It was as Jomei sat down and started digging into his rice bowl in earnest that he gave the Sports Festival's cafeteria a once-over. Aoyama's absence was probably due to the sudden burst of nausea he'd had from using his Quirk too much. Shinso was also nowhere to be seen, but closer to the lunch line, Ashido and Akiko were speaking to one another. He assumed they were talking about their cavalry battle performances, but the sight reminded him that although Akiko wasn't quite exceedingly outgoing, she still had other people beyond their shared circle to keep her company. Oddly enough, Jomei was thankful for these few minutes alone his teammates' temporary absence provided him with.

In his eyes, Aoyama could take his ego as far away from him as he wished, and he'd be nothing but grateful for the distance. Jomei liked to think he could make friends with a lot of different kinds of people, and perhaps Aoyama could be such a person, but with the Sports Festival going on right now, turning the attention-whoring Frenchman into a friend of his was below the bottom of his priority list.

Just then, he caught another of Ashido's exuberant exclamations of excitement about the cavalry battle over the din of the cafeteria. It spurred him to do some analysis of the matter himself while he still had a quiet moment.

He started with the more obvious observations – ones about his team. Aoyama, for all his pomp and self-importance, had fulfilled his duty selflessly. Considering the nausea he was now feeling as a consequence of his Quirk's overuse, it was evident that he could sometimes discern when to put a lid on his exhausting persona. He'd been one of the cornerstones of their team's strategy, and even if he hadn't had as much opportunity to shine as Akiko or himself, the power behind Aoyama's Quirk was certainly not to be taken lightly.

The same went for Shinso. Granted, Jomei may have already seen what someone under the spell of his Quirk looked like when he came along with Aoyama, but seeing how Shinso went about triggering his Quirk in the middle of the competition was something else. The stoic, lonely boy that Jomei associated more with Aizawa-like aloofness than anything turned into a confident and scarily competent opponent when he was let loose, and Jomei considered himself all too lucky to have Shinso on his side as a result. Taking away someone's autonomy with nothing but a few simple words… Shinso's was a power that could single-handedly turn the tide of battle.

Which was why it was even more of a shame that he didn't get the chance to join the hero course in the beginning.

That said, he still thought Akiko and himself were just as pivotal to their team's performance as Aoyama and Shinso were. The latter pair's Quirks may have had power behind them, sure, but it wasn't like his or Akiko's were lacking. Noble Gases had the capacity for sheer power, even if Jomei avoided using it at its maximum all the time, and during the cavalry battle, its sheer capacity for utility had played a vital role in obtaining Team Kodai's headband. It was a consistent and reliable power, as opposed to Akiko's Crystal Core, which could only be used for powerful attacks or techniques for so long before the strain on its user outweighed its benefits. Still, Akiko had used what life had handed her to the best extent she could, and the fruits of her labors were never more evident than how they'd gotten Team Takara into the final stage.

Yet despite how incredible his team's Quirks were, they still had so much potential to grow.

And the sentiment didn't end at Team Takara.

Class 1-A at large had plenty of potential. People like Denki, Ashido, Kirishima, and especially Bakugo, loathe as Jomei was to admit it, were equally as powerful in their own rights as he was – all of them also making it into the final round of the festival was a testament to that much. Each one of them had persevered and used their Quirks to their utmost capacity, even if Jomei hadn't been able to see any of it, but that knowledge alone was enough to remind him of why he'd been so eager to train on his days off from school in the first place. U.A. was the best hero academy in Japan, and everything the Class 1-A students did, knowingly or not, always embodied its motto of 'plus ultra.'

Of course, Class 1-B had talent too. In fact, Jomei had to say that from what he saw, they were downright amazing in some respects. Class 1-B had a level of cohesion and unity that 1-A just couldn't seem to match. Granted, Tetsutetsu was the only frame of reference Jomei had for this assumption at first, but before the cavalry battle's start, it seemed as though 1-B was much faster to form their teams than anyone else. Add in the talent and diverse Quirks he and his team had to face off against when they fought Kodai and Thad's teams, and Class 1-B had well and truly proven that they weren't a group to be taken lightly. Even if none of them had made it into the third stage, Jomei knew this was true.

If nothing else, their spirits seemed to have a knack for staying high. Thad and Jean had recently emerged from the lunch line, and from outward appearances, one wouldn't be able to tell that they'd both suffered such harsh defeats only a little while prior. Jean was jaunty and jubilant and completely herself next to Thad, so it wasn't much of a jump to assume she'd very quickly gotten over whatever consternation she may not have even felt about her loss. Thad was… inexpressive, as always.

One day Jomei would be able to comprehend how he remained so calm all the time.

Regardless, for foreign-exchange students, they were undoubtedly impressive, and they and 1-B at large made him wonder what exactly the other hero course was up to. What was Thad and Jean's homeland like? Why had 1-B been chosen for the foreign exchange program in the first place? The list went on. Of course, not many of these questions would ever be answered, but Jomei was more than content to wonder.

Before he could busy himself with any more endless musings, though, Jomei noticed Shinso as he emerged from the lunch line. He carried a steaming hot bowl of beef stew, and it looked like he was going to pass by his table entirely before Jomei finally raised a hand to get his attention.

"Hey Shinso," he started, but paused to swallow the rice in his mouth. "How about you sit down here with me?"

Shinso's brow raised slightly. "No offense Nishimura, but I think I'll have to pass. You were good during the cavalry battle, there's no denying that, but I don't think you're the kind of guy I'd hang out with…"

In the back of Jomei's mind something clicked that kept him from believing Shinso's statement. It was clearly an excuse he was trying to use to get Jomei off his back. Unfortunately for him, Jomei was well-versed in reading people that after the time they'd already spent together, he could already tell how flimsy his attempt at deflection was. He couldn't assume anything about Shinso's life in general studies, but he could reasonably assume that Shinso's idea of someone he'd 'like to' hang out with didn't really exist.

So he called him out on it.

"Who would be, then?"

Shinso looked away, suddenly disarmed.

"Listen, Shinso," Jomei continued, "I know I'm not Akiko, and we aren't on a first-name basis or anything, but trust me. Akiko's both of our friends, she's going to be here soon, and if you don't believe me when I say sitting down with me won't kill you, believe her. You've seen who she is deep down, so trust her judgment when it comes to me, eh?"

"Besides," a feminine voice joined in, "this is sort of the first time we've had the chance to sit down together."

Shinso looked up. "Akiko."

"I mean it when I say it'd be nice to get to know you a little better, Hitoshi. Besides," she slipped onto the side of the table opposite Jomei, taking her noodles with her. "If you don't think Jomei is someone you'd like to hang out with, how about me? We're friends, right?"

