After that eventful weekend it seemed you and Bakugou were in good terms once again. You were a little shy about coming into class after you had exploded that Friday but surprisingly, some of your classmates came up to compliment you on your abilities. The rest were rather quiet and only cautiously glancing over when they thought you weren't looking. You couldn't say you appreciated the staring, but at least they weren't bombarding you with questions.

After School

"Bring down the x then exchange it with the denominator and multiply both sides by y."

"Why would you do that when you can cross multiply the whole thing?"

"Cause you'll miss a step if you do it that way, dumbass."

"I've done mine this way and always got it right."

"Well you're a fuckin' idiot for doing it that way." Bakugou tapped the homework sheet. "This is the right way."

You rolled your eyes and muttered, "You're just making it more difficult..."

"IF YOU WANNA FAIL, BE MY GUEST!"

"I'M JUST SAYING THERE'S A SHORTER WAY OF GETTING THE SAME ANSWER!"

The blond grit his teeth into a scowl. "Oh yeah!? What did you get!?"

"4 and you?" You sent an equally angry glare.

After an irritated squint directed at you, he scoffed and looked away. "That was a lucky guess."

"WHAT! WAS NOT!"

"SHHHH!" The librarian stared menacingly at the two of you. It was only a matter of time before she kicked you both out. It was miracle she hadn't already.

You blew a few strands of hair out of your face. "We've gone over this. There's more than one way of getting the same answer."

Bakugou picked up your paper in disgust. "Your way of doing things is shitty and unorganized."

"Just like your personality."

"WHAT!?" Bakugou's palms looked like they could almost go off. "YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL I'M EVEN HELPING YOU, BRAT!"

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!" The librarian shot up from her desk. "YOU TWO! OUT!!!"

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

The sky above was blend of soft orange and yellows when you and Bakugou walked out the school's doors. You both had tests coming up and decided to study together. The material your classes were learning was basically the same so it seemed like a good idea at the time. But this was Bakugou Katsuki you were going to study with. You shouldn't have expected any less from the hardass (said the hardass).

"What's your class like, Bakugou?" You pondered aloud as he walked you home. Other than the subject matter, the students themselves seemed to be vastly different.

"It's stupid," He replied curtly.

You frowned with a pout. "I'm serious. Kirishima, Ashido, Kaminari, and Sero seem like good people."

"Those four are the dumbest in the class."

"Tell me what it's like, Bakugoooouuu," You egged him on. "Are there really tough people in it?" Your words were running as much as your train of thought was. "It's supposedly the class that produces the best heroes, right? Is everyone there crazy strong?"

"No, most of them are numbskulls. I'm....one of the strongest."

His brief pause confused you but you smiled all the same. "Hmm, well, I'd love to see you fight one day. Maybe we can spar."

This sparked an epiphany in the boy. "Hey, you've never told me your quirk!"

"I haven't?" You played dumb, a grin curling at your lips.

"Yeah, you asshole! All I know is you glow like a damn lighthouse in the dark! Is that it? That's your quirk?" Bakugou speculated. Though it was believable, he doubted someone like you would have that mere quirk.

You gave a cheeky wink and turned away. "Hmm, maybe you'll find out one day."

"WHAT THE FUCK. TELL ME!"

You shook your head. "Calm down! You'll find out during training. Our classes are having a mock exam soon right?"

"I don't understand why you can't just tell me."

"A hero never reveals her secrets!" You teased. "Plus, I'm tired and I want to get home."

A few more remarks and quips were thrown around before you finally arrived at your front yard.

You sighed as you faced Bakugou. "Thanks for walking with me again, Bakuboi." You chuckled. You almost wanted to tell him you missed it but he would never let you live it down.

He let out a low grunt in response. "Whatever."

"And thanks for studying with me too, even if we did get kicked out." You gave him a short squeeze of an embrace and waved goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The blond's red eyes skimmed your features, trying to read you. In the end, he glanced away and readjusted his book bag. "Yeah, see ya." Bakugou turned on his heel and sauntered off.

He was definitely a unique character to say the least. And yet, he also had an underlying decency to him. You wondered if you'd get to see more of that. It seemed like that fight you had might have been a stepping stone to something much greater.

You were surprised to find that your mother had arrived before you when you entered. She usually worked late shifts at the hospital.

"Mom?" You called softly. She sat at the dinner table, hovering over several sheets of paper.

