Chapter Text
It’s a cloudy day, the sun pouting behind fat grey clouds as small feet crash across the front lawn of your childhood home. You can’t stop yourself from giggling as you hide your small frame behind the rhododendron bushes that lay between your house and Hiroki’s. Hiroki Sakurai, one of your best friends, a brown-haired boy with a cluster of freckles across his cheeks and nose stands tall, a red sheet twisted into a makeshift cape across his shoulders.
“Fear not people, for I am here!” Hiroki shouts imitating your favorite hero and flexing muscles that he doesn’t have. You stifle a chuckle as you lock eyes with your other best friend, Tenko Shimura. The boy’s red eyes glitter with mischief as he nods at you from his hiding place behind a nearby tree. You nod back and dash out, legs pumping to try and reach Hiroki before he notices you. You grab onto his cape and he swivels towards you, eyes widening briefly before narrowing as a smile graces his boyish face.
“Stop villain!” Hiroki yells as he snatches the edge of his cape out of your fingers and proceeds to wrench your small arms behind your back.
You weren’t quick enough. “Ouch! Hiroki, that hurts.”
Hiroki sticks his tongue out at you. “Got you, y/n. I saw you coming a mile away.”
“Nuh-uh.” You grumble trying to kick him in the shin pouting all the while.
A movement behind Hiroki catches your eye and you grin as you see Tenko shuffling closer. He puts a finger to his mouth signaling you to not alert Hiroki of his presence.
“Did so,” Hiroki smirks down at you. “You really aren’t a very good villain, y/n.”
“So what?! I don’t want to be a villain anyway so what’s it matter?” You try to wriggle out of his grasp gaining his full attention.
“Well, you won’t make a very good hero that way either.” Hiroki teases wrinkling his nose.
Tenko finally strikes. He grabs Hiroki’s cape and throws it over the boy’s head before tackling him to the ground. “Hey!” You yelp as you tumble to the ground too when Hiroki doesn’t let you go.
You all erupt into a fit of giggles as Tenko and Hiroki wrestle beside you trying to get the best of the other. In the end, Hiroki’s cape gets in the way and Tenko emerges victorious pinning him.
“Got you.” Tenko chimes smiling ear to ear. His dark hair falls in his eyes and you giggle again from your seat on the ground as Hiroki glares up at him.
“Yeah, yeah.” Hiroki grumbles. “Now get off me so we can play another game.”
Tenko doesn’t budge. “No.”
“Tenko, let me go.”
“No, not until you apologize to y/n.” Tenko worries his lip as he looks down at the slightly older boy. “You were being mean, Hiroki. Now say you’re sorry. Heroes don’t put other people down, they help people.”
Hiroki’s face flushes red in embarrassment. “I’m sorry y/n.”
You smile back at him. “It’s okay. I’ll try harder next time!” You pump your little fist into the air with determination.
Tenko throws you a smile as he lets Hiroki go. Brushing off his shorts, he walks over to you offering his hand. “You okay?”
You take his hand, cheeks tinged pink as you smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He gives your hand a squeeze once you’re on your feet again. “You’ll be an awesome hero one day, y/n!” He grabs Hiroki’s hand pulling him closer, his smile widening. It was one of those smiles you loved seeing when you all snuck out to play. It was happy and full of such unfiltered warmth. “We’ll all be amazing heroes one day. The three of us helping people.”
Hiroki nods, running his free hand through his tousled hair. “Just like All Might.”
Tenko nods. “Just like All Might.” He affirms pulling you and Hiroki into a group hug. You squeeze the boys relentlessly in your happiness.
“Tenko!” A voice calls and you can feel him stiffen next to you. His smile vanishes as his red eyes dart to the source. His eyebrows scrunch together, mouth twisting into a frown. Ducking out of your grasp, he throws you both an apologetic look.
“It’s Hana. I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” He dashes across the lawn and you and Hiroki share a concerned glance. You hoped you’d see him the next day and you hoped he would smile again. You hated when Tenko cried.
“Good morning, y/n! The sun is shining, well actually it’s kind of cloudy, and there is coffee downstairs!”
You groan rolling over in your bed, eyes opening to slits to take in Hizashi’s exuberant form. His blonde hair is slicked back dramatically, he’s giving you his million-dollar smile from the doorway, and you hate him for using his quirk this early in the morning. “Go away, Hizashi.” You grumble throwing your blanket over your head.
“No can do, y/n! Shota ordered me to come wake you up so here I am!” His voice echoes in your small room grinding against your sleep-deprived nerves.
“Mic! Get the hell out of my room!” You shoot up in bed, throwing your pillow so it hits him squarely in the face. He’s quiet if only for a moment. That is until fake tears start spilling from his eyes.
“So mean!” He yelps. “I don’t know why I stick around you Aizawas.” He grumbles stalking back down the hall and presumably to wherever the hell Shota is. Once he’s out of sight, you sigh, swinging your legs over the edge of your bed. You run a hand through your tangled hair. You couldn’t quite remember what you’d been dreaming about when Hizashi had rudely woken you up, but it felt important and it left you feeling a little melancholy.
You climb out of bed, throwing on casual wear before making your way to the kitchen. Shota is sitting at the table and you greet him with a slap to the back of the head.
“What the-?!” He growls as you pour yourself a cup of coffee.
“Don’t send Hizashi to do your damn dirty work, you asshole.” You growl nearly chugging your cup.
