You couldn't believe your eyes as you stared up at the sign. "'Class 1A" written in bold. The door itself was very large and heavy. You headed a sigh, which turned into a dry chuckle. Funny... Just like the anime.
After entering, you were greeted by a loud shout. "(Y/n)!! I can't believe we're in the same class!!" Tenko, who was in the chair closest to the entrance, waved his hand high above his head as he smiled. You rolled your eyes and ruffled the boy's hair as you passed him.
"Crazy, right?" What a coincidence that you would end up going to UA with your childhood friend, in the same class on top of that... Heh, just like the anime. Even Spinner was in here too! You sat at the very back of class in Tenko's row. In front of you sat a fidgeting little boy(maybe) with dark skin and teal dreads. To your left sat some guy with an eye for a head. This class was...certainly interesting. No one person looked like the rest.
You smirked as you organized all of your school supplies into your desk. Snickering quietly, you wondered how much more tropey this scenario could get.
The door cracked open, a tired dark clothed hobo of a man drudging through. "Alright, everyone, I don't really know what to do for orientation..so everybody gets dressed and head outside." You blinked in disbelief... No way. Aizawa was a teacher already? Is this his first year??
...WHAT?
----------
"In the girl's changing room you found out that the one who sat in front of you was indeed not a boy. Including you, there were seven girls in your class, three of whom had bug themed quirks. Another one looked kinda like if Billie Eilish fell into a swamp. Another had long, fluffy white hair and two blue horns. So guess you and boygirl were the only ones who looked perfectly normal- wait, no. You were 6'3. The tallest kid in class.
"Hello~! I'm Kobayashi! What's your name!?" The small insect girl with large beetle horns fluttered up to you. Your back was turned to everyone, terribly uncomfortable as you tried to change in as much privacy as possible.
Cheeks a little pink, "Uh.. I'm changing."
"That's a cool name!!"
"No, I'm changing."
"Don't worry, I heard you!"
"Ghhh.." She jumped to the next person before you could correct her. There was a spider girl acting very similarly to you, however she was just really shy in general. Hadn't even spoken yet today. The third bug girl had an armadillo-like shell on her back which clearly wasn't easy to change in. She wasn't as shy as she was preoccupied with her own thoughts. Also hadn't talked much. The ones who talked the most were of course five-foot-tall bug girl, teal hair, and the one with blue horns. They became instant friends because of it. Billie girl was still working on her Japanese. Curious, you snuck out a few English words while heading toward the exit, but she didn't recognize that language either. Must be European.
After you were all dressed in workout attire, everyone gathered together outside. When Aizawa arrived, it was kind of funny to watch him. Unlike everyone else, you already had an idea for what his teaching style was. But he was so unpracticed. It was kind of cute. Watching as the man essentially stumbled around the right way to go about this whole teaching gig.
He cleared his throat. "Today we will be doing a series of endurance tests." Craaaaap. Teh, funny to think this was all because he ran out of ideas. "And whoever gets the lowest score," looking directly at you, "gets expelled."
._. Guess that little promise of yours wasn't going to be enough. Bro was out for blood and giving everyone else anxiety because of it. That eye guy kept glancing suspiciously over at you too... Hmm. At least you were allowed to use your quirks. Even if your quirk was useless here, you'd show that teacher up by placing first!
First was the fifty meter dash.
Surprisingly, Billie girl won that! She turned into a wispy cloud of ash and shot across from start to finish.
One of the recommended students, Senjiro, rode on his magical paper dragon, which earned him second place.
Third was Juro Honda, the girl who could roll up into her roley-poley ball and race by real fast.
You placed fourth, in part thanks to your long legs. But also simply because your body was just special thanks to the quirks it was born to suppress.
Poor Tenko was second to last. Made it mere milliseconds before Luuki, placing two behind his friend Spinner.
Second was a grip strength test.
You placed second in that one. Furu turned into an actual Yeti and crushed the device... Good thing she was last. Tenko made fifth-to-last place. Clearly, he was trying not to use One For All and hurt himself again.
Third was a standing long jump.
The scores turned out very similarly to the first test. Except you actually managed to place third this time!
Break time!
This was the part you were most excited for. Everyone in your class met up in the lunch room, still in your sweaty training uniforms. The other classes blended into the lunch line. It amused you to have a look around at all the people here. All the different, amazing quirks they had!
While collecting the delectable food -- honestly you could see yourself eating ten servings of this stuff -- the eyeball guy elbowed you. "Just wanted to let you know I have been told to keep an eye on you. I don't have feelings for you or anything." The orb of sight was hardly expressive, and his tone of voice, a voice which you had no idea where the heck it could be coming from, was rather monotone as well.
