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When Karin finally convinced her mother to let her attend school, she had many ideas on what it would be like. She expected a normal experience like what she saw on tv, making friends and meeting up with them after school to go shopping or study at a café, passing notes in class, gossiping over boys.

She quickly discovered that that was not the case when it came to real life, as most people gossiped about her, and not with her. She wasn't welcomed with open arms by her classmates and she didn't quite fit in into any of their social circles. Instead she found herself an outsider... again.

She was weird for being homeschooled her entire life prior. She wasn't girly enough for the shopaholics, her body shape and stamina didn't match that of the cheerleaders, even the artsy girls were quick to dismiss her. Boys didn't deem her interesting enough for longer than that first week she started at the school, and she wasn't smart enough for the nerds, or the geeks, which were apparently two different things. Too extroverted for the introverts, too introverted for the extroverts, it seemed Karin was doomed to forever be a lone wolf.

Despite all that, she didn't let it get to her. She was okay with being alone, liked it actually. And rather than go crawling back to the comfort of being schooled at home by her mother, she welcomed walking the halls with her headphones over her ears and using the next few years to hone her own skills by herself.

With several forged teacher signatures, Karin convinced her mother she was a part of multiple after school clubs. With the extra time out of her house, she sharpened her art, getting to know herself and her quirk more. She built her strength, accessing the school gym and other resources whenever she could. Before she knew it they were nearing the end of the school year again and she'd yet to figure out her fate.

A single sheet of paper — an application to a certain school — weighed heavily in between her stack of notebooks.

She walked the halls the way she always did: music blasting in her ears, head down, arms tucked at her sides. She was getting ready to head home for the day when she unexpectedly bumped into another body.

Her belongings littered the floor and she quickly bent down to retrieve them, she only removed her headphones when she noticed the person she'd run into hadn't just ignored her the way most did when these things happened. Hurried hands helped her collect her things and before she could tell them it was unnecessary, the silence was broken.

But not by her.

Shoto Todoroki, a puzzle she'd been dying to put together for over four years kneeled across from her, a single sheet of paper in his hands. He met her eyes slowly, lips parted.

"You're going to U.A. too, Kobayashi?"

Wait a minute... Karin thought to herself, he knows my name?!

Her hands moved before her brain could process what was happening as she snatched the paper from him and picked up the rest of her things, standing, she felt herself become defensive,"No."

The boy stood as well, and it was in that moment that she realized how much taller he'd gotten since last year. He frowned,"Oh, sorry."

"What for?" She asked.

"Assuming." He responded quickly,"It's not nice. Also for running into you."

"That was my fault, I wasn't really watching where I was going so I should be apologizing to you." Karin corrected, and yet didn't make a move to do so.

He didn't seem to care though. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing with an application to the school then?"

Fuck. Think, Karin, what's a good lie?

"I'm holding it, uh," she paused, scanning the walls as if they could give her the answer, and a poster sort of did as she blurted before properly thinking,"For a friend, yeah, they don't know if they're going yet, strict parents, you know?"

Shit, wait, she cursed, he'll never believe that, everyone knows I have no friends.

Todoroki nodded,"I understand. It's a shame then."

"What is?"

"It would've been nice to see a familiar face there." He shrugged,"Besides that, I've been trying to guess your quirk for years now. I suppose I was wrong to assume you even had one, my apologies for that as well."

Before Karin could get another word out, it seemed their first interaction was turning into their last as he took a step back and bid her a good rest of her day. He was just about to turn left and down the next hall, when she spoke up,"Todoroki!" She was still facing the spot on the floor he previously occupied, she shut her eyes as she mentally cursed again. She didn't expect herself to actually call him back.

No going back now...

She turned around slowly to meet his eyes, the boy raised a single eyebrow at her in question. Her shoulders dropped in defeat as she said to him,"Nature." Halfway in between them, a window was open and she manipulated the branches of a tree in an unnatural way as further explanation,"That's my quirk."

He raised his right hand and one branch she'd bent into an odd shape froze over and broke off,"Ice." He said simply.

She would've smiled, but her curiosity got the best of her as it was now her turn to raise her eyebrows,"Not the fire everyone gossips about?" And before he could reply, she added,"I might not have any friends, but that doesn't mean I don't pay attention."

His hand dropped back to his side and his left index finger twitched, a small movement that would've gone unnoticed if he'd been speaking to anyone else.

Karin was primarily an observer and so it was easy for her to catch such things.

"I choose not to use that one." He said, holding her gaze for a few moments more before he gave her a nod and turned away again.

The plot thickens, Karin thought to herself.

She looked down at the application in her hands, all information except for a name had already been filled out. She turned to the tree, wishing for guidance.

Just then, a gust of wind blew in through the open window and rustled its way through her hair by her ears. Your mom wouldn't like that, it almost seemed to whisper. The second branch she'd contorted to her will tapped against the window rhythmically, like it was coaxing her. Do it. Do it.

Her eyes found the paper again before she was retrieving a pen from her bag. She walked over to the window, flattening the page against it as she hovered over the blank space, she hesitated only for a second before she was finally scribbling her name onto the U.A. application.