Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Ascian is twelve when she decides to move in with her grandmother in Kanto and attend Aldera Junior High.

It’s her own decision, really. She had thought it over quite a bit before making the choice. On one hand, she would be moving to a completely unfamiliar country and region. Sure, her family has multiple properties in Kanto even if you didn't include her aforementioned grandmother, but she’s never actually been to any of them before, and she hasn't seen her grandmother in years . Most trips outside her family home in Lacunosa Town had been limited to places within America, and she can only count on one hand the times she’s gone overseas. She’s been homeschooled her whole life and hardly has any human friends her age, save for Gin, so she knows her social skills aren’t exactly the best. Most interactions with kids of her own level are typically with children of equally wealthy and/or powerful families, and are thus riddled with carefully plucked words and a guarded heart. The worst enemies appear as friends, after all. It’s a lesson her eldest sister had learned the hard way.

(She still remembers the look on Chris’s face three years ago, when Blaise Bennett cut all ties with her and Archer in favor of moving to Kalos with his grandfather so he can enroll in, what he called, “a school more befitting of my elite status”. She was only nine at the time, but even she understood the look of betrayal in her sister’s eyes.)

On the other hand, it’s better to get used to the area and to public schooling if she is planning to apply to UA High within the next three years.

The Boulregard family has connections in pretty much every field you can imagine, but they are most famous for their endeavors in the hero world—spreading publicity and/or showing support for newbies, donating massive funds to support companies that make hero equipment, even raising heroes of their own, be it through apprenticeship or their own flesh and blood. This generation is no different. Her sister is making steady progress up through the hero ranks down in Alola. Her older brother is already showing great promise as a businessman, and Ascian has no doubt that come graduation day, he’ll be striking up all sorts of deals using nothing but his own charm and wit to help aspiring heroes hit the ground running. Her father founded a large support company respected worldwide for its life-saving equipment. Her late aunt, bless her soul, was one of the best Underground Pros in the business, most famous for her joint cases with the International Police and making leaps and bounds on improving hero-police relations. And her mother? She’s the mastermind behind it all, the head of the family. And all of them are veteran Pokemon trainers, near undefeated to boot. So really, it should come as no surprise that Ascian Boulregard, third eldest of the Boulregard siblings, would want to follow in such footsteps. And in her mind, the best way to do that is to enroll into the alma mater of the celebrated Symbol of Peace and further expand the Boulregard reach in Japan.

Her own ambition wins out in the end.

The move is almost anticlimactic with how simple the affair is. Her parents are a little sad to send their daughter off, but they don’t put up a fight or argue. She thinks that they always knew that she would do something like this, and were perhaps just silently enjoying the time they had with her until she left the nest. Her younger siblings cry a little, but she manages to keep their emotions at bay with promises to call via X-transceiver. Her brother Nicholas just smiles and ruffles her hair, commenting on how much she’s matured, but still has yet to grow. Her sister Christina makes sure to call her before she leaves—which is a rarity in of itself these days since she’s been so busy making a name for herself—and wishes her luck with the teasing and added advice from Chris’s teammates in the background. Kaito pops up on the side of the screen and tells her to play nice. Archer shoves him away and tells her to punch anyone who gives her shit. She thinks she likes Archer’s advice best. She asks Gin if he’ll come with her—she knows he wants to enroll in UA’s department of management so he can help Nico and become her manager in all things business related—but he shakes his head with an apologetic smile and a joking excuse of “Well, someone’s gotta keep these rascals at bay!”

(She sees the lie for what it is. He’s still adjusting to this new life he has. Adoption is a strange new concept for him, and he’s still trying to relearn about his own self value and boundaries from the ground up. It’s not wise for him to move somewhere completely new again when he’s finally just gaining his footing, even if it means skipping out on moving to Kanto for a while. She decides not to mention it anyway.)

There’s no grandiose goodbye party, and she thanks the heavens that her two older siblings have garnered enough attention for the media to just completely gloss over her existence—for now, anyways. Her family are the only ones to see her off at the airport, and she goes unnoticed throughout the plane ride. The arrival is just as calm as the departure. There are no cameras flashing as she steps into the airport, no flamboyant welcome party. Just her grandmother with a smile and a bento box, both of which are welcoming and warm.

Settling in is a bit of a more difficult task, but if Ascian is anything, it’s adaptable. Nuanshi Muramoto lives in an apartment built right above the quaint little diner she used to run with her husband before he passed away. Nowadays, she goes on with life by herself and keeps her diner running with the help of her and her late husband’s Pokemon. She’s more than happy to care for her son’s child, and gives Ascian her own room and cooks whatever she asks when she has the time. It’s a little strange for Ascian, at first. She’s used to the modern-styled family mansion, with its high ceilings and peaceful silence. She has a lot less space now, and the traditional little building is almost always abuzz with activity, what with the apartment situated above a diner after all. But Ascian doesn’t mind. It’s a nice change of pace, once she gets used to it. It’s almost relaxing, and she’s eager to run errands for her grandmother anytime to get a layout of the area (though she’s banned from the kitchen within the first week. Calcifer laughs at her failure at first, but the Gengar is more than happy to keep his trainer entertained when there’s nothing to do). She even manages to get on a first name basis with most of the regulars at the diner after a few awkward encounters and forced introductions courtesy of her grandmother, so suffice to say that her social skills aren’t completely a lost cause. If she has any real difficulty with the move, it’s the change of language, but she already has a head start thanks to the tutoring she received beforehand. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning it, and she’ll be fine.

The thing that makes her the most anxious is probably the idea of attending school. She’ll be starting her first year of junior high in the second semester, so she is in every sense of the word the “new” kid. There is also the matter of where she will be attending. It’s a hard decision at first, but in the end she chooses to attend a public academy rather than a private one. With the likes of All Might and Red Yamaguchi taking the spotlight, she doubts that the Boulregard name will be recognized too much outside of America and especially in Japan, but she’d rather be safe than sorry. In a private academy filled with children of wealthy or influential families, a good portion of them are sure to recognize her name even if the media has more or less left her alone. With a public school, there’s a higher chance students will just chalk it up to coincidence. Besides, UA’s more likely to have students from the middle class than the elitists. Better to get used to their mannerisms sooner than later. And, perhaps, kids in a public school won’t be as judgemental and power hungry as the ones she’s often been exposed to throughout the years.

But her hopes are slowly scattered, because, as she stands there and takes one sweeping glance at the class only to see that look in all their eyes, she can tell that she had set her expectations a little too high.

“I know it's a bit sudden,” the homeroom teacher says beside her, and for the life of her, she can't remember his name at the moment. “But we'll be having a new student join us starting today. She's come all the way from America, so treat her well.”

He nods to Ascian, to which she gives a brief bow of respect in return. “Feel free to introduce yourself, then take a seat at an empty desk in the back.”

She makes a flat hum—she really doesn’t like the way some kids look at her like a meal to be devoured—and gives another polite bow to her new classmates. “I'm Ascian Boulregard. I hope to be on good terms with you all.” With that, she straightens and briskly walks to the back, maneuvering around all the Pokemon that rest by their trainer’s desk. She sits at the empty seat right behind a boy with a Riolu, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She ignores it in favor of setting up her stuff and staring out the window.

She has to admit, she’s a bit disappointed. Sure, she wasn’t expecting a class party or a new group to call family but… Well, she doesn’t know what she was hoping for, but the gnawing discontent in the pit of her stomach is there, and she really doesn’t like that feeling. She can almost feel them sizing her up, and she wonders what it is that they want or expect from her too. A powerful quirk? Important family connections? A skilled team of Pokemon to which they can use to hide behind should they cross the wrong person’s path? Sure, she has all of those, but like hell she would use them for other people’s own selfish gain. She already has enough of those people trying to insert themselves into her life—she doesn’t want or need any more.

As if sensing her frustration, Calcifer discreetly phases his hand out from his hiding spot in her shadow and gives her foot a sympathetic pat.

The teacher leaves the class soon after, homeroom ending, and there is a short gap between then and when the first period teacher arrives. Ascian can still feel everyone’s eyes on her. She sighs. They won’t turn away until she gives them something to witness. She might as well indulge.

“Hey,” she says. She doesn’t raise her voice, nor does she whisper, but everyone and their Pokemon hear it anyways. Once she’s sure she has all their undivided attention, she looks up. She follows the instructions her mother told her once, when she was very little and afraid of the countless eyes set upon her for her name, and pours all the intensity she can muster into her glare. She meets the eyes of everyone in the room—the particularly vicious red eyes to her left to the somewhat meek yet innocent green ones seated in front of her.

And then she slips her hand out from her pocket and promptly flips them all off, sticking out her tongue.

Cries of outrage and squeaks of surprise rise up from the class, and the room dissolves into utter chaos as the new girl who just moved there from a foreign nation insults them all with a simple gesture, less than ten minutes into her first day no less. One boy literally explodes with anger, his Typhlosion looking like it’s the only thing preventing him from leaping over the desks separating them and decking Ascian in the face.

(Under the noise of the class, Calcifer cackles with glee. Ascian is a lot like her aunt in more ways than she realizes, and though sometimes it makes him feel a little sad to think of his former master, it also provides a nice breath of fresh air.)

Ascian sighs as the first period teacher walks in to find a shitshow. She almost feels bad for him as he—unsuccessfully—tries to reign in the outraged children. But she schools her mask of indifference like it’s routine, leaning back and flipping open her notebook as she waits for the class to settle.

Something brushes against her leg, and she jumps a little. She looks down and finds the Riolu belonging to the boy in front of her staring at her curiously. The black appendages near its ears are raised slightly. Its eyes shift to her shadow, and it lightly nudges the ground as if confirming something. Calcifer nudges back, and the Riolu lets out an amused noise.

Ascian glances around the room. No one is paying attention to her anymore, instead choosing to shout at each other for reasons she can't care to know. Shifting again to the Pokemon beside her, she finds it staring back at her again. She raises a hesitant palm near its head. It pauses, the black appendages lifting a centimeter more, before leaning into her touch and giving a satisfied purr. An unbidden smile finds its way onto her face.

