A couple days passed since the incident and a couple reporters had requested to have an interview with the trio who had been involved with the incident that occurred when (Y/n) was grocery shopping. She sat in between the two boys, resting her hands nervously on her lap as she ran her fingers over her knuckles.
"Not thirty minutes after receiving your licenses, you went to work with some heroics that would put Pros to shame!" the interviewer began as she sat across from the trio. "You must have become good friends throughout all the training you've done, right?!"
"That how it looked to you? Better head to an optometrist. Or a neurologist," Bakugo basically growled in response.
"Yes, we are friends," Todoroki answered, causing Bakugo to shoot his head towards him and lean over (Y/n) as she attempted to stay out of the drama. But instead of fight with the blonde, Todoroki added to his response, "But (L/n) was not a part of the training course as she got her license before us."
"Is that right?" the interviewer questioned, turning to the (h/c)-haired girl as she pushed Bakugo back into his spot as he left his arm resting on the back of the couch around her. "So what is your story, (L/n)? What were you doing there if you weren't with your classmates?"
"I just happened to be there to get groceries," she answered with a slight shrug. "It was pure coincidence."
It was the final weeks of December, a few days before the end of the term. But rather than beginning to tone down and relax as the end of the year also approached, it was filled with cackles from Kaminari and Sero—holding up their phones as they pointed to the hour-long interview.
"A whole hour-long interview!" Kaminari cackled as tears streamed down his face while laughing. "And Bakugo's part was totally cut!"
(Y/n) held her hand to her mouth, biting her fist as she attempted to hold back her gathering laughter as well. Bakugo then growled as he grinded his teeth, "They dare cut me?!"
She patted his arm as she attempted to be at least a little consoling, but it was hard when she heard Midoriya comment from the opposite side of the classroom, "Now very All Might-ish of him..."
Mineta added, "He's nuts."
Bakugo screeched back at them, "I heard that, Deku, you dweeb! You too, Ballhead!" That pushed (Y/n) over the edge as she broke out into laugher—Kaminari falling from his desk after laughing not helping at all.
He turned towards her, causing her to bite her lip as she attempted to hold back her laughter once again. He rolled his eyes at her reaction, remaining silent as Sero added while Kaminari stood up, "There are a lot of comments here about you, (L/n). There's stuff about you and the stray arm behind you."
"'Stray arm'?!" Bakugo barked, breaking his silence after hearing the comment. "There better not be comments about asking if she's single or not!" He reached for Sero's phone, (Y/n) holding him back as Sero attempted to get away from the angry blonde.
The door suddenly swung open, causing all of them to stop as a voice announced, "Y'think the future's bright? Not so fast!"
Uh oh... That's probably not good—not for me at least, (Y/n) thought as she let go of Bakugo, her arms hanging loosely at her sides.
A couple women stepped into the classroom—Mt. Lady and Midnight. "It might seem like the winds of good fortune are blowing our way, but if you stop and think about the flip side of all this, it's actually coming from a sense of urgency—it's a response to danger!"
"The cheers for the conquering heroes are really prayers—a plea that we emerge victorious!" Mt. Lady stood in front of Midnight. "They've had enough of the showbiz side of heroism and want us to prove our worth for real now!"
I was right.
"She's your guest lecturer, since you'll have more media exposure going forward," Mr. Aizawa told the class as he popped into the doorway wearing a large sleeping bag.
"More exposure, my butt!" Bakugo barked as he grinded his teeth more.
"You'll do better next time, dude!" Kirishima attempted to make him feel better, (Y/n) shaking her head at his attempt.
Out of everything I've learned about here at U.A., I guess I've never really thought about media and the public, she thought as Mt. Lady announced that they would be doing media exercises for class that day. It is a viable aspect to becoming a Pro—but do I really want to be that much in the spotlight? Is that something I truly want in the end?
Todoroki went first, standing on the makeshift stage as other staff members acted as photographers for the exercise. While Mt. Lady worked with him, (Y/n) thought about what she could do in the future.
It's possible I could stay out of the spotlight like Mr. Aizawa, she thought as they moved on from Todoroki to some of her other classmates. But that would be kind of hard since my quirk is so flashy. I'm just not sure I'd even be that good in front of a camera—
"Why are you being weird, idiot?" Bakugo asked abruptly, snapping her from her thoughts as she looked up from the ground to him. "You look like you're about to be sick? Did something else happen that I should know about?"
"No, nothing like what you're thinking of," she assured him while shaking her head. "I just have some... other things... on my mind right now."
Soon enough, it was her turn to take the stage and make her attempt at the exercise. Mt. Lady stood on the stage as (Y/n) walked up the stairs, rubbing her arm from a mix of the cold and nerves.
Just as she stepped onto the stage, her back foot slipped off of the stairs and she fell off the edge. She let out a yelp, Mt. Lady reaching out to her before she could fall and a couple of her classmates running over before she could hit against the ground.
But in that moment, she managed to flip herself over and create a steppingstone for her to grab onto. She bounced off of it and flipped once again—appearing to imitate a gymnast on a trampoline as she flew through the air. She landed back onto the stage, taking a couple steps after landing.
Mt. Lady and her classmates stared at (Y/n) for a moment, which led her to slightly turn around as she awkwardly chuckled. Mt. Lady exclaimed as (Y/n) turned back towards her, "That was wonderful! An entrance like that is certainly something the press eats up—especially if you're able to show your non-Pro side as well."
I wasn't really trying to look cool, but I guess accidents and clumsiness works in my favor sometimes, she thought as she walked up to Mt. Lady and stood where her classmates had been standing previously. Maybe I should go be in the spotlight.
Mt. Lady held the microphone she was holding towards (Y/n), prompting her to speak. She cleared her throat and said, "While I may not always land on my feet at first, I can certainly get up and keep going!"
"Wonderful!" Mt. Lady nodded, (Y/n) thankful she was going with her mistake in the beginning.
I guess it can't be too bad...
(Y/n) watched as Bakugo completely flubbed when he did the exercise, even overhearing Midnight suggest that he follow Mr. Aizawa's lead and stay out of the spotlight. This was followed by Midoriya, who froze like a statue the second Mt. Lady asked him a question.
Eventually, Midnight asked about the progress he's made with the sudden burst of energy since the Joint-Training exercise a few weeks prior. That's right, he's attempted to make some sort of progress—granted it wasn't an extreme amount...
This was proven as he made a very small stream with his new abilities—enough to be seen but certainly not enough to be very impressive.
You know, I'm curious to know if there's an alternative reason why they're having us work on media and public attention exercises, she thought as Midoriya walked off of the stage. Is it possible that something else is happening? Like... work-studies?