Third person pov

Loud people tended to have the quietest thoughts, but only because they often times spoke without thinking much at all. They had no problem voicing what was on their mind. When English with Present Mic rolled around, Harper saw this displayed once again in her new teacher. The blonde man was impossibly noisy, but his thoughts contrasted by being just above a whisper. There wasn't much intensity coming from him at all. It was weird to compare him to Aizawa. While Aizawa was quiet on the outside and loud on the inside, Mic was the opposite, showing his exuberance outwardly while not having too much inside.

Harper had concocted a list of everyone in class. If she was positive someone wasn't the traitor, she'd cross off their name. So far, Aizawa was the only name struck out. His love for his students was genuine. With thoughts came emotion, and she could catch slivers of what someone was feeling if she focused hard enough. It helped her figure out when someone was lying as well, especially if they knew about her quirk and how to redirect their thoughts. Aizawa was solid. He adored them all, and she had no idea how to feel or react to that. She was vaguely flattered. Mostly weirded out, but flattered nonetheless.

On top of her migraine, Pikachu Fucker had gotten one too. She could feel it from here. It could be from the Wii music, but Harper had an inkling that it was a part of his quirk. She made sure to make note of it. The brunette had assumed the day would be the busiest. After this there would be a lot of repeat information, stuff like that. Or so she hoped. She'd already filled half a notebook and felt like her brain was going to explode. Sure, a full ride at UA was huge, but for real? She wanted to bash her head in.

"That's all for today, listeners! Have a radical lunch!" Mic slammed his book shut with a boisterous grin. Harper tensed, not sure what she was supposed to do. Cool. Lunch. Really, she hadn't planned that far ahead. The general idea she'd been going off of had worked fine until now: don't die and don't give yourself away. Simple! She'd done an excellent job from what she could tell. While she did wish she were dead, her heart was indeed still beating, and she hadn't accidentally let it slip that a super-genius rat who just so happened to run this school had cut her a deal that involved her spying on them all with the mind powers she hadn't told them about. 

Basically, Harper deserved a nap.

The cafeteria wasn't going to do her migraine any favors, but she stood up anyway. Harper was fully prepared to find a bathroom to suffer in. She barely ate anyway, so why not save the money her parents had given to her for something else? Even if Harper had heard Lunch Rush's food was the definition of God. She really didn't want to risk her brain frying itself out just because she wanted some good teriyaki chicken. That being said...

"I still don't understand how I'm their class president. How they chose me out of all people! No, they didn't choose me. They wanted Midoriya. I'm useless. At the USJ, all I did was run away while they fought. They had to face off against villains... so how can they look at me so happily? Don't they see how worthless I am?" Iida's thoughts continued to invade her. Harper had even given in and tried to block them out, even if just for a moment, but they were so self-deprecating that they melted right through her defenses. While the walls she managed to put up were flimsy at best, it didn't change the fact that his thoughts were strong. Scarily so.

She didn't know what to do about that. Harper herself? Not a people person, as previously stated. Please cite Chapter Three, Paragraph Five. She'd never really had actual friends before. Not since she was little. People were judgmental, and they couldn't help it. Harper was too. The difference is that Harper could hear that judgement. It drove her away from people. She couldn't blame them. Thoughts were private, and not to be shared unless the thinker themselves so chose to voice them. Harper was an invader.

Thus, she'd never had much practice socially. She wasn't super against having friends, but the girl wasn't looking for them ever. She usually didn't care, but something about Iida was bothering Harper. She'd never come across someone so depressed. His hatred for himself seemed endless. Sure, she'd heard off-an-on sour thoughts. She'd seen depression. She'd had, and probably still had, it. This... This was on a new and dangerous level, though. The only thing keeping him from killing himself appeared to be the funeral his parents would have to pay for and their "possible" grief. 

Harper was no therapist. While she knew the inner workings of most types of people, as she could quite literally tell what they were thinking, she wasn't well versed in actually dealing with emotions. She was an observer; she didn't interact. Now, she had the mild urge to. Was there anything she could do? Was it even her place to meddle? It wasn't technically her problem. Harper had learned a long, long time ago that she couldn't help everyone. But...

