"Y'know, riding the train like this with you again after so long, it almost feels kinda…" Mina giggled nervously, fiddling with her backpack. "...Embarrassing."
"Eh? Aw come on, why's that?" With a quick ruffle of her hair from her father, the girl couldn't help but feel a little more at ease. Today was the day, and they were heading out towards U.A in order for them to attend the long awaited Sports Festival! Both of them, actually! "I know it's a little silly to suddenly appear at school with your pops by ya, but I can't exactly wait for the next train without being late!"
"I know, I know, heheh." She stuck her tongue out, and he did the same in return. Her dad was a bit of an odd one out amongst most other students' parents, at least in this case.
Due to him being someone who had graduated from U.A and due to him once being a pro hero- whose license was still valid, just went unused- he was granted access to the stadium itself in order to spectate alongside other pros. Something which, if Katsuta had to be honest, scared him a little.
"Honestly, I think I'm more anxious than you are, lil' star."
This comment made her reel a bit, completely making her forget about his embarrassing nickname. "Why's that?"
"Well, your old man ain't exactly in shape. Working a desk job has its perks, but 'lounging around all day' isn't one of them if you're trying to not put on a few kilos." He sighed, looking at his duffel bag. "This costume was made for me when I was 18, with a fat content of almost zero. I'll probably look ridiculous in it, heh."
In response, Mina could only puff up her cheeks and scowl at him. "...What, did I say something wrong?"
"Daddy, you used to be a pro! Who the heck cares if you're a little rounder now? No one's gonna give someone who can melt things trouble for something like that!"
Katsuta blinked a few times, then let out a meek laugh. "Well alright then. Sheesh, when did you become a motivational speaker?"
She shrugged. "Guess I've been hanging out with the right crowd." She said, a weak but noticeable tremble to her voice.
One that didn't go unnoticed by her father. Something was up. And he was gonna have to address it eventually… They just needed to move past this Festival first.
"If I talk to her now about… whatever this is, I might put on some kinda mental load she doesn't wanna take up right before her big day…" He sighed, his mind resigning itself to that conclusion. He bit the inside of his cheek lightly. "God, being a parent is hard."
Soon enough, the two walked off the train and towards the U.A grounds. Dodging a swarm of reporters, most of which were very desperate for any kind of coverage they could get, they were well on their way to being where they were supposed to be.
As the two walked side by side, Katsuta perked up as he noticed a familiar face among the heroes working there. "No way…"
He nudged his daughter's shoulder. "Hm? What's up?"
He pointed towards a tall woman with dark purple hair, wearing a skin tight costume, who seemed to be writing on a small clipboard. "Say, does she… work here?"
"Midnight? Yeah, she does. She's our Modern Hero Art History teacher. Why?"
"Oh man it's been eons since I've talked to her!" He squealed with delight. "Do you mind if we stop by her for a moment?"
"No prob- Wait, you know her?!" Mina's eyes went wide mid sentence, the pin finally dropping on the implications her father's words were putting out. He nodded, and didn't elaborate, leaving his daughter even more confused than she already was.
The two walked up to her, the man significantly more eager than his own daughter was. As they got closer, he waved at her when they were a few feet away, raising his voice and cupping his mouth, "Nemuri!"
The woman looked up from her clipboard, and for a brief moment, squinted her eyes at the chubby, short haired man approaching her. They widened to the size of dinner plates as recollection flashed before her eyes. "Katsuta! You son of a gun, it's really you, isn't it?!"
Katsuta grinned, scratching his cheek. "I look a little… different than you remember, I think, but yeah, it's me!" The two looked at each other for a moment, a pause setting in. "So uh, how… How are you doing? It's been a while."
She smiled. "I've been doing well. Got into teaching in the time you were away, became a famous hero. You know," the woman winked, her smile turning into a smirk. "The usual. Say, what are you doing with Ashido there? Didn't take you for a babysitter… No, wait, you would do that, actually."
The girl waved meekly, her presence finally acknowledged. "Actually, I'm uh…" She trailed off, still being unable to make much heads or tails of the situation.
"She's my daughter."
Nemuri's face went blank, and a second passed by.
Then another.
And another.
"I'm sorry what?"
"...She's my daughter." He curled his eyebrow upwards. "I… thought that would have been obvious. We share a family name."
"...Ashido… Ashido Katsu- Oh my god I am a moron." She was only stunned for a brief moment, before breaking out into a low laugh. "Katsuta, you dog! I know you have some horn horns under that head of hair, but having a kid at, what, 19? You're insane."
"I- You- Nemuri! Come on!" He gestured at Mina. "There's a kid right, here!"
"Ok ok, sheesh…"
"...Can one of you explain to me how you two know each other?" Her lips curved downwards as her cheeks puffed out. "Please?"
The woman hummed, flicking the pen she was writing with. "This guy didn't tell you? Sheesh, no respect for a friend, huh?"
