"These three golden eggs are the ones all of you should be aiming for! After all, if they don't team up, their teams are practically guaranteed to hog the first 3 slots to move on to the final event! And remember…" Midnight licked her lips, grabbing her cattail whip and snapping it with both hands. "There are only 4 slots~."
"Heroes at the top endure more suffering than most other heroes… What you three are experiencing is just a taste of that kind of pressure, kids! And you know what we say around here, don't you? This is Plus Ultra!"
"So, with these 333.333 points to your head, persevere, fledgling heroes! Or fall trying!"
From the teachers' stand, All-Might smiled. 'Well, I have to hand it to you, young Ashido. You've completed the first part of my assignment to you. Now comes the most important and difficult part… holding onto that spotlight.'
"All of you have 15 minutes to pick your teams! Have fun!"
Almost immediately, Bakugou and Todoroki walked away, and nearly everyone avoided the three of them like the plague. It was only natural after all. Anyone who would be put on any of their teams would be targeted immediately for their high point counts. Being in the same team as them was basically throwing away your chance to be in the third event.
Mina was beginning to feel her breaths get shallower. Her sweat ran cold. It was happening again. Despite trying her hardest, despite trying to show what she could do, she was being isolated again. Her nails dug into her palms, her head wandering down. Until she felt something poke the back of her head. She looked up, seeing a disembodied hand.
"...Huh." She looked around, and spotted both of her green haired friends, standing side by side. She walked towards them, glancing between the two. "Are you sure you wanna team up? I'm gonna be practically hunted for sport here."
"You and two other douchebags." Midoriya looked at Setsuna incredulously. "Oh come on, he's not as bad as Bakugou over there, but- and no pun intended- the guy is ice cold most of the time. Then suddenly he starts talking mad trash to everyone at one of the most important events of our school?"
"...I got nothing to say to that."
She nodded. "Anyway, yeah, of course we're sure, Ashi!" Setsuna walked over and slung her arm around Mina. She tried to hide the fact that she felt just a tiny bit embarrassed at the sudden PDA; she was really not used to anyone but her dad and occasionally Kirishima doing that.
Her face must have not hidden it well, because Setsuna's smile dropped for a moment, and she let go casually. She giggled, and looked between themselves. "So, that makes 3 of us. We could go for a fourth person, but do y'all think we need one?"
Mina hummed. "Well… I think I should get this out of the way, I'm not going to be the rider."
Midoriya blinked at that. "Why not?"
"Well for starters, my quirk-" That felt weird to say still. "only allows me to do melee range moves. I could do something ranged if I went all out, but-"
"That's not happening." The boy cut him off, with Setsuna nodding in agreement. "Well, if you're not going to be the rider, I think I'd rather Tokage fill that role."
"Agreed with ya, Greenie!" Setsuna joked, her friend trying to process that nickname. "Now, with my quirk, we'll be racking up points in no time."
Midoriya tapped his chin. "Will we? It's not like we need to get all the points to pass, if we just hang onto our first headband, we'll make it for sure."
"Well sure, but…" She looked at Mina, locking eyes with her. "Our leader over here wants to meet the taunts of a certain dual colored snowcone, right?"
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she looked around. Everyone else seemed to be almost done making teams. Todoroki had Momo and Kirishima with him, which surprised her. Bakugou already had all four slots filled out with Kaminari, Sero and some pink haired girl she didn't know.
All in all, it seemed both had the same idea. Going all out, no half hearted wins.
And that's when she felt it again. That familiar but still unknown fire danced inside of her. It made her feel as though if she didn't say yes she would regret it for the rest of her life. The blaze only grew more and more feeling as a fellow this moment, this decision, would somehow be the last one she'd ever make.
She knew that wasn't logical at all, and yet… It was like the small part of her that was competitive had been amplified ten fold.
And so without a second thought, she turned to face her group again with a smile. "She's right. I don't wanna necessarily crush them, but, I gotta admit… really putting my back into this is gonna be more fun than just settling for keeps!"
"But riskier." Mina nodded at Midoriya's observation.
"We can remedy that, let's see…" She looked around, and her eyes landed on Iida, who hadn't been scouted yet. She raised her hand and waved. "Hey, Iida!"
The taller student took notice of this and jogged towards her with far more speed than she thought he had without his quirk.
Setsuna whistled. "Jeez, guess being tall isn't useful for just reaching the top shelf."
Iida frowned, but looked at Mina. "I will discuss with you the downsides of being tall later." Setsuna gaped at that, blinking. "Is there something you need, Ashido?"
"Well, uh… you." She gestured vaguely in his direction. "With these two, I have a lot of bases covered, I think… I feel like it anyway. But your quirk would be really useful to have around, y'know? Just for good measure."
"I see." He smiled briefly at the indirect praise, but sighed. "I'm afraid I must decline."
"Say whaaaat?" Setsuna prodded him with a finger, "Come on man, we'll be like, the dream team!"
"And I have to admit, we would make a very efficient team. However… this is something I'm doing purely out of selfish pride, that much I confess."
"Eh…?" Mina tilted her head, not knowing where he was going with this.
"You… for the lack of a better term, are not quicker than I am. I could deal with losing to the likes of Todoroki, or Bakugou. They had inherent advantages in the minefield, it's something I could swallow." His lips stretched into a thin line. "You, however, did not have any of these. Even if it took… drastic measures to overtake me, you still did. Despite, under normal circumstances, having the disadvantage against me.
