༉˚*ೃ ᵒ⁶. 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆!

𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 fairly-rested but aching. The pain in her muscles was brutal enough that when she even tried to roll over in her bed a string of irritation shot up her tender legs. She groaned and buried her face into her duvet—stayed there for a few moments only before forcing herself out of the warmth of the covers. It was still dark outside, and she'd woken appropriately up at her fifteenth alarm, which left her to fall out of bed and half-stumble half-crawl to switch on the bedroom lights. Her hair was a mess and she hadn't planned to fall asleep without taking the locks out of their pigtails, but, well, mistakes happened.

          Despite it all, her eyes were bright.

          She got dressed for U.A., brushed and re-tied her hair. It felt a little bit like a dream, when she adjusted the red tie on her uniform, the fact that she'd had her first day at U.A. just yesterday. It had definitely been weird, but she hadn't disliked it. The fact that she was heading back to the hero school still felt like an illusion that would shatter if prodded too hard.

          She wore shorter grey socks this time, that appropriately showed off the pattern of yellow and green bruises snaking up her legs. (Throughout her time at the hero school, though she was of yet unbeknownst, those would become a common occurrence). "Woah!" Tomomi exclaimed when her older sister walked down the stairs, clutching at her breakfast, multicoloured eyes focused on the splotches of discolouration. "Did you fight a villain?!" It seemed the eleven-year-old was up early today to send Tsubame off.

          A smile stretched its way across Tsubame's lips. Her eyes glanced down at the light contusions rippled over her skin. Little mosaics of Iida's knees and feet and elbows, of the high school track ground; of her first day at U.A.. "No," explained Tsubame as she bent to rub a particularly ugly purpling bruise on her knee, pigtails flopping down over her face, "I tripped over one of my classmates while running track." She couldn't help but grin a little while remembering the ridiculous way she'd tumbled at such a high speed—it had been highly dangerous and extremely painful, but it must have looked hilarious as she rolled head-over-heels and struck the school building. "We were both using our Quirks, so it was super fast."

          Tomomi looked mildly disappointed at the fact that her sister hadn't already battled a villain on her first day, but her face lit up when she heard the word 'Quirks'. "Quirk training already?! Have you practiced fighting? Have you made friends? Is it like all the movies? The manga?! Have you met someone—?!" There was nothing to stop the torrent of words falling from the little girl's mouth as she spoke rapidly, chewing lightly on one of her index fingers as she did so.

          "No fighting, yet," Tsubame said, placing a hand atop Tomomi's head. "But we did have a test."

          Tomomi's face instantly scrunched, nose squashing up. "A test on the first day?"

          Nodding, Tsubame snapped her fingers towards the ceiling. "About Quirk apprehension. Stretching us to our limits and all that." She hummed a little as she walked past her sister, glancing around her room. It was quite a bit little later than she'd woken up the previous day, so there'd be no time to lounge around. "Dad's gone already, huh?" questioned Tsubame as she served out the wrapped-up food and went to heat it. On Tuesday mornings that was the typical schedule, extra hours, extra-long shift.

          "Yeah," Tomomi replied. Then, making her priorities clear, "Have you made any friends yet, Tsubamemochi?" One of the fifteen-year-old's greatest struggles and series of defeats. Tomomi's arms leant on the table as she stared intently.

          "Maybe," was Tsubame's only reply as she munched thoughtfully on eggs with nori Furikage, toying the flavours out around her tongue. She thought of Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina, Sero Hanta, and Kaminari Denki: their wide grins and the banter they'd shared across the cafeteria table. Bakugou Bastard-whatever had been sitting with them, but he'd just kind of snarled and exploded stuff and ignored them, so Tsubame didn't really think he counted. She hummed a little. "Don't know yet." She was excited to see how it played out, though.

          Tomomi huffed and dropped her head close to the table, looking up with her big eyes. "You have to make cool hero friends, Tsubamemochi! I want to meet some heroes!" She looked as exasperated as a literal child could—Tsubame was also a child, but that was something to unpack at a different time—, tapping her bare feet in rhythm against the tatami mat flooring.

           The levelled look that Akatsuki Tsubame gave her sister was both tired and teasing. "What, aren't I going to be one cool hero enough for you?" She continued to eat her breakfast food—more than usual. Aizawa had said they were going to have more challenges today, right?

           A great, dramatic sigh left Tomomi's lips, and she squeezed intensely at the big rabbit plush sat in her lap. "You're just one. You're at U.A.! Everyone in Japan's dream! You can, like, meet all these heroes with amazing Quirks and bring them back to the house for dinner and stuff." So, her motives were apparent. Even as she grinned at Tsubame with her young face and big eyes and innocent grin, her deep brown hair flowing lightly over her shoulders in waves.

          "Aha!" analysed Tsubame victoriously, and moved over to tap her sister lightly on the nose with the clean end of her chopsticks. "I knew you were doing this for self-gain."

          Tomomi's face wrinkled up, but she blinked. Her big gaze was focused on Tsubame, the picture of perfect innocent, as she then pleaded, "Can you bring home Miruko, pretty please?" with sweet clasped hands. Dammit.

          The moment was interrupted by the bathroom door sliding open, Miki stepping out with freshly washed hair and work-ready makeup. Her grocery store uniform was a faded shade of sage green, nametag reading '赤月' in bold lettering slightly askew. Even with the messy, damp ponytail and the layer of makeup, the bags beneath her eyes proved her to be much too tired for just a girl of eighteen. Work hours were rough in the Akatsuki household. But with Japan's employment restrictions being above fifteen years of age, and Tsubame's recent dedication to U.A., both Miki and their father had forced her to hold back on getting a supporting job until she was at least in her latter years of hero training. No time. Miki took one look at the scene, Tomomi having moved to sit rather undignifiedly with a foot propped up on the kotatsu, and Tsubame never the depiction of grace as she shoved rice and eggs in her mouth, and sighed.

          "Don't distract Tsubamemochi," the older girl said lightly, tapping Tomomi's forehead with gentle purpose. Tomomi's face scrunched again in turn. Then, Miki's lilac gaze fixed upon the hero in training who was standing there smartly in her crisp U.A. uniform already splattered with dark bruises. She'd scoffed down a large amount of food in record time, and was trying to fit in a chance for genmaicha tea. Miki addressed her, "Tsubamemochi, if you don't hurry you're going to be late."

          Tsubame took that moment to glance up at the clock hanging above the bathroom doorway, and her eyes went big. "Oh, shoot, you're right." She wolfed down the rest of her food, apologising as she just dumped the bowls and plates in the sink again. Grasping her backpack, she moved to the genkan and hopped as she pulled on her shoes. "I'll see you both this afternoon! I'll make sure to tell you all about it!" Tsubame promised, waving.

          Miki was eyeing the bruises on Tsubame's legs with an undecipherable expression, but gave a serious, "Have fun."

          "Bye, nee-chan!" waved Tomomi delightfully, left hand flapping, as Tsubame ducked out of the house and locked the door behind her. Tsubame and time management weren't a pair that went hand-in-hand. Not good enough for U.A., she told herself, and made an internal promise to continue to get better.

