A/N:
"For this allotted time, I will allow myself to smash out the worst garbage I've ever written in my entire life. I can always change it later, lol." This was my motto for this week, haha!
This week my family was moving and I used all my strength to help, lol. My homework load was staggering, XD. But I still managed to write which I am so GLAD for.
And there was the freaking episode when the smoke alarms in my house went off FOR NO APPARENT REASON, (like actual blaring and not the annoying beep it has when its batteries die) and I had stay up until 3-4 AM in the morning to keep lookout if it rang out again. (It was one of the most sleep-deprived days of my life, don't ask how much of a torture it was..!)
I think I have a tendency to write drama, lol. It's in every Korean's blood out there, hence the amazing k-dramas that we craft, XD.
Anyway, enough of my problems, so on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: Kohei Horikoshi owns My Hero Academia, not me..! My sister and I only own our OCs and plotline!
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"We'll proceed to the afternoon portion after a one-hour lunch break! See you then! Hey, Eraserhead. Wanna grab some food?" I heard Present Mic say to my homeroom teacher, forgetting that their mics were still on.
"I'm taking a nap." stated Aizawa-Sensei tiredly, to which Present Mic responded in horrification, "Wha-? No food?! You can't just live on jelly-"
"C'mon, you guys! I can't wait to get lunch! I'm starving!" As my teammates and I walked off the field happily, with the starving crowds exiting the stadium to fulfil their empty stomachs, I heard Tetsutetsu say to his teammates in confusion, "What the hell happened?! How'd we end up with zero points..?!"
I heard Ibara Shiozaki answer her classmate in a daze, her ivy hair sweeping forward with her slow nod. "I daresay this is divine retribution for the unjust manner in which we wrested that poor dwarf's points…."
I paused while walking, the powerful sun beating down on my brow as I continued on through the main tunnel that led into the cool hallways of the stadium, my suspicions confirmed. Ah, they must have been the ones that stole Mineta and Tsuyu-chan's points! And Shinso must have stolen their other points in turn!
Shinso and his brainwashed team still had made it into the third round, I had noticed with fresh relief. Midoriya needed to see his former successors' souls in his psyche, or it would have ruined everything. Let's just hope that Lady Imagination would make them fight each other in the next round..!
The bright, empyreal beams of sunlight reached its height in the sky, its light radiating through the huge entrance of the main tunnel that led to outside as I walked with the rest of my classmates, almost bouncing from giddiness and utmost excitement.
"This sucks. But congrats all the same, Mina, Misaka..!" Tsuyu said to us as I smiled at her in thanks. "Thanks… But Seinare deserves all the credit, though. She's the one who was blastin' pills while I was just the main horse..!"
Mina made a 'meh' face as she scratched her head in a dejected manner. "Bakugou only picked me as a counter strategy against Todoroki… This win doesn't really say anything about me…!"
"It's fine, Mina! We can both prove ourselves in the third round!" I placed an arm around my pink-haired friend comfortingly as Uraraka said to Iida behind us, "No fair, Iida! Hiding that super-secret move from us!"
"It isn't a matter of fairness, Uraraka-san. I simply went beyond the presumed package..!"
"Mina, but didn't you take that orange-haired girl's headband…? You contributed to your team a lot, kero." Tsuyu said to Mina, who gave a sheepish, imp-like grin in return. "Hehe, I took my chance! She wasn't in the right sta-"
I drew back from Tsuyu and Mina's conversation to talk to Momo with excitement. "Momo, we both made it! Third round's going to be hella fun..!"
"It is going to be really exciting..! You were teammates with Shujenzi-san, right?" Momo smiled at me as sharp beams of sunlight lanced through the cherry blossom trees and lightened on her face and shoulders. I grinned at her as I swept off the cherry blossoms that had flown over with a breeze and alighted on my head.
"Yep! What do you think we're going to do in the thir-" I stopped, my feet adruptively pausing in my tracks, my eyes darting around in shock, disbelief, and horror as if a rude blow that smacked my cheek powerfully.
Eldest and Second Uncle, along with Otousan and Tsuiniko, were standing a few yards away outside the tunnel, with extreme fury written all over my uncles' faces as they stood intimidatingly at the mini gates that barred them from going closer. An indecipherable mask was on Otousan's face, which was usually when he wanted no one to know about how he was feeling.
With a quick darting of his crystal-water eyes, Tsuiniko immediately managed to single me out in the midst of my classmates and mimed a slight swash with his fingers across his neck at me hurriedly with a nervous, panic-filled smile.
Fudgemallow Sticks! If I'm seen, I'm screwed!