"It's not like that…"
"Well, long story short, he was actually an upperclassman of mine here at U.A!" Mina's mouth fell open, as she looked between the two. "See, while I was in my first year, this fella over here was in his third year."
"But… Wasn't he 19?"
Katsuta piped up, laughing nervously. "I was turning 19, small difference, but it's important." He looked off to the side, twiddling his thumbs. "I uh, started school a bit late, remember?"
"I think you've mentioned that…"
"Anyway, at the beginning of my school year, they had us interact with third years to get to know the school better, and I met him there!" She patted him on the back, to which he recoiled slightly. "We became good friends, this guy here was one of the top in his class, and he was great to talk to. We eventually ended up interning at the same place, and we got to know each other super well."
"Aw, thanks. That means a lot-"
"Then he dropped off the face of the Earth once he graduated." She said curtly, her face going dead serious. It didn't last long though, the woman quickly breaking out into a laughing fit. "I didn't know why at the time, since he didn't even answer his phone anymore, but now I do! This guy here had a kid!"
His lip twitched and he crossed his arms, grunting. "Look, it just kinda happened, ok?"
"I'm just teasing you~. Being a parent at your age must have been rough." She turned to Mina, "Has this oaf been raising you well, or do I need to discipline him?"
"Nemuri, I swear-"
"Oh have a sense of humor, come on." She huffed. "But seriously, is he doing a good job?"
The girl took a moment to think about everything. How much her father had given up for her. How many days he'd spent just taking care of her, regardless of how his own health deteriorated. How he actually stuck around, unlike… Chitose. How he actually cared about her. How he tried to always cheer her up, reassure her of her worth…
She smiled, nodding. "Mhm!"
Nemuri's face softened, her mouth curling up into a thin line."That's great to hear! Say, you should probably get going, kid. You need to go meet up with the rest of your class and get changed, remember? Gym clothing only for the event."
The girl blinked, then looked at her phone's watch."Ah crap, right. I'll see you after the Festival, dad!" She began to run towards the stadium, the two adults watching her go, a certain fondness in their eyes.
Katsuta sighed. "She's a good kid. She does her absolute best, even if she can be a bit… inattentive, impulsive, overly emotional. She ends up getting carried away sometimes. But… I don't think these are all bad things, all told."
The teacher hummed. "Definitely not." She turned to face him, her soft expression giving way to a concerned one. "...So, where's her mother? Shouldn't she be with you?"
"She…" He hesitated as he felt his chest tighten. "She didn't want to… Be in the picture anymore."
A silence settled between the two, and Nemuri put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, if you need anything, just… Tell me. You were one of the people that inspired me the most when it came to attitude. Don't let that get you down." She wrote on her clipboard, and tore off a piece of paper. "Here, my new number."
"...Right. Thanks Nemuri." He let himself smile weakly. "Appreciate it."
"Now, go get changed so you can cheer your daughter on properly, you big carebear!" She smacked his duffel bag with her cattail, causing him to flinch.
"I- How did you know?"
"I mean, come on." She jabbed his chest with a finger. "You're still the Alien King, aren't you? Come on, you'll rock the suit."
"Heh, if you say so…" He chuckled at his own Hero Name. Something he picked when he was 16, which he found a bit silly now. "I'll find a bathroom and change. See you around, Midnight."
"HEY! It's a good name!"
He walked away chuckling. "Sure it is!"
The time was fast approaching, the time for the festival closed in more and more as they were about to begin. Mina breathed in, then out. In, then out. Show her stuff. Just like All-Might said. She wasn't naturally confident, or show offy, but she wanted to be those things, so it might even be fun after all!
She looked around, and most of her classmates were doing the same thing as her, mentally preparing. She briefly locked eyes with Kirishima, but the boy broke eye contact just as quickly. Her lips curled into a frown. He was going to be like this for a while, huh? She didn't know if she should sigh or groan.
At least Izuku seemed to be doing fine, off in his corner, thumb to his mouth, talking to himself rapidly as his hair shined brighter than usual. A habit she'd noticed he had, where he would get absorbed into his own little world as he thinks about his next move. "Mr. Aizawa said it'd be a bad idea to get tips from the second year with black hair, but why...?"
She looked over at Setsuna and the girl grinned and winked at her, shooting her a finger gun, which made Mina's blush. She really wasn't used to this kind of affection yet...
Though the blonde didn't have much time to think on that, because her thoughts were interrupted by someone loudly clearing their throat. More specifically, one of the quieter boys in class, Todoroki, had done it. This immediately drew everyone's attention onto him, it was highly uncharacteristic of him to do something like that.
"Everyone. I'm making it clear for the record here." He scanned the room with intent, dull but determined eyes all but actually searing everyone's body. Even more unnerving was the fact that Mina swore he stared at her longer than he did the others.. "Should the time come, I will work with any of you in a team. That being said… I have no intent of holding back against anyone. If we are forced to fight…
"I'll freeze you dead in your tracks." To accentuate that statement, the room immediately dropped a few degrees. "I'll rise to the top."
