chapter 24

ONE WEEK LATER

Everyone in U.A. was stressed out of their minds at this time of the year. Specifically the second years. Although the new semester just began, the pro hero license exam is coming up in a few weeks. And unique to this year: the first years are testing as well for their own licenses. It's unheard of for first years to receive their license so early on, but it's not impossible.

With this knowledge and prospect of actual hero work, Class 1-A was diligently training. They'd been training all week. Trying to make new ultimate moves and honing in on their quirks. But today is Saturday, and most every student is taking a break for today and today only.

Most every student.

Irisa Arima sat on a bench in Gym Gamma, holding a book up to her face. She read through it silently, ignoring her surroundings. One leg kicked over the other, her nose stuck in the book she picked up about Mental Disorders, and whistling to herself. She seemed relaxed.

Shocking, based on what was going on in front of her.

"C'mon, just let me hypnotize you!"

The purple haired attacker received no response to his plead. He skidded backwards on his heels, falling forward on his hands, dragging his fingertips in the cement floor. His lazily spiked hair flopped into his face. He blew upwards on it casually, trying to clear his vision.

Standing across from him in the gym was none other than Tikki Shimamura, dressed down in the typical U.A. gym uniform. She had her leg up and extended in front of her, a resulting pose from kicking her friend in the chest and sending him across the gym. She smiled but made no sound. She put her foot down and flexed her fingers at him, motioning to him to get up.

Shinsou chuckled and stood up, pressing his hands to his knees to do so. They had been at it for a little more than three hours now, taking turns beating the other to the ground. They had always been a fair match for each other when they were in the Transfer Program. But ever since Shimamura entered the Hero Class, it was obvious she had improved.

She was faster. Stronger. Surprisingly a lot cockier in a fight now—she learned that from Bakugou, definitely. More willing to get hurt to hurt them back.

"Focus, children." Arima said from the bench, without taking a second to look at them.

"Yeah yeah..." Shinsou muttered with a smirk.

They were just having fun at this point.

Although the results of the Transfer Program had come and passed, Shinsou and Aizawa were still determined to find a way to get Shinsou into the hero course. Such a task was difficult to achieve, but Principal Nezu seemed confident they'd manage to do it. Shinsou had high hopes as well.

Since Shimamura was in the final two with him in the Transfer Program and was already close friends with Shinsou, Aizawa allowed her to help him train. She was the only other student in the school so far that knew of Shinsou's training to get into the Hero Course. And they wanted to keep it that way.

Shinsou lashed forward at her with his mesh capture weapon, trying to wrap around her legs. The white fabric looped around one of her ankles, but narrowly missed the other. However, she didn't take very kindly to this attack. She swapped her weight to her back foot and kicked in a circle with the bound ankle. The wrappings tightened around her foot, but she had a better grip now.

She kicked backwards, taking the capture weapon and thereby Shinsou with her. He didn't fall but he skidded forward on his feet a few yards. As soon as he was close enough distance to her, she swiveled back onto her wrapped ankle and kicked him in the chest with her other.

His hands released from the ropes immediately as he shot back with the force of her kick. The bindings unwrapped themselves from her ankle and he tumbled back. She giggled as he landed with a thud on the cement floor.

He coughed and sat up on his hands. She walked over to him and extended her hand to him, helping him up. He smiled at her with that funny half-smile that he has.

"You seem happier," he commented on her wide grin.

Her diamond blue eyes glimmered with a newfound excitement. She shrugged. "Should I have a reason not to be?"

Shinsou cocked his head to the side. His eyes softened as he looked at how happy and natural she was for the first time in a long time.

Maybe being in the Hero Course was a good thing for her. He wished in the months prior that it was him in that spot rather than her, but now he thought otherwise. Shimamura deserved everything she had worked for. They both deserved it... but this was doing her a lot of good.

He shrugged his shoulders. "The fact that I'm about to kick your ass should be a pretty good reason not to be."

Shimamura puffed her lips into a fake pout, but her eyes flared with a certain determination. She backed away from him and raised her fists into a fighting position again. Balling her fists, cracking her neck. Ready to pounce.

He grinned and knelt low to the ground. Then—

SLAM

The double doors to Gym Gamma opened and closed with wide swings, loud as hell. Both fighters turned towards the distraction, expecting to see Aizawa walking in. He was strangely late to their training today. But they were greeted by a different presence. Even Miss Arima stared quizzically at the students entering.

Bakugou and Kirishima had barged in, dressed in workout clothes.

"Bakugou?" Shimamura questioned, confused.

"The hell is he doing here...?" Shinsou muttered under his breath.

Bakugou raised an eyebrow at Shimamura and the others. Kirishima waved with a smile, giddy as ever. Shimamura gave the redhead a small wave.

"Ugh, the damn extras are here," Bakugou complained.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Kirishima grinned at Shimamura, ignoring Bakugou's comment.

Shimamura and Shinsou both relaxed from their fighting positions. Shimamura pointed to Shinsou. "Training."

"Cool! Us too! You mind if we train on the other side?" Kirishima pointed to where they were headed to.

Shinsou glanced at Arima, expecting their supervising teacher to respond to Kirishima. But she didn't. Rather, she was looking at her niece with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at all!" Shimamura nodded.

Arima put her nose back in her book. Not caring. Shinsou scoffed and turned back towards Shima and the others.

"Awesome!" Kirishima pounded his fist into his opposite palm. "Let's go Bakugou!" He grabbed onto Bakugou's sleeve and pulled him towards the other end of the gym.

Bakugou swiped his arm away quickly, ushering a "Don't touch me!" before following his friend anyway. Shimamura and Shinsou resumed their sparring match as if nothing had happened...

