Lunch break arrived with far more noise than Izumi expected.
The moment the bell rang, Class 1-A practically exploded into conversation.
Most of it centered around one person.
Aoyama.
Izumi watched from her desk as he was immediately surrounded again.
Ochaco grabbed one side of his sleeve while Jiro casually stepped in on the other, the headphone-jack girl looking far less subtle about her curiosity now.
"Come on," Ochaco insisted. "You still haven't explained the web-shooters support gear properly!"
"And I want to know your secretive quirk explanation," Jiro added flatly.
"I'll tell you if you buy me lunch and tell me about yourself in exchange your name and quirk since I didn't get your name yet."
"I guess that's a fair trade so long as you don't go over three thousand yen," Jiro replied instantly.
"I won't get something expanse since I brought a bento box"
"Huh, you have food already?"
"yeah, but I just forgot I didn't bring anything to drink,"
Jiro stares at him and peices it together, "so you want me to buy you a drink for your secret. That's fine with me. What do you like sweet tea, soda, or milk coffee?"
The group of three talked amongst themselves, before they got up and disappeared into the hallway together.
Izumi silently watched them leave.
…He really got along with people fast.
Nearby, Mina had somehow become trapped between Eijira Kirishima and Denka Kaminari.
"C'mon Ashido, just tell us already!"
"Yeah! We promise we won't spread it around!"
Mina crossed her arms smugly.
"Nope! I promised to keep it a secret!"
"But you literally yelled it across the classroom!" Kaminari complained.
"That's different! I only said one word, and none of you would understand it so it's fine!"
Izumi looked away from the chaos.
Minette leaned sideways toward her with her bag already in hand.
"So."
Izumi immediately frowned.
"So what?"
"You're zoning out again."
"I am not."
"…You totally are."
Izumi grabbed her bag quickly.
"I was just observing the class atmosphere."
"Uh-huh."
Minette smiled knowingly.
Izumi ignored her.
Eventually, the two of them headed toward the cafeteria together.
—
U.A.'s mess hall was enormous.
Bright open windows lined the walls while conversations echoed across dozens of occupied tables.
Even for a prestigious hero school, the place felt surprisingly normal.
Students laughed.
Talked.
Compared Quirks.
Complained about classes.
Izumi found herself relaxing slightly because of it.
Until she spotted Aoyama again.
He was seated near the middle of the cafeteria with Ochaco and Jiro while several other students occasionally drifted into the conversation.
Aoyama was talking animatedly joking about something.
Ochaco nearly choked laughing.
Even Jiro looked amused.
Izumi slowed slightly while carrying her tray.
Minette noticed immediately.
"You wanna go over there?"
Izumi blinked.
"What? No."
She looked away too quickly.
"He already looks busy."
And strangely enough—
she didn't want to interrupt that.
The version of Aoyama sitting there now looked…
comfortable.
Relaxed.
Like someone genuinely enjoying himself.
So instead, Izumi quietly followed Minette toward another section of the cafeteria.
—
After lunch, Izumi decided to explore the campus a little before the next class.
U.A. was massive.
Every hallway looked polished enough to belong in a futuristic research facility rather than a school.
She occasionally stopped to take pictures with her phone.
Tall windows overlooking the training fields.
Support department walkways.
Indoor gardens.
Even the hero statues near one of the main halls.
Her mother would absolutely love seeing all of this later.
Minette walked beside her casually, occasionally commenting on random students passing by.
"You know," she said while stretching her arms behind her head, "I kinda expected hero school to be scarier."
Izumi nodded slightly.
"…Same."
Though maybe that feeling only existed because everyone was still adjusting.
As the two girls turned a corner onto the main ground-floor commons area, Izumi suddenly noticed someone standing near one of the large digital ranking boards mounted against the wall.
Or rather—
someone mostly invisible.
A uniform blazer with a skirt and a pair of stockings floated in front of the screen of her phone.
Toru Hagakure.
The invisible girl seemed completely absorbed in the rankings displayed publicly for the first-year entrance exams.