"I am here first and foremost to show my brother how far I've come. To make the Iida family proud." He paused, and straightened his back. "Though saying this makes me feel selfish, even being good friends, during these events, I will be your rival, Ashido. Don't hold back, for I won't either."
With that, he bowed, and walked off towards Todoroki's team. Setsuna grit her teeth, "I'll show you a rival you stuck up glasses wearing- Agh! The gall of that guy, right Ashi?"
Mina didn't respond. That feeling she'd gotten previously began to return. Less intense. But still present.
Loneliness.
"I can't blame him." Was all she said before shaking her head. "So, we're down to three. Who else hasn't teamed up yet? I… think we could make do with just 3 people, but it would proooobably put us in a bad position."
Midoriya nodded. "Right. With Tokage and I, we have the far range covered. That just leaves us needing one more person for a close range defense."
"Yeah, as much as I hate to say it, my right arm's still sore." She rotated it, and winced. "Which means I'm gonna carry Tokage with my left if we can get another member. Our right side's gonna be sluggish with just me."
Despite their needs and disadvantages, as she looked around, she had to come to one conclusion. Everyone else had already gotten themselves into a team. Be they full 4 man teams, or small duos.
Setsuna had noticed this too, hissing. "Seems like we're gonna have to make do with just the three of us."
Mina hummed. "Playing the game on hard mode, huh…"
"And that's just the way we like it, right you two?!" She slung her arm around Mina and Midoriya, grinning. "Come on, Greenie, you've got guts for days, Ashi, once you get going you don't stop! With me as the rider, we'll be an unstoppable trio!"
Setsuna looked at him, and Midoriya smiled, a red tint coming over his face. "That's one way to put it, I suppose!"
She turned to Mina, and with a stronger red tint, her face was unsure at first. She closed her eyes, then grinned, however strained. "Thanks for the pep talk, Tokage!"
"No prob, hot stuff~." Her grin dropped and she looked away at that, causing Setsuna to giggle. "Alright, team strat, what're we working with here?"
"I've gotten somewhat better with using my quirk, so I should be able to shock a team with just one arm if we do a drive-by." Midoriya replied, emphasizing by making sparks of electricity surge from his arm.
"I won't be all too good at offense, but if anything comes from our right, provided it's not too fast…" Mina brought up her right arm, surging it with power and making it glow. "I can catch it right then and there. Plus, if we need a quick get away, I can use Power-Up on my legs!"
Setsuna looked at her briefly. "Power-Up?"
Mina blushed. "It's… my… quirk's name. I named it myself." She mumbled.
"You. Are. Precious." She teased.
"A-anyway! Midoriya, Tokage, you two have a game plan then? I'm not a very good strategist, I'm pretty good at following plans though!"
Midoriya nodded, looking at Setsuna, "I think Tokage and I have the same idea."
"Probably! Listen up loves, here's what I was thinking…"
The fifteen minutes were up, and the buzzer sounded.
Mic began the countdown. Even before the battle royale started, Mina could see from her position behind Midoriya, carrying Setsuna, that they had the most eyes on them. Not because they had the most points, that would go to Todoroki's team, who had the most overall points out of the top 3.
No, it was because they were fewer in number, more vulnerable.
"They're dead wrong if they think we're weak for it though." Mina said to herself.
"Hm?" Tokage hummed from the top.
Midoriya nodded. "So you noticed it too. People are eyeing us down."
"3!"
Setsuna grinned from ear to ear, "They better be prepared to get wrecked then!"
"2!"
Mina shifted her shoulders, taking a deep breath."
"1!"
She dug her feet into the ground.
"STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAART"
Within the second, everyone was off, and so were Mina and co. They ran around the designated perimeter of the battle, she held off on using her quirk for now, conserving her stamina.
They were intercepted by two other teams! Someone with a pincer mouth, who she recognized as Kamakiri from 1-B, and a ginger haired girl, both leading their groups towards them with clear intent!
Setsuna felt the headbands around her neck being tugged on, grabbing them so they wouldn't get away. "One of them's a PSI!" She shouted from the top, the three backing away to buy some time for themselves.
Kamakiri's arms sprouted blades, making Setsuna jump. "GIVE US THAT HEADBAND, 3K!"
"We're surrounded!" Midoriya shouted.
A rock was launched by an invisible force at Setsuna's head, one she dodged swiftly with her quirk. A… mushroom, of all things, sprouted in-between them, clearly intending to knock the air out of Setsuna's lungs, but she kicked it away without even looking at it.
Midoriya on the other hand played keep away by charging his hands with electricity and swinging them at the two teams, which kept them at bay.
Mina was impressed, really impressed at her friends' moves, but it was becoming increasingly clear that they were being overwhelmed. Setsuna couldn't dodge forever, and Midoriya couldn't use his quirk forever. This feeling was only exacerbated by the ginger girl growing her hands into an obscene size.
"Tokage, two people one flight!" Mina nudged her rider's feet.
"Already, huh?!"
She put their headband into her mouth, biting down and gritting her teeth. In a moment, her body split apart in the middle as she grabbed Midoriya with her upper half, while Mina grabbed onto her lower half. The two parts floated up and off the ground, as the bladed arm of Kamakiri just barely nicked Midoriya's sneakers, which he responded by shocking his assailant and preventing him from pursuing them.
"Close one!" Mina looked up at her carrier, "You doing alright Tokage?!"
"MMHM!" She mumbled through gritted teeth, using them to hold onto the headband that was still being pulled at by an invisible force.
