Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Honor and prestige. Those are the words that Kosuke Tsurumi would use to describe that of the building in front of him. The unrealistically tall blue glass building loomed over everything that was below it. A loud sigh left the boy, now further walking down its path, his tail unmoving between his legs, his ears standing at attention as they rapidly swivelled to gather what people were doing around him out of instinct. His high school uniform felt suffocating. ‘The only reason I even applied here is because Dad suggested it...’ 

Stares clouded the boy, who simply walked down the path for the same reason as everyone else, most likely due to his previously mentioned ears and tail. Despite the small alterations from that, he was still considered in the heteromorph category, many having disliked them as they ‘didn’t seem truly human anymore’. A scoff left the boy as he simply continued into the building. 

It wasn’t hard to find the written exam room with all the signs to guide him. It was a crowded room with seats wall to wall; he found his assigned seat via number and waited for the written exam to begin.  

{---------------} 

The written exam was rather easy for Kosuke; he was pleasantly surprised, though he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. But he chose not to dwell on it, or his anxiety would probably consume him far too quickly. After the written exam, each group of students was taken to another so they could be given a run-down of the practical. 

Kosuke found a seat quickly, having his tail curl around up into his lap, to prevent anyone from stepping or sitting on his tail. His hand reached up, toying with the necklace around his neck and the deep purple, with a star-like middle being a soft lavender, jewel that sat comfortably on the end in a small, barred prison to keep it safe. 

Soon, everyone was seated, and a voice rang out. “Hello U.A.U. examinees!” The man in question had bright yellow hair, and Kosuke vaguely recognised him as the Voice Hero Present Mic. His ears turned away from the unusually loud voice, “Thanks for tuning in for my live performance! Let’s hear ya!” The room remained dead silent, causing a cough-like chuckle to leave the Kitsune. 

“That’s dead cold.” The voice was quiet, but the crowd’s silence didn’t deter him from continuing his speech. “That’s fine! Let me give you the run-down of this exam!” He dramatically pointed to the now lit-up screen behind him, and Kosuke's eyes were directed to the row in front of him. A soft rambling of a green-haired boy caught his attention. He didn’t dwell on it. 

“As your application stated, you’ll be conducting ten-minute mock battles in suburban settings! After this, you’ll head to your assigned practice centre, sound good!” The hall remained silent in return; Kosuke just wanted this over and done with. There was no point if it was going to take this long just for an explanation. The moment of silence led to Kosuke pulling out his information card. 

He visibly cringed when he was met with his own face plastered on the card. Stark white hair, pale green eyes, and a sullen expression with a female uniform to match. After reading the battle centre he needed to be at, he stuffed the card away and calmed himself.  

“Okay! At each practice centre, there are three types of virtual villains in every centre, each rewards its own number of points depending on its level of difficulty! Your goal in this trial is to use your quirks to take down these villains to earn points! But don’t hurt other examinees, that’s grounds for disqualification!” The Hero’s voice yelled, causing Kosuke to flinch slightly, back his ears pinning firmly, almost disappearing into his hair if it wasn't for the gentle pink insides.  

“Excuse me, Sir! May I ask a Question?” A boy with dark blue hair stood without hesitation or shame, a light snapping onto his position. On top of all that, he was horrifically loud, so Kosuke needed to fully pin his ears to dull the sound. “Okay!” The Pro agreed without question, “On this printout, you’ve listed four types of villains, not three.” He held up a printout that everyone had been given. The Pro hadn’t finished talking, ‘If he’d just have shut up, it would have been fine.’  

“With all due respect, if this is a misprint of official U.A. material, then it is shameful!” Kosuke groaned. He was ready to just walk out; he was being eaten at by pure, deafening anxiety and second-hand embarrassment at this point. ‘What kind of ego does this guy have...’ “We examinees are here because we wish to be taught by and to be exemplary Heroes. A mistake like this won’t do.” After a brief pause, he spun on his heel to point to the mumbling boy from a short while ago. 

Extending a hand to aggressively point to the boy, “Additionally, you with the unkempt hair, you’ve been muttering the entire time. Stop that. It's distracting the rest of us.” His voice was overly harsh to a boy who was probably just as excited as anyone in this room, yet he was being punished for not being able to contain it like most. ‘This is why I hate people.’  

“Alright, alright. Examinee 7111.” ‘How many of us are there?’ The thought made the Kitsune feel sick. He was never good at dealing with crowds of people. “Thanks for the message. The fourth villain type is worth zero points! That's just an obstacle that will be thrown in your way! Think of it as something to avoid. Not saying it can’t be beat! There’s just no real point!” A small pause was given, “I’d prefer if my listeners ignore them and focus on the ones top of the charts!” 

The blue-haired boy, finally satisfied, bowed, “I’d prefer it if my listeners ignore them and focus on the ones top of the charts!” Kosuke let out a rather loud sigh, his hand gripping the small jewel on his necklace that lay in its prison. “That’s all I got for now! Finally, I’ll sign off with our school motto!” Kosuke stopped paying attention, his ears pinned as he focused on calming down. 

Though he was snapped back to reality rather quickly, “LET’S HEAR A PLUS ULTRA!” The room stayed silent once again.  

{---First person---} 

After all that, everyone was divided into groups based on the battle centre and given an opportunity to change. Which I took. I now wear a sleeveless hoodie paired with some gloves and a pair of custom-made trousers that surprisingly fit my tail. ‘Holy shit. Where the hell did they get the funding for this?!’ I looked around, taking note of the possible quirks of the other people in the exams.  

My ears swivelled around picking up any possible strategies I could steal or use to my advantage, though my eyes locked with cherry red ones that were just. Staring. ‘Creepy, nice eyes though...’ I huffed and looked away. Those eyes were still on me, so I walked to another spot and began to stretch. 

“Alright, start!” Myself and just about everyone else were briefly stunned, but the familiar voice shouted again. “There’s not a countdown in life! Get a move on!!” And with that, the gates opened, and the exam began. 

{------} 

Panting, I looked around, wiping sweat from my brow. Every part of me ached. But it wasn’t over yet. ‘It has to of been at least seven minutes by now.’ I groaned, running around looking for more robots to defeat, only to be flattened.  

Grunting, I attempted to get up. Only to be faulted by my still-stuck leg. ‘Fuck.’ I won’t pass the exam if I'm stuck here for too long. Much to my dismay, the boy whose eyes had lingered on me for too long was coming to my rescue. Though he seemed reluctant to do so. He lifted the rubble briefly, allowing me to get out, before I could mutter anything close to a thank you, he was blasted away by a giant fucking robot. ‘Fan-fucking-tastic.’ I groaned, looking at the boy falling his way down to earth. Using an illusion, a little kitsune to be exact, to grab the back of his shirt and pull him up onto the roof of the building.  

I then ran away, ‘There’s no point in fighting something that won’t benefit me.’ Soon enough, a voice rang out, indicating time was up. ‘Never again.’ 

{---Second person---} 

The exam was over, and you were tired. That was an understatement; you were exhausted, hardly able to pick up your feet. Though you felt you did good, maybe you’d at least get a chance to get into general studies, as long as you were in U.A.U., like your dad wanted.  

“Oi!” An aggressive yell was directed at you, causing you to flinch at the noise before pausing your steps down the path to look at him. You scoffed but stayed put anyway. “What do you want.” It came out of your mouth as a statement rather than a question, “Tsk,” He huffed out before speaking properly. “I want your name, dumbass.” You had to refrain from growling at him like a feral animal. 

“Kosuke Tsurumi.” You spoke as you turned to walk away, “Katsuki Bakugou.” He spoke back, “We’re even now, leave me alone.”  

{------} 

Eventually, you made it home. You were greeted by the usual empty house, except for your latest addition, a gift from your father. A little black and white kitten you had named, Bubbles. Your father was never home, and he rarely called, but you couldn’t complain. He paid for the small home you lived in and gave an incredibly generous allowance every month. You didn’t have to worry about bills, and you got to live rent-free. So, what was there to complain about?  

Though one thing that concerned you was his avoidance of telling you anything about his job, he was loaded with whatever he did. But it bothered you; it reminded you of how All Might avoided questions on his quirk. He would make a joke and change the subject or simply deflect the question. Now, being eighteen, you had long stopped asking.  

With your thoughts interrupted by Bubbles' excessive chirping and running around for attention and food, you gave her what she wanted. Gave her some food before going to the kitchen to treat your burns from your earlier quirk use, then going to bed.  

Chapter Text

A small young girl, no older than three, stood behind her father, a tall man in a black suit, his face completely unintelligible to even the small girl he calls his daughter. A boy no older than eight stood not far away black hair short and shaggy. His face was just as unintelligible as her father's. “Dear, this is £$&^@*.”  

The girl peeked her head out from behind her father's leg, her tiny hands clinging tightly to her dad's trouser leg. “He’s your big brother.” The man spoke as if it were a fact. The girl slowly approached the boy before looking back at her father. “Can we go play?” She was just excited to hand a friend; her father chuckled before allowing her to drag the boy away and into a dark hallway. 

{------} 

Just like that, I jolted awake. “What the fuck was that...” The words were shaky as they left my lips, though I was brought back to reality by Bubbles' mewling for my attention as she stretched. I began to pet her as I thought about whatever that dream was. ‘Maybe I should call Dad. He’ll know what to do about it, hopefully. ‘ 

Finally getting up, I walked over to the bathroom. After a quick shower, I stalked downstairs to feed Bubbles, which she started to happily eat, grabbing my phone I had slipped into my pocket on my way down after my shower. I sat on the couch and began to dial my dad’s number.  

After putting some headphones in, due to it not being practical to hold my phone to my ear because of my anatomy, I just need to wait for dad to pick up.  

“Ah, my dear child, I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me when you didn’t call after the entrance exam.” He spoke with a small chuckle, “I didn’t forget, I was just tired.” I replied with a smile on my face. It was rare that I got to speak to him, so I decided to let this conversation go on for a little longer before I asked my questions.  

 “Well, how did it go?” He was seemingly excited to hear about it. The exams were a week ago as of now, but it was still fresh in my mind. “I think I did well, or rather as well as I could have. I still can’t control those flames; I burnt myself again when I used the...” I muttered as he hummed in response, taking a short while before speaking, “Well, you did the best you could, that's all that matters. Either way, I’m proud of you.”   

That almost made me cry; it wasn’t something I hear often. “Thanks, Dad, but I actually called for” I was cut off by the doorbell. “Oh, let me get the door. I'll be right back.” I spoke quickly, muting myself on the phone before going to the door. I noticed a letter. Why did they ring the doorbell if it was just a letter?   

Picking up the letter, I saw the U.A. seal and rushed to sit back down, unmuting myself quickly. “It’s my U.A.U. letter,” I spoke, my voice shaky as my tail flopped around in my lap. “Don’t let this old man stop you then, good luck, my child. I love you,” I let a large, dumb smile spread across my lips, “Thank you, I love you too, Dad.”  

I hung up. Staring at the letter on the coffee table, anxiety bubbled up in my throat. ‘What if I failed? What would I do then? I’d only applied to U.A.U. because dad asked me to; I didn’t apply anywhere else. If they didn’t accept me, I was fucked.’ Shaking my head free of those thoughts, I opened the letter. A small device landed on my coffee table. Weird. 'A projection of...ALL MIGHT?'   

“Hello! Young man!” His voice made me straighten up as he went through the basics. I was more focused on the fact that the number one hero was currently giving me my exam results. “You got 37 villain points.” ‘That’s way too low...’ “But due to your Heroic act of saving another in the practical exam, you also received 35 RESCUE POINTS!” He stated, causing me to look up, ‘rescue points? That’s a thing?!’ “And that also means, you passed the entrance exam with flying colours! Your written exam was no different.” I was going to cry, but I had to suck it up for now. “As of next week, you’ll join nineteen other trainee heroes and start your Hero Academia!” And with that, the projection turned off.  

I got into U.A.U.! I began to sob as my tail began to wag, my ear flat on my head as Bubbles climbed on my lap to comfort me, and I forgot to ask Dad about that dream. Oh well, that's not important now. For the first time in a long time, I was happy, truly happy. 

Chapter Text

Here I was back at U.A.U., this time as a student. My tail was wagging with slight excitement, though after a few deep breaths, I calmed down, but that didn't stop my tail from wagging, just slowing its movement. After a short walk, I made it into the classroom. Not many people arrived this early, so after I briefly looked around, I found a seat behind the ashen red-eyed blonde who was currently disrespecting school property, ‘Wait. He told me his name, didn’t he? What was it? Bakugou? Why do I care? That guy was an ass for the most part.’  

It seemed his face was in a permanent scowl ever since I walked in. Oh, well, not my problem. Soon, a somewhat familiar voice rang out, yelling at Bakugou for having his feet on the desk. I believe it was the boy who interrupted the practical exam explanation. I didn’t pay it much mind, though instead, I pulled out my sketchbook; to kill some time, I began to draw nothing of much interest, yet my mind wandered, and without realizing that, I began sketching the back of Bakugou's head. After enough time had passed, the door slid open slowly, and a green-haired boy came in with a shocked look plastered on his face.  

Then the familiar dark blue-haired boy began to march up to him. I didn’t pay attention to their conversation as it held no merit for me to do so. Thus, I continued into the page of my sketchbook, realising what had occurred, a small blush of embarrassment creeping to my cheeks. ‘When and how did this happen?’ I thought to myself as I quickly hid the page, closing the book and finally deciding to instead focus on the conversation in time to see... A large caterpillar. Wait, no- a person in a yellow sleeping bag slugged in behind the green-haired boy and whoever was around him.  

Bags under his eyes. “If you’re here to just make friends, you may as well pack up and leave.” A look of concern covered the students' faces   

In a monotone voice, “Welcome to U.A.U.” The yellow bag slightly unzipped as the man quickly consumed a pouch of fruit drink or electrolyte, from what I could assume. Afterward, he stood tall, unzipping the sleeping bag. “It took you lot, eight whole seconds to shut up, and that’s not going to cut it. Time is precious, and rational students would have known that.”  

This man, our teacher, already looked fed up, but I guess that was to be expected; his eyes scanned the classroom. “Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa.” Picking up a uniform from within the box by his feet, he told us to change into the PE uniform to then head outside.  

With those instructions, we left the classroom to head to the respective changing rooms. The uniform wasn’t the worst, but the texture could’ve been better; luckily, it fit comfortably with my tail. It didn’t take long for me to change, although it took me a minute to put up my hair to ensure that it wouldn’t get in the way during whatever was to happen.  

Collectively, everyone changed at a fast enough pace that we made it onto the directed field in around five minutes, give or take. Mr Aizawa was standing there waiting for us to arrive. “Right now, I'll be conducting a quirk assessment test on all of you.” Murmurs filled the small crowd of students. I was unsure of how to feel about it, my tail staying unmoving.   

Bakugou was called up to demonstrate launching the small soft ball into the air with a large explosion and the words ‘die’. The explosion made me flinch, my ears pinning onto my head, as well as a light growl to leave me at the sound. '705.2 meters?! Holy shit...' “This is what I’m talking about! Using our quirks as much as we want!” One of my classmates spoke out, “Yeah! I want a go; it looks like fun.” Another spoke.  

“Oh? Is this fun to you?” Mr. Aizawa paused. “Okay then, whoever comes last. Will be expelled.” shocked gasps and murmurs through the crowd of students.  

{------}  

The tests were rather easy, I didn’t paratactically excel or fall behind. But I wasn't last. Midoriya, however, was. ‘Brutal, but at least it wasn’t me.’ “Oh, and I lied. No one's going home, that way just a rational deception so you’d try your hardest.” ‘Great, I used energy for nothing then.’ 

Chapter Text

Currently, I was walking down the hall to lunch only to be stopped by someone calling out to me. “Hey!” I turned to face the noise and was greeted by a slightly shorter brunette girl, “Hello?” I was confused as to why she was talking to me. ‘Does she know me?’ “Your Tsurumi, right?” ‘She must’ve picked it up at some point.’ “Yes, that's me. How can I help you?” My voice came out a lot sterner and colder than I intended. Then I noticed two boys follow up behind her, who I now knew as Izuku Midoriya and Tenya Iida.  

“I’m Ochako Uraraka!” She gave a brief pause to look at my now swaying tail, ‘She seems too friendly...' “I wanted to know if you wanted to sit with us at lunch. You seem to be alone a lot, and I thought you would want some company!” My eyes widened, ‘How did she possibly guess that?’ “Sure, I don’t have anywhere else to be.” A minuscule smile grew on my face; I was surprised that the boys behind her seemed at least happy I was joining them.   

Uraraka carried on a conversation as we walked down the hall; I made sure to listen despite her fast words, nodding along occasionally. Midoriya and Iida seemed to do the same but sometimes gave verbal answers, compared to me, who stayed silent.  

{------}  

Upon reaching the dining hall, I took note of how crowded it was; then again, it did have all the students from all the courses and years. ‘I should’ve expected this,’ I followed behind them all as we joined the line, soon getting some white rice with curry that seemed to be loaded with vegetables, not that I minded.   

After sitting down, we began to eat me included as Midoriya took over the conversation. “Oh! Tsurumi?” I looked towards him, hearing my name, “What’s your quirk? Other than the obvious, you turned into a fox during the assessment test for the fifty-meter dash, you nearly beat Iida!”  

“That’s right, it was a puff a smoke, then you were a fox, the same when you changed back.” Iida chimed in, Uraraka nodding eagerly along as they looked at me, my face flushed as all their attention turned to me.  

“My quirk is called Kitsune, it’s self-explanatory really. I can do most things a Kitsune can do, like being able to transform into a fox and create illusions.” I spoke out quietly but loud enough for them to hear, “That’s amazing!” Uraraka piped up, “Indeed, creating illusions can be very effective in battle.” Iida agreed with Uraraka, but Midoriya, however, seemed to be mentally noting everything down. “What about the drawbacks? Every quirk has them. How do you create your illusions? And how long can you use them for?” I sighed, ‘This guy really likes quirks, huh?’   

{------}  

After all of Midoriya’s tedious questions and Uraraka’s undeserved praise, we were finally back to regular conversations. Surprisingly, I fit in this group well. ‘Does this mean they’re my friends now?’ We were walking back to class, Hero basic training with All Might of all Heroes.  

It was quiet while we all waited, but it was short-lived, “I AM... COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!” That elicited a small giggle from me, but I quickly repressed it as shocked gasps and murmurs made a wave across the class. “I am responsible for your basic hero training! Think of it as Hero 101, here you will learn the basics of being a pro!” All Might gave us a brief pause so we could process his words before continuing, “Let’s get into it! Today’s lesson will pull no punches!” ‘Combat training? Great. Just great’   

“And to go with that are these! Costumes based on your quirk registrations and requests you sent in before school started.” Once again, All Might gave a brief pause to process and be in awe of the fact that we had costumes before stating. “Once you change, gather in ground Beta!”  

{----------}  

In the boys’ changing room, as expected, it was loud. Very loud. I was attempting to keep to myself; I stayed where my locker was, keeping my back turned as I stripped off my shirt and very quickly covered myself with the top half of my hero uniform, a binding that wrapped around my chest it was an off white and resembled bandages, a haori to cover it I kept it open in the middle tying it at the waist with a rope and utility belt, more importantly the haori covered the dip that was made in the back of my trousers for my tail, it wasn’t far down enough for exposure. But still. The bottom half was rather comfortable: a pair of heavy-duty cargo trousers with some knee pads, and a pair of black boots. The gloves were thankfully not as stiff as I thought. 

“Hey! Anyone in there!” I jumped, looking over at the smiling blonde who was now giggling, “I asked if you were alright. You were spacing out; it was kind of creepy.” My ears shrank back as my tail began its small, nervous twitching movements, “I apologise, I didn’t mean to creep anyone out.” I responded quickly, my head falling forward, “Don’t worry about it, man!” He pats my back, speaking again. “I’m Denki Kaminari!”   

“I'm Kosuke Tsurumi.” ‘He’s loud, but not unpleasant to talk to.’  “Well, Tsurumi, it's nice to meet ya. Good luck in training!” I nodded in response, and he walked away, leaving me to sigh and rush to put on the rest of my hero costume.   

It didn’t have many accessories, aside from my jewel was now held inside a metal box; it looked like a wooden box at first glance. I wasn’t sure how sturdy the box was, and I didn’t want to find out, to be honest, and so I tucked it away into one of my utility belt pouches. 

{------}  

Upon leaving the changing rooms, I followed the small crowd of students that was left to battle ground Beta. I was scanning the area, taking note of everyone's Hero costumes, some more flashy than others. All Might began to speak, but I was more focused on analysing everyone's costumes in an attempt to figure out their quirk.  

A girl with pink skin and yellow antenna wore a purple and pink camo costume. She pulled it off well. Bakugou had two large gauntlets on his arms. ‘I hope I don’t have to find out what those are for.’ The boy who talked to me in the locker rooms, Kaminari, wore simple clothing: a shirt with a leather jacket, black trousers, as well as a device on the side of his head.  

“Hey! Tsurumi!” My ears swivelled to the sound of Uraraka’s voice. I waved to her as she did to me, and I quickly walked over. She had on a tight black and white skintight body suit, a visor for her face, large heels, and some things on her hips. “Did you need something, Uraraka?” I questioned, confused as we hadn’t spoken outside of lunch, she quickly shook her head, “Your costume looks so cool, and comfortable!” ‘She really loves praising people, doesn’t she?’ I thought to myself as my tail began to unconsciously wag at the undeserved praise,  

“I should’ve been more specific about-” She paused what she was saying as Midoriya finally arrived wearing a bright green...bunny suit? ‘Why did he choose that? Surely something else fit him better?’ Izuku and Uraraka began to talk, so I just faded off into the background.  All Might began to talk about the two-on-two battles that would take place, and I paid attention loosely. The battles would be conducted indoors with a hero team and a team of villains inside. The job of the Heroes was to capture or secure the fake weapon. The villain teams' job was to capture the Heroes or to simply protect the fake weapon until time runs out. Questions rang out as the explanation came to an end. The teams would be decided by lots. I only paid attention to mine, Team A, consisting of me and Midoriya.  

‘That isn’t terrible, maybe I’ll gain a real friend out of Midoriya while I’m at it.’  

I made my way over to Midoriya, smiling at him, “Guess we’re a team, huh?” I spoke softly as Midoriya seemed to be ecstatic about something. All Might reached into the boxes to draw who was against whom, Team A against Team D. ‘Whose on team D-’ I drag my gaze over and suddenly I felt less confident seeing that Bakugou and Iida were Team D, ‘Guess I will find out what those gauntlets are for after all...Great.’   

“Team A will be the heroes and Team D will be the villains!” All might's voice rang out, “Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch.” I looked over at Midoriya only to see a slightly scared look on his face as Bakugou scowled at him, ‘What’s going on between those two? Never mind that, I need to focus.’ After a brief second, Midoriya shot a determined look at Bakugou, ‘Are they rivals, maybe? I could be reading into this too much.’ I shook away the thought. 

{--------------}  

We were all guided to a building, both Midoriya and I stayed outside, while, after a brief conversation with All Might, Bakugou and Iida went inside to get to the fake weapon.   

I was currently looking at the floor plan of the map, as was Midoriya beside me, “Are you alright, Midoriya? You seem awfully tense, not to mention you're sweating through your costume.” I replied with genuine concern. It wasn’t long before Midoriya spoke, “Uh, well, it's just because we're up against Kacchan.” ‘Kacchan? Does he mean Bakugou? For someone who has Bakugou's attitude, that's an adorable nickname.’ Midoriya continued, “And there’s Iida, too, so I feel we should be on our guard, who knows what they’ll pull.”   

‘He has a point there; neither of us should let down our guard.’ “Well, I think we have a chance, from what I heard about the entrance exam, and saw in the assessment test. You have an amazing quirk, so if we can preserve it, we should be fine.” I shot him a small smile in hopes of calming his nerves and my own, my tail twitching around as I did. “Thank you, Tsurumi. I needed that,” Midoriya paused, thinking for a moment. “I think I have a plan.” He gave me that determined look, and I responded with one in kind.  

“Alright, let's begin the indoor combat training, your time starts now!” And with that, we were off.  

{------}  

We entered through one of the windows of the building, my ears standing up and swivelling around as I tried to pick up any sound of movement as we crept about. The building was full of long hallways that looked eerily familiar, ‘It reminds me of that dream... Knock it off, it's not the time for that!’ I quickly shook off the thought, returning to my job of being the lookout to listen for movement. My head snapped to an upcoming corner,   

“Midoriya! On your right!” I shouted, Midoriya barely had time to dodge half his mask getting blown off, the noise caused me to stumble back for a moment, my ears briefly pinning themselves to my head before perking back up. “Don’t worry, it's just my mask!” He reaffirmed my tail stilled as I watched the two. ‘How had Bakugou been so quiet? I should’ve heard him long before he got to us.'   

“Come, Deku, don’t dodge.” ‘Deku? That's what he calls Midoriya?’  

“I figured you’d come for me first.” I watched the interaction, my tail swaying, watching, waiting. Bakugou rushed back in, and I backed off, ‘I hate this plan, hurry up and give the signal, I can’t just do nothing, Midoriya.’  

“I won’t do too much damage, so they’ll have to stop the fight, but I’ll come fucking close!” He attempted to launch an explosion only to be caught by Midoriya, who then threw Bakugou over his shoulder in a Supplex-type move. Bakugou took a hard hit as his back slammed into the floor, knocking whatever air he had in his lungs out.  

I listened in on their conversation, staying put and sticking to the plan, my tail twitching with anticipation. Once Bakugou was back on his feet, he seemed to completely ignore me. ‘That's rude. You have two opponents, you know!’ A small huff left me, but I didn’t move, intent on sticking to the plan. Bakugou was loud in voicing his hatred for Midoriya, ‘He’s a right piece of shit.’ Bakugou then talked into his earpiece. Judging from what I heard, he left Iida behind to pursue Midoriya. ‘That was a stupid move, Iida’s faster and now he’s stuck playing the waiting game cause of Bakugou’s erect ego.’ That thought left a foul taste in my mouth, and I resisted the urge to bare my teeth.  