"how can someone's…"
Toru leaned closer toward the screen dramatically.
"score be this high? Is this Hikaru guy even human?"
She whispered thinking she was the only one there.
Izumi slowed her steps.
Her eyes drifted toward the rankings.
[(Rank 1)]
Name: Aoyama Hikaru
Takedowns: 173
Rescues: 23
[(Rank 2)]
Name: Uraraka Ochaco
Takedowns: 93
Rescues: 0
[(Rank 3)]
Name: Katsumi Bakugo
Takedowns: 77
Rescues: 0
[(Rank 4)]
Name: Eijira Kirishima
Takedowns: 68
Rescues: 2
…
[(Rank 7)]
Name: Izumi Midoriya
Takedowns: 1
Rescues: 60
Izumi froze slightly.
Even after already knowing she passed—
seeing it displayed publicly like this felt different.
One point.
Just one.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her phone.
At the same time—
her eyes slowly drifted back upward toward the top of the rankings.
One hundred and seventy-three takedowns.
…How did Aoyama-kun even get that many points?
The number barely felt real.
Even Katsumi Bakugo, who looked like she was born to destroy things, had less than half his score.
And Ochaco—
Izumi glanced at the second-place ranking again.
Ninety-three.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Wait…
Ochaco got second place?!
That cheerful girl?!
Before Izumi could process that any further, the floating uniform near the screen suddenly shifted toward her.
"Oh!"
Toru's voice rang out brightly.
"Am I blocking your picture?"
Izumi blinked.
"Huh?"
The invisible girl pointed toward Izumi's phone.
"You looked like you were trying to take a photo of the rankings."
"Oh—no, it's okay," Izumi said quickly. "I wasn't—"
She stopped herself awkwardly.
…Actually, she kind of was.
The floating gloves extended outward dramatically.
"I'm Toru Hagakure!"
Despite not being able to see her face, Izumi could somehow tell she was smiling brightly.
"This school is soooo cool!"
Minette laughed beside her.
"Honestly, you being invisible is still messing with my brain."
"I get that a lot!"
Toru giggled before suddenly leaning closer toward Izumi.
"And you are?"
"I-Izumi Midoriya."
Toru gasped dramatically.
"Wait!"
One floating hand pointed directly at the rankings.
"You're number seven!"
Izumi stiffened slightly.
"Takedowns: one…" Toru read aloud before immediately continuing. "But rescues: sixty?!"
Her invisible head whipped back toward Izumi.
"That's amazing!"
Izumi blinked in surprise.
"…Really?"
"Of course really!"
Toru threw both hands into the air.
"Most people focused on fighting robots, but you saved sixty people!"
Minette nodded beside her.
"That's actually insane, by the way."
Izumi rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"that all came from me taking down the zero pointer. I didn't know I'd get rescue points from it. It's.. I just… couldn't ignore people that needed help. And I got lucky for it. "
Toru immediately pointed again.
"And THAT sounds super heroic!"
Izumi felt her face warm slightly.
The invisible girl then turned back toward the rankings dramatically.
"Still though…"
She pointed upward toward Aoyama's score.
"What kind of monster gets one hundred and seventy-three takedowns?!"
Minette snorted.
"A suspiciously pretty one."
Izumi tried not to laugh.
She failed a little.
A small smile escaped her before she could stop it.
Toru immediately noticed.
"Ooooh, there it is!"
Izumi blinked.
"What?"
"You smiled!"
The two girls laughed while Toru clapped excitedly.
And strangely enough—
standing there in the middle of U.A.'s massive hallway…
talking about rankings, Quirks, and absurdly overpowered classmates…
Izumi felt something loosen inside her chest.
The nervousness.
The fear of not belonging here.
It hadn't disappeared completely.
But for the first time since arriving at U.A.—
she felt like she might actually fit in.
As Toru continued rambling dramatically about how unfair invisible stealth would be during hide-and-seek—
Izumi quietly realized something.
…I think I just made my first friend at U.A.