You shrugged, still staring down. "Alright."
The eye blinked a few times. "...You actually believe me?" Again, monotone.
"Eh, I guess why not?"
"..Cool."
"Cool." Why would he instantly assume that?? The heck?!.. Maybe you spent too much of your childhood in cage fights when you should have been learning the language of teen dramas? Wait, no. That sounded boring.
Later you found out he ate with his throat and that was traumatizing to watch.
Naturally, not long after you sat down, Tenko and Spinner sat beside you. "Who's this?" Pointing at the animorph with your fork.
"Do you not remember him? This is Default101!"
"..Ahhhh." You smiled a tad. "Well that's exciting. How'd you get into UA?"
"What do you mean?" Scoffing. "I fought my way through the entrance exam, same as you!" He then elbowed Tenko and gestured with his chin to the other table. "You wanna know what rich brats didn't have to, though?" Naturally, Tenko and you leaned in a little to get a good view of Shenjiro: paper dragon guy, and Hokusei: magnet man, who were already conversing together sitting at the other table. You stuffed another bite of steamed broccoli into your mouth.
"...So? They still had to take a test."
"But they could have just as easily gotten in the normal way! But thanks to their rich families they got in Scott free."
"Iguchi, when are you going to stop complaining about rich people?" Tenko while stabbing his food.
"Yeah, Spinner."
"Spinner?"
"Is that not your na--" mid bite, your mouth hung open while you thought. "Oh wait Tenko just said your name, didn't he?"
"The crap did you even get 'Spinner' from!?"
"Idk."
"(Y/n), not in a fancy place like this!" Tenko.
"Idc ttyl yolo, Imma kms."
"..please stop.."
"/j lol"
"Wow and I thought Tenko was the cringe one." Iguchi.
"Smh." Sluuuuuuurp. Mid slurping, your throat choked up and you coughed. Following the mouthful of food came a black ooze that sprouted out your mouth. You gagged half a second, horrifying the boys across the table who helplessly watched you struggle. Said struggle only lasted about two seconds.
-----
You reappeared over another chair, which you plopped in rather harshly. Well, by chair, it was more like a cushion with a wooden back to it. You coughed profusely after the black ooze left you. It was a pretty day outside. You could tell thanks to the large doors that were open to the pretty pond and garden. The calm ambiance of birdsong and trickling water filled your ears. A dramatic shift from the loud cafeteria room. After a pause to reclaim what little self respect you had left, you glared to your left at the large, silver haired man sitting beside you.
"The heck, man!?"
"Sorry, did I interrupt your precious hero school orientation~?" He was so teasing with that smirk and tone.
"Ugh.." rubbing your throat. "Maybe. The frick do you want me here for?" You had expected these guys would want to have their 'business meeting' of sorts alone. Guess that wasn't exactly how it was supposed to work. Across from you sat Kai himself, and across from your father sat Pops.
Kai was eerily submissive in all of this. He sat on his knees, back straight, posture perfect. His hands held each other on his lap, staring down at them no matter what was going on around him. This was certainly not the Kai you were used to. And you hated it. He was like a poor puppy that had just been scolded harshly.
"(Y/n), I am going to need your signature here to officialize the engagement." The Boss slid a paper and pen over to you. Just across the table, Kai's had already been signed. Your heart thumped wildly. Wait.. engagement? Marriage? Business deals? Threats?? underground civil war?? A choice that would follow you the rest of your life?! This was all too much. You got a terrible case of mental whiplash from the tonal whiplash!
"Wai-wai-wai-" judging by everyone's eyes suddenly on you, one would have thought you personally had just declared war! You threw your hands up to defend yourself. "I-I-I'm going to need a little more time to think about this, guys!"
"You had all morning." Pops scowled at you. One glance from your father however lightened his glare. The old man stared at you with pleading eyes. He was doing this for your own good, don't you see it?!
Your voice was a squeaky mess, hands flailing around to portray the inner turmoil. "I-I- was busy! I didn't know things were going to be set in stone to-today!?"
"-I can walk you through the terms and conditions of the contract if that will help you, (Y/n)." You remained silent, hardly even breathing. Kai shoved himself onto his feet. "Come on." He headed out the open wall and into the garden. You assembled together your mess of thoughts and emotions and bit your own tongue. Quietly, you grabbed the sheet of paper and stood to follow.
Kai walked softly along the pebble path that surrounded the pond. You scampered up beside him and handed over the paper. He took it calmly and pointed to the first paragraph.