          Luckily, Tsubame was not late. She hopped off the bus ride and managed to catch the lilac line train, pushing past several commuters on her way there in the early morning crowds. She did not, however, have time for bubble tea. Which had her pouting but gripping onto the train pole grip as the doors slid shut with her safely inside, once again crushed between a decent amount of people. She was still aching and her body was still tired from yesterday. Please let training not be so intense today, Tsubame silently prayed to whatever gods she imagined to be out there—quite frankly, All Might and Miruko, in her eyes.

          When she got to class, Ashido Mina immediately waved at her. "Akatsuki-chan! Over here!" It was a shock, as her brown shoes halted with surprise in the 1-A doorway, backpack thrown over her shoulder. But the second she spotted the pink girl hopping on the soles of her feet and grinning, Tsubame beelined between the various decks and students to reach her.

           "Ashido-chan, hi!" Tsubame bounced to a stop before her female classmate, giving her a toothy, lopsided smile. She could tell that Ashido was eyeing the dark contusions on her legs, but it was no secret to her class just how she'd gotten them. Clumsy Tsubame. The other members of their cafeteria table were standing beside them too—Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero—, though they were thoroughly distracted and seemed to be engaged in a serious debate. "I'm so glad to be back here."

          Excitedly and with her hands pulled into excited little fists, Ashido nodded rapidly. "Even with the test, it was so fun! I can't wait until we start doing real hero stuff." She ruffled her hands through her short curly locks, fingers bouncing off of the yellow horns sticking from the top of her head, and groaned exasperatedly, "Are you tired from yesterday's classes? Ah, I almost slept through my alarm."

          Tsubame had slept through fourteen.

          She nodded along, swiping part of her side-fringe out of her eyes as her stomach complained about a lack of boba. "I fell asleep so early last night. Before dinner." At the thought of sleep, Tsubame hid a yawn in the crook of her arm. Don't think about that! She stretched her sore arms and relished a little in the burn after yesterday's good workout. "But I brought more bento for everyone today!" Happily, Tsubame gestured a thumb back to the backpack slung over her shoulder.

          Ashido's face lit up. "Oh! Is it kyaraben again?!"

          "Mhmm! Sanrio!"

          The other girl clasped her own cheeks with her hands, gasping, "You're so lucky, Akatsuki-chan!" That seemed to draw the attention of the redhead standing just across a desk from them.

          "Akatsuki-chan, hey!" greeted Kirishima enthusiastically, grinning with sharp teeth. Then Kaminari said something in part of their enrapt discussion that had his attention snapping back to the exchange at hand.

          Tsubame's brow frowned lightly as she tried to find her place in the conversation, aiming to figure out what on earth they were talking about as she was suddenly privy to the middle of a heated topic of discourse. "I bet it's so nasty in there," Sero was saying, and Tsubame's expression pinched in confusion further.

          "They're speculating about Sensei's sleeping bag," Ashido hummed, filling her in as she sat back on Kaminari's table and swung her legs casually. Her pink hair bounced.

         Sure enough, the three boys seemed to be deep in a debate about Aizawa Shota's apparently beloved yellow item—the homeroom teacher was not currently present in the room. "It's gotta be, like, a bajillion years old," argued Kaminari with an insistent and no-bullshit wave of his right hand, elbow pressed against the desk.

          "No way, dude," Kirishima shook his head in response, "I'm telling you, I bet he gets a new one every Christmas." His hair was spiky and red as usual. Tsubame couldn't help but wonder what products he used to make it defy gravity to that extent.

          "Maybe he got it from his wife or husband," commented Ashido thoughtfully, chin resting on the stretch of skin between her thumb and forefinger.

          Kaminari's eyebrows shot towards his head. "You think Aizawa-sensei is married?!"

          "He's too grumpy," voiced Tsubame in consideration, eyes lifting towards the ceiling out of thought. Her lips were pouted as she tried to conjure a mental picture within her brain. "I couldn't see it."

          Thoughtfully, Sero continued, "You think he wears the sleeping bag on dates?" 

          The moment the clock ticked over to 8:25, all students split and hopped into their seats, not wanting to irritate their homeroom teacher again when he turned up. "Catch you guys later," Tsubame promised, internally whining at the fact that she was stuck at the front of the classroom between Ojiro and Aoyama, and not next to one of her maybe-friends, like Kirishima and Sero were.

          From there, the day went by relatively quickly.

          An English class in the morning—any time was too early for Present Mic's loud lessons but particularly as an 8:40AM session it killed something small within Tsubame's soul. The blond teacher had his long hair gelled up just like he had when introducing the Entrance Exam, and he wore the same gaudy leather hero costume. Tsubame wore earplugs. Then, another Maths lesson with Ectoplasm, which was just as confusing as that on the first day, mostly because Tsubame's brain couldn't solve an equation for the life of itself. Modern Hero Art History was in the third period, taught by the R-rated Hero: Midnight—she was the teacher who'd supervised Tsubame's group during the Battle Centre Entrance Exam, the one with the scandalous outfit that appropriately fit her hero title—, and was genuinely interesting. Kaminari and Tsubame answered a surprisingly fair amount of questions for that one. Fourth period was Cement Hero: Cementoss' Modern Literature class, which was back to fairly boring. It was all so... normal. Classes like the ones she'd taken back in junior high. Except for Midnight's Art History class, which considered heroes impact on the arts' world, though majority of the boys were just ogling at their teacher instead.

          Lunch was, to Tsubame's delight, much of the same. It hadn't really been a question when Tsubame, Ashido and Sero had entered the cafeteria together and gravitated immediately towards the table where two familiar blonds and a redhead sat, Tsubame with her two bento boxes in her arms and Sero drinking from a sport's drink. Ashido was skipping along. They'd sat down with the others, Tsubame beside Kirishima this time, and everyone else had all stolen extra bits from her bento once again. Except for Bakugou, who scowled and told her he'd kill them if they tried to talk to him—which wasn't entirely unexpected. They let him sit there without complaint. Exchanged words about their classmates and groaned over the English homework that Present Mic has set.

          At one point, Bakugou, without a word, had stuck the end of his charger into Kaminari's mouth and all the other four teenagers sitting around the table had their eyes blown wide as his phone made the signature 'ding!' noise indicating it was increasing in battery life. Kaminari looked less surprised and chewed lightly on the end of the chord as he spoke to Tsubame through his teeth. At that, Ashido had stuck her own phone charger up the electric boy's nose, much to Kaminari's very visible surprise, which made Sero, Kirishima and Tsubame laugh so hard that with their combined strength—(mostly that of the latter two)—, they'd flipped the lunch table over in their hysterics.

          Contents crashed to the ground and Bakugou, of course, yelled something about "SHINE!" and "SHINJIMAE!" and all other kind of rude ways to tell them to go fuck themselves, but by the time Tsubame's shrieks of laughter had come to a close and both Sero and Ashido were wiping tears out of their eyes, their moods remained in high spirits. Some of the joy was broken a bit when Bakugou stormed with crackling hands over to Tsubame. Why me?! she thought, but didn't take even a single step back as he got into her face. This boy'd had a grudge against her ever since she'd talked back to him at the Entrance Exam. "Why'd you flip the table like that, scum?!" Scum? Scum?! Oh my God if they weren't in the cafeteria right now Tsubame would—.

