Chapter Text
It took a week of private research and introspection, along with several more talks with the Wild, Wild Pussycats to ask some questions (and how crazy was it that the Pussycats were just a phone call away?), but eventually Midoriya was sure. It took another couple of days to find a name she felt not just okay with but genuinely happy; in the end, that one had come from Pixie-Bob, even if it took some convincing for Midoriya to accept that a name combining the characters for ‘beautiful’ and ‘blossom’ could apply to someone like herself. About a week and a half after meeting her heroes, Midoriya Misaki was ready for one of the scariest moments of her life. If she’d thought fighting a villain was hard, that fear was nothing compared to the fear of coming out to her mom.
Sure, Misaki knew intellectually that Inko wouldn’t throw her out or anything. At the same time, emotionally, Misaki still wasn’t over her father’s disappearance, and even if she was, apparently it was pretty normal to be afraid about something like this. That didn’t mean she could avoid doing it forever, if she wanted to do anything about it before she turned eighteen; she also didn’t think she could bear keeping a secret like this from her mom forever.
It was a quiet Sunday when she walked out of her room, her resolve steadied. Her mom was in the living room, watching some kind of show--Misaki didn’t register what it was, but the music was pretty catchy. Maybe it’ll help to have something cheery going on while we talk about this? She hoped so, anyway.
“Um, mom? Th-there’s something I need to talk about,” Misaki started nervously.
“Oh, of course, dear,” her mom answered, turning to give Misaki her full attention. “What’s going on?”
“Well, you see…” Misaki rubbed the back of her neck nervously, trying to think of how to say it. “You know that--that thing that happened, with the Wild, Wild Pussycats and all?” Inko nodded, and Misaki continued, “Tiger gave me something to think about after that. Um…”
Her mom was just watching her, waiting with a patient smile as she let her child think it all out. That was always something Misaki appreciated, that her mom was willing to give her the time. Her thoughts always ended up jumbled for serious things.
“I think… um, I might be--that is…” Misaki paused and took a few deep breaths, putting the words together in her head. “I might be… transgender? I think that’s the right word?”
Inko didn’t react for a moment, but after that, she just smiled. “Oh. That… actually makes a lot of sense.”
“Wait, really?!” What about that made sense? What--what gave her away? It was confusing, surprising, but at the same time it gave her a deep sense of happiness, knowing that she’d really had signs before then. That she wasn’t imagining things.
“Well, yeah. I always knew you were different from--well, different from the boys you’d spend time with. It was only ever little things, but I tried to do my best for you after…” she didn’t finish the sentence, but Misaki didn’t need her to. Neither of them liked talking about the day she’d found out she was Quirkless.
She’d broken for a long time after that, and her mom never forgave herself for it, as far as Misaki could tell. Which was silly, it wasn’t her fault Misaki was born wr--born like she was! (Tiger’s talk about loving yourself was still ringing in Misaki’s ears days after a particularly heavy night’s call.)
“Mom,” Misaki spoke softly, reaching out to pat her mom’s shoulder as the woman started to tear up. “It’s okay. It’s always been--it’s okay.”
“Thank you, sweetie.” She wiped her tears up with a tissue, and then looked up at Misaki. “So--do you, um, do you have a name picked out already? What gender, what--tell me everything? How did you find out about this?”
Misaki nodded, already feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “I’m a girl, and if--if you’re okay with it, I think ‘Misaki’ would be a good name. And it all comes back to this brooch we found on vacation.” She tapped the item in question as it hung off her shirt, and started telling the story of that fight and the conversations she’d had since, careful not to leave anything out.
“And you’re sure about this?” Inko checked, and Misaki hesitated before nodding. And then Inko was smiling again, as bright as the sun. “You know, I’d always wanted a daughter. I should’ve known I already had one the whole time.” And that set both of them off, crying as they hugged each other.
It took a little while after that to get Misaki on Hormone Replacement Therapy for her medical transition, but the Pussycats were able to expedite things a bit using their connections; this was, according to Mandalay, something they did often to help people who needed help getting these kinds of things. While it was a little later than the ideal, she’d be able to stop at least some of masculine puberty and start changing her body to how she should be.
