|| She's Perfect || BNHA x OP! Reader ||

45 - Cracks Beneath the Surface

Morning came too soon.

I awoke to Jirou grumbling something unintelligible into her pillow and Yaoyorozu already stretching beside the window, sunlight catching on the strands of her long black hair like threads of silk. I blinked the sleep from my eyes and let out a soft sigh. My muscles ached from yesterday's training, my legs felt like lead, and my arms might as well have been noodles—but somehow, I felt... good.

"Rise and shine," Yaoyorozu greeted, giving me a small but warm smile. "Today's the real challenge. We should eat well before we start."

Jirou groaned into her pillow. "Can't we just pretend we're too injured to move and skip today?"

"You can't play sick when Aizawa's around. He'll probably just make you do extra squats while he drinks coffee like a sadistic owl," I replied, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.

After a quick change into our training gym uniforms and a light breakfast—light meaning Kirishima devoured three bowls of rice and half the table's eggs—we were herded into the clearing near the edge of the woods.

Aizawa stood before us with his usual exhausted glare and signature body bag vibes, arms crossed like we were all already disappointing him.

"This is remedial hell," he started, no warm-up, no sugarcoating. "For those of you not failing, congrats. You get to train even harder. For the rest of you... get ready to sweat."

I looked around at my classmates. Some looked nervous, some energized. Izuku stretched beside me, murmuring hero stats under his breath. Katsuki stood with arms folded, radiating silent fury. Shouto gazed into the woods like he could already see the enemies waiting for us.

Then my eyes landed on Kota. He was sitting up on a rock near the cliffside, arms crossed, the same scowl as yesterday. Still glaring like we'd all run over his puppy.

I stepped toward Aizawa. "What kind of training are we doing today?"

"You'll be pushed to your limits. Quirk strengthening exercises. Physical endurance. Real-time combat drills. You're not just here to survive, you're here to evolve. Be ready."

Pixie-Bob bounded up beside him with a beaming grin. "And we're gonna help~! I'll be making more Beasties, so keep your wits sharp!"

She made a heart with her hands, specifically in the direction of the boys.

I rolled my eyes and elbowed Izuku lightly. "Better watch out. I might not be able to protect you next time from your biggest enemy: over-affectionate cat ladies."

Izuku turned crimson. "I-I wasn't asking for protection!"

Katsuki clicked his tongue. "Tch. Loser."

"You're just mad no one's hitting on you," I shot back.

"Excuse me?!" he snapped, glaring at me.

But his face was just pink enough that I knew I'd landed a hit.

The first exercise was grueling. We were split into groups and instructed to cycle through various stations designed to push our Quirks to the next level.

For me, it meant repeatedly flying from one side of the forest to the other, lifting increasingly heavier rocks using my metal-armored limbs, and testing how long I could sustain fire output without exhausting my energy core. I'd never sweat so much in my life.

"One more!" Aizawa barked, eyes narrowing.

"Why are you like this!?" I screamed midair, hurling a boulder into the air before blasting it apart with flame.