Friendship wasn't really my thing.

     An especially heavy weight leaned over me on a normal, average Tuesday. Eventually, I had to leave my peers and sit down on a bench, under the shade of a tree, on the school campus. Took me a while before I even realized something was wrong. I was just...numb. I didn't even understand why I wanted to be distant until I sat down..

     ...and the tears started to flow.

     They fell from my emotionless face, soulless eyes producing a stream. Like a scene from a horror movie, my face didn't express how I was truly feeling one bit.

     Then I realized... Oh yeah. It was exactly one year ago now that my old friend left.

     "--You alright.. ribbit?" My eyes dashed toward the stranger, quickly pulling my face back to hide my eyes as I wiped the water from them. "Are you okay?"

     "Y-yess!" I hissed. I didn't recognize this girl. Must be new here or something. She was different. Strange. She sat down beside me with such patience, calmly sitting at my side without speaking a word. I was still a mess, trying desperately to dry up my sopping eyes.

     "Leave me alone, alright?! Stupid b####!" I lashed out at her without even thinking about it. It would be embarrassing if word got out about this; about the strong, smart and quippy student everyone relied on being so weak at heart. Crying at school. What kind of idiot cries at school??

     I jumped to my feet and took a step away from the startled frog girl.

     "I-I'm sorry. I was just trying to hel--"

     "--Well you've helped enough!! Say a word about me and I'll be at your a##!!" Glaring over my shoulder.

     The girl gulped and backed away from me, fleeing the scene in a hurry. I balled my fists and hissed through my teeth.

     Guess I was angry.

---------

     "Zeya, don't forget to take out the trash first!"

     "Alright, Mom." I scurried out of the front door with a bag of trash in each hand. Different from how I normally wore my silver hair, I sported a ponytail. After throwing the bags into the bin, I kicked one of the boy's bikes off of the sidewalks and ran off to school. Finally, the USJ was ready for us to train in! Our first actual fun.

     I recalled a few old memories of the USJ. I stopped watching the fun about three years ago after my old friend left, but the memories were still enjoyable at least. First, the class would be split into five or so different teams. Typically one per district. Then, everyone would be instructed on how to navigate said district; whether it be climbing mountains or evading mounds of debt in the city! (Idk what they actually do in the city. Ten and I liked watching the people in the big lake the most.) The teams would rotate every hour or so, meaning this event lasted a full school day! A big event for my old friend and I! We'd always be sure to fake being sick annually to watch!

     I arrived at school surprisingly quickly. Had plenty of time to draw one of the classmates. I ended up drawing Iida as a fairy -- the small pixy kind with wings -- since I thought the combination would be kinda funny.

     I casually showed off my work of art off to Bakugo over my shoulder and he snickered at the piece.

     "Before we start today," Once my dad entered, we were all stiff and silent. "I would like to introduce a new student. She was unfairly injured during the entrance exam and has worked twice as hard to get here. Everyone, Tsuyu Asui." My eyes widened. All the girls clapped giddily, excited to welcome in another one of them. Tsu was shy as always, back hunched, hands holding tightly onto one another as she entered. She only spoke briefly, introducing herself by explaining what her quirk was, and walked toward the back of the class to be seated at the empty desk. As she passed the first row, she briefly waved my way.

     The invisible girl waved happily. Behind her, I smiled and waved calmly back.

     "You know her or something?" Bakugo whispered gruffly.

     "Sorta. We went to the same middle school." I replied. He then leaned back in his chair. The teacher opened his mouth to speak before the class again.

     "Today, we will be visiting the USJ center..." Bla bla bla, get to the good part. "Before leaving, you will be trying on your new hero outfits. They just came in the other day." Out from the wall rolled several shelves, each carrying a dozen or so outfits inside. Everyone was astonished. Even I was a little. ...I remembered the kids before wearing their new hero costumes, but it never occurred to me that this was the first time they'd be wearing them! Heh..no wonder I saw so many of the previous students picking at wedgies and complaining about the measurements. Everyone else ran to their drawers. I meandered over eventually, grabbed the clothes from inside, and-

     'Yesss!' Perfectly preserved was an exact replica of one of my outfits at home! It had all the essentials! Navy green cargo pants! A slim fit, breathable black T-shirt, and a jean crop jacket to boot! It was still a work in progress, but I made sure everything provided was perfectly flexible, comfortable, modest, and stylish... For me.. at least.