          "Say that again, bastard!" Tsubame shouted with a curled lip, veins popping in both of their foreheads as their faces hung impossibly close. Not in a cute sort of way, more a these-two-are-really-going-to-murder-each-other kind of way. The rest of the group, most standing after they'd knocked over the table, stood silent in watch, sweating. Ashido had a nervous hand clasped against her chest and was tightening an arm around Sero's elbow.

          "There's no way a reject like you can ever beat me, so don't even try! Worm!" Bakugou's chin raised threateningly, eyes narrowed as his teeth bared at her. He grasped her by the collar of her button up U.A. shirt, hand grasping in the material.

          "You've never been in school with other powerful Quirks, huh?" She'd have to ask Midoriya about this guy. His ego was through the roof. Bakugou's teeth gritted even tighter and Tsubame swore she heard them creaking as they ground against each other. "If you want us to settle this, Bastard, go ahead! I'm not a doormat."

          The collar of Tsubame's shirt was getting increasingly hot and she casually wondered how long she had before an explosion would blast through her throat. Her own fingers, that had grabbed around his wrist holding her firmly in a warning, began to sharpen. Threatening claws dug into his skin. A threat.

          "Oi, Bakugou-san," warned Kaminari, pressed shoulder-to-shoulder with Ashido as he premeditatedly sunk back. His voice was dripped with terse warning. "Don't be so arrogant. Someone'll get hurt."

          "SHUT UP!" Bakugou shouted in response.

          "I thought you wanted to be a hero," Tsubame warned condescendingly.

          "Calm down, man," said Kirishima, though he was sweating a bit. "It was all in good fun."

          Snarling, Bakugou dropped Tsubame's collar and shoved her backwards. Her right foot slid a little on a fallen tray but the girl righted herself quickly, glaring at the explosive blond who'd rather quickly dropped back to her least favourite classmate. So, he sat with them, but what—he hated all of them? "Shut up, Shitty Hair! I'll kill you!" His gaze was swung at Kirishima, who grimace, before Bakugou snapped his head back towards Tsubame. The days that their table hadn't caused a commotion in the cafeteria remained at zero. "Don't get in my way, Worm!" he spat at her, tiny explosions ringing in his palms—the loud sound irritated Tsubame's ears, though she would never let him know that—before the boy spun on his heel in one quick motion and stormed out towards the cafeteria exit doors, hands pressed into the pockets of his low-hanging uniform pants.

          "You're full of it," Tsubame muttered under her breath, watching Bakugou stomp away before she flicked a pigtail over her shoulder and moved to help the others pick up the table—which had, admittedly, been hilarious to everyone else involved, so she had no issue if Bakugou wanted out. "I don't even get why he sits here," she said as she and Kirishima set up the table legs, leaning against the ground.

          From above her, where she was straightening out the table, Ashido sighed, "He's cute but he just yells."

          Sero sounded alarmed, "What about him makes you think he's cute?!"

          "He's boring," retorted Tsubame, though there was some fun in riling the explosive boy up. "He didn't even laugh when he saw Kaminari-kun's face." Anyone who hadn't at least chuckled when Kaminari had reacted to Ashido's phone charger being shoved up his nose by his eyes going comically wide, his mouth dropping open, and him inhaling suddenly which only caused the plug to further shoot up his nostrils, was certifiably a bore. Tsubame regretted she hadn't gotten a photo, despite only having known these classmates for—nearly—two days.

          "I'm not a walking charging port, you know," said Kaminari Denki indignantly, voice muffled by the two separate charger USBs that his classmates had stuck between his lips, and still clutching the other two in his left hand as his fingers ran with dull electricity. The four phones sat back on the righted table, charging. Despite his words, the boy was bright-eyed and didn't seem to genuinely care, and appeared to be more focused with trying to get Tsubame to feed him Hello Kitty kyaraben.

          "Hey, look at this," said Sero as he picked up his school binder from the floor, amongst the mess of other items that had been tossed into the air at the velocity of the table-flip. A loose piece of paper had come free, the class timetable. Apparently, none of them were very good at management. "We have Basic Hero Training class next." He was grinning as Kirishima, sharing the same expression, crammed beside him on the seat to see.

          "Basic Hero Training?!" Ashido and Tsubame echoed back in synch, their voices excited and awed. "Think we'll be learning how to fight like a hero?" continued Ashido, throwing rapid fake punches towards Tsubame that fell short by a few inches, before clasping her fingers together with delight.

          Kirishima's excited fist slammed down on the table again, jostling its contents. "I hope so! Let's all be the best heroes we can be!" He pumped a hand in the air, and was joined by the rest of the table as they cheered in agreement. Fists of pale skin, brown and pink all meeting as they rose victoriously towards the sky.

          "Our hero academia!" exclaimed Sero with his signature grin spread wide, clearly imitating All Might's recorded initiation message.

          "It starts now!" cheered Kaminari on the same wavelength.

          Their celebration was interrupted by the slamming of the lunch hall doors, indicating that Bakugou had finally gotten his extra meal from Lunch Rush's cafeteria and stormed out with his usual angry swagger. His head of explosive blond hair disappeared behind the glass. "Guess that's the end of him sitting with us," Tsubame commented lightly, and picked one of her lidded bento boxes up off the floor, which could mostly be salvaged from the fall. It was shared around between the table, as Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero lamented their fallen meals.

༉*ೃ༄

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐖𝐀-𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐈'𝐒 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐔 Quirk test yesterday, Akatsuki Tsubame—and clearly the rest of 1-A, based off of the mixed signals of excitement and nerves—had no idea what to expect for Basic Hero Training. More tests? More threats of expulsions? More deceit? She'd sat down happily next to Ojiro (with her hands never being able to stay still, it was Hell that she wasn't allowed to reach over and squeeze the fuzzy end of his tail) as Aoyama in the seat behind her gave a dazzling wink. She didn't quite understand the French boy. Not even when he called her, "Mademoiselle," and flicked some of his glossy blond bangs with flamboyance. Was that flirting? Or was he just like that?

          "Do you think it'll be Aizawa-sensei?" Tsubame heard Sero's low voice carry over from several seats behind her, to her left. His tone was saturated with a very interesting combination of fear, apprehension and awe—which was, if Tsubame was being honest, the exact same way she felt about their odd, sleeping-bag-wearing, stern teacher whose eyes glowed red when he got angry.

          From Sero's direct right, Kirishima voiced out of the corner of his mouth, "Maybe, I was hoping for a more exciting hero though. Eraser Head is underground, right?"

          "I hope it's Midnight," spoke up that short boy from the back of the class, the one with the strange purple spheres for hair, in a wistfully perverted tone that made Tsubame's skin crawl. Ugh. She rolled her eyes heavily and resisted the urge to throw a pencil case. 

          Mineta Minoru's life was saved, however, by a set of strong footsteps that powered down the hallway towards their classroom. She heard the loud, booming, male voice before his body even made an appearance, echoing through the room and catching everyone's attention within a heartbeat, "I am...!" She recognised that voice! Then, a tall man was bursting through the door with gusto, cape flying, grin stretched widely over his face, and large hands grasping either frame of the doorway in a rather comical fashion. "Coming through the door like a normal person!" His signature blond hair waved in the small amount of wind he'd created—a gleaming sight of gold, red, white and blue.

          All Might.

