Under Pressure

Chapter Eight: Festival Announcement

It was stupid of me to think everyone wouldn't hear about what had happened yesterday.

It was on every channel of the television, broadcasted across the entire country before the night was even over. My parents, Ataku, and I, along with all of the staff, watched it in the viewing room. They showed pictures of all of the students in our class, as well as some footage from inside the USJ. I don't even know how they had access to all of that.

Talk about sticking targets on our backs.

Mother was completely hysterical, she wanted me to unenroll immediately. Of course Father instantly debunked that proposition. He refused to allow me to stop when I had made it so far. But that meant Mother had a few conditions that I would now have to follow.

The first one being one I absolutely hate.

I am no longer allowed to walk to school by myself anymore. Ataku has to either walk with me or he has to drive me there. To say I am less than thrilled to be stepping out of this god forsaken limo this morning would be an understatement.

The rest of the conditions are simple ones: don't go out alone at night, keep my phone on me at all times, avoid trouble at all costs.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a problem with that last one.

"(Y/n), wait up!"

I stop walking through the gates at the sound of my name, turning around to see a smiling Tenya jogging up to me. He struggles to push through the crowd of photographers and journalists blocking the gate entrance but finally manages to make it through. A smile spreads across my lips as he reaches my side.

"Hey, Tenya."

"How are you feeling? You know, after yesterday and all," he asks, pushing his glasses up, gesturing for us to keep walking.

"Oh, good, good. A little embarrassed if I'm being honest, but I think my pride will manage," I laugh, rubbing the back of my neck.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. I wasn't there to see much before you lost consciousness but from what I was told you were one of the main reasons our classmates stayed safe. If anything you should be proud," he states bluntly, offering me a small smile.

"Thanks, Iida. That means a lot."

He holds the door open for me as we enter into U.A. Highschool. There are whispers and stares coming from every direction as we walk through the hallways. I subconsciously hide myself a little behind Tenya, trying to avoid the watchful eyes of our fellow students.

"Hey, Iida, (Y/n)!"

The two of us look over our shoulders to see Kirishima and Kaminari bounding up to us, both looking spritely. Kirishima flings an arm over my shoulder, flashing me a beaming grin.

"Thought you were down for the count yesterday, good to see you're still walking," he teases.

"Yeah, I'm still walking," I laugh, shaking my head.

"You had us all worried, we didn't know when you were going to wake up," Kaminari adds as we walk into the classroom.

"Yeah, I thought you said your quirk didn't make you pass out, just get dizzy?" Kirishima asks, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes, that is something that's curious to me too," Tenya nods.

I shrug Kirishima's arm off my shoulder and shake my head, walking towards my desk. "I don't- It doesn't- I mean," I clear my throat, my eyebrows furrowing slightly. I turn back around and flash them a closed eye smile. "It won't happen again, it was just a one time thing."