"Not much for words huh? That's okay, I'll get you to crack eventually."
~Mirko
Walking down the halls with Nejire felt nice. Her positive bubbly energy really kept the negative energy away. It was nice to feel this positivity, she knew what she was doing. More often times than not she was always happy. There was only a few times that I noticed she wasn't too happy, but once seeing me, Amajiki, or Togata her smile would show again.
It's what made me and her become so close. She would always try her best to make sure I was happy and trying to show more emotion. Me and her have done some girly things, as she would often drag me out of the house to get nails done or to just go clothes shopping.
As we were walking down the hall, we could see people waving at her more often than usual. People would also wave at me, but not as much as Nejire. We could also see people rolling their eyes as they saw me, which was nothing new. We both noticed this as we walked towards the boys.
"Hey why's everyone waving at us?"
I decided to ask. Nejire also tilts her head questioning the same thing. Togata smiles and pulls out his phone. He stands shoulder to shoulder with me as he shows me UA's article. It was announced that they were considered as UA's big three. It was a huge honor to be announced that and within our second year too? That was even better.
"Whoa! Look at that! They officially announced us as the Big Three?? That's amazing!"
Nejire says jumping up and down. She pulls Amajiki into a hug, which he gets super flustered over and Togata just laughs at it. I shake my head slightly. They already knew they were getting tons of spotlight. We've known this for a few months now, and I couldn't be prouder to see my friends get such an honor.
"Todoroki, you didn't read the rest of the article.."
I heard Amajiki say. I tilted my head in confusion. Why on earth would I need to read the rest. Either way I continued reading on, my eyes widen.
"Y/N Todoroki, our strongest and number one student."
The article started out. I was surprised and shocked. I guess a lot of people were as well, but there were a selective few who were congratulating me. I took the phone out of Togata's hands and read some of the comments. I smirk a bit, knowing that they would be negative. Though there were a lot of positives coming through as well. I could feel Togata looking over my shoulder and i could see his smile as he read the positive comments.
"You're getting good publicity. I'm proud of you!"
It took me a second to hear what he said, I turn my head to look at him and just stare. I could feel everything in the background go silent, and all my focus went to him. I could feel my heart eating within my ears. My mouth was slightly open as I was trying to register what he said..
He said he was proud and of me? I've never heard those words put together about me. He placed his hand on my shoulder softly as he saw that I stopped looking at his phone.
"Y....N..."
A soft voice had said, but I was still in my head, trying to wrap around the thought of someone being proud of me. That doesn't happen often. I quickly gave Mirio his phone back and walked away from the group. Why on earth did those words have a weird affect on me? Out of any words, those were the ones to make my heart shake. I could feel someone following me. Once I got to a secluded area I stopped and turn around. I was face to face with Nejire. She was holding a concerned look on her face as she holds my hand softly.
"I promised to take care of you, I'm here for you and you know that, did Mirio offend you in any way?"
I shook my head at her softly. I could feel my face heat up,
"It was unexpected... I just... never heard someone say that to me before.."
She holds on to my face softly. She smiles at me and giggles a bit. Her face no longer held any confusion.
"The three of us are very proud of you. I can see you slowly coming out of your shell. You're strong, and you already knew this."
She pulls me into a hug, it helped calm me down a bit more. Once she pulls away we heard the warning bell.
"Let's get you to class. We don't need that teacher of yours to throw anymore of a hissy fit."
I roll my eyes and scoff a bit. I chuckled lightly and then Nejire and I went out separate ways, into our classes. As soon as we got into our classes, I was immediately given a letter. My teacher looked rather pissed off, scoffed at me even. I just glare back at her. I could see that other students were also getting letters. I quickly open mine and realized that it was from Mirko's Agency. She was inviting me to work under her and she sounded more than excited to have me at her agency.
"As you all know, I gave out letters to those who got accepted into agencies. Today you will be going to these agencies for about a week. You'll be focusing on these work studies and they will go towards your hours. Pack up your hero suits, go home and meet back here in about 2 hours. Make it quick. I will doc you points if you're late."
For some reason she decided to stare at me as she mentioned. I stood up slowly and walked out of the class. I saw Class 2-B get out as well. I walked up to Nejire, Togata, and Amajiki.
"One of many steps in becoming a pro hero!"
Togata said with a bright smile on his face. I nodded my head. Nejire was excited to go work with Ryuku and Amajiki seemed nervous to work with Fatgum. Then again, Amajiki is always afraid of meeting new people. Togata was beyond excited to work with Sir Nighteye. I was happy for my friends, and they knew I went with the bunny hero, Mirko. Who was recommended by Hawks.
"Todoroki. You should be heading home and packing for the trip. You only have an hour."
I roll my eyes and turn around to look at my teacher. Of course she would give me an hour. She wanted to punish me in any way shape or form.