"Hot damn, a declaration of war from the silent kid? Feels kinda ominous…" Kaminari tugged at his collar.
Momo sighed, almost regretting being picked for the role of class president. "I hope this doesn't escalate… I really don't want to have to step in just because of something like this."
No one seemed to try and answer his call. Most didn't know just what they would even say to something like that. Most, except for Bakugou. He stomped his way towards Todoroki, the room echoing as he did so.
He dragged a finger across his neck, a deep scowl on his face. "Bring. It. On." That scowl turned into a grin. "I'm going to enjoy wiping you out in front of the Number two hero, Candycane."
Oddly enough, this motivated the class to start at the very least murmuring between themselves, but more importantly, it reached someone Bakugou had never even intended for it to reach:
Mina.
She was reminded that showing off, or appearing confident wasn't gonna be enough, she needed to aim for the number one spot! Even if she didn't get there, what good would it do for her to aim low? She had big shoes to fill, and her class wasn't just gonna let her show off.
She sighed, and slapped her face with both hands, walking and standing next to Bakugou. She put on her best grin, however lopsided it ended up being. She didn't have true confidence yet. She had to force herself to be louder, to remember it wasn't a bad thing to impose herself sometimes.
"I'm not very strong- compared to everyone else in the class, if I had to score us in game stats, I'd be a low tier character." She paused, letting out a small scoff. "But that doesn't mean I'm just gonna roll over for you either! Todoroki, I dunno what got into you to make you wanna challenge the entire class. Heck, I'm sure you don't even care about me.
"But I'm not gonna be just a stepping stone!" With One for All surging in her right arm, she tapped the center of Todoroki's chest. Immediately, she felt her hand get a lot colder in one half, and hotter in the other, causing her to pull it back, grasping it.
But what shocked her the most was the expression he was wearing. She just wanted to rile him up a bit, so why did he look… startled?
"Hah?" Bakugou looked at her, sneering. "Looks like you being gutsy wasn't a fluke, Blondie!"
"Yeah… Yeah! I'll show you too, Bakugou!" She exclaimed, perhaps letting her excitement at her slightly selfish desire to get back at someone who bullied a quirkless person get the best of her.
He got up in her face, causing the girl to recoil. "Bring your A game, I wanna settle what we started at that dodgeball game!"
Setsuna laughed and grinned. "I'm liking the energy all of you are bringing to the table, don't count me out either!"
"A challenge worthy of the dark emissary!" Tokoyami declared, standing up from his chair and hardening his arms.
The buzzer went off. The signal for them to come out onto the stadium, and face the crowd. Everyone walked off, some like Izuku and Setsuna gave her some good luck wishes, while Mina and Todoroki lagged behind briefly. Todoroki's eyes shifted from being startled to what the girl could only interpret as…
Grim determination.
The walk out into the open was almost agonizing, the amount of people in the stands that drilled their eyes into the back of everyone's heads was hard to bear for someone like her. Someone who wasn't used to standing out as much. It certainly didn't help that their English teacher, Present Mic, was absolutely hyping them up.
Combine that with the knowledge that somewhere in those stands, her father was watching, and she really felt more out of her element than she'd felt in a long time.
She was putting on a brave face on the outside, but inside, she was struggling to even appear calm. Which was better than how she usually was, where she'd wear her panic on her sleeve! Baby steps.
Another thing her teacher's commentary wasn't helping with was the resentment from other classes. While Class B seemed a little more subsided, probably because they were also in the Hero Course, everyone else seemed to look towards Class A with some form of disdain.
"Ugh, this is the worst…."
A whip crack settled down the chatter amongst the classes, turning their attention towards its source. "Alright all of you fledgelings! Settle down!" Midnight smiled wide and stuck out her hip slightly as she spoke into a microphone on her collar, a lot less reserved and informal than she had seen her when she was 'getting ready' earlier, so to speak. "It's time for the athlete's oath!"
Despite knowing her as her teacher for a while, whenever she taught, Midnight would usually pull back her persona quite a bit inside the classroom. Which meant Mina had just the tiniest hint of a blush on her face watching the woman show off.
"As per tradition, the one who will be presenting the oath will be the top ranked student in the entrance exams! Taking into account both their practical and theoretical scores, this year's student body representative is…" She paused, letting the suspension build for the audience. Or just to stall.
"BAKUGOU KATSUKI, FROM CLASS 1-A!"
A wave of concern washed over the entirety of Class A, even the ones who were known for being more reserved. All of the blonde's classmates had quite a few opinions on the boy, but all of them agreed on one thing, he was not a people person. So with a hitched breath, they had to watch as he walked up the podium.
