MHA: Ground Zero

All of these people who've made their way into the hero course.

All of them, seventeen new people he was more than likely gonna be stuck with until graduation.

And only five of them didn't scream like a bunch of bitches when he told them to shut the hell up and mind their damn business when they tried to surround Eri and him on the couch.

Dear god, were they three?!

Tails just introduced himself to the girl with a smile and went to put his things away. Perfectly normal, and he respected boundaries; ten out of ten. Would recommend.

Froggy took one look at the girl, walked straight up to them and told Eri she was adorable. She then somehow convinced Eri to let her pick the small girl up and hug her in a minute flat after introducing herself. Good form, excellent handling. And she stuck the ending by placing the unicorn back where she was when she started to get overwhelmed to put her things away in her own room. A solid performance by all accounts. She might even qualify as a backup babysitter or playmate if she keeps up the dedication to form.

The red and white chick just walked by, stopped and stared for a second. The small girl and heterochromatic teenager blinked at each other a couple of times, and then reached out at the same time to softly shake hands. Slightly strange, but Eri wasn't scared of the older girl and the candy cane's lip was twitching like she didn't know what to do so he'd count that as a semi positive interaction for the sheet hilarity involved.

And then blocky walked in and waved at the small girl who only had eyes for the rabbit in the ternager's hands. Blocky came over and introduced the white furred animal to the white haired girl and Eri got the chance to fall in love. The guy only 'spoke' in JSL so Katsuki translated for the seemingly mute boy, introducing both the owner and pet to the girl in his lap. They went on their way shortly after, but not before he'd made a promise that Eri could play with the rabbit anytime she wanted. Good form, and a solid performance. Bonus points for the extra silence.

The tentacle boy almost made Eri cry because he wore a mask like those yakuza fucks according to the small girl who thought the fuckers were there for her, which almost got his teeth knocked in. And then he redeemed himself slightly by taking it off. Eri's reaction had been… interesting.

XXXXX

"I'm so sorry." The many armed teenager was as sincere as he could be. Especially since his life expectancy might depend on how well the small girl received it.

The blonde was utterly still, seated on the couch with the teary eyed, unfairly adorable, unicorn in his lap.

Clutching tightly to his chest, barely peeking at him over her shoulder. Red eyes should be anything but heart melting, especially when tears were still threatening to fall, however the blonde wasn't paying attention to anything other than him.

The message was clear in those calm empty eyes, a warning and a promise all in one, one chance to make this right before the blonde did. His many limbs ached to wrap around himself and hide away from those hollowed rubies, but he knew there was no escape. The only thing that could save him was the little child in the scary blonde's lap.

The one he almost made cry…

Shit.

And so with a quick prayer for luck, he knelt a little closer to the girl to explain himself.

"I promise I'm not one of the bad people, okay sweetie." His whisper from his actual mouth instead of one of his limbs managed to get the girl's full attention back on him. She'd been shaking badly when she saw his mask so maybe that would do. "I wear this so I don't scare children like you."

Her shaking had mostly subsided by now, a clear sign that he was on the right track. She pulled herself slightly out of the other's hold to turn and face him.

"Why would you scare me if you don't want to?" Her own words were a whisper as quiet as his own, but her words were stronger than when she first saw him. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to explain that to a child.

"Do you want me to show you?" A small nod as she pressed herself back into the blonde's chest was a relief. It almost made up for what he was fixing to do.

And so with another prayer asking for forgiveness for caring yet another child, he slowly undid his mask and showed the small unicorn his real face. He waited with his eyes closed for the screams to start, and for his life to flash before his eyes as he was ripped apart under the bare hands of this child protector.

None of that happened.

Instead, all he felt was a small delicate hand gently touch his cheek. He opened his eyes to meet her own innocently confused rubies as she petted his right cheek, his unsightly mouth on display for the first time in years.

"Why would you scare me?" Her question rocked him back and almost made him fall to the ground.

He settled himself and allowed her curious hands to explore his unnatural face.

"What's your name sweetie?" That settled it.

"Eri." Her answer was short and sweet as she herself was. He'd never forget this moment because it was proof that he could be a hero that didn't terrify the people he protected.

