Chapter 1

"Oh, Hello"

The first hint class 1-A had that something was up were the moving boxes in their dormitory's receiving area. There were a strange pair of individuals, one with bright burning red eyes, and an individual who looked like a harpy, handling them. With their 'guest' name tags on, they were polite and pleasant, to the few who had a chance to talk to them. Asui had tried upon getting such a chance herself. The red-eyed one was named Prometheus, and the Harpy, Icarus: Hero names. They only said they were moving folks, lending a helping hand.

The second hint was that Aizawa was looking just a little more tired than usual. Which really wasn't much of a hint and was widely dismissed.

"Maybe it's prep for some kind of exercise?" Uraraka asked, wondering if anyone had gotten any more clues, "or some kind of test?"

"No, I don't think so, the boxes did have somebody's name on them," Midoriya stated, having actually managed to glance at the boxes, "it looked like an English name."

Someone heard Mineta mumble something about hoping it was a 'hot American transfer student', which started the prompt action of ignoring his existence again for a while.

This subtle mystery went on for two weeks. With no one to put as the owner of the boxes, or their contents, students of 1-A were slightly puzzled. Or, in a few cases, simply didn't care. There had been a few oddball things here and there in the dorms, but the focus, and main oddness, had simply been the boxes themselves.

Iida arrived at 1-A that morning; startled, only slightly, by the fact he wasn't the first into class: there was someone else already here. Sitting there, as if she was just as usual a part of the empty classroom as the chairs themselves, she didn't jump at his start. The two awkwardly stared at each other for a brief moment.

Her hair was dark and shaved on either side. The rest of it was in long tight cords, bundled together. The length was so that, even done up, it went slightly past her shoulders. Her eyes reminded him of Ashido's, except there was ghostly white in these eyes, where hers had pink.

Iida broke out of this stunned silence, making his way to her quickly, if a bit stiffly in posture. "I apologize for my questioning, but who are you?"

Perhaps she was a confused, or a lost 'general studies' student? He'd never seen her before, however, but he'd also not met all of 'general studies'. As she stood, he remembered the moving boxes and the few strange things that had occurred in the dorms... "I'm Stone, Alarice. I'm supposed to be joining your class for a while. It's nice to meet you."

Iida blinked, nodded and greeted her back. "I'm Iida Tenya, Class president of 1-A. I apologize again that we haven't been properly introduced."

Alarice looked back at him, almost confused, before quietly responding, "I was moved in two weeks ago, but I was told not to get attached, since I wasn't guaranteed until yesterday."

He stared back at her, blinking once again. She mirrored his look right back at him. "I tried very hard not disrupt any one's routines," she added.

Somehow, that just added on to his confusion. Before he could question her any further, his classmates started to filter in. Iida considered what she'd told him and compared it with what he did know about their homeroom teacher.

Uraraka was just as surprised to meet this new 'classmate' as Iida was. Though Alarice's greeting for her was just as forcedly polite as it had been for him. Asui was friendly enough when greeting Alarice that she seemed to respond in kind.

Meeting her new classmates was going far smoother than Alarice would have thought it would. A lot easier than the two weeks of what was essentially constant testing and evaluation. Though she wasn't about to start talking about that with them just yet. Even if they were nice now, there was no guarantee they'd be nice later, when 1-A eventually learned what all her previous classmates had learned about her.

Kaminari was the first to start pressing for answers, Alarice looking increasingly like a statue as he continued, blind to it.

"So, what's your quirk? Did you get to give yourself your Hero name yet?" He was all energy, perhaps perked up by getting to meet someone new.

Midoriya was already armed with his notebook, though he had largely greeted her entirely politely and appropriately before starting on his notes for his new classmate. He too now waited on her answer about her quirk.

"I just have a simple transformation quirk," she said quietly, restrained, and finally relaxing just a touch. "I also have, yes, I took my mother's Hero name, Arariel"

"Arariel?" Someone asked, the name sounding a little awkward when said in Japanese. Alarice felt a little bad about it infact.

"It's the name of an angel related to fishing usually, but you can also invoke her as a cure for stupidity. Mom thought it was kind of clever", Alarice said with a somewhat forced smile. Jiro was smirking to herself as she got comfortable in her own chair, "good, you can cure Mineta of his."

There were a few giggles at the grape-child Mineta's expense, who had only just come in, and found his wish was only somewhat granted: she was a transfer student. A transfer student he would hardly classify as 'hot' or 'sexy'. More like strongly athletic and nothing else.

