Chapter 3

The trio's first night with class 1-A was quite different, especially for Yuto. Just before going to sleep, Kaminari and Mineta kept him awake with several uncomfortable questions, not about him or the attack, but mostly about Emiri and Akane. Their desperation to court the girls, he wasn't sure whether to be frustrated or just sad for them. Emiri was the type of girl that was more focused on assignments than much of anything else, and getting a word out of Akane was a feat that very few people have accomplished. She was always this mysterious, and even Yuto was oblivious to some of her personal preferences. What could he possibly tell these two lovesick puppies? If this is what it was going to be like living with this class, he had his work cut out for him to endure it. Sharing a room with Ida was starting to look pretty glamorous by now.

Emiri's dorm situation was in a different direction, for she adapted rather quickly to the new settings thanks to the kind comforts of her new roommate. Turns out, her and Ashido had a lot more in common than just their outgoing personalities. They both loved to dance and shared similar heroic goals despite their different quirks. Emiri's quirk allowed her to control anything mechanical, from simple machines to the intricate human skeleton. There was practically no limit to what she could control, however, the more complex the item, the more power she had to throw in to access it properly. Most of her study hall period was spent reading manuals on engineering. Outside the classroom, she was an exceptional dancer from tap to ballet to breakdancing. She fell right into the herd of class 1-A fast and so far, was enjoying it.

It just wasn't the same for Akane.

Now, it was morning. Most of the classmates were making their way down in the lobby to prepare breakfast, but not Akane. Instead, she made her way up to the gym on the next level up. Uraraka was kind enough to share her room and let her borrow some more comfortable clothes, but when they actually settled in for the night, the girl couldn't help but ask her way too many personal questions. Afraid to answer, Akane kept quiet. All the while, Uraraka was surprisingly patient. Eventually, she changed her strategy by limiting to only 'yes or no' questions, and with that Akane started to feel okay enough to respond.

Uraraka was a lot like her friend Tsuki, with her calm understanding nature, but still, living with her was going to take some getting used to. She wasn't going to be able to hold a complex conversation so naturally just yet. To be honest, the stress from the fire and the Villains were weighing the most on her mind and she didn't want to burden her about it. It still kept her from getting a good night's rest, and it was beginning to make her sick. Normally, if she had a hard time sleeping, she would train with Tsuki the next day to help get herself tired, but now that Tsuki was no longer a student at U.A., she had to do it all by herself. Then a thought occurred. Maybe if she spent an extra hour in the gym, it would help. At least it would help relieve some of the tension and get her endorphins pumping. With that on top of the massive shopping she had to do later today, she was guaranteed to hit the sack before curfew, at least, that's what she hoped.

Wearing her borrowed shorts and sports tank top, she entered the dark gym room. She flicked on the lights to see that it was perfectly maintained and empty. With free reign to do whatever she pleased, she plugged in her headphones, set her music to heavy metal, and headed straight to the sand-filled punching bag.

Nearly all the classmates gathered around the kitchen, still dressed in their pajamas, waiting for the food. Yuto looked around the crowd for Akane, but couldn't spot her flaming red hair anywhere. Normally, she was very easy to find. It wasn't like her to miss having breakfast with him. When his eyes landed on Emiri speaking to Uraraka, he approached them.

"Hey, have either of you seen Akane?"

They both shook their heads.

"Not since I left the bathroom this morning." Explained Uraraka.

"I saw her heading towards the elevator earlier." Interrupted Sato, eavesdropping on their conversation. "If she's not down here, she might've gone up to the gym."

Yuto questioned it. She normally worked out in the open plains outside, but with the new rules set in order from the school, she couldn't possibly have gone out, not without someone noticing. It only made sense that she would go there instead. A part of him wanted to go up and check on her, but her attitude ever since that night left him skeptical. It was obvious that she was bothered by it, yet maybe it was good to give her some space. He made it very clear that she could talk to him about anything, so whenever she felt ready to do so, he'd be waiting. They had all day to spend together anyways to get their new stuff. In the meantime, he joined the others for a nice breakfast of eggs, rice, and meat with a side of light conversation. Most of it was about what they were going to shop for today.