"I'm Mezo Shoji. It's nice to meet you, Eri." She would be the first child that he ever protected. The proof that the people who told him he was too scary for children to look up to were wrong. All of the other orphans who ran from him, all of the adults who tried to to tell him that kids would always be afraid of him. They were all proven wrong with one sentence from a little girl.

If he ever got the opportunity, he would be her hero; face off against the 'bad people' even if he died. Because she was his hero in this moment.

Though, judging by the look in the scary blonde's eyes, he most likely wouldn't get the chance.

That's okay, he'd just keep an eye out for the girl, just in case.

XXXXXXXXX

Katsuki had no idea what was going on through the masked teenager's head but his own eyes had been wet when he'd walked past them to go put his things away, so he'd call them even, at least until the two were allowed to spar.

Then there'd be retribution.

He picked up Eri and made his way to the dorm kitchen, starting to prepare for dinner that night. Thankfully their pantry is refilled every other day so he had a full stock to choose from.

Stew sounded nice tonight, so he took out the meat to thaw and began meal prep.

Eri liked to watch him do small things like this and help out so he set her up to wash the vegetables so he could slice them up. He let her put all of the prepared ingredients in the pot and set it to simmer with less spices than what was normal for his family but Eri couldn't handle too much heat.

After he'd finished setting everything to simmer and mix for the next couple of hours, he went about making the rice and tea.

His parents and Auntie rubbed off on him, okay. Sue him.

He made some apple slices for Eri and sat down at the table. The small child was quickly fixated on the snack, leaving Katsuki in the budding peace and quiet of the dorm dining room. And that was how he spent the rest of the day, waiting on the timers he'd set to stir the stew and add specific ingredients until dinner time rolled around.

Izu and Kyo were the first to make an appearance, appearing in the doorway after the stew finally began to smell like actual food. Quickly stealing the spots next to him as well as big cups of his freshly brewed tea, their impatience became apparent after neither waited for their cups to cool down before draining half of their cups and dealing with the fallout.

As he listened to the sounds of quick breaths and small winces, he felt at peace; karma was dealt.

He smirked when he heard Izumi finish off her cup and whine. So uncivilized.

"So, it's just been the three of you for most of the week?"

"Yes, Izu. Outside of some tutoring for Eri, and the teachers keeping an eye on us, it's just been us here." He could feel how done with all the questions Myo was, and he knew Izu was just getting started.

"What did you guys do? What did you do with Eri? Did you just sit in the living room the entire time or did you explore UA? Did you…" Katsuki tuned it out, he didn't have the energy to keep up with them today.

Eventually, some big guy made his way into the kitchen, took one look at the large pot of stew on the stove, and decided to bake some cinnamon rolls for dessert.

Finally someone who wasn't a freeloader.

Eventually everyone made their way in, watched him take care of the large pot of stew and decided to make their own sides to share with the meal.

By the time dinner rolled around, everyone was seated at the large table, waiting on the main course. All of their own additions laid on the table, open for anyone to take. Huh, guess he started a potluck. Not bad for a first day.

These people were here to be heroes just like Izu and Kyo, so he'd give them all a chance.

It was when he was putting the finishing touches on the stew next to the dual color haired girl making two separate large bowls of cold soba with Eri in Kyo's lap sound napping that someone broke the peace and quiet.

"So, what's ya'lls names? I'm Uraraka Ochako and I'm gonna be a rescue hero just like 13! I can take away the gravity of anything I touch with my hands." The brunette's accent was thick, she wasn't native to the city then. She had a permanent small blush and her eyes were meant to be friendly and sincere, and they were, but he could see the fire in them. This one was a fighter.

A pink haired girl stood up to seriously stare at the first girl. "You are adorable and I'm keeping you now. Ashido Mina. I love breakdancing and painting. I can make acid from my hands."

"EH?!" Oh god, she and Izu will get along like fire on gas.

"Kirishima Eijiro, call me Kiri. Don't worry, that's just her way of making friends. My quirk lets me harden my body. I want to be a manly hero." A spiky red haired teenager assured the confused brunette. Huh, he might last a few hits, should ask for a spar when he's free.

"Tsuyu Asui, call me Tsu. I have a frog quirk, and I like to sing and draw when I'm not busy." Short and to the point, he could relate.

"Mashirao Ojiro, I enjoy practicing martial arts, and my quirk is Tail." The blonde held up the large tail in question.

