheroing, people tend to either rely on knowledge, skill and tools; or just with what a person could do, or on sheer power with little finesse. I've seen Superman fight, very little of it is skill, he's a bulldozer of force. But the rare person combines both. Which is kind of where this school is going with it, I think."

"That's correct," said Todoroki. "So what's your point?"

"I'm not sure I have one yet," Shine said, though her eyes said she at least had some ideas. "But I'd like to actually see how it works combat-wise...for personal reasons, since I'm trying to learn what I could run up against."

Todoroki shot Aizawa a look like he expected him to say this wasn't allowed, but Aizawa said nothing, just watched everyone intently.

"All right," Todoroki agreed reluctantly, but they were supposed to be helping them, right? Still, after the rescue training, why Shine would want to risk it was a mystery. She stepped back and took her stance.

Todoroki started small, throwing a wall of ice. Midoriya was watching, notebook in hand. Shine didn't touch the ice, instead she used her sword like a pole vault and propelled herself out of the way, sliding a little on the dirt floor.

Too easy, Todoroki thought, she's clearly inexperienced. I can just block her. Another wall of ice on her other side, she jumped aside. Now hedged in.

But she smiled at him knowingly, he shot a third wall between the two, it must've hit her full on.

"Ouch," some of the students winced.

"I'm surprised she didn't see that coming," Yaoyorozu said to Jiro.

"Yeah, no duh--" Jiro stopped, eyes wide. The few feet behind Todoroki a portal had opened. The portals were silent, so it took a second for everyone to see it.

Aizawa nodded slowly. Interesting tactic, but she's using her shortcuts for a sneak attack, not a bad idea. Todoroki had well honed instincts though, frowning he stomped his feet and ice shot up behind him, Shine had to avoid it, but it was a small chance. She bit her lip like she was thinking.

"He's going easy on her," Bakugo said contemptuously "he could've just frozen the wimp over."

"Maybe he's not underestimating her," Uraraka suggested.

"I don't know, I think Bakugo's right, he could just do that," Mina admitted to Kirishima.

"Maybe, Kirishima agreed. 

Todoroki decided Shine wasn't counterattacking, and started spreading the ice over the floor, surrounding her, Shine jumped before it closed over her ankles though. Not many people had perceived that threat in time, not so bad.

Then she did something weird, she sliced her sword through the chunk hiding her from view and it split in half. The ease she did this with made Mina, Ojiro, and Sero wince. That sword was crazy sharp. But Shine dived to her right the second she did it, Todoroki was looking ahead, in the split second he realized it was a feint, and turned to his left in time to see her coming at him. His left hand blazed up and shot fire at her, Shine blocked it--which shouldn't have worked, but somehow it did, the fire actually seemed to be shoved back like a gust of air had driven it, almost into Todoroki's face, that surprised him just enough for her to knock his left arm aside, but his right came back and ice covered her. 

No surprise there. Quickly he thawed her out. Of course she was soaked, but... wiping her hair back, Shine nodded. "Okay, I think I see my problem here."

"Shine, that was pretty cool," Wally gave her a thumbs up. "That portal thing is getting faster. Opening it into the ice, I never saw that coming."

"So, that's how you did that, neat trick," Todoroki acknowledged.

"I rarely do it so quickly or with such little space," Shine clearly was pleased with her experiment, "but it worked. I figured you'd try it a third time."

So she'd predicted his attack and this after only a few minutes of seeing him use his quirk. Perhaps the festival might have helped. "But, on the offensive, I'm slow," Shine rested her chin in her hands. "And obvious, not sure what to do about that."                 

"How did you deflect fire?" Todoroki asked, that had been bugging him since she did it.

Shine just smirked. "Trade secret, kid." 

Bakugo scowled at her. 

"Students, why do I not see everyone working?" Aizawa said warningly.

Everyone snapped to attention. Yaoyerozu considered the match: If Shine had timed things a little differently, and come out of the portal at a different place, it was possible she could have won. Against Todoroki! Judging from his contemplative expression, he must be thinking the same thing, and other students were too. This was perplexing, because it meant that they had a lot of skill, and had never been to a hero school. How was that possible? How could their powers compete so easily with highly trained students?

Midoriyia came up to Shine while they were heading towards the dorms much later.

"Hey," he held up his notebook. "I was analyzing your style earlier, and I think, with a couple small changes, you could have won."

"Oh?" Shine raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow pointedly. 

[Shine image design by Onerose]

 "Yeah, like what if you could open a door next to someone while they were still turning, and hit them then. All it would take is speed." 

Shine nodded slowly. "Yeah, I had the same thought myself, only, I've never had that kind of control. Plus, these 'shortcuts' are kind of taxing on me stamina. I feel like I get slightly buzzed by electricity whenever I pass through. I'd need to be able to move instantly as I exited, and have full confidence in my aim and force." 

"That's true," Midoriya agreed. "But that's why we practice using our quirks, to get that kind of control."

