[Feat Accomplished
Achieve the top score on a test in your class!
+1 Bronze Skill Gacha Ticket]
Would you look at that?
Studying and being a diligent student was actually going to be paying me some dividends.
“See you in gym!”
“See ya.” Returning Toga’s wave, I looked away from the window and watched her leave the classroom.
She stopped at the rear pair of sliding doors, giving me one last close mouthed smile before taking off.
Despite the gacha stuff claiming I was her crush, nothing had really changed over the last couple days of the new school week.
Now usual conversations in the morning, hanging out a bit in gym, and texts nearing the end of the day.
Again, she just looked like a popular outgoing girl that was I feeling worse and worse about ever deciding to use as a ticket farm.
The plan was working but still, I should’ve known better than to do something like that.
The temptation of power and looming threats, I guess.
“Dude.” The student in front of me, a slim guy, turned around, arm across the back of his chair.
“What’s your secret?”
“Secret?”
“Come on, you know what I’m talking about.
How’d you go from no friends to talking everyday with a chick like Toga?” He insisted.
I guess it was only a matter of time before someone confronted me about it.
Toga wasn’t just popular in our year but known throughout the entire school.
Looks wise I could always see why and after spending more time with her, her personality made it even easier to understand.
Someone would have to be going out of their way to be difficult to not get along with her.
Toga was, or at least, put a lot of effort into coming off as that kind of girl.
I shrugged.
“She kicked a ball in my face.”
“So, I just need to get kicked in the face?”
I muffled a snort as our teacher stepped into the room, the student turning to face the board.
That was the kind of thing I only ever expected to hear from someone online; he sounded like some kind of down bad redditor.
Not that I was on some kind of high ground.
I’ve liked and read through plenty of questionable posts involving fanart and debates that could only be described as goonerbait for many different communities.
Simpler times.
Class started soon enough and I spent all of it following along.
Whenever something cropped up that I understood well enough for a review to be redundant, I pulled out the gripper I’d bought over the weekend from beneath my desk, using it to train up my grip strength despite my soreness.
It was starting to feel like I was following in that dude’s Midoriya’s footsteps after he met All Might.
“That’ll be it for now.” Our teacher said, just as the bell signaling lunch went off.
“Akaguro, come with me.” She ordered before I got to pulling out my lunch.
I don’t think I did anything to get into trouble but being singled out by the teacher had my brain jumping into overtime as I stood up.
My assumption?
It had something to do with that feat.
Not everyday a student jumps from being quiet and middling scores to being vocal and acing tests.
I quietly followed our teacher through the halls that were slowly becoming filled with students and other members of the staff, before she eventually brought us into one of the school’s faculty office, gesturing for me to take a seat beside the one she settled down in.
“You don’t need to be worried or anything, Akaguro, you aren’t in trouble.
Not unless you want to admit to something now?” She said, giving me a stern look.
“No ma’am.”
“Good.” She said, nodding.
“Since that little interruption you pulled in class, I must admit you’ve been surprising all of us.
Your performance has become stellar and you’re participating more in class.
I only just finished grading your latest test and you’ve scored quite high.
Is there any particular reason for the change in attitude?”
“Not really.” Maybe I could just shrug it off and go back to class.
Not like they could suddenly figure out what was really going on with me and if I could avoid lying it’d keep things simple.
“Hmmm, are you sure?” She asked, a thin brow raised above her glasses.
I nodded.
“Now, Akaguro, you understand that teachers are somewhat responsible for the well being of their students, don’t you?
Along with your improved performance, I’ve noticed all the injuries you seem to have.
Is there…” She adjusted her glasses, hesitating.
“…anything going on at home?”
That was a route I absolutely couldn’t let things go down.
Teachers getting suspicious then the government looking into my living situation, and, depending on how things went, possibly messing up Aunt Nozomi’s life if anything related to my father somehow came to light.
I couldn’t just brush things off if she was asking things like that.
“Uh, actually-” Luckily someone was already giving me a plausible excuse that perfectly fit.
“-I wanted to impress Toga.”
Playing reluctantly shy about the popular girl I’ve been seen with recently was going to help make this sudden change a lot more plausible.
“Oh?
Really now?” She questioned, clearly intrigued.
