Mending Bridges

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" An accented voice panicked above her.

Star looked up from the ground to see a woman around her height looking down at her, hands over her mouth in surprise. Her round face was framed by thick, wavy golden hair that reached halfway down her back with shorter bangs hanging down her forehead. Her big eyes were wide in surprise, and she had a pair of tall horns on her head.

"It's okay, it was totally my fault, I wasn't paying attention!" It took her a second to process through her tipsy brain that the woman hadn't spoken in Japanese. "You speak English?"

"We both do."

The man had spoken this time, blond bangs hanging over his right eye. His light eyes were half-closed, and his head was tilted, a smirk on his lips that grew when she accepted his hand up. She stumbled a bit, before the woman steadied her.

"Wow, I didn't expect anyone else here to speak it!" Star switched to English, relieved to find more people to use it with.

Mashirao was able to talk with her, which she exploited for a few days. Until Katsuki overheard her and got mad when she referred to him as 'Spikes'. It had been because of his spiking emotions she could feel in his mind, but she didn't get a chance to explain before he stormed off. Now she keeps her English around him to a bare minimum, juuust in case.

The woman laughed, "That's a funny story! I was surprised too when I found out that Monoma spoke it!"

Star went pink in embarrassment when she realized she had been thinking out loud. Maybe she had drank a bit too much in her room this morning.

The man flicked his hair out of his face, lightly smirking. "Neito Monoma."

"I'm Pony Tsunotori, I'm an exchange student from the United States!" The woman smiled.

Star felt her blood run cold. She had no idea someone else from the States was here, and she had no idea if her dyed hair would be enough. "Oh! You guys looked alike, so I thought you were related! It's nice to meet you, I'm-"

"I know you already, how could I not?! You're Star Skyline!" Pony squealed, eyes glittering in excitement.

"You're Star Skyline?" Whatshisface's smirk increased, his arms crossing as he leaned in to look at her.

Star internally panicked as she looked around desperately, thankful they were talking in English and no one was around. Talk about bad luck. School had barely even begun and someone recognized her? The world really seemed to have it out for her. "Er, I go by Olivia here!"

Pony whispered excitedly, "Ooooh! 'Cuz of the press and stuff, huh? America was wondering where you went! It's so crazy you're here!"

"Yeah, so crazy." The guy echoed. It was strange that he knew her when he wasn't from America, but it wasn't as uncommon as she had hoped when moving here. Her many changes of addresses attested to that. "Are you heading to General Education's dorms? We're on our way there too. I wanted to introduce Pony to my girlfriend there. We can walk with you."

Star was surprised that he knew which direction she was headed in, and glanced at her phone, noticing the time.

"Actually, I'm heading back to the 1-A dorms! Class was pretty tiring." She admitted. Again, she wasn't technically lying. She had to get back and explain things to her old friend. "If you guys don't mind, can you keep my name on the down low? It's easier to be known as Olivia."

They agreed to keep her name secret, and she was relieved. With the lengths she had gone to keeping her and Hitoshi out of the press, the last thing she needed was handling more reporters.

~~~~~~~~

Star Skyline twiddled her hair and swung her feet anxiously as she sat on the couch. The training had been a success, with her team not only finishing in under a minute, but also receiving high praise in every area- including teamwork. Though she was on a high for the rest of the afternoon classes, her mood fell when she remembered what she had promised Todoroki in order to get him to listen to her in the first place.

She was going to have to tell them.

It was for the best, she reminded herself. Yaoyorozu was her friend for a long time before they fell out of touch, and she already knew about her power, her family, and her move to Japan. As for Todoroki, he was not only close to Momo, but he was also too sharp, making connections between her actions and their meanings with more accuracy than she was prepared for. Plus, the news was bound to get out eventually, and having people in her corner to rely on didn't sound too terrible, especially with Hitoshi in a different class.

Star knew there were more reasons to tell them than reasons not to, so why was she still trembling?

She felt Mashirao shift next to her and he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, lending her his strength. It probably would've worked too, if she hadn't sobered up after school ended.

She looked up to him and he smiled tightly. She was sober enough to feel his underlying anxiety that he tried to bury, and the lingering guilt he still felt. She knew that guilt was part of the reason he had decided to become a hero, instead of just protecting them. His protection hadn't been enough to stop her from being taken, and he still blamed himself, even months later.

She opened her mouth to say something about it, but he squeezed her shoulder before removing his hand and pointing at the stairs, saying "They're here."