Mina remembers that day very well. 4 years ago now, she had just started Middle School. Things had been… rocky ever since she turned 5 years old. With no Quirk, it was harder to keep friends. Even when her peers weren't playing with them in some way, it always felt like there was a barrier she couldn't cross. They were all experiencing things she couldn't even begin to imagine. She could see how their abilities influenced their personalities.

And there she stood, with nothing to show. When the world, her peers, all brought up Quirks so casually, she was left out. Alienated her.

Even when she made some friends who didn't mind the fact she was Quirkless, she always felt like they were taking pity on her. Whenever she would begin to express herself more openly, they'd tell her she didn't 'have to try so hard to stand out', or 'compensate for anything'. Despite that outgoing person being who she really wanted to be.

It wasn't the worst of it though. That would be when people started mocking her for not being born with something they all had. It always began with light jabs, nudges at her powerlessness. While using their Quirks in public was technically illegal, most of her classmates would flaunt their abilities whenever a teacher wasn't around, and of course, whenever that happened, she would always be the one they'd laugh at.

Nothing compared to when she finally begun Middle School. That was when the jokes became direct harassment. It was already bad, having to deal with constant teasing from your peers. Individual bullying was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

She fully withdrew into herself at that point, not really caring to try and stand out much. It didn't help, but she felt in part that if she pretended like she didn't want to be acknowledged, she'd be able to cope with the things her bullies threw at her.

One day though, she came across a boy. A dark haired one. She'd seen him a few times outside of class, but his short black hair and slouching posture hardly made him stand out. He sat under a tree, fidgeting, biting his lower lip.

At first, she felt like she shouldn't intervene. What if she approached him and he told her off? Maybe she got the wrong idea? Maybe he needed the time alone?

But her gut told her otherwise.

So with shaky legs, she sat down next to him. She finally noticed his deeply crimson eyes, accentuated by naturally thick eyelashes. He tried to hold back a sniffle, to little success.

They sat like that for a while. "...Ashido Mina." She broke the ice first.

He sniffed. "W-what?"

"It's my name. Ashido Mina. What's yours?"

Blinking, he wiped the corner of his eyes with his sleeve. "Kirishima E-Eim-Eijirou!" He blurted out, looking straight ahead.

"Ok… Kiri." She paused when he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "What happened?"

"Some… jerks. It's nothing." He mumbled. "Just saying dumb jerk stuff."

She nodded. "I think I can relate… But what were they saying? What made them do it?"

"They… I didn't want them to just keep pushing me around. Making me do stuff with my quirk. Like I'm some kinda… tool I guess." His shoulders slumped as he raised his knees to his torso, lying his head down on them. "They got mad and started saying I wasn't a real man, and that I-I'd never be one if I kept acting like that. I snapped at them an-and almost hurt them. They ran away."

She pursed her lips. It felt way too familiar. Even if his circumstances were different.

"Well, I don't see why you wouldn't be a real man." She mused. "Seems pretty clear cut that you are one."

"It's because I'm… You know…" He gestured towards his chest. "I'm not like other guys. Maybe I never will be…"

It took her a moment, and then Mina realized what he was talking about. "Uh Huh… Well, I don't think that changes anything." She replied with a small smile. "Standing up for yourself is something a real man would do, I think!"

He raised his head, looking at her like she'd grown a second head, and beamed at her with shark like teeth.

'He's changed a lot since then… Grown a lot taller, muscular. Handsome even. He's gotten more withdrawn, but not with me….' Back in the present, Mina glanced at her friend from her corner of the stands. '...Guess I really wasn't the only one who was hurting, huh.'

She sighed, looking at the arena. The fight had already begun, Izuku versus Sero. It was going about as evenly as it could go, Sero relied on glancing blows using tape aided strikes while Izuku waited for an opportunity to get him.

Which happened not a few moments after she got back to watching the fight. Sero tried to land another drive-by hit, only for Izuku to grab his arm and make the arena glow with green lightning for a second. Then Sero dropped to the ground, groaning and waving the white flag.

