Chapter 3

My little brother groaned in frustration the moment I laid down the pencil. I turned to look at him, seeing the seven year old throw his head on the desk. His chestnut colored hair covered his face, so he could hide his frustration.

"Why does history have to be so hard!" Ollie moaned as he shook his head.

I smiled as I stood up from the exercise ball I had rolled in from my own room. It was the best thing I could use to sit on when I was in his room. His room wasn't very big. All it could fit was his bed, a small desk that he had already outgrown, and a bookshelf filled with his favorite comics and action figures. He was very lucky that he could have a bookshelf in his room due to the built-in closet, but one of these days, he was going to need something bigger.

"It's okay," I told Ollie. "You'll understand it eventually."

Ollie lifted his head, showing me his eyes that reminded me of hot chocolate. They were the only feature that could give anyone a hint that we were related.

"How about we try a different approach," I told him as I turned around, making sure the big red exercise ball stayed where it was at before I walked over to the bookshelf, taking a look at it. On it, I looked for one of Ollie's favorite heroes before plucking off a small figurine of a man in a one piece suit.

His name was Mr. Elastic, Number Two Hero. Ollie wasn't a fan of Number One Hero because he didn't think that it was fair that the Number One Hero wouldn't share what his Quirk was and was very secretive about it. My brother could ramble on for hours as to why that wasn't fair. Mr. Elastic was different. He was more open to people, not being secretive about anything. In addition to that, my brother loved his Quirk, which was Stretch. This Quirk just so happened to be a very similar to one of the very first heroes in America.

While Ollie was born here in Japan, he still had to learn about the first heroes in America at the age of seven. It was in America that heroes emerged for the first time, taking out bad guys and making the world a safer place.

I looked at the hero for a moment, trying to grasp every detail of the hero before I closed my eyes and let my body shift into his form. My skin lightened slightly as I felt my bones stretching and my muscles lengthening. It wasn't painful as it happened, but it felt as if I was experiencing a growth spurt happening all at once.

By the time I was done changing into Mr. Elastic, I opened my eyes and looked back at Ollie. His eyes widened in excitement as he knew what kind of lesson he was going to get.

"Imagine a time where there were no heroes, not even the great Mr. Elastic. Yet mass chaos spread across the world, creeping in the dark," I told him as I squatted towards the ground and crawled towards him. Ollie giggled at my actions, but at least I knew he was learning the material better. "It was a very dark time, and yet, these vigilantes--when no one was looking--they would come out and attack people without a second thought!"

At the word attack, I sprung from behind him and tickled his sides. Ollie laughed as he couldn't handle my fingers grabbing his sides and moving in a direction where he could hardly breathe. After he snorted from how hard he was laughing, I stopped and dropped my hands to my sides.

"It was then that the government realized something needed to be done. Quirks were all over the place that they decided to choose seven people," I looked down at his book, realizing that was an important detail that he'd have to know for a future test. No one really knew why it was seven, but knowing Ollie, he'd probably forget it. I leaned in, cupping my hand around my mouth as I whispered in his ear. "They won't tell you this in school, but they chose to have seven heroes so that they'd have one for every day of the week."

I stood up, seeing Ollie's eyes widened in awe. As if to test me, he silently started to count the days of the week, tapping on each finger until he got to the number seven. Upon realizing that, he gasped.

Seeing him slowly grasp the information made me smile. I couldn't stop right there. That book was highlighted with key terms he needed to know. If I could just figure a way to make this interesting for him, he'd learn it a lot easier.

"Each of these heroes took down vigilantes who would bring chaos around America. That's where it all started at," I told him as I placed my hand over my chest. "And that's where your big sister is from too. America. Do you know where in America I'm from?"

"Rhode Island?" Ollie guessed.

"Yes! And that's where these heroes started out at too. And do you remember what one of those Quirks was?" I asked.

Ollie shook his head. I thought he'd be able to guess the one because his favorite hero shared the same Quirk as one of the original seven. Annoyed, I crossed my arms and tilted my head at him, trying to think of a way to get this out of him.

Then it hit me.

I placed one hand on my hip and looked Ollie in the eye as I tried to mock this hero's signature pose. Ollie tilted his head for a moment, wondering what it was that I was doing, but my free hand swiftly flung out in front of me, just like this hero would do before using his Quirk. My brother gasped once again. In the corner of my eye, I saw him leap out of his chair and mock the same signature pose, only this time, he decided to say his catchphrase.

"Let's wrap things up!" Ollie cheered. "Wait, are you saying that Mr. Elastic and one of the first heroes shared the same Quirk?"

