A/N: Even with Better Friends... what is going to happen will happen...
Meiji's POV
A month had passed since Meiji first walked through the gates of regular middle school, and the kitchen table conversation had become his favorite part of each day. Tonight, as he helped Lady Nagant prepare dinner, he couldn't contain his excitement about his day.
"Mom, you know what Yamamoto-sensei told me?" Meiji said, chopping vegetables a little faster than necessary. "He said my essay was really good this time. Like, really really good."
Lady Nagant smiled, stirring the soup. "Yeah? What made it so special?"
"He said it felt like I was actually telling him what I thought, not just what I thought he wanted to hear," Meiji explained, his words tumbling out quickly. "I wrote about you, actually. And Principal Nezu. About how being a hero isn't just about having cool powers—it's about choosing to do the right thing even when it's scary."
"That's beautiful, sweetheart," Lady Nagant said softly. "You've grown up and I'm proud of you."
Meiji paused in his chopping, his cheeks flushing with excitement and embarrassment. A huge grin spread across his face. "Thanks Mom! He said I was way more authentic this time. That he could actually feel what I was thinking when he read it."
"And how does that feel?"
"Amazing! Like, I finally didn't have to worry about getting everything exactly right. I just wrote what was in my head."
The front door opened, and familiar voices echoed through the hallway.
"Meiji! We're here!" came All Might's booming voice, followed by Present Mic's enthusiastic "YEAH!"
Lady Nagant chuckled. "I may have invited a few people for dinner. Hope you don't mind the chaos."
Soon the kitchen was filled with UA faculty—All Might, Present Mic, Midnight, and even Aizawa, who'd been dragged along despite his complaints about "loud people and their feelings."
"So how's regular school life treating you, kiddo?" Present Mic asked, waving his chopsticks around dramatically.
"It's so weird how normal it feels now," Meiji said, grinning. "Like, a month ago I had charts for every conversation. Now I just... talk to people."
"Ooh, character development!" Midnight declared. "I love a good growth arc!"
"He's thirteen, Midnight," Aizawa muttered.
"Growing up is totally age-appropriate!" she shot back.
Meiji laughed. "I think what she means is I stopped trying to be the perfect student and started being myself."
"Smart kid," All Might said warmly. "Being real beats being perfect every time."
A/N: Yes, yes I know all might fakes entirely his perfect hero persona but we're talking here about daily life, not hero's acting to make people feel safe... Just wanted to leave this here to avoid comments xd, figured it may have been a discussion.
Yuki's POV
The next day at lunch, Yuki was in the middle of telling a story about her weekend disaster when she noticed something that made her stomach drop. Nejire was sitting with them, but she looked... wrong somehow. Still smiling, still nodding, but like someone had turned down her brightness.
"And then my little brother tried to make the spider bigger with his quirk so he could catch it easier, but he just created this massive spider in our living room and my mom started screaming," Yuki finished, expecting Nejire to explode with questions and excitement about size-manipulation quirks.
Instead, Nejire gave a weak laugh and said, "That's funny," before poking at her rice.
Yuki's heart sank. That wasn't right at all.
Akira frowned. "Nejire? You feeling okay? You seem eerily quiet today."
Nejire's head shot up, and suddenly she was blazing with energy. "What? No, I'm totally fine! Perfect actually! I was just thinking about this super cool theory I read about quirk evolution! Did you know size quirks are some of the most complex because of all the physics involved? The energy conservation alone must be incredible!"
Her voice was bright and enthusiastic like always, but... this time it felt forced. Like she was cranking up her personality to cover something.
"Are you sure?" Yuki asked gently with worry. "You just seem—"
"I'm great!" Nejire interrupted with a smile so big it looked painful. "Never better! Hey Meiji, tell us about your English thing! I want to hear everything!"
The way she changed the subject so fast made Yuki exchange worried looks with Akira. But Meiji was already diving into his presentation story, completely missing the weird tension.
Nejire's POV
Just keep talking, keep smiling, don't let them see how much it hurts.
Maintaining her usual energy felt like carrying a backpack full of rocks. Every laugh took effort, every excited comment had to be forced out. She'd been doing this for weeks now, ever since things got really bad.
It started with whispers. Kids from other classes muttering when she walked by. "Look at her, acting all sweet." "Thinks she's so much better than us." "Must be nice having such a strong quirk that you can play nice with the weaklings."
But now it was getting worse. Way worse.
Yesterday, she'd been alone in the hallway when Matsuda and his friends cornered her.
"Well, well, Spiral Girl," he'd said with a nasty smile. "Time for a little chat."
Her stomach had dropped, but she'd tried to stay friendly. "Hi! What's up?"
"Drop the act," another girl snapped. "We know exactly what you're doing."
"I don't know what you mean—"
"Playing dumb with us losers, right?" Matsuda interrupted. "Acting all excited about our pathetic quirks when yours could probably kill us all."