Speaking of the Pussycats, they were able to give Misaki a couple of places to go for self-expression. First was their mountain--and how cool was it that they owned a mountain!? There, she could not only be open about who she was and experiment with self-expression, she could also transform with her brooch to get more comfortable with her new power. There were only ever small changes that came with the transformation, like her hair growing out into a ponytail and make-up forming, but that was still enough to help Misaki feel better about herself. Training with the Pussycats was hard, but always worthwhile, too--and the girls of the team were glad to help her learn stuff she’d missed out on being raised as a boy, too. They quickly became a second family for her, and her mom got along with them all too--especially when they all started bonding over the magical girl DVDs that Misaki’s mom brought for everyone as a chance to “study Misaki and Shoal Reef’s history.”
The second place she could go to be herself was actually a support group in Musutafu for LGBT+ people. People like her, who weren’t quite what society thought of as ‘normal.’ There was a general meeting day, an adults group, and a youth group (which was the one Misaki attended). People came and went, some only showing up once every couple months while others came every week. Misaki went every week she could, and made fast friends with some of the people there. Most of the time, it was just a chance to get away from everything and hang out somewhere people understood , and that’s really all it needed to be. The times when someone came in with a problem, asked for advice, or in any way needed help and support, the whole group came together to talk about it and find solutions to whatever was wrong.
Of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows. Going back to school was more hellish than usual; sure, she’d actually fought some kind of villain and lived, but her classmates and teachers were so used to putting her at the bottom of things that most of them just went right back to it. Picking on her for her girly costume, her weapon, anything they thought might sting. It worked, too, for a while, and Misaki was glad she hadn’t decided to come out to people until high school, if she could avoid it. If they were this bad now, how much worse would they be if they had that sort of ammunition to work with?
It was kind of inevitable that Bakugo would come after her eventually; if anything, it took longer than she expected it to.
Kacchan managed to corner Misaki after school near the end of June, after an unusually quiet month between the two of them. It was just after school, and Katsuki had made it clear that he’d come looking for her if she didn’t show up. It felt like she was walking straight into the maw of hell, but there she went, squeezing the straps of her backpack tightly for some kind of support.
They met up behind the school, and if warning sirens weren’t going off in her mind they sure were when she saw her childhood ‘friend.’ Friends don’t tell each other to kill themselves, right? Were we ever really friends? Being who he was, of course he looked angry at her, but it was on a whole other level from his usual self.
As soon as Kacchan saw her, he stomped over and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. “Don’t get so full of yourself, shitty Deku,” he growled out, making her wince. Somehow, that name stung more than it used to. “You might’ve gotten lucky finding that damn trinket, but you’re still nothing without it! You’re a worthless Deku, and you’re always going to be a worthless Deku.”
“Th-that’s… That’s not true!” she protested before she could stop herself.
Smoke started to rise off from his fist at that. “The hell it ain’t! You’re just wasting those heroes’ time by getting them to try and shape up a fucking nerd like you!”
Misaki stared at him for a few seconds, trying to figure out what brought this on. The only thing she could think of was… “Wait--Kacchan, are you really that upset I got caught up in a villain attack before y--” she was knocked on her butt by the explosion that tore her collar.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP! I would’ve decked that bastard before he could even do anything! Why the hell should a loser like you get the spotlight?!” He stepped towards her, pulling back his fist--the right, as usual. “You fucked up my big entry to U.A. already!”
Misaki rolled out of the way of Kacchan’s signature right hook, scrambling to her feet. “What--Kacchan, what the heck!? I was just trying to keep someone from getting killed!”
“And you got in my way!” He swung again, and again Misaki got out of the way. “I was supposed to be the only one who got any attention out of this shitty school! You and everyone else?! You’re just pebbles on my path to being number one!”
“N-not anymore,” Misaki mumbled, shaking with fear.
“Say that again, fucker!” Oh gods, it’s getting worse. “I SAID SAY IT AGAIN, DEKU!” Another swing, but this time…
“I said I’m not going to be a pebble on your path anymore!” Misaki said, ducking under the punch and striking out with one of her own--hers connected, hitting Kacchan on the cheek and pushing him back. “I’m going to be a hero, Kacchan. Just like you!”
“You just keep pissing me off!” Kacchan pulled back for another swing… then shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. “You know what? We’ll settle this then-- if you can get into U.A., we’ll fight there.” He dropped his fist, turning to walk away.
