chapter ii.
( quirk reveal )
Being a vigilante, songwriter, convenience store worker, a daughter, and a sibling is hard enough.
Bein a student on top of all that? Close to impossible.
Though most of her time is devoted to the band and to vigilante work, she still did her best when it came to her other activities, or at least tried.
Though she was one of the top of the class, it wasn't that easy to balance her schedule, especially when it came to her sleep schedule.
Fortunately, she knew how to multitask. She could hack into the government's files and find out about the villains they might be hiding while writing an essay for history. She could come up of lyrics for the band while fighting some street thugs.
You get the point.
Unfortunately, she also gets bullied a lot in school, specifically because they think she's quirkless. She never really had a reason to show it to them.
Mostly she ignored them, as they normally sent only insults, but when it came to Katsuki Bakugou, AKA the school bully, those were the only times she came home with bruises from school.
She sat behind the boy in class, and today was no different. He had his legs on the table and his arms slung over the back of his chair.
The ravenette kept her head down and her hands to herself, much like the boy on her right.
Minus the grumbled words coming out of his mouth.
"Now that you're third years, it's time to be serious about your future," the teacher up front said. "I'll pass out forms for your future plans..."
Keiko internally groaned, pressing her forehead to her desk.
One reason was because she already knew her future: a vigilante, until the end. She can't change it, even if she wanted to.
Another reason was because of annoyed she was with her seat mate.
He wouldn't stop talking. Keiko couldn't not focus on it, but the more she focused on it, the more she picked up the small sounds: the scratching of his pen, the sound his paper would make when he flicked it nervously.
It really kept her on edge.
If he would just shut up, Keiko could relax.
"... But everyone!" Keiko's train of thought (and swears) was cut off by their teacher, who threw the forms in the air, letting them make their way to the ground.
"You're all taking the hero course, right?" He finished, a smile on his face.
"YEAH!" The classroom erupted in cheers as most students showed off their quirks, excluding Bakugou, Keiko, and Midoriya, though he raised his hand a little bit in the air.
Keiko, however, could care less with what the teacher would say as she kept her head down low, but her ears were as sharp as ever.
"You all have great quirks!" The teacher praised. "But using them in school is against the rules, okay?"
"Sensei!" The ash blonde in front of Keiko threw his head back. "Don't put us all in the same category. I don't plan to aim low like these quirk rejects."
The students screamed in protest, and Bakugou had a weird smile on his face as he told them to just shut up.
You shut up, you blundering idiot, Keiko thought bitterly, throwing her head back and yawning.
"Ah, Bakugou," the teacher said, glancing at a paper in his head. "You're planning on attending UA."
Everyone started muttering, saying how hard it is to enter UA, irritating Keiko more.
Bakugou suddenly jumped from his chair and onto his table. "I aced the mock test," he boasted. "I'm the only one here qualified for UA. I'll even surpass All Might and become number one. My name will be on the top of the list!"
Keiko scoffed, placing her elbow on her table and resting her chin on her hand. "You won't become number one with that kind of attitude."
The problem with being the quiet kid: when you speak, your voice stands out like a rock among marbles.
Though it was faint, everyone heard her and turned to look at her, including Bakugou.
"What did you say to me, you quirkless loser?" Bakugou growled. He turned and headed towards her. He slammed his hands on her table, but it didn't phase the girl even one bit.
"If you keep placing yourself that high, thinking you're above everyone, you'll never become number one," Keiko said, looking up and letting her gold eyes burn onto his red ones.
"It's not like you can do anything," Bakugou taunted. "Because unlike me, you don't have a quirk."
No emotion flashed through her face as she said, "Just because I've never used my quirk in front of self-centered idiots like you doesn't mean I don't have one, and I don't really need it to whoop your ass."
"WHAT THE FUCK DID —"
"Settle down!" The teacher ordered. Bakugou looked at Keiko with his eyes full of hatred before returning to his chair.
