Shoto, as it turned out, had one hell of a trick up his sleeve. Hinami couldn't say she was surprised though, she figured he was up to no good. Instead of confronting the villains or doing any kind of fighting…. Her twin had simply walked up to the building and touched it. The CCTV room was dead silent as frost crept up the building, encasing it in a thick layer of ice from the first floor all the way up to the lightning rod on the roof. The temperature of the CCTV room plunged sharply, the students' breaths fogging in the chill. The cold didn't bother Hinami, though everyone else shivered and huddled closer for warmth. (With the exception of Bakugou, Iida, and Tokoyami.)
"What the fuck…?" Kaminari breathed, shattering the silence as he desperately wrapped his jacket tighter around himself.
"That's insane!" Ashido cried, eyes glued to the screen as she rubbed warmth into her upper arms. "It's fr-freezing in here now!"
On the screen Shoto turned to Shoji, the six-armed student and his partner, saying something briefly before turning and sauntering into the frozen building. The cameras followed him as he trailed nonchalantly through the frosted hallways, in absolutely no rush. In the room with the villains, Ojiro was stuck fast, frozen up to his calves. Hagakure was nowhere to be found but was likely in the same situation as her partner.
"No wonder he was recommended," Asui said bluntly, though her eyes drooped and her head nodded sleepily.
Hinami nodded in agreement, chest tight as the class sung her twin's praises. She'd always known that Shoto had the better Quirk. It wasn't even a competition. But… still, it stung sometimes. Especially the unwelcome reminder that Shoto got recommended and she didn't.
Back on the cameras, Shoto breezed past the frozen form of Ojiro and pressed his palm against the fake warhead. Steam billowed out from his hand, rapidly defrosting the weapon.
"Take notes, kids! This is how it's done!" All Might said through chattering teeth. "He has incapacitated the villains without compromising his teammate or the weapon! The hero team wins!"
Hinami smirked, shaking her head as the class broke into awed chatter. She knew Shoto was strong, but it was a rare opportunity for her to see him in action like this. But hell yeah, her twin was strong as fuck! They should be in awe, he was incredible.
"Did… he just melt the ice?" Kirishima asked, arms crossed tightly over his bare chest to conserve warmth as he shivered. Poor dude was basically shirtless, no wonder he was cold.
"Yup!" Hinami said, popping the 'p' on the end. "Sho technically has two Quirks, he has both ice and fire," she explained, unable to stop the smile creeping across her lips. Damn that peppermint head and his OP double Quirks.
"Yeah… That guy's kinda intimidating…" Kaminari muttered to himself, staring down at his hands. Hinami had to nibble the inside of her lip to keep from smirking.
Once Shoto unfroze the building, the CCTV room gradually warmed back up, becoming hot and muggy instead. So much so that a couple students shucked their jackets and fanned themselves in the thick, damp air. It was quite the temperature whiplash, not that Hinami noticed or cared much. Temperature didn't seem to have the same effect on her as others. Sure, she could feel when things were hot or cold, but unless it was extreme, it just… didn't matter to her. Shoto was the same. That's why no one fought Fuyumi when she set the thermostat to 60 degrees all year round. She and Natsuo were sensitive to heat, while the twins didn't have a preference.
All Might had slipped out of the door while she was distracted, most likely to go fetch the students so they could review the battle. Not that there was much to review. Honestly, the villains really pulled the short stick this time. How were they supposed to defend against getting their feet frozen to the ground? Rip them up and fight? Yeah, right. Neither of them had any long-range capabilities, they were just… out of luck and outmatched. It happened that way sometimes.
But what could Hinami have done differently? It's been years since she and Shoto sparred against each other, and even then, father only rarely made them use their Quirks against each other. Sure, she could've used her water to melt the ice. And even if she did get stuck, she could still control her water without moving. But… She knew he could freeze her water. And it took more energy for her to make more water than it took for him to freeze it. Eventually she'd run out of water. And Shoto wouldn't even be winded.
What could she have realistically done to stop him in that scenario?
"How come you can't do anything like that, Space Case?" Kaminari asked, playfully waggling his eyebrows at her.
"Shut up!" Hinami hissed as she took a threatening step closer to him. "You have no idea—!" she cut herself off, swallowing back the mouthful of venom rising in her throat. You have no idea what you're talking about. No idea how hard I've worked. No idea what I'm capable of.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it," he chuckled nervously, moving as if to pat her shoulder placatingly.
"No touching," Kirishima sighed, materializing next to her and catching Kaminari by the elbow. "Why can't you get that through your head, dude?" he asked, pressing Kaminari's arm back into his side firmly.
Hinami exhaled harshly through grit teeth, settling back on her heels. Though she didn't quite manage to wipe the nasty look off her face.
