"LET'S KICK OFF THE SECOND SET OF THE SECOND ROUND WITH AN ELECTRIFYING, OR SHOULD I SAY, CHILLING MATCH!
THE PRODIGY, THE ICE KING, THE FIRE LORD, ENDEAVOR'S SON, TODOROKI SHOUTO!
VERSUS
THE GIRL WHO SURPASSED STEEL, SHORT BUT POWERFUL, ASHIDO MINA!"
She didn't miss how Todoroki stiffened up at being called Endeavor's son. But now wasn't the time to keep overthinking things like that. She had a goal here. She had worked her back off for over a year now. she had given up sweat and tears to come this far. She hadn't thrown in the towel yet.
And she wasn't planning to change that now.
"RRRREADY?!"
She lowered her body; her opponent flexed his fingers. She felt heat build up in her body, bubbling up from her stomach and flowing out from there. An icy mist surrounded Todoroki.
"STAAAAAAAAAAART!"
Before Todoroki even swung his right arm, Mina had leapt into action- jumping up and forward with all her might!
A wave of gigantic ice formed just beneath her. She curled up her legs, the small spikes that would have caught and frozen her just barely brushing against her shoes.
She curled onto her shoulder when she descended, rolling down the newly formed structure. She felt the ice scratch at her and her outfit, the only saving grace being One For All's increasing body heat helping soften the ice by melting it, however minutely.
Unfurling from herself, rose lightning trailed behind her. She locked eyes with her opponent. His mouth was closed, but his eyes were bewildered.
She reeled her arm back in midair. He built an ice wall in front of him.
Mina broke through with her punch, chunks of ice hitting Todoroki and staggering him.
She finally landed, rolling from her shoulder to feet in one smooth motion. "You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT-" She struck him in the abdomen with a hook punch, he doubled over. "Todoroki! Your ice isn't strong enough!"
She punched the right side of his face and grabbed his left arm, spinning around and throwing him against his own glacier. He never connected, instead catching himself in midair and making a small platform beneath himself.
He heaved in and out.
"Knocked the breath right out of you, didn't I?" Mina remarked, a small grin on her face. Sweat trickled down her forehead. It wasn't easy to maintain her quirk like that. "You're not winning if I keep this up then!"
He wiped his mouth. "Lucky shot."
More ice formed in front of him, more than Mina could break through in one go. She grabbed a chunk of ice from the floor and jumped to the side.
"Catch!" She yelled out, pitching the shard towards him. He put up a wall to stop it, letting it bounce off.
Once more, she landed and jumped straight for it, punching and destroying it…
Revealing nothing but air behind it.
"What?"
"Ice obscures your vision." She heard his voice breath out from behind her. She whipped her head around, "Don't get cocky."
He slammed his right foot down and a thin sheet of ice formed in front of him. Mina jumped up to avoid it, only for a thick pole to suddenly form beneath her and strike her in the stomach!
She gasped out, ragdolling in the air as more and more of those sprouted from the ground, juggling her and throwing her to the side and onto a thicker block of ice. She rolled over and away from Todoroki, coughing and grasping her abdomen.
"I figured you'd be trying to dodge." Todoroki sounded out from behind the icy barrier. "So I just had to corner you. I'll admit though… You were faster than I thought. So you got a lucky shot. That's all."
Mina turned towards the sound. She saw him rising from behind the block, forming stairs beneath his foot.
The moment he saw her, he swung his right arm, sending out another pillar of ice directly from his hands this time!
She jumped out and onto the block, hearing the attack collide and break with the ground behind her.
Before she could even breathe, he was already on her, sending out a smaller wave that still made her jump back.
"Try harder than that? Please." He deadpanned. "As if you're not holding back yourself."
"I-" She tried to respond, but clammed up when a chill crawled up her leg. She leapt backwards, a second ever too slow, and it spread to the entirety of her right side. It threw her off, causing her to stumble back into the small pit the formation had formed.
The sudden drop startled her, and she felt One for All fizzle out, her concentration fully broken.
