Challenger

Mashirao Ojiro took his seat between Star and Hagakure, immediately noticing that the latter seemed down. Her uniform arms were stretched in front of her on the desk, and the way her collar was facing implied her head was resting on them. As a sigh sounded from the area, Mashirao leaned towards her.

"Is everything alright, Hagakure?" He worried out loud.

"Did you see the news last night?" She asked sadly, appearing to move her head on her hand.

"Yeah, why?" All of them had seen the news on the living room TV screen. It was reporting the USJ attack, and even showed footage from outside.

"We were all on the screen for a few seconds, but I still got calls asking if I was there. I guess nobody noticed me in the background..." Her voice was sad, and her gloves moved as if she were anxiously fiddling with them.

Star rubbed her temples, lacking alcohol at school for the first time. "Probably not, you're invisi-"

Mashirao put his hand over her mouth, sweating. "It's just difficult to stand out when you can only see gloves, but that's your strength! You were an effective fighter during the USJ, and without training! Your quirk allowed you to accomplish things I couldn't, and I've been trained my entire life."

Motivated by their rapt attention, he continued. "I'm sure one day, you'll find a way to shine brighter than anyone else here, even Aoyama! You'll find a way to blind them with your quirk, I just know it!" He finished dramatically, putting the hand not covering Star's mouth into a determined fist.

Star gaped at him, wide eyed. Hagakure probably was as well, since her hand was over where her mouth should be, unmoving. Scratching the back of his neck, he winced as the silence grew.

"Er…" Looking around desperately for help, he saw everyone else was absorbed in their conversations. Even Sato and Tokoyami were talking about All Might together. "I meant…"

To his surprise though, Hagakure giggled. Her gloved fists clenched in determination. "You're totally right, Ojiro! I just have to find a way to make myself shine and stand out!" She pumped her fist in the air, "I can do it!"

Nodding vigorously, he let out a relieved sigh. He always ended up blurting out his thoughts to the invisible hero, it was like his filter disappeared whenever he talked to her.

"Everyone stop talking, homeroom is about to begin!" Iida announced from his seat, sitting up straight and looking to the front of the classroom. Mashiro shook his head. Why couldn't he have interrupted with that a minute earlier?

"Is Aizawa okay to teach the class?" Tsuyu asked.

Hands on her ears and head on the table, Star let out a groan. "He wasn't as bad as he would've been if Tsuyu, Mineta, and Midoryia hadn't stepped in. He's still not in the right condition to teach though. Not that that's going to stop him, since he's nearby."

The class fell silent at the information and Bakugo smirked proudly. "See what happens when you don't sabotage your own damn quick, Freckles?"

"Midoryia please for the love of god stop saying my name in your thoughts and analyzing my quirk, you're giving me an even bigger headache." She groaned, banging her head on the desk as he hastily apologized.

Then, glaring up at Bakugo, she let out a positively feral growl. "Fucking bite me Katsuki, I know you'd like it."

Bakugo's mouth opened and closed in shock and rage as the entire class let out a chorus of laughs, gasps, and "oooooooooo!"s.

"Is that what you were doing in our little Olivia's room yesterday, Bakubro?" Kirishima grinned wickedly, "I knew I heard a lot of noise!"

Mashirao gave Star a disapproving look. She had a terrible habit of exaggerating or making up things when she was grouchy or suffering from her quirk, knowing people would assume it as the truth due to her mind reading ability. The look didn't even reach her though, as she had immediately put her head back on the desk and re-covered her ears.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU LITTLE-"

"Morning class." Aizawa interrupted, opening the door.

"Woah! You're still pretty banged up, man!" Kirishima said loudly, "You sure you shouldn't be home and like, recovering?"

"My well-being is irrelevant. What's more important is that your fight isn't over yet."

Time seemed to freeze as everyone went quiet, nervously looking at each other. Kaminari rubbed his neck instinctively, Mineta started shaking, Bakugo leaned forward as his leg bounced quickly up and down under his desk. Mashirao himself looked over to Hagakure, remembering their battle.

"He's talking about the stupid Sports Festival, and the first task is-" Star stopped her sentance short and sighed happily in relief. Mashirao looked back at the teacher and saw him glaring at her, his quirk activated. "I hoped that would work." She said quietly under her breath, only Hagakure and Mashirao hearing it.

He shook his head. A sober Star unable to control her own quirk while surrounded closely by other minds was never a good thing for anyone. She'd do anything to get the voices to stop, even if it meant being cunning or manipulative. Maybe Hitoshi's idea about Bakugo wasn't such a great one after all.

When Star suddenly looked up, glaring suspiciously at him, he realized too late that the teacher hadn't kept his quirk on her for as long as normal. He groaned to himself, and began mentally reciting the steps he was going to teach Hitoshi, breaking them down into excruciating detail. She 'humph'ed at his obvious avoidance, but looked away.

"Why would you scare us like that?!" Ashido cried dramatically, and the rest of the class nodded in agreement.

Aizawa gave them all tired looks, ignoring the question. "The UA Sports Festival is coming up in two weeks."

Only a few people shifted excitedly, the rest of them looked hesitant.

"Is it really such a good idea to host a festival right after villains got in?" Jiro asked, looking at Kaminari anxiously.

"They could attack us all while we're in the same place." Mashiro frowned, glancing around at his classmates. Star had just gotten the last of her wrappings off that morning. It had taken a lot of Recovery Girl's quirk, leaving the woman next to him exhausted.

Glancing at her arm, he shuddered. The skin had been missing completely. The hospital healers had done their best, but the skin there was discolored now, scarred. The area of the wound was lower than the rest of her skin, making it uneven. Maybe she could order sweat bands for her arms, to avoid people's questions? He glanced up from the injury to find her eyes already on his, looking thoughtful. He realized she must've been listening to his thoughts since he mentioned her name.

"Apparently the administration thinks this is the best way to show the situation has been handled, and that we're safer than ever." Aizawa responded tiredly. Mashirao looked at his human lie detector and she shook her head subtly. Apparently they did not have the villain situation handled. "Plus they're beefing up security compared to the past years." Star nodded slightly.

It was a habit she hadn't been able to throw yet, he had noticed. When she focused too hard on someone's mind, she tended to get too absorbed, either mouthing what she heard or reacting to it. She's been that way her whole life since her quirk was originally only activated by touch, and she was able to read more through the contact. With so many surface thoughts around her at all times now though, she didn't get the same read unless she really focused. The habit stayed though, too ingrained in her from her childhood years.

"The event is a huge opportunity for all students at UA. If you want to go Pro one day, this event could open the path for you. You get three chances, one a year. No aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival."

Star shifted in her seat, guilty. Mashirao knew her fear of the press and any publicity ran deep. After her kidnapping, it seemed to get even worse, leading to the use of her quirk to ensure the press had too much to lose by revealing the two names. If she participated, it would all be for nothing. She would risk not only revealing the incident, but also revealing her background. Mashirao had no idea how she would handle this.

And if the look on her face told him anything, neither did she.