As she watched the green haired boy help his downed opponent up and presumably into the nurse's office, she began to think not just about him, but her other green haired friend. Izuku, first of all, was someone who was really earnest, for better or worse. He couldn't lie worth a damn, but it also meant that when he was complimenting her, or talking to her happily, he wasn't hiding anything substantial or bad.

Beyond that, he was kind, in a smart way. He wasn't blindly forgiving others, nor was he vindictive. Even after Kirishima broke his nose, he made it clear that the door for him to apologize was always open. He gave Bakugou a second chance to improve. To top it all off, his mop of neon green hair combined with his jagged freckles made him stand out in a really good way.

Her other green haired friend was Setsuna. She was a lot like what she wanted to be. Outgoing, social, teasing, confident, so sure of herself. Beyond that though, she was also really nice, easy to get along with. She cheered her on, boasted with her, supported her, and complimented her really often. Not just on whatever crazy idea she'd come up with on the spot (Which really, she did often), but also on her appearance… It was a little odd for her, especially since it came from someone she thought looked way prettier than her own almost tomboy-esque self.

She blinked, something dawning on her. While she could easily point out a lot of qualities and faults in her other friends, Ochako, Iida and Kaminari (even if he was on thin ice…), thinking about Kirishima, Setsuna and Izuku specifically felt different somehow.

Huh.

'I'll… acknowledge that later.' She thought to herself when she saw Kirishima and Ojirou(?) leaving the stands while Izuku came back next to Sero.

He looked anxious. "Again, so sorry about that, I just-"

Sero put a hand up slightly. "Dude. Chill. You did what you had to win! Even if it hurt like Hell, hah." He ducked into his seat, groaning. "Caralho mano…"

"R-Right…" Trying not to mind the angry foreign cursing, he sat next to Setsuna and Mina, blinking rapidly a few times, and awkwardly smiling. "Hey?"

"Well someone's not looking too great." The greenette joked. "What, taking a few blows to the noggin take you out of it for a bit?"

"Just a bit, heh." He assured her. "Using my quirk at higher power levels also makes me feel a little light headed though."

"Right, I remember. At least you didn't go full zombie this time!"

"Oh yeah, would not want that happening on live television." He added with a smile. It dropped when he saw how hard Mina was staring at them with raised eyebrows. "Is something wrong Ashido?"

While her cheeks flushed for a moment, betraying her composure, she grinned and shook her head. "Just thinking about how cool your quirks are!"

"Again, I'm not 100% on how his quirk works. But between not being cautious and being too cautious… I think you should go with the latter."

Ojirou's words repeated themselves in Kirishima's mind. 'Just don't go along with what a prick has to say… Easy enough.' He groaned, his steps echoing in the halls of the stadium. 'Not like I've been doing that all my life or something.'

His quirk popped out of his arm. He shook slightly, crossing his arms. "Don't mess this up for me, Shadow. Just stay quiet, and we'll get through this fight."

"I will, I will!" Shadow protested. "I'm just… Anxious."

The raven haired boy stepped out onto the field, Shadow retreating back into his right arm. "So am I."

"Let's keep this party moving people! This time, on the left hand side we have the boy with a beast deep within, dark like his name meant it, Kirishima Eijirou!"

He could feel himself tense up at Mic's introduction when he stepped into the ring. Words too similar to what was often said to him. Some were just name calling.

Others couldn't help but ring true.

"And on the right we have a mysterious kid with purple hair, an entrant from the General Course, Shinsou Hitoshi!"

Looking at his opponent, he'd never have guessed that his quirk was mind control. Nothing gave it away at all. 'Aside from his forehead, maybe…' While one look at himself would offer anyone a clue to his quirk- his darkened right arm all but screaming 'THIS IS WHAT I USE MY QUIRK WITH'.

It always stood out too much.

"THREETWOONE STAAAAART!"

At his teacher's signal, Kirishima made the first move and got closer, lifting his right hand up leisurely and summoning Shadow.

Even when it manifested jaggedly and formed Shadow, Shinsou barely reacted. His unsettling grin reminded him of Aizawa, but with almost an underlying confidence behind it that his teacher rarely showed off.