"Shit…!" I cursed vehemently as I was forced to move along with the others, Momo whispering to me urgently, "Your uncles are there..! What are you goin-"
"Oh crap, they're extremely pissed..! Momo, I'm going to go another way to the cafeteria, okay..?!" Hearing her answer with a hurried affirment, I hurriedly backtracked my steps through the tunnel and back into the stadium, darting between bodies with apologies spilling out of my mouth as I heard Uraraka ask confusedly to Iida, "Huh? Where's Midoriya?"
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My footsteps echoed on the stones as I ran down the corridor, searching for another way out of the stadium. My stomach growled, howling for food. My poor stomach! I promise that I'm going to feed you!
Spying an opening a few yards ahead, where no signs barred me from entering, I immediately screeched to a stop and slipped through the opening, the darkness enveloping me as I managed to walk in relief. The cafeteria's going to fill up quickly! I hope Momo saves me a seat!
I trust in you, my bestie!
The plaster walls turned to hard stone as I veered left at a dark crossroad, hoping that there was another tunnel that led outside without my family noticing me. Spotting light at the side of the stone block-built hallway that I was in, I hurriedly sped up my steps to approach the opening. Yes! Finally! THERE!
My chest bursting with light-hearted relief, I ran even faster. Finally, I can eat-
Koom! A deafening thud suddenly was heard a few yards away, with a choked-back gasp of pain echoing in the air.
?!
My eyes widening, I slid to a silent stop and scooted to the wall to try to peek inside the opening that I had barely managed to find, failing miserably in trying to see without getting caught. What the FUDGE is going on?!
How come every tunnel I find has some kind of drama?! I hurriedly waved my hand in the air as I activated my quirk, sending B9 to survey the situation. What in the fudgin' hell is going on here?!
Through the eyes of B9, I reeled back with severe shock, my mouth open as I couldn't believe my eyes. Iromidaru-senpai?! Minho?!
And..? I stared even more closer, immersing my eyes more deeper into my second viewpoint that my quirk allowed me to have. It's that scarlet-haired girl?!
Having slammed to the wall and slid down to the floor, Minho was struggling not to express his pain verbally as Iromidaru forced a hand on his shoulder crushingly, white bone-like structures forming over his arm and fingers. What the hell are the white bone-like thingies covering Iromidaru's hand?!
The sinewy, bone-like structures tightened with formidable power as Iromidaru clamped down strongly on my celadon green-haired friend's shoulder. "Minho, we've told you not to do this, haven't we…?"
I watched in stunned horror as the bone structures provided more support to Iromidaru's arm strength as he almost all but mangled Minho's shoulder powerfully, the latter straining his neck in an effort to bear the excruciating pain without any noise. "Do we seem fucking laughable to you? Do we?"
Unable to contain the pain back, Minho let out a small yell and finally let out a barely audible gasp of a plea. As Iromidaru laughed sardonically in response as he finally lightened his grip on Minho's shoulder, Minho glared daggers unflinchingly at him while instinctively bracing his injured shoulder in preparation.
"'Nee-Chan, look at his face..! He still has it going, huh?" Iromidaru smirked down at Minho, as the scarlet-haired girl nonchalantly studied her perfectly manicured nails a few feet away. Wait, that girl is Iromidaru-Senpai's older sister?!
"It's fucking remarkable..! You deserve a prize for fucking surviving these past years..!" Iromidaru mockingly clapped his hands, and suddenly with a blur of movement, Minho was coughing and doubling over in pain, Iromidaru having kicked violently his vulnerable ribs. "But can you hurry up and just fucking die, you bastard?! Why didn't you do that before you fucking got into UA's hero course?!"
"Iromidaru." The scarlet-haired girl snapped out in irritation as she finally lifted her head to stare imposingly at her younger brother. "Can't you keep it down? We're going to get caught and get expelled." She spat out quietly the last part of her sentence in distaste. "Now, move over. Go be the lookout, or else."
Iromidaru turned his eyes to his older sister in annoyance. "What, so you can have a turn at him? What's this sudden change of heart, Nee-chan?"
The scarlet-haired girl's cold poison-green eyes narrowed imperiously as Iromidaru slightly stiffened under her stony stare. "Go. Now."
Shootie Pie! Don't come to my opening! As Iromidaru left the two, muttering to himself angrily as he went to the other opening of the tunnel that led to the outside, I pressed myself to the wall, feeling my insides recoil from shock as I placed a hand on my chest in relief. Fudgemallow sticks, I thought I was going to get caught! Phew!
Should I interfere?! The atmosphere's suffocating!