After several minutes, everyone had finished their meals and there was still no sign of Akane. Yuto went into the kitchen and grabbed a large blueberry muffin out of a basket on the kitchen counter to save for her, since the eggs and rice would definitely get too cold, that is, if there was any left. At least, she would have something to eat.

"What do ya mean you're gonna workout? We're probably gonna be lifting heavy objects all day today." That voice immediately caused Yuto to turn his head and focus his ears to listen. It was the red-headed boy Kirishima talking to that cocky blonde guy from earlier.

"I didn't sign up for this shit. Why should I have to help when those idiots can't even defend their damn dorm?" Bakugo replied, his comment igniting a small rise inside Yuto. "Whether the school's closed or not, I have to stay stronger than everyone else."

They both placed their dirty dishes in the dishwasher and walked out of the kitchen. Yuto couldn't help, but to follow them. That Bakugo kid definitely had no filter to the things he said. It wasn't their fault the dorm was burned down. No one ever plans for a villain attack, especially not one on campus. Even the teachers did what they could to save it, but it was out of their hands. U.A. is a school for kids who want to become heroes, and if this guy truly wanted to be one, he wouldn't kick them while they're down. He really didn't like him.

The three of them turned the corner to the hallway that led to the elevator door. As soon as they turned forward to press the button, they stopped when they saw Yuto.

"Hey, man! You going up to the gym too?" asked Kirishima.

Yuto then realized what he was originally planning to do before these guys distracted him. Akane was up there.

"Hang on, I'll hold the door for ya."

Before he made it halfway down the hallway, Bakugo scowled and pressed the close button. As the metal doors started to shut, Yuto sprinted towards it, but it was too late.

"Hey, wait!" he called, hoping Kirishima could hit the button to stop it again.

"You're too damn slow, Moron!"

The door completely closed and the box shifted up the shaft. Kirishima knew that Bakugo was always serious when it came to training, but that was a bit harsh, even for him.

"Why'd you close the door on him? Is the isolation finally getting to ya, man?" Kirishima asked him, a bit concerned. Ever since the attack, he noticed that he's been a little more on edge than usual.

"It has nothing to do with the isolation."

"Then what's with you?"

"I don't see why we have to be dragged down just to help these weak idiots!" he gritted his teeth angrily. Yep, it sounded like isolation talking. Adding more people into the equation, it was only an obstacle for him, an annoying little bug. Bakugo was just like everyone else who wanted things to go back to normal, to continue the path to becoming a hero, even though he was more violent about it. Still… it wasn't their fault.

"Others helped us when we were attacked at the training camp. How is this any different?"

Bakugo responded to him with a glare and a scoff. He didn't really have an answer for that. All a hero was supposed to do was fight bad guys and get paid, not lowering themselves to petty things like moving furniture or shopping. Mistakes should be in the hands of the ones responsible for it in the first place. This whole thing was stupid. If they really wanted to be heroes, they would have fought off those villains and still have a place to live besides hoarding in on everyone else. Why should he have to be involved in other people's shit? Because of them, the school is under lockdown, classes are stopped, and there is no training until Principal Nezu claims it to be safe to walk around campus again. It's only been one day and this issue has been nothing but a setback for him. They were nothing but a burden, and why should he cater to that?

Ding! The door slid open revealing an already lit, nearly empty gym room. Slam! Smack! They followed their eyes to the direction of the sound to see the new girl, Akane, landing some pretty powerful punches against the sandbag. They didn't expect someone else to be here.

Kirishima was quite impressed with her strength. The force of her punches pushed the bag so hard it nearly unhooked itself from the chain. Every time it swung back, she was ready with perfectly timed counter attacks. It wasn't often that the two of them would see a girl actually working out here. Not even the girls of their own class bothered to use it. Judging from her moves, she did this regularly. Looks like she's going to be coming here more often, not that he minded it. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for others.

Without waiting, Bakugo stepped off the elevator and walked straight over to her. Kirishima instantly became aware of what he was about to do. Bakugo always warmed up with the sandbag first before going to the weights. With the way he's been since they showed up, this was not going to be good.

"Hey, you! You're in my spot! Beat it!" Bakugo asserted, but Akane continued to punch the bag, completely unaware of his presence. His nose crunched up as he scowled to her. "Don't fucking ignore me!"