"Yeah… we are."

Shinso finally relented, and as he sat next to Akiko and they started eating their food, Jomei smiled. Not only had Akiko impressed him once again with her sociability, but now he finally had a chance to pick at Shinso's brain in conversation as opposed to during the blood-pumping events of the festival.

"So how'd you get away from the girls?"

She swallowed. "Mhm. Don't get me wrong, I really do like them, but sometimes Ashido and Hagakure alone can be a little exhausting. It's nice to talk to them sometimes, and Yaoyorozu's super nice and smart, but six other people around me's still a little too much."

"So you have a certain kind of situation you're more comfortable in during lunch…?" Shinso droned.

"Don't we all?" Akiko said sweetly but with a pointed stare back at their companion. Jomei simply smiled at his rice.

"Point taken," Shinso conceded.

Akiko's smile softened and she turned again toward Jomei. "Though I will say that Ashido wanting to gossip about me and you definitely made it much easier to leave."

"How's Kyoka?" Jomei asked. "I haven't been able to talk to her since before the cavalry battle."

"Frustrated. Broody. I got a chance to ask her if she would be okay, since she's the only one out of the four of us that didn't make it into the finals, but she said she'd get over it." Akiko's expression grew a little hopeful. "She even said she'd be cheering both of us on – Denki, too."

"Who are these people?" Shinso asked.

"Jiro Kyoka and Kaminari Denki," Jomei explained. "They're friends of ours. You've probably seen them around, too – Kyoka has earphone jacks coming from her earlobes, Denki has a lightning-shaped highlight in his hair; they're pretty easy to recognize."

"You guys must be pretty close, then."

Akiko nodded. "They were the first people that reached out to us when the school year started, and they saved our lives back at the USJ towards the end of it all. Denki was the one who put us all on a first-name basis from day one. Still trying to figure out if he had a good feeling about us or if he just doesn't care about formality."

"Probably both," Shinso guessed.

Shinso started to idly stir and stare into his beef stew, and Jomei decided to steer the conversation elsewhere. After all, he wanted to learn more about him. Akiko had saved his life, counted him as a friend, and seemed to be the first person Shinso went to when he had something important to say, and yet they both knew so little about him.

He was an enigma well worth solving, though.

"True," Jomei agreed, and he angled his chopsticks away from his meal. "But hey, enough about us – what's up with you, Shinso? What's life in general studies like?"

Shinso's eyes raised to meet his. "As one of the many people who wanted to get into the hero course but failed for whatever reason… it's underwhelming."

Without another word, Shinso turned his attention back to his soup. Jomei blinked, while Akiko remained completely silent. "Anything else, though? There's got to be more to it than being 'underwhelming,' I mean, it's still a course at U.A., even if it isn't involved with hero work."

"I didn't come and sit down with you guys to exposit about myself, you know." Shinso suddenly sat up a little straighter and grabbed his tray. "If you're expecting me to go on a tangent about my life just because the festival's on pause, then maybe this was a mistake…"

"Hey," Akiko cut in before he could stand, casting a brief glare in Jomei's direction. "Please don't go? Jomei sometimes gets carried away with these sorts of questions, but I know he didn't mean to pry. We're just both really interested in learning more about you, is all."

"A lot of people have tried to be friendly with me in the past…" Shinso said, but he relaxed back into his seat.

"And then they found out about your Quirk," Jomei guessed.

His lack of a response was all the answer Jomei needed.

"Well, that's fine by me," Jomei said easily. "Whatever you want to tell me or Akiko is totally up to you, but I'm sure that I speak for us both when I say we'd both be willing to hear you out if you ever wanted to talk."

Akiko nodded. "Right."

"But anyway, I still am genuinely curious about what the other courses are like," Jomei continued. "The hero course has a lot of core classes, sure, but I can't imagine that it's all that similar to the other three programs. Combat training every day is super important if we want to become pros, sure, but I figure it's gotta leave a gap between us and everyone else somewhere along the line."

Shinso nodded slightly. "You're right about that, Nishimura. I don't know much about what the support or business departments do, but I can tell you a lot about general studies. It isn't bad,by any means. The teachers are alright enough, and the coursework keeps us up to our necks in studying, but the curriculum isn't quite what you'd expect going in."

"Why's that?" Akiko asked.

"Most people who don't do their research into U.A.'s general studies department would only think that it's all about standard education. I'll admit that I was one of them, and I was one of the very many failed hero course students that were shocked when we found out what our new course really let us do," Shinso paused for a spoonful of his stew. "One of the focuses is on helping students prepare to get into university, but it also focuses on the potential applications of our Quirks in society."

Jomei squinted. "I'm not following. Do you mean the applications of Quirks outside of the hero scene?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Shinso said. "Most of the time, getting a license to use your Quirk professionally takes a mountain of red-tape and experimentation at home so you can figure out what your Quirk's actually good for. The general studies course offers a chance for people, if they can figure out how to make their Quirk useful, to fast-track you through all that before you even hit university. For a lot of people, that saves them money and time, and gives them a big mark on their resumes. Most people don't realize it, but having your Quirk licensed before you even get some college under your belt is almost as big an upside as attending U.A. in the first place."

"And here my dad had to go through hell to get his license…"

"He did have a record of noise complaints under his belt," Akiko smirked. "I think anyone would be hesitant to give Synth an official right to use his Quirk when he was still starting out."

"Who?" Shinso asked.

"Right, you probably don't know who he is, unless you're into techno – my dad's a traveling DJ. Used to be pretty small-time when he started out, and was middle-of-the-pack for years, but he's getting a lot more traction after he performed with the number one guy in the genre," Jomei explained. "He had trouble getting his Quirk licensed is all that matters."

Shinso gave a simple shrug. "The number of people trying to get into this school for the hero course but ending up getting dumped into general studies versus those genuinely trying to get into the school just to get licensed isn't exactly equal, you realize that, right?"

"Well, it's unfair I think." Akiko had that look on her face she always got in the face of some perceived injustice. Jomei loved it. "It sounds like a lot of people in general studies just ended up there instead of going to another hero academy, out of obligation."

"That may be the case, but I'm not paying attention to anyone in my class enough to tell if that's the only reason they're pissed at the hero course. Some of them are warming up to the idea of getting licensed for non-hero work, though."

"Fair enough," Jomei tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "But hey, do you have any friends there? If so many are in the same boat when it comes to wanting to transfer into the hero course, there's got to be some people you've gotten to know."

Shinso made a noncommittal noise. "Yes and no. I can hold a conversation with some of my classmates, but it's not like I'm going to go out of my way to find them and chat. Aside from the people who wanted to get into general studies from the start, it feels like that sort of holds up for everyone. Either you're all sunshine and roses or you're slowly warming up to where U.A.'s shoved you."

