Friends Are Not Chosen

Kimika watched them leave, feeling her heart race wildly. It was harder than she had expected. She couldn't understand why that guy was so aggressive and angry, why he was insulting her new friend while wanting to become a hero — not just any hero, but the number one hero, like All Might. 'Shouldn't a hero be kind and compassionate to the weaker?' she thought. Her hand involuntarily clenched into a fist, trying to hold back her emotions.

"Quirkless and Horned" — those words from Bakugo still echoed in her mind. She had always considered her quirk to be a part of herself, something natural that didn't deserve excessive attention. But now those words made her reflect on how others saw her. But... it was just a fleeting thought. 'I can't show weakness. I am going to be a future heroine!'

Gathering herself, Kimika took a deep breath and turned to Izuku. He stood in front of her with wide eyes, as if he was seeing something incredible. His gaze was filled with mixed feelings — wonder and fear at the same time. He still couldn't believe what had happened and seemed impressed by her bravery. Finally, after a shy sigh, he lowered his eyes and quietly said:

"Kimika... you shouldn't have done that... Now he's really angry at you... He's going to hate you... You should have been friends with him, not me..." Izuku's voice trembled, filled with genuine concern. He worried not for himself, but more for her, sensing that the consequences could be terrible.

She paused for a second, trying to rein in her emotions. She shrugged and then stubbornly replied:

"So what?" Her voice still trembled, but there was more confidence in it than fear. "I don't care what he thinks. You can't behave like he does! And besides, why should I be friends with someone who puts others down? I knew he wouldn't apologize, so I said what I said. But..." She thought for a moment, somewhat reluctantly admitting to herself. "If he had apologized... maybe I would have considered being friends with him. But still, he's just so angry."

Izuku looked at her with slight horror, as if he couldn't comprehend how she could talk about it so easily. He was afraid of Bakugo, but at the same time couldn't help but admire his confidence and the powerful quirk he didn't have. So he dared to ask:

"And you... you're not afraid of him?"

Kimika looked at him intently and, sighing, smiled slightly.

"Of course, I'm scared. I'm a person, just like you. But I'm also going to be the number one hero! And I can't let fear control me. Heroes don't show fear, even if they feel it."

After the tense encounter with Bakugo, Kimika and Izuku tried to shift their focus to something else, talking about their dreams. Kimika shared how she wanted to become a hero, help people, and protect the weak. Izuku listened to her in awe, occasionally adding something about his dream of being like All Might.

Izuku was immensely grateful to Kimika. She hadn't turned away from him when she found out he was quirkless. On the contrary, she remained his friend and even stood up for him against Bakugo, showing her courage. At the same time, he felt anxious about the fact that two of his friends now hated each other.

Their conversations continued until an adult approached them — likely their future teacher.

The woman entered the classroom with a warm smile on her face. She had long, dark hair that gently fell over her shoulders, and soft, kind eyes that immediately inspired trust. Her outfit exuded elegance yet had a casual air — a simple but stylish suit that highlighted her professionalism.

"Good afternoon, class!" Her voice sounded soft and friendly. "Please take your seats." The students quickly obeyed her request, all taking their places, trying to guess what their new teacher would be like.

"I am your homeroom teacher, Sae Fujiwara. My quirk is Calm Aura. In a small area around me, you will feel a reduction in stress and anxiety, allowing you to relax and focus on your studies."

She paused, smiling.

"I'm very pleased to meet you all. Let's start the lesson with some introductions! If you'd like, please stand up and tell us a little about yourself. It doesn't have to be everything — at least your name and surname."

After surveying the class, Sae noticed that no one dared to be the first, likely due to insecurity. She decided to take the first step and called on the students who, in her opinion, looked quite brave. Looking at the blond boy with a fiery personality and the girl with white silky hair and little horns, she decided to favor the girl.

"Let's start with you, the white-haired girl by the window," she said, smiling and looking at Kimika. Feeling her heart race, Kimika quickly got to her feet, preparing to speak.

She felt a bit flustered, as she had planned to introduce herself somewhere in the middle, but if she was already called on, she had to be ready for such situations because she was going to be a hero! 

"I… I'm Kimiko Tanaki," she began, her voice trembling slightly, but she tried to appear confident. "My quirk is called Time Control. Right now, I can change the speed of objects or people only if I'm looking at them… Although it's still quite weak, I'm training hard! The doctor said that over time, I'll be able to achieve more..."

She took a small pause, gathering her thoughts, and then continued: 

"My hobby is watching various hero shows, and my dream is to become a hero! ... That's probably all. It's nice to meet everyone, and I hope we can become friends!"

Kimika felt her anxiety slowly fade away, and with renewed enthusiasm, she looked at her classmates, hoping they would be able to find common ground.

Sae, hearing about Kimika's quirk, couldn't contain her joy. There was a girl in her class with such a strong quirk! Even if she could only change speed for now, the very name of her quirk — Time Control — hinted at great potential. Sae realized that she needed to support this student to improve her reputation when Kimika became a hero. 

Smiling, she said: 

"Well done! Your quirk is truly impressive, and so is your dream. I'm sure you will succeed! Now let's move on. Boy, it's your turn!" Her gaze landed on Bakugo, who was already impatiently waiting for his turn.

"My name is Katsuki Bakugo, and my quirk is Explosions! My goal is not just a dream, but a target! I want to be the number 1 hero — not some hero, police officer, or doctor, but the number 1 hero, like All Might. No! I will surpass him and become better and stronger!"

"Wow! That's an ambitious goal," said Fujiwara-sensei, smiling. "I hope you achieve it and become the number 1 hero!"