But my overwhelming curiosity stopped me, making me hesitate as my memories swirled around in my head in a dizzying merry-go-round. Minho.. He never tells me what exactly is happening to him, no matter how much I ask him! Besides, I was planning to tell Aizawa-Sensei-
"You think… that you're so great…? Just because you made it into the hero course…?" I heard the scarlet-haired girl say softly with a menacing tone. Her soft, feminine hiss sounded like a cobra, coiling itself up in its growing effort to strike.
"Even though you made it to the hero course here… And even if you still become a pro-hero…" Her footsteps echoed as she grew closer to Minho.
Through the eyes of B9, the older girl looked petite and small next to Minho. But from how he barely managed to stop himself from lowering his head and flinching violently when she raised a hand to place on his injured shoulder in a seemingly kind manner, it seemed like she was the more intimidating one than Iromidaru.
?
Her lips painted with an innocent pink, the scarlet-haired girl smirked venomously.
"…You can't change the fact you're still a bastard, Minho," said the poison green-eyed girl quietly, in a sickeningly sweet tone as she leaned in to speak directly to his ear. "Something that shouldn't have been born in the first place. Your sister deserted you, your whore of a mother died… and not even Father wants you..! If your family can't even bear to be with you, who wants to be saved by you anyway…?"
?!
What the..?! WHAT THE HECK?!
Letting go of his injured shoulder after a merciless squeeze with her hand, the girl withdrew slowly with vicious triumph, simpering cruelly with an innocent smile.
Minho clenched his uninjured fist, so strongly that his white bony knuckles popped out on his hand. At last he spoke, his voice trembling in the air with barely-controlled fury and bitterness.
"…At least I won't be forgotten."
'Unlike you two' was left unsaid, I realized with a start. So did the girl.
With a violent smack, her manicured hand went flying across the air. A red welt in the form of a handprint appeared on Minho's face as he flinched jerkily, along with nail scratches that began to be beaded with blood.
"You dare imply that you're better than us….?" The scarlet-haired girl said quietly, as her aura turned murderous with silent, cold fury. "Don't think such nonsense, Minho... " Her lips upturned with fierce scorn as she continued on witheringly, "..You'll never-"
"Nee-chan…! Someone's coming…!" Iromidaru hissed out in a whisper to his older sister in alarm, whose keen face tightened with severe vexation as she barely contained her firing irritation with a slight narrowing of her cat-like eyes.
"You'll pay for this later.." The girl uttered out darkly to Minho as she turned to go. "Who cares if Father pays attention to you more...? If you still say or do anything that we don't like…" She turned to give Minho one last menacing smirk, her pretty features twisting into a wintry sneer. "You know the drill, don't you..? Yunazu gets it... unless you pay."
As the scarlet-haired girl and Iromidaru-Senpai left, I was left standing there as Minho slumped down with visible relief on the ground as he closed his eyes and exhaled in pain.
All these years. All this time.
What the HELL has he been going through?!
Without a warning, my body suddenly turned around after a few seconds and I walked out to the opening, stopping in front of Minho as he raised his head to look up at me in surprise.
My face not revealing any of my strong emotions, I stared down at my green-haired friend as fury's powerful flames licked even higher in my outrage-filled mind. "...What the heck is going on?"
Surprise, shock, horror, realization dawned on Minho's face within seconds and after a lot of other extreme emotions, finally landed on expressionless neutrality and resignation. After a few tries of trying to get up without jarring his injured shoulder, he brushed off my willing arm a bit harshly as he stood up. "..Nothing. You should go."
"'You should go?' That's what you're telling me to do right now..?" I asked him, anger vibrating in my voice tremendously as I thought I heard incoming footsteps that stopped. I dismissed it in my silent fury. "Especially when you are literally being blackmailed, injured and bullied still by Iromidaru and that girl, and being told to go jump off a cliff as soon as possible...?!"
Minho did not answer as he stared down at the ground numbly. I continued on. "And that girl..." I paused to let out a breath that I had been unknowingly holding, as I revealed the statement that I had pieced together in my mind. "-must be Akisakura, huh?"
At this, the celadon green-haired boy raised his head to look at me, surprise again flickering in his light gray eyes. "How did you-"
"You said that name along with Iromidaru when you were about to jump off the roof at that time. And yes, I still remember every detail of that day. That's how much it impacted me." I cut him off, before regretting a bit how I was acting callously to him right now, even after he had suffered another encounter with his tormentors. I softened my tone as I asked him another question tentatively.
"You want me to ask you about what happened? Or just leave this alone?" I shifted my feet and continued.
"I can pretend that nothing happened. It's just that.. I'm worried that one day they might take it too far, and no one can help you.. Then that rooftop scenario would happen again or whatever crazy thing that you manage to bring upon yourself, and I won't be there to stop you like last time, and you might end up like how you ended up orig-" I immediately stopped talking and cleared my throat, trying to smoothen over the fact that I almost gave away that in canon, he was supposed to be dead… or still suffering under Iromidaru and Akisakura.