          Tsubame—in a very dangerous near-miss—almost fell off of her chair, tipping backwards with such unbridled shock that Aoyama had to stick his foot out and catch the back of her seat before it could crash to the ground. Tsubame's arms flailed and her knee struck the underside of her desk. She slammed the legs of her chair back down onto the flat ground as quickly as possible. Oh my God. Holy shit! Japan's greatest hero was in their classroom. Standing closest to her because her desk was nearest to the door. He barely fit through the doorway as was, bulky and muscular and definitely over 7ft: standing tall with his chiselled face, strong jaw, short blond hair windswept backwards with two long tufts that stuck up towards the ceiling. Shit, he was so much bigger in person than Tsubame could have ever anticipated. The hero costume fitted onto his body was one of his classic old-school ones, red from the torso up with white circular lines dancing across the muscle, gold armbraces and a gold belt, and a blue and red cape draping from his shoulders. He really was the greatest hero, in the flesh, right in front of them.

          "It's All Might!" exclaimed Kaminari, one desk behind her to the diagonal, his cheeks flaming pink with excitement.

          Shouts of his name echoed around the classroom—Tsubame was floored. Her hands were flapping excitedly before she slammed them against the table just out of a pure wave of emotions. "Woah, you're really a teacher?!" the words slipped out of Tsubame's mouth before she could stop them, her fingers gripping wildly at the edge of her desk, yellow eyes wide and rounded. It seemed impossible that world's Symbol of Peace was standing a mere few feet in front of her.

          All Might's grin, characteristically, never left his face. It stretched his cheeks back into deep smile lines, eyes black pits against the intense shadow of his eyebrows. Enthusiastically, his large finger pointed straight at her. "Yes I am!"

          Tsubame was about to spontaneously combust. All Might just addressed her? Holy shit! she thought, but didn't dare voice it out loud. 

          "That's a costume from the Silver Age, isn't it?" Tsuyu Asui croaked from a few desks behind, sounding awed just like the rest. All Might was marching purposely across the front of the classroom to the lecture desk, looking just as hero-like as anyone could ever be. The smile never left his face.

           "Its style is so different, it's giving me goosebumps," said Ojiro at Tsubame's direct left.

          The lecture desk didn't even come up to All Might's waist, as he towered at the front of the classroom, planting his closed fists on his hips. "I teach Hero Basic Training," Japan's hero announced. "It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero." Tsubame bounced excitedly in her seat. "You'll take the most units of this subject!" It was, a little bit, like a dream come true. As she saw All Might standing just a few paces in front of her, the world's Symbol of Peace, everything that a hero should be. Good, bright, charismatic, powerful, kind. What the entire planet wouldn't do to be sitting in Tsubame's spot right now. She couldn't wait to go home and tell Tomomi and her family all about it. "Let's get right into it! This is what we'll do today—!" All Might whipped out a card and showed it to the class, reading, 'BATTLE'. "Combat training!"

          "Combat training?!" Tsubame exclaimed in a hiss of excitement beneath her breath, internally doing a little victorious dance. Already?

          "And to go with that are these!" All Might swung his hand towards the far-left wall. On cue, from the wall pressed out several panels one after the other. From Tsubame's angle, she could just see that each sliding panel contained sealed-tight locker-shaped boxes with green illuminated numbers of them, ranging from '01' to '20'. "Costumes based on your Quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started." The class let out loud sounds of excitement. They were already allowed to wear hero costumes! "After you change," continued All Might, "gather in Ground Beta!"

          "Yes, sir!" the class announced in reply, Tsubame's shout loudest of all.

           Tsubame'd had a lot of years to think about what she was going to do for her hero costume—likely just like the rest of her class. All that time throughout her childhood dreaming about how she'd finally look when she took down villains and stood onstage at the Hero Billboard Chart. Had considered it thoroughly while sketching up and writing down the physical measurements and design of her costume for the U.A. clothing allowance. Something practical that wouldn't get in the way of the shifting muscle and bones of her Quirk, something that allowed her movement, something with stretch and protective padding. Something memorable.

          That was why, when she stepped out of the changerooms and into the light of the Ground Beta battle centre, it was in a black, teal and orange bodysuit and shorts combination that showed off the hard-earned muscles in her limbs she'd earned over years of self-training. The bodysuit was teal, Tsubame's favourite colour, stretchy and completely sleeveless: it travelled from the divot of her waist up to end in a soft turtleneck. At the base was an orange half-ellipse. Layered above said bodysuit was a short crop-shirt fitted tight against her form so there was no loose fabric to get caught in—a zip, the same shade of orange as the bodysuit oval, ran down its centre—, and black shorts. The shorts were cut off at the thigh, lined at the edges with orange, and were just the right fit between tight and loose that she could adequately stretch in them as far as her body would let her. Just below the short on her left leg, strapped against her thigh, were several packs filled with first-aid items.

          Teal and orange kneepads adorned each of her legs, and though she wore no shoes, a singular elastic strap decorated each sole perpendicularly to the length of her foot, and each ankle. From shoulders to feet, her costume was lined on the inside with a fluffy kind of faux cream fur. At several points of the outfit, the fake fur protruded out of the costume purposefully. It lined the curve of her hips where the bodysuit met her black shorts, and wrapped around her shoulders as a replacement for straps. (The fluffy texture reminded Tsubame of the many plushies that covered her bed at home, feeling it against her skin made her feel more secure and less overwhelmed, somehow—plus, she'd already discovered that the fluff at her hips was fun to squeeze when her fingers ached for something to do).

          Her hair, most signature of all, was still pulled up into its four pigtails. However, each pigtail had been quickly curled into a loose spiralling ringlet that bounced as she walked. And, on the top of her head, posed just in front of the pigtails, was a sturdy wire headband of the same teal and orange of the rest of her hero costume. The wires came up to form a pair of cat ears. Embracing the nature of her Quirk.

          Tsubame had requested for light weights within the outfit that would rest on stimulation pressure points—in an attempt to reign in the exhausting side effects of her Quirk—and was delighted to feel in the fabric that whoever had made the costume had done just that. At the top of the back of her neck, on either side, tucked into the turtleneck cloth; just below the knees, attached to the kneepads she'd asked for; and at the centre of the soles of her feet, as part of the straps there. It was just enough pressure to be noticeable, but not too much as to be a discomfort.

          Everyone. Looked. So. Good.

          She stared around at the sea of her 1-A classmates who had already emerged, yellow eyes glancing off of their costumes in awe. Uraraka Ochaco was dressed in a long-sleeved full-body suit of pale pink and black, with large puffy boots and a pink visored helmet over her head. Circular pink wrist-braces adorned her arms and there was a rounded pale pink belt slung around her waist. So cute. Tokoyami was draped with a dark, brooding cloak, looking ever intimidating with his red crow eyes shining in the afternoon light. So cool. Aoyama was in a flashy suit of armour, and Asui was in a frog-like green costume. Everyone's hero costumes suited their Quirks so well.

         Kirishima, standing across the field, was pretty much just shirtless—chest bare as baggy black pants were slung around his hips, held with a red belt inscribed with the letter 'R' and a half cape that was torn. There was a guard going around the edge of his face that joined above his nose, and his shoulder-pads were red, shaped like large gears. Manly! He was next to Bakugou, who was looking... good in his explosion themed costume: a black outfit with an orange 'x'-shape crossing over his chest, black mask fitting his eyes, baggy pants and knee-high combat boots, and two giant grenade-shaped gauntlets that went all the way up to his biceps. From behind his head, two orange and black explosion-shaped protrusions stretched backwards a little like, though Tsubame would never dare say it to his face, butterfly wings. There was no denying he had style. She tsked to herself at the admission that his hero costume was pretty cool.