"Not you, though," Akiko said. "You've got willpower and cleverness on your side, and you're fighting to make your dream of becoming a hero a reality. I think it's admirable."

For a brief handful of seconds, Shinso's expression softened. "Thanks. But… what about you guys and Class 1-A?" He asked, alternating between looking at both of them. "Are all of you as buddy-buddy as 1-B looked like they were with each other?"

"Kind of…?" Jomei squinted. "Obviously I don't know a lot about 1-B, but our class definitely has some cliques in it. The girls hang out together sometimes, but there are others too. Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka tend to hang out a lot, I've seen Kirishima with Bakugo sometimes, Yaoyorozu seems to be one of the only people Todoroki will talk to – I could go on, but you get the picture."

"And I'm guessing you two have your own group, too."

"Yeah, with Kyoka and Denki. It was kind of accidental, really, but it's not like we don't get along. Kyoka teases Denki tons but he never gets genuinely angry at her for it, and we all have things in common. We all like music, me and Kyoka especially, Denki evidently likes literature so he and Akiko can talk all day about that, all that jazz."

Jomei lifted his rice bowl to his lips, using his chopsticks to shovel the last of his food down when Shinso spoke up again. Shinso pointed with his spoon over his shoulder. "So am I right then in assuming that short guy is part of your clique?"

He lowered his bowl, and as he leaned over to see past Shinso, Jomei did a double-take. A couple of meters away from them was none other than Mineta, but the weirder part of the scene before him was the fact that Denki was there with him.

Before Jomei or Akiko could question why he was associating with the pervert, Denki split off from Mineta. Mineta himself continued in the direction of the girls' table, where he struck up a conversation with Yaoyorozu. He was smiling, but he was clearly hiding something behind his grin, sweat slightly beading up around his temple. The image set alarm bells off in the back of Jomei's head.

"No," Jomei finally answered. "No, Mineta isn't part of our clique at all. The only thing they have in common is that they're into girls, but at least Denki has some tact about it. Mineta's just a creep!"

Akiko held herself close. "Don't remind me…"

Over at the girls' table, Yaoyorozu's brow furrowed, and Mineta turned around with a thinly-veiled smug look hidden behind his smirk. After a few more words, Mineta walked away with his food toward an empty table, and an uneasy expression crossed Akiko's face.

"He certainly looks satisfied with himself," Shinso pointed out.

"But if he's happy…" Akiko trailed off.

Jomei sighed and set his empty bowl down with a thud. "There's going to be trouble. Bet on it. Shinso?"

"Hm?"

"Your Quirk lets you control people completely, right?" He asked. "Can't we, you know… use it on Mineta so we can get him to talk about what he's up to?"

"No."

Jomei's eyes widened slightly. "Really? I mean, I know Mineta. That rat bastard's plotting something completely messed up, no doubt about it. Wouldn't it be better to be safe?"

"No, I mean that I can't use my Quirk to get him to spill," Shinso clarified. "I told you guys about some of my Quirk's limitations before, but those aren't the only ones. My Quirk also can't take advantage of higher brain functions like planning or the recollection of names, so having me use it on him would get nothing done. In fact, it'd only raise the chances that someone in 1-A will figure out my Quirk and ruin my chances in the next round."

Jomei's shoulders slouched. "So we can't get Mineta to tell us what he's up to…"

"Whatever happened to just asking him?" Shinso deadpanned, clearly unimpressed.

"Good idea," Jomei said. "You have this whole stoic exterior thing down pat, and I think you could still be intimidating enough if you were to meet him somewhere at random. We could use that to our advantage and bluff about what he can do."

"Intimidation?" Shinso's brow raised, but he smirked. "Doesn't sound very hero-like…"

"Against Mineta, and for the sake of making sure he doesn't get anything he wants out of some shady interaction with the rest of the girls, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make," Jomei stated.

"I really shouldn't be letting you guys do this…" Akiko said. "But I'm not going to lie and say that I'm okay with Mineta doing something creepy or violating the girls' dignity either."

"We're going to have to get him somewhere private, like the bathroom, but we also need bait…" Jomei looked mischievously towards Akiko. "Feel like playing along to get Mineta to follow me into the bathroom? I'm thinking the perfect little white lie from me would be just the thing to get him right where we want him."

"Sure," Akiko smirked. "Just don't get too creative with what you tell him?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Jomei stood, and Shinso followed. "Shinso, you meet me in the bathroom. Akiko can wait here for one of us to tell her what's going on, and I'll head on over to bait Mineta."

Both nodded, and Shinso sauntered off in the direction of the men's restroom. Akiko gave Jomei an encouraging smile and he set out to where Mineta was sitting. Every step closer toward the pervert offered him new insight into the details of Mineta's expression, and his suspicion was only heightened at how utterly neutral that expression was. Someone who didn't know him would've even thought he was simply another student enjoying his food and not an abhorrent, girl-crazy lunatic.

As fate would have it though, Jomei did know him.

Mineta turned at his arrival. "Oh hey, Nishimura, what's-"

"Shh!" Jomei hushed him and sat down. He looked both ways as if to check if the coast was clear, and leaned in conspiratorially as he subtly pointed at Akiko. "You know how me and Akiko are a thing now, right? You have a lot of experience with women, right? I wanted to ask you for some advice."

Mineta's eyes flashed. "You've come to the right man. Go on…"

Jomei schooled his features into the sleaziest look he could manage while still being convincing. "I wanted to know your secrets to taking things further, if you know what I mean." He paused to watch Mineta's expression, which was becoming more lascivious by the second. "I already have some pretty juicy stories, but I don't really know how to move past where we are now."

Mineta looked about ready to drool. "Go on…"

"You want me to tell you about what me and her have done?" He forced himself to give a convincing smirk. "I could tell you all about it, but I think we need to go somewhere a bit more private."

"I underestimated you, Nishimura…" Mineta said admiringly. "Playing the nice guy game isn't all that rewarding since it's such a long con, but it looks like it's finally working out for you big time with Takara… so count me in. Where do you have in mind to talk?"

Jomei tried to keep his lunch from coming up at the thought of sharing anything with the creep, but he kept his expression as sleazy as he could. "I was thinking the bathroom down the hall would be fine."

Mineta slid down from his seat, and Jomei gestured for him to lead the way. He nodded firmly, and as Jomei followed in step behind him and he finally allowed his sleazy mask to crack.

'Good job Mineta. You just fell for our trap, hook, line, and sinker. Now it's about time you get what you deserve for thinking I'd tell you anything about Akiko. Oh, and for perving on all the other girls too, of course.'

