【ＥＮＩＧＭＡ】
***
Aizawa Shouta was kind of a shitty teacher if he was being completely honest with himself. He wouldn't lie to himself or anyone else about it, and he had his reasons for being shitty.
He wouldn't go out of his way to inspire his students— not entirely because he neither had the energy, nor the spirit, but because they could inspire themselves and rile each other up if they were really fit to be heroes. If they wanted it enough. Wouldn't praise them for doing the bare minimum like a lot of other teachers did, wouldn't pick favorites, wouldn't necessarily encourage them, because they should be able to do that on their own, too. If their spirit could be easily broken and they didn't have the ability to lift themselves back up, they didn't belong in the hero course.
The name 'Midoriya' popped up with that thought.
That kid. He was problematic, but he had potential.
That was his job. Setting his eye on potential, loosely guiding them in the right direction, teaching them the basics, and then setting them free. And all of them had a pretty good outline of what they should be doing, where they should be headed, and their goals. All except one.
L/n— the student he nearly cut on the first day right with Midoriya. Aizawa truly had no idea what she was about. He'd checked her file for maybe a bit of insight and was disappointed to see she was registered as not having a quirk, despite the fact she claimed she did. And what was even more curious, was the fact that it appeared that way. Everything she did seemed to be not quite average. Good enough to get by, really, and that, on top of the fact that she was blind; legally and since birth— was just complicated.
No, Aizawa did not have favorites, but he had students who needed more guidance than others. And it was impossible to guide someone without any material. He couldn't teach her anything, couldn't tell her how to improve, couldn't be sure she was making progress in her abilities without establishing them in the first place. His other students compared to her were so much easier. Once Midoriya stopped breaking himself, which Aizawa really hoped was soon— he could confirm they were on the right path.
Getting Bakugou to stop attacking Midoriya, whether physically or mentally (he could see it in the kid's eyes) would be a great step forward.
He could acknowledge at least their weaknesses, their strengths, their weaknesses that could become strengths.
But there were absolutely no stats on L/n.
No mental notes he could make... At least not while he observed her at the surface. Which brought him to carefully studying his students' first Hero Basic Training class with All Might.
All Might and his shitty-amateur-teacher-with-no-teaching-skills-whatsoever class.
Midoriya and Bakugou's match went pretty much as the report read and he'd have to work on that—he'd have to have them work on that. Teamwork was crucial in the line of heroism and their relationship with the way it was, just simply wouldn't cut it—the class was pretty much unacceptable and All Might should have stepped in, but there was something more to that situation.
Aizawa knew the number one hero certainly played favorites with Midoriya.
For whatever reason that was, though it was irritating, it was also none of Aizawa's concern.
Todoroki's match was a bit lackluster and Aizawa made a mental note to shift Todoroki away from solely relying on his quirk when in battle. That could and most likely would be his downfall... He didn't seem very big on working with others either. Not completely opposed to the idea, it seemed, but certainly preferred not to. Which of course, was a problem.
And then, there was the match L/n was in.
Aizawa watched it once. And then a second time. And then a third. And then he slowed it down. Watched it carefully, watched every action L/n made, every movement— he was informed she was aware when her quirk was in use, but she didn't know what it did because there were always so many things going on when it activated itself. And she seemed to be using it in the video, he just didn't know where or what he was supposed to be looking for.
He watched with squinted eyes, supported by deep bags, blinking quickly to not miss even a half-second of her battle with Ojiro. She'd gotten him down efficiently and— he paused.
Aizawa blinked.
Replayed the small section.
His eyes snapped open, wider than they had ever opened all week.
Oh. Oh, this was complicated.
***
Y/n was an opportunist.
When she saw an opportunity, she took it, no questions asked.
So it made sense why she nudged Iida to the side to stand proud and placed a hand to her chest to speak at the dozens of mics all aimed at her and her classmates.
"I think as a teacher, All Might is very fun and enthusiastic! His class is hands down the best out of all the courses we're taking!" Y/n raised her arms above her head excitedly, bouncing on her feet. She was one of the few to give an actual answer to the nosy journalists and reporters, "He even uses his famous and iconic catchphrase to help motivate us during class—Plus Ultra—!"
