Just so you know, this is Naoko^^  She's beautiful and precious and mine, so yeah, get ready to start this rollercoaster!

I don't own Boku No Hero Academia, I own my ideas and my characters, Thanks for reading, I love you all!

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The hospital room was quiet, peaceful almost, as the two women sat facing each other; there was a sense of familiarity, and it was easily apparent that the two had known each other for some time, "I've heard that the UA entrance exams are coming up," The older one said quietly, making sure to keep her face turned towards the younger girl, "Do you feel ready for it, Naoko?"

A scoff came from the significantly shorter girl, "I'm about as ready as my aunt will let me be, I think she's trying to keep me busy so that I forget about going to 'that school'." The girl's voice had an odd quality to it, it was monotonous and far louder than the volume most people spoke at.

The older woman seemed not to mind though, as a small smile crossed her face, and she leaned forward, brushing a strand of pure white hair out of her face, "I'm sure she means well, Naoko dear; you have to admit that having a child who wants be a hero would be rather frightening after everything she's been through."

A heavy sigh escaped Naoko, and she shook her head in irritation, "It's true, but that was three years ago, one would think that if things were going to change, they would have already... Aunt Hasame still acts as though Mother and father died because of quirks, rather than because of some idiots who misused their quirk."

"Naoko," Even though Naoko couldn't hear her friend's tone, she could tell that it was strict, "Regardless of her opinion on quirks, whether it be about yours or anyone else's, she is still your aunt and has taken care of you in place of your parents, she deserves your respect."

Abashed, Naoko bowed her head, "Yes Todoroki-sama, I'm sorry." she said, waiting until she felt the woman gently pat her head, signaling for her to look up.

"How many times have I told you to stop adding the honorific to my name, Naoko? You could even just call me Rei if you wanted!" It took a second for Naoko to fully comprehend what she was reading from Todoroki Rei's lips.

She shook her head vigorously in response to Todoroki's comment and began signing nervously just to keep her mind on task, "I couldn't do that, Todoroki-sama! You've been through enough disrespect in your life, I just want you to have someone show you how much you're really worth!"

The girl was cut off with a soft hand on her chin, pulling her gaze back to Todoroki so that Naoko wouldn't miss what the woman had to say, "It warms my heart to hear you say that, my dear, and I hope you know that I feel the same way about you. You overlook yourself far too often for my taste." One hand went to Naoko's wrist and gently stroked the fabric of the long sleeve shirt that the girl wore to cover her battered wrists. "You are a hero already, but you just won't let yourself believe it."

At those words, Naoko blushed and looked down before lunging forward to pull Rei into a hug, "Thank you Rei-sama," This time, her words were quiet and full of emotion, very different from how they normally sounded, "I don't know where I would be right now if I hadn't met you three years ago."

A minute passed while Rei simply stroked Naoko's blue-grey hair and hummed a gentle melody that the girl she viewed as her daughter couldn't hear but could feel. The vibrations humming through Rei's chest and into Naoko were more of a comfort than she could ever have hoped for.

"Rei-sama, I won't be able to come here until next week, I'm sorry." Rei hummed, knowing that Naoko could feel that, "Aunt Hasame has been reluctant to let me train with my quirk, and this is the only time I'd be able to do so without her getting mad; I may have to cut our visits down to once a week until after the entrance exams."

Once again, Rei gently lifted Naoko's head so she would be able to read what Rei was saying, "That's okay my dear, you visiting me every other day has been wonderful, but you need to do well on this, so repay me by getting the best score possible, sound good?" They shared a smile and Rei continued, "I do believe my son will be going to UA this year, so perhaps you'll see him once the year begins. I wouldn't doubt that he'll be getting in on a recommendation, he's so talented."

As she spoke, Naoko glanced up to Rei's eyes and frowned inwardly, every time Rei spoke about her son Shoto, there was pain behind the loving smile; yes, Naoko knew something bad had happened, but Rei never told her, and Naoko never pushed, it wasn't her place to know.

***

The forest hummed with life around Naoko, who was sitting calmly in the forest, feeling everything she could; it was one of those times where she had managed to sneak away from her aunt and was finally able to work with her quirk.

She took a deep breath in and focused on a tree standing not too far from her, it was still small, but Naoko wasn't trying for a grand show of power, what she wanted to work on right now was precision. She allowed air to fill her lungs, and exhaled, ensuring that she stayed calm; any loss of focus could result in way more damage than she wanted to make.