"So you can make a shadow puppet, huh. Must be nice." He said, his voice flat and even. "Is it obedient, or does it bark back?"

"I-" Shadow opened his mouth to talk back, quickly silenced by Kirishima's hand squeezing. He settled for narrowing his eyes at Shinsou and charging him.

The boy's cool mask finally broke when Shadow swiped at him, grimacing and rolling under the attack. He got up to see Kirishima following suit with a raised left arm.

"I mean man, being able to double team like this? I'm almost jealous of how convenient this dog is." He still snarked, even when he just barely ducked out of the way of a punch.

"Even if you look like you'd bite someone's hand off, I bet you're all the rage with your pals, ri-" He was cut off by Shadow's body slamming into his back, sending him sprawling behind Kirishima. He coughed, moaning as he shookily got up.

"Must've been nice, being born with something like that…'' His smile crept back onto his face, an uneasy edge to it. "Am I wrong? Or was your attitude so off-putting that you somehow managed to push everyone else away even when you had something like that?!"

Kirishima's body trembled, Shadow's form wavering and becoming sharper. "Did I touch a nerve?! I guess I should have known, considering no one wanted to be around you after each event."

His teeth bared themselves. Sharp fangs all throughout ground against each other. Shadow geared himself up, curling into his torso.

"How do you manage that, huh?! You have such a blessed little quirk, one everyone would love! A privilege compared to the countless useless Quirks out there!" Shinsou barked out, almost laughing. "So how'd you do it, Kirishima?!"

Red eyes snapped wide, Kirishima suddenly feeling his body being pulled by his arm. "Shadow no-!"

"SHUT UP!" His quirk shot out on his own, geared up for a punch.

And stopped dead in his tracks.

Immediately, Kirishima felt a wave of nausea wash over him, half of his body feeling like it had been filled with TV static. He took a step back with his right leg, almost falling when he couldn't feel it properly.

Shinsou's eyes widened, his grin being replaced by a mildly agape mouth. "...Well this is new."

Kirishima's vision had spots of darkness. He grabbed his right arm, bending down trembling.

"Guess your little dog is more connected to you than I thought." He laughed sardonically. "Not that I'm complaining. Shadow , was it?

Punch him out of bounds."

Next thing he knew, Kirishima was being charged at by his own quirk. For a moment he had to admit it. People were right. Looking at him dead on, going straight for you, Shadow looked downright demonic.

Villainous.

"What's this?! Kirishima's own shadow monster has turned on him! What a twist!"

He didn't have much time to dwell on that though, busy having the air knocked out of him by his own quirk striking his abdomen with enough force to send him flying back.

Letting out dry coughs, he only had enough time to watch it keep coming, not even on his knees by the time another attack came- for his ribs this time- and knocked him closer to the edge of the ring.

"Only one more left…" Shinsou muttered.

Kirishima forced himself to his feet, panting. Spittle dripped down his mouth. He wanted to fight back, yet his body felt weak. Sluggish. His eyes wandered around the field, his mind trying to find some kind of plan. Looking at his own feet, memories of a time, not long ago, where he was actively used for his quirk. When people weren't too afraid to approach him that is.

His breaths became haggard, left hand closed in a fist. It all came back to Shadow. If he just had proper control over him. If he could just stand up to himself properly. If only he wasn't born wrong-

He looked back up to see his quirk geared up for one last punch.

"Huff… huff…"

Kirishima slid down the wall, cursing himself as he felt his knuckles throb. He touched his mouth, feeling his busted, bleeding lip. Great. His lips were going to be like that for a while. Just what he needed.

"God…-" He paused, taking a deep breath. "...Pricks."

From his left, he heard slow footsteps suddenly getting quicker. He turned his head, seeing Mina come running towards him, backpack fully discarded on the ground.

"Kirishima!" She petered to a stop, panting. "A-Are you ok?! What happened!?"

"Just got into a bit of an argument with some jerks. Wanted me to use Shadow to pickpocket people..." He assured her. "Things… Got out of hand."

He didn't mention that he was the one to throw the first punch.

