"Damn it." You muttered as a small rock fell on top of your head.
Shouto picked out pebbles from your hair. "This doesn't seem to be getting much easier. You're really good in battle, though."
"I'm focused in battle." You blew your hair out of your face. "I think I walked into four doors when I first got to France."
Shouto tried to imagine you doing such a comical thing, but failed to do so without it accidentally turning into Kaminari in his head.
You slid your mug of coffee towards you and sipped, the chill tickling your spine disappearing. "Aspirin."
He handed you the container and you swallowed before tossing up the small rock again and making it hover in front of you.
"Y/N, why don't you take a break?"
"Why? It seems counterproductive."
He blinked. "You seem very close to Ashido and Kaminari, yet..."
"That seems backhanded." You stopped, hearing a knock at Shouto's door. He got up and answered, greeted with a Yaoyorozu with her brows knit together in concern. "Good morning, Todoroki. Um, Y/N..."
"Yes?"
"do you know someone named Aster?"
You jumped up. "Yes. Is he here?"
"Well, Aizawa-sensei said that he knew his father, so—"
You rushed passed Yaoyorozu and Shouto and towards the common room.
Aster saw you run in and his face lit up, brighter than it normally was. While you weren't quite a hugger, he certainly was; he wrapped his arms around you and lifted you up like he hadn't seen you in years.
Shouto and Yaoyorozu arrived in the common room and he stopped.
"Y/N," He whispered to you. "qui est l'homme loin d'une fille?"
"Shouto. Pourquoi?"
"Shouto?! Sérieux? Tais toi... Je comprends maintenant, il est majestueux."
Shouto blinked and looked at Yaoyorozu. "I feel like I heard my name in that conversation."
"I don't know any French, so I can't say."
You elbowed Aster, telling him that he was making Shouto uncomfortable, and switched to Japanese. "Where's Justin?"
"He went to check us into a hotel."
You cleared your throat. "Guys, this is Aster. He's my mentor's son."
Mina grumbled. "How do you always get to hang out with a bunch of hot guys?"
"How do you determine whether or not a person is... 'hot?'"
Aster sighed, placing his hand on your shoulder. "We taught you social queues, now you need to learn basic slang." He pointed at Shouto. "That? Hot." Then at Mineta. "That? Not hot."
"I know what it means but in what way do I often hang out with 'hot guys'? I've hung out with Monoma."
A few groans followed that statement.
You changed the topic quickly and asked, "What took you so long to get here?"
"Something was up with the route we took. Apparently a hero was in a battle midair."
You hummed. "Around our borders? We seem too occupied on land to begin fighting villains over the ocean."
"I don't know, but I heard the hero lost."
"Really..." I need to look at the log of villains that escaped Tartarus. "Midoriya's been here for two days, so it couldn't have been him, right?"
"I wasn't near the ocean." He said.
"Hm."
Aster flicked your forehead. "Get out of the work mind for a bit."
"Right." You walked over to the door and opened it. "Good morning, All Might."
"Sorry, did I walk here to noisily?"
"No. I could see your shadow moving under the door." You stepped back and allowed him inside.
Aster's eyes lit up as you stood next to him, and he began bouncing on his heels. You put your hand on his shoulder and pushed him down to qualm him.
"I'm here to talk about the deadline to fight All For One. It's been extended."
"Extended? Why?"
"Originally, tomorrow would've been when Shigaraki perfected his body, but now he'll be out of commission for a week thanks to Star and Stripe. That was her parting gift."
"Wouldn't this be the best time to strike?" Yaoyorozu asked.
All Might shook his head, explaining the danger both Shigaraki and the rest of the league poses.
Now you started to bounce on your heels, less like an excited fan, more like a nervous sway.
All Might told all of you to train and you left the moment he said so.
"Y/N—" Aster sighed. "Alright then."
"Is she alright?" Jirou frowned. "She looked disturbed."
"She just can't focus anymore." Shouto stared down the hallway you just walked down. He'd hear you pacing around just a wall away. That battle on top of being out in the city for so long wasn't healthy, just like how it wasn't healthy for Midoriya either.
•••
You sat in the centre of the forest outside near the training ground.
The wind began to pick up a bit and leaves blew around you. Then one smacked you in the cheek and the wind settled quickly.
Damn it.
And again, it happened.
Seeing your class, you couldn't stop thinking about what could happen if they face Shigaraki. Or your father.
You had all the faith a person could have in them, but you still worried.
"You should try fighting someone."
"Huh?" You looked around and saw Justin standing there, leaning on a tree. "How long have you been standing there?"
"A few minutes."
"I see." You fixed your hair that was ruffled by the wind. "I can't fight someone yet."
"You seemed to be doing fine when you were. Because you were focused on fighting that person. Come on, your class is in the training grounds."