"I wonder if the new girl wants to eat lunch with us!" Ochako's thoughts drew Harper from her daze, and she blinked before shoving her notebook in her backpack. Right, she had other people to worry about. Because she was a student here, and these were her classmates... god, she was going to UA high? First of all, whoever thought that would be a good idea had made a grave mistake. This place was for people with potential. Not her. She was the dead mouse the purebred show cat dragged into the fancy mansion. 

"I should invite her to sit with me. What if she thinks that's weird? She already thinks I'm weird, so how much worse can it get? Probably way worse. I'm jinxing it. Deep breaths, Eijiro!" Possible Future Stalker's thoughts also drifted. Harper tried not to grimace. She didn't detect any brain damage in the kid, but who knows!

"She looks like she's in pain." Six arms noted, glancing at Harper.

"I wonder what I should eat today." Momo thought. "Something high in fat. Who knows what heroics has in store for us today..."

That was another thing. Heroics. What the fuck? Sure, she wasn't totally out of shape, but running for five minutes straight could still wipe her out. Not even sprinting, just running. She had no hero training or any concept of hand-to-hand combat. Her quirk gave her fair warning when someone was going to throw a hit, sure. She'd had a few punches thrown her way and tossed a couple out there herself, but this was the hero course. The hero course at UA High. She'd be slaughtered in .2 seconds! Laid out flat on her back!

"I should say something to Deku. I should apologize. I've been shit to the guy. I have no fucking idea what to do. Okay- shit, I should definitely apologize. I've done it in the mirror before. It's not hard. Do that shit. You're fucking amazing at everything, Katsuki, how hard can this be? You'll never deserve the nerd but at the fucking least you can try." Blondie's mental pep-talk distracted Harper as she finished forcing her ratty backpack shut. Most of the class had filtered out, chatting excitedly. She watched the green haired boy scrambled to get up from his desk, offering a shy smile to Uraraka and Iida. 

"A-Ah, Kaachan!" The freckled boy sputtered when the blonde also stood, effectively blocking the way. Harper almost tripped when she felt the spike of joy that shot through the blonde. Holy shit, had he just had a mind orgasm? She'd felt a few before but they usually came from marriage proposals and serious shit. They were intense as hell, hence the name. She tapped into the green haired teen's thoughts unintentionally, "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't ki-"

"This is easy, Katsuki. Just say sorry. Nicely." The blonde glared down at the short haired boy. 

"Stay the fuck out of my way, Deku."

"FUUUUUUCK FUCKING IDIOTIC FUCKING FUCK FACE WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT YOU FUCKING ASS BUCKET-"

Harper tried not to double over in pain from his mental shrieking as he slunk off. Holy fucking shit, that guy had issues. He evidently couldn't put his thoughts into words like he wanted. It was pretty perplexing. She made a mental note to write it down later as she massaged her aching temples with a small, almost silent hiss. There was some mental issue in the blonde she'd never seen before. The little green one had major anxiety if the jittery vibrations she was getting were anything to go off of. With a blonde like that on his tail, she couldn't blame him.

Her gaze drifted back to Iida as Greenie began talking to Uraraka. He was looking down, still thinking about how much he sucked, and how amazing his friends were. Harper rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. She was going to fucking regret this, but her life was already kicked off its axis anyway, so why not? Not to mention she didn't want the guy to die. Sure, Harper didn't know him, but he was... alive and shit. It's not like she wished death on the human race just because she didn't like conversation.

"Hey, Iida, right?" She piped up, drawing his attention. Uraraka and Greenie also looked back curiously at her. "I just had some questions about the... school, and stuff. How things work." 

"Ah, I see!" Iida puffed up, and Harper swore that if she didn't have the quirk she did, she never would have guessed he was depressed. "I'll catch up with you, Midoriya, Uraraka!"