They walked into the nigh-on empty bathroom, and Jomei sensed the exact moment Mineta's excited expectations turned to fear. One look at Shinso was all it took.

One moment Mineta was on top of the world with the knowledge he was about to get the scoop of the century, and the next, he was completely petrified. Jomei locked the door and leaned against it, blocking Mineta's only escape route back to the cafeteria.

Mineta spun toward Jomei at the click of the lock and then back to Shinso, who returned his terror-stricken stare with an eerily chilling expression. Shinso wasn't exactly a big guy, but his presence was formidable. The shadows that hung over his eyes made it terrifyingly clear that he wasn't someone that should be challenged.

Which Mineta had inadvertently done.

"Uhh…" Mineta took a step back nervously. "Nishimura? Who uh, w-who's that guy?"

"Oh, him? Can't say I know his name, but I know his reputation. You might've seen him walk out with the general studies guys, but don't let that fool you. I think they actually didn't let him into the hero course because he was too violent – like, makes Bakugo seem tame violent." He smirked. "Might not wanna piss him off."

Mineta whirled around, his fear momentarily forgotten. "Wait a sec! You didn't bring me here to talk about Takara at all! You bastard! And here I thought you were a man of class, Nishimura!"

The single step Shinso took forward echoed throughout the empty restroom. That simple sound caused Mineta to face him again in an instant, his tiny body quivering.

"Maybe," Jomei deflected. "But you might not want to turn your back on him either. I get the feeling he doesn't like to be ignored. Not given what we brought you here for."

"So you two are in league…? Well, whatever you're planning, it isn't going to work! You wouldn't dare let him attack me, and unless this guy's really some villain in disguise, he wouldn't either! Not unless you want to get expelled!" Mineta reasoned. "So… give up!"

"Are you willing to risk that?" Shinso's voice was threateningly calm. Mineta froze.

Shinso idly rolled his neck. "Make your choice. I'm getting bored."

Mineta suddenly let out a terrified cry and stumbled back into the wall to Jomei's left, his mouth agape in horror. "I give up! Whatever you want Nishimura, I'll do it, but just keep that guy away from meeeeee!"

"Sure," Jomei said simply.

With a nod in his direction, Shinso strode towards the door, but he paused to glare back over his shoulder at Mineta. "Consider this your only warning. Don't make him bother me again because you didn't keep your word. I might take it out on you."

Jomei blocked the door again as it shut.

"Okay, Mineta…" Jomei looked down at him as his tension faded without Shinso around. "I'm going to only ask this once – I saw you talking to the girls out there about something. You're going to tell me what you were talking to them about."

"Talk about being a white knight…" Mineta murmured.

"I can still go get the other guy, if you don't want to talk-"

"Wait!" Mineta interrupted. "Okay, okay! I talked to the girls to convince them that they had to wear cheerleader uniforms for a cheer competition coming up after lunch!"

Jomei tightened a hand into a white-knuckled fist. He finally had his answer. What Mineta was planning was sick, on so many levels. It'd humiliate all the girls right before some of them had to participate in the final stage of the festival, turning heroes-in-training into little more than eye-candy for millions of sick jerks like Mineta to stare at. More importantly, though, if Mineta had gotten away with his plan, Akiko would've been a victim of that utter depravity too. Considering she'd only recently started to see her body in a slightly more positive light barely two weeks ago, being turned into little more than fanservice for Mineta's sick pleasure…

It took everything Jomei had in him not to kick Mineta through the bathroom wall at that moment.

He took a steadying breath. "Okay… but how the hell did you convince all of them to do that? Yaoyorozu's vice rep, so she'd know about a cheer competition coming up before anyone."

"I told them Aizawa-sensei told me to give them the news. Yaoyorozu wouldn't question anything if it was coming from one of the teachers, and with there being talk about other girls in cheerleader uniforms already being here, it was a pretty easy sell."

'Well, that settles that. But still…'

"That doesn't explain why Denki was with you earlier, though."

"Kaminari? What-" Mineta paused. "Oh! Right, I forgot! He was in on it too!"

Jomei stopped. That didn't sound like Denki at all, but… would Mineta dare lie now? He let a long exhale punch from his lips, and turned around to grip the door handle as he prepared to leave. There was nothing else to gain here now, and Denki being in league with Mineta's sick joke of a plan wasn't something he had to handle now.

"What now…?" Mineta asked.

Jomei paused as he opened the door. "What happens now is that you stop trying to pull this bullshit and stay away from the girls. Honestly, I almost wish you made it through to the final stage so someone could kick your ass without having to feel bad."

He started walking away, off to inform Akiko, but heard Mineta whisper under his breath. "As if you could make me stop…"

'One of these days, Mineta. One of these days…'

Akiko hurriedly made her way through the halls to the girl's locker room, her chest tight with a mix of indignation and embarrassment by proxy of what she knew her peers were almost certainly doing right now.

She'd been informed by Jomei about what had happened, of course. He'd told her the same as Hitoshi had of how quickly Mineta buckled, but he also told her exactly what Mineta had been planning all along. It obviously didn't seem unlike the deviant to come up with such a plan, but it shocked her all the same. She wasn't naive enough to believe that there wouldn't be some people like Mineta in U.A., seeing as everyone attending were all teenagers, but she never expected someone like him to go through with such a plan. In her opinion, trying to get all the girls in one's class to dress in cheerleader uniforms that showed off an uncomfortable amount of skin wasn't just perverted, it was revolting.

She wondered what would happen if he continued crossing the line. He'd get beaten down by the other sensible boys in Class 1-A, she was sure of that, but it was up to them to decide if that beatdown was verbal or more… physical. Considering she and Jomei were dating, and he and Mineta were already not on good footing, she concluded that her partner would be firmly in the latter camp when the time came to show Mineta 'the error of his ways.'

She could only hope that day in the future was rather far off; after all, Jomei assaulting Mineta during the Sports Festival probably wouldn't fly, perversion punishment or not. Even if hearing he'd finally gotten his just desserts would be undoubtedly rather cathartic, that wasn't something Akiko wanted Jomei risking right now.

For now, though, she had a job to do. She had to deliver the news of the lecherous plot the rest of the girls had gotten roped into before they ended up humiliating themselves live on Japan's biggest annual broadcast. After that, she'd regroup with Hitoshi and Jomei when lunch ended on their way back onto the field, and no one would be any the wiser as to what the three of them had swiftly worked to avoid. They'd be unsung heroes, obviously, but it was worth it.

The door to the locker room came into view, and Akiko stepped through not a moment too soon.

