Team Midoriya skidded to a halt, Izuku quickly taking scope of the playing field.
Bakugo had lost the ten million headband to Monoma's team, who was now fleeing from both Bakugo and Todoroki's teams.
~"Only seven minutes left, fledglings! Can 1-A hope to counter this Class B domination!"~
The distant sound of Bakugo screaming about his current state of absolute calmness echoed through the stadium.
"GET BACK HERE YOU FOUL LITTLE QUIRKLESS MAGGOT!"
A large chunk of concrete, covering an orange glow, soared at Team Midoriya at insane speed, Reimitsu activated Slingshot, its boosted power enough to deflect the concrete slab out of bounds.
Mikumo's expression darkened as Team Midoriya turned to face their attackers.
"Haishiro."
An orange-haired boy sat in a futuristic rickshaw, made of gleaming metal and pulled by a girl with elephant tusks and rocket-powered rollerblades.
Hagakure spoke. "Isn't that the boy from earlier, that one Ms. Midnight told off?"
"Yeah, it is." Mikumo glared at Haishiro, his voice filled with disgust.
"You know him?" Izuku asked, glancing down at his brother.
Mikumo sighed. "I do, I went to middle school with him, you met his old flunkies on the train, remember. The ones from Umbaru High. He got into Support after failing the Hero Exam, like me."
"Oi, Quirkless, what do you think you're doing wearing that uniform."
It was the boy Izuku had bumped into earlier, the Support student, Mikumo. He had been surrounded by three boys in Umbaru High uniforms.
"Yeah, like you could even afford to go there. Who's gonna pay, your parents? Oh wait, ya don't have any!"
"Yeah, Quirkless cost us our place at U.A.!"
Izuku balled his fists. "We're not running, we're going to beat this guy and throw him out of bounds."
Hagakure looked up in surprise at the fire in Izuku's eyes and voice, a far cry from his normally gentle, rather shy, self.
"No." Mikumo stated. "He won't stop till he's hurt me, and you guys need to keep the headband safe for now. Izuku, since I'm a horse I can break away from the rest of the team without punishment, right?"
Izuku nodded warily, knowing where this was going to go.
"Then I'll do that, Reimitsu, take my place!"
"Mikumo, don't!"
Hagakure's hand reached out.
Mikumo launched himself into the air, leaving his hover boots behind, Reimitsu bleeding into existence to fill them and support Izuku's weight.
"ASPECT, deploy the Atlas Boots!"
"Roger."
Flipping in the air, Mikumo soared over Haishiro and his teammate, landing inside a pair of his default boots, covered in small, strength enhancing repulsors.
~"Looks like 1-H's Akatani has broken away from the rest of Team Midoriya, and wait, Team Haishiro's going after him, not the headband! What's going on here?!"~
Haishiro sneered at Mikumo as he and his partner charged. "Did they kick worthless, half-made scum like you out of the team? Come to their senses, have they?"
Mikumo gritted his teeth, watching as the rest of his team fled, their decision made by an attack from Team Tsunotori.
All these years I had no one, but now I do, I have something that's worth fighting for!
Family.
Friends.
Hope.
Mikumo's mouth formed a grim smile. "In middle school, I never fought back, did I?"
Haishiro laughed, giving a glimpse of a black-stained tongue. "How could you? You don't have a quirk."
"Funny, a villain said something like that to me during the USJ attack." Mikumo looked up at Haishiro, his eyes alight. "And I beat him with both eyes closed. Do you really think you can match that?"
Haishiro released a shout of anger, tearing up a chunk of ground with his quirk.
Mikumo took a step back. "Your quirk is Minor Telekinesis, if you're lifting this much weight, then…"
Trigger.
Mikumo calmed himself. "This is bad, very bad."
"I'm glad you can finally see how pathetic you are compared to me!"
The fragment of earth shot at Mikumo.
Mikumo activated the repulsors in his boots, jumping to one side to avoid the attack. Rolling onto one knee, Mikumo quickly judged the situation.
"ASPECT, configuration Romeo-5!"