“Tsurumi, now!” And with that, I ran off down the seemingly endless halls, the sound of Midoriya’s fight fading out as I focused on locating the weapon. After a short while, I paused, ‘He’s above me.’ I sighed, focusing my energy to create a singular illusion of myself and sending it up to the floor with the weapon. ‘It takes a lot to create an illusion that’s solid, so I hope this fight doesn’t last long, and Midoriya’s plan works.’   

In hopes of getting to Midoriya sooner, I turn into a rather large fox. ‘I can’t speak like this, but all my senses are much keener, nor does it take that much energy. It’ll make it easier to find him.’ And with that, I began running and tracking Midoriya with precision.  

{-----------------}  

I could hear them talking now, ‘By the sounds of it, Midoriya was able to hold out. Good.’ I kept running forward, Bakugou’s shouts getting louder as I approached. ‘Wait, what was that noise? Did one of them open something?’ I sped up, genuinely worried for Midoriya’s safety. Something was building up; I could hear it. Seeing the glowing light from that Gauntlet. I acted quickly.  

I had taken the brunt of the blow, though what mattered was that I protected Midoriya.  

But now I was hardly in shape to fight.   

I had been able to carry him out the way and into a clearing, yet his injuries were bad, but they were minimal compared to the now charred skin on my left arm and the side of my ribs. Luckily, my jewel or its box wasn't damaged.  

“Tsurumi!” Midoriya quickly panicked seeing the extent of my injuries; thankfully, I was able to briefly ignore them as I’ve had severe burns before. I knew how to deal with them. “I’m alright for now, Midoriya, focus on the fight,” I stated firmly despite the blossoming pain that was creeping up my arm and the side of my ribs. Bakugou walked out of the smoke as Midoriya got up, ready to continue fighting, while I focused on making sure I still had an even slight connection to my illusion. ‘That’s good, it’s still stalling. Just a little longer.’   

Bakugou, after his spiel, seemed to notice my very not okay condition, which made him falter. ‘I doubt he would’ve done the same with Izuku. What’s the difference? He still launched that attack after all.’  

All Might's voice rang out, warning Bakugou of something. The truth was, after a blast like that, being so close to my ears. I couldn’t hear anything but them ringing. I was only able to respond to Midoriya’s words earlier because I could read his lips.  

Izuku said something to me I couldn’t quite catch, but judging by his face, it was something about my Illusion, so I relaxed as much as I could and told it to stay out of the way. ‘There isn’t much I can do to help with this injury. Sorry Midoriya’   

Upon looking at their ongoing fight, Bakugou was acting too fast for Midoriya to plan out any moves. ‘Bastard...This is just a training exercise. Why are you trying to kill him?!’ Midoriya ran to a specific corner, and by now, my hearing was starting to clear. I stood to my feet, ready to back Midoriya up despite my injuries.  

They ran to each other. Midoriya seemed to be powering something up, while Bakugou readied another explosion. Midoriya looked at me briefly and gave a subtle movement to back away. ‘Idiot, you can’t do this by yourself!’ But I didn’t interfere; he seemed to need this. Maybe to prove himself, whether that be to himself or others. ‘I can understand that...’ I backed up slightly. 

I had to practically smother my ears due to the air pressure and extremely loud noise that ran through the building. Realising this, I sent a mental order to my illusion, ‘Get to the weapon, use the explosion as a distraction!’ I could only hope this worked.   

Bakugou and Midoriya began to speak again, but my attention was drawn to the ceiling, the one that was going to come down. They were unaware. The blast had shifted their positions; they were now under a partially destroyed part of the ceiling. One that was growing unstable by the second.   

‘They need to move. They’ll be crushed!’ I opened my mouth only to hear a small sound of a small part of the ceiling hitting the floor. ‘I don’t have time. Will I be fast enough? No. I have to be!’   

I had to think quickly. All Might’s voice rang out, announcing our team's win, and was the last nail in the coffin for the ceiling to start falling. Gathering as much energy as I could, I ran forward, smoke bursting off my body as I changed into that large fox from before.  

Silence.  

{------}  

‘What’s going on? Wait, Bakugou, Midoriya! Are they okay? Did I save them?’ My thoughts paused as I coughed out dust. ‘Oh. I’m the one trapped now. Wait.  Why am I so small?’ A brief look down revealed I had shrunk into a much smaller size than I thought possible. I was barely the size of Bubbles! ‘At least it doesn’t seem they’re trapped with me.’  

A voice rang out, “Oi! Over here!” ‘Bakugou? Wait a second, is that light?’ A wince left my now much smaller body as my eyes adjusted to the light. “Good work, young Bakugou. Get him to the nurse.” ‘All Might too?’   

Finally, I slowly passed out due to my injuries.  

{-------------------------}  

Children's laughter filled the dark space. A large, well-kept garden, grass for as far as the children could see, flowers in bushes and crevices. The children in question were a small girl running away from her elder brother in a game of chase. A dark, clouded figure was watching over them with a light smile beneath his guise. The girl was only around five, the boy was around ten years of age; his quirk was unclear.  

 “I got you!” The elder boy exclaimed, his black hair having a blueish grey sheen from the scalp, his fingertips grazing the girl's back, narrowly missing the tip of her tail. Though the moment was short lived as the younger girl cried out in pure agony. The boy watched on in horror; everything went black once more.  

{----------------------}  

My eyes snapped open. ‘Another one of those dreams,’ I paused and looked around the room seemed empty, besides the chair next to the bed. Wait. “Bakugou?” My voice was weak; I hadn’t even meant to speak the words, just spilled out. I was surprised he was even here, with his attitude. He scoffed, speaking in an aggressive tone, “You're a stupid mutt.” It was a statement, ‘He stayed just to insult me. Great.’ “The old lady will be back soon, don’t move.” Those words were slightly less harsh as he grabbed his bag and left.  

‘Wait. My jewel!’ I sat up, groaning at the pain, and looking around, finding the box, practically untouched, on the side table. A sigh left my lips, ‘At least I don’t have to worry about if it’s sturdy or not.’   

Bakugou was correct, the old lady did come back, and after a scolding, she fixed me up properly. Now I have moved energy. “Thank you,” I gave her a light bow to which she brushed off. “Just be careful, you’re far too reckless!” She scolded me again, and I was quick to make my way home. None of my classmates seemed to stick around, so I was on my own... I think.  

{------}  

Upon getting home, I was immediately greeted by Bubbles, who was very angry that I wasn’t there to feed her at the usual time. I amended our friendship by feeding her and filling up her water bowl.  

I felt unnerved. That dream. It felt familiar. It felt real. Too real for any dream, I’ve had lucid or not. Shaking away that thought, I walked upstairs, Bubbles now following behind me.  

The feeling you couldn’t shake. Was a feeling of being watched. 

Chapter Text

‘You’ve got to be kidding me... Vulturous assholes.’ The media seemed to be covering every gate into U.A.'s Great. Just great.’ You only took one step forward towards the crowd before, “Hey, you!” A woman called out, already rushing to shove a microphone in your face. “What’s the symbol of peace like as a teacher?!” Your ears flattened at her shouting, ‘I’m right next to her, why the fuck is she shouting!’ You didn’t say a word, rushing inside, tail held in your hands at your side in case any of the media got the bright idea to grab it and rip out your spine in the process.  

On top of that, you could feel something different. As if someone was burning holes into the back of your skull with their eyes. Someone, or something, is watching YOU. Whether you know it or not.  

{----------}  

Inside the building, it was much calmer. You were beyond thankful for that, though only a few of your classmates were inside; others were most likely held up by the media storm. Mr. Aizawa wasn’t in the class either, meaning he’d most likely gone to shoo the media away. ‘Can’t I ever have a normal day at this school?’. You shook the thought from your mind quickly; you would rather take combat training over villains any day.   

More students filed in, some more nervous than others. ‘That means the teachers haven’t been able to get rid of the media. Great. I just hope they're not there when class ends.’ A voice cut through your thoughts, “Hello!” You looked up to see a pink-skinned girl standing over you. “O-Oh, hello.” You cursed yourself for stuttering, which only seemed to amuse her. “You're that fox boy, Tsurumi, right?” She hummed with that large smile on her face, “Yes, can I help you?” ‘She didn’t seem approachable before, but she’s a cheery person. Maybe I should attempt to make friends with her?’   

“I’m Mina Ashido!” She wasn’t done talking, however, “You saved Midoriya and Bakugou from that falling ceiling like it was nothing!” She waved her arms about, ‘She reminds me a bit of Uraraka, more outspoken though.’ “Oh, well, it was more reckless than anything, I could’ve gotten seriously hurt or failed-” She cut me off. “Stop putting yourself down! You did great! No friend of mine will talk about themselves like that!” She scolded, ‘Friends already?’   

{------}  

Finally, Mr. Aizawa arrived to start class, saving you from Mina’s overbearing conversation. Mainly because you ran out of things to respond with, you quite liked her. “Good work on yesterday's combat training. I looked over the video and results.” He stated in his usual monotone voice. ‘Great, now I'm going to be scolded again for being reckless.’ “Bakugou, you’re talented, so don’t sulk like a child.”  

Bakugou scoffed, “I know.” ‘At least his ego wasn’t damaged. Yay for us...’  

“Midoriya, you settled it by breaking another arm, huh? You keep saying it’s because you can’t control your quirk. That’s already getting old. Just fix the control issues, and you’ll be fine. Have some urgency.” He scolded and praised both boys in his own way. ‘Favouritism...’   

“And Tsurumi,” ‘Here it comes...’ “You were far too reckless. But in turn, your classmates live to see another day. Next time, don’t let yourself be a human shield just because you can change your form.” ‘Hopefully, there won't need to be a next time.’   

“Now let's get down to business. Sorry for the late notice, but I'll have you...” ‘No more combat training, I still have to see the recovery girl for my second session...’ You practically begged yourself your ears already pinning themselves to your head. Everyone seemed to have a similar sentiment on their faces.  

“Decide on a class representative.” ‘Oh, finally something normal.’ Your tail began to sway in slight relief, your ears returning to a half-up position. “I want to be class rep! Pick me!” A loud red head shot up, clearly excited. A few more hands shot up, similar words of ‘me!’ or ‘pick me!’ “I’ll be the leader!” Ashido’s voice rang out.  

“Silence, please!” Iida shouts, gaining everyone's attention. ‘Thank you, Iida, I owe you for that.’ Your ears finally felt relief; now everyone was quiet and listening to Iida. “It is a job with the serious responsibility of leading others. It is not a job for just anyone who wants to do it.” ‘Okay, maybe he was taking this a bit too seriously.’ “It is a calling that requires the trust of those around you. The most efficient way to decide is democratically; we’ll have an election.” ‘Oh, Iida, you really want this role, huh?’ A small chuckle left your lips at the thought.  

After a few back and fourth, Iida called on Mr. Aizawa to settle the situation. “What do you think, Mr. Aizawa?” Mr. Aizawa couldn’t seem to care as he was already halfway into his sleeping bag. ‘Where the fuck did he pull that from!?’ No one else seemed to question it; most had gotten used to the teacher's habit of sleeping when there wasn’t anything active for him to do. “I don’t care as long as you get it done before homeroom is over.” And with that, their teacher flopped over and fell asleep, ‘How does he fall asleep so easily!?’ You sighed. There was no point in trying to find out.  

“Thank you very much!” ‘He took that as an agreement to his idea? Well, I guess Mr. Aizawa didn’t disagree either, so well done for the small win, Iida.’  

{------}  

It only took a short while before everyone's votes were in, and the results were final. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were the representatives. ‘Guess I was the only one to vote for Iida, huh? Oh well, sorry Iida.’ Bakugou seemed furious that anyone voted for Midoriya; you weren’t as surprised, considering Midoriya’s eye for strategy. “Why Deku?! Who voted for him?!” Bakugou’s shouting really was starting to get on your nerves and hurt your ears. ‘After taking that blast for Midoriya, most of it anyway, they're even more sensitive to loud noises, you win some, you lose some, I guess.’   

“Did you think anyone was going to vote for you?” A black-haired boy spoke from beside you. You may not have spoken to him at all before, but his sass was admirable, especially towards someone like Bakugou, who now looked ready to blast him to pieces. Uraraka was whistling a few seats behind you, indicating she probably voted for Midoriya. Iida looked rather devastated at only having one vote. ‘Poor Iida, I tried my best.’   

Poor Midoriya seemed too nervous and flustered at all the attention, and the fact that he was chosen to get any words out with stuttering. Yaoyorozu, however, was composed, and you had to admit she was very pretty. Classmates began chatting about their new class reps, while you had begun to draw, you drew nothing in particular, you just wanted to relax a bit before the class bell rang.   

{-------}  

At lunch, you once again sat with Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka. They were a nice group and easy to get along with, so you stuck to what you knew. Midoriya was busy talking while you just ate happily, your tail wagging next to where you sat. You had to admit, Lunch Rush's food was better than any you could make at home or order in.  

You were currently picking apart and very hastily eating your fish, only perking up when the conversation grew interesting. “Your judgment and courage in critical moments make you worth following,” Iida stated firmly to Midoriya, to which you nodded along. “That’s why I voted for you.” ‘So, he voted for Midoriya.’ “I agree, I voted for you, Iida, for a similar reason. You take charge and grab everyone's attention; it calms everyone quickly, like in the classroom today.” You faced Iida as you spoke with a toothy smile on your face, your first proper smile in a long while; most at the table seemed stunned. “You’re the one who voted for me?!” You nodded, a bit confused by his reaction.  

The other two, however, seemed to be more focused on your slightly faltered by still toothy smile. ‘I forgot about my fangs! I must’ve scared them!’ You switched to a closed-mouth smile, and soon the conversation became normal.  

“-Observing the Iida family's hero agency taught me that.” Iida’s voice finally cut your thoughts. You paused ‘Hero agency?’ “Uh, oh, it's nothing.” Iida attempted to brush it off. Uraraka didn’t let it go, however, “You know, I've been wondering something about you, Iida.” She briefly paused, “You're crazy rich, aren’t you!” You paused, ‘That’s what she’s got out of that? Why does money matter so much in this world?   

“I was afraid people would treat me differently if they knew about my family.” ‘Poor Iida’ still liked the other two; you stared intently. “You see, the Iidas have been pro heroes for generations. I’m the second son,” you all made slightly shocked sounds before Iida continued. “Do you know the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?” Midoriya began to get into one of his rambles, which by now you found quite adorable. “He is my elder brother!” Iida proudly exclaimed, “He is a likeable Hero who honours the rules and leads people.”   

“That might be the first time we’ve seen you smile, Iida!” Uraraka pointed out, ‘Yeah, she’s right, he doesn’t smile much. Then again, neither do I. I hope.’ “I smile!” Iida protested, “She’s right, Iida, you don’t smile a lot.” You loosely agreed with Uraraka while Midoriya seemed lost in thought. “About the entrance exam-” Midoriya couldn’t finish his sentence before a shrill alarm rang out, causing your ears to ring and for you to cover your ears to further stifle the noise.  

“There has been a level 3 security breach. All students, please evacuate outdoors promptly.” A robotic voice rang out, not that you couldn't hear much of what it was saying over the alarm. Iida leaned over, attempting to get information from another student, only to seem further disturbed.   

Choas. Was the word you would use to describe what happened next? In your attempt to get the exit, you were now being sandwiched and crushed between other students who were panicking. ‘I may have been seen by a recovery girl, but the skin still hurts!’ Whatever was left of your wounds was screaming in pain as they were squeezed and elbowed between students.  

Your lungs felt tight as you began to struggle to breathe. ‘Is this what crowd crush feels like?’ You thought as you yelped when your tail was twisted at an awkward angle, causing pain to shoot up your spine.   

Suddenly, you were pulled up onto a table by a familiar voice and a set of pink hands. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you!” ‘Ashido!’ you thought to yourself as air finally made its way into your lungs. “Thank you, Ashido,” She gave you a large smile and a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about it! Plus, it was Kirishima who spotted you. Oh, and your poor tail!” She began to fret over your twitching and currently unkempt tail, something about its natural beauty being ruined.   

Looking behind him, you found the male who spotted you, Kirishima. He was slightly taller than you, a head of red hair and crimson eyes to boot. “Thank you as well, Kirishima.” You felt the need to thank him, while Ashido kept fretting over your tail. “Don’t sweat it, man, glad I could help!” He spoke as he pulled a familiar blonde onto the table, ‘Oh, that's the boy from the locker room, Kaminari, I think.’   

Soon, a familiar voice shouted across the hall, “Everyone! Everything is okay!” Everyone stopped and focused on him, ‘Wow, Iida, well done. Wait, how did he get up there?’ “It is just the media! There is nothing to panic about. Everything is fine!” A small pause, “This is U.A.U.! Let us act in a way befitting the best!” Relief flooded the lunch hall. ‘Well done, Iida, I knew you had it in you!’   

{------}  

Back in the classroom, Midoriya relinquishes his place as the main class rep and elects Iida in his place, ‘I guess I was right to vote for Iida after all.’ The class seemed to agree after Iida’s stunt helped everyone in the lunch hall. Another smile crept onto your face as your tail wagged slightly in your lap. 

Chapter Text

“For today’s basic Hero training, you’ll have three instructors. Myself, All Might, and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you.” Mr. Aizawa’s voice cut across the room, and a student piped up. “What training will we be doing?” ‘Sticking your hand up and asking the question isn’t how that works, but whatever works for you, I guess.’ “Rescue training, everything from disasters to shipwrecks and everything in-between.” ‘Rescue training. Not sure if I'll be any good at that.’ Gasps and excited murmurs erupted through the classroom.   

“Hey, I'm not done.” Aizawa’s voice cut through the class, and everyone went silent in an instant. “You can decide whether to wear your costumes or not this time. But they could limit your abilities since you're not used to them.” A brief pause was made as the costumes exited the wall. “The training will take place off campus, so we're taking a bus. That is all, get ready.”  

{------}  

Looking around, you saw most wore their costumes. Luckily, your costume had somehow taken minimal damage from the blast. How you had no idea. Midoriya, however, was forced to wear a pe uniform since his costume was blown to bits, ‘Maybe it's because I asked for mine to be fireproof?’ You question yourself.   

A whistle cut through your remaining thoughts as Iida urged everyone to gather up. ‘I’m starting to regret voting for him. AND WHO GAVE HIM THAT DAMN WHISTLE!?’ You internally growl, rubbing your ears briefly to reduce the ringing.   

You were all ushered onto the bus, mainly by Iida. You sat beside Ashido, who was insistent on dragging you into the bus and into one of the seats. You sat beside her and in front of Bakugou, who was surprisingly calm. ‘I don’t think he’s ever been this calm, at least not in class.’ Everyone was chatting away, you listened in your tail, luckily were able to fit between these seats and get to sway unhindered.  

The conversations really didn’t interest you, so while you listened and nodded along, you didn’t say much unless Ashido dragged you into a conversation. Unbeknownst to you, however, a certain temperamental blonde was watching your tail, his eyes following it back and forth and so on. Though you weren’t unaware for long, as a hand grabbed your tail. It wasn't harsh, but rather gentle. You still had to contain a yelp as a shiver ran through your spine, and the hand let go, only to occasionally stroke your tail. You weren’t against it, but seeing it was Bakugou with a look into the window, you'd rather not have your tail singed for pointing it out.  

Though you pulled your tail onto your lap when they began to tease and antagonise Bakugou. This caused him to lash out. ‘I guess I spoke too soon.' A rather loud sigh escaped your lips, causing Ashido to rub your back and encourage you. The bus ride should be over soon. ‘She must think I've got motion sickness. Ashido, you're so nice.’ I gave her a weak smile, causing her to smile back with a thumbs-up.   

“We’re here. Stop messing around.” Mr. Aizawa’s voice cut through the students' teasing. You paused to look at his finger after seeing something catch the light. ‘Is that... A ring?! What woman would marry such a harsh man?’ You stuck your tongue out and shook your head at the thought, reassuring Ashido you were fine.   

{------}  

Upon stepping out, you were greeted by Thirteen, another Hero. “Welcome, everyone. I’ve been waiting for you.” Gasps and excited faces spread across your classmates like wildfire. Midoriya started one of his rambles about who Thirteen was. ‘This boy knows every Hero, doesn’t he?’ “Let’s go inside without a delay!”   

Thirteen began to talk about the different centres around the U.S.J. You listened intently. Though you couldn’t shake the dread that began gathering like bile in your throat, Ashido, the ever-good friend, began to ask if you still felt unwell and if you needed to sit out. You reassured her you felt well enough to do the exercise, while she backed off; she didn’t seem convinced.  

You didn’t bother to follow the conversation between Mr. Aizawa and Thirteen. To focus on the suffocating feeling in your chest, the burning of dread in your throat, ‘Nothing's going to happen, everything is fine. Everything is....’ Thirteen was explaining something, but your eyes were busy searching, hoping to find, or rather not find, the source of dread.   

The light flickered and dimmed. ‘No. Everything will be fine, m-maybe the lights are just malfunctioning, everything will be-’ You shut your eyes, lifting your head, opening them again, and you saw.  

Black mist. By the fountain, you hated your gut being right.  

‘This isn’t part of the exercise...’ You were the first to realise. You straightened your back and focused on the villains pouring out the mist. You scan through them, your pupils turning to slits as you focus, intent on possibly finding the ringleader, you weren’t sure why. But you did. Two caught your attention, aside from the one with black mist, one with light blue hair, and covered in hands? And another, it was a grotesque creature covered in scars. A yellow beak that looked like it’d been strapped to its face, its brain exposed, its eyes were hauntingly empty. You gulped as your ears lay flat on your hair, unmoving, your tail already wanting to shift and cower between your legs. You held firm, steeling your nerves.   

Conversations were had, but you were frozen in place. At this point, Ashido was practically coddling you as she attempted to get you out of your thoughts. “I’m okay.” The words came out shaky and as firm as you could muster, giving her a weak smile. She continued to pat your back, though she had stopped talking, focusing on the preceding conversations. You finally did the same.  

Midoriya was attempting to convince Mr. Aizawa not to go against the villains by himself. It was a reckless move. Something Aizawa himself scolded you for several hours ago in home room, yet here you were. Going to do something reckless to protect his students. ‘I see because it’s him, he gets a pass. Tsk, you mentally scoffed, your mood lightening slightly as you ran with Thirteen and the others to the exit. The class's attempted escape didn’t last long.  

“I won’t let you.” A deep voice made everyone pause in their steps to safety, ‘He was behind us a moment ago, what happened?!’ Your thoughts were loud as your ears stood you not wanting to miss any potential useful information. “Nice to meet you.” ‘He can speak, but even I can’t see if he has a physical body.’ You paused, something about this voice, whatever they were, they were familiar. You shook your head, refusing to dwell on it.  

“We are the league of villains. It may be presumptuous of us, but we invited ourselves into the nest of Heroes that is U.A. University.” He gave a brief pause, “For the symbol of peace, All Might, to take his final breath.” You froze, ‘Do they really possess a way to kill All Might? No. They can’t have. Right?’ You gulped, trying to keep your breathing under control. “We believe All Might should have been here, no? Was there an unforeseen change? Well, that is neither here nor there. This is the part I am to play.”   

The mist expanded as if it were opening a pair of wings. You stumbled back a bit, taken aback by the sheer size of it. Just as Thirteen raised a hand, Bakugou and Kirishima leaped into action, both aiming for the mist villain. ‘Those idiots! They’ll get themselves killed!!’ You panicked, unable to focus enough to be of any help, and Bakugou launched an explosion. Smoke obscured everyone's view of the villain and the boys.  

“Did you think we’d just sit by and listen?” Kirishima’s voice trailed out of the smoke as it slowly cleared, and both boys seemed unscathed, yet the villain wasn't affected at all. ‘He must not have a physical body, or his physical body was separate from this one and was somewhere else entirely.’ Your thoughts began to run wild, “Oh dear, that’s dangerous.”  

“Even if you are just students, you seem to be perfect golden eggs.” ‘What the fuck does he mean by that!?’ “No! Move away, you two!” Thirteen cried, out their arm still raised, “My job is to scatter you all!” The mist was unescapable. You crouched in on yourself slightly as you were consumed by the mist, and just like that, everything went black.  

{------}  

A young girl, struggling to fall asleep with pain blossoming on her back. She was no older than five, her upper body practically encased in bandages. A dark, obscured figure sat nearby, not speaking, but his whole body seemed to be moving beneath his clothes. “$£&@” The name was unrecognisable; it was far too distorted to be heard properly. “Yes, my lady?” The figure's voice was no better, yet it held some comfort. “D-do you think I’ll be able to see £$@&$£ again?” The girl spoke, saddened at the mention of another unbearable name. “Do you wish to?” The figure spoke again, “Of course! It was just an accident!” The girl shot up in her bed before clutching her upper body in pain.  

{------}  

You found yourself now in the centre, where your teacher was fighting. ‘Another one of those dreams? Why here-’ Your thoughts were cut off by your teacher having to protect you. “Why are you here?” He took a protective stance beside you. “That mist guy teleported us everywhere,” you stated, taking a stance yourself, “I can fight. Don’t worry about protecting me!” You attempted to reassure your teacher, ‘There’s no time to think, not now. Just remember your stances and you’ll be fine!’ Your teacher didn’t seem convinced, but he couldn’t dwell on it, swinging a kick at another villain, your metal knee pad connecting with his chest. 

You took a firm and closed stance as Aizawa finally separated, leaving you, though unwilling. You waited to look at your opponent. Once they got close, you twisted your body and spread your stance and sank low to the ground. A plume of blue flames pushed out from your body, forcing them away and giving them a minor burn., ‘Good, now they’re keeping their distance. Now I need to knock out this group and lighten Mr. Aizawa's load.’ One villain stepped forward seemingly for a one-on-one.  