There before her, Kyoka and the rest of the girls in Class 1-A stood in various stages of undress, taking off and folding up their sports uniforms as they prepared to slip into the cheerleader uniforms strewn about the room. The fading pink glow on Yaoyorozu's bare thigh as she prepared and set aside her own uniform told Akiko all she needed to know of their source, but for a long moment, she was frozen in place. For all the urgency that'd helped expedite her trip to the girl's locker room, she'd never thought about what she would even say to break the news to them.

What should she say? 'Oh hey, sorry about this, but you were all tricked by Mineta into wearing skimpy uniforms so he could get a sick thrill out of staring at you,' didn't exactly let any of them down gently.

Of course, it also just felt awkward for Akiko to go ahead and walk in on her half-naked peers when they were changing. Even if it wasn't anything new, she had never gotten used to seeing other girls her age clad in so little as they changed so casually around her. Yet another thing she owed to the legacy of her negative body image, she supposed.

As she fought to find words, Yaoyorozu noticed her and beat her to the punch.

"Oh, Takara, you're here just in time." She turned to face her as she slipped into her flattering orange cheerleader top with U.A.'s name stamped across it in green. "We were recently informed that there's a cheerleading competition coming up after lunch and we were just about to go out and find you. Of course, we didn't want to intrude upon your meal, so we were going to wait until later, but seeing as you're here now..."

Akiko found her voice as Yaoyorozu handed her a uniform. "Oh, no you don't understand, this isn't necessary-"

"I was of a similar mind," Yaoyorozu sighed wistfully. "Sadly, from what I understand, the orders came straight from Aizawa-sensei, so no matter how odd the suddenness of the event may be, we're somewhat obligated to participate."

Uraraka appeared next to her as she finished adjusting her top. "I thought it was kind of weird too, but who knows? Maybe it's just that between Aizawa-sensei recovering and preparing us for the Sports Festival we weren't told in time! Besides, it could be fun! Or at least, it could help some of us take our minds off the final stage, you know?"

"No, I mean that…" Akiko hesitated, her features scrunching before she finally decided to bite the bullet. "This whole 'cheer competition' isn't real. Mineta just tricked you into thinking it was by lying about Aizawa-sensei. I know because Mineta fessed up himself."

There was a brief delay before any of the girls reacted, and in that brief moment, Akiko braced herself with an apologetic look and tensed shoulders.

Kyoka was the first to recover from processing the news, kicking the lockers next to her before throwing away her pom-poms. "Ugh! First I don't get through the cavalry battle and then Mineta pulls this crap!? I hate that guy!"

Hagakure's arms merely fell, as indicated by her pom-poms' movement. "Oh… it was all one big prank, huh? Dang it… and I really liked these costumes!"

"You were excited about this?!" Kyoka gaped.

"Well, yeah! I was kinda looking forward to rolling with the whole cheer competition and showing off my school spirit! Isn't there a chance we can still-"

"No way."

Hagakure sighed. "Oh well. Worth a try!"

Yaoyorozu defeatedly fell to her knees. "Why is it that I always end up falling for that little pervert's stupid schemes…? I even used my Quirk to make these outfits…"

"Yeah…" Ashido knelt next to her and patted her back. "We probably should have seen this coming, since it was Mineta who told us about this… at least we were warned in time!"

"That doesn't bring back my dignity…" Yaoyorozu stood and stripped off her top to begin changing back into her sports uniform. She paused and faced Akiko. "Regardless of me falling for Mineta's plan… I thank you, Takara. I can't imagine how mortifying it would have been to end up going through with his trick…"

Akiko turned her head slightly away to avoid looking at the vice rep's nearly bare bust. "It's not a problem. Really. I'm just doing what I can to look out for you all, like I would anyone else."

"Still," Tsuyu began. "You said that Mineta told you himself that he was trying to trick us, Takara. How'd you get him to talk?"

Akiko chuckled nervously. "Yeah, about that…"

Suddenly, the lunch bell rang, and Akiko breathed a sigh of relief. Saved by the bell in the most literal of ways. With a wave and a goodbye, she quickly left the rest of the girls to their own devices and started in the direction of the tunnels leading back to the arena.

Her mission had been a success, and the final stage of the Sports Festival was on the horizon.

It was time to get her head back in the game.

True to her word, Akiko promptly rejoined Jomei and Shinso soon after the lunch bell rang, intercepting them on their way to the field. Granted, this didn't surprise Jomei, since he didn't exactly expect Akiko to go missing on her mission down the hall, but what did surprise him was the slight blush on her cheeks he saw when she returned. Shinso either didn't notice or didn't care to comment, and kept in silent step beside him, but Jomei couldn't help but wonder what had triggered such a reaction out of his girlfriend. After all, she'd been doing amazing thus far in terms of confidence, so for something to affect her like this…

Then he remembered where exactly she'd had to go to so that she could warn the other girls.

Wisely, Jomei didn't question her fluster any further.

Nonetheless, he then focused his mental efforts to psyching himself back up. The final stage would be starting soon, and even if Present Mic would undoubtedly infect him with as much excitement as he did the people watching the festival, it couldn't hurt to help speed up the process. With a full stomach and spirits still high from the last two stages and his interaction with Mineta, he felt ready to take on the world.

He still had one thing in mind from that last success though. He needed to confront Denki when he saw him again. Mineta was a conniving bastard when it came to the girls, sure, but he didn't have any reason to lie and throw Denki under the bus, not when he was so completely terrified of Shinso. Jomei would get answers soon, and he hoped they'd be ones that wouldn't harm the friendship Denki had created between them.

As the trio stepped into the steadily-filling arena, Present Mic's voice flooded out from above to meet them. "Get those foam fingers in the air, because it's almost time for the next round!" he warbled. "But before that, good news for everyone that didn't make it into the finals! Since this is a sports festival, we've prepared some super-fun side-games that everyone can participate in! We even brought cheerleaders from America to get your blood pumping!"

Jomei's eyes wandered to his left, and it was true. A dozen cheerleaders stood clad in uniforms with the American flag printed upon them, and they were coordinated in their shouts and gestures of encouragement to the point of perfection. The more impressive thing though was that they were cheering in fluent Japanese.

'They sure take cheerleading seriously, I guess…'

Out of the corner of his vision, he noticed Jean jolt as she saw the cheerleaders. In fact, it looked like if it weren't for Thad grabbing onto the shoulder of her jacket in time she would've run off in their direction. But Jean let herself be dragged onward as she shouted encouragement back at her countrymen.

"So have fun competing in these little side-games everyone! After they're over, the 16 players of the top four teams will fight in a one-on-one style fighting competition! I promise you aren't gonna wanna miss these epic matchups!"