“Everyone says she gets really good grades so I thought if I studied more I could…”
“I see, I see.” She was more than capable of filling out the blanks there.
Well, this was a good a time as any to start putting the idea for recommendations into the heads of the school’s teachers.
“I want to apply to U.A.
I figured trying to get into the number one hero school would help me stand out more.”
“U.A?” Both her brows jumped up, surprise on full display.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been doing some kind of physical training unsupervised?” I looked down, a sigh filling the room.
“While your initiative isn’t something I’ll reprimand you for, I hope you understand that I’ll have to be sure your aunt is informed about this.”
That was convenient for me.
Probably.
I wasn’t sure whether or not she was still in contact with my absent father.
“That aside, while I’ve never had a student set their sights on a school like U.A.
for a reason like yours, it is commendable.
If you manage to maintain your current performance, with your quirk it is more than a hopeful possibility.” She gave me a nod.
“You’re dismissed.”
I’d say that went well.
Even if I wasn’t sure I’d actually go to U.A.
having this out in the air now would help me get those recommendations if the time came.
If there was a feat and reward for getting first place on a test, there was going to be one for getting into THE hero school through the same method only a select few students managed.
Using Toga as the lynch pin in my reasoning was going to be a pain when it got around to Aunt Nozomi though.
XOXO
[Feat Accomplished
Rise from mediocre to a possible prospect for U.A in the eyes of your school’s faculty
+1 Bronze Trait Gacha Ticket]
I blinked as I stepped outside the open doors of the school’s main building alongside many others, the school day finally at an end.
I guess word of the conversation my homeroom teacher had with me had gotten around.
Between my improved performance and participation in every class it must not have been hard for them to buy into what I said.
Guys the world over have done crazier things for a girl and I was at the age where that kind of thing was common.
To them I looked like a good old case of a talented student finally applying himself.
Now I just had to hope Aunt Nozomi didn’t do anything to get in the way of all my preparation.
“Akaguro!” Standing beside the open gates of the school’s entrance, Toga waved for me, smiling.
“You really brought that?” I asked, stepping out of the way of other students and joining her beside the front gate.
“I did buy it for a reason.” She pointed out cheekily, raising the skateboard in her left hand.
“I’m not going anywhere with my friends today so I decided you could teach me.”
“You decided?” I questioned, Toga’s growing smile just as cheeky as her tone.
I take back nothing changing.
She always spoke and did things in a way that sort of encouraged others to go along with what she was thinking, but it was a natural thing that plenty popular kids did.
She was very obvious and direct with it towards me though.
Trying to see what she could get away with or just that interested in hanging out?
Probably both everything considered.
“Are you headed to the station or do you live close by?”
“Close by.” Toga said pointing the same direction I’d be taking to get to the gym.
“Alright.”
Walking a little bit beyond the school gates, plenty students waving and saying goodbye to Toga rather than getting on my own, after a bit of reluctance on my part, I held one of her hands in mine, helping her keep balanced on the board.
“I’m supposed to move on this thing?” Toga doubtfully questioned too tense for her own good, fighting against the natural balance that came with being on one rather than going with it.
“What happened to being better than me?”
“It’s still going to happen.” She insisted despite the hard hold she had on me, wobbling a little as we moved along.
It was slow going for a long while, the both of us staying out of others way as she got used to it, her center of balance lowered, the usual outgoing confidence she had was returning.
“See?” She bragged, looking back towards me as she pushed herself a little ahead.
“I’ll be-”
Whatever bragging she was about to do turned to a yelp as she placed her foot too far back on the board, messing up her cautious balance and sending her straight to the ground.
She managed to throw her hands out in time to stop herself from full on wiping out and she wasn’t moving that fast, so I doubt it was anything too serious.
“Told you you shouldn’t have done that.” I said, stopping her wayward board with a foot and pulling it back towards us before kneeling beside her.
“You alright?”
“I think so.” Toga muttered shifting a bit before rising to a full stand.
She looked down at her hands before showing them off to me.
“I guess I see why you hurt yourself so much.”
Her palms had some light scrapes on them.
Nothing special, only the lightest bit of blood building from them, which didn’t seem to affect her at all.
Then again, it was others blood she obsessed over, not so much her own.
“Come on.” I said, pointing past her.
Just behind her, separated by disconnected iron railing, was a small park meant for kids, a few empty benches set up around it and the place empty at the moment.
