Chapter 2

Mina's New Friend

"Ahhh, it's so relaxing here…" Uraraka gleefully sighed under the shower.

"Oh, come on," retorted Asui, drying off "It wasn't that bad." UA had a tendency to put the students into immense physical trials to test their heroism, and while the one the students had just gone through wasn't particularly noteworthy in the amount of effort they had to exert, it certainly wasn't an exception, requiring everyone to use their quirks to their fullest potential.

"Uh… Hey, Momo… Could you… Scrub my back for me?" Jiro turned to Yaoyorozu and tried to put a hint of flirtiness into her voice to indicate some kind of romantic attraction. Yaoyorozu responded by pulling a Loofah out of herself using her quirk and handing it to Jiro. The amount of disappointment on Jiro's face was simply immeasurable. She hadn't been this disappointed since that time Mineta didn't get run over by that car.

Mina looked around herself at all the other girls showering. She thought they were all cute, of course, but she didn't find any of them attractive. That was something strange about Mina. She was interested in others' love lives and loved playing cupid herself, but she had never really experienced genuine attraction. She had a bunch of boys in grade school and middle school tell her they had crushes on her (and even another girl in middle school), but she had never felt that way for anyone else. Anyone except…

"Where's Ava?" Mina turned her head and started searching for her. "I haven't seen her since we changed clothes."

"She's over by the lockers." Asui responded, while washing her hair with some shampoo she had brought from home (Unbeknownst to many people, Asui takes great care of her hair). "I asked her why she wasn't going to the showers and she said she had something she was looking for in her locker."

Mina pouted at Asui. "Well why didn't you help her?"

"It was just something she left in her locker. I don't know how it can take her this long."

"Well I'm going to go help her!" Mina stormed off, still unclothed and wet from the shower. Asui continued to simply mind her own business and wash her hair, and Jiro was feeling too dead inside to respond to anything.

Mina walked over to Ava, who was sitting on the bench and seemed to be breathing heavily while still wearing a towel. She seemed a bit down to Mina, so she walked up behind her and pressed her chest to Ava's back. "Ava, do you need help with anything?" Mina tried to say it with as much of a non-threatening and bubbly voice as usual, but Ava still nearly jumped out of her skin in response. Once she realized it was Mina, she calmed down, but she became more nervous when she realized Mina was resting her bare chest on her.

"N-no thanks, I'm good…" Ava was shaking, clearly afraid of something. Like someone who was being kept prisoner by a ferocious beast, she could barely get the words out.

"Aw, c'mooon. Tsuyu told me you were looking for something." Mina, bless her heart, was completely oblivious to how nervous Ava was feeling. Clearly she needed to spend more time around Izuku and find out what anxiety looks like.

"I… Um… I found it…"

"Well then come on over! Take a shower, you deserve it!" Mina really just wanted Ava to be able to relax in a warm shower after performing impressive physical feats in the previous trial.

"I… I can't…"

"Aww, c'mon, why not?" Mina was somewhat beginning to realize Ava was nervous. "Are you worried that we'll look at your body? C'mon, it's nothing any of us haven't seen. We're girls!"

The muscles on Ava's back tensed up even more, as though someone was pointing a gun at her and she heard a clicking noise. "I… I don't need a shower!" She grabbed her school uniform out of her locker, slammed it shut, and put it on while running out. Mina tried to chase her out, but didn't want to get caught running around the school grounds naked. She just went back to finish showering with the girls and didn't talk until they got back to their classroom.

There were still some hours of the day left to go, and during this time Ava's uniform had sweat dripping through it and patches of distinct discoloration where the material had absorbed the sweat. Mina was worried Ava might get some sort of rash from going around the place in that. She could clearly tell that Ava should have gone to the shower, but why didn't she?

This question wouldn't stop nagging Mina, so eventually she decided to get it together and ask Ava what was going on. Once school got out for the day, she ran over to Ava, to talk with her. "Ava! Wait up!"

Ava was surprised, not only by the fact that someone actually wanted to talk to her, but also that it was Mina. Ava was worried that after the shower incident, Mina might not want to talk with her anymore, but she was happy she was wrong. "M-Mina!" she had to keep herself from crying as she was so relieved she hadn't lost her only friend.

Mina ran over to Ava. She clearly didn't just want to talk about the incident earlier in the day, she also wanted to talk about other things. What Ava was into, what kind of clothes Ava liked to wear, what kind of food she liked best. Mina just wanted to know more about Ava. Ava would always have no issue responding, and sometimes asked Mina about her hobbies too. "What I'm into? Hmm… Well, I like playing video games…" "What kind of clothes? I like… Frilly and pretty dresses… But I also like wearing more punk style skirts and things like that…" "My favorite type of food, huh? Well, that's tricky, but probably… Indian food, more because of how fun it is to cook than anything."

Finally, the mood was considerably lightened and Mina wasn't afraid to ask her question. "Hey Ava…"

"Myeah?" Ava replied, heavily cheered up from earlier.

"Can I just ask you what the whole thing in the locker room was about?" Ava's smile disappeared. A large amount of the color in her face disappeared. Ava just looked at her feet and began to take deep breaths.

"I'll let you know…" Ava said to Mina, with both fear and strength in her voice. "As long as you don't tell anybody…"

Mina immediately agreed. "Of course I'll never tell anyone! A lot of people tell me I'm a bit ditzy, but I never let out a friend's secret." She wanted to know what was going on with her new friend and how she could help her.

A small part of Ava's smile came back. "We're close to my apartment. I can tell you once we get in there. I don't want anyone I don't trust to hear."

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the apartment Ava was staying at. Ava was surprisingly independent, considering how soft she looked from the outside. She had clearly taken on several part-time jobs to be able to afford a place of this quality.

"Do you want orange juice or cola?" Ava was looking through the refrigerator, looking for something to quench the thirst of her and her new best friend.

"Juice. I honestly can't drink too much cola. It gives me hiccups." Ava handed Mina a can of orange juice. The two took sips from their drinks, and sat there until Mina eventually spoke up. "Okay, so tell me. What was the deal with the thing earlier today?"
"You… really promise not to tell?"

"I'll never tell a soul. I just want to know what's eating at my friends."

Ava started her breathing again. "Okay… Here, I'll show you."

What Ava showed Mina shocked her on a level she wasn't expecting at all. Mina managed to handle it well, but it wasn't something she could really do anything about. Ava lifted her skirt.

And in her panties,

Mina saw a small bulge.