"Denki Kaminari! I am single and ready to mingle ladies. My quirk is electrification and I'm pretty good with computers so let me know if you need any help." The blonde was flirtatious, though had enough sense to stop after looking a bit too long at Kyo and catching Katsuki's eyes. Bit of an airhead but had some sense, he could work with that.

"I am Rikido Sato, I enjoy baking sweets and running, so if anyone wants to join me, feel free." The big guy who made the cinnamon rolls said.

"Mezo Shoji, my quirk is Dupli-Arms. I can control my limbs to form whatever shape I want, even things like ears and mouths." Okay so that was the guy's name. He'd keep an eye on him.

"Fumikage Tokoyami. This beast who inhabits my soul is Dark Shadow. We enjoy reading horror stories and resting in dark and quiet places." The birdy guy that froze Eri when he first walked in said, a small shadow form stretched from his body to wave at the small girl excitedly and receiving a slightly more awkward wave in turn that sent it bobbing happily around Fumikage.

The floating pile of clothes was next. "I'm Toru Hagakure! I love dancing and watching really old movies! My quirk makes me invisible, but I kind of can't turn it off. Hehe." She tried to go for the airhead route, but he could feel the emotional turmoil she felt admitting to that.

Ah fuck it, Izu asked him to be a hero for her right? And heroes help people?

"Bullshit."

Dead silence blessed him once again, though everyone's eyes were locked on him so that sucked. He hated being the center of attention, makes keeping track of things harder. "I'm sorry?" The floating shirts tilted like a puppy's head, more than likely what she grew up using to express her body language.

"My quirk is explosion. I'm used to distorting the air, sounds, and light all around me when I get going. Made my eyes sensitive to shit like that. You are invisible, that's right, but that's not your quirk. You're just reflecting the light around you at all times. And if you think your quirks just makes you invisible then it must have been active since the day you were born."

Yet more silence, the soba girl beside him was staring at him oddly, there was a glint there he hadn't seen outside of a mirror. She wanted to compare her power to his, and she was confident in victory.

He'd fix that come tomorrow, but for now.

"If your quirk was strong enough to make you invisible when you were born, then you should be able to control it. Find Aizawa and have him use his quirk on you until you can get a feel for turning it off yourself."

She was absolutely still, not even breathing for a minute until she mustered herself enough to weakly ask the blonde a question. "I can turn it off?"

Instead of answering, he grabbed the super heated stew pot off the stove with his bare hands, set it on the table center, and walked right up to the invisible, sorry, transparent girl and put a hand on her shoulder.

Katsuki closed his eyes with a scowl, and sent a wave of light through her skin, keeping the heat and shockwave inside his palm. Pulse after pulse of pure light was sent through the refracted girl, past the solid brick wall her quirk had built around her to block any and all light, until little by little, he felt her begin to appear. He knew it was done when she began to shake and grab hold of his wrist to hold him there.

He slowly opened his eyes, keeping the pulses consistent to keep the effect going. His heart stalled for a moment looking into her eyes, which reflected every shade of yellow. And her hair was a canvas of green and yellow that literally sparkled under his quirk. She had cute freckles like Izu, but her face was much more expressive, more than likely never needing to learn to control her expressions as an invisible girl.

She was a fairy. Here from a different world to light up his kitchen, and he'd let her do just that as long as she wanted. It was clear rven to his own apathetic sensibilities she needed it.

His hand squeezing her shoulder drew the girl out of her reverie, dragging him to the full length mirror next to the dining room entrance to take herself in for the first time in her life. Her tears flickered every shade of color until they lost contact with her skin, and the hand not locked onto his wrist was shakily tracing her lips and eyes.

"That's me?" She was scared, great. This hero thing is a bit more complicated than he thought.

Got this far though, may as well go all the way.

"Yup." Nailed it. The poor pixy wouldn't know what hit her with all of this emotional expertise being thrown her way.

Note the underlying sarcasm.

""That's really me?"

"Congratulations, you're beautiful." He heard something snap behind him, and didn't bother to look. He could feel Izu and Kyo boring holes into his head, he didn't need to see their faces at the moment.

Why the hell were they angry in the first place though? This is what they asked him to be goddamnit?! A hero who helped people with them?!?

Whatever, he'd figure it out later.

