Written

12 - Snatched

The One Where You Go Back to School

As usual, you were one of the first people in class. You treasured the early hours of school when you could just relax in the almost-empty classroom.

Your phone screen filled with literature was taken over by the call screen. A call from Shoto? That was out of the ordinary – he was more inclined to texting. You glanced at the time. You had around twenty minutes until class started, so you answered.

"Hello?" You tried to show as much confusion as possible in your voice, hoping that he would explain why he was calling.

There was silence on the other side until his, "Are you at school?"

"Yes."

"Ok." He hung up.

Instead of going back to reading, you slowly placed your phone on your desk and pondered. Did he really just call you to ask if you were at school? Had you said 'no,' would the call have gone differently? You wondered why on earth he would do such a suspicious thing. Then again, you could never really tell what was going on in Shoto's mind. It would probably be best to just drop this strange situation.

You lifted your phone to pass the time again, but you were distracted by the opening of the large classroom door. You tensed. You were certain that nobody would come for at least another five minutes.

Lo and behold, it was Shoto. He entered with a blank face. Your own face must have had a million questions painted on it because he said, "If you're wondering why I called you, it's because I came early. And you usually come early."

Did he stutter? He suddenly felt very wary looking at your disbelieving expression. He remembered why he went to school early in the first place. Nobody else was in the classroom, so now was the perfect time to ask you.

"Tell me about your family."

How blunt!

"Uh, well," you started. "I have a mother and a father. And a brother and a sister."

He listened to you as he walked closer and took the seat next to you. He didn't seem to be planning on talking any time soon, so you continued.

"My parents are publishers who travel a lot. My brother is one year older than me, and my sister is one year younger. Neither of them know you exist." You laughed a bit at the end. "There's nothing really spectacular about us..."

Shoto still did not speak, even as you trailed off. It was just as well, because he would have interrupted by Iida barging in. He noticed what was off in less than a second.

"Todoroki! You are not in your correct seat!"

—

Ten. You got ten offers from pro heroes. Ten pros that decided they wanted you to intern with them. It wasn't much, but it sure was better than some of your classmates' zeroes. Aizawa passed out the lists to those who received offers and a general list to everyone else.

Scanning your list, you sighed. Sighed until your eyes landed on the last name. You jumped in your seat. "She," you breathed out, "chose me?" You squinted and read it again, wondering if you were having a hallucination. You laughed in disbelief. No way!

"Anyways. You have a week to decide where you're going," your teacher said. "And now, you have something else to do."

The class groaned. "Please don't be a pop quiz." "Idiot! Now it's definitely a pop quiz!" "Noooo-"

"You'll be making your hero names."

Cheers erupted throughout the room, followed by comments of excitement.

"I am not suited to judge them, so Midnight will be taking over for now." Aizawa curled up into his sleeping bag right as your other teacher burst into the classroom.

Midnight explained that you had fifteen minutes to come up with a name. "And choose wisely – you might be stuck with it for the rest of your life!"

Not even a minute into the brainstorming time, some of your fellow students already had a name written down. You smiled at Aoyama's 'Can't Stop Twinkling.' You had nowhere near as much confidence as he did to shamelessly present in front of everyone.

You already knew what your name would be. It was never your lifelong dream to become a hero, but everyone at least considered making a cool name for themself. You were no exception. You neatly wrote your future alias in the center of your board. Waiting for the perfect moment to go, you settled on going after Ojiro.

You made your way to the front of the class and propped your canvas for everyone to see. Oohs and Aahs were heard, fueling your little confidence. In a gentle voice, you announced your hero name. "I thought of this name long ago." You raised your voice a bit. "Fiction Vi-"

•

Break Time!

I know this is completely unrelated to this chapter, but I do not have anywhere else to write it
The Aforementioned INCIDENT
(between Noru and Ayano)

Long story short, when your former best friend was over at your house, he needed to use the restroom. Surprise surprise – your little sister was in there naked, about to get in the shower. She forgot to lock the door. You can imagine how mortified she was.

And so we continue...

•

"Fiction Vi-"

You cut yourself off. You could have sworn your heart almost beat out of your chest. Heat spread through your face, quickly traveling to your arm and legs and even your feet. You didn't realize how long it had been until Shoto let out a subtle cough.

Your sudden stop confused the class. Shoto was not confused. He has horrified. While everyone else was wondering what "Fiction B" was, your friend was trying to hold a straight face.

"FictionHeroNovella," you muttered abruptly and scurried to your desk. You could not pay attention to any other presentations after that.

It was just some money, you told yourself. No one saw it, and you made sure the lady would not remember it. You simply needed some groceries. So why did you almost screw over your reputation while revealing your hero name, of all things?

—

Shoto was not going to ask you about what happened that day in class. He was not going to tell you that he saw you stealing, either. He was going to make you trust him.

Walking home with Minoru was a thing of the far past, so you left school alone. You fiddled with your thumbs, clenched your fists and eventually let out a strangled yell. Why? How? You were going to be the Fiction Hero: Novella! You couldn't let thoughts like these swarm your mind.

And just because you stole once didn't mean you would steal again. Yes, it was a one-time thing.

You were too absorbed in your thoughts to notice the people trailing behind you.

And so you were snatched.

•

I have only written up to chapter 18... oh no, I'm falling behind haha

If you have made it to this chapter: congrats! The boring chapters are out of the way! Soon, things will get much more interesting ;)