As always, the version on Ao3 contains drawings I'm not capable of posting here.
6:47 PM, 1 day after the USJ incident
The doors of the elevator slid open with an inaudible hiss. Chitose walked with light steps, hanging her purse on a small hook attached to the wall. Hearing an audible snort, she turned around to face her colleagues, or, well, colleague.
"You're only twenty minutes early today! That's a surprise." Skeptic let out a coarse laugh, typing away at his laptop. "You're usually almost an hour early Chitose, what held you up?"
She let out a scoff, but kept her smile. She knew he was just ragging on her for the sake of it.
"If you must know, I was visiting my little girl." She sat down, pulling her hair from her face.
Skeptic blinked, even looking up from his screen. "That so? Thought you only did that on her birthday."
"Well…" She shouldn't say that she only visited her because she saw she was attending U.A now, so… "I was just concerned. They were attacked by villains yesterday, you know. U.A."
"Were they? Well, that's a surprise. But tell me, isn't your little girl, uh-"
"Ashido Mina."
"Right, little Ashido, isn't she lacking a Meta Ability? How'd she make it in at all?"
Chitose hummed as she took out a small notebook and pen, tapping the writing utensil on her chin. "Turns out that's not quite right! I didn't get much info out of her, we spoke briefly, but I got enough. Seems like she's a late bloomer, her Meta Ability seems to be a strength emitter type. Simple, but with a lot of room to grow!"
The man sitting across from her tapped away at his laptop for a few moments, before leaning back in his chair. "That so? How strange. She must have mutated, then." He scratched the back of his neck, letting out another chuckle. "A late bloomer and a completely different Meta Ability from ol' Acidman, eh? Not sure if the kid's lucky or unlucky, sheesh."
"I like to think of this as pure luck!" Chitose scribbled down rapidly on her notebook. She mostly prepared ways to enhance her daughter's performance, based on her own knowledge on the various strength-type Meta Ability users she knew.
"Say, why did you bail in the first place? Her father seemed like a decent enough man. Strong too."
"Only at the time, my friend. He remained more than decent, in fact, I'd say he's one of the kinder men I've ever met, but…" She rolled her eyes. "After I had her, he started to really let himself go. I suppose it doesn't entirely matter when your Meta Ability is Acid, but to let that body go to waste is a shame."
"So, that's it then? You left because he got boring and fat?"
She paused. Her lips pursed. "Not… quite."
"Well, get on with the explanation then, woman! We've got time to kill." Skeptic grunted with an annoyed scowl. "You shouldn't leave things out of an explanation, that's just a waste."
"Oh shut up." She grumbled, and looked off to the side. Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought back to so many years ago… "I was… Back then, I was a spry thirty year old-" Skeptic snorted, "-A spry thirty year old. I had joined Re-Destro's cause for, maybe 5 years at that point…? Anyway, at that time I was looking for people with a Meta Ability that would mesh well with mine. Something to help produce a child truly worthy of serving him at his side!
"That's when I met Katsuta. He had just graduated, was turning 19 years old, and was a fresh sidekick in the Hero Business. You know Endeavor?" The long haired man nodded. "Katsuta had a build similar to his, shorter, but almost equally as strong. That by itself drew my eye, but then I saw him in actual action. Do you know how strong his control over his Meta Ability is?
"Most people would see the power of having Acid as something hard, almost impossible to control, or they wouldn't see the need to control it at all. One of my little girl's classmates has an acid quirk, and just from a glance at his profile, I could tell he just- sprays it like it's water!
"Katsuta was different though. He showed me just how strong Acid could really be. He… manipulated it to an insane degree. He could make it the most volatile substance on the planet, eating through everything short of the strongest base available, or he could make it as harmless as water.
"His control over the consistency too… It was something else. He was able to make shields, weapons with extremely dense acid, skate around the floor, throw sniper-like precision shots… he was just incredible."
That's when it clicked for the owner of Feel Good Inc. "And if you got lucky with your genetic game, then… You would have essentially generated a kid with the Meta Ability of Napalm… Can't say your head wasn't in the right place.
"So what happened? What's the catch?"
"He…" She trailed off. "Well, after I started interviewing him, I hit every note to ensure we'd get together, and in that same year, we got married and had a kid."
"That quick?"
"He was a 19 year old boy, Skeptic. One with not a whole lot of confidence at that. It wasn't difficult to get him to do what I wanted. Things changed when she was born, however…"
Chitose wistfully looked at her child. Almost as small as her own hand, with unmistakingly regular skin, chestnut brown. A far cry from the color of her own skin, or of her husband's. She looked towards Katsuta, and he could guess what the unsaid question was.
"If you're wonderin' about her Quirk, you don't need to worry about it! I used to have that skin color too, but then it manifested, and it just, turned pink over the course of a week! My hair was actually blonde before, too!"
She gave him a sad smile. That reassured her a little.
A year passed, her little girl had inherited her hair and eye color.
But her skin remained ordinary. It's ok. She was only a year old. Most people don't manifest their quirk that young.
Another year. She thought she had exploded something, but that was simply a toy going haywire. Her skin tone had not gained even an ounce of pink. Without her husband's knowledge, Chitose had begun to drink late into the night.
One more year. The threshold was almost met. They took her to various doctors. But they all said the same thing."
"Sorry-" A young woman looked apologetic, "-she's-" an older dog-like man furrowed his eyebrows, "-quirkless." a man with a bushy mustache told them.
Chitose did various tests, took her own blood alongside her husband's, and asked for help from even her own leader, Re-Destro, to get the best doctors he could.
The same bushy doctor cleared his throat. "Your test results… Well, to oversimplify it, you and your husband carry an extremely rare genetic disorder that makes it more likely for a person to not be able to pass on a quirk factor. The people who do have this disorder rarely know they have it, since being quirkless can happen to any child, but it does exist."
She didn't dare speak up, her husband being the one to ask the question both had. He made sure Mina was comfortable on his lap. "What… does that mean exactly?"
"It means that whilst you can eventually produce a child with a quirk, it's a lot more likely you'll produce one without a quirk."
"After that day… The shame I felt rising in me. For producing something so useless… I couldn't bear to look at my own kid anymore. I left without a second thought. Over the years, I occasionally visited, but my visits got sparser and sparser."
"...Which has now changed."
"Of course! My little kid has a Meta Ability! With enough training, it might even rival Re-Destro's! I will be making many more visits now!" As if on cue, her phone got a message. "...When I can, of course. I still have a life."