"Pilot Yamikumo, the Skávo sabatons are not fully tested, are you sure?"
"I can't outspeed Haishiro, so I'll just have to become an unbreakable shield to defend his attacks from hitting anyone else."
"I understand, Mikumo."
Four metallic cylinders shot down into the stadium, straight at Haishiro.
The orange-haired teen turned his head, his eyes narrowing and his finger twitching as he activated his quirk, deflecting the cylinders off-course. A second later, the panels of each of the cylinders rearranged themselves, opening up.
"I'll crush you, Quirkless!"
Another fragment of the ground was torn up, firing at Mikumo, and Team Kendo, frozen in place behind him.
Two of the cylinders slammed into the ground, a few paces ahead of Mikumo, now in the shape of a pair of heavily armored boots. Sprinting forwards, Mikumo's current set of boots opened up, allowing him to step seamlessly from one to the next.
The gauntlets on Mikumo's arms folded themselves up, shooting away, making place for the new set, one from the Shield series, the other Foam.
Forming the shield, Mikumo braced himself, claws appearing from his boots, digging into the ground. The earth chunk slammed against Mikumo's shield, forcing him back by three feet.
He came to a halt, the slab of earth dropping to the ground in front of him with a mighty crash.
"How's that for pathetic?" Mikumo glared at Haishiro. "Is that all you've got? Bring it on!"
Haishiro recoiled in shock.
Now's my chance!
Aiming his foam nozzle, Mikumo prepared to fire as ice suddenly encased Haishiro and his partner, both up to their necks.
Team Todoroki raced past, their rider snagging Haishiro's headband in the process.
Todoroki turned his head, giving Mikumo an almost imperceivable nod of his head.
And then they were gone.
With a final burst of speed Team Midoriya dodged a hail of horns from Tsunotori, before Izuku opened his mouth and fired seeds at their opponents, vines rapidly growing and trapping them.
"We need to go back for Mikumo." Hagakure insisted, angling herself towards the area they'd left him.
Izuku nodded. "Right, let's-"
A glob of acid hit Izuku across the face, burning at his skin.
"Midoriya!"
Izuku activated Liquidise, turning his gym jacket into water, using Hydrokinesis to wash the acid away, diluting it.
Releasing Liquidise the water quickly reverted to its original form around Izuku's torso, the acid neutralised inside the synthetic fibres.
"I'm fine." Izuku assured, hiding his rapidly healing face from the view of Hagakure and Reimitsu.
Team Midoriya turned, finding Sandoitsu sitting atop her horse, a crazed look on her face.
"Is it just me, or is she taking this way too far?" Hagakure questioned.
"Her tongue, it's black." Reimitsu stated, her eyes not leaving the opposing rider.
"She's on Trigger." Hagakure added.
"Trigger?" Izuku queried. "I thought that wasn't made anymore?"
"Maybe it's an old batch?" Hagakure suggested, guiding the team out of the way of one of Sandoitsu's acid attacks.
Ice suddenly encased Team Sandoitsu, creeping up their rider's body before acid began to eat at it, leading to a stalemate.
Izuku turned his head to see Todoroki, the term hyper-focused on freezing their enhanced opponent.
A - Erasure.
Izuku opened his eyes, glowing with red light, erasing Sandoitsu's quirk and allowing the ice time to cover up to her neck.
His eyes burning, Izuku slammed them shut, his Erasure cancelling, but he'd given Todoroki enough time, he knew from his own Acid quirk that the user was immune to their own acid excluding the skin on their head.
She wouldn't risk it.
Blinking rapidly, Izuku's vision came back into focus to see Hagakure and Reimitsu had carried him away from Todoroki, fearing he would turn his attention on them whilst Izuku had been incapacitated.
But he hadn't, Izuku had seen it, Todoroki had been aiming for Sandoitsu, he'd known about the Trigger.
Shota braced himself, before making another charge at the door, stopping short when he heard a yell from the other side.
The door unlocked, slowly swinging open to reveal Nedzu, the teen who had locked Shota in the room lying on the floor behind him, whimpering in pain.
"I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long, Shota." Nedzu smiled.