I didn't know for sure, no, didn't even want to know, but the fact that he was still alive filled me with cold relief everyday. But who knows if it might get WORSE?!
"Uh, Minho-san? ...Are you okay?"
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Midoriya-kun?!
I immediately whirled around in panic to see the green-haired main character standing there at the opening, staring at us in confusion and-I panicked at the expression- horrified realization. Fudgemallow Sticks! Did he overheard my conversation with Minho?! I think he did! He must have been the person that was coming!
Before I could say anything, Deku went forward to Minho concernedly, stopping in front of us two. "Minho-san, you were.. bullied all this time? Why didn't you tell us..? ...We could have helped you..!"
Shootie Pie! Deku, don't make this worse! Fudgemallow sticks, why'd I had make my big, fat mouth run off like the stupid person I am-
My eyes flickered to a stunned silent Minho as I decided in seconds that I would act on whatever he said; after all, he still didn't answer my question either.
"...It doesn't matter." Minho stated emotionlessly after a lull, the breeze softly scattering the trampled cherry blossoms on the ground under our feet. "No one can stop it anyway. I just need to bear with it. Until I'm 20." His light gray eyes glanced at me as he said the very words that I had said to him almost half a year ago, and flitted away.
As Midoriya was about to launch into his speech, I could literally see questions filling his usual bright mind as I myself formulated my response within seconds.
"You said that again: 'No one can stop it anyway'. Are you that hopeless? Do you think that Aizawa-Sensei and the other teachers would let it go, especially when those two are attending here at UA? That doesn't uphold our school's code for sure, and plus, you can show them your shoulder right now…! I can tell them everything! I will be your witness if you wan-"
"Yukimisaka, I tried before. And Aizawa-Sensei and the teachers can't do anything to stop it. It just makes things worse." spoke Minho bitterly to me as he sent me a sharp pointed look.
I tried to argue in confusion. "What do you mean? The teachers can tell them to stop or else they will get expelled…! Even though they don't care for the rules, I'm pretty sure that not even them don't want to get expelled from the UA for sure!"
"Yukimisaka, I said it doesn't work-"
"Well, maybe because you didn't try it this tim-"
Briefly closing his eyes in an attempt to hold off his growing frustration, Minho glared at me hotly for the first time and snapped out at me in annoyance, "You can't possibly think they could stop my own family, can you?!"
?!
In surprise and realization, I opened and closed my mouth in protest, trying to figure out another counter argument. I failed miserably in my shock and horror, my viruses emerging in an instant as they were released in a glowing-blue, furiously-chittering whirlwind. Midoriya interjected in the wake of my sputtering silence, "Wait, Minho-san.. You're being bullied by your brother and sister?!"
Minho's pained eyes narrowed resentfully as he heard Deku's stunned question. I could see him biting back curses as he muttered out extremely reluctantly as he buried his uninjured hand inside his jacket pocket, "Half-siblings."
Half-siblings?! That means-?!
"So…" At my voice, both of the boys looked at me. I stared at the faraway trees, rage igniting to life once more, along with cold, jutting horror and shock as my butterflies alighted on my head and shoulders.
"You're saying that Iromidaru and Akisakura tormented you, not only at school…. but also at home?!"
"You get it now... why he was on the roof that day, don't you?" B10 chittered out to me with sympathy as she flitted in between my wine-colored tresses. I ignored her.
I raised my head to look at Minho in horror and stupefaction, my viruses fluttered around in a spiral of flashing blue glass and enraged tinkles. "How in the fudging heck did you survive all these years?!"
He glared at me back and I remembered again that he did not like sympathy or pity toward him at all as he retorted sharply, "I supposed that you didn't forget about last year, have you? Just leave me alone."
Minho turned to leave, yet as I reached out to grab him back, Deku intervened loudly as he went a few steps forward, "Minho-san, you should really report them though..! You should still try to stop them..! You're getting hurt, and what if your half-siblings do something worse..?!"
Minho stopped walking, but he still refused to face us. "It's fine. If I bore it this long, I can hold on for another few years."
"But Minho-san, can't your parents stop them..?! Your parents would be horrified to find out, I can't possibly see why they would allow this to ha-" Deku tried to protest concernedly, his hands frantically waving around as he tried to get his point across to the celadon green-haired boy.
"I said, it's fine, Midoriya." Turning around, Minho angrily stared at Deku. "Why don't you focus on your problems, instead of mine. You're also getting trampled over by Bakugou, and you don't even stand up to him either..!"