     Next, it was time to board the bus. "EVERYONE GET IN TWO LINES IN ORDER OF..." Why did we make this guy our class president again..?

     After we all piled in and set on the short bus ride, I noticed something a little...off, about one of my classmate's costumes. Now, as the goddess of modesty, black-spiral-hair girl's costume really stuck out to me. Not only was she just a teenager, but, uhh, that didn't exactly look practical. Somehow she ended up sitting right next to me despite me sitting in the back of the bus by the window as my way of broadcasting, ' "I want to be alone, please." ' She was looking a little stiff, and -- don't call me a perv -- but my eyes kept returning to that particular part of her outfit. ...Oh crap. It was likely the actual perv in the class would have a real big problem with this one. Maybe I should do something about this...for his sake and my own..and hers too. That didn't exactly look comfortable.

     "Hey, um... Who designed your costume?" I see we've given up on formalities here.

     The dark haired girl turned to me and smiled politely. "O-oh, are you talking to me??"

     "...Yyeeaahhh..?"

     "Well my parents hired one of the country's top designers!"

     I completely ignored the hint that she was super rich and went right on to roasting said designer internally. "..What's your quirk?"

     "Creation!" To showcase, she lifted her hand. The skin of her hand came together, clumped into a ball, and from it formed a pearl. ...Kinda disturbing, but alright I guess. I nodded with what little amusement I had.

     "Neat. ...So, why is your costume like that?"

     "Oh, this?" She looked down at her new outfit and flushed red a bit. "I-it's so that I have plenty of space to create larger objects."

     "Hm... Doesn't look all too practical." I mused.

     "What do you mean??"

     "It's just your chest. Limits things like your back and sides. Besides, how are you supposed to run like..um..that?" Now I was blushing a little bit. 

     "Well- I- um.. I'll make it work."

     "How about this instead?" You make a patch of new cloth and sew it over this, then, ummm we cut off all of this?" I pointed around her. This brought me back to the days when I used to design hero costumes for fun and draw them on myself as a kid. "Then you just need to see if all on and boom! Improvement!" The girl looked down at herself to see the vision as well.

     "I like the idea, but... I don't exactly know how to sew."

     "I stitch my own clothes up all the time. I can help!" I decided I may as well offer up my services if I was suggesting she make such a big change in the first place. Reluctantly, the girl let me.

     "But, wait! What if you poke me??" She asked while forming a needle and thread.

     "Pshh. Then I can simply rewind time and make sure that doesn't happen." I reassured her.

     "Wait so is that your quirk??"

     "Shhh! ..Don't tell nobody."

     "Okay?"

     Thankfully, I was a quick sewer. And spiral-hair girl being able to create whatever tools I needed really helped too! Wasn't long before her outfit was complete! (And I only ended up poking her about seven times.) No. It didn't look perfect or anything. Try making the perfect outfit on a ten minute bus ride. But it worked at least!

[Essentially the image above, except there weren't any changes to it below the waist. Simple stuff.]

[Because I am such a simp for this redesign -- platonically -- here is what I imagine her to wear later on after she talks to her parents about it!]

     "I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, by the way." Spiral-hair offered her hand to me after the bus had stopped. I was...literally cornered here.

     "Zeya." I shook it politely. The girl smiled and turned to the other girls to talk to them some more. ...I sighed in relief. It was always harder to talk to girls normally than boys. Probably thanks to their complex ways of conversing. Like a foreign language sometimes.

     Anyways.

     My hands slipped into my pockets again as I exited the bus. It was fun looking around at everyone else's costumes. Bakugo's especially was, uhh, how do I put this..? So him.

     "Wow, so you're the one who fixed Yaoyorozu's costume?!" The brunette I actually recognized and the girl with pink skin pranced up to me. "That was super quick! I'm impressed!"

     "Yeah! So you like sewing or something?!"

     I scratched the back of my head. How exactly was I supposed to tell them it was because my mom was too cheap to buy me new clothes most of the time..?

     "I, well, um... I'm just an artistic girl I guess."

     "What are you three pansies yapping about?" Perfectly on time, Bakugo passed by the three of us with an insult freshly served. I was the only one to find the insult funny of the three of us. The other girls were shocked + angry. Dummies, that's the response he wanted.

     "Looks like the big ape's found himself some fancy new hair clips." I smirked back. For some reason this kind of banter was better than being stuck in girl talk.