‘Don’t falter, focus.' You made your stance wide once again, letting out a shaky breath. The villain ran forward. You stayed put; you were able to produce a whip-like structure made from those familiar flames, using it in a flicking motion towards the villain's Achilles heel, causing him to fall over. ‘I can’t keep this up for long... My temperature is already rising, please let the other pros get here before my skin starts charring.’ You silently beg, looking at your opponent closing in.  

You stayed with using most defensive moves, trying not to use a lot of flames in one go, hoping to minimise the damage to your skin and rising fever. Most of the ones fighting you now were long-range, forcing you to use the fire as a shield, but it wasn't helping with your fever. You swore you could feel your blood starting to boil.  

Eventually, you were able to get a glimpse of your teacher. He was launching him into a fight with the hand guy you saw at the beginning. You had a bad feeling, so after shaking off the villain you were fighting, you rushed over. Only to see your teacher's hair fall, his quirk de-activating as he had to blink, the villain's hand tightly wrapped around his elbow. ‘Wait, what's his quirk-’ you nearly froze in place as you saw the skin on his elbow... ‘Did the skin just fall off?! No. Wait. It was more like it was decaying...’ That looked so eerily familiar.   

Pain blossomed through the lengthy scar on your back. ‘I have to save him. If I don’t...’ You shook away the thought, not wanting to know what would happen if you weren’t fast enough or flat-out failed. ‘I need to move!’ Your body moved without instruction, uncaring of the true danger. Aizawa was back on his feet, fighting, while you attempted to think of anything you could do. Your emotions spiralled out of control, leading to white smoke filling the area.  

{---------------}  

Your mind was clouded, and you saw your teacher's face smash into the ground. It was only for a moment. But you were able to switch him out. You weren’t sure how. You could hardly see or think as you carried him away. ‘Wait, I’m carrying him. I’m not....’ you quickly noticed you were not human anymore. Rather a much larger fox than you should have been able to turn into. Your teacher's bleeding body lay on your back, and a sharp pain made itself known now in your left back leg as you were able to get to a shrouded area.  

‘How was I able to do that-’ You felt an agonising pain as you were forced back into being human. Your energy was depleted, yet the illusion was still going. The pain felt like you were being torn inside out, limbs feeling as if they were twisting unnaturally. You placed your unconscious teacher against a tree as you bit back a scream. You shakily looked over, realising you were experiencing the pain that the illusion of your teacher was going through. But while fully awake, and nothing but blood loss to dull the pain.   

‘Wait, my leg!’ You finally to note of the gash on your leg, it was deep and long, but it wouldn’t need stitches. After applying pressure to the wound, you found your teacher had minimal bleeding, thankfully. You took a brief look at your teacher's scarf, ‘Sorry, Mr. Aizawa, but I need it.’ You used the capture weapon to secure your wound; it was uncomfortable, sure, but it stopped the bleeding. You cough as your head feels as if it's been slammed into the ground, and no longer able to deal with the pain it brought. Your illusion finally ceased, leaving you gasping for air.  

Your ears stood to attention as you listened for any type of sign that a hero was here. And then you heard it. All Might's voice, you left the clearing, leaving your teacher's body briefly to see the number one Hero. You felt tears catch in your eyes, but you dispelled them; those had to wait. The fight was not over. “I had a bad feeling, so I hurried over.” His voice was stern, but he wasn’t smiling like usual. “I ran into young Iida, who informed me of the situation.” ‘Well done, Iida, you saved us all...’  

“Have no fear, students. Because I am here.” You saw Midoriya and seemingly Asui, whose name you overheard on the bus, fighting the large creature that was aggressively pummelling your illusion. They seemed to have yet to notice that the Aizawa they were watching being pummelled was fake, ‘Sorry you two had to watch that, but it needed to look real...though I’m still not sure how I did it, I just blacked out.’   

All Might took down the thugs you and Aizawa had previously somewhat struggled fighting in mere seconds. ‘He’s amazing,’ you felt like a child getting giddy from seeing him on TV. You turned around and ran back to your unconscious teacher. All Might seemed to be heading in your direction. “Well done, Young Tsurumi. You did well to protect him.” He gave you a firm pat on the head, “Take him to the main entrance.” You gave a quick nod as he rushed off towards Midoriya. You struggled to carry your teacher; you would have struggled without your leg injury, but now you had a temporary limp. All Might didn’t seem to notice your injury. But you couldn’t blame him since your pant leg covered the capture scarf you used to bind it.  

Soon, All Might reappeared, this time setting down Midoriya and Asui. “You two, help Tsurumi get Aizawa to the main entrance.” As soon as he finished, he shot off to fight again. “I'm glad to see you're alright-” Midoriya cut himself off, seeing the blood on your leg. Asui seemed concerned as well, “Your leg looks like it's bleeding, ribbit.” Midoriya agreed to take Aizawa off your back and instead give him to Asui. Not that you had much choice in the matter. 

“I’ll be fine, I used Mr. Aizawa’s capture scarf to stop the bleeding-”  

“Wait, how did Mr. Aizawa get over here? He seemed to disappear once All Might got here.” Asui agreed, finally noticing  

“I don’t know how, but I created a large-scale illusion. It panned across that area. I managed to get Mr. Aizawa away as well, but I don’t remember much. I blacked out when it happened.” You gave a brief explanation. “I think that thing caught my leg when I switched out Mr. Aizawa for that illusion.” You muttered, “I see. Well, we can’t dwell on it now; we need to get you and Mr. Aizawa to safety.” Midoriya stated firmly as we began to walk to the entrance.  

Everything seemed fine; you followed behind slightly with your limp, but Midoriya and Asui refused to let you help carry Mr. Aizawa, so there was not much you could do. You took another step forward and let out a slight yelp as you sank through the floor. Through a portal. Midoriya turned around in a panic but failed to grab you in time as you fell through the portal.  

You woke up on the floor, still in the U.S.J. You stood as you looked around, only to be met with the villain covered in hands in front of you. Your leg was still throbbing in pain; you forced yourself to stand, although unstable.   

Chapter Text

I stood firm as I could, attempting to form a more defensive stance against the villain who stood a few feet in front of me. ‘I’m vulnerable, yet. He’s not attacking?’ I attempted to move, but ‘Why won't my body move?!’ You held your stance as he spoke, “Finally. I didn’t think I’d get a chance to talk with you alone.” He spoke almost fondly; I paused, panic flooding me as the exhaustion from using my quirk settled in, ‘No, no, no! I’m going to pass out. I need to stall, to at least buy the others some time!’ “What do you want?” I spoke with venom lacing itself through my words, “No need to be so harsh, I don’t want to fight you. We are siblings after all.” He stated, I could practically hear the smirk.  

‘Siblings? No, impossible. I may have a memory and currently a dream problem, but I would know if I had a repulsive and villainous elder brother. This must be a sympathy trick, right? It must be.’ I bared my teeth, “I think I’d rather die than listen to your attempts at getting sympathy from me, you vile piece of shit.” I spat out a growl, following behind it, my tail swishing as if ready to kill, my ears standing straight up to catch any sound of help coming my way. “My dear sister, you wound me.” He feigned hurt, ‘Sister... This guy must think I'm an idiot.’ I could practically feel my blood boil as my fever and anger caught up to me.  

“I don’t know who the fuck you think I am. But I’m most assuredly not your damn sister!” ‘If he knew me for a second, he would know I'm a guy.’ “Oh, right. That thing you're going through still, I suppose I should've called you my little brother, right?” He chuckled. I didn’t see what happened next. I did feel being teleported elsewhere. Then everything went blank.  

{-------------------}  

I was falling. I couldn’t think straight. The blood loss. The fever. The light burns, smothering my skin. On top of the adrenaline wearing off, it hurt to move. I felt so cold, yet my skin burns. I heard a shout; I think it was my name; I can't be sure.  

I didn’t hit the floor; instead, I was caught by something hard and cold. I reached the floor, and I heard the voice again. Another voice chimed in, and a hand was placed on my skin. It was cold again. It felt so nice. Then I was out.  

{--Midoriya Pov! --maybe slightly ooc I'm sorry, it's my first time doing this--}  

Without trying to hurt Mr Aizawa more than he already is, I place him onto Tsu's back while I hold up his legs, turning to All-Might, “That brain villain took on the whole of all for... he took a punch that didn’t break my arm, yet it did not react, not even a twitch. He’s got to be”   

“Young Midoriya! It’s fine!” With that, All-Might left to take on the brain villain, leaving Mr Aizawa in our care. We take our time walking to the entrance after a few moments; I heard a shriek, causing me to look. Tsurumi is partway through a portal. I drop Mr. Aizawa’s legs, running to try and grab him, but ultimately failing.  

I leave Mr Aizawa with Tsu, in an attempt to go and search for Tsurumi. The ground shakes beneath my feet. If anything, it must be All-Might fighting that weird villain; my pace picks up, running towards the commotion. The villain has been slammed face-first into the ground, although its hands are digging into All-Might's sides, and I can see blood soaking his shirt. The villains are trying to drag All-Might into a portal. With that, I begin rushing towards trying to reach All-Might, but my path is blocked by another portal.  

Just as I was saved by Kacchan and the Nomu was frozen in place by Todoroki. I noticed something from above. ‘Wait, that’s!’ “TSURUMI!” I cried out, running towards their falling body, but they didn’t seem to be fully conscious. “Todoroki!” I called out, and Todoroki helped slow Tsurumi’s fall with his ice. Once he was on the ground, I noticed the extent of his injuries. He had moderate blood loss. ‘When he disappeared, he must’ve had to fight, causing Mr. Aizawa's capture scarf to loosen around his leg wound!’ I moved to secure it, only to find burns over most of his body. ‘How did he get these?’ I shook off the thought. Todoroki was also standing close at this point, ready to defend if necessary.  

Upon touching his skin to secure the capture scarf, I had to pull my hand back. ‘It’s like he was put in a pot of boiling water!’ “Todoroki! I need you to use your right side to cool Tsurumi down!” I practically begged, “Alright.” He responded with little emotion, but his hand also briefly recoiled before settling on Tsurumi’s chest. “Something is restricting his chest from fully expanding. I think this part of his hero costume is too tight.” He gestured to the replacement of the off-white binding he had on during training.  

“I can keep his temperature down for now, but it won’t work forever. He needs an ambulance.” Todoroki’s words scared me, ‘An ambulance...’ The severity of Tsurumi’s injuries hit me like a physical blow. After resecuring the capture scarf on Tsurumi’s leg, I spoke, “Todoroki, keep his temperature down as well as you can.” I waited for Todoroki to nod before I took a fighting stance. ‘There isn’t much we can do until the pros get here. I'll have to protect them!’   

{---------third person---------}  

As Kosuke lay unmoving, skin burning up, Todoroki was crouching by his side, doing his best to cool him down, with his hand on Kosuke's chest, noting that something was restricting the frail fox's ability to breathe. Todoroki was helping even if only slightly; his stance allowed him to be ready for anything in terms of whether he needed to join back in the fighting on a moment's notice.  

Whilst Todoroki and Midoriya watch over Kosuke’s lifeless, boiling body. Bakugou, in a brief moment of peace, notices his classmate on the floor, looking half dead. A mixture of urgency and frustration plasters his face. He’s realised just then that it was no time for hesitation, as in his eyes right now. Tsurumi is dying.   

With this, he’s charged up in his fight against the mist villain. “Kurogiri, our entrance and exit, has been overcome. We’re in a pinch.” The hand villain mumbled, more to himself, not many of the heroes or students heard him.   

“You careless bastard. You’re just what I thought you’d be, only parts of you turn into that misty warp gate. Meaning it covers your actual body, right?” Bakugou gave a small pause, “If you were completely made of mist and physical attacks couldn’t touch you, then you wouldn’t have said ‘that was close’ back there.” As the villain tried to move, Bakugou launched explosions from the palm that held down the villain by the neck, the metal burning into his skin. It didn’t matter to him as long as this guy was out of commission; then they couldn’t get away.   

“Don’t move. If I feel like you're moving suspiciously, I’ll blast you to hell.”   

“That’s not very Hero-like,” Kirishima responded to Bakugou’s harsh words. The hand villain just started mumbling to himself once more.  

“Nomu.” The villain spoke, the ‘Nomu’ then pulled itself from where it was previously stuck in the portal, and part of it crumbled from the half that was encased in ice. Though it didn’t last long. “This is his super regeneration,” The villain boasted as the previously crippled ‘Nomu’ regrew its leg, arm, and some of its midsection. Leaving horrified faces to seep across the students. “Nomu has been modified to take you at 100%” The hand villain again boasted. “He’s an efficient punching bag that fights back!” The villain wouldn’t stop talking.  

The students readied themselves for an attack as the hand Villain spoke again, “First, we need to get our gate back. Go Nomu.” The Nomu rushed forward, ready to kill Bakugou in an instant, only he was thrown out of the way. All-Might is taking the hit in his stead.   

Bakugou was thrown next to Tsurumi. Now lying by Todoroki as his classmates realised All-Might was the one who took the hit, now the smoke had cleared. But the force of the blow sent everyone rolling back, now leaving Tsurumi’s body unattended as his fever steadily climbed without Todoroki’s assistance.   

All-Might had hit a concrete wall of the U.S.J.  “All Might!” Midoriya’s voice cried as they saw All Might standing a few feet away, his arms in a blocking position. He was panting, growing tired. “Do you not know how to hold back against a child?!”  

“It was to rescue my companions; I had no choice...” The hand-covered villain responded coarsely. “I mean, earlier, that plain looking one,” pointing towards Midoriya “He was about to punch me with everything he had ya’ know” he let out a shallow breath, almost wheezy “violence for the sake of others makes it justice, isn’t that right hero?” the villain covered in hands continued to ramble on for a lengthy while  

“That's preposterous! Criminals like you always try to make their acts sound noble, but admit you’re only doing this because you like it!”  

Finally, Todoroki rushes back to Tsurumi’s side, seeing as he had been gone for a while, and that was not good without the aid of Todoroki's help.  

“It's three against five, and Kacchan has exposed the mist guys' weakness.”  

Kirishima pipes u, “These guys are crazy, but if we back up All-Might, we can push them back!”  

“No!” All-Might speaks up, “Run away and take young Tsurumi with you. I do thank you for the help, but it's fine, just watch as a pro gives it everything he has.”   

Midoriya, in a concerned tone, “All-Might, you’re bleeding, besides your time is-” All-Might raises a thumbs-up towards Midoriya before returning to the fight. With that, the students now focus on Tsurumi.  

“Nomu, Kurogiri, get him.” Muttering to himself, the hand villain “I deal with the children." In a sprint-like fashion, he makes his way towards the students. The Nomu and All-Might clash, causing a blast of air pressure to blast everyone back. Due to this, the Kurogiri, the mist villain, is unable to use his quirk as he cannot get close enough; no one could.  

The fist fight ensues, creating a large enough space away from the students. Although this fight was happening, Todoroki must continue to use his quirk, yet at this point, he is running on almost no steam from not using his other quirk to balance out his temperature. He would be forced to stop being unable to keep it up for much longer unless he wanted severe backlash for his ice quirk. Even with this going on, Tsurumi’s condition was nowhere near improving, and Todoroki's quirk is merely stalling.  

The fight between All Might and the Nomu rages on. But eventually, to everyone’s relief, All Might punches the Nomu so harshly that it's flung out of the U.S.J. through the glass ceiling.  

“In my prime, 5 hits would have been enough. But today it took more than 300 mighty blows!” All-Might turned to the Villains, “Now, Villains. “I’m sure we’d like to end this as soon as possible.” The hand villain began furiously scratching at his neck, drawing blood.  

{Back with the students for a moment}  

Midoriya spoke within the small group, “You guys' Tsurumi isn’t looking too good if we’re stuck here for too long, who knows what will happen to him, even Todoroki has reached his limit.” ‘I hope All-Might is doing okay. The time limit has truly affected his ability.’ Tsurumi lies limp, almost lifeless, on the floor. His skin is flushed all over with Todoroki is out of commission in terms of stalling for more time. It's now all a gamble as to whether the staff will get here to help.  

{Back with All Might}  

“Hey, what’s going on? He’s not any weaker at all.” The hand villain paused to further massacre his neck, “Did that guy lie to me?!”  

“What’s wrong? You’re not coming? You said you’d ‘clear’ this or something, right?” All Might gave a pause, “Come and get me if you dare.” his voice was stern and had an undertone of anger. The hand villain stumbled back near Kurogiri. The students, besides Midoriya, saw no reason to step in and instead focused on Tsurumi and on what they could do to help. Kirishima’s voice rang out, but Midoriya wasn’t listening.  

“Well? What's wrong?” The hand villain seemed hesitant, the mist one ended up having to calm them down and convince the hand villain to do something. The weaker villains began to get up, finally out of their unconscious or otherwise incapacitated state, moving towards the students. The students were gathering around Tsurumi's body to protect him and defend themselves.  

Midoriya, however, stood still, staring at All Might and his ongoing stand-off. As the hand villain moved, so did Midoriya. He leaped into action, ready to practically die for All Might. A single hand from that villain reached through the warp gate. He was done for, but, lucky for him, he was saved. The villains’ haunting laugh was cut off by a single gunshot.  

The faculty was finally here.  

The students left with Tsurumi. Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki quickly gained the attention of Cementoss and alerted him to Tsurumi’s further declining condition. Cementoss, acting quickly, used the cement below to quickly take Tsurumi to the front gate. Using a radio to inform them of the severity of Tsurumi’s condition. 

Chapter Text

“Where are we going?” A small girl spoke, looking up at a woman, a head of soft, long red hair. “To the garden,” The woman's voice was gentle, caring, and familiar. The small girl just nodded, gripping the sundress she wore, her small ears flicking about, and her tail hiding somewhat between her legs.  

In the gardens, the woman sat beside the small child who was still standing. “Now,” She turned her head to the small child, to which the child turned to look, only to meet with a horrific sight. The woman's calm, soft voice didn’t match her horribly disfigured face.   

It was falling off. The skin, being so horribly burnt it was peeling off, revealing layers of muscle, which itself was charred from the depth of the burns. Her eye began peeling from its socket, pouring more blood into the previously green grass, the eye splatting and being pierced by the blades of sharp grass.  

{--------------------}  

I jolted into an upright position as I woke, groaning slightly from the pain. ‘What the fuck was that dream?!’ I panicked, my heart rate rising as I frantically began to look around, only to be greeted by, ‘Mr. Aizawa?’ He was seemingly asleep, but seeing him calmed my panic slightly. ‘He’s got a bandaged eye and elbow, but he seems okay, thankfully...What about everyone else? I don’t remember anything after that ‘talk’ with that hand guy.’ A frustrated huff left me only to be greeted by a voice,   

“Good, you're awake.” Mr. Aizawa woke, sitting up in his chair, “You have us quite the scare.” He seemed relieved, “Th-the others-” I nearly choked, coughing rather aggressively as my throat suddenly felt as if it was coated in sand. Mr. Aizawa reached for a bottle of water, which I practically inhaled. “The others are doing just fine, mostly minimal injuries except you and Midoriya, who went and broke his limbs again.”   

He gestured to the bed beside me, revealing Midoriya sound asleep next to me. ‘Thank goodness.’ I now noticed I was in the nurse's office. “What happened?” My words were breathy as I struggled slightly. Before he could respond, I noticed the lack of my jewel or its box. “Where is it?” I went to get up only for him to stop me.  

“I’ll tell you what happened if you calm down, and what have you lost?” He spoke calmly as I continued to panic slightly, “The box that was in my belt, it’s important-” I barely got out. “Oh, that thing, it's on the chair still in your belt. Don’t panic.” He stated firmly and gestured to the Recovery Girls' desk across the room, allowing a sigh of relief to leave me. After calming down a bit more, he told me about what had happened after I passed out.  

“The extent of your injuries is mostly internal; your leg and the light burns are the only external ones. Your leg doesn't need stitches, but you’ll still need to take it easy; your burns were minimal. But after using those flames, your internal body temperature shot up too quickly, causing your blood to boil.” My face dropped, ‘That's never happened before, I’m not used to my flames, sure. But my blood boiling?’ “Luckily, after you dropped from the sky. You were rescued by Midoriya, Todoroki, and a few others. Todoroki was able to balance out your temperature long enough until the other pros got there.” 

I looked down at my hands that still had some bandages around them, disappointed in myself. ‘So, I was useless. The bulk of the fight, I was useless.’ The thought clouded my mind, and a hand on my back brought me away from my thoughts. “I know what you're thinking. You did your best, and from what I heard, you saved me, too. I thank you for that kid.” He rubbed my back gently, “Also, your binder had to be cut off. Wearing that as a substitute was a stupid idea, even if you weren’t aware of what was going to happen.” That made me tense slightly, and I gripped the covers. ‘He’s right, it was stupid...’   

“But that's neither here nor there now,” he said. “Your classmates came to see you before they left,” He said, looking down at me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Have you got someone who can pick you up?” I paused for a moment as his hand left my shoulder, “No. I’ll just take the train-”  

“I’ll take you.” He stated in a tone that prevented me from arguing; it took a while to get up and steady on my feet. Eventually, once Mr. Aizawa stepped out and I pulled out the curtains just in case Midoriya woke up, I changed back into my uniform that had been placed on the bed at some point.  

Once changed, I grabbed my jewel out of my utility belt, box included, and stuffed it into the pocket of my uniform. After I walked out, Mr. Aizawa was true to his word and was waiting outside, and he took me to his car as we approached. I noticed something, or rather someone, standing by the car. ‘Wait a minute...THAT’S MR. YAMADA??’ Confusion shook every bone in my body, “Shota! Seems like they did need help getting home after all, huh?”   

‘I'm so confused...’ I didn’t say a word as they talked mostly about the drive. “Alright, little listener! In you go!” He gestured into the car as he opened the door. I walked closer and stepped into the car as he walked around to the driver's side. ‘God, this is going to be awkward.’ Mr. Aizawa didn’t say a word and got into the passenger's side. “Alright, what's your address?” I responded quickly after Mr. Yamada spoke, and soon the drive started.  

Halfway into the drive, I was sinking into the backseat as the fourth replay of 'Barbie Girl’ came on. ‘I feel like jumping out the window...’ Though I perked up to see my house finally. “You can pull up there,” I point towards the small condo, the garden still flourishing, and vines still creeping into the flower baskets and around the bricks. “You got it!” Mr. Yamada hummed as he finally turned the music off, ‘Finally, my ears are saved.’ Mr. Aizawa looked just as relieved as I stepped out of the car, so did Mr. Aizawa. 

We walked up the small pathway. I still had a slight limp due to my leg injury, so it took a few minutes for me to get there. I fumbled for my keys. “You and your classmates have the next three days off, so just worry about resting. You should be able to get back to class by then.” He spoke, breaking the silence as I finally got my key in the door, “Alright, thank you.” I opened the door to a screeching meow as Bubbles ran up to me.   

Bubbles jumped into my arms, causing me to stumble. Looking briefly at Mr. Aizawa, I noticed a small, barely noticeable smile appeared on his face as he looked at Bubbles. I'd better get inside before she starts eating me-” I paused as Mr. Aizawa reached to pet Bubbles for a moment, petting her. “Yeah, we’ve got to get home to ours.” ‘He has cats, too? Then again, he looks like he would. WAIT. OURS? DOES THAT MEAN HIM AND MR. YAMADA???’ He looked at my shocked face, “Don't tell your classmates, or you’ll have extra work for the rest of the year.” He spoke simply as he walked off, leaving me stunned, and I walked back into my own house, still carrying Bubbles with a slight struggle.  

{The next three days were spent stunned at the new revelation and resting. :3} 

Chapter Text

Kosuke walked into the classroom rather early. He still had that slight limp, but after seeing the recovery girl that morning, it was hardly there. Most, if not all, the students seemed to pause when he walked in. Silence stretched across the class, and Kosuke gulped, his ear, starting to pine as his tail slowly lowered. “Hell-” before he could finish, Ashido nearly tackled him, followed by Uraraka, and even Midoriya and a few others came over to check on him. He was surprised that this many people were concerned for him.   

Ashido and Uraraka were scolded by Iida once they finally let go. Kosuke just gave a gentle smile and replied to all the questions that he was okay now and there was no need to worry. His classmates were visibly relieved, Ashido, Midoriya, and Uraraka especially. He was surprised they cared for him so deeply.  

“Alright. Get back into your seats.” Their teacher firmly stated as everyone scrambled to sit down. “The fight isn’t over yet.” The class seemed to have the same collective thought, Kosuke included, ‘Villains again?!’ Kosuke sank into his seat slightly as the thought carried through the classroom. “The U.A. sports festival is almost here.” Everyone was immediately visibly relieved. Kosuke pinned his ears as his classmates shouted, finally having something normal to do.   

“Is it okay to have this so soon after we were attacked?” A girl with dark purple hair spoke, “What if they attack again?” A student with soft blonde hair agreed. “Apparently, they think of this as a way to show that U.A. is unaffected by the attack. Though security will be five times as heavy compared to previous years. Above all, our sports festival is a huge chance. It’s not an event to just be cancelled. Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events.” He gave a brief pause,  

“In the past, the Olympics were called a festival of sports, and the country was crazy about them. But with the rise of quirks, the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition, the U.A. sports festival is the only tournament that matters.” Mr. Aizawa finished, and Yaoyorozu piped up, “And of course, all heroes of the country will be watching. This is where you get scouted!”  

Other students began to chat and give information as well, to which Kosuke had his ears do all the work, focusing on who was talking while he simply drew the scenery outside the window. After further explanation, homeroom was dismissed.  