At least, that's what Shinsou wished they did.

Shimamura bounded at him for the first attack again, and he dodged and blocked. Then it was his turn. He shot his capture weapon at her and hooked onto her wrist this time. Which shouldn't have been a problem.

But her eyes were elsewhere. Her mind had wandered. Her focus was on Bakugou and Kirishima rather than Shinsou.

She kicked forward absentmindedly, as if expecting she'd hit him anyway. But she met nothing but air. Shinsou pulled back on the fabric and her entire body jolted forward with his pull on her wrist. She misstepped badly and fell directly onto her wrist. A spark of pain sent a tremor through her arm.

She groaned from the ground before sitting upright in a cross cross position.

"Shit..." her opponent muttered.

Shinsou rushed over and unwrapped the fabric from her wrist, helping her up in the process.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," She winced a bit as he flexes her wrist back, testing it. "I'm not a weakling, Shinz. It's just a bruise."

"You twisted it."

"Same difference."

Shimamura took her own wrist in her hand and twisted it back in place with a soft 'pop' as if it was nothing. She flexed her fingers, sighing. Shinsou shook his head at her. Scolding both himself and her.

"Oi!"

The pair turned to see Bakugou yelling at them from a distance.

"Toughen up!" He was yelling at Shimamura.

Shimamura raised an eyebrow at him. She was used to his criticisms by now. It didn't affect her. Nor did it phase her anymore. If anything, she took it into consideration and actually listened to him. She was better because of him.

But Shinsou didn't know that.

"Mind your own business, hothead." Shinsou responded with a guttural hiss.

Shimamura and Kirishima froze up in their places. They knew where this was headed.

Bakugou's face scrunched up into a scowl. He balled his fists and marched towards Shinsou and Shimamura. Shinsou merely stood with his arms crossed, squaring off towards Bakugou.

"The one that should be minding their business is you. The hell do you think you are, training with a Hero Course student?!" Bakugou shouted.

"Like you'd understand." Shinsou scoffed, calm as ever.

"She's getting weaker because of your scrawny ass!" he spat at him, almost right in Shinsou's face now.

Shinsou snarled a bit. "You don't even know her."

Shimamura tensed up. Her cloudy blue eyes dropped from their happy state. She stepped forward, putting her hand on Shinsou's arm.

"Shinsou, stop..." She muttered to him.

"Ha! And you think you do?!" Bakugou bared his teeth.

Kirishima watched and mimicked Shimamura. He rushed to Bakugou's side and hovered his hands about Bakugou's arm, but not daring to touch him. "Hey man, maybe we should back off? He didn't mean anything by it—"

But it was too late for either Kirishima or Shimamura to stop them.

Shinsou smirked. "Trust me. You don't know a thing about her."

"Shinsou..." Shimamura urged, "He doesn't need to know. Please stop."

Bakugou raised his balled fist threateningly, although not activating his quirk. But Shinsou was relentless.

"How can you be her friend, when you don't even know her?" Shinsou shook his head, clicking his tongue. "I expected better from you Hero Course dicks. Actually... No. I didn't."

Bakugou's entire face turned beet red. Straight anger coursed through his blood. Every word that came out of Shinsou's mouth only made him want to hurt him more. Every word he uttered was a goddamn lie and Bakugou knew it. Who the hell does Shinsou think he is? Bakugou knew Shimamura. He has to.

"You damn extra!"

Sparks emanated from Bakugou's palm. The firework of an explosion was sure to follow, aiming straight for the canvas of Shinsou's face. His fingers flexed and Shinsou's eyes squinted just barely even in their tired state. The impact was imminent.

But it never came.

The explosion had gone off, even the sound was heard, but there was no light. No fire. No pain. No sparks of life or anything of the sort. As if his quirk had just turned off. But that wasn't it. The explosion went off... it was just absorbed.

Shimamura stood with her bare hand pressed fully against Bakugou's. Smoke dripped from the gaps between their fingers. She stood a few inches away, blocking him from Shinsou who was directly behind her. The entire explosion had been extinguished in Shimamura's hand. She took the entire blast.

"Don't touch him."

She ripped her hand away and backed away from him, but still holding her ground. She didn't close her palm to hide the clear burns now present from the proximity and force of his explosion. She was angry. Furious even.

Shimamura was tasked to choose between her best friend and Bakugou. And it was clear who she chose.

She glanced down at her damaged hand and frowned at it. Without a second thought, she turned away from the three boys and headed for the exit. Shinsou reached out to try to help her, but she rejected him completely. She tossed her hand up to stop him from touching her, and he backed away compliantly. Bakugou stared at her with an angry scowl as she walked away.

Or maybe it wasn't so clear... Maybe she chose neither.

She forced open the doors and slid past a dark figure who was walking into the gym as she was walking out. He ushered an apology to Shimamura as they almost ran into each other, but she didn't say anything back to him. As if he wasn't there at all. Aizawa raised an eyebrow at his student as she walked past.

He turned to the gym as the doors closed and saw Arima staring at him. She shrugged her shoulders and stood, closing her book. She walked to the exit and turned to Aizawa before following her niece out.

"I always said they'd be trouble for her. Did I not?" Arima said to him.

Aizawa narrowed his sunken eyes at her. "They're still her friends."

"No..." Arima scolded. "You let them get too close to her."

"I think she did that all on her own."

Arima frowned and looked away from him, leaving him with the last word. She walked swiftly out the door, leaving him with Shinsou, Bakugou, and Kirishima.

Shinsou and Bakugou didn't say a word to each other. But it was clear that Bakugou and Kirishima should find a new place to train for the day...