Faltering at the unexpected accusation, Deku still managed to respond promptly. "But Kaachan and I are different! We're old childhood friends..! He just acts like that to me, and it's really different from how your half-siblings treat y-"
"So you're saying that childhood friends get leeway instead of family members? That's amusing. It's usually the other way around." Minho riposted scathingly to Deku as I tried to use my brain silently to try to resolve this problem.
"Minho-san-"
"Don't 'Minho-san' me, Midoriya!" Losing his temper, Minho snapped out roughly at the green-haired main character, his light gray eyes bristling with resentment. "I had enough of people trying to help me as if I'm some kind of pity-case. Now fuck off, and don't even dare tell Aizawa-Sensei or anyone of this!"
Deku blinked as he heard Minho's words, as if he couldn't believe that Minho didn't want his help. Somehow my lips managed to open as I stated his full name in Korean, speaking every syllable with force.
"이민호."
Pausing as he was whirling around to resume his course, Minho turned again to glare at me fiercely, clenching his teeth in anger. "What, Yukimisaka? Stop trying. You already did enough, now fuck off! Let me leave." He spat out, infuriated by me calling his name. I met his eyes calmly.
"... Alright. I'll... leave you alone." Slightly widening his eyes at my answer, Minho still kept his stony expression. Surprised by my unexpected statement, Deku turned to me in nervous disbelief. "Misaka-chan!"
But.." I kept my eye contact steady, unblinkingly. "You have to tell us how you think things would go in your opinion if Aizawa-Sensei gets told about your situation, hopefully by you. Receiving a death glare from the celadon green-haired boy, I innocently stared up at him. "I just want to see why you're so defensive of it. If it's plausible, I'm going to say nothing."
Bullshit, Aera. You're obviously not going to leave this alone!
I should slowly make him let his guard down, and then slowly convince him to tell why..! Find out the reason, and solve this altogether! Maybe that could work!
If that doesn't work.. I guess I would have to let it be. I furrowed my eyebrows at the extremely depressing thought. And help Minho hold on until the end of summer vacation...!
When we're at the dorms, Minho can finally be free..! Minho just needs to hold on until then. UA's going to be his safe haven, like for everyone else here later... in the plot…!
Reminded of the dark future that met us, I tried to shake it off with a rough mental shake as Deku turned to me and exclaimed, "Misaka-chan, if we're going to be heroes, we can't just leave this be even though his reasoning is plausible..!"
Deku faced Minho again, a stubborn, heroic light sparking up in his bright green eyes. "Minho-san, even if it seems impossible, you still need to try! We're going to help you no matter what you say because we're your friends..! If we can't even help our own friends, we're not real heroes! Because heroes always help everyone no matter what!"
Hearing his words, the effects of Deku's reasoning were seen as Minho's angry visage crumbled away in front of us, revealing the crippling exhaustion and overwhelming stress that he had been concealing from us with the help of anger. Encouraged by this development, Deku continued on strongly, "I know that it's been really hard for you these past years! You've gone Plus Ultra a long time ago, so when you need help, you really need it..! You need it now! So please, Minho-san, please let us help you..!"
I bit on my lower-lip, almost grimacing before I stopped myself just in time.
Deku and I.. are so different.
No, everyone here in this world is so different from me…! I.. would have never said something like that! Something so heroic and cheesy, like Deku, ever…!
It's extremely cringy for me to say and hear those kinds of things..! But for everyone else... It's the norm. I looked down at the ground, feeling extremely out of place as a sick, icky feeling swirled twistingly in my stomach.
I felt like an outsider, only peering and listening to snatches of the heroic sayings and scenes as a spectator, unable to participate wholeheartedly ever because I didn't belong there originally… and was never influenced to act, say, and think like them in the first place.
A dim, dusty old lightbulb, sticking out like an odd thumb amongst blindingly-illuminated light globes.
To my surprise, Minho finally answered, sparingly with his voice raspy. "...If I tell Aizawa-Sensei… and the teachers get involved.. It's possible that they will get expelled from UA. Like what you said, Yukimisaka. Those two.. would get extremely furious at me and I… I can't let that happen." He closed his mouth, his expression full of sharp regret a second after he confessed his worries.
"Why, Minho? Are you afraid that they might hurt you again?" I asked quietly, jarred from my thought process as I tried to shove my feelings away. Think about it later, Aera! Later!
Let's first hear Minho out!
"...They're going to target someone I know." Minho said curtly after a momentary pause as if he was debating on whether to say something, and clammed up, soundlessly refusing to say another word. I raised my eyebrows, trying to encourage him to say more. "Yunazu-san, right?"
