"You see, (l/n), I can help you," the voice enticed you. "If you would only help me."

"(l/n)."

"(l/n)..."

"(l/n)?"

"(L/N)!"

"What!?" You blurted out, earning a few looks from the class.

"I was saying we should reconsider the placement of some of the explosives on the map," Todoroki said, pointing to the exam you would be tested on soon.

You pushed your hair behind your ear, glancing down deep in thought. "...right. Sorry. Sure, we can do that."

Todoroki frowned and tapped your chin with his pencil, startling you. "Are you alright? You seem...off." Your lips pursed into a thin line as you tried to somehow find the words you wanted to scream.

'I'm constantly running risk of being kicked out of school, I might be evicted from my house, I got a call about some shady offer, and some weird ass creature was terrorizing me not too long ago. Oh I'm fine. JUST PErfECt.'

"I'm ok," You replied.

He raised an eyebrow but before he could question you any further you spoke. "Hey listen, um, Aizawa was telling me about your hybrid quirk? He suggested I ask you for advice, or help on how to control my second quirk."

He nodded in understanding. "I get it. It must be tough considering you just got that power not too long ago."

"So...is that a yes? Should I start calling you Sensei from now on?" You laughed dryly.

"On one condition."

"What's that?"

"The Sensei stuff ends here." He gleamed playfully. "I'll find a day we can meet up to train and I'll let you know. I have your number anyway."

"I guess this works out," Todoroki stated with a slight hum.

You frowned in amusement. "Explain."

"I always thought you'd make a good sparring partner."

You knew he didn't mean it in any particular way but the sincerity in his gaze still made you smile. "Likewise."

On the other side of the classroom, another pair of students were discussing strategies for their upcoming assignment as well. Surprisingly, they were making a lot of progress.

"Not too bad, pink cheeks," Bakugou noted. Uraraka lit up from the compliment. "Thanks! I was studying up on offensive approaches last night."

Just then the bell rang, signaling the herd of students to get up for lunch. Bakugou was sliding his papers into his bag when Uraraka flagged down his attention.

"Hey Bakugou, before you leave I was wondering if maybe...." She restlessly grasped at her fingers. "Well I don't know if you would want to, but I think it would be good for the project—"

"What is it, round face. Spit it out," the blond barked.

She sat up in alarm, giggling in embarrassment. "Sorry, I ramble sometimes. Um, anyway, I wanted to ask if you would be willing to train with me." The brunette's eyes flitted to the floor. "I know I'm not one of the strongest in the class but you are so I thought maybe you could help me? I don't want the assignment to fall entirely on your shoulders. I want to be useful and reliable."

"I think I could learn a lot from you," Uraraka finished.

Bakugou stared at her. She was asking for his help? He didn't think anyone in the class had the guts to even ask him that. Either this girl had a death wish or she was actually serious about improving.

"Aren't you friends with Deku? Why didn't you ask him?"

"He's more strategy and statistics, I want to become stronger like you," She grinned happily. "Please! I don't want to feel like I'm dragging in class. I really want to get better!"

The blond sighed in annoyance and slung his bag over his shoulder. "You do realize who you're talking to right? You honestly think you could keep up with me?"

"I have to at least try!" Uraraka whined. "I'll never know what I'm capable of until I've attempted it!"

Her words cut like knife. Bakugou suddenly recalled Deku saying the same thing about enrolling into UA. "There's no harm in trying..."

The nerd sounded so blind back then. How could he ever reach that goal? And yet here he was, sitting next to him in class.

Katsuki scowled to himself. He had to come to terms with it. Perhaps nobody was completely hopeless.

He turned to the girl reluctantly and clicked his tongue. "Fine. But don't expect me to take it easy on you just 'cause you're a girl. And this is only for the exam! I can't have some weakling as a partner; you need to learn how to pull your weight."

"Right! I won't let you down!" Uraraka cheered.

Why did she seem so happy about it? Her joy could probably light up a Christmas tree. Well, that would soon disappear once they started training.

Round face thanked him once again and ran off to join her group of friends. It wasn't long before his strolled up to collect him. "Hey dorks, are we leaving or what?" Mina said with her arms over you and Kirishima.

"I heard they're serving cake today," Kaminari's voice jingled in your ear.

You perked up. "Cake, you say?"

Katsuki nodded towards the door. "Come on, I'll give my piece to whoever gets there first."

You and Kaminari gave each other a halfway glance before booking it out of there. The blond sniggered to himself. It didn't matter who got there first because he was still gonna trash it and let the chaos ensue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day was uneventful; other than that vile, evil man throwing away your piece of cake. Luckily, Eijirou was kind enough to give you his. Now you were in the library serving your dues with Miss Miyumi.