"Come on Katsuki…" Izuku mumbled next to Mina, biting his thumb. "Don't blow this…"
He stopped in front of the microphone stationed there. He gave it a nudge with his index finger, and cleared his throat. His face was uncharacteristically serious, without the usual malice behind it. He wore an expression similar to the one he had the days following the USJ incident, Mina noted.
She wasn't sure what to make of this, did the boy have something on his mind? He seemed to have gone back to normal after the dodgeball game, but maybe he was doing the same thing as her…? Maybe she wasn't the only one just putting on a brave face after all...
"Listen up." He finally spoke. "All of you better come at me with everything you've got. 'Cause I'm aiming for absolute victory!" He accentuated the statement by pointing to himself with his thumb. "Half-ass this thing, and all you'll stay as in life is an extra!"
He picked up the device off of its base, turning around to face his class, sneering. "This goes double for all of you! I'm not gonna take some half earned first place! You swing at me, make it count, or move aside, got that!?"
He put down the microphone, muttering a thank you and walking off. As soon as he did so, an uproar echoed across the stadium. From the stands to the students gathered there, for better or worse, Bakugou had riled everyone up there. Even Mina had to admit she felt more pumped up now.
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT FOR, RED EYED PRICK!" Someone with a gruff voice shouted, almost like their vocal cords were metallic.
"I hope the rest of 1-A isn't as rude as him…" A boy with dirty blonde hair in a similar style to hers commented. He seemed to be with 1-B, though he looked rather… unremarkable.
"That…" Izuku looked taken aback. "It was still laced with his egotistical personality, but…"
Mina hummed. "He looked different, right?"
"Not just different, more serious…" His shock wore off, and he looked at his childhood acquaintance. "Removing the rude undertone, he basically told everyone to push themselves, because he's gonna do the same… He could have easily not done that. It's not like he doesn't know how not to irritate people-"
Her eyes widened, "Wait really?"
"-He did that because he wants us to corner him…!"
She hummed. "...Do you think he's changed already?"
Izuku nodded. "It's subtler, but… yeah, he has. I don't know what caused it specifically, but… Maybe the incident at the USJ?"
Before they could ponder their classmate's speech any further, a whip crack brought their attention back to their teacher.
"We've delayed this event long enough! It's time for the main course!"
She moved her foot, a button clicking on the stage and activating a massive hologram for all to see, representing a simplified bird's eye view of a track around the stadium. "An oldie but a goldie, today's first challenge is a classic obstacle course race!" She beamed, the hologram changed to various depictions of cartoon bad guys, booby traps and two people bumping shoulders.
"That said, I'm not telling you what's in them, because that would take the fun out of it, wouldn't it~?" She giggled. "It's a four kilometer lap around the stadium, that's all you're getting!
"Before anything else though, let me lay out some ground rules. Trying to impede your peers from advancing is fine, but don't overdo it, this is still just a friendly competition after all! Should we think you are going too far, we will hand out a fitting punishment.
"Secondly, only the top 42 will be making it onto the next phase, so if you wanna secure your place, you better place within that range! And finally, no going off course. Now, without further ado…" The huge gate within the stands whirred open, Midnight's final whip crack setting the mood. "Racers, to your positions!"
Everyone quickly maneuvered towards the gate, the other Gen. Ed and Support classes getting there first due to their positioning, effectively blocking off both Hero classes from having a head start. Some individual members like Todoroki or Bakugou managed to muscle their way through closer to the front, but that wasn't Mina's reality.
She stood at the back of the crowd of people. Her heart was pumping, the beat drumming in her ears as her body all but shook in anticipation. Her hand opened and closed, fingers curling and uncurling.
With her chest rising and falling in a consistent but more accelerated rhythm, Mina felt it again. A fire inside her that'd been lit from the moment she got a taste of One for All. Almost as if the quirk's very essence wasn't just amplifying her body, but personality as well.
The girl had always been daring, but ever since Recovery Girl pointed out her tenacity almost blinding her to the cleaner, less painful solution, she thought about it occasionally.
She shook these thoughts off her head. She didn't need them now.
With a wide stance, One for All manifesting itself in her legs, the speaker buzzed, and her breath hitched.
"STAAAAAAART!"
Within a second, students poured in through the gates, into the corridor. The first challenge immediately became obvious, this corridor wasn't nearly wide enough to fit every single person in two classes at the same time, much less eleven total classes…
She looked around frantically, trying to get a shred of inspiration from her classmates, and saw some jumping or slingshotting themselves over the other racers.
"I don't like stepping on people's heads, but…" She said under her breath.
From where she stood, she leapt forward, All-Might's quirk allowing the blonde to sail over two people. Beginning with the third, she would use her fellow students' heads as small, round platforms to bounce off of!
"Sorry! Sorry! Coming through!" With each bounce, she got closer to emerging from the dreaded corridor, before finally arriving upfront and seeing what she had missed out on due to starting out in the back.
