"DEKU! IDA! LET'S DO OUR BEST IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!"

"Uh…Uraraka," nervousness, confusion and what he'd later recognize as hunger suspended Midoriya's burgeoning confidence, "What happened to your face?"

"Seriously, what's up?" equally perplexed, Mina half-heartedly continued cheering alongside Toru, "You're normally, like, the most laid-back girl ever."

"PM – "

Mineta lacked the opportunity to finish his train of thought. And not entirely of his volition. The final letter hovered on the tip of his tongue. And he'd fully intended on saying it. Was it perhaps a little crass given the circumstances? Sure. He'd be the first to admit not everything he said was conversational or socially appropriate. But unlike the rest of his classmates, he refused to mold himself to society's false image. For better or worse, this was who he was. And he had no intention of changing. Yet this time was different. And there was nobody to blame other than himself. For in his haste to address Uraraka's sudden and concerning personality shift, something that was genuinely troubling, he'd significantly underestimated not only Ryuko's hair-trigger temper, but her flexibility and reach.

He never saw the sneaker coming until it planted itself firmly against his cheek.

Such an angle and speed should have been impossible for anyone other than All Might himself.

Not to mention exposing its owner's panties.

Yet, as if he'd desecrated a goddess's shrine in a previous life, Mineta saw nothing before Ryuko's kick launched him out of his seat.

"Nice kick, Ryu," Tsuyu noted.

"Tch," tongue clicking against her teeth, Ryuko lowered her foot, mouth twitching at where Mineta's eyes had drifted during his last moments of consciousness, "Freaky little pervert."

"EVERYONE!" mentally on fire and physically ready to defeat everyone standing in her way, Uraraka punched the ceiling, "I'M GONNA DO MY BEST!"

"Yeah!"

"Alright!"

"Go for it!"

"I SAID I'M GONNA DO MY BEST!"

"…alright?"

"Sure?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"What about you, Matoi?" ignoring the twitching Mineta, karmic justice at its finest for his crass behavior, Ida pinched his chin. He'd first noticed something strange during Aizawa's lecture. While most of their class had been excited, or nervous in Midoriya's case, Matoi's reaction toward the news had been relatively subdued. Or perhaps indifferent was a better choice of word, "Aren't you excited about the sports festival?"

One eyebrow quirked, cheek smushed against her knuckles, and significantly less annoyed than she was five seconds earlier, Ryuko yawned, "Nah, not really."

"You don't like sports festivals?" Izuku trailed off, caught between Ryuko's nonchalance and Uraraka's uncharacteristic and bizarre enthusiasm.

"What I 'like' and 'don't like' doesn't matter," accompanied by multiple cracks in her spine and shoulders as she sat up, shifted in her chair and leaned backwards, fingers interwoven through slightly disheveled hair, Ryuko groaned, "I just have zero interest in embarrassing myself in front of millions of strangers."

"Seriously?" Kirishima's suspicion was surpassed only by Jiro's, "You're not gonna compete?"

"You want to be clowns, all the more power to you," she stretched her shoulders, "Just count me out."

"Count you out!?" shocked by her absurd train of thought masquerading as erudite logic, Ida furiously chopped the air, "But it's the only way of becoming a professional hero!"

"Not exactly," Izuku raised a finger, "Sure, doing well at the sports festival is a great way to get noticed, not to mention sponsors and recommendations from pro heroes, but competing isn't a prerequisite towards your license."

"I know that!" another annoyed chop signaled Ida's frustration, "But does Matoi know that!?"

"Well, I would think so," the formerly Quirkless teenager pointed out only for Ida to suddenly choke on something lodged in his throat.

"Are you sure about this, Ryu?" although Ryuko pretended to ignore everything and everyone around them, even feigning sleep to get Ida and Midoriya to leave her alone, Tsuyu was well-versed in her friend's mannerisms, "It's not every day you get an opportunity like this. It might be good to make a name for yourself."

"Still don't care," most of the bandages she'd worn yesterday were gone, leaving Ryuko free to shrug, "I figure I'll drop out as soon as possible, then grab some lunch."

She heard him get up.

