EFFLORESCING EDELWEISS ( s. todoroki )

17; gooseberry

HANAKO IS STUPEFIED.

"A rescue training with the Hero Course?" Momoka practically shrieks from her chair and unconsciouly, Hanako holds the band-aid put on top of the scratch Momoka made on her skin when teal colored fingernails dug unto them. "For three days? U.A. is the absolute best!"

"Now, now, class," Fujioka-sensei says and tries to calm down the class that is bursting with so much fervor. "If you impress some of them, I hear 'ya can transfer to their department." Squeals of excitement. "I heard that too. That Shin-something from 1-C did it!" Laughter. More laughter. "Who's that?" The occasional quiet types whose actually the most excited of all (Hanako falls on to this category). "That one with 'ta brainwashing quirk." The homeroom teacher trying to pacify the class. "Woah, if I had that quirk, I'd rule the world."

If Hanako had that quirk, she'd tell each and every single one of them to put their fists in their mouth and jump head first from the top of the highest building in campus. Sure, Hanako is elated and excited for this opportunity, but with all the noise and the increasing irritation gnawing on the homeroom teacher's face, the possibility of cancellation is closer than expected.

"Everybody, quiet!" Momoka shouts from the top of her lungs and Hanako's ears hurt so much because she sits in front of the girl and she swears she can feel blood flowing from her eardrums to her ear canals. The class goes hush and falls into deafening silence as they return to their seats. Momoka tilts her chin up as she observes her handiwork, flips her hair and sits primly on her desk.

"You can continue now, sensei."

Hanako's poor ears are still ringing and can she be excused from this narrative and just lie in bed at the nurse's office? Maybe Todoroki can bring her some orange slices from Fuyumi (they're really bonding now, she believes, getting to know more about each other or in Hanako's case the fabricated cotton candy lies she spun and fed to Todoroki in order to have answers for questions that will lead to more questions and her eventual revelation. Hanako thanks Fuyumi's birthday for giving her such a wonderful opportunity).

"Two sections from the General Academics Course were chosen, the ones with the highest endurance average and that's Class 1-C and our section, 1-E," he presses a button and the slide transitions into a new one. "Classes A and B from the Hero Course will pair up with C and E in joint exercises. The pairs for classes were decided by lottery and both Aizawa-sensei from 1-A and I drew the same number so our classes will merge-stop that ruckus in the back, please. Asahina, Kawasaki, Chitanda, Fuji, please quiet down."

"Where were we?" he asks, surveys the quiet classroom and files his index cards until he resumes his speech. "Society as it is now continues to decline because of civilians' over reliance in heroes. This rescue training will teach you to rescue others and 1-A to cooperate with civilians in rescue missions." He surveys the class again. "Everything is graded so I expect you to be at your best," he pauses. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Hanako's homeroom teacher is a clean shaven personage, passionate when it comes to teaching and ever since grade school, she has always been under teachers that fit the mold or are almost or even exactly like him so she has always held teachers in that sort of ideal. She was immediately disillusioned when she met 1-A's homeroom teacher.

"I'm Aizawa Shota, I have crippling depression, so I won't prolong our agonies. The first training exercise is rescuing drowning civilians." He scratches his beard and Hanako things he should shave and get a haircut, because he looks like a caveman. "You will be grouped into three, one student from Class A and two from Class E since there are forty of you."

"Yaoyorozu, Ijekiri, and Morai."

Mei looks uncomfortable next to Momo.

"Koda, Fuji and Kawasaki."

"Todoroki, Katsuragi and Matsushima."

Hanako does not know what to do.

° ° °
g o o s e b e r r y ;
anticipation