Meeting the rest of 1-A was cut short, as the sliding door opened and in walked Aizawa.

Despite his sleepy appearance, he was keenly aware of his student's actions, having heard their conversations as he had walked in. He eyed his new and temporary one, gauging the way she was carrying herself when interacting with the other students. The rest had neatly and quickly sorted themselves into their seats.

"Now that we're all together, it's time to start class," A hand shot up. "Yes, Iida?"

"Sensei, if I may ask, why didn't you introduce us earlier?"

Aizawa paused for a moment, his face a mask, "she was moved in two weeks ago, directly into 1-A's dormitory."

His tone had a slight scolding note to it, but he didn't voice his slight disappointment that they hadn't noticed her for themselves earlier on. Then he looked to Alarice, with whom he'd spent a good portion of his extra time working with, who sat like a good student would. As if she'd always been there. He'd observed this talent of hers, to blend in and avoid attention as much as possible. Still... he'd only told her "don't get too attached to your new classmates" when she'd started, to get the best work he could out of her. Aizawa hadn't expected her to hide in the dorm like some kind of vagrant, desperate to not get caught by the building's owners. He'd expected her to actually mingle, like kids do with each other.

It was somewhat impressive, though there was obvious camera and security evidence that showed she was definitely living in the UA dorms. The Homeroom teacher let out a deep sigh and skipped the issue entirely to get a move on with someone he was actually going to introduce.

"With that time wasted, I do have an important guest for you kids to meet today," he gestured to the door. In walks a woman with golden looking skin, and gold colored hair, and bright eyes. Statuesque, literally. "Class, this is Miss Sunshine, she'll be here for a while, to inform you on the nature of international heroes."

"Hello, it's so nice to meet you all. I've heard a lot about this class!" She gave a polite little bow of greeting to them, her long golden locks shifting forward as she did so. With the two Heroes currently standing so close to each other, their differences in personality type were visible like the black of space and the bright sun. Acting, of course, like the darkness when faced with light, Aizawa pulled out that familiar yellow cocoon of his.

"Miss Sunshine here will be answering your questions for a bit."

Mina Ashido was the first to question the newcomer. "What's the difference with an international hero?"

"An international hero has multiple licenses to operate in multiple countries." Sunshine said casually, but without condescension. There was no guarantee whose textbooks said what about what 'kinds' of heroes did what, or what their titles meant. "Every country, as you. Wknow, has its own rules it wishes its heroes to abide by. As an International Hero, I have had to obtain multiple licenses through the governments themselves, as well as a literal international license to operate where I am needed."

"Does this mean you also help out heroes who primarily work in the oceans?" Tsuyu asked, recalling her time interning with Selkie, on the Oki Mariner. There was mention of other ocean and water-based heroes who patrolled primarily international waters, where laws were the most difficult to enforce, and crime easier to commit.

"Observant! Yes, the vast majority of international heroes do work within the oceans. Though we also work in areas where established governments either have very little power or where there is no established government." Sunshine gave a nod to another student who raised their hand to ask her another question.

"So, you can just go where ever you want and use your quirk?"

"Not really no. While it is still at my discretion, I do still need to be aware of where I am and the rules, and there are some places I need to have a real documented reason to be there." Sunshine gave a soft sigh, "Most of the time, I am asked to assist by my fellow heroes in areas where they may not be allowed, or by governments with international issues."

"So, were you invited here to Japan then?" Jiro asked, slightly curious about this golden statue woman.

"I was, indeed, by your school principal." She smiled a wide smile, friendly and warm. Alarice shifted slightly, likely her own admittance had been part of that 'invite' by principal Nezu. Sunshine had, and continued to do, an immense amount of work to help her out.

Despite the questions that continued to flow from her classmates, many about the guest's quirk, about the states, and many other subjects, no one seemed to want to know if Alarice and Sunshine were connected. A small relief for both parties.

Alarice herself remained silent, and quietly pleased she was finally going to be getting real help. Hell, she already had made progress enough to be allowed in properly.

Aizawa and Sunshine stood shoulder to shoulder, on the grass watching as the students ran the track. Physical ability was important, regardless of quirk; therefore exercise, endurance and stamina were always being worked on.

Sunshine could barely hold back a smile. "I did warn you about how she was with others."

He scoffed at her, as if he had really intended to give Alarice an excuse to avoid having to talk to other students.

"So, how did she do?"

"Her lack of skill with her own quirk is pathetic." He stated plainly, watching his students with a casual eye to see which ones weren't keeping up. "Her hesitation to use it is a hindrance she'll have to overcome further if she wants to stay here. Let alone that licensing situation you told me about back in the states."