Well… fuck.
Training got more intense after that, because of course she told her mentor about the challenge Kacchan gave her. On the plus side, they were more than confident she’d be able to get into the school. According to Mandalay, they were planning to send her to the Recommendation Entrance Exam, instead; as a group, they held the 32nd spot on the Hero Billboard Chart JP, which was apparently more than enough to secure their little sister a slot in that exam. Of course, this had the bonus of avoiding Kacchan entirely on the one day he’d be able to really cut loose with his Quirk.
So they kept preparing and training, along with everything else. Along the way, Misaki’s wardrobe got changed out for one with more feminine clothes, and she ended up getting more WWP merchandise either as gifts from her favorite team, or from her own allowance to support them.
Eventually, the time finally came. The time to prove to herself and the world that she could be a hero.
Misaki was nervous. Of course she was--who wouldn’t be? It was the morning of the entrance exam, and her first time being so openly herself out in public. She’d thought about heading out in a skirt or a cute top before, but she still had another month before she didn’t have to worry about her class from Aldera Junior High stumbling across her. Besides, while she had changed some since starting on hormones, she hadn’t changed enough to be completely unrecognizable--especially when those changes were happening around the same people she wanted to avoid.
She walked out of her room, wearing an apple-green long-sleeve shirt with the text for ‘shirt’ printed on the back and a beige skirt that went a little past her knees with black leggings underneath, her feet covered with matching black socks. She picked a black choker up off the shelf on her way into the living room, putting it on with some difficulty.
Misaki’s mom turned as she walked into the kitchen, setting out a plate of breakfast food. “Good morning, Misaki,” Inko greeted with a smile. “Eat up! I know you’re going to do great today, but you’ll need your energy to see you through to the end, right?”
“Right.” It took a moment to settle her stomach enough to get breakfast down, but she managed.
After they’d both had breakfast, Inko gave one last check to make sure Misaki was ready, and smiled. “You’ve been so much happier these days. I’m glad that you met those four, and--I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thanks, mom,” Misaki smiled back brightly, giving her mom a hug, then slipped into her pink high-top sneakers and left the apartment.
Walking to the station was nerve-wracking, but Misaki made sure to keep her head up and eyes forward. If you look like you have something to hide, people will look harder to find out what it is , the support group facilitator had explained. If you look like you’re supposed to be doing whatever you’re doing, nobody’ll look twice. Surprisingly, it seemed to work pretty well! She was able to pay her fare and ride out to U.A.’s campus without incident.
The Wild, Wild Pussycats were at the front gate in regular clothes, waiting for her. They all smiled when they spotted her coming over, and Tiger gave her a thumbs up. “We sent word ahead to the faculty; they should all know what name and pronouns to use.”
“Okay, kitten,” Ragdoll said with a mischievous smile. “Remember, just like we practiced.”
“D-do we have to?” Misaki asked, looking around nervously. Nobody had spotted them just yet.
“Well, yeah. Here, let me tell you a secret--the reason we all still do it isn’t just marketability.” Ragdoll’s smile grew a little more genuine and kind. “It helps us, too. After all, it’s hard to be embarrassed about anything else, if that’s the kind of thing you do when people first see you. I used to do it and think ‘well, it can only go up from here.’”
“Oh.” It did make a sort of weird sense. Owning your behavior like that. Maybe… she should try it?
“Yeah, ‘oh.’ So, ready to knock ‘em dead, kitten?”
“I… yeah, I think so.”
“Great. Let’s go find somewhere to get dressed, and for you to transform. We’ll blow everyone away.”
The day had been pretty quiet, so far. Heroes and the students they were helping apply for the school were all gathering, preparing and waiting for things to get started. That changed when someone kicked open the doors to the room where everyone was gathered and started shouting.
“LOCK ON WITH THESE SPARKLING EYES!”
“WE’VE COME TO LEND A HELPING PAW!”
“FROM NOWHERE, WE ARRIVE!”
“STINGINGLY CUTE AND CAT-LIKE!”
“F-FOR ALL THOSE WHO CRY OUT FOR HELP, WE ARE--”
“THE WILD, WILD PUSSYCATS!”
There were a few different kinds of reactions, among the people gathered.