"Heh, don't get ahead of yourself. His Meta Ability is exceptionally extraordinary, especially given how much stress he builds up. But hey…
"We'll keep an eye on your pet project. Let's see what happens."
It was nearing the end of the second week before the Sports Festival, and Mina had to say, she felt awfully… underprepared. She'd been training with One For All by holding the quirk in her limb without actually doing anything with it, but that's about it. Plus, if she had to be honest, her increase in strength with 1% was mediocre at best. The class' other strength user, Sato, could easily pass it with his regular sugar load.
'Man… I really need to get a grip on this thing.' She flexed her hands as she waited for her teacher. Another one of Present Mic's surprisingly tough English classes had come and gone, and now, All-Might himself was coming to teach them more Hero classes at the end of the day. Maybe she could try to sneak in a hint with him? It'd certainly be useful…
The door slid open and the class looked up at it, being more used to expecting All-Might, but still having a certain amount of excitement at having him teach them. Only for Aizawa to walk in, looking a lot better to boot! He only had a single cast now on his right arm, with a few bandages on his face and left arm.
"Mister Aizawa!" The entire class piped up simultaneously, hope filling their hearts at seeing their once almost fatally injured teacher back on his feet once more. He waved them down before they could start a ruckus, but allowed himself a smile behind his scarf.
"Good afternoon. As of today, Recovery Girl has officially given me the go ahead to return to my teaching duties. However-" He looked around the room with red eyes, glaring at every single student. "She also said to avoid getting stressed. I may be fit for teaching once more, but it does not mean that I can simply do as I please still. So please, be on your best behavior going forward.
"Now, onto the Heroics Class. Usually, you would be taught by All-Might. However, due to some complications and schedule changes, he will not be teaching this class today. Luckily, today's lesson plan wasn't one that only he could give his perspective on. Ectoplasm, if you could."
He gestured towards the door, and from it emerged their mathematics teacher, Ectoplasm! His peg legs knocked harshly against the floor of the classroom as he walked up to the podium, Aizawa stepping aside for him.
Clearing his throat, he spoke calmly. "As Eraserhead has mentioned, today's class will be a little different. Due to the contents All-Might had prepared for it, I will be the one conducting this class for the day. You see, he had planned out a small class in one-on-one combat for today, and as it happens, despite my quirk, it's something I quite specialize in."
Izuku raised his hand, causing Ectoplasm to turn his head towards the boy and nod. "Mister Ectoplasm, excuse me, but what's the reason for us to have this class this soon? From what I researched before applying to U.A, they usually only begin covering this during the second year, since that's when students have gotten a better handle on-"
"Please." The teacher cut him off, causing him to shrink slightly in embarrassment. "It's true. Usually, this class would begin to be taught to second year students only, as right now all of you are still discovering the full extent of your quirks. What might work now, might not work as well later, and then, everyone's time will have been wasted.
"However, considering that the Sports Festival is just about to come, we thought it would be a good idea to conduct all of you on proper etiquette. After all, regardless of how it's done, the final event of the Sports Festival is always a one on one match of some kind. We wouldn't want any accidents, would we."
"Of course, that's half the reason… We can't guarantee that there won't be another targeted attack on U.A. Preparing them now… is the best way to raise their chances of survival." Was something he left unsaid, thinking only to himself. That thought was shared by all of the teachers at U.A.
Protect and prepare the young.
For with each passing day, the future looked more and more uncertain.
"Don your hero costumes, and meet me in the Physical Education Grounds. I will explain this exercise in more detail there."
In the girl's locker room, everyone was casually putting on their costumes piece by piece, though Mina was quick to notice that one of them had a different costume than usual. Whilst Momo still had her cape, her leotard had been replaced by another leotard, one that looked sturdier, and had more support around the chest area.
The blonde walked up to Momo, tilting her head. "Did you get a new costume, Yaoyorozu?"
Momo practically jumped out of her skin at the sudden comment. "Ashido! It's very impolite to sneak up on people like that!"
"Oh, uh, sorry?"
"Hmph." Momo nodded, "Yes, this is a new costume. After the first battle trial, I realized just how inefficient the old one was. So, with some help from my family, we submitted a design to America's biggest support company!"
Uraraka looked at the two talking, her ear picking up on rich people talk. She instinctively scoffed, but quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, nearly curling into herself at actually doing that.
"What's so different about this one, then?" Mina paced around Momo, quirking an eyebrow upwards. "I mean, all that's changed to me is that you actually have something to-"
Setsuna's head flew in from the wayside, "Ya finally got something to support your boobs Yaomomo! That's great!"
Once again, the tall girl almost jumped out of her skin as Mina had to hold in a guffaw. "Tokage! That's highly inappropriate language! A-and support for my chest isn't the only thing that was improved! I made sure to get a new technology integrated into it as well, Nanotechnology."
The other two girls blinked, "Wait, really?" Mina commented.
"Yes. With it, my leotard now detects where I am going to create an object from via muscular activity, and quickly reshapes itself, creating a hole to allow the object to pass through, should it be necessary." She finished her explanation with a satisfied smile as she clipped on her cloak. "It quickly closes once it stops detecting quirk usage. It's quite handy!"
"That's amazing…" Once again, Mina was reminded just how out of her element she was compared to everyone else. Momo had a costume tailored to her quirk, Setsuna had one, as it regenerated and split apart with her, Uraraka had one focused around easing her nausea, Tatami did too! Heck, even Tooru was in the process of figuring something out, last she heard. And yet, all hers did was…
Make her look prettier. Maybe. Did it even suit her? Maybe she should have gone for something baggier, she had a pretty 'masculine' body after all and that didn't sell, or maybe something less vibrant people tended to dislikeneoncolo-
"Hey." She felt a hand slap her shoulder, and she snapped her head towards it. The floating gloved hand of her friend, Setsuna, was there, as she pieced herself back together next to Mina. "You doing alright?"
She waved her off. "Sorry, just… get in my own head sometimes. It's been worse recently. All that villain talk…"
Setsuna gave her a small smile. "Well… I know we haven't known each other for very long, but if there's something you need to get off your chest, I'm all ears!"
Momo nodded. "Yes, part of a Hero's job is to ensure that the people around them are in a good headspace after all. That doesn't need to only happen when out on patrol."
Finally having moved on from the topic of expensive stuff, Uraraka chimed in. "Yeah yeah! You're our friend and classmate, if something's weighing on your mind, it's weighing on ours too."