{--------------}  

After Cementoss’ class, it was finally time for lunch. Ashido was chatting Kosuke’s and Kirishima’s ears off; she’d also somehow roped Bakugou in, though he was unwilling to join the conversation. Which was mainly about the sports festival, and how Ashido hoped she was scouted. Kosuke and Kirishima let her carry the conversation, not having much to say until they walked to the door to go to lunch.   

Kosuke separated from Ashido, much to her dismay, so he could join Midoriya Uraraka and Iida in his usual group for lunch. While they walked down the hall, Midoriya began to ask Uraraka why she wanted to be a hero, not out of the blue for Midoriya, but it surprised everyone.  

“Huh? Oh, it's..." She stuttered for a bit before saying it, “For the money?” Midoriya repeated Uraraka rubbing the back of her neck. “To boil it down simply, yes...” Uraraka seemed a bit embarrassed, and neither Kosuke nor Iida could blame her, “I know it's not the most noble reason. You all probably have such admirable motivations or reasons, it’s embarrassing...” Iida and Midoriya tried to give her some comfort Kosuke didn’t quite read the room. “Yeah, but it’s just so unexpected from you.” They gave him a look to which he tilted his head, unaware that what he said may have been a little insensitive.  

“My family owns a construction company, but we haven’t got much work lately, so we’re flat broke.” She muttered, doing nervous hand movements. Kosuke listened intently, “This really isn’t something to tell other people, though...” Midoriya’s face lit up. “With her quirk, if she gets licensed, then it’d bring costs way down, right?” He smiled as Iida concurred, “She could use her quirk. That way they wouldn’t need they’re heavy lifting equipment.” Kosuke nods, “They could sell it and keep the extra from it.” He hummed.  

“Right? That’s what I used to tell dad when I was little! But...” She recounted a childhood memory, “I’ll become a Hero and make lots of money. Then my parents can have an easy life.” She stated firmly, eliciting a small smile from all three boys, Iida being the one to clap and say other things to show how moved he was. Kosuke just gave a gentle smile, making a mental note to give some money to their brunette friend if she ever needed it.  

The sound of footsteps cut off the moment, “Young Midoriya is here!” All-Might exclaimed, pointing towards said person, “All-Might?” The four friends said in unison. “What’s the matter?” Midoriya further asked, “Lunch. Wanna eat with me?” All-Might held out a small bento box wrapped in a baby blue cloth with white bunnies on it. ‘That’s adorable.’ Kosuke and possibly his friends thought. The three friends gave Midoriya a nod, a silent encouragement to go and eat with the hero.  

{-------Kosuke’s Pov-------}  

I had followed Uraraka and Iida to the lunch hall, and we were all currently waiting in line. “I wonder what All-Might wanted with Midoriya?” Uraraka piped up, “I heard that when All-Might was attacked at the U.S.J., he alone rushed out to help. Maybe it's about that?” I then piped up, “And with what Asui said on the bus, maybe they have some sort of connection or kinship with each other.” I stated it seemed likely, their powers are incredibly similar after all.  

{--------}  

When trying to leave the last class of the day, we were blocked by other students, ranging from general studies to class 1-B. My ears were pinned, and my tail was already trying to hide, ‘I hate attention...’ I let out a long sigh, starting to walk to the door, only to be cut off by Bakugou, “They're scouting the competition.” His voice was more monotone than usual; it was far scarier, “We’re the ones who survived a Villains’ attack. They want to check us out before the festival.” He walked right up to the barrier.  

“There’s no point in that. Out of my way, Extras.” I watched as he was scolded by Iida and others. Someone wormed their way through the crowd. A head of light purple hair, “Are all students in the Hero course like this?” He spoke; I, however, just wanted to go home. ‘I need to get home and train. I won’t get far if I can’t do much with my leg.’ I sighed, both my classmates and I frantically shook our heads, “How sad to come here and find a bunch of egomaniacs.” The boy shook his head, seeming almost disappointed. The purple-haired boy in question kept rambling, so I stopped paying attention. ‘I just want to go home and see my cat at this point...’ I resisted the urge to whine. Eventually, I was able to get past the crowd once everyone finished monologuing. ‘Once I get home, the real training begins.’ 

Chapter Text

My training began immediately; at home, I worked on flexibility in hopes of getting my leg in shape at least enough for all the possibilities. U.A. also allowed us to use the school's training grounds. With the help of Iida, Uraraka, and Mina, I worked on my stamina, balance, and endurance with them, and even my general fighting skills with Ojiro and dodging with Kirishima. ‘I’m thankful that I had their help, or I might not be ready for today.’  

{------------------}  

Currently, the whole class is sitting in a waiting room. ‘There’s nothing to do until the festival starts, I guess,’ I sighed, fiddling with the box in my pocket, feeling the jewel hit the corners. ‘I’m surprised they let me use it, seeing as it's technically part of my hero costume. Then again, without it I wouldn’t be able to participate at all.’ I continued to think about what else I could do; my classmates seemed just as nervous.  

“Tsurumi!” Ashido’s familiar voice rang out, “I really wanted to wear our costumes.” She sulked. I smiled at her, my tail wagging slightly, “It's mainly to keep things fair-” She cut me off, pointing at my chest. “How come you're not nervous about this at all!?” She pouted, “I’m more focused than nervous,” I muttered. Ashido huffed.  

Iida came back in to ensure everyone knew it was almost time to leave the waiting area, and Todoroki seemed to have some kind of standoff with Midoriya, but that was none of my business. I only listened in because I didn’t have much choice. ‘Even with my ears pinned, I can still hear everyone in the room. So, there is not much point in trying to dull out their conversations.’  

{-------------}  

Present mic’s voice rang out, addressing the crowd as we all walked to the middle of the field. Other classes followed, but we seemed to be the main event.  

“Time for the player pledge!” Midnight's voice rang out, though her outfit was far from PG. I found her confidence admirable. students began to argue whether this was appropriate, ‘in her defence, we are all 18, so it's not too horrible.’ “Quiet, everyone!” Her voice rang out, followed by a crack of her whip, “Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugou from Class 1-A.” And all excitement was wiped off my face, even my tail stopped wagging. ‘Great, now everyone is going to think we're egotistical assholes.’ I pouted slightly; it seems my classmates were also in the dark about this arrangement.   

“I pledge that I'll win.” His statement was firm: ‘He truly believes that his voice didn’t falter at all.’ The crowd booed Bakugou collectively, and I couldn’t blame them. After Bakugou’s thoughtful pledge about himself, Midnight spoke again, “Now! Let’s get started right away!” She explained that the first game is always a qualifier, ‘Alright, that means I just have to get in the passing group, I shouldn’t waste my energy here.’ I nodded as I thought.   

“Now, here is the first fateful game!!” She waved her whip up as an image appeared behind her. It seemed to be random, like it was every year, “This year, it's...This!” ‘An obstacle course...I should do well enough to pass at least!’ “All eleven classes will participate in this race. The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium, about 4 kilometres.” She gave a brief pause, “Our school’s selling point is freedom! As long as you stay on course, it doesn't matter what you do! Now, take your places, everyone!” She gestured to the door, and everyone, including me, followed.  

I stayed towards the back. 'After looking in, I noticed it was a rather tight fit. If I stay back here, then I can use everyone to get ahead!’ I focused on calming down completely, waiting until the race started.  

{---Third person---}  

Kosuke's ears twitched at every sound those buzzers made, ‘Three....Two...One, go!’ “Start!” With that, Kosuke allowed everyone to run ahead of him. Instead of charging forward, he changed into a fox, around 30cm tall, small but agile enough to jump over the competition!  

“Okay! Here’s the play-by-play!” The voice hero began after some more words, he shouted, “Whoa! It seems like Class 1-A's Kosuke Tsurumi is jumping over the competition! Literally!” Kosuke was using his leverage in his fox form to use the heads of other students to get to the end, while everyone else was struggling, Kosuke was doing just fine  

A cold breeze brushed Kosuke’s paws. Using his now much keener senses, he readied himself to jump out from the narrow hall. Which he soon did, leaping out and landing just where the ice ended, turning back to his normal form, leaving smoke behind as he did. Bakugou quickly launched ahead of Kosuke, taking second place. Kosuke, however, didn’t care; he only aimed for the top twenty to possibly guarantee a spot in the next round.   

Most students soon made it to the second obstacle, the robots. Kosuke used a much smaller fox form to his advantage and slipped right passed the smaller ones now holding third or fourth place. Present Mic’s voice rang out, but he ignored it, focusing on just getting through to the next round. Now he reached a group of the Zero pointers with Todoroki and Bakugou students gathering behind them.   

Todoroki froze them, though Kosuke noticed they were off balance, he could hear them creaking, and he could see their stance faltering, and so the moment Todoroki began to run forward, following closely to avoid getting crushed. Hesitating was not an option. Changing back with a slight falter, Kosuke now slowed down slightly. He held second place; he and Todoroki were far ahead, and there was no need for him to rush.   

{-------Second person--------}  

The second obstacle was much harder to think out, but being in second place, you had time to think. Todoroki had already rocketed ahead you began to focus, in hopes of becoming a much larger fox this time. One that would be able to jump straight over the gaps.   

Soon enough, it worked, but you needed to catch up. You'd already heard Bakugou launch ahead; even your classmates had caught up. Though you only wanted to pass. You now wanted to be ahead of Bakugou. You were now a pure white fox beside your soft red tail tip, readying yourself, leaping and landing on the next platform, barely, and continued to do so until you were on the other end.   

The last obstacle was... ‘A MINE FIELD!?’ you sighed. You slowly made your way across, taking careful steps, using your tail to lightly sweep the floor. ‘There are indents where the mines are. If I can be sure of those around me, then I can predict the patterns of those in front of me. I can’t afford to be careless.’ You steeled yourself and continued, your classmates slowly catching up.  

You had to pin your ears at the loud explosions from behind you, focusing on powering forward. Bakugou blasted past you, giving up on playing the minefield game, using his explosions to stay above them. You nearly screamed as a much louder explosion rattled your ears, ‘Wait. That’s...Midoriya!!' You watched him fly past the crowd, most likely heading for number one; it made you smile at how far you’d noticed he’d come from your first day in training.   

You decided to risk it, changing into a small fox only 10 cm in height to jump past the remaining mines. You had one goal. Helping Midoriya. ‘He deserves the win; I don’t care about beating Bakugou if I can just help Midoriya see he’s able to beat them.’ You rushed forward to keep up with Midoriya; lucky for you, Todoroki started putting down ice, giving you a clear path to follow. You changed back, now no longer needing the smaller form, seeing Midoriya losing momentum, ‘think, think!’   

“Slam it down!” You shouted out now in fourth place yourself, smirking at Midoriya, who seemed to get it, gripping the cord and slamming it into the mines. You covered your ears, bracing yourself for the explosion that came next, pausing your running to avoid the blast before shooting forward. Midoriya was launched forward like you hoped, and you all rushed to finish.  

“Right now, the first person back on the stage is! Izuku Midoriya of Class 1-A!” The crowd cried out with cheers as the other runners-up were announced. “Second place is Todoroki Shoto! Third place is Katsuki Bakugou! And Fourth place is Kosuke Tsurumi!” You let out a relieved sigh and went to sit down somewhere, ‘For saying I only wanted to pass...I ended up getting more fired up than I thought...’  

{-------first person-------}  

Midnight confirmed the results and placement of students, and the first 42 would be moving on to the next round. “Now then! Here is the second game,” She waved her whip towards the screen. The words ‘Cavalry battle’ lay on the screen. I look around, taking in who might be best to partner up with. ‘Todoroki and Bakugou are obvious options. I’m not a big fan of Bakugou, but I’ll have a better chance with him than Todoroki, most likely.’ Midnight began explaining, but I had already begun strategizing for a possible team for Bakugou.  

‘As I thought, a point-based system. And Midoriya is worth....10 million...Poor guy...’ I sighed internally, “-You all have 15 minutes to build teams!” The moment that was said, I stalked towards Bakugou. Many others had the same idea, but not nearly as many as those who were crowding Todoroki. ‘Just like I thought, Bakugou’s attitude is preventing people from wanting to join up with him.’ Unsure of how to start a conversation with Bakugou, I stand straight, my tail slowly moving across the floor until he turns around to acknowledge my being there. It seemed Kirishima and Mina had already joined up with Bakugou’s team. After about two minutes of waiting, he finally turns around to face me.   

“What do you want, mutt; you want to join this winning team or something?!" He said this with that permanent scowl on his face ‘It was as if he tried to smile, his face would break’ Ashido’s voice came through, “Oh come on, Bakugou, let Tsurumi join the team, don’t be such a bummer! They'll make a great final addition to our group!" Her voice was practically music to my ears.  

‘Thank you, Ashido.’ I put my hand up on my head to scratch my ear. “I mean. That’s why I've been standing here.”  Bakugou let out a deep exhale. “You better not drag me down; I am winning this, and I won't let you failing stop me from it."  

‘Alright, the hard part of finding a team is done. Our team has a total of 685 points. All that's left is the formation and strategy.’ My tail wagged slightly. I wouldn't be without a friend at the very least. After a moment of discussion, Bakugou will be the rider, Kirishima will be the front horse, our main defence, leaving me and Mina as the flanks.   

“Now then, it's about time to get started!” Midnight was silenced by Present Mic’s commentary, which still somehow hurt my ears. ‘At least it wasn’t as bad as him singing Barbie Girl when they drove me home.’ I sighed as the Voice Hero began to count down. “Three, two one-” Midnight cut him off, “Start!” ‘The battle begins.’  

{------------------}  

Everyone, including us charged for Midoriya. ‘It's just a battle for his points, but snagging some on the way won't hurt.’ I snickered to myself, already having created another plan if things go south. I kept my ears up. My main job is to be on the lookout for anyone coming for us. I can hear them way before they get close. 'I don’t have my gloves, so I can’t risk using my flames unless Todoroki’s ice makes it past Mina. I continued to think, though it was cut off by Bakugou’s palms popping. “Tsurumi, cover your ears!” Kirishima called out to me, and I pinned my ears to soften the blow as Bakugou launched. I used one hand to keep the formation while the other held the ear closest to the blast. “Thank you, Kirishima,” I spoke back, uncovering my ears now that Bakugou was in the air. “Wait, how are we going to get him back?!” Ashido panicked  

“Leave it to me!” I called out, Bakugou attempted to attack Midoriya mid-air, and Dark Shadow blocked the attack. Once Bakugou began to fall, I focused on creating a solid illusion to bring Bakugou to us. The easiest form of this was just a hand stretching from my body, taking up much less energy since it was attached to me. Once the hand grabbed Bakugou’s shirt, it pulled him back into formation.   

“Is that even allowed?!” Present Mic’s voice rang out as Bakugou landed between our crossed arms, righting himself. “He didn’t touch the ground, so yes!” Midnight spoke with a crack of her whip, and a sigh of relief left me.  

“Whoa! Tsurumi, that was amazing!” Ashido hummed, “Yeah, nice catch!” Kirishima spoke with a smile. They seemed to have the same sentiment, “It may be a simple trick, but it still takes energy. Bakugou, you can’t go too far, or I won’t be able to reach you. My illusions have a range.” I stated firmly as we went on the move again, Bakugou just scoffed and responded, “Fuck off, I know what I'm doing, mutt.” I nearly growled at him, ‘He needs to be taken down a peg or two. But for now, I need to work with him...’  

“Now, let’s look at each team's points... It's been seven minutes! Here they are on the screen!” Everyone seemed to gasp; our team had zero points. ‘Oh shit,’ I looked up to see a blonde snatching Bakugou’s headband. “He got us!” Ashido briefly panicked, and my tail swayed. ‘How was he so quiet? A quirk from someone on his team, perhaps?’ My thoughts raced. The blonde rambled on; I, however, was far from listening. ‘Time to put plan B into action.’  

I had closed my eyes, focusing ‘creating barely tangible illusions was hard, but I needed to pass. I won’t let Dad down; he has to be watching.’ I relaxed; the illusions need to be practically invisible, yet enough to be able to snatch as many headbands as possible. ‘Small little Kitsunes, steal the headbands and return them to me.’ The order was short and simple as a bunch of small white foxes leaped from my tail, immediately being lost in the folds of reality and becoming unseeable to the human eye. ‘I can create illusions with free will, but my orders will always take priority. These little Kitsunes are the smallest and easiest thing for me to make. It's our best shot.’   

Bakugou was now intent on destroying the blonde who stole our points, and for once, I agreed with him. ‘Both of them have egos higher than the Empire State, but I need to stay relatively close to my little Kitsunes to keep them here. So, fighting this guy is our best shot.’ Kirishima was trying to calm Bakugou down, though it was far from working, me and Ashido stayed quiet.   

After rushing forward in an attack and missing, Bakugou was hit with... ‘HIS OWN QUIRK?’ I paused, ‘That must be that guy's quirk, some form of copying ability upon seeing a person use it, maybe? No, he touched Bakugou on the arm during his attack.’ My theory was confirmed when he touched Kirishima’s hair to block against another attack from Bakugou. “Don’t let him touch you!” I called out, to which the blonde seemed surprised, “You’ve already figured out my quirk! I didn’t take you for a smart fox.” I ended up snarling at him, though I quickly quelled my emotions.  

A wave of liquid blocked Bakugou from attacking, and it also caught Kirishima's leg. ‘Shit, Ashido’s acid won't be quick enough. Think. Think!’ I racked my brain, looking at our attackers, who just ran away. They just wanted to stop us, ‘Kitsunes come back!’ I called for the Kitsunes to return with whatever headbands they had.  

“We’ll be fine, there’s only a minute left.” I spoke calmly as Bakugou snapped, “I don’t know if you noticed, mutt, but we have FUCK ALL!” I winced at his shouting, “No, we don’t.” I stated firmly as several small Kitsune made themselves known, carrying headbands of varying points and scrambled up to give them to Bakugou before removing themselves from existence. “I had a backup plan,” I spoke with a smirk as Ashido began to praise me as she finished freeing Kirishima, who seemed just as excited. Bakugou seemed rather infuriated that I hadn’t told him.   

Before he could insult me, I spoke up. “My Kitsune also stole that guy's headband if you didn’t notice,” That seemed to make Bakugou angrier instead of less. ‘Guess he wanted to do it, oh well,’ “We’re in second place, we can go after Todoroki now.” That seemed to finally quell him as we moved on, ‘Todoroki got Midoriya’s points, so our focus is on him now, great.’ Not long after Bakugou broke through the barrier of ice, “TIMES UP!” Present Mic’s voice rang out. I still made an effort to catch Bakugou and lay him on the ground, so I didn’t land face-first into concrete. Though he still threw a tantrum.  

“Now, let’s take a look at our top four teams! In first place, Team Todoroki!”  

“In second place, Team Bakugou!”   

“Ah, we were so close,” Ashido lightly sulked. I gave her a small pat on the back, knowing it was slightly my fault. “Second place isn’t all that bad.” I tried to comfort her, though Bakugou would say otherwise. ‘He’s screaming at the ground...’  

“In third place, Team Tetsute- Huh?! What its Team Shinso?!”   

“When did you come from behind?!” ‘I wonder who’s in fourth place...’  

“In Fourth place, Team Midoriya!” That surprised me, but I was happy he got through; he’s still my friend after all.  

“Those four teams will advance!” Present mic finally finished.  

{-----------------}  

“Mina, congratulations.” Asui walked up to us; I backed away, sneaking off to the waiting rooms, ‘Those illusions took more out of me than I want to admit.’ I let out a tired yawn, my energy somewhat drained, ‘I wonder if recovery girl will let me nap in her temporary office-’ “Oi!” I paused, turning to face Bakugou, ‘Is he following me?’ “Get through so I can beat your ass.” His statement was firm, devoid of any sort of snarkiness like his usual tone, “What are you going on about?” Confusion filled my tone, ‘Why the hell was he saying this? And now of all times?’ “It’s exactly what it sounds like, mutt!”   

‘This has to be a complex, right?’ I yawned, “Bakugou. I’m not in the mood to argue with you. At least thank me for getting you into the finals.” I walked off to find a place to nap. Had I looked back at any point, I would’ve seen the pure rage on his face at my words.  

{-----------------}  

I soon found myself outside, finding a nice sunny spot. I lay down, staring up at the clouds. ‘I should change forms; it’ll draw less attention.’ And I did that, now I was a small fox curled up under the sun. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep.  

A while later, I was awoken by being carried somewhere, squirming briefly before I was able to leap out of their arms. I looked up to see ‘Ashido?’ I paused. “Ah! You're awake! Tsurumi, is it you?” ‘She recognised me?!’ I felt flattered. I quickly changed back, smoke seeping off my body, “Yeah...”  

“Good, I went looking for you cause they're about to announce the brackets for the one-on-one fights!” ‘She’s adorable and thoughtful,’ my tail was already wagging as she dragged me through the hallway. “Come on, we’ll miss it!”   

The brackets didn’t take long, and then the recreational activities began. Ashido thankfully decided she didn’t want to participate and instead offered to get us seats and watch over my fox body while I slept to gather energy. I was forever grateful.  

{------------------}  

“Tsurumi!” Shocked, I was forced into my regular form due to that shock. I had my classmate's eyes on me, “Finally! The first fight is about to start!!” Ashido spoke happily. I just nodded, yawning as I focused on the arena. A few of my classmates spoke about my ability to change forms so quickly, but I didn’t mind.   

Midoriya walked onto the battlefield courtesy of Cementoss. I focused, my pupils forming slits so I could get a better view of the fight. ‘That’s Shinso, oh, he's the guy who blocked our class and antagonised Bakugou.’ I focused, craning my ears to listen in.  

Shinso was trying to get Midoriya to respond, ‘Why? Judging by what he’s saying, he wants Midoriya to lose his cool,' yet Midoriya falls right into the trap. Ojiro sighed behind me, talking about how he warned Midoriya not to talk to him. ‘That is his quirk. No one can see from here, but Midoriya’s eyes...They’ve gone blank.’ I focused intently as Shinso commanded Midoriya to walk out of the ring. Which he began to do. ‘I see upon answering him, the person affected by the quirk will obey whatever he says. It’s an amazingly useful quirk, but just looking at Shinso, he doesn’t seem to have any muscle. Meaning even without quirks, Midoriya would win. Shinso seemed to know that.’ My thoughts continued to ramble.   

My head snapped to the doorway. ‘What are those... People? There are eight. They don’t seem to be physically here...’ I tilted my head; this isn’t a new thing for me. My quirk, Kitsune, when I'm focused at least, allows me to be able to see souls, mainly those that have passed on. I think. ‘So, are those souls? -’ My thought was cut off by a loud blast of air pressure. It didn’t last long. Focusing back, I saw that Midoriya had broken two of his fingers to snap out of it. ‘I see, anything disturbing the subject of the quirk causes it to release. Those souls though...who are they?...’   

A short while later and Midoriya had pushed Shinso out of the ring via the move he used on Bakugou during training. ‘Well done, Midoriya.’ A small smile crossed my lips. Next up was Todoroki and Sero. Sero attempted to throw Todoroki out of the ring but...Todoroki created an incredibly large shard of ice, immobilizing him immediately, and it was a while before Todoroki finished melting it.   

The next fight between a girl from class 1-B and Kaminari ended with Kaminari short-circuiting and losing the fight by being immobilized. And the fight between Iida and a girl named Hatsume from the support course ended with Iida being turned into a walking advertisement, ‘Poor Iida...’ I sighed.   

{-------------------}  

Next was my fight. Against Ashido. I steeled my nerves and slowly walked up onto the battlefield.  

“It’s the Hero courses resident Kitsune! It’s Kosuke Tsurumi from class 1-A!” ‘That’s the intro they give me...’ My ears briefly flattened into my hair at the loud cheers.  

“Versus, is something going to come out of those horns? Well? From the hero courses class 1-A Mina Ashido!” Present Mic announced.  

“Sorry, Tsurumi, I won’t go easy on you!” I nodded, “I expect nothing less.” ‘This needs to end quickly.’   

“Fifth Match start!!” ‘And so, it begins.’   

I stayed put, taking a defensive stance. Ashido slid forward on her acid, throwing a large amount at me. She expects me to stumble back, ‘but I have some tricks up my sleeve!’ Lowering myself and raising my hand quickly a wall of blue flames quickly dispel the acid. Ashido was briefly stunned, causing me to smirk, ‘I didn’t need to use them in the cavalry battle, so this is new to her.’ Swinging my foot up, I was able to make her stumble back to avoid the rising flames that came with it.   

“Look at that! Tsurumi had flames stuffed up his sleeve! This Kitsune is full of surprises!” Present Mic’s voice rang out with cheers from the crowd.   

“You never mentioned flames when we trained together!” Ashido panicked, “I don’t like to give everything away!” I smirked, swirling my hands together and focusing energy into my hands. I threw my palms forward, sending flames towards her. As she attempted to get away from them, I ran forward and was able to grab her wrist. ‘She isn’t reacting fast enough!’ I then took a note from Midoriya’s book, throwing her body over my shoulder, but this time aiming for the edge of the ring.  

I let go, sending her flying, though she attempted to stop herself; it only made her leave the ring quicker. “AND JUST LIKE THAT, TSURUMI TAKES THE WIN!” I sighed, walking to Ashido, offering a hand to help her up, which she took.  

“Damn... Your strong Tsurumi...” I smiled, “Thank you. But I acted that way because you're a strong opponent, Ashido-” She cut me off, “Call me Mina!” My eyes widened. “Okay, Mina!” I let a wide, toothy smile escape onto my face. “AWWWW! You should smile like that more often, Kosuke!” My face flushed as I rushed to get out of the spotlight as Mina teased me.  

{---------------------}  

As we got back to the stands, I was bombarded with new questions about my quirk. I answered them as best as I could before sitting by Midoriya. “Tsurumi, you can use flames?” Midoriya asked, to which I nodded, causing him to write some things down, “Is it a second quirk?” I thought for a moment. “No, in truth, I’m not quite sure, they just...appeared one day?” With the lack of memories from my past, I couldn’t give much information on them. ‘Sorry, Midoriya.’ Midoriya seemed to get it and dropped the subject.  