"...Yeah." Minho allowed himself to say grudgingly as Deku questioned him with focus, "Then how can we prevent that blackmail? How are they going to target Yunazu-san? If we can fix that, then you can tell the teachers..!"
"... She works for my family. She's like.. a mom to me." Minho swallowed hard, as if not believing that he was spilling all of his secrets one at a time. "Using a fake reason or accident, they can fire her any time. She needs this job for her family, and I.. I can't let that happen to her because of me."
Wait… Actually that can be solved. Minho can have his siblings finally stop their bullying..!
I can just ask Otousan to hire her, after she's fired! YES!
But the problem is that Otousan is going to be extremely furious at me! Especially after today! If he doesn't allow it, then Minho can't tell the teachers!
"Minho, I can possibly hire Yunazu-san if she ever gets fired." I said reassuringly, shifting my feet and hands to release the jittery feeling that were in my limbs. At my statement, Deku brightened up with hope. "Then it's solved! After the festival, let's go tell Aizawa-Sensei and-"
"But." At my interruption, Deku faltered in his exclamation, looking at me for the reason. "I need to see how my otousan reacts first."
"What do you mean by that, Misaka-chan?" Midoriya asked me worriedly, wringing his hands together a bit nervously. Minho narrowed his eyes as a puzzled expression fell over his unreadable face.
Looking up from the dusty, dim cherry-blossom ridden ground of the tunnel, I met their eyes with a strong fire, overwhelming determination flooding my entire body. "It means that I need to win toda-"
Present Mic's voice blasted through our ears and the three of us all simultaneously cringed and covered our ears as a sound blast shrieked eerily. "Sorry-sorry, everyone! Just a warning that the third round would start in 15 minutes! !5 minutes as the clock counts down to the final round of the first years! Wouldn't want to miss out on the opening!"
I sighed in disappointment as my stomach howled even more angrily, being ignored as I focused on the plight of my friends. "We missed lunch. Dang it..!"
"But still, we managed to find a solution to help Minho-san, Misaka-chan..!" Deku exclaimed out optimistically to me and I grinned at him. "Of course that's more important than food."
"...Sorry." Minho muttered a bit abashedly as he tried to massage his injured shoulder unnoticingly. I gave him a look. "It wasn't your fault, Minho. After the Sports Festival, let's assemble later to plan. I'm assuming that you're going along with this, right?"
After a small moment of expression-less, contemplating silence, Minho gave a small nod. I grinned at him. "And what I said earlier… That was a lie. I'm never going to leave you alone, duh. I'm going to pester you until you die..! I freaking promised you that. And you should get a pill from Seinare for that shoulder or something..."
As we started to walk back inside the stadium, Midoriya said out worriedly, "Misaka-chan… You think you can win in the third round..? You have to go against Kaachan and Todoroki..! I can't say much but they're extremely determined to win 1st place..!"
I stopped walking. A cold blast of air conditioner blew in my face, my butterflies swirling around me as they fluttered in the air. I turned around to face them, a determined grin forming in my lips. "What makes you think that I can't win, Midoriya-kun?"
Deku fumbled over his words. "Well, uh, of course, you can win! It's just that…" He trailed off, mumbling something where some snatches of "All Might" and "first place" was heard to my ears as Minho frowned in confusion. You're lucky that I'm ignoring that, Midoriya. Because I know your determination too.
I smiled at both of them, a knowing gleam illuminating my eyes. "If you guys want to know.." In the hallways, I paused to look through the open window at the azure sky, the breeze ruffling my hair as I stared across to the cherry blossom trees. "There might be a slight, small chance that my determination might win over both Bakugou and Shoto-kun's determination, combined."
I looked at Minho and Deku steadily, my eyes flickering with revealed conviction. "That's how much it is. So trust me, okay? Trust me that I will make it into the last round, you guys."
Revealing my true feelings, I felt somewhat freed. Lighter, the feeling of air enveloping my heart and body.
"And if I do get first place, let's hope that my otousan would be open to the prospect of hiring Yunazu-san. If that doesn't work, I'm thinking of asking Momo, or someone else." I saw Minho stiffen up at my words. "Or maybe something else..! It just needs to stop your situation, Minho!"
"Sure." muttered Minho, who still looked skeptical of our promises. "I'm still waiting for 20."
"You don't need to do that, Minho-san! We'll help you, and you will finally be okay!" As Midoriya began to encourage Minho brightly in his cheerful way, the latter slowly relaxing at his words. Suddenly I spotted Momo with the other girls in front of us and went ahead to rush to her, my apologies about to spill out of my mouth.
Turning her head at my incoming footsteps, Momo smiled at me a bit embarrassedly as she stopped talking to the other girls, "Ainiru..! I was waiting for you at lunch..! Where have you been..?!"