          "Akatsuki-chan!" exclaimed Ashido Mina's excited voice once again, and then she was bounding over to Tsubame in a flash of pink and throwing her arms around the taller girl. "Your hero costume is so awesome! I love your hair! And look, we're matching with the fur!" Pink hands rapidly dislodging from where they were wrapped around Tsubame's shoulders, before Tsubame had even gotten the chance to hug back, Ashido was pointing quickly between where the cream-coloured fur of Tsubame's costume matched the own covering her bubblegum-coloured shoulders. Ashido had a white eye-mask spread across the upper half of her face, framing her pitch-black eyes, and though her hair was more or less unchanged compared to Tsubame's extravagant ringlets, the colour did stand out remarkably against the shades of her hero costume. Purple and deep turquoise were splotched in a trippy pattern across a tight-body suit that cut off above her chest. Her feet were snug in a pair of maroon and tan boots. The entire costume looked athletic and breathable and not entirely unlike Tsubame's own.

          Squeezing the white fur on Ashido's shoulders, which were connected to a short tan jacket that lacked sleeves, Tsubame cheered, "They really are the same! You look so cool, Ashido-chan!" Ashido beamed at the compliment, all blinding teeth and shining eyes.

          "Thanks! I wanted it to go with my complexion. Plus, it suits my Quirk, doesn't it?" Ashido stretched with a grin.

          "It's so creative! I wish I could have done more with my costume," lamented Tsubame, pulling at the first-aid pack on her thigh and groaning dramatically, "but it has to be versatile for my Quirk." There was no way she'd be ripping through fancy boots or gloves just in order to activate the Quirk on her limbs. A sad sacrifice to make.

          "Ahh, Akatsuki-san, the cat ears are so adorable!" squealed a voice from somewhere. As Tsubame frowned and glanced around for the source, someone unknown tapped the cat-ear headband she was wearing, the vibrations shaking through her skull. Who? It was then that Tsubame noticed a pair of blue and pale-pink lined gloves floating in front of her, and light grey boots planted on the floor.

          "Hagakure-san...?" asked Tsubame slowly, staring at the pair of waving gloves.

          "Yep!" the invisible girl exclaimed, hopping up and down from what Tsubame could tell from the shoes. She didn't even have a shadow, Tsubame noted for the first time—which should have seemed obvious. "Do I look cute?" Hagakure Toru asked excitedly, gloves raising cutely by, what Tsubame assumed was, her face.

          Tsubame glanced to Hagakure's boots, then to her gloves, and hesitated for only a moment before she said, "Oh, yeah, totally cute!" The baby blue and pink gloves, were, admittedly, adorable.

          Ground Zero was a training ground exactly like the one they'd had the Entrance Exam in. A fake urban district with as many streets as they eye could see and buildings stretching up towards the sky. The perfect mock of a real-life hero situation. And as the students pooled out of the entrance in their new costumes, All Might stood proudly in front of them, hands clasped heroically on his hips. When the last of Class 1-A had stepped out—Tsubame, admittedly, did not notice that Midoriya Izuku was missing—, All Might began to speak. "They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies. Be fully aware, from now on, you are heroes!" Tsubame stood with a wide smile, between Ashido Mina and Hagakure Toru, as the Pro Hero's eyes raked across the group of his students. The kids he'd mould into a hero just like him. "That's great, everyone. You all look so cool!" Tilting his chin up proudly, the hero announced, "Now, shall we begin, you zygotes?"

          At about that cue, Midoriya came running into the battle centre, red sneakers striking off of the earth. It made the class glance back, Tsubame included. Usually, in her own experiences, it was her who ran late. Midoriya's costume was unusual compared to the rest. It seemed to be handmade, not manufactured professionally by a support company like U.A. had issued for the rest of the students—a light green costume fitting loosely, covering entirely from his ankles to his wrists to over his face in a mask. Just his eyes, nose and mouth were visible through a dark visor. Most peculiar of all were the two long ear-like protrusions sticking out of the top of his costume's mask.

          His appearance caught the attention of Uraraka, who was adjusting the helmet and visor sitting over her head, and she exclaimed happily, "Oh, Deku?"

          Deku? thought Tsubame, instantly confused. Did Uraraka really just call Midoriya useless? I thought they were friends? But then Uraraka ran over to him elatedly and Tsubame wondered if she'd misunderstood the context of the social interaction, as of which a lot of small complexities still baffled her. So it wasn't an insult? The two students were chatting happily, Midoriya rubbing the back of his neck as Uraraka chirped away with excited hand movements.

          Even as she watched the two speak, Tsubame's mind couldn't help but ponder what the two protrusions sticking out of his mask was. So, she bounded over towards him. "Midoriya-san!" exclaimed Tsubame, pointing excitedly at the hood of his uniform. "Are those rabbit ears?!" Anything about animals got her excited. "You know," Tsubame said animatedly, because once someone started her going on the topic she never stopped, "rabbit ears act as air conditioners and radiators, since bunnies can't sweat! They have extra blood vessels in them just for thermoregulation! Isn't that cool?!"

          In almost embarrassment, Midoriya reached up and grasped the 'ears' with his hands, pulling them down. She couldn't see the expression on his face but she could just tell he was radiating nervousness. "U-uh, no, Akatsuki-chan..." he stammered out. "It's meant to be like All Might." Aw, a fanboy?

          None of it broke Tsubame's upbeat attitude. "That's a shame! We would have been matching!" She plucked the wire of her own headband, grinning as his eyes rose to the faux cat ears. "But All Might's cool too! Is he your inspiration, or something?" When Midoriya nodded surely, his eyes looking a little embarrassed, Tsubame decided to charge forward. "Your costume is super cool! Hey, did it get made by the support team with the rest of ours?" Tsubame knew she could be a little overbearing, but she really wanted to know.

          Adjusting the red belt around his waist, and with Uraraka looking on eagerly, Midoriya gave a confident—proud?—comment of, "My mom made it for me."

          Tsubame's own heart ached a little at the words, but she grinned anyway. "Aw, Midoriya-san, that's so sweet!" She made note of the little sewing imperfections on the shoulder of Midoriya's costume, and squeezed the own fluffy fur on her own, the texture comforting beneath her fingertips. Grounding her.

          Before she, Uraraka, or Midoriya could say anything else, they were interrupted by a booming tone. "Now, it's time for combat training!" All Might drew the group of students' attention back to him, voice commanding and enthusiastic. Everyone turned back to attention, and while Midoriya squeezed into the front, Tsubame didn't mind peeking around the shoulder of Sero. 

          "Sensei!" a familiar voice sounded, almost immediately. It came from an armoured pale silver suit with a helmet and six metal pipes sticking out of the back of the costume. Oh, Iida, thought Tsubame. His hero costume is so cool too! Iida's hand was raised in question. "This is a battle centre from the entrance exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?"