Yaoyerozu glanced up. It wasn't a quirk, so was that kind of control even possible for Shine? But, it seemed like she'd already surpassed herself.

"Shine, we could try this new idea out tomorrow," Wally offered. "I'll even slow down to what most people could realistically dodge too."

"Not sure you can, reflex and all," Shine said wryly, "but we can try it."

"Wow, Mr. West, you're really strong, huh?" Kirishima noted.

"Uh, more fast," Wall said. "A little bit extra strong though."

"Oh, well that's what I meant, your quirk is strong," Kirishima said.

Wally looked a little thrown off by the terminology. "Oh. Right." 

"How did you end up with a partner so much less trained than you?" Sero asked, not seeming to think it was rude.

Shine gave him a look that could have frozen his blood.

"Shine? She's not less trained than me," Wally seemed genuinely taken aback. "What are you talking about? She's been doing this longer, actually."

"He means hero work, babe," Shine said. "He thinks I am an amateur. He's not wrong, I'm not a superhero after all. But that was a very rude question to just blurt out to a person."

"It was? Oh sorry," Sero said. "I didn't mean it that way, I just couldn't see how you got matched, are you his sidekick?"

Wally laughed. "Sidekick-- oh, you're serious." He laughed again.

Shine started laughing too, which is not how the others would have reacted to being called a sidekick.

"Sheesh, what's so funny?" Kaminari asked.

"You kids..." Shine tried to calm down. "You've got a lot to learn, don't you? Me? A sidekick... I don't know, am I? I've helped him on a few missions."

"I'm not sure I'd call that you helping me, I'm lucky if you even tell me where you're going," Wally pointed out.

"Hey, I worked on that," Shine pouted.

"True," Wally held up his hands for peace. "Yeah, Shine's not a sidekick... don't you kids know a sidekick has to listen to their hero? You guys are rookies."

It was true, Shine didn't act like one, but her power set seemed more suited to being a sidekick at her level of control... but after being laughed at, no one had the guts to say this. Momo privately figured that this must also be a DJ trait, clearly, it didn't work the same as heroes... but the exact difference was still escaping her. 

Mina must have wanted to know more too, because she changed the subject.

"Hey, if that's not it, then how did you guys become partners? You're together, right?"

"Hmm, yes, for over a year now," Shine was quite open about it. "Could you tell?"

"The hand holding kind of gave it a way," Aoyama said slyly. But they didn't react.   

"We became partners because I received the call, and she's sort of my mentor," Wally said. That he admitted that upfront shocked some of the more macho guys in the class. 

"That's an oversimplification," Shine protested. "I needed a partner, anyway, one who would be able to compensate for my lack of a physical power and training in that arena. Wally brought decades of experience to the table, I brought my knowledge of the job and principles, and with a few bumps, we were off to a good start. This has been our second longish mission so far, and the last one went well, so I'm satisfied. Wally is full fledged now, I only mentored him briefly to learn the rules."

"And she did a great job, I feel so much more smart now," Wally joked.

Shine shoved him. "He's a quick study." 

"Wow," Mina was impressed. "You're so willing to--uh, that is, and you started dating after that?"

"No, before," Shine said carelessly. "Not long before, but before."

Pause.

"So, you're girlfriend became your mentor then your partner?" Sero said.

"Yeah," Wally said.

"Sweet," Sero grinned. "That's really convenient too."

"So how did you meet?" Mina asked.

"Guys," Momo began to be embarrassed for them. "Maybe that's enough personal questions for now."

"Oh, I don't mind," Shine said. "I love talking about myself."

"Me too," Wally said.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. But the other students were curious by now. Shine thought back.

"I guess officially, we met when he saved me from something that was trying to end my career, along with some other friends, then I was staying in his world for a bit. We hung out a lot, there, since I only knew a few people. And I fell for his obvious charm."

"Is that what it was?" Wally said. "I thought it was my jokes."

"Sure," Shine said dryly. 

"That's pretty much it," Wally said. "I liked her too, and we enjoyed the same things, so, dating just made sense...though it took a bit of convincing..."

Shine looked embarrassed. He changed the subject.

"I guess it's not very exciting, huh."

"I feel like you left something out," Sero said with one eye closed.

"Oh, I left out all the good parts," Shine said, readily. "Because it would take too long, and we're here already. Maybe some other time."

It was true, they were at the dorms, and the students had homework to do. The two others crashed in their rooms. They didn't share one.

"Why did you ask them so much?" Jiro said to Mina.

"I don't know, if they're going to live here, we should know more about them." Mina said.

"It's weird that the school just let them stay," Jiro frowned. "Do you believe all that stuff they said?"

"I don't know, but it made for a good story," Mina shrugged. "There's still stuff they aren't telling us, though, I wonder why."

"They don't trust us," Sero pronounced. "That's why."

Momo looked up from her book. Was that why? She thought back to what Shine had told her. Not many people took it well, according to her. Maybe that was why.