Our Darkest Hours

New Friends

After school, Sophia ran to catch up with the green haired boy before she went home.

"Hey Izuku!" she called to him. But she forgot the names of the two that were with him, so it was awkward between them for a second. "How's your finger?"

"Good," he replied, holding up said finger. "Recovery Girl fixed it up in no time.

"That's great. I'm so glad you were able to stay."

"Mr. Aizawa stated that he was never going to expel anyone," the dark blue haired boy said, seeming to karate chop the air. "So he was always going to stay, no matter what."

"Actually, Mr. Aizawa told me how he once expelled an entire class," Sophia said, giving them a serious look. "He would have expelled Izuku, pronto." The boy in question whimpered at the notion. "I'm sorry for stating it like that."

"If that's the case, then why did he change his mind?" Iida pondered. Sophia shrugged.

"Beats me. I've only been living with him for two months." She probably shouldn't have said that, because she was bombarded with questions immediately after. Mainly by Izuku, but Occhaco and Iida did chime in from time to time. She hated her past and wished to simply forget it. So when Aizawa called to her, saying that they needed to head home, she apologized and began to run the safety Aizawa brought.

. . .

What was with that throw Deku did?

Bakugou had that running through his mind since the damn exercise. Deku was always annoying, but now that he knew the stupid nerd was hiding his quirk this whole time, it was hard not to hunt the kid down.

And that brown haired girl who sat a few desks away from him. He didn't know what to make of her. She seemed to get as flustered as the nerd did and was as shy as him; but then she had returned his glare just as easily despite the shyness and embarrassment she had. She had also not used her quirk in the exercises, so there was nothing there yet. He wondered if she even had one.

"Coming Mr. Aizawa!" a voice called. A simple glance up showed that it was the brown haired girl from before. She was running with both excitement and relief toward a black car that Aizawa was standing next to.

"What took you so long?" he asked, but he wasn't annoyed. It was just curiosity.

"Sorry, Mr. Aizawa. I wanted to see if Izuku was ok." A little bit of his respect for her went down when she said that, but then he scolded himself with a small growl. Even though the nerd was annoying in more ways than one, it wasn't hero-like to think that way. So he was still left undecided about the girl.

"Hmm. Midoriya was smart in the way he used his quirk. But why didn't you?" So she did have a quirk. But what was it? "I saw you in the exam. For a girl with what would hardly qualify as good training with your quirk, you made it through without harming anyone. And only on rescue points to boot." Bakugou's eyes widened. There were rescue points?

The girl paled, but tried to hide it with a bright smile.

"I just want to, uh, make up for past deeds," she said, trying to hurry into the backseat. She got as far as setting her backpack in, Mr. Aizawa stopping her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Soph, what you did-"

"Is in my past and was never me. Now, let's go home. I'm starving." With that, she gently moved Aizawa's hand off her shoulder and hopped in the car, putting headphones in as she did so. Aizawa sighed and got in the driver's seat and began to drive away. As they passed, Bakugou locked eyes with the green ones of the girl. They were filled with a sadness he'd never seen before. Resentment took a backseat to the emotion, but it was there as well. After they passed, for the first time in a long while, he was left utterly speechless.

She was one strange girl.

. . .

"Toshi!" Sophia called up the stairs before running up them. "I wanna hear about your day! How was it? Was it-"

"Don't you dare!" Hitoshi yelled, making Hizashi laugh. Shouta sat down with a small sigh next to Hizashi. One that would have gone unnoticed by anyone who didn't know him.

"Something up?" he asked the emo adult as he took off his scarf.

"Nothing," Shouta muttered.

"Sho." With that tone and that look, Shouta could never hide anything from him.

"It's Sophia."

"What about her?" Hizashi asked, scooting closer to him.

"Well, she didn't use her quirk in my training exercises, and when I mentioned her exam results, she got all weird."

"It's been two months, Sho. And what she went through and did... Well, it would be a lot to deal with for someone our age, let alone hers."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not thinking very rationally." Shouta sighed and leaned on Hizashi's shoulder. "I can't ever seem to with those kids, it seems."

"I guess we're finding out how it is to parent, huh?" Hizashi joked, pulling the emo adult closer to him. Despite himself, Shouta smiled.

"Mr. Aizawa! Mr. Yamada!" Sophia yelled as she pounded down the stairs.

"I told you, it's a long shot!" Hitoshi yelled back, following her with the same speed.

"It was your idea!"

"That didn't mean do it."

"If there's even a small chance, I'm taking it!" Sophia suddenly rounded the corner, nearly falling over her own feet. Without using her quirk, she was a humongous clutz. Shouta would have to help her with that. "Hey, is it-"

"They aren't going to do it." Sophia gave him a small glare but quickly returned to her mission.

"Is it ok if we go out to eat tonight? Maybe McDonalds?"

"I don't like McDonalds." Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Then Subway."

"I-"

"Guys," Shouta said, leaning up from his place next to Hizashi. The two suddenly stopped fighting and turned to look at their dad. Sophia blushed in embarrassment and Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I'm not sure that we have enough money to do that." Both of them looked down in disappointment. Shouta felt bad, but the rational thing to do was to stay in and eat. Still, they looked so upset. And when he looked back to Hizashi, he found no help whatsoever. Just the same upset features he found on the kids faces.

With a roll of his eyes and an almost dramatic fall to the back of the couch, Shouta gave in.