Kirishima quickly approached them, and noticed the faint sound of scream music and drums coming from her. "Chill, man. She can't hear you."

"Oh, I'll make her hear me."

On cue, he spread out his arms and concentrated the sweat in his palms to ignite. Small red sparks started to crackle from his fingertips as a warning of what was to come next. He was just waiting for a reason to use his quirk again. He was always so quick to use it, but there was no doubt that it had been building up for a while. Explode first, ask questions later. Kirishima wasn't having it, so before he could use it, he got between them and placed a hand out to stop the sandbag. Akane immediately turned her head to the two of them in surprise, and politely took out a headphone in one of her ears to listen. They got her attention.

"Hey, Hattori, ya mind if Bakugo here uses the punching bag for a while?" he asked with a smile.

With a nod, she left to go lift some weights.

Bakugo sneered at his friend. "What the hell are you doing? No one comes between me!"

"You need to learn to relax. She moved and there was no need to use brute force. You should try that sometime." Kirishima advised.

He growled back. "Shut up!"

The sparks disappeared from his hands when he clenched them into fists. He brushed his shoulder past him and planted his fists harshly against the dense bag, causing it to whirl in the air. That dumb girl. Now they're using their workout equipment! What's next?

With Bakugo finally somewhat content, Kirishima moved to the arm weights. Out of curiosity, Kirishima watched the small framed girl as she lifted up the fifty pound weight and slid it on the lifting rod. After seeing what she could do before, he wondered how much she could bench. One by one, they started to rack up to almost two hundred and fifty pounds! That's more than he or Bakugo could lift over their heads. Maybe she was deadlifting to tone her legs.

Once it was secure, she looked down at her hands and concentrated. Kirishima and Bakugo observed as both her arms turned bright red and bulky. She clasped tightly down onto the rod and lifted it up to her waist. Carefully and quickly, she squatted to swing the bar over her chest to her shoulders. The red color in her hair unusually started to fade into a dark shade of black from the top of her roots, as if her scalp was bleeding black. It didn't seem to bother her, so Kirishima disregarded it as a bad sign. She manipulated the power of her quirk into her calves and lifted the bar high up into the air. Surprised, Kirishima nearly dropped his arm weight. She continued to lift the bar in several reps until she exhausted all her strength and dropped it down to the mat with a loud clunk. Her arms, legs, and hair returned to normal as she went to clean up the equipment. That was an unusual quirk.

One machine after another, she used it, this time without transforming her body parts. Even without using her red strength, the amount of weight she could take was significant. Her body type definitely didn't show that she was this strong. Bakugo only narrowed his eyes at her for showing off. There weren't many girls here that he would consider worthy opponents, but seeing her work out made him think just how far that quirk is able to go in battle. Probably not much since she's in the lowest class at U.A. For all he knew, what he saw could be the max of her power. She must be weak in battle. He would have to keep an eye on her.

Taking a break, she decided to go fill up a plastic cup full of water for a drink. Suddenly, the sound of a loud ding was heard. The metal doors opened and two of the four boys ran out of the door and over to Akane.

"Hattori!" Mineta and Kaminari yelled as they crowded unnecessarily close to her. "Oh, you look so gorgeous in those tight gym clothes!"

"Did these guys give you trouble? A lady such as yourself shouldn't be alone in a place like this."

"Enough!" Yuto yelled as he exhaustedly walked with Todoroki over to them. These two just had to show up as he was waiting for the elevator. Just why? Why him? They wouldn't stop badgering him with questions about her and the second he mentions the gym, they go ballistic. It took a great deal of patience to resist punching them in the face when they talked about the possibility of seeing her boobs bounce while jogging. That amount of patience left him emotionally drained.

"Believe me, they're always like this." Todoroki said nonchalantly. Honestly, who cares if that's true or not. He didn't want to hear such things about his friend. They should have some concept of public decency.

"Can we watch you exercise?!" Mineta begged with tears flooding in his hopeful dramatic eyes.

Her response was quiet. With her back still turned away from them, she gulped down her water. Little did they know, she still had her music blaring loudly in her ears, keeping her from paying attention. When they finally realized this, Kaminari lifted up his hand.

Yuto instantly jerked. "No, don't-!"