In the air, she dodged the assault of rocks and even a raging out Kamakiri, who had been tossed into the air unintentionally by the ginger girl! He had managed to scratch Mina's cheek and back in his wild frenzy in the air, but otherwise, fell back without dealing major damage. They were safe, for now.
In the opposite side of the field, Bakugou was rushing around with his ragtag team of a guy who shot out acid strong enough to melt through concrete, a guy who could shoot tape even people like Tokoyami had a hard time getting out of, and a support department girl who pulled out just about any invention out of her ass.
He couldn't be bothered to remember their names, so he called them Melted brain, Soyface and Item Chick.
What he could be bothered to do though was aim for the top. He was going to show these extras why he was going to be number one. He was going to wash any of them he came across, starting from the bottom.
"Like a real fuckin' tournament." He concluded his thoughts out loud.
Melted Brain looked up at him with his dumb eyes. "What was that?"
"Nothing! Focus on the battle Melted Brain!" He barked back. "These extras piss me off. Are they mad at me for saying I'm gonna be number one? Then let them try to take it away from me!"
Soyface laughed, "Vixe, I forgot that our rider is pretty-"
"Don't worry, explosion guy! With my babies, we'll be able to take all the points we need!" Item Chick interjected.
He grinned, feeling his hands ache to explode someone and grab their points. "That's what I like to hear! I see our first victim already…"
He spotted a big, burly and furry guy. Most likely less than limber, and slowed down with two people on his back. He was going to have fun crushing these people.
Once they'd gotten a good distance away and the two teams had begun to fight each other, the three finally touched down, with Setsuna letting out a heaved sigh of exhaustion. She moved her arms and legs, both sets of limbs worked well enough…
"..But I'm definitely not pulling a stunt like that for a few minutes…" She grabbed her own wrist, feeling around it. "Anyway, where did we drop off?"
Midoriya looked around, with Mina peeking out from behind. In the distance, Bakugou was facing off against a student from 1-B, and Todoroki himself was trying to evade a team that had a big, furry guy as their mount, by the looks of it, their headband had just been taken away from them.
"On our left!" The boy had begun to say something, but was cut off by Mina's shout! Her two teammates turned and were greeted with Shoji charging towards them, Jirou and Tatami in tow!
Jirou's earlobes shot out at them, both aiming towards Setsuna's headbands; she grabbed both, only barely noticing a shadow dropping in on them.
Tatami had jumped off of Shoji's back, diving down straight for her neck, arms outstretched! "GIMME!"
Before Setsuna could react, she was pulled back by Mina, causing Tatami to miss entirely, only not hitting the ground due to Shoji's grown arms grabbing her and pulling her back.
"Woahwoah-" Setsuna let go of Jirou's earlobes, confused by the chaotic events, giving the girl just enough time to wrap one around the headband and snatch it!
Midoriya tried to grab the earjack to shock her, but missed entirely. "Alright!" Jirou cheered as she pulled the headband in.
Setsuna blinked and fully registered what had just happened. "What the heck, that was way too clever!"
The opposing group began backing away, forcing them to give chase! "Give that back! It doesn't belong to you!" Their rider yelled out as she sent out her hands to try and grab it back.
But they were just too quick, Shoji's size, combined with the fact he was running alone, made him much more dexterous than they had anticipated, and both her and her hand were falling back. At this rate, they'd lose that headband for good!
She bit her lip, her sharp teeth digging into the flesh.
"Tokage, what do we do?!" Mina yelled out. "I can't use Power-Up on my legs or I'm going to ram Midoriya!"
She didn't respond, her eyes shaking.
"Tokage!"
They were farther away now, and Mina noticed that her teammate seemed to be completely locked up, dead set on an action that wasn't going to work. 'She's completely tunnel visioned herself!'
"TOKAGE!" She shook her rider's legs as her mind came up with a half baked idea.
Setsuna jolted, "Y-yeah?! I'm trying to think of somethin-"
"I'm throwing you!"
"What?!" Both Setsuna and Midoriya yelled out.
"That's our only chance!" Without giving them a chance to protest or give input, Mina let One for All surge inside her arms as she grabbed Setsuna by the ankles.
Midoriya dropped to the ground as she began to spin around, "WAIT WAIT WAIT-" She cried out, reattaching her hand in order to gain some semblance of control over what was happening.
"GO!" With a shout, she threw Setsuna across the field!
The girl soared above the ground, her speed more than surpassing Shoji's on foot one, letting her catch up! With fine tuned reflexes, she put her hand down and grabbed at a purple and white blur, grasping two pieces of fabric from something.
Using her quirk, she guided herself upwards and lost her momentum, finally coming to a halt and circling back to her two teammates.
In the process of doing so, Shoji had paused, which gave Midoriya a chance to run by him and tap him with the palm of his hand for just a moment. Enough time to send a painful jolt through all 3 members of his team!
The two returned to Mina, Setsuna landing on her palms, running off while their previous opponents were stunned.
Mina looked up at their rider. Despite her position being one that would normally cause Mina to blush with embarrassment, her mind was focused on the event. "Which one did you manage to grab?"
Her rider gingerly looked down at her palm. "...Both! I got both!" She excitedly exclaimed, wrapping the two headbands around her neck. "That was incredible! Good one Ashi!"
"And incredibly risky!" Midoriya interjected. "You could have given us more of a-a warning, that you were about to try something like that!"
Setsuna nodded and hummed, causing Mina to shrink slightly. "Sorry, sorry. Just… Didn't wanna lose all our points, y'know?"
