Kimitsuki walked silently down the road that led to the U. A. High School. She was on her own today – Izuku had gone ahead of her as she had gotten unexpectedly busy when she found out that Apartment 117 Oba-San couldn't cook herself anything.
And thus, in the end, unable to leave the poor old woman on her own during her sickness, Kimitsuki stayed back to cook her breakfast and feed it to her before she set off for her school on her own.
There was still quite some time until homeroom, and Kimitsuki hoped to reach class before Aizawa.
On the way to the school, Kimitsuki had almost gotten the opportunity to talk to Katsuki but when he saw her in the train, he stepped back out to take the other car. It annoyed Kimitsuki greatly.
"Honestly, it's not even funny anymore..." Kimitsuki muttered to herself. "Should I go visit him at his home...? I'm sure his Oka-San would allow me in..."
It was when she was a few feet away from the school that Kimitsuki noticed the large group of people – it was a swarm of reporters surrounding the school premises. She frowned to herself and walked to the other side of the road to avoid running into them until she reached the gates.
The news that All Might had been hired as a teacher at U. A. didn't take long to travel – and it shocked the entire nation. And of course, the media descended onto the school to hear more.
"What do you think of All Might as a teacher?!"
One of the reporters, a lady, had cornered one of the students and Kimitsuki looked over to see that it was one of her own classmates, and friend, Iida Tenya. She watched as Tenya turned around to –
"He made me recognise anew that I attend an educational institution that is the best of the best," Tenya replied. "Of course, his dignity and character go without saying, but we students are constantly able to see his humorous side. It is a unique opportunity to learn about being a top hero directly from one,"
"Iida-Kun is really diligent, isn't he?" Kimitsuki asked, rather amused at his behaviour and she looked back ahead of her just in time as she ran into something.
Before she could catch herself, Kimitsuki fell back onto her bottom and groaned slightly in pain – before realising that she had smacked into a person. She hurriedly got onto her feet, dusting the back of her skirt and bowing deeply to the person several times, apologising quickly, "I'm sorry!"
When Kimitsuki looked back up, her lilac eyes met with narrowed red eyes. She noticed that it was a slim young man, not much older than her, who had greyish-hair blue hair dishevelled over his strangely gleaming eyes and sallow skin – it was extremely wrinkled and dry, and filled with scars.
Something about him made Kimitsuki slowly take a step back, staring at him as if he would attack her at any moment. He was strangely rubbing his hand, and she realised that's where she had hit him.
"Um..." Kimitsuki said, wanting to look away from him but she didn't want to get her eyes off of him even for a moment. "I'm sorry... for running into you," She slowly bowed her head again. "I'm sorry,"
The man reached forward with his hand to grab at her face, as if he was going to snatch her facial features off, and Kimitsuki recoiled back from him, suddenly noticing the strange stench off of him.
"I'll be taking my leave now, have a good day," Kimitsuki said to the man quickly and gave him an awkward smile, bowing and hurrying over to the other side of the road, right into – "Ka-Chan,"
"Are you stalking me now?" Katsuki grunted, who had just arrived to the school gates after taking the second train. Kimitsuki shook her head no quickly. "Leave me alone,"
Kimitsuki didn't reply as she stuck next to Katsuki's side, and she glanced over her shoulder.
The man was still standing in his place, but she could feel his eyes on her. He was still rubbing his hand where she had run into him, and she wondered if she had hurt him. She felt bad if she had somehow injured him – was he very sensitive with his skin? Apologetic, Kimitsuki bowed her head to him again from the distance to make sure he knew she was really sorry but he kept staring back.
Deciding that she wanted to activate her Quirk and have a look, Kimitsuki had barely looked back again when suddenly, a loud voice interrupted her –
"Excuse me! Can you tell me about All Might – Oh? You're the boy who was caught by the sludge villain! And you're the girl who helped All Might, aren't you?!"
It was the same reporter lady from earlier, the one who had cornered Tenya. Both Kimitsuki and Katsuki stopped in their steps as they processed what was said, and they both were embarrassed.