     "What do you mean hair clips?!?" He fumed. I laughed and brushed past him. Hehehe, my great escape! The other two were...confused.

(Sorry guys I'm tired. XD)

     So turns out pretending to not know as much as you actually do is kinda hard. My hands slid into my pockets as my whole class strode into the massive dome. And as the sun's rays revealed to us the amazing sights, I could only smirk. Almost everyone else gasped or opened their mouth in wonder. I ended up walking beside bird boy, since his energy matched mine. As much as I had seen this place, though... It was pretty cool getting to see the USJ from this angle. And getting the chance to actually be here... Okay, maybe I was a little excited.

     Too bad this place came with so many memories, now soured by the past.

     While everyone gathered above the stairway at the entrance, listening to Thirteen and Aizawa as they went over the basics of what this was all about, I kinda zoned out. I already knew most of what they were saying anyways. And anything else I missed out on I'd figure out in time.

     Whilst I was in my state, presently thinking about why I had a moment of thinking Kirishima was cute the previous day, Tsu shuffled over to me in the very back of the crowd.

     "Sorry. I didn't say hello earlier on the bus." She whispered. I blinked out of my daze.

     "Wh? Oh, no problem. Heh, I'm glad you chose to join this class. Excited?" The greenette nodded happily.

     "Are you?"

     "I....guess. Yeah." I admitted with a smirk. The only part of school that was actually fun.

     Just then, a few heads turned and twitched. Kids in front began to stand on their toes and murmur. I stood there curiously, suddenly listening in to what was going on.

     "Everybody... Stay together." My step dad's voice was so quiet I could barely hear it. But, this wasn't his usual tone.

     No, not one bit...

     "Go!" He shouted. Chaos ensued. Aizawa jumped down the stairs.

     "WHAT THE H###?!"
     "IS HE DEAD!?"
     "WHAT IS HAPPENING!?"
     "THIS WASN'T PART OF THE TRAINING COURSE, WAS IT!?"

     No, it shouldn't be. Something was wrong here.

<<<<

     After I handed my brief reply to Tsu, I pushed between the crowd to the front, staring past my dad and Thirteen to the open stone brick ground below.

     Right on time, a dark cloud materialized. A pulsating portal of purple and black revealed three figureheads through its veil of darkness. Mumbling rose up around me, and the two teachers turned around.

     Yep, looked like villains to me. Their dead giveaway was the massive, creepy monster that stepped out of the most after them, it's brain exposed and eyes bulging... Ugh... Creepy.

     Many appeared through the expanding portal, but the first three appeared to be the ones in charge. The first and tallest was a woman with ashy brown hair, light in color. She was the most feminine of the three, with well put together long hair, makeup, and even business casual suit of sorts. And out of the three, she was the only who smiled.

     The second of the three was a smaller woman with short cocoa brown hair, which was long only in the front for the practical purpose of covering up half her face. And she had many scars, the most prominent one being the shape of a bullet hole in her slightly pointed, pierced ear. She was opposite to the first woman in appearance. Tomboyish to the extent of potentially being mistaken for a boy. And her clothes were all black and plain.

     The third hung the furthest back by the portal. She existed somewhere in a middle ground. Between their heights as well. Her hair was golden bronze, save for the strands of hair that were a silvery white. While her outfit consisted of a plain outfit, most prominently being the dark purple hoodie, her neck, nose and mouth were hidden by a thin, black fabric mask.

     The third stood confidently, smiling big and ready for a fight. The second hosted a hostile glare that shot daggers at any and all. And the third hardly appeared present, tired, a haze glazing over her eyes.

     They were like the three musketeers...female edition, and a little scarier too. ...What were they even doing here?

     "Everybody... Stay together..." My dad's feet slid over the rock to better prepare himself to leap into action. I held my breath. The best thing I could do in this instance was watch the intruders closely for any weaknesses.

     "Ah, what a youthful audience we have with us today! Come to see the show?.. I'm afraid we can't begin until a certain hero enters the stage~" The ashy haired villain lifted her hands at either side of her as she approached the bottom of the steps. "Now if you'll all remain calm, we can make this quick with as few injuries as possible... Oh wait." Chuckling. "What am I saying? You're all heroes in the making. So I'll need you to join us or die. ... Kanoté, you're up." It was hard to hear the woman, but her message was clear.

     The brunette's silver colored eyes flashed up to peer up at us. And with her fingers she-

Snap!