Mina felt her waterworks begin to work, but she held them back with a sniffle. "Thanks… I mean it."
This feeling was… foreign to her. Support from more than one of her peers. Usually, she'd only get that from Kirishima, but now, people just… accepted her as one of their own. As Mina Ashido. As a friend. And that made her ecstatic! Is this what confidence felt like?!
'Though, now that I think about it… Kiri's been acting weird. He's been really distant, his fuse's been shorter than normal, and he's been eyeing down Kaminari and Midori… I'll talk to him after class today, something's fishy."
Mina arrived at the P.E Grounds alongside the rest of her classmates after everyone got done getting changed, but the air felt different. She couldn't pinpoint why, it simply felt off. Incredibly off. Even as she looked around, nothing seemed to be amiss at face value. Maybe things were worse with Kirishima than she thought... She had more important things to focus on at the moment, however, as Ectoplasm began to speak up.
"The rules for the matches will be as follows:
You cannot knock your opponent out. Attacks with the inherent intent to do so, or doing so accidentally, will give you a disqualification, and you will earn a low grade for today's class, regardless of how your performance is otherwise.
Curb your quirk. As Thirteen has already explained, heroes are meant to save, not kill. That goes for civilians and villains alike. At the moment, your quirks likely can't kill people, at least not without some effort. So you will learn to hold back now, where you have room to fail.
In order to win, you must pin down or otherwise incapacitate an opponent. How that is done is irrelevant, as long as it is not with a serious injury. After pinning them down, I will count to 10. If your opponent is able to escape before the 10 count, you have to try again.
You are allowed to give up. There is no shame in surrendering during training. You are meant to fumble before doing what's correct.
Being disqualified, depending on the reason, might give you a punishment. Any questions?" The teacher looked around the student body. His eyes briefly locked with Kirishima Eijirou's, whose stance appeared tense. His eyes then gravitated towards Iida. "Yes, Iida?"
"I am not doubting your abilities, however, are you truly capable of judging whether one has the intent to seriously injure someone?"
"It comes with being a Pro. You must be able to tell at a glance when someone has ill intent or not. Villains who have less ill intent can be talked down or apprehended more easily. Knowing when someone can't be talked down is extremely valuable." For emphasis, he raised one of his legs, sticking out his prosthetic. "It will allow you to avoid unnecessary risk."
Her entire body shivered at the thought… holding back at the wrong time could prove fatal. Underestimating, or poorly judging character, Mina realized at that moment… It could spell out doom.
"I assume there will be no more questions. As such, I will now be deciding the pairs." He reached into his pocket, and brought out a pocket-sized hologram projector. It turned on with a small hum, showcasing two sets of wheels, the default name of both being 'Aoyama Yuga'. "This will randomly decide both participants."
The blonde girl raised her arm this time, which prompted curiosity from Ectoplasm. "Yes?"
"Why didn't All-Might use that during his exercise, instead of drawing lots?"
"Well…" The teacher paused, and cleared his throat. "He couldn't figure out how to use it."
'Oh my god he's incompetent with technology.' was the thought that swept through the minds of everyone in 1-A.
"Enough distractions." He pressed the button on the projector, and the two wheels spun rapidly. "The first match will be…"
He pressed it again, and both wheels stopped abruptly. 'Yaoyorozu Momo' VS 'Ashido Mina'.
Mina blanched, sweat running down her brow as she walked to where Ectoplasm motioned them to be, an area farther away from the class, as to not distract the fighters with chatter. 'Are you for real?! The same girl who made a handheld cannon just to pass the Quirk Apprehension Exam?! I couldn't even beat Tokoyami, so...'
"There will be no out-of-bounds. This is a match where you must capture your opponent. Are both contestants ready?"
The two girls now stood facing one another, standing around 30 feet away from each other. Mina's uncertain eyes met Momo's determination filled ones… and something inside her changed. She was about to face off against one of the strongest members of her class. This moment, this match, would measure her growth! It'd be definitive proof as to if the Mina from now was any different from the Mina from then!
She tightened her gloves, her lips curling up into a smile, as her eyebrows furrowed. "Yes!" She replied excitedly.
Momo blinked once, backing away slightly, but kept her composure otherwise. "Yessir." She unclipped her cape, letting it fall to the ground. 'Getting rid of the cape… Does she think I'd use it somehow?'
"Then begin."
Mina couldn't help but giggle slightly at that. 'What a dry announcer…'
But that was the last moment of respite she had, as the girl she was facing immediately got to work, making a bola-like contraption from her arms! "I'll make this quick!" She spun them around, advancing towards Mina at a surprising speed!
Mina barely had any time to react, summoning One for All inside both of her legs, and hopping to the side the moment Momo's arm swung forward! The fight was truly on now.
She noticed Momo had overextended herself with that throw. 'She doesn't have much experience actually fighting!' She rebounded from where she landed, lunging and shoulder checking her!
Momo's balance was off center now- her foot slammed on the ground, trying to regain her balance. She swept her arm wide, shooting out a metal pole with it!
The blonde had to block, feeling the dense staff collide and push her back! She hopped back, both fighters taking a moment to breathe. This all had gone down in perhaps 5, 6 seconds, but both were already showing signs of wear…
Ectoplasm replayed the events back in his mind, 'Ashido's form is good, if sloppy, clearly has practical physical experience, but Yaoyorozu's improvisation is better… it'll come down to who has the better reaction time.'
The two stared each other down, sizing each other up.
Uraraka tapped Izuku's shoulder, causing him to jolt, figuratively and literally. "Any ideas as to who'll win this?"
"Honestly, Yaoyorozu has more options than Ashido does when it comes to incapacitating someone, but Ashido's quirk makes her harder to catch… and since we've barely seen each other in action…"
"She won't be able to accurately predict Ashido's movements to counteract her agility!" Setsuna piped up.
"I hadn't even thought o'- of that!" Uraraka bounced on her heels. "My bet's on Ashido then!"
"Keep in mind, it doesn't mean it's impossible. Just because it'll be harder to do it…"
Mina moved first this time, she lunged and kicked up dirt, extending her hand out to grab Momo- which she reacted by exploding out a net from her chest, going straight for Mina! She jumped back diagonally, the net brushed against her skin.
'Switching course suddenly like that hurt my legs…' Mina winced, as her posture got harder to maintain. 'All the momentum strained them.'