She rose to her feet as quickly as she could. Quick enough to see her opponent looking down on her, eyes dull and unbothered. "If you're going to try and ask me to stop holding back, for whatever reason…" With every word, a small puff of cold air appeared. His right arm shivered. "Then don't be a hypocrite about it."
The last thing she saw was ice closing the roof to the pit.
"You're done."
Kirishima watched breathlessly from the stands as Todoroki buried Mina in ice. His eyes shook, as before she had even gotten more than one good hit in on Todoroki, he had… Already won. Just like that.
"No, no no no…" He muttered as he leaned over the railing, biting his lower lip.
"Damn it…" Setsuna whined out, slumping in her seat. "I guess I hoped a little too much, huh…?"
"Ashido Mina is-"
"Wait!" Izuku yelled out when a single spark escaped the icy enclosure.
"BREAAAAAAAAAAAAAK-"
And the stadium shook.
Ice exploded out in all directions and Todoroki was flung away, landing on his back and moaning in pain. The blocks, the waves, and half of the glacier he first put out were all gone. A good chunk of the ring had been damaged too, cracks formed, bits and pieces were missing.
Ice and concrete dust mixed in the air, obscuring his view. Blocks of both fell from the sky, threatening to hit anyone around the ring.
"What… the hell?" He mouthed out, leaning on his right side. It felt numb.
"You're right!" He heard a voice yell out. Ashido. "I hate to admit it, but you're right! Here I am, telling you to try harder, when I'm not doing that too..."
The view cleared and he saw her. She stood proud, at ground zero of the damage she'd caused, right arm aimed up, then slinging down. It bent sharply and bled. Broken. The ground beneath her nothing more than almost entirely broken-down concrete.
"What?" He blinked. She broke her own arm… to break out of his attack. "What's your deal? Why are you going th-"
"You're shaking, Todoroki." She cut him off.
He felt his jaw tighten.
"No one's perfect, y'know? And even someone like me can see it, you threw out all that ice, all those fancy shapes!" He felt his breath hasten. When had he gotten so exhausted already? Did she really force him to use that much ice? Was it because of the hit she landed on him?
"You've got the shivers already. Because you're not going all out!" She grinned. Not like her previous smiles. The ones even he could tell were forced.
Even as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, he saw it. She was proud of herself. It was genuine.
She looked like she was on an emotional high.
"Everyone here's doing what they can to win, enduring whatever hardship they gotta, pushing themselves to their absolute limit! And you're here trying to cruise on by with half a deck?" She yelled out loud enough for the whole audience to hear. Rose lightning lashed out around her again.
"If you keep this up, one day, you're gonna meet someone who isn't as inexperienced as I am, y'know." Her voice had a hint of shame. Disdain. Her eyes flickered to the ground. Was it towards him? Herself? "Who isn't as nice as I am. So, get that stick out your butt-
"AND STOP MESSING AROUND ALREADY!"
"Messing around…?" He repeated under his breath.
"Messing around!?" Louder. "Did my old man pay you off, Ashido?!"
He felt his body shake. Not just from the cold anymore. "You should have just focused on winning… Because you're just pissing me off now!"
With a lunge, he dashed forward. His right arm felt like it weighed a ton. Not that it mattered, because the moment he started moving, Ashido had sailed over him easily with a long jump, kicked off his back and thrown him forward violently, the broken-up rubble cutting his skin.
The kick alone made his spine feel like it had been electrocuted, his nerves firing off as he gasped and sprawled out, hurting.
He recovered as quickly as he could. And saw Ashido curling into herself.
'Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts-'
Mina had once more been made acutely aware of what her limitations currently are when she landed behind Todoroki. What had been a chance to follow up with another attack was taken away by the burning and tearing of her own muscles.
Her abdomen, her arms, her legs, they all felt like their fibers had been stretched to the limit, before being abruptly compressed by violent cramps.
It didn't listen to her, her body. It contracted, pulling her into herself, screaming out in protest at how far she'd pushed it. It punished her for daring to even think she could push herself this much at once right after breaking her limits once that day already.
She could only manage to lift her head to see her opponent struggling to get back up, looking at her. His mouth was agape as he breathed heavily, but his eyes were a mix of contempt and confusion.
