Nova laid on her back. Staring at the ceiling of the medical room.

Recovery girl was gone. Who knows where she went, probably to go lecture Principal Nezu about letting Kain stay in school for as long as he did. It didn't really matter much.

The door opened and Nova turned her head to look at who entered.

"Nova..." He whispered, immediately walking over.

"Shoji... H-hey..." Nova whispered back, wiping her eyes.

"I tried to come as soon as I could... One of the teachers tried to make me come back to the stands but I wouldn't... I had to see you." Shoji sat in front of her bed. "I'm so sorry Nova."

"Shoji it's..." Nova hesitated. It's what? Not his fault? It's alright? It's being controlled? She didn't know what to say, her words left off and she looked down.

"Damn it..." Shoji shook his head. "How could something like this happen at UA? How could..." He put a hand on her shoulder. He seemed to also be losing his words.

"Thank you Shoji... For worrying. You're a good friend." Nova smiled lightly, sitting up a little more.

"...This... What happened..." Shoji's voice trailed off. "I was worried that this would happen..."

"Shoji... I'll... I'll be okay..." She whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I've had worse..." She hesitated, realizing that would probably make her friend even more concerned.

"I know... I know you have and I... I was hoping I could do something to stop it." Shoji's own eyes were full of tears.

"You have... I'm sure this would have happened far sooner if it weren't for you." Nova admitted. She looked down, picking at her nails. Shoji sat down on the bed next to her, it creaked under his weight.

Nova felt warmth on her shoulders as he put a comforting arm around her. "I understand... How you feel right now. I know you want to seem stronger because... Because you feel weak. But you aren't Nova. You're the strongest person I know, so you don't need to pretend that this hasn't affected you."

Nova wiped her eyes, her face was red and raw from crying so much. "I know... Thank you..." She sniffled softly.

"...I thought... I thought UA would be different. That Musutafu would be... Different. That these types of things wouldn't happen here..." Shoji whispered, wiping his own eyes.

"What do you mean?" Nova asked softly.

Shoji hesitated. "Nothing... That's... Not important right now." He shook his head, the last thing he wanted was to undermine this experience by mentioning his own trauma. It wasn't fair to Nova to make this about himself.

Nova frowned, and lifted her head from his chest just slightly. "You know... We've been... Friends for a while now and..." She looked up at him. "I still don't know all that much about you..." She admitted.

While they were constantly in each other's presence. They didn't make much conversation outside of school related subjects. Nova still knew nothing of Shoji, his family or why he was at UA in the first place.

Shoji sighed, that small statement felt like a gentle push for him to keep talking. Nova wasn't a very assertive person, she wouldn't ever pry for any type of information... Even if she really wanted to know. And by the look she had in her eyes right now...

She really wanted to know.

"I... Grew up in a small village by the mountains." Shoji whispered softly. He pulled away from Nova, his hands now clasped together nervously. "Things were different there... I was... I was treated a lot like you are now."

"W-what do you mean?" Nova asked with a frown.

"The people there... They didn't take kindly to heteromorphs. Or anyone that was different from them." Shoji said through grit teeth. "I was harmed... Just like you have been. I ended up leaving and moving in with an uncle that lived here... It's safer in big cities for us... People tend to have more open minds."

"That's horrible... There's nothing wrong with the way you look..." Nova shook her head. "Even if there was you couldn't help it..."

"No I couldn't... I couldn't help it anymore than you could help who your father was. When I saw you... Saw the way our classmates treated you... It was like I was looking at my past. It made me angry." He gripped his own hands tightly. "I am accepted here. Without question... UA accepts and even celebrates my quirk in a way no where else does... But it actively punishes you."

"I see..." Nova whispered. "Is... That why you protect me?"

"I'm becoming a hero to do more than just protect people... I'm doing it to change minds. To show them that they're wrong. We aren't devils, we aren't less than human. We can do just as much good in this world as anyone else." Shoji was obviously frustrated. Angry. She could only imagine how heated he felt after seeing her... If that was his past.

Nova put a hand on his own

"We can do that together then."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Shoji finally returned to the stands. Recovery girl came back and forced him out. Saying he had to stay with his classmates and let Nova get some rest.

He left that time, having seen and heard enough. Nova was in perfectly stable condition. She was going to be okay, even if she wasn't going to continue in the sports festival.

Shoji passed by vlad king and then entered the stands where his classmates stood. Taking a few deep breaths. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to calm this anger. Like hot coles burning through his blood. He wanted to punch something. The boy who did this... Kain, was lucky he ran when he did.

Nova reminded him of so many things. Himself, his past, that girl he saved years ago, the only person from his village that had accepted him for who he was. She was kind, gentle, strong and loving.

And yet the world abused her over and over again, and sometimes he felt as though he was the only one that cared.

"Shoji!!" Midoriya said, pulling his eyes away from the fight going on. Shoji heard explosions in the distance. Must be Bakugou's match.

"Is Nova okay?!" The boy asked.

Shoji's fists tightened. What the hell kind of question was that? 'Is she okay?' of course she wasn't. How could anyone be okay after that?

"...I don't think okay is how I'd describe what's she's going through." Shoji sat down. "But she's awake and stable, if that's what you mean."

"R-right..." Midoriya whispered, immediately noticing how tense Shoji was. Deciding it was best to stop asking about it. Everyone knew him and Nova were friends, Midoriya couldn't imagine how horrible he felt right now. If Uraraka or Iida got hurt like she did he'd be horrified and angry. He still felt that now, even though he had just recently gotten to know her more.

"What happened?" Iida asked. "Did she tell you anything?"

Iida didn't seem to have the same caution around the subject Midoriya did. But in his defense he truly did have the best intentions.

"She was beaten in a closet by upperclassmen." Shoji snapped, his tone sharp as he sent an actual glare towards Iida. Who stiffened, a look of offense crossing his features. But it left and he frowned.

"Upperclassmen? How completely disgraceful. I hope they're brought to justice." Iida mumbled. Shoji crossed his arms and looked at the match infront of them. Where Bakugou and Uraraka faced off. Uraraka was charging Bakugou with a fierce determination.

Shoji was angry, he wanted nothing more than to tell Iida off. Even though he wasn't doing anything wrong. Shoji just hated him of all people asking about his friend.

Shoji didn't have a problem with Iida, until the day Bakugo cornered Nova. Shoji watched with his own eyes as Iida saw the interaction and turned a blind eye to it.

Their supposive class representative.

He'd lecture Bakugou about putting his feet on a desk but turn away from Nova when he was calling her names? All for what reason? He would defend any other student in their class without hesitation... But not Nova.

And now he was acting as through he cared?

It made Shoji even more angry...

A/N: Art by updatepasta

I uh... I don't know exactly what is going on in that second picture tho 💀

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Also I wanna clarify something...

Nova and Shoji's relationship is strictly platonic. In fact I actually kinda headcanon Shoji as Aro/Ace

(Aromantic: experiencing little to no romantic attraction to others. Asexual: experiencing little to no sexual attraction to others)

I don't know if that's just me? But whatever. (Personally I think I also lean in the asexual direction as well, having never really experienced any irl sexual attraction to anyone I've met like... Ever. But I also haven't had much experience or anyone super close that I trusted so being demisexual is also a possibility??? Idk tbh)

Anywayss Shoji and Nova are platonic besties, although their dynamic is mildly inspired by Kira and Bakugou's original friendship in Normal. Where Kira befriends Bakugou because he was lonely and she understood him (like Shoji did to Nova) and I actually had people comment about how they liked them as friends and wanted them to stay that way.

Which Nova and Shoji will lolol