~Freedom~

32-Mysterious silence

Katsuki walked away, head down. He was lost in thought. People usually fell into categories based on their personality when they interacted with him. Fearful, annoyed, obedient, worshiping, or just straight up ignoring him. That catface though, she was different. She claimed to respect them, yet openly mocked him. Then later, tried to treat him like an equal. It was so...confusing. His teeth gritted. But she's hiding something isn't she... That doll wasn't the only thing the girl was hiding. Katsuki was sure of it. The way she spoke about the Needle People and the person who did it. The way she said the name so casually, like it was familiar. Like...how one would refer to a family member. Which implied something very concerning. It implied that Alluka's family killed people. Or at least some of them. He let out a growl. I'm getting to the bottom of this.

Alluka spent the single day they had off after the sports festival at home, trying to take her mind off the situation. She just didn't know what to do...and Nanika had been oddly quiet lately. Even more so than usual, which worried her. "Why do you look so gloomy?" Bisky asked, half heartedly. Alluka sighed. "Nanika isn't talking to me..." she mumbled. Bisky picked at her food, pretending she wasn't ogling an adult magazine again. "Oh that's nice sweetie." She said, obviously not actually paying attention to her. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and Alluka tried again. Nanika? Are you still sleeping? Tears stung her eyes as there was no response. Nanika where are you...?

She spent the whole walk to school in a half daze, raindrops dripping lazily down from her umbrella and splashing on the pavement below. She watched the droplet as it fell, light glinting off it in a dazzling fashion. She was snapped out of her daze by whispering, causing her to lift her head up. There was a group of teenage boys snickering to each other and glancing over at her. Alluka sighed and kept walking, pushing them to the back of her mind. "Hey! You're Alluka Kruger right? From the sports festival?" a woman's voice said. Alluka blinked, turning her eyes on the taller woman who was now beside her. "Hm? Oh, yeah."

It was very odd for a stranger to just walk up to her, it kind of put her off. The woman smiled. "You did amazing! You look so fragile yet you're so strong. You did a great job kiddo!" Alluka flushed a bit from embarrassment, "E-Eh? Oh- thanks ma'am!" She continued on her way, a giddy smile on her face. Having a random stranger walk up and compliment her kind of made her day, she rarely got noticed just walking around due to how plain she looked besides the gloves always wrapped tightly around her fingers. She sort of disliked how tight and constricting the elastic was, much like the gloves she found in Leorio's office.

Several people stopped her on the street and congratulated her, or complimented her. By the time she arrived at the classroom she was practically glowing from all the praise she'd received. "You seem happy this morning," Kaminari said, with a chuckle. Alluka's eyes shined. "So many people recognized me and stuff on my way to school! Some little kid even asked me to sign her hat!" Aizawa walked into the room, causing the chatter to cut off abruptly. "Silence, we're doing something important today." Alluka waited in anticipation, bouncing her leg with a hum. I wonder what it is? "You need code names, it's time to pick your hero identities." The class was immediately in an uproar, however it got cut off by a flash of red from Aizawa's eyes almost as soon as it began. "This is related to the pro hero draft picks. Normally students don't have to worry about this until second or third year but your class is different."

The baggy eyed teacher clicked a button, and the offers all students had gotten quickly showed up on the board. Alluka scanned for her name, then gasped. I got three hundred and thirty eight offers!? Both Bakugou and Todoroki's numbers greatly exceeded hers, but she didn't much care. Hell she didn't even care that Tokoyami had placed above her despite losing in their match. Alluka glanced over her shoulder at the seat behind her where Sato sat, and he was grinning at her. "I don't know what you're looking at me for, you did land in third after all." Alluka found it hard to keep in her excitement. Did you hear that Nanika? We did so well!

Yeah... Alluka paused, biting her lip. This was the first time Nanika had spoken to her since yesterday. And she sounded so....sad. Nanika...? Yeah? Listen- "Or you'll have hell to pay later!" A familiar voice she'd barely heard twice said, as Midnight walked into the room. You should pay attention. Alluka grudgingly obeyed Nanika, even though all she wanted to do was give her a hug. "The name you pick today could be your codename for life, so choose wisely!" Aizawa sighed. "Yeah, she has a good point. Midnight will have final approval of your names, it's not my forte. Your code name is important, it tells people exactly what you represent. Take 'Allmight' for example."

Paper cards were passed out, and Alluka handed the stack to Sato behind her, before returning to her blank slate of paper. Something that represents me...Alluka had a few names floating around in her head, but none of them sounded like hero names. "Now class, who would like to share first?" Alluka laughed nervously. Wait, we have to present them too? She was going to be a ball of nerves, coming up with a hero name on the spot was hard enough on it's own. Suddenly Aoyama walked up to the front, a smile on his face. Alluka found that smile kind of creepy, much like how she found Allmight's smile creepy at first. I bet it's just the same though, Aoyama isn't...that creepy.

"The shining hero, I can not stop twinkling!" he declared, holding up the card. The room was filled with an awkward silence for a few moments. "It'll be better this way-" Midnight walked him through changing up the name a little. One by one her classmates went up, announcing their names. Alluka looked down at her name card, there still wasn't anything written on it. What if... Her eyes shined as she got the perfect idea. Alluka quickly scribbled her idea onto the thick parchment, then stood up and made her way to the front. The class looked at her expectantly, and Alluka took a deep breath. She placed a hand on the podium as she held up the card. "Ai, the doll hero!"

1131 words

We finally broke a thousand on the word count! :D i know not many people have read this far into the book but I just want to thank the people who did. Even if this isn't my best work, it's one of my favorites to write and might possibly get a sequel if i end up writing far enough to finish the book