Red Like Roses // BNHA × OC //

{4} One Against Twenty

     The future Fullmetal Hero: Biónica. . .

    I couldn't let go of how that sounded in my head. Not only did it title me as one of few Heroines with fake limbs, but it was also in Spanish, which would be an eyecatcher for recruiters.

    I just wished I had that Hero name before all the Pro Heroes in the area rejected me as an internship candidate. I understood why, but it also was a letdown to think I wouldn't be able to intern like everyone else.

    I was glad to know that I could at least participate in Heroics training with the A-class during school. After homeroom, Aizawa instructed us that our next lesson would take place in the Gym Rana where we were to meet in our tracksuits for our assignment.

    I left my backpack in my chair then met Aizawa for him to hand me and Shinso our gym uniforms. I never needed anything like this in Support, but I was willing to hang up my welding suits in place of it. After grabbing the bright blue and red tracksuit, I made my way to the girls' locker room to change.

    Most of my lady classmates were already ahead while I had found my size in a uniform. By the time I got into the bathroom, the majority of them were already dressed and ready. The girls inside didn't pay me much mind as I walked in, which was to be expected. Like the rest of their class, the only interaction I've had with them came from the Sports Festival, if that. So, I prepared myself for a few days of the cold shoulder.

    What I wasn't expecting was the weight of someone's arm slung around my shoulder the second I walked in.

    "There's the new member of the Messy Pink Hair Gang!" After regaining balance, I looked over to see the hyper girl that welcomed me with a side hug.

    The pink-skinned girl didn't wait for me to respond before she moved out in front of me with a stretched-out arm. "I'm Mina Ashido, and on behalf of all of the girls of 1-A, thank you for transferring." I recognized her as one of the girls that responded to the news of the transfer with celebration. I wasn't exactly sure what it was I did to make them so happy; the kid I pushed out of the class didn't seem too thrilled. But if it started me off on a good foot with these girls, I wasn't about to argue.

    "I'm Rose. It's good to meet you, Ashido," I told her. She responded with a bright grin and two thumbs up.

    Ashido. I've gotta remember that. Something I had picked up since UA was that it was common for people in large schools to use formal last names for strangers they just met. My parents never got the hang of that after moving to Japan, and I was usually the same. I've tried practicing with last names, but it didn't help that everyone in Support used short nicknames.

    "Nice to meet you too! And feel free to call me Mina, if you feel like it," she added, making my social dilemma a lot easier.

    I left Mina's side to find a free stall to change in. Doing so, I ran into yet another girl in my new class who was ready to introduce herself.

    "I'll be honest, Rose, I wasn't expecting you to be the one placed up in our class," a girl with jet black hair stopped me. I recognized her as one of my opponents from the Festival, but we weren't close.

    Momo Yaoyarozu was one of my first fights, and she didn't make it easy on me. She started out giving it her all, but in the end, it was as if she wasn't prepared for me to be different from Mei and actually care if I won. After I beat her, we parted ways and hadn't spoken since. I wouldn't have guessed she even remembered me by then.

    "First time for everything, huh," I told her.

    Yaoyarozu nodded, holding her head slightly down as she spoke back. "From the way the Sports Festival ended, many of us were expecting for Shinso to be taking the opening in our class." The room of students stayed quiet, but even Yaoyarozu didn't continue.