"Doesn't mean she wouldn't be able to do it. Ashido's reaction time is great, but even if she has a bit more experience than Yaoyorozu, she's like most of us. Someone with intuition as good as Yaoyorozu's could predict her next move."
Bakugou bit back a curse, "Don't lump my skill in with the rest of you, Neon head."
"Get off of your high horse Kacchan." Izuku bluntly replied. He was used to talking back to his school's bully.
"You wanna go?!"
Setsuna snapped her fingers next to Bakugou's ear, which caused him to flinch and back away. "Cut it out! I'm trying to focus on the fight!"
Sure enough, between their bickering, the fight had moved forward.
Momo now wielded the same staff she made to counter Mina, swinging and bludgeoning her forearms with it. Mina ducked and avoided the following swing. She put one hand on the ground, pivoting on it with one kick- sending the staff off course- and hitting Momo in the side with another!
She released the staff as she instinctively clutched her abdomen. 'Now!' Mina spun on her hand, landing right side up, and tackling Momo to the ground!
Her knee was on Momo's stomach, lightly pressing on it, and both hands held Momo's hands down, effectively pinning her!
Immediately, their teacher began the count!
"1."
Momo's skin began to glow, and her leotard shifted slightly to increase how much exposed skin she had.
"2."
Mina knew this meant Momo was making something, but she couldn't afford to let go…
"3."
The creation hero's skin began to stretch…
"4."
Outlines of a net popped up-
"5-" Mina immediately let go, stumbling backwards as right after she got away from Momo, a net shot towards the sky with explosive velocity!
Both girls got up, panting. "You baited me?" Mina asked, clutching her sore forearm,
"It was one of the ways I thought to catch someone as athletic as you." Momo's leotard shifted back into its original shape, and actually tightened. Mina blinked, and quickly realized why.
The girl's fat reserves were diminishing. She'd used up a considerable amount of it with her two nets and staff!
She must have noticed Mina's observing gaze, because she went back on the offensive, creating an additional staff, attacking much more quickly with it!
Mina felt the air whizz by her with every staff jab, swipe and push. She stepped back, but Momo wouldn't let up. She felt her feet stagger on the coarse ground, and Momo slammed her staff into her side!
'She's trying to trip me up!'
Each time the taller girl attacked, Mina would be pressured backwards, and her stature would get less and less true, throwing off her balance. The instincts she'd built up from years of watching action movies, breakdancing lessons, playing fighting games… Getting physically beaten... told her…
Her feet staggered, Momo swung wider, using all her weight-
And Mina's body let itself fall back, her hands supporting her!
"Wha-?!" The creation hero's eyes widened as her brain caught up to what happened, her staff having completely whiffed the hit and causing her body to twist around, her legs entangled, body falling forward and her side exposed!
"Break:" She shifted her body and left arm, vaulting on her right arm as her left leg shot towards Momo's exposed body, slamming into her, the girl gasping and crying out in pain as she fell to the ground stomach first! "L-Kick!"
The blonde's leg touched the ground, and smoothly she stood up, immediately throwing herself on top of Momo's back. She grabbed both of her arms and put them behind her, holding them down with one hand. "I dunno how your quirk works, but you only made your net from your belly… You need a bigger body part to make something big, right?"
Momo's only response was groaning, pushing herself up slightly with her head, but letting herself fall. "So with your arms like this, you can't do anything fancy!"
"1-"
"I surrender…" Momo cut her teacher off. "That kick got me good, and I don't want to burn up more fat."
"Good. Ashido, please let her go and step away." The girl immediately did so, flinching lightly at the teacher's commanding tone. Momo got up with a wince, holding her side. "The winner is Ashido, but both of you did well. Still, you two have room for growth.
"Miss Yaoyorozu, your ingenuity is good, and suited for hero work, but you let yourself get carried away when you think a weakness has been exposed. Thus leaving yourself open for exploits, as you have experienced." The girl only nodded, and he tilted his head. "Do you need to go see Recovery Girl?"
She shook her head, letting herself smile a little. "I'll be- hiss- Fine. Just a little sore is all."
"As for you, Ashido. You clearly have some experience with physical activity, and that's good. Your reflexes are very well tuned. That being said, you need to work on how you incorporate what you know into your style, as well as telegraphing less. On the defensive, your moves aren't obvious, but on the offensive, there is enough wind-up for your opponent to react to. Keep that in mind."
She nodded, she was happy she got some praise, but her mind couldn't help but focus on her mistakes… "Got it. Thank you for the help!"
Ectoplasm hummed in a lighter tone. "All in a teacher's job. Both of you, join the others. I'll be drawing the next pair."
The two nodded, and began to walk back into the crowd. Mina turned to Momo, and gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry for the kick, but you really cornered me! Nice moves, Yaoyorozu."
She smiled back, sighing. "Thank you."
Ectoplasm watched as the two went back, and each split into their friend groups. If he could, he'd smile at these youth, their exploits reminding him of his younger days. But time wasn't on their side, so he drew the next pair with a press of the button.
And immediately, he knew he had a troublesome pair to work with.
"Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku. Please step closer."
The raven haired boy didn't look at his opponent as his fists clenched, shoulders tensed, teeth grinded against each other. He simply walked forward. He was going to get this done and over with. What did he even give a damn about anymore. All that happened was that Mina went out with some dork who probably practices pick-up lines in the mirror. That's all.
So why was he so pissed off?
Oh, right. The other thing. Midoriya and Bakugou. The dynamic duo. The abuser and the forgiver. Almost two weeks ago, he convinced Mina and the others to give that ash haired brat a chance, and now that he knew what he knew, Kirishima didn't find his tantrums funny.
He found them disgusting. Repulsive. Looking down on people beneath you- people who are just trying to live their life- and then having the audacity to study to be a Hero in the most prestigious Heroics school in the country? After what he's done, if he wasn't a teenager, he would have been in jail. He deserved juvie at the very least.
Ectoplasm was saying something now. Probably repeating what he said to the two before them. Just get this exercise over with, that's all Kirishima needed to do.
"-Kirishima." He finally heard. He turned his head towards his teacher. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah."
He couldn't see Ectoplasm's eyelids behind his mask, but he presumed his teacher was squinting now. He decided to ignore that for now. Looking at his opponent, it was extremely difficult to not just hit the kid with a large dose of Shadow. But he knew he'd get in trouble.