     With the innocent snapping of her fingers, Iida dropped to the floor. I jumped away, frantically trying to assess what the crap just happened! Was he dead!?!  "WHAT THE H###?!" Bakugo shouted beside the taller one, being the one forced to catch him as he came crashing down.

     That's when my dad had had enough. "Go!" He leapt from the stairs to charge the three and their monster.

Snap!

     Suddenly, he too dropped lifeless onto the stairs. "DAD!!!" I screamed without thinking. He landed poorly. What if he broke his neck or something?!

     "IS HE DEAD!?"
     "WHAT IS HAPPENING!?"

Snap!
Snap!

     Two more students dropped. How was this happening?? What was the cause??!

     "THIS WASN'T PART OF THE TRAINING COURSE, WAS IT!?" Kids started to flee left and right.

<<<

     I rewound time to study what happened with the ones who fell. First navy, then Kirishima, then Pinky.

<<<

     Again, I watched closely, changing a few things by shoving them aside or something. After they were shoved, others would simply take their place! I checked the pulse of those who had fallen. Still alive. That was good at least. So, this person's quirk gave them the ability to make someone fall asleep when they snapped. Was that it??

<<<
<<<
<<<

     After a few more rewinds, I knew what this power was now.

<<<

     Returning to the point right before chaos broke out, I whirled around and yelled over my classmates. "EVERYONE, LOOK AWAY FROM THE EMO BRUNETTE! SHE CAN MAKE YOU FAINT BY MAKING EYE CONTACT AND SNAPPING HER FINGERS!!"

     "Wait, what?!"
     "How do you know?!?"
   
     "Believe what she says, everyone! Get out of here!!" Aizawa waved all the kids further back, then pulled me closer to him. "What about the others?"

     "I- I don't know yet! So far, all I've seen is--" I made the mistake by glancing back at the villains. The brunette was waiting for me.

Snap!

     My entire world cut away in a second.

---------------

     I was doused in rain. The constant flow of droplets surrounded my whole body, both calming and shocking at the same time.

     I sat up, gasping. Where was I?! I tore off my glasses and squinted around. Looked like I was in a city. The sky was dark, but I couldn't see far enough to judge the clouds very well. Was I still in the dome? Or was this perhaps hours..or even days later?! Thunder rumbled overhead as I pushed myself up onto my feet. That gave it away. Despite being loud, it didn'g shake the ground or reverberate off the walls as thunder usually does at that volume. So, this was still the USJ then..?

     Meaning there was still time...hopefully.

     Since there was nothing dry on my body to wipe the water off my glasses, I shook them violently and placed them again on the bridge of my nose. This was better than nothing at least.

     The city was eerily silent, as one would expect from a place hosting no real civilians. I began my walk. Having just woken up, I was a little disoriented. Didn't help that I had only seen this place from a bird's eye view. And though I tried to use what knowledge I knew about this place to find my way back, I ended up lost anyways. The same three sounds of thunder repeated on the speakers, set on some random time loop system. Heh, would be interesting if I found a way to hack the speakers some time and play-- not now. Now wasn't the time for mind wandering or jokes.

     "Hey you!" I spun on my heels. A man with spikes protruding from his back like a porcupine stood at the entrance of an alleyway with a crowbar in hand. "Are you one of those UA kids?!" My hands flung up in front of me as he approached and I chuckled awkwardly. I felt like I was finally on my way out of here, so rewinding would only set me back. Maybe I could talk this guy out of hurting me?

     "Pssh, me?! Naww, I'm a villain!..or whatever."

      "Well I'm not taking any chances with you, brat! Now get down on your knees and--aa!" The man shrieked as he crumbled into dust. What didn't turn to dust fell asleep little bits of flesh on the concrete floor. I jumped back a d gasped. Without even looking up, I- I...

     "...He was bothering me too..."

     The rain poured over the two of us now. The man who had snuck up behind porcupine stood still in front of me. A large, black trench coat covered his body, protecting himself from the rain, unlike me. Under his hood peeked out a head of pale blue hair and the mug of an unkept young man. I finally looked up, tearing my eyes from one troubling sight to another. Painfully dry lips accompanied by a wrinkly face, especially around his eyes, a scar notching over both his mouth and right eye. Yeah... There was no mistaking it.

     My breath was torn from my lungs. 

     "...T- Tenko..?"