Finished - August 9, 2022

Word Count - 3709 

Music - Eria - Two Steps From Hell 

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Once the regular school hours started, things calmed down immensely and it wasn't too different from what Allira was used to. Everyone sat in their assigned seats and listened as teachers gave their addresses. Different teachers came in and out, introducing themselves and giving a quick orientation about the subjects they would teach.

Again, the same type of schedule Allira was familiar with. However, each teacher that walked inside, was a massive personality. Some wore Hero costumes and curious clothes that no "normal" teacher would wear.

The classes taught at U.A. seemed normal enough. Subjects of math, science, english, literature and history were very familiar. However, in place of Physical Education was a hero course. This was where things would take a dramatic shift.

Allira was excited to meet all the different Heros and see how they work in combat. She had never met any Professional Heros before, besides her mother. She was too young to really understand her mothers line of work and only heard small innocent stories about her adventures. However it all became very real when they were given word of her passing.

Nevertheless, she waited with anticipation to see what the school had to offer.

On the other hand, Bakugo hardly listened to anything the teachers said. Their words sounded repetitive and boring, a basic copy and paste from last year. Nothing new and interesting to bite into, therefore he sat back in his chair and tuned everything out.

Same teachers, same subjects, same desks and even the same home room teacher. In reality, he was very pleased about having Aizawa back as his main teacher. They went through so much together as a class and he truly didn't think they would have survived without him. However, Bakugo wasn't one for expressing his admiration easily. Therefore, no matter how much they had bonded, they shared very few conversations.

During one of President Mic's speeches, about the commitment of the teachers to their students. Bakugo rolled his eyes and had to stop himself from putting his feet up on his desk. Something freshman Bakugo would have done in a heartbeat, but he was trying to be less disrespectful. Trying.

Instead, he let his eyes wander around the classroom. Which he found to be difficult while sitting in the front row, but since he was in the last row on the right, he had a great view of the entire classroom. Or if he so desired, he could look out the window, since his desk was against the large glass windows.

Since it was the first day, he gazed around the classroom, inspecting the competition. Kirishima sat directly behind him, while Deku sat to Kirishima's left. In front of Deku and directly next to Bakugo was that strange girl from earlier.

Kirishima had said her name was Tabaki? Tamari? Something like that, he wasn't really paying attention. Nor did he really care.

But she was the only new thing in the room, he knew all of his other classmates, knew how their quirks worked and their fighting styles. She however, was a mystery. And Bakugo didn't like being out of the loop.

As he silently observed her, he noticed how absorbed she was in the teachers talks, she looked incredibly focused. Her entire body leaned forwards, as if she would gather more information if her face was an inch closer. He also noticed how her eyes squinted, peering at the chalkboard. Her giant glasses doing nothing to help her terrible sight. For some reason the sight of her face scrunched up and mouth slightly parted on concentration pulled something inside him. He immediately hated the strange feeling and looked away, pushing her out of his head.

Once President Mic finished his spiel, Aizawa took the stand again. Outside the comfort of his sleeping bag, he gave a quick announcement.

"Alright, now we move on from general studies." He smiled. "To the class you have been waiting for, hero studies."

The room started to buzz, the energy of all the students rising with anticipation. However, Allira was ten percent excited and ninety percent nervous.

"Class will reconvene in thirty minutes. I will see you all in the training grounds, don't be late." Aizawa turned and departed the classroom before anyone could stop him.

The moment he left the room, everyone leapt from their seats and started talking to their neighbors. Allira stayed in her seat and slowly put her things away, placing them neatly into her bag. She would need to change into her gym clothes before meeting everyone outside. Technically everyone needed to change, which made her thankful, because she still didn't know where anything was located. Therefore she could simply follow her classmates to the locker rooms, but she also didn't want to have to socialize with any of them. So she decided to be slightly slower than them, making sure that she was the last one to leave the classroom.

Her plan worked flawlessly, she was able to follow her classmates from at least ten feet back. Watching where they walked and the possible directions they went. Allira made sure to memorize the route, so she wouldn't have to follow them next time.

Allira was quick to change into her gym uniform, not wanting the awkward feeling of people staring at her. She was always fairly self conscious of her body and not just because of her pale complexion. Even at the age of fifteen, Allira had the figure of a twelve year old boy. She never developed the form of a woman and never felt beautiful in anything she wore. Her hips and waist small and the opposite of curvaceous, plus her "a cup" size was a laughing stalk.

