The next day at school was hell to put it lightly.

It had been all over the news; "Quirkless Girl Runs Head-first Into Villain Fight To Emerge Victorious."

They made it sound like it had been some epic battle instead of the ass-whooping it had been for the villain. The news also seemed so hung up with the fact that she was quirkless, instead of you know . . . Showing how the heroes there didn't do anything?!

Like, if Izumi hadn't done anything Bakugou could very well have died.

'But, sure, go off I guess.'

Izumi sighed as she rubbed her temples. The wake up call the prior day had been was a bit of a shock. The girl thought over how much heroes relied on their quirk, something she had already known.

She hadn't thought that heroes would just stand by because their quirk didn't suit the damn situation. She just thought about how much they relied on them too much and it could be useful to exploit in fights and training. The prior day had her realizing just how bad the situation was.

Bakugou had been advoiding her all day, like she was some kind of goddamned plague instead of the person that saved him. Honestly, she hadn't expected any begging for forgiveness or anything like that . . . But a simple 'thank you' wasn't really that fucking hard.

She just had to get through the day, Izumi could take out her frustrations on a punching bag at training that night anyways.

And that's what she did.

Akio stopped her between reps, a hand on her shoulder. "Izumi, deep breaths." He said softly, knowing at least some of what was bothering her. "Talk to me, don't lock it in, I'm here." Her trainer rubbed soft circles into her upper arms, pressing his forehead to the top of her green curls.

"Thanks Aki-san." Izumi breathed, closing her eyes as she let her mind go blank. She had a bad habit of over-working her mind, letting her thoughts over flow, and Akio had been teaching her meditation to try and sooth that.

"You good now, Greenie?" Akio placed one hand on top of Izumi's hair, the other staying put on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Izumi murmured, keeping her eyes closed, letting his calming presence wash over her. "It's just been a weird past few days. Bakugou was especially nasty yesterday, then there was the whole Sludge Villain thing, and today, at school, everyone was whispering and avoiding me even more than usual!" The girl felt her shoulders tense as she ranted, before loosening when Akio started up the circles again. "Plus my mom is stressing out even more than usual, I think she's going to try and convince me to not try out for UA. She keeps dropping hints about other schools and I am just so tired of her not believing in me!"

Akio held Izumi to him, trying to calm her down a bit. Her voice had never gotten loud, just a bit saddened and broken with sniffles.

"Izumi, you knew from day one that this would be hard." He held the girl just far enough away that she could look at him. "I understand you're getting overwhelmed. This was bound to happen and I'm surprised it took this long. Today, you are going home and you are not going to do anything but watch some cruddy TV show and relax. No working on projects, reading text books, exercising, or dance work. Go home, get some pajamas on, and relax." He cupped her chin, making her meet his eyes the whole time.

"But-" She started to protest.

"No." Akio's voice took on a tone Izumi had only heard a few times. Once early on when Izumi had hidden bruises she had gotten from school and it resulted in him hitting that bruise and her on the floor groaning in pain. Then once when she had been going a few days with very little sleep and nearly collapsed in the ring. And the last time had been when Izumi had made the mistake of thinking she could get by with pulling an all-nighter to finish a new contraption.

It was the voice of his 'no-bullshitting-me-kid-I-will-kick-your-ass-from-here-to-the-next-prefecture' mode.

"Alright, see you tomorrow." Izumi sighed, picking up her bag and heading home.

That night had been her first day off in awhile.

And it would be her last for some time.

She only had ten months left, she had to keep going.

Well, that was until her Dance Instructor made her take a day off two weeks later.

"Come on, Sweetie. Just you and me and a trip to the mall. It'll be super fun!" Kami had pressed after their Friday lesson. The teacher had seen the bags that had taken residence under her star pupil's vibrant green eyes. She could not let this stand. "Just this Sunday, please. One day, Sweetie, that's all."

Izumi twirled the end of her braid in her finger. "But, Kami-san, I just took a day off two weeks ago. I can't afford to stop pushing now. I only have this school year!" The green haired girl bit her bottom lip, eyes glue to the floor.

"Izumi." Oh no, now Kami was using the no-bullshit tone. "You are taking this Sunday to just hang out with me, no excuses and no buts!"

That's why a certain green haired girl was waiting outside the mall on Sunday. Her hair was down, held back by a soft yellow head band that matched her knitted, over-sized sweater. The white jeans she was wearing had shinny-golden detailing on the pockets and paired well with her golden flats with tiny white bows.

Kami had grinned when she walked up, sporting a black crop-top and matching skinny jeans with high-heeled boots. "Don't you look just down-right adorable!" She had squealed, fawning over her pupil, before taking her by the hand and dragging her into the mall.

The whole time Kami was hauling the girl from store to store, having her try on outfits and seeing if a makeup pallet would look good on her skin tone. "I think this one would work." She mumbled, holding up one that favored pinks with rose gold.

"Even if it did, I wouldn't know how to use it." Izumi confessed.

The horrified gasp and following squawk of disbelief from her teacher had Izumi's head spinning in embarrassment.

"No! No, no, no. I will not stand for such an adorable girl not knowing how to use basic makeup!" The excitable woman bought three different pallets, a long with a bunch of different bottles and sticks that Izumi had no idea the names of. When Kami took Izumi to the bathroom after buying everything, she made the girl sit on the counter as she used some of the supplies she had bought.

By the end, Izumi could finally get some of the appeal of make up.

"I love it, I just don't think I'll use it all that often. Even if I do learn how, I just don't have the time. Not to mention I don't go anywhere that would make sense to put it on for." Izumi had pouted, trying to explain to her teacher.

"You think I put on a full face of makeup everyday? Hell no! You do that for special occasions. Especially with a face like yours, you don't need it every time. Everyday stuff is just, like, eyeliner, mascara, and maybe blush. You wouldn't even need foundation cause your skin is super clear." Kami waved one hand as if to dismiss Izumi's train of thought. "Don't worry, within the month I will have made you an expert."

"How? I don't have the time to learn."

"Because, from now on. Sundays are our Girls' Day."

"Oh no."

"Hey!"

Izumi was so thankful to both Akio and Kami, each one cared about her and took time out of their personal lives to help her and make sure she had the best chance to achieve her dreams.

It was thanks to them that when the day came, she knew she was ready to blow them all away.