Tapping the end of his pencil against the desk, Kacchan growled. You weren't yet in class—since it had not started up yet. Eijiro only looked at him.

"What's gotcha down?" he asked, obviously knowing what the problem was.

"Don't ask stupid questions," Kacchan spat. "I still think that (Y/N) chick did something to rig it—or whatever."

"Weren't you two friends back then?"

Kacchan yanked his head toward him upon hearing that response. "Who told you that!?"

"Well, it's kinda obvious. She's always calling you what Izuku calls you, and I overheard her talking about you two being childhood friends or something."

Kacchan sharpened his gaze at his pencil, falling deep into thought. "It's complicated."

"Why? I mean, you two were only in kindergarten. What? Did she eat your school paste or somethin'?"

"HUSH. I don't feel like TALKING ABOUT IT." Kacchan turned away, fuming to himself.

Eijiro only mimicked him in a sarcastic manner, before going back to minding his own business.

Around that time, you arrived. Opening the door to the class, you cheerily waved. Everyone stared at you in disbelief, probably still trying to figure out how you got such an impressive score on that test.

And without hesitance, Kacchan rose up, only to approach your shorter figure. He towered over you in attempt to instill fear, but it didn't work. If anything, his intimidation caused you to take a step closer.

Everyone gasped when you did. There, you stood face-to-face with your former best friend.

"Kacchan!" you smiled that same smile he couldn't help but remember.

". . ."

"Since I'm supposedly as powerful as you now—wanna get some ice cre—"

"You are nowhere NEAR as powerful as me!" he barked. "Either the test was a sham—or you cheated."

Leaning in close to Kacchan, you seriously whispered, "Look, if anyone cheated—it was Mineta. I mean, look at the guy. I'm surprised he even made it through Pre-K."

When you both stared in his direction, Mineta only smiled pervily while giving a wave. Kacchan then turned his nose up in a snobbish manner.

"I'll deal with you later. One day, you'll realize I'm the one with the best Quirk."

"Hey, I never said anything about my Quirk being good. I just lucked out, y'know."

He snapped, "I don't believe any of that rubbish for a second!"

After he left you alone, you thought, What's his problem? When you sat back down, you were crowded by questions from the other students.

After a bit, it was time for lunch. You couldn't wait to see what kind of food they were serving. It must have been good since this was a prestigious school. They probably sold dessert as well.

"Thereee ya go!" said the lunch lady as she plopped this questionable goo on your tray. You shot her an unimpressed expression.

"Is this a joke?"

"Honey, if you wanted something good, you shoulda brought your own food."

"I'm starting to wish I kept that banana sandwich. . ." you murmured before trying to find an empty seat in the cafeteria. Just when you thought you were going to have to push a kid off their chair or something, a girly voice called your name.

"Hey, (Y/N)! That's your name, right? Come sit with us."

Turning around, you saw this rose-skinned girl. Her hair was short—and pinkish—topped with two little cute horns. Speaking of which, you remembered seeing her earlier. She was sitting with Eijiro and Denki, along with one other guy you hadn't met before. So, you walked over.

"My name is Mina Ashido!" she beamed. "Call me Mina. Your name is (Y/N), isn't it?"

"Yup! It's good to meet another girl," you giggled.

Mina then pointed to this one boy beside her. He had black chin-length hair, which was jagged. He looked a bit goofy overall. "His name is Hanta Sero."

"Waddup."

You responded, "Oh, hi!"

After chatting with your new acquaintances, you got to know them. They seemed like pretty chill and nice people. But that stopped once Kacchan sat down in the vacant seat they were saving for him.

"Hey, losers. You won't believe what happened today." Taking a sip of his Monster Energy drink, he continued. "So, I was talking to that (Y/N) chick—PFFT!" He suddenly spat it out once his vision landed on you. "WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE—"

"We invited her to sit down with us!" Mina chirped.

"Yeah, she's really nice too. She thinks my tape Quirk is cool~!" Hanta explained, starry-eyed.

You laughed while putting a wholesome hand on his shoulder. "Of course, it is! Who wouldn't?"

"Plus, she's fashionable!" Mina told him. Kacchan grew tired of their enthusing hastily.

"Whatever. She can't sit with us."

"What is this, Mean Girls?" you remarked.

Eijiro stretched his arms behind his head before telling you, "Eh, don't worry about him. He's just shy."

"I'M NOT SHY, TRASH-FACE!"

"Scratch that, he's just mean."

Still, that didn't change the fact you wanted to be his friend. Every day, you became more curious to why he was so standoffish from you. He made this group of friends pretty fast—so, why were you an exception? Because of this, you finally decided to ask him.

"Kacchan, why don't you ever wanna talk to me? Or—or anything. You're just always being so mean—and—and I don't know if it's something I did or—" Tears materialized, and your voice became shaky.

He told you, "Uh, don't cry—"

"I'M NOT GONNA CRY!" you responded while bawling your eyes out. All the student's eyes were now on you. You couldn't help up excuse yourself and run away from the scene. Mina yelled your name in attempt to bring you back, but it was relentless. Everyone at the table suddenly looked at Kacchan.

"What's your problem, man?" Hanta wondered. "You scared away a cute AND nice girl."

"Yeah, I know you have a grudge against Izuku—but why her?" added Denki.

". . ." He didn't answer. He only shot them a dirty glare before stalking off in the direction you ran.

Eijiro felt a bit concerned. "What's up with him?"

"You know he's an emotional wreck."

Meanwhile, you were sitting in front of your locker in the hallway—sobbing in silence to yourself. You didn't want a teacher or anyone else to hear you, so you tried muffling up the sound using your hands. However, you were quick to recompose yourself once a pair of footsteps sounded. Looking up, Kacchan was there, with his left hand casually in his pocket.

". . .Kacchan—?" You were confused to why he was here.

"Why did you even come here, (Y/N)?" he genuinely asked, not even sounding angry. He just sounded frustrated most of all. This was out of character for him. "You know your Quirk isn't combative. You'd have been better off training to be a nurse or something."

You only looked down. "I know—but I wanted people to look up to me. I know my Quirk is lame—but I wanted people to have a sense of hope from someone who. . .wasn't as powerful as All Might or you. Lots of people want to have flashy Quirks with loads of power—but most don't have that. I guess I just wanted to change that way of thinking."

"Why do you think Heroes like All Might get all the attention and respect!? Because they get the job done. People with weaker Quirks usually end up getting themselves wacked if they try to do anything heroic with it."

"Why do you care so much?" you questioned him. "It's not like you'd care if anything happened to me. . . That is—" Standing up and scooting close to him, you continued, "Unless you do~"

"Do you how much of a pain you were back then!?" he retorted. "You always needed my protection—and it got irritating."

"Are you implying that you're only trying to protect me?" You verbally cornered him.

"NO. Look, just—stay out of my way." He was quick to scurry off once you started putting the spotlight on him.

This made you think.

What if he was just trying to protect me? What if he didn't want me here because he thought it was too dangerous? That couldn't have been it. He hadn't talked to me for years—so why would he get concerned about my well-being now? If there was one thing Kacchan was extremely skilled at—besides his Quirk—it was mind games. Even I couldn't keep up with them.

However, that still didn't stop you~