Still, his hand was practically quivering, begging to do it. But he shouldn't, he couldn't. 'I can't let this damn quirk get the better of me, I can't risk another incident, get a damn grip Eijirou! This isn't worth it, this isn't you-'
His thought train crashed at the station as he suddenly felt a fist clash with his abdomen, followed by a constant stream of electricity throughout his entire body. He could feel it going through his muscles, burning, making his gut feel like it was set on fire, while also going even a little numb. It felt awful, awful enough to make him yelp in pain as he fought the urge to grab his opponent's arm.
All in all though, he was wide awake now. And he wasn't letting him get away with it. The neon haired bastard reeled back after his punch, stumbling away from Kirishima's attempted counter punch.
"Midoriya!" Ectoplasm shouted as Kirishima clutched his gut. "Am I to assume that attack was within the regulations I set?"
Midoriya practically choked on his own spit, but was able to find his footing. Good. "Y-Yes sir! I've researched electricity extensively, I know how many milliamps the average human body can take! That was roughly 15, so while it hurt, he shouldn't be feeling the more serious effects like loss of muscle control."
"Kirishima, can you confirm this?"
He wiped his mouth. Some spit had gotten out in that little scuffle. "I'm just peachy, sir. I can feel my body just fine… Hurt like hell though."
"I see… Regardless, after this, you are visiting Recovery Girl for good measure. You are free to proceed."
He rolled his right arm, the one that carried his quirk. "Hey, Midoriya."
"Y-Yeah?"
"Your punches suck." Lunging his arm forward, Kirishima shot out Shadow in a claw shape from within it! It whizzed through the air, just barely missing Midoriya's midsection, making the student whiff his attack-
'Was it bigger than usual-?'
Is what Midoriya thought a moment before getting clotheslined by Kirishima's left arm, throwing him to the floor as the larger boy flew past him, catching up to his quirk.
Kirishima reeled his quirk in, and he felt it again. For the first time in a while, a feeling that was hard to fight. His heart pounded in his ears. Pupils dilated, teeth wanted to break against themselves. He took deep breaths. Deep, concentrated breaths. He wasn't facing Ectoplasm. Good.
If he saw his state, he wouldn't let him continue the fight. He needed this right now. To smack some sense into Midoriya.
Jolting back to his feet, Midoriya rolled his neck.
"...You're mad, aren't you. Kirishima."
He didn't say a thing, only stomping towards his target with intent, as his right hand grew, Shadow wrapping itself around it.
That was as good an answer as any for Midoriya, as he waited for Kirishima to get closer… closer…
He suddenly lunged forward, ducking low to the ground as his fists crackled with electricity!
Kirishima's senses had sharpened though. At this point, his anger, his drive, was helping him. His opponent threw the first hook- its electricity tickled his midsection as he weaved the punch.
He followed it up with a left uppercut, which was even easier to avoid.
Someone's created a bad habit from fighting Bakugou so often.
Bakugou…
Another punch came. He sidestepped it, countering with his own jab.
Bakugou…
Midoriya danced around him, trying to mix him up as he threw out a right cross. It barely connects at Kirishima's forearm, stinging, but not maintaining contact for long enough.
'Why is HE still here?!'
The electricity user's next attack connected. It felt like someone lit a stovetop inside his body.
Kirishima saw red.
Ever since the raven haired boy was a kid, he has had trouble coping with his quirk. Being a mutation, it had an attribute neither of his parents' quirks had. Light wasn't the only thing that influenced his power output.
Emotions did too. While light and darkness weakened and strengthened it respectively, strong emotions did so too. Almost as if it was adding onto the power, even if it had already been weakened, for instance.
As a side effect, this meant the boy felt more of everything. He was ecstatic with the smallest things. He'd be devastated with things that weren't even an issue. He felt enough for ten people. These by itself influenced his quirk majorly in behavior, but its actual controllability wasn't changed too badly. It would maybe get too excited and break something, or just sulk in his arm not coming out at all, but that was the extent of it.
Whatever the boy felt, it felt too, but amplified.
Unlike the boy however, it didn't have as high of an ability to discern what to do when it was upset. It had enough intelligence to be sentient, but it lacked an inhibitor. It's what made it a mirror of Kirishima's true feelings.
And what made it so dangerous.
The first true incident occured when he was 11 years old. A water wielding villain had hurt his little sister and one of his mothers during a familial night out, and was aiming at him next. At first, he felt intense fear. But seeing his mother, unconscious on the ground as she had tried to shield his little sister.
His heart pounded in his ears, his pupils were the size of dinner plates. The last thing he saw was a black mass.
Next thing he knew, the villain was held against the wall by an almost demonic black monster, begging for his life. Both the villain and his own outfits were torn up. He had some scrapes and bruises, but the villain was in far worse shape.
His own mother was shaking him, telling him to snap out of it.
On that day, the villain was apprehended, and while he got a small lecture on holding back, Kirishima was praised, and let go, since the attack was ruled out as self-defense. Plus, his family ended up mostly fine, his mother had a small concussion, but nothing concerning.
On that day, Kirishima realized the danger of his quirk.
For days, weeks, months, years after that incident, Kirishima has held back his emotions. He has shut them down. But occasionally, it bubbled up to the surface. Occasionally, he couldn't keep it down anymore. The only other time this happened, he was able to successfully hold himself back, he wasn't truly angry then, even if his quirk disagreed.
Crunch.
Everyone's breath hitched as Kirishima's darkened fist grew, and his hook aimed at Midoriya's head was true.
Mina looked on in utter shock. "Kiri…?"
The neon haired boy stumbled and wobbled back as his opponent's fist had gotten back to normal, but his advance didn't falter. The raven haired boy threw another punch.
Only to hit Ectoplasm. A very tall, rigid, Ectoplasm.
"Enough." His teacher's voice boomed in double. A regular sized Ectoplasm ran towards Midoriya, his hand peeking from under his trench coat as he held the boy. He began to speak, but the giant version of himself kept staring at Kirishima, as his senses, his logic, returned to him.
"Midoriya, look at me." His tone was soft but commanding. The neon haired student turned his head to look at him. He leaned closer. His nose was crooked and bleeding. "Can you breathe?"
The boy's strained attempt at a 'sorta', followed by a hiss told him enough. He looked up, standing taller, but didn't let go of Midoriya. His eyes locked with Mina's. "Ashido. Take him to Recovery Girl. Don't run, he needs all the breath he can spare." She blinked a few times, mouth just barely agape. "Ashido!"
"Y-yes sir!" She ran towards him, and grabbed Midoriya's shoulders with both hands. "W-would you like me to carry him? I-I can do it, and it'd get him to her faster."