Most of the people at the end of the courier had their legs and feet frozen, not enough to hurt them, but enough to slow them down significantly. She immediately knew the culprit of that distraction. "Todoroki…"
She didn't dwell on it, instead focusing on what was just up ahead…
"I WOULD BE CAREFUL IF I WERE YOU, FIRST YEARS!" Mic's voice boomed, and the pit that had formed in Mina's stomach grew deeper. "WHAT YOU'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW…
"...ARE HALF SCALE REPLICAS OF THE ZERO POINTERS IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM!"
Mina could barely believe what she was looking at. Six gigantic robots stood tall, almost reaching the height of the stadium itself. Even at half scale, these things… borderline mechanical Kaiju, were slowing everyone down through sheer intimidation alone.
To contrast those, next to their treads were the regular sized faux villains, mostly one pointers. Those didn't scare her nearly as much… Except that if she were to try and get through now, she would be overwhelmed immediately.
For the next few seconds, no one took initiative. Everyone running their own set of calculations and approximations of the risk that going through first would impose, no one in their right mind would go in alone at such a sight. They'd be figurative (hopefully) dead meat if they did that.
Which is why most were stunned, though perhaps they shouldn't have been, when Todoroki stepped up to the plate.
"These hunks of over-decorated aluminum aren't even moving much…" He stated, his expression as flat as his tone. "They're just a glorified blockade."
"Huff… Huff…" Izuku broke out of the ice/people cage from the corridor. "He's right… only the smaller ones are really moving around…"
"Which makes this much easier." Todoroki breathed in, raising his right arm.
In one fluid motion, he spun around to make an ice wall that blocked off the other racers, while simultaneously building up momentum and…
"RAH!" With a grunt and a swipe, he created several ice spikes from the ground, each one stabbing into the 0 pointers' bodies. He let out a cough, his right hand trembling. "That should do it for now… Can't waste more energy than that on them."
He ran through the gaps between the robots. Mina was clueless as to why he bothered doing that at all, until she heard several creaks from above. Those spikes weren't there just to disable the giants from moving any further…
"EVERYONE GET BACK!" She screamed and jumped back, as pieces and entire parts of the 0 pointers fell down, their bodies unstable from being torn apart by ice! "Is that why he made that first wall beforehand?! He was planning to do that from the start, wasn't he?!"
"I think so! He was trying to make sure no one got hurt while still giving himself an edge…" The robots finally finished falling apart, the dust settling down. Thankfully they only crushed a few faux villains in the process, but the true challenge now was the gapless, gigantic mound of pure metal that stood in front of them!
"Guess he's a recommended student for a reason!" Setsuna's… upper half suddenly appeared, floating and grinning. "Shame it won't do anything to me! See y'all at the finish line!" She floated off, her legs kicking around in the air following her.
Mina grit her teeth and ran towards the mountain of now-scrap metal. She knew was already falling behind as she heard the sounds of explosions, leaps, and grunts from her classmates making it over this newly made obstacle. Even if Setsuna's floating wasn't any faster than the average run, she got a huge advantage by the sheer fact that she could just ignore most obstacles!
So Mina struggled, heaving and pushing herself along the mini mountain. With some effort she got through, mainly hopping from corner to corner, climbing where needed. She had a few scrapes along her arms from the hussle, mostly shallow ones.
"Nothing I can't handle!" She dashed over, her quirk allowing her to be just fast enough to outpace most people! What she didn't anticipate however, was the next obstacle, which seemed…
"CAREFUL NOW, RUNNER UPS! TODOROKI, TOKAGE AND BAKUGOU ARE ALMOST OVER THIS ONE, BUT I'D BE CAREFUL IF I WERE YOU! THIS IS A PROPER BOTTOMLESS RAVINE, THE ONLY THING FOR YOU TO CROSS WITH BEING SOME PILLARS AND A TIGHTROPE WALK! IT'S 'THE FALL'!
"Concerned parents and citizens in the audience, fear not, it's not actually bottomless! But if you fall and land on the black cushions located at the bottom, you are OUT!"
Made for her! Once more, she would have to thank her breakdancing teacher for drilling into her proper balance. Compared to their training, this was a piece of cake! She began to hop across the ropes, which were made extra sturdy as a safety precaution.
"Feels less like walking on a tightrope, and more like jumping across some trampolines… I got this!" She exclaimed, making it over her first island in no time at all.
She wasn't the only one right at home, while most still had to take it slowly, others were rushing through just like her! Namely…
"Iida!" She saw the speedster blaze across the wires, a trail of light following his engines as he grinded across the ropes! His pose seemed unsightly to the average viewer, arms spread out, knees slightly bent, but Mina knew that the boy was keeping himself upright and steady, it was textbook balancing after all. "That's so cool!"
Todoroki and Setsuna were the first ones over the second obstacle, prompting Mic to start speaking again.