“Rio!”

Ascian draws her hand back almost immediately, as if burnt. The Riolu startles, the appendages falling down softly to their natural loose position by its head. Ascian belatedly realizes it had been reading her aura. She looks up and meets the eyes with the boy seated in front of her. He looks like a Deerling caught in headlights, frazzled and obviously very skittish. He opens his mouth to say something, but Ascian can't make heads or tails of what he’s trying to say through his incoherent stuttering.

The Riolu makes a noise and hops up into the boy's arms. It nuzzles his face, and that seems to get him to spit out a rushed apology to her. He starts to turn back in his seat, but his Riolu gives a tug on his sleeve that makes him pause. The appendages lift back up, and the boy stills for a moment. Ascian would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little fascinated by the interaction. But then, as the black appendages fall to their resting state, the boy’s head swivels back towards her, giving her a look she can’t quite describe.

Feeling a bit self-conscious, she tries to mask her nerves with a raised eyebrow. “What? Have something to say?”

The boy realizes he had been staring and squeaks out another apology. This time, he does turn back to the front of the class, fidgeting in his seat with a nervous energy. Before she can inquire any further, the teacher decides that now is the perfect time to begin class. She frowns, but lets it slide. She can find out after class.

But human memory is a fickle thing, and when her patience is tried for the rest of the day by intrusive questions from other classmates, the encounter with the boy slips her mind. Instead, the first thing she does when the final bell rings is to make a brisk escape from the school, ignoring the calls of her new classmates. She can only dodge their questions for so long before she feels ready to strangle one of them. She can live without their empty friendship, she tells herself. A nagging sensation prods the back of her head, but she dismisses it in favor of making her quick getaway to her grandmother’s little hole in the wall diner.

She doesn’t notice the emerald green eyes following her escape as she disappears around the school’s bend.

oOo

Her full name is Ascian Boulregard.

Just as Sensei had said, she hails all the way from America, the Unova region specifically, but has decided to study abroad in Kanto. She dislikes being at the center of attention and doesn’t talk much. She seems to have a preference for Ghost Type Pokemon (though this is subject to change; she’s only ever shown off two of her Pokemon), and is an incredibly skilled trainer, if the way she wiped the floor with Kacchan with only her Gengar and Mismagius is any testament to her skill. She doesn’t speak of her family. Anyone who asks about her quirk is met with silence. Those who try to go near are glared at with vivid magenta eyes and are often tricked by the Gengar that hides in her shadow until they go away. All in all, she is an enigma to most, and they keep their distance. After all, why would they mess with a Ghost Type trainer who shut down all who tried to get close?

But of course, Izuku doesn’t get the memo.

Mainly because he knows more than that. He knows that while she may put up walls and close people off, she really, really wants to be a normal kid. She just wants a friend, but she wants a genuine one, not one that worked solely for their own agenda. And, quite frankly, it seems he’s the only one who is willing to be that person. His other classmates have already given up on her, not even trying to understand her reasons. And he’ll never tell anyone else of her desires, one, because that is a serious invasion of privacy and totally not cool to do, and two, because nobody will believe the quirkless kid anyways. They’ll call him a liar, delusional.

But he knows it is the truth. Knowing how people truly feel is one of the perks of having a Pokemon partner that can read people’s emotions and aura, after all.

“Boulregard, wait up!”

“Boulregard, where are you eating lunch today?”

“Boulregard, can you tell me more about Unova?”

“Boulregard, how do you feel about heroes?”

“Boulregard!”

He doesn’t let up. He will break through those walls if it’s the last thing he does. After all, it’s a hero’s job to make people happy, right? He doesn’t need Rio to see how lonely she sometimes looks, how she seems to want someone to talk to other than her own Pokemon. He’s been in that place multiple times himself. So no matter how many times she gives him the silent treatment, no matter how many times she looks at him like he was a particularly special brand of Stupid, no matter how many times her Gengar plays tricks on him as a warning that she’s starting to tire of his presence, he will always come back. Yes, he is shy. Yes, he rambles too much. Yes, he’s little, useless Deku.

But that won’t stop him from making sure no one ever feels the same suffocating loneliness he once felt. That won’t stop him from doing his best to be the hero he has always wanted to be.

oOo

Ascian decides that Izuku Midoriya is stupidly persistent, incredibly stubborn, and most importantly, annoyingly nosy.

He comes to her every school day, refuses to leave, and asks her these dumb ice-breakers she’s heard a million times. It doesn’t help that she sits literally right behind him in class. Calcifer can only do so much before he realizes that unless he does actual harm to Izuku (and God forbid he do that—Ascian may be cold at times, but she would never stoop to the same level of a bully), the freckled boy will not falter. Hell, Calcifer has actually stopped pranking Izuku altogether, and now seems to actually enjoy his visits, the damn traitor. He’s intrusive, and the most infuriating part is that she doesn’t understand what game he’s playing. His eyes are different than everyone else’s, and she doesn’t know why.

And that’s what she finds the most unsettling.

She likes to think she’s good at reading people. She’s grown up surrounded by professionals who know how to mask their thoughts well—if she was going to survive in the ocean of sharks, she had to know all the little cues. She knows what all the other students think when they see her. They only want power, they only want fame and self-gain. She’s lucky that they still haven’t caught on to who she is yet. Their eyes are hungry, even if they themselves may not realize it yet. But his eyes are just…

(Well, they kind of remind her of Gin’s, but that’s stupid, because Gin is a special case.)

She doesn’t know what it means, and that is what sets her on edge. What does he want? Why does he keep talking to her? She can’t figure him out.

He had started like all her other classmates, asking things about her like her quirk or her family. Like all her other classmates, she met him with silence. But while all her other classmates choose to drop the nice act and ignore her now that they think she can’t provide what they want, he’s still here . He continues to ask about her quirk. She continues to meet him with silence. And instead of prying further or leaving, he always brushes it off, and begins to talk about something else. Something that wouldn’t reveal personal information but could still leave room for her to chime in.

Why is he still here? Why is he so insistent on getting to know her? Why is he still being nice to her? Why does he still smile at her, like he knows everything that she does and yet something that she doesn’t? How come he’s so insistent on getting to know her, but easily brushes off his own questions when she doesn’t answer? Why does he still continue to talk to her about pointless nonsense even after she shoots his questions down?

It’s times when she asks herself these questions that she can’t help but also wonder about the little things she’s noticed. Why is he always scribbling it that notebook of his? Why does no one else seem to hang out with him? Why does he always flinch at every call of his name, of every loud sound? Why does he always smile and lend a hand to everyone, even though they visibly don’t want help from the quirkless boy, even though they sure as hell don’t deserve it for the way they treat him? Why does he just let people bully him, never going to a teacher or adult for help? Why does he call Katsuki “Kacchan” with such reverence, and why does the aggressive ticking time bomb of a child, in turn, call him “Deku” with such disgust? Why does he only have two Pokemon on his team, when he can catch more like the rest of their class chooses to do with relative ease?

(Though, the last question is a bit hypocritical, considering she only has three Pokemon, one of which the rest of her class didn’t know about yet.)

He’s too kind for someone that’s treated the way he is. There’s no way that it’s genuine, she decides. There’s something else to Izuku Midoriya, there has to be. She doesn’t believe, refuses to believe, that someone being treated this poorly can still be so...so friendly , so kind , without an ulterior motive. All of that negativity directed toward him, all of that blatant disdain and animosity, it would have turned anyone bitter, would have turned anyone guarded. Ascian knows she sure would have.

(Ascian knows Gin certainly did, before the Boulregards found him.)

Maybe he’s a good actor. Maybe he plays the role of a weak, quirkless boy to get people to underestimate him. Maybe he hides his hate, his anger, under a smile or a face of fear, so when the day comes that he has enough power, he can catch everyone by surprise. It wouldn’t be the first time it has happened. Maybe he thinks that by hanging around Boulregard, people will be too scared to pick on him when she’s around. Maybe to him, she’s only a shield, a protective charm to use to save his own hide.

But if that’s the case, then why does none of those ideas feel correct whenever he gives her that stupid, blinding smile? Why is it that when she looks at him, the first person to come to her mind is Gin? Why is there a small, quiet part in the back of her mind telling her that there’s definitely something more to him, but none of it is actually bad ?

…The boy is a mystery, one that won’t leave her alone.

oOo

“Why do you insist on being so nice to me?”

Izuku startles. He looks up, blinking at Boulregard as Rio follows with equal surprise. They are in the nurse’s office. Earlier during lunch, a rampaging Onix had crashed into school grounds. Boulregard and Izuku had been the closest at the time, and the girl had immediately bolted into action. Izuku admired that, how easily she reacted to the situation. It took him a good two minutes to realize what was happening before he called out Nara and hurried to the scene with her. By the time he got there, Boulregard had already called out her Gengar and Mismagius and was handling the situation with a determined look in her eyes while the other students had flown into a panic.

They worked with little to no complications, and Izuku had enough time to wonder if he had a right to jump in and interfere when the Onix used Rock Throw. It didn’t hit any of them, the Pokemon were too quick for that and Boulregard had more time to react, being at a safer distance. Unfortunately, while she had dodged a stray rock, she seemed to have landed on her foot wrong and crumpled to the ground. Izuku had reacted without thinking, moving in front of her fallen form with Rio while he sent his Vibrava up to help fight.

It’s a blessing that her Gengar and Mismagius are a lot stronger than they appear. The Onix was subdued not too soon afterwards and was sent away by the time the faculty arrived. They hurriedly checked up on them, and ordered Izuku to take Boulregard to the nurse’s office upon seeing the scrapes on her legs. She had protested, claiming she was fine, but they were insistent that she go anyways.

And thus, there they are.

Boulregard had been silent for most of the trip, and didn’t say a word even as she was being checked up. Now that the nurse is gone checking on the rest of the students for any injuries, she had still been silent, but Izuku could feel her eyes burning through him. Her Gengar and Mismagius had been idly flittering around the room, occupying their minds, and Izuku was more than content to just gaze at them and mentally jot down more notes of their behaviors when she asks the question.