She quickly ran over to her dropped backpack, picking it up and setting it down in front of him. She rummaged through the inside, grimacing. "Kiri… I know you don't like bullies and all, but you can't keep doing this so often…"

"They badmouthed you too this time."

She paused, then shook her head. "I'm used to it. Please, I-I know you've got trouble with… controlling your quirk, but you keep getting beat up! I don't like it at all." She smiled, pulling out a small pack of bandaids. "Found it! Come here."

He pushed himself up against the wall, "I'm fine-"

"No, you're not, and that's final." Without his consent, she grabbed his left hand, turning it palm side down. "You hurt your knuckles a bit too…"

"It'll heal over."

"Yeah, but this stings and I knowit does." She added. Kirishima's lips pulled themselves tight, eyebrows furrowed. He's aware of why she knows it hurts. He sees how often she has a bandaid somewhere on her body.

He hissed when she placed four of them on his hands, wincing. They were multicolored, speckled in hearts and flowers. "There!" Her eyes drifted upwards and she frowned. "Ah geez, your mouth…"

"You are not putting a pretty bandaid on my busted lip." He insisted, taking off his jacket and applying pressure on his mouth. "Seriously, I'm ok now."

Her frown receded somewhat, but her eyes had that faint glimmer in them. Disconcert. Worry. Something both unfortunately made the other feel often. At least with her, it wasn't her fault, but with him...

The moment it got too close, he shot out his left arm and grabbed him by the 'throat'. The quirk came to an immediate stop. His red eyes widened in frustration. "For so, so much of my life you've screwed me over, and so have I…

"We make our friend worried sick, we scare people away, we push them back, all because we can't control ourselves."

His quirk grabbed at his arm. "I-I'm fr-"

" Quiet. Shadow…" He butted heads with Shadow, grimacing. "On the field, you listen to me now. Not my emotions. Not my subconscious. Me . And outside the field… We. Don't. Lash. Out."

He let go of his quirk, glaring at Shinsou. "Now let's kick this guy's ass."

Even when a little intimidated, Shadow couldn't help but grin with vindictive intent. "Couldn't have said it better, chief."

His opponent's eyes widened when he realized what had happened. The two charged at him, making him back himself up more and more into the corner. "Little dog had its leash shortened, I guess. Don't you feel bad having to listen to such a prick, Shadow?!"

The taunt fell on deaf ears. Even as the boy put up a guard, he couldn't hold his ground against the combined kick and punch from Kirishima and Shadow, respectively. He was pushed completely out of bounds, rolling down the stairs that led into the ring and onto the grass.

"Shinsou is out of bounds! Kirishima Eijirou advances to the next round!" Midnight yelled out.

"No, of course not!" Shadow cackled. "'cause I'm not listening to you anymore, troll hair."

Kirishima couldn't help but chuckle at his own quirk's quip. Withdrawing it back into his arm, his smile dropped when he saw Shinsou retreating into the hallway, hurt, ignoring the cheers from his own classmates.

It felt familiar.

He walked after him, catching up relatively quickly. "Oi!" Kirishima yelled out. "Shinsou."

Shinsou stopped and looked back. His eyes, full of emotion before, were empty. "What."

"Did you mean it?" Kirishima's tone dropped from his usual one, instead of snark, there was curiosity. "What you said. About me being blessed."

"...Of course." He fully turned his body with a deadpan expression. "Your quirk was and is ideal for the kind of stuff U.A asks for in the Entrance Exam. Besides that though, look at it. A sentient helper, all for you.

"Who wouldn't want that?"

He hummed. "I guess when you put it like that, it is a pretty good quirk in that regard…"

"Yeah, exactly, now quit rubbing it in-"

He interjected. "When you're around people like the ones in the Hero Course, I mean."

"What?" Shinsou asked indignantly, his eyes narrowing.

"I dunno what happened with you for you to feel like brainwashing isn't a gift of a Quirk, but for me, it was more of the… superficial aspect of mine." Kirishima paused, pursing his lips. "I mean, no one wanted to socialize with the weird kid with bags under his eyes, especially since they pair too well with a shadow monster."

Shinsou's expression had gone from irritation to slowly getting it.