"WELL DONE! THE ONES IN THE LEAD ARE TWO OF THE RECOMMENDED STUDENTS, WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?! BUT HERE IS WHERE THE FINAL CULLING BEGINS-"
Mina hopped over to the next island. She was just over halfway there now! She was quickly noticing that several of her classmates had caught up, Bakugou was just about to get to the other side, and Iida himself was right behind him. If she wanted to show her stuff like All-Might had asked her, she needed to pick up the pace!
"IT'S THE SUPER-LOUD-AND-DISORIENTING-BUT-NOT-HARMFUL MINEFIELD OF DOOM!"
Mina stopped dead on her tracks. 'Wait what.'
"THAT'S RIGHT, THIS LAST STRETCH IS FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH MINES THAT, WHILE NOT AT ALL DAMAGING ON THEIR OWN, WILL GIVE YOU A SCARE AND TOSS YOU AROUND A LITTLE! IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL…"
Todoroki couldn't wait to hear more and took the first step into the field. He didn't bother to use his ice here, it would only help other racers in the end.
Which was his first mistake, as he was immediately blown a solid 3 feet into the air and tossed to the side, falling down and touching another mine, getting ping-ponged around briefly before landing on a safe spot, covered in dirt.
With all the commotion, because of the way they'd thrown him around, he had only made it across 40 feet of this several hundred feet long field!
"THAT'LL HAPPEN! NOW THAT'S A LOTTA DISORIENTATION!"
Following this, Mina could only hear the sounds of explosions as she finished making her way across the second obstacle. By the time she reached the other side, she noticed just how far behind she was from the people who were dominating this race.
Iida was leaping across the field at a lower torque. Even though he was being careful, he was still making good progress with each bound (though it was occasionally halted by the stray mine)!
Setsuna wasn't far behind, simply floating above the mines at her pace. Even if her quirk only moved at an average speed, the fact she didn't need to worry about the mines at all meant she was for sure making it into the top 10.
And at the front, the ones furthest ahead, Bakugou and Todoroki were neck-and-neck, almost literally, as the two kept trying to throw each other off of their course. One sliding on ice, the other rocketing through the air, detonation after detonation.
Even just Setsuna was much farther ahead than Mina was, and in order to stand out at all, she needed to be in at least third place…
That's when it started to fall into place for her. At her current level, if she kept using 1%, she would be left in the dust by everyone else. An unremarkable waste of space, who left no impression on anyone. A scourge on the legacy All-Might had handed her.
People began to run by her, her thoughts preoccupying her too much for her to notice. If she kept holding back… If she kept playing it safe…
She would never have what it took.
She would never be someone worth remembering.
And that thought terrified her. It terrified her far more than the consequences of the last time she went all out.
"Even if this hurts…"
Energy crackled off of her right arm, tearing her sleeve apart with bolts of pink and red lightning.
"Even if this makes me feel the worst pain I've ever felt in my life again…"
Izuku and Kirishima managed to make it through the second obstacle, both sweating, and both noticing their friend getting ready to do… something. Something they felt in their gut… wasn't going to be pretty.
"Ashido?" Izuku whimpered out.
"Oi." Kirishima stomped forward, the showcase making him forget his grievances that had led to him ignoring her. "OI! What are you-"
"100%..." She reeled her arm upwards, fingers stretched out. The motion alone pushed the air around her arm and sent it flying into the two students' faces.
Kirishima covered his face with his arm, "You said the last time you did this, you broke your-"
She jumped up and threw her palm downwards. "BREAKER!"
"ARM!" The raven haired boy shouted a moment too late.
The cameras at the race track captured the exact moment Mina would make herself stand out. The exact moment people noticed her presence.
It was the moment when, with a single move, she launched herself across an entire field, destroying the ground she once stood on, almost knocking her two classmates into the cushioned depths. Sheer air pressure, created by overwhelming, raw power, carried and thrusted her forward.
Setsuna didn't even have time to look back.
Iida could only look up to see her silhouette sailing through the air.
Bakugou and Todoroki saw a blonde girl flailing her arms, one very clearly broken and mangled, trying to reach for anything to hold on to.
As luck would have it, her slightly angled launch would let her left arm grab onto Todoroki's shoulder as she fell, making him stumble and veer to the left.
"WHAT A SURPRISING DISPLAY OF POWER! ASHIDO, WHO HAD BEEN MAKING STEADY BUT OTHERWISE AVERAGE PROGRESS, SUDDENLY SHOWED OFF STRENGTH THAT WOULD MAKE EVEN A SEASONED VETERAN GAPE!" Mic laughed, "IN TURN, SHE TURNED HERSELF INTO A LIVING MISSILE!"
For a brief moment, Bakugou grinned, he was sure Mina had slowed down Todoroki enough to earn him the first place he deserved!
Until he felt something cold and hard crash into him.
"WHAT THE HE-" Was all he could scream out before being carried off by two teenagers who were desperately trying to regain control of their ice skating.
"Get off of me!" Todoroki shouted, trying to freeze Mina's hand so she'd let go.