"Obviously, you didn't see her in the entrance exam," someone piped up, laughingly. Hinami turned her murderous gaze on him, at least she thought it was a 'him' judging by the way the voice sounded. She struggled to recognize who was speaking, though. It was even harder since he was in costume, a black, white, and yellow body suit with a full-face helmet that was vaguely shaped like a… tape dispenser? He chuckled sheepishly under her scrutiny, reaching up to pop the black-tinted visor on his helmet open.
Oh… it was the long-faced guy from the day before, the one she'd snapped at. How did he know what she did in the entrance exam?
"Yeah," Kirishima agreed with a laugh. "That was something else."
Hinami pursed her lips, palms itching and sweating as she waited for whatever he was going to say next. Was he seriously about to make fun of her for having to save her from the Zero Pointer? He didn't seem like the type that would, but… she'd been wrong about people before.
"You don't even remember me, do you?" the long-faced boy asked with a sigh.
Hinami turned her attention back to him and shrugged, pride still smarting from Kaminari's remark.
"I was in your group at the entrance exam," he explained, shaking his head. "You busted right out of the gate and flooded everyone with really hot water, remember? You knocked me over? And like… a bunch other people, too."
"Oh…" Hinami said, dumbfounded. Yeah, she remembered now. "But I set everyone back on their feet after that! And the water wasn't that hot…" she defended, cheeks flushing. She hadn't expected to get called out for that, more than a month after the fact. It's not like she meant to knock them over, they shouldn't have been standing so close.
"The water was kind of hot…" Kirishima said sheepishly, drawing her attention. Had she knocked him over too? How come he didn't mention? At least he didn't say anything about her getting paralyzed and having to save her… Maybe she'd jumped the gun on that one.
"And then rode off on top of a tsunami!" the long-faced boy exclaimed. "It pissed me off… But it was kinda cool too," he sighed, though he never lost the little triangular smile on his face. "That's why I stole your robot near the end."
"That was you?!" she snarled, getting smacked in the face with the revelation of why he was so familiar to her. "Then you dropped the robot you stole on my head!" she hissed, jabbing a finger at him. "You could've killed me, you stupid bargain bin Spider Man!"
"Ouch! That's a little harsh," he laughed, though he didn't quite manage to hide the wince at her words. "I knew you'd be fine," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "I was right, wasn't I?" he asked, gesturing at her as if to prove his point.
Hinami narrowed her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. She'd make him regret that… just as soon as she learned his name.
All Might soon returned, the four students in tow behind him. This time no one needed to go to the infirmary, which was a good thing. The villains hadn't been frozen long enough to do any damage and Shoto was careful not to hurt them when he unfroze them. She greeted her twin with a smirk (not that he could see thanks to the mask) and a playful shoulder bump, congratulating him on his overwhelming victory. And, as she predicted, there wasn't much to discuss as to what could have been done better. Though there was a cheeky suggestion to get long ranged weapons, provided by the resident smartass, Kaminari.
God, she really hoped she wasn't paired against him. He worried her more than anyone else. Was he a villain or hero? She couldn't remember, but she knew it would be bad news for her ego if she had to face him. And as the next lots were drawn and neither she nor Kaminari were picked, her chances of facing off against him only increased. Instead, the discount Spider Man and Kirishima were paired against the animal-themed duo, Asui and Tokoyami.
Too bad Hinami didn't even know what kind of Quirk her partner had. It wouldn't do her any good to freak him out trying to interrogate him, either. He seemed… delicate, seeing as he'd nearly fainted when she nodded at him earlier. Oh well, she'd just have to carry the team. No sweat off her back.
Shoto didn't need his partner, so neither did she.
Hinami turned her attention back to the screen, watching as the heroes and villains got into place. Kirishima and the other one wasted no time in rigging up the room they were holed in, using tape to cordon off sections of the room and weave a sticky web around the warhead. Smart. Maybe that would be enough to stop the heroes, if the tape was strong enough to pick up robots, there was little chance of them being able to break it with brute strength. Though, who knew? Maybe they were strong as fuck. Asui's Quirk seemed straightforward enough, being a frog heteromorphic type. And frogs weren't exactly known for their strength. But she was agile and fast, whereas Kirishima and the other one didn't seem to be the speedy types. As for Tokoyami… she really couldn't be sure. He had the head of a raven, but what else? She hadn't gotten a good enough look at him during the tests.
Hinami smothered a gasp as a black blur shot out of Tokoyami's stomach, smashing into the door of the villain's hideout and throwing it off the hinges. What the hell was that? It was vaguely bird shaped, with piercing yellow eyes. The edges of it were indistinct and smudged, overlapping lines of darkness that seemed… almost solid, somehow. Certainly solid enough to rip the door down.
Tokoyami's blur zipped out and crashed into Kirishima, locking him into place as Asui darted into the room behind him. She leapt at one of the pillars and crawled straight up it vertically, neatly avoiding the webbed tape as she bounced from pillar to pillar. While Tokoyami dealt with Kirishima, long-face shot strand after strand of tape at Asui, trying to pin her down. But she was just too quick and limber, able to slip between the tape web with ease. She even hid behind existing stripes of tape and used them to block long-face's line of side and mess up his shot. Clever.
