Misfit High School!
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 26: Trying Out For the Team (don't ask what the score is)
By December 10th, it was getting pretty cold outside, and the school almost closed a few times because of the snow *(but much to everyone's chagrin, principal Nezu kept the place wide open). Midoriya had other things on his mind, though. What was up with Ochaco? He respected her privacy way too much to ask (he wasn't Toru or Denki), but something was... well, weighing down on her. And that's by the anti-gravity girl's standards. It kinda hurt to know that she was upset. But he didn't want to make some big dramatic scene (he wasn't Toga or Katsuki).
Then principal Nezu dumped something on Midoriya's lap that totally reset the scene.
"Good morning, students! I hope you're all well," the mouse-bear-cat-something principal said cheerily on the intercom during homeroom. "The weather hasn't been the best, so I have a little treat for everyone in mind."
"School closes early! School closes early!" Mina cried, crossing both sets of fingers. Kirishima joined her, then Toru, then Denki and Rikido Sato, drowning out whatever the heck principal Nezu said next.
Aizawa bolted to his feet and actually got out a megaphone. "CAN IT!" he roared. "OR TRIPLE DETENTION!"
Mina and the others fell mysteriously silent.
"When did he get that?" Bakugo wondered, eyes wide.
"When I remembered which class I teach for homeroom," Aizawa muttered into the megaphone. Then he got a feedback loop and everyone winced. Aizawa slid open the window and threw it out. "To dispose of the evidence," he muttered to himself.
"... so, I'm sure you all will look forward to that," principal Nezu said warmly. "I wish you all the best of luck. Have a wonderful day!"
The intercom went off.
Momo raised her hand. "Mr. Aizawa, what did principal Nezu say? I couldn't her him over these..."
"Babbling baboons," Iida suggested with a disapproving tone, and Momo stifled a giggle.
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "Now that I have everyone's attention... somehow... we're hosting a school dance on the 23rd for Christmas. So -"
"Woo hoo! School dance!" Toru leaped onto her table and did a funny dance. "I can't wait!"
"I finally get to wear my nice new outfit," Mina said warmly, clasping her hands under her chin as her eyes sparkled. "I can't wait, either."
"I sure can," Jiro muttered.
Aizawa cleared his throat. "So, Ms. Kayama will host the tryouts for the party planning committee after school today. How she decides who gets on the team is up to her."
Yuga Aoyama made a pretentious noise. "Ah, but of course she will choose me," he said loftily. "I know high fashion inside and out!"
"I certainly do, too," Momo added. "I do hope I earn a spot on the committee. I hope someone votes for me."
Bakugo reclined in his chair. "Who said anythin' about voting? Maybe we have to run an obstacle course, no quirks allowed."
Kirishima picked right up on it. "Yeah. Like navigating laser traps to steal a fake diamond!"
"Or doing trapeze!" Toru added.
"That's gymnastics," Tsuyu corrected her.
Momo went pale. "Oh, no..."
"Momo, I'm sure you'll do great," Tenya assured her. "I believe in you. Let's join the committee together."
Momo beamed. "Thanks, Tenya."
Jiro scoffed.
Meanwhile, Midoriya glanced at Ochaco, who was going over her literature notes. He felt like he wanted to say something, but what? She usually seemed happy as ever, but sometimes she got moody, too.
Ochaco seemed to notice Midoriya watching her, and she looked up with a wide smile. "I'll see you at the tryouts, Deku," she said warmly. "If we join the committee, let's do the decorations. I have an eye for these things."
"As do I," Aoyama added. Everyone ignored him.
Midoriya gave her two thumbs up. "Get your game face on, Uraraka."
"Yeah!"
*o*o*o*o*
As promised, Ms. Kayama was hosting the tryouts, and she held them in the art classroom where there was enough space for the fifty-odd students who showed up. And as unofficially promised, it was total anarchy.
"The first game is limbo," Ms. Kayama said happily, clapping her hands together. "Flexible body, flexible mind. Form a line!"
