School was painfully boring, and throughout the day I could only think of what that angry boy had said. If you could become a hero, then you could make millions of dollars; in short, I'd be rich. So, after class I walked up to my teacher, smoothing my wrinkled skirt out in an attempt to look neater.

"Miss Tsujihara," She said, her brows crinkling in clear confusion and concern. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could use the library computer," I said politely (which is strange considering I'm a dick all the time). "I want to research something."

"I'm glad you finally seem interested in learning," She gasped. "But could I ask what you want to research?"

"Well,  this is my last year of junior high," I said, my mind forming a convincing fib. "So I want to research the highschool I want to go to, I need to find out what it takes in."

"And what highschool do you want to attend?" She asked.

"UA." I immediately answered, watching her eyes widen in surprise.

She then smiled, starting to walk towards the small library of our cheap school "That's wonderful, I'm glad that you've set the bar so high."

"Yeah," I nodded, averting my eyes. "I figured that I should start thinking about what I'll do with my life."

Well that was sort of the truth.

"So, you want to be a hero then?" She asked.

"Yep," I replied. "Seems like a decent profession."

"Indeed," She smiled. "With a quirk like yours, I'm sure you'll make a great hero."

I shrugged, pushing my way into the library and over to one of the ancient school computers. 

"Alright, I'll let you have half an hour, then you should head home." She allowed, crossing her arms.

I opened the internet, typing in "UA Highschool" and then waiting for the results. The school's website popped up as the first link, smaller links underneath it reading, "final exam schedule," "school calendar," and "entrance exam information." There were plenty more subcategories, but I found what I was looking for so I didn't bother reading on.

I clicked on the entrance exam link, waiting for the computer to redirect me to the page. A document popped up, the letters "UA" stamped in bold on the top left corner. My eyes scanned the page, skimming over the boring bits that were like "student policy, blah, blah, blah," and "we want the best and brightest, blah, blah, blah," boring stuff. 

But I found what I was looking for. An address, date, and time, along with details explaining what to wear and a little bit of what to expect (without revealing the test of course). 

I scrolled further down the page, finding a parental consent form that needed to be printed out and signed, along with even more information regarding the written test (which I am not looking forward to).

The old printer hummed to life as I printed all three pages, I then put them together with a paper clip. Finally, I tucked the pages into my bag, turning off the computer, and walking over to my teacher.

"Did you find everything you need?" She asked cheerfully.

"Yeah," I nodded, satisfied. "Sorry for keeping you after school."

"It's not a problem Tsujihara!" She chirped. "I love helping my students!"

I huffed at her cheerfulness, gathering my things and brushing past her. My mind was now beginning to mull over all of the information I had gathered. I began to feel as though the parental consent form was going to weigh my bag down and I tried to push the thought of going to my mother for help out of my head. I'd deal with that later.

At last, I left the school, pulling a cigarette and my lighter from my pocket. I inhaled slowly, blowing out the grayish-white plume of smoke and watching it dissipate into the air. 

"Ten months from now..." I mumbled, remembering the date of the practical exams. "I guess that means I should at least try to be in good shape."

I wasn't exactly out of shape, I did plenty of running, however, if I continued these bad habits of mine, then my health would only deteriorate. I stared at the box of cigarettes, shrugging as I chucked the rest of them into a trash can. I needed my lungs to be in good shape, and that started with quitting smoking. 

