Mara Lee is just your regular teenage girl living a double life as New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Woman. Until one fateful day when she's thrown through a strange orange portal and everything she's ever known changes drastically. Trapped in...
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"I'm so excited!" Izuku trilled, falling back against the carpet, kicking his legs up in the air like a little girl.
"Dude, relax," I laughed. "It's just rescue training."
"I know, but this is the whole reason I wanted to be a hero in the first place! So I can save people with a smile like All Might! And now I'll finally be able to practice!"
It was sweet, his admiration for the hero. Even if it didn't make complete sense to me, I could understand it to some extent. Hearing about people like the Avengers back home and seeing what they were up to always motivated me too. But more than that, my drive was that of a need to protect. The people I loved didn't deserve to live their lives in fear, and I was ready to take on the burden of alleviating it completely. In some ways, I think Izuku felt that too, so hearing his breathless excitement, I couldn't help but feel a little eagerness stir in my chest.
The train ride to school was peaceful, but I felt his eyes on my neck the whole way, observing the gauze that I'd haphazardly changed before breakfast.
"I can feel your questions just from your stare, so might as well go ahead and ask," I said, turning to look out the window.
He coughed, shifting in his seat. "Oh... sorry... I-uh... Are you sure you're okay? It's just that the bandage seems to be covering something bigger than just a scrape."
"I'm fine," I promised. "Honest. It doesn't even hurt. Recovery Girl took care of it."
"Still, I should've been with you when it happened," he murmured. "You're new here, and I left you alone, and-"
"It's okay. Bakugo helped me out."
"Wha-Kacchan!?"
"Yeah."
"Really?" Izuku stared at me, shock painted all across his features. "Kacchan helped you?"
"Twice, actually," I said, remembering yesterday's events. "He said he was evening our score. Since I saved him twice before."
"I've never seen him help anyone before. It's just surprising." Izuku leaned back in his seat, hand under his chin. "Maybe he's changing."
I hummed gently. "Maybe he is."
...
Upon arriving at school, Aizawa informed us that we could opt to wear our hero costumes if we wanted. I chose to, preferring the smoothness of my spider suit over the sweaty gym clothes UA provided us with, but I didn't put on my mask, realizing I didn't really need it here.
The class met outside, and I went to head over to Izuku. Before I got to him, Uraraka rushed to his side, smiling and speaking sweetly to him.
I clicked my tongue. "Better not get in the way of his romance." Scanning the area, I noticed Bakugo a few feet away.