"Stop it!" Katsuki muttered, annoyed at the topic that was constantly following him. Kimitsuki hurried to take him away from there but she was swiftly pulled back by the reporters.
"Ka-Chan!" Kimitsuki exclaimed, trying to reach for the ash-blond boy but Katsuki only glanced at her over his shoulder and continued on his way inside. "Ka-Chan, please!"
Kimitsuki was unable to follow Katsuki into the reporters horded her, and Katsuki did nothing to help her out. He walked down the courtyard, stopped, and looked back over at her once more. She tried to wave her hand to grab and Katsuki took a step toward her, but then shook his head and left.
Even though it was obvious to her that he didn't want to go through the sludge villain issue again with the camera, Kimitsuki was still a bit hurt that he didn't help her. She had expected him to help. Especially she was clasutrophobic.
"Hey, you're Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki!"
"What is All Might like? Are you an apprentice of his?"
"Is All Might training you to become a future Symbol of Peace?"
"What are your thoughts on the unsolved murder of your family 13 years ago?"
"Did you happen to have a hand in their demise? What happened in that house that night?"
"What are your thoughts on this? Do you think you're being framed for someone else's doing?"
"Um – uh – I'm not sure what you're saying..." Kimitsuki stammered, overwhelmed by the strange, and frankly uncomfortable questions. "Please! Let me go – I don't know anything – I'm not –"
Kimitsuki struggled to get out of there, now understanding what All Might meant when he said run as if you're being chased by paparazzi. She felt embarrassed and violated by their questions about her family's death. She hated any and all sort of public attention. She tried to get out when she was suddenly grabbed by the back of her collar and easily extracted out of the crowd. She looked up to see –
"Aizawa Sensei!" Kimitsuki cried out as he set her down behind him and turned to look at the reporters that had imprisoned his student. She gladly hid behind him.
"Um, about All Might..." the reporter lady trailed off, staring at Aizawa's appearance. Kimitsuki sweat-dropped. "Wow, you're scruffy... What's your deal?!"
"He's not on duty today," Aizawa replied nonchalantly as he shooed them away with a few flaps of his hand. "You are disturbing the classes and harassing students, please leave,"
"I would like to speak directly with All Might –" the reporter lady started but Aizawa just turned around to come back inside, motioning Kimitsuki to follow him, which she gladly did.
"I feel like I've seen him before..." one of the cameramen said.
"Don't you think you're too scruffy?!" the reporter lady shouted after Aizawa, who had by now gotten up the steps and to the school building with Kimitsuki.
"Thank you, Sensei," Kimitsuki said, bowing her head out of gratitude. "I shouldn't have allowed them... I shouldn't have given the opportunity to pick me up,"
Aizawa nodded, looking oddly satisfied by her constitution.
"I can't believe..." Kimitsuki said, glancing at the crowds of people over her shoulder, and also noting the man from earlier still standing in his place. "... All Might was able to work as a hero with all this,"
On these words, Aizawa raised his eyebrows at her, slightly amused internally as he shook his head.
There was a loud sound from outside and Kimitsuki turned around to see that the security walls around U. A. High had been deployed when the media tried to enter the school behind them. It made her feel a bit better that there wasn't anything too serious going on.
"Kuroyanagi," Aizawa said and she turned to look at him. "It's time for homeroom," Kimitsuki nodded and hurried to follow behind him as they walked to Class 1-A.
"Yes, Sensei," Kimitsuki replied quietly, keeping a respectful distance behind her teacher, not wanting to be in the same pace as him. It was somewhat difficult because he walked leisurely.
Kimitsuki and Aizawa reached the classroom together, and everyone turned to look at them as they entered. Izuku looked interested to see if she had discussed her Quirk with him while Tenya wondered if she was getting scolded for being late. Katsuki glanced over, figuring Aizawa saved her.
"Good morning, Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki greeted her friend, avoiding any further interaction with Katsuki as she walked past his desk, and sat down on her own seat.