"So one-on-one fighting is the final competition…" Jomei whispered to himself. "Lot of chances to make yourself stand out, and all eyes are going to only be on you and one other person. You can't ask for a better shot at making yourself stand out, Jomei, so make it count."

When he started paying attention to his surroundings again, Class 1-A had reassembled before the platform Midnight stood over. The rest of the first-years were among them too, but the only other person Jomei took note of outside his class was Shinso, and while he was still nearby, he was closer to his own class than he was to Jomei and Akiko. Jomei assumed this was his way of trying to blend in and avoid being seen for as long as he deemed necessary.

As they waited for Midnight to begin, Kirishima spoke up, quivering with excitement. "Aw man, finally getting the chance to show what we're made of! I've watched these finals every year and now I'm finally in them!"

Ashido poked her head over his shoulder. "Wait, so is it always a tournament?"

"Well, kind of," Akiko said. "It's always a one-on-one competition of some kind but they switch it up every time so that you never know what to expect."

"Last year it was a foam sword fighting match…" Jomei recalled with a smirk.

"No wonder I blanked out on that one…" Ashido said. "Huh."

"Alright!" Midnight called. "Will the top four teams' players be so kind as to come closer? You'll all be drawing lots to see who you're up against for the first round of the final stage!" She held up a yellow box. "Then enjoy the pleasure of the recreational games before we start! The 16 finalists have the option of participating in these games or sitting out to prepare for battle. I'm sure you all want to conserve your stamina… now I'll start with the first place team! Come on up!"

And thus, throughout the next couple of minutes, the first match-ups were decided upon and then unveiled one at a time for all to see.

The first pair of names appeared on the screens overhead.

Uraraka's face hardened. "Alright. My first match of the final stage… I can do this!"

"You may try, mon cherie, but I'm afraid this will be the end of the road for you," Aoyama teased with a wink.

Then the second.

"I'll give it my all!" Tokoyami declared, his features stern with determination.

Todoroki simply glared at him in return, his stoic gaze conveying his willpower forward without the need for words.

And the third.

Bakugo stared blankly at the screen. "Yaoyoro… who?"

"What!?" She exclaimed, her mouth agape in incredulity. "You have to be kidding me, I'm your classmate!"

The fourth.

"Ooh, Iida, huh?" Hatsume grinned.

Iida bowed respectfully. "Indeed, I am Iida Tenya-"

"I have just the right babies for you!"

Fifth.

"I can't wait to kick your butt, Sero!" Ashido said, her arms flying emphatically to point at him as she struck a pose on one leg.

In response, a confident grin appeared on his face as he crossed his arms. "Beat me to the punch!"

Sixth.

Denki smirked. "Hey, Jomei, huh? This should be interesting…"

"Yeah," Jomei cracked his knuckles. "Real interesting."

Seventh.

"Aw, yeah, time for a rematch with Takara!"

"Someone's excited…" Akiko nervously smiled. "The feeling's mutual, Kirishima."

Kirishima smashed his fists together. "Then let's do this. No holding back!"

And finally, eighth.

"Wait, so who's this Shinso guy…?" Midoriya wondered.

"Midoriya, huh? What will his deal be… only one way to find out, I suppose," Shinso murmured, and he started in the boy's direction.

At the sound of Shinso's voice, Jomei's attention finally turned away from the grand screen overhead. As a result, the only thing Jomei would recall would be that, despite Shinso and Midoriya being the last to be paired, they were the first match of the final stage.

"Hey, Shinso, where are you going?" Jomei asked.

"Off to scout the competition," he said with a dismissive wave, though he did pause to look back over his shoulder. "I'll see you two around, I'm sure."

Akiko stared at him as he walked away. "I guess that's fair enough, given his Quirk…"

"Yeah," Jomei agreed as Shinso caught Midoriya's attention. "All he has to do is test the waters of it by checking if Midoriya's the type to talk during a fight and he knows if he's in a good spot or not for their match."

"And all that scouting is hidden behind him just introducing himself to Midoriya," Akiko mentioned. "It's smart."

He looked at her. "You aren't mad at what his strategy will be?"

"It's no different than any of us scoping out the competition beforehand," she said with a simple shrug. "It's not fair that his chances of getting into the hero course were basically sabotaged by U.A. thanks to how the practical exam was designed."

Movement drew their attention back to Shinso. Evidently, whatever Shinso had said or done had alerted Ojiro to his presence, and before Midoriya could respond to whatever Shinso had said, the martial artist's tail covered Midoriya's mouth – potentially saving him from an early brainwashing. Shinso wore a disconcerting smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and walked away as Ojiro and Midoriya started conversing with one another.

"Well, there goes a high chance of Shinso having the element of surprise. He used his Quirk on Ojiro once and now that looks like it's coming to bite him," Jomei said. "Yikes."

"It's too early to say, though," Akiko argued. "We'll have to wait and see."

"True."

Then Denki coming forward caught his eye. There wouldn't be a better time between now and the start of the recreational games nor the final stage itself to approach him. It was time to finally get some answers about his involvement with Mineta.

"Hey, Jomei!" Denki greeted eagerly, waving as he walked over to meet him. "Looks like you and me are gonna have to go head-to-head in the first round. Not gonna lie, I'm kinda nervous, but what was that whole 'real interesting' bit about? You mad about something?"

Jomei stared back disappointedly and crossed his arms. "You could say that. I'm mad because I know that you were apparently in league with Mineta's perverted little plan."

"Wait, how'd you know that?" Denki asked.

"How I know doesn't matter, Denki," Jomei chided. "What matters is that you basically just admitted it. I want to know why. Why the hell did you end up taking Mineta's side for even a second when you found out what sick game he was up to this time?"

"Wait a second, I don't think you have the full picture here," Denki protested, raising his hands placatingly in front of him. "You're right, how you know doesn't matter, but however you learned that I was 'on board' with what Mineta was up to, something must have been left out. Yeah, I was on board at first, I'll admit that, but then I realized how messed up it would've been to follow his lead and I bailed. Between Kyoka being my best friend here and you dating Akiko, I knew I couldn't go through with it. The girls in class are hot, yeah, but I wasn't about to throw all my friends under the bus just to get a good look at them. That's where I draw the line."

"So…" Jomei blinked, skeptical, "Mineta conveniently left that part out. But if that's the case, why didn't you stop him? Or warn the girls?"

"Mineta told you? How'd you manage that?" Denki gaped, his eyes wide in surprise.

"It doesn't matter how I managed it." Jomei frowned. Yeah, maybe Denki had bailed in the end, but he'd still known what Mineta was planning and hadn't done anything about it. "Why didn't you tell us, when you decided you wouldn't follow through?"

