the hero academy . kopal MHA

"Katelyn,” the other girl said.

That was a pretty name. Opal grabbed the hand she was offered, and Katelyn pulled her to her fight in one swift movement. She was strong, Opal could feel it in the way she moved, the roughness in her hands. Her skin was cold, a lot colder than Opal was expecting, in comparison her own hand felt like a heater. She met Katelyn’s smirk with a rueful grin, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand as she fought back her embarrassment.

Moments later Katelyn was pulling back with a rushed apology of her own, suddenly aware of the aching cold that was now climbing up her arm. She looked down, mouth gaping for a second as she stared at the frosty streak climbing her tan skin. It ached, like holding ice for too long and Opal gingerly picked at it, rubbing away the rest to free her hand.

“It’s all good,” she replied, she was more than used to being injured or surprised by others quirks. Her siblings had an awful habit of bullying her with their own. She was used to Emerald throwing leaves as sharp as knives at her, or Pyrite slicing her skin open with the micro-blades she could produce all over her skin. None of them went easier on her just because her quirk was not designed for attacking. Regardless, she held her own, the staff her weapon of choice, and more often than not her siblings lost their sparring matches.

“Wait. Opal like… Opal Shore? You were one of the students that bypassed the entrance exam, weren’t you?”

She felt the flush creep all over her cheeks before she could stop it. Opal glanced away, wringing her hands together as she avoided Katelyn’s gaze. “Yeah, I-I was,” she stammered, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

She hadn’t realised everyone would know that; she should have. It made her feel more like she was fooling them. They’d all have a belief she was something that she definitely wasn’t, recommendations were the strongest, accepted based on the belief that they didn’t have to prove their strength. At least, that was normally what happened. People had a tendency to look disappointed when she explained her quirk, the world was more impressed by outward demonstrations of strength.

Opal was saved from further embarrassment as their homeroom teacher called their names. Jogging over to the starting line she watched as four other classmates filled in the spots around her. Katelyn was a space or two away from her looking ready to win and Opal swallowed, hoping that she was just fast enough to not come last.

“Ready, set, go!”

Katelyn had passed within four seconds, shooting off instantly with her ice, leaving the rest of them behind. Two other members of their group had quirks that propelled them forwards and Opal was left racing one other guy with black hair. Seven seconds later and the race was over, Opal just passing out the kid beside her with a tired-looking expression.

Her eyes widened with awe as she jogged over to Katelyn, unable to stop the grin that spread across her lips as she spoke, “your quirk is pretty cool.”

She giggled, eyebrow raised as she looked at the blonde, none of her siblings had quirks that were this strong, or this flashy. “That was crazy impressive, you were so fast!”

She watched as Katelyn skated around her, gaze focused with complete awe as the frost slid across the grass, disappearing in her wake as she moved. It clung to the few remaining blades like dew on a cold morning, and it reminded Opal of leaves in the chill of fall, dripping as she ran through the woods by her house. Those were her favorite mornings when the chill in the air stung her lungs and bite at her face. The flush that crept along her cheeks met her ears and nose and she enjoyed the subtle touch of the sun as she reached the peak of the mountain.

The power that radiated from this girl made Opal’s heart flutter, there was no denying or ignoring the level of intimidation that seemed to just radiate from her. She imagined that Katelyn could create a room filled with winter, and wondered if it was limited to ice or she could make snow as well. There was also no point in allowing herself to let it beat her done, she’d been in fights where the odds were stacked against her, and she came out on top a surprising amount of times. Perhaps, that was what made her stand out a little more, her ability to think, react, and not run away when the odds were against her.

It seemed that her own deflection, or maybe just plain awkwardness, towards the topic of recommendations, had allowed for the conversation to shift. Katelyn didn’t seem like the kind of person to not notice, and Opal knew that it would come up sooner or later, with a class like these people were bound to ask.

“Yeah, it looks like we do,” Opal agreed, gaze finally shifting away from the frost-covered grass. The smile she was met with was radiant and Opal had to fight back the blush that threatened to spill across her face. God, this girl was having an effect on her, she couldn’t even try and make excuses and point to a quirk or anything like that.

“I think next up is shotput, and then some long jump, high jump and I think the sparring after that,” Opal looked at their teacher, he had wandered over to the next activity, confirming that it was shotput. The rest of the class followed behind as he blew on his whistle, beckoning them forwards. The activity was slower passed, one at a time.

She looked at Katelyn, as she headed over to the crowd, their first classmate getting ready to throw the ball. “This one will be useful,” she said, switching her focus to the boy, clouds trailed from his body, and as he threw the ball and he pushed them after it, using them as a pillow to carry the ball further. “We can see how a lot of their quirks work,” she mused.

It didn’t take long for Opal to begin trying to piece together a plan on how best to approach a fight with someone like cloud boy. She frowned, deep in thought as she strung her ideas together. Depending on how large he could create the clouds, or if they were exactly like real clouds, they could obscure her view, even carry himself on them. It seemed that moving in fast before he could whip up something big enough would be the best tactic.