"Yeah, I getcha. Hey, it all worked out though! So, good job!"
Midoriya sighed, amused and a bit annoyed. He looked back at Mina with a smile. "Yeah, I can't deny that it worked. Thanks Ashido! You're a reliable friend!"
Setsuna grinned and looked back as well. "See?"
And though Mina's cheeks became slightly flushed with red at the praise, she still appreciated the compliments, allowing herself to smile back at her.
"You three are acting pretty calm for someone who's about to lose their hard earned headbands!" A metallic voice growled.
The three stopped dead in their tracks and faced the source of the threat.
"Hey, isn't that…" Midoriya trailed off.
"THE ONE AND ONLY! TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU"
The boy in front of them capped off his introduction by turning his entire body into a metallic-esque material. He was leading a four man team, consisting of a boy with black spiky hair, a girl with vines for hair, and Katsuma.
On his neck were several headbands, presumably from other teams they'd beaten.
"Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu?" Setsuna snorted. "I feel like you should sue your parents for abuse with that name!"
"OI, MY PARENTS ARE GREAT!"
"She's making a joke, moron." The black haired student mumbled out. "Anyway, Shiozaki, you know what to do."
Shiozaki nodded. "Absolutely. Shimano, if you could?"
Mina gulped. "I got a bad feeling about this…"
Before she could elaborate, she saw Shimano touch Shiozaki's shoulder. A green glow surrounded her.
"Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the Lord does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account." She proclaimed proudly, closing her eyes.
Her thorny hair dug into the concrete ground with terrifying ease, and before they knew it, vines had burst out from beneath them, wrapping the three in a constraining, stabbing thread!
Out of the three, Mina was the one who had gotten off with the least amount of vines by the looks of it. While Midoriya and Setsuna had multiple sets all around their torso, arms and even legs, Mina's only had them on her arms and waist.
'She might not have been able to see me well enough to fully get me!' She rationalized, struggling against the vines.
Setsuna tried to split herself apart, to get away, to free herself, but she was completely restrained…
"We'll be taking that!" Tetsutetsu yelled out as his team rushed by them, grabbing the vulnerable headbands and running off!
"D-damn it!" Setsuna choked out, trying to wiggle out of her prison. "We… need to… get those headbands… back!"
"But- But how?!" Midoriya struggled against the vines. He wasn't built for strength based labour, meaning he had no way of actually freeing himself.
"We…" With a strained gasp, Mina cried out and freed her arms from the prison of thorns, ripping them apart! "Chase them!"
Her teammates gaped at the display of strength and she swiftly tore out the main vines that were restraining them. She let Setsuna rest her feet on her hands once more, now that they were free. "We don't have much time!"
As if on cue, Present Mic spoke up. "TWO MINUTES REMAINING! GET A MOVE ON! GO GO GO!"
"Right!" Her teammates responded as they sprinted towards their target team.
With a full sprint and better coordination, they caught up to Tetsutetsu's team in barely any time at all. Shiozaki gasped as she looked back, "They escaped the lord's chains! How?!"
"N-No one's been able to break outta that yet!" The spiky haired boy stammered out.
"Get real, all of you!" Tetsutetsu berated his team as he faced Setsuna, "They got that blond girl with 'em! Her muscles ain't the only thing that makes her strong, she's got a quirk for it too!"
Setsuna smirked, "That's right, and because of her, we're taking back what's rightfully ours!"
Tetsutetsu's arms turned to steel, "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" He slammed his fists together, making sparks fly out of them. "LET'S TAKE THESE OUT RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!"
Shimano gaped, "I don't think that's a good idea-"
"THEY'LL CATCH UP TO US ANYWAY, WE DON'T GOT A CHOICE! CHAAAAAARGE!"
With reluctance, his team complied, and they met Mina's team head on!
Shoto Todoroki had been fighting to keep his headband for a while now. Team after team rushed at him, and while trapping them in ice usually did the trick, the few said trick didn't work on were proving to be a pain.
First had been the beast man, his entire being had gone on a rampage and broken out of the ice with ease. With his two riders, he had more than a few close calls with the guy, they were clearly desperate after losing their headbands.
Next had been the kid whose head looked like a speech bubble…
He would never admit it outloud, but he had underestimated the guy. Because his quirk almost, almost made him start to even consider using his left side. Almost.
But Momo and Kirishima turned the situation around, even snatching an extra headband while they were at it. By the looks of it, his team would quickly end up being number one.
Finally, the newest foe was a rather simple one. Just a ginger haired girl, who seemed to be accompanied by a person who remotely pulled at his headbands.
He shut that down with a thick ice wall.
"Are you alright, Todoroki?" Iida asked, looking up at his classmate. "Not only are you cold, you seem fatigued!"
"I'm fine." He shot back with a hoarse voice. "This won't slow me down."
Truth be told, he wasn't fine. He wouldn't let Iida know that though.
Besides his temperature having dropped, his quirk had a downside that, compared to his parents' quirks, was more accentuated in him. Stamina usage.
Endeavor had more than enough stamina to shrug off that downside, the overheating being his true enemy. If he took care of that, he was back in action in almost peak condition.
And his mother never seemed to tire out when chilling the house during the summer. At least, back when she was with them still.
Shoto wasn't so lucky.
His body, due to having two quirks that both complemented and clashed with one another, underwent significant stress whenever using even one side, in his case, purely his right side. The two quirks were too different, as such, his body had to try and keep up, which made big moves like ice walls and spikes something he couldn't sling around aimlessly.
