I Never Liked First Days
Luz’s POV
I-... never liked the first day of school. I was always singled out from the start, and I never knew anyone friendly enough to hang around.
I woke up excited to start the winter term. Well, excited was an understatement.
When mom eventually asked my quirk, I was nervous to say the less, but luckily Eda had explained how I could save my ass and not raise suspicion.
*The night of the results*
“WAIT! How am I going to explain this to mom?!” - I freaked.
“Eeehhh…” - She shrugged, but her face lit up. “Oh! I’ve got it. Tell her it was a development.” - She seemed proud of her idea, while I just stared at her as if she was crazy.
“A development? This isn’t a great explanation Eda!” - An itch picked at the back of my neck.
“Nah kid. It happens all the time, believe it or not.” - She mumbled that last part and looked down at me.
She rolled her eyes as I continued to stay quite confused.
“A development. It happens when quirks are developed much later than the manifesting age. The initial quirk the child develops is usually a weaker version of the actual quirk. This can happen for multiple reasons but it’s usually because the child holds a mental block over their power. When the weakened quirk awakes it has many possibilities. It isn’t researched a whole lot, so very little is known about this condition.” - She paused and smiled at me. “And you perfectly fit the profile!”
I deadpanned and smacked her shoulder.
“Not nice.” - I whined.
“Hey, hey kid. Quit your whining’ you wanna be a hero don’t ya?” - I nodded. “Then quit whinin’ or else I’ll have to take the quirk back.” - She let out a mighty laugh while I was left stunned.
I had forgotten about that possibility.
“Hey, quit your frowning, a hero has to smile.” - She stuck her fingers to the corners of my mouth and forced a smile. “Besides, I think you’re the fittest to hold One-for-All.”
She withdrew her fingers, but the smile stayed as my chest filled with pride.
I chuckled at the memory as I slipped my white shoes. Besides wearing the uniform properly, UA didn’t seem to stress the dress code.
I slipped out the door and headed to the train station, but not before mom planted a kiss on my cheek.
When I arrived at UA, I tripped over myself while gawking at the entrance. I couldn’t believe I was attending a school that had taught many great heroes.
UA’s acceptance rate had been low this year, a total of 32 admitted students through the entrance exam and 4 through recommendations. I was part of the 16 admitted into Class 1-A.
As I made my way down the halls, I couldn’t help myself and started wondering about who else had landed a spot in Class 1-A.
Willow surely got in. She saved my ass from becoming a meat pancake… I wonder if that one boy got in as well…?
My face scrunched up at the thought of him reminding me to be well mannered.
If he is I hope he doesn’t hold a grudge.
As I finished my thought my eyes fell on the sign.
“Class 1-A” - I whispered to myself. I stared at it before I registered how long I had stared at the sign.
For starters the door was huge. It looked like it was made for 9-foot tall giants. I shrunk a bit in my shirt and slid the door open to find Willow captivated by the scene unfolding before her.
“You dare threaten me?!” - The dark-skinned boy yelped. “Are you sure you are supposed to be in the hero course?!”
I watched wide-eyed as a girl lifted her feet onto the desk and nonchalantly spoke.
“Well, I could ask you the same thing short stack.” - She giggled and watched as the boy became riled up. He pulled on his uniform and inhaled deeply.
“I skipped a grade, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let’s start over.” - He stuck his hand out. “Hi, my name is Augustus Porter.” - He waited for a hand that never came.
“Names Boscha and I don’t care for making friends here.” - She smirked at Gus and I watched him glance in my direction.
I froze as he forgot about Boscha and stalked his way towards me. Making Boschas smile fade and everyone turn to me.
“You!” - Both Willow and Gus turned their attention to me.
“Me~” - I replied. My voice cracked and I felt the heat rise on my cheeks again.
“You must be really preceptive! I couldn’t believe you figured out there were other parameters to the Entrance Exam.” - Gus said. “Hello, my name’s Augustus Porter.” - I nervously chuckled.
Preceptive? I didn’t even score that many combat points.
“Hi, my name is Luz Noceda.” - I sheepishly shook his hand.
“Hey Luz!.” - I turned to see Willow walk up to me.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you! If it weren’t for me you could have scored more combat points.” - She slightly bowed.
“It’s no problem at all! Really. Are you alright?” - I quickly shook my hands and looked at her uniform.
She doesn't seem to be hurt.
“Yeah, after Recovery Girl healed you the most she could she healed everyone else that might have been injured. I only had a sprained ankle and she fixed it up real quick.” - She smiled and I felt relieved she had been okay.
“Yes, I too saw your heroic act. I left everyone astonished; you seemed weak.” - Gus stated. I felt a sheepish grin grow on my face and Willow scolded him slightly.
Everyone had counted me out from the start huh-
“It’s alright Willow, I do need to learn a lot and get stronger.” - I agreed.
“Alright, enough of the buddy, buddy talk.” - Boscha cut in. “So, you’re the kid everyone’s talking about,” - She looked me up and down giggling. “You look weak to me.”
I suddenly remembered those horrible memories rush back.
“Why would they want a weakling like you!?”
“You don’t belong here!”
“You’re still so weak!”
“That enough Boscha.” - I snapped from my trance and turned to a girl still reading a book.
