Art Credit: In the image :)

Misaki texted me before class ended. With the sheet I had, I found myself waiting outside the door to the business classroom.

"Hey, you better now?" she greeted.

"Better enough to walk," My eyes barely escaped the list of pro heroes on the sheet.

"I've texted our crew. Shall we wait for them a bit?" She suggested, leading the way down the hall. Sakura met us outside the Department of Support.

"Ugh, I have so much work to do," She averted her gaze to Misaki.

"Yea, I can see Rylie's already pre-occupied with hers." Misaki added. There was a pause.

"She's always lost" Sakura's icy tone stung a little. Tsukki waved to Shinso before meeting up.

"What is it anyway?" Misaki's words made a little attempt to steal my attention.

"Our class is supposed to pick a hero agency as our second term project. And I can't decide which one." My voice barely left my lips as my thoughts evaluated each hero.

"Lucky," Tsukki scoffed. Toya emerged from class 1-B.

"Long day," He scratched his head, greeting Tsukki. I stumbled forward when Sakura's burly shoulder hit mine.

"I forgot my assignment in the staff room, I'll be back" she plodded ahead of us.

"Meet us in the dorms of 1-A, we're hanging out!" Misaki called after Sakura, the latter raised a fist in response.

"Wait, who said we were going to my dorm?" I slipped the sheet in the pocket of my shoulder bag.

Misaki grinned, "Well, I for one want to know who the lucky guy is" My heart leapt in my throat.

"Entertain yourselves. I'm going to carry on," Tsukki rolled his eyes.

"Wait! We'll also hustle on the court outside dorm 1-A" Misaki attempted to change his mind when Tsukki slung the bag on his shoulder. They briefly exchanged glances.

"I need to change out of these sweats. I'll meet you after" Tsukki marched forward. leaving just the three of us.

"Well, I think some practice will do some good." Toya agreed. In the long walk to my dorm, we discussed strategies to maximize points from the half court line. I soon realized that Toya and Misaki were not used to the chaotic nature of my class when the double doors to my dorm lobby parted. Midoriya kneeled on the couch, wearing a puppet in each hand. Eri's large bright red eyes were absorbed in his story. A neat assortment of colorful iced cupcakes was on the table. 

Kaminari and Sero were sprawled on the couch absorbed in a virtual Hatsune Miku concert. Kirishima's legs were draped on the small table, busy in a conversation with Mina. Sato's face was powdered in flour when he pulled out a steamy tray of cookies from the oven. Todoroki and Asui were discussing their quirks. With an earphone in one ear, Jiro was strumming a guitar trying to match the tune of a song.

"You should try those cupcakes," I pulled Misaki by the wrists. Toya stoically strut behind us.

"Hey Rylie and Rylie's friends!" Mina waved. Kirishima peeled himself from the conversation and waved back.

"Guys, this is Misaki and that's Toya" I pointed to my crew.

"Hey man," Kirishims fist-bumped Toya.

"How come I don't see you guys around?" Mina asked.

"I'm in the business course," Misaki replied, "It's in the far end of the hall"

They seemed to be highly absorbed in a conversation after that. I dropped my bag to the floor and fell on the couch beside Midoriya.

"And then, Lemillion attacked the villain" The smiling puppet pounced on the grumpy one. "And the day was saved again," Eri's eyes were filled with joy when Midoriya finished.

"Hi Rylie-chan!" He greeted.

"Hey," I dived my hand for a cupcake. "What are we doing?"

"I'm taking a break with Eri before I head back to my room." He pulled the puppets from his hands and placed it on the table.

"Which agency did you get?" Midoriya grabbed a white icing cupcake.

"Wait, how do you know which agency selects you?" My eyebrows furrowed. I emptied the last bite of my cupcake in my mouth.

"A letter came in last week for each of us - kero" Asui waved an envelop in her hand.

"For everyone?" My eyes widened.

"Check your mailbox," Tokoyami took a bite from his apple. I reached for the keys in my bag and paced across the hall.

"What's this about?" Toya halted me.