If he did that, sooner or later he'd pass out from exhaustion. If he hadn't succumbed to frostbite yet, of course.
"Fine? You look like you're about to pass out." Kirishima commented. "Don't go getting prideful over it."
"Do you need me to make a heated pad for you?" Momo chimed in.
He shook his head, fighting back the urge to shiver. "There's only two minutes left, save your fat."
The bluntness caught Momo off guard, and had Kirishima stifling a laugh. Before either of them could say anything more though, the team was broken out of their thoughts by the sounds of fighting. Specifically…
"...Ashido's team. And Tetsu's." Kirishima murmured, his mood immediately dropping. He didn't seem too happy at the fact the ice wall had forced them into the same space as the two teams. "We should avoid them."
"Wasn't planning on fighting them. We've got more than enough points." Shoto responded, letting out a cold breath. "We walled ourselves in though, so we might as well watch while we recuperate."
His team nodded. On the surface, his suggestion was perfectly reasonable, there was nothing strange to it at all. But what he hid was the fact that his suggestion was motivated by deep rooted suspicion.
For a while now, he had watched Ashido from the sidelines. From her seemingly frequent interactions with All-Might, an at times equally energetic personality, similar appearance, to a very similar quirk to his, he had reasons to think that the girl was at the very least related to him.
And that at first intrigued him, no mention of All-Might ever having a kid had come up in any news outlets. Some people tried to claim their baby had been his of course, but every time that would happen, he would simply disprove them with basic facts, such as him not being interested at all in reproduction, or the fact the children usually didn't look or act anything like him.
They were easy claims to disprove, and yet Ashido's wasn't.
Beyond that though, he saw an opportunity.
If Ashido managed to make it to the one on one bracket, he would have a chance to fight her.
Which meant that he would have a chance to prove to Endeavor that he didn't need to use his quirk to be at the top. And that he never would.
His teammates noticed the temperature drop suddenly, but a feeling in their guts prevented them from asking Shoto anything. They weren't sure they wanted to know.
How many minutes had it been now? Mina couldn't tell at all. Between breaths, she clashed with Tetsutetsu's team. In the middle of the fray, Shiozaki had surrounded Midoriya's hands with multiple layers of vines, preventing him from easily shocking any of them.
Which meant that Mina had to sub in as the offensive 'horse' of the team. A decision she wasn't too happy with, all things considered.
She jumped and blocked another one of Tetsutetsu's punches, wincing as Setsuna caught her.
Even with One for All powered arms, she couldn't deny that the steeled boy hit like a truck.
"We aren't making any progress here Ashido!" Setsuna shouted, panicked. "What do we do, what do we do?!"
Setsuna tried to reach for the headbands with a hand, only for Tetsutetsu to punch it out of the air with a steeled fist.
She shrieked and pulled it back, "AGH, that-" She hissed, "that really hurt!"
Setsuna leaned forward, resting her damaged hand on Mina's shoulder. Mina wanted to respond to her earlier question, she wanted to give her a concrete answer, some way to clutch this out.
But she had nothing.
So far, Mina had made an incredible one contribution to the team. Sure, it got them the headband back when that happened for the first time, but if it weren't for Setsuna's reflexes and Midoriya's stun gun, they would have never been able to keep those headbands…
Not only that, but Setsuna had proved her weight in gold, and so had Midoriya. Setsuna had maneuvered them around a ton now, used her quirk to bob and weave, which more than allowed them to stay in the fight. Midoriya had used his quirk to stun people, which proved more than crucial too.
What had she done in comparison, then?
Sure, she got them out of the vines just now, but look at what they were doing! They might as well have done nothing! They were making no progress, and it was all because she couldn't do the simple thing that was asked of her, pull, her, weight!
Her past contributions didn't matter if she couldn't help right here, right now! And all she was doing now, was being a decent punching bag for the world's most aggressive tin man.
It frustrated her. It frustrated her how much of a one trick pony she was, how all she was good for was breaking stuff apart, or launching people. How, when it came down to the wire, she couldn't do anything but get beaten up, it was the bomb training exercise all over again!
All-Might had put so much on the line for her, had given her an enormous amount of responsibility, and she was living up to none of it!
Tears welled in her eyes as she pushed away another one of Tetsutetsu's punches mid jump, before being dragged down by Shiozaki's vines through her legs. They tore off, wrapping both tightly together, taking all of her concentration just to stay upright now.
"TIME IS ALMOST UP, IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!
10!
9!
8!"
And just like that she was out for good. If she focused One for All on her legs to free herself, not only would it take time to make it travel down, what good would it do?! She couldn't get in, she couldn't grab the headbands, she couldn't do anything now, while Setsuna at least got close to grabbing the headbands a few times!
And Midoriya was still struggling, still trying to get electricity to run through the connected vines! Even as he had to use Mina as support, he was putting his all into it, sparks coming out between the thorns' gaps!
"7!
6!
5!"
She was useless, weak, just like Shimiko used to say!
Tears ran down her cheeks as her eyes pressed together, and she felt a burning sensation spread throughout her body.
Shoto sighed. He'd wasted his time, Ashido wasn't even going to make it. He looked at the stands, searching for Endeavor, wanting to see the look on his face when his team was declared first place.
For a brief moment, Mina, Setsuna and Midoriya's bodies synchronized. Immediate interpersonal synchronization, as their hearts flared ablaze with one goal.
Win.
Win.