“You wouldn’t like to get expelled on the first day. Would you?” - She looks up and glances at Boscha before facing me.
I can barely see her face over the book, but her golden irises just screamed authority and power.
“Could you all take a seat. Class will be starting soon.” - She spoke before looking back down to her book.
I turned to Willow and glanced at Boscha. She had a small pout on her face and seemed to have cooled down. We walked to our respective seats. I sat next to the mint haired girl. With Willow seated in front of me.
Up close she seemed less intimidating. She was clearly intrigued by her book and her face seemed… softer than it was a couple of minutes ago. I looked up to her hair and saw a small patch of auburn roots peeking through on her right side.
Just her right side?
“I would appreciate it if you stopped staring at me.” - She said. Instead of facing me, she glanced in my direction maintaining eye contact.
My face burned and I shrunk into my collar.
“Sorry… uh,” - I paused.
I don’t know her name!
“Amity.” - She stated.
“Amity. Sorry. I just- I think your auburn roots are cute.” - I mumbled. My voice faded towards the end and I felt utterly embarrassed.
Great. First day and you act like a stalker. It’s bad enough Boscha’s my new bully. Now I’m the weird stalker kid.
I pictured my self hiding in the shadows as I continue to imagine worst-case scenarios, but I was yanked from any further thoughts.
“Thank you” - Amity responded softly.
I felt my body tense up. I turned to face her, but she was still reading her book. Only now she was leaning on her fist to hide a bright blush on her face.
“Oh- yeah, of course.” - I politely responded.
Not the weird stalker kid. Yet.
“Psst” - Willow leaned back. “Please tell me the ripping noise didn’t come from you” - She chuckled.
I stare at her with confusion and watched her point at my left shoulder. I turned to see a small tear on the shoulder stitching. Willow turned and saw the damage done, giggling at my misfortune.
“Did you already flex in that? Are you that beefy?” - She teased. “I can match your game too, ya know.” - She put up her arm and flexed her bicep. She made sure she didn’t tear her uniform.
“Uh- I- I think I might have.” - I said realizing I had tensed up at Amity’s response.
It just seemed like I was getting embarrassed left and right today.
“It’s probably fine. I can stitch it up after class if you want?” - She said.
“I would appre-” -
“Alright worms. Listen up.” - King spoke. A lady beside him chuckled at the nickname.
Blue Star...
“Aright students. Some of you might know me. Hello, my name is June Cue. I am The Light Hero, Blue Star. I will be your teacher.” - She stated.
She was wearing her hero costume as was King.
JUNE CUE
HERO NAME: THE LIGHT HERO, BLUE STAR
QUIRK: KALEIDOSCOPE
“HER QUIRK WORKS SIMILARLY TO A KALEIDOSCOPE. USING LIGHT REFRACTIONS AND SHAPES TO MAKE HER OPPONENTS DIZZY AND DISORIENTATED. SHE CAN ALSO USE COLORS TO ENVOKE
FEELINGS OF CALMNESS AND VIOLENCE.”
“AFFILIATION: U.A. HIGH SCHOOL HERO CLASS TEACHER”
“AGE: 34” ; “BIRTHDAY: 9/10”
“HEIGHT: 183 CM” ; “BLOOD TYPE: B-”
“LIKES: ADULT JUICE, COFFEE, AND MAKING HER STUDENTS NERVOUS”
“Today we will be going over the syllabus and I will review your scores.” - She smiled. “You best not disappoint.”
I felt a shiver run down my spine as she said that.
For the next 30 minutes, we went through the syllabus. I started to doze off, but Willow continued to poke me awake ever so often.
Blue Star suddenly stood from her seat cutting King off, which made him grumble.
“Alright after looking over all of your scores, you are in desperate need of Combat Training. We start tomorrow.” - She paused and glanced in my direction. “Some of you need it more than
others. That’s all for today. Make sure to go over the rest of the syllabus and come ready tomorrow.” - She smirked at us and then left.
We all sat at a blank. Amity was the first to stand and gather her things to leave. Shortly after everyone else followed.
Willow pulled me aside and pulled out a small sewing kit.
“Uuuh- Willow why do you have that?” - I rubbed the back of my head.
“Because Gus over there always tears his pants.” - She signaled to Gus across the room. “We’ve known each other for a couple of years after I moved here from the United States.”
“Oh, so you guys go way back when.” - I gave Gus a small smile as he approached.
“What classes do you have next?” - Gus asked.
As Gus and Willow talked between themselves I notice a book under Amity’s seat. I bent down earning a yelp from Willow as she continued to sew the tear on my uniform.
Once she was finished and we said our goodbyes I picked up the book.
“What! A Great Hero Azura Comic?!” - I whisper yelled to myself. I looked down to see a small ring as well. “Was she reading this under that other book?”
Is this even hers? What about this ring?
I didn’t want to weird out the girl anymore, but I didn’t know if these are hers. I gave into my internal debate and carefully placed them in my bag.
If I see her later today I can ask. Or I could ask tomorrow.
I finally exit the room and continued my class schedule. After 6 hours we were finally released, but I hadn’t spotted Amity anywhere.
I made my way down to the station, Gus and Willow tagged along as they also took the station to get home.
As I giggled along with them I felt warm inside. I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t the weird kid. Yet?
Maybe my first days won’t be as bad anymore.