Chapter Text
Chapter One:
Strange Meetings
The first day of school is always rough no matter what grade you are going into or where you live. Luckily for you though you had the sweetest but toughest best friend to help guide you through the rough and tumble of junior year. You felt especially grateful when you saw how overcast and rainy it was outside. You sighed a breath of relief that you no longer were destined to walk to school. You had a best friend who picked you up for school now that she got her license.
As if she could hear your thoughts and beckoning call, Uraraka Ochako pulled the car up to the front of your house and honked twice. You said farewell to your parents, grabbed your bookbag, and bolted towards the door, careful to not get your hair too wet from the downpour.
“What monster dragged you out of bed?” You giggled, shutting the passenger side door after you plopped down in the seat. A quick look at Uraraka showed her to have messy hair, clothes slightly wrinkled, and a tiredly grim expression on her face. “Or are you the monster?”
Uraraka handled you your morning doughnut without glancing at you which you cheerfully accepted and nibbled on. You noticed her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel too tightly. You dropped your joking manner and asked her seriously what was going on to have her in such a morbid mood.
“Is it the weather? It is awfully gloomy today. My dad keeps making jokes about how if God were a writer this would be a set up to something devastating; like how all those Disney films have the weather rainy for those sad scenes.” You rambled on hoping to make her giggle. She didn’t. Uraraka did not crack a smile. She kept her eyes focused on the blank side road in front of the car. She had been your best friend since you two were in diapers. You could read her like a book.
“Are you still having those nightmares?” You glanced over at her while you munched on the sweet frosting. Uraraka nodded her head solemnly. Your stomach twisted a bit, feeling empathetic for your troubled best friend.
“They keep getting worse,” She finally spoke, pushing the car’s gear to drive. The car lurched forward due to her stepping on the gas pedal too hard too quickly. She was not the best driver, honestly, you were surprised she managed to receive her license. You frequently teased her about this but this time you kept your mouth shut.
Her eyes were clouded with worry and lack of sleep. There were dark circles under them as well, giving that “I’m tired” excuse you know she would tell your classmates later more credibility. She took a turn off your street and merged with the rest of traffic heading towards the direction of your high school. You asked her as politely as you could manage despite your immense worry: “What did you dream of this time?”
She ignored your question and ranted instead, though her tired voice made it seem less angry and more hopeless-sounding: “My mom keeps going on and on about how I need to cut back on caffeine. I keep telling her that my nightmares aren’t because of it but she doesn’t listen.”
After a minute or two of complete silence, Uraraka sighed and glanced your way, finally answering your inquiry, “I had a dream where two sets of eyes were staring at us. One was crimson like spilled blood, and the other,” she shuddered, “I can’t remember what the other was entirely but that cold feeling it gave me, I definitely remember that.”
“It sounds better than that dream of the blood-thirsty wolf you had last week.” You commented, trying to make her feel better. Instead you saw a shiver run down her spine. Her face contorted as if she ate something sour.
“Ugh, (Y/N), I can’t shake this feeling. It’s like it latched onto me and is--”
A movement in front of the car caught caught your attention. You screeched: “Look out!”
Uraraka slammed on the brakes, making the car fishtail in the downpour. The traffic behind you two swerved out of your way, honked their horns, and passed you without a second glance or care. They remained in their hurried rush, mindless to those around them. They did not see what you and Uraraka had noticed.
“Is that…?” Uraraka’s voice shook.
You gulped and nodded your head. The two of you staring at the thing she almost hit. It’s back was sharpened, jutting towards the sky. It was glancing at you with its head tilted sideways. The giant creature took several cautious steps that made you feel like prey under a watchful eye.
Another car honked its horn at you two. The creature picked its wet head up and lifted one front leg cautiously. It sniffed the air curiously. Soon you found it had tilted its head back down and stared into your eyes. Yours. It did not look at Uraraka. It did not pay mind to the cars flying past it.
It stared at you, squinting its eyes suspiciously.