One after the other, her classmates stepped up, some of their throws average, and some insane enough that it left her gaping as the ball disappeared from view. When her name was called she moved forwards, “I’ll do my best,” she told Katelyn, shaking out her shoulder to loosen the muscles as she picked up the ball.

She knew she could throw it an average length, nothing crazy impressive, but enough to keep herself from being last. The ball flew from her grip as she grunted from the effort, as she had expected, it flew well within the range of the classmates without flashy quirks. Satisfied with the performance she stepped back, only for Katelyn’s name to be called next.

“Good luck!” She grinned, excited to see what Katelyn would do.

Opal watched with knitted eyebrows as Katelyn tried to create paths for the shot-put ball to bounce off. It was a smart idea, the potential was there, but the results didn’t go as Katelyn anticipated and the ball was dropping to the ground with a heavy thud. She mulled it over, wondering if there was a better way to approach the task that would have given Katelyn more strength and power. Maybe if she had shot ice from her hand at the same time she threw the ball she could have used the extra force to propel the ball further.

Perhaps there was a limit to Katelyn’s quirk that wasn’t obvious to the eye.

She shrugged it off, there would be more time to analyse later. As Katelyn approached her Opal’s gaze trailed over the snowflakes that danced around her head. The annoyance at the loss was evident in her new friend's voice and Opal grinned, she was starting to get a picture of what Katelyn was like. It seemed that she was a girl who hated losing and prided herself on her ability to outdo her competitors, it was no wonder she was in the hero course, everyone here wanted to be the best.

Next was the long jump, once again Opal completed the exercise falling into the average category of those without physical quirks. Katelyn produced a dazzling show, thrusting herself forward with ice as she leaped high into the air, going an insane distance. She landed gracefully, cushioning her fall with delicate ice, and Opal could picture what her plan was for the high jump.

“Well, if only we could all go flying through the air like that,” she mused, the class gathering for the high jump activity. “You’re going to use an ice pillar to thrust yourself over the bar right?” Opal asked, eyeing Katelyn with open curiosity.

When she was younger she had often wished for a more obvious quirk. It seemed easier to be recognised and noticed when your quirk was such a visual show of power, the only person that had ever really taken notice of Opal’s quirk was Recovery Girl. Her quirk went beyond the abilities of Recovery Girl’s, the healing tied to her own stamina and life energy, she could heal anything, really, if she wasn’t too tired. Recovery Girl had made her finally feel as though she was worth something, just because she couldn’t harden her skin or shoot poison from her mouth didn’t mean she couldn’t be useful.

They had two attempts at the high jump and Opal found herself knocking the bar over on the first. She frowned, frustrated as she lined herself up for the second jump. Her training had had her jumping high then this bar, so there was no seed of doubt that she couldn’t do it. Taking a deep breath she settled her racing heart, pausing for a moment to centre herself before taking off. This time she cleared the bar with ease, landing with a grunt on the mat. The bar height climbed higher and higher until finally, she couldn’t make the jump.

She watched Katelyn go, unsurprised as the other girl shot herself over with a pillar of ice. Their homeroom teacher nodded, indicating that she didn’t have to go again. There was no point, she would be able to overcome the highest height the bar could do.

“You can ask me,” Opal said as the class made their way towards the sparring gym, “I know you’re curious about what my quirk is.” She looked away, eyes watching her feet for a moment. People tended to lose their interest in her once they found out, the only way she had been able to stand up against her sibling’s bullying was by training harder. Becoming better than them had been a battle of will-power and grit, training every hour of the day until she had overcome the quirk threshold.

“Everyone find a partner for the sparring assessment, we will be testing your basic fighting abilities to see where the gaps are in your skills.” This was the only activity of the day that opal truly believed she would excel at. “You cannot use your quirks, fighting, and defending is more than a reflection of your quirk ability,” he finished, signalling the class to find a partner with a wave of his hand. He moved to a timer that sat on the wall, plugging in five minutes.

“Want to partner up?” She asked Katelyn.

Opal grinned used to the way people would give her a quick up and down, underestimating her from the get-go. Katelyn was significantly taller, that had both its advantages and disadvantages, Opal had a particular fighting style that would often aggravate her siblings. Sometimes they called her a coward, or they’d get so angry that they’d just stop altogether. They never tried to learn from their mistakes, they all preferred brute force, allowing a fight to end as quickly as possible.

Stamina had always been one of Opal’s better assets, being able to fight for a long time was useful for her quirk as well. The higher her stamina the longer she could heal for, it was why running outside of her normal workouts was her favourite activity to do. The two of them readied themselves on each side of the mat, Opal rolled her shoulders, stretching out her muscles quickly and effectively.