"No, you're too inexperienced, you might cause further damage. Sling his arm around your neck and walk with him." She nodded, and did as he said, the two slowly walking away from the grounds.
"It's gonna- oh gosh that's a lot of blood- it's gonna be ok, Midoriya." She muttered, both to reassure him and herself.
The large Ectoplasm clone dissipated into a viscous substance, vanishing into the air. The original Ectoplasm looked at Kirishima. The boy was no longer boiling up with blind anger, or even gritting his teeth. Instead, he looked afraid, distraught, shaking. Like the aftermath of a person who said something they didn't mean to, but much worse.
"...See me after class, after you've seen the nurse. Back with the others." A tense atmosphere began to permeate as Kirishima walked back, holding his own right hand with his left, almost as if it could explode. Some backed away as he moved into the group, and looked down at the floor. Ectoplasm cleared his throat.
"We are not letting this incident stop us. What you just witnessed was an example of excessive force, and I expect you to learn from it when your turn comes. I will draw another pair." He looked around at how most of the class seemed uneasy. "Despite what happened, give this your all. Mistakes are bound to happen, but Midoriya will be ok."
With every word, Kirishima shrunk deeper into himself, not daring to meet his classmate's gazes.
"And with that, you should be alright, dear."
Recovery Girl finished wiping Midoriya's face, careful not to disturb the area that had just been healed. "Your nose won't be deformed or anything like that, and I've already had you blow out the clotted blood inside. How is your breathing?"
"A lot… better. Almost normal, I'd say." He inhaled, and exhaled, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. "Thank you so much, Recovery Girl."
"It's no problem, really. If you'd somehow hurt yourself, I'd be berating you by now, but if what little Ashido here rambled is true-"
Mina's face flushed red as she remembered her little outburst. She practically kicked down the infirmary door, and screamed at Recovery Girl what happened at lightning speed. Only after kissing the boy to heal him did she lightly bonk her in the head to snap her out of it.
"-you just got your face a little broken in by a classmate. Which, if Ectoplasm's text is to be believed… he'll be here in roughly 30 minutes. A little electric shock, eh?"
Midoriya went to speak, but was stopped by Mina. "Midori said that, um… the shock was really weak, only… 15 amps?"
"...Milliamps." He corrected as the nurse briefly blanched with concern.
"Right! K-Kiri looked fine, and said he didn't lose any- any-"
"Muscle control. I used enough to make it hurt, but not enough to injure or make his muscles spasm." His voice, usually filled with excitement about quirks, was low, tired.
"Yeah, uh, that. Sorry, I'm just, I…" She took a deep breath, and sighed as she checked herself for any stains. There were none, thankfully. "I don't do so well with blood sometimes."
"Ah, I see. Well, you'll get used to it by your second year here." Both students stared at the nurse. "No, not like that, you overthinkers! You'll get to study some footage from closed cases that can get a bit graphic. It'll help you build up your tolerance to the red stuff.
"Now, I need to go get some more cotton for your nose bandage, Midoriya. I used almost all of it soaking up your blood, unfortunately." She turned towards Mina, a comforting smile on her face. "Can you stay with him for a while, dear?"
"Oh, yeah, for sure!" She answered almost immediately, much to the nurse's delight as the girl once again became flustered. With a hum, she walked out, and Mina was left alone with her classmate.
She was hesitant to look at him. Even if his face was clean, his stained costume wasn't. She really should be used to the sight of blood for her age… "...So, are you like… ok?"
He took a moment to lightly touch his nose, recoiling instinctively, but quickly realized there wasn't anything to worry about. "Yeah, no pain here."
"Ok! That's uh, that's good!" She fidgeted, her brain racking to find something to talk about. "Oh! Your fighting style was pretty neat Midori. You weren't fighting like that back when we worked together."
"Thanks! It's a bit of a style I'm trying to develop, mostly based around hitting people in the right spots with low amounts of charge to minimize how much electricity I'm using at all times, while still maximizing as much damage as possible, letting me be as efficient as I can be with my quirk without overdoing it, both for me and my opponent! After all, heroes aren't supposed to brutalize villains, and my quirk only storessomuchenergythatIcanuseand-" He caught himself, slapping his hand over his mouth. His face tinted red as Mina stifled a giggle. "Sorry. Bad habit. But uh, yeah! I'm excited to try to improve it. I noticed you've been getting better too. Those moves, they were… what's it called… breakdancing, right?"
She tilted her head, then grinned. "You noticed? That's so cool! No one's ever really noticed that I do breakdancing, even back in my old school. To be honest, it's always been something I wanted to show off a bit with, I guess just to brag that I know how to do it?" Her eyes averted his gaze as she played with her hair, twirling it in her fingers. "Is that bad? I don't wanna seem like I'm bragging, I'm just… I dunno. I guess in my old school, no one really paid much attention to me, so I'm trying to make up for lost time?"
He hummed, as the girl looked increasingly more unsure of herself. "I don't think that's a bad thing at all. There are limits, but just being proud you know a skill and wanting others to see that isn't bad, Ashido. It's kinda hard to believe no one paid attention to you in your old school, with you being all genki."
His words did comfort her at first, but his last statement threw her off. "Haha, yeah…"
'Guess faking it is working for now…' She thought, as she remembered how meek she was back in her Middle School.
An awkward silence settled between the two. Mina was the type who wanted to be extroverted, but didn't know how to be, and Midoriya was the type to not really initiate conversation. However, if she wanted to clear the air for her friend, she had to try and explain things.
"So, um… about Kiri's…"
"Outburst." She winced at him calling it that. It wasn't wrong. It just wasn't easy to hear.
"I'm… so sorry about him. He's usually not like that. Sure, a bit snarky at times like you've seen, but he's usually a pretty chill guy when he wants to be!" She paused, biting her lip. "But he's always talked about his quirk having sort of an… effect on him, I guess. He's always been pretty quick to anger, but I've never seen it get this bad before… I wonder what set him off..."
Midoriya looked her up and down, sighed, and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's… okay, really. I grew up with Kacchan. I'm used to these sorts of things. But kinda like how I hope U.A will eventually get him to apologize to my friend for the torment he put him through, I… can't really accept your apology." He scratched his cheek, looking away. "I-it's not yours to make, y'know? I appreciate the gesture, I just wanna hear it from him."
