A/N: I'M POSTING EARLY TODAY BECAUSE I WAS SUPER BORED DURING LUNCH
Enjoy the lightheartedness of these chapters, the danger and panic are coming.
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Hitomi let out a bloodcurdling scream as she expanded a force field, breaking through the mud dome encasing her.
As soon as she saw sunlight, dirt rose to cover her again.
Hitomi sighed, falling to her knees in the darkness.
"Pixie-Bob... couldn't you let me rest a minute...? We've been at this for hours..."
Pixie-Bob's muffled voice was heard from the other side of the dirt dome.
"Villains don't give heroes time to rest, kitten!"
Hitomi sighed again, flopping to lay down on the ground.
It was officially the first day of quirk training, and it felt like absolute hell.
The class was doing all kinds of different things to strengthen their quirks, pushing themselves to the limit.
In Hitomi's case, Pixie-Bob would continually create dirt domes around Hitomi with her Earthflow quirk, having the bluenette expand force fields to break through. The purpose was to help Hitomi create bigger force fields in quicker succession, as well as get her body used to larger amounts of heat; heat particles would build up each time Pixie-Bob created a new dome, making the inside very stuffy and hard to breathe in.
This is only the first day...
Taking in the rich smell of soil, Hitomi got up, clenching her fists as her pupils glowed in the darkness.
This is all so I can be the best hero possible!
She let out another yell, breaking the dome with a force field. Immediately after, soil encased her again, leaving her in the dark once more.
"You're doing great, Kanetsukabe-chan! Keep going!"
Hitomi sighed, leaning back against the dirt surface.
Then again, I don't know how much more of this I can take...
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7:30 pm...
After a refreshing shower and a simple dinner of curry, the Class A girls were sitting in a circle in their room, Jirou shuffling a deck of cards Mina had brought.
"It's too bad Mina couldn't join us..." Hagakure said, the girls all feeling sympathy for the one stuck in remedial lessons.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Yaoyorozu replied, running a brush through her hair. "It'll help strengthen her knowledge of being a hero, making her a better one in the future."
"Even so," Jirou said as she finished shuffling the cards, "I doubt she's having much fun right now. You guys know how to play Old Maid?"
"Oh, I love that game!" Uraraka exclaimed, prompting Jirou to deal out cards.
Hitomi picked up her cards, rearranging them as Hagakure asked how everyone's training went.
"Nauseating," Uraraka replied, right as Jirou said "Painful."
Hagakure made a sheepish noise, letting Tsuyu pick a card from her hand. "Okay, let's not talk about that then; sorry!"
Hitomi grabbed a card from Tsuyu as Hagakure proposed a new topic.
"I know we talked about who could be the most attractive boy last night, but how about this: who do you think would be the best boyfriend?"
Hitomi held her cards out for Uraraka to pick one, noticing the brunette flail at the invisible girl's question.
Probably thinking about a certain someone, isn't she...?
Hitomi felt a mischievous smile creep onto her face, finding a matching pair in her hand and setting it down as she decided she'd mess with Uraraka a little. "What do you think, Uraraka? Who do you think would make the best boyfriend?"
The girl in question stuttered as her cheeks turned red. "Eh?! W-Why are you asking me?!"
Hitomi rearranged her cards, waiting for Tsuyu to take another card from Hagakure. "Just wanted to know your opinion, that's all."
Although I already know who you would say...
"W-Well, what about you, Hitomi-chan? Who do you think would be the best?"
Tsuyu held out her cards for Hitomi, the bluenette taking one and placing it in her hand.
Joker. Dang it.
The girl didn't look up from her cards, hardly batting an eye as she spoke. "Isn't it obvious who I'd say? Kirishima, duh. Not just because he's my friend, but because he's very sweet and respectful as well."
"Would you date him if he asked you out?!" Hagakure asked, excited.
Hitomi looked surprised for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I wouldn't," she stated as Uraraka grabbed a card from her. "Even though he'd make a great partner, I can't see myself being with him that way. It'd feel weird to me."
"Man, Mina would love this conversation..." Jirou said as she grabbed a card from Yaoyorozu. "I hope the remedial lessons don't take too long..."
Hitomi began to space out on the conversation as they continued their game, thinking about the other boys in their class.
Midoriya would be a great boyfriend; it wasn't hard to see why Uraraka liked him so much.
Iida was a very respectable person, he'd probably be a very respectful and kind boyfriend as well.
A specific boy in their class made her stop, causing her to suddenly blurt out, "Guys, what kind of boyfriend do you think Bakugou would be?!"
The girls all stared at Hitomi in disbelief.
"That's a tough question, Hitomi-chan," Tsuyu said.
Hitomi sweatdropped, realizing what she'd said. "Sorry, that was dumb. I don't know what came over me..."
"No, no, wait," Yaoyorozu said, putting down her cards. "This is a question that must be answered!"
"I'm pretty curious, myself," Jirou said as she placed her cards down as well.