The mics were suddenly being pulled away from Y/n with excited and urgent whispers as they sped past her. Her jaw dropped, arms were thrown in the air at her five seconds of fame being stolen right under her nose.
"Wait question him! No, him! The sludge villain kid! He was attacked last year!"
"Ugh," Y/n's lips parted, elbowing Midoriya's side, "who are they talking about?"
"Ah. They're talking about... about Kacchan," he murmured.
"They're calling him the sludge villain kid, though?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Holy shit. Bakugou was the kid attacked by the sludge villain?"
When she felt a familiar burning, deadly gaze on her she knew Bakugou heard her words. Y/n let her head turn to the side, a low whistle pushing past her tight lips, trying to play off the situation.
She remembered hearing about it some time last year—how some amazing kid was holding the monster off for an impressive amount of time until All Might saved the day as he always did. Nobody knew the exact amount of time he was being held for, but the minutes were longer than a few.
She could only imagine how much damage that incident did to his pride.
"Wanna know something kinda crazy, though?" Midoriya's nervous voice filled her ears as they started on their way to the front doors of UA.
After the barriers to the school shut because of the obnoxious press (obnoxious because they traded Y/n's answer for Bakugou's so quickly).
Midoriya let out a small laugh, "I was attacked by that same slime villain, just a few moments before..."
"Huh? You're kidding."
She assumed Midoriya shook his head as he hummed.
"I met All Might for the first time after that. He saved me and then—" Midoriya's voice lifted giddily, "well, then he signed - he signed my notebook! It was really cool-cool! so I'm kind of grateful that I was attacked in a way, actually."
She didn't really know what to make of those words. Midoriya was grateful for the fact he almost died because he'd met All Might. Well... Y/n didn't know she'd feel about that. A near-death experience in exchange for meeting her idol? She liked to think every day was kind of a near-death experience.
She didn't know the exact scientific probabilities, but dying one day, either suddenly or randomly was a possibility regardless. That on top of the fact that she couldn't see where she was going every day she walked to school, crossing streets with the chance of her senses going haywire and being hit by a truck, well—she would say meeting her idol in exchange for those times it probably nearly happened was a pretty good deal.
The idea had left her mind with that final thought, perking up when another flew right into her mind.
She waved her hand at the boy beside her, "alright, I'll catch you later, Midoriya, okay?"
"Sure!"
Y/n was already rushing ahead, falling into quick step beside Bakugou, grin large as ever. She half expected him to insult her or maybe attempt to blast her arm off or something, so when she got none of that, she took charge of the situation with a greeting, "Hey, Baku—"
"No."
"I just said hey?"
"No."
"Would you prefer speaking to me if I addressed you as PomPom?" Y/n gasped, nudging his arm and hearing a growl sound from the boy, "aw wait don't tell me the name grew on you?"
"Don't call me that!" He snatched his arm away, "And don't touch me unless you wanna lose your damn fingers!" He was stomping ahead and that was the end of their magical interaction.
Y/n kicked at the ground, trudging ahead in a sulk. "Bummer."
Conversation with Bakugou started following that pattern after the entire 'your pride is obnoxious and Midoriya is way better than you' conversation they had. Y/n was aware she'd struck several nerves, but strangely enough— she didn't think Bakugou would necessarily hold a grudge against her for what she said, seeing as how it was basically true.
But he did.
Y/n could only hope he was going through some kind of self-assessment while he grudge-held, however. And maybe he was, considering his response to Aizawa when he walked into the classroom that morning. Everyone had immediately fallen silent and the worn-down teacher had started off by saying,
"Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the video and results." Y/n kind of stiffened at that information and so did most classmates— Aizawa was far more strict than All Might and she wondered what kind of threat he would have given them during that class. "Bakugou— you're talented, so don't act like a kid."
Y/n snorted, turning her head when she felt a burning glare settle right on her.
Through gritted teeth, Bakugou let out a strained, "yeah. I know."
Childish.