Mina's body felt like a firestorm, and that feeling spread into Setsuna and Izuku. Their eyes shot wide, and they felt power flow within them.
A deafening crackle ran through the field and Shoto swerved to look at the source.
"4!"
Midoriya's electricity- that had taken on a light red hue- had broken through the plant fiber's natural insulation, and electrocuted Shiozaki in a light show. Mina's eyes glowed, as she was surrounded by that same electricity, and yet, was unharmed. In fact, the vines at her feet exploded as she instinctively widened her stance!
"3!"
Setsuna, too, was engulfed in light red electricity. The floating hand that had been reaching out to grab the headband suddenly exploded forward in a burst of speed, grasping three headbands at once.
"2!"
And she overshot it, her disembodied limb whizzed past Tetsutetsu and even Shoto's own face, flying completely past him.
"1!"
And when it did, he felt it again. The missing piece of the puzzle. The pressure he'd felt when All-Might beat down the creature at USJ. The pressure he'd felt when Mina used her quirk, when she tapped him, when she punched the ground in the minefield.
Pressure of pure, untapped might.
"TIIIIME!"
Everyone waited with bated breath as Mic began to announce the teams that had made it.
"What a flashy finish! Let's start from the bottom, shall we?! In fourth place, is Team Tet- Eh?" He cut himself off. "Uh Huh. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it seems like we had a last minute update! The team in fourth place is actually an underdog team, Team Shinsou!
"In third place, Team Todoroki! Quite unexpected, if I do say so myself!
"In second place, Team Tokage! And they managed that with just three people! Way to go!
"Finally, in first place, Team Bakugou, who hunted down every other point headband they could get their hands on! Now that's a go-get-em attitude!
"These four teams will proceed to the final event! Go on, party people, give 'em a round of applause!" The crowd cheered wildly, their claps reverberating throughout the stadium. "With that being said, we'll continue the festival in the afternoon after a short one hour lunch break! Don't you miss the final event for your lives, a special guest will be joining me in the booth to give us some of his own commentary!
"See you then!"
The mic cut off, and while Tetsutetsu's team all felt defeat and pain wash over them, their condition was comparatively great compared to Mina's team.
Because the moment the adrenaline wore off, Mina and Setsuna both fell backwards as their bodies were overtaken by exhaustion, pushing Midoriya onto the ground as he attempted to catch them-
"Hey, wait, I'm-"
-despite being exhausted himself.
The three fell to the ground with a thud. The vines uncurled from Midoriya's hands, a crispier Shiozaki giving him a glare that might kill him, were she not a hero student.
"Are… you two okay?" He asked from beneath them.
"Everything hurts…" Setsuna groaned out, wincing as she rolled off of Midoriya. "Everything hurts a lot and I'm really tired."
"I feel like I could just about… take a power nap." Mina said, sitting up and letting out a yelp. "Why do I feel so tired? And…. hot?"
Midoriya managed to sit up, trying to stretch his back.
"You are hot." Setsuna stated, causing Mina's face to redden. She nudged her with her disembodied hand. "I'm not even flirting with ya this time, Ashi. Your body is quite literally hot."
"Huh…" The three got up, admittedly in a manner not very befitting of people who had gotten second place.
"Ok, one of us has to acknowledge this." Midoriya took a deep breath. "What the heck was that at the end?!"
"Oh good, we are talking about that." Setsuna commented. "It wasn't just me then? Cause for no reason I just felt like a fire had been lit under my butt, and my hand just like… wooshed forward. I didn't even know I could go that fast!"
"And for some reason all three of us were emanating some kind of… pink ish lightning?" Izuku put a hand to his chin, mumbling. "Which is highly unusual for me, considering that my quirksnaturalcolorisaneongreen,thiscouldsignifythatIhavereachednewheights-"
"Midoriya…" Setsuna slapped his back, causing him to yelp. "Chatter mouth."
"Sorry…"
Setsuna turned to Mina. "You got any idea as to what happened, Ashi?"
But she didn't get a reply, as the girl was meeting the stare of none other than Todoroki, who was making a 'follow me' motion with his hand.
"I… I'll talk about it later. I wanna go see what this is all about." She moved and gasped, whining. "And… I'll pay Recovery Girl a visit while I'm at it. Kamakiri got me, and my arm still isn't at 100%."
"That so?" Setsuna looked her over, noticing the two cuts. "Yeesh, yeah, go get that checked out."
Midoriya's eyebrows creased up as he walked next to Mina. "Don't push yourself, I mean, I think out of most students, so far, you're the one who has taken the most damage."
"I'll keep that in mind." Mina forced a smile, giving her two classmates a thumbs up. "Thanks Midori, Tokage."
She hoped that would be enough to ease their worries, trying not to dwell on it. She followed Todoroki, passing by Kirishima along the way. She tried to look him in the eyes, so she could read his expression, see if she could even guess what he was thinking, but he went out of his way to avert his gaze from her.
She sighed. Did he think he couldn't talk to her after his outburst? Why? They'd always had each other's back, right? The best she could guess was that he didn't want to bother her…
'That seems like a him thing to do… Unfortunately.'
Walking through the halls, she hoped he could sort it out himself. He was a good person, she knew that. She believed that with all her heart. It was just a matter of him realizing that himself.
She'd been led by Todoroki out into the outer edges of the stadium. Hopefully this wouldn't take long, whatever it was…
The two silently stared at each other for a few moments. Mina's body language probably told him that she was anxious, considering she was leaning against the wall, holding her wrist and looking around them.