Denki's expression fell. "I guess I messed up. I honestly thought he wouldn't go ahead and actually do it without me around," Denki admitted apologetically. "He was planning on using me as backup in case the girls didn't believe him, since I don't have the same pervy rep he has."

Jomei watched Denki's face for a few seconds, and finally relaxed. After all that buildup, all that wondering about what Denki had been thinking and if he'd judged him wrong in some way all this time… it was merely a misunderstanding. One that had been purposefully crafted by Mineta to divert blame away from himself and inadvertently drive a wedge between Denki and Jomei in the process. An uncomfortable feeling settled in Jomei's gut as he quickly recognized how far he'd jumped the gun with his suspicions aimed at his friend.

A friend that had thrown himself into harm's way to protect him and Akiko back at the USJ.

"Hey, Denki," Jomei started.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about getting all mad at you," he apologized earnestly. "I shouldn't have doubted you for a second, and I should've questioned Mineta more when he tried to make me think you were just as much to blame as him."

"Sorry about not telling you about that whole plan," Denki said. "Thinking about it now, it was pretty dumb of me to think Mineta wouldn't try to go ahead with it anyway, even without backup. I mean, he's Mineta."

"So we're both idiots then," Jomei smirked.

Denki nodded. "Yeah. We can at least both agree Mineta's a pile of garbage though, right?"

"Yep."

"Looking forward to being able to try and kick my ass with no hard feelings?"

"Yep."

The pair shared a laugh, and Jomei's heart warmed at the reminder of his friend's characteristic good nature. "Seriously though, I'm looking forward to our match," he said. "All because you don't have all that much in terms of ranged attacks doesn't mean I'll underestimate you."

"And all because you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve doesn't mean that I can't try and figure out some way to beat you back," Denki responded. "I wasn't lying when I said this was going to be interesting, you know."

Jomei nodded, but more inference and pondering about what his fight with one of his best friends would entail would have to wait. Apparently, as Denki had sought out his opponent to speak with him before the festival continued, so too did many other pairs. Just then, Kirishima's familiar spiky red hair blurred as he jogged past them.

"Takara!" Kirishima called as he slowed, and Akiko turned. "Figured I'd go ahead and find ya before the next round starts. First I end up in the finals and now I get the chance to go toe-to-toe with you again? It's got my manly spirit all pumped up!"

"You really are excited about a rematch against me then, huh," Akiko observed.

Kirishima's hands turned to fists in front of him. "Totally! I mean, why wouldn't I be? Back during the battle trials, I didn't know what your deal was, but now we've been around each other for long enough to know a thing or two about what both of us can do. It's gonna be a real battle of manly spirits where our match comes up."

"I'm assuming that your definition of manly is different than what I'm thinking…" Akiko nervously chuckled.

"What?" Kirishima faltered. "Oh, yeah! I mean, girls can be manly too! To me, being manly is all about having a big heart and the will to act – no hesitation! There are some heroes out there that have manliness coming out their ears, guys and girls both, and I want to be just like 'em!"

"That's an admirable goal, Kirishima," Akiko said with a smile. "I do look forward to our match, too. It'll be the first chance both of us will have to get scouted based off of our own talents…"

Kirishima bared his sharp teeth in a grin, staring down at his hands for a moment. "This is where things really start getting amped up… win or lose, this final stage is gonna be awesome!"

Jomei smiled fondly as he witnessed Akiko giggle at Kirishima's exuberance. It wasn't an elated laugh, like the one she'd had when she found out she and her team had made it into the top four of the cavalry battle, but it was one that reassured Jomei that she was still in the right place. She was fine with her opponent, and vice versa, though he knew that whether she was okay with being watched in the flesh by so many spectators remained to be seen.

Only time would tell now, Jomei supposed. No use in assuming she'd be nervous by default and making her feel like he didn't have faith in her. If she needed him at any point, he'd be there for her, and they both knew that.

"Alright! Now that the fighters' little meet-and-greet is over with, let's press pause for a temporary interlude!" Present Mic trumpeted. "It's time for some pulse-pounding side-games!"

Confetti blasted into the air and music blared to life around the arena as the crowd's cheering reignited. Jomei looked around at the sudden change of atmosphere, admiring the energy that had so suddenly been brought forth again, but eventually settled his attention back on his girlfriend and the others.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?"

"Play!" Denki instantly answered. "I won't use my Quirk in these side-games, sure, but it'll still give me way more time to get noticed by any pros out there!"

Kirishima hooked an arm around Denki's shoulders and jabbed a thumb into his own chest. "Ditto! Nothing like nonstop action to keep the adrenaline pumping! What about you, Takara? You in?"

Akiko's lips tightened thoughtfully. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll probably sit out the games and relax for a little while. Rest my body, focus my mind, that kind of stuff."

"I'm with her, then," Jomei said. "Have fun out there though!"

"Already on it. Come on, Kaminari, let's do this!" Kirishima cheered.

Denki sprung into step behind him as he started jogging off. "Right behind you!"

"So, what do you want to do now?" Jomei asked once he and Akiko were alone. "Do you want to find Shinso or…?"

Akiko hummed. "I say we let him be, for now. Since he's the first match he's probably going to want to spend the next few minutes figuring out how he's going to try and fight Midoriya, so… I think he would want to be alone. We'll find him after his match is over."

"Sounds good to me." Jomei started walking towards a far-off wall alongside her. "I guess we could probably do the same in the meantime. Plan things out, get in the zone, maybe even do some people watching from the sidelines… it'll be fun."

"Or we could just enjoy some time alone together and talk about whatever random stuff comes to mind," Akiko said. "After all, it's not like that's ever gotten old, right?"

Jomei beamed. He wasn't about to argue with that.

Within the confines of one of the two tunnels designated for the first two competitors of the final stage to emerge from, Hitoshi watched Cementoss use his Quirk to finish constructing the arena within the field. Cement flowed like water from an oversized hose, bathed in a faint green glow as it passed by Cementoss' blocky fingers and shaped itself into an ever-growing fighting stage. It was massive, raised a good few meters off the ground with four unlit braziers at each corner of the square expanse, and it had all come into existence in a mere handful of minutes after the recreational games had ended. Such was the power of the Pro Hero's Quirk.

He leaned deeper into the side of the tunnel, already fatigued. In the distance, Cementoss shifted as he said something through his earpiece.

Present Mic's voice filled the stadium not long after. "Hey sports fans! Cementoss is almost done making the arena! Are you ready!?"

Encouraging cries and excited exclamations exploded from the stands in response. With the fighting stage completed and all the other first-years neatly corralled into their respective private spectator's booths, the start of the final event of the first day of the Sports Festival couldn't be all that far behind.

Hitoshi's expression didn't budge.