Keiko knew she shouldn't have spoke up. She knew Bakugou would place a bigget target on her, and would probably bully her later.
But at this moment, she didn't really care. He needed to be put in his place, and sometimes you gotta force help onto someone if they have an attitude like his.
"Midoriya, you plan on going to UA too, right?"
The class was silent.
Laughter suddenly erupted, everyone turning to look at Midoriya.
"What! Midoriya? No way!"
"You can't get into the hero course by studying!"
"They removed that rule," Midoriya protested, rising to his feet.
Bakugou activated his quirk and sent an explosion to Midoriya's desk, knocking the poor boy down.
"Oi, Deku!" Midoriya looked up fearfully.
"You're not just a reject, but you're also quirkless," Bakugou said, a maniacal smile on his face. "So why do you want to go on the same level as me?"
"Wait, Kacchan," Midoriya stammered. He backed up until the back of his head hit the wall. "I don't mean to compete with you at all."
Midoriya looked down. "It's just... it's been my dream since I was a kid. And I have to at least try..."
"What do you mean 'at least try'!" Bakugou shouted, his palms smoking.
"Are you kidding me? What can someone like you do?! You're quirkless!"
A chair scraped on the floor, catching everyone attention.
The once quiet ravenette stood from her seat.
"Can you just shut up for once in your life?" Keiko said, walking towards the greenette on the floor, ignoring the fuming boy she just walked by without a glance.
She shouldn't interfere with what's happening, but she did it anyway.
She saw herself in Midoriya. When people on the news started insulting her and calling her a criminal, she was brought down, that's true.
But she didn't give up. She kept on going until she was used to everything, and Midoriya was going through the same thing as her.
She bent down a little, getting on Midoriya's level. The boy looked up to find gold eyes staring at him.
"Don't listen to them," she whispered, so only the greenette could hear. "Be a hero."
Keiko stretched out her hand. "But you should accept help from time to time." A small smile rested on the ravenette's lips.
Midoriya turned as red as a tomato as he directed his eyes on the hand in front of his face.
A pretty girl is willing to help me! He screamed in his head.
Keiko raised her eyebrows in amusement of his reaction. "Are you going to take my hand, or are you just gonna stare at it?"
Midoriya slowly took her hand. She felt it shake until she stood properly and hauled him to his feet.
"Th-th-thank you," Midoriya muttered, still beet red.
"Don't mention it."
▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎
After classes, Keiko was packing up her things while humming to herself. The students already left the room, leaving her and Midoriya behind.
"Today's incident is already on the news," Midoriya muttered, scrolling through his phone. "I should take notes about it later."
He took his "Hero Analysis for the Future" notebook, only for it to be snatched away by a certain ash blonde.
"We're not yet done, Deku," Bakugou said, waving the notebook in the air.
Keiko paused what she was doing when she heard his voice.
She sighed and zipped her bag.
"What's that, Katsuki?" One of Bakugou's two goons said.
"Huh? My Hero Analysis for the Future?" The idiots burst out laughing. "Are you serious?"
"Give it back," Midoriya said, standing from his chair.
Bakugou slammed his fist onto the notebook, destroying it with his quirk. Midoriya freaked out when Bakugou threw it out the open window behind him him without a second glance.
Keiko scoffed at his childish act. If you can't hurt the person, hurt their belongings.
"I want to be the first one from this wretched school to enter UA. Well, I am a perfectionist."
Bakugou placed a smoking hand on Midoriya's shoulder. "So don't apply, yeah?" Bakugou put on a sweet smile that was obviously fake.
"Break it up ladies, take it outside," Keiko said, stepping in.
Bakugou turned to the ravenette and scoffed. "You're just as worse as him. At least you know you can't last in the hero course."
Keiko sent her clenched fist to his face, stopping inches away from his nose. Her fist was glowing, showing Bakugou that she truly had a quirk. He flinched a little.
What the fuck? She shouldn't have a quirk!