It was times like this that really reminded Shota why any sane person should be terrified of Nedzu.
Shota stepped out of the room, looking down at the teen, not one of their students, whimpering softly. "Your work?"
Nedzu smiled again. "Oh yes."
"This is why you were so insistent I co-host the sports festival with Hizashi, so I'd see one of those kids, and since you instituted those restrictions I'd have to tell you face to face, with this being the quickest path." Shota paused. "In short, this was a trap."
Nedzu nodded, before starting to walk towards the stands. "It was, this boy here fell for it."
Shota followed, two of Ectoplasm's clones stepping in to restrain the boy.
"What about the kids on Trigger, that one there let slip there was more than one of them."
Nedzu led them out onto a balcony, overlooking the floor of the stadium. "We prepared for that too."
"We?"
"Myself and Sir Nighteye, he had a vision of this event just after the USJ attack." Nedzu answered simply.
"And that included restraining the students using Trigger I hope."
Nedzu paused. "No, it didn't. We had no prior knowledge of this event in the timeline Nighteye saw. Mikumo Akatani of the Support Department was badly injured by one of the Trigger users and the tournament was reduced to just eight competitors. However, as you can see, Sir Nighteye's predictions are no longer as set in stone as they used to be."
The principal gestured towards the field, Shota followed to look where he was aiming.
The girl, Sandoitsu, was encased up to her neck in ice, along with her teams. Two other teams were iced up as well, their riders the couple who caused the disturbance before the cavalry battle started.
"Todoroki?"
Nedzu inclined his head. "As the son of the No.2 Hero Nighteye and myself felt he was the most prepared of the first years to aid in their restrainment."
Shota quirked an eyebrow. "And I supposed you slyly hinted it would be another opportunity to show his father he can be a hero with just his ice?"
"The youngest Todoroki doesn't really seem to get subtlety." Nedzu admitted. "I'm rather ashamed to say I just had to tell him outright, he's more like his father than he would like to admit."
"We're all acquainted with Endeavor's unique charm." Shota watched as Todoroki continued to charge around the arena, claiming another headband.
"Quite fascinating how two of these miscreants were engaged not by a heroics student, but by those of the General Education and Support departments." Nedzu commented.
Shota's eyes focused on Akatani, as the teen raced to rejoin his team.
"Akatani, right?"
Nedzu nodded. "As well as Hitoshi Shinso, he brainwashed the girl with the eyebeams, got her to stay still while Todoroki freezed her."
"Using the students to detain them, that's to avoid another scandal, isn't it?"
"We couldn't afford a repeat of the fallout from the USJ incident, besides, head-on confrontation by ourselves and other pro heroes could have turned nasty."
Shota shrugged. "Those kids would never have expected for another student to be targeting them for anything other than their headband."
Nedzu smiled. "Exactly."
Dodging an attack from a now headband-less Team Kodai, Izuku activated Bakugo's quirk and fired off an explosion, knocking Kodai off her teammates' shoulders and to the ground, eliminating her team.
"I see you've copied that quirk too, have any tips?"
Izuku and his team, with Mikumo and Reimitsu as the rear horses, turned to face Team Monoma, its rider smirking at them as small sparks popped in the palms of his hands.
"You don't need them." Izuku answered, calling on a barrier quirk, ready to erect one to defend his headband. "You've managed to keep the ten million headband long enough that you've forced Bakugo in going after other headbands instead, so he makes sure he goes through to the final event."
Monoma shrugged. "Thanks for the advice, I'm not sure I would have managed it without it, but I'll be coming for your headband anyway."
"You can try, but we won't let you take it." Izuku's eyes narrowed, his whole body braced, ready to act. "In fact, we'll be coming for the ten million points."
"Huh, and I thought you were a meek little rabbit, nevermind, it won't change me winning this cavalry battle." Monoma's hand swelled in size to a meter in width, turning to his enlarged palm aimed at Team Midoriya's side.
A massive explosion erupted from Monoma's palm, engulfing Team Midoriya entirely.
"And now to collect." Monoma smirked, his palm returning to normal.