"You gave the class two hours if I recall correctly. I'm not the only one socializing with my peers either."
"I expect a lot better from you. You're slacking in classes. You got luckily with the provisional exam, and on top of that you need to get your act together overall. Nobody is going to want you as a hero when you hold nothing but an icy glare all the time."
I could feel my three best friends eyes on me. I could tell they were shocked. They didn't know what to say. And honestly, this wasn't the first time I was told I wouldn't be fit to be a hero.
"If I'm not fit to be a hero, why haven't you expelled me yet?"
Her eyes widen, she glared at me and walks away. Telling me I now have 30 minutes. Unlucky for her I always have a go-bag ready in my locker. I turn back to my friends.
"Todoroki... are you okay?"
I heard Togata ask. I nodded my head, it didn't hurt, and I know it won't be the last time I hear those phrases.
"She's not the first person to tell me that I'm not fit to be a hero. Definitely won't be the last.. I'll see you guys later, good luck in your work studies."
With that I walked away. I went to my gym locker and grabbed all of my supplies that I would need. My go-bag was ready and I needed to get my hero costume in the classroom. I had closed the locker, and begin walking towards the class. It was stupid that this teacher hated me because I look like my father. For other reasons why she hated me, I'll never know but it is stupid. When she saw me sitting in the classroom, 10 minutes after she gave me thirty minutes, her face was a sight to see.
It was a mixture of confusion, anger, and disgust. Amazing how the face can tell one person so many emotions. I had grabbed my hero suit and sat it at my desk with me. She walks over to me and gives me an envelope. I'm assuming we had to give those to the hero's we would be shadowing. It was taped shut to make sure we didn't read into them, I didn't bother to look at it anyways.
When two hours passed, some of my classmates were late. Which was no surprise, and they didn't get any form of punishment. As they filed into the classroom our teacher gave them the envelope. She then gave us basic rules and then told us that the bus outside will take us to the train station.
Once we arrived at the train station, she pulled me aside.
"You better pick up your slack. If I hear one bad thing from Mirko's agency, I will cut you from the hero's course."
"Good luck doing that."
I replied sarcastically as I entered the train to go to Mirko's agency. The train ride was a bit long, but I didn't mind. I had my phone to occupy me for a bit, I was able to text my siblings and my three friends. I was in a group chat with the big three.
Togata
It's still really messed up
what your teach said to you,
Todoroki.
Nejire
Yeah! I'm hoping you're
able to report her or something!
You
I'm just gathering my
evidence. Like I said
not the first time
definitely won't be the last.
Good luck in work studies.
With that, I was able to get to Mirko's agency. When I first got off the train, I was quickly greeted by the pro bunny hero. She seemed more than enthusiastic to see me.
"There you are! I'm so glad you're here! Let's get you back to my agency and I'll show you around. We aren't going to do runs around the city. I want to see what you're made of before I take you out and about. Does that sound okay to you?"
She said while smirking. I just nodded my head. She chuckles a bit,
"Not much for words huh? That's okay, I'll get you to crack eventually."
I just shake my head and followed the bunny hero to her agency. She showed me where she would have me stay, it was within her agency, and a fairly big room for it just being me.
"Anything that I need to get for you, just let me know kid! I want you to feel part of the team. Just like Hawks, I have some underground missions. For the most part, I might be calling you in a lot. It's the best way to get a new hero in training to be confident in themselves."
I just nodded my head. She tells me to put on some workout clothes and to meet her in the back of the building. Once I got dressed, I went to where she said to meet her. I was quickly greeted with a training ground.
"Show me what you've got kid."
She gets in a ready stance and I did the same. She throws something into the air and as soon as it landed, she was quick to attack me. I was quick to react, dodging her kick swiftly. I use a little bit of my ice to create some space between us and to jump away. Creating some ice bergs that were sharp, throwing them her way. She uses her bunny legs to jump over the wall and attempt to attack me once more. I threw ice senbons at her as I create a bow and arrow to shoot at the hero. I was able to freeze her as the arrow landed near her feet.
Due to her strength, she was able to escape and attempted to attack me from above. I dodged her quickly, and she attacked once more. I wasn't fast enough to dodge, but I was fast enough to encapsulate her leg in ice. Causing both of us to tumble to the ground. I groan a bit, as she was able to hit my hand pretty hard. Those legs are not just for show. I could see her quickly spring up into action and pin me down. She smirks at me, thinking that's she's won. But little did she know I was freezing her. I was quick to pin her down and hold her legs and arms down. I had put a little ice cage within them. She struggles for a few seconds and then taps out with her one hand. I break the ice and fall back, panting and trying to catch my breath.
Mirko hopping every where and me having to dodge was very tiring. She chuckles softly and picks me up.
"You did great kid. Rest for now. Your training to get faster starts tomorrow."