During her change, she made sure her crystals were secure before leaving. She knew she would be using them for the course. It was specifically designed to help them train their uirk. Therefore, she couldn't lose them on her first day.

After her hasty attire swap, Allira was one of the first people finished. But, she still didn't know where to go next and was forced to wait for someone to follow. Thus, she waited just outside the locker rooms, leaning against the wall lazily.

She didn't have to wait long before she heard footsteps approach from the boys locker room and let her eyes flicker over. The silhouette of one person, hands in his pockets and his expression blank. A student she had not met yet, but remembered seeing him sitting at the back of class. His eyes held dark bags and his purple hair stood up messily.

The boy was quiet, didn't say a word as he leaned up against the wall next to Allira. Her eyes followed his movements as he joined her in silence.

Not long after, a second boy approached from the locker rooms. Another unfamiliar classmate, but Allira noticed his hair immediately. Two different colors, parted straight down the center. Which Allira thought to be an interesting fashion choice.

This boy didn't speak either and all three of them shared a look of understanding. With that one visual communication they started walking further down the hall. Allira followed them and together they silently made their way outside. It wasn't uncomfortable, it seemed as though none of them wanted to speak, or socialize. The atmosphere felt natural.

Aizawa was waiting for them outside when they arrived. He stood with his arms crossed, his eyes closed and looked as though he was in deep thought. Behind him was a series of structures of stations, no different from a school obstacle course.

It didn't take long for the rest of class to arrive, all trying to figure out what they would be doing. Once they were all gathered and ready, Aizawa opened his eyes and started to speak.

"Does anyone remember what we did for our first training day, last year?" Aizawa addressed the class.

The same boy who answered Aizawa's last question in the classroom came forward once again. Hand raised and voice loud and bold. "We participated in the quirk apprehension test!"

"Yes, Thank you Iida." Aizawa's voice dripped with irony, but still sounded vaguely interested in his words.

Iida's glasses shined with pride at the accuracy of his answer, seemingly satisfied with himself.

"Today we will be taking that test once again. To see how much you have grown over the summer, but also to set a baseline of your talents. So hopefully we can see how much you grow during the year."

Allira's heart pounded with anxiety, she would have to show everyone how little she knew about her quirk. Day one. Her fingers found the amethyst around her neck, she fiddled with the comforting stone, using a bit of her quirk to help calm her down.

"To make things a bit more efficient than last year, you will be split into groups of five. That way each team will rotate through stations." Aizawa pulled out a list from his pocket.

He then continued to read off names, placing them into their assigned groups. Her name was mentioned in the third group along with; Mina, Tokoyami, Todoroki and Sero. Each student gathered together and walked to their first station.

Allira couldn't help but notice the students she had been paired with. She recognized the silent boy with split hair, as she got a better look at him, she noticed a kind of scar over his eye. It didn't look like a birthmark, but she knew better than to ask about it.

This was not the oddest thing about her teammates. One of them had the head of a bird, a literal beak and feathers of a raven. She wondered if he talked like a bird too, or if he could properly communicate.

The other looked fairly normal, but his elbows were swollen. Large circular disks overtook the crook of his arms and protruded out of his uniform.

Lastly, the only other female of the group. She caught Allira's attention immediately, because she had a very similar attribute to Allira. Her skin was pink! Not only that, but the "whites" of her eyes were a dark black, causing her pink pupils to pop out dramatically. However, it seemed like her odd pigmentation didn't bother her at all. Her curly hair was cut into a short bob and she radiated confidence. Something Allira was drastically lacking.

She almost envied the rosey girl, even though Allira's skin color was more natural looking. But she mostly envied her spirit, not her appearance. Maybe there was something she could learn from these people.

The tests were simple: throw a ball, lift this item, jump over the line, get from point A to point B as fast as possible. All easy on paper. But once quirks were added, it changed the dynamic completely. Things quickly escalated into a competition and soon it was a battle.

Allira was mightily impressed by her classmates, they all had such amazing quirks! Plus, they used them in creative and useful ways. They had so much more experience and it showed. Allira had only basic knowledge of her quirk and still had much to learn.