“I keep a first aid kit in my bag.
I’ll clean and wrap them for you.”
Nodding, Toga followed me into the park, still smiling despite the scraps.
“You transferred here at the start of the school year, didn’t you, Akaguro?” She asked as we sat down on one of the benches, boards set aside as I began reaching into my bag.
“And you’re not really all that friendly so I guess that’s why no one in your class really knew that much about you.”
“I’m not mean either.” Whether it be in this world or the other, even if running around being friendly to everyone wasn’t a priority for me, I never tried to make things harder for people than they needed to be.
Treat others how you wanted to be treated and all that.
“Doesn’t mean you’re nice.” Toga said teasingly, one of her hands held out and turned over for me.
She flinched a little when I pressed the wipe to her scrap, the wipe turning a little red.
I was lucky enough that despite my quirk involving blood and coming with a few mutations to make drawing it easier, I didn’t have some kind hunger or desire associated with.
But I couldn’t deny the sense of curiosity seeing hers.
Strange as it was, I’m sure if there was anyone beside Aunt Nozomi who wouldn’t be freaked out by a request to taste their blood, it’d be Toga.
But that would be playing with fire.
She tilted her head a little.
“I’ve been wondering, what is your quirk?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“What?
I can’t?” She asked, pouting.
“I noticed you have really sharp teeth in some of those pictures we took at the mall.
I just thought it was interesting.”
“Maybe sharp teeth is my quirk.”
“Is it?”
“Maybe.”
Toga half heartedly glared at me, the vague answers annoying her.
Future psychopathic murderer.
A popular girl no older than myself that, honestly, was nice to hang out with.
And, at this point in time, so incapable that she was out her hurting herself riding around on a skateboard.
I wasn’t dealing with some experienced killer.
Not yet.
“What’s your quirk?” I asked as I moved on to bandaging the scrape.
Toga’s sharp eyes widened a smidge.
“Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”
Distancing myself from her was both messed up and just asking to triggering a horrible change in that apparent obsession of hers.
In fact, it didn’t take much imagining to see how that would lead to her trying to stab me and drink my blood.
Getting close to her honestly wasn’t much better but it did come with one benefit.
I would be in a position to make sure she never reached that point.
Knowledge and being the center of her fixation was probably all I needed to completely change the direction of her future.
Still risky as all hell though.
And doing that pretty much demanded that I keep a close eye on everything involving the main plot.
“Oh, that’s, um-” As I finished up the bandages for that hand, Toga pulled back her hand and lowered her eyes from mine.
“You have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?”
“Alright.”
Slowly she raised her head back up and for the first time opened her mouth enough to really show her teeth.
Just like I thought.
Her sharp teeth were nearly identical to my own.
“S-Sorry.” She said, quickly closing her mouth.
“I know it makes me look creepy and weird.”
“You think that’s weird?” Opening my mouth, Toga’s eyes quick to zero in on my sharp teeth, I stuck out my tongue.
“Pretty sure anyone who sees us is going to be calling me the weird one.” I forced out, poking my own forehead with the tip of my tongue.
“Whoaaa.” Toga muttered lowly.
Her cheeks were red.
Way too red.
I quickly pulled my tongue back, raising a brow as I scooted a little away from her.
“You look like a pervert, you know that, right?”
“W-What?
I wasn’t thinking anything weird.”
“Did I say that?”
“I wasn’t!”
“I didn’t say you were.”
Toga tried to convince that look of hers had meant nothing while I got to work on her other hand, smiling a little.
In the end neither of us actually revealed our quirks to each other, Toga too busy trying to justify that face she made.
I wasn’t sure what to do about this situation I ended up in but letting some rewards or a psychotic break that might not happen dictate exactly how I treated her just didn’t feel right.
I’d keep being careful around her but there was no point in acting like she wasn’t at least my friend.
XOXO
(A/N: Got a good few tickets to roll next chapter and our boy is warming up to Toga and, consequently, the idea of actively changing things intentionally.
Hopefully Toga gets a bit more comfortable being herself without, you know, all the murder.
Possible stabbiness aside, we’re making great progress in this pre U.A.
arc.
More or less about half way through it I’d say depending on whether or not you consider the entrance exams to be apart of it.