"Why?" He asked with a hoarse voice. "Why go this far? It doesn't make sen-"
"How can-" She hissed, when she tried to speak, pain shooting up her body. But she fought back against her own muscles, even as they cramped.
Why was she going this far again…?
Because a part of herself that wouldn't shut up just begged her to put her nose where it didn't belong, like it always did.
Because a part of her knew what the pain Todoroki was feeling was like.
Because maybe she saw it as a chance to fight her own problems.
Because...
She forced herself to stand up straight, gritting her teeth. "How can I… prove that I exist, that I matter, if the person I'm fighting… isn't even taking this seriously, Todoroki?!"
She pointed at herself. "I'm going to be a Hero people remember!"
Because…
"And I decided I want to be that!"
Those words.
Why did they feel so familiar to him?
Why did they make him freeze, too slow to react to the punch she threw out? A regular punch, without the power of her quirk flowing behind it.
"Think about who you're really spiting, Todoroki!"
She landed a straight kick at his midsection, he tanked it as best he could.
"Who's really being hurt by this?! I should be the one asking you why you're going this far!" She stopped her attacks. She sniffled. "Hurting yourself just to get back at…- I can't let that slide.
"That's why I have to win! I can't validate that! That's why I'm showing you what I can do, right here-" Rose lightning danced on her left arm. "Right now!"
The strike connected with his chest. He felt the wind be knocked out of him as he was sent sailing. The ground seemed to take forever to come.
She stopped dead in her tracks, gasping for air as her left arm trembled. Her muscles looked ready to burst from her skin, convulsing, veins bulging out in areas she had stressed out the most. The sweat that covered her evaporated in waves of steam, her teeth ground together.
But he still stood back up, however damaged he was. He refused to give in.
With a raised right arm, he scowled, hiding the pain. "I'll show him, with her power-"
"Her power?" Ashido repeated back at him. Her eyes looked wild, a glow bursting from her irises. "Her power, his power- Stop letting them decide what you do, Shouto!"
Those words.
"Don't you get it already!? It's your body, your quirk, you idiot!" She screamed out, tears welling up in her eyes.
It all came flooding back to him.
"You decide… who you want to become."
How could he forget?
Mina couldn't help but be mesmerized by what she saw.
She yelled out her words. Her words that she said not just for Shoto, but…
She shouted with all the energy she had bottled up all this time. All the energy she wanted to show. All the things she wanted to say. It all came flooding out.
And it culminated in an inferno bursting forth from Todoroki, covering his left side in its entirety, his shirt lighting ablaze with it. His face didn't move a muscle. He didn't will that to come out consciously.
She broke through the barrier keeping himself at bay, and he didn't even realize it. Like a damn finally reaching its breaking point from a single drop of water.
He appeared almost afraid, eyes shrunken, his body tense.
Until he started laughing.
"Your face… You wanted this so bad, and you're still stunned by it." His voice had levity. "You're something else, Ashido…"
It was all immediately swept away by him gritting his teeth. Determination. "You don't get to regret what happens next!"
Fire and ice encased him. He swiped at her with his left arm, a quick burst of fire coming forth and pushing her back even as she tried to withstand it. It didn't feel like regular fire. It felt almost solid. She stood up straight, grinning.
"Bring it on!" Was all she had to say in response, lightning and power engulfing her. As if her quirk had been watching the duel, it erupted in a blaze of power inside of her, pushing her forward for one last stretch. "Let's see if you can take me out now!"
He shot out another glacier from his foot, threatening to cover the ring. She dashed forward with a swing of her left arm- tearing apart her sleeves- and destroyed it with all of One For All's power.
Shoto raised his left hand, with an apologetic smile.
He mouthed words she couldn't hear.
Flames followed, dancing wildly from his left arm.
And the arena exploded once more.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Setsuna barely clung on when she felt pure air crash into her on the stands. One moment she was watching her classmates duke it out almost to the death, and the next, she was witnessing the second ring destroying explosion that day! "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
"TODOROKI'S ICE COOLED THE AIR AROUND THE RING DOWN THE ENTIRE MATCH!" Izuku yelled out over the bellowing air. "HIS FIRE EXPANDED ALL OF IT AT ONCE!"