A third, maybe fourth or fifth car honked at the idle car you both were locked in. It was hard to notice anything else happening besides the soaked creature before you. With the sound of another honk, the creature leapt across the road and scampered away into the woods. The mysterious being was gone but Uraraka remained under its invisible hold. She turned and looked at you, her little body shaking.
“Those eyes… those glowing eyes.” She whispered to you. Her own eyes tearing up from the overwhelming fear she felt.
“I know,” You whispered back. The creature’s eyes had been reflective due to the car’s headlights. Each time you blinked you saw their eyes burning its way into your mind. “Crimson.”
Her voice muttered into the still stale air hanging over you two. Her voice was meek and tense. “Just like my nightmares…”
After that gigantic creature almost collided into Uraraka’s car, it would make sense that she was on edge. You offered her another doughnut in hopes of helping ease her mind but she pushed it aside. Her forehead was starting to glisten with sweat. You knew it could not have been rain since she was dry when you first entered her car. Looking at her now though, you were worried she might be drowning in her fear.
She pulled into the student parking lot and parked the car in her assigned spot. She turned off the ignition and let out that shaky breath she must have been keeping in since she woke up this morning. “I still can’t believe we saw that… thing. It’s eyes were clear as day. God, they were so red. It was like inhuman or something.”
The two of you stepped out of the car. You saw for the first time that the rain had stopped. You searched for the morning sun beyond the clouds but saw nothing. The sky kept its overcast appearance and continued to hide the light from you.
“I mean,” You started, giggling a little bit to yourself, “it was a giant dog not a human.”
Uraraka, playful for the first time this morning, punched your arm and smiled slightly, “You know what I meant.” You smiled back at her, relieved she was starting to lose some of her fear and worry. She kept her smile though held on to some of its nervousness.
“Hey, Ochako! (Y/N)!” A voice called out to you two. Both of you turned around and saw YaoMomo and Jirou heading towards you. They were noticeably excited, in their own ways of course. Momo was bright-eyed and speaking a little louder than usual while Jirou was wearing a small grin on her lips.
“Did you guys hear?” Jirou started, flickering her eyes between the three of you. She played with her earring, “There’s--”
“There’s a new kid!” Momo started jumping up and down, her high ponytail bobbing along with her excitement.
“Hey, who gave this child candy this early?” You bantered. Momo grabbed your arms and continued jumping up and down, squealing at your joke.
Uraraka watched Momo as well, her own worries and nightmare evaporating from her aura, allowing her to finally laugh. “I’m thinking (Y/N) is right. We should cut back on your sugar intake.”
“And caffeine too apparently,” Jirou nodded her head towards the trashcan next to all of you where a Starbucks coffee with Momo’s name on it graced the rest of the trash. “I’m not huge on Starbucks lingo but I’m pretty sure that thing is called a Venti?”
“That was the size I got. The drink I ordered was a blonde americano.” Momo corrected, still bouncing on her heels. Her smile widened.
Uraraka blinked her eyes in astonishment, “Doesn’t blonde espresso have a lot more caffeine in it than normal espresso roasts?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but nevermind that,” Momo fanned her hand as if she were able to physically wave the conversation back to the original topic. “There’s a new student and he is absolutely handsome!” Momo squealed, bringing her hands to face.
Uraraka side-glanced your way with a raised eyebrow and a smug smile on her face. “Sounds like you like him already?”
“I don’t know him well enough to like him but all I know for sure is that it’s interesting. This small town never gets any new students.” Momo smiled, eyes shining with the excitement of new possibilities and learning new things from someone else.
“That is true.” Jirou nodded her head slightly pondering over the new student, “We have had the same group of kids since elementary. It feels refreshing to get the opportunity to meet someone new.”
“Tch.” A voice added behind you. You turned your head to see Denki Kaminari and his brightly colored hair with the darkened streak. “I met the new kid. He hasn’t said two words to anyone. He probably thinks he’s better than everyone.”