Though the villains had put up a good fight, they just couldn't catch Asui. Within moments, she maneuvered herself onto the pillar closest to the warhead and opened her mouth. To Hinami's surprise, Asui's tongue shot out to wrap around the weapon several times, ending the match.
Once again All Might announced the heroes' win before going to fetch them from the building. So far, none of the villains had won, despite the advantage they had. Hinami was going to change that, she'd make sure that she won no matter what.
"Who do you think is going next?" Ashido asked, popping up in front of Hinami.
"I dunno," Hinami replied, though she flinched back a little at the other girl's sudden appearance. They seemed to be making a habit out of meeting this way. Was Ashido just sneaky, or was Hinami unobservant? "But I'm tired of waiting," she complained.
"Me too!" Ashido nodded. "I got paired up with Aoyama," she said, jerking a thumb at the sparkling blond, who was currently using his cape to polish his suit of armor. She leaned in, covertly covering her mouth as she whispered, "I keep catching him winking at his reflection in his arm bracer-thing."
Hinami laughed in surprise, shaking her head at the other girl's exasperated tone. "I got paired up with Koda," she said, nodding her head at her partner, who was hanging around Shoji like a nervous shadow. "He seems… quiet," she said at last, unsure of how to put it delicately. "I think I made him uncomfortable earlier on accident."
"Huh… maybe?" Ashido shrugged, "I haven't talked to him either. Oh hey! I think I saw you in a magazine a couple weeks back. Are you Endeavor's daughter?" she asked, slipping it in so casually that Hinami almost didn't register her question for a moment.
The twins reacted simultaneously. Hinami's shoulders tensed up around her ears, an uncomfortable grimace on her face. While Shoto stiffened besides her, ice crunching as his fist clenched. Ashido blinked at the obvious tension, backing off a step as the cold radiated off Shoto in waves.
"Um… yeah," Hinami agreed at last, all too conscious of the class's eyes on them. "We don't like to talk… er," she swallowed thickly, searching for the right word. Ashido had been nice to her so far and she didn't want to shut the other girl down completely. "We don't like to make a big deal about it," she said, avoiding making eye contact with anyone.
Well, this sucked. Just as she'd gotten comfortable, too. She shouldn't have gotten too friendly, let her guard down. This was exactly what she'd feared. Inevitably, the entire class would change their attitude toward them, either resenting them or asking for favors now that they knew who their father was. She couldn't even be sure who all heard the conversation. Damn it.
"Oh… okay," Ashido said at last. "I didn't mean to pry. Sorry."
"Er… it's okay, just… forget about it," Hinami muttered, twirling the ends of her bangs through her fingers. "Please."
"Oh, sure thing!" Ashido practically stumbled over herself to agree, nodding enthusiastically. "Consider it forgotten!"
Thankfully All Might chose that moment to slam the door open, sparing the class from marinating in the awkwardness any longer. They briefly discussed the match they'd just watched, though, again, there wasn't much to say as Asui was named MVP. That one was kind of obvious. They did touch on improving long-face's aim and reflexes. Fortunately for Hinami, she finally learned his name was Sero. She preferred long-face though. As well as Sero's aim, they mentioned how Kirishima allowed himself to get locked into one place for too long by Tokoyami's Quirk.
"Alright! Next up for the villain team is…" All Might reached his hand into the box and rummaged around for a moment, withdrawing a black lot. "Team F! Todoroki and Koda, please step up!" he requested, gesturing to the spot next to him. Hinami eagerly scampered up to his side, more than ready to get on with it. She awkwardly ignored her teammate as he inched up besides All Might, unsure if she'd embarrass him again by acknowledging him.
"And as for the heroes… Team E! Ashido and Aoyama, you're up!"
Oh, well, that was too bad. Hinami had no plans of losing, even if she did like Ashido. Hinami gave her an apologetic smile—forgetting that the mask covered the lower half of her face—and a nod. Ashido grinned back, flashing a peace sign. All's forgiven.
Good to know, hopefully Ashido would extend that forgiveness again once Hinami won.
The students obediently trotted after All Might as he led the way to the building they'd be using. So far everyone had used a different building than the team before, so they had no idea what kind of layout they'd have. Plus, the first building was nothing but a shell now, thanks to Bakugou and Midoriya's showdown. And Shoto! Who knew what kind of effects freezing and thawing a building in quick succession would do to the integrity? (Okay, so while someone probably knew, Hinami definitely didn't.)
So yeah, it was probably wiser to plan on using a different building for each team.
"Alright, students!" All Might said as they slowed to a stop in front of yet another nondescript office building in the maze of nondescript office buildings. Though this one was quite tall, at least seven stories. "Are you ready? I've marked the location of the weapon on your map, villains. If you choose to move it, you have five minutes to do so. However, the map I'm giving to the heroes doesn't have the location of the weapon marked on it, so you may also choose to leave it where it is. Here are your communication devices," he said, shoving a giant hand into his suit pocket and withdrawing a couple of compact cases containing wireless earbuds. "And your capture tape," he withdrew two rolls of capture tape as well, handing them over.