“Yeesh! You people. Put some creamer or something in that. Disgusting.” Hizashi gives both of you a sour look as you drink your coffee black.
Shota meets your eyes with his bloodshot ones completely ignoring his friend. “Yeah, well maybe if you set a damn alarm, I wouldn’t have to.”
You roll your eyes at your brother. “I didn’t ask you to help me with my sleep schedule.”
Shota pinches the bridge of his nose. “You idiot, you don’t remember what today is do you?”
You raise an eyebrow. “Tuesday.”
Shota sighs loudly. “Yep, my sister’s an idiot.”
“What? It is Tuesday!” You look to Hizashi for help but he just smiles apologetically at you.
“You’re supposed to come with me to U.A. today. To help my class at the USJ, remember?”
“Shit.” It’s only then that you notice your brother and Hizashi are in their hero costumes.
“Shit indeed. We’re leaving in ten minutes.” Shota grumbles around his mug.
“Shit.” You repeat yourself downing the rest of your coffee before running back to your room. You struggle to get ready in the ten minutes in your groggy state and if not for your constant work as a hero, it would be nearly impossible. You throw on your grey bomber jacket readjusting the faux fur hood before snatching up your boots and tugging them on. Your utility belt is the next piece you carefully equip, making sure all ten of your throwing knives are present as well as the small bag of smoke bombs and bottles of sedatives you’d made the day prior.
You’d just finished drawing on your eyeliner and are putting on your signature white moonflower hair clip when Shota appears in the doorway. “You ready?” Despite his previous impatience, he seems a little anxious.
“Ready.” You throw him a smirk. “What, Shota? You nervous or something? Scared I’ll embarrass you in front of your students?”
He sighs casting Hizashi a weary look as he throws his arm over Shota’s shoulder. “Trust me. I’m plenty embarrassed already.”
You and Hizashi’s eyes meet and you laugh. You pat Shota on the shoulder giving him a wink. “Don’t worry, today I’m Nightshade, not y/n Aizawa.”
Shota sighs. “And that’s supposed to make me less anxious?”
The commute to U.A. had been surprisingly quiet considering Hizashi tagged along, yet your nerves had started to get the best of you. You had attended U.A. nearly three years ago, but you remembered just how intimidating the campus could be. Especially the hero course, and here you were, just waltzing into U.A.’s most prestigious class as if you were some top tier hero when you were pretty obscure. Most people didn’t even know Eraser Head had a younger sister, let alone one that was a hero.
You take a deep breath as you follow Shota into his classroom, your eyes darting to the sign reading 1-A.
“Just what the hell do you mean by that?!” You and Shota are immediately assaulted by a verbal overload from a blonde kid with spiky hair. If you weren’t used to Hizashi, you’re sure it would have irritated you more.
“Bakugou, that’s enough.” Shota’s voice cuts through the excitement of his class.
Bakugou turns towards Shota ready to say something but instead he scowls, red eyes narrowing before settling on your frame next to his teacher. “Who the hell is the chick?”
“Bakugou, whoa dude, manners.” A redhead with equally if not more spiked hair than Bakugou berates him. You wonder just how much hair gel he uses to make his hair stick up like that or if it’s his quirk.
“That’s Nightshade, the poison stealth hero.” A green-haired boy visibly shaking with excitement yelps.
You throw Shota an exasperated look. Was this what his class was always like? If so, it made more sense as to why he was always exhausted. Well more than was usual anyway.
Shota sighs loudly. “If you’ll all be quiet and stop wasting my time, I’ll explain everything.” The class goes quiet finally all eyes glued to him. “Thank you, now today’s class is going to be a little different. You’ll have four instructors: me, All Might, Nightshade, and another faculty member. We’ll be keeping tabs on you.”
You feel your palms start to sweat at the mention of All Might. You’d seen the Number One Hero in action but you’d never actually met him. Somehow your childhood days of pretending you were just like him came to mind and your cheeks grow hot in embarrassment. You were going to meet All Might or at least be in the same room as him. You suck in a breath just missing what one of Shota’s students asks him.
“Today we’ll be doing rescue work,” Shota says and his class cheers, all looking at one another. It makes you smile and calms your nerves a bit, they weren’t just out for glory and beating up villains. That was a relief at least. “There’s a bus waiting downstairs, now get ready and let’s go.”
You follow Shota from the room throwing him a scathing look. “Shota, you didn’t tell me All Might was going to be here.”
“Eraser Head.” He corrects you and you roll your eyes. Shrugging, he continues. “He does work here now. Oh, and I guess I should mention that other faculty member.” His eyes meet yours as you both board the bus. “It’s Hiroki Sakurai or rather Morningstar.”
Your lip twitches as you take a seat next to your brother. “Please tell me you’re joking.” Shota’s expression doesn’t change and you groan. “I could kill you.”
“Sorry.” He mutters before he turns to address his class. You look out the window at the neatly groomed landscape of U.A. High School. Ironically, this was the place you’d last seen Hiroki though to say you’d been on speaking terms back then would be an overstatement. The two of you hadn’t talked much since the Shimura family incident. You shudder.
“Tenko.” You whisper leaning your head against the window like a child getting comfortable for a long field trip. You sigh once more. The melancholy you’d felt at home growing infinitely in your chest. Not only would you have to help Shota teach, which had already made you a bit anxious, but you’d have to dig up the past today as well. With a heavy heart, you watch as the landscape blurs and let the chattering of high school kids drown out the maelstrom of thoughts in your head.