It was quiet, hardly any students in there at all as you and Monoma sorted through the stacks of books. You needed to label them by genre and put them away according to their author names. Miss Miyumi was off to the side typing away on her laptop and occasionally scribbling things on a paper.

"Sattler," You informed, handing it to Monoma who was nearest to the 'S' pile you two had made. The air was still tense with him but you managed to work together without much talking. "We have a lot of H books taking up space. I'm gonna go put them away."

You bent down and with a huff lifted as many as you could. Your arms trembled slightly trying to get the books balanced against your chest.

Monoma stared quizzically at you. "Uh, you got that?"

"Yeah!" You squeaked, adjusting your grip on the novels.

"I can help you if you want..."

"Nope, I got it!" You took your first step forward and felt the stack begin to sway. You reeled back to steady them once more and bumped into hard obstacle. A pair of hands reached above you relieving you of some of the weight.

"Here, I'll carry them," Monoma conceded, removing the majority of the novels. You watched him silently as he did so wondering why he was acting this way. "Lead the way."

You shook away those thoughts and nodded. "Right...so 'H' is near the front."

You led him to the aisle and began inserting the books into their appropriate spots, reaching for a new one from his grasp each time. Not a whisper floated between you two as you accomplished your task.

You were soon down to 4 to 3 books left when you turned to grab another. You were surprised to see Monoma with an open book in one hand the remaining novels in the other arm.

"What are you doing?" You inquired.

"Just thought this looked interesting," He shrugged, giving you the book. With a frown you turned it to the cover and read the bold lettering. The Odyssey by Homer.

"You're a mythology buff?" You raised an eyebrow.

"No, but there are plenty of movies about that book so I thought maybe the original source material is better."

You remained silent and proceeded to file the book in place. You were going to take another when Monoma spoke again. "Have you read it?"

You furrowed your brows in thought. Why was he talking to you so much? "No, but I've skimmed it. Read the synopsis and the sparknotes."

He nodded understandingly and watched as you lead them further down the aisle. You were quiet once again but Monoma was still itching with conversation. "So, would you recommend it?"

You let out a sigh and faced the pale blond with a hardened glance. "Monoma, what do you want? I know you don't care about this book."

His friendly demeanor immediately melted into pensiveness as his gaze met yours. "Fine, fine, yes you're right. When you took the book my interest went with it too."

"The truth is," he continued, "I wanted to talk to you."

"Why? What could you possibly have to say to me that you haven't already said?" You replied curtly.

"That's the thing, I haven't said this. And I realized a little too late." Monoma breathed in and looked down at the floor. His eyes then scaled up to yours. "I wanted to apologize to you. Properly this time."

You put a hand on your hip. "You're apologizing? Now of all times?"

"Yes, I know it took me a while but better late than never right?" He smiled weakly but there was no humor on your face. "Okay, touchy subject."

"Why are you saying this now?" You questioned. "If this is just a ploy for you to make yourself feel better about what you did, save it. I don't want a fake apology."

"It's not, (l/n)! I actually meant what I said before. I care! I saw you as friend even if we didn't exclusively talk," Monoma shouted in a whisper. "I care about our class and you ditching us...I don't know, I felt like you were siding with them."

"I realize I went about it the wrong way and I will never be able to apologize enough to make up for what I did. But I am willing to own up to the damage I caused. I'm sorry. I want you to know that I truly am sorry for the things I said and did. It was petty and selfish and you didn't deserve it." Monoma sighed and set the books in his hands down to face you directly. "I still don't like those 1-A bastards but taking it out on you wasn't the answer. And for that I'm sorry."

You couldn't look away from his repentant expression. Confliction between his honesty and your own anger at him drummed through you. "So what do you want? Are you expecting me to accept your apology?" You said in hushed tone. You weren't upset or mad at him in that moment but his words and his actions did catch you off guard.

"No, I'm not. But I did want to say it at least once," Monoma responded.

You were at a loss. Your chest beat sporadically trying to somehow resolve what just occurred in front of you or how you were going to walk away from that.

Thankfully you didn't have to because Miss Miyumi came looking for you right in the nick of time.

"(l/n), dear, you've been called down to nurse's office," She hummed kindly. "It seems urgent, and don't worry you don't need to return here once you're done."

You glanced at her and then at Monoma. He wasn't looking at you anymore but you could tell you were both still in thought about the words shared between you two.

"Okay... I'll be right there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you made your way down the winding hallways, you did your best to shake off what just happened. Monoma apologized to you and it seemed heartfelt this time around, not like his first explanation for his actions. But why now? Why was he pushing down his pride and his hate for 1-A just to make up with you...