Yaoyorozu Momo didn’t really feel intimidated or impressed by the appearance of yet more heroes--though she did respect them, she’d already grown used to the idea of heroes a long time ago. Instead, she was curious about the girl kneeling in front; there weren’t a lot of girls in the exam, so having someone else she could try to connect with was encouraging.
Yoarashi Inasa was, predictably, fired up by the boisterous entrance. He’d even joined in on the final line!
Honenuki Juzo grimaced slightly at the addition of yet another rival, and one so well-prepared at that, from the look of things.
Tokage Setsuna wasn’t too worried, grinning as she got ready to fight for her seat in the Hero Course.
Aizawa Shouta, however, just knew that this was going to be his problem if the new kid made it in.
Misaki? Misaki was pretty sure she was going to die from embarrassment, with so many people watching her. It was, in some ways, worse than the first time she’d transformed. In other ways, though, it was better--she was doing it by her own choice, and while there might be some difficulty, she was being her true self, and she had the most awesome back-up in her corner if something did happen.
Still, her cheeks felt like they were on fire as she stood up, Rose Sky Wand already in hand. Tiger gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder and the whole group smiled at her; she smiled back, waving a little before walking over to the other students.
Misaki was still trying to calm down when she saw a tall girl walking over with long, black hair pulled up in a tidier ponytail than her own. From how the other girl was moving, she wasn’t really feeling any more at home among the crowd than Misaki herself.
“Hello,” the taller girl said, bowing as she introduced herself, “I am Yaoyorozu Momo. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“H-hi! I’m Midoriya Misaki!” Misaki bowed back, wincing slightly at the sound of her own voice. It wasn’t quite as steady as she’d have liked; she was good most of the time, after the help she’d gotten from the Pussycats and the support group, but when she was really nervous or upset, she still had trouble not dipping into a more masculine voice at times.
Yaoyorozu paused, and Misaki’s heart sank as she worried that the little slip had been enough to drive her away. Then, to her relief, Yaoyorozu just smiled and nodded. “I look forward to seeing how you do in the tests, Midoriya. Hopefully we’ll both be in the same class.”
Misaki let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, and she could feel herself smiling. “Y-yeah, I hope so too.”
“If you don’t mind my asking,” Yaoyorozu started uncertainly, “where did you get that costume and wand? I thought that such equipment was restricted to heroes and hero students?”
“Haha… that’s, uh, probably actually the least problematic thing you could ask about.” Misaki stood a little more proudly, holding out the Rose Sky Wand for Yaoyorozu to see it better. “It’s actually all part of my, uh, my ‘quirk’? It’s not really a quirk, but I…” she mumbled out the rest, “I don’t really have one.” That was still a stinging point for her sense of self-worth, that she was using a fake quirk to cover her inborn lack. Tiger had tried telling her not to think of it that way, but she knew that was how most people would see it.
“Oh!” Yaoyorozu’s eyes opened up a bit, but she was only surprised for a moment before smiling again. “Could you tell me more about it? I-if you don’t mind, of course. I apologize if I’ve overstepped any boundaries.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Misaki said, waving her hands lightly to brush off the imagined offense. “I don’t mind at all. So… at the moment, all I really know how to do is make a beam with it. Mandalay says I’ll probably need to get in a real fight before I can figure out anything else.”
“Ah, of course. My own Quirk, Creation, allows me to create anything, so long as I know the atomic make-up of the object in question.” Yaoyorozu explained the rest, and Misaki absorbed every detail, thinking out the different pros and cons to a quirk like that, and how to get the most out of it.
Maybe a computer database on her arm, to help look things up quickly? She’d need a big area of skin exposed to work with, but it would be easy to overstate how much, really; a bare midriff would cover most of what she might need. The largest space she could create would be her back, though; maybe bare arms and a backless outfit, covered by a short cape or cloak for protection? “Yaoyorozu, does your Quirk necessarily use the fat from the spot you’re creating at?” Misaki looked up at the taller girl’s face again, her gaze having drifted off to the side as she thought. Or… had she been mumbling again? From the way Yaoyorozu was looking at her, she had a feeling she was.
“I hadn’t actually thought about that, but no. From the things I’ve made, I think that it can burn fat from anywhere on my body to create what I need. Thank you, Midoriya; I’ll need to take this into account when I submit my costume design request.”