"Not yet."
Monoma's head jerked around to look at the smoke cloud as it cleared, revealing a large hard-light barrier at Team Midoriya's side, Izuku's arm outstretched, pale green energy crackling around his skin.
"Reimitsu, Hagakure, now!"
Reimitsu activated her quirk, smearing into ink and entering Hagakure's body, both Mikumo and Izuku reaching up and pulling down on a pair of darkened goggles, covering their eyes.
Hagakure opened her eyes, empty air glowing violet.
"Say cheese!"
A massive flash of light burst from her body, blinding Monoma and the rest of his team.
"Mikumo, ignite!"
Team Midoriya rocketed forwards, Izuku reaching out with one hand and grabbing the ten million headband, left facing outwards to taunt Bakugo.
They kept going, coming to a halt at the opposite of the field, near to the edge of the border.
"I can't believe that worked!" Hagakure exclaimed, turning her head to smile at Mikumo and Izuku.
The breath caught in Mikumo's throat as he watched a lock of brown hair fall out of Hagakure's ponytail, falling in front of her eyes.
"T-Toru?"
"What's wrong?" Hagakure tilted her head. "Is there something on my face?"
Izuku spoke. "You're visible."
Hagakure paled, a second later Reimitsu was ejected and she went back to her normal invisible state.
"Toru-"
Two giant walls of ice shot up, boxing Izuku and his team into the corner of the field.
Team Midoriya turned, Reimitsu retaking the position of a rear horse, to face Team Todoroki, Kaminari and Momo as the rear horses, Iida at the front.
"Yaoyorozu, Kaminari." Todoroki barked, his two teammates leaping into action.
Momo pulled an insulation sheet over herself, Todoroki and Iida, while Kaminari prepared for a discharge of his quirk.
"They're going to shock us, there's no way we can escape with these walls up!" Mikumo exclaimed, panic in his voice.
"We don't need to escape." Izuku replied, his tone resolute as he raised an arm, pointed towards Team Todoroki.
Kaminari released his quirk, electricity arcing in every direction.
A metal rod extruded itself from Izuku's raised palm, in the direction of Kaminari, his other hand creating enough, that one driving itself deep into the ground.
The electricity flowed into the metal rod and down it, entering Izuku's body and then into the other metal rod, rushing into the ground.
"What?" Mikumo questioned. "How did you do that?"
Izuku let the rods fall, slightly out of breath. "I used Yaoyorozu and Kaminari's quirks to make myself into a lightning rod, so I could discharge the electricity into the ground."
"Wow, I didn't even know you'd copied their quirks!" Hagakure exclaimed, with her usual cheer.
~"Only two minutes remain, can Team Midoriya keep hold of the ten million points until the end?!"~
"Stay on their left." Izuku spoke. "Todoroki's ice only comes from his right, and he doesn't use his fire."
The rest of the team nodded in understanding, shifting to place themselves on Todoroki's left, moving to match him every time his team changed position.
Todoroki's eyes narrowed as he glared at Izuku.
"What are you waiting for, Todoroki, ice them!" Kaminari called, his expression unfocused, staring off into the distance.
"I can't." Todoroki stated. "Midoriya knows to stay on my left, I'd hit Iida as well if I tried."
"Todoroki, allow me." Iida crouched lower, his engines revving. "There was something I was saving for the final event, but now, I will use it here."
Todoroki frowned. "Iida, what-"
"Just be ready to take the ten million points." Iida interrupted as his engine ports burned blue. "Super Move, Recipro Burst!"
In an instant Team Todoroki cleared the gap to Team Midoriya and passed them, coming to halt near the boundary.
Izuku reached up to his head, his blood ran cold.
Both headbands were gone.
~"What was that! Iida just pulled out some insane speed, where was that in the first round?!"~
"We've got no points!" Hagakure called out in surprise.
"Izuku, what should we do?" Mikumo questioned, as Team Todoroki moved away from the border.
