Rise up

~24~

Burned to ash. I stare at the report that recounts what was found on the scene of my parent's death. There was apparently a fire that started in their apartment, and there were no remains found.

"That's not right," I say, staring at the description in front of me.

"What?" Katsuki glances at me after looking over the same information.

I turn to meet his gaze, "Bones wouldn't have turned to ash."

"You think someone did this to them?" 

"I swear if that bitch Esther hired someone to do this, I'll for sure kill her." I grit out through my teeth, crumbling the report I hold in my hand.

"You can't kill someone when you are trying to become the Number One Pro-Hero," I glance at the serious expression on Katsuki's face, "What if they aren't dead?"  

My eyes widen. I knew that was a possibility, but I didn't want to say it out loud. The hope that my parents could still be out there scares me. I don't want to be hopeful, only to have it crushed like a bug under a shoe when I find out they really are dead. 

~*~

I lazily walk into the classroom just seconds before our teacher. As everyone greets Mr. Aizawa, I took my seat. Digging through my bag, I grab my pen and journal, ready for class to begin.

"Mr. Aizawa, you don't have the bandages anymore. That's good." Tsu points out, and I look back up to see all of his wraps had been removed.

"The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment this morning." Aizawa scratches his face. "Anyway, we have a big class today. On Hero informatics."

I look around the class, and everyone seems to tense up. Some people like Denki even begin to sweat from nerves visibly.

"You need codenames. Time to pick your hero identities." Aizawa adds on easing everyone's concern.

While my classmates surrounding me start to cheer, I huff in annoyance. A hero name is something I've always looked forward to picking out, but the commission has taken that away from me.

"This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned the last time we were in class together. Normally students don't have to worry about the draft yet, not until their second or third year, actually, but your class is different. In fact, by extending offers to first years like you, Pro's are essentially investing in your potential." Aizawa explains why we are picking our hero names now before grabbing a remote, "Nowhere are the totals for those of you who got offers."

Behind Aizawa, on the chalkboard, a projection of our offers begins appearing. First pops up Bakugo's name with 3556 offers in total. Next is Todoroki.

'Todoroki? He was placed under me.' I grumble to myself as I watch his total round out to 3398 offers.

My name pops up third, and it feels like it takes forever for the line to stop revealing the total. 3074 offers. I placed second, but I still got about 300 less than Todoroki. After the top three, the offers significantly dropped, with no one else getting over 1000.

Aizawa gestures at the chart behind him, "In past years, it's been pretty spread out, but there's a pretty big gap this time."

"Todoroki got more than Y/N, who placed second in the festival." Hagakure points up at the chart displayed on the board.

"Yeah, they probably didn't want someone who was willing to just forfeit," Mineta adds, and I whip my head to where he is seated. He doesn't notice right away, but he flinches before looking over to see my death glare.