"Not to say everyone was afraid, of course…" A passing thought centered on Mina, before moving towards the faceless many. "The ones who weren't just wanted a piece of it, wanted to get it to do tricks, or do something for them like break into a vending machine, pickpocket a wallet or just beat someone up."

He let out a dry laugh. "It sucked. Not sure what my point was here… I think you just looked like you needed to hear some words from another emo freak like yourself, hah."

For a few moments, Shinsou's face didn't change, only for him to break out in a low chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just… Didn't expect to find someone who had the same experience I did with my Quirk." He admitted, wiping away a tear. Kirishima wasn't sure if it came from a place of sadness or joy. "But you're there. And I'm not. So why? How'd you do it?

"How did you keep going, even when people saw you as a Villain in the making?" He paused, scoffing. "Damn, I'm projecting on someone else again… Sorry."

"I had someone there for me." Kirishima added with no hesitation. He smiled softly. "For the past 4 years now, I've had someone there to cheer me on, I suppose. And by the looks of it, you got a few people like that too now."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't hear your friends cheering for you when you were walking here?" Kirishima asked, semi sarcastically. He walked over, hands in his pockets. "Sheesh, for a guy with Quirk related to sound, you blocked those out expertly. Don't go ignoring them, man. They make all the difference."

Walking away, he dragged his hand across his face. "I should take my own advice sometime…"

When he returned to the stands, he walked towards the corner he'd picked out for himself. A seat, isolated from hers. And yet, despite trying not to talk to her, he couldn't help but sneak glances at her. Their eyes locked during one of those. It barely lasted a second, but the tension combined with the smile she threw his way, small, genuine.

Forgiving.

Well, it almost made his heart melt.

The match that followed Kirishima's ended as quickly as most in 1-A expected. Even in a best case scenario, against Bakugou, Aoyama would have struggled greatly just to get a taste of victory.

It began with Aoyama shooting a stream of laser at Bakugou, only for the latter to clash it with an explosion and kick up an enormous smoke cloud. Next thing the audience knew, another explosion came from where Aoyama was standing beforehand and immediately sent him flying out of the ring, clearing the ring and showing a very satisfied Bakugou still standing, unharmed.

"Sheesh, talk about a quick finish." Setsuna grimaced seeing her french-adjacent classmate struggle to get up. "I mean, I didn't think he could win, but to lose that quickly…"

"Katsuki is serious about this." Izuku put a hand to his chin, "It was already evident before, but the fact he took first place in the Cavalry Battle and how little room to act he's giving his opponents, he wants an undisputed victory."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "'Katsuki'. You two have history?"

Izuku blinked. "I… Oh right, you weren't there. We've known each other all our lives, he was a bully in Middle School, something happened here at U.A, and now he's not as bad. That's the short of it." He explained in a lower voice.

"Gotcha… You know about this Ashido?"

Mina nodded. "Yeah, he kinda explained that when we were having lunch with the others."

"Sheesh, I gotta try sticking around you guys more often. Speaking of which, where is Iida?" She looked around. "And Urar- Oh duh, their match's up next!"

Upon realizing this, the three winced.

"Oh this is just a no winners scenario, huh." Mina asked rhetorically. "Guess I gotta pick one I cheer on?"

Izuku shrugged. "I mean, we could just cheer both on… Actually that would be awkward, wouldn't it?"

Setsuna sighed, shaking her head. "Let's just watch the match guys. Any predictions on who'll win?"

"Well…" Izuku put a hand to his chin, letting his mind go to work.

Iida took a deep breath as he stared down his opponent, Uraraka. A deceivingly strong girl, if any of the things he's seen her do are anything to go by. With a single touch from her, he'd be out; his quirk would work against him if he attempted to use it while weightless.

But the same applied for her. She didn't have much mobility, a single well placed kick from him would send her sprawling out of the ring.

And by the looks of it, she knew that.

"To my left we have a girl from outer space who'll abduct you off your feet, Uraraka Ochako!"

Her hair moved as if it was weightless, letting Iida see her well-hidden nervousness, one only able to be observed from where he stood.