"Essentially, all this says is that the Shie Hassaikai is purchasing you in a way. It's a little more complicated than that, but those are the basics."
"Mhm mhm!" You nodded swiftly. You bit your lip, holding in all those rebuttals about human rights and whatnot for now.
Kai pointed at the second paragraph. "It goes on to agree on a merging of factions. No name changes or anything, but your father and Pops both agreed to share resources and exchange information as long as the two of us are married. Pops doesn't want to get too involved in the criminal underworld, however, so he's refused to exchange followers." His finger slid down the page to point at the third paragraph. "This one just goes into a little more detail about the same agreement. And finally," pointing at the last paragraph. "Our roles are mentioned in finer detail. You'll be happy to hear that heirs are discouraged, and even things like sleeping in the same room are not necessary to classify a marriage between us. So, that means the two of us won't have to change anything about our lives... The only big difference will be me having to change my last name."
"Oh, so I'm not taking your last name?" Leaning in a little closer to see if you could read it for yourself. Kai leaned away to keep at equal distance.
"It was a requirement by your old man. He's pretty proud of the name, apparently."
"Kai Shigaraki... Huh, doesn't sound like a very good fit." The brunette shoved you away from him.
"J'ss quit that, alright?" You found humor in his attempt to hide how flustered he was. He glared the moment he caught you smirking down at him. "Listen, I hate this arrangement just as much as you do, but it honestly sounds like the best shot the Shie Hassaikai has to making its way again to the top... I had no idea how influential your father was until meeting him. It's not hard to imagine how partnering with him can get us all the resources we need and more. I know we're making a powerful drug already, but he has roots deeper than any Yakuza could ever dream of. Meaning he'd be able to distribute the bullets we make faster and more efficiently than anyone else." He was staring down at the paper so much that he tripped on the little bridge ahead.
"AHAHAH!" You had noticed the bridge already but didn't care to warn him. Luckily, the man caught himself, only half falling.
"Hah..hah. Real funny."
A gentle stream from a nearby mini waterfall trickled underneath the adorably tiny bridge. Once standing in the middle of it, you stopped and watched the water flow past. Kai turned around once off the bridge back to you.
"What are you doing?" He -- sort of? -- called back to you, agitation in his tone. You didn't answer, suddenly trapped both physically and mentally in place. Just...staring. "Hhh." Kai joined you on the bridge and leaned forward to stare down at the same rocks and water as you. "...There's nothing there."
"Just like my hopes and dreams..." You whined.
"Oh, give me a break." The man shoved himself away, kicking at the dirty pathway once off the bridge again. "Why don't you give that pathetic attitude a rest?"
"No but seriously. Think about things from my perspective for a second!" Pointing at yourself aggressively, you glared sharply at the other. There were faint tears in your eyes. "You at least can say you get to help the Shie Hassaikai in all of this! But what do I get? What could I possibly gain from all of this?!" By the time you finished, you had stepped off the bridge. Kai stared at you coldly. His look alone calmed your nerves, nearer to his level.
The man inhaled..then exhaled just as slowly. He pat your shoulder, only because he was wearing his gloves at the moment, and spoke calmly. "See it more as a thanks for all Pops has done for you. After all.." He cut himself off by turning away down the pebble path. "you're no longer a parasite to our cause." He left you to stare there dumb and alone. You stared at the ground, then at your own hands.
For a moment...you wondered why. Why were you so selfish?? When did this happen?! All the fond to mundane memories with this Yakuza flooded your head. Even the small things like having a warm place to sleep and yummy food to eat. All commodities you had come to expect. But..why?
They weren't your mother, after all... They could never replace her. They could never tuck you in every night, could never sing you a lullaby, could never make you feel welcome when you did nothing to deserve it. They couldn't even embrace you warmly and make you feel safe in their arms.
Yet you expected them to fill that same role. Without a second thought, you simply expected their members to become your family; their grounds to become your home.
...You didn't do anything to earn their hospitality. No, nothing at all. All you did was speed up what they would have done completely on their own. Yet here you were living in their home, eating up all their food, stealing much of their free time, and on top of all that demanding even more out of them; privileges even!
You traced one of the holes in your hand with the other finger, occasionally flexing a finger in that hand just to see the shape of the bone move through it.
Was it this quirk that made you so selfish...or was it just you being you?
You finally dropped your hands at your sides and brushed your feet along the old pebble pathway. Eventually, you finished your circle around the small pond, winding right back around at the meeting room the elders sat in.