Before he could stop them, Kaminari placed his hand on her shoulder to get her to take notice. Akane dropped her cup full of water and gripped his hand hard. Almost lifting him off the ground, she forcefully flung his body against the matted wall, knocking the air out of his lungs. Mineta tried to grab her arm to stop her, but she backhanded him onto the edge of the wrestling ring. Fearful, Kaminari gripped her arm to try and suppress her from pushing harder, as the pressure was causing his lungs to collapse.

"H-hattori?" he wheezed.

Her breathing increased as the adrenaline coursed through her veins. A flash of darkness burst through from the back of her mind, instigating it. The blood splattering images came flooding back. Her mother's gray lifeless eyes, the dark shadow of the man standing over her childhood self, the beatings, the pain, all the things she never wanted to remember came back. Every time someone touched her, she would remember. She hated it.

"Akane!" Yuto called, trying to help her snap out of it.

He quickly stood in front of her to show that he was direct. The look in her green eyes was bloodshot, signifying that she was terrified and angry at the same time, a look he hoped not to see again. She reacted this way the first time he did that too. Just like before, she wouldn't let go unless someone stopped her. To try and help, he calmly looked into her eyes.

"Akane, it's alright. You're fine... Just breathe."

It took her a moment to collect what little she had of herself to obey him. Her grip on Kaminari was shaking, fighting the urge to release him.

"It's okay. You can let him go. They weren't going to try anything, at least, I hope they weren't."

"He's right, I was only trying to talk to you. We're sorry. Please stop." Kaminari muttered, his voice hoarse from lack of air.

The slow breaths allowed her heartbeat to stabilize, feeling as if she had just reached the finish line of running a marathon. Finally, her complexion relaxed and she released him. Kaminari dropped to the floor, gasping for air. Kirishima, Todoroki, and Bakugo went to help him and Mineta, all of them still confused as to what just happened. What the hell was that? Why did she freak out all of a sudden? Judging by how Yuto handled her, she had done this before.

They watched as Akane took a moment to step back. Seeing the two of them hurt on the floor made her realize the damage she had done yet again. Why did she always have to react this way? She sighed a shaky breath of air as she ran her fingers strenuously through her red hair. Those stupid memories! Why did they always appear like this? Why did she go too far every time? Unable to contain the guilt, she buried her face in her hands.

Yuto felt his heart drop. He hated seeing her like this, and wanted very much to give her a hug in comfort, but he knew that would be a bad idea. She never let anyone touch her, ever. Looking down, he saw the blueberry muffin in his hand and offered it to her. This was all he could do for now. The rest of the guys were still dumbfounded at the situation.

"If you want to talk about it later, you know I'm here… You should go downstairs. Everyone else is getting ready to go to the mall. I'll catch up with you, okay?" he said while using the same solemn tone as before.

Unable to look him in the eyes, she took the muffin with a nod and slowly walked to the elevator. She did enough. She needed to get away.

"What the hell was that?! You're just gonna let her go! After what she just did to them, you give her a fucking pastry and let her walk away?!" Bakugo yelled, making sure that she heard him.

Closing her eyes, she stopped. The knot in her chest tightened to what he said. He was right, what she did wasn't fair.

"She doesn't like to be touched." Yuto explained, trying his best not to tell too much about her out of respect for privacy. "They didn't need to grab her."

"Like hell, they grabbed her!" he angrily pushed past the crowd of boys over to her. What was he doing? "This is grabbing!"

In almost a smack, his fingers dug into her right shoulder. The blueberry muffin fell to the floor as she clasped both hands down on his and pulled his weight over her shoulder until his back hit the floor. He hissed from the pain of the impact, for this part of the floor was not covered by the mat. She placed a foot on his chest and held his arm straight to keep him from using it. At any moment, she could break either his arm or his ribs. If he wanted them to stay intact, he needed to stop.

Those awful memories continued to shove their way into her emotions, trying to control them. She tried to suppress them to keep her composure, but it was proving difficult. Her arms began to shake. He didn't have to do that. Why did he insist on provoking her?

"You bitch! I'm gonna- ?!" Bakugo stopped mid sentence at the sight of tears forming around her eyes. What the hell? This wasn't the same determined-to-kill look that she gave them earlier, this was worse. She had the upper hand by tossing him over, but why did she look so scared? It was as if she didn't want to do it. Regardless, he was down, but he was definitely not out.