Leaning forward carefully, Naoko placed her hand flat on the ground and focused on sending her quirk to the target, it would just take a little bit more! Through her quirk, Naoko could feel the limbs of the tree, but she pushed farther, sending her quirk to the leaves on the lower branches only and watching as the leaves began to drip off the tree. Half of her wanted to jump up and start celebrating, but the more responsible part recognized that if she lost focus now, the whole tree would likely liquify as well. Slowly, she allowed her energy to dissipate and then leaned back slowly, grinning like a fool.

It had taken months of hard work behind her aunts back to be able to do this, and boy did it feel good! When Naoko had first started working on precision, she not only liquified a whole huge oak tree, she liquified the path to the tree, which was well over ten feet long and at least three feet wide. If she kept this up, she would be able to reach her power through a person and solidify a glass of water sitting on their head! Perhaps that sounds a little to William Tell-esk, but that was darn tricky maneuver!

The exam would be within the next three days, and Naoko had never felt more confident; sure, she still liquified the occasional glass by accident, or turned a glass of juice she was drinking into gas without meaning to, but overall, she had much more control over what she did. Her aunt still was against her applying, but she agreed to let Naoko try, possibly because she thought Naoko had no time to practice with her quirk and would fail miserably.

Naoko got to her feet, humming happily, she would make her parents proud, this just proved that she had the skill to become a hero! She would show her Aunt that she could do this if it kill-

A small screech left Naoko's mouth as she was pulled from her excitement by her phone's vibration; curse the stupid device, Naoko knew that she should have left it with her wallet! She concentrated on the vibration, she knew it was her aunt because her aunt was the only one who sent Naoko messages in Morse code; a communication form Aunt Hasame taught her when the doctors announced that Naoko was completely deaf in both ears.

"COME HOME NOW WE NEED TO TALK... OVER." Naoko responded that she was on her way and cheerfully walked to grab her bag, it had been a good day of training, now she just needed to get through this conversation with Aunt Hasame, who probably was getting freaked out by how close the entrance exams were, and she would be golden.

Her walk back into town was peaceful, she noticed several people wave to her and was stopped other times by people asking how she and her aunt were doing. Her parent's death had been big news in this little community; her mom and dad had owned a tailor shop just a few miles from here, and so when they died in a massive villain attack, leaving behind a daughter in critical condition, it made front page news for months.

Even now, three years later, both Aunt Hasame and she still had people stop them in the streets wanting to talk about it. Naoko considered herself to be a patient person, but there were days she decided that offending people was far more fun than listening to the false sympathy, so she would just stare at them as she turned up the volume in her earbuds and walk away (Not that turning up her volume did anything to help, it was all just for dramatic effect).

When she arrived home, she simply took off her shoes in the entryway and walked further into the house smoothing her hair over her ears in a nervous gesture. There was no use in letting Hasame know she was home, the woman had senses like the old American hero, Spiderman; as if to prove her point, Hasame burst from her room and stalked angrily towards the girl, not only saying what she was feeling but also signing it... Maybe this would be worse than Naoko calculated...

"Where have you been, Naoko? I thought you were at the hospital like you always are, but when I called and asked them to give you a message, they told me that you hadn't been there since the week before!" Naoko could tell by how her Aunt's fingers snapped as they signed that she was ticked off, so Naoko let her rant, though she already knew everything her aunt was going to say, it was the same thing Hasame always said when she was stressed like this, "You shouldn't be sneaking off like this, do you want to end up like your parents? Did you even think for a second about how I feel? Naoko, you have to act more responsibly, or you are going to get into a lot of trouble one day!"

She didn't even have look at her aunt to know that's what was being said, just like always; and just like always, Naoko cut her aunt off my walking up to her and pulling her into a strong hug, "Thank you for caring, Aunt Hasame, thank you so much." At that moment, no other words were needed; they understood each other well at this point, yet neither of them could completely accept the other's reasons for what they felt on the matter.

Finally, Hasame tilted Naoko's head up so she could see Hasame speak, "You were practicing your quirk again, weren't you?" Naoko nodded, "I can't stop you from getting into this God-forsaken school, can I?" A slight smile touched Naoko's lips as she shook her head, this was the first time Hasame was conceding ground on this matter. "You know I'm completely against this, right?" Another nod and Hasame sighed before placing her forehead on Naoko's and closing her eyes, doing her best to make sure Naoko could still see what she said, "Then you had better beat the pants off this exam, you hear me? If you're going to become a hero, then I need you to become a darn good one. Can you do that for me?"

Naoko was solemn as she answered her aunt, "I will." Those two words had more conviction in them than most people could ever muster, perhaps that's because of who these two were; they were both survivors, and both knew better than to make an empty promise.