And even as she waited, he didn't say a peep… Which meant she needed to be the one to break the ice.
"So, uh…" She stammered. "What's up?"
"I want to talk." He replied curtly.
"...About what?" She raised an eyebrow. "Is this going to take long?"
He glared at her. Crap. Wrong thing to say. "I-I just wanna see the nurse after this, sorry."
His gaze softened somewhat at that. He shook his head. "It won't. I wanted to ask you about a feeling I have had in my gut for a while now…
"It started after the attack at USJ. When I felt the pressure All-Might's power gave off first hand. When I began to notice him seemingly spending more time favoring you. When I noticed that you had a power that might even rival his own, something you'd shown off in the entrance exam."
Mina's heart dropped, feeling a cold sweat run down her cheek.
"And then today, you used that caliber of power again. Not only that, but… When I came face to face with you, when you and your team… exploded, I felt it again. It was impossible not to notice. Your quirk is different from other strength quirks.
"It feels like All-Might's."
The pin dropped. Mina felt her throat dry up and her heartbeat getting more and more intense. 'Where is he going with this? Did… did he figure it out?!'
After a pause, he looked her dead in the eyes, his glare cutting deep into her.
"Are you his daughter?"
.
..
…
Mina's anxiety was replaced by bewilderment fairly quickly. "...I'm sorry what?"
Todoroki's eyebrows furrowed. "It's a simple question. Is he your dad?"
"Oh my gosh you're seri- Todoroki. With- With all due respect." She resisted the urge to groan. "I have parents already. Biological ones. My actual dad literally accompanied me here!"
Todoroki hummed. She couldn't tell if he was annoyed or just puzzled. "Hm. You could have fooled me, with your blonde hair, darker skin and almost identical quirk."
"I…" Mina felt sweat build up at the edge of her eyebrows. She wiped it off with one hand, lifting up her bangs.
Her roots showed, and they were clearly a pastel lilac, signalling… "This isn't my natural hair color. And no, I'm not a gyaru." She said, her voice coming out more frustrated than she intended.
"Ah." Was all he said, following her hand when she dropped her bangs back down. "I guess that's right. But still, there's something there, isn't it? Otherwise, you wouldn't have looked so panicked the more I brought it up."
There it was. She felt like she was going on an emotional rollercoaster, from being anxious, to annoyed, and now right back to anxious. She fiddled with her fingers, trying to meet his unwavering gaze, even if she felt like looking away.
"...What about it?"
"I don't care about the specifics of your relation to him. Daughter, cousin, niece, whatever it is, it doesn't matter to me. You're hiding something, but that's not the point right now." He paused, his shoulder going rigid. His glare steeled.
"My father, you're aware of who he is." He said, venom beginning to steep into his tone of voice.
She nodded, "Endeavor, right? Why?"
"He's the second greatest hero of all time. If you're connected to the first… It's only natural that I would want to crush you in the coming events." He looked away, pursing his lips. "That's what he'd say, anyway."
"So-"
"Don't interrupt me." He bit out. Mina took a step back at the sudden outburst, causing Todoroki to close his eyes. "Please."
She nodded, feeling that there was something deeply wrong here.
"He's gone out of his way to become the best hero he could be. Aiming to be the best hero, even. Number one. But All-Might was always a roadblock. Try as he might, his quirk and personality limited what he could do. While All-Might doesn't have the sheer number of cases solved that he has, All-Might instead has public adoration and constant presence.
"He could never surpass him." He looked up at the ceiling, and she could see a gulp travel down his throat. This was a hard topic for him to breach. "So he came up with another plan."
"Are you aware of quirk marriages?"
Mina blinked. "...Vaguely."
He nodded. "Some time around the second or third generation of quirks, they started to become a problem. The practice of a person forcing another into a relationship with the sole purpose of creating a kid who had the best traits of both parent quirks.
The practice has dropped off now, and there is even talk of making it illegal, but that didn't deter my father." The area around them felt colder. "With his wealth and fame, he got my mother's family to agree to a marriage with him. All for the sake of getting his hands on her quirk."
"I was raised as a tool, Ashido. Nothing more than a weapon for my father to use as ammunition in his crusade against All-Might!" As she started to process all of this, her eyes widened as she put a hand to her mouth in a shaky attempt at covering up her shock. And as her mind worked overtime, she finally realized something about her family.
"Day after day, I'd catch my mom crying when she thought no one was around to hear her. It made me sick.
"And then one day, she said…" He bit his lip, almost drawing blood from it, "...Said 'I can't stand to see that left side of yours.'
"Right after that she… threw scalding water at my face."
Her breath halted entirely. It felt like she'd gotten punched in the gut by someone who was intending to kill her. She felt like she could freeze right there and then. "Oh… Oh my god…" She muttered out, the only thing that could escape her lips, muffled by her hand.
"I'll beat you. I'll take you down with just the ice that I inherited from my mother." He looked down, his teeth clattering. "That's my revenge against him."
"So fight on. And if we're not immediately paired up, win. I'm going to be the one to take you down. Not anyone else. With that… I'll have denied him everything he's worked for. I'll take revenge for myself. For my mother's mental health that he destroyed."
At the provokation, Mina didn't know what she should be feeling. Anxiety? Fear? Anger? All of it at once? Her mind swirled around, the information settling in and throwing a wrench to everything she thought she knew.
Her hands dropped to her sides, her gaze fell towards the floor.
"That's all. Enjoy your lunch."
He turned around and began walking away, but was stopped by a single word.