Katsuki looked up when she didn't say her greeting to him, even though they had met twice already that morning, and looked away in annoyance when he heard Izuku happily respond to her. He huffed and clutched his fist around his pencil. Kimitsuki settled into her desk and looked at Aizawa.
"Good work on yesterday's combat training," Aizawa droned. "I saw the video and results. Bakugou. You're talented, so don't act like a kid,"
"I know," Katsuki grunted out, and Kimitsuki could hear the slight frustration and embarrasment under his voice, and she shook her head as she looked away.
"Midoriya," Aizawa said. "You settled it by breaking your arm again, huh? 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. Remember to collaborate with your partner, don't leave them hanging,"
"Yes, sir!" Izuku replied, his reaction quite opposite to what Katsuki had showed.
"Kuroyanagi," Aizawa said, and Kimitsuki stood up in her place. "Your visual Quirk is very useful, and you shouldn't hesitate to use it. Also, you need to learn to speak up and lead people, don't allow them to overrule your ideas and strategies," He paused. "You did well,"
"Yes, Sensei," Kimitsuki replied, folding her hands over her stomach and bowing deeply in gratitude, smiling to herself. "I will continue to do well from here on and not disappoint you,"
"Good," Aizawa said. "There is more that I need to discuss with you, Kuroyanagi, so come by the faculty room later. Settle down for now,"
"Yes, Sensei," Kimitsuki repeated, bowing her head and sitting back down in her place. She wondered what Aizawa wanted to discuss – her visual Quirk, for sure, right?
"Now, let's get down to homeroom business," Aizawa continued. "Sorry about the late notice, but today, I'll have you..." Everyone held their breath. "... decide on a class representative,"
"It's actually a normal school activity!"
"I want to be class rep!" Eijirou exclaimed, raising both of his arms as he leaned forward excitedly. Kimitsuki looked over at him. "Pick me!"
"Me too!" Denki said, raising his hand.
"I want to do it, too," Kyoka said, her hand in the air as well.
"It's a job made for m –" Yuga said as he held up his hand.
"I'll be the leader!" Mina shouted, her eyes sparkling.
"My manifesto is for all girls' skirts to be 30 centimetres above the knee!" Minoru shouted, waving his little arms as he tried to gain their attention.
"No, that's horrible," Kimitsuki whispered when she heard what Minoru was advocating for. She looked around to make sure that no one was interested in his declaration.
"Let me do it!" Katsuki shouted. "Me!"
Kimitsuki was surprised that Katsuki wanted to be a class representative. He was the last person that she expected to take up such a responsibility – even with the added bonus of it looking good on a resume and being able to lead others. Kimitsuki, however, wanted to do it because she found it fun.
Yet still, she didn't raise her hand up – not wanting to be selfish and taking something away from Katsuki again. Not after taking away the title of being the only student from his school to get in.
Besides, Kimitsuki was pretty much done with Katsuki ridiculing her as the Class Rep all the time.
However, around her, everyone was going crazy for the title of the Class Representative, except for a few of them (which included her) that watched it all unfold. Aizawa himself silent as he watched.
Finally, having enough of the embarrassment over making such a ruckus around the place while their own homeroom teacher was in the room, a Pro-Hero no less, Kimitsuki stood up from her desk and clapped her hands loudly, putting a stop to everyone as they turned to look at her in confusion.
"Um," Kimitsuki said, suddenly a bit embarrassed and shy. "We shouldn't be making such noise when we have our teacher in the class. Please, let's show a better side of ourselves,"
"Kuroyanagi-Kun is right!" Tenya exclaimed, suddenly standing up. "It is a job with the serious responsibility of leading others! It is not a job for just anyone who wants to do it! It is a calling that requires the trust of those around you! If we want to use democracy to decide on a true leader then we should hold an election to choose one!"
"Your hand is raised the highest!"
"Why did you suggest that?" Denki asked.
"We haven't known each other for that long, so how can we have trust or anything?" Tsuyu questioned, putting her finger on her mouth.
"Shouldn't we select the person who did the best in the entrance exam?" Hanta asked, and turned to his left to look at Kimitsuki, who jumped slightly.