Her unfocused eyes suddenly hardened, and she was in his face, locking his hand onto her shoulder with more strength than he expected out of her lithe form, good for her.

"How do I keep this?" Her tone was as hard as her eyes, and she wouldn't back down. A small smirk met her hard stare, his red meeting a kaleidoscope of hues was that would have left anyone with less experience with bright lights nauseous but only made his blood boil.

In her eyes, he saw conviction. Fear. Pain. Longing. Hope. It swirled in her eyes alongside her tears, highlighting the heart she wore on her sleeve in the hopes that someone would actually see it one day, and by extension her.

"How much of yourself are you willing to give?"

"Everything."

No hesitation. Good. He'd give it to her straight then.

"Kyo, Izu, and I go to bed every night at eight, we wake up at five and we're outside by five thirty. We push our bodies until we can't anymore, then we use our quirks until we can't anymore. After that, we fight until it's time to get ready for school. This has been our routine since we were twelve. It's been mine since I could remember." There was peace and quiet for the blonde as he smirked down at the revealed greenette. It made this easier for him. "You want to make this moment your reality from now on? Aizawa can help you learn to turn it off, but if you want to learn control? To own your power and everything you could do?" She was shaking for some reason. Ah, he was smiling, he didn't do that much. It's just, well…

He was getting pumped nust thinking how far the girls could push him with an assassin on their side.

This would be interesting.

He leaned down to be face to face with the determined slip of a girl. "Eat a big dinner and be there."

He turned around, taking his hand away from her iron grip as he went. Sitting back down between his friends and placing Eri back onto his lap, he went about feeding the sleepy girl and himself. More people slowly began introducing themselves in the wake of his little 'outburst' and he made sure to keep their names and quirks in mind to see how many of them would be there tomorrow morning when he could get back to the grind.

He could've kept up the routine with just Kyo and himself , but it wouldn't have been the same without Izu. UA had given them a week to get used to the dorm, and he was gonna use that time to see if this class was worth keeping around or if they'd just be deadweight.

He couldn't wait.

As he stood with Eri to make it back to their beds, a voice caught his attention.

"Hey."

It was the red head, the hardening quirk user.

"What's your name?" He was sweating, but his sharp teeth were displayed in a wide grin. He was unnerved but excited to get to know Katsuki.

Interesting.

Usually people took a big step back when he went off like that.

"Bakugo Katsuki. My quirk is nitroglycerin sweat that I can ignite at will. You'll meet my parents, and Izu's mom sometime tomorrow. They'll be the caretakers for the dorm, but they're mostly here to take care of Eri."

The shark grin was twitching and his eyes were wide to match. Enthusiastic, he'd give the red head that much.

"Five thirty?"

For the second time that day, Katsuki smirked.

"Five thirty."

Katsuki walked back to his room to get ready for bed, for once curious about how the next day would go.

XXXXXX

Kirishima collapsed back into his chair, deep ragged breaths leaving his lungs. The presence of the paradoxically calm explosive blonde receding with every second.

"What the hell was that?!" The heiress, Yaoyorozu Momo asked. Huh, with how polite she was earlier, Kirishima wasn't sure she could swear. Learn something new everyday, he supposed.

"Projected will, manifested through discipline and focus." The tail guy saud, his face pale and tail tucked around his waist. "Some of the strongest I've ever felt." It seemed to make him uncomfortable to admit that. Kirishima would chalk that up to some martial artist thing. All he felt was the full weight of Bakugo's conviction, nearly crushing him at the end there.

He had only felt something like that when his coach had gotten in the ring with him after leaving for UA to show him how far he had left to go, both as a boxer and a man.

It made his body ache to harden, but there hadn't been any attack to block. It confused him more than he could admit.

It felt like a punch coming straight for his throat, seconds from crushing him

"Sorry about that. Kachan's always been pretty intense."

It was the green haired girl, the one who sat next to Bakugo with the punk girl. What were their names? Kyoka and Midoriya?

The invisible, sorry 'refracted' girl pounced.

"What do you mean?" The girl, now back to being invisible, was no longer as animated. No longer as outgoing. Now she felt like steel and her voice was hard. Kiri smiled as his shaking hand brought a glass of water to his lips, she'd get control over her quirk in no time.