"N-Nuh-uh!" She responded in kind by kicking him in the back with her free legs, and Bakugou had to simply withstand being sandwiched in-between that, desperately clawing and exploding away at whatever he could to try and break free.
Between trying not to crash into a wall, getting hit in the back repeatedly and dealing with what he could only describe as a rabid dog made into a person, Todoroki ended up losing his balance, and fell forwards onto the ground unexpectedly.
Which was his second mistake.
The now even more tangled ball of three teenagers felt themselves be encased in a rough ice dome- the boy's quirk still being activated mid-fall- and promptly launched forward by a collection of mines at the end of the field!
The dome bounced and chipped away at itself, rolling with surprising speed towards the finish line! He loathed the fact he had to do this, but Todoroki resigned himself to using his left side for the briefest moment. In doing so, the ball began to melt away, each member of the ball slowly being unstuck from one another in the process-
"AND THE FIRST ONE TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE, IS…" Mic paused, and blinked. "...Ara?"
Emerging from the end gate was a ball of three thoroughly scuffed and dirtied teenagers, each one screaming out different flavors of the same phrase.
"Get- Get off of me!" Mina grit her teeth and winced, her right arm most definitely being broken all the way through. "Where do you two- think you're- touching!"
The three finally separated, standing up quickly and staring the other down. None were spared from looking like a disheveled mess, dirt and grime staining their entire bodies.
"ASHIDO MINA, TODOROKI SHOUTO AND BAKUGOU KATSUKI, ALL AT THE SAME TIME?!"
"No…" Bakugou growled as soon as his mind caught up and pieced together what had just happened. "No no no, this can't be happening…"
"FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, IT'S A FIRST PLACE TIE!"
The crowd erupted into wild cheering, the monumental occasion riling each of the spectators up to unprecedented levels.
"GOD-" He stomped on the ground repeatedly, veins popping up from his forehead. "DAMN- IT- This isn't over, you- you- glorified extras!"
He stormed off shaking, stopping only when he was very, very far away from either of them.
Katsuta simply gaped at what he had just witnessed. He shook the pro sitting next to him as he began to giggle, "Did- did you see that!? That's my girl! My daughter did that!"
Todoroki pursed his lips as the situation finally dawned on him. He spared Ashido a glance, and sighed.
"I didn't expect you to pull out something you hadn't used in two months." She tilted her head, confused. "The entrance exam. It got pretty viral. Point being… you outplayed me. That's all there is to it.
"It won't happen again."
"THE REST OF THE RACERS ARE BEGINNING TO POUR IN! WE'LL ANNOUNCE THE STANDINGS SOON, BUT FOR NOW, CATCH YOUR BREATHS EVERYONE, THIS WAS INSANE!"
Iida crossed the final gate, finishing in what Mina assumed to be… 2nd? 3rd? Maybe 4th? The whole situation was extremely confusing to her. She shook her head, she shouldn't think about it too hard.
"I guess I should have figured you would be right behind us, huh Iida?" Her broken arm brushed against her body, causing her to jolt in pain as the adrenaline began to settle down.
"I…" The boy stood tall, grimacing as he clenched his fists.
"To lose a race of all things… A place I should have excelled in…" He sighed, relaxing. "I shouldn't dwell on it. Still, I'm surprised… I'd heard some rumors from Kaminari, but I didn't imagine your power was that…"
His eyes drifted towards her arm. "explo...sive… Ashido, your arm, is it-"
"I-I'll just go to Recovery Girl later, it's fine, really!" She choked out. It wasn't. She knew it wasn't, it was burning like hell, her nerves flaring up like a forest blaze. Her entire body was telling her to scream and cry, but what kind of hero did that over a broken arm?
Setsuna made it through, others following right behind. She rushed over to Mina's side, grinning ear to ear. "That, was, awesome! You went totally airborne, I didn't even know you could do that!"
"I-It was a gamble, actually." Mina laughed, trying to distract herself. "I could've launched myself back into the pit if I did it wrong… I'm just glad it worked out."
She looked off behind Setsuna, noticing her other two friends, Izuku and Kirishima. The latter just looked at her, and then walked away, while the former was rushing to her side, wheezing and panting.
'Guess the fact I'm still standing is proof enough for him I'm ok…?' She mused. 'Or maybe… he might think I'm mad at him for snapping at me… ugh, this is the worst…'
"Ashido-" Izuku stopped next to Setsuna, bent over and coughing.
She laughed, patting him on the back. "Slow down there, Elecman, you're gonna kill yourself at this rate. Never run for that long?"
"Not in a minefield…" He muttered and stood up straight. "Are you ok?"
"Just… a couple of maybe broken bones. I'll live."
At this, both Setsuna and Iida's expressions went from relaxed to bewildered.
"Your arm's broken?!" She screamed.
"Ashido, this is unacceptable, you need treatment immediately!"