The fight between Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami didn’t last long, and Yaoyorozu seemed quite discouraged. ‘Poor girl...’ During the fight with Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, I fell asleep. There wasn’t much to watch since their quirks were so similar.   

Mina shook me awake once Uraraka’s fight began. I really didn’t want to listen in. Bakugou’s explosions would make it difficult even if I wanted to. “The eighth and last match of the first round! He was famous in high school! From the Hero courses class 1-A Katsuki Bakugou!” Present Mic was really into commentary; then again, he does have a radio show.  

“Versus!” Present Mic then said in a more hushed tone. “She’s the one I’m rooting for,” Before once again shouting. “Again, from class 1-A in the Hero course, Ochaco Uraraka!” He gave a brief pause, “Eighth match START!”  

I watched Uraraka rush forward, crouched as she ran in, ‘she’s staying low to the ground, she has a plan.’ A small smirk appeared on my face as I began to plan out a strategy in case she won instead of Bakugou, as I didn’t think Tokoyami would prove to be a long fight. In a sweeping motion of his hand, she was knocked back, ‘I see. He’s cautious of her, since she only needs to touch him once before the fight is over. So, he’s keeping his stance firm and staying in place, counterattacking rather than trying to evade. Therefore, blocking her chance for an opening.’ I nodded along with my thoughts.  

This continued for most of the fight, causing Bakugou to tear up the arena. Though I noticed something, all the debris wasn’t coming back down. And upon looking up, I found a large amount of debris. ‘She’s preparing for one big attack.’ I looked down at the fight once more, now with a slight smirk.   

“Hey! How can you want to be a Hero when you're attacking that girl like that!” My ears turned to the pro hero who spoke. ‘Is he kidding?’ I scowled at the pro from my seat. Bakugou just continued with the fight as the crowd began to boo him.   

“Was that a pro saying he was messing around?!” ‘Mr. Aizawa!’ I began to smirk as Mr. Aizawa told the booing crowd and pros off. “Bakugou is being careful because he sees her as a worthy and powerful opponent, who has made it this far. He’s doing everything he can to win, and that means not letting his guard down or going easy on her.” The crowd was silenced; I pinned my ears, ready for Uraraka’s attack to begin. ‘I’m lucky to have such good hearing, and yet it's also a curse.’ I grumbled to myself.  

As the rubble descended, Uraraka rushed forward. Only for Bakugou to use a large-scale explosion to blast all of it and her away, ‘She’s lost...’ I sighed to myself as Uraraka struggled to get up for a short while before collapsing, causing Midnight to step in and call for Bakugou as the winner.   

{---------------}  

I had once again fallen asleep during the break, only to be awoken by Present Mic’s voice announcing that the second half of the battles had begun.  

The battle between Midoriya and Todoroki had started. Todoroki immediately sent Ice towards Midoriya, only for Midoriya to blast it away. ‘This fight is far too loud!’ I winced, informing Mina that I’d be going to the waiting rooms and watching from there to avoid the noise.   

‘I’m not telling a complete lie, but I need the rest. The strategy to defeat Tokoyami will be my fire, from what I briefly saw when he fought Todoroki’s team. Dark Shadow seemed to be affected by Kaminari’s lighting, though I can’t be sure. Still, it's my best shot.’ I thought to myself as I walked away and down to the waiting rooms, continuing to think about strategy.   

{----------------}  

I spent the entirety of Todoroki’s and Midoriya’s fight meditating and relaxing my body to prepare for my fight. ‘My fight isn’t next, but I need to prepare. The fight against Tokoyami won’t be easy, but it needs to be quick!’ The only reason I knew the fight was over was because of the tremor that shook the stadium. It was only a brief distraction from my meditation.   

{----------------}  

Iida’s match was brief; he pushed the girl out of bounds because he didn’t want to fight her. A noble act. Now it was time for my match with Tokoyami. As I walked up the steps again, I calmed myself. Steeling my nerves, ‘I’ve got this.’  

Upon reaching the ring, I took my usual wide stance. This time, I kept low, waiting for Tokoyami to move first. ‘Time to see if my theory is right!’ As I predicted, Dark Shadow was commanded to shoot directly at me. I spread my arms out, familiar blue flames followed they creating a circle around me that interlocked at my midsection. Dark Shadow proved my theory by recoiling. Using this to my advantage, I sent the circles of flames forward towards Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, a smirk plastered on my face. ‘I can’t let up,’ I ran forward.   

I swung my leg up in a kick, the flames followed, and eventually, after several more moves, I was able to push Dark Shadow away, causing Tokoyami to the end and out of bounds since he wasn't much of a fighter without Dark Shadow. Though by now my arm had burns, and I was sweating profusely. Tokoyami and I bowed to each other and shook hands. I took a trip to Recovery Girl for my burns and to cool down.  

{-----------------}  

Midoriya was leaving as I entered. I briefly checked up on him before entering and letting Recovery girl attend to my burns. Luckily, it didn’t take too much energy, and she gave me a sweet as I left to prepare to fight Bakugou. ‘Not that I had no faith in Kirishima... but I doubt Bakugou would lose’  

I began meditating and strategizing not long after the start of Iida and Todoroki’s battle. I wasn’t planning on watching it; I needed to focus.  

{-------Third person-------}  

Tsurumi stepped up onto the stage, taking a breath to calm his nerves. Bakugou, however, seemed excited to brawl with the Kitsune, “Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just cause you're a girl!” Bakugou spoke confidently, causing Tsurumi to pause. “You haven’t realised I was a guy this whole time?” The kitsune nearly snickered, ‘he hasn’t noticed me in the locker rooms at all?’ Tsurumi shook his head to get rid of the thought. Bakugou seemed to be flushed red with embarrassment.   

“Start!” Present Mic’s voice broke the tension, and the fight began.  

Tsurumi ran forward; unlike Uraraka, he didn’t crouch low, staying upright. Bakugou took a wide stance, preparing to counterattack. Only when he did, he was met with a puff of smoke; the real Tsurumi was behind him. The kitsune landed a strong kick, but in return, suffered an explosion to the leg, causing him to stumble back slightly. Tsurumi went back, keeping his distance, ‘I need to get in close.’ The Kitsune circled the boy. Bakugou smirked, now running forward towards Tsurumi. “You're holding back on me!” He set off an explosion, and the Kitsune countered with a burst of blue flames. ‘He aimed for my neck, but why?’ He paused, ‘My jewel! Has he figured it out?!’ A panicked look crossed his face for a moment, ‘Keep your emotions in check, Kosuke!’   

“Tsurumi’s on the defensive, and Bakugou looks like he’s figured something out!” Present Mic’s voice cut through the roaring crowd.  

{---Second person---}  

You kept a defensive position, as Bakugou approached again, you pushed your palms out and around as you sank to the floor, pushing flames from high to low, forcing Bakugou to back up. ‘That gave us some distance,’ you sighed, focusing on calming yourself. You sucked in a breath, holding it, and as Bakugou came back in, you dodged to the side, grabbing his arm, blowing that air out, blue flames followed, causing him to take a direct hit. ‘I can’t do that move often, it burns my throat. It should’ve at least done enough damage to put him on the defensive.’ You jumped back, ‘He’s smirking...’ Your eyes widened as you realised your jewel, though in its box, was now in his hands.   

“This is your weakness, isn’t it fucker.” Your face dropped. ‘He did figure it out, shit.’ “Bakugou, put that down! You don’t understand!” You shouted desperately, but he didn’t take notice, “Like I'm listening to that!” He launched an explosion while holding the box. You screamed out in pain, heat stretching through your body, groaning when it hit the ground. Your footing was shaky, but you held firm. Bakugou hadn’t expected that reaction; luckily, the Jewel itself shouldn’t be damaged, but you still could feel the blow despite the box dulling it.   

You ran for the box while Bakugou seemed stunned for only a moment. You barely grabbed it and still had to take a hit from a blast, rolling across the arena, you stuffed the box in your pocket since the ribbon had been burnt, rendering it useless. ‘I can’t...’ You let out a growl, baring your teeth. Bakugou’s smirk seemed to grow wider as you did. You ran forward, your emotions began to take over, and Bakugou launched forward with an explosion.  

Smoke filled the arena. The audience and your classmates waited with bated breath. A loud growl rumbled through the arena. Bakugou was met with a large snout and an even larger set of teeth that were barred, looking at what had taken his explosion. A fox. A big one.  

“Whoa! Tsurumi’s turned into a massive fox to fight Bakugou!”  

Bakugou steeled himself, jumping back, and you began to circle him. A large white intimidating figure, with large multi coloured eyes staring back at him. Whatever you were now. Wasn’t his classmate.   

You launched forward. Your open maw is heading straight for him.   

{---Third person---}  

The large fox grabbed Bakugou by his uniform and swung him around, throwing him across the arena, growling as it did. Bakugou hit the ground but wasn’t out of bounds. He stood as the fox charged back in for another attack. Bakugou held his palms together, “stun grenade!” Light shot out as well as an explosion, sending the fox back, shaking its head to shake the light out of its vision.   

Bakugou rushed back in, already reading another explosion, only to be met with a blast of blue flames he was hardly able to dodge, burning parts of his legs as a result. He scoffed, focusing on his large opponent. The fox was still shaking off the effects of the stun grenade move. It was shooting blasts mindlessly. Upon closer inspection, Bakugou noticed a glowing spot on its chest. ‘A weakness! I got you figured out already fucker!’ He smirked to himself as he charged forward. He aimed for that spot.  

It was short-lived as the fox captured his arms within its mouth, throwing him away, its tongue moving to lick up the slight blood on its teeth. Bakugou grunted, his arm now having teeth marks set in it with small trails of blood leaking down. Looking over, he saw Midnight looking worried, most likely wondering if she should stop the fight. The fox spat out another set of blue flames at him. He used the opening to get under it and reach for that spot, expecting it to hit its chest. Only for his hand to enter the glowing spot.  

His mind was frozen, leaving him unable to move for a moment before his explosion went off. Launching the fox back and causing it to explode. Explode. Did he just kill his classmate?...  

Thankfully, the fox's body blew apart into smoke, and Tsurumi’s body was left behind in the middle. He was blasted out of the ring and landed harshly on the ground. His jewel was lying slightly burnt next to him.  

“Tsurumi is out of bounds! Bakugou advances to the final round!” She sputtered before heading to check on Tsurumi’s condition, who was quickly moved to the nurse's office.  

{----first person----}  

‘What is this place...’ Looking around the tranquil field, I noticed a fox behind some trees, its fur a blood red. Blood poured down its muzzle as it stepped forward. I opened my mouth to shout, but I couldn’t. ‘I can’t move.’ I panicked; its eyes were a calm purple, contrasting with its appearance. “Y*@ @R£ N07 R£@6Y, KOSUKE. C@7E. 2P*@K £Y 70N6UE.” The only word I understood was my name before the fox began to rip and tear at my back while I was helpless to stop it.  

My eyes shot open as I clutched my chest. “Kosuke!” Mina’s voice cut through my thoughts, “You scared me!” I lowered my head; every part of the fight was foggy...  

“Sorry, Mina,” I muttered, every part of me burned and felt as if it had been lit alight on a pyre. “Good, you're awake, here, my dear.” My eyes lit up as Recovery girl passed over my jewel, “I cleaned it up the best I could. It was covered in soot.” I took the jewel and placed it back into my pocket. “Thank you for keeping it safe.” I bowed; she scolded me and made me promise to take it easy as Mina dragged me off to the awards ceremony.   

‘I guess that means I was out for Bakugou’s match against Todoroki.’ I groaned, walking out onto the field and further walking to the podiums. I found out that Iida and I shared third place, though he had to leave due to a family emergency.  

“Now we will award the medals!” Midnight’s voice cut through my thoughts, “The presentation of these medals will be done by-” A laugh cut her off as All-Might descended. I tried to ignore the thrashing of Bakugou beside me. He grabbed a medal from Midnight, walking over to me.  

“Young Tsurumi, even if you lost control at the end, you contain incredible strength. You must learn how to wield it properly, but I have no doubt you’ll be an amazing Hero. I’m proud of you.” My eyes lit up as he placed the medal around my neck, followed by a pat on the head. ‘This is...’ I wiped my eyes quickly, ‘Why was I crying at such simple words...’ He then proceeded with the other medals, struggling with Bakugou's as he resisted. ‘Third place is better than what I hoped for at the start.’ 

Chapter Text

Kosuke spent the next few days resting, since they had a few days off after the festival. Luckily, most of the injuries he had now were minor. Now, Kosuke was taking his regular morning commute, this time in the rain. As he stepped into the train, he shook off his tail slightly, unsure of when it had gotten wet. He sighed, grabbing one of the overhang bars to hold onto, unknowing of the red eyes staring down at him from behind. 

“Hey, hey.” Kosuke looked up the ear closest to the noise, standing up, someone he’d never seen before. “You're that Kitsune from the sports festival, right?” By now, more eyes were on the poor boy, and another spoke up. “Isn’t that the boy he fought behind him? The explosion, boy!” Kosuke froze his eyes briefly, looking to see Bakugou scowling at all the people who were now staring and talking about them. ‘I can’t blame him this time, it's kinda creepy...’ 

As the train came to a halt, Kosuke stumbled forward; his grip had loosened due to his thoughts and lack of focus. Only to be caught by a familiar hand and pulled back, “Pay attention, Dumbass.” Bakugou was still scowling, but he refused to lock eyes with the purple ones staring at him with shock, “R-right, sorry. And thank you, Bakugou.” A begrudging thank you left the Kitsune, which seemed to shock the blonde, who clearly wasn’t expecting one. 

{------second person------} 

You were unsure what to do, although your tail told it for you; it wagged slightly, showing your excitement that Bakugou helped catch your fall and was less aggressive than usual. ‘Is he in a good mood?’ If so, you won't see yourself complaining anytime soon.  

You stood up properly once more, you held onto the overhead bar so that you wouldn’t stumble again, although if Bakugou caught you again would be great. For someone who acts so frustrated could be so caring, also the fact that he wasn’t so rough in catching you. Though you quickly looked to arm, relieved that the bite you gave him seemed to have been healed by Recovery girl. 

The train meets your stop, you ensure you have your personal belongings, umbrella in hand, ready to conquer the rain, not really, you despise it. You begin the walk towards the University building, rain trickling onto your tail, like Bakugou trailing behind you. He didn’t really have a choice, seeing as you went to the same school and class. You can feel his eyes burning holes into the back of your head as you meet the building's entrance. ‘Just a bit creepy.’  

Shaking the water off your tail, you let out a sigh, realising that it would stay wet for a while. Shockingly, as you changed your shoes, the blonde waited for you so that you would arrive at class together. ‘Okay, this is getting weirder now, this isn’t like Bakugou.’ 

The walk to the classroom was quiet; neither of you said anything in a way you “enjoyed” each other's company. Arriving at the classroom, you realise that everyone is talking; from what you can pick up, it seems to be about the attention they are getting. 

“Kosuke!” Mina called out, waving you over. Your tail wagged as you walked over. She then went back to her conversation, to which you sat and listened, your tail wagging faster. If that were possible. After a while, you pulled out your sketchbook only for Mina to look over, “Hey! Those look so good!” She moved closer, peering over into the pages, a few of your classmates following her as she flicked through the pages. 

{---First person---} 

Sketches of bubbles, my pet cat filled the first couple pages with her many different expressions, animals aren’t my speciality, but she’s still cute. As you flip further in, you pass by pages, flowers, your hero costume, scenery, and the forgotten sketch of Bakugou.  

Mina squeaked, “Hey, is that Baku-!” Before I could think, my hand reached up and covered her mouth. ‘I do not need Bakugou knowing about this.’ “Mina, please, be quiet, you saw nothing, I promise! Swear you won’t say anything.” Promptly shutting the book as the class turned around to Mina’s giggling. 

“Sure, Kosuke.” She teased, ‘I regret ever opening this book...’ I sighed, rushing to put the book away, embarrassment lining my face. 

“Morning.” The tired voice of Mr. Aizawa cut through the room, and everyone returned to their seats and stood straight. ‘This man really has us scared, huh...’ I noticed the bandage on his face was gone, finally, a small smile spreading across my face; in its place was a small scar under his eye. “More importantly, we’re having a special hero informatics class today.” Each student has a look of worry on their face, wondering what lies in store for them. 

“Code names. You’ll be coming up with your hero names. That once worrisome look was changed to cheers, leading me to pin my ears down, questioning my own choices. Mr Aizawa shoots a glare across our classroom, activating his quirk momentarily to shut the class up. ‘Thank you, Mr Aizawa,’ letting out a sigh of relief, my ears come up from the pinned position.  

“Additionally, from your debuts at the U.A. sports festival, you could have been scouted or look into pro-hero internships, which are mandatory. They usually occur during your second or third year, but they are willing to take on first years. This means they see potential in all of you.”  

Mr Aizawa proceeds to boot up the board to display students' internship offers from most to least. On the board are shown: Todoroki, Bakugou, and I ‘1374 offers?! Why would so many want to recruit me of all people?’ Conversations broke out about everyone's offers as well as the fact that Bakugou got fewer offers than Todoroki, despite their ranking in the sports festival. Mr. Aizawa then began to say we were picking Hero names for our internships, ‘already? Wouldn’t we just use our names for this stuff?’ 

“-You’ll have hell to pay later!” I perked up hearing Midnight's voice, my tail beginning to wag slowly, “These names could be stuck with you if not taken seriously, so pick something that, if it does, will represent you!” Mr. Aizawa stated he couldn’t approve them, ‘I wonder why?’ and went into his sleeping bag for a nap. 

Whiteboards were passed around as well as markers, for all of us to write down our names. ‘What should mine be?’ I sighed to myself, my tail moving to my lap as I began to pet it to calm myself. “Okay, let’s start with presenting names starting with whoever's ready.” Midnight spoke after a short while, ‘Wait, we're presenting them?!’ Panic flooded me, I was never good at speaking aloud or being in the spotlight, ‘and yet I chose to be a Hero.’ Another lengthy sigh left me as I slouched. 

Aoyama went first, his Hero name can’t stop twinkling... And that was after Midnight corrected it... ‘This’ll be a long day...’ Mina was next, attempting to choose Alien Queen. Midnight, however, shot it down, ‘I thought that was okay...’ I huffed as Mina sulked to her seat. Tsu went next, choosing Froppy as her Hero name. The class erupted into chants at the normal name. ‘Cute...’ The normal name made my tail return behind me and begin a small swaying motion. 

Kirishima chose Red Riot, paying homage to the Hero Crimson Riot. ‘It suits him,’ I nodded to myself. Jiro went with Earphone Jack, ‘simple and effective.’ I hummed. Shoji went with Tentacole, and I simply turned my attention to my blank board. Finally deciding on what I wanted. I went up after Hagakure, holding the board to my chest before turning it around. 

“The guardian spirit Hero: Satoshi,” I spoke, my head turned away from class, my tail low and unmoving. The class was silent for a moment before Mina began a chant of the name, similar to how they did with Froppy, which only increased my embarrassment. I quickly went back to my seat. 

I zoned out at some point during the rest of my classmates announcing their Hero names. I wasn’t sure why. ‘Something feels off. Is it because I forgot breakfast?’ I attempted to think of a reason I felt this way, maybe I should talk with Dad when I get home. The last time I spoke to him was after the sports festival. 

{small flashback :>--Third person} 

Kosuke sighed as he flopped onto the couch. He’d been avoiding calling his dad after losing control at the sports festival. Bubbles lay on the couch beside his body. Kosuke, still injured from his fight, shakily called his dad. 

“Hey, Dad,” Kosuke muttered, and his dad responded quickly. “My dear child, you did so well.” Kosuke let tears fill his eyes, “I still lost...” 

“That does not matter, you tried your best. We were all watching you.” ‘Wait... We? ' “Dad, who else was watching?”  

“Don’t worry about that now, you’ll know when the time is ready for you.” Kosuke paused. His dad’s words were calm but cold. ‘Is he angry with me?’ 

{Flashback end :P-----First person} 

By the time I zoned back in, I was walking with Mina to lunch, ‘did none of them notice? Was I acting normal? I didn’t even feel myself move-’ “Kosuke! You in there?” Mina called out, causing me to jump slightly and nod as she ushered me to sit with her group that consisted of Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari, and Bakugou... ‘Great.’ 

Conversation to over as we ate, “Tsurumi?” My ears twisted to Kirishima. “Have you looked at your internship offers yet?” My head tilted in thought, ‘I don’t even remember being handed the papers.’ I searched through my bag and found a few papers. I just pulled out the top one, “You can look if you want.” I handed the paper over, which Kaminari snatched up, and Kirishima and Sero huddled over to see the paper. 

Bakugou scoffed, and Mina leaned over to see the paper as well, “holy shit, dude!” I looked up from my bowl of rice as Kaminari shoved the paper in my face, “You got an offer from Endeavour!” My ears perked up, completely shocked as I took the paper back to indeed see Endeavour's name. Bakugou seemed tense and did not look very happy with that. 

{------------} 

Later that day, after my last class, I knocked on the door to my classroom and heard my teacher's gruff voice. “Come in,” I obeyed his words, walking into the classroom. 

“Mr. Aizawa, I wanted to give in my choice for internships.” 

“Already?” He replied quickly. I sighed, handing over my letter, “Yes.” 

“Endeavour.” Mr. Aizawa stated, it was different from his usual tone, almost as if he was angry at someone, ‘Is he angry?’ “Is he unavailable already?” I mumbled out my ears, starting to pin back, “no. But Todoroki has also applied for his agency, so you both might get accepted.” It sounded like he was brushing off his own anger, “Ah, I see, thank you, sir.” I spoke, my voice coming out a little shyer than I would have liked.  

An awkward silence, at least for me, settled over the room before Aizawa spoke up. “Do you have a way to get home tonight? The trains are delayed today,” My eyes widened. 'I had no idea about that?!’ “By that look, I’ll take that as a no.” He stood up, patting my shoulder as he passed, “Come on, I'll drive you.” ‘Is he... Smiling?!’ I noticed a soft smile in the reflection on the classroom door window as I followed him. It would be pointless to argue. Plus, last time wasn’t so bad. 

Chapter Text

After goodbyes were had at the train station, the class parted ways. You followed behind Todoroki, who had also gotten into Endeavor’s agency. ‘Then again, they are father and son. So, it makes sense,’ you nodded to yourself. Both you and Todoroki were mostly silent when it came to your classmates and conversations, so the silence wasn’t entirely uncomfortable.  

As you both stepped onto the train, you spoke up, “Todoroki?” Looking over at the boy who simply looked back, waiting for you to continue. “What is Endeavor like?” You hummed, though you were surprised by the look of intense hatred that was wiped from Todoroki’s face as quickly as it appeared. ‘Way to go, Kosuke, you hit a sore subject.’ “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry-”  

“It’s alright, you wouldn’t have known.” Todoroki’s voice was cold, emotionless almost, “You don’t have to answer, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot so suddenly.” You looked at your feet, hands now tightening on the case that held your Hero costume, ‘He probably hates you now, way to go, Kosuke!’  

{-First person-}  

It wasn’t long before our stop, stepping off, I stuck close to Todoroki. Who thankfully didn’t seem to be bothered by it, ‘I hate being in new places... Maybe I should’ve stuck with a Hero closer to home.’ “We’re here.” Todoroki’s voice cut through my thoughts like a knife; my ears were thoroughly pinned to my white hair, practically blending into it. My tail was almost dragging on the floor as we walked into the facility.  

I followed Todoroki all the way to Endeavour's office, taking deep breaths, but it was too late to go back now. “I’ve been waiting for you, Shoto.” Endeavors’ voice made me tense; his stature was rather imposing, too. I shook my head, holding it high. Forcing my ears to go up, though Endeavor seemed more focused on Shoto...  

“Are you finally ready?” I stayed quiet, ‘This isn’t my conversation. Why doesn’t he just ask me to leave so he can talk to his son?’ I restrained a huff before it could leave me. “I have no Intention of going down the path you’ve made.” I turned my head to Shoto, ‘Oh god, they aren’t going to fight while I’m here, are they?’ “I will take my own path.” Endeavor let out a huff before speaking, “Then you both better be getting ready. We’re going out.” ‘So, he does know I’m here then... I’m starting to see why Shoto doesn’t like him...’   

{--------}  

I had some adjustments made to my costume, just my gloves needing to be made with a different material and some new soles, which, from what the note said, were made up of different metals to increase their melting point to avoid accidentally melting them with my flames. ‘It seems they made some adjustments to the design too.’ Finally, a new place for my jewel, they had made another pouch on my belt that locked in case I needed to slip it elsewhere during a fight. My knee pads were also made of a different metal, but they were the same design-wise. 

After locking my jewel away, I joined Todoroki and Endeavor. We patrolled the streets; my mostly new Hero costume was hardly edited compared to what Todoroki had on. ‘It looks a bit like the school gym uniform,’ I thought to myself. The silence was short-lived. “You, Satoshi,” I perked up, hearing my Hero name. “Yes, Sir?”  

“You own flames, correct?” He spoke, not glancing at me,   

“Yes, Sir, but I’m not good with them just yet-”  

“That’s why you accepted my offer, to train your flames.” It wasn’t a question.  

“Yes, Sir.” Before a pause could be had, he responded again.  

“I thought so, and what of your other abilities?” He seemed uninterested yet asked anyway. Todoroki seemed just seemed to be watching me.  

“Well, other than the obvious additions to my body, I have generally heightened senses, smell, sight, hearing, etc. I can turn into a white fox of varying sizes, as you saw during the sports festival. I can also produce illusions, but they have a range. And all those things my flames included require energy to produce, the more I get used to using something, the less energy it takes.” I gave him a basic rundown of my Quirk. He just grunted in response.   