"And Midoriya. You settled it by breaking your arm again. You can't keep saying you can't help it because you can't control your quirk. I don't like saying the same thing over and over. As long as you fix the control issue, there's a lot you'll be able to do. Feel a sense of urgency, Midoriya."
"Ah. Yes-yes, sir!"
"L/n," Her name was called and Y/n perked up with a smile, ready for her praise. She did amazing, especially for someone who didn't know her quirk. She was going to get by just fine in this class, she decided. Aizawa continued, "You need to see me at the end of the day."
"Um," Y/n froze and blinked, her head falling to the side. "Wait, why?"
"To talk about your match," Aizawa offered, exasperation coating his words, "Why else?"
There was a snort and Y/n knew immediately it came from Bakugou.
She tugged at her ear, turning to the side away from Bakugou's direction with a huff (if she knew where he sat exactly, she would direct a glare that way, but whatever). She was sure she did everything right. If anything, Aizawa probably wanted to talk about figuring out her quirk or—something like that.
Y/n was startled out of her internal thinking when there were sudden shouts of 'Me! Me!' and strangely enough, Bakugou was shouting the loudest.
***
Disasters, shipwrecks, and everything in between.
They were doing Hero Basic Training. They were wearing their costumes. And they were going on a field trip. It was the most excited Y/n had been since attending UA— the rest of her emotions and feelings consisted of fear, worry, and doubt ( thinking about it, all negative emotions had come from Aizawa—Aizawa and his threats ). In fact, the entire class was fired up and ready as they trailed outside.
Y/n still was unwelcomed anywhere near Bakugou's vicinity, but it's not like she exactly cared.
Y/n folded her arms over her chest as she stood beside Bakugou with a shit-eating grin.
"So. I couldn't help but notice Midoriya beat you again. You know, with the whole class representative thing. Technically, at least."
She found out not too long after, they were choosing 'leader for the class' and though Y/n had found herself mixed in the loud shouts of 'I want to do it!' and 'Pick me!' she ended up with zero votes.
( Turns out the box she checked was next to Midoriya's name, not hers. )
Y/n was more than upset Midoriya gave up his position as class representative, he would have done great things. But she supposed there were people like Iida, who were somehow born for the job. All's well that end's well, however, and Bakugou wasn't picked, so she was more than satisfied.
Bakugou's energy spiked and Y/n jumped back, guarding her face with her hands in case this was the last key to Bakugou physically blowing up. Bakugou, however, just gave her a feral growl and presumably turned his back to her, like it would be effective in some way. It was ultimately ineffective, however.
Y/n would technically be talking to nothing, regardless.
"Not like I wanted to be stupid class rep, anyways."
"Huh," Y/n mused, "so that wasn't you shouting, 'Let me do it! Me! Let me do it!'?"
Bakugou stamped his foot—like the child Aizawa accused him of acting like earlier—and turned to face her.
"No!" He shouted. "That job is for losers. why do you think Deku gave it to glasses, hngh? One loser passed it on to the next!"
"Ohh, I see," Y/n snickered, pressing a hand over her mouth, "So if that's how the choosing process works, think Iida'll give it to you soo—"
"I'm gonna blast you to space you—"
Y/n's yelp of terror was drowned by the sound of a loud whistle (for a brief moment, Y/n thought the whistle sound had come from her and wondered if fear really brought out the worst parts in people), and it had startled Bakugou enough for his death threats to die on his tongue.
Iida was shouting something about boarding the bus and organization and Y/n was still shaking in her boots over Bakugou.
"Terrifying Bakugou," Y/n shuddered, still shivering in her skin at the vicious aura and murderous intent he'd aimed at her for two seconds. "You're terrifying."
"Hah!?"
"You wanna sit next to each other?" Y/n smiled, tugging on his gauntlet curiously. It still felt like a turtle's back to her. Bakugou growled, snatching his arm away to trudge forward.
"Stay the hell away from me!"
Y/n ended up sitting next to her other best friend— "Todoroki! Are you excited for the exercise?" She set her palms on her knees, smiling in the direction of the boy who sat to her right. "Did you see me during my exercise the other day, though? Didn't use the excuse of my blindness at all!"