My arms relaxed to my side as I took in a deep breath. "That's exactly what I'm saying. See, I told you that you'd understand this." I told him as I started to shift back into my regular body. Once I was done, I looked down at my watch and started to set a timer for ten minutes. The last thing I wanted to do was to accidentally use my Quirk again and pass out. It was one of the setbacks to my Quirk, but it wasn't a bad one. For all I know, I could've gotten really bad allergies like Sakura or have my Quirk max out at some point.

To have a set time limit to just cool down was fine by me.

Once I was done setting my timer, arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a hug. I looked down, seeing Ollie right in front of me as he buried his head into my stomach. He really didn't have that much confidence in himself when it came to his studies, but at least I could do something to help him.

I wrapped my arms around him and smiled. "See, you've got this. Just read your history book and imagine it's me saying those things, acting it out."

Ollie let go of me and nodded his head. "I will!"

He didn't say a word as he slid back into his chair and started reading his text book once again. Only this time, he seemed more interested in it. I could understand why it was so hard for him to grasp part of our earliest history. Despite heroes being a major part of our history and today's society, how they actually started out was a blur. Most of which were myths and legends, but it was still an important part of our history that we needed to learn.

Maybe one day, historians would figure out what really happened when the first hero appeared. If we were lucky enough, maybe we'd be able to one day figure that out, but as of right now, it was all a mystery. I just hope the rest of history wouldn't be erased like that.

Seeing that he was finally getting a grasp on his studies, I walked over to my exercise ball and looked down at my math homework I was working on before he complained how hard his homework. If he thought that was hard, he had no idea how hard math was the moment you added variables, graphs, and pi all into the mix. I know putting the alphabet into the equation was hard, but figuring out that pie wasn't just food anymore, it wasn't good.

Despite finishing my entrance exams for U.A., I still needed to do well in school. Once I didn't get into the school, I'd need to look elsewhere for school. I needed to see where I could go when that happened. Maybe--maybe I could look into becoming a history teacher at an elementary school. My Quirk could be useful there as students may become more driven to learn about our history.

If that didn't work, maybe I could look into becoming an actress. I looked down. Yeah, I didn't have much to show for as I was kinda short and had blonde hair. I hardly saw any blonde actresses on television anymore, but I could always change my appearance to help with whatever it is they wanted. I could even make an excellent stunt double.

When I thought about that, I immediately regretted it. My eyes locked onto my blue and purple bruise that didn't heal on my right arm. The medics did all they could to fix it, but some of the scratches and bruises would just have to heal on their own. I don't think I'd like to be thrown around like I was when I took my entrance exam.

A hero's job was a dangerous one. I'd never be a hero, but if I was, there was the chance of going out into the field and never coming back. All my family wanted from me was to be a hero, but if they knew what that meant, that I could die, maybe they'd realize it wasn't the life for me.

But, what if they didn't care about that and wanted to throw me into danger because of that risk? After all, I wasn't exactly born into this family. Ollie was. As I looked over towards Ollie, I started to realize how different we looked. We shared the same eyes, but his hair and face looked exactly like his dad. I could still remember the day he was born, he didn't even have any hair. It was in that moment, I thought he'd look exactly like me. Of course, that didn't last long. 

It didn't bother me that my mom got remarried to his dad. I was happy for her. In fact, I was so happy that she remarried that my Quirk showed up the moment she told me they were engaged. It was her fiancé that I morphed into first, jumping up and down when they told me. Knowing our family circumstances of not having a Quirk, Peter—Ollie's dad—was just as thrilled as my mom was. That was how I knew he was good enough for my mom. He was very supportive of both of us from the very beginning.

Not long after that, Ollie came along. Having him around was amazing. I loved that I could have a little brother that could stick around. Thinking over it, I realized my family wouldn't just want me gone like that. They did what they could to help me, and they all stuck around unlike someone else I knew too well.

I wasn't good enough for my so-called father to stick around. While I never asked my mom much about him, I knew one thing. I wasn't good enough for him. He had other things to worry about than us. It was because of him I had to bear a horrible name.

My hands tightened into fists. Why was it I had to bear that name? Why couldn't it have been him? He was the one who made me this way. He just upped and left my mom without helping her raise me. If anyone should be called a bast—

Ollie looked up at me. As he did, all of the anger that was about ready to explode faded away.

"One of these days, you're going to be a better hero than Mr. Elastic, right?" Ollie asked. I didn't answer him as he continued talking. "When you do, you'll be my favorite hero because I'll know you're keeping this world safe."

My lips pressed together. Ollie was so naive that he didn't realize the dangers of becoming a hero. Maybe that would be a way to get my family over the fact that I blew my entrance exam. I'd just have to act as if everything is going to be okay, and give them that thought.

There was a knock on the door, causing Ollie and I to turn our heads. "Hey, Oliver, have you seen Tami anywhere?"

Ollie didn't say a word as I stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there on the other side was our mom. People have told me how I was a spitting image of her. We shared the same blonde hair and brown eyes Ollie had. I could see it, which worried me that I'd end up looking like her.