“And your flames,” ‘is he only interested in my flames?!’ “How much can you produce and where from?” I thought for a moment, “I can produce them from almost anywhere, but I’m only able to control them well if I produce them from my hands or feet. For how much, it depends. Since my body can’t seem to handle them, they tend to burn me. After one incident, my blood began to boil.” That seemed to strike a chord with the Hero; he looked at me with familiarity for some reason. “So, it really depends. I try not to use them too often, but I need to learn to use them if I want to be a Hero.” I spoke firmly.  

{----------}  

The next days consisted of gruelling training, mainly close combat training me as well as trying to get my body used to my flames. Currently, I was in my assigned room today, had been slow, a patrol, training, and then bedtime. And was I thankful this day is over. I was currently unwrapping the binding of my Hero costume from my chest-   

“Tsurumi-” I jumped, hearing Todoroki's voice. He was frozen in the doorway. “T-Todoroki, sorry I must’ve not heard you knock.” I muttered, throwing on a loose shirt, ‘wait. Oh, he must’ve seen the scar on my back...’  {The scar in question was one that stretched across your back as if it had been peeled off at one point in time.} 

“Did you need something?” I broke the silence, “That scar.” He paused, “How did you get it?”   

“I-” I paused, he looked down, “Sorry I shouldn’t have asked-” Before he could continue, I spoke, “It’s fine, really. I don’t remember, in fact, I don’t remember much from my childhood at all.” Despite the sadness in my tone, I gave him a small smile, “Now, did you need something?” I noticed Todoroki’s hand had reached for his own scar. 

“Endeavor said we were headed to Hosu tomorrow, and that I should give you notice.” I nodded in response, “And to give you my number.” ‘Huh? His number?! Why?’ “In case we get separated and you need something.” He seemed to mutter it, but it brought a small smile to my face that I was able to, hopefully, befriend him. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and handed it over as he did the same.  

{---------------}  

It’d only been a few minutes after arriving in Hosu. The entire city was thrown into chaos. I paused, my ears flicking around. ‘Something else is up.’ I focused my eyes; Endeavor had taken notice that I had stopped. A blurry red fox was staring back at me before it ran off, ‘it's the same one from that dream.’ “F07703 M3.” I didn’t hesitate; I followed. Just then, for a moment, I knew what it said.  

Shortly after Todoroki was beside me, “Todoroki! Shouldn’t you follow-”  

“Midoriya’s in trouble.” He stated firmly, I simply nodded, ‘the fox is going the same way... Was it trying to help Midoriya?’   

{---------}  

It was a maze of alleyways. Thanks to the direction of the fox guiding me, I knew where to go. Todoroki had split off from me to find a faster way. It wasn’t long before I found Todoroki. He was standing in front of Iida, who was immobilised and bleeding on the floor.  

‘I can’t jump in. The Hero killer hasn’t noticed me. I need to analyse the situation while I have the chance.’ I looked around. Midoriya, Iida, and a pro were all seemingly unable to move. ‘That has to be his quirk, being able to immobilise his opponent by some form of cutting, maybe, judging by how many cuts on the others there were.’ Todoroki was speaking by now by I wasn’t listening. ‘I have to wait for an opening to strike now I have the luxury of being unnoticed.’  

Everyone was soon behind Todoroki thanks to his ice. His eyes flickered up to the building. ‘Good, Todoroki knows I’m here. That means he can give me an opening!’ The Hero killer jumped, and I acted. Jumping down, foot positioned inwards, being bent at the knee, to hopefully kick him in the chest when the time struck. Turning my body to the side, ‘NOW!’ I thrust my leg forward, successfully kicking the Hero killer away. My landing was rough, but it worked.  

“Tsurumi!” Midoriya’s voice rang out.  

“Tsurumi... You too?...” Iida sounded defeated  

“I thought something was up. Looks like I was right.” I growled, my tail swaying behind me.  

“Don’t let him get your blood! It’s his quirk!” I gave Izuku a nod, “Don’t worry, we’ve got this!” I took a wide stance.  

“Hah. More fake heroes pour out of the woodwork-” The Hero killer paused his stance, dropping for just a moment as he looked at me. Todoroki didn’t give The Hero Killer time to think about whatever crossed his mind, sending a wave of ice towards him.  

Iida pleaded behind us for us to stop, but you stopped listening to engaged in the fight. I was attempting to fight in close combat, but it was much harder due to his blades and something else. ‘It’s almost like... I don’t want to hurt him...’ I shook the thought as Todoroki shot out some ice to defend our friends and the downed pro, ‘he’s avoiding fighting with me, is he bad at close combat? Or is it to do with why he froze earlier?’ I kept fighting the best I could, throwing myself into danger when Todoroki could get hit. I was right. He is avoiding hurting me.  

A large wall of ice cut off the Hero killer, giving us a moment to breathe.  

“That’s strange. The Ingenium I knew didn’t have that look on his face.”  

“You have a lot going on behind the scenes, Iida.” Todoroki continued, The Hero killer cut through the ice like it was air. ‘How sharp are those things!’ I growled, crouching slightly, “Todoroki!” I shouted as his arms were impaled. ‘Shit! I should’ve heard them!’ I prepared my stance.  

I jumped at the same time as Izuku got up, both of us landing a hit. Midoriya hit him further away while I took a stance next to Todoroki. Midoriya spoke about a time limit of some kind, more specifically, it depends on one's blood type. However, this information didn’t feel new to me. It felt familiar.  

“Knowing his quirk doesn’t do much for us.” I spoke, my jaw tensing, “If we get hit by any blade, we’re done. We need to get those blades away from him.” I stated firmly.  

The Hero killer chuckled, “You haven’t changed a bit, Princess.” A look of disgust and confusion plastered itself on my face. “What the hell are you talking about?!” ‘Stall, buy them time.’ Todoroki and Midoriya were frozen, stunned by the Hero Killer's familiarity with me.   

“I see...” He launched forward while I was stunned. Midoriya shot forward. I followed, shaking my head free of those thoughts, helping with the fight. He froze Midoriya and charged at Todoroki. I rushed to protect him without a second thought.  

{-------Third person-------}  

A small girl was sitting on her rear end after being knocked over. “Your whole stance is off, Princess.” The disfigured man crouched beside the girl, who was looking at her lap, soft sniffles leaving her. “Don’t cry, you did well for your first attempt.” He let out a sigh, pulling out one of his smaller knives. “Your mom won’t like this, but. Would you feel more motivated if I taught you how to use swords?” The man smirked, and the little girl's face lit up with a smile.   

“Really, Mr. £74&?!” The girl said a name, but it was incredibly distorted. The man laughed, “I told ya kid, you don’t have to call me Mr! Call me whatever you want.” The man gave a slight smile as he ruffled the girl's hair, causing her to giggle.  

“Hmmm.” The small girl tilted her head back in thought, her small tail swaying. “Ah! Burny face!” She giggled as the man feigned offence and began to chase her around.  

{-----Second person------}  

You came back to reality as Midoriya shook you awake. “Midoriya?...”  

“He’s awake!” Midoriya shouted to the others as he stood. ‘I can’t move... Did he get me when I went to protect Todoroki? Where did that MEMORY come from?... Wait... Memory? I’ve never referred to these dreams as that... Is that what these dreams have been?...’ You were lost in your thoughts, so much so that you didn’t notice the bleeding coming from the deep wound on your arm.  

‘I can’t... Stay awake... Maybe another small nap....’  

{------Third person-------}  

The fight finished soon after Kosuke passed out, and they found a set of thin capture rope among some basic first aid in Kosuke’s utility belt. Now they had a bucket of loaded questions as they attempted to help Kosuke's wound. It was deep, and the blood loss was immense. Thanks to those first aid supplies in Kosuke's utility belt, they slowed the bleeding and got him stable for now. 

Eventually, they were walking out of the alley. “Why are you here?” The voice of Midoriya’s mentor rang out. Midoriya made a shocked face, passing Kosuke’s body to Todoroki to carry, while he was scolded by his mentor. “It's around here!” A voice cut through Gran Torino's words. “Endeavor told us there was a request for help here, but...”  

“Children?! Those injuries look serious!”  

“I'll call an ambulance right away!” A hero spoke after seeing Kosuke's practically lifeless body.   

“Hey... That’s...”  

“That’s The Hero Killer!”   

“Call the police to!” A pro shouted at the one who was calling for medical assistance.   

Iida thanked everyone, bowing deeply, regret lining his features. A screech cut the moment short. A Nomu. It grabbed Kosuke’s body with its talon-like feet, hoisting him up into the air. “Tsurumi!” The shout echoed through the boys' friends. Before anyone could act, the Hero Killer was licking up the Nomu’s blood from a pro's face. Causing the Nomu to freeze and lose altitude.   

The Hero killer cut himself free of his bindings, pure rage was sunken into his face as he ran to the Nomu. He plunged a knife into the Nomu’s exposed brain tissue, ensuring a quick death. He grabbed Kosuke's body, preventing him from hitting the ground as he landed. The Nomu crashed into the ground, and everyone's face was lined with panic as the Hero Killer held Kosuke. Instead of using Kosuke like a hostage, like they thought he would. He placed Kosuke onto the ground and turned his attention to the Heroes, who were stunned by the gentle action.   

“This society has become overgrown with fake Heroes... With criminals who wave their power idly... Should all be purged!” He pointed towards them with his knife in hand. “To create a more just society...”  

Endeavor arrived on the scene, only angering The Hero Killer further. “Endeavor... You fake!” The Hero Killer shouted as his mask slipped off, revealing a heavily disfigured face that had clearly been burnt away. “I must make things right... You killed her... You must be dyed in blood... I must take back what it means to be a Hero!” The Hero Killer took steps forward as he spoke. “Come! Try and get me you fake!”  

“The only one I’ll let kill me is the true Hero... All Might!” The Hero Killer seemed far more deranged; all the Heroes present were frozen in place. The Hero killer was suddenly frozen, foaming at the mouth before falling over. One of his broken ribs had pierced his lung.  

Chapter Text

‘This field again?’ I looked around, noticing a trail of blood, ‘What...’ I looked down. I was wearing a hospital gown?... ‘Right, the hero killer...’ I sighed; I followed the trail of blood. ‘This is just a dream anyway,’ the trail stopped at the body of a mutilated fawn. Its legs twisted backwards, its ears and tail ripped off. Its stomach was torn and gutted, its organs strung about its neck in a twisted necklace. The sight made me step back and throw up beside the body, falling to my knees. 

“Innocence is a fickle thing...” I snapped my head up to see another fox. It was a soft yellow. ‘I can understand it.’ “Why am I here?!” My voice was so... Different. “You must first conquer those which have escaped you.” It spoke as it walked away. “No! Don’t leave me!” My voice was so small... 

{-----------} 

I jolted awake, panting, looking around briefly, and I saw Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya. ‘Right, we must’ve been taken to the hospital...’ A nurse walked in and was seemingly shocked to see me awake. They guided me to another room where they gave my wounds a few checks and took a draw of my blood for something. I was too tired to ask. Though one of the nurses told me briefly that my jewel was still in my utility pouch in my room, I was beyond grateful. Once I got back, all three of the boys were awake. 

“Tsurumi!” Midoriya and Iida seemed to shout in unison. Todoroki simply looked up at me from his spot on the bed. I sat on my own. “It’s nice to see you all awake again,” I could see the questions in their eyes. 

“Tsurumi.” Iida spoke first once the nurse left, “Why did the hero killer know you?” It was clear he was angry, “I don’t know.” I sighed, “I wish I knew. I have a lot of gaps and empty spots in my memory; as a result, I don’t have many memories below the age of around eleven or twelve, if any at all.” I clenched my hands into fists, “I’ve been getting a few things back here and there. But nothing's concrete. I’m sorry, Iida.” I muttered, looking away. Silence settled over the group. 

“Even so,” Todoroki broke the silence. “Even if he didn’t know you, why call you princess?” Todoroki was genuinely confused as he tilted his head. ‘I forgot! None of them knows about me!’ I froze, “Maybe it's because I'm easily mistaken for a girl?...” I shrugged, making up an excuse. ‘Please buy it, please buy it!’  

“That makes sense.” Midoriya piped up, ‘Oh, thank you, Midoriya, and your naiveness.’ “Even Kacchan mistook Tsurumi for a girl until their fight at the sports festival. If anything, it shows Stain didn’t know them after all!” Midoriya spoke with a smile as the other boys nodded, “My apologies, I should’ve thought my words through before making accusations.” Iida bowed to me, “It’s okay, Iida, I probably would have reacted the same!” I reassured him. ‘Thank you, Midoriya and your concrete logic.’ 

“Oh, are you wounded kids awake?” A short man walked in. I couldn’t be sure if he was pro. However, I did recognise the Hero next to him as Manual, the Hero Iida was interning with. “Kid, I’ve got some complaints for you,” Midoriya raised his hands in a weak defence as the elderly man walked closer to him. “But before that, you’ve all got a visitor.” 

A large man? No, wait. A large man with a dog's head walked in. ‘Okay, I have officially seen every Quirk under the sun.’ “Hosu’s Chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae.” The elderly man gestured to the dog man. ‘Chief?... Oh boy, we’re in heaps of trouble.’  

“Oh, you can stay seated, woof.” He spoke to me and Midoriya as we got up, ‘Wait, WOOF?!’ “You must be the U.A. students who took down the Hero killer, right?” Todoroki responded with a simple yes; the rest of us stayed silent. My tail was practically flailing around in pure anxiety; my ears were no different, being flat against my hair. I didn’t know when it had happened, but after touching my tail. My jewel slipped out, and I let out a small sigh as I began to roll it around my fingers for the comfort it brings me. 

“Regarding the hero killer we arrested...” My body froze for a moment; my anxiety was going to cause a scene if he looked at me. Luckily, the Chief's head stayed forward, allowing me to calm down as he continued. “He had fairly serious injuries, with burns and broken bones. He’s receiving treatment under strict guard, woof.” I curled in on myself slightly, my gaze locked onto my lap as I rolled the jewel in my fingers, attempting to calm down further. It was rather futile.  

“Since you, U.A. students, I’m sure you already know that when superpowers became the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards to ensure that Quirks are not used as weapons. Then the profession of ‘Heroes’ emerged to fill that gap, woof.” My tongue felt like sandpaper; breathing felt like a chore. ‘Oh no...’ I recognised what was going to happen if I didn’t calm down. A hand resting on my back brought me out slightly. Midoriya gave me a soft smile before looking back at the Chief. ‘Thank you, Midoriya...’ Midoriya slowly and subtly rubbed my back; the action went mostly unnoticed, except by Todoroki. ‘I don’t have the heart to tell Midoriya this irritates my scars...’ 

“For an individual's use of force and power that can easily kill others- actions that became appropriate to denounce, to be accepted officially, is thanks to early Heroes who followed the ethics and rules of the profession, woof. Even up against the hero killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their Quirks without specific permission from their guardians or supervisor is a clear violation of the rules.” Midoriya’s hand on my back didn’t stop despite its clear stuttering in its movements. ‘I feel like I’m going to be sick...’ One hand rubbed my chest as I tried to quell the feeling. Midoriya seemed increasingly worried. I gave him a weak smile. 

“The three of you, and the pro heroes Endeavor, Manual, and Gran Torino must receive strict punishment.” ‘I was useless most of the fight, and I'm being punished still? Yeah, we’re fucked...’  

“Wait a minute.” Todoroki took a step forward, “If Iida hadn’t done anything, Native would have been killed.” ‘Native, that had to be in the injured pro that was there?. “If Midoriya hadn’t come, the two of them would have been killed. No one realised the hero killer had appeared.” I could practically feel the heat coming off Todoroki as he attempted to protect us all from punishment. ‘I doubt it’ll work though. Good luck, Todoroki...’ “Are you saying we should have followed the rules and watched people get killed?” His voice grew harsher 

“Are you saying that as long as everything turns out all right, then it’s okay to bend the rules?” The Chief's voice was stern, his eyes narrowed. “Isn’t it a Hero’s job to save people?” Todoroki clenched his fists. I shuffled back a bit. ‘Oh boy, this can’t end well...’ “That is why you're not a full-fledged Hero yet. Goodness, what are you being taught by U.A. and Endeavor, woof?” My jaw would have dropped if I weren’t so tense. Midoriya had paused his hand movements to watch the exchange.  

“You mutt!” Todoroki growled, walking to the dog chief. I flinched at the familiar insult. “Stop it. He is absolutely right.” Iida’s attempt to quell Todoroki failed, ‘Nice try, Iida, better decide what urn you want.’ “Hang on a minute! Hear him out to the end.” Midoriya’s mentor quelled Todoroki temporarily. A sigh left my lips, ‘I won’t be dying after all, I'm unsure if I should be upset or not.’ “That was the official opinion of the police. And such punishment would only happen if this were to be made public, woof.” A weight slightly lifted itself off my shoulders, “If it was to be made public, you would likely be applauded by the public,” I shuddered at the thought of that much attention, ‘No thank you...’ “But you would be unable to escape punishment. On the other hand, this is a bit underhanded, but if it is not made public, the burn scars would support Endeavor being the Hero that saved the day, and it would end there, woof.”  

‘He’s making a loophole for us? This can’t be legal, can it?’ “Thankfully, there were very few witnesses. This violation could be crushed here, woof.” I looked at the other boys in the room. Iida was tense but shocked, Todoroki was slightly loosening the tension in his jaw, and Midoriya and I were waiting for some kind of catch. “But this would also mean no one would know about your good judgment and achievements. Which do you prefer?” ‘I know what I want: to go home. I’ll take staying out of the spotlight, plus fame and attention isn’t the point of being a Hero.’ “Personally, I don’t want to be responsible for ruining young careers, because of a huge mistake, woof.” The chief gave us a thumbs-up. 

I zoned out for a bit, Midoriya still having a hand on my back as I somewhat struggled to stay upright. I only briefly saw the chief bow and Todoroki say something before I was completely gone. 

{-----------} 

I was kept in the hospital for another day before being allowed to go home. I had grown increasingly worried about Bubbles while I was gone, but when I got there, she was completely fine, just happy to see me. After walking in, I noticed a note on the fridge. Pulling it off, I read it.  

‘I heard what happened in Hosu. I’m not happy about it, but you did good, kid. I was worried about Bubbles, so I stopped by a few times to check on her. P.S. Hide the spare key better. -Aizawa.’  

A small smile spread on my face before I fed Bubbles and went to bed. 

Chapter Text

Finally, after a few more days at internships, you were on the commute back to school. Though you weren’t alone, you had already learned Bakugou took the same train as you, so it was far from surprising when you found him on the train. And for once, there were open seats as such you sat next to him, though you said nothing.  

The train was quiet until your tail was disturbed by a hand on it. You snapped your head to see Bakugou's eyes buried in his phone, his hand petting your tail. You let a sigh leave your lips before you spoke, “Bakugou. You're touching my tail.” Your voice was more aggressive than you meant it to be, Bakugou snapped to reality, pulling his hand away with a grumble.  

‘Now I think about it, he’s been avoiding me to the best of his abilities since the sports festival.’ “Oi.” Your head snapped back to him, “We need to talk. After school.” His voice was stern and shaky? ‘No, that can’t be right.’ You simply nodded, tilting your head when he handed over his phone, “Put your number in.” You were stunned but didn’t fancy dying on a train to school, so you did before handing over your own.  

{--------}  

The commute was over, and you were beyond thankful. You disliked having to hang around Bakugou with the possibility of him blowing up. You also had to stifle a chuckle or two because of his flattened hair. Upon entering the class with Bakugou, Sero and Kirishima came over to tease him. You went to greet Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki since they were all together.  

“Tsurumi, how are your injuries?” Surprisingly, Todoroki had been the one to ask; then again, he had texted you a few times to ask if you were alright, and you found it sweet. “I’m just fine, Todoroki.” All three boys seemed to sigh in relief, though it was short-lived as Mina came to check on you, pulling you away while the other boys were checked up on by their classmates.  

{---Third person---}  

Later, the class was guided to field gamma by All Might for Hero basic training. A rescue race was the aim of the game, starting at one end of the industrial-looking field to All Might at the other as fast as possible. Four groups of five people would be racing each other. First up were Midoriya, Sero, Mina, Ojiro, and Iida.   

Kosuke sat on the watching platform, waiting for his group's turn, though he may have let out a small laugh when Midoriya fell on his face. Sero won that race. After a while, it was time for Kosuke’s team. Consisting of Tokoyami, Bakugou, Todoroki, Shoji, and himself. All Might sent out the signal, and they were off.  

All the students rushed in the direction of the signal, but they were clouded by smoke soon enough. Kosuke had turned in a large fox, allowing him to quickly advance to first place due to his increased mobility. Bakugou was close behind, and Kosuke was soon declared the winner. He’d gotten much better after his internship, just like Midoriya.  

In the locker rooms, Kosuke stuck his corner as he changed, not listening much, he was surprised no one even glanced or noticed his scarred back. Then again, Todoroki was standing in front of him. ‘Is he trying to shield my scar from them seeing? Then again, he’s been quite attached? To me, after seeing my scars.’   

{-------first person--------}  

I walked out of classes, ‘Oh, right. Bakugou wanted to talk...’ A sigh left me as I walked down the hallway, looking at my phone. ‘Oh, the woods on campus, how isolated and kidnappable.’ I groaned as I veered off the path to find the Ashen blonde staring at the sound of my footsteps.   

“What did you want, Bakugou? I need to get home quickly.” I muttered, “What the hell are you.” It didn’t sound like a question.  

“What are you talking about?-”   

“Don’t pull that crap on me!” He snapped, causing my ears to flatten and me to flinch. “When I blew you up at the sports festival. You were that giant fucking thing!” I was shocked, I hadn’t remembered almost anything from that fight before I could even open my mouth, he continued. “And what the fuck was that shit you made me see?!” 

“I have no idea because I don’t remember anything after the start of the fight. I’m human at the very least.” I cut him off, “As for the stuff you saw, I have zero ideas. Maybe you just overused your quirk and saw shit.” I snapped, leaving him there. ‘There’s no way I made him see shit. Right?’ 

Chapter Text

Class had just ended, everyone was chatting about the final exams happening in a week, and I listened in, though I was more focused on my sketch of Mina. I did, however, pause when they mentioned needing a place to host their study session. ‘I live alone, so it’ll be easier for everyone!’ I briefly hesitated before getting up, slipping my sketch book into my bag holding it over my shoulder.  

“I wouldn’t mind hosting,” I spoke softly. Yaoyorozu had mentioned her parents might not allow it since they were out of town. Everyone turned to look at me, and Mina began tugging on my arm, thanking me. I quickly grew embarrassed at her behaviour. “It’s definitely not as big as Yaoyorozu’s, but my house should be able to fit everyone who’s coming.”   

I was third in the class myself, so I didn’t need help, and I figured Yaoyorozu could use the help with the others. “I’ll make a group chat for the whole class, you just send your address, yeah?” Mina was practically buzzing; I just nodded as she went around the room collecting numbers, though she failed to get Bakugou’s. Once I gave her mine, I directed her to Bakugou’s number on my phone.  

{--------}  

Once I got home, I focused on making my place presentable. Bubbles did her part by patiently waiting for pets while I cleaned and moved things around. I had switched to a plain black shirt, with some grey shorts, so I didn’t sweat too much. ‘It’s been so long since I had company.’ My tail wagged rather fast, for once I was genuinely excited.  

Mina, Yaoyorozu, Sero, Kaminari, Jiro, Ojiro, even Bakugou and Kirishima would be coming! I was leaving my bedroom when the doorbell rang. I was quick to answer to see Mina and Sero. “Whoa!” Mina said as I let her step past me. Sero followed, and I paid little attention to the case of drinks in his hands. “Your place is so cute!” Mina was practically gushing.  

Bubbles meowed as she strode over to Mina, “OH MY GOD!” Mina was then distracted by Bubbles; I can't blame her. “Here, thought I’d bring something fun for us to drink.” He handed me the case of drinks. I placed them on the counter, quickly checking the contents. ‘I don’t think I could handle that many drunk people my age in this house.’ Luckily, it was just something called ‘Quirk juice?’ This can’t be legal.   

A short while later, Kaminari and Ojiro joined the ‘party’. Kaminari had more of this ‘Quirk juice’. ‘I have a feeling I’m going to regret hosting after this...’ Yaoyorozu was next with Jiro, and finally Bakugou and Kirishima arrived. I say group, but it was just him and Kirishima. ‘I think Kirishima must’ve dragged him over.’ I sighed, and so the studying began.  

I bounced around between everyone, offering advice on how to solve certain problems, etc. But soon enough, Sero piped up, “Alright. I think it’s time for a break!” He pointed to the counter where the ‘Quirk juice’ was. ‘Oh no...’ Kaminari soon followed him, bringing over the juice they’d both brought, everyone reluctantly agreed, and the studying equipment was put away.  

“The stuff is hard to get!” Kaminari smirked, proud of himself as he set the bottle down. “Yeah! It started in America; it was hard to find it here!” Sero huffed, “May I ask what it is?” Yaoyorozu hummed a bit, concerned.  

“It reacts with quirks and has tons of side effects! Some funny ones can be not so funny.” Mina piped up, excited as she began to shake me, “Are we sure this is a good idea-”   

“Don’t worry, Tsurumi! All the side effects are temporary!” Kaminari attempted to reassure me. It failed. “Okay! Here’s how this’ll work! Someone will ask a question of anyone. If they fail to answer, they drink!” Mina cheered, followed by Kirishima. ‘This was a grave mistake...’ I gulped.  

We decided to draw names via paper in a bowl, classic. The first name drawn would be the person asking, the second being the one who’d have to answer said question, if they couldn’t answer. They drink. ‘I’m starting to wish it was alcohol...’ I sighed as Kaminari pulled out a name, “Yao-momo! You’ll be asking...” He paused and pulled out another name, “Jiro, a question!” Kaminari plopped himself down into the circle that everyone had made at some point. Yaoyorozu, looking towards Jiro, “Have you ever used your quirk to listen in on people's private conversations while they were unaware? If so, what was the worst thing you've heard?”  