“...What do you mean, Boulregard?”

“What do I—?” she makes a noise of frustration, and waves a hand between the two of them. “This. Us. You, being so nice to me. I know you’re not that dumb, Izuku.” He feels his fingers twitch. He still isn’t used to her calling him by his given name. “And I know that I’m not exactly the friendliest person around. So why do you keep trying to hang out with me?” Her eyes narrow. “Why are you always being nice to me?”

He fidgets under her accusatory stare, shifting his weight from where he sits on the chair. A vague part of him wonders why she is so guarded, wonders what could make her so closed off and unwilling to believe that people do nice things because they want to, but he saves that for another time. Instead he thinks about her question for a moment, trying to figure out how to properly state his answer. Boulregard’s Gengar and Mismagius stop floating around, and are now focusing their attention on Izuku, just as eager to hear what he has to say. Rio is silent, wondering how the girl will react to his trainer’s reply.

“...Because it’s the right thing to do,” Izuku finally admits, wringing his palms. His voice is quiet, but full of a finality that he doesn’t often feel. “Because in the end, no matter where you come from or what kind of person you are, you’re still just a kid like the rest of us. A kid who’s in unfamiliar territory, a whole ocean away from home, with no familiar faces around her except for her Pokemon. No one deserves to be alone like that.” Then, in an even lower tone, almost too quiet for Boulregard to catch, he adds, “ I should know .”

Silence follows. Boulregard is still staring at Izuku, but with less intensity than before. Something shifts in her attitude, though Izuku cannot place it. Instead, he chooses to change the subject. He looks up as he feels a presence draw near, and finds that Boulregard’s Mismagius has drifted closer to him. He holds out a cautious hand—he knows by now that her Gengar is quite the prankster, but her Mismagius is still a bit of a mystery to him since it rarely leaves its Pokeball—and the Ghost Pokemon eyes it for a thoughtful moment before floating forward and nuzzling it. Izuku smiles.

“You know, you’re a very impressive trainer, Boulregard,” he compliments with all sincerity. “I saw how you commanded your Pokemon earlier, it was very impressive! And the way you battled Kacchan a while back and won with only two Pokemon, that was so cool! I thought Kacchan was strong, but he was nothing compared to your Gengar and Mismagius!”

Boulregard is silent for a couple more moments. But this silence is thoughtful, like she is contemplating something. Then, she speaks.

“...Calcifer and Kiki.”

Izuku blinks owlishly, shifting his gaze from her equally surprised Mismagius to the girl who has switched her gaze to the window.

“...Pardon?”

“Their names,” she clarifies. She’s still not looking at him, but her voice is no longer cold or accusatory. It’s civil. It could almost pass as...friendly. “Calcifer the Gengar, and Kiki the Mismagius. My aunt gave me Calcifer, and I caught Kiki in Unova when I was a little girl.”

It takes Izuku a moment to digest the meaning behind her words. When he does, his smile is bright enough to rival the sun. “Ah, so you must have a lot of trust in each other! That explains why you all work so well together.”

A short nod. “And you? It’s not every day you see a Shiny Pokemon.”

She’s swerved off the topic of her personal life again, but it’s still an invitation to continue the conversation. He takes it without missing a beat, and silently pats himself on the back for a step forward in the right direction as he retells the story of how he met Nara as a Shiny Trapinch. Rio, also seeing their success, hops up onto his lap, and listens to the conversation with a happy, knowing glint in his eye.

Boulregard has started to open up.

oOo

Izuku Midoriya is still a mystery, in her opinion. But she’s starting to think that he’s not as convoluted as she had originally believed him to be.

“There there, buddy, I’m not gonna hurt you!”

Ascian pauses mid-step at the sound of Izuku’s familiar voice. It’s late into the afternoon, the sky is a dusky orange with the sun making its slow crawl towards the horizon. The low light casts long shadows over the street and across the houses, giving Calcifer enough room to jump between and really stretch his legs. He doesn’t like staying still in Ascian’s shadow, but he’d take that over being confined in his Pokeball for the whole day. The neighborhood she’s in is small and quaint, and there’s hardly another soul on the street. Night will be falling soon after all, and there is still school the next day, so most people are already heading home.

So what is Izuku still doing here?

Perhaps that’s a bit hypocritical. After all, she’s also out and about at this hour. But to be fair, she had only just gotten back from some extra studying in the local library. She hadn’t realized the time until she looked up, and even now she was hurrying to make it back to the diner before supper. So that begs the question: what’s Izuku’s excuse?

Curiosity wins out in the end, and she rounds the corner to where she still hears his voice. Calcifer pops up from her shadow, intrigued as well, and follows her heels. She finds him crouching down beside an opening that leads to the crawl space of a run-down, abandoned house, with a bag of what she thinks are Pokeblocks beside him. One look at a sign sticking up from the dying lawn tells her that the building has already been sold, and remodels are probably in its near future. Izuku’s voice draws her back to him, and she approaches to get a better look. He seems pretty invested in whatever is underneath the crawlspace. His phone is out, illuminating the darkness underneath the house, and he sounds like he’s muttering words of reassurement. His Riolu, who is usually so diligent on staying by his trainer’s side, is nowhere to be seen.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

He squeaks, dropping his phone in the process and shrouding the crawlspace in darkness. A startled noise from underneath the house tells her that the Riolu is down there. A growl that doesn’t sound like a Riolu’s is heard from underneath as well, and Ascian has the sneaking suspicion that Rio isn’t alone. Izuku whips his head up, blinking wide-eyed at Ascian before he remembers that his Pokemon is still in the crawlspace and scrambles to shine a light again. The growling stops, and Ascian can hear Rio making soothing noises.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here, Boulregard,” is the first thing Izuku says to her once he steadies the light. His voice is low, and he gives her a sheepish smile.

“I could say the same,” Ascian replies easily. She tilts her head. “I’ll ask again, though. What are you doing?”

His smile turns embarrassed as he uses his free hand to rub the back of his neck. “Well, uh, see…” he struggles to find the right words, before continuing. “There was this wild Poochyena, a couple of mean kids were kicking her around,” he explains, pointing to the illuminated darkness below. “I was able to get them to stop with Rio and Nara’s help, but then the poor pup ran away. She looked injured, though, so I followed her all the way here but now she’s holed herself up at the very back of this crawlspace and won’t come out.” He picks up a Pokeblock from the bag, tosses it into the darkness. “I’ve been trying to coax her out with some Pokeblocks, but she’s still kinda shaky so I don't want to frighten her any more by getting too close for comfort. Though, I let Rio go in since he’s pretty good with calming down other Pokemon with his aura. We’ve almost got her out.”

She stares at him as he coos to the Pokemon once more. It’s then that she notices how worn the ground is underneath him, how dirt clings to his school uniform. “How long have you been here?” she asks.

Izuku hums, and rolls another well aimed Pokeblock into the darkness. There’s shuffling, then crunching followed by encouraging noises from Rio. “It’s been about...an hour? And a half I think? I was out in town buying stuff for approximately an hour, the Pokemon Battle with the kids took about ten to twenty minutes, tracking the Poochyena took twice that long, so… Yeah, about an hour and a half.” Izuku shrugs. “Situations like these take time and patience. I have enough of both.” He spares Ascian a glance, and gives her a quick smile before returning his attention to the Pokemon.

She examines him for a long moment, and he shifts under her gaze. “I see.” She eyes the evening sky. The sun’s getting lower and lower in the horizon, and it’ll be dark soon. She could walk away, leave him be. The walk home to the diner wouldn’t be too bad, and her grandmother is no doubt waiting for her return. Dinner’s probably being made at this moment, so if she heads home now, she can finish her homework by the time her meal has been prepared. But…

But she has to admit, she’s kinda curious.

“Mind if I join you?”

He turns and stares at her for a moment, and she wonders if she said something wrong. But he shakes his head quickly, before rushing out, “Not at all!”

She settles herself down beside him as he scoots to make room. She pulls out her phone to briefly text her grandmother and inform her that she would be coming home a little later than planned, then she pockets it. She reaches for a Pokeblock, and tosses it into the darkness. Rio purrs, and she hears crunching and a low rumble from the Poochyena underneath.

They stay there for another ten minutes or so before the Poochyena finally decides that she’s willing to drag herself out and let Izuku touch her. With very slow and calculated movements, he manages to maneuver the Pokemon so that she’s resting in a comfortable position in his arms. He’s careful not to jostle her injuries, and though the pup is watching all of them with dubious eyes, it makes no aggressive movements.

“There we go,” Izuku soothes. He runs feather light touches through the Poochyena’s fur. “See, we won’t hurt you. We’re here to help.”

The Pokemon huffs, and settles a little more in his arms. Izuku directs his smile at Ascian. “Thanks for the help, Boulregard!”

“My pleasure.” She eyes the injuries and feels anger and disgust well up inside her. People can be really shitty sometimes, she decides. Then her eyes study Izuku’s face. She also decides, despite her previous conclusion, that there is still some hope. “What will you do with her now?”

“Oh!” Izuku lights up. “My mom actually works at a Pokemon Center! She’s pretty good at treating Pokemon so she taught me some of her skills. I’ll just take her home with me and patch her up, then I’ll send her back to the wild, good as new!”

“Ah.”

She shifts awkwardly. Conversation has never been her strong suit. She’s more of a “speak when spoken to” type of person. It’s a habit she had developed at an early age, with all the eyes set on her. Don’t say anything you don’t need to—a good motto when surrounded by power hungry politicians and aristocrats. Less so when with fellow peers.

Izuku looks at her when the silence drags on, and gives her a hesitant smile. “You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to,” he assures, as if reading her mind. “I don’t mind.” He nods down to the Poochyena, who yawns in turn. “I’m gonna head home to get this little one healed up. You should probably head home too—you don’t want to worry your parents!”

Her grandmother, actually, but she supposes it’s the thought that counts. “Yeah. I guess.” She slings her bag over her shoulder and turns away. She pauses, then raises a hand in a tentative wave. “I’ll…be seeing you, then.”