          Raising his hand out in front of him and sticking up two fingers, All Might announced, "No, we're going to be moving forwards two steps!" Tsubame still couldn't really believe he was right in front of her. The Symbol of Peace. Everything about being a hero had always felt a little out of reach. For the first real time in ages, Tsubame truly felt like she might be able to make it as a Pro. "Most of the time, fighting villains takes place outside, but if you look at the total numbers, atrocious villains appear indoor at a higher rate. Imprisonment, house arrest, backroom deals—in this society filled with heroes, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows!" Tsubame waited expectantly for their task, curling her hands into excited fists. "For this class, you'll be split into villains and heroes and fight 2-on-2 indoor battles."

          Tsubame's brows furrowed a little—she was a boxer and a gymnast and a weightlifter, and sure she'd taken a lot of self-defence classes, but actual intense combat using her Quirk without training was something she'd never done before. She presumed it was the same for everyone else. Concerned about the same thing, Asui Tsuyu asked, "Without basic training?" The frog-like girl cocked her head in confusion.

          All Might clutched his hand into a strong fist, raising it steadily in front of his face. "This is a real battle to understand those basics! However, the key this time is that there's no robot you can just beat up."

          "How will wins and losses be determined?" asked Yaoyorozu Momo, who was in a red and white bodysuit that split down the middle for versatility of her Quirk.

          Bakugou growled, "Can we beat them up anyway?" much to Kaminari's wide-eyed look.

          Raising a half-hearted hand, Tsubame called out, "How are teams going to be determined?" Her eyes flickered over to Kirishima Eijirou.

          "Will the punishment be expulsion like with Aizawa-sensei...?" Uraraka asked nervously, fingers latched together.

          "Will we be splitting up based on complimentary Quirks?" came Iida's voice.

          From the back, Aoyama asked, "Isn't this cape crazy?" with a glimmering expression, holding up the sparkling purple garment.

          "I'll answer all your questions!" All Might exclaimed at the barrage of queries. From his pocket, he drew what appeared to be a kind of script of rules and unfolded it so the Pro Hero could read its instructions. "The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout. The heroes are trying to dispose of that. The heroes need to catch the villains or get the nuclear weapons back in the allotted time. The villains need to protect their nuclear weapon the whole time or catch the heroes." Squeezing the fur at her hips eagerly, Tsubame grinned wide. It seemed easy enough! Now... who would she have in her team? Curiously, she glanced around at her classmates, considering who she'd pick and choose if she had the chance. However, she didn't have to think too much, considering All Might raised a yellow box into the air, labelled 'Lots'. "Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!" By random?

          Iida, at the front of the group, leaned forward. "They're being decided so haphazardly?"

          An index finger raising smartly in the air, Midoriya said to him, "Pros often have to create makeshift teams with heroes from other agencies during emergencies, so maybe that's why?"

          "I see..." Iida responded thoughtfully. "The discernment to look ahead..." He bowed respectfully at the waist to All Might. "Please excuse my rudeness!"

          "It's fine," replied All Might, punching a fist into the air. "Let's do this quickly!"

          Everyone went up and blindly grasped their own sphere from the box, each of which was labelled with a letter from 'A' through to 'J'. When it was Tsubame's turn, the shining grey number of 'H' stared back at her. The only other classmate with that ball, standing over by the side glancing around curiously, was Asui Tsuyu. Tsubame hopped over to her, holding up the 'H' label with a wide grin, "Looks like we're paired up!" A DNA Alteration Quirk and a Frog Quirk—both animals, huh? The edge of Asui's long frog tongue was hanging out of her mouth.

          Asui blinked at Tsubame in what she assumed was a friendly way. "Let's make a good team," she croaked, eyes big. She was short, barely coming up to Tsubame's shoulders, even though Tsubame was nowhere near tall. Adorable.

          The other randomly-divided pairs were as followed: Uraraka and Midoriya as Team A; Todoroki and Shouji as Team B; Yaoyorozu and Mineta as Team C; Iida and Bakugou as Team D; Aoyama and Ashido as Team E; Tokoyami and Koda as Team F; Kaminari and Jirou as Team G; Ojiro and Hagakure as Team I; and Sero and Kirishima as Team J. Some of the pair-ups certainly were... interesting. Specifically the way that Bakugou was scowling at Iida.

          "Alright!" said All Might, and pulled up two large boxes—one white, labelled 'HERO', and the other black, labelled 'VILLAIN'. He stuck his hands into the openings at the top. "The first teams to fight will be..." Drawing his arms dramatically out of the box with two spheres clasped in his hands, he raised them to face the group of students with fervour. "These guys!"

          'D', painted on a black sphere, and 'A', painted on a white sphere. Who were those teams again? Turning slightly, it became apparent exactly who those pairs were formed of, considering the way that Bakugou and Midoriya had tensed up with surprise and anticipation. The old friends, huh?

          "Team A will be the heroes, and Team D will be the villains. Everyone else, head towards the monitor room."

          Pulling her attention back from Midoriya's uneasy looking figure, Tsubame called back with the rest of her class, "Yes, sir!" The group departed, leaving Team A and Team D behind as the rest of the class headed to where All Might had indicated. It was one of the mock buildings, and as they climbed the stairs, Tsubame nudged Sero between the ribs, "So you and Kirishima-kun, huh? Melee and ranged—that's a pretty good combination." None of them had ever seen their class' Quirks in combat action before. It'd be interesting to see how everything played out.

          "Uh-huh! You and Asui-san will be cool too. Animal Quirks, right?" Sero was grinning wide, the black visor he was wearing tipped back so she could see his face. "I'm excited to see Bakugou-san and Iida-san, though. What an odd match-up."

          Kaminari hummed, trailing up the steps behind them, "Do you think they'll kill each other before they even get to the exercise?"

          "This is going to be a scary match to watch..." sighed Ojiro.

          When they reached the top of the stairs and walked into the surveillance area, All Might was leading them. "Oh, wow!" gasped Ashido, clinging to Tsubame's arm as they emerged out into an open room that was covered from one edge of the wall to the other in a holographic green screen. On said screen were a number of different monitoring cameras that showed different angles within the building that Tsubame could assume the hero and villain team would be fighting it out in. The class poured into the room, Ashido sidling up between the group of Kaminari, Ashido, Kaminari, Sero, and Yaoyorozu, closest to the right side. It was like a cinema screen.

          "From here," All Might announced, "we'll be able to observe everything that the hero and villain teams do. The villains have already gone in to set up their weapon and position, they have a five-minute head start on the heroes. When the hero team breaks in, the battle will begin!" He addressed the class to inform them of everything he'd instructed the starting teams. "Though the cameras are fixed and there's no audio, this is a perfect opportunity to observe strategy. Those within the training can communicate with one another via a small wireless radio, and they're allowed to bring the building's floor plan into the exercise. Oh, and this capture tape." Reaching out, All Might held up a small circular roll of white tape. "Once you wrap this around your opponent, it shows that you've captured them."

          "Uh, Sensei?" asked Tsubame, staring at the empty hallways showed through the cameras. "What happens if people start seriously hurting each other?" From what she gathered of Bakugou, he wasn't one for holding back. A large part of her was extremely relieved that she hadn't needed to go up against him. She wasn't sure how well her body would fare against burns.

          Turning back to her with his hands planted on his hips, All Might from the front of the room replied, "If things go too far, I'll stop it. I can speak through their earpieces." Relieved, Tsubame nodded. She wouldn't like to see Uraraka or Midoriya hurt.