I suppose this means that I should stop skipping physed, and I should probably stop skipping in general. I have ten months to get my act together, and frankly, I don't think I'll be able to do it. But hey, ten months from now when I fail the entrance exams, at least I can say I fucking tried.

~~~~~

The angry teen looked left and right, his eyes scanning the sea of students who were leaving school. He sifted through them, looking for the girl covered in piercings he had run into earlier. But half an hour after school ended, she still hadn't shown.

"Bakugo," A boy on his right mumbled. "Are you sure this is the right school?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure!" He barked, making the two beside him cower. "I saw her uniform, and I saw the crest on her uniform, Yushijima Public School."

"But isn't that school one of the worst public schools in the city?" The brunette asked.

"Yeah," The other goon nodded. "I heard that the students there get into trouble all the time, and the school itself is really rundown."

"Shut up!" The champagne blonde hissed. "Someone's coming."

Sure enough, a girl with pastel purple hair walked by, her hands shoved in her pockets. The three boys watched in shock as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one and then staring at the box in her hand. They all gave her confused looks when she tossed the box away.

"Do you think that she smoked them all?" The smaller black-haired boy asked.

"That's not important," The leader hissed. "I just want to get her back!"

The girl suddenly turned around, blowing a plume of smoke in their direction.

"You're all horrible stalkers," She scoffed, taking another drag. "I could hear you all arguing the second I left school."

"Fight me!" The blonde hissed, small explosions crackling in his palms.

She tapped her face in thought, her eyes lighting up in recognition. "I thought I had seen that quirk somewhere before! You're the kid who was on the news yesterday, right? The kid that was held hostage by the Sludge Villain. "

"Shut the fuck up!" He roared. "All anybody ever says is, 'you're that kid?' 'You were so brave,' and I'm sick of it!"

"I don't exactly have your name," She shrugged, dropping her cigarette to the ground and extinguishing it with her heel. "So what else was I supposed to call you?"

"I'm Katsuki Bakugo!" He exclaimed.

"Cool, and I'm Tora Tsujihara," She replied. "But seriously, I have to go, I know I said to come and fight me, but I have places to be. Besides, don't you want to get into UA?"

"Yeah," He huffed. "So what?"

"I want to go to UA too," She smirked. "So if we both get in, then there will be plenty of chances for you to get back at me."

Bakugo turned with a huff, stomping off. "You better not fail Piercings!"

She snorted. "You've got to come up with something more original than 'Piercings', Hot Head!"

"Shut up!"

~~~~~

What a weird day it's been.

I didn't seriously think that boy was going to track me down later. It just goes to show you that some people are crazy. 

Anyway, now I'm heading to Kuse's school to pick him up, by now he's probably wondering if I died on my way to get him. I don't tell Kuse about all the dangerous things I do, but he's more intelligent than people give him credit for. I'm pretty sure he's already figured out how I get our money.

When I finally arrive, I find Kuse sitting just outside the gate, drawing in the dirt with a small stick. He looks up at me with a smile, jumping quickly to his feet.

"What took so long?" He huffed, crossing his arms.

I chuckled, ruffling his hair. "I had to do some research."

"Research?" He asked. "Research for what?"

"Well, I finally decided what job I want!" I chirped.

"Really?" He gasped, his eyes wide. "What is it?"

"I'm going to be a pro-hero," I answered, grinning. "Cool, right?"

"A pro-hero?!" He exclaimed. "Like All Might?!"

I chuckled, nodding. "Yep!"

He gaped at me, his round blues eyes sparkling with awe.

"Does that mean you want to go to UA?" He asked after a pause.

"Yeah," I replied. "Which means I have to start training right now."

"Then let's go to the beach!" Kuse exclaimed. "Our beach!"

"Alright," I agreed, then smirking at him. "I'll race you!"

I took off running, keeping my pace at a jog so that Kuse could keep up. He ran after me, yelling about how I wasn't being fair. We only ran for a few minutes, walking the rest of the way when Kuse got tired. We talked to each other as we walked, asking how school was until we finally reached the beach.

We loved coming to this beach for two reasons, 1. no one ever came here, and 2. no one came here because of the mountains of garbage on the beach. But it was perfect for Kuse and me, our quirks requiring metal in order to work.

Kuse loved practicing using his quirk, and I sometimes made obstacle courses out of the old appliances that littered the beach. But today wasn't like every other day on the beach because the moment we arrived Kuse screamed, and I'd never heard him scream like this before.

Standing before us was a very nervous freckled boy, and looming over him was none other than All Might himself.

(Edited 2022.07.28)