Disclaimer: neither I or bunnyscribe own Mob Psycho 100 or My Hero Academia
Above All Others
By: bunnyscribe (AO3)
The world slows down as Izuku feels every single eye in the crowd turn onto him, their stares weighing as heavy as the invisible burden that now rests on his shoulders. He clutches his fist by his side, feeling the tears welling up behind his eyes. Vicious thoughts bounce around in his head and he hates the bitter feeling of isolation his victory is causing him. After all, who would willingly take a ten million bounty on their head?
"-riya."
He's screwed, completely and inevitably screwed. He only has fifteen minutes to develop a strategy, and that's impossible if he can't even find a team in that time.
"Midoriya," says a stern voice from behind him.
Izuku jolts, spinning around so quickly that he almost falls solely by fumbling over his own feet. A hand grabs onto his arm, steadying him and suddenly Izuku finds himself face to face with Mob's blank stare.
"O-Oi! Mob!" Izuku exclaims, face growing bright red. He's immediately embarrassed to be caught so off guard, even though rationally he knows Mob would never judge him for something like that. He's quick to straighten himself back up and pulls his arm out of Mob's grip in order to better wipe his sweaty palms on his pants. "Wh-What's up?"
Mob studies his face with the same kind of intensity he seems to take to all things from math problems to casual conversations. The clock has ticked down at least thirty seconds by the time Mob's looking away, surveying the rest of the crowd. "You know better than me who else should be on our team, I think," he says. "I'll leave that to you."
"You..." Izuku starts, cutting himself off with a loud swallow. His eyes start watering from something entirely different than stress, his lip wobbles. "You want to be on my team?"
Mob tilts his head, expression flat. "We're friends," he says. "It'll be more fun this way."
"Bu-But!" Izuku says, flapping his arms around in the air. "You shouldn't want to be with me! Everyone will be coming after us! With me placing first and you placing third, we'll have so many points, we'll be such an obvious target! And, with Aiz-Aizawa. You could get expelled!"
Mob hums. "That's true I guess," he says passively, as though the threat their teacher placed over his head isn't really affecting him at all. Despite his tone, however, Izuku watches as he seems to forcibly relax his shoulders. "As long as I do my best it'll be fine...I think." He looks Izuku up and down, eyes narrowing like he's trying to put together a thousand piece puzzles in his head. Then he nods, seeming to find what he's looking for, and says, "You don't need to worry about me."
Izuku's mouth drops, every thought dropping out of his head. He must be being extremely obvious if even Mob's reading through him. "Mob, I-"
"Deku! Mob!" Uraraka says, rushing up to them. "Let's team up!"
After a few heartfelt assurances that Uraraka actually does want to team up with them and more than a few tears added into the mix on Izuku's part, Izuku quickly starts putting the pieces together and forming a plan in his head. They have a heavy hitter with Mob's telekinesis and added mobility with Uraraka's zero gravity, now all they need is speed and Izuku knows exactly where to find that.
"You'll have to forgive me Midoriya," Iida says when they find him. "Without a doubt, you all are my closest friends, but I am concerned with my ability to overcome obstacles on my own." He looks between Izuku and Mob who stands behind him, "I've been bested by the two of you at every turn and I cannot move forward if I continue to stand behind you. Therefore, I have decided to team with Todoroki for this event." He looks uncomfortable as he voices these thoughts aloud, but plows through with them with a conviction that Izuku can't help but respect.
It doesn't change the heavy amount of disappointment that Izuku feels though. "If that's what you feel is best Iida," he says. Then, to bolster himself back up, he straightens, curling his fist in front of him with a shaky smile. "Just know that we'll be waiting for you in the finals alright?"
"I'll be holding you to that," Iida says, managing a small smile back. "I wish you all luck in finding your last team member."
Izuku nods, and as Iida moves away, he turns back to his current team members. "Alright," he says, then pauses. "Alright."
"Well, that stinks," Uraraka says with a pout.