"Isn't that the bare minimum?" Todoroki hadn't turned to face Y/n, he let a yawn slip past his lips, actually, "If you did you that excuse, it would put you steps behind the rest of us. Kind of like in the way you not knowing your quirk already sets you back some."
Y/n choked, coughed, and awkwardly shifted in her seat.
She cleared her throat, "it's not the bare minimum!" She declared, "Not for me, at least. Listen, Mr. Perfect,"
"Mr. Perfect?"
"I've never done something so cool! Like, putting my senses to good use? You know I'm kind of a 'go with the flow' kind of girl, right? So I was pretty awesome back there. Could you feel the vibrations of people approaching just by placing pressing your hands against the floor? That's right, I didn't think so,"
"Is that what you did?" Todoroki hummed curiously, "Then, did you figure out your quirk with that information? Doing so would at least bring you up to... Midoriya's speed, I would say. He can't control his quirk and I think he may be the worst in class right now because of it. So you guys would be equals, then."
Y/n's brows pulled and she choked in disbelief, "the worst? It's been three days. You don't even know the extent of everyone's ability to properly judge them."
"I've gathered intel from the events the past three days, though," Though Todoroki's tone was simple, it was insistent. It had Y/n lifting a brow as she listened, "Midoriya is obviously at the bottom because he somehow fairs out worse than someone who doesn't even know their quirk," He gestured toward the girl, "But don't worry. Even then, you're not all the way at the bottom. Mineta and Aoyama don't seem very capable, either..."
"Todoroki," Y/n turned away from him, folded her arms over her chest, "this is why you don't have any friends, you know. You should try being nicer."
"Why? I'm not trying to make friends. I also wasn't trying to be mean."
"Well, if you're talking about flashy and strong, it's gotta be Todoroki and Bakugou, though, huh. They're super cool and stealthy, too, huh/"
Both Y/n and Todoroki turned at the mentioned names. Y/n remembered Bakugou had been sitting near her, just in front and diagonal.
"Yeah, but Bakugou's always mad," Tsu's croak made Y/n's grin widen, "so he doesn't seem like he'll be that popular."
"That's true," Y/n hummed, reaching out to poke at the back of his head (and nearly having her fingers crushed in the process, she felt her life flash before her eyes). "Wow, so prickly."
"What the hell!" She was sure Bakugou had gotten up for intimidation, "you wanna fight!"
"See?"
Kaminari cackled in one of the seats, voice smug as he said, "We haven't even known each other for that long, so it's amazing that everyone already knows his personality is crap steeped in sewage."
"What the hell are you even saying?! I'll kill you!"
"Why is murder your go-to threat, Bakugou?" Y/n asked curiously, still leaning forward with a complacent smile playing on her lips, "I mean how do you plan to be a hero and save people like that? Are you somehow going to slide it into your 'saving people' catchphrase? Well, I guess your focus wouldn't exactly be on saving people. It kind of seems a bit villainous even for taking down bad guys, though."
Bakugou scoffed. "What the hell are you on about?"
"Think about it," Y/n sat up, "imagine your action figures. Kids are walking around with your stupid figurines," she pointedly ignored the blond's ear-numbing shouts and complaints at the fact she'd called his non-existent and hypothetical figurines stupid, "and they're all, 'Haha! Bakugou's gonna kill this bad guy, mom! He'll murder them and make sure they're dead! Die! Die! Die!'"
"Sounds good to me," Bakugou sat back down and Y/n grimaced, "That's what I do, isn't it? Kill the villains. They should die. Besides— you talk a lot of shit for someone who doesn't even know what their quirk is. You won't even have figurines 'cause you can't be an actual hero if you can't make use of your quirk that apparently exists. I'm not buying that shit, though. You're quirkless, just admit it."
"Dude, that's so not a manly thing to say!"
"Yeah," Sero agreed with Kirishima, "Even if she doesn't know her quirk, she's totally badass. You guys saw her during the exercise yesterday, right?"
"Well, she didn't destroy the entire building like our friend Bakugou did here," Kaminari shrugged with a snicker, once again ignoring Bakugou's death threats, "that was hilariously disastrous."