"And to my right we have the boy built like a muscle car, engines included, Iida Tenya!"

Even before the first fight began, the two had mutually agreed that whatever the outcome of their match was, there would be no hard feelings. From the beginning, this had been a possibility after all. In a competition like the Sports Festival, one way or another, the ones who remained would end up as rivals of the other.

Truth be told, he didn't mind. It helped excuse what he was already planning to do:

Go all out. Show the people that the Iida family still has its edge. But most of all…

Make his brother proud to be his role model.

And for his family, Iida would do anything.

"RRRRRREADY?!"

'Even if it means fighting my friends…' Iida lowered his stance. 'Tensei, whatever you're doing right now, this match is for you!'

"STAAAAAAAAAAART!"

Both fighters broke out into a full blown sprint, his engines firing up intensely and propelling him forward against Uraraka!

The moment he began to lift his leg to kick her, the girl dropped to the ground- sliding under the attack and letting it sail way past her.

She tried to grab his grounded leg. He used his momentum to spin around and blast his other leg against her head, glancing a strike against her forehead.

For a brief instant, she felt her arms go weak from the attack. He finished turning towards his opponent, letting his engines fizzle out. She rolled onto her stomach and got up with some effort.

The attack cut her forehead superficially. The smallest amount of blood trickled down the side of her face.

Iida took deep breaths. He was almost done in for a second.

Both stared the other down, huffing out breaths.

Mic screamed something. He didn't care to know what.

He let his engines come to life again. Both bolted once more, shouting.

The instant he got within 5 meters of her, Iida leapt forward and let his roaring quirk die out mid air for a drop kick.

Uraraka ducked at the last second. He felt her hair kick up from his speed.

He twisted his body and landed on his hands and feet. Exploding his engines with fire, he pushed them to their limit within an instant and let them die just as quickly.

It was enough. With the momentum, he fired his body against the still turning girl, bashed into her side and threw her down to the concrete as he sprawled out just ahead.

He let his engines cool off for a moment when he got up. Even if it wasn't Recipro Burst , kicking them into immediate high gear like that wasn't good for the exhausts nor his legs.

But it looked like he wouldn't need to do much more. His rival stayed down longer this time, coughing and sputtering. Her hands slipped on her own sweat on her first attempt at getting up.

A passing thought came over his mind. He was going too far. He shook those thoughts away. He had to honor the Iida family name.

When she finished getting up, he knew it was over for her. The fire in her eyes roared strong, but her body betrayed her spirit. Her legs trembled. Her arms dangled. Saliva dripped down.

"Uraraka…" He started. A low, soft, but determined tone in his voice.

"I'm finishing this now."

"Funny…" She coughed into her hand. With a swipe, she cleaned her mouth, standing up straight, one leg behind her, one at the front. Arms held at the side, she grinned. "That's… what I was… going to say."

His gaze sharpened. She wouldn't back down. Neither would he.

Inside his legs, his engines roared to life, blue flames shooting out the exhausts. She was wide open.

"Recipro…"

"If I had to guess who would win…"

"BURST!"

He shot forward. The flames scraped the top layer of concrete off of the floor. In a moment, he had shot towards his target at a speed only he could perceive at this point! In the split second it took for him to lift his leg, he aimed at her chest.

When he got lift off, he struck her full on with his shin. He felt her cough on his leg. The fight had been decided.

"Ack-!" His eyes darted to her. She should have been thrown out by now! Time seemed to slow. He noticed what she had done.

"Uraraka can probably take it home."

His mind raced as his eyes drifted towards her hands. She had grabbed on the moment he connected his attack, gripping tightly at his thighs! She grit her teeth. His body felt weightless.

"Zero G:" She howled, "HAMMER THROW!"

Using his own remaining speed against him, she spun him around in the air and threw him towards the walls. His body left the stage and before Midnight or Mic could announce his ring out, he hit the outer wall shoulder first, feeling something pop.

"R-Release-" Iida felt his body regain density, sliding down to the ground, his glasses slipping out.

"Iida Tenya is out of bounds! Uraraka Ochako advances to the next round!" Midnight proudly announced.