For a solid 5 seconds, it almost seemed like the shockwave wouldn't end.
But the dust settled, and as everyone watched, in or out of their seats, the smoke blew away.
Todoroki still stood, panting and wobbling, looking as if he would fall apart at any second. The entirety of the left shirt of his shirt was gone, the edges of where it once was charred.
And Mina…
Laid on what remained of the initial ice formation, unmoving.
For a moment, nothing happened, as Midnight tried to center herself enough to make a judgement call.
She stood up from the ground, her referee stand having been completely torn apart, and took a deep breath.
"Oi, kiddo." A voice called out to Mina in the dark. It appeared to belong to an older man. The only thing she could see was the outline of his body, implying he was bald.
"You're not gonna go down that easy, are ya?"
Mina's body jerked up, sitting at the edge of the glacier.
"No way…" Izuku could hear Kirishima say, utter bewilderment plaguing his voice.
Todoroki was trembling now, embers and cold mist surrounding him already as he stepped back, nearly stumbling over himself.
With forceful steps, she pushed herself onto her feet. Her head hung low, even as her gaze drifted to Todoroki.
Just as her mouth opened…
Her foot was caught in the broken ring and she fell. She hit the concrete, motionless. And this time, she didn't rouse from her unconsciousness.
"A-Ashido Mina is unconscious!" Midnight exclaimed into her microphone, sounding just as troubled. "Todoroki Shouto advances to the next round!"
"I'M NOT DONE YET-" Mina shouted, jerking her body forward. Only to be stopped by a deeply agonizing pain all over her body… and the sight of a room, very much not the open space she was fighting Todoroki in just now.
"Where…"
"Oh, you're awake already?" She heard a voice say from behind a curtain that sat next to her. This looked like… "Kids these days really take a lot to be put down, don't they?"
She blinked. "Recovery Girl?"
The nurse pulled the curtain back with a smile. "The very same. Honestly, the fact you were ready to keep fighting even though you literally passed out just 10 minutes ago is… I'm not sure I want to say commendable, but it does speak as to who you are."
"I… guess." She laid back down, groaning. "Everything huuu~rts."
"I'd be more concerned if it didn't, missy! I could heal your broken arms, but no way was I going to be able to heal your other injuries. Not unless you wanted to sleep the rest of the day away." Two knocks were heard on the door, making Recovery Girl perk up. "Oh, right! You have a visitor. He asked me to let him see you when you woke up… And he's been standing outside since."
"...Is it my dad?"
"No, unless your dad's somehow the same age as you." She hopped down from her chair and walked over to the door, opening it. "Alright kiddo, come on in."
"Excuse me." Todoroki walked in, his walk being uneven, slow. Half of his shirt was gone, letting Mina see the bruises she'd given him. He stopped at the foot of Mina's bed, staring her down. "...You're awake."
"...Yeah."
Despite her previous outburst during the fight, when the adrenaline died down, getting any words out at all felt a little more challenging to Mina. Like her throat had clamped itself shut. Adrenaline was funny like that.
The boy in front of her hummed. "What you said out there. Did you mean all of it?"
"...I don't like saying things I don't mean, so, yeah." She looked away, sinking into her pillow. "But I did try to be more… aggressive to get a reaction out of you, I guess."
"I see." He paused, bringing his left hand up. Both directed a blank gaze at it. "...So it was on purpose after all. You really did want to see me using my fire…
"Why?" She looked at him, their eyes meeting. "Didn't you know that if I used it… You'd have no chance of winning?"
The girl shrugged, smiling. "I mean, I kinda did. But at the same time, I couldn't really stomach winning against someone who was holding back that much, you know? It's a bit of a selfish thing, I think. Plus, hearing you say those things…"
"...You thought I needed to hear it from someone who was doing the same thing?" He asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Her face flushed red and he let out a low chuckle. "I guess it's a lot easier to get a point across when you also need to hear it yourself."