"I think..." Mob says, looking after Iida like he's still trying to process what exactly transpired. "He's doing what he thinks is best."
"Yeah," Izuku absently agrees, his brain already moving on despite the hurt lingering in his chest, "But there's still time to figure something else out." He brings a hand to his chin, closing his eyes. "We could always ask Sero? He doesn't have any extra speed, but as long as we-"
"YOU!"
There's suddenly a pair of hands on Izuku's shoulders, spinning him around with an excessive amount of force. Before he can blink there's a giant pair of googles right in his face. Izuku flinches and has a brief moment to wonder if this is how Mob feels when he's touched unexpectedly. "You placed first in the first challenge, didn't you? You're exactly what I need to show off my babies!"
"Excuse me?" Uraraka says, voice squeaking.
The girl backs up just enough that Izuku can take in her pink hair and a manic grin. "My babies!" she says, and then suddenly there's something being slung over his shoulders, solid, rectangular, and slightly heavy. He can't even comment on it before the girl takes a quick step back and presses a button on a small remote with an absolutely gleeful laugh.
Izuku is sent hovering upward, air pulsing out of the jet pack behind him. "Wh-Whoa!" he yelps, tumbling around a bit before straightening out. His surprise is almost immediately replaced by fascination though. "Is this based on Air-Jet's gear?"
"Yes! I made it with my own original twist on it though!" The girl exclaims, pressing the button again so Izuku lowers back to the ground. She immediately re-enters his space. "And that's not the only baby I have. I just know if I team up with you, my babies will undoubtedly be seen by companies all over. And you guys will be benefited by my talents as well of course."
"Excuse me," Mob interrupts lifting a hand up. "Who are you?"
The girl's laser focus moves off of Izuku and onto Mob. "Ah! You're the one in third place!" She moves in what seems to be a blur, suddenly in Mob's space grabbing his hands. He immediately starts to sweat, expression wobbling and eyes darting around.
"Excellent, excellent!" the girl says, completely oblivious to his discomfort. "My name is Hatsume Mei! I'm from the support course. We develop tons of inventions to help heroes out with their quirks, and I think I have just the babies to work for your needs."
"Hey," Uraraka says, not even hesitating before moving to step between Hatsume and Mob. She holds Hatsume at an arm's distance away. "He doesn't like to be touched."
Hatsume blinks, tilts her head, and nods. That's the only indication she gives that she understands though, very obviously moving forward on a single train of thought. She turns back to Izuku, manic grin finding itself naturally on her face. "So what do you say, Mr. Number One? Will you show off my babies?"
Izuku takes off the jetpack and stares at it for a second, before turning over to look at the rest of the inventions that she has laid out haphazardly. He looks at Mob and Uraraka, who in turn are staring at him expectantly, and at that moment he knows they'll go with whatever his judgment call is.
"Alright," he says. "Let's do this."
.-.-.
The event starts explosively, with so many teams after them that Mob can't even count them all. The sun beats down over them. Mob's starting to sweat, chest tight.
Seventy-nine.
"Run away!" Midoriya orders immediately, arm sweeping through the air. Mob goes to take a step back, but finds the ground shifting below him, his feet sinking into it till he's up to his knees in goop.
"Uraraka, Hatsume! Watch out, I'm using the jetpack!"
Suddenly Mob's legs are freed and he's soaring forward, stomach lurching and trying not to feel sick.
Jiro's earplugs come at them next, aiming right for Midoriya's headband while he lifts an arm to guard it. "Mob, to your left! We need a shield!"
Mob puts up a wall of kinetic energy, letting the bud bounce harmlessly off of it.
"Now to the right!"
Mob moves the wall before he even thinks about it, shifting it over right before Tokoyami's Dark Shadow slams into it. Tsuyu's tongue follows immediately afterward, and Mob stretches the wall to catch that too.
"There are too many of them!" Uraraka says, pulling the group back as Jiro's earplugs fly toward them again and it's only their combined weightlessness that gets them out of range quickly enough.