Izuku beams. “Mmhm! See you tomorrow!” He turns away, mumbling reassurances to the little pup in his arms that seems to be growing fonder and fonder of the boy by the second. Rio laughs.

With social interaction out of the way, Ascian lets out a sigh as her shoulders relax a little more. She starts on her way home, Calcifer wafting along by her side. She texts her grandmother to inform her that there will be no more detours. Not too soon after, her grandmother asks what got her sidetracked in the first place.

(The image of her freckled classmate cooing words of encouragement to a Poochyena in need of help flashes through her mind. His face and presence scream nothing but kindness. She finds herself smiling at the memory.)

She tells her that it’s nothing, just an injured Pokemon. Then she pockets her phone and makes her way home, feeling a little lighter than before.

oOo

Izuku pauses outside the classroom door and readies himself for another day of hell. Rio grips his pant leg protectively, eyeing the entrance with mistrust. He takes a deep breath, slides open the door, and scuttles over to his desk with a meek greeting. Kacchan hasn’t arrived yet, so maybe it won’t be that bad. He prays to Arceus he won’t be noticed, prays that maybe he can have a quiet, calm morning, but life isn’t so forgiving. As he goes to sit, another student snatches his chair away. Izuku finds himself surrounded by three classmates. Two boys, one girl. They’re sneering at him. One boy—Nagayubi, his quirk is extremely flexible fingers—takes a seat in the desk behind Izuku’s. He can hear the low, threatening rumble in Rio’s throat, but he knows his Pokemon won’t do anything as per his own request, not until they make the first move. So instead, Izuku does what he does best.

He analyzes.

As they taunt and ridicule him, he assesses his current situation. Nagayubi has always teased him relentlessly, ever since Kacchan first started doing it when they were around four or five. He hasn’t let up since, not even when Kacchan wasn’t around to be ringleader. Jokyome can remove his eyeballs from his skull. Not exactly the most pleasant looking quirk, but it won’t cause much harm to Izuku in the long run. The girl, Honokawa, has the most frightening quirk of the three. It’s not too dissimilar from that of a flamethrower, in that a column of flame just shoots out her wrist. But she doesn’t use her quirk on other people and mostly leaves Izuku alone unless egged on by others, so he thinks that if Nagayubi and Jokyome stop, she’ll leave him alone too. Taking into account their Pokemon—a Tangela, Parasect, and Magby, respectively, all of which are exceedingly loyal regardless of morals—Izuku doesn’t like his chances of escaping this encounter without a new bruise or two.

“Oi. are you even listening to me, you quirkless loser?”

He squeaks as unnaturally long fingers bunch the front of his shirt between each other and yank him forward to face Nagayubi. Rio makes a leap towards him but the Tangela ensnares him in its vines. Honokawa and Jokyome both close in on him, and Izuku mentally prepares himself for another injury to hide away from his mother later.

But then the desk on which Nagayubi has his free hand placed on jerks with a loud bang and screech, and the sudden movement causes him to roughly release Izuku in surprise. He drops to the floor in an ungraceful heap and glances up with what he knows is a flabbergasted look on his face. No one in their right mind would ever stand up for him, so who…?

He catches vivid magenta eyes, and gawks up at Boulregard. Her foot is raised, and he realizes with a jolt that she had kicked the desk. She lowers her foot, a scowl evident on her face. Calcifer rises from her shadow and glides over to the Tangela, who drops Rio upon his approach. The class goes eerily quiet while Izuku scrambles to his feet.

Nagayubi takes initiative. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growls, placing his foot on the chair he had previously sitting on in an attempt to look a bit more assertive.

Boulregard is having none of that, apparently, because she hooks her ankle around one of the chair legs and yanks it back in her direction. Nagayubi stumbles at that, and Izuku decides that compared to the look Boulregard is giving the long-fingered boy, he doesn’t seem so threatening anymore. “You were blocking the way and sitting in my desk. It’s annoying,” is her monotone answer.

Honokawa sticks her nose in the air and sniffs, but Izuku can hear the nervous tremble in her voice. He doesn’t blame her. Ascian exudes a natural aura of intimidation. “Didn’t—Didn’t your mother ever tell you that it’s rude to interrupt a conversation?” she snips.

“Funny, didn’t your mother ever tell you that it’s rude to harass a person?”

“Well—He’s quirkless!” Jokyome protests, but even to Izuku, who has been used to that explanation being a green light to go on throughout the years, the argument sounds a lot emptier than ever before.

(Boulregard’s face looks neutral, but Izuku can see the sudden fury that flares in her eyes. He wonders why it riles her up so much.)

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” she deadpans.

That seems to tick Nagayubi off. “What, so you’re defending the quirkless loser now?” he exclaims incredulously. Izuku can feel the rest of the class shuffle backwards, but their eyes are all on Boulregard now. Nagayubi points an accusing finger at Boulregard, and his statement seems to empower him a little more. “Know your place, newbie! Just ‘cause you’re a foreigner doesn’t mean we’re gonna bend over backwards for you! I dunno how you do things in America, but you can just mind your own damn business!”

His words embolden Honokawa to speak. She sneers at Boulregard. “Maybe all quirkless people like to stick together?” Her suggestion changes the air of the room, and even without Rio Izuku can sense that it’s downright predatory. Honokawa’s grin is condescending. “Is that it, Boulregard? Are you just a quirkless wannabe trying to play hero too?” The others soon follow her sneer. Nagayubi looks absolutely triumphant. Izuku gulps. Is that why she was always dodging the subject of her quirk?

Nagayubi opens his mouth to taunt her, or perhaps insult her, maybe even both. But then Boulregard laughs, and the sound is unsettling. When she looks at the three again, her eyes are no longer magenta. The right one is a dull violet, and the left a burning red full of spite. Then her entire being seems to distort, and molds and bends into something frightening and grotesque. Fear seizes the room within seconds, but no one can move a muscle, watching in morbid fascination as the stuff of nightmares replaces where Boulregard once stood while shadows lick the walls and floors. Izuku almost screams, but Rio is by his side in an instant to ground him down and calm him, and strangely so is Calcifer. The shrieks he hears tells him his classmates aren’t so lucky.

And just as quickly as it happened, it ends.

The mirage is gone, and her eyes have gone back to their normal color. There’s no nightmarish illusion, just a girl shrouded in even more mystery than ever before. It is Boulregard’s turn to sneer. “In your dreams ,” she drawls. She fixes her desk almost as if nothing happened, then plops down onto her chair with her arm draped over the back. “Now, be good little students, and leave .”

When they continue to stare at her, frozen to the spot, she makes a fake lunge at them. They scramble backwards, stumbling over their own two feet. They scuttle quickly to the other side of the room with their Pokemon in tow, their tails between their legs as they nurse their wounded pride. The class is silent, and when Boulregard raises her head to issue a challenging glare, no one meets it. Izuku still has no idea what to say, so he chooses to stare at Boulregard even as Rio and Calcifer retrieve his chair and coax him into it. Once that matter is done, Calcifer sinks back into Boulregard’s shadow. No one says anything for what feels like eternity, but eventually the slow murmur of conversation starts back up, everyone eager to forget about what just went down.

(Or at least, pretend to forget. They’ll all wait for Boulregard to be out of hearing distance before they start discussing.)

But with no one to talk to, Izuku’s mind is on overdrive. This is the first instance of Boulregard ever revealing her quirk—at least, he assumes that’s what that was. Is it some sort of illusion? A mental based quirk? Was there some deeper meaning behind the color change of her eyes? Is there an aspect she didn’t reveal yet? Can—

“You’re muttering all that aloud, you know.”

Izuku squeaks, and slaps a hand over his mouth. He dares not turn to face her, too embarrassed to show his face. He thinks he hears her chuckle. It doesn’t sound condescending, so he thinks he’s still on okay terms with her—for now.

He’s itching to pull out his analysis book when Boulregard speaks to him in a voice low enough for no one else but Izuku to hear. “Sorry. Didn’t really want to do that, but I couldn’t think of any other way to make them get lost.”

Izuku shifts, a bit at a loss as to what to say. He hardly ever gets apologized to, it’s usually him doing the apologizing, so you’ll have to forgive him for being a little awkward. “It’s fine, really. Thank you for, you know, standing up for me.”

“Don’t mention it.”

They lapse into another silence after that. Izuku takes a deep breath to work up his courage then asks, “Boulregard? I know you don’t like people asking about your personal information but...what is your quirk, exactly?” Quickly, he adds, “You don’t have to tell! I’m fine not knowing, and I know you like your privacy so…”

He trails off, afraid he’ll be met with a scathing retort, or perhaps a cold shoulder. But instead, Boulregard pauses, contemplative for a moment, before she taps his shoulder. Tentatively, he turns around to face her. She has a look on her face that Izuku doesn’t exactly know the name of—it’s like a mix of amusement, curiosity, hesitance, and awkwardness all at once. “Tell you what,” she bargains, and Izuku can’t help but perk up. Was she really negotiating information with him? “Every day, I’ll let you ask three questions about my quirk. They have to have yes or no answers, and you can only ask them at lunch because I don’t want to be distracted during class. I’ll give you honest answers, and if you can correctly guess the basics of my quirk, I’ll go in depth to how it works. Sound like a deal?”

Izuku can’t believe his ears. This isn’t just a bargain for information—this is also an invitation to sit with her for lunch . But he’s not one to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth, so he practically beams at her. “Y—Yes! That sounds wonderful! Thank you, Boulregard!”

Things are looking up.

oOo

A month passes by in a blink of an eye, and soon it’s already late October. Autumn’s in full swing, and the trees are a beautiful mix of reds, yellows, and oranges. Kiki’s feeling uncharacteristically playful today, so Calcifer humors her and kicks up piles of leaves for her to dance around in. Rio and Nara are quick to join the fun, and the four entertain themselves while Ascian and Izuku talk as they make their way home.