"That's just how he's always been. He pushes himself to the edge again and again, going as fast as he can. He breaks apart, he puts himself back together quietly and moves on with the rest of his day. And then he does it all again the next day. It been hell to try and keep up all these years." Contrary to her words, her smile was warm and soft as she reminisced.

"Then why is he like that?!" Mina hissed out as she gripped onto his unoccupied arm, just as out of her depth as Momo and using the limb that his body hardened on its own by instinct under the pressure to ground herself.

"To feel normal." Kyoka spoke as if stating the obvious while she picked at her empty bowl of stew, seemingly just waiting on the green haired girl to leave.

What.

"Katsuki has never felt comfortable in his own skin. We've been to specialists and doctors and even a few mental quirk therapists. The first two never found anything, but the telepaths all said the same thing when they quit after Katsuki let them use their quirks on him; he lives his life with his body rebelling against his every move." Midoriya recited all of that like she was talking about the weather, not about what sounds like a serious medical condition that is affecting her childhood friend!

What the hell?! Why were the two telling thid to a… clasfull… of strangers…

"The only time he feels even remotely in control of himself is after he's pushed himself to the edge of collapsing. It's become his way of life, taking every moment of his time he doesn't dedicate to his family. He's at war with his body, his own quirk, and has been dominating it for years now." Midoriya seemed to be stuck in her own little world now, captivated by something only she could see. It was honestly starting to scare him.

How…?

"Then again, that drive is why I fell in love with him in the first place." The punk girl nodded in agreement absently, seemingly bored of the conversation now.

Holy…!

"So please pay attention, and believe me when I say this."

Oh god, she can do it too?!

Her body glowed with blue and green sparks, and her eyes were almost as empty as Bakugo's. The pressure that fell on his shoulder wasn't anywhere near the blonde boy's but it was real.

And then it doubled, Kyoka was now interested in what they were doing.

For a moment, he was back when Bakugo had tested Hagakure's will to control herself. The weight on his heart was about equal to then, if only just.

Great.

The pressure was gone after a few seconds, and the two deflated in their chairs at once, seemingly exhausted. But it got the message across, and they were all paying rapt attention.

"Kachan isn't like you, who can afford to take it slow. He can't do anything other than his best without being in constant agony. So if you slow him down, or get in his way, you deal with me." The perfectly innocent smile on her face is what got to him the most, Kiri decided.

"Bakugo has no qualms with killing you and leaving you to rot." That sounded awfully specific.

"I will break you, and leave you to pick up the pieces again and again until you just can't anymore."

Midoriya's voice was low, steady, and supportive . Like your best friend making you a promise.

What in god's good name was wrong with these people?!

The other one seemed to have lost her patience, because she abruptly stood up and dragged her clearly unhinged friend to the doorway heading the same way as Bakugo and Eri.

"If you do bother to show up tomorrow morning, bring your best, or don't bother. We don't have time to drag you with us on our way, and I won't let you stop me from helping my best friend." The punk girl's voice was smoother than Midoriya's. Calmer. Less emotive.

But hell if it didn't scare him just as much.

In the silence that followed, no one cared to note the heterochromatic teenager who walked out of the dining room silently.

And no one saw the wide grin on her face, nor the sparks of fire and bits of ice that littered her path.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Seven?"

"Yes, One?"

"Eight picked… quite the strange successor, don't you think?"

"What makes you think that?"

…

BOOM

"Oh god, whyyyyy?!?!"

"How the hell is a chain supposed to do that?!?!? Five, are you okay?!?!?!"

"NO I'M NOT THREE! Two! Get off your ass and help us! Don't just pet the damn thing like it's a dog!"

"… I see no problem. Do you, Four, Six?"

…

…

"I do not…"

"I see no issues here…"

"OI, TWO! Don't wave that thing around like your showing it off! And don't wave it at us! I mean me! Hey get that thing away from me, I'm not exploding again!!!"

"Five?!?"

BOOM

"I have no idea what you mean…"

"Right…"

…

…

…

"You know, with the kids' connection to nine and that other girl, they're all gonna show up here at once, right. Their forms are already being outlined, it won't be long before they show up."

"Good."

!

"I want to meet my granddaughter in person, along with her little friend and boyfriend."

…

"I can't wait to see what their smiles look like!"