It looked like she didn't hear you. As you got closer, you could hear her anxious mumbling. "No, I won't be able to pay that this week...... Maybe then I can....the lights may go out if I do that...."

Your heart sank. Your previously calm demeanor vanished as you place a hand on her shoulder. "Mom?"

She almost hit the ceiling. "Sweetie! Oh don't do that you'll scare me to death!"

"I'm sorry....how's it going?"

Her tired gaze left you and strayed over to the papers scattered on the kitchen table. "I.........it'll be okay. I'm sure I can get us through this...."

"Mom, I can take up a job. I can help," You pleaded.

She shook her head at once. "No no no, you need to focus on your studies. I want you to succeed. So... you can have a better life than this."

"I'm already working really hard. I can still do my school work and manage a job."

"I'll take care of this, alright? Don't you worry about a thing. I'll get us through it," She tried to convince you as she pressed her palms to her closed eyelids.

Your heart sunk to the floor. You couldn't do anything for her. She'd get angry with you if you even attempted applying for a job. You understood that things at the hospital weren't going well, but surely there must be some other profession she could pursue? Your poor mother ran herself ragged trying to provide for you both and you had to watch from the sidelines helplessly.

You internally sighed and squeezed her shoulder to try to give her some kind of comfort. "Please don't overwork yourself over this. We'll find some way to fix this."

With a nod, she grasped your hand. "Yeah, we'll be okay..."

Her words were meant to assure you, but the weight of them were too heavy to be of any consolation.

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

The Next Day

You came to class as prepared as you could be. Hopefully what you managed to review with Bakugou would pay off.

The classroom was still nearly empty so you decided to do some last minute studying. However, you were stopped by someone snatching your notebook out of your hands. You glared up at a pair of gleaming grey eyes.

"I'd like that back, Monoma." You demanded with an outstretched hand.

The boy smirked as he flipped through the pages. "How cute. You two are even study buddies." He suddenly laughed aloud. "Ha! Even his hand writing is aggressive."

"What do you want, Monoma? Give that back!" You made to grab your belonging, but he raised it out of your reach.

"You've been spending a lot of time with some of those 1-A kids, huh? Trying to get ahead of the rest of us?" Monoma asked in a condescending tone.

"What?" You said, taken aback.

"Hanging around a bunch of self-righteous low-lives won't better your chances of becoming a hero. Especially if one of them is that hot-headed idiot," He chortled.

"What are you talking about?" You frowned.

Monoma's expression darkened. "Class 1-A is nothing but a bunch tools who think they're better than everyone else 'cause they got a visit from some villains once. Was that what attracted you to them? Did you think you'd become some special snowflake like them if you followed them around like a good little bitch?"

"Hey, watch your fucking mouth!" You barked through gritted teeth. You were absolutely done with this guy.

You once again tried to steal back the notebook only for the blond to catch your wrist. "I'd watch myself if I were you, (l/n). People have started to notice the stray dog in 1-B."

You ripped yourself away from Monoma and looked around the class. Some of the other students had wandered in and were whispering to themselves. Their disparaging eyes kept glancing towards you and the copycat.

When you turned back, Monoma's hand had ignited with a brilliant white light. You stared in shock as he sent your notes up in flames with your own quirk.

The cinders of your work withered to the ground in a small pile of ash. "This was a good talk." Monoma dusted his hands. "I trust you've learn where you belong in after this."

You had the urge to take that stupid smug face of his and slammed it into a wall, but it was too late. The rest of the class, including the teacher, had filed in and you were left with an unsettled rage.

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

By the end of the day, all of your friends had noticed how quiet you had been. They fussed a bit about it at first, but didn't pry you for answers.

It was Bakugou who had finally had enough.

"What the fuck is up with you?" He chided. "What crawled up your ass today?"

You were walking down the hall when you spotted the same eerie copycat of that morning look over at you and Bakugou. He seemed to be laughing to himself as he made his way out of your sight. Your temper flared.

"I'm fine," You answered your explosive friend.

You weren't going to let some egotistical bastard decide who you were going to befriend. Monoma's threats wouldn't work on you.

Yeah I know what you're probably thinking 'Wow Monoma's an antagonist. He gets no real recognition in fanfics.' And you would be correct. However, I want to expand on his character and his role in this story so don't get your panties in a twist. Also I just like him as an opposing character, sue me. 

Anyway, I'm glad I got to upload another chapter though it's a tad shorter. I really want to add more characters soon. Happy readings! :D