8. Steps Towards Acceptance

Rory's POV

I am not happy we are being forced to be here. But the last thing I want is for major drama or for people to keep starting fights all the time in class. Best to get it all out of the way and clear the air. But what if they go crazy? What if I start getting ridiculed over my freaky appearance? I don't know what's wrong with me, I don't usually care what others think; except maybe Dabi and Toga of course.

"Come on Ror, you've got this. It's not a big deal really. Who cares if the know now?!"

"Well I do! But yeah, I guess you're right, thanks Toga." Dabi then squeezed my hand in support before we walked through the door and into class.

It was eerily silent at first when we all entered. Only our footsteps could be heard as we made our way to our seats. I tried to just ignore everyone and not look to see what was showing on their faces. But thankfully, the awkwardness was shattered by none other than the little green haired, All Might super fanboy himself.

"Hi Rory! That was so cool yesterday! I just knew there was something else going on. I know you said your quirk was nullifying but you never said you had ears and a tail too; a mutation quirk right?! Does that mean she has two quirks? Or maybe one that's mutated..." Mumble...mumble. Midoriya verbalized all this while fidgeting in place, after he ran over to my desk from his. Once the atmosphere had been broken and the class saw I wasn't about to start ripping people to pieces, like someone from nightmare or legendary curse, over all the questions and attention, the majority of the class then came over to talk to us; mostly about the match yesterday and my unusual appearance and quirk.

Ochaco was next and stepped up alongside Midoriya, "your ears and tail were so cute and fluffy. What animal are they?"

"Erm wolf."

"Wow."

"Hi Rory, I'm Mina Ashido, your costume and moves were totally kickass yesterday."

"Were those ears and tail another quirk or a mutated appearance? How did they disappear and reappear? Oh, sorry how rude of me, I'm Momo Yaoyarozu."

In no time at all I had been introduced to almost everyone in class and had all variations of the same sorts of questions thrown at me, before angry spikey dude's friend spoke up, Kirishima I think it was.

"Why do you hide your tail and ears? They're a natural part of you right?! Plus, we've all already seen them so there's not much point in hiding them now." He had a very good point and keeping them hidden used up energy that I didn't need to use. So, for the first time in my life, I released my tight control over my appearance and let my ears and tail sprout forth freely in front of a room full of strangers.

Shoto's POV

Well this isn't going according to plan. The class is supposed to hate her and the teachers are supposed to send her to jail. Although I hate her because I must, I can't help being moved by this other side that we've seen of her. I respect her as a warrior after what I witnessed in practice yesterday. And she even looks fierce and a little cute with her ears and tail out. It is a shame we must be enemies, but you must die for what you have done. I will get revenge and expose you.

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Izuku's POV

Now that I've seen that there's more to Rory and what she's capable of, I'm even more excited for our training together this morning. I turn at the sound of leaves crunching behind me and see Rory walking towards me in dark work out gear and ears and tail comfortably on display.

"Are you ready Midoriya?"

"Oh yeah, very ready." She chuckled lightly at that and started off towards the forest, jogging at a steady pace until I caught up. Then we began our training with racing through the forest until we reached a clearing in the middle. There we continued our training, with agility exercises, until it was time to get ready for classes.

Rory's POV

We stopped by a large tree stump for a quick break, before we needed to head back for classes. This training session with Izuku was surprisingly pretty great; we worked well together and he's actually quite skilled and powerful.

"So how long have you had your ears and tail?"

"From birth I guess."

"And what about your quirk?"

"I think it showed itself when I was about nine or ten at a guess."

"You're really skilled too. How long have you been training for?"

"I guess I started training at about five years old without my quirk, and then mixed training with my quirk after ten."

"Oh wow that must've been hard."

"It's whatever, I guess. But what about you? You're pretty powerful and skilled compared to most your age."

"Well erm I guess you could say I was a late bloomer, so I only started learning and training with my quirk just before starting UA, so a lot later than most. But I have been training hard and had a lot of sessions with classmates and other teachers, and I gained a lot of experience last year with villain attacks and the hero agency placements. I've still got a long way to go yet."

"What's with the twenty questions anyway?"

"Haha well you're just so interesting and unique, I want to know all that I can. What about your parents, who are they?"

"I don't have any."

"Well what's your full name then?"

"Now that would be giving you a little too much information, you're still a hero in training and I'm still a villain after all. I think we're done with training for today, I'll see you later in class."

I put an end to his questioning quickly, before it could go anywhere too deep or before he could figure something out about a villain and assassin's identity. I took a short cut back to our dorms before he could follow and discuss anything else with me just yet.

On the way back to the dorms I was lucky enough to run into Mr Spikey Sunshine, not. He looked to be heading back to his dorms after a morning workout as well, if his dishevelled and sweaty appearance were anything to go by.

"Oi freak! What the f*** are you doing out freely?" Bakugo shouts towards me as he starts jogging and makes his way over to where I'm heading.

"None of your business. And am I not allowed to leave my building?! What about you? What're you doing out and about at this time of the morning? Coming back from seeing a girlfriend...or boyfriend?" I smirk at him as I answer and meet him halfway, until we are almost face to face at the side of one of the other buildings.

"What?! None of your business either."

"Well this is going to be a very short conversation if this carries on. Very well, I have been out training in the woods this morning with Midoriya. He is a good partner and a very strong opponent."

"Deku?! That weak nerd?! Grrr. Stay away from him villain, he is my rival, don't even think of hurting him before I have a chance to beat him."

"Is that right?!"

"Besides, if you want a real workout then train with me next time." I don't think he even realised how that sounded, I just put a hand on my hip and raised one eyebrow at him as a gave him a sly grin.

A moment of confusion and then once it dawned on him, a slight pink blush could be seen dusting his cheeks, "I didn't mean...shut up. Just forget it. Tch." He babbled and spat out before he turned around and stormed off. Hehe how precious.