Transition

"Oh my God, what happened?!" Laura exclaimed, immediately embracing Isla. "Is everything okay?! Are you parents okay?! Is someone sick?! Did someone die?!?!?!"

She choked out a chuckle in-between sobs at her friend's hysterics. "No --- No one is -- dead," she stuttered. "We should – talk, though. We – we should. Go get Amy."

The girls made their way to the third member of their group, Amy immediately noticing that Isla was upset and had been crying. The made raspberry lemonade and sat on the patio in Amy's backyard; Isla finally calm enough to tell them what happened. About the mouse-principal from the Hero school. About how her parents are the only qualified teachers in the country. About how she was moving to freaking Japan at the end of the month.

"In two weeks?!" Laura shouted. "How are you supposed to learn the language in a week?!"

Isla shrugged. "Good thing I have an aptitude for languages, I guess." She started learning Spanish at 6 years old; having gone to a complete immersion school until she was 12, then the 4 years she was in junior high, she learned French as well. She was fluent in both. How hard could learning Japanese be?

"Most schools in other countries teach English as part of a school requirement, anyway," Amy added. "I'm sure if you had to explain something, someone would understand you."

This felt like a dream. This sort of thing didn't happen in real life. People don't just ... suddenly move halfway across the world at 16 years old. Then again ... when you think about how Quirks started manifesting in people a century ago ... that also sounds farfetched. Only believable in movies and comic books.

The next fourteen days were a blur for Isla and her friends. Between packing up her entire life, trying to spend as much time together (she did get to help set up the lake house and sit in the hot tub), downloading and printing Japanese language workbooks and listening to as much conversation as she could, she was exhausted by the end of each day. She even started listening to her favorite books in Japanese.

After only two days of the silent treatment, Isla began talking with her parents; apologizing for acting like a spoiled child. "You guys really are the best teachers in the world, and this school will be lucky to have you! I promise. I'll represent both of you, our family and our country the best I can!" It was hard for her to say. Even harder for her to admit. It's not like she could live by herself in their house while her parents were in Japan. They had no family members for her to live with either. Regardless of how accepting she was of the situation, she was moving.

Their flight was at least 18 hours. And it left early in the morning. But you can bet Isla, Laura and Amy were having a humungous slumber party in the middle of Isla's empty living room on her last night in America. Her parents were bringing the last of their furniture to a storage unit. They'll have a new apartment close to the school. New furniture and appliances. The administration was paying the rent for them for first few months; as a thank you for teaching the students. The girls brought in every single blanket and pillow they owned, ordered pizza and talked about what the rest of summer was going to be like.

"I wonder what the boys are like in Japan," Amy mused.

"You would want to know about the boys," Laura giggled.

"Well I can obviously kiss my prom date with Sam goodbye," Isla added.

"If you meet a boy over there you have to tell us!" Amy exclaimed. "Like. Right away tell us!"

Isla nearly choked on her Sprite from laughing. "Amy, it's like ... a whole day between here and there. If it's 1pm there on Friday, it's 11pm here on Thursday."

Amy stared her down. "So? I can take phone calls until midnight."

Isla fell backwards on the mountain of pillows around them. "You really have a one-track mind with boys."

"But you are a catch, Isla," Laura added, flopping a pillow on top of her.

She sighed heavily. "I highly doubt any boy will be interested in me," she said, voice muffled by the pillow over her face. "All the students have Quirks. So I'm just going to focus on my schoolwork and being the best representative I can be for my parents and ..."

"Boring!!!!!!" her friends shouted in unison, throwing more pillows at her; all three friends now laughing uncontrollably.

Catherine and John came back as the clock on the oven flashed 1:45 a.m. "Jet lag is a real thing, girls," John commented. "I think it's time to help your best friend settle down so she can get some rest before ... well. Before sitting on a plane for 18 hours."

Sleep didn't come easy, though. For anyone, including Isla's parents. Were they nervous? Scared? Her parents shouldn't be scared of anything, especially being the two top Heroes in the country. Catherine and John camped out with the girls in the living room, and every now and then Isla woke to the sound of them talking in low voices to each other. She couldn't make out exactly what they were talking about, but they did sound a little afraid.

When it came time to leave for the airport, Isla felt numb. She wasn't crying. She wasn't hysterical. She didn't feel anything. Maybe in the back of her mind she was still thinking this was a dream she was going to wake up from. Even with the tearful hugs and goodbyes. Even in the taxi. Even boarding the plane, taking off and watching the Statue of Liberty fade off into the distance. She was still hoping. Hoping that maybe the school changed their mind and didn't need her parents anymore. That they'd go back home, put their furniture back in the house and everything would be. Normal.

But here she was. Walking through Tokyo's Narita Airport, following close behind her parents, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks. Her shirt smelled like her house, which only made her crying worse. Her mom, sensing something was wrong with her only daughter, wrapped her arm around Isla's shoulder, pulling her close as they walked to their ground transportation.

It was still another 3 hours to get to where they'd be living; an apartment close to the school. Isla packed some of her favorite snacks from home and before they got in the car (which the school also provided for her family) she picked one out to much on. Her dad let her look at the files him and Catherine were given. There was a page summary of each student in her class; their Quirks, their ranks in middle school and their ranks in their entrance exams. The first page she opened up to, the student with the highest score for the entrance exam was. Well. He looked mean. And intimidating. Red eyes stared at her through a scowl-grin. If that was even the right way to describe his look.

The rest of the students actually ... looked nice. Friendly.

Well ... All except the one who was invisible. Obviously.

"This school is really famous here," Isla commented as she munched on her salt and vinegar chips, reaching through the history of U.A. High.

"The Number One Hero in Japan is also going to be teaching at the school," Catherine added. "I'm sure you'll get to see him at some point during your classes."

All Might. Isla had heard of him before. At one point during the early part of his career he lived in America; California to be exact. But that was, of course, before she was born. His strength was second to none, as was his personality. When you think of The Symbol of Peace, it's only natural you get a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Thinking about All Might being her teacher made her stomach drop. "It's going to be really awkward watching everyone else use their Quirks in those lessons. What exactly am I supposed to do while the rest of them train?"

"You'll still have regular courses," her dad answered. "Math, History, English ... which you'd better get top marks on," he chuckled, winking at her from the rearview mirror.

Isla's parents would be teaching a combination of regular courses and training courses for her classmates. Hopefully she wouldn't be singled out even more; being the child of two teachers and being Quirkless.