The rest of your group heard Kaminari speak but the only thing they cared about was the phrase: “I met the new kid”.
Uraraka’s voice piped up, “Oh! Kaminari does the new guy have any classes with me? Did you find out his homeroom or any of his class periods? What grade is he?”
“What does he look like? Is he really as gorgeous as Momo says he is?” Jirou questioned him, the only one in the group remotely calm.
“You ladies weren’t this excited when I first arrived at this school.” Kaminari rolled his eyes. His lips showing a small playful tug at the corners.
You laughed and added to the conversation, “That was years ago during freshman year when we all arrived at this school for the first time. Now we are juniors and apparently we have fresh meat. Anyone would see how exciting this could be.”
Kaminari smirked and shrugged his shoulders, “You group of girls are a tough crowd. How about I get one compliment and then I’ll spill the beans about this new ‘fresh meat’ as (Y/N) put it.”
Jirou opened her mouth before any of you could think of a compliment for the kid, “Your face already looks beaten enough so I won’t punch it.”
“How is that a compliment?” Kaminari whined, pouting at her.
“It’s a compliment because a face like that is hard to achieve. You should be proud.” She bantered back.
“And here I thought you found me electrifying.” Kaminari let out a sigh and slumped his shoulders. He picked his shoulders back up, talking about how his morning had led him to meeting this new kid. Your small group started walking towards the school building’s entrance stairs when you felt eyes on you.
You turned your head behind you hoping to see nothing. You wanted that watched feeling to be only your imagination from your already wild morning, but when you turned around you locked eyes with a boy around your age. He was across the street leaning against a telephone pole. The distance was too far for you to see what he looked like but all you know for sure is that he had ash blonde hair that was messy but in an intriguing looking way. He had the back of his foot propped up against the pole he had been leaning on. The look on his face seemed like an irritated one but you knew you had never seen this face before. Surely you didn’t do anything to make this strange kid angry, right?
“Hey,” You tugged on Kaminari’s shirt. You nodded towards the strange teen standing across the street, “Is that the new kid?”
Kaminari looked past you, squinting his eyes. He looked back at you confused, “What kid?”
You rolled your eyes at his dumb act. “That guy standing across the--” You turned your head to see no one there. The spot where that person had stood earlier glaring at you was empty.
“Maybe you’re the one who had too much caffeine?” Momo mused, playfully tapping your shoulder. “Oh, wait, maybe you need caffeine? Let me buy you a soda!”
“Maybe there was more sugar than usual in that doughnut?” You said quietly looking at Uraraka. The two of you made eye contact and you recognized that ill feeling from earlier had now descended once more on the two of you.
It was the first day of classes so thankfully your gym teacher Mr. Yagi decided to not have you change into gym clothes. The skinny man led his students outside and continued to talk about how tomorrow everyone must be prepared and have their clothes because he would give out a fitness assessment. Several of the students groaned. You looked away from the area and by accident saw your homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa, wrapped up in a sleeping bag napping in the teacher’s lounge. Bored, you wondered if Mr. Aizawa always left the window open like that and if he knew people could see him from outside.
“The ground dried up pretty fast from the rain,” A voice said next to you. You turned your head and saw twinkling green eyes and a mess of wild green hair next to you.
“It’s nice to see you again, Izuku Midoriya,” You teased him, poking him in the face. “How was your vacation?”
“It was okay!” He said nervously touching his freckled cheek you playfully poked, “Mom actually had a lot of fun out in the city. Shame it was only for a week. She seemed so happy and relaxed.”
You thought of Midoriya’s mom and how “anxious” was her default setting. You and your other best friend continued to talk. He asked about your summer vacation and you shrugged your shoulders saying it was boring. You added, “Nothing exciting ever seems to happen in this town.”
“That’s not true!” Midoriya spoke, “We supposedly have a new student. I have yet to see him though.”
“What do you think he’s like?”
“Well I heard from Kaminari that he is a bit of a jerk.” Midoriya shrugged.