"Um, that wouldn't make sense, would it?" Kimitsuki asked feebly. "We have two students who were admitted to this on recommendations – Todoroki-Kun and Yaoyorozu-Chan,"
"Then, we can just select the person who scored the highest in their middle school finals!" Mina cheered up. "Kimitsuki-Chan, we have you! You scored the highest!"
"Oh, no, our middle school results had nothing to do with hero abilities, right?" Kimitsuki asked, trying desperately to get away from this. "It won't make sense. I believe we must hold elections,"
"If that's the case, and everyone votes for themselves..." Eijirou trailed off.
"Don't you think that is precisely why whoever receives multiple votes here can be truly considered the most suitable person?!" Tenya pointed out loudly. "What do you think, Sensei?!"
"I don't care, as long as you decide before homeroom is over," Aizawa responded, zipping himself up in his sleeping bag and falling over. Kimitsuki stared at him.
"Thank you very much!" Tenya replied, and Kimitsuki turned to look at him. "Kuroyanagi-Kun, would you like to help out?!" She nodded, jumping slightly at his loud voice.
"Um, okay," Kimitsuki said as she walked out in front of the class. "What we do is that... I will give each of you a piece of paper and you can write one name onto it. Once you have written your chosen candidate, you have to return it to me and Iida-Kun and I will count the votes given,"
Kimitsuki pulled out a small notepad from her pocket and began to go from seat number one to all the way to the seat number twenty-one. She herself pulled out her pencil and looked around the classroom to have a look at her classmates. She considered voting for either Tenya or Ochaco but then remembered Izuku – he would certainly improve if he became the Class Representative.
"Have you all written the names?" Kimitsuki asked as she looked back up. "If you have, please raise your hand and I'll come to you to take your paper. I won't peek, I promise,"
One by one, Kimitsuki went through the students with Tenya and took the folded pieces of notes. She didn't look at Katsuki as she took his paper, not wanting to annoy him any further. She was tired of chasing after him, trying to make him understand. If he wanted to talk to her, he would come to her.
"We're going to count the votes now and display them on the blackboard," Kimitsuki said as Tenya picked up the tablet from the desk. "You can have a look,"
Slowly unfolding the notes, Kimitsuki looked through them and pointed out certain names to the bespectacled male and he used the tablet to present all the names on the board, as well as the tally marks of each student. And as she had expected, most of the students had their own names written but there were some students who really went out of their way to write someone else's.
"Um, two more votes for Izu-Chan," Kimitsuki said as she found her and Ochaco's notes. "And a vote for Yaoyorozu-Chan... and another one for me... and one for Aoyama-Kun..."
Kimitsuki grimaced as she stared at the note containing her name. She couldn't figure out the three people who had voted for her – she didn't know their writing well enough yet. But then, another –
Kuroyanagi Kimitsuki
"Oh, I know this writing," Kimitsuki muttered, finally relieved but then snapped back up to look at the person who was behind this particular note – "Ka-Chan,"
But Katsuki wasn't looking at her at all. His chin was propped up on the palm of his hand and his gaze was set on the wall next to his desk. She wondered why he put her name in, and then wondered if he was doing this so he could continue to annoy her by calling her Class Representative. She sighed.
Removing her eyes off of Katsuki, Kimitsuki looked back at the note, staring at it. There was no way he genuinely wanted her to be the Class Rep, was there? It didn't seem possible, especially since he had just ignored her earlier when she asked for his assistance – he knew that she hated media.
It frustrated and annoyed Kimitsuki. She felt like they were pushing and pulling at each other, this strange tug-of-war between them. She wished she could read his mind and know what he was thinking. Did he hate her, or did he not? Why was he never clear to her? Was he clear with himself?
There were a lot of things that Kimitsuki found strange about Katsuki, and she was sure she will – somehow, some day – figure him out. She was waiting for that day, but until that day came –
We're going back to middle school, aren't we?
🤍
A/N: An expected update because today is my birthday. I hope you enjoy it!