Era

41

The awards ceremony was a blur. Seeing All Might stand right in front of her and drape a medal around her neck was a blur. So much so that she barely even had time to consider how easy it would be, just a flick and a lunge, to put a knife in the gut of Japan's number one hero. Seeing Todoroki above her, Tokoyami below... a blur. Noise and color.

She'd only just made it back to her apartment by the time the world stopped spinning, and everything settled, and she could take a moment and think about what she had done. About how many people had stopped her on the train, to congratulate her. To ask her questions. To ask her name, her quirk, her ambitions for the future...

When Era searched for herself on the internet the top result was a picture of her, standing on that podium, smiling serenely as she accepted a medal from All Might. All Might. Close enough to stab.

A blur.

And it just didn't stop, did it? Time slowed for no one, least of all her, and it seemed that the universe was dead-set on dragging her forward at a speed unfit for reflection. Because the moment she sat down on her dingy little mattress she'd gotten the call from principal Nedzu, setting up a meeting before school to discuss her enrollment in the Hero Course. The principal of UA. Quite possibly the smartest creature alive. And he wanted a meeting with her.

Era knew that if she tried to consider how she'd gotten here, sitting across from the small, white-furred principal as he pleasantly handed her a cup of steaming tea, she would get lost in the tangled threads of color. It was a blur, and there was no time to tease apart the individual aspects into something comprehensible. She could only sit, accept the proffered tea with a polite smile, and figure out how to proceed from where she'd ended up.

"I must admit, I'm quite impressed with your performance," said Nedzu before taking a sip from his cup. Era glanced down at her own, unsure if it would be rude of her not to drink it. Accepting drinks from strangers had always been uncomfortable, that niggling insistence that there was something wrong with it, that she had no way of knowing its contents, always sharp at the back of her mind.

She set it down gently, careful to avoid the clink of porcelain. "Thank you. I... appreciate that."

"And of course," he said brightly, "I've been eager to meet you in person for quite some time now!"

Ominous. "Really? I'm not that interesting."

"I would have to disagree! You caused quite a stir in the entrance exams, you know. The decision to bar you from heroics was not a light one... in the end it came down to recklessness. Many felt that you were too willing to put your own life on the line, or that you were simply exploiting the natural parameters of a school exam."

"...ah." She wasn't sure why he was saying this. She... hadn't asked.

"But!" The principal clapped his paws together with a wide grin. "That's not what we're here to discuss! You still wish to join the Hero Course?"

"Yes, if you'll allow it." Era hesitated for a moment, picking up her cup in the hopes of masking it. "Is Shinsou also being considered for transfer?"

"Yes, yes," said Nedzu with a nod and a wave of his paw. "Aizawa was quite insistent, and he performed well enough to garner some attention."

Aizawa... well, Era was glad the man was looking out for Hitoshi, at least, though she still wasn't sure why.

"But we're here to talk about you! Tell me, have you been enjoying your time at UA? I've come to realize over the years that the transition between middle school and high school can be a stressful one, but some students have more difficulty settling than others."