“Ah, um, well--n-no problem! I’m just glad I could help someone for once.” Misaki rubbed the back of her neck nervously, only to startle when a shout rang out across the room.
“ALRIGHT, LISTENERS,” the loudest voice Misaki had ever heard called out, “FOLLOW ME! IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO SHOW US WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”
“Oh my goodness, that’s Present Mic,” Misaki cheered. She looked back to Yaoyorozu and bowed again. “Good luck, Yaoyorozu! I look forward to seeing you in class!”
“Of course, Midoriya. I’m looking forward to it.”
The written test wasn’t as hard as Misaki had expected; by no means was it easy, but she was still pretty confident in her results. All that was left was the practical and the interview. This would be make or break for her hopes of getting in.
Present Mic led the group of test-takers out to the athletics field for races. The students all went in groups, since there were a fair few people here. People could use their Quirks, and Misaki let herself get swept up in analyzing everyone’s performances as a way to avoid thinking about her own upcoming race.
Yaoyorozu did really well; she hadn’t used her Quirk for anything, but she was still able to set a good pace. Misaki was pretty confident in the taller girl’s chances of getting in. I hope we get to talk again some time. She seemed really nice! Yaoyorozu being so elegant didn’t exactly hurt; Misaki was still interested in girls, as far as she could tell; at the same time, Yaoyorozu was the sort of person she wanted to be, too. Kind, graceful, intelligent and capable. If only I were half the girl Yaoyorozu is--
“HEY!” Someone shouted, and Misaki jumped a bit. Her heart was pounding from the surprise as she turned to see who was shouting. It was… a really, really tall boy with most of his hair shaved off. And he was coming right toward Misaki. I hope he doesn’t always yell like that.
“You’re the one who came in with the Wild, Wild Pussycats, right?” The boy was still pretty loud even up close; the only reason Misaki wasn’t wincing or covering her ears was long, painful experience enduring Kacchan’s explosions. “I remember you showing up on the news, too! Midoriya I--”
“Misaki, yes,” she cut him off tensely, having to raise her voice to speak over his. She immediately quieted back down again as she continued, “Sorry, I uh… I’m working on getting my name changed?”
“Huh. Well, alright,” he said quietly, before picking up in intensity again. “Nice to meet you, Midoriya Misaki. I’m Yoarashi Inasa.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Misaki answered softly, still off-balance from that. She’d have thought everyone would forget about that by now. Preferred it, even! She hadn’t thought anyone here would know her deadname.
“Working with a group like them must get you really fired up, huh?” Yoarashi grinned, and did one of Tiger’s poses. “They’re just the sort of heroes people should look up to! Always enthusiastic and passionate about their work, always fighting for what they believe! I can hardly imagine what being with them must be like!”
“Y-yeah. It’s… it can get pretty wild, sometimes.”
“And if they believe in you, so will I! Stoke the flames in your heart, Midoriya!” He paused as Present Mic called him and a couple of others over. “I’ll see you at the finish line!”
“Right. See you there.” What was that about? No answer was forthcoming, so Misaki sat back to watch. There weren’t a lot of groups left, so maybe she could pick up something to help?
Needless to say, Misaki, like Yoarashi’s competition, was blown away by the results. He’s already really good at using his Quirk, and it’s pretty versatile! I bet he’ll go really far.
When Present Mic called her up for the next group, she still didn’t really have a plan. From what she could tell, the transformation gave her a general enhancement for strength, speed and durability, though not an especially powerful one. Most of her power came from the Rose Wand, but it didn’t give her the recoil she’d need to propel herself with it. In the end, she decided to just go for it and hope for the best.
Lining up with the others, she waited nervously for the signal… GO!
It was tempting to just collapse at the finish line. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, but she wanted to. Misaki couldn’t remember the last time she’d run so hard. Still! First place in her group, and from what she could remember about everyone’s times, probably in the top ten! That was great!
All that was left was the interview. The scariest part, but also a good chance to rest. She de-transformed in a flash of light, panting as she walked over to the waiting room. Everybody else seemed to have the same idea, using the break between running and talking to rest, relax, and recover. Well, almost everyone, anyway; Misaki was pretty sure that Yoarashi guy would still have all the energy of a hurricane.