She blinked, the pin finally dropping for her. "Huh…" She stared at the ceiling. "Guess I did need to hear it too, huh."
"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not in your place." He sighed, shaking his head. "All I wanted to really say was… thank you, I guess. For helping me and pissing off my dad."
"Wait, Endeavor's mad?"
"He's been trying to get me to use his-" He took a deep breath, habit trying to force him to use the type of language that got him here in the first place.
"My left side for years. And you did it in a few minutes. He even called you an 'insolent little girl', so I'm guessing you had a few words to say to him before we fought, huh?"
"J-Just a few!" She laughed. "Really, it's nothing. Even if I lost, seeing you go all out, the relief on your face, I feel like I still won in a way!"
"You've got a real optimistic view of things. I hope this wasn't a one off thing, you're… not tiring to talk to. Out of most people anyway. I should get going though, the ring's probably going pretty much fixed by now." With a lighter tone to him, Todoroki opened the door. "... Excuse me."
He shouldered his way past someone, said person walking in right after.
"Yeah, you're excused alright." Katsuta grumbled, then brightened up at the sight of his daughter. "Little star! You're up already!"
He almost tackled her in a hug, only for Recovery Girl to hit him in the stomach with her cane, making him double over.
"Ashido, I should've known your impulsivity would end up being genetic! And what's with trying to smother your daughter like that, she's still sore!"
Katsuta coughed, leaning against the wall. "It's good to see you too, Recovery Girl…"
"Hmph. You both share that same characteristic, you're so stuck in what's going on that you go with your gut instead of listening to your head."
"I get it, I get it…"
Mina laughed, sitting up. "Should I be offended?"
She shook her head. "You both just have a penchant for real daredevil stunts. At least you're apologetic about it, your father was always brushing my warnings off!"
"Because I was doing fine! Just because I-" the nurse hit him in the chest, making him sputter. "...Y-you've made your point. I… So, you're doing alright Mina? Nothing still broken?"
"Nope! Recovery Girl's real good at what she does."
"And… how are you feeling… emotionally?"
Mina looked away, humming intensely. She nodded her head. "Yeah, uhuh… I'm fine! Winning like this is more than enough for me, daddy!"
The man smiled, standing up straight. "And next year, you're going even farther!" He looked at Recovery Girl. "Say, can I walk her back to her classmates? Being stuck here for the rest of the festival seems worse than not watching it at all."
Pondering for a few moments, the nurse nodded. "Just don't do any activities that might strain you for the rest of the day, okay?"
"Of course!" Mina replied, before being led out of her bed and out of the room by her father.
"...You have nothing to add, Toshinori?"
Sitting in his corner, behind a curtain, Toshinori blinked. He had been texting someone. "Oh. Not really. I wanted to listen in on the conversation, in case Young Ashido needed encouragement, but it seems she's satisfied with what she's done.
"And that's all I could ask for, really."
Izuku walked out onto the ring. The ring had been fixed far quicker than expected, which he did consider a bit of a shame. He wanted to hash out his strategy a bit more, but rolling with what he had was something he was used to doing by now.
"Still, I didn't even get to check up on Ashido…" He muttered.
Shaking that thought out of his head, he glared straight ahead. His opponent was none other than Kirishima. The very same boy who had broken his nose just two weeks before the festival. Mina's Middle School friend, her closest one.
By the way he looked, shoulders squared, arm tensed, wavering eyes, Izuku could only guess that he was just as nervous about this rematch as he was. And really, he didn't want to be nervous. Kirishima wasn't a bad person, but as the previous weeks had taught him, communication wasn't his forté.
It seemed as though he was only ever really honest when actively using his quirk, or at the very least, when he was fighting.
With that in mind, he'd come up with a genius plan to get them to solve the awkward tension between them.
...Maybe calling it 'genius' was overselling it, but it was certainly better than trying to get a peep out of him when he was actively avoiding everyone else.
"STAAAAART!"
Caught up in his thoughts, Izuku only caught Mic's voice announcing the beginning of the match. He only got one shot at this. He had to make it count!
Both boys walked with slow, deliberate steps. Their gazes focused on each other, eyes only ever flicking away to catch a brief glance at their opponent's limbs.
