prologue.

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prologue
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Airi thought she was going to be okay today but it turns out she's not. The supposedly calm music in the store only increase her anxiety as time goes by. She tapped her forefinger on her knees repeatedly and felt her lips drying.

"Do you feel alright now?"

The sudden voice shocked her and she looked upwards, to the store's counter. The convenience store's owner, Mr. Haru is looking at her warmly, a little worried about the girl sitting on the couch at the other side of the store. She nodded, trying to stand up but her legs gave up immediately.

Mr. Haru saw the poor condition of the girl and quietly shook his head, temporarily leaving his seat behind the counter and went to the ice-cream freezer.

"Airi-chan. Here. You like this flavor, right?"

Mr. Haru gave her a popsicle of her favourite and although she didn't say her gratitude, Mr. Haru knew that she is thankful for the free food. Airi smiled at him and ate the food quietly, slowly getting less nervous than before.

"It's your first day at UA, isn't it?" Mr. Haru asked the girl.

Airi nodded.

"I was surprised, you know? Suddenly seeing Airi-chan at the side of the street like that!"

Well, that was a lie. Mr. Haru knew that Airi was going to have panic attack before going to school so he rounded the area to make sure she's fine. He can't admit it to Airi though, since Airi's mom ,who's also Mr. Haru's best friend, told him to make sure of her daughter's safety.

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Ah! You'll be late, Airi-chan!"

Mr. Haru ushered her to get up for her own sake. But she's still too afraid to meet new people, especially when she can't talk properly.

"Airi-chan will be fine!" Mr. Haru assured her, putting both hand on her shoulder.

"They are aiming to be Pro Heroes, right? They have the same goal as you so I'm sure they are amazing people! Airi-chan is brave! Now go!"

Mr. Haru pushed her a little before she started running by herself and although she can't hear it, Mr. Haru shouted 'Good luck!' to her. Thankfully, the store was not too far away from UA and in no time, Airi reached the school gate within minutes.

She blanched when she saw the amount of students wearing the same uniform as hers. The entrance gate was flooded with students and she felt her social anxiety kicked in. She took notes of her own appearance and tried to fix her skirts and hair, making sure they are proper.

Airi lets out a long breath and tries to mix in with the crowds. But in few seconds, she heard a collective noises from her left. She subconsciously turned her head around and there she saw students taking in her full features. She gulped, turning her head forward to avoid more eye contacts.

The whispering became more coherent to her ears and that's when she knew that the crowd went loud because of her. From her peripheral view, she could see a guy getting close to her and she was uncomfortable with the intention behind it.

She tried to avoid him by overtaking a few of the students in front of her but he was persistent. Airi ended up not looking where she was going and bumped into one of the students there. The student was obviously mad at the accident but Airi prioritised the guy that chased her instead of him. So, she made the decision to hide behind the blonde guy she just bumped into.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Airi pointed her finger at the guy that was chasing her and the blonde guy looked at him.

"What's that extra gotta do with me?!"

"Help me."

"Ha?!"

"Please."

Airi knew this wasn't going to work. She can't even hold a basic conversation, not to mention asking for help from a stranger. The persistent guy caught up to her and was already in front of the guy she's took cover as.

"Are you her daughter?" The guy asked, panting slightly. "The Pro-Hero Ky-"

"What are you shouting so loud for?!"

The blonde guy yelled so loud that Airi felt like her ears were going to bleed. Not only her, but all the students that were looking at her were also focusing on the blonde guy now.

"Chasing someone that desperately... Get a hobby, you damn bastard!"

The blonde guy clucked his tongue and turn around, looking pissed as hell. Not wanting to be left alone, Airi followed the blonde guy, keeping a safe distance between them.

Are we classmates? She thought to herself, trying to not make assumptions.

They passed the 1-B class and yet he didn't even looked at them through the windows. Airi, in the meantime, was checking out the amount of students in her class, hoping they were not scary.

But still, the anxiety was still itching at the back of her mind. She didn't even noticed that she was quickening her pace and her right fist had already hold onto the blonde guy's uniform.

He just glared at Airi upon noticing her shaky hold on his shirt because he was already too annoyed by the previous situation. His first day at UA was already full of shit. Airi could only gave him an apologetic look and that made him groan in annoyance. Nevertheless, Airi and the blonde guy entered the class together and Airi once again hid behind him when the class went loud.

"EH KACCHAN?!? You're with a girl?! Who is she?!" A green haired guy screamed, too surprised by the scene.

"Who knows?" The blonde guy gritted out and went to his assigned seat.

Airi followed him because hers was beside his. Even before she was seated, a few classmates had already eyeing her and asking questions. She did want to answer them but it was too overwhelming on her side so she kept quiet. Mr. Aizawa then entered the class and everyone went back to their seat obediently.

"I'm Aizawa and I'll be your homeroom teacher. I'm sure that everyone knows each other... except the three UA recommendation students maybe, so I'll introduce them."

He looked at the guy with half white, half red haired guy and said, "Todoroki Shoto."

Then, the girl with high ponytail, "Yaoyorozu Momo."

Then lastly, "Itsuki Airi."

Airi thought Mr. Aizawa was going to end it there so she panicked but then he continued,

"Ah, right. She can't talk and she's partially deaf too."

end of prologue
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a/n - words in italics are either her thoughts or she's speaking in sign language

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