Okay, here we go. Buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride, even for me.
The fluorescent lights of the candy store buzzed overhead, a stark contrast to the sugar rush I was already anticipating. I clutched the bag in my fist, a treasure trove of gummy sharks, sour belts, and those weird, chewy things that looked like tiny brains. I'd earned this, after a grueling sparring session with Bakugou that had left me aching but undeniably pumped. I popped a brain-like gummy into my mouth, the sickly sweet flavour instantly hitting my tongue.
And then... everything went sideways.
It wasn't a gradual thing, a slow fade or a gentle transition. It was like someone yanked the rug out from under me and replaced it with a bear pelt and the scent of pine needles. My vision swam, the harsh lights of the candy store dissolving into a swirling green and brown vortex. When my head stopped spinning, I was… different.
My hands, once calloused from years of training, felt smaller, somehow softer. I brought them up to my face, my heart hammering against my ribs. Gone were the familiar scars, replaced by… freckles? And then I saw it - a shock of unruly, fiery red curls spilling over my shoulders. Red, a color I was intimately familiar with, but never quite like this. My fingers tangled in the thick, springy strands, a strange sense of recognition battling with utter disbelief.
This wasn't my hair. Not the short, spiky mane I usually had to wrangle into place every day. This... this was a freaking lion's mane of glorious, untamed red.
I scrambled to my feet, a weird sensation twisting in my gut. This was not okay. I looked around, expecting to see the familiar candy displays, the cheerful posters, the bored cashier. Instead, I was surrounded by a dense, emerald green forest, sunlight dappling through the thick canopy. The air was crisp, smelling of damp earth and something wild, something I couldn't quite place. There was a strange tugging sensation, like I was being pulled in a dozen different directions. My body felt…wrong. Different.
I caught sight of my reflection in a small puddle, and I almost screamed. Gone was the familiar face of Eijiro Kirishima - the broad grin, the slightly crooked teeth, the determined eyes. Instead, staring back at me was a girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with a narrow jaw, those ridiculous freckles, and eyes the color of jade. I was… Merida. Merida, from that Disney movie! I'd seen it with the Bakusquad, laughing at the comical bears, but now, it wasn't so funny anymore. This was real and it was happening to me.
"What the heck is going on?!" I muttered, my voice, deeper than usual, still a dead giveaway of my usual gruff tone. It wasn't exactly the light, melodic voice I remembered from the movie. It sounded like me trying to do an impression of a Scottish lass after a rough night. I groaned, running a hand through my inexplicably curly hair. This was officially the most bizarre, unmanly thing that had ever happened to me.
Okay, okay, Kirishima, you got this. I took a deep breath, trying to channel the unwavering determination All Might had always instilled in us. It wasn't like I hadn't faced weird situations before. Heck, I fought villains with quirks that could turn you into a puddle of goo. This… this was just different. I was, for all intents and purposes, a completely different person, in a completely different place.
The first few hours were a chaotic blur of adjusting. The clothes I was wearing - a thick, woolen dress over a stiffer under layer - felt ridiculously restrictive. My shoes, more like boots, seemed designed to trip me every other step. I was clumsy, bumping into trees and nearly losing my footing on the uneven ground. My arm, when I tried some practice punches in the air, felt weak, not the hardened muscle I was used to. This was going to take some serious getting used to.
Then came the bow. And the arrows. They were leaning against a nearby tree, almost as if they'd been waiting for me. I'd always admired those things, but I'd never held one before, not for more than an hour at a hero academy that specialized in quirk-based combat. Tentatively, I picked up the bow. It felt surprisingly natural in my hands, like a forgotten piece of myself finally returning. The weight, the curve, the tension of the string - it was all unnervingly familiar. With a deep breath, recalling the scenes from the movie, I notched an arrow, lined it up and pulled. It flew, not graceful, but straight, hitting the target I hadn't even consciously been aiming at.
A strange jolt, a spark of something unfamiliar, went through me. This...this might not be so bad. Okay, maybe it was incredibly bad, but it was also… fascinating.
But then, the reality of my situation settled in. I was Merida now. Princess Merida. The one who was supposed to marry one of the lords without a fight, the one who had to navigate the complicated politics of this… place. I was a hero, not a princess. I lived to fight, to protect, to stand up for what I believed in. I was never one for fancy dresses and arranged marriages.
A sigh escaped my lips. This wasn't exactly the kind of challenge I was expecting, but it was a challenge nonetheless. I might be Merida, but I was also still Eijiro Kirishima, and I would face this like I faced everything else. With a whole lot of grit, determination, and maybe a little bit of screaming internally. First thing's first, though. I needed a proper training session and maybe, just maybe, try and figure out how the heck to get back to my own world. This was going to be harder than any battle I'd ever fought. I had a feeling I was just getting started.