Maybe he did want to rekindle some kind friendship. Or maybe it was something else.

Your brain was spinning with all the speculation. You thought it best to just put it aside for now and focus on what was going on right then.

"Recovery Girl? You wanted to see me?" You inquired as you opened the door to the room.

But what you found instead was a woman in a lab coat with fiery red hair and thin, black rimmed glasses sitting in a swivel chair. She glanced up from the desk and smiled. "You must be (l/n), (y/n). I'm Dr. Areno."

She extended her hand which you took with confused hesitance. "Um, hi, was I not supposed to meet Recovery Girl here?" You questioned.

"No, I'm afraid not. I was called here to investigate an important case, and I believe that case is you," She said warmly and picked up her clipboard. "Please take a seat."

As you did so, you recalled Principal Nezu listing seeing a specialist as one of the requirements of your agreement. This must be the person you were meant to meet.

"Let me introduce myself a little more. I work internationally as a quirk specialist which means I study the development and nature of certain quirks that are considered to be of high alert. And it seems like your school is a little concerned about yours. Do you agree? Are you having problems adjusting?"

"I mean, I suppose. I probably wouldn't be in this position otherwise," You shrugged.

Dr. Areno nodded and jotted something down on her papers. "To my understanding what warranted this visit was a development of a second quirk?" She watched you closely. "Odd for someone of your age.

"Yeah... I miraculously developed some new quirk. I don't remember what happened, but everyone's telling me I did."

"The school was kind enough to show me some footage of the occurrence and according to your records you never showed signs of having a transformation quirk," She informed, flipping through her pages. "The only one listed was...Supernova? It allows you to shoot star matter from your hands and feet?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, well it isn't often when a child is born with a double quirk. It's actually extremely rare. However, it forming so later on is what stumps me..."

"Wait, so I'm double quirked? What's the difference between that and a hybrid quirk?" You asked.

"Well, there's two meanings for a hybrid. The most common is one is when someone exhibits emitter and mutant aspects to their quirk and the second definition is when someone has a quirk that has similar qualities which make it count as one. For example, someone with a liquid and solidifying quirk, or water and ice, or even fire and ice since they're opposites."

"It's very complicated," She laughed when she saw your perplexed face. "But to continue, your new quirk consists of you transforming into some kind of demon? What do you think triggered it?"

You exhaled softly, staring at your hands. "I was really angry with a classmate that day. You probably saw but I attacked him." Your brow creased recalling how beaten Monoma was after you came back from your suspension.

"Emotional trigger," Areno concluded. "By the looks of the video this quirk is unthinkably strong. But unfortunately it's not a good idea to have you activate it right now."

The red head stood up and walked over to another table scattered with various syringes and vials. "Instead I'll have to take a couple samples from you to study."

"R-right now?" You stammered as she neared you with the needle. "I can't do this another day?"

"I'm sorry but I have a limited time for my visit in the country and I need to get back to my main project soon. I'll just be taking some blood samples, hair strands, and skin scrapings for now."

You sighed in defeat as she filled her test tubes and syringes with all the needed materials from you. You watched as your blood flooded into the caps of the needles which she then plugged and put away in her medical case. Once she was all done, she removed her white rubber gloves and grinned happily.

"Alright! I'll be back with some results in due time. It was lovely meeting you, (l/n), and don't worry we'll get to the bottom of this soon."

You thanked her for her help and she gave you permission to leave.

You were free from the tyranny that was school. The only problem was now you didn't know what to do. You didn't feel like going home just yet but you had nowhere else to turn to.

You swayed in boredom down the empty halls, your thoughts wandering to all that had happened today. What were you going to do? The Sports Festival was rearing its head and you hadn't even managed to crack the surface of your new quirk at all. Todoroki asked you to give him time but you just wished that time would come quicker.

Then there was Monoma and his apology. The ordeal involving you both seemed so long ago that you weren't upset about it anymore. Of course you still felt annoyed that that all occurred but you weren't hung up on it. Should you even forgive him? Or should you keep doing as you normally were? He seemed earnest in trying to gain back a common ground with you.

Just then a loud grunt rustled you out of memory lane. You followed the noise into a huge rectangular archway off to the side. Inside was an enormous room filled with all sorts of equipment from the unimaginable to the most common. The walls and floor were just as crazy too, decked out in thick blue mats that reached all the way up to the tall ceiling. You'd found the school's gym.

It was primarily void of life with only a fewpeople or so using the gym's assets. However, one person in particular stood out to you. Their flaming red locks were pinned back by a bandana as they relentless lunged their fists into the punching bag in front of them. The poor sack jingled helpless upon each deafening hit.