Well, this is just great. Midoriya was secretly hoping that this would be decided with a vote, like Momo wanted, but nope! It was more like an obstacle course after all, judging by the board games, trivia cards, limbo rod, bean bags, and more laying around. It looked more like a pre-school in here.
"Here goes nothin'." Bakugo grinned wickedly and rubbed his hands together as he went first. He bent over backwards and slipped right under the limbo rod like a pro, even though the rod was set aggressively low.
Ms. Kayama clapped. "Very nice, Katsuki! I like men who can bend really far."
"Someone call the cops," Yosetsu Awase muttered.
Toru went next, and being a petite girl, she cleared the rod, too. Tsuyu did fine too, but Rikido Sato and Mezo Shoki bumped the limbo rod out of its supports.
"Ah well, I can't help it. I'm tall," Mezo said through one of his arm-mouths. "I'll make up for it in checkers." Indeed, several checkers games were already set up and waiting.
My mom should have sent me to private school, Deku thought as he took his turn. Ouch, this was harder than it looked! He really had to flex the old spinal cord to make it under that limbo rod, and he joined the others who had cleared it, too.
Ochaco, Fumikage, Neito Monoma, Itsuka Kendo, and others cleared the bar, while Hanta Sero, Ojiro, Koji Koda, Jurota Shishida, and Pony failed (Pony got her horns snagged on the limbo rod and Koji refused to even try).
I'm not very flexible, Koji motioned to Ms. Kayama. I only came here because Jiro pressured me. Can I go?
Ms. Kayama smiled. "If you like, young Koda. Have a safe trip home, okay? It's snowing pretty hard out there."
Koji nodded in thanks and excused himself from the room.
Once everyone took a turn at limbo, the losers asked Ms. Kayama for another try. After all, that rod was set pretty darn low.
"Nope. Sorry, kids!" Ms. Kayama said with a wicked grin like Bakugo's. "Yer outta here!" She jabbed her thumb at the art room's door.
"What are you, an umpire?" Sero whined. "Give us another shot!"
Ms. Kayama stroked her forearm. "Do I have to use my quirk?"
Pony looked terrified. "What is her quirk? Is it bad?"
"Why don't you find out?" Ms. Kayama tensed in concentration -
"See y'all!" Ojiro cut his losses and made for the door, probably trying to set a good example. Fortunately, the other losers joined him, along with a very reluctant-looking Sero.
Ms. Kayama relaxed. "What a shame. You all look like such sweet little angels when you're asleep..." She licked her lips.
"Someone definitely call the cops," Yosetsu muttered.
"Congrats to the twenty of you," Ms. Kayama said warmly. "Now that we shrank down the pool, I can start keeping score in all these games. Get ready... for checkers!"
Midoriya didn't even want to know how Ms. Kayama was going to keep score across multiple games with different scoring systems, but there was no helping it. He just had to make the party planning team with Ochaco, or he might as well... uh... something bad. It was time to focus on the game.
Toga sat opposite Midoriya at their checkers board and moved one of the red pieces. "We meet again, darling," she cooed. "I liked how you handled that limbo rod. Watching you bend and flex... it gave me all kinds of ideas..." She smiled and traced her finger along her lips.
Midoriya winced. "Is Ms. Kayama your crazy aunt or something?" He moved a piece.
"Mmmmmm... I wish. Ms. Kayama is so cool."
"I heard that, miss Toga," Ms. Kayama said from across the room.
Toga froze. "Uh..."
Ms. Kayama smiled. "You're such a sweet thing to say that. You get an extra point!"
Everyone groaned and muttered darkly.
Toga giggled. "Oh, I'm getting on that team for sure. It's your move..."
I've gotta beat her! Midoriya tried, but he couldn't handle Toga's wily checkers game. Even in a simple game like this, she was slippery and unpredictable. If she studied a bit more, she'd be at the top of her class for sure!
"I did it!" Toga stood and threw up her arms as she cheered. "I win!"
"Ten points for miss Toga!" Ms. Kayama declared.