Finally it was the last obstacle; get over the fence. Not just any regular fence, this was a twenty foot, solid wall. Her options were to climb, fly or get creative about how to scale the large "fence". This time, Allira would be able to use her quirk. She had strayed away from using it, not wanting to show her naivety.

Her quirk worked a bit differently than what she had observed from her classmates. To use her quirk, she needed a mediator, something to channel her energy through. Her mother taught her how to use crystals and how each stone accomplished different things. Each type of crystal did something different and took practice to master each one.

When it was her turn, she stepped up to the massive wall and looked up. Allira could feel the eyes of her classmates, waiting to see what she would do. Thankful that only a few students were watching and not the entire class. Before she could chicken out, she jumped into action.

She flipped her rings around, so the tiger's eye crystal touched the palm of her hands. Carefully, she channeled her energy through the tiny stones in both hands. Immediately, she could feel her quirk come to life. Therefore she jumped up into the air, not too high, but high enough to get some air.

With great concentration, she created a small platform under her right foot and landed upon it. Her weight only sat upon the small levitating plate for a moment before she propelled upwards once again. She quickly calculated where her left foot would land and created a second platform, its purple light glowing. With speed and grace, she ascended into the air as if she was jumping up the stairs.

Allira repeated the same series of actions on her down, descending over the opposite side of the great wall. Floating through the air as if she was gliding down a slide.

Once her feet planted back down on the ground, she was scared to lift her head back up, scared to see the faces of her fellow students. Her quirk was simple, her actions plain and rough. She didn't want to see the judgment on their faces.

"That was amazing!" The words took Allira by surprise and she lifted her head.

Mina ran straight up to her, a wide smile upon her rosy face. Her body jumped up and down in excitement. "Your quirk is so cool!"

Allira wasn't sure how to react, she wasn't used to praise, especially for her quirk. She had spent her entire life hiding it, as if it was a mistake. Her father had told her that it was dangerous to hold such a powerful quirk, that she should hide it, to keep herself safe.

"That was pretty impressive." Totoroki stated plainly, his arms at his sides. He seemed much less enthusiastic then Mine, but his words were sensire.

Unable to hold back her smile, Allira's expression brightened, her heart unfolding slightly. As much as she enjoyed receiving compliments, she knew that she still had a long way to go. She was an entire lifetime behind her classmates. In general that all looked to be in good physical shape, toned muscles and strong figures. Allira looked frail enough to be knocked over by the wind, not intimidating enough to be a real hero.

Though, she had one ace up her sleeve. As small as she looked, Allira was fast. She might not be able to throw a hard punch but she could outrun anyone. She was nimble, with the ability to squeeze into tight places and agile enough to make quick escapes.

The rest of her group scaled the wall with ease, Tokoyami simply flew over with the help of his "dark shadow". A quirk that Allira had never seen before! As if his shadow had a personality and mind of its own, though it was attached to Tokoyami. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the "attachment" appeared over his shoulder.

Todoroki, blasted a huge pillar of ice under his feet and lifted him over the wall. While Sero launched a white strand from his elbow, sticking to the top of the wall and pulling himself upwards. The quick movement looked like something out of a comic book.

Overall, everyone overcame the obstacles with flying colors and the course was over. Together they gathered back in the center of the courtyard and awaited further instructions.

As Allira followed behind Mina, something caught her eye. A familiar sense tingled from her quirk as it noticed one of her classmates. A boy with dark green hair and large eyes, his face soft and inviting. His short sleeves were not long enough to cover the many scars over his arms and hands. Though his body was bruised, his face was smiling.

However, her attention was focused upon his leg. She could see a bit of blood seeping through the fabric of his pants, he was hurt.

A girl was helping him walk back with the group, her face obviously worried for her friend.

"You have to be more careful Deku." Her voice sounded soft and femanine.

"Sorry Uraraka, I'll try harder next time." The boy "Deku" laughed it off.

Once they caught up with the rest of the class they sat down on the ground, to rest his leg and see what needed to be done.

Allira's body moved on its own and she walked right up to them. Normally she would never have the courage to approach complete strangers, but this circumstances was different, she had to help.

Without a word she knelt down in front of the two people and started looking at the boy's wound. It didn't look too bad, he must have scraped it against one of the obstacles.