In her heart, a thought was brewing: how nice it was to have students with such prospects. Sae always looked for benefits in everything, and this time was no exception. She imagined how her reputation would grow when Kimika and Bakugo became heroes. 

When Sae expressed her hope for Bakugo's success, he scoffed: 

"I don't need your hopes! This is my goal, and I know I will achieve it!"

Although Sae felt anger at his arrogance inside, she quickly suppressed that feeling. 'How can this little bastard talk to me so boldly?' — she thought, pursing her lips. But despite his anger and stubbornness, Sae knew that people like him always reached their goals. 'Even if he probably won't become the number 1 hero, I'm sure he will definitely be a hero!' — she thought, smiling at him with a kind expression, even though her mind was filled with a multitude of unflattering words regarding his attitude.

The students in the class watched their new classmates attentively, each with their own dreams. Some wanted to befriend Kimika or Bakugo, hoping to become friends with future heroes. Others dreamed of gaining support from one of them, viewing them as strong and confident, especially Bakugo. There were also those who simply envied their unique quirks, considering them incredible and desirable. The children felt it was unfair — why had they been given weak quirks while Kimika and Bakugo had such amazing ones? 

Eventually, Sae continued calling on the children one by one until it was Izuku's turn. 

"Now you, boy sitting behind Kimika," she said, pointing her gaze at Izuku. He quickly stood up, trying to overcome his nervousness.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya… my dream is to become a hero like All Might and save people… As for hobbies, I love analyzing heroes… It's nice to meet you all, and I hope we can become friends."

"What about your quirk? Tell us about it!" shouted Bakugo from the back, laughing with his friends.

"Don't disrupt the class! If he doesn't want to talk about his quirk, that's his business!" intervened Sae, trying to maintain order.

"N-n-no, I'll tell… I'm quirkless…" Izuku said quietly, feeling his cheeks burn with shame.

Sae felt a twinge of disdain. This boy seemed almost like a zero in this class, as everyone else had quirks except for him. But for now, she wasn't rushing to dismiss him, as he might prove to be of some use to her. 

Suddenly, Kimika intervened, saying: 

"He can become a hero! Like my dad! He's a detective! Mom said he's a hero too because he catches criminals and saves people!"

Sae was grateful to Kimika for her support, as her words helped bolster Sae's position in the class. It seemed that Izuku was indeed a friend of Kimika's, which gave Sae a sense of advantage. Kimika, while appearing to be just a simple good child, had genuinely changed the atmosphere in the classroom with her words, adding notes of hope and compassion that Sae decided to use to her benefit. 

"Yes, yes! You could become a police officer, a detective, a doctor, or a firefighter—they save people too and are heroes!" Sae chimed in, trying to encourage Izuku. After a brief pause, she continued, still smiling: "Thank you for your honesty, Izuku! I'm sure your dreams are very important, and there's a place for everyone in the world of heroes, even for those without quirks."

This caused some discontent among the students, as they were used to ignoring those without quirks. However, Sae already partly regretted hoping for some advantage from Izuku; he was only getting in her way. It seemed that Kimika was friends with him, while Bakugo, on the contrary, did not like him. This put her in a difficult position: she would have to choose between them, and it was likely that she would lean towards Kimika with her time-manipulating quirk, which would undoubtedly give her a chance to become one of the best heroes in the world.

Sae knew that time would reveal which students could achieve great success, but she was already starting to form her strategic plans. She also realized that through Izuku, she could become friends with kind Kimika, while Bakugo would be too difficult to approach and would probably forget about her immediately after graduation. Kimika could become a reliable ally, so Sae began to think of a plan to strengthen her relationship with her.

Meanwhile, the kids started whispering among themselves, discussing how Izuku was quirkless. Some of them joked out of curiosity, not understanding how painful that could sound to him. Kimika heard these conversations but didn't grasp why the other kids treated his lack of a quirk that way.

However, the teacher quickly changed the subject, starting to ask the other students about their quirks, for which Kimika was very grateful. She saw the teacher as someone who also supported Izuku. The lesson passed, and many students approached Kimika afterward, trying to befriend someone like her, a potential future hero because of her quirk. Some even asked if she wanted to be friends with them instead of quarreling with the quirkless Izuku. But she immediately declined, stating that she would be friends with Izuku because he didn't belittle others for their weaknesses and differences.

By the end of the day, Izuku remained Kimika's only true friend, while the others tried to befriend her purely for their own benefit, sometimes even mocking him to grab her attention.

Thus, the school day passed quite quickly, and Kimika set off outside with Izuku to introduce him to her mother and show her his new first friend. She also wanted to share her impressions of the lesson, ask why the class disliked Izuku, and tell her about the kind teacher who supported both her and Izuku.

///

Describing the first day of school in two chapters totaling 5,000 words is a true art of a cat-student! And the masked cat even erased half the text to avoid stretching it into two additional chapters! He got so tired that he took off his mask and started tapping the keyboard with his paws...

But luckily, new chapters are released daily, so hang in there! Writing two chapters a day is a real challenge, even though only one is posted here. And don't forget about my Patreon account (patreon.com/Zoi4erom), where chapters come out much faster!

As for the deleted moments: getting to know Bakugo's friends, a better description of the teacher's character, expanded dialogues with students, and detailed descriptions of a few more lessons—all of this could have been part of two additional chapters, but I decided it was unnecessary. After all, no one wants to read fanfiction just to entertain themselves and pass the time, and then remember some extra information and keep it in their heads. Ugh!

However... if anyone wants to see this, let me know in the comments, and maybe I'll write it... Or maybe not... Or maybe yes? Meow...

///