Sunshine nodded to his statements. "I hope she continues to grasp this chance we're giving her, and not let what others see hold her back."

He shifted now, slightly, making some gesture towards one of his students for them to go for another lap. "Why'd you bring her here, Sunshine? Do all this work to get her here? Why me?"

The sudden direct questioning seemed to catch her off guard for a moment, as she went quiet, watching Alarice run. The UA uniforms looked good on her, so much better than the previous school she'd been housed at. "Aside from that favor you've owed me?"

He made a noise of annoyance.

"I knew her family, Aizawa. Helped her mother, with her father when he chose to inform on what had been going on in the Coyote Noirs. I'm sure you are at least somewhat aware of the Coyote Noirs' Hellhound breeding program." She paused to shift her weight. "That's her so called family history: paperwork that calls her grandmother a bitch, and the grandfather a sire. Like animals. Neat little numbers to organize who from who on the family tree, rather than names. Alarice excluded, technically, as Jonathan's turn to the other side meant she was spared that."

He was quiet, though she seemed willing to give him the rest, so he kept his mouth shut and listened. Not that doing either was a hard challenge for him.

"There were a lot of children, a lot of innocent people who were finally allowed freedom... only to find out that they had an uphill battle of prejudice to fight. I'm fairly certain it was a result of Coyote Noir directly, some method of keeping their hounds loyal to them, and them alone. Jonathan's move to inform on them was really the first time people probably heard that they weren't human-devouring beasts, slaves to their own quirk's maliciousness." She gave a tired sigh of someone who had to defend her young 'niece' multiple times from such misguided statements. "It was easier, once Jonathan started working with Miranda. Arariel was her pro hero name, on a strict license. Someone, a known hellhound, working for the people, helping... it did some good. The information, the real documentation on the quirk was finally known, it lessened, but the stereotype remains."

"And the Coyote Noirs?"

"They took a huge hit, and they're mostly gone now, but an organization as old as they were, doesn't die so easily. They're still kicking, it's part of why I picked UA. UA has a good history with producing good heroes, and it's in Japan, where the Coyote Noir's reach had been weakest. This is also a place that only knows the victims: there were no active hellhounds from here. A lot of freed ones came back here to where their homes had been, and more immigrated once they realized Japan was more accepting of them than their other homes. Coming here was a chance: both for her goals and for her mental health. Isolation isn't good for any one."

"Alright, so why you, and not the girl's parents themselves?" He asked.

"Miranda's dead." Sunshine stated, her voice losing some of the warmth it seemed to naturally carry. "Jonathan's wheelchair bound, same attack that killed her. It's not uncommon for heroes to die in the field, or to be maimed into disability for their work. He couldn't take care of her, and we both have our suspicions about the attack that ended their work. So, he asked me to take care of her. I couldn't say no. I'd known Miranda since before Alarice was born, so, here we are."

The kids were coming around for their last lap around the track. Aizawa silently considered what he was told about his new temporary pupil. Her file contained some of this, but mostly bare-bones type information, things about her quirk, primarily. How it worked, functioned, and more importantly, its own variation on the standard 'hell-hound'.

"So, her mother's quirk was Adaption." He said, rather stiffly. Sunshine nodded.

"The Hellhound quirk has taken her mother's quirk and made it its own. Added into what it carried before, a giant-type Hellhound with Adaption." Sunshine added. "Only when she's a hound though, she can't use it as a human."

"I take it you tried to test it a few times yourself, Sunshine?"

"I did but, I admit, I wasn't very keen to do so, I could still permanently blind her if I wasn't careful about it. How has your testing of it gone?"

He shrugged, "It went well enough to prove what the paperwork said was true."

The pair were silent for a moment, just watching, observing, thinking about what had been said. Aizawa broke the silence first, with another question, "Is this really the only reason for you to be here, Sunshine?"

"Well, I mean, I am here to lend UA some of my knowledge and skills to help the students, too." Her voice was too full of humor in response to his question.

"Tch, just don't expect me to treat her any differently than the rest because of her sad backstory," he grumbled out, hands going back to his pockets again.

"I think you'll find that won't be an issue." Sunshine said with that tinge of humor still in her voice, "I did warn her about what I was bringing her into."

He gave her a look somewhere between annoyance and questioning. Sunshine gave a shrug and a smile before answering him, "She just said, 'anything's better than here' and just like that she was on the plane. It probably helps she already knew Japanese."