Ascian finds that Izuku isn’t all that bad, once she decides to give him a chance. The first thing she learns is that he is a fanboy, through and through. He is an endless encyclopedia of both hero and Pokemon knowledge, but it’s no bombshell revelation when she learns that his favorite heroes are All Might for his endless bravery and Red Yamaguchi for his quirkless status and kickass Pokemon team. He is, by nature, a curious person, and can’t help but follow after whatever question or train of thought happens to grab his attention. He’s also quite smart, if the way he’s been quickly breaking down the basics of her quirk was anything to go by. She’s honestly quite amazed; she’d thought it would take him longer, but he’s already close to figuring it out. Ascian also learns that Izuku is kind to a fault to both people and Pokemon, though she supposes that’s not much of a surprise.

Ascian wonders briefly how she could have ever thought otherwise. Paranoia, she presumes ruefully. She returns her attention to Izuku when he asks of her opinion on Endeavor, the current Number Three. The not-so-pleasant memory of a video call between him and her parents briefly surfaces in her mind, and the way Ascian’s face screws up is all Izuku needs to know. Indignantly, she makes a sharp quip that may or may not equate him to a dumpster fire, and Izuku sputters out a chortle of surprise.

They talk like that for a few more blocks before they have to part ways. Izuku waves them goodbye while Nara chases Rio around his legs, and he laughs at them when he starts his trek home. Calcifer and Kiki call out their own goodbyes, before returning to the leaves dotting Ascian’s path. The crisp autumn air tousles Ascian’s hair and uniform, and she brushes a few strands behind her ear.

They pass by the residential area, and she watches as kids run around with their friends and Pokemon. One kid trips in front of her, and Calcifer is quick to help him up. The boy smiles thankfully, before running up to his mother where she’s setting up Halloween decorations. The sight of the cartoonish Zubats and pumpkins carved to look like Pumpkaboos reminds her that her birthday is coming up. It will be the first spent away from her parents, and the thought makes her a little lonely.

Almost as if reading her thoughts, Calcifer and Kiki both appear by her sides and squeeze themselves under her arms. She laughs, giving both of them affectionate rubs. “I’m fine,” she reassures. “I’ve got the two of you and Fukuo, as well and Grandmama and her Pokemon. And I’m sure my parents and siblings will call. And you know Archer will pester Chris to do that just so she can congratulate me turning into an old coot.” They purr, and she smiles. The mention of Chris makes her wonder how her sister is doing in Alola. Probably getting into trouble with Archer and Ceneri, and Lykos and Kaito no doubt have to bail them out. She almost feels bad for those two, but she’s sure they’ll manage. The five of them wouldn’t be a team otherwise. Ascian wonders if she’ll ever be part of a hero team like that. She doubts it, since she only has one friend here in Kanto.

A sudden thought comes to mind. “Who knows, maybe I’ll even invite Izuku over to celebrate,” she muses. Her Pokemon cheer at that idea, and Ascian laughs. It doesn’t sound to bad, if she’s being honest. It’d be nice to have a friend over for once. She’s sure her grandmother would be ecstatic to meet the one person Ascain managed to become friends with in her new middle school. The image of Izuku becoming a regular at the restaurant pops into her mind. Ascian can’t quite deny how appealing it is.

Speaking of, the restaurant is just coming into view. She slows to a stop in front of it, moving her arms away from her two Pokemon to free them. She slides open the doors of the diner and steps inside. “I’m back, Grandmama!” she announces. She’s about to greet the regulars that are always there around this time, but stops short. The diner is uncharacteristically quiet—there isn’t the usual hum of pleasantries and small talk, nor is there the tell tale sound of her grandmother and her Pokemon working in the kitchen. She looks around, and sees that only the regulars are in today. And yes, they’re regulars for a reason, but usually there are one or two passerby. But no—it’s just a small handful of familiar faces, and they’re all huddled up together in a single table. They all go quiet when they notice her, and don’t utter a word.

“...What’s going on?” Ascian inquires, and does her best to keep her voice level as Calcifer and Kiki drift curiously behind her. “Where’s my grandmother?”

They don’t meet her eyes, not even Yong-Mi Park, the girl her age from another school who she’s become friendly with after her repeated trips to the diner. Then Ol’ Tokei steps forward. He’s the clockmaker from across the street that her grandmother has known since she was a child, and he’s famous for being such a curmudgeon. Now though, he seems paler than usual and his signature scowl is replaced by a worried frown.

“Kid...your granny just got a call from your sister overseas. There— Something went really wrong down in Alola.”

oOo

Izuku doesn’t know where he went wrong.

“Just leave me alone , dammit!”

Boulregard sprints away, Calcifer rushing to sink in her shadow before she gets too far, and leaves Izuku in the dust with his mouth ajar. His hand is raised, reaching out to where she had previously been. His eyes are wide. He tries to call out to her, to at least say her name idiot call her back , but no sound comes out. His hand falls to his side. Pathetic .

He takes a breath. He needs to calm himself. Look, think, figure out where he went wrong. He thinks back to what happened. He needs to pinpoint the reason of her anger. Not the trigger, but the actual source .

As far as he can tell, it had started about a week ago. Though Izuku knows she isn’t the most talkative of people—he understands now that it was more of that she doesn’t know what to say to hold a conversation than an actual dislike of it. Socially awkward, he had realized early on. However, ever since the two of them started hanging out more often, she had begun to chime in more, and even when she didn’t, she seemed to actually care about whatever nonsense he was spouting. But for the past week, she had been eerily quiet, unresponsive. Her eyes were cold again, guarded. In the rare moments when she couldn’t properly mask her emotions, all Izuku could see was pain. He asked Rio about it, but it seemed that Boulregard had caught on to his trick, for whenever Rio’s antennae-like appendages went up, she quickly sped away. When he directly asked her what was wrong, she ignored him, and walked the opposite direction. He was getting really worried.

And it wasn’t just the silent treatment.

She started eating less and less during lunch, to the point where she barely even touched the food that was always so deliciously prepared for her in a nicely wrapped box (and he certainly doesn’t miss the sweets discreetly tucked in the very corner of the box, no doubt some sort of comfort food). Bags were starting to form under her eyes, and he wonders how much sleep she has been getting, if any. She has become a bit more snappish lately, too.

Izuku knew that she needed some more time to sort things out before she could properly tell him what was wrong, so he thought that maybe if he talked about more lighthearted stuff or things she enjoyed, he might be able to take her mind off of whatever was troubling her. He talked about Pokemon, foods, general stuff, nothing too deep. Today he had chosen the topic of heroes.

That, Izuku realizes with a sudden jolt, was his first mistake.

He scolds himself for being so stupid. He should have seen it, the way she tensed when he broached the topic. But he brushed it off. His second mistake. He had always been too eager about the topic of heroes, and he knew that she also loved it too, judging by the way her eyes practically sparkled whenever he brought up famous Unovan heroes like Alder or Drayden. So he continued, deciding to stray away from the discussion of older events and talking about what had happened in the hero world in the past week. His third mistake, if the way Calcifer shot him a panicked look he didn’t remember until now was anything to go by.

His fourth and final mistake? Talking about the failed rescue operation that left the rising star heroes Apples and Ashes in critical condition.

The second he brought it up, Calcifer cringed. Boulregard had whirled on Izuku, her eyes the most murderous they’ve ever been as one flashed a pale bluish-purple and the other burned red red red—

“Don’t you ever know when to shut up?!”

“B-Boulregard—?!”

“Arceus Almighty, how bloody dense are you?! Get away from me! Stop following me around like a stupid lost child, and get lost! You’re so goddamn annoying! You’re like a pest that won’t stop buzzing around my head no matter how many times I swat you away!”

“B-but, wait, I—”

“Just leave me alone , dammit!”

Izuku turns and bangs his head on the wall so hard that Rio yelps from beside him, quickly pulling his trainer away and checking to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself too badly. “ Stupid ,” Izuku mutters. “ Stupid, stupid, stupid… ” He turns, lets his back hit the wall, and slides down. Rio, not needing to read his aura to know his trainer is distressed, crawls into his arms. Izuku lets him, and once the Pokemon is settled, the boy hugs him tightly to his chest in an attempt to make the gnawing dread in his chest go away. “I’m so stupid, Rio,” he admonishes quietly as they sat there in the empty school hallway. Rio only whines in sadness.

Izuku screwed up.

oOo

Ascian screwed up. She didn’t mean to snap at Izuku, didn’t mean to drive him away, didn’t mean to destroy the one good friendship she had here goddamnit stupid stupid STUPID—

She felt the sting of tears, and furiously wiped at her eyes. She hadn’t cried in years , but this past week seemed to be her breaking point. The dreadful news spilling from her distressed grandmother’s mouth, the resulting days of being left in the dark without a word from her sister, the way her only friendship was crumbling to dust because she couldn’t keep track of her goddamn emotions —

The tears fell harder now, and little hiccups were making their way out of her mouth. Calcifer rose up from her shadow, and plopped himself onto her lap from where she sat on her bed. She took the invitation, clutching him close and holding onto him like her life depended on it. She muffled her whimpers against his body, and he made soft noises of comfort. Kiki slipped out of her Pokeball, and let her tendrils brush against Ascian’s shoulder in feather light touches. Fukuo’s Pokeball twitched, wanting to come out but knowing he shouldn’t.

Ascian couldn’t stop thinking about all that went wrong, all that she did wrong.

She shouldn’t have taken her anger out on Izuku. He didn’t know. How could he know, when she had always been so tight-lipped about her family? How could he know that talking about heroes wasn’t the best idea with the situation she was in?

How could he know that Apples and Ashes were actually her sister’s best friends, that she knew them as Archer and Kaito and they were just as much of siblings to her as Chris and Nico, that Ascian was an ocean away and had no idea if they would make it through another night, that she was so scared, frightened, sick to her stomach at the thought of losing the people she called family?

The ironic part? Now she might lose yet another person she cared about because she was careless, she was too emotional, she was stupid stupid stupid—

(…It’s been years since Ascian had cried. But she would be lying if she said that her eyes weren’t red, that her pillow wasn’t soaked when she went to bed that night.)

oOo

Izuku decides to look closer at the incident that night, in the darkness of his room.