"I said back off." Keiko said monotonously.
Bakugou scoffed, hiding his surprise.
He turned to the door, his allies glancing at the girl in horror before following quickly.
"There's another way to the hero course," Bakugou said as he faced the door. "Pitch youself off the roof and hope that you'll have a quirk in the next life."
Keiko's eyes widened.
She knew this wasn't her fight. She knew that this wasn't something she was a part of. She knew this wasn't her business.
But, under no circumstances, is she going go allow a death threat pass by her without any form of punishment toward the speaker.
She followed her guts.
And her guts made her punch Bakugou in the nose, emitting a sickening crack as the boy staggered backward.
"Katsuki!"
"I don't care who the fuck you think you are, but making the boy kill himself is as far as you can go," Keiko snarled at the boy as his friends surrounded him, who he swatted away.
"I know I'm not a part of this shit, but you can't just throw around death threats to make things go your way," her eyes gleamed dangerously. "If you really think he can't make it into UA, you wouldn't need to say that to him. It just shows that under all that..."
Keiko shrugged, relishing the look of pure anger on the boy's face as his nose dripped of blood.
"... You're just a coward whose afraid of a quirkless nobody."
Once Bakugou was on his feet, he roughly threw his goons off him. He sent one more look of hatred at the girl and walked out.
"Don't you go around insulting Katsuki like —"
"Who are you, his boyfriend?" Keiko scoffed, directing her attention to the guy who spoke up. "If you didn't think that what he did was wrong, then you're just as much of a shallow idiot as he is."
▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎
Keiko was walking toward a small pond, where she found Midoriya holding his damaged notebook.
"Yo, Midoriya," Keiko called. He turned to look at her.
"A-Ah, Ko-Kobayashi-san," he stuttered. Keiko sighed and approached him, taking something out of her bag while being careful not to show what's inside.
"Here," she handed it to him. Midoriya looked at it. His eyes widened when he saw that she had a brand new notebook in her hands.
"O-Oh, this — this isn't mine," Midoriya said, his face slowly turning red.
Keiko chuckled at his innocence when she noticed his reaction. "No, this is for number..."
She glanced at his notebook. "Number 14."
Midoriya's face grew redder as he shakily took the notebook. He was never given anything from his classmates, and he really appreciated the gesture.
He appreciated it more when it was from someone he wasn't close with. "Th — Thank you!"
"Don't worry about it. Try not to break it," she called over her shoulder as she walked away.
Keiko felt her phone vibrate in her hand. She glanced at the lock screen which had a text.
Ai
Mom needs veggies.
Get some in the market
on ur way home pls.
Kei
Yessir
I'll be going there
now
Ai
K
Stay safe out there,
sis
If anyone hurts u,
u have my permission
to kick them in the
penis :)
Kei
How do you know the
person that'll attack
me is gonna be a guy?
Do you think woman
can't do that kind of
violent shit?
Women are stronger
than men, idiot
Well, verbally we are
Ai
Oh shut up
That was supposed
to be my good bro
moment! >:(
But still, hit em
where it hurts :)
Kei
I'll keep that in mind
See you later, bro
Try not to give mom
and dad a hard time
while I'm gone
Ai
Wouldn't dream of
it <3
Keiko smiled as she admired the bond she had with her sibling. Though there are times when they argue over the smallest things, they still got each others' back. Nothing will stop that.
Not even death.
▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎
Keiko was walking through the Tatooine shopping district, browsing through the different stores and everything.
She took a special interest in the small bookstore, with quite a few interesting books she read about online.
"Hmm..." her eyes glided through the display shelf. She saw some interesting titles, like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Divergent, I am Number Four, and Atlantis: The Antediluvian World.
"Not bad — AH!" Something collided with her, sending her tumbling down hard to the ground right on her left.
"Oh shit I'm so sorry!" A voice frantically said.
Keiko groaned slightly, rubbing the side of her hip that absorbed most of the impact. "Don't worry about it."