"Guys, please-"
"Um, excuse… me?" An unknown voice interjected.
It was soft spoken, almost like cotton. When they all turned to face the source, Mina found the same dirty blonde haired boy she'd seen during the pledge.
He was shorter than most of them, even shorter than Mina herself. His eyes had long lashes at the bottom, his iris was the same color as his hair, and by extension, the same color as Mina's "eyes", however fake the color she was using was.
"I'm, uh… Shimano Katsuma. From 1-B." He walked over to her, his hands fidgeting with each other. "I noticed that your arm is… pretty hurt? I heard something about it being broken…"
"I-It might be, yeah. Why?"
"I can help with that, then." He stretched out his hand, hovering over her shoulder. "May I?"
Mina looked unsure. "I… guess? Is it gonna hurt?"
"It shouldn't…"
He touched her shoulder, which did make her feel an initial jolt of pain, but she had to assume even a part of her shoulder was fractured too. Shimano closed his eyes, and a green glow overtook Mina's entire body, radiating and illuminating the group. Right before their eyes, places where her arm was disfigured, bent the other way, where skin was split, began to mend itself.
Setsuna blinked, her mouth gaping open at the display. "Woah…"
"My quirk is cellular activation…" He took his hand off of her, opening and closing his eyes a few times. He wobbled for a moment, then straightened himself out. "Among other things, it lets me improve physical performance and heal wounds to an extent. How is your arm doing now?"
"It's…" Mina hesitated, but tried moving it. She winced, but was actually surprised at how little pain she was feeling now! "It still hurts somewhat, but don't get me wrong, this is 100% an improvement! Oh wow!"
Shimano smiled. "I'm- uh- glad to hear that."
"Wait, I know you!" Setsuna poked him using a detached hand. "Shimano, you took the recommended student exam, didn't you?"
"Yeah… I did. You were there too, weren't you?"
"I was! I thought you didn't pass though, you didn't place within the top 5 during the race if I remember correctly."
"Y-Yeah, I… didn't." He blushed at her comment, laughing. "Even with my quirk helping my performance, I only ranked 7th… but the applicants explained to me that my written score and my interview convinced them to let me in over other applicants. It was a stroke of luck, really…"
"Well, seeing that, I'm glad you made it in!"
"So am I… I-I should regroup with my class, until later, uh…"
"Setsuna, Iida, Ashido, Midoriya." Went around the group, using her hand to hover over each member, like a character select.
"Right. Until later, everyone!" He walked off, a pretty slow pace, even for someone who had his type of quirk, Mina noted.
"He seems tired…" She commented.
Izuku hummed, putting a finger to his chin. "His quirk probably uses his own stamina, unlike Recovery Girl's… but it does have a wider range of application..."
"That was nice of him then." Iida said. "It's good to see some people aren't blinded by interclass competitiveness when it comes to doing the right thing."
Not long after, Present Mic cut in and explained everyone's standings. Mina, Bakugou and Todoroki were all in first place, while Iida was in fourth, Setsuna in fifth, so on. Both hero classes had managed to pass fully, with 2 more members from other classes also making the cut.
Mina didn't want to comment on it, but Iida placing lower than what he probably expected to place really did seem to be doing a number on him.
She briefly considered saying he did great, because he really did do great! But then thought twice about it. Maybe it would come off as insulting rather than congratulatory, especially coming from one of the people that placed in first place.
Midnight got up from her stool, clearing her throat. "Now that the top 42 have been picked out, the true selection is about to begin! The press corp's going to be jumping out of their seats, so give it your all for this next one-"
She moved her foot, activating another switch on the stand and making another hologram appear behind her. "-A cavalry battle!"
Curiosity built up inside most of the students upon hearing this. While a vast majority already knew that the second event would be some form of teamwork exercise, something like this wasn't anywhere near the top of their expectations.
"Each of you will form your own teams- with a minimum of two people, maximum of four- and the rules will be the same as any other cavalry battle! Just snag the headbands off of other teams and try to keep yours! But there's a catch!
"Based on your standing in the race, you'll be assigned a different amount of points! Starting at 5 in 42th place, going up to 205 in 2nd, your team's total point amount being a sum of all members' points!" She excitedly said. "Though some of our more perceptive participants might have noticed I didn't mention how many points the people in 1st would get. Well…"
She cleared her throat, and grinned. "Could the three who finished first step forward please?"
Mina, Todoroki and (begrudgingly) Bakugou stepped to the front of the crowd of students.
"Ordinarily, the first place belongs to a single person, but since we have a very special selection of students this year, each one of them will be assigned…" Midnight paused, allowing Mic to imitate a drumroll with a surprising amount of accuracy. "333.333 points!"
Everyone's eyes landed on the trio upfront.
Bakugou grinned at the declaration, his palms blowing off sparks.
Todoroki looked at his hands, and took a deep breath.
"Eh?" Said Mina, as she fully processed what was going on. "EEEEEEH?!"