The crackling sound and small waves of heat detonated from the palm of his restrained hand. She flinched, for she remembered this quirk. This was the boy who won the tournament, the explosion quirk.

"I'll make you pay for this!"

Oh, no!

"Don't, Bakugo!" Kirishima yelled, praying that he would come to his senses and stop this. The cry for mercy fell on deaf ears as he ignored them. The firecrackers popped a bright yellow spark in her eyes. He narrowed his eyelids with a smirk. He had her now.

Boom!

The bright light flashed before their eyes when the bomb went off. The air became smoky as the group charged over to them to see the impact of the damage he had dealt. Bakugo dropped his free arm as he laid on the floor, his face showing the content of his results. Akane wasn't there. Bits and pieces around the burned hole in the ceiling started to fall, indicating that Bakugo missed.

Yuto nearly broke his neck looking around the room until he finally landed eyes on her in the far right corner. He bolted right to her. Her left cheek was red, indicating a small burn from the impact, but amazingly there didn't appear to be anything else wrong with her. Thank God, she dodged it. With his concern outweighing his senses, he dared to brush his thumb over the burn to see how bad it was. Akane instinctively smacked it away. She knew that Yuto wouldn't harm her, but she just couldn't help it. Anxiously, she closed her arms around her torso and sank down to the floor. She didn't deserve this.

The anger rose from within him as Yuto marched back over to Bakugo. He snatched him by the shirt to look him in the eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you just an idiot or just plain heartless?! Does it make you feel like a man going around picking fights with girls?! She didn't want to fight you, yet you forced her into it! What kind of sick person are you?!"

Bakugo shoved his arm to release him before getting up. "Me picking fights?! What about that attack she did on those two just now?!"

"I told you, she doesn't like to be touched! She was going to leave and you decided to touch her anyway! What do you have to gain from antagonizing her?!"

"She needs to own up for what she just did! People who sicken me don't deserve my courtesy!"

"Is it really her that sickens you or the fact that she fucking dropped your ass?!" Yuto yelled back.

Bakugo clicked his tongue. "Why you little- I'll kill you!"

"What on Earth is going on?!" All eyes turned to the class representative Ida stepping out of the elevator along with several of the other classmates. They crowded around the fight. Tenya nearly lost it at the sight of the massive black burn hole in the ceiling. "Explain yourselves! What happened here?!"

Yuto and Bakugo shut their mouths, waiting for the other to tell him what happened, but it only left them glaring at each other. Kirishima and Todoroki willingly stepped forward to explain the situation. After hearing that he nearly blew Akane's head off, Ida straightened his back and furiously lectured him on his wrongdoings against the house guests, reminding him how stressed the entire campus already is, and that attacking an unarmed woman was incredibly dishonorable. Yuto and the girls escorted Akane down to the lobby to call Aizawa sensei and the school nurse over for help. After Bakugo got his lecture, it was Kaminari and Mineta's turn to receive some punishment. The two of them recovered with minimal damage, but the fear of her strength still lingered in their minds. They explained that they were only trying to get her attention, but they didn't know she had a strong reaction to being touched. It was an accident, at least, the first part of it was. The next time, they would think twice before getting near her.

"She's as deadly as she is beautiful." Mineta stated with a sly smirk. What she did was something out of his sadistic dark dreams, and he loved it! Of course, he could never hold a grudge against a girl.

Bakugo stepped out of the crowd to sit on the weight bench. No doubt that Aizawa would be here any minute to scold him for what he did. He didn't need to hear any more of it right now. He'd much rather leave the pack to go off into the woods to die in peace. Leaning his arms on his knees, he stared at the floor in thought. The way she looked at him when he was pinned to the ground kept tugging him from the inside. Maybe it was just a simple reaction. He assumed that she didn't want to be around those two and pummeled them for hitting on her. Any other girl they flirted with would be the same way, but he never thought it was a reflex. That annoying fucker, Yuto Hatsumodo, got in the way. If what he said was true that she only did that because she didn't like being touched, there was definitely more to it than that. No one behaves like that without some kind of reason. Akane Hattori… What's her story?