"They probably don't want me to sit with them anyway. I probably won't even be able to help the newest student. Her quirk is so useful. If she was able to transfer here, she must be rather amazing with it. I can't compare. I still don't know how I got in. I'm a terrible person. Someone else deserves this spot more than I do. Anyone, really." 

"Alright!" Uraraka chirped. Greenie, now dubbed Midoriya, sputtered out something about seeing him at their usual table before he was stumbling after Uraraka. His thoughts were pretty much a jumble of being embarrassed and wondering what he was going to eat, as well as wondering about Harper's "reflex" quirk. Definitely a nerd, then. At least that blonde asshat was right about one thing.

"So, what can I help you with?" Iida asked formally. Harper tried to smile. Fuck. Okay, she couldn't. She looked like she was trying not to poop when she did. She was too used to grimacing.

"I came from a pretty small high school before now." Harper decided to start off with that. "I heard you were the class president, so I was hoping to ask you about this sort of thing. I don't really know where anything is or what the class schedule is, even. I'm not even sure how the cafeteria works... or where the hell it is, now that I think about it." Her nose scrunched up. Nezu had given her nothing. Oh my god, he'd thrown her to the wolves without so much as a toothpick to defend herself with! Sadistic little rat bastard-

"I see!" Iida said louder than necessary. Harper didn't let her expression change. The slightest grimace would send him spiraling, and she knew that. "Perhaps I could give you a tour, and then I can escort you to the cafeteria?" 

"She doesn't want your company. Give her a map, idiot. You're being annoying. Too stuck up. She thinks you're a snotty rich kid. She only talked to you because you're the class president, not because you're helpful or good at anything. She's probably way smarter than you." Iida mourned. It was pretty horrifying. What the hell had he gone through to get to this point? Had something just gone wrong mentally, or had something caused this?

"That would be amazing, Iida. Thanks." She said sincerely. He looked stunned for a moment. She decided to pile it on. "I was a bit nervous to admit to not knowing what to do, but you seem really..." fuck, fuck, fuck, "earnest and nice. I'm embarrassed to say I thought everyone here would be a bit stuck up, but I guess I was wrong!" Force that smile, force that smile, force that- nailed it! It's there! She could feel it! Cool, so her facial muscles could still move in that way. Fuck yeah. Mental mastermind. Let's go, bitches. 

Iida stared at her for a moment, seemingly shocked. Had she given herself away mentioning the stuck up part? It wasn't a lie. Harper had sort of expected more assholes. So far all she'd seen was mentally damaged or insane people. Or a mixture of the two, again, Aizawa. Maybe that redhead too. Speaking of which, he was just down the hall. Was he waiting for her? Jokes on him, she guessed. She was... wow, she'd just put Iida on suicide watch. That's literally what she was doing. 

"I...I see, then! I'm glad you think that way!" He gave a smile. Harper dug deep. It was real. Thank god. Not all his positive facial expressions were fake, which meant he probably wasn't too far gone. "I suppose maybe I can be of some use, even if its only as a mediocre guide. Am I deceiving Harper? I'm sure she'll realize how useless I am eventually. Or maybe get annoyed with me. I'm sure she will. Still..."

Alright, so he'd made no progress whatsoever. There was a twinge there for a second, but it crashed before it could become anything even remotely positive. This would be way harder than Harper thought. Whatever, she literally had nothing else to do with her time, and again, she didn't want him to ditch life. 

"Alright, lead the way, then." She urged, trying to sound more lively. It didn't work. Double fuck. "I'm in your care."

"That's a mistake."

Yeah, he was probably right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iida proved to be an excellent tour guide. Not exactly unexpected, but she was glad he'd at least been quick and efficient in it. Even if he was only doing so because he thought she wanted to get away from him. Him being depressed was making her sorry ass feel depressed as well, but at least she'd talked to someone like a human being who wasn't one of her parents. Or Nezu, but did he really count? Inhuman little shit. She begrudgingly respected him, but only to some extent. Harper was still salty over him throwing her straight into the deep end without mercy.