You walked closer behind him and with a teasing grin you whispered, "Eijirou~."

The red head suddenly jumped in alarm and in a swift motion launched a fist at you. You thanked your quick reflexes that you were able to move out of the way and block it with your forearm. You murmured a grunt at the solidness of the impact. "Easy there, tiger."

"(y/n)?" Ejirou's eyes widened. He instantly lost his fighting stance went into soft puppy mode, reaching for your injury. "Fuck! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean—I was so focused—"

"I could see that," You chuckled, rubbing your sore arm. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, no! I just...I have poor attention." His toothy grin was weak as he carefully inspected your arm. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. A little punch can't knock me down that easily."

He comforted you by massaging the tender skin. The red head then glanced up to your face a frowned. "What's this?" You felt flush as Ejirou cupped your cheek, thumbing the swollen area.

You inwardly cursed yourself forgetting about that. The encounter you had with Dabi and those villains left you with some bruising but you wouldn't be able to tell if no one looked at your face directly. The swollen patch held no color (thanks to your healing quirk) but it was still numb with pain.

"Uh, it's nothing just some rough training exercises," You bluffed. If anyone found out about your involvement with taking down a villain you'd be investigated by the police, or worse expelled from UA. Even that media storm that showed up after the fight had you worried, but it seemed like they had no clue of your role in the villains' defeat.

"Really? What's Aizawa making you do?" Kiri breathed in surprise.

You laughed off his shock and instead turned the conversation towards him. "Anywho, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing. Just working out, trying to keep these manly muscles." He flexed his arms jokingly but you could tell he was proud of his results.

"Can I try?" You gestured towards the punching bag.

"Sure, just be careful. The bag is a little tough," Ejirou warned. "Actually you should wear these—"

Before you could catch that precious little detail you swung at that bag and almost keeled over in pain. You let out a yelp as you held your throbbing hand.

"Crap, I should have told you beforehand. It can be dangerous to hit a punching bag without the proper wrapping," Ejirou said regrettably as he pulled you over to a bench to sit. He pressed his cold water bottle to your knuckles, nurturing your hand. His expression was earnest and worried as his rough fingers curved your own. "Seems like all I've done since you found me is hurt you."

"No, don't say that. I'm just an idiot and I do stupid shit," You chortled softly through a whimper.

"I'm so sorry, (y/n)."

"Enough." You waved him off and pulled away. You almost wished you hadn't. His warmth was so nice and comforting. "I'll be okay. Besides, I just remembered something."

"What's that?" Kiri raised a brow.

"I promised I would be your sparring buddy and that I would tutor you," You reminded him. "Or did you forget?"

"No, but I didn't want to press after everything that's been going on. I know it's hard on you and I didn't want to add to that," He responded honestly.

He was so sincere, it made your heart melt. You smiled warmly at him. "Well I appreciate that, but I did make a deal. I probably won't be able to spar with you since I can't control my new quirk yet, but I can tutor you. That is, if you still want to."

It was for the best that you didn't train with him right now. You wouldn't forgive yourself if you accidentally hurt Ejirou. You had finally come to realize how dangerous this second power could be with everyone checking tabs on you.

"I'd love that, (y/n)." His shark teeth beamed as he put a hand on your knee. Your fingers brushed his and you found yourself clasping your hand over his.

Ejirou was slightly stunned by your move but his face changed when he saw the distance in your eyes. Your brows scrunched in concern as your unreadable thoughts raced through your mind.

Without thinking, the red head suddenly locked his hand with yours and pulled. Your torso went flying into his as his other arm reached around wrapped you in an embrace. He held you so tight you could feel both your heartbeats thrumming in your chests.

His warmth and the dull scent of his musk was so inviting...

Out of nowhere you felt the corners of your eyes prick with wet droplets.

"I know that you're going through a lot right now, and I can tell you're trying to handle it all by yourself but some things just aren't that easy. I want you to know that you can count on me for anything, just say the word," Ejirou murmured in your ear. "I really care about you, (y/n). I don't like to see you hurt or in pain."

You swallowed hard as you tried to blink the tears away. You shook your head but still burrowed deeper into his shoulder. "I'll be okay, Kiri, I'll be okay," You sniffed. "Thank you. I didn't know how much I needed this."

The red head sighed and kissed your temple. "Anytime, (y/n)."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the outskirts of the school's field Bakugou Katsuki threw his gym bag to the side and rolled his broad shoulders back with a huff. "You sure you're ready for this, round face?" He asked with a challenging grin.

Uraraka raised her fists in defense. "Born ready."

Katsuki let out a cackle; the sparks in his palms went off with anticipation. "You better hope so."

Now would you look at that? An update