"Todoroki." She proclaimed.
"What?" He asked, curtly and to the point, all the emotion he'd been showing beforehand gone.
"What I've gone through… I don't think it even compares to what you went through." She raised her head, tears welled up in her eyes. "But… My mom… left my father when I was four years old. Up until now, I thought it was something she'd done because… she just wanted to. I don't get grown-ups, so I tried not to question it.
"But she's always been eccentric. My dad says she's always cared a lot about quirks. Praised his own constantly." She took a deep breath. "So when she thought I was quirkless, when a doctor said that any other kid she'd have would most likely not have a quirk, she didn't see a reason to stay. She left. She'd occasionally visit at first, but even that dropped off…"
"Until my quirk finally became apparent this year. Then she suddenly started showing up again."
The boy's icy gaze grew softer the more he listened. "Ashido…"
"What I'm saying is that… I… Might be the product of something similar to your circumstance. A failed one, by all accounts. My quirk isn't anything like either of my parents' after all. But before it showed up, every day I'd question why I was born like this, you know? Why was I so useless?"
She felt herself getting choked up, hiccuping. She hadn't poured her heart out like this to anyone else, but upon hearing Todoroki's own story, it felt like the floodgates she'd been holding back were being slammed open.
"I-I resented my-my mom for leaving. For making my dad feel bad. For making his life harder than it needed to be. It's why I dyed my hair this… Dumb color! I don't-" She sniffled. "I don't even like being blonde, but being anything like her made me feel awful. And everyday I'd just be reminded by my classmates, by adults, by heroes, that I was the odd one out. That I was weak. Nothing."
"So I'm going to fight like my life depends on it!" She wiped away her tears, putting a hand over the left side of her chest, her face flushed red.
"I'm going to prove to everyone that I'm someone! That I exist! More than I already have!" She felt dirty proclaiming this, the reason she had accepted All-Might's offer was under the pretense that she would be his successor. A symbol of peace like him. But more than anything, deep down, she wanted the world to know that she was here. Not that All-Might 2.0 was here.
That Mina Ashido was a person. And that she mattered.
"Whatever it takes, I'm… going to beat you." She huffed out. "Because I'm going all out. While you're standing there… holding back, like you can afford to do that. A choice I wish I had when I was growing up."
That's when Todoroki's sympathetic gaze gave way to a colder, harder one. Those words had hit him. She wasn't sure what she was saying anymore. And she was probably being selfish in saying something like that. But she wasn't about to lie about how she felt.
Panting, she put her fist out. "That's my declaration to you. Meet you at the finals."
She walked away, not letting him get another word in.
Initially, Setsuna and Midoriya had stealthily followed Mina just to make sure she would be safe. And while it made Setsuna a little antsy, the fact that Kirishima was lurking around with them was less important. Regardless of his little outburst during his and Midoriya's fight a week ago, he clearly cared about Mina too, even if things looked to be rocky between the two.
Midoriya seemed to agree, a quick glance between him and Kirishima being enough for the two to communicate 'We'll settle this later'.
So when, instead of Todoroki maybe assaulting her or barking out insults, he poured out a disturbingly graphic story of his family life, she was horrified. She felt like she should kick herself for insulting how rude she thought he was.
And when Mina poured out her own heart? Detailing how she felt like she was nothing most of her life? How her mother just left them? She felt like running up to the girl and tackling her in a hug.
Midoriya seemed to be in agreement, if his body language was anything to go by. And Kirishima looked to be about the same, but his reaction to the latter revelation appeared more subdued…
"...Did you know?" She felt obligated to ask. "That this is how Ashido's felt all this time?"
"...Yeah. We went to the same middle school. So I've known her for three years now." Kirishima replied, not looking at her. "I… didn't know it was this bad though. Or that she let it get to her like this. And… I definitely didn't know about the situation with her mother."
"I see…" She closed her mouth, looking at the floor. She looked up at Midoriya, "We should go talk to her-"
"Don't." Kirishima interjected.
"I agree with him." Midoriya added. "After that… I think she needs some time alone."
"She needs support right now! She shouldn't be left alone with- with those thoughts!"
Kirishima shook his head. "I know her. If we try to talk to her about it now, she'll just deflect, or pretend it was a heat of the moment thing." He turned around and began leaving. "If you two wanna talk to her, do it tomorrow, or after the festival."
"...What about you?" Setsuna stepped forward, Midoriya put a hand on her shoulder. "You're the friend she's known for the longest time here, so will you go talk to her later!?"
Midoriya nudged her. "Tokage…"
"He's been avoiding her all week now, it's so obvious!" She pursed her lips, "So when are you going to help her too?!"
Kirishima stopped, letting out a sigh with a slump of his shoulders. He looked over them, tired eyes meeting Setsuna's determined ones. "When… I can help her, I will. I… don't think I can right now though. If… if you two can look out for her for me, then… I'd appreciate that." He added, his voice dropping in volume.
Without another word, he split off, out of sight.
Setsuna was left confused. Seeing her confusion, Midoriya spoke up.
"I know he seems rude and brash, but I could tell from the way he talked with Mina before he… broke my nose-" He let out a dry chuckle at that, "-that he really cares about her. I think he's just dealing with his own thing now."
She couldn't rebuke his statement, even remembering how buddy buddy the two were when she met them for the first time. "I guess you're right… he did seem really broken up about what he did to you."
"I noticed." With a breath, he patted Setsuna's back. "Come on, we should get something to eat."