He begins searching for any leads, any information about the pro-heroes Apples and Ashes. It’s not too hard, what with the media blowing up about it even a week after.

Real names are Archer Just and Kaito Nadir. They are young, just graduated and debuted a few months prior, but incredibly skilled in both heroism and Pokemon battles. Part of the famous Caladbolg Agency in America, and members of Team Idunn with around two to three other heroes, namely their fellow newbie Arachne and the more experienced heroes Guardian and Hunter. Quirks are friction manipulation and the ability to negate all other quirks within a certain radius, respectively. They’re fluid in their fights, and know how to work around Ashes’ quirk. The rescue operation wasn’t meant to be anything too dangerous—it had been a normal hostage situation. Everyone thought the two of them could handle the single villain.

No one had taken into account the quirk of the hostage himself.

The hostage was just a kid, barely five. He had been frightened, Apples and Ashes tried to calm him down while they figured out how to get him out. But the kid freaked half-way through. His quirk manifested.

And oh, what a quirk it was.

It caused mass destruction. The exact details of what his quirk is is left out of most accounts of the incident, mainly because no one is quite sure yet. But what is evident is how it slashed everything within a fifty foot radius. When backup arrived, neither the villain nor the child were anywhere to be found.

What they did find were the bloodied bodies of Apples and Ashes as well as their frantic Pokemon trying to pull them out of the rubble, still alive, but barely.

From what Izuku understands, the two heroes are still in critical condition. Everyone’s still unsure if they’ll make it out alive. They’re all praying for their full recovery.

Izuku bites his lip. That still doesn’t explain why Boulregard reacted the way she did. He goes back through the information. The two heroes only recently graduated. He looks up the school, but it’s in the Alola region, not Unova. Boulregard vaguely mentioned someone named Chris in Alola, perhaps a sibling from what Izuku could guess from context clues, but never elaborated. He’d have to dig deeper.

What about the people they worked with? He searches them up. The Labyrinth Hero: Hunter. His quirk allows him to pick locks, sense and disable traps, and create a map of his surrounding area within a certain radius. Specializes in Dragon Types. Hails from the Fiore region. Comes from a very prestigious family of heroes. His family is one of the two sponsors of the Caladbolg Agency. True name is Ceneri Estiva.  Not much of a lead there.

The Shield Hero: Guardian. Her quirk gives her the ability to create a protective field around herself or others that she can manipulate however she wants. Specializes in Ice Types. Born in the Sinnoh region. Not much is known about her family, but she’s apparently childhood friends with Hunter. True name is Lykos Von der Nacht.

The Ailment Hero: Arachne. She can inflict one of many ailments onto a person so long as she scratches or pricks them with something she imbued with her quirk, such as her nails or the rapier she always brings into battle. Specializes in Poison Types. Born in Unova. Also comes from a prestigious family of heroes. Graduated alongside Apples and Ashes, apparently childhood friends with Apples. Her family is the second sponsor for the agency. Full name is Christina Boulregard—

Izuku feels heart stutter to a halt.

Christina Boulregard . Chris. Her sibling. Childhood friends.

Izuku pushes his chair away from his desk, the legs giving a screech of protest. Rio and Nara look up from where they lay on his bed and give him a curious look that shifts to concern when they see him bury his face into the palms of his hands.

Idiot.

oOo

Archer and Kaito are fine.

They are okay, they are recovering, and most importantly, they are alive .

Chris calls Ascian after nearly two weeks of silence, sounding tired but so unbelievably relieved to tell her little sister that her best friends pulled through. Ascian has never heard so much emotion in her sister’s voice—not even after what happened with Bennett—and it’s enough to make her tear up herself. The call is short, in the end. Chris has been working herself ragged trying to track down the hostage and the villain from the incident, but both somehow went off the grid, and quite honestly she needs a good rest after nearly two weeks of little to no sleep. Ascian agrees, finding that she is just as emotionally exhausted as her sister. She sleeps a little easier that night.

She calls Chris periodically for the next few days, asking if she is alright and wondering about Archer and Kaito’s condition. Chris confesses to Ascian on the third day after she had first called that she didn’t tell her the whole story. When Ascian presses, a hard lump forms in her throat when Chris explains in a quiet voice that Archer can no longer see through one of her eyes and Kaito was down an arm.

Ascian hangs up shortly after.

The fifth day she works up her courage and requests a video call with Archer and Kaito. Chris obliges almost immediately, saying with strained humor that Archer was about to go crazy being stuck in a hospital bed. She apparently threatened that if she doesn’t see a fresh face soon, she’d probably nosedive out the window in rebellion. That earns a startled laugh from Ascian. At least she knows Archer hasn’t changed much.

She isn’t prepared for what she sees, though. Kaito is heavily bandaged, with scars running across his skin and thin tubes connected to his one arm. The other is no longer there. (And yes, Chris told her, yes she knew, but that doesn’t stop the blow from hitting her hard.) Archer is hardly any better. Her body is in a similar condition, and a nasty, jagged scar practically covers the left side of her face. Her left eye, once so vibrant and full of fire, is now murky and unfocused.

Kaito offers her a weak smile and his Scizor nods at her from where she stands beside him. Archer gives a grin and an over exaggerated wave while her Decidueye hops up onto her shoulders.

Ascian doesn’t like crying in front of others, not even her own family, but she can’t help the sobs that tore through her throat.

It’s like a dam has been broken. All the emotions and thoughts she has been holding back comes flooding out into tears and barely comprehensible words. Sadness. Fear. Anger. Relief. Guilt. She was overwhelmed with despair upon hearing what had happened, she was so scared to lose them, she was mad that the world seemed intent on finding good people like Gin and Archer and Kaito and causing them such unnecessary amounts of pain, she was so relieved when she heard they were alright, she had felt so guilty because they are there suffering and she is an ocean away and there isn’t a single damn thing she can do to help God, how useless —

Archer, brave, headstrong, wonderful Archer scoffs and waves it off, assuring her in the most gentle way she can despite being, well, her , that Ascian is being stupid for blaming herself for anything, really. Kaito does a much better job at assuring her, bless him, and offers soothing words to calm her sobs. Chris stays in the back with her Skuntank, simply nodding along to whatever Kaito says. She was never good with words, still isn’t, not even towards those of her own blood. That was more Nico’s thing. Ascian suspects that it only runs in the females of the family.

Archer decides that she doesn’t like the gloomy atmosphere, and skillfully changes the subject and talks about their misadventures that didn’t involve sadness, that she knew would draw a smile or laugh from the middle schooler. Kaito pitches in, either to explain how it really happened so Archer doesn’t make him look absolutely lame or to join in on the over exaggerations if he feels that it’s more amusing than the real story. Chris decides that she’s much better at stories than words of comfort, and most of the absolutely absurd tales come from her in the typical deadpan voice she’s always had.

Ascian finds herself forgetting all of her problems in that moment.

oOo

Izuku notices the sudden shift in Boulregard’s mood.

She no longer drags her feet. The bags under her eyes are getting lighter and lighter, and they’re on the verge of disappearing. She stands a little taller now, and she no longer radiates an aura of despair, according to Rio. All in all, her funk seemed to have passed.

So why couldn’t he bring himself to say anything?

It had been over a month since Boulregard’s outburst. They haven’t spoken to each other since. Izuku didn’t want to lose what little trust he’d gained from her, didn’t want to lose the fragile friendship they’d been slowly strengthening, but what could he do? He should talk to her. Yes, that was the only thing he could do, really. But what would he say? What if she got angry again? What if she actually saw him as a pest, that the reason for her outburst was more than just what had happened to Apples and Ashes, that she genuinely hated his presence?

What if she hated him just like Kacchan?

( You’re a coward , whispers a little voice in the back of his head. He doesn’t know if this voice is meant to help him or taunt him. He thinks it’s both.)

Izuku doesn’t want her to hate him. He wants Ascian to know he’s there for her. He wants to talk to her so badly but…

But every time he thinks of going up to her, all he can think about is Kacchan’s fury, and the white hot pain whenever he gets too close.

( A coward , the voice repeats. Izuku decides that it’s just there to taunt him.)

oOo

It’s only after Archer asks about her life in Kanto that Ascian realizes she’s been a jerk to Izuku this whole time. She hasn’t even apologized to him for her outburst, and now that she’s finally pulled herself together, she hasn’t even done a single thing to mend their fractured relationship. How does one even mend a friendship on the brink of destruction? Is it even possible? What does she say? What can she say? She doesn’t even know where to start.

Fate seems to finally be smiling down upon her, though, for she finally finds her chance to make things right when she finds Izuku in the midst of fending off Pokemon poachers.

It’s an unfair battle. It’s two against one, or rather four against three if you count both trainers and Pokemon. Izuku’s good, but he’s still a beginner, and he’s pretty outnumbered and at a clear type disadvantage. One has a Gliscor and the other owns a Beheeyem. Take into account that they clearly have no qualms about using their quirks on a quirkless middle schooler, it spells disaster for Izuku.

Fighting haughty bullies is a whole other playing field compared to fighting actual criminals, and Ascian knows better than to try her luck no matter how confident she is in her skills. So if you can’t battle them with the certainty of victory or a guarantee of zero punishment, then you use fear as a shield. As she ducks behind a tree, she pulls out her third Pokeball and throws it out. Just as the opposing Pokemon is about to lunge, a flash of red blinds them for a quick moment, and when the three unsuspecting battlers look back, there is a Golurk standing in defense of Izuku and his Riolu and Vibrava.

Fukuo may not have had any face-to-face interactions with Izuku, but he’s watched enough from his Pokeball to understand his purpose for being called out so abruptly. So he takes a single, menacing step forward, and the ground beneath them shakes. He makes a hollow, ghastly noise, and although he is not her strongest he is certainly her scariest, so that’s all it takes to make the poachers turn tail and run. Fukuo does not make chase—he knows there is no need to—so instead he turns to Izuku.