"After all the action you've witnessed, it's time for the real battle to begin!" Present Mic proclaimed. "Can you feel the excitement? Our competitors are all on their own now, as sometimes heroes only have themselves to rely on…! Heart. Skill. Strength, wisdom, courage! They're going to have to use all these things to rise to the top!"

Cementoss began rolling back the hose towards another entrance, and Hitoshi released an unveiled sound of contempt for the pomp and circumstance playing out before him. For all the fanfare and hype the Sports Festival's final stage was trying to imbue the spectators and its participants with, he saw through it all for what it really was.

An injustice.

Perhaps it wasn't an intentional one, but it was one that all heroes perpetuated with their modern incarnations' mere existence within the context of contemporary hero society. It was an injustice against those individuals without flashy Quirks, without flashy personas, marketable looks, and a pedigree behind them to be extraordinary in everything they did. Hitoshi had never been one of the people that could tick those proverbial boxes. As such, even without the Sports Festival putting the ideals of Japan's present hero society on blast, it was easy for him to observe how much of an utter sham all of it was.

He wondered even now if anyone other than people like Akiko and Nishimura could even begin to understand what it would be like to be someone like him. Someone who had a one-note, powerful, but visually subtle Quirk that was almost the antithesis of the downright garish amount of flare everyone expected nowadays.

But what was he thinking? Of course they wouldn't. Unless they were in his shoes from the beginning, they never would. All those involved in the hero world cared about was the aesthetic appeal, the iconography, the merchandise and stories they could sell themselves with.

Of course, his mild irritation wasn't solely caused by the needlessly elaborate festival playing out before him. No, he was also irritated that Class 1-A's damned monkey – Ojiro, or whatever his name was – had possibly told Midoriya about his Quirk, and it was all due to his oversight. He was the one who had decided to use Brainwashing on the guy to get him off his back after the obstacle race, and so he had no one to blame but himself for what may or may not have happened when he and Midoriya were all alone.

Besides, even if he personally wasn't smart enough to figure out the details, Midoriya had to be. He'd made it in first in the first stage of the festival, and Hitoshi wasn't about to underestimate someone who'd ended up triumphing over all the other powerhouses that were bound to be in the hero department.

He tried to assure himself not all was lost, though.

Midoriya may have some brains on his side, but so did Hitoshi. In the brief few words he'd been able to speak to Midoriya before Ojiro had butted in and interrupted their conversation, he'd been able to glean that Midoriya was nothing if not gullible. He had that pure heart nonsense going on in him that heroes were always on about these days, so even if Midoriya had some powerful Quirk behind him Hitoshi hadn't been able to notice, he could still do this.

Cleverness could overcome brute strength, after all. All he had to do was be smart about what he said and did, and maybe he could really do what so few in the long history of U.A. had ever been able to do… beat the hero course where they were strongest.

In combat.

The four braziers of the concrete stage flared up, spewing fire high into the air.

Hitoshi pushed himself off the wall and prepared to enter the arena as Present Mic's commentary continued. "Alright audience, let's cut to the good stuff and not delay these finals any longer! Welcome our first fighters!"

Overhead, the screen displaying Present Mic flashed to display Hitoshi and Midoriya, a blue background and a fiery versus sign along a jagged white line separating their pictures. Hitoshi appeared as reserved as ever, whereas his opponent looked like he was shivering in his boots to have had his picture taken.

"Whoa, he looks kinda scared in that picture, doesn't he? It's Midoriya from the hero course!"

As he emerged, the cameras focused in on Midoriya's face to display the shaky smile on his face.

"But of course, it takes two to make this one-on-one fight happen! So his opponent? Shinso Hitoshi from general studies, who really hasn't done anything to stand out yet!"

"Of course he'd say that…" Hitoshi whispered as he started his ascent up the steps into the fighting stage. "Prick."

"The rules are simple! Immobilize your opponent or move him out of the ring!" Present Mic explained cheerfully. "You can also win by getting the other guy to cry uncle! Bring on the injuries because we've got our very own Recovery Girl waiting on standby! So cast your morals aside and don't be afraid to play dirty!"

Shinso idly rubbed the back of his neck as Midoriya determinedly cracked his knuckles.

'Oh, don't worry. I will.'

"But of course, no life-threatening crap, folks! That's not allowed! Real heroes use their powers to throw villains in jail, not kill them!"

Cementoss raised a throne out of the concrete of the side of the arena with a wave of his hand and sat down. "I'll stop anyone who tries to get too rough."

'Well, no reason to wait… time to see if I can bait him again. Salvage the situation.'

"So you can just give up, huh?" Hitoshi began, causing Midoriya to jolt to attention. "In a way, this is a test of how strong your spirit is. If you know what you want your future to hold for you, you can't afford to worry about what other people think."

"Are you READY!?" Present Mic squealed. "Begin!"

"That monkey thinks he's some paragon for stopping you from talking to me." Hitoshi inclined his head. "Honestly, though, I think he's just some superstitious idiot who doesn't have his head on straight after losing the cavalry battle."

Midoriya paused, surprised, but it wasn't long before his features twisted into a fierce scowl in response to one of his peers being insulted. His hands clenched and he began running in Hitoshi's direction.

Heroic to a fault.

Midoriya growled. "Don't you talk about him that way-!"

A mental flick of a switch was all it took, and Hitoshi's opponent stopped dead. "That's it. I win."

"Hey, hey! What's the dealio?!" Present Mic shouted. "This is the first match – it should start out with a bang! The fight has just begun, and Midoriya Izuku is… completely frozen!?"

Authors Note: So yeah… this chapter happened. I realize that I quite literally extrapolated a one-scene joke concerning Mineta & Denki's perviness into literally a good chunk of this chapter, but damn was it cathartic to make Mineta suffer, if only a little. Besides, it sets up Jomei's views on the perv a little more, and it's not like I could ignore the implications of what it'd mean for Denki's character if he just chilled with Mineta for a while and that little thread went nowhere. He's still Denki, just… slightly different. Better? Now that's a matter of opinion.

Regardless, Jomei & Hitoshi bond a little more at lunch and the indigo-colored, sleep-deprived boy we love gets some more depth alongside general studies itself. That latter part was all accidental, really, but exploring why general studies even exists at U.A. was just a fun worldbuilding opportunity I didn't wanna miss. In MHA canon general studies may not be important, but that's where speculation comes in! And man does it feel good!

As did setting up the start of the tournament, at long last! Some things will be the same, others different (big shocker, I know) in ways you will hopefully kinda maybe sorta not see coming, but one thing is for certain! Jean remains a ball of pure energy and is lovely to write alongside Thad, and Hitoshi is… uh… well, we'll have to wait and see, eh?