Hinami held out her hands to receive the items, marveling at how positively massive All Might's hand was in comparison to hers. It still felt a surreal to be in his presence, she hadn't anticipated how… small he'd make her feel. He towered over her a full two feet, her head barely made it to his elbow. That meant he was even taller and wider than father. Shaking those thoughts off, she pocketed the tape and opened the case housing the earbuds, pressing a button on the side to turn it on. A little blue light flashed on the earpiece as Hinami picked it up and popped it into her ear. As she fiddled with getting the little device situated, a horrible thought occurred to her. Did they sanitize the earbuds after the last students used them? Or were they new? All Might pulled them out of his pocket, did he take them from the last group of students to run the training drill?
Yuck… Well, it was too late now. She'd already put one in. Hopefully they were new and All Might just had really deep suit pockets like Aizawa-sensei. Yeah, that was probably it.
"Okay, villains! It's show time! Go ahead and head inside the building, the heroes and I will wait here to while you get your head start," All Might explained, opening the door to the building and ushering them inside.
"Alright," Hinami said, more to herself than anything, blinking a couple times to adjust her vision to the artificial lighting. Thoughts of unclean earbuds faded into the background of her mind as ideas started to whirl to life in their place. The door slammed shut behind them, signaling the beginning of their five minute head start. "According to the map, the weapon's on the seventh floor. Unless you want to move it, we should head that way," she said, finally daring to look to directly at her partner, lest he melt into a puddle.
Koda flushed bright red, positively cringing under her gaze as his fin-shaped ears wiggled nervously. Or at least she thought they were ears. Even though he was so much taller than her, he hunkered down into the smallest target he possibly could, giving her a meek nod.
Yeah, that was about what she expected. She shrugged mentally, beginning the long jog up the stairs, Koda trailing behind her. The room the warhead was in was just like any of the other dozen rooms they passed, wide open and bare. All the windows were intact, and it seemed sound enough. The only problem was that the door didn't lock, but she didn't think it mattered enough to warrant moving the weapon. Besides, it was huge and heavy. It was fine where it was. She'd just have to make sure the other team didn't make it up to the door for the lock to matter.
"What's your Quirk?" she asked calmly, hoping that if she didn't make a big deal of it, Koda wouldn't either. Besides, they had to communicate somehow. She took a closer look at the boy, scanning him up and down. His head was shaped like a bald wedge of rock, his eyes wide and round. He was broad and stocky, at least a foot taller than her. Maybe he was a heteromorphic type. And even if he didn't have a strength Quirk, he still looked plenty strong. Though his costume was somewhat nondescript, consisting of a yellow and red suit with… were those teeth emblazoned across the chest? And damn, his feet were massive. He could probably swim pretty fast with those flippers.
Koda nearly imploded under her scrutiny, whipping around to turn his back on her and burying his face in his hands.
Oh. Okay then.
Hinami shrugged off his strange behavior, turning back to face the unlocked door as she fiddled with the roll of capture tape in her pouch. The easiest option would be flooding the building and just washing them out every time they tried to come up. But that would take a metric fuck-load of water, and she didn't really feel like dealing with the drawbacks today. Maybe she could let them inside, but then pick them up in her water and keep them busy with trying not to drown. Or she could turn the whole entire two floors under their hideout into a whirlpool. It would be impossible for them to get through, they'd get all the way up to the fifth floor only to realize they'd have to scale the walls. And by that point they'd probably be winded by the stairs since they're most likely going to be rushing. Their Quirks didn't really look suited to wall climbing either. Ashido could possibly melt handholds into the building with her acid, but Aoyama would have to rely on the ones she made. Though, if she was reading the map right, there was only one stairwell, so if she blocked that….
Hinami was so deep in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear the scrape of the window opening, "What are you doing?!" she snapped, whirling around to face the boy, "You're going to give our location away!"
Koda cringed back, shrinking down into himself with his hands protectively cupped around… a bird? He held the grey dove out sheepishly, though the bird took the chance to flutter up to roost on Koda's shoulder, cooing happily. The boy sweated nervously, hands flapping indistinctly for a moment before he sighed and shrugged, giving up. Hinami frowned suspiciously, unsure if he had been attempting to sign or not. She thought she'd seen him trying to sign in class too, but never got a chance to test the theory until now.
Koda winced at her frown, his queasy face drenched in sweat. He reached up to point at his eye and flapped his fingers as if he were using a sock puppet. Then he held up two fingers and pointed to the dove on his shoulder.
Charades, really?
Hinami sighed and shook her head, holding up her hands to sign at him. 'Do you speak sign language?' she asked. Though, just for good measure, she spoke as she signed. He was Hearing, but perhaps he was mute?
