I sat in front of my middle school principal, Ito Sensei. He had his hands folded in front on his desk. This was one of many occasions I had found myself seated in front of him. I had what could be described as an unfortunate habit of getting in trouble. But for the first time I'm my middle school career I had been called to his office for a reason outside of bad behaviour.

"Congratulations, Nakashima-kun. I never thought Okinaki Middle School would have a student accepted to UA, let alone its hero course," Principal Ito said. He pushed his glasses up his stern face.

"Thanks," I respond blankly, averting my gaze. I played with the ends of my two French braids.

"I wish you'd told us you were applying though. Can you tell me why you hadn't you expressed this on your careers form?" He asked.

"I didn't fill out a careers form," I reply.

"Ah right." He replied. He cleared his throat. "But given your circumstances we could have helped you make the arrangements for you to get Musutafo."

The 'circumstances' in which he referred to was that I lived in state run community youth home. In summary, 6 years ago my mother had been caught in a villain crossfire. I became orphaned. My mother had been a child of the state herself and had no family. My father who had surrendered his parental rights prior to my birth was long out of the picture and my half brother, Kenta, who was only 18 at the time didn't have the aptitude or resources to care for me. So I ended up cycling through foster homes. Eventually after a number of incidents within these homes, it was decided that I'd be better suited to an independent living style and I was moved to the community home at 13.

"It's okay. I had it handled," I replied curtly.

"Ah." Ito responded.

—-

Eventually I was let out of school for the day. I swung my backpack over my shoulders and started the usual way home.

"Oi, Haruki-chan!" A large boy with a grizzly bear centred quirk called out to me from behind. He fell into my stride.

"Yo, Hinata-kun." I reply.

"I heard you got into UA. I shouldn't be surprised though," he said. I roll my eyes, smiling at my friend.

"Of course I did. I fucking destroyed that exam," I brag, with perhaps some exaggeration.

"Eh? What was the exam?" He asked. We stopped at a set of traffic lights.

"Fighting robots. The more we took out, the more points we got," I explained. Hinata gave me a confused look.

"I thought your quirk only works on people," he said. The pedestrian signal activated.

"It does. I didn't need it though," I explained as we crossed the road. We reached the other side and parted ways.

"See ya, Hinata-kun."

—-

I arrived home. Prior to opening the door I heard a scream from inside followed by a large crash. The issue with these types of homes is that they tend to full of kids who have been thrown in the 'too hard basket.' It was effectively a carousel for rotating teenagers in and out of juvenile detention and functional society. I sigh and open the door to be presented the the usual chaos of the community home.

"Nakashima-chan, thank god. I could really use your help. I've already called the police twice today but I just can't calm down Keichi-kun," Sayuri, our residential assistant and social worker appeared to be at her wits end. Keichi-kun, who was equiped with ceramic coated hands, was aggressively gesticulating at another resident.

"Ah. Gotcha," I reply flatly to Sayuri. I was getting pretty over this routine. "Oi, Keichi-kun."

Keichi ignored me. I scowled. Suddenly he swung a punch at the wall beside the poor kids head, going through it completely.

"For fucks sake," I mutter to myself. I put down my backpack and launched myself at Keichi, kicking him in the back of his knees. He stumbled and I elbowed him in the shoulder.

"Nakashima-chan!" Sayuri cried. I rolled my eyes.

"Oi, Haruki! What did ya do that for?" Keichi complained grasping his bruising shoulder. The other resident scuttled away.

"Because you're a fucking nuisance," I reply. With the situation diffused, I grabbed my backpack and storm into my room. I sit on my bed and sigh, rubbing my temples. It's not long now. Once I start high school I'll be out of this place. I pull out my phone and start scrolling through apartment listings in Musutafo. I cringe at the expense. I'll have to figure something out.

—

That evening I change into my exercise gear and leave for a run. As I was leaving I noticed Keichi applying a plaster patch to the wall. He had a massive temper but wasn't such a bad guy when he cooled down. I left him alone.

I found running cleared my head. Until now I had been so focussed on training to get into UA I kind of neglected creating any plans to actually move there. Looking at apartment prices it appeared that even a studio apartment out of town was going to be out of reach. This meant that I was probably going to need to apply for a transfer to a new community home which I honestly wanted to avoid. Outside of the chaos that would ensue by continuing to live in a community home, transfers took a horribly long time to process. I could be stuck in my current home and forced to complete a 5 hour round trip for my first term at least. In addition to keeping up my exercise routine and homework the commute could prove problematic.