Meanwhile, Midoriya and Uraraka were very confused. Both watching the unfamiliar classmate inspect his leg silently. She didn't even introduce herself before shoving her face into Midoriya's bloody leg.

"Hello?" Uraraka asked, taking Allira's focus away from her inspection.

She lifted her head to meet the gaze of two perplexed people, she then realized what she had done. "Oh, sorry. I can help."

Allira showed them her rose quartz necklace, however, this didn't help them understand what Allira meant. She gave up using her words and decided to show them what she meant.

Gently, she rolled up the blue fabric of Deku's pant leg, to get a better look at the wound. Rose quartz in hand, she directed her energy through the small crystal. Thus, activating the quartz and causing it to glow with a purple light.

At this point all eyes were upon the three people hiding in the back of the pack. Everyone in class 2-A watched in awe at the sight before them.

Allira held the rose quartz in her right hand and hovered her dominant hand over the injury. A soft lavender light sprouted from both hands as she slowly healed his wound. The purple light grew as Mydoriya's leg slowly sewed itself back together.

The entire class was enamored by the sight, such a rare and impressive quirk. However, the members of her assigned group were even more confused, because they had seen Allira use an entirely different quirk a few minutes ago. Did she have two quirks, like Todoroki?

The purple light dimmed and Allira dropped her hand, returning it to fiddle with her necklace awkwardly. She definitely should not have done that, she didn't need all that attention and she shouldn't have pushed herself in. Regretting her decision, she wanted nothing more than to sink away and hide.

"You have a healing quirk!" Deku's eyes widened with joy as he examined his healed leg. "That is so cool!"

"What a useful quirk."

"I've never seen a quirk like that before."

"Does it have something to do with that crystal?"

Once again, Allira was not mentally prepared for this type of reaction. She sat there stunned as more students complimented her on her quirk. Each one bombarding her with questions and admiration.

"Takari, how did you do that? Do you have two quirks?" Mina pushed herself to the front of the crowd.

"No. Just one." Allira found her voice and answered. "It's called Colloidal, or crystal cooperation."

"Then how did you do that earlier?" She mentioned Allira's ability to scale the wall.

"I can channel my energy through crystals. Each different type of crystal does something different. Rose quartz allows me to heal, tiger's eye can make shields and platforms and labradorite heightens my senses."

"I wish I could do cool things like that." Sero jared, knocking his elbows together. "I've only got one quirk up my sleeve."

"Not again with the puns."Jiro rolled her eyes.

As the conversation continued, Bakugo simply listened, intrigued by this new quirk. It seemed mysterious and powerful, but it was also beautiful and elegant. His quirk was nothing like that. He was loud and full of rage. Takari's quirk was way more useful than his. He could only cause destruction, while hers was helpful.

He watched as Takari stood, her face still frozen with nerves. Yet he saw a sparkle in her eye that proved her enjoyment of the compliments. Though it was obvious that she was not used to this kind of social interaction. Her hands fiddled with her crystal necklace as her eyes stared mostly at the floor. Her body language leaned backwards away from the people trying to talk to her, almost uncomfortably.

He couldn't take the sight anymore and butt into the conversation. "Will you all just leave her alone? She is obviously overwhelmed!"

All eyes jolted over at Bakugo's outburst, the boy had not spoken a word since the event started and his first words were to defend Takari. Definitely an unexpected decision. However, it shut everyone up, which was what he wanted.

Allira was thankful for her desk neighbors' announcement. As friendly as everyone seemed, Allira absolutely felt overwhelmed. They were all so friendly and wanted to know more about her quirk, but she didn't know how to respond to them all.

In addition, using her quirk freely was a new concept for her. Not only could she practice in public, but she was encouraged to explore and develop her quirk. An alien and impossible notion before. Something that all her classmates had taken for granted, something that Allira would cherish. Embrace the time she had to openly use her quirk, before things would change again.

Because Allira had no idea how long she would be able to stay at U.A. Her positive experiences were tainted by the knowledge that nothing is permanent. She would eventually move away again. Therefore, she would not squander her time, but take advantage of every opportunity.

Unlike some of her other classmates, Allira was not driven by pride. She was not determined to be at the top. She didn't care if she excelled, didn't care if she was the best. Instead, her goal was much simpler.

Don't stand out and do her best.