"M' ready to sign it.." You muttered, sitting on your knees like the rest did. You set the paper back down and opened the pen. Your signature wasn't great or anything, but it filled the space it needed to along that dotted line.
Heh... How funny.
The moment you put the pen down, the shivering finally ceased. That dreadful feeling filling your chest faded away. You even had a sense of peace.
...But the silence that haunted after. The calming sounds of those birds, and the pond not far away... All gone now. Instead it was just this weird, hazy, crackling, hissing..or was it a buzzing? You couldn't tell. But you lost something that day... And you didn't even knew what it was now that it was gone.
...It was your fault for expecting anyone to treat you kindly without wanting something in return...
----------
That same feeling followed you as you were thrust back into the UA hall. You appeared not far behind Tenko and Spinner.
"(Y/n)!!!" The boy spun around, hugging before you could even process where you now were. His warmth was welcome, though your brain was still a bit foggy. A bit too numb to process your emotions. His hug was very brief, ending just as suddenly as it had started.
Spinner jogged up behind Tenko with a far more practical question. "(Y/n), where did you go?!"
Your eyes stared ahead. Looked like you guys weren't far from the exit. "...Hell." You answered plainly, brushing past Tenko to reach the exit. You just wanted to be outside again. The thought of returning to your day and pretending like there was never an interruption was the most appealing one.
"Wait, what!?" Tenko. "Really!?"
"No way!" The animorph scoffed. "What did it look like??" You answered neither of them.
After reaching the outdoors, you closed your eyes as the warm sunlight again cooked your face. The door slammed shut after Tenko shoved through it. "(Y/n)?" Quieter, he approached from behind, staring up at the back of your head with clear concern. He didn't really know what to do to help. Picking up pace again, the boy slapped you across the back as he raced by, then bounced a few times to slow down and spin around. "Come on, (Y/n)! You're the strongest person I know! If you're back it must mean it wasn't too bad, right?! You just need to cheer up a little!"
"It's that easy, huh?" You raised an eyebrow at him, arms already crossed.
"Yeah! Now where's your smile?!" He pried at his own lips, making a goofy smiley face. You forced the curvature of your lips into something of a smirk. He really was trying, so why not help him out a little? "Like that! You got it!" A real grin shown on him now as he laughed of joy. Your something of a smile dropped immediately after your eyes wandered away to the baking green foliage in the distance. Sighing, you uncrossed your arms and ambled toward the field the rest of your class was gathering in. Tenko and Spinner walked beside you, Tenny taking the middle slot.
"...Hey.. Tenko?" You softly asked the teen before having the chance to join with the others.
His head swished your way. "Yeah?"
"What do you.. um... What do you get out of our friendship?" It really puzzled you now. Why was he trying to hard to make you feel better? Was it out of pity?? Why was he so willing to just gloss over all the weird and tragic things of the past just for your friendship?!
"Wh.. what do you mean by that??" Tenko was seriously puzzled. "Isn't friendship free??" That struck you out of nowhere. Right in the chest too. A random prick of pain shot through that numb layering that had just crystalized, shattering a large enough portion of it off for you to feel again. Sad thing was, though you wanted to believe him while heatedly...you had a hard time believing that.
Everything comes with a cost...
Even love.
----------
Repeated side steps was fourth.
You did decently in these, only making third place, which was sad because no one else here exactly had a speed enhancing quirk.
And fifth. Ball throw.
You inhaled slowly, reeled your arm back, posed decently..and tossed! The ball ended up going higher than farther. You threw it incorrectly. Stupid arms trained in hand-to-hand combat! Not throwing! Despite that, you still managed to only place eleventh somehow.
When Aizawa added up all the points, you were second place! Second only to Origami guy. Tenko meanwhile was second to last, beating out Luuki by only a few measly points! Poor Luuki couldn't use her quirk for any of the physical exercises! And for that and the fact that it was an empty threat, Aizawa called off the expulsion, just like in the show.
As all the kids recovered from the anxiety spike, one after another leaving the crowd to head inside before the sun dipped, you smirked, shrugged, crossed your arms and shook your head slowly. That Aizawa... What a funny guy.
Eye boy walked up to you before leaving the group. "Hey, you left for a while there. What the heck happened?"
Your small smirk dropped, only caring enough to side eye the other student. "What are you? Nezu's pet?" A couple more eyes of varying sizes popped out of thin air, all glaring at you.
"First of all, no. It was Sensei Aizawa who told me to keep an eye on you. And secondly, it is against the rules to leave the campus without permission."
Placing a hand on your chest. "Oh, so now it's my fault that I got sucked into the void! Yah, okay, that makes sense."