Bakugo bolted to his feet. "What! You only gave me five for beating this clod! No offense," he added to his opponent.
"None taken," Iida muttered darkly.
Maybe Bakugo was a secret genius, too?
"Not bad, kids," Ms. Kayama commented once everyone finished their checkers games. "But can you handle... trivia night?!"
"No, 'cause it's still the afternoon," Bakugo said snidely.
Ms. Kayama pointed at him. "Minus one point!"
Bakugo scowled.
Ms. Kayama sat on the desk and crossed one leg over the other in a relaxed pose as she read from her trivia cards. "What is the tallest mountain in the world?"
"Mount Everest!" Toru cried, and she got a point.
"What is the fourth planet from the sun?"
"Mars," Fumikage said quickly.
"What is the boiling point of water?"
"100 degrees Celsius," Mirio Togata said. "Um, Ms. Kayama?"
"Yes?"
"Aren't these questions kind of easy?"
"Uh..." Ms. Kayama checked the package the cards came in, and she stifled a giggle. "Oops! I picked up the wrong pack by mistake. My sister uses them to play strip trivia with her boyfriend in the bedroom. I ought to try that if I get a boyfriend, too..."
Momo buried her face in her hands.
I don't know if it's worse that Ms. Kayama knows that, or that she told us, Midoriya thought. This was a far cry from the science bowl. Whatever happened to the good old days?
"Okay, forget the trivia." Ms. Kayama threw all the cards into the air and deigned to not pick them up. She held up a finger. "Now for arm wrestling!"
"No fair!" Toru argued. "I have the upper body strength of a newborn chick. At least, that's how Bakugo put it."
Ms. Kayama rolled up a magazine and bopped Bakugo on the head as punishment. "That's so rude! Bad boy! Bad!"
"I'm not a dog!" Bakugo snapped.
"I once saw you chase your mail carrier."
"He forgot to give me my magazine!"
More than a few people were laughing by now.
Ms. Kayama loftily brushed aside her bangs. "Okay, kids, let's move on..."
There was no end to it. Ms. Kayama subjected them to bean bag toss games, the aforementioned arm wrestling (Toru actually beat Neito Monoma and Momo, to her delight), poetry recitation, Twenty Questions games with each other, thumb wars (Toru had a serious advantage), pop culture trivia (Bakugo and Mina mopped the floor with everyone), and a few games Midoriya was convinced Ms. Kayama had invented on the fly.
"Whew. I think it's almost 6:00. Dinnertime," Ms. Kayama said, wiping her brow and checking the room's clock. By now, it was totally dark outside.
Yosetsu sighed. "I'm jealous of those guys who failed at limbo. They got to go home and live their lives."
Itsuka patted his back to comfort him.
"And now... the committee!" Ms. Kayama declared. She went right up to the dry-erase board, got a red marker, and wrote eight names (her handwriting was actually pretty bad).
IZUKU MIDORIYA
MIRIO TOGATA
HIMIKO TOGA
FUMIKAGE TOKOYAMI
TORU HAGAKURE
NEITO MONOMA
TSUYU ASUI
KATSUKI BAKUGO
"In no particular order," Ms. Kayama added. "I just wrote them as I thought of them. Of course, my darling Himiko had more points than anyone." She blew a kiss at Toga, who gratefully accepted it.
Iida slammed his head on his desk. Momo patted his back to comfort him.
Ms. Kayama pretended to dust off her hands. "Thanks for playing, everyone! Committee members, please meet with me tomorrow after school, and we'll start getting everything organized. We have a big dance party to plan!"
"I look forward to it. Ribbit," Tsuyu said politely, before Toga and Toru started cheering loudly and announcing their plans ahead of time for the dance.
Everyone else took that as the cue to get the heck out of this place, and Midoriya turned to Ochaco. "I'm sure you tried your best -"
Ochaco didn't respond. She scooped up he backpack and stormed out of the room, joining the other non-committee students.
Midoriya closed his mouth, stunned. It was one thing to be upset, but Ochaco...