Koda jumped in shock, mouth falling open as he stumbled over himself to nod in agreement, 'Yes! I sign!' he signed, though it was sloppy and stilted, as if his hands didn't remember exactly how to form the words. 'I do not sign much, no practice.'
"That's okay," Hinami breathed, relieved that she could communicate with the boy now. "As long as you can sign a little, we can talk, right?" she asked. Then she slowly signed to Koda what she had said, figuring the practice signing would probably help him.
Koda nodded, hands fluttering nervously as he tried to explain his Quirk, 'I talk to animals.'
"I can work with that," Hinami said, nodding back to him. "Can you make sure the heroes don't climb up the building? Keep watch on the windows and exits, but don't leave the weapon no matter what happens."
'I can do that!' Koda signed eagerly, though he still sweated buckets and his eyes darted wildly around the room, never looking directly at her for too long if he didn't have to.
"Good," Hinami smirked, rolling her shoulders and sinking into a series of languid stretches to warm up her muscles. "If you need help, tap the mic three times and I'll come running. But you shouldn't need to, I've got this handled."
Koda nodded again as a couple more doves and pigeons fluttered in through the open window, alighting on his shoulders. He did however give her a shaky thumbs up. And that was good enough.
"Alright!" All Might's voice boomed over the comm unit, startling Hinami. "It's go time! Do your best, kiddos!"
Hinami burst through the unlocked door before he could even finish his sentence, turning her Quirk on full blast, a wave materializing under her feet to carry her along faster. She laughed as she thundered down the hallway, eyes locked onto the door at the end. Maybe she could do what Tokoyami did earlier and rip it off its hinges. Hopefully she could, she'd be embarrassed otherwise. As she careened towards the door, she mentally reviewed the layout of the building, hoping that the door ahead of her was the right one. Once she was close enough, Hinami snapped her hand out in front of her, throwing a concentrated wave at the door with every ounce of strength she had.
Water rushed into the stairwell as the door flung open with a bang, though it remained on its hinges. Lame. Hinami pouted as she flooded into the stairwell, water freefalling all the way to the bottom with a thunderous roar. She leisurely surfed down the stairs, biding her time until there was enough water pooled at the bottom. Her Quirk was still turned up to max capacity, water materializing around her at high velocity, as much as possible as fast as possible. It felt good to stretch her Quirk, so to speak. She didn't often have an excuse to use it to this extent.
Technically, if she flooded the only stairwell… all she had to do was wait. It would be easy enough to foil any attempts they made to go around it. But where's the fun in that? She didn't want to win by waiting out the clock.
Once the bottom of the stairwell was sufficiently flooded, Hinami hopped the railing and free fell the last few stories down to the deep water, splashing through the surface feet first. She nearly sighed in content as she sank down into it, water wrapping around her like the embrace of an old friend. She didn't swim through her water; she didn't have to. It was hers, and it obeyed her. All she had to do was envision where she wanted to go, and the water moved her there. Intent was the most important thing. Sometimes gesturing helped her move faster, but only because she believed it would help. She was aiming to get to the point where she didn't have to use gestures, but today wasn't that day.
Hinami's ponytail trailed languidly behind her as she sank down the last two stories, soft fluorescent light suffusing through the liquid. For now, it was peaceful and warm. Quiet, even. In a couple moments, however… Well, who could say?
Hinami's boots touched down on the ground floor, a soft glow coming from the cracks of the door in front of her. Her water had started leaking out the sides of the door, but for the most part it had stayed contained to the stairwell. She took a second to center herself, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck.
Time for some villainy.
She reached out and grasped the doorknob, carefully pulling the door open. The water wobbled like a laminated sheet of paper as she did so, but it stayed put, obeying the invisible limit she imposed on it. There, on the other side of the shimmering veil, she spotted her prey. Ashido's face paled dramatically, her gold-on-black eyes flying wide open in a palpable 'oh shit' expression. She whipped around to run, swatting desperately at the tin can knight, dragging him along behind her.
It wasn't enough.
Hinami hunkered down slightly, just enough to bend her knees and widen her stance. A manic grin dimpled her cheeks as her heart pounded a frantic rhythm in her ribcage, gearing up for the oncoming clash. She savored the feeling for a moment, tasting the adrenaline on her tongue. This was what she was made for. With that thought in mind, she released her grip on the water.
All at once, tens of thousands of gallons exploded through the doorway, gleefully galloping down the tight corridor like a herd of horses. Hinami rode in the heart of the stampede, her booted feet skating along the smooth tiled floor, allowing the momentum of the river to carry her along. Up ahead, the wave broke on Sparkles and Ashido, crashing over them in a chaotic rush of flailing limbs and garbled cries, throwing them off their feet and tossing them further down the hallway. Hinami raised a hand and crooked a finger at Sparkles, ensnaring him in a mini whirlpool and tugging him towards her. He thrashed wildly, flinging his limbs out at random as he futilely tried to swim out of her grasp. But all he managed to do was tangle his ridiculous cape around himself.