A hand was stretched out in front of her, and she took it, the hand pulling her back up on her feet.
She dusted herself off, making sure her phone was still with her while she glanced at the boy she ran into.
It was a boy around her age, dressed in a dark grey hoodie and matching grey sweatpants. He had his phone in hand, and Keiko pieced together that he didn't see where he was going because he was using his phone while walking.
The first physical feature the ravenette truly noticed was his messy indigo hair, which stuck out in many directions like the boy just rolled out of bed, threw some clothes on, and stepped out of the house.
Fluffy, she thought, observing his hair.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she held out a hand to him. "I'm Keiko, the person you ran into."
Shinso took her hand unsurely and shook it. "Shinso."
Keiko let go first and smiled. "I gotta split. See you around Shinso. I don't really have time to chat, but... I hope we meet under better circumstances."
Keiko turned away, leaving Shinso to dwell on the... unique interaction.
"That was..." Shinso shook his head, turning around and smiling very slightly. "Interesting."
Meanwhile, on Keiko end, she smacked her forehead once she was a good distance away from Shinso. "That was such an embarrassing encounter..."
She stopped first and took a deep breath. She was here to get things for dinner, not to make new friends.
Keiko stopped at the vegetables out on display, browsing through to find things that'll be needed for stock.
Eh... too mushy... not yet ripe... too small... what the heck?
She just kept going like that.
That was, until the explosion happened.
The whole district was immediately coated in flames.
Keiko let out a sound of surprise as a sign detached from its hanging place and collapsed on the rack of tomatoes, spraying her with its juices.
She spat out the ones that went in her mouth and directed her attention to the people who were running away.
"Villain!"
"Oh great, just what I needed," Keiko muttered, turning to a random alley and grabbing the clothes in her bag.
She had her hood and mask on while she was tying her shoelaces up, stuffing her other shoes in her bag while she walked out the alley.
First, she needed to find the villain and evacuate the area.
Judging from the amount of fire on one side of the district compared to the other side, she figured the villain was on the left.
There was an exit on the right, so she needed to direct the people away from the fight.
"Everyone!" Keiko shouted. Stay away from the fires and head out of the district through the right!"
Many turned towards her and stared at her.
"Ninja's here!"
"Thank goodness!"
"Please!" Keiko shouted once more. "Evacuate! Let the heroes handle the situation." Keiko internally cringed when she said the word "heroes," but now wasn't the time.
Keiko ran towards the fight, arriving quickly with the help of her quirk.
She found a green, sludgy villain in the center of it all, holding a struggling person in his grasp.
"Let him go," Keiko ordered, unravelling her chain and thrusting her left arm out, using her quirk to make the chain like a sword.
"What makes you think you can stop me, hero?" The villain said, his voice warbly.
Keiko huffed running through to stand in front of the villain while also searching the buildings for any stranded people.
Good, all the buildings are empty, Keiko thought as she stood in front of the crowd.
"Oh my god! That's Ninja!"
"No way! I didn't think he'd show up!"
Keiko's eyes widened as she focused on the victim.
Bakugou?
Keiko snapped out her trance once she saw a gooey green hand go her way. She dodged it, along with the two heroes beside her.
"There's no one here who can care take care of this," the hero panted.
"We can only wait for someone with a more suitable quirk!" Another shouted.
"Are you idiots?!" Keiko shouted, shocking the heroes.
"You don't need your quirk for everything. Well, I guess the true heroes don't need their quirks for everything." She turned toward them, a scowl on her face from behind the mask. "Leave if you want."
She turned back to the situation at hand. The heroes weren't worth her attention.
"I'll do this myself."
[ author's corner ]
I know there isn't much happening, but I want you to imagine what would have happened in the sludge battle.
The chapter is also too long, and I don't want to overdo it.
I hope you're enjoying so far, don't be a ghost reader! Please comment whenever you want to. Goodbye!
- R