His head dragged upwards to look at the winner. She was kneeling just over the edge, subtly emptying her stomach. He shakily picked his glasses back up, mouth agape.

"What an electrifying first set, everyone! But don't turn that dial, we're going to see some more of it in the second set of fights right after a quick break!"

He got careless. He got too laser focused. He didn't consider the possibility that his opponent might withstand his strongest blow for even a moment, just long enough to do what she needed to do to win.

Even as she wobbled out of the ring to the cheer of the crowd, even as Iida knew in the back of his mind that she was the one hurt the most by their encounter, his spirit felt shattered.

He lost in the first round.

If there's something Mina was jealous of Setsuna for, it was the fact she didn't have to experience the atmosphere that had settled around their friend group at that very moment.

Sure, maybe having to fight someone and potentially getting hurt in the process might be worse physically, but the awkwardness of not being able to properly congratulate neither Uraraka or Iida, not without feeling bad about it, was worse in her mind.

"So, uh…" Kaminari decided to be the social sacrificial lamb, trying to break the ice. "You two had some killer moves! Seriously, I didn't know you were that crafty, Uraraka. And you Iida, man, you must've broken some kinda speed record at the end there, I swear."

Uraraka laughed, wincing from the soreness in her torso. "Thanks! Since we're not allowed our hero costumes and the ring is empty, I had to try really hard to come up with a strategy that would work.

"And let me tell ya-you, I wasn't sure it was gonna be enough, even when I was up there on the ring…" She let her head hang on the back of the chair, sighing. "I was so nervous. And I still got really messed up. Iida, you're really strong, you know that?"

"Ah." The group directed their attention at Iida. On the outside, he looked normal, but as he took a few seconds to even reply to the compliments, eyes vacant, anyone with any amount of social instinct would notice that he wasn't taking his loss particularly well.

"I appreciate your words Kaminari, Uraraka." He finally responded. "Truth be told, I was impressed at your fortitude. Most people would not have stayed composed enough to react to Recipro Burst like that. Still…" He trailed off.

Uraraka shrunk in her seat, while Kaminari seemed perfectly content with himself.

"A-Anyway! Tokage's match is about to start!" Mina exclaimed. "She's fighting that support girl, right? I didn't get to see the rest of her uh… 'fight', so I'm actually a bit excited!"

"Right, right…" Izuku glanced at her and nodded. "She seemed dead set on compromising her performance for advertisement's sake, but Kaminari's accident threw a wrench at that."

Kaminari's face fell and Uraraka spoke up. "Maybe she'll go for a different strategy this time?"

"But would she have a reason to? If anything, Tokage's tricky maneuvers might give her even more time to showcase her products, even without a proper agreement between the two."

"Huh… I hadn't considered that. She would have'ta- have to be really confident in her equipment to do that."

"Which would help boost sales even more."

"Right!"

The blonde watched her two friends converse, even getting Iida to chime in somewhat occasionally with a smile. She didn't have much to add to the conversation, she wasn't the type to really know how to read someone's plan, but that wasn't the point.

As long as her friends weren't feeling down, she didn't mind at all.

What they witnessed wasn't anything particularly noteworthy. The biggest thing that stood out was how Setsuna riled Mei up, poking holes in her inventions when she tried to use them to get one up on Setsuna.

Highlights included "I mean, I feel like heroes who would use that balancing thingie are people who go real fast, right? They tend to already have good balance. Plus, isn't it kinda bulky?" and "I'm pretty sure a net gun isn't anything new…"

The girl seemed especially mad when she used her quirk to break her "Hydraulic Bracers" mid dodge, sending her spiraling down to the ground flat on her behind.

In the end, Setsuna won after Mei stormed out of the ring once she had her earpiece taken by her opponent's disembodied hand.

Izuku put a hand on his chin. "Guess that Hatsume girl didn't count on making it past the first round, or the fact she'd be facing someone with such a tricky quirk…"

"Or someone who could actually spot where her equipment was lacking!" Mina joked with a grin as she got up and took a deep breath.

"Huh? Where are you going?" Uraraka asked. "There's still some time before your match starts."