The trainer makes an admirable effort to seem fearless, really he does, but even Ascian can see his shaking from where she hides. Rio shifts a little closer to Izuku, and Nara lands herself on his shoulder. It almost makes her laugh, in all honesty, how nervous he is, but she understands where he’s coming from. She isn’t afraid of Fukuo simply because she’s had him since he was a Golett, and she knows that by nature he’s actually a very docile Pokemon once danger passes. But she supposes that no one else would know that by a first glance.

Deciding to spare him any more quivering, she steps out. “You don’t have to be so scared. Fukuo’s one of mine.”

Izuku practically jumps out of his own skin as he whirls to face her. He blinks rapidly at Ascian. “B—Boulregard!” Her words seem to catch up to him, and he looks back and forth between her and the Golurk, who waves with intentional slowness. “This—It—They—You—?”

“Saved your ass? Yeah, you could say that.” She raises an eyebrow at him. “Mind explaining why you were battling a pair of Pokemon Poachers by yourself?”

Almost as if in response to her question, there’s a very miffed cry. Ascian doesn’t know how she missed it beforehand, but it’s then that she notices his uniform jacket rolled up into a suspicious lump in his arms. The lump then struggles, before a mass of green pokes its way out of the cloth. A pink flower follows—one Ascian recognizes as a Gracidea thanks to the friendly neighborhood florist from her childhood—and soon enough Ascian finds herself absolutely stupefied when she realizes what Izuku has wrapped up in his black piece of clothing.

“Izuku. Is that a Shaymin?”

He looks guilty. “…Mmmmaybe?”

She opens her mouth to say something, but she’s honestly at a loss for words. I mean, what exactly is the appropriate response when a kid who already owns a Riolu that knows Aura Sphere pre-evolution as well as a Shiny Vibrava suddenly has a Mythical Pokemon in his arms? She wonders if Arceus is behind all this, thinking this is a hilarious joke for one reason or another. If so, she’d like to personally meet him and ask Hey, Maybe, What The Hell?

She takes a deep breath. Okay. Mythical Pokemon aside, what is the logical thing to do when someone is attacked? “Are any of you hurt?” she decides on first.

Izuku doesn’t seem prepared for the change in subject, as is obvious when he flounders a bit before replying. “Ah— Um— the Shaymin was hit pretty hard a couple of times before I could jump in to help, and my Pokemon took a bit of damage so…”

She doesn’t miss how he skips over his own well being, so she does her own assessment. He’s got scratches and bruises here and there, but he looks fine otherwise. As he said, though, his Pokemon will probably need to get patched up somewhere. But…

“Hey, you said your mom taught you some healing skills, right?”

“Uh? O-Oh, yeah! What about it?”

“Do you live nearby? We should take this little guy to your place to get patched up.”

“Huh? W-why not just go to the Pokemon Center?”

“There’s a Pokemon Tournament today, remember?” She had actually been on her way there before she found them. Pokemon Battles have always been her specialty, and she was hoping that the tournament would give her better competition than the kids at school. She has no doubt Izuku was also on his way there—he’s always been a sucker for these things, but honestly, who wasn’t?—before the poachers caught his attention. “The Pokemon Center will be super busy. I doubt the Shaymin will want to go somewhere bustling with more people after it was just attacked by humans.”

The Shaymin in his arms makes another shrill cry to agree. Then it turns its nose up to Izuku and huffs, tugging his shirt demandingly with a sour look on its scrunched up face. Ascian wonders briefly whether Shaymin is actually the attitude Pokemon rather than the gratitude one. “I think it’s two to one here.” She gestures at him. “Lead the way, Broccoli.”

His face turns red, and he stutters something out that she can’t quite discern. Nonetheless, he returns his Vibrava to her Pokeball and manages to pipe out a high-pitched “This way!” and starts his trek homebound. Ascian also tucks Fukuo away with a quick smile of gratitude before falling into step behind Izuku. In full honesty, she didn’t necessarily have to go with him. But she wasn’t sure if those poachers would come back, and she doubts that Izuku would be able to fend them off by himself. Best not to take any chances.

The walk to Izuku’s home is short and silent. He lives in a plain-looking apartment complex in a peaceful little area. His residence is located on the top floor of the second building. It seems simple enough, and the area is rather quiet and empty, so Ascian is mildly surprised when Izuku pushes open the door to his apartment and a little less than a dozen Pokemon call out their greeting to him. She stands there, a little stunned by how many Pokemon litter the hallway alone. When they notice her presence, they watch her warily and shrink a little back.

Izuku smiles nervously at them all. “Boulregard is a classmate of mine. She and her Pokemon won’t hurt any of you, I promise.” They relax a little, but eye her dubiously nonetheless. Izuku shifts the Shaymin in his arms, who huffs in return. “We have a new guest today, so please be careful!”

He smiles back at Ascian and leads her deeper into the apartment. She shuts the door gently behind her, sharing a look with her Gengar as they follow him in. She blinks when she finds even more Pokemon in the living room area. They’re scattered everywhere—resting on the countertop, lounging on the couch, napping beneath the table. She doesn’t miss the fact how most of them are bandaged or scarred, either. Like the ones in the hall, the Pokemon that are awake watch her every movement until Izuku reassures them that she’s alright. They mind their business after that, and Izuku hurries to set the Shaymin on the couch so he can find some medical supplies.

Not knowing what to do with herself, Ascian stands by the arm of the couch awkwardly. She takes in her surroundings. The Midoriya residence is plain and modest. One could mistaken it for a regular household were it not for all the Pokemon lounging about. Not including those she saw in the hallway, there are little more than a dozen Pokemon in the living area alone. She spots a Pidgey with a bandaged wing resting on the tabletop. Sleeping by the TV is a Psyduck with a scar running across its forehead. An Ekans with a bandaged abdomen disappears into the hallway.

Izuku and Rio return soon, holding a first-aid kit for Pokemon as an Espeon and Skitty trail behind them. The Skitty skips past her and hops up onto the couch, mewling playfully at the Shaymin. It eyes the Skitty, judging its bounciness, before making an indiscernible noise and turning away. The Espeon weaves around Ascian’s feet, sniffing her curiously while Izuku kneels down on the floor to be level with the Shaymin. With nothing else to do, she sits down beside him on the floor and props her back against the couch. Arceus Almighty, can this get any more awkward?

As Izuku starts tending to the Mythical Pokemon, the Espeon clambers onto her lap. She lets it, and complies when it nudges her hand as a clear indicator that it wants to be pet. Ascian runs her hand through its lilac fur, and laughs a little when it purrs.

“Aren’t you just a friendly little one?” she jokes. The Espeon mewls, and looks up at Ascian.

Her smile drops immediately.

The Espeon’s eyes are murky and dull. They’re pointed at Ascian’s face, but they don’t focus. Ascian doesn’t think they can .

“What—?”

“Abusive trainer.”

Ascian’s attention snaps to Izuku. She’s seen him upset before, but only in the way that makes you pity him because he looks like he’s about to cry. This, though, is something else entirely. He doesn’t look at her, but there’s a steely look in his eyes, one filled with disgust and almost disbelief. It’s almost unsettling, only because she never expected such a meek kid to wear a look like that.

“I found Hitomi here as an Eevee, a couple of years ago,” he continues. “She was beaten and abandoned by her trainer, as far as I could tell. There was a Pokeball shattered to pieces in front of her, so I can only assume that her former trainer smashed it right before her very eyes.”

He finishes applying a bandage to the Shaymin. The Pokemon, however, seems to have forgotten its own injuries, instead just as enraptured by Izuku’s story. Izuku motions for Rio, and the Riolu jumps on the couch to get his injuries treated silently.

He presses on. “She was barely alive when I got her to my mom. She was malnourished and heavily injured; it took more than a year to finally get her healthy again. And even then, she had been rendered permanently blind.” Hitomi whines a bit, pawing at Izuku as if she was trying to get him to cheer up. He absentmindedly strokes her head as he finishes up with Rio. “She’s become used to using her psychic powers and other senses to get around. She lives with us now, and is an official part of my mom’s team.”

Izuku pulls out Nara’s Pokeball while his Riolu hops down. Rio nudges the Espeon, and she playfully chases him around the living room area. Izuku still has more to say though as he starts the final treatment on his Vibrava. “A couple years before that, I found Nara. I told you about it briefly, remember? But I only told you part of it, about how I met her at the park. She was only a Trapinch at the time, but…any shiny Pokemon is bound to catch the attention of Poachers, no matter what evolutionary stage they’re in. It was after an…encounter with Kacchan and his other friends. Things didn’t really go well for me, and I remember being sore all over. I think Nara had just escaped from the Poachers, but she was still pretty injured. Despite that, she came over to make sure I was okay. I brought her home with me to get her treated, and she’s stuck around ever since.”

Izuku ties a bandage around Nara’s abdomen, and in no time she’s in the air and following Hitomi and Rio. Izuku smiles, and looks around the room. “All the Pokemon here have similar stories. Abandoned, mistreated, abused—I take them here to get them healed up. Lots of them like to stick around. We don’t catch them—most prefer to stay wild Pokemon, and that’s totally fine—but it’s pretty common for them to come around and hang out, even after they’ve gotten better.”

The Skitty yowls insistently at Izuku, and he chuckles as he picks it up and places it on his lap when he sits on the couch. The look in his eyes is gone, and he has that nervous energy again. He gestures to the spot beside him. Hesitantly, Ascian takes it. Calcifer is hovering behind the couch, just as absorbed with the story.

“...The way you’re speaking,” Ascian ventures softly. “Are...are there more of them? Other than the ones that are here?”

“Lots,” he admits sadly.

“How long have you been doing this?” Because he said he brought in Hitomi a couple of years ago, and Nara years before that. How many Pokemon has he treated?

Izuku thinks for a moment. “...Ever since I got Rio, after I was diagnosed quirkless.” He tilts his head in thought. “Somewhere after my fifth birthday, I think.”

“Since you were five ?” That makes eight years of caring for mistreated Pokemon. She vaguely wonders how many in the house have been around since the beginning.