Hinami smirked, her hand darting out to snatch up the edge of his cape, violently untangling him in the span of a single heartbeat as she shot past. Hopefully his whiplash wasn't too bad. Though she didn't have much time to spare for that thought, instead she dragged him along behind her like a flapping banner. Eerie blue light washed through the corridor as he fired off his navel laser, emitting a buzzing hum as it carved chunks out of the walls and floor. If she hadn't been underwater, Hinami would've laughed. Too bad he couldn't get enough leverage to fire a shot at her, resorting to firing it at random instead.
'Did he get a tummy ache?' Hinami thought mockingly as the light faded and the buzzing stopped a couple moments later. No matter, she had bigger things to worry about. Such as Ashido, who she could sense straight up ahead, disoriented and struggling against the tempest like a fly caught in a spider web. As she careened ever closer towards Ashido, Hinami choked up on Sparkles' cape, fisting both of her hands into the thick material. The moment Ashido's thrashing form came into view, Hinami whipped Sparkles' around like an oversized baseball bat with all her strength. His shoulder pauldron took Ashido in the stomach, slamming her up against the wall mercilessly. Bubbles exploded from the other girl's mouth as her breath whooshed out in a gurgling scream.
Hinami winced in sympathy as she felt her water pouring down the other girl's throat, frothing in her lungs. Better end this quickly then. With one hand still clutching Sparkles' cape, she pulled the roll of capture tape out of her belt pouch. Gathering her wits, she threw both of her hands out to the sides, parting the water. A ten-foot-wide space opened in the middle of the corridor as the water snapped to obey. The tin can knight clattered to the floor behind her in a heap of twisted cape and scrap metal, whimpering as he clutched his stomach and rolled around. Definitely a tummy ache. She wasted no time in pouncing on him and wrenching his arms behind his back, binding them with thick loops of capture tape.
As she finished with Sparkles, she could hear Ashido coughing and retching, footsteps splashing towards Hinami. Damn! Ashido recovered faster than she anticipated. Hinami lurched away from Sparkles as Ashido threw a messy punch at her head, acid spraying from her palms. It splattered across the front of Hinami's suit, rolling down in thick glops. She jumped backwards again, putting distance between her and Ashido as she pulled a watermelon sized blob of water from the wall next to her. She swiped the water down the front of her suit, gathering up the acid before it could eat completely through the material.
Undeterred, Ashido advanced again with her arm cocked back for another punch. Hinami panicked and tossed the acid-water mixture at the other girl, ducking under the wild swing aimed at her head. She stuck her foot out as Ashido staggered past, tripping her.
Ashido went down hard, puking up another mouthful of water as she hit the ground. Hinami jumped to restrain her, knees pinning the girl's hips down as she wrangled her arms behind her back. Ashido put up more of a fight than Sparkles had, acid making her skin slick and burning the hell out of Hinami's hands as she struggled and flailed. Hinami bounced into the air as Ashido bucked her hips, nearly unseating her. Shit, Ashido was strong! Eager to end the wrestling match, Hinami released her mental grip on the solid walls of water, allowing them to collapse and once more submerge the three of them. The water flowed around in a swirling rush, washing the acid away faster than Ashido could produce it. Ashido reflexively gasped as the water hit her face, breathing in another lungful. Her resistance gradually weakened, allowing Hinami to finish tying up her hands. Though she made certain to maintain the flow in one direction, wanting to avoid getting acid in her eyes at all costs—even if it was diluted.
Hinami leapt away as soon as the tape was secured, rubbing her burning palms on her pants as she flowed water over them, diligently washing the acid away. Ugh! She should've just worn the stupid wrist bracers and gloves, maybe her hands wouldn't be burned if she had. Once she was satisfied the acid was gone, she held her arms out to the sides and closed her eyes, willing the water to disperse.
As soon as the water fully evaporated, she took a deep, relieved breath, hunching over and bracing her hands on her knees. Somehow that wasn't quite as easy as she thought it would be. Shoto had practically won without lifting a finger. Damn it.
"Aoyama and Ashido are incapacitated! The villains win!" All Might announced over the comm unit, startling Hinami. She'd forgotten about the earpiece.
"Dang it!" Ashido sputtered, thumping her head against the ground and kicking her legs childishly.
"What a magnifique defeat," Sparkles sighed, his cape flapped up over his face.
"Here," Hinami said, crouching down to fix his silly cape and unwind the capture tape from his arms. "Did you breathe any water in?" she asked as he patted himself down and straightened his red tinted sunglasses.
"Non, mademoiselle,"he replied as he shook his head, though he didn't look up from trying to fix his dented pauldron.
Hinami nodded and left him to his own devices, instead focusing on Ashido, who she knew without a doubt had breathed water. Before she could untie the girl, however, thick globs of clear acid oozed from her palms, melting through the tape easily. Neat. That shit stung, Hinami's hands still itched and burned uncomfortably as a testament to its potency. And that was assuming Ashido was using the friendly version of her acid. Though, weirdly, her hands did feel rather soft now.