Jiro paused, “Give me the damn drink.” A few erupted into cheers, Kaminari handed over a blue bottle to her, and she sniffed it after opening it before downing the drink with chants of ‘chug’ coming from Kaminari and Kirishima. Similar to her quirk, earphone jacks sprout from her head like antennas, almost like Minas. “Oh My God, hey Jiro, we’re matching now ha-ha!” followed by a round of laughter.  

Jiro sticks her hand in the bowl, pulling out Sero’s name. “Ok, Sero, have you ever got caught up in your own tape like a spiderweb type thing?” Sero responds with no hesitation, “I mean, yeah, of course I have, when I was a kid, I thought I was Spider-Man and got tangled up more than once.” Jiro was silently frustrated that she couldn’t make him drink, but the game continued.  

Sero pulls out Kirishima’s name from the bowl, “You know how your quirk is hardening, does it mean that everything goes hard?” The room was either stunned or laughing; Kirishima was already reaching for a drink, his face a bit flushed. After chugging the entire drink, his hair grew rather long. Around the length of my own, eliciting laughs from around the room. Kirishima didn’t seem bothered by just flaunting his new hair.   

Kirishima pulled Mina’s name out, “Have you ever tried to do science experiments with your acid that didn’t turn out that good?” She answers the question ‘yes’ with a smirk, giving few details on it. Mina giggles as she pulls Bakugou’s name from the bowl, “Bakugou. Why did you give Kosuke your number?” I looked down at my lap, pretending not to have heard, as my tail swayed involuntarily as I remembered the less-than-stellar note our conversation was left on.  

Bakugou tensed, ready to kill anyone and everyone, his hands sparking and smoking. The group had erupted into ooo’s, and Mina looked rather proud of herself as Bakugou angrily snatched up a drink of orange colour and downed it with little hesitation. His hair was slowly fading from the ashen blonde to a hot Barbie pink. He then started chasing Sero and Kaminari around, pink sparks raging from his palms like glitter, while they laughed. Kirishima was doubled over with Mina in tears as they laughed. Ojiro, Jiro, and Yaoyorozu were letting out their own little giggles.  

After 10 minutes to eventually calm down, Bakugou scoffs, putting his hand in the bowl, pulling out my name, “Alright, mutt, what happened while my hand was inside you?” My face flushed red, my jaw dropped, and Mina’s dropped as well, not expecting that question. She began an argument while everyone else was rather stunned, as Kirishima held her back, and Bakugou saw nothing wrong with his question. After she calmed down, I spoke.  

 “I'm not answering that!” Internally crying, I pick up the drink, wishing it were alcohol, and throw it back; it had a sickly-sweet taste as it went down. Everyone's eyes were now on me, once again, faces shocked; this was too much. I wanted this to be done and over with already. In shame, I keep my head down, my hand fishing out a name, ‘Yaoyorozu’  

“Yaoyorozu, what is the limit to your quirk?” I asked, hoping to divert the attention away from me, “It all depends on how much I’ve eaten that day.” She spoke with relief. Yaoyorozu pulls out a name, “Ojiro, what’s the bone structure of your tail?” She asked, genuinely intrigued. Ojiro, however, couldn’t answer since he had no idea and therefore needed to drink. After finishing the drink, his cheeks flushed lightly, and a slight hiccup occupied him. Kaminari pipes up, “I swear this isn't alcoholic, but you, Ojiro, my guy, look buzzed right now.”   

“Now that you mention it,” Sero looked to me. “You don’t look buzzed. Which means you got a different effect, one that doesn’t show physically.” He smirked, ‘Uh oh...’ “You hang around Midoriya quite a bit, and Todoroki seems quite close with you after the internships.” Sero smirked further as if attempting to prove a theory, “So do we perhaps have feelings for one of those boys?” He wiggled his eyebrows. I cringed before stating, “Not really, they’re more like big brothers.” I wanted to say friends... ‘I can't lie!’ I covered my mouth as Sero laughed at my reaction.  

“Tsurumi can’t lie!” Kaminari pointed at me, and suddenly the games were forgotten. It was a race to get me admitted to things. “Is your tail as soft as it looks?” Ojiro blurted out, still being impaired, “Well, yes, but-” I stopped myself from speaking as another question was shot at me; it was Jiro this time. “Has anyone ever touched your tail?” I respond with a quiet yes, just as Mina blurted out “Baku-” I lunge toward her in an attempt to shut her up. Kaminari speaks, interrupting Mina, “How did you get your parents to agree to this?”  

I rub my head. “I mean well, my mother has passed. I don’t really know my father that much, other than the fact that he’s away on work stuff and pays for this place for me. So, I live alone-” Mostly everyone had solemn looks on their faces now, ‘Did I kill the mood?...’ Mina starts uncontrollably sobbing, coming over to comfort us, joined by Bubbles, who jumped onto my lap, squeaking at me.  

{---------}  

After a short while of Mina’s outburst, she calmed down, and most of the effects had worn off. Yaoyorozu, Jiro, and Ojiro needed to go home and so they left. Leaving me with Bakugou, Kirishima, Mina, Sero, and Kaminari, who had snuck off somewhere.  

“Look what I found!” Kaminari came from my kitchen, ‘I thought I hid those well!’ He was holding varying bottles of alcohol. “Whoa, I didn’t take you for a drinker, Kosuke,” Mina smirked, and I shied away. They began to beg me to let them drink it, and I eventually gave in. To which they cheered and rushed to the counter, Bakugou just scoffed and planted his arrogant ass on my sofa.   

“Hey, Tsurumi? Can we order some food, please!” Mina began to beg as drinks were poured. I was unable to say no when it turned into four against one, ‘Oh wow, Bakugou, you're a great help!’ “Alright, but clean up after yourselves!” I sighed. Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero were already dragging Bakugou over as they started shots, while Mina found my white wine and sat down with me.  

They decided on pizza, and it showed up soon enough. Kirishima was able to get Bakugou to get his own. ‘Wait... If they drink here, they can’t go home!’ I groaned at the realisation I would, in fact, have five other people crashing in my house. ‘It’s better than spending the night alone, though.’ That exhausted look on my face turned to a small smile at their little drinking party.  

{---------}  

Mina eventually was able to drag Bakugou in, and then me. We all forgot about studying long ago, as most of us laughed and loosened up. Mina dragged me off with her bag in hand, with the claim of wanting to put the boys in drag. ‘Uh oh...’   

After walking into my room, she began to giggle at my Hero posters and figures. She pulled a dress out of her bag. When I tensed, she paused, seemingly sobering up for a moment. “Hey, Tsurumi Hun?” She sat me down and sat with me, “Dressing up won’t make you less of a man, look at Kirishima’s reaction to it.” She tried to cheer me up by remembering how excited Kirishima was to dress up.  

“But... This is different.” With my impaired state was there was no way I could keep my secret any longer. Mina began to rub my back. “How is it different?” She hummed, letting me lean on her, “Because...” Despite everything, I still hesitated, “I’m trans.” I tensed, though I was caught off guard by her tight hug, which I relaxed into.  

“Well, if those lot see you as a guy, what’s the harm? Plus, if they say anything, I’ll beat the shit out of ‘em!” She gave a wobbly punching motion, causing me to laugh. She gave a small smile and pulled out a dress with more coverage and giving me privacy to change.  

‘Actually, this isn’t that bad!’ My tail wagged, Mina walked back in and bragged as she gave me some makeup, talking me through it and reassuring me she wouldn’t put too much on. Mina walked back out to give me some kind of entrance.  

Upon walking out, the dress in question was orange, but not unpleasant to the eyes, with black edges. Though it was tighter than expected, the makeup was simple, and she had braided my long hair. Sero’s jaw was on the floor, Kaminari looked like he was losing it, Kirishima was gushing about me looking so manly. Bakugou was staring? “It seems like Bakubro is figuring some stuff about himself!” Kirishima blurted out, and Bakugou was quick to try and beat his ass, but they were both five drinks in at this point.  

The rest of the night was some form of ridiculous, followed by drinking. 

Chapter Text

The written exam lasted three days. You were surprised that, despite the lack of studying that night, ‘Not that I remember much of it-’ you, as far as you were concerned, you had passed the written exam, the practical was a different story.   

{----------}  

Your teachers were gathered, which immediately gave you the suspicion that it wasn’t robots like Mina had told you. “Now we will begin the practical exam.” Aizawa's voice rang out, ‘There is no way we’re going to fight who I think we’re fighting, right?’ You panicked, your ears already pinning. “It’s possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to training camp, then don’t make stupid mistakes.” A brief pause was given. Mina seemed ecstatic with Kaminari next to you, “I expect you all to have gathered information ahead of time, and hopefully you have some idea of what you’ll be doing.”   

Kaminari cut him off with Mina in tow, “We’re fighting robots like in the entrance exam!” Mina was cheering him on, though their excitement lasted five seconds. “For various reasons, we will be changing the exam this time!” ‘Oh fuck, I hate being right!’ You were close to sulking and walking away, but you held firm. The principal had popped out of your homeroom teacher's scarf. “From now we want to focus on person-to-person combat and Hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting. So, you’ll be fighting in forms of two against a teacher!” Everyone was stunned.  

‘This is how I die...’ You shrank in on yourself. The teams were announced, and you were teamed with Sero against Midnight. After the explanation was over, you both went to talk strategy. Upon reaching a room, you locked the door with a sigh, “I have a plan for Midnight,” you stated firmly, “Nice man!” Sero was clearly relieved. “First, I’ll give a basic rundown of her quirk.” Sero nodded eagerly, sitting down as I did, “Her quirk is called Somnambulist, it allows her to emit a fragrance from her body that can put people to sleep, but it’s less effective on people who have a female-based immune system.” You clenched your hands into fists as a sigh left your lips, ‘Time to drop the bomb.’  

{--first person--}  

“Which is why my plan will consist of me distracting her while you get to the gate.” Sero nodded along, “Why would you do it? I could distract her as well?” He tilted his head, “It’s because...” I hesitated, my voice caught in my throat. “It's because I’m trans.” I tensed up, but Sero just chuckled before it turned into full-blown laughter. “Sorry, sorry-” He calmed himself, “I already knew that-”  

“Hah?!” I was shocked, my jaw on the floor, “Well. It’s because I’m trans as well, I knew right away.” He spoke as if it wasn’t a huge deal. I, however, was stunned beyond belief, “Sorry to burst your coming out party though, buddy.” He patted my head, causing me to let out a frustrated huff. “Then again, it might not change the plan since I'm already on T,” He muttered with a small shrug. My jaw was still hanging open.  

{-----------}  

After a short while, I calmed myself and went through the plan again, “Your visor should protect you against the mist so long as you keep it on. Your tape could be used to put together a makeshift trap; I can distract her while you go to the gate. Even if she attacks me, I’m at least decent in close combat, so I could use the cuffs on her if needed. But you just need to get out of the gate. Sound good?” I rambled out. He gave me a thumbs-up in return. He went to stretch while I went to watch the matches.  

{----------}  

I walked into the observation room to see Uraraka and Midoriya, “Midoriya, Uraraka, you're going to watch as well?” I spoke with a tilt in my head, my tail lightly swaying as the familiar faces. “Tsurumi,” They looked at me as they both spoke my name. “Yeah, it's not often we get to see our teachers fight, so Midoriya and I were watching the fights together.” I nodded, “I came to watch for a similar reason.” ‘That’s a lie, I'm terrified to go against Midnight...’  

“It also wouldn’t hurt to calm my nerves, Sero wanted to go stretch and prepare elsewhere.” I hummed as I stood with them. Tsu and Tokoyami were in their exam now. Midoriya nods, and Uraraka seemed surprised by the fact that I was nervous at all. They were a good team, though I quickly noticed that Tokoyami had the glaring weakness of blind spots due to the number of clones from our teacher. Tsu was able to stay remarkably calm and act as emotional support as well as protect Tokoyami’s blind spots.  

Iida and Ojiro passed, though Iida was stuck in the ground and needed to be fished out. Next up was Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, up against our homeroom teacher, ‘This can’t go well.’ Thankfully, they passed though it was through trial and error. Yaoyorozu seemed to finally gain some confidence back after the sports festival had passed. Uraraka and Aoyama passed after Uraraka was able to get in close and use the moves she learned from her internship. After her match, we had Iida, Tsu, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka in the room once she returned from her passed match.   

Mina and Kaminari were way out of their depth with Principal Nezu; he was simply too smart for them, and so they failed. ‘Poor Mina, I know she was looking forward to the summer camp...’ I wasn’t interested in anything but the screen, my tail wagging as Present Mic against Jiro’s team was next. I felt like a child in a candy store watching the fights. I was sure I hit someone with my tail, but no one seemed to mind. Though in the end, he did lose to some bugs. ‘I can’t blame him, though.’   

Hagakure and Shoji’s fight started, and I piped up. “I’m going to meet up with Sero,” I gave a quick set of goodbyes before walking out to find Sero and briefly stretch and get ready for our match.   

{----------}  

Our fight was upon us, Sero and I walked through the grounds of the area. “The moment we see smoke, you need to get going,” I stated firmly as he set up a trap made from his tape. I had summoned some Kitsunes to dig a hole before allowing them to disappear, creating a pitfall behind us. Sero gave me a salute, and we began walking further in.  

Midnight's voice cut through the start of her mist, “Oh, some hopeful youths have found me!” ‘Sero’ was already off. I took a breath and distracted her by launching a quick kick before jumping back. “Oh my, you're ballsy facing me head-on.” She smirked, ripping her costume further. 

Midnight seemed to realise after five minutes that what she was fighting wasn’t my real body, so she took no mercy in destroying my illusion. I was hiding behind a rock formation, holding the cuffs we were given in my hand. Sero had insisted on giving me his visor not long after he left me at the start of the fight. ‘Right from the start I've used Illusions she won’t be easily fooled now-’ “Got you boy!” I barely jumped out of the way, running towards the pitfall. I jumped over, going higher than expected. Midnight, however, attempted to jump over as well, only to be dragged in by Sero, who had been hiding there the whole time. I then slapped the cuffs on her, allowing us to pass.   

I went back to the observation room to ask Recovery Girl if I would be able to sleep in her office. My energy was thoroughly drained from using my illusions for a prolonged period. She allowed it, and I was beyond thankful. And so, I happily slept on the surprisingly comfortable bed.  

{-------------}  

I awoke in that field again, a soft orange fox lying on the floor, a pale green one not too far away, but I couldn’t make out its form. “Do you wish to help them?” I whipped around to be met with a black fox. I only nodded, my body was responding without my knowledge. The fox bowed its head a blinding light consumed me.  

{--Bakugou’s Pov sorry if it's a little ooc--}  

‘Damned fucking Deku had to save me!’ I was slumped against a wall, wiping vomit from my mouth as Deku spouted nonsense, before I could even shout back. A small ‘yip’ caught our attention. It was a small white fox tail wagging behind it, just sat there. “Wait, that’s one of Tsurumi’s tricks.” Deku began to look around, ‘Idiot. His match finished, and that fucking mutt has a range for illusions.’ I scoffed, only for the fox to rub against my leg, I felt. Better. ‘Is this part of that fucking trip I had when I reached inside him?!’ After finishing up rubbing against me, it did the same to damned Deku, activating that fucking quirk of his and healing his physical health by the looks of it. ‘What the fuck is up with this mutt!?’  

{Small flashback to the sports festival}  

‘I found your fucking weakness mutt!’ My hand touched his chest, only to go inside. ‘What the fuck?!-’ I was in a field, foxes of various coats and sizes looking back at me. A large one with a red coat stared down at me. It launched forward and bit my arm, in the same place it was bitten earlier, before I was shot back to reality. 

{End of flashback-Third person-}  

Bakugou leapt out of the alley, aiming at All-Might, sending a blast towards his face. After a few half-hearted blasts, Midoriya came out behind All-Might, with one of Bakugou’s gauntlets in hand. After that, they ran. What else could they truly do? Their escape was short-lived, however. All-Might caught up quickly. Throwing Bakugou into a building after a sharp knee to the jaw, when Bakugou came flying back for an attack, Midoriya was thrown into him. Bakugou was now under All-Might's foot while Midoriya was held up pathetically by his arm.   

All-Might didn’t account for the fox creeping up behind him. The moment Midoriya was thrown away, All-Might lifted his foot off Bakugou for a moment in account of the jaws of a moderately large red fox clamping onto his ankle, digging its teeth in. It gave Bakugou an opening to launch a full-scale blast at All-Might. The fox, however, did not return. Instead, it watched from atop one of the buildings.  

‘NEITHER OF THESE CHILDREN ARE READY.’ It growled in its mind coldly. It disappeared into wisps shortly after.  

{-------Kosuke Pov-------}  

I shot up in a cold sweat, panting and in pain. A cold hand was soothing my burning skin, “T-Todoroki.” I was surprised, “Recovery girl wanted someone to watch you after you fell asleep, since you started to get a fever, so I volunteered. I hope you didn’t mind me using my ice to regulate your temperature again?” He tilted his head, unsure.  

“Thank you,” I muttered. He nodded in response; Recovery girl came in and gave me some medicine just in case. After she left, I had a question weighing on my mind. “Todoroki,” He looked to me, “Why have you been so close to me?” Realising how that sounded, I backtracked, “I mean, after you saw my scar, you just stayed so close. You were even shielding my scar from being seen in the locker room the other day.” I hummed. There was an awkward silence for a moment.  

“I’m not sure.” Todoroki seemed just as confused as I was: “I’ve never had this reaction to other people's scars like this.” ‘Is it because of how he got his?’ “I think I was thinking about my own when I saw yours. It looked burned.” His hands reached for his own scar. “I’m sorry if me being close bothered you.” He gave a bow; I waved my hands about as I began to speak.  

“No, no, that's not it!” I assured him, “It’s just unusual for me to have someone asking if I’m okay so often or protecting me-”  

“What about your parents?” His voice turned stern. “O-oh well. My father isn’t home cause of work, a-and my mother has passed...” I muttered, my ears flattening and my tail stilling any movement. “I see, do you have any siblings?” I shook my head, “I live alone.” ‘Where did these questions come from?’  

Silence stretched across the room. Before a hand landed on my head. “I can come over for dinner if you're lonely?” My ears shot up, my tail thumped on the bed, indicating my answer before I even nodded my head. “What about your family?” I tilted my head; he just brushed it off, saying they weren’t close. I didn’t pry further. “Just text me when you want to come over,” I said with a stupid smile on my face. 

Chapter Text

The last class before summer vacation. ‘I can’t wait for this to be over... Then again, we only have a week before we go to that summer training camp.’ Aizawa mentioned that everyone, even if they failed, was going to summer camp, which made those who did fail ecstatic, but in turn, they got extra classes, which made them sulk once more.  

Once class ended, everyone realised they needed things they didn’t have. Mina suggested they go to a large mall that, in her words, had everything they would need. Not everyone needed or could go. But it was still a majority.  

{---First person---} 

Mina had dragged me and Uraraka off to look around some storefronts only to find that quite a bit of it was far out of their budget. “I thought this stuff would be cheaper!” Mina pouted, and Uraraka agreed, “I don’t mind paying-” They both snapped their heads to me. 

“You sure?!” Mina exclaimed, Uraraka nodding behind her, “Yes. I have the money; I won't be able to spend it all by myself.” I gave them a small smile; they then began to drag me into and around stores to buy them things. I didn’t mind at all; I didn’t use much of the constant allowance I had, so it had stacked up a lot. 

I had stopped briefly when I looked down. Midoriya was being held by the neck by someone. I craned my ears to listen in tuning out all possible noises. “I want to talk to you. That’s all.” I almost growled hearing that familiar scratchy voice, pushing it down, I kept listening. “Don’t try anything funny. The instant all my fingers touch your neck, you’ll start crumbling from the skin of your throat.” A pain rushed through the scar that lay heavy on my back. ‘Midoriya’s got no way out...’ 

I lost focus, causing other sounds to rush into my ears. I quickly gathered control once more. He threatened the innocent. Midoriya had no choice but to play along for now. They moved and sat down. The villain was ranting to someone much younger than him about his life problems. “My problem is how you heroes corrupted my poor baby brother with your nonsense.” That gave me pause, thinking back to the U.S.J. ‘He’s talking about me...’ 

I discerned that purely, but the fact that he was adamant on calling me his younger sibling during that brief encounter at the U.S.J. Panic flooded me, my breath caught on itself as my ears flattened onto my head. Everything was suddenly spinning. I felt sick. Mina soon found me and took me to a far less crowded place where she calmed me down for about 10 minutes. Mina brought me a sick bag as I struggled to contain the bile forcing its way up my throat. 

After finally calming, Mina took me straight home. She was beyond worried about me. I tried to reassure her, but I didn’t sound convincing. I knew that. She even stayed for dinner before taking herself home. 

Chapter Text

Summer vacation had finally started, and Mina being the girl she was, invited everyone to the school pool. She’d rented it out from the school to play around while they could before the summer training camp. 

I, however, had to be dragged along by Mina. So now I stood with some of the other girls who wore their own bikinis and/or swimsuits. I looked away, afraid to look at any of them, taking to one of the chairs laid out. I wasn’t the biggest fan of water, mainly in ones I couldn’t stand in. My ears get clogged with water, and it takes forever for them to either clear up on their own or slightly less time if I do it myself. 

So, much to Mina’s dismay, I stayed away from the water. I was wearing a full-body swimsuit that hid my chest and turned into shorts at the end, like a jumpsuit. It didn’t take long for people to show up, Midoriya and Kaminari surprisingly showing up together, and the first guys to show up. 

“Tsurumi!” Midoriya called out. I sat up, slowly moving towards him. “Midoriya, nice to see you came. You too, Kaminari.” I gave a gentle smile; I got rather tired while lying in the sun. “Tsurumi, you can call me Izuku if you’d like.” The stuttered words made my ears stand up Kaminari joined in. “Yeah! Call me Denki, or whatever you want.” Denki spoke with a wink that I didn’t understand the meaning of. 

“Thank you Izuku, Denki. Feel free to do the same to me.” I gave a heartier smile, my fangs peeking out slightly, as it turned into a slight toothy grin. Conversations broke out about how they could use their time to train, while I went back to my chair in the sunny spot. Soon enough, most of the other boys had shown up, and Bakugou was being dragged towards the others by Kirishima. 

I was mostly spread out and dozing off by this point, and I could hear a few feminine giggles, but I was far too tired to open my eyes. I was, however, woken up quickly when a pair of large arms scooped me up. “Come on, Tsurumi!” Kirishima's voice made me relax slightly, “We’re gonna play a game! I want you on my team!” He plopped me down at the poolside before getting into the shallow end and motioning for me to get onto his shoulders. 

I sighed before stepping in. He hoisted me onto his shoulders. I yelped and stumbled for a moment, getting a few giggles. Once I was firmly on his shoulders, Denki came over with a surprisingly muscular Izuku on his shoulders. ‘Oh, I think I get it now.’ My tail gave a slight wag, staying mostly above the water. Soon, Izuku and me wrestling hand in hand, pushing against each other.  

The goal was to knock the other off. Thanks to Kirishima’s stone hand grip, I pushed Izuku off Denki’s shoulder, causing them both to fall into the water. It got a genuine and triumphant laugh out of me; Kirishima soon joined my laughter as he let me climb off to sit on the edge of the pool. 

A few others did the same while I curled back up under the sun. I watched as they did, laughing slightly when someone was knocked off. They declared a ‘finals’ match consisting of me, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Sero. Sero was already sitting on Kirishima’s shoulders, so I was forced to team with the resident short fuse. It took him a whole five minutes to let me get on his shoulders. 

Eventually, I was on his shoulders, his hands gripping my calves overly tight in my opinion. Soon, the wrestling was on. My hands locked with Sero’s, and we began trying to force each other off the respective shoulders we sat on. Sero was soon forced into the water, and I began to laugh, forgetting I was even on Bakugou’s shoulders. My tail was wagging harshly at my victory, and Bakugou said nothing. “Get off me, mutt.” He eventually spoke, and I obliged. 

It had been a few hours now; I had spent them lounging in the sun while it lasted. Todoroki approached me, “Tsurumi?” He spoke with a slight tilt in his head. I could hear the giggles from Mina, “Hm?” I hummed in response, sitting up. “Would you be alright letting me come over for dinner today?” I perked up my tail, which was going to ache if it was given more reasons to wag today. “Of course. I don’t mind at all!” It came out more enthusiastic than I meant it to be, but that was alright. 

{------} 

The commute home was boring, but Todoroki was with me, so I wasn’t going to complain. Upon opening my door, Bubbles was meowing and running to the door, which seemed to startle Todoroki a bit. I picked her up, “Sorry, I can go put her in my bedroom if that makes you feel better?” I smiled gently at him. “No, I’ve just never had pets.” I nodded, “Well, she’s super friendly, she won’t hurt you; she might want to cuddle though.” I spoke with a small chuckle. Todoroki just nodded as he looked around. I placed Bubbles onto the couch before heading to the kitchen.  

“I mostly have ingredients. Anything you’d like in particular?” I hummed as I searched through cupboards, “I like cold soba.” He was still as monotone as ever. “I’ve never had cold soba, but there’s a first time for everything!” I spoke with a smile, I forgot how nice it was to not be alone. I got out some ingredients and started making, following a recipe I found online. I also made an effort to include Todoroki while making everything. He had a slight hesitance to do anything with heat, so I took over those bits for him and let him focus on cooling the noodles while I finished the sauce. 

“Tadaa!” I hummed as I put everything together in a bowl, one for each of us. I gave him one bowl, which he thanked me for, before saying a brief ‘thank you for the meal’ before taking a bite as I did. Surprisingly, I liked it. I hummed in delight as I took another bite. Upon finishing it, I looked at Todoroki. “Do you like it?” I softened my voice, and he looked frozen. 