Filling up and surrounding his arms with electricity, Izuku brought them up the same instant Kirishima sent out Shadow.
Not a word had been exchanged between the two, but when Izuku struck his arms together in rapid succession and caused a multitude of sparks to fly out from them, his opponent's shocked expression was all he needed to confirm that his plan had worked.
Kirishima's quirk retreated into his arm, looking a lot smaller when it did so.
"Shit…" He cursed under his breath.
"You call your quirk 'Shadow', hide it in dark places a lot, and you even have a cloak covering it on your hero costume." Izuku said with a smirk. "It was pretty obvious what your weakness was, so I just created some bright sparks using opposite charges. All that said though, I'm not after an easy win."
Kirishima narrowed his eyes. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"What I'm saying is…" Izuku let the charge dissipate from his arms, the electricity surrounding them dying out and revealing singed hands and forearms. He wasn't repeating that for a little bit. He lowered his body into an amateur boxing stance. "Put 'em up, Kirishima!"
For a moment, Kirishima looked miffed at the challenge, but quickly started smiling himself. "Fine by me." The raven-haired boy put up a much more practiced stance. "So, this is how we're doing it?"
"Hey, you've been going out of your way to avoid me." Izuku replied, shrugging. "Might as well get it over here, right?"
"Yeah… Right. Y'know, I've been using my quirk as a bit of an excuse for being a prick. Guess I got nothing to fall back on now, eh?" He hopped in place, loosening up his arms. "Let's see if your punch still sucks, Midoriya."
The two ran at each other, engaging in a fist fight the moment they met.
"What's this? It seems our two competitors have foregone their quirks and have decided to start boxing!" Mic commented, laughing. "I didn't even bring my referee outfit today though, that's some poor timing!"
"...You have one of those?" Aizawa deadpanned.
Izuku weaved and ducked, striking at Kirishima wherever he could, trying to use his lower stature and height to his advantage. But the occasional blow still hit him, and he had to admit. Kirishima's punch had not lost even a bit of its edge.
His opponent seemed to be doing just fine, even as Izuku pummeled him with lighter strikes, he seemed to gladly take them and dish the damage back out.
Weaving under another punch, Izuku bashed him in the ribs with a half-improvised elbow. His opponent visibly reacted, gasping out the moment the blow connected.
Biting his lip, he trucked on and bang his fist against Izuku's forehead, sending the boy reeling back as he tried to recuperate from the nerve touching blow.
The two separated, panting. "You've gotten a bit better." Kirishima admitted. "But it's gonna take a little more than lightweight hitting to put me down, little man."
"Yeah well…!" Izuku paused. "I… am used to being knocked around, so don't think you'll take me down easily either."
There was a brief pause as both processed that exchange. Not being able to hold it in, Kirishima laughed and Izuku followed suit once he realized what he just said. "Ah… Yeah, you better live up to that!"
The two clashed once more, and slowly but surely, Kirishima started to get the upper hand. It was quickly dawning on Izuku that he couldn't win this on physicality alone… He was too small, his build was too light, and frankly, his technique was below amateur at best.
"Hey Kirishima!" He said as he just barely avoided another one of his punches, sweating. "I think I'm just about ready to call things even for what you did!"
He laughed, taking a step back and looking very sure of himself. "Oh yeah, why?"
His face dropped when Izuku grabbed both of his arms with a malicious grin. "This."
"Burst Discharge!"
For a split second, bright light engulfed the ring, and in that brief second, Izuku knew from Kirishima's scream alone that his new move had worked. He let his opponent go, making him drop two trembling, spazzing arms.
Kirishima stumbled back, biting his lower lip and drawing some blood. He tried to move his arms, but it looked as if he was trying to deadlift something way above his weight class.
Izuku didn't let this opportunity just slip by, instead lunging at Kirishima close to the ground and grabbing both of his knees.
"OH SHI-"
"One more time!"
And again, the ring was dominated by that brief flash of light, and the shadow user fell forward, only being stopped by Izuku's slight struggle to hold him up.
