It was just another day at U.A. High and Shota Aizawa, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, had just finished informing the students about their final exams. They were wrapping up lessons for the period when a knock came at the door and a young woman stepped into the classroom.

"Forgive the intrusion, sir, but Principal Nezu asked that I bring this to you."

"Ah, thank you." Shota looked over the pile of documents for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the young woman. "How are you settling in, Rui? Have you been given a tour of the school yet?"

"Oh, yes, sir. It's such a large campus, so I got lost a few times, but I found my way OK."

"Good."

While Shota conversed with this Rui girl, Class 1-A murmured among themselves as they wondered who she was and what her relationship with their teacher was. Hearing some of the murmuring, Shota turned to his class.

"This is Rui Imari. Not only will she be participating in a work study under Recovery Girl as part of her home schooling program, but she also happens to be my niece. I expect you all to be respectful."

"Whoa, she's your niece?"

"I didn't know you had any siblings."

As the rest of his classmates talked among themselves and processed the new information, Katsuki Bakugo lounged in his seat as usual and looked over this Rui Imari. 'She looks familiar...'

She was about their age, a bit short like most of the girls in the class, wore a simple white bolero jacket over a pine green sundress with matching flats, and she had long and wavy light turquoise hair that darkened at the tips. She had vivid sky blue eyes that sparkled in the daylight as the sun shone through the window. She seemed nervous being around so many people, too, but was otherwise willing to answer people's questions.

'So she's an emitter type, huh?' he thought to himself as Rui explained how her Water Manipulation quirk worked. 'I wonder if she can fight.'

Katsuki continued to watch her, noting that she wasn't nearly as socially awkward as he first thought. When she caught him looking at her, her cheeks flushed a bit and she tucked her hair behind her ear as she smiled at him- which caught him off guard. He found himself blushing for some reason and looked away when Shota shifted his gaze towards him with a protective look in his eyes- hoping he looked away in time. 'There's no way she's related to Mr. Aizawa; she's too cute.'

"Alright, that's enough questions. Rui needs to return to her duties and you still have a few more things to review before the end of class." Shota said, then turned to Rui. "You should go. I'll see you later at dinner."

"Mom says 6pm and don't be late." Rui replied, offering her uncle a smile before she bowed to him, then to the class and hurried off.

The next few periods went by quickly and it was finally lunch time. Rui was relieved to have a break, her morning having been rather busy after returning to the infirmary. She heard someone call out to her and turned to find some of the students from Class 1-A waving to her as they approached.

"Hey, Imari, how's it going?"

"You settling in OK?"

Rui offered them a smile. "You can call me 'Rui'. It's been busy, but I like it. I think I'll do just fine with my work study. I was pretty nervous about it at first, but I couldn't ask for a better mentor than Recovery Girl."

"Wanna come sit with us?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

"R-Rui..?"

Rui stopped, hearing a familiar voice and turned- finding another childhood friend standing there in disbelief at the sight of her. "Izuku?"

"It is you!"

"Izuku!"

Izuku Midoriya and Rui hugged, smiling and laughing- clearly happy to see each other.

"You know her, Midoriya?"

"Rui and I grew up together as children." Izuku explained, sniffling a bit.

"After my dad died, my mom moved us away and pulled me out of public school. She's been homeschooling me ever since and only agreed to let me come to U.A. for my work study because of Uncle Shota."

Izuku looked at her, confused. "Wait, Shota as in Shota Aizawa? Our homeroom teacher?"

Rui nodded. "Yup. Uncle Shota is my mother's brother."

"Whoah, I had no idea!" Izuku chuckled.

Rui smiled, her cheeks blushing a bit. "Ya, Uncle Shota isn't too fond of the media or press, so he keeps his work as low profile as possible. Mom told me not to go bragging about it too much, so I never really talked about it."

"I totally get it, but wow! That's so cool!"

"What about you?" Rui asked as she and the others got in line for food. "How did you end up at U.A.? I thought you didn't have a quirk."

Izuku chuckled nervously. "I was a late bloomer. I got my quirk before taking the entrance exam for U.A. and I managed to pass."

"That's wonderful, Izuku!" Rui beamed at him. "I remember how devastated you were to learn you wouldn't ever get your own quirk. Way to stick it to that doctor! He clearly didn't know what he was talking about."

"R-Right." Izuku took a tray. "Wait, Rui, have you seen Kacchan? Does he know you're here?"

Rui sighed and her face fell a bit. "I stopped by Class 1-A's room this morning to drop something off for Uncle Shota, but Katsuki didn't seem to recognize me. I shouldn't be too surprised, though, it's been like ten years since I last saw you guys."

"True... you should still say hi. He hasn't changed much since we were kids."

"So he's still an ambitious hot head?"

"Hehe, ya."

"So you're in Class 1-A, too, huh?" Rui asked. "Why weren't you there this morning?"

"I was coming back from the infirmary. Again." Izuku chuckled nervously. "We must have just missed each other."

"I see. Well, if you're not more careful, you might just become my new favorite patient." Rui joked.

Rui and the others finally got their food and found their way to an open table. They sat and talked, getting to know each other or reconnect after years apart, and Rui felt all of her worries melting away.

Across the way a bit, Katsuki sat watching Rui and Izuku as they sat together. He noticed some key things about how they interacted that validated his memories more and more and soon enough, he was certain it was her. Rui Imari was the same girl that he and Izuku had grown up with as little kids.

"Seems like Imari and Midoriya know each other." Eijiro Kirishima said as he sat with Katsuki and Denki Kaminari. "Do you know her?"

"Just because that damn nerd knows someone doesn't mean I do." Katsuki barked, glaring at Eijiro for a moment before his gaze shifted back to Rui and Izuku. "But, ya, I knew her."

"What's she like?"

"Hell if I know. I haven't seen her in ten years."

Eijiro sensed that he may have hit a nerve and backed off on the questions, looking to Denki only to be met with a shrug. They watched as Katsuki got up and left, putting away his empty tray before heading outside.

As Katsuki walked outside to find a spot where he could think in silence, he wondered why all of these feelings and thoughts were swirling up inside of him. 'It's been years since we last saw her, so why? Why does seeing her again make me feel like this?'