"The hell did you just say, Matoi!?"

Ryuko stared at the roiling thunderstorm of adolescent and impotent rage that was Katsuki Bakugo standing inches from her desk, teeth clenched and lips twisted into a snarl befitting a wolf or a rather domesticated dog, before rolling her eyes, "What? Don't tell me your hearing's gone bad."

"I couldn't care less about your personal problems!" Bakugo literally frothed, "But you better give one hundred percent during the sports festival!"

That was a threat.

Everyone knew that was a threat.

But she simply snorted, "Or else what?"

Which pissed him off but made her feel ten times better.

"K-Kacchan…"

"STAY OUT OF THIS, SHITTY DEKU!"

Deku's mouth snapped shut, teeth clacking against one another alongside a noticeable flinch. It was pathetic. And it proved just how much of a coward he was. No matter how many times he wrapped his head around it, Bakugo couldn't understand why Deku hid his Quirk for years. Or why he bullshitted him with some goddamn excuse about being given a Quirk by All Might, "She damn well knows what I'm talking about!" pretending to be Quirkless. Pretending to have no power. Acting like he was weak. Mocking him every day by pretending he couldn't defend himself. If the morons were telling the truth, Deku had supposedly been strong enough to protect All Might.

Something he, no matter how hard he'd struggled against that villain, couldn't do.

"Unlike the rest of these low-class idiots, I know how strong you really are."

The peanut gallery complained.

But Bakugo couldn't muster enough energy to give a damn.

"That's why your shitty attitude pisses me off," a snarl ripped through his throat, "The only way I'm going to prove I'm the BEST is by beating you, icy-hot and the rest of the snobbish pricks too rich to do their own shopping," somewhere behind him, Yaoyorozu had the audacity to raise her finger, as if to argue against such slander, before deciding otherwise, which Bakugo didn't notice. Or care, "And I can't do THAT if you're too chickenshit to put effort into anything! So don't even THINK about slacking off at the sports festival! Because if you're not standing across from me during the final match, I'm going to kick your freaking ass, got it!?"

With nothing left to say, Bakugo stormed out of the room, Aoyama and Koda parting out of survival instinct

"Wow," Tsuyu, unfazed by Bakugo's not-so-subtle death threat towards her friend, watched him leave, croaked and bluntly spoke her mind, "That was almost inspiring."

"What's his problem?" on a similar wavelength as her friend, although more irritated that confused about the rant, Ryuko nonchalantly dug a finger into her ear.

"Oh, I dunno…" with a slight hop and cute grunt, Mina jumped onto Ryuko's desk, puffed her cheeks and smiled in a way that, thanks to the benefit of hindsight, would appear quite mischievous and underhanded, "…maybe it's because he's head over heels in love with you?"

A second passed.

Then another.

And a third.

"…SAY WHAT!?"

"Kidding! Kidding! I'm kidding!" Mina waved her hands back and forth in front of her suddenly nervous face, not only because Ryuko was angrier than expected, but because everyone could feel the explosive fury wafting from the hallway. How that was possible, she didn't know. And she wasn't brave enough to push the envelope and find out, "It was a joke! Please don't kill me!" heart pounding, she took a moment to catch her breath, waiting for Ryuko to calm down, before stealthily leaning just a little bit closer, "But, seriously, Ryuko, you're, like, the strongest girl in class. Why don't you want to get noticed? With an amazing Quirk like yours, everyone's bound to notice you."

"Yeah!" Toru cheered from the sidelines, "You're super strong, Ryuko! And super awesome! Not to mention you totally kicked that villain's – "

"What Hagakure means, Matoi," with an adjustment of his glasses, Ida interrupted before said invisible girl crossed an equally invisible line, "Is that you should be proud of your Quirk and accomplishments."

"It has nothing to do with my Quirk. Or that blonde…psycho," the quick substitution went unnoticed as Ryuko stood up, grabbed her stuff and stalked towards the nearest exit, "I just don't need anybody's pity."

And before anyone could stop her, she'd stormed out the door.

Mina's smile faded.

As did Toru's.