"I just discharged a high amount of electricity into your limbs for just the tiniest instant. It didn't have time to properly travel through your entire body, but…" Izuku pushed him back slightly, so that they'd be eye to eye. "It's enough to disable most people."
"Y-Yeah, ok. I see now." He slowly turned his head towards Midnight, struggling to do it. "I'm done for here, I give."
She nodded and cracked her whip. "Kirishima Eijirou has given up! Midoriya Izuku will be advancing to the next round!"
He groaned with pain when he tried to stand up on his own.
"Here." Izuku crouched down and spun, slinging Kirishima's arm over his shoulder. "We're even now."
"Tsk, 'put 'em up', huh?" Kirishima laughed and tried to walk, Izuku matching his shaky steps with some effort. "That didn't look like fisticuffs."
"Hey, I never said I wouldn't use my quirk. Besides-" He smiled at Kirishima, bringing his fist up. "I think we can both agree breaking my nose didn't fall into 'Not going too far'."
Kirishima smiled awkwardly, a hint of red in his face. He looked at the floor, a distant look on his face. "Yeah, guess it didn't… You wanna talk about that?"
In the stands, Setsuna and Kaminari let out simultaneous sighs of relief.
"Finally! I was starting to think those two would never make up and kiss." Setsuna said, grinning. "Jeez, it was one accident, that crap happens all the time in Hero schools."
"I guess ol' emo boy over there just thought Midoriya wouldn't forgive him or something. But like, he's the nicest guy ever." Kaminari added. "Still, what's solved is solved."
Setsuna leaned back, noticing that their usual group was missing most people. "...Man, I hope Ashido's doing alright. Gotta thank her for getting Todoroki to show off more of what he can do!"
The girl in question had been on her way to the stands when she ended up crossing paths with the two contestants, Izuku and Kirishima, still chatting after their fight, the latter looking particularly apologetic, whilst the former looked more than content.
Both immediately froze up seeing her, making her let out an awkward laugh. "Oops. Guess I missed your guys' match, huh?"
"Sure did…" Kirishima trailed off. Izuku lightly punched him in the arm, prompting a sigh from him. "Ashido I… Listen, you know I… It's…"
She nodded. "Go on."
"...I'm sorry!" He blurted out, face flushed red. "I said a lot of shitty stuff back there, I snapped at you, I made you sad, even though you didn't deserve that at all. You're a friend I think a lot of, so I didn't- Didn't want to apologize to you until I felt like I had… had earned it, I guess. So… yeah."
His voice dropped, head lowering along with it. "Sorry. Can… you bring yourself to forgive me?"
He snapped his head back up when he felt the top of his head being flicked. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"For avoiding me, making me worried, and making me think I did something wrong, duh!" She tried to force a frown, but it quickly melted away into a smile. "Of course I forgive you, silly! You're our Kiri, I wouldn't just kick you out of the group, out of my life like that. I know you, and you're not someone I wanna cut off~."
"I… Uh…" He stuttered, his face now a bright shade of red. "...Thanks."
"See? This is nice. Told you it was going to be fine." Izuku added, patting him on the back. "We should really get going though, Uraraka and Katsuki's match is up next."
Mina's eyes widened. "Oh shoot, right!"
The three began to power jog their way to the stands (in the words of the eternal Hounddog, 'No running in the halls'). On the way there, Mina got a text. She lagged behind a bit, slowing down to read it.
AM at 1:12 PM - I heard everything. You did well, Young Ashido! I am proud of you. Keep at it!
Deciding to reply later, she put her phone away, trying to ignore the knot forming in her throat from seeing those words coming from someone who wasn't immediate family or Kirishima.
She wiped away a tear that threatened to roll out of her eye.
"You coming, Ashido?" Her friends sounded out.
With a sniffle, she nodded. "Yeah, yeah!" She stood up straight, shaking her head and muttering to herself. "Come on, you're not a crybaby."
Inside of a hideout disguised as a bar, Shigaraki drummed her fingers on the table as she watched the sports festival battles unfolding on the TV;
"Hm…"
"Is something bothering you, miss?" asked Kurogiri as he prepared a drink.