When Misaki’s name came up, she went into the office and closed the door carefully, making sure it didn’t lock in case there was an emergency. Turning to check out the rest of the room, she was met with the principal of U.A. himself, Nezu, as well as the hero Hound Dog.
“Why, hello there, young lady,” Nezu said, raising a paw in greeting. Misaki awkwardly mirrored the gesture, and then Nezu gestured toward a seat. “Please, sit down. We have quite a bit to discuss!”
Misaki nodded, and sat down in the offered chair, making sure to cross her legs and straighten out her skirt as she got comfortable. Nezu and Hound Dog took their own seats.
A series of questions followed, touching on moral grounds, but also health, home life and personal history, psychology… it was a bit of everything, really. It went well enough, she thought, but she was also kind of overwhelmed after already having given it her all in the first two tests.
The last question came, long after Misaki had lost track of time. “Midoriya, could you tell us why you want to be a hero?”
A determined, inspiring smile in the face of all the world’s evils. A group who stood together through thick and thin. The pain from breaking her leg, and how worth it that pain was in exchange for the life she’d saved. All of this and more ran through Misaki’s mind, but she also had a more personal reason these days.
A family torn apart by prejudice. A teen who had to run away from home just to survive. A girl who had to hide from the world, and a boy who fought for every inch. The many stories she’d heard of people like her, people that society didn’t agree with, or was only just starting to accept. So many had to become villains before Tiger and heroes like him had pushed Japan to be more accepting, and so many still did to protect themselves and each other.
“I want to be a hero who saves people. Not just in battle, or in rescue missions, but I want to save people like me, too. People who face discrimination for the way we’re born, and need a helping hand to get out of a bad situation. I want to change what people think, how people think. I--I want to be a hero who saves people from despair.”
There was just a moment of silence, before Nezu clapped his hands together once to break it. “Well, Midoriya! I look forward to going over your results today with everyone. Your answer should be in the mail soon.”
“Thank you, Nezu, sir,” Misaki said, getting up and bowing to him, then to Hound Dog as well. “Thank you, too. I hope you both have a good day.”
“And a good day to you, young lady. Please, send Tanaka Renji in as you leave.”
A little over a week after the exam, the Midoriyas found themselves up at the Pussycats’ mountain camp, celebrating Tiger’s birthday. It was a pretty quiet affair; there were people Misaki didn’t recognize, but not a lot, and if any of them were heroes they weren’t in costume to show it. Misaki wasn’t transformed either, but she was presenting feminine, taking every chance she could get to be comfortable around strangers as herself.
Everything was going about how Misaki had expected, including Tiger getting prank-gifted a tiger-stripe jacket that he promptly decided to wear everywhere for the next month. That held until Pixie-Bob stood up off the couch and walked outside. A few minutes later, she came back in and dropped a letter on Misaki’s lap.
“Huh--wha--who would send me a letter all the way out here?” Misaki wondered aloud. “How’d they even know I’d be here?”
“Why don’t you pick it up and see?”
One letter flip later and My U.A. letter is here! Misaki quickly tore it open, revealing a disk that lit up to display a hologram of Present Mic on stage. “ What’s up, listeners !?” the hero shouted in English, before switching back to Japanese. “I know you’ve been waiting to see the results of your test! We had to get both entrance exams done before we could really get it all in order, but your wait is over! Here are the results of the Recommendation Entrance Exam!” He pointed dramatically off to his side, and the camera panned to a billboard not unlike the Hero Billboard Chart JP’s top ten. Here, though, only four names were listed.
- Yoarashi Inasa
- Yaoyorozu Momo
- Midoriya Misaki
- Tokage Setsuna
“You made it to third place out of everyone that was there! Midoriya Misaki, welcome to your Hero Academia!” Another grandiose pose and a showman’s bow, and the hologram turned off.
Pixie-Bob grinned, taking the hologram disk from Misaki. “Well, I guess that means we have two reasons to celebrate! I’m gonna go show everyone else!”
Meanwhile, Misaki was just sitting there, staring at where the hologram of her name had been. Third place. She’d expected that, if she passed at all, she’d have been the last out of everyone. Third wasn’t much higher, but still! She gave her mom a hug, both of them crying, and they were joined by the Pussycats soon after.