"Pity?" Ida muttered the word underneath his breath, as if repeating Matoi's answer would grant an epiphany, "What on earth could she mean by that?"

Try as he might, Izuku couldn't help but wonder the same thing.

It was a strange choice of wording, even for Ryuko. And she said it with such conviction that it couldn't be an excuse to get them off her back about the sports festival, which suggested an underlying problem, "Ida, you don't think…"

"Yes," having reached the same conclusion at roughly the same time, Ida nodded, "That's a distinct possibility."

Back in the comfort of reality, Mina's eyes swiveled back and forth during the silent conversation, "Huh? What are you guys being all hush-hush about? If you know something about Ryuko, spill it, already!"

"What? Oh, sorry," Izuku grimaced, "It's just…Ryuko…she might not care about becoming a pro, but that doesn't mean she wants anyone to feel sorry for her."

Thoroughly surprised by the accusation, Mina slid off Ryuko's desk and promptly shuffled towards Izuku, "Oh no! Is it something I said!? I was only trying to cheer her up!"

"Huh? What? No! It's not us," a blush spread across Izuku's face at how close Mina was standing from him. It was only a few inches. Three, to be exact. And she was staring right into his eyes, "U-Uh, y-you're a little too close, M-Mina!" hands raised away from the pink-skinned girl and sweat beading on his cheeks and forehead, he stepped away, eventually getting enough room to remember where he'd left off, "A-Anyway, it's only a theory, but Ryuko probably believes hero agencies might scout her out of pity. Or because she's Isshin Matoi's daughter. Think about it – the agency that Ryuko chooses will get their name in the papers, leading to increased popularity, not to mention the possibility of more sidekicks."

Completely lost in search of Izuku's point, Mina blinked, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes and no," Momo muttered under her breath, having followed Midoriya's train of thought to its conclusion, "It might be good for Ryuko, but if agencies focus on scouting her, they might forego sending applications to other students."

"There's also the issue of this 'Couturier' villain."

Ida hadn't seen the villain himself, but he'd heard about her history with Ryuko, "After what happened at the USJ, Matoi might be worried she'd come after us. I certainly don't envy her position," it was truly a conundrum. On the one hand, he understood Matoi's position. A villain able to conceal her appearance, plus enhanced strength and speed, not to mention the capacity to regenerate otherwise lethal wounds. No wonder she was determined not to place them in possible danger.

If she and Bakugo could barely hold their own, what chance would he have against her?

"Asui," the youngest Tenya turned to the only person besides Matoi who could answer the question, "Since you've known her the longest, what do you think?"

"Well…that could be the reason," Tsuyu ribbited as Mineta regained some measure of consciousness after Ryuko's well-deserved kick, picking himself off the floor and looking around in genuine bewilderment at his survival, "Or maybe it's because the last time Ryuko and her dad spent any real time together was last year's sports festival."

The silence was deafening.

Mina winced.

Toru blushed, although nobody could see it.

Uraraka's passion smothered underneath a mountain of embarrassment.

"I…uh…see…" as for Ida, immeasurable shame swelled within his heart, "…perhaps our excitement about the sports festival upset her," in hindsight, Matoi's discomfort was blatantly obvious, "We should apologize at once!" smashing a hand against the other and choking back more than a few choice words for himself, he grunted, "That's the only fair thing to –"

"RRRRRRYYYYYUUUUUKKKKOOO!"

CRASH!

Kirishima was the first to leap onto his feet, "What the hell was that?"

"That came from outside," Jiro added.

Electricity crackled around Kaminari, "Another villain attack?"

"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!" sweat poured down Mineta's face, "I'm too young to die!"

Someone reached the door before the rest of the class.

And another person opened it.

"Uhhh…", Uraraka raised a finger, retracted it, wiggled a little and then raised her finger once more, "…are you…who is…Ryuko…is this…um…"

"Matoi! Who is this…this…" Ida sought to find the right words, yet failed, "…this hooligan!?"

"Oh, hey," on the floor just outside their classroom, caught within the pile of happiness that was Mako Mankanshoku, hair disheveled and expression deflated, Ryuko blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, "What's up?"