“It’s good.” He spoke with a soft smile. He smiled. He smiled! A smile of my own broke out on my face, “I’m glad!” My tail picked up its wagging once more. 

Chapter Text

Currently, we are standing in front of U.A.U. while Mr. Aizawa talked about a few things. I was incredibly tired, so I was far from paying attention. Once he finished, Uraraka started a chant that Mina and Denki joined in on. 

I just wanted to find a spot to rest as the sun continuously beamed down upon me. Monoma started one of his rants, and Kendo stopped him. I had only learned both their names from others; seeing him rant in person was... An experience to say the least.  

Iida guided us onto the bus, and I headed straight for the back, hoisting one of my bags up into the overhead compartments, leaving another between my legs. I sat by the window, leaning against it, the sun warming me into slumber. 

I hadn’t even noticed the person sitting next to me until I felt someone lean against me, ‘They must’ve fallen asleep-’ I looked over to see. ‘Bakugou?!’ That was the last person I’d expect. ‘Welp. Nothing I can do now.’ I let out a deflating sigh, pinning my ears before falling asleep myself. 

{------} 

“Oi.” I grunted, waking up, “What-” I was met with Bakugou’s face, though he quickly stood. “We’re here.” ‘Where did his personality go? It’s scaring me...’ I got up quickly, following him out of the bus to where Mina pulled me to her. 

“Tsurumi-”  

I cut her off, “You can call me Kosuke. No need for the formalities, we’re friends after all.” 

“Kosuke! You didn’t sit next to me!” She whined, but I just let her; it's pointless to argue with her. Everyone was stretching out after being stuck inside that bus for hours, including me, but something felt off. Nothing close to what I felt before the U.S.J. attack, but it made me nervous nonetheless. 

I didn’t pay attention to Mr. Aizawa, hopefully explaining why we stopped, until a voice I didn’t recognise piped up from a car that had just arrived on the scene. “Hey, Eraser!” Mr. Aizawa gave a bow, ‘Okay, never seen him do that.’ It scared me slightly. The people stepped out of the car; two women gave an over-dramatic introduction. They were the Wild Wild Pussy cats, though my attention was drawn to the small child next to them. ‘He’s adorable.’ My tail wagged slightly. 

“These are the Pro Heroes who will be working with us during camp, the Pussycats.” Mr. Aizawa shortened the name, most likely to avoid giving some of the students leverage against him. I couldn’t blame him for that. Izuku began one of his many ramblings that made your tail wag. ‘Adorable.’ A soft smile creased my lips. Though one of the women got slightly offended when he mentioned it would be their twelfth year working together. 

We greeted them upon Mr. Aizawa’s request. ‘Those feelings are getting stronger...’ I backed up from the edge, grabbing Mina’s arm just in case. She didn’t mind at all. Soon, my fears were confirmed, and everyone was rushing to the bus. I, however, knew by now there was no escaping. Though I wasn’t given much time when the ground caved in under us. 

Working quickly, I released several Kitsune to grab and carry some classmates down to prevent injuries. Soon, the little Kitsunes dispersed after everyone was safely on the ground. I got a few thank yous all around, which I brushed off. It wasn’t over yet. Beasts made of mud were soon after us. I sighed and tried my best to help. Without my gear, I was much less able to fight against bigger and sturdier opponents.  

So, I used their size against them instead, making a few fall head over heels and others just fall over in general, allowing my classmates to properly finish them off. Taking down any of the mud beasts required teamwork, and by now we knew not to hesitate. 

{------} 

By the time we got back, the sun was setting, and I was barely functioning. I was heavily leaning on Todoroki, whom I had told I could walk, but it was either this or he was going to carry me. ‘He’s acting like I'm his younger sibling.’ I huffed but still leaned on him as we met with Iida and Izuku, Bakugou standing rather close.  

Pixie Bob pointed to us, praising us for the way we took down the beasts. “I call dibs!” I stumbled as she launched for us, me more specifically. ‘Why is it always me...’ Izuku began to ask whose child that small boy was. Upon realising he was here, I began paying attention, “He’s not one of ours. He’s my cousin’s child.” Mandalay clarified, “Come on, Kota. Greet everyone.” My tail wagged slowly. I hadn’t quite gotten the understanding as to why I felt the sudden need to guard this child with my entire being. But I wasn’t going to deny it. 

Izuku took initiative and attempted to introduce himself to Kota. Kota had other plans and instead gave Izuku a stern punch to the groin, which made even me recoil. Iida went and scolded the child who was now walking off. Kota, upon his next words, voiced his obvious disdain for heroes. It made my ears pin back slightly; normally, a child his age would be the opposite. It saddened me. I was surprised to feel a small hand on my back after Todoroki noticed my sadness. Before I could reassure him, Bakugou spoke, 

“Precocious brat.” He smiled while saying it as well. Todoroki mentioned how Kota was a bit like Bakugou in attitude, which made me giggle lightly before Bakugou began yelling. Mr. Aizawa then made us go get our stuff from the bus, making me let out an involuntary whine. Everyone rushed to do in favour of dinner. 

{------} 

Dinner was served, and I was happily on my third portion, mainly eating the meat. I got a few inquiries about this from Mina; the small explanation is because of my quirk. I need a more meat-based diet because of my quirk, Kitsune, and it keeps me healthier, gives me more energy, and makes the fur on my ears and tail better. I was happy to tell her since it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

Upon finishing my sixth portion, Mina was dragging me to the hot springs, though she quickly stopped. “What one do you normally go in, Kosuke?” She looked between the doors, “I’ll go in later. I normally go with whatever's emptier.” I hummed, she nodded before running in, and I walked off elsewhere. 

After walking for a short while, I transformed into a fox. It was larger than I meant it to be, but there wasn't much I could do now. I soon found a spot to nap before returning to camp and retiring to my bed there, but I always had an easier time sleeping in this form. It was a large cave by a small cliff. Normally, I’d prefer a spot in the sun, but it was the middle of the night, so I didn’t have a choice. 

{---Second person---} 

Not long after you fell asleep, you were disturbed. Slowly stand you gave a light growl, expecting an animal of some kind. Though your eyes met with a small, now terrified boy. Upon seeing this, your growl ceased, and you bowed your head in apology. The boy seemed confused. You recognised it as Kota, but you didn’t want to scare him further by changing back, though you noticed quickly you had grown much bigger during your nap. 

You nudged Kota gently, inviting him to pet your snout in hopes of getting rid of that scared look on his face. Kota’s eyes widened as he hesitantly touched what he thought to be a massive white fox; to him, it was as if he was granted the ability to see spirits. Kota made gentle motions as he stroked your snout. You lay down in response, happy to let him do as he pleased if it would get rid of that sad yet angry look on his face.  

Soon enough, you were walking back still in a fox form, though smaller as you let Kota off your back so he could find Mandalay or simply go to bed before you retreated to the boys' dorms. You were quick to turn back into your regular appearance once you reached the hallway, slipping into bed while all the boys were asleep. 

{---First person---} 

Early that morning, everyone was awakened from their beds for training. Luckily for me, I had gotten a good nap in that cave, so I wasn’t as tired as most, but I was still tired. Mr. Aizawa went on about training, and you were more focused on the fact that the hot springs sounded amazing right now. Though that ended quickly when Bakugou launched a soft ball, snapping me awake, yet he only got a score hardly better than that of the first day we came to U.A.U.  

Everyone was training with their quirks, and I was no different. Mr. Aizawa had me constantly creating Illusions, more specifically, ones that are able to interact with the world on their own without instruction. Essentially, creating punching bags for my classmates, but at the same time, I was also having to dodge and fight Kirishima and Ojiro, in hopes that these illusions would eventually need less focus in the future and enhance my physical strength at the same time. 

The illusions in question were anything from replicas of people I knew, other classmates, or teachers, and some were just little Kitsune running around to help. Class 1B joined us hours later, and I was growing exhausted. Every time one of my illusions ceased because of my lack of focus, Mr. Aizawa would scold me like a child, allow me to eat some food from where Yao-Momo was, and thrust me right back into training. It was brutal, tough love. 

On top of that, once training was over, we had to make our own food. I was willing to eat that meat raw. ‘It looks so good...’ I was sobbing internally at this point, but I got to helping. I helped with cutting vegetables and such, and I particularly found my place cooking the meat. Because of my sense of smell being much greater than a human's because of my quirk, I was able to tell if the meat was cooked properly before serving without needing to cut it open like my classmates. 

Soon, the curry was done, and everyone was finally happy, filling their stomachs. I was no different. ‘The meat is delicious!’ I was already drooling over the food in my mouth as I ate. Mina looked mildly concerned next to me as I ate practically everyone's leftovers. I looked over to see Kota walking off. To be safe, I conjured a small Kitsune to follow him in case he got hurt or needed help. ‘Poor boy... I wonder why he’s angry like that all the time...’  

It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep that night. But something was wrong. That feeling from the U.S.J. is back. I don’t want to think about what that could mean. 

{------} 

The next day of training was the same as the last, but I was far more distracted by the pit that had only gotten worse as the day formed night. I was helping cook dinner again, but tonight there was a ‘test of courage’. I had later learned it was just meant to be Class 1A walking down paths, with Class 1B attempting to scare them, though some from Class 1A had to sit out since they failed the exams and had extra classes instead. 

The beef and potato stew was amazing, shortly after the ‘test of courage’ had started. That pit in my stomach was screaming at me to leave. To not participate, but I refused. ‘Everything will be fine; there are more pros this time. So, if they do attack, they’ll fail, right?’ 

A short while later, I found I was wrong. 

Villains attacked, and we were woefully unprepared. Izuku ran off to find Kota, which gave me pause. ‘That kitsune... It's still with him!’ I thought for a short moment, giving it an order. ‘Protect Kota! Protect anyone who needs it!’ I gave the order before slipping away from Mandalay’s fight, running into the forest.  

“There is still more to do.” The voice was firm, barely understandable to my ears. I snapped my head around to see a wispy form of that red fox. “We don’t have time to spare, come.” With that, it ran off, and I followed. It led me to a large clearing; it stood in the middle. “Become a bridge and help them all.” I paused walking to it, “You needn’t worry about yourself. Kneel and let your soul do what it must.” It disappeared after those words. 

I kneeled in the clearing, and a glowing light around my neck caught my attention. The foxes' words rang in my mind. ‘My soul... Is,’ I held my jewel in my palms, having taken it off from around my neck. I relaxed, taking a few deep breaths, and my jewel glowed brighter for a few moments. Then everything was dark. 

“Well done. We will all take it from here.” Those were the last words I heard. 

{---Third person---} 

Izuku lay on the ground, his body slightly beaten by the villain he was fighting. Kota held the small Kitsune that had been assigned to him. He gave a small yelp of surprise as the Kitsune wriggled out of his arms and ran towards the villain. Kota threw a rock as the Kitsune began to make a bark-like sound towards the villain, but it wasn’t threatening. 

 Yet. 

Before the Villain could raise his arm to Kota, it was in the jaws of a now much larger and angrier Kitsune. It was snarling as its teeth dug further into the villain's muscle fibres, scratching with its claws. “Oh? Little fox wants to die to huh?!” Before the villain could do anything further, Izuku was up. But his sneak attack was in vain. The villain noticed, catching his arm in the exposed muscle fibres, the Kitsune was tugging, trying to rip the fibres apart. It was getting bigger. 

Izuku then unleashed a fully powered up smash into the Villain, the Kitsune was blown away but was able to stand by Kota, catching him and lifting him back on the cliff with a small whine and a few nudges as it worried for the small child. The Kitsune alerted them all that the villain was not done yet. Barking once more and stepping in front of both boys as it grew larger to protect them. The Kitsune watched as the villain stalked closer, Izuku trying to stall by trying to talk to the man who was intent on killing. The Kitsune snatched Kota away, taking him back so Izuku could fight unhindered. Kota was on the Kitsune's back; the Kitsune's job was to protect Kota overall. It would not fail. 

Izuku was being crushed. Kota jumped off the Kitsune's back to spray pitiful amounts of water at the villain, causing the Kitsune to get back in front of him with a growl at the villain. Izuku was able to use that small opening to get the upper hand. Blowing the villain away and knocking him unconscious. 

The kitsune relaxed, allowing Kota to run to Izuku, following slowly after the child. The Kitsune was circling Izuku, clearly worried about his injuries. Izuku attempted to reassure the not-so-little fox. It failed. It pushed its snout to his arm, its nose touching the pained, bleeding, and discoloured flesh. Then it glowed. Both Kota and Izuku were shocked. The fox shrank as Izuku’s arm healed slightly. The Kitsune gave a small yip in return, helping Kota onto its back, and it followed Izuku. 

{------} 

Iida led a small group, but it was found and guided to camp by another little white fox. “Mr. Aizawa!” Iida’s voice called out, “Stay back.” Aizawa spoke as the Villain he was fighting broke free from his clutches, though still wrapped up in his scarf. “Tell me, hero. You worried for your students?” And just like that, the villain turned to mud. It was a clone. “Everyone, get inside!” Aizawa shouted before running off The Kitsune made everyone get into the doors of the building despite its small size. 

Aizawa soon met with Izuku, Kota, and the Kitsune, guiding them. “Midoriya?” Aizawa spoke, “Thank goodness...” Izuku breathed out. Izuku rambled on about things he needed to say, and the now smaller fox helped Kota of its back. Izuku ran off before anyone could stop him, leaving the Kitsune and Kota with Aizawa. Aizawa was growing concerned, not just for his students now. Two of Kosuke’s foxes had taken students to safety, and yet. Kosuke was nowhere to be found. 

{------} 

A kitsune had been sent to take care of Pixie Bob, who was unconscious. It healed what was most likely a concussion before simply guarding her body. It barked loudly for people to hear it and hopefully aid the Heroes it was with. Izuku joined the scene, seeing another one of Kosuke’s foxes worried him greatly, but there was no time to think now. He gave his messages to Mandalay and was gone as quickly as he arrived. 

{------} 

Another fox saved Bakugou from Moonfish, {I can’t say ‘villain’ all the time, so I'll be using their names so it’s easier to tell who they are!}, tackling him so he was protected by Todoroki’s ice. The fight raged on, and the Kitsune focused on protecting them rather than fighting back, throwing its body in the way and tackling them out of danger.  

{------} 

Kosuke was lifeless in that clearing. Completely vulnerable to the possible villains that could attack him. He sat on his knees, his head hung. His ears, however, were upright, alert. His eyes were open. Swirls of red, purple, and green flashed across his eyes as his body fought to keep up with what it was sustaining. 

An illuminated path guided these spirits of varying sizes to where they needed to be. Yet. Kosuke was being watched. 

{------} 

The Kitsunes that had been helping others soon vanished completely. Worry consumed the members who had their fox companion simply vanish. Kosuke was gone. The connection was therefore cut off. The bridge closed. 

{------} 

“The boy you speak of... I took him with my magic.” They looked up to see Mr. Compress holding a little blue ball in his hand. “They’re talent would be wasted if they became a hero.” The set of boys was horrified, even more so that the villain was talking as if they’d taken someone else as well. “We'll take them to a stage where they can shine on!”  

“Give him back!” Izuku cried out. Mr. Compress repeated it back. “That’s a strange thing to say. Bakugou doesn’t belong to anyone, and you even leave your friend Tsurumi out of the equation. How rude.” That made everyone pause; they had no idea Kosuke was even a target. “Give them back!” Izuku further screamed. 

They realised Tokoyami was also gone. Panic consumed the teens. They attempted to attack him, but he’s rather good at running away, or rather falling away? Mr. Compress notified the other vanguard members that their targets were acquired before running away, using the trees as jumping points.  

After a quick plan, Tsu launched Shoji, Todoroki, and Izuku into the air via her tongue and Uraraka’s quirk after Compress. Once they hit him, they landed in an open space, with three other villains present. A blast of blue flames, and the students were forced to move out of the way, though Shoji and Izuku were lightly burned by the flames, it hurt no less.  

Fights broke out left and right. Shoji showed that he’d been able to get two of the small blue balls from Compress's pocket, leading the young heroes in training to believe they’d saved their friends. The villains soon had the fortune of the warp gate, Kurogiri, showing up to be their exit. Mr. Compress soon revealed he had Kosuke, Bakugou, and Tokoyami in his mouth, though contained in what appeared to be balls.  

Aoyama shot his laser from the bushes, knocking the balls from Compress's mouth. Though Shoji was able to grab Tokoyami, Todoroki failed to grab Bakugou and Kosuke. The students were left despairing. 

Chapter Text

It was dark. I blacked out for a while, ‘I’m awake now, so what’s going on?’ I looked around, hearing voices outside but unable to make them out properly. Then I blacked out again, as if a familiar blanket was draped over me.  

{------} 

“Will you join me?” Were the words I heard when I opened my eyes, I didn’t make a sound. Didn’t move, kept my breathing to a minimum. They hadn’t noticed yet. “Go throw yourself into traffic.” Bakugou spat out. I tried not to flinch at his words.  

“Oh?" A new voice rang out, “Our little fox is awake.” Bakugou’s head snapped to me; he didn’t even notice I was there. I looked pitiful, I’m sure, my tail down, ears pinned flat to my hair. I was terrified. Shigaraki stood, a sickening smile spreading on his face despite the hand that masked it. 

“Little brother.” He crooned, “Have you finally come to your senses?” He crouched in front of me, and I threw my body back away from him. Bakugou looked stunned at the information. “I don’t know what the fuck you're going on about!” I shouted back a growl, leaving my throat despite being clearly terrified. Shigaraki seemed heavily upset as he stood up and walked back. 

Shigaraki returned to the bar, and a blonde girl younger than us spoke up. “Oh! He’s so pretty! Can I drink some of his blood? Please!” She began to beg to drink my blood, my breathing grew a bit heavy, but I wrapped it under control quickly. Bakugou was staring at me. I could feel it. I had no idea what this guy was on about, being his sibling. ‘That’s impossible! Right?...’ 

“Himiko, calm down, please.” A guy with a mask spoke, and the girl, Himiko, began to argue with him. The guy with scars gave me a bad impression; my ears twitched and flicked. “Dabi, let him go.” The guy covered in scars, now known as Dabi, responded. “You know he’ll just fight.” 

“It’s fine. We're recruiting him; we should treat him as an equal. My little brother, too.” I growled when Shigaraki referred to me as such. Bakugou seemed to get the idea by now that I wasn’t on their side. But I would most likely have to explain myself regardless. Twice, a man in a black suit untied us both. 

The guy wearing the mask tried to reassure us that they had a plan and everything would be fine if we complied. It gave me no peace of mind. Twice finished up my restraints, and I stayed put, not moving an inch, waiting for Bakugou to be untied. Shigaraki stepped closer as he ranted. Bakugou was finally untied; he wasted no time in launching forward. Setting off an explosion in Shigaraki’s face, I took a defensive stance by him.  

Upon mentioning harm to us. Shigaraki stopped them. I stood by Bakugou in hopes he had an inkling of a plan, because his blast, I could hardly make out any voices. He put the hand that was knocked off back onto his face after a brief exchange of words. Shigaraki turned to the screen at the back. “Master, lend me your power.” ‘Master?! Oh great! More to deal with?!’ “That is a wise decision.” I froze. My stance dropped, and Bakugou looked at me.  

“I’m truly sorry you had to find out this way, my dear child.” He spoke, this time to me. I know that voice. The words slipped out before I could think, “Dad?...” My breathing grew heavier. 

The whole world had stopped. The only person I clearly remembered, my dad. Was a villain. Tears had already begun forming before I could stop them. “There, there, little brother.” Shigaraki spoke, “We’ll be family again! We can get your memories of me back together!” He opened his arms as I took a few steps back; the room was closing in. He was soon stopped by Kurogiri, however, “Tomura, don’t scare him. He clearly isn’t well.” Kurogiri sounded genuine in the care that lined his words. 

‘No... No! I refuse to believe it!’ My hands balled into fists, claws digging into my palms, drawing blood an unholy growl ripped from my throat. “I won’t believe it.” I shook my head, “You monsters!” I shouted with tears streaming down my face. By now fur was lining my cheeks and the centre of my face, ending at my nose, growls stringing from my throat. ‘This is a trick! A lie!’  

Bakugou was stalling, and I was ready to kill if needed. ‘I’m so angry. So hungry.’ I shook the thought away, focusing my anger. Ready to pull out some flames if needed. As the masked man approached, a knock on the door cut him off. 

“Hello, I have pizza delivery.” Everyone froze. 

All-Might came crashing through the wall with a punch. Before Kurogiri could do a thing, he was caught by another Hero, Kamui Woods, getting everyone else in bindings in the process. Dabi was knocked out by Izuku’s mentor, and my ears finally relaxed, though another sense of dread followed. “You must’ve been scared, but you stayed strong. I’m sorry that this happened. Don’t worry, you're safe now, boys.” All-Might's reassurance did little to calm me; something else was coming. It wasn’t over yet.  

Bakugou shouted something back. I was looking to find the source of my dread. A hand found itself on both mine and Bakugou’s shoulder, All-Might giving us physical reassurance. Shigaraki began a tantrum of some kind, Edge-shot another Hero used his quirk to stun Kurogiri. Shigaraki threw another tantrum. However, this time Nomu’s sprang out of peculiar portals. Before I could move, my hand clasped itself to my mouth. 

Bakugou and then began to puke up a black liquid that consumed us and forced us elsewhere.  

{------} 

Bakugou and I coughed as the liquid finally dissipated. I looked up to be met with. “Sorry, Bakugou.” His head turned to me, “And you too, of course. My dear Kosuke.” My breath caught in my throat. I didn't dare look up at the man I refused to acknowledge as my father. “Oh, you look so much more like your mother than I remember.” He spoke fondly I was frozen. 

Behind us, the league of villains was dropped in. By now, I was bordering on crying and panicking; the adrenaline was the only thing stopping a breakdown. “You failed again, Tomura.” I stepped back behind Bakugou. ‘I can’t do this...’ My breathing was going to spiral if this went on. Something needed to keep my adrenaline up.  

All-Might came in with a smash to once again save the day. As a result, we were all blasted away. Somewhere along the way, my head slammed into something hard, knocking me out. 

{------} 

I was in that field again. Alone, looking down at my hands. Blood. I scrambled away from my spot to see a pile of half-eaten body parts. Upon wiping off my hands, I touched my face, more blood. The realisation hit me like a truck, and I began to throw up at the thought of possibly eating another. 

“Child...” The voice called, and I looked over. A white fox. “You poor child.” His voice was soft as he sat by me, “Do not worry. You’ve done enough, rest now.” I sobbed to myself tirelessly before allowing myself to succumb to sleep with a great addition: a concussion.  

Chapter Text

I woke up in a hospital; the clean room and chemical smell were of no comfort to me. Shame and guilt poured into me as the memories of what happened at Camino trickled into my mind. ‘It was all my fault...’ I sat up with my hands clenched into fists in my lap, teeth buried into my lip as I fought back sobs. Everything I thought my dad was had been demolished in an instant. 

My ear shot up at the sound of the door sliding open. Three people walked in: a detective, another officer, and Principal Nezu. I didn’t dare say I word. I knew Bakugou would never refrain from repeating what he heard, but I still wasn’t ready for this. 

The detective spoke first, “I’m Detective Tsukauchi.” I knew what was coming; I was their prime suspect. I didn’t need to be told that. “I need to ask you some questions.” It was a statement as he clicked his pen. I looked up, giving a nod. ‘Even if I get expelled from U.A.U. I’ll try my best to be of some help.’  

They all sat around my bed, and finally, the questions started. “First, were you aware that your father was All for one?” He looked at me with pity. 

“No,” I stated firmly, my hands gripping the thin, frail covers of the hospital bed. They looked to the other officer, who nodded, “He’s telling the truth.” ‘So, he’s got a quirk that allows him to detect lies. At least now I have a chance.’ “What about your mother? Who was she?” I paused, scratching my brain for anything. ‘I don’t even remember what she looks like...’ That hurt. 

“I don’t know. I don’t have many memories of my childhood.” I muttered, frustrated, the lie detector of a person nodded that I was again spouting truths. “I see.” The detective wrote a few things down. 

“What about Shigaraki? Bakugou mentioned he called you ‘Little brother’?” I nodded; he did call me that. “I have no memory of him ever being in my life.” The statement was firm, harsh, and dripping with hatred.  

He then spoke again, "If you remember anything, please tell Principal Nezu. We will take it from there." I gave a quick nod.

Principal Nezu then piped up, “Tsurumi, have you ever spoken to your father about school activities?”  

“Loosely, I understood the training camp was moved. So, I only said I was going, that was it.” I muttered, and the detective continued to write things down. “I’m sure you understand the threat he poses to U.A.U.” I gave a nod to the principal. 

“We’d like to search your home and seize any electronics you have.” The detective spoke; I nodded. “Of course. I’ll help however I can.” I needed to help. This was my fault. I gave up my address quickly. 

“Regarding your student status at U.A.U.” Nezu paused, ‘Here it comes...’ “I truly believe that you had nothing to do with your father’s actions, but.” I looked at my lap, “There are only two options I can give you.” He looked to me. “Either I expel you from U.A.U. and we go our separate ways, or I can file for you to be an official ward of U.A.U.” ‘A ward?...’ My head snapped up, my ears flat on my hair, tears filling my eyes. “You are not your father; I want to give you a fair chance.” I nearly sobbed. 

“I’ll become a ward of U.A.U.,” I spoke, my voice shaking as a soft light finally shone on my situation.  

“Wonderful!” The detective smiled softly at me as Nezu spoke. “The police will be inclined to search before you move into the dorms. You can begin your move when they finish. You’ll temporarily be staying in the teacher's dorms until you're able to get your things and move into the student ones.” The principal was rather enthusiastic. A nurse came in for a check-up on my now throbbing head. ‘It wasn't the worst possible outcome, considering we all just found out I’m related to the biggest villain in history.’