"True, but luck eventually runs out," Tsu said with a 'ribbit' bubbling in her throat, "And you can only last so long in this course without using your quirk. Eventually, we'll be focusing on improving them, and not knowing it will set her back,"
"G—guys!" Midoriya squeaked as Bakugou cackled obnoxiously, "She's trying her best! I'm sure she'll figure it out soon, and it'll be great when she does!"
"But she's right," Todoroki said from beside Y/n, "L/n's just been getting lucky. She's doing the bare minimum right now and it only seems amazing because she's blind and doesn't know what her quirk is."
"See, Lunchbox? Everyone knows you're not that special," Bakugou smirked, "Not in this class, at least. You'll have to do a lot more than lack the ability to see to 'wow!' us."
"What the hell!" Y/n's eyes widened, hands flying to the sides of her head, "Why is everyone being so mean today? Stop attacking me for not knowing my quirk! You know— I may be blind and 'quirkless' by your definition, Bakugou— but which one of us did better during the Hero Basic Training? Hm? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I wasn't the one Mr. Aizawa was calling a child today,"
"He didn't call me a fucking child!"
"Ah well," Y/n pressed a palm to her chest with a throaty laugh, "he said you acted like one and stomping your foot as you throw a tantrum when someone says something you don't like isn't exactly helping your case."
"Die!"
"Says the child as they play with the hero figurines," Y/n gasped, "oh my god Bakugou, are you the child in my on-the-spot hypothetical explanation story?"
"That's it," Bakugou stood up again, palms crackling, "You have a fucking death wish—"
"Mr. Aizawa!" Y/n squeezed her eyes shut, throwing her arms up in front of her face as she attempted to shield herself next to Todoroki, "Bakugou's trying to kill me!" She called in a sing-song chime.
"Bakugou, sit down! And stop messing around, all of you!" Aizawa shouted, "We're here. Behave."
"Yes, sir!"
In the next few moments, they were filing off the bus in a line that consisted of pushing and excited conversation. Y/n didn't know if it was the motion of driving or something— but she had swayed when her feet met the ground, nausea causing her stomach to turn as they arrived at the venue, which was called USJ.
Maybe she had motion sickness. She didn't typically get in vehicles or anything so maybe the unfamiliarity was causing the unsettling in her stomach... The light buzzing in her ear, though was something she didn't think was caused by the motion of driving... She felt off.
She didn't know how she felt off— her skin was perhaps too tight and her balance was way more out of tact than it should have been, but the reasoning for it... Well, she couldn't find any.
Y/n cleared her throat, fixing her posture as she tried to refocus on Thirteen's words.
"Everyone, I am sure you are aware of my Quirk, Black Hole. I can suck up anything and turn it to dust..."
Despite her best efforts, the rest of his words seemed to fade and warp themselves as Y/n pressed the palm of her hand against her head with the searing pain spreading through the back of it. There was a sudden tickle at the back of her throat forcing her to cough as she rubbed the center of her chest.
Was she nervous? Scared? Panicking?
If she was, she wasn't sure what she would be panicking for, exactly.
Y/n took a step back with her sudden shortness of breath, a sway interrupting her stance as she stumbled a little— her legs felt like they were two seconds away from buckling and Y/n jumped a little at the sudden coolness gripping one of her arms.
"Are— ou —ight?" She could vaguely recognize the voice as Todoroki's, though the buzzing and beeping surrounding her was making it hard to ground out what he was saying. Y/n coughed again and he said something else as she shook her head.
( Wrong choice, the pain doubled and made her shoulders jolt like she was shocked. )
"Fine," She croaked, trying for a smile, "My— senses are going haywire for some reason," She shook her head again, pointedly ignoring the static and prickly feeling at the back of it, her eyes watering at the cough she was forcing to remain in her chest. Her voice squeezed as she spoke, "Nothing to worry about— it happens when I'm introduced to new surroundings,"
She was lying through her teeth.
But honestly, it could have been the reason for her lightheadedness and the nausea churning in her stomach. She and her senses had been a bit fuzzy and out of condition since she started attending UA, and she couldn't figure out why. Though, this seemed to take that matter to an entirely different level.