Hagakure got up from the floor, running to her bag and rummaging through it before returning with a pencil and notepad. "This is something that we need to list off!"
Everyone gathered around the invisible girl, their game of Old Maid completely forgotten.
Hagakure wrote Pros and Cons at the top of the page, dividing it in half with a line down the middle.
"Well," Hitomi started as she peered through the invisible girl's shoulder, "I'd say his looks would go on the pros."
The girls made sounds of affirmation, Hagakure writing it down.
"You'd have to be made of steel to deal with his personality, though," Jirou chimed in, vocalizing what everyone knew without needing to be said.
"Abrasive Personality" was added to the cons as Yaoyorozu proposed something for the pros. "I believe that if he compliments you or says something nice, you'd know undoubtedly that he means it."
Uraraka made a noise of agreement. "Yeah! Deku-kun's told me before that Bakugou's not one to lie just to please others. Just like in fighting, he won't hold back in telling you the truth either."
Hitomi spluttered, recalling what she'd heard Bakugou say about her the night before. "You... really think so...?"
Uraraka nodded, leading Hagakure to write "Honest" under the pros.
Hitomi fiddled with a piece of her hair as the others continued, remembering Bakugou's words.
"...She's pretty, I guess."
He'd seemed reluctant to say it, but he did.
Hitomi fell silent as the others discussed his other traits, writing down and adding things to the list.
Well, he's wrong.
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In the boys' room, Bakugou sneezed for what had to be the fourth time that night. "Damn, just how dusty is it in here?!"
Kirishima laughed as he climbed into his futon. "Maybe someone's talking about you."
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"...I mean, I don't like this." A girl with wild, dirty ash-blonde hair pulled into buns readjusted the piped black mask on her face, sighing with a whine. "It's not cute."
A boy in a black gakuran uniform shrugged. "This was orchestrated by the designer behind the scenes, right?" he said, his voice muffled slightly by the gas mask on his face. He readjusted the straps on his shoulders that were attached to two oxygen tanks on his back. "Appearances don't matter as long as it makes sense."
"I'm not talking about that," the girl replied, waving her arms in frustration. "I just don't wanna wear this."
"I mean, I get her..." Another boy with unkempt brown hair twirled a black weapon in his hand, glancing at the younger male. "Sometimes villains want to give off a certain image, too."
"Easy for you to say..." The boy in the gas mask scoffed as he eyed him, taking in his black short-sleeve turtleneck and brown cargo pants. "When you look so simple."
The taller brunette only shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hi!" a new voice singsonged. An adult villain in sunglasses and carrying a large, rectangular object wrapped in cloth approached. "Sorry for the wait."
"Work... work..." Another that was covered in a full-body straitjacket arrived, while one that looked like a lizard stepped forward, readjusting the bandana mask over his eyes.
"...That makes eight," said a man with black, spiky hair. His dark blue trench coat fluttered in the wind as he stood at the front of the group, and they all looked over the forest from the tall cliffside.
The tall man in a cloak beside him flexed his left hand, cracking his knuckles. "I don't care, just let me at 'em," he grumbled. "I'm getting too pumped up."
The villain with spiky black hair looked over his shoulder. "Shut up, you crazy bastards. Not yet..." He glanced back down at the forest below, zeroing in on the building in the distance. "We'll move when all eleven of us are here. Gathering a bunch of punks who are just strong will only increase the risk. It's better to have a small group of experienced elites. First, we make them realize...
...that their peace is resting in our hands."
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Hitomi sighed as Pixie-Bob encased her in dirt again, the second day of quirk training.
I feel like I could die any minute...
Hitomi cradled her arms, feeling the slow beginnings of her quirk taking its toll on her body.
Outside, she heard Pixie-Bob laugh. "More importantly, everyone, tonight we'll have a test of courage with the classes pitted against each other!"
Hitomi broke the pro hero's dome, yelling out, "What?!" only for her to be trapped inside again.
"After training hard, you can play hard!"
Hitomi felt a rush of excitement at that, never having done a test of courage before.
I just need to get through this hell, and then I can have fun!
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A/N: [1/26/23 EDIT] Added a brief scene of the villains. There's someone new there who wasn't originally in canon :)
KIRITOMI REAL-
Just kidding haha. Here we get concrete confirmation on Hitomi's opinion of Kirishima: she thinks he'd be a great boyfriend, but she couldn't imagine seeing him in a romantic light.
If you guys aren't complete weebs like me and didn't get the short exchange between Bakugou and Kirishima, there's a superstition in East Asian cultures where you sneeze if someone is talking about you without you being aware of it.
I love how this chapter is named after the training when most of its content is girl talk lol. The girls are the perfect outlet to get to the topic of love and crushes.
And of course, there's the everlasting question the 1-A girls want the answer to: What kind of boyfriend would Bakugou be?
...So, this was kind of a dumb chapter, I don't know how it came into existence ._.