"That's… That's ok. I get it. You deserve that much." She sighed, "I just know he'll apologize though, he's a good guy. Just rough around the edges. He was my first real friend when I got into Middle School, you've seen that he can be cool and stuff… He even kinda helped me prepare for the entrance exam here… Sorry, rambling. Just, he's a good person, I know it."
Midoriya looked at her, her words were said with sincerity, but the way her eyes darted somewhat, her hands fiddled with anything they could get their hands on, how she bit her lip, she wasn't fully confident in her words. Still, she meant them.
Just as much as she meant that she wouldn't tell on Bakugou's past behavior, and just as sincere as her emotions were when he got hurt just now. He smiled, and swiped one of the pez dispensers from Recovery Girl's cabinet. He nudged her shoulder with it, catching her attention.
"You're a good friend, Ashido." He popped one candy into her hands, and another into his. "Thanks for helping me with this whole thing. It's really nice of you."
She was taken aback by this for a moment, but popped the candy in her mouth and grinned. "That's just what a hero's supposed to do, right?"
In that moment, Recovery Girl slid the door open, now carrying a fresh bag of cotton, and looked directly at Midoriya. Specifically, what he was holding. "I fix you up, and you swipe my candy from my cabinet?"
"I…"
"Why, I oughta break you myself for that one." Grumbling, she grabbed a small piece of cotton and dipped it in an anti-inflammatory substance, before putting it on Midoriya's nose under some surgical tape. "This'll make sure that your nose doesn't hurt, just in case. Now, go on, you two've got a class to finish watching."
In their banter and bonding, the two had almost forgotten they had to finish watching what was bound to be a very… awkward class.
And that it had been. The rest of the matches had been conducted with much less excitement after Kirishima's outburst. With it being wrapped up, most had changed out of their hero costumes and began to make their trip home. Except for two students.
Ashido now stood just outside the school gate, waiting. Her childhood friend Kirishima had been forced to stay after class to make sure his physical condition was ok, and to presumably chew him out for lashing out. She needed to know if he was ok mentally, know what exactly happened for him to just… explode at Midoriya.
It didn't take too long, maybe 15 minutes after she'd gotten out, he came walking down the steps and past the gate. His head hung low as he readjusted his backpack, not noticing his friend, instead just walking by her.
"Kiri, wait!" She yelled as she put a hand on his shoulder.
He jolted, breath hitching. He turned around to face her, and his face was absolutely empty of any emotion. Dull, hard to tell what he was feeling right now. She let go, not just because she'd gotten his attention, but because she'd never seen him looking this bad.
"I… Do you wanna…
Are you ok? What did the teachers tell you?"
"I'll live. They just wanted me to explain why I did it."
Aizawa looked at his student. "Was your outburst intentional, Kirishima."
"...Kinda. My quirk, it… it does that to me sometimes."
"...Try to keep that a little under more control, then. You won't be punished for today's incident, and as a matter of fact, the entire school staff is here to support you with quirk counselling. But we can't pick up all the slack."
"So I did." He shrugged his shoulder, avoiding her gaze.
"Well, uh… Agh, ok, whatever. Kiri, what happened back there? Why did you do that?!"
He looked at the blonde haired girl, her determined golden eyes meeting his dull red ones. "You could have done something much worse to Midoriya! You could have- I- What was that even for, dude?!"
Her fired up words reached Kirishima, but maybe not in the way she intended, for just as she said that, he grit his teeth and grabbed at his own hair, groaning. "Because I wanted to, ok!? He was pissing me off ever since that talk we had at the cafeteria, and how he just excuses Bakugou's behavior like that, it's-it's infuriating! I can't take it, ok Ashido?!"
She looked stunned, this being the first time her friend was yelling at her, not someone who had been picking on her.
"There! Is that what you wanted to hear so badly?! My quirk makes it so damn hard for me to deal with these things, and seeing how casually he talks to you, how casually you talk to him after what you went through, it hurts!"
"I-"
"So maybe I just can't deal with this, ok?! Maybe I'm just some… some…. Just forget it! I'm done here. Take care, Ashido."
With that, he pivoted on his foot and ran off. Mina was left stunned at what just happened, her heart sinking into her gut, her chest tightening more than ever before, unable to make herself chase after her childhood friend, her body only allowing her to watch as his silhouette disappeared into the horizon...
"...Sorry…"
She didn't hang out around the school for much longer after that. Some time after she lost track of Kirishima, she finally mustered up the willpower to begin walking. Even so, her gait was slow, almost dragging her feet. Her head hanging low, she barely paid any attention to what was in front of her as she let her body take the same path home it always took.
These factors are precisely why she soon bumped into what felt like a slightly softer brick wall.
She stumbled back, shaking her head. "Oof- uh, 'm sorry. Excuse me."
"Are you ok miss-" Recognizing the voice, Mina looked up to see her friend and classmate, Iida! He huffed, his chest puffing up. "Oh, it's you Ashido! You should be more careful! Had I been of the more unsavory type, your accident could have started a commotion!"
Mina wanted to point out that he was starting one now, but really, she couldn't be bothered. "Won't happen again…"
He stared at her, blinking. Humming, he put a hand to his chin. "Are you unwell? I don't recall your match with Yaoyorozu taking this much out of you."
"Oh, it's… it's nothing. Just processing what happened today."
"Ah yes. The incident with Kirishima… You two were already friends before you enrolled into U.A, correct?" She nodded, and Iida responded with a small sigh. "Indeed… I can see why this would trouble you. If there is anything I can do to help, do not hesitate in saying so."
"...Really?"
"We may not be very close, but part of a hero's duty isn't just to defeat those who are causing chaos." He closed his eyes, reminiscing on his brother's words, words that stuck with him ever since he heard them. "A person I truly admire once said that the reason he became a hero was because he always found the people who helped lost children in the mall to be the coolest."
Mina tilted her head, mildly confused. "Huh? Where are you going with this?"
"Well… Firstly, let's walk and talk, I would not want us to be late for either of our destinations." The two began walking, and the taller student hummed. "What I mean is that while we may not be very close, beyond friendship, it's a hero's duty to look out for others, not just those who are in mortal peril. One I can gladly take for a classmate!"
"Huh… thanks, Iida." She let herself smile, however strained it was. "You're pretty nice, even if you're a bit stiff."
"What does that mean? Are you talking about my muscles?" He asked, the utmost sincere concern in his voice, and Mina giggled at that. "I can assure you I do the proper stretching, warming up and cooling down during my workout routines! Please don't make such assumptions!"