My mom wasn't ugly. She was just the opposite, but she had to work extra hard at her job because she was Quirkless. There were bags digging deep under her eyes and threads of white slowly mixing in her once completely golden hair. Her skin was lighter than it should've been from being trapped inside a factory all day. Knowing her, she probably just got home from the factory. Either that, or she still hadn't changed out of her dark green jumpsuit she always wore for work.

As much as I wouldn't admit it out loud, I worried that I would start growing wrinkles and white hairs prematurely like she did.

In her hands was an envelope. Before she lifted it to show it to me, I could already see the red U.A. seal stamped on the back of it. She flipped it over, showing the name it was addressed to.

"This came in the mail today. I thought Peter would've given it to you already—" my mom started to say.

"Dad's getting take out from the restaurant!" Ollie explained, causing me to jump. For a split second, I thought he'd be in his chair, but he somehow managed to sneak up from behind and stood next to me. "Open it, Tami. Open it!"

I drew in a deep breath as I looked down at Mom's brown eyes. From the oils that wrapped around her chin and splattered all over her uniform, I could tell bad news was the last thing she needed to hear. My results would be just that.

Of all days, why couldn't this letter have come tomorrow when she had her day off? I guess today was the day they were supposed to be delivered, but still. My stomach started to knot as I grabbed the envelope from her. This was it. I looked over towards my little brother who looked so excited for me to open that letter.

Ollie was going to be so disappointed, I could already tell.

I opened up the letter and pulled out the projection camera out of it. It was a simple silver disk that would play once it was placed on a flat surface. Without hesitation, my brother snatched it from my hands and ran over towards his desk.

"Hey! Oliver, that wasn't nice!" our mom scolded as he sat down at his desk and motioned for me to do the same.

He was more excited over this than I was. Being that he didn't have a Quirk, this would probably be the only time he would ever get to see something like this happen. It was a once in a lifetime event for him. For all he knew, he could be seeing me, his big sister, getting into U.A. high.

Ollie was going to be crushed.

Regardless of what I thought, I took a seat next to him on the exercise ball and helped him place the projection camera on the table. The second our hands drew back from it, light came out of the camera like a cone, the wider part being on the top and the smaller part on the bottom. My brother gasped as his favorite hero appeared through the projection in his nice purple suit with a single black stripe running down the right side. It was a skin tight suit with a high neckline and long sleeves. For some odd reason, he looked paler than usual, which could have been due to the projection. His hair was completely white, brushed neatly to one side, showing off his yellow eyes.

"Hello, Tami Smith," the hero said. "My name is Mr. Elastic, Number Two Hero, and I am one of the teachers here at U.A. On your written exam, you received a perfect score, better than 99% of students who have taken it."

"Ah! I knew it! I knew you'd do great with all those nights studying!" my mother cheered.

"However," Mr. Elastic said after a small pause, "during your entrance exam, you did not take down any of the villain robots until the very last second, giving you a total of one point during the exam."

"Only a single point?" I heard my brother muttered under his breath, probably unable to believe what he was hearing.

My stomach tighten. From my written exam scores and from what I could figure out, all it would take was one point to get in. I had gotten just that. By the tone in Mr. Elastic's voice, something was off. It was as if that single point wasn't enough to get me in. I should've felt relieved, but instead, all I heard was my family's hearts shattering before he could say I didn't make it in.

"Students who have taken the exam scored an average of forty points," the hero said, "However, after much discussion with the school board, you still passed."

Passed?

For a moment, it felt as if my mom had forgotten to pay for the heat, as everything grew cold. I couldn't feel a thing as I sat there, utterly frozen.

The hero smiled as his voice started to lighten up. "Out of all two hundred and fifty-three students who took the exam, you were the only one who risked their own life to help another student in danger. This action was reviewed in front of the school board who was willing to offer you ten hero points. You are at the bottom of your class, but you with the proper training, we hope you will become one of Japan's Top Heroes. Congratulations. More information about the school will be arriving shortly."

Like that, the hologram zapped off.

I-I-I-

"You did it!" Ollie cheered. "I knew it! Even Mr. Elastic said it too! You're going to beat him someday and become be best hero ever!"

While Ollie and our mom cheered in happiness, all I could do was sit there. I felt numb. 

To think the life I have always wanted was taken away by some silly projection camera.

Author's Note:

Question: Who is your favorite character from the show/manga Boku No Hero Academia?

Character Spotlight: Oliver DavisQuirk: NoneLikes: Heroes

Yelp, that's all I've got for ya! I hope you all enjoyed it! In two weeks, we'll be encountering a very interesting chapter. Hope to cya all then. Take care!

Song: I'll Become a Hero from BNHA