Era

10

Finding an empty table in the bustling cafeteria was almost impossible. Fortunately Era wasn’t a stranger to tough odds, and she managed to snag one through a combination of wits, speed, and raw intimidation. Her face had always naturally fell into an expression of mild displeasure, which when coupled with the frosty blue of her narrowed eyes lent Era the visage of someone who had killed and would kill again—a not entirely inaccurate mask, although perhaps not the safest one to don here. The ease with which she could unsettle the other students into leaving her alone might become a cause for concern, but for now Era was content with her corner table and her little pocket of quiet where she could eat her lunch in peace.

“Hey! Era, right?”

This is it, I am about to go absolutely feral on this fucking—

Uraraka Ochako plopped down a tray, steadfastly ignoring Era’s barely repressed grimace as she turned around and motioned excitedly towards… fucking hell.

“Sorry, is this seat taken? We can leave if you don’t—” Midoriya hovered nervously behind Uraraka, who cut him off with an impatient shake of her head.

“All the seats are free, she was sitting alone! Pick any one you’d like.”

“Actually—” began Era, before yet another child appeared, this one with glasses and blue hair and… fucking shit, was this that kid from the entrance exam?

“There you are, it took me forever to find you two due to how crowded the cafeteria is! You’d think such an establishment as UA would have a better system for managing crowds such as this. Are we sitting at this table?”

He sat before anyone could answer, and Uraraka beamed at him as Era felt her eye twitch.

“Of course. You’re all welcome to… to sit where you want,” she muttered, looking down at her food and giving it a disgruntled poke with her fork. Closing her eyes, Era breathed… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5….

“Are you okay, Era?”

Era’s eyes flew open, only to see Uraraka staring at her with undisguised concern. Or… maybe she was trying to hide it. Hard to tell; these kids were all so terrible at keeping their emotions under wraps.

“Of course.” Era mustered up a smile, a small quirk of her lip that grew into something more genuine when she felt her face relax into a mask more presentable than whatever the hell it was she was feeling right now. “Sorry, it’s just been a long day.”

“No kidding!” Uraraka flopped back into her seat, groaning up at the ceiling. “Aizawa-sensei had us do a bunch of physical tests first thing, all with our quirks!”

“And then he expelled the last place student,” said the blue-haired boy, shaking his head with a rather morose expression—Iida? It was probably Iida, the name rang a bell. “I knew that this course would be rigorous, but it seemed particularly extreme.”

“I mean… it wasn’t so bad,” said Midoriya weakly.

“You broke your finger!” Uraraka sat up straight again to gesture wildly towards Midoriya’s hands. Upon closer inspection… yes, one of his fingers was bandaged up nice and tight, stark white and obvious even as he quickly withdrew the hand and attempted to hide it underneath the table.

“I’m just glad it wasn’t my arm this time,” he said with a sheepish laugh. Era felt a throb at her temples.

“Well that does sound… eventful.” She prodded the food on her tray again, appetite mysteriously vanished. “Although I guess that’s the hero course for you.”

“Oh! Era, we were totally just talking about ourselves! You said that you’ve had a crazy day too, right?” Fuck, if Uraraka were more radiant she’d blind everyone within a five-mile radius. As it was, Era still had to resist the urge to squint past her looming headache.