Going Beyond the Past

Chapter 97.3: The Green Door Abrupt

"Good morning, students," Vlad King says, projecting his voice across the classroom we were sitting in. My seat behind Hiryu blocks most of my view from the front, but the overwhelming feeling of excitement and nervousness is almost suffocating. "Today we're going to be doing a joint training exercise with Class 1A. You will be changing into your hero suits and meeting Eraserhead and I down at Ground Gamma. Dismissed."

A unified chorus of yes sir echoes in the classroom, everyone standing up and starting to file out. As I go to follow my classmates out, Vlad stops me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Hang back a minute, Salinsa," he says. Kaibara glances over his shoulder at us and mouths I'll wait for you before going outside the door. He waits until the rest of the class has left, shutting the door behind them.

"What's up, Vlad?" I ask, a little confused. Has he sussed out that I'm not the normal Lei in this timeline? Shit. I thought I was blending in fine. "Are my grades slacking or-?"

"No! Not at all. Top of the class-your sister and parents would be extremely proud to see how you've been doing in my class," he says, shaking his head with a small chuckle. "I was going to ask if you didn't mind participating in the joint exercise twice today. We're having a student from gen studies participate to determine if he's ready to join the Hero Course."

"I see." He must be talking about Shinsou. I never got to see this in my timeline. Fuck I should text him when I get home and see how he's doing. "And he's participating twice as well or-?"

"Yes. Once with our class and once with class A. I figured on the matches where he's involved, you'd be on the opposite team as a show of good faith."

"That seems a little imbalanced, sir," I state, shrugging. "A newbie against trained hero students?"

"Aizawa and I determined that having you working with the opposite team as a buffer due to your late transfer-in would provide a well needed balance."

"I understand. I accept. Thank you for the opportunity."

—

My hero costume in this timeline is so very different from my original one. First example: there's a red leather cropped jacket with a giant star on the back. No doubt for me to honor Reina. There's a touch of synthetic fur around the collar, probably for the winter chill. The rest of it is a cropped halter top that shows off much more skin than I'm used to, a short skirt with chains around my hips that clip on rather than work as a functional belt, ripped leggings, and ankle boots with flattened heels.

To say I'm freezing is an understatement.

"The jacket is a nice addition," Kaibara remarks as we walk down to Ground Gamma. "Think your boyfriend will like it?"

"If I gave a shit what Shoto thinks about my hero costume, I'd wear something similar to his," I retort bluntly, mentally recoiling from how brash I am in this timeline. "Unfortunately his costume doesn't work the way I need it to."

"Fair enough," he laughs. Ahead of us, I hear Monoma yelling about something to Class A and roll my eyes. Eventually he quiets down and I hear the teachers discussing something with the rest of the class. Kaibara says something else, but I don't exactly hear it. Instead I'm staring at Katsuki arguing with Eijirou and Denki, the three of them as chummy as ever. A small smile crosses my face; I almost can't help it.

I could stay here forever, I think. If I wanted to. This timeline is so much more...peaceful than mine. I like it.

Maybe-

---

A/n Sorry for the semi-short update!! It's been a while I know. I had a great chapter written out then my old laptop crashed with all of my copies minus what I had backed up on here and ffn. So I had to rewrite it from what I remembered! Sorry if it's a little lacking. 

In more news, I am having another kid! Yay! And I am also transferring to a 4 year college next year to get my bachelors in professional writing! Wish me luck!! I hope you're all doing well and that your year thus far has had no holes!!!!!

-Selaena