"Ughhh! Just tell me where you were!"
"Ay! Sigeyo!" Tenko hopped in and slung his arm around the other's shoulder. "I know you haven't known her quite as long as I have~, but (Y/n)'s pretty well known for hiccups like this happening to her! It's part of her quirk, unfortunately; we're still trying to figure out what is going on!" While the eye was studying you, the dark haired teen winked at ya.
"Oh!. I didn't know that. Sorry for my rude assumptions." Sigeyo bowed to you.
You chuckled, hands sliding into your pockets. "No problem.. I should have thought to warn people first. Sometimes I just...blip."
"That must not be fun. Sorry again." The eyed one then scurried off, leaving just you and Tenko to chuckle. You elbowed the other.
"Thanks for the save. First time I was ever at a loss."
"Ahh, no problem~! Lying's my specialty~!"
Your right brow lifted. "Oh really~?"
"Ehehh, for-for-forget I said that!"
"Pshh.. ight. Keep your secrets." Hands in your pockets, you started walking off too. You waved over your shoulder at the kid. "Future hero."
That last comment...filled him with warmth.
----------
"I'm hoOoOme!" You shrieked upon entering the threshold. Immediately, you threw the now empty backpack off your shoulder and dropped it by the door on top of your shoes. You slid on a pair of slippers before finally realizing something.
The atmosphere was different. Maybe it was just your brain, but something was definitely off.
Oh yeah. It was that this no longer felt like your home, and these people no longer like family.
You turned around and picked up the backpack, even going as far to straighten your shoes. Carrying the empty bag before you now, you crept back to your room. Hopefully, you could reach it in time to avoid the others arriv-
"-Is this when you plan to come back from school every day?" Kai's voice entered your ears. Of all the people to bump into. You pivoted slowly, spotting the man just casually standing there in the unlit kitchen cleaning a newly sharpened kitchen knife.
"Um..." Starting to nod and shrug. "Yeah.. Today was a little later than it usually should be." Waaaay later. The sun was setting outside!
"Good. Pops and I just hired a tutor."
Your face scrunched. "..But I'm already in school."
"Not for academics." Grabbing another knife, Kai started to sharpen that one as well just by tracing his finger along the blade. "Manners, posture, and culture. All things I can't exactly blame you for never learning, having lost your mother in such a crucial stage of your life."
A sudden sigh escaped you. You rolled your eyes. Of course it would come to this. You should have known!
"She's going to turn you into a proper lady. One fit to stand at the head of the Shie Hassaikai."
"Chhff..." Your arm pressed into he nearest doorway, entire body leaning in so your forehead could lay against that arm. You sulked while you still legally could. "I don't wanna be a laudhey. And what about you?? You aren't exactly the most gentlemanly guy I've met!"
"Firstly, stop acting so childish. And second, I've technically been in training ever since I first arrived here. Pops has always been stricter on me than he ever was on you."
Your head tore from your leaning arm. "Ugh. Being a teenager is the worst. You're constantly treated like a kid while being expected to act like a grown up all the time!" Another exasperated sigh left you. Kai groaned from the kitchen. The fact that the two of you would have to tolerate each other for perhaps the rest of your lives was what troubled you both the most.
"I'm not expecting anything big out of you. In fact, I'd say I'm probably the one who believes in your abilities the least. But what I am expecting is for you to grow to show a little more respect."
"Okay Dhyaahd!" Realizing your mistake, you cleared your throat. "I- I mean.. Sorry."
"Hhh, I don't care." He slid the newly sharpened knife away. Finally, he stood and ambled toward the doorframe you were in. You cleaned up your act and stood straight enough for him to pass by easily. He stopped at the door beside you, however, side eyeing you intently. "You can go ahead and forget everything I said about us on the path to killing each other some day... It would be in both of our best interests to work something out."
You nodded stiffly "Sounds like a good plan." Kai turned and walked off into the darker part of the house, back toward his room.
...
"Oh and one more thing." As he was still walking.
"Hm?"
"Do not call me 'honey' or anything like it." You almost immediately after called Kai that just to tease him. After all, it always felt like your place to poke and prod the elder just to get on his nerves.
But this time the word got caught in your throat. You now had to worry about things like what phrases like that truly meant to you. The weight of your situation, as well as massive shift in your dynamic made it all the harder to treat him the same way.
Kai? Fiance..? No! That thought just made you feel sick! If you had to put some kind of familial title to his name, it would be your 'least favorite brother' or something! Not...this...
A large lump grew in your throat, making it hard to swallow.
You'd figure something out...
...Eventually.