"You surprised me," Hinami said, kneeling next to the fellow pink haired girl as she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. "I thought you'd be down for longer."
"Heh, yeah," Ashido rasped, "I'm just… full of surprises," she said, though it ended in a wet cough.
"I'll say," Hinami agreed dryly, reaching out to help the girl sit up. "There's still water in your lungs, I can… um, remove it. If you want..?" she said awkwardly, wincing at the bad phrasing. Well no shit! Of course she'd want the water removed, no one wanted to breathe through that shit. But… just going ahead and removing it felt rude, especially seeing how uncomfortable the removal could be. Hinami knew that through repeated experience, having accidentally inhaled her own water far too often to be healthy.
"That'd… be great," Ashido panted, holding her stomach as she allowed Hinami to help her sit up. Though she gasped as soon as she caught sight of Hinami, eyes flying open in surprise. "Todoroki—" she choked, words dying in her throat as her lungs rattled.
"Hold on, don't talk yet," Hinami ordered, hovering a flat palm in front of the other girl's chest. "This is going to be uncomfortable," she warned. Though before the girl could tense up too much, she pinched her fingers together and slowly raised her hand, extracting the water from Ashido's lungs as gently as possible. The girl's mouth dropped open, several ribbons of water flowing past her lips. Hinami flicked it to the side, letting it splash harmlessly to the ground.
"There," she said, settling back on her haunches. "Does that feel better?"
"Yes, much better, thanks," Ashido agreed hastily, "but Todoroki, your top…. I think it's ruined," she said with a wince.
"What?" Hinami asked dumbly, following Ashido's gaze down to her chest. Her suit, which was originally black, now had strange dishwater grey splotches splashed across the entire torso. Presumably from where Ashido's acid had nearly burned through. In fact… "Damn it," she sighed, poking a finger into the quarter sized hole on her chest. It was placed high enough that it didn't reveal anything, thankfully. There were roughly a dozen other smaller holes scattered across her suit as well. But most concerning was the fact that the remaining material of the suit had changed textures, becoming strangely brittle. She tugged experimentally at the edge of the biggest hole, causing it to tear horizontally across the top of her chest with a nearly cartoonish ripping sound.
"Well… that was dumb," she grumbled, pulling her now-useless mask down so that it pooled around her neck. Hopefully the acid hadn't burnt the waterskin's tubing.
"Here," Ashido laughed, shrugging out of her little yellow jacket and pushing it into Hinami's arms. "Put this on backwards."
"Thanks," Hinami said, slipping her arms into the jacket and yanking it on. The fluffy collar tickled her uncovered nose, giving off a warm and fruity scent, with just a little kick of spice at the end. Ashido's perfume, maybe. Whatever it was, it smelled pretty nice.
"This sucks," she groaned, burying her face in the fluff to cover up her pouty expression. Shoto had won without even being touched, much less completely ruining his brand-new costume. Double damn it.
"Heh, sorry," Ashido apologized, giving Hinami an impish smile.
"You don't sound very sorry," Hinami said, though she returned the smile. She couldn't be too upset, seeing as how she still won the match.
"Come on, girlie," Ashido snickered, heaving herself up to her feet and reaching down to help Hinami up. "You doin' okay, Aoyama?" she asked, effortlessly hauling Hinami to her feet. So effortlessly, in fact, that Hinami nearly crashed into her. Damn, Ashido was stupidly strong. She'd have to remember to never challenge the other girl to arm wrestling.
"Oui, merci," Aoyama replied, giving up on his dented pauldron and clanking to his feet.
Hinami reached up and pressed a button on the side of her earpiece, "Koda, we're done down here if you want to meet us at the entrance," she said into the mic. She hoped he got the message, though she wasn't sure how she'd be certain. Just as she finished that thought, static crackled through the line, signifying that the other end was live.
Tap, tap.
Hinami smiled and shook her head, taking that as an affirmative. The trio trudged outside, loitering in front of the building like a group of preteens waiting for their mom to pick them up from the movies in her soccer van. Yeah… it was a little awkward. And it only got more awkward as Koda emerged from behind them, inching out as silently as he could and standing off to the side with his back turned to them. Though he did return her thumbs up, even if he didn't really look at her. So that was neat.
"Congratulations on the win, villains!" All Might said, appearing from basically nowhere. "Now, let us return to the monitor room and discuss!"
Oh right. She forgot about the class discussion afterwards. Ugh... would All Might let her go to the infirmary? She wasn't really interested in rehashing things. Was it too late to pretend to have chemical burns?
The answer to that question was yes, it was far too late. No escape now.
Almost as if to spite her, time kicked into warp speed and they practically teleported back to the CCTV room. That left her precious little time to prepare as All Might hauled the four of them inside and presented them to the class like prized cattle at the auction.
"Any guesses as to who the MVP of this match is?" All Might asked with a good-natured chuckle.