"That's not true! I really do think everyone's quirks are cool—"
"Bullshit," the girl spat. "You're just collecting information, aren't you? Learning about our weak spots so you can laugh about them later."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because that's what people like you do," another boy joined in. "Strong quirk users who pretend to be nice. You're worse than the ones who just ignore us."
The words had hit her like punches. "I'm not pretending anything—"
"Fake," Matsuda said coldly. "Everything about you is fake. Your curiosity, your friendliness, your stupid questions. All an act."
"You must think we're beneath you, don't you?" the girl added. "That's why you ask about our quirks like you're talking to little kids. 'Oh wow, you can fold paper! That's so interesting!' As if we're some kind of charity case."
"That's not—I don't think that at all—"
"Liar," another student spat. "You must be planning something, right? People with power don't just ask questions for fun. You're probably a villain."
They'd surrounded her then, their voices getting meaner and meaner.
"Fake b*tch."
"Think you're fooling everyone?"
"Your so called 'friends' probably laugh at us behind our backs, don't they?"
"Bet you tell them all about the pathetic regular kids and their useless quirks."
"You're disgusting."
Each word had felt like a knife. And the worst part was how they'd made her doubt everything about herself. When she asked questions, was she really being condescending? When she got excited about someone's quirk, did it sound fake?
The doubt was eating her alive. Every conversation now felt contaminated. When she'd talked to their homeroom teacher about his telekinesis quirk last week, had she been genuine? Or was she unconsciously talking down to him?
"Nejire?" Meiji's voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. "You okay? You kind of spaced out."
She snapped back to reality, realizing she'd been staring at nothing while her friends talked. Panic shot through her chest. "Sorry! Just thinking about homework stuff!"
Another fake smile, another lie. The mask was getting heavier every day.
"What homework?" Akira asked. "We can help if you want."
"Oh, just boring stuff," she deflected quickly. "Hey, did you guys hear about the new hero rankings? Mirko moved up!"
She launched into hero statistics, her voice artificially bright, while inside she felt like she was suffocating. Every word felt calculated, every enthusiasm felt fake.
The bullying happened everywhere now. She became overly aware of the whispers in the hallway when she was alone. "There's the fake spiral girl." "Wonder which weak kid she's gonna patronize today." "Must be exhausting pretending to care about losers all the time."
Sometimes they'd corner her after school. Last week, while waiting for Meiji to finish talking to a teacher, a group from Class B had surrounded her.
"We figured out your little game," one had sneered. "Acting all innocent and curious when really you're just a manipulative b*tch."
"Your quirk could probably level half the school, couldn't it?" another had added. "But sure, pretend you're just some sweet girl who wants to learn about everyone's special talents."
"You're a villain," a third student spat. "Using psychological manipulation instead of your quirk. It's worse because some people actually trust you."
Every accusation felt like poison injected straight into her brain. And now, even when she was with her real friends, she couldn't stop analyzing every word that came out of her mouth.
Was her excitement genuine? Or was it performance? Had she always been fake without realizing it?
"I think I'm getting sick," she announced suddenly, standing up from the lunch table. "I should go to the nurse."
Before anyone could offer to come with her, she was already walking away, her legs shaky.
In the hallway, she passed another group that immediately started whispering. She caught fragments: "...still pretending..." "...fake weakness..." "...she must feel better than everyone..."
Nejire ducked into the bathroom and locked herself in a stall, finally letting her mask slip. Her hands were shaking, her breathing was shallow, and she felt like the walls were closing in.
Maybe they're right. Maybe I am fake. Maybe I really am a terrible person who's been fooling everyone, including myself.
The thoughts spiraled darker. If I'm such a bad person, maybe I deserve this. Maybe everyone can see something in me that I can't see. Maybe I really am just a manipulative villain pretending to be good.
She stayed in the bathroom until lunch was almost over, practicing her smile in the mirror and getting ready to pretend everything was fine for the rest of the day.
Because no matter how much it hurt, no matter how exhausted she was, she couldn't let Meiji see this. He was finally happy, finally healing, finally learning that the world could be safe and good.
She wouldn't be the one to teach him that sometimes, even when you try your hardest to be kind, people will find reasons to hurt you anyway.
So she took a deep breath, painted on her brightest smile, and got ready to perform being herself for another few hours.
Just keep pretending. Keep them happy. Don't let them see how broken you're becoming.
The bell rang, and Nejire stepped out of the bathroom, her mask back in place, ready to fake her way through the rest of the day.
________________________________________
Author's Note: Yeah... I kindly love this emotional situations a bit too much, sorry for that... wanted it, but at the same time wanted to drag it little so its not so exasperating (as its not really the core of this ff).
Short chapter, just wanted to say that I wanted to give this short space for Nejire, a moment of silence for her suffering she went through.
... (a minute of silence)...
Also, this is canon, maybe not exactly this way but the bullying of Nejire I mean, just saying.