I neared the end of my circuit.

Maybe I should reach out to Kenta. Last I heard he was living in Musutafo. We were by no means close. But we did keep in contact from time to time. Maybe I could convince him to let me stay on his couch at least.

Around the corner from my home I see Keichi sitting in the gutter, a cigarette in hand. I slowed down and stand next to him. He looks up. I can see from his face he's feeling depressed.

"Hiding from Sayuri-san?"I ask. I settle in the spot next to him. He nods.

"Yeah. If she finds my cigarettes she soaks them and throws them out," he replied gloomily. He pulls the pack out of his pocket, offering me one. I pull one out.

"Thanks," I say. He pulls out his lighter to ignite it for me.

"You know if you don't get your anger under control you're gonna end end up back at juvie," I say. I raise the cigarette to my mouth and breath in. I hold my breath until my lungs burn.

"It'll probably be jail next time. I'm 18 soon," he says. He pulls his knees in, resting his chin on them.

"Mmm. Just don't let them catch you," I reply, smirking. Keichi let out a short laugh.

"Ya know, for someone going to UA, you're not a very heroic person are you?" He asks, rhetorically if anything.

"Hey, I protected that kid you were gonna bash today, didn't I?" I reply. I take another sip of my cigarette.

"That's true. Thanks." He replied quietly. We finish out cigarettes and head on home.

—

The weekend arrives. I decided that negotiating with Kenta for a place to stay was going to be my best chance at living close to school next year. I shoot him a text.

Me: Yo, give me a call when you're free. I have something I want to talk to you about.

I hear nothing for several hours when suddenly my phone begins ringing. I pick it up. It's Kenta.

"Hey favourite big brother," I say as I answer.

"... Hi Haruki. What's going on?" He replies. He sounds tired.

"I've kind of got some big news. I got into UA." I explain. I hear shifting in the background.

"You're kidding. You managed to do that?" He asked.

"Mmm. I got the acceptance letter last week. But that's not the only reason I'm calling," I start. I took a deep breath. "You're still living in Musutafo right?"

"Yeah," he replied carefully.

"Do you reckon I could crash at your place while I study?" I ask.

"No way," he replied immediately. Damn it.

"Come on, Kenta. I won't ask for much," I plead.

"Absolutely not. I only live in a one bedroom apartment and I can barely afford to feed myself let alone a child," he replied.

"Come on Kenta. I'll get a part time job so you won't need to buy me food or anything. I don't even need a room. Just let me sleep on your couch," I beg. I fiddle with the end of one of my braids. "Please?"

I hear him groan. There's a few moments of silence.

"Fucking hell," he mumbled. "Fine. But seriously, I'm not paying for anything. I'm offering you my couch and that's it."

I grinned but kept my excitement quiet.

"Thank you so much, Kenta. Really, you're the best," I say. We finish the phone call. My heart raced with excitement. This is actually coming together.

—

Soon school finished. After all the time I spent studying for the UA entrance exams I actually ended up the top of my year. My school was nothing special. But given the trouble I'd caused throughout the years it was still somewhat a surprise to many. At our last assembly I am required to give a speech as the student representative.

As I walked up on stage I heard several whispered.

"... isn't she the one who knocked out one of our senpais last year?"

"She's one of those delinquent types right?"

"I heard she got accepted into UA."

I stood on stage and took a deep breath.

"Our behalf of the graduating class I would like to thank the teachers and staff for supporting us. We are here today because of your effort and guidance and could not have done it without you. I pledge that going forward I, along with my class, will continue to push forward and achieve excellence without compromise. Thank you." I bow and leave the stage. I walk back to my seat, next to Hinata who has tears in his eyes.

"You're such a baby Hinata-kun," I whisper. He ignores what I said and pulls me into a side hug.

"I can't believe you're leaving me behind Haruki-chan," he sobbed quietly. Someone shushed us and I rolled my eyes.

I make my way home after the assembly, waving goodbye to a still tearful Hinata.

I caught myself grinning. Soon my new adventure would start and I would be out of this shithole.