"I'm so sorry, Momo! I got caught up in something and- Wait, you guys are wearing cheer uniforms?!"
Wearing a pretty orange pleated mini-skirt and matching crop-top, Momo gave me a worried smile as the other girls gave me strained grins. "Apparently Aizawa-Sensei told us that we had to cheer like the visiting American cheerleaders... So here, come get a uniform..!"
Eh?! Oh yeah, I forgot to tell them beforehand!
Surprised, I screeched to a stop as bubbly Ochako interceded and exclaimed, "Mineta and Kaminari said that at lunch while you were gone, Misaka..! Oh, but I don't know how to cheer..!"
"Me either.." Heiakira murmured out as Hagakure tried to up their spirits, cheerily holding up a pom-pom and shaking it lightly with rustles. "We saw cheerleaders on tv, Uraraka-chan, Umihaku-chan! Let's just be energetic..!" Jirou and Seinare both looked extremely awkward, the former trying to tug down her short crop-top to cover her slim waistline as Senaire gave me a please-kill-me look.
Midoriya and Minho came up to us in confusion. "Wha-?! What, W-Why are you guys wearing those..?!" Midoriya sputtered out, blushing profusely as Minho gave a weird cringe as he saw their outfits. "You guys are going to cheer...? Or something..?" The tall boy deadpanned confusedly as he made to keep on moving through the hallway.
"You two can keep on going." I said to them, who hesitantly kept walking down the hallway. Waving away the cheerleading outfit that Momo tried to hand to me, I said out my response in surprise. "Ah, guys, I don't think you guys are supposed to wear those..? And if it's from Mineta and Kaminari, it's probably from untrustable sources..!"
Seinare suddenly exploded with outrage at my words, as if her growing suspicions were finally confirmed. "I know, right! I would have known if Aizawa-Sensei told us to wear this and cheer! I told you guys that it was weird since no one else knew about it..! Last year's Sports Festival never did anything like this..!" She breathed fire like a angry dragon as she huffed out, "Especially when it's from those two..!"
Mina quizzically asked out, "Eh? Why would they tell us that? I didn't see last year's Sports Festival but-" The pink-haired girl stiffened as she came to a realization, balling up her fists in frustration. "Ugh, Mineta! Kaminari! You two perverted-"
"I did think that it was weird, since it was coming from them..!" Jirou expressed vehemently as she covered her bare midriff awkwardly with her arms. Ochako intervened, trying to calm down her outraged classmates in her bubbly way. "You guys, calm down..! It's fine..! Even though we don't have enough time to change out of it, I guess we can just wear it..! We would have time later-"
Next to me, Momo crouched down as she covered her face in horrification. "Oh my goodness, how did I go over their trick..?! I can not believe how gullible I am..! Especially when I made them with own creation quirk..!"
Heiakira glanced at her watch urgently. "We only have 9 minutes..! We don't have time to get our P.E. uniforms and change in the restrooms all at once..!"
"C'mon, you guys! Let's go out wearing them..! I've always wanted to try this anyway..!" Hagakure exclaimed energetically while shaking her poms-poms. I grinned at them as I gave them a thumbs-up. "Well, since you guys are already wearing them anyway, why don't you guys just go out wearing them, like how Hagakure-chan says..! You guys look so pretty in them anyway..!"
Omg, I still can't believe that I'm seeing them wearing this in real-life! Gosh, I'm trying to contain my fan-girling squeals so badly..!
I tried to conceal my excitement, wearing a happy grin as I concealed my sharp sadness. I'm not one of them, though...
"I guess so..! We don't have time anyway..!" Recovering from her dejected state from being tricked, Ochako said brightly to Hagakure, who immediately gave a yippee as her crop top jumped up and downin excitement.
Jirou grimaced as she crossed her arms to hide her chest. "Seriously, you guys? I want to change out of this now..."
"It's fine, it's fine! We need to be there in a few minutes anyway!" Hagakure urged usbouncilyas Seinare gave an expression of swallowing a gigantic hairball the wrong way down.
"Eh, who cares about Kaminari and Mineta?! We'll just say we wanna wear this! We can wear whatever the heck we want!" Mina suddenly exclaimed out, grinning confidently as Momo still was crouching down at the ground, dejected.
Scrunching up her eyes as if she couldn't believe that she was saying this, Jirou finally gave hergo-ahead. "Okay then... I can't believe I'm going along with this." Embarrassed, she covered her face with her hands as Seinare pursed her lips and grudgingly stated, "Fine."
"Ugh, okay..! Let's all suffer through it together..!" Heiakira thrusted her fist into the air with determination as she smiled eagerly.