“Poor kid.” You sighed, “It’s his first day at a new school and rumors are already going around about him.”
“Oh, that reminds me! I also heard that the kid leaves at The Manor.”
“The Manor?” You gasped but Midoriya nodded his head. “No way. I don’t believe it. The Manor is spooky. No one has been up there for years. It’s totally abandoned. I can’t believe a family would want to go there.”
“A family?” Mina Ashido popped into the conversation. She stood next to you, fluffing her pink puffy hair. “I heard its the new kid all by himself. No siblings. No parents. Nothing.”
“Has anyone seen this new kid? What does he look like?” Midoriya asked, as the class headed back inside. The bell rang and the students poured into the hallway.
“I heard he is smoking hot.” Ashido giggled, “Makes me want to hunt him down.”
You smiled at Ashido’s joke. Out of habit you turned your head to peer into the classrooms hoping to wave at some friends. Instead you saw the back of someone new. He was handing a slip to Mr. Aizawa who sat in his sleeping bag at his desk. You stopped walking and stood motionless peering into the room. Mr. Aizawa grabbed the slip and stared at his with his tired eyes. He nodded his head and shrugged, writing his signature.
“Wait, is this the new kid?” You whispered to Midoriya, unable to take your eyes off this stranger. You were too captivated to notice that Midoriya and Ashido did not stay with you, they were too caught up in their own conversation to notice you had lagged behind.
At the mention of your voice, the new kid lifted his head up curiously. He turned his head to look over his shoulder. You made eye contact with him and it felt like the room slowed down. The hustle and bustle of the passing hurried students disappeared. You stared at the stranger. He was gorgeous like Momo had said. Though she forgot to mention his two colored hair. One half red and the other half white. His hairstyle had the two sides slightly mixed in between instead of split apart. The front of his hair was tousled giving him the laid-back cool guy look.
The stranger smiled at you softly. It was a faint kind of smile. Finding yourself completely overwhelmed and flustered by the cute new kid smiling at you, you awkwardly smiled and waved back. He chuckled at you but before he had the chance to do anything else, Ashido grabbed your hand and dragged you to class.
You found your face reddening at how gorgeous the new kid was. You did not know his name but you knew you would find out one way or another thanks to your small town and smaller high school.
You grabbed your ice cream from the cashier and thanked her. You turned back to Uraraka and followed her down the sidewalk. It was tradition since elementary school for the two of you to get ice cream as a reward for completing the first day of school. She held her cone gingerly in her hand and turned her attention back to you.
“I swear, Uraraka, I saw him! I saw the new kid and Momo was right. He is gorgeous. He was like model-type gorgeous.”
“I guess we should feel honored to be in his presence--” she joked but bumped into a stranger that rounded the corner.
The stranger glared at her. He wiped her ice cream drippings off his black leather jacket and flicked it at her face. The ash blonde stranger scoffed out angrily, “You should learn how to drive better, you fucking extra. You might hit someone important.”
He smacked into Uraraka’s shoulder and stood to your side. “And you,” He murmured low enough for only you to hear. The way he stared down at you, made his crimson eyes stand out amongst his face. Crimson, you thought to yourself.
He continued to you, in his low, husky voice, “You fucking reek. Get a shower.”
He bumped into your shoulder and walked off, hands in his pockets, shoulders squared, giving that confident but arrogant vibe.
“E-Extra?” Uraraka grumbled angrily. She lurched forward to follow the stranger but you grabbed her with your free hand. She made a scowl at you, “He called me an extra and told me to be a better driver. I am an excellent driver!”
“Uraraka,” You whispered, feeling confused about the whole confrontation, “Why did he mention you driving? We were walking when you bumped into him.”
“He said something to you, I didn’t hear it,” Uraraka said, peeling herself from your arm, “What did he say?”
“H-he told me to get a shower?” You confessed, feeling more confused. You even sniffed yourself but you did not smell anything horrid. Once the words registered in Uraraka’s mind, she jumped forward once more yelling at the stranger who was already long gone.