It was concerning, but Y/n didn't want to be that person. She was already kind of the loser in class. Like Todoroki had stated before, she was someone at the bottom already, she was technically a quirkless loser who was getting by on luck.
Passing out before class even started on the third day?
She refused to adopt that identity and label.
"Blood," Todoroki spoke from beside her. She frowned, didn't get the chance to face him before his fingers pressed under her chin to turn her face in his direction as he stepped closer, "Your nose is bleeding. I— your eyes— Is that blood, too?"
"Blood?" Y/n's brows drew, fingers raising to her nose. "I don't—"
"Should I tell Mr. Aiza—"
"Gather together and don't move! Thirteen, protect the students!"
Both Y/n and Todoroki were startled by their teacher's shout, Y/n brought a hand to her nose to cover the blood and prevent further concern from anyone else.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"I'm not sure."
From beside them, Kirishima leaned forward, "what is that thing?"
Y/n could only assume his question was aimed at the same spot she felt a tremendous amount of energy amount from. Not good energy. It made Y/n still, made her stomach churn, nails dent into her palm with her free hand.
Kirishima made a noise at the back of his throat, "is this - maybe like the entrance exam where the lesson's already started?"
Y/n frowned, "the exercise already—"
"Don't move!" Came Aizawa's frantic shout, "Those are villains."
Y/n couldn't hear anything happening beyond that point. Her entire head throbbing in mind-numbing, searing pain, the hand covering her nose gathering copious amounts of blood, enough to wet her entire palm, and ah, well, shit.
She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be losing that much blood from her nose.
"We're evacuating," Todoroki informed from beside her, getting close, "Are you in pain? Think you can walk by yourself?"
Y/n forced out a laugh, tried to pay no mind to the blood trickling down her wrist, "Who do you think I am?" She croaked, the bridge of her nose throbbing in time with all areas of her head, "I'm fine, I can walk. Just pull me in the direction, my senses aren't intact right now,"
"I've got you, it's just straight ahea—"
"Oh— and down," Y/n's legs buckled, knees hitting the ground enough hard enough to lose feeling in them for a solid two seconds— her head was killing her. "Shit. Okay. I guess I can't walk?"
"Todoroki! What's wrong?" That was Kirishima. Or, at least Y/n thought it was. She couldn't really differentiate identities and voices when it felt like there was a blad repeatedly tearing through her ears and poking against her skull. "Is L/n okay? Can she walk?"
"I don't know, she's been like this since we got here," Todoroki said and Y/n wanted to tell him to shut the hell up. "Her nose is bleeding and her eyes started—it's, ah... happening again."
Kaminari made a panicked noise, "is someone's quirk doing that or—?"
"All of the villains are down there, though!"
"Unless it's activated from a far range?" Midoriya noted curiously. "Does anyone else feel funny? L/n, what do—"
"Wait, wait, guys!" Y/n's body jolted as if she'd been electrocuted, brain feeling like something had exploded behind her skull. "Something's coming!"
"What are yo—"
"Ahead!" She shouted, palms leaving her still-bleeding nose, and pressing against the ground.
She squirmed as she tried to blink away the feeling of blood pooling her eyes. She could feel it, feel the vibrations— they rang throughout her entire body, shook her to her core, and had her shoulders trembling as she gasped.
"Something's coming!"
"It's like the training exercise yesterday!" Kirishima said, "Thirteen, I think—!"
"Nice to meet you," Y/n could hardly hear the smoothness of the voice, her heart pounding erratically against her chest as she took uneven, shaky breaths, "We are the League of Villains. It may be presumptuous of us..."
"Todoroki," Y/n mumbled, arms reaching out for wherever he may be— right beside her as it turned out. She grabbed purchase on his arms, as he did Y/n's to steady her.
The voice of whoever was speaking to the group faded to nothingness as Y/n allowed her lips to turn upwards as a bitter chuckle pushed past her lips.
"This is kind of... Really fucking embarrassing," She whispered, another laugh. "But I think I'm gonna pass out."
Her chest tightened, and she let out a breath as she felt her body cool.
***
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