She blew a raspberry, letting herself be carried away in the moment. "Alright, alright."
As the two walked and chatted, they'd soon come to a stop. An entire street had been closed off with yellow tape. Ambulances and police cars were on the scene, as signs of a hard fought battle littered the area. Blood, cracked cement, destroyed windows.
Walking towards them, a cop signalled with both arms that the street was off limits. "Move along now kids, this is a crime scene. Can't have you or any cars over here messin' with the evidence."
"Oh, ok… That's…" Mina shrugged and accepted the cop's words, walking to the side as Iida naturally followed. "Weird though, wonder what happened…"
"If I had to hazard a guess, this might have been something to do with the ever prolific Hero Killer." At her confusion, Iida elaborated. "You've seen the news recently, correct?"
"Suuure… But let's assume I haven't."
Narrowing his eyes, he sighed. "He's a villain that has been especially active as of late. He targets lone heroes and heavily injures them, often fatally. Some heroes end up putting up more of a fight than others, and that's the result… It could have been anything though."
Mina shivered at the story Iida was telling, chills crawling up her spine. "Sheesh, a Hero Killer. That's ominous." Her immediate tension was however blown off as she realized what that street being closed off meant. "...Oh crap! I'm gonna miss my train home! If that entire street's been closed off, I gotta go around- oh gosh this is a nightmare! There's barely 10 minutes to my train now, I didn't even notice!"
"That's terrible! We must rush immediately!"
"Even if we run now, we're not gonna make it, not on foot…"
"I think I could be of some assistance!" A voice boomed from behind them. The two whipped their heads around at the unexpected eavesdropper, finding a tall man, clad in quartz white aerodynamic armor. "Heya Tenya! I thought I recognized you."
Iida immediately beamed with energy, though not all of it positive. "Tensei-! I mean, Ingenium! What are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be in Hosu?!"
"Got called out here on a small operation, nothing too major. More importantly though, I was about to take my quick twenty minute break when I couldn't help but overhear someone's got some punctuality troubles. Did I hear that correctly, young lady?"
"Uh, h-hello, Ingenium, sir. Yeah! I'm, um… Ashido. And I might be just about to miss my ride home."
Tensei crossed his arms, puffing out his chest. So that's where Iida got it from… "Well that's just unacceptable. What do you two say I help take you to your destinations? With my quirk, we'll be at the train station in no time at all!"
She wanted to perk up, her anxiety wouldn't allow that without a fight though. "If you're sure… But I really wouldn't wanna be a bother."
"Come now, it's part of the job description to help with something like this. Besides, I have a lot of sidekicks patrolling the streets, I can afford to be a little off schedule, hah. What do you say Tenya? Wanna go for a ride like old times?"
A smile of pure joy- the most amount of emotion Mina had seen Iida express yet- spread across his face. "Yes!" His face quickly flushed, and he cleared his throat. "I-I mean, it would be very rude to refuse your very generous offer, Ingenium. If you could, it would be of immense help to us!"
"It wouldn't be a problem at all. Now come on! We're wasting time here." Immediately, Iida hopped on his brother's back like it was the most natural thing in the world. Mina, on the other hand, had to hang on by the front, hugging Ingenium. The two wrapped around him, he struggled for a moment with the added weight, but quickly began doing his usual maneuvers, jumping across walls and climbing to the roof of the closest building.
"Which way's the station you two were headed towards again?"
The slightly nauseous Mina pointed towards her destination, which was just across the closed road. He sure could do with a lot less unannounced flipping…
"Got it! Hang on tight you two!"
Immediately, he took off in a burst of speed, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in a flash, and Mina could truly see the gap between not just her, but others in her class, Iida included, between the power they carried, and the power a pro carried.
In no time at all, the two were on the street of the train station, mere feet away from the entrance. Mina got down from the hero, and had to catch her breath from the sudden acceleration. Iida on the other hand, looked mostly fine.
"You're… lucky you're also quick, Iida. You're used to that… Sheesh.."
He cleared his throat as he stood up straight. Though he seemed to be taking it well, he was clearly still mildly disoriented, as his posture subtly wobbled. "Ah, yes, I am more used to it. But nevertheless, Tensei- I-Ingenium's speed is far above my own. It was… an experience."
"Well, now you have 4 minutes to spare, Ashido!" Patting her on the head as she looked mere moments away from emptying her stomach right there on the sidewalk, he turned around and saluted the two. "I have to be off now! You two make sure to get home safe, you hear?"
With both nodding, one more confidently than the other, Ingenium dashed off in a sprint, his quirk's engine's red hot as they boosted his momentum forward. Sighing, Mina finally regained a sense of direction, and her gut didn't feel like spilling out for now. She began to walk into the station, but stopped. "Well, uh… Actually, this is just my train station. I haven't seen you in this one before, Iida."
"That's because you usually take the train right after school, correct? Usually, you go directly home, like most others in our class." She nodded, though made a mental note that Iida was more observant than he appeared to be. He caught up with her, and made his way down too. "Normally, when I leave school, I take some time to go to the nearest library and research physics, I only go home right about now."
"Really? What for?"
"Why, to help be a better hero of course! Physical types like you and I benefit from learning how things like air resistance, center of mass, impact absorption. If you're the academic type, I suggest you try it someday!"
"Huh… Well…" She blushed for a moment, looking bashful as they boarded their train. "I'm… not really well versed in that kinda thing. Could you try to explain a bit of it for me? Maybe I'll actually get it, cause… I dunno. Textbooks just don't do it for me."
"Of course! I would be glad to do so!"
So, for the entire ride home, Mina and Iida went over some basic physics fundamentals, ones that she could understand and apply to her heroics anyhow, Iida turning out to be a surprisingly effective teacher! Over the next few days, as the Sports Festival was just around the corner, Mina would sit with most of her usual group, and, after class, would help her out with whatever she needed clarifying on.
It made her happy, knowing that she had friends who actually cared enough to help her. Truth be told, it made her feel more at ease than she felt in a long time. But every so often, she would catch herself noticing small things that nagged her. Mainly how Kirishima acted.
He'd stopped texting her, would avoid her outside of school, and even sat somewhere else during lunch. Where that was, she couldn't tell. She tried to spot his seat once, but when he noticed her going after him, he quickly blended into the crowd.
It all added up to an extremely tense atmosphere between the two. One that leaked into the following week, as the event that so many had been anticipating opened its curtains.
The day of the Sports Festival had arrived.