"Thanks again for showing me around." Harper sighed. She'd forget half of it, but at least he'd let her know where the locker rooms were. On the off chance she couldn't spot one of her classmates and trail them, she would have been lost and confused. Not a very good combination. That was besides the point. She'd managed to make Iida feel slightly useful by commenting on how helpful and knowledgeable on the school he was and being as genuine as humanely possible. Honestly, that wasn't much by her standards. It probably barely even conveyed. It was the thought that counted though, right? Ugh, maybe for a mind reader.

"Of course! As class president, it is my sworn duty to look after my peers and help them in any way I can." Iida proclaimed. Harper nodded slowly.

He led her through the line and they got food. At one point Harper turned around and accidentally made eye-contact with Kirishima. He once again looked like cupid had shot him straight in the ass with an arrow or five, his chin propped up on his hand and a dopey smile on his face. Harper very pointedly turned away from him, putting up her mental walls. There were too many people present for her to get any real information. She'd only be overwhelmed, which was counter productive. If she wanted to stop a whoever was giving information to the villains, she had to stay functioning. 

Iida was very hesitant in asking if she wanted to sit with them. The sheer amount of mental sputtering was enough to break right past her mental defenses. Instead of reacting, she'd forced a small smile and said sure. That led to her meeting Uraraka and Midoriya more formally, along with Tsu. Midoriya had a million and a half questions about her quirk that she had no idea how to answer, so she half-assed it. He bought it all. She made a mental note to cross him off her list. If someone like him was the traitor, she was killing herself immediately. 

Lying wasn't as easy as you'd think. Luckily, Harper was pretty numb at this point. With all the shit she'd heard, her poker face was absolutely on point. Not as good as Tsu's-- there was something odd with her brain too, Harper just wasn't sure what-- but it was enough. Enough to get her through the interrogation she underwent. Uraraka and Midoriya were both very nice and bubbly, though Uraraka was more confident when she talked. Tsu gave zero shits and said whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and Iida added in his two cents whenever he thought he'd be the least annoying.

Now they came to the real issue. Harper was changed out, in her new gym uniform. The girls were chattering excitedly while graciously telling her that she'd do great and they were excited to see how she reacted. Unlike them, she didn't have a hero costume to wear. Harper was fine with that. A hero costume... fuck, just a few days ago, she would have never thought to be a hero. She still didn't really want to be one! However, she didn't have a life plan either. Harper hadn't had a goal before, so she may as well go along with this. Maybe something would pop up. 

"I wonder how new girl will do. I'm excited to see how her quirk works, especially on me! Can she sense be even without seeing me? Predict my moves?" Hagakure's thoughts jumped.

"I wonder what we'll be doing today. More sparring?" Momo wondered. "There's an uneven amount of students now..."

"Harper is going to be a challenge since my quirk is touch activated! She can avoid me that way, but she'll have to get close to take me out, too. I wonder how to counter that... split second decisions? Abrupt changes?" Uraraka considered. Harper took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Fight club. Oh my god, she was about to go into a class all about fighting. Hand to hand. Rescue, hero stuff. Villain fighting. 

"Everyone to gym B!" Aizawa barked. "Harper looks so cute in her gym uniform! She fits right in! And look at Ojiro! He looks like a little karate master. And Midoriya really is a bunny! What amazing kids! I'm so lucky to be their teacher. What a great day. I wonder what Hizashi is doing. I bet he'd freak out if he knew what I was really like. Two positives make a negative, though, so maybe it's for the best everything thinks I hate them! How fun! Aw, look at Tsu. Little frog baby."

"Midoriya's ass." Mineta drooled.

"Deku's ass." Bakugo groaned.

"You know, and no homo guys, but I think Midoriya here might have the best ass out of all of us!" Kaminari chirped, earning some laughs as he threw an arm over the reddening, freckled teen. A few of the girls giggled while Aizawa blandly told them to stay on task. Harper stared, lips pressed into a thin line as she processed that this was what she was going to be dealing with from now on.

It was an honest to god struggle to hold in her tears.