          "This is so exciting!" exclaimed Ashido quietly, still clinging to Tsubame's bicep with her arms wrapped tightly around the muscle. Her other shoulder was pressed tight against Kaminari's.

          Kaminari hummed in agreement, "I'm glad I'm not Team A, though."

         "Observing this fight will give us an advantage in how we should proceed with our own battles," observed Yaoyorozu thoughtfully, knuckles curled ponderingly beneath her chin. She was watching the screen with sharp eyes just like the rest.

          "Now!" exclaimed All Might, holding a small microphone up to his smiling mouth. "Let's start the indoor person-to-person combat training with Team A and Team D!" He then addressed the rest of 1-A. "Okay, everyone, you should all think as well."

          Watching Midoriya step into the same training building as Bakugou was like witnessing the events leading up to a car crash, because although Tsubame had absolutely no idea what the tension between those two was, it was rather clear that putting them on opposite teams in a combat situation was a bad idea. Midoriya and Uraraka hopped in through one of the windows, clearly going for stealth. It all seemed to be going well until Bakugou leapt around the corner onto them and rocked the entire building with an explosion. Even though the screening room had no audio, Tsubame found herself cringing. When Midoriya and Bakugou faced off, speaking with intense looks on their faces, Tsubame really wished they could hear what the two were saying.

          "A surprise attack from the start?" asked Jirou Kyouka, looking nervous.

          Kirishima straightened, teeth gritted. "Bakugou-san, that's cheating!" he exclaimed as he punched his fist lightly into his other palm. "A surprise attack isn't manly at all!"

          "A surprise attack is strategy, too," announced All Might, watching the scene unfold. "They're in the middle of a real battle right now."

          "Midori-kun avoided it!" cheered Ashido.

          Kaminari was more worried, exclaiming, "There goes Bakugou-san!"

          Tsubame watched, enraptured by the screen and with Ashido clinging to her arm, as Bakugou charged Midoriya with an explosion pluming from his palm, only to be flipped and brought to the ground. She gritted her teeth nervously. What are they saying? As the students watched the battle go down—with Uraraka fleeing to find the weapon while Midoriya kept Bakugou distracted—Tsubame couldn't help observe just how... angry Bakugou was. Even as Midoriya ran and let Bakugou stick to his heels as a decoy. She'd known he was a bastard, of course, but he seemed actually frightening. Face moulded into a snarl, explosions ringing silently in his hands, charging at his opponent with everything he had.

          "He seems real angry," commented Kaminari as the chase went down, voice rising in pitch. "It's scary!"

          Ashido's cheek pressed to Tsubame's bicep as Tsubame spoke with gritted teeth, "He's hunting Midoriya down like prey. I don't even think he cares about preventing them from getting to the weapon." Bakugou blasted down doors without a care in the world.

          At some point, Uraraka found where Iida had hidden the faux nuclear weapon, but they were running out of time—six minutes remained on the clock—and Midoriya was still hiding from the terrifying force that was Bakugou ripping the building apart to find him. It wasn't soon before the explosive boy found him, and though Tsubame couldn't hear what they were saying, it clearly wasn't good. Bakugou Katsuki had a wild look in his eyes, and he raised one of his hands that was surrounded by a grenade-looking gauntlet. Everyone had assumed it was just for show, until he reached up and pulled back a metal panel on the pin, like one would load a gun. He steadied himself in a rooted stance as he took shot. Mouth moved in words that couldn't be heard.

          "This looks bad, Sensei," warned Tsubame, clenching her fists nervously.

          He seemed to realise at the same time that she and the others did, because then as Bakugou was pulling a pin with his finger, All Might exclaimed into the small microphone he was holding, "Young Bakugou, stop! Are you trying to kill him?!" It was too late, and the pin came free. What rocked from the end of Bakugou's gauntlet was an explosion to rival an actual high-powered bomb, shooting forward down the hallway in a burst of flames that tore away at the walls and flooring. Tsubame briefly saw Midoriya get hit, but then several of the cameras in the vicinity went offline. From the rest of the class' spot in the building across the street, the entire foundations shook.

          Students stumbled and looked panicked as they made sounds of surprise. "This is supposed to be a class!" Kirishima exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling to make sure nothing was crumbling.

          Tsubame, with Ashido attached even tighter to her bicep now, lurched forward. "Is Midoriya-kun okay?!"

          "Young man!" shouted All Might into the microphone. "Young Midoriya!"

          When the dust cleared, it became apparent that a single camera in the area was still working, and the class released a collective sigh of relief as Midoriya turned out to be, more or less, alright, pushing himself up into sitting position with his mask entirely blown off and scratches covering his face. Bakugou stood over him, looking just as eager to win as always.

          "Sensei, you should stop them!" exclaimed Kirishima with sweat forming on his brow, half the class turned to just watch what their teacher would do. "That Bakugou's really crazy! He's going to kill him!" Tsubame was watching with big eyes. Please.

          "No..." said All Might thoughtfully, then spoke into the microphone. "Young Bakugou, next time you use that, I'll stop the fight, and your team will lose." Bakugou, on the cameras, looked astounded at that, glancing up through the shattered ceiling with confusion. "To attack on such a large scale inside is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting. That is a foolish plan for both heroes and villains! You will lose a lot of points for it!" This seemed to be exactly what Bakugou didn't want to hear, his lip curling. Angrily, he threw his gauntlet-covered arms up into the air and shouted. Then, without warning, he flew at Midoriya.

          Midoriya punched back, but Bakugou used a well-timed explosion to soar over Midoriya's head and shoot him in the back with a popping of flames. Ouch. Ashido let out a horrified gasp, and Akatsuki Tsubame heard Todoroki Shoto speak for the first time, "He doesn't look like the type to think, but he's more subtle than I expected." His voice was low, just as solemn and brooding as his facial expressions were. Todoroki's sudden commentary made Tsubame and the students on either side of her turn, glancing back at the boy who was watching the screen with unassuming eyes and an emotionless face.

          "What do you mean?" asked Kirishima.

          Tsubame nervously squeezed the fluff at her hips and lifted herself from the toes of her bare feet back onto the soles repetitively. "There was nothing subtle about that! He's not even trying to capture Midoriya-kun—he's just hurting him!"

          She startled a little as Todoroki's grey eye met hers. "He changed his course in a blast that doubled as a smokescreen and then did it again immediately." His gaze was gone from her just as quick, and Tsubame toyed with her lower lip, sharp teeth digging. It was true that Bakugou was talented in combat, but at this point he was just messing with Midoriya. All he needed to do was wind the capture tape around him. He could have easily done that by now.

          Yaoyorozu Momo had her hands on her hips, and spoke thoughtfully, "Getting a clean hit while fighting against inertia requires fine lateral adjustments to the power of the explosions."

          Sighing, Kaminari closed his eyes and loosened his shoulders in disappointment. "He's too talented... Too talented... Ugh."

          Another charge as Midoriya recovered had him being flung around from Bakugou's explosions, back slamming painfully into the ground, and at this point it just seemed cruel. "Bakugou-san's being too harsh!" Tsubame exclaimed, brows stitching together in concern and anger at the injustice.

          "It's an execution!" Ashido protested loudly. "He can capture him for this exercise by just wrapping the tape around him!"

          Tokoyami, usually unspoken, said from the back of the class, "Those are not the actions of a hero."