"Well apparently, agencies choose their sidekicks and I missed the mail," The entrance to the lobby had walls on either side. The mailbox was built on each wall. I traced the number to my room and undid the lock. Empty. My anxiety fell.

"It must be late," I assured myself.

"You didn't get one" Always rely on Bakugo to run me down.

"And how do you know that?" My voice betrayed me when it came out much politer than I imagined. He only scoffed in response.

"I didn't get one either," Todoroki assured. "But my old man chose to assign projects to me."

"Old man.. Endeavour is your father?" That explains why he chose to ignore her question the other day. "You're so lucky!"

He pursed his lips.

"Finding a hero agency takes a lot of patience and diligent hero practice" Iida marched up to me with a laundry basket in hand.

"Thanks Iida," I sighed. "I know that"

It was a brutal reminder that even though I earned a scholarship of the best hero school in all of Japan, I had so much further to go compared to my classmates. I slung the bag over my shoulder. Slumped, I dragged myself to the elevator. Misaki had to excuse herself from the conversation and Toya followed aimlessly.

Back in my room, I threw myself back in bed, hands spread wide. Toya's phone rang so he had to excuse himself out of the room for a bit.

"So," Misaki sat beside me. "Did I see the lucky guy?"

"Maybe some other time," I smiled weakly trying to avoid the conversation. "Okay, so imma go get changed." I rose to my feet and to the washroom. "Do you want to borrow one of my shirts?" I pointed to my wardrobe.

"Don't worry about me, I'll steal something to wear" she beckoned me to the washroom. I emerged five minutes later wearing a sleeveless jersey and knee length cotton shorts to find Toya and Tsukki in my room.

"Let's go," I tossed the ball lying in one corner of my room to Misaki. The lobby was now empty where my classmates were half an hour ago.

"Two versus two," Tsukki announced, dribbling the ball below the basket. The sun casted a small shadow. Toya and I were on a team while Misaki and Tsukki were paired. Sakura never turned up for the match.

Tsukki tossed the ball to Toya. Toya stepped a few paces back, outside the sideline and flung the ball toward me. Dribbling the ball between my feet, my gaze fell on the basket on the far end of the court. Misaki's arms blocked my line of sight.

I have the diligence and commitment to become a hero. I shoved the ball in Misaki's face and spun around, escaping her block. With the ball dribbling to my right, I raced for the opponent's basket. I was willing to struggle and earn myself the title of a pro hero. In the far left, Toya escaped his defender. He attempted to signal me to pass him the ball. Misaki lunged ahead of me to block the basket. I twisted to the right and launched a hoop shot.

"Travelling," Tsukki called. That drew me from my thoughts. My eyes landed on my feet, it was two steps further away from where I was. I tossed the ball to Misaki and regrouped with my teammate.

"You could have passed to me," Toya clapped me on the shoulder when I met up with him. "Everything okay?"

"Ah no," I lied. "I'll pass the ball this time around, promise" I flashed a grin at him. I was assigned as Tsukki's defender. When Misaki passed the ball to Tsukki, I darted between him and the ball, gripping it to my chest. I quickly passed the ball to Toya, before it was snatched from my hand. Misaki raced to Toya but he had pocketed the ball before she reached him.

Toya trotted outside the sideline and flung the ball overhead to me. Misaki could not jump high enough to block the ball in its trajectory. To Tsukki's surprise, the ball bounced between his feet and landed in my palm. I spun once and then twice, covering the ball from Tsukki's reach. If I were to become the best, I couldn't do this alone. With a formidable opponent like Tsukki and reliable teammate like Toya, I had to improve to give my best.

"Charge!" I pretended to toss toward Toya but spun yet again, attempting a long shot at the goal. Toya raced for the ball when it rebounded and tipped it into the hoop. Being a hero meant working with people. I fived Toya when we concluded the match.

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A/N : Hey guys, I'm back with irregular updates to this book. Thanks for sticking around and supporting this book! :D This will still be a first draft until I find myself to the finish. Do check out my other Dabi XOCXHawks [Content warning!] story on my account. Please give a follow to keep up to date with the chapters I publish!