~"Only thirty seconds left, what are the now pointless Team Midoriya going to do?"~
Izuku watched Todoroki turn the headband over, hiding it amongst the others, and then to Iida's engines as they billowed grey smoke. "We have to make a try, Reimitsu, you're with me, Mikumo, get ready to ignite every last bit of power you've got when I say go."
"Sure." Mikumo nodded.
Reimitsu blurred into spectral form and merged with Izuku.
Now this was the second time she had possessed him, Izuku could feel her quirk empowering his own, except…
One For All.
It was beyond her reach, both to use or enhance, after all All Might had passed One For All onto Izuku, not Reimitsu.
Izuku's violet eyes didn't move from watching the headbands.
"GO!"
Team Midoriya charged, Hagakure yelling as they burst towards Team Todoroki.
Wind Generation formed around Izuku's arm as he threw a punch as Todoroki, altering course to miss at the last second, extinguishing the lackluster flames that had popped up along his left arm.
Todoroki's eyes widened, Team Midoriya ground to a halt.
~"TIME'S UP"~
A collective sigh of relief passed over the field, a handband held in Izuku's hand.
The audience all seemed to be holding their breaths.
He turned it over.
115 Points, not enough to pass.
Todoroki looked at him as he climbed down. "I switched the headbands when I took the ten million points."
Izuku turned towards the stoic teen, holding the headband up. "During the USJ attack I copied a lot of quirks, one of them was Perfect Recall, a photographic memory."
A feeling of dread settled in Todoroki's stomach.
"And I never took my eyes off the headband." Izuku finished, before letting go of the headband, revealing another one held behind it.
10,000,740 Points.
The audience went wild, cheering at the last second victory.
Present Mic hollered loudly, finally managing to reign in the wild crowd and keep them entertained, giving those behind the scenes the time they needed to tally up the scores of each team.
A sheet of paper was held out to him, the pro hero took it with a smile.
"The results are in!"
The cheers reignited, the screen on the stage lit up to show an empty table ready to be filled in.
"In first place, as you're all aware, is Team Midoriya with an outstanding last-second gambit, with an amazing 10,000,840 Points!"
More cheers.
~"Next up, it's Team Todoroki, they may have lost the ten million points, but they still managed to clinch second place!"~
A small flare came from the stands, other pro heroes shuffling away from Endeavor as his beard of flames grew larger.
~"Bang! Bang! In third place are the explosive hotshots, Team Bakugo! They may have lost their headband, but they certainly cleaned up!"~
The screen behind the platform changed, showing the full results of the second event.
Position
Team
Points
1
Team Midoriya
10,000,840
2
Team Todoroki
2,660
3
Team Bakugo
1,750
4
Team Shinso
1,430
5
Team Tokoyami
1,095
6
Team Mineta
790
7
Team Tetsutetsu
715
8
Team Ashido
635
9
Team Monoma
125
10
Team Kendo
95
11=
Team Kodai
0
11=
Team Tsunotori
0
11=
Team Rin
0
11=
Team Roengi
0
11=
Team Yamada
0
12=
Team Sandoitsu
-100
12=
Team Natsuka
-100
12=
Team Haishiro
-100
~"Look at these crazy results! The third event will be a tournament, with the top thirty-two students going through! That means the top eight teams will go forward, along with one member of Team Monoma, choose amongst yourselves."~
The gathered students began to chatter, others groaning in disappointment.
~"The first round of the tournament will be 2-vs-2 battles, followed by 1-vs-1 fights to the final where a champion will be crowned!"~
Izuku splashed water on his face, rinsing off the sweat.
Standing, the green-haired boy looked around the 1-A prep room, only a few stragglers remained, the rest had gone off to lunch.
Izuku was still processing the fact that they had managed to win the cavalry battle, which had prompted much cheering and jumping up and down, Reimitsu had gotten so excited she'd accidentally possessed Mikumo.
Tilting his head, Izuku searched his mind and quirkspace.
Hey, Five, you still there?
Silence.
Clearly not.
"Izuku?"
He turned.
"Oh, Momo, it's you."
The dark-haired girl nodded, her normally regal posture instead nervous.
"Yeah, I just wanted to apologise." Momo gave a weak smile.