Hinami ducked her chin into the soft collar of Ashido's jacket in a vain attempt to hide, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. She'd rather the entire building get hit by a comet than endure what was sure to be a humiliating discussion. If she flooded it, they'd have to evacuate… right?
"Of course Todoroki-chan is the MVP, sensei," Asui stated in her endearingly croaky voice. "We can all agree on that, ribbit."
Hinami winced, blushing all the way to the roots of her hair. Maybe if she spontaneously combusted they'd be forced to skip the review. Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe Shoto would indulge her and set her on fire if she stared at him hard enough. Not that she'd ever got that stupid twin telepathy myth to work for her before now. Or maybe it did work and Shoto just ignored her, she could believe that too.
"Good eye, Asui," All Might said approvingly. "Would anyone like to add to the discussion?" he asked, nodding at Yaoyorozu as the girl raised her hand.
"Though Todoroki's approach worked, it was quite aggressive," Yaoyorozu began critically, causing Hinami to sink her face even further into the fur collar—if that was possible. She was convinced if she went any deeper, she'd find the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire cat chilling with Alice.
"In a situation such as this, it's more prudent to play a defensive game," Yaoyorozu continued. "Todoroki not only abandoned her partner and the weapon, but she confronted the heroes before it was absolutely necessary. This needlessly put her at risk, much like Bakugou in the first match."
At her words, said blonde scoffed loudly and crossed his arms, "Watch yer damn mouth, ponytail," he growled petulantly, though he didn't move to back up his words. He'd been strangely quiet this whole time, his pride was probably still smarting from his defeat earlier.
'The difference between me and Bakugou is that my plan worked,' Hinami thought childishly, glaring daggers at the ground. She still stuck by her plan too, even after the criticism. She didn't want to wait around fifteen minutes playing keep away with a warhead.
"However," Yaoyorozu said, her tone shifting to something more pleasant and faintly amused. "Todoroki could also be commended for tackling the problem head on. Her control of the situation was admirable, and her solution to subdue the heroes was efficiently executed. As the old adage goes, a good offense is oftentimes enough to make up for a poor defense."
Hinami sighed in relief, glad that her review ended on a good note. It was kind of silly, Yaoyorozu didn't determine their grades and her opinion was ultimately irrelevant to whether they passed or not. But… still, Hinami was happy enough with the praise she'd received. She just wished that stupid heat in her cheeks would fade.
"As for the others," Yaoyorozu continued, which Hinami took as the signal to tune out and focus on her own thoughts. Besides ruining her suit and embarrassing herself, she'd done alright. She would have preferred to come out the other side with a flawless victory, like Shoto had. But obviously that wasn't in the cards. And what was up with his costume? Icing his fire side was… so… ugh. It was a handicap. Like he was saying that he was good enough that he only needed to use half of his Quirk to dominate the competition. It was all white and ice and…
Oh... He didn't want to be compared to father.
Hinami's stomach curdled at that thought, ashamed of herself for taking so long to figure it out. Of course it was a rebellion, who did she think her twin was? It wasn't empty boasting, it was… an act of defiance. If she thought she had it bad, having father's exact same eye color, then how did Shoto feel? Mother had hated that side of him too, enough to try and burn it off. Why did it take her so long to puzzle that out? Was she really that bad of a sister, that unobservant?
"Thank you, Yaoyorozu. Astute as always!" All Might complimented with a thumbs up. Coming from anyone else, it might've sounded sarcastic. But the man was just so… earnest that there was no doubting his sincerity. "Any further comments?" he asked.
No one else spoke up, sparing her from any further torture. She wasted no time shuffling over to take her place next to Shoto, who bumped his shoulder against hers clumsily—just like she'd done earlier after he won his own match. "Thanks, Sho," she smiled softly, the tension finally draining out of her posture. She would do better. He deserved better.
"Good match, Todoroki!" Kirishima grinned, thumping her heartily on the back.
"Thanks!" Hinami gasped, knees nearly buckling under the force of his congratulatory whacks. Damn, maybe Kaminari hadn't exaggerated when he nearly faceplanted in the hall yesterday. Obviously the red-head had no idea how strong he was.
"You too, Ashido!" he said, beaming at the other pink haired girl. Though, wisely, he chose not to give her the same treatment as Hinami. He had watched Ashido get slammed into the wall, after all.
"Yeah, yeah," Ashido sighed, head hanging dejectedly. Though she recovered her spirit quickly. "I'll get you next time, Todoroki!" she threatened playfully, flexing her bicep and patting it. Damn, Ashido had some guns. Yet another reason not to arm wrestle her.
Hinami flashed a toothy grin over the collar of her borrowed jacket, eyes narrowing as she accepted the friendly challenge, "Bring it, Ashido."
A/N: whoops, i thought i'd be back sooner than this. work got me exhausted, now all i do when i get home is play genshin lol. anyway! i hope y'all enjoyed! there might be a little hiatus on updates while i finish up the next arc and get things hammered out. i'd love to hear from you! thanks for being here!