Izuku shrugs. “When you’re quirkless, you’re only hope in the world is Pokemon.” He runs his fingers through the Skitty’s fur. “I want to be a hero, so I always try to see the best in people. But I’m not blind. Humans can be cruel, and mean, and nasty for no reason other than because they want to. I know from first-hand experience. And yet, I won’t let that stop me. I’m going to do everything I can to save people and Pokemon. Without a quirk, the best I can do is train my team and help those I can. But that’s okay. If that’s all I can do for now, then so be it. I can’t turn a blind eye to them.” He finally turns to Ascian, and gives a grin. “That’s the essence of being a hero, right? Butting in even when it isn’t your business, just so you can help someone out?”

Ascian can’t find the right words to say at the moment, so instead, she just nods. They fall into another silence after that, both of them stewing in their thoughts. The Shaymin decides that it’s bored, apparently, so it decides that now is a good time for a nap. It seems to tolerate Izuku—whether it’s because of the story or for treating its injuries or even both, Ascian isn’t sure—so it balls up right next to his lap and closes its eyes.

Izuku scratches the back of his neck. “...How— How are your sister’s friends?”

Ascian stiffens.

Izuku cringes. “I—I’m sorry. I got curious about the way you reacted, so I did some research… You aren’t just any kid from America, right? You’re—your sister is the heir to the Boulregard name. And...she was friends with Apples and Ashes, the ones that were injured. I heard they survived, but…”

Ascian takes a deep breath. She owes him this much, at least. “Their names are Archer Just and Kaito Nadir,” she explains quietly. “I’ve known Archer ever since I was a little kid. Her parents are one of the few people outside the Boulregard bloodline that my parents wholeheartedly trust. She’s...reckless, and loud, and arrogant, but she means well. She and Chris were practically inseparable. Kaito came in during their first year in the hero course, but he’s just as loyal. They’re like family to me.” Rio and Nara finally return. The Fighting-Type pulls himself up beside his trainer, and the Vibrava lands herself on the couch armrest.

Ascian purses her lips. “That’s why...that’s why I was so worried when I heard about what happened.” She casts a side glance to Izuku, who’s now listening very intently. She averts her gaze and continues. “I’m sure you know by now that I’m not exactly the most...sociable of people. And...and I know I have trust issues; that’s just how I’ve grown up. So...so I was so scared of losing one of the few people that I actually trusted. And even now, things are still a bit hard.” She hesitates, but presses onward. He’s bound to find out, one way or another. “Archer can’t see through one of her eyes anymore. Kaito lost an arm.”

A gentle hand on her shoulder makes her flinch, but she doesn’t move away. She looks at Izuku, and it almost looks like he’s about to cry. (An empathetic crier, she’ll soon come to find. But that’s for another time). “I’m really sorry,” is the first thing that leaves his mouth. “I was being insensitive and dense when I brought the topic up.”

Ascian blinks. Was he really trying to apologize ? “I should be the one apologizing,” Ascian argued. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, and it took me so long to work up the courage to even talk to you and when I did, you had to be the one to bring up the topic.”

Izuku blinks right back at her. “No—But—I should have seen the signs. You were obviously really stressed, I should have just left you alone!”

This is getting them nowhere. But Ascian is not a quitter. “You were just trying to be a good person. I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you!”

“But I was the one that made you mad!”

“I shouldn’t have gotten mad in the first place!”

“You had every right to be mad!”

“But I shouldn’t have taken it out on you!”

“But—!”

The Shaymin, true to its nature, promptly wakes up and yowls at them to shut up. Izuku clamps his mouth shut. Ascian looks at him smuggly.

“I got the last word. So I win. Therefore, it is my fault.”

Izuku barks out a startled laugh, and Calcifer and the Skitty chortle with him. The Shaymin decides it’s had enough of their nonsense and jumps off the couch to wander the room. Nara follows, bugging the Mythical every step of the way. Ascian smiles. It feels like a weight has been lifted off her chest. She hopes that this has settled everything.

“Boulregard?”

“Yeah?”

“Do...Do you think we can go back to how we were before?”

Ascian pauses. “No,” she decides.

Any hope Izuku seemed to have deflates in an instant.

She smiles. “But I think we can be better than that this time around.”

It’s amazing how quickly Izuku Midoriya can bounce between emotions. And how quickly his eyes can fill with tears.

“Oh my god, please don’t cry.”

“I can’t help it! You can’t spring something like that on a person and not expect them to shed a tear or two!”

Ascian laughs, and Izuku laughs along with her. Calcifer bobs over the couch and settles himself on the other side of Ascian, grinning at this newfound friendship. Though, as their laughter dies down, there’s a question that Ascian still wants answered before they move on.

“Hey, Izuku? Why, exactly, were you so friendly with me anyways?”

Izuku looks at her once his chuckles fade and tilts his head quizzically. “What do you mean, Boulregard?”

“Before all of…this,” she tries to elaborate, waving her hands between them and obviously referring to her ever growing friendliness towards him. “Why were you so… insistent , for lack of a better term, on getting to know me? You answered something like that before, but there’s more to it, right? I remember my first day, you looked at me weird. Why was that?”

Izuku looked up in thought for a moment. The Skitty curls up in Izuku’s lap, and Rio drapes himself over his trainer’s arm. Nara buzzes back into the room, landing on Izuku’s head

“Well,” he begins slowly, trying to figure out how to word it. “I— Well, it was partially because Rio told me how your aura radiated a craving for normality.”

Ascian’s recognition flashes through her eyes. Ah, so that’s why the Riolu had read her aura so intensely the first time.

“And you were a new student, so I figured it was only right that I helped you adjust. N—not that you wouldn’t have been able to do it by yourself! You’re probably one of the most adaptable people I’ve met—although, you sometimes don’t seem to know a few of the basic stuff, which I can only assume is because you live such a privileged life—B-But there’s nothing wrong with that! A—and it doesn’t make you any less intelligent! But, well, I mean, you just looked so lonely at times, and I was too, and I didn’t want anyone else to feel like that, and yeah, I know that I was a little overbearing at times and probably really annoying, but I guess I was just really excited and I really wanted you to be my friend, and—”

“Izuku,” she interrupts. His mouth clamps shut when he realizes he had been rambling, squeaking out an apology not a moment later. Rio makes an amused noise, giving his trainer a sympathetic pat. Ascian has grown used to his mumblings. She actually finds it rather amusing, just another one of his defining traits.

She shakes her head, straightening her back a little more and placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for not giving up on me,” she says solemnly.

He processes her gratitude for a moment, before he gives a bashful smile. “Ah, um, I should be thanking you! For, you know, opening up to me! I know I can talk a lot at times, as I’ve already demonstrated, and sometimes I get too invested in my thoughts that I don’t notice it, but you were really nice to put up with me for so long, even though you were probably perfectly aware that associating with the quirkless kid wouldn’t be good for your repu—”

“You’re doing it again.”

“ Ah ! Sorry!”

Ascian chuckles, and they lapse into silence again as he covers his burning face with his hands. She’s honestly grateful, though. She was afraid that her time leading up to UA would have been completely meaningless, that she wouldn’t get anything out of it. And yes, while it was not what she expected it to be, she can’t say that she regrets her decision—after all, Izuku is fun to be around. She no longer has to occupy her mind with only training and studies, no longer only has her Pokemon beside her. Now, she has a friend to do normal teenager stuff with. And quite honestly, she never knew how relaxing it could be until Izuku barreled into her life.

She pauses though, as his wording beforehand catches up to her. “What did you mean, ‘partially’?”

“Eh?”

“Earlier. You said it was ‘partially because’. Why only partially? What was your other reason?”

He stares at her for a moment longer, processing the words. Then his face turns beet red, and he hides in his hands again. Rio snickers cheekily, reaching up to poke at his trainer’s hands, to which the green haired boy swats away in embarrassment.

He mutters something she can’t make out, and she frowns. “What was that?”

Izuku lowers his hands, and repeats shyly, “When you called me by my first name, I kind of assumed at first that was your way of telling me that I wasn’t exactly unwelcome without having to outright say it yourself.”

She stares at him. “...I’m not following.”

Izuku sheepishly rubs the back of his head. “Yeah, I kind of figured you wouldn’t know.” Seeing her raised brow, he elaborates. “Um, well, notice how I address you as ‘Boulregard’. In Japan, calling someone by their given name is a bit informal, and it’s usually reserved for good friends. And even then, there are honorifics for those, such as ‘-kun’ or ‘-chan’. Calling someone by their given name without any honorifics typically indicates that the two are very, very close to one another. Almost like best friends, I guess.”

Ascian processes the information for a moment. “Huh,” is all she says. Maybe she should have studied a little more on formalities.

Izuku gives her a sheepish smile. “If you want, I can help you with learning more about the honorifics and formalities. I figured that you didn’t know much about it, since I’ve heard that in kids in America are more casual with their names. And you’ve done so much for me, I have to repay you somehow! I’d be more than happy to help you out, Boulregard—”

“Ascian,” she corrects.

He falters for a moment, and even his Riolu gives her a curious look. “Uh— I— What?”

“Just call me Ascian.”

Izuku blinks for a few more moments, before the realization dawns on his and his partner’s faces. The smile that follows is practically blinding, and Ascian resists the urge to shield her eyes. “Y—Yes, Ascian-san!”

“No— I—” Ascian lets out a noise of frustration, and flicks Calcifer when he begins snickering at her inability to properly communicate. “Just. It’s just Ascian. Drop the honorifics. I mean, I think that’s only fair since I’ve never used honorifics for you, Izuku .”

A pause.

“And besides. We’re friends , right?”

She didn’t think it was possible for his smile to become any brighter.

But it did.

“Of course, Ascian-sa— Of course, Ascian!”

Izuku Midoriya is stupidly persistent, incredibly stubborn, and annoyingly nosy. But he’s also unflinchingly loyal, unbelievably perceptive, and impossibly kindhearted. Put together, those are the best qualities of a hero. Ascian Boulregard decides that no matter what, she wants to see that hero make it big in the world.

Ascian is thirteen years old when she befriends Izuku Midoriya