She looked at Katelyn, she had noticed her eyeing with curiosity after each activity. She couldn’t blame her, she had to admit that she’d be equally as curious, she found it utterly fascinating learning about other people’s quirks. Sometimes, they were like a puzzle and she enjoyed trying to piece it together, figuring out the best way she would use their quirk. She’d done this with all her siblings, coming up with offensive and defensive strategies based on their combat skill and their quirk. Argonite always appreciated it, and often specifically asked Opal to help him better improve his technique.

“I use my own life energy to heal people,” she said, she put her arms behind her head, grinning sheepishly as the elephant in the room was finally acknowledged. “I was scouted by Recovery Girl, that’s how I got in on recommendations, not because my quirk is anything powerful like yours.”

Dropping her arms she let the smile drop, gaze flickering to the homeroom teacher as he readied the timer on the wall. Other teachers filtered around the room, each positioning themselves between two groups. Opal assumed that they would be the ones marking them on their combat ability. She nodded, giving the teacher that stopped by their mat a gentle smile.

After a moment she turned her attention back to Katelyn. “I get it, if it disappoints you,” her voice grew serious as she eased her racing heart, drawing herself into her combat zone. Then, as their teacher started the timer she moved. Katelyn swung a brute force attack that was every bit as familiar to her as her own arms. She’d been correct in her assumption that Katelyn favoured a quick fight, preferring strength and force over ease.

There was nothing wrong with that fighting style, it was just that Opal had spent her entire life fighting people that thought the same way. She was quick, ducking under the swing, dropping almost to the floor as her leg swept out, smacking against the back of her knees as Opal moved behind Katelyn. The girl fell, landing on her butt and Opal straightened, turning to face Katelyn and offering her a hand.

“This is one of the few things I’m good at,” she chuckled, “you should see me with a staff, I’m even better.”

Opal laughed, moving back to the starting positions for the fight. It was only fair that the match restarted, almost like a round two. The teacher observing them nodded with approval and Opal couldn’t stop herself from feeling a little proud of herself. Feeling as though she didn’t belong here had been on her mind since she had received the acceptance letter and it eased her worries when she could shine just a little.

Katelyn’s smile shifted, warming up at the edges in a way that contradicted her icy quirk. She felt more approachable, gentler in a sense and it made Opal’s heart flutter, the seriousness in her face fading away.

A moment later her mouth is dropping, surprise screwing her brow as she stared at Katelyn. Was this- she fumbled around her memories, uncertain of the intentions behind the compliments that Katelyn gave her. Was she being honest? Or was it a trick? She ran a hand through her hair, eying Katelyn with open curiosity as she puzzled it together, stomach twisting. Her anxiety had returned, uncertainty writhing its way into her limbs.

No one in her family had ever said that to her, none of them had ever complimented her let alone discussed how useful her quirk could be. It didn’t give the Shore family a name, wasn’t a shining powerful quirk that brought along glory and status. She would forever work behind the scenes and that was not what her family wanted. They wanted their name branded into history, Shore whispered in the crowds as they walked down the streets.

“Do- do you really mean that?” The words felt dumb, her insecurities leeching into the air. She snapped her jaw shut, shaking her head to shove them aside.

She was distracted and unfocused as Katelyn settled into a boxer’s stance. She had no reason to think Katelyn was lying, but the compliment went against everything she had always heard that it settled painfully at the front of her mind.

Suddenly, Katelyn’s striking, throwing punches one after the other in an attempt to overwhelm Opal. The first one almost catches her in the face as she stumbled a step backward. Grunting with surprise she quickly brushed aside the unease, settling back into her battle mindset as Katelyn went to kick. Opal anticipated the movement, reading it as she watched the weight on Katelyn’s feet shift, her eyes flickering for a moment to her next target. She blocks the attack with her forearms, gritting her teeth under the powerful blow.

Seconds later and Katelyn is following up the attack and Opal dodged under the strike, manoeuvering her body to Katelyn’s side. Her elbow hits the air and Opal moved again, a delicate dance that had her behind Katelyn within seconds. It was a way of fighting she’d learned about when she was young, an older form known loosely as Bagua. They resented the fact that Opal targeted blind spots and worked her attacks and movements to compensate for her lack of quirk power.

If she had her staff it would be easy enough to knock Katelyn over, but without her weapon, she’d have to use another attack like the one before. She knew Katelyn was stronger than her, so a straight, blunt blow wouldn’t work. It was similar to fighting Argonite, shift a person’s center and then gravity would do the rest.

As Katelyn went to turn, her left foot lifted, Opal moved, hooking her own leg around it as she kicked upwards. Using the momentum of Katelyn’s movement she thrust up, flipping herself backward as she yanked the girl’s legs off the ground, sending her flying.

Katelyn was smooth, capable of flirting easily and openly. Opal wasn’t quite like that, she was a little more awkward and uncomfortable, prone to rambling and tripping over her words. When she was fighting, though, more often than not her speech aligned with her heart and she was calmer.

“I can patch you up,” she landed in a crouch after the backflip, flinching at the sound of Katelyn landing on the mat with a thud.

“I’ll accept your number as payment.”