A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry to say there is no drawing for this chapter. It's fine though, because this kind of ended up becoming a filler chapter. I intended for this to be where the battle training starts, but I wrote so much here that that'll be next chapter.

Regardless, enjoy!

[JUNE 2021 UPDATE] This chapter now has art. Check it out :)

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"Moving along. Time for the results."

Aizawa pressed a button on his small device, a scoreboard being projected.

Hitomi's silver eyes scanned the board, finding her name in the second column.

I'm in 16th place again... but I passed!

Her eyes fell to the bottom, worry and guilt building as she realized who was in last place.

Izuku Midoriya.

"By the way, I was lying about expelling someone."

WHAT?!

"That was a rational deception, meant to bring out the best in all of you."

Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida all cried out in disbelief.

Yaoyorozu spoke up. "Well of course it was a lie... it didn't take much to figure that out."

Hitomi could only gape as Aizawa handed Midoriya a note and walked away.

He didn't seem like the type of person to lie about that, not to mention the face he had made when he told them seemed like he was being completely serious.

But thank god... No one's getting expelled!

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As Hitomi was walking towards the front gate, she heard a voice calling her name.

"Hitomi!!"

She stopped, turning to find what she had dubbed "a ray of sunshine" running towards her.

"Are you heading to the station?" Kirishima asked once he had caught up.

"Oh, yeah, but only for one stop. I don't live that far away."

"Cool, let's walk together then! I'm heading there too."

Kirishima talked animatedly about their quirk apprehension test as they made their way to the station, commenting on their classmates' amazing quirks when a thought came to Hitomi.

"Hey, Kirishima-san, can I have your number?"

The redhead stopped, both in surprise and from arriving at the train station.

"You really want it?"

Hitomi blushed, not used to initiating friendships since the way she saw it, every friend she'd made was from an extrovert adopting her.

But as she listened to Kirishima talk, and thought about her classmates, she'd realized she needed to change.

She couldn't just be floating through life anymore.

She had to take initiative if she wanted to be a hero.

And taking small steps by making friends on her own felt like the best way to go about it.

Kirishima still awaited a response, staring at Hitomi.

"Ahh, you don't have to give it to me if you don't want to!" Her face turned an even darker shade of red as she looked away. "I just thought, since you said we were friends... we're friends, right...?"

The redhead's smile felt so bright.

"Of course we are! Hold on, let me get my phone out..."

After they exchanged contact information, they parted ways to take different train lines.

As Hitomi took her seat on the train, she glanced at the new number on her phone. She smiled to herself, putting in Kirishima's name.

I've made my first friend... at UA!!

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Morning classes seemed to fly by.

Hitomi recalled her nearly falling asleep during English, partially because she already knew the language, but also because the class turned out to be kind of dull.

How that was possible with a loud teacher like Present Mic amazed her.

During lunch, Kirishima had saved her poor introverted soul when he called her to his table, where more of their classmates sat.

Now it was time for afternoon classes, which meant...

"I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!"

Hitomi gaped as All Might appeared in the doorway and marched to the front of the class, decked out in a full hero costume.

The students whispered in excitement as All Might spoke, quieting when he held out a card that said the lesson plan for the day.

"BATTLE TRAINING!!

And for that... you need these!"

All Might pulled a remote from his belt and pressed a button, revealing a row of panels that emerged from the wall.

"In accordance with the 'Quirk Registry' and the special request forms you filled out before being admitted...

COSTUMES!!"

The panels held 5 cases each, labeled with student numbers, and Hitomi realized that hers wouldn't have been able to fit there.

She panicked in her seat as her classmates got up around her.

"Miss Kanetsukabe."

Hitomi looked up to find All Might's large figure by her desk. He seemed to have an apologetic look on his face.

"Due to your late admittance, your hero costume wasn't actually finished until last week. It's waiting for you in the Development Studio down on the first floor. Can I trust you to pick it up?"

"Of course, All Might!" she said as she stood up. "I won't take long, I promise!"

"Great. Go and head there now and then meet us at Ground Beta."

Hitomi nodded before running out of the classroom into the hall. Glancing at a map by the stairs and planning a route, she headed down to the Development Studio.

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Hitomi entered the girls' locker room, relieved to find her classmates still there.

She was worried she would be late, as a girl in the Development Studio named Mei Hatsume seemed eager to make Hitomi her guinea pig for her inventions. Luckily, the teacher there, who was the pro hero Power Loader, handed her the case holding her hero costume and ushered her out before Hatsume could try anything.

As the girls around her conversed, Hitomi opened up the case, admiring the blue jumpsuit with white lining and purple highlights that sat inside. There were gloves and boots with braces around the wrist and ankles respectively, along with a utility belt and blue goggles. She read up on the specs of her costume, hurrying to change once some of the girls started to filter out of the locker room.

As she zipped up her jumpsuit, the tightness surprised her.

Oh no, they made it skin-tight...

She held herself with her arms, feeling exposed.

"Kanetsukabe-san, do you need help changing into your hero costume?"

Hitomi turned to find her and Uraraka were the only ones left in the locker room. Uraraka seemed to be fully changed, and Hitomi noticed the braces on her wrists and her big puffy heels.

The roundness of her costume fit her bubbly personality well.

"Oh, no... I'm fine. You don't have to wait for me... And call me Hitomi."

"In that case, you can just call me Ochako! And it's fine, I don't mind!"

Uraraka seemed like such a nice person.

"I'll be out in a bit, I promise. Don't worry about it."

Uraraka gave her one last look. "If you're sure..."

As the brunette stepped out, Hitomi read up on the equipment on her case before putting on her gloves, boots, belt, and goggles.

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A/N: I really hope I'm writing Hitomi and Kirishima's friendship well enough.

Battle training begins next chapter! How will Hitomi do in an actual fight?

I'm being completely honest, I DID have a picture planned out for this chapter, but I never drew it because 1) I gotta focus on schoolwork because I've got an AP Exam this Friday and 2) I want to move the story along, as I already have the story planned all the way up to the Hideout Raid Arc so far.

Sorry about my laziness. >_> I promise the next chapter WILL have pictures!

[JUNE 2021 UPDATE] AHAHA I WAS LAZY AF WITH THE ART PFFFT 😭 I worked on this one late last night hence why Hitomi looks off-model 😔