"Let's go right now then! We're about to start in a few minutes...!" I said out with a laugh as I put my hands around their shoulders to turn and walk out to the inside of the stadium. "It's your guys' time to shine..!"
"Hey, who said you will be the only one wearing your P.E. Uniform?!" Heiakira latched on to my arm as she cried out, "That's not fair..! You need to share in the embarrassment too!"
?!
"What?! No, not me!" I protested loudly while laughing as Mina grabbed my supposed cheer uniform off the ground where Momo had accidentally dropped it in her realization. "Yeah, Misaka, you don't wanna miss out on the fun! We're all in this together, aren't we?!"
Nervously laughing, I tried to deny the offered outfit but Mina and Hagakure managed to fold it inside my arms while insisting strongly, "Go change now! Or else we're not going out for the third round until you come out wearing it!"
"You guys?! Ack, fine, fine, fine!" I laughed as they shoved me inside the nearby one-stall restroom that was a few feet away in the hallway and slammed the door in excitement. "Speed-changing, c'mon!" I heard them call out excitedly.
"Misaka, you have two minutes to change..! Hurry up, okay?!" I heard Ochako say while giggling, before going to comfort Momo, "Yaoyorozu-chan, it's okay-"
They can be so strong, what the heck?! Lit up in dim orange light, I held up the uniform in front of the mirror. Holding back the overwhelming waves of nostalgia and sadness, I grinned excitedly as the uniform's shiny breathable material glimmered slightly in the dim light. I never thought that I would wear this!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I'll be stupid to pass this up!
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A/N: Time goes so fast everyday…! I miss my leisure-filled days T-T. Almost 9,000 words for this chapter, which is a MIRACLE considering my homework!
Aera learned sign language from her older cousin, who taught her curse words as alphabet letters. Her cousin isn't deaf, but he learned it at his school. A few months after, Aera met his classmate in his sign language class and accidentally 'cursed' at her in sign language, and was horrified to find out that her cousin had taught her 'cursing' instead. It was because of her that her older cousin and that classmate started dating, lol!
I hope I didn't offend anyone with this representation..! On a side-note, my friends take sign language classes after school.
I know that it's infuriating when you know that you're getting cursed at but you don't exactly know what the other person is meaning. If you guys search it up, you can see how easily you could understand the cursing, XD
When I was writing this chapter and Deku's motivational little speech to Minho, I felt the biggest cringe of the cringes, XD. No one in our world is able to say those kinds of things without sounding childish, but I thought that Midoriya would say those kinds of things..! He's Deku, after all, lol.
I do wonder if I'm keeping the characters canon.. I'm not so sure if I did well in this chapter or if you guys like Minho though as a character here. He's not part of the original cast but I gave him a lot of screen time in this chapter because I felt sorry for the excruciating background my sister and I had made up for him..!
I wish to know what you guys think of him, XD.
Anyway, I hope that I can make it again next week! I know I'm making progress slowly but I hope that I will have enough grit to pull through my busy schedules and write, write, write! It literally consumed my whole life, so much that I'm worried that I might not be able to study enough for the SAT, T-T.
A BIG thank you to Mochizuki-san, jaded wanderer, Ebat, and Oompaloo for favoriting and following! I have 50 FOLLOWERS, I was screaming in excitement, OMG!
Thank you, Thank you! I love your support in my work, especially when I'm going through a really stressful time right now..!
To Wolfy365:
I'll talk to you later, (I don't have time, and I want to sleep..!) Nuff' said. XD
To magnificent eyes of wonder:
THANK YOU for reviewing again, omg, I love uuuuu! *crying tears of gratitude*
To cry at a blink of an eye is extremely hard, but Seinare managed to practice it enough so she can do so, lol. She watches a lot of sad stuff, like movies, videos, and other things to keep the tears flowing..! XD
I did try really hard to make the team dynamic good, because MHA is all about team-work! I'm so glad that you thought that I did well, THANK YOU!
I can't say much but I'm trying to make the next fighting scenes as fun as possible! But I extremely do not have time, I thought that I was going to die from the amount of homework I had. Do you have any time management or pacing tips?
Oh, btw, I was thinking of a new fanfiction..! The main female lead is going to be Filipina-Japanese in your honor, lol! Her name is Mayumi Concepcion, and she's so cool..!
Thank you for reviewing again..! XD
Please, Please REVIEW! I cannot describe the utter joy that it gives me to read them and I truly wish to know all your thoughts in this story..! It gives me hope and motivation to keep writing, though I have a lot of things going on in my life, XD.
Please Review! A cookie for everyone who does, lol! (*ㅁ*)