Izuku returned with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "You've nothing to apologise for, strategically, your quirk was better suited for a team like that, it synergises well with both Iida and Kaminari."
"Izuku, I'm sorry because I ran off once the selection time began without saying anything." Momo hesitated. "I know what you were going to say before All Might started announcing the results."
Izuku steeled himself. "Momo, I lik-"
"NEVER FEAR! I AM HERE, TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST EVENT!"
The green-haired haired boy flushed scarlet as the memory came back to him. "I-I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't h-have said it like that, and not today when there's so much else going on, I totally understand if you don't want to be friends any-"
"I like you too."
Izuku's brain froze.
"Izuku?" Momo frowned, reaching out and taking his hand.
"Y-Yeah? Sorry, I just, sorry." Izuku spoke, his brain slowly regaining its ability to think. "I thought you'd…"
Momo held the green-haired boy's hand tighter. "I'd do what?"
"It's just, I guess, I was quirkless, thought I was quirkless, for so long, other people didn't really like having anything to do with or being anywhere near me." Izuku admitted. "I guess I just assumed, it'd still be the same."
"Izuku, I-I like you because of who you are, not whether you have a quirk or not." Momo assured, smiling.
The green-haired boy felt his stomach give a weird flip-flop, before steeling himself.
"Momo, would you like to go on a-"
"Midoriya."
Izuku jumped at the sudden sound of Todoroki's voice.
"Todoroki?"
"We need to talk."
Nedzu calmly pushed the door open, revealing a large, high-ceilinged hangar, behind him followed Tsukauchi.
In the center of the room were Teams Natsuka, Sandoitsu and Haishiro, their members all yelling and shouting.
Nedzu calmly cleared his throat, silencing them instantly.
"Okuzo, if you would do the honours."
A red-haired pro hero, from an offshoot of the Todoroki family, stepped forwards, sucking in a deep breath.
"Flame- o !"
A gout of fire spewed from his mouth, melting free just the members of each team that made up the horses.
Okuzo stepped back, rejoining his comrade, Backdraft. In the corner of the room, obscured by the gloom was Aizawa, leaning against the wall.
"Thank you." Nedzu gazed at the freed students, all collapsed to their knees, shivering. "Detective, I leave this next part to you."
Tsukauchi nodded, stepping forward. "Do you know why Principal Nedzu asked me to come here?"
A collection of head shaking and chattering replies of the negative reached him.
None of them were lying.
"I see." Tsukauchi paused. "Were any of you aware that your riders of your teams were using the illegal drug known as Trigger?"
"Trigger?" The tusked girl from Team Haishiro frowned. "What's Trigger?"
The lightning girl from Natsuka's team gave a disgusted look, glancing back at her team leader. "It's a quirk-enhancing drug, Support girl. And no, I didn't know."
A wave of similar denials followed, all ringing true to Tsukauchi's ears.
"None of them are lying, Nedzu."
Nedzu gave a patient smile, looking to the freed students. "Thank you for your time, you may go now, although I would appreciate your silence on these events until U.A. breaks the news."
The students gulped, the polite expression on Nedzu's face filling them with dread at the idea of telling anyone about the Trigger.
"Yes, Principal Nedzu!"
The students quickly fled, leaving just Natsuka, Haishiro and Sandoitsu, all still yelling and shouting to be freed.
Nedzu silenced them with another clearing of his throat. "Blood samples were taken from you when you were moved here. They all returned positive for Trigger."
The three students glared at their principal.
"Needless to say, the three of you, and your accomplice, are expelled with immediate effect." Nedzu paused. "I will also be passing this along to Detective Tsukauchi, of the Mustafu Police Force."
"No, you can't do this, we were just leveling the playing field!" Sandoitsu screamed, desperately trying to fight her way free.
Haishiro sneered. "Speak for yourself. We were trying to correct your despicable mistake, you rodent bastard!"
Nedzu's nostrils flared dangerously. "My despicable mistake?"
"Yeah, allowing an abberaent freak into U.A., that's what." Natsuka glared at Nedzu.