*o*o*o*o*
Deku had a lot of studying to catch up on, but even after a late dinner with his mom (she burst into happy tears that he made the party planning committee), he put off his homework until he figured this thing out with Ochaco. He closed his bedroom door to block out the sound of Family Feud on the TV (would he ever get away from Steve Harvey?) and got out his cell phone.
Midoriya selected Ochaco's name in his contacts list, but he stared at her account, suddenly feeling weird about this. Wasn't he intruding on her privacy? He'd been leaving her alone for a while for a reason.
But Ochaco would stop at nothing to comfort Midoriya of something were wrong with him, even if it was something dreadful. He pressed CALL.
Ochaco picked up on the fourth ring. "Oh. Hi, Deku," she said simply. "How are you? Oh, let me guess: you want some help that really hard algebra homework? I can't figure it out, either. Can't help you." She chuckled.
"Y... yeah. It's a tough one," Midoriya lied. He hadn't even cracked his algebra book open yet. He wouldn't touch that thing until he got a chance to comfort his favorite girl. "Ochaco... about the party planning games..."
Ochaco made a frustrated noise. "I swear, Ms. Kayama was just choosing the eight people she thinks are most fun. It should have been Mr. Aizawa who ran things. Or even coach Yagi! At least he's fair!"
"True enough," Midoriya said. Okay, enough stalling. "Ochaco? I'm sorry to pry, but I gotta ask... is everything okay? You've been so down for the last couple of weeks. You're one of my best friends. I just want to be there for you."
Ochaco hesitated for a few seconds. "You're so sweet to ask," she said quietly. "Thanks, Izuku."
By now, Midoriya knew when there was a problem. He braced himself. "If you'd rather not tell me, that's okay. But if I can help -"
"I'm moving away on the 27th."
What the... Midoriya stood rooted to the spot, staring numbly at his crinkled Akira poster over his bed. "You're... moving...?"
"I-I didn't want to tell anyone," Ochaco rushed to explain, "because I didn't want it overshadowing everything. Izuku, I didn't want everything to suddenly be about me moving out of town soon."
Midoriya felt his heart hammering in his chest. Was it from sheer adrenaline? "I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."
"No, it's not your fault," Ochaco told him. "My parents hoped to find more work here in town, but it's not... well, they can't find much. We're really in debt. My dad just found a good job a few towns over. We have to move as soon as we can."
"Oh. For their construction work, right?"
"Yeah. Construction." Ochaco fell silent again for a few seconds. "I'll miss you."
Midoriya's gut clenched. "I'll miss you too. It feels like yesterday I saw those moving trucks in your driveway."
"Oh, that was the day you visited with Bakugo and Denki," Ochaco said with a nervous giggle. "It was so touching that you guys couldn't wait to come and meet me. You all know how to make a girl feel special."
Midoriya couldn't describe it, but a warm, light sensation flooded his mind, and he longed to be by Ochaco's side more than anything. All he wanted to do was hold her close.
"I'm glad I met you," he said mechanically. This couldn't be real...! Ugh!
"Me, too," Ochaco said. "Deku... good luck with the party planning committee. I'll still be here for the Christmas dance. I can't wait to go."
"I'll talk to Ms. Kayama," Midoriya said hastily. "I'll... I'll wash her car, or do all her housework, or whatever to get you on that committee!"
Ochaco giggled. "It's okay, Deku. You don't have to do that. I wanted to be on that committee to be part of something big before I moved, but I'm fine. As long as you're on the team, I'm sure it'll be a wonderful evening."
Midoriya sighed. "Okay. Fair enough. I won't let you down."
"I know," Ochaco said warmly. "Okay, I need to try and finish this stupid algebra homework before midnight. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah." Midoriya swallowed. "Ochaco, I -"
She had already hung up.
Midoriya stared at the phone's screen, then threw it onto his bed and sank into his desk chair in a defeated slump. Who cared about algebra?
Things were getting pretty cold around here, all right.