"Master said to keep an eye out for potentially problematic students… But so far I haven't found anyone I can consider a problem." She replied calmly. "Even if the Decay I have now isn't as good as it was when my brother had it… Most of these students have little to no way to fight in a ranged manner."
"Which means that even with your limited decay, you still have an edge." He finished for her, pouring the mix into a cup and sliding it towards the young woman.
"Exactly." She added. "It's not relentless or unending like his was, but it's good enough."
"But I imagine that Midoriya boy is still an issue?"
She tensed up, taking a deep breath the moment she heard that name. She downed her drink in a second, letting out a deep sigh once she finished it. "Yes. He is."
"There's someone else you should also be directing that hatred towards, Kishi."
Kishi. That despicable name. The name given to her after her… rebirth.
"Who would that be?"
"Endeavor's boy… Todoroki Shouto. And the one he fought. Ashido… Mina." He paused. "Both have quite interesting connections. It's a lot to take in, but, you're a big girl… I'm sure you can handle it."
Her fingers dug into the bar table, the wood beneath beginning to partially decay.
"Yes… master."
"Good girl. I must be off now, adult things to take care of, I'm sure you understand."
The TV shut off, leaving only the small monitor she used to watch the festival. With a grimace, she reached over the countertop, shoving Kurogiri to the side and grabbing one of the bottles randomly.
She sat back down, untwisting the cap.
"Miss, what do you think you are doing?" Kurogiri asked, a rare commanding tone in his voice. "I do not think getting drunk would be wise."
"Shut it, fog face." She flipped the bottle into her mouth, feeling the drink burn her throat and stomach as it traveled. "You're not the one who was stitched back together by a psychopath, pretty much owing him for the rest of your life…"
"He saved you."
"He ruined us." She corrected, putting the drink down forcefully.
"But this pain is worth it, isn't it?" Kurogiri asked, his passive tone back to annoy her. "To get what you want."
She grumbled. "...Maybe if I wasn't also a puppet for the bastard…"
Getting up, she tied her hair and put on a loose hoodie she left lying around. "I'm going out. Try to not bore yourself to death without me, Kurogiri."
"I'll be waiting right here as always, miss Shigaraki." He replied with infuriating sincerity.
Biting back a retort, she made her way outside their lair leisurely, groaning when she realized that despite the area around the Sports Festival being sunny and bright, the same could not be said for her prefecture.
Pulling the hood up, she ducked into the heavy rain, hands in her pockets. She passed by more TVs broadcasting the event, the one girl with orange hair was fighting the kid with ashy blonde hair. Even as they duked it out, exchanging attacks with serious looks on their faces, she couldn't help but feel embittered.
She could have been there. He should have been there. But here she was. Serving a crime lord because she wanted to get back at society.
"If I knew it'd be like this…"
A sharp pain shot up her neck and into her head. She grit her teeth, hissing. A stray memory from one of her two halves. Playing with other kids. Pretending to be heroes and villains.
She rolled her neck.
"I would've just asked to die."
With smoking hands, Bakugou finished his opponent off by blasting her out of bounds. She had made a valiant effort with her rubble stunt, even almost getting him when she brushed against his jacket, but as far as he was concerned, she was a few years too early in the experience department to hope to match him.
Now that he was tuning into the audience again, apparently, he missed some sort of cheering against him beforehand, that his homeroom teacher was reprimanding the audience for.
He didn't care for that. Heroes didn't need to be adored. They just needed to be strong enough to win. And he still needed to get stronger.
Turning a head to the stands, where the band of extras they called his classmates sat, he zeroed in on a certain mop of neon green hair. A thorn on his side, always getting on his case. His mom would say he kept him in line when she wasn't around to beat him for cursing. Or talking back. Or reminding her of her ex-husband. Or existing.
The hag didn't know what she was talking about.
With furrowed brows, Bakugou pointed a finger at Midoriya, aka Nine Volt, aka Neon Sign. The boy's eyes briefly widened, only for his gaze to sharpen when his blonde classmate dragged a thumb across his own neck.
They didn't need to be next to each other for him to understand what Bakugou had said.
"You're next."