Nedzu frowned. "You mean Mikumo Akatani, do you not?"
"Of course!" Haishiro spat. "Letting the sniveling coward in because of pity!"
"Mikumo Akatani earned his place here fairly, he is an exceptional student." Nedzu retorted, his patience growing thin.
"Exceptional?!" Natsuku hissed. "What's exceptional about a damn quirkless? How the hell are they supposed be that when they're like they are?"
"Like they are?"
Natsuku answered, ignorant to the hole she was digging for herself and Haishiro. "Yeah, you know, wrong the head, everyone knows the quirkless are slow in the head."
Nedzu inhaled sharply. "Detective Tsukauchi, I was going to attempt to alleviate their punishment, so they could learn from this, they are children after all. But U.A. will provide them no protection."
The principal turned to leave.
"Throw the damn book at them."
The door slammed shut.
Nedzu was gone.
"He was your best shot at not going to jail, you know that, right?" Tsukauchi sighed sadly. "Reza Natsuka, Nento Haishiro, Mina Sandoitsu. You are under arrest for-"
"No!" Sandoitsu bawled, struggling wildly. "I can't! I can't! Let me go!"
Taking a deep breath, Sandoitsu began to secrete acid from her face, the only part of her not covered in ice.
Seeing the writing on the wall, Aizawa tried to activate his quirk, without success, his eyes burning from his injuries two weeks prior.
"Sandoitsu, no! The Trigger's still in your system!" Haishiro yelled.
Acid poured down Sandoitsu, steam wildly as it burnt her face.
Sandoitsu screamed in agony.
Aizawa's finally glowed red, erasing Sandoitsu's quirk.
Tsukauchi balked. "Okuzo, get Recovery Girl, as fast as you can! Backdraft-"
"On it!" Backdraft yelled, immediately firing his hoses, trying to wash away the acid as quickly as he could.
Sandoitsu continued to scream in agony.
Minoru leant against the wall of the boys' bathroom, breathing a sigh, his legs shaky. It had been close, but they'd made it through, him, Tsu and Shoji. They'd lost their headband to Team Tetsutetsu within the first two minutes and had only managed to take Tetsutetsu's own headband in the last few seconds.
Grabbing his gym jacket, Minoru pulled it on and fastened it, wincing at his fingertips brushed his protruding ribs.
Taking comfort in wrapping himself in the oversized jacket, Minoru mentally prepared himself to go to lunch, when his mind began to wander.
Back to the day of the USJ attack.
Two Weeks Earlier
Minoru sat on his bed, legs crossed, internally panicking.
She's going to use her quirk on me, then she'll know!
"Sorry for the delay, there are quite a few of you to see." Recovery Girl pulled up a stool in the space between the two beds, facing Tsuyu.
Minoru flinched at the sound of Recovery Girl's voice, shocked from his mental spiral.
"Asui-"
"Call me Tsu."
"Asui, do you have any injuries you need to inform me of?" Recovery Girl placed a hand on the young girl's arm.
Tsuyu shook her head. "Not that I know of, kero."
Humming slightly, Recovery Girl used her medical knowledge to understand the information about her patient's condition that her quirk provided to her.
"Cuts and bruises, slight quirk overuse, but other than that, all good." Recovery Girl healed Tsuyu with her quirk, before holding out her hand. "Here, have some gummies."
"Thanks, kero."
Recovery Girl turned to Minoru, seeing his nervousness. "Same for you, any injuries."
No, no, she'll find out, then I'll be in trouble, I can't, I can't! She'd punish me!
Minoru shook his head. "My mother is getting a private doctor to check me over later, s-she told me-"
"You were involved in a serious incident on the grounds of U.A., it's my responsibility to ensure you are unharmed before you can leave school." Recovery Girl replied, matter of factly.
"But, but, I-"
Tsuyu moved, sitting down next to Minoru and taking his hand. "It's okay, it doesn't hurt."
Minoru was panicking. "I-I can't, if she found out-"
A hand rested on Minoru's shoulder, the purple boy looking up to see it belonged to the detective.