You watched him walk away for a while before scrambling after him.
"Y/N, do you feel the need to be alone?"
"...No."
"Why are you always trying to be?"
"I focus better."
"Do you?" He opened the door and you were immediately greeted with Bakugou trying to blow Midoriya into little pieces.
Kaminari ran up to you and grabbed your hand. "Come on, try to control my electricity."
You were dragged into the room and you felt that nice warmth in your chest again.
I don't like being alone. I like solace. Maybe it took me too long to figure out that I find solace in Class 1A.
You glanced at Shouto and your mouth twisted.
No. I think I knew the whole time.
•••
Spikes shot up from the ground as Kirishima ran around, trying to dodge them.
You sat down, eyes closed, trying to sense him without seeing him.
"Whoa, almost got me there!" Kirishima said.
Your focus wavered, then you felt a wave of energy enter you, like power welling in your body, and it was pointing you in one direction.
And Kirishima was surrounded by rock, which grabbed him as he ran. "Nice job, Y/N!"
You opened your eyes and mentally pumped your fist. "Thanks."
Then bolts of electricity began jumping around you and you closed your eyes.
"Don't think you can do it so easily!" Kaminari said.
A bolt came rushing towards you and the earth around you began to rise. And suddenly, you heard a voice.
Black whip incoming.
"Y/N, watch out!"
Midoriya's voice screamed to you to move and you jumped out of the way. You landed on one of the pillars and your eyes began darting around to find the source of the voice, but no one matched it.
It was a woman.
"Did you hear that?" You asked Midoriya, who shook his head. "Heard what?"
"Never mind." You glanced at a rock that had a clean circular hole through it made by Aoyama. "Where's Aoyama?"
"I don't know. He vanished at some point. Maybe he has a stomach ache." Kaminari shrugged.
"What about Hagakure?"
"For all we know, she could be right in front of me."
You were about to brush it off, but then you heard the voice again.
Outside.
You jumped down. "I need fresh air."
"I'll come with you." Midoriya followed you outside.
You walked together in silence for a while before you decided to ask, "What made you want to go outside?"
"Aoyama's been looking gloomy, so I wanted to look for him."
"I actually haven't seen him at all." You looked down at the ground. "I'm sure he's very stressed with everything that's been going on. I didn't even see him at the hospital."
"You went to the hospital?"
"I did. I didn't run into anyone, though." You looked up, noticing a pair of gloves rushing to your from within the forest. "...Hagakure?"
"Y/N! Midoriya!" Her hands gripped your arms and you heard her pant. "Aoyama, he... He's the traitor!"
You and Midoriya both looked at each other and ran into the forest, following Hagakure to the best of your abilities.
As you drew closer to the destination, your heart began to feel heavy, like you could feel an emotion that you couldn't quite understand - mainly because you had no reason to feel it.
Guilt.
The wind picked up in front of you and you ran past Hagakure, simply following what the wind told you.
There, you found Aoyama, standing with his parents.
"Aoyama?" You stared at him blankly, trying not to make it seem like you were mad at the boy pitifully sobbing in front of you.
Midoriya and Hagakure caught up behind you.
In that moment, that spot you stood in, you could feel energy coursing through you, your quirk going haywire as it began throwing emotions at you.
Guilt.
Panic.
Fear.
Betrayal.
The world went quiet, save for a high-pitched hum in your ears.
After far too long, wind blew up through your hair and everything sounded normal again, the heaviness in your heart lifted as your head cleared and it focused on one thing.
"Aoyama... are you the traitor?"
The betrayal you felt was not of anyone else's. It was your own.
You weren't even all that close with Aoyama, or most people in Class 1A for that matter. Why did it hurt so much to think about?
Was it because of your father? Was it because of the tearful expression he gave you?
"Run away, Yuga!" His parents urged.
You lifted your hands, making vines emerge next to them, but you hesitated when your eyes met Yuga's; not once had you ever looked someone in the eye and saw such conflicting feelings.
"That note you left when I learn that - like me - you were born quirkless..." Aoyama began, referring to Midoriya. "I.. fell into utter despair!"
"Midoriya!"
A navel laser shot from Aoyama and you tried seizing him with your vines before he could do it, but his parents shielded him and you caught them instead.
However, before it could hit Midoriya, it was redirected.
"Hagakure...!"
"My body... lets me refract light." She said. "We could have been killed, time after time. Now, all of Japan, is, like, totally messed up. What was going through your head.. this whole time in school with us?!"
Your hands dropped and the vines restraining Aoyama's parents nearly went slack until you remembered what you were doing with them.
Focus... Why did it have to be this I was focused on?
You didn't say anything or await any answer to Hagakure's pleas.
"We should bring them back to UA."