           "I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing, too," added Kaminari, "but in terms of combat power, Bakugou is definitely a ball of natural instincts."

         "Please, Sensei," begged Tsubame, "he's going to kill Midoriya-kun." All Might looked conflicted, hand clenching tight around the microphone, but he seemed to be holding himself back. Staggering back to his feet, Midoriya managed to remain standing. But it seemed there was nothing that the Pro Hero would do. "Why isn't Midoriya using his Quirk...?" Tsubame continued, teeth gritted with worried. He was strong, she knew that. If he could land a punch on Bakugou he might get the upper hand.

           She took it all back, when Midoriya, standing by the window, clenched his fist and looked up with determination in his eyes. Oh no. They were running at another, and then they were leaping, and Midoriya's arm started glowing that orange-pink shimmer, and Bakugou's hand was beginning to flame—and, shit, oh shit! "This looks bad! Sensei!" shouted Kirishima, panic clouding his expression.

          "They're going to kill each other!" Tsubame added, at his side.

          The two were on a collision course, and Tsubame was, like, 90% sure that Bakugou was actually going to kill Midoriya, or the other way around. But then Midoriya's movement changed and just before their Quirks met, he punched his fist upwards. Bakugou's hand exploded in his face. There was a half-second of stillness, and then the air-force of Midoriya's punch was shattering upwards through about five floors, windows smashing, roof blasting clean off into shards, the entirety of Ground Zero shaking. Tsubame saw, through the jolting camera, the moment that Midoriya's arm broke upon impact—wow he was strong—, which was enough of a distraction to allow Uraraka to soar over Iida's head and claim victory in the villains' weapon. And so, as Midoriya collapsed onto the ground unconscious, they were announced the winners.

          The entire class was in shock, mouths open, eyes wide. "What the heck?" Kaminari questioned aloud as they watched the screen where Uraraka was slumped over with Iida worriedly rubbing her back, and Midoriya was lying on the floor. "The losers are practically uninjured, and the winners are on the ground..."

          "They won the battle, but lost the war, huh?" observed Tokoyami Fumikage.

          "But this is training..." Tsubame murmured. "They're really hurt."

          All Might momentarily left the classroom as Midoriya was carted out on an electronic stretcher, and Uraraka was escorted back to the surveillance room by Iida. Bakugou eventually joined them too, and Class 1-A shied away from his presence. Though, he looked shell-shocked, like he couldn't believe he lost.

          Tsubame eyed him wearily, sticking by the other students. "I hope Midoriya-kun will be alright," she said, thinking about how easily his arm had snapped.

          Though Jirou's arms were crossed, the earphone jack girl looked worried. "I'm sure the nurse will heal him."

          Scores flashed up onto the holographic screen in front of them: 'Person-To-Person Combat Training, Battle 1 Review: Team A WIN, Team D LOSE'. Their teacher returned, looking a little ashamed perhaps that he hadn't stopped the battle. But Midoriya had proved himself, hadn't he? "Well, even if Team A won," announced All Might, standing up at the front of the room once again, "I have to say that the MVP for this battle was Young Iida!" Iida, positioned on the sidelines of the room beside Uraraka and Bakugou, looked shocked.

          "It's not either of the winners, Ochaco-chan or Midoriya-chan?" asked Asui Tsuyu, looking confused.

          "Not even Bakugou-san...?" questioned Tsubame lowly, considering all that Iida had really done was kept his position by the weapon.

          All Might pointed towards them, "Hmm, well... Why is that? Does anyone know?"

          Raising her slender arm was Yaoyorozu Momo. "Yes, All Might-Sensei." She was speaking smartly, her eyes closed. "That is because Iida adapted the most to the context of the training. From watching the match, it appears Bakugou-san acted on his own because of an obviously personal grudge. And as Sensei said earlier, it is foolish to launch a large-scale attack indoors. In the same way, taking into consideration the damage he received, Midoriya-san's plan was also rash. As for Uraraka-san, she let her guard down mid-battle, and her final attack was too reckless. If she treated the papier-mâché as a real weapon, she would not have been able to do something so dangerous. Iida-san had prepared for his opponent's arrival and assumed it would be a fight over the weapon, which made him late in responding to the final attack. The hero team only won because they took advantage of the fact that this was training. They were practically breaking the rules." The rest of the class was silent when Yaoyorozu finished. Tsubame tried to process all the information through her brain.

          All Might clearly hadn't expected the student to say that much, but he gave her a thumbs up. "Well, Young Iida also has parts of him that could be more relaxed, but that was correct!" Then, All Might drew out two of the same boxes from before, labelled 'VILLAIN' and 'HERO'. "Alright, everyone," he said, "let's change locations and start the second match. Tackle this training after thinking about what we just talked about."

          "Yes, Sensei!" the class affirmed.

          Tsubame clenched her fists excitedly as All Might reached into the boxes once again to decide who was up next. Once again, he pulled the spheres out at the same time, the black and white balls glinting in the fluorescent surveillance room light. It took a moment for Tsubame's eyes to register the letters he was holding. "Team H are the heroes, and Team J are the villains!"

          Akatsuki Tsubame and Asui Tsuyu versus Kirishima Eijirou and Sero Hanta.

          Grinning widely, Tsubame looked over at her short teammate, who had her hands hung in front of her body in a rather cat-like manner. "I don't know if we can top Bakugou-san and Midoriya-kun's performance," Tsubame told Asui, but smiled toothily anyway, willing to give it a go. She cracked her knuckles purposefully.

          Raising a finger to press against her cheek, Asui said, "We can try."

          She didn't even have time to speak to Kirishima and Sero, who were already eyeing her with competitive excitement, before All Might was ushering them out of the surveillance room. "Now, don't waste time!" exclaimed All Might, "go prepare yourselves for battle!"

༉*ೃ༄

well, heyyy longer chapter means less ads for the readers so  (ꈍᴗꈍ)♡  i'm gonna keep it that way, i hate when ads interrupt chapters

when bakugou and tsubame become besties what then

okay so i wrote most of this chapter listening to katy perry's 'hot n cold' on repeat LOL and it started out as a joke bc that song is just todoroki shoto but then i actually started to vibe and then just kept it on the whole time

who would be interested in me starting to record how long writing these chapters take me?? i'm genuinely interested myself bc i've never timed my writing and it usually takes me several days in different intervals so i'd have to add up the time but ?? i'm super curious now?? if anyone's interested i'll put the time recorded under the word count from now on (if i remember)

tsubame in ground zero, what will she do

^^ her building her own kind of stim toys / sensory comfort into her hero uniform is so comforting to me, i adore it

also, please remember to comment and vote on my chapters !! i work super hard on these and even though ik it's a bit slow now (things speed up in the show after USJ) i'm still quite proud of my work. comments really, really help with my inspiration and keep me wanting to update regularly  (*˘︶˘*).。.:*♡

MY HERO ACADEMIA SEASON 5 STARTS AIRING NOW I AM LOSING MY MINDDDD

(do NOT send me s5 spoilers, i haven't seen the new episode, i'll block you)

here's a drawing of tsubame's current hero costume! obviously, like the rest of the class it will develop, change and improve over time, but for her first iteration, this is it! (i'm super bad at fashion/costume design pls)

:3

word count: 11,234

27.03.2021.