"I'm Detective Tsukauchi." Tsukauchi gave a reassuring smile. "It's okay, you know, we're here to help."
Minoru paused, before glancing across at Tsuyu.
Tsuyu squeezed his hand. "Do you know why I want to be a hero?"
Minoru shook his head.
"To help people." Tsuyu smiled slightly. "Let me, let us, help you, so you can be the best hero you can."
"I can't." Minoru was crying now. "If I do, then I can't be a hero, she won't let me."
Tsukauchi cleared his throat. "My quirk is Lie Detector, while not infallible, anything you were to tell me would be treated very seriously."
His quirk. This may be my only chance, my chance to escape her.
Slowly, Minoru nodded.
Tsukauchi patted the boy's shoulder. "Ms. Asui, if you would mind leav-"
"I want Tsu to stay."
"That's fine, I understand." Tsukauchi nodded. "Shuzenji, if you would."
Recovery Girl placed her hand against Minoru's arm, he felt a warm wave pass through his body, blanketing the cold that normally filled him.
"Well, you are far from okay." Recovery Girl removed her hand, Minoru could tell she was being careful not to show any sort of negative emotion that could upset him. "Severe malnutrition, honestly I'm surprised you've managed to hide it so well."
Minoru shrugged. "A teacher figured it out once, my mother made sure he lost his job, she's untouchable. She works for the Hero Commission, the liaison for Wash."
"And this is U.A., six out of ten of the top pro heroes, All Might himself, graduated from here." Recovery Girl held out gummies, a far larger handful than Tsuyu's. "U.A. had stood for over a hundred years, it can handle your mother."
Tsukauchi spoke. "Can you provide the circumstances of why you suffer from your condition?"
Mother, I'll break your chains.
Minoru nodded, munching on his gummies. "My mother, she doesn't allow me to eat much, she always contacts my school to tell them I have all these allergies that I don't have, and that I have a packed lunch, but I never do."
"I understand." Tsukauchi was writing in a notepad. "Is there anything else you want to add?"
"Yeah, she does it because she wants me to be small, cute, to look like a child, for when I'm a pro hero." Minoru paused, looking at the gummy in his hand. "These are really good, what are they?"
Tsuyu gripped Minoru's hand. "Mineta, have you never had gummies?"
"I'm supposedly allergic to sweets, and chocolate, and bacon." Minoru stopped. "When will all this happen? Do I have to go home?"
Tsukauchi closed his notebook. "For now, an emergency order to place you in the care of U.A. will be filed, once you're recovering then we can start on building an airtight case. You don't ever have to go back."
Minoru nodded. "Thank you."
Calming himself, Minoru forced himself back to the present.
"-neta!"
Minoru looked up, seeing Kaminari stood at the sink, paused halfway through washing his hands.
"What?" Minoru retorted, coming out slightly harsher than he intended.
"Jeez, calm down man." Kaminari drawled, drying off his hands on his jacket. "So, is the plan still on?"
"Plan?"
Kaminari frowned. "Yeah, you know, the one we came up with last week, tricking the girls into wearing cheerleader costumes."
Minoru's stomach gave a sickening flop, he'd forgotten all about that conversation.
"I see you, Mineta."
Minoru shrugged. "Not interested anymore."
"Ah, man!" Kaminari sighed.
Leaving the bathroom, Minoru set off down the corridor.
"Hello, Piglet."
Minoru froze, turning to see his mother leaning against the wall, a smug smile on her face.
"H-How?"
The woman smirked. "This little hissy fit of yours won't accomplish anything, Piglet. You'll be home soon enough, I have the Commission's backing, not even U.A. can defy them forever."
Minoru stood frozen in fear.
The woman turned to walk away, pausing. "You really have gotten fat, we'll have to sort that out when you get home."
And then, she was gone, Minoru was hyperventilating, he couldn't get any air into his lungs.
She was going to take him, he'd be forced to leave U.A., forced to leave Tsu.
I need to be seen!
"You okay, Mineta?" Kaminari frowned as he shut the bathroom door behind himself.
Minoru slowed his breathing. "That plan. I'll do it."