"Oh, I know!" She exclaimed, smiling. "But I want some time alone to think, can't go relying on Midori for all my strategy now, can I?"

Leaving Izuku with a mix of amusement and indignity all over his face, the blonde walked away from her friend group and into the eerily empty halls of the Stadium. Once again, she was on her way to fight against insurmountable odds.

Not just physically.

Right now, she was feeling a very volatile cocktail of emotions stirring up inside her. She wanted to win, that was for sure. But at the same time, fighting Todoroki, pushing herself to the limit and trying to overwhelm him, all while he held back because of his own trauma…

It didn't sit right with her. Beyond being her rival for the day, he looked like someone who needed saving.

And how do you save someone when you don't know how to deal with your own baggage?

In the midst of processing her feelings, Mina had partially spaced out, letting her body walk itself to the waiting room on instinct alone.

Which is why she ended up bumping into something extremely warm and solid.

"Oof-" She stumbled back, the collision breaking her free from her own mind. "I'm so sorry, I-"

She lifted her head to look at who she had made contact with, and despite his person, her blood ran cold.

"Hey." Endeavor's voice reverberated inside her. It had a deep, low bass quality to it, making every word out of his mouth feel like it weighed a ton. " There you are. "

"H-hi!" She squeaked out. "I-I mean, hello Endeavor, sir! Wh- What a funny coincidence, I was just… just about to prepare myself to, to uh, f-fight Todoroki!"

"I am aware. This isn't a coincidence, young lady." He corrected her. "I came to seek you out personally."

She gulped. "Is that- is that so? Is there something I should know?"

"Quite. I've been watching you with great interest, actually. Your quirk is amazing, granting you from the meekest of enhancements to the strongest of bursts of power." He complimented. He seemed genuine about it too, which scared her even more. "In terms of raw power, it rivals even All-Might's. Perhaps not as refined, but that's to be expected. Almost makes me think you might be related to him."

"H-Heh, yeah, I guess it is pretty great, huh?" Was being a conspiracy nut genetic? Mina didn't know, but she was more than eager to get out of this conversation. "Is there… somewhere you're going with this, sir?"

"My boy. Shoto."

She should have known.

"He has a duty. To surpass even myself. And for that to happen, he must surpass All-Might, logically." He put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't know if he was trying to be intimidating or reassuring. "Which is why you'll prove to be a great test for him. Give it your all, Ashido.

"Put up a good fight against him. "

Silence.

"It's a lot to take in, so I'll leave you to it. Apologies for the bluntness." He let go of her, beginning to walk away.

"Endeavor…"

He partially turned back. "Yes?"

"You…" Her body was actively fighting back against her, trying to stop her from saying what she wanted to say. The words that came out of her mouth came from deep within her gut, words she truly meant.

"I'm going all out. But not for you. I'm doing this for me ." Her fists clenched, her body trembling. "And for Shoto . Whatever dream of yours you're pushing onto him… It has nothing to do with our fight."

Before he could get another word in, she bolted down the hallway, the only reaction she knew she'd gotten from the Pro being the corridors' temperature rising significantly in an instant.

Curving around the corner, she hugged the wall and held her breath. She heard the man walk away with heavy steps and slid down the wall, sighing.

She hugged her knees, a cold chill running down her spine.

Count to ten slowly.

It was ok. It was ok to be bold.

She took a deep breath and got up, staring at her bandaged hands.

Battle worn fingers closed, and her wavering heart settled. She knew what her objective was now. It wasn't a vague thing anymore. Some kind of ambiguous statement like making herself known to the world, or becoming a hero. For the first time...

"Todoroki…"

A boy with a heart frozen over by grief and rage was her opponent. A boy whose struggles she could understand, even almost relate to. Even sharing the same coping method. Rejection.

And it was hurting him. She could tell. Anyone could tell, just by looking at his eyes. They were vacant, lost. The eyes of someone who had seen too much from a young age.

Just words alone wouldn't work. She had to be more forceful than that. To get him to realize what he was doing, to stop rejecting such a crucial part of who he was…

And to give her the fight she wanted.

"I'm going to win. One way or another."