"We're going up!" Midoriya yells and Mob hears the button click, and suddenly there's no ground beneath Mob's feet at all. In fact, they're getting further and further away from it. Mob feels nauseous.
There's a brief pause where everything slows down as they reach the peak of their ascent. Mob's realizes never been this high in the air before, he thinks as he looks at the tiny specks of people standing on the arena. Sure, he's made himself and his brother float when they were children and he used his quirk more frequently, but he's never flown before.
He quickly decides he likes it, despite the queasiness it took to make it up. It makes him feel a little separated from the chaos that they'd left below them. Some of the pressure eases from his chest.
Seventy-four.
The relative ease is almost immediately smashed to pieces as a trail of explosions leaves him face to face with Bakugou.
"Don't get cocky bastards!" Bakugou yells, smoking hand reaching towards Midoriya.
"Mob! Push him back!" Midoriya yells.
Seventy-six.
Time seems to stop for a moment, Mob's breath hitching slightly in his throat at the suddenness of the attack. He thrusts his own hand out in response, trying his best not to hesitate as he pushes Bakugou back with a controlled burst of energy.
Bakugou looks like the air was knocked out of him, mouth parted in an o shape. His wide eyes meet Mob's on his descent, and just like that he's plummeting back to earth, pulled by Sero's tape.
Their team hits the ground a few moments afterward, but even then there's no time for a break as Todoroki's team rounds on them. Todoroki sports three other bands around his neck, his hand hover next to them as though already preparing to add Midoriya's to the collection.
.-.-.
Katsuki feels the pull on his bands but doesn't really register what's happening until a few seconds after they're gone. His head swivels and met with the sight of a smug faced bastard, twirling his missing band around his finger.
"You're too simple-minded, Class A," he says, slipping the band around his neck.
Katsuki can feel the blood boiling underneath his skin. Granted that it's not only this extra's fault, at every turn of this tournament so far he has been bested and humiliated by Deku and his stupid bowl cutted sidekick, and losing his band this quickly just adds insult to injury. "Give that back fuckface!" he shouts. "I'll kill you!"
"He got us!" Raccoon Eyes says, spinning to face the other team's horse so quickly that Bakugou jolts forward before steadying himself by clutching onto Kirishima's shoulders.
"Now now," the kid says. "Don't be crude. It's not my fault you're so foolish. Rushing after some fleeting first place in the first round, rather than thinking of the long game. Then again you couldn't even do that successfully, could you? What with getting fourth place and all."
Bakugou's eye twitches. "What did you just say to me?"
"How does feel to genuinely lose to a kid who gets stage fright?" the kid says. "You'll have to tell me about that once this is all over, I'm curious."
Bakugou feels something in him snap, teeth grinding together in his rage. "Change of plans," he growls. "Before I get Deku's stupid band…I'm gonna murder every last one of you!"
.-.-.
Shoto is not surprised when he sees that Midoriya and Kageyama have combined forces, but he is wary. He is not foolish enough to not underestimate either of them. Midoriya's proven himself to be extremely tactically minded from what he's seen during their heroic exercises and in class. As for Kageyama, well, Shoto was at USJ when everything happened.
There's not much explanation needed beyond that is there?
Neither of them is infallible, however, Midoriya breaks his bones whenever he tries to use his strength and Kageyama has no idea how to use his powers beyond the obvious. It's why the two compliment each other so well, Kageyama playing the brute strength to Midoriya's brains. And if that's the case, all Shoto has to do is give neither of them any time to think.
Both their teams sit across from each other in the small arena that Shoto made around them, eyeing each other but making no movements yet. Shoto is faced with a sullen looking Midoriya, eyes alive with determination.
They've been at this game of cat and mouse for a while now. Kageyama's abilities have made it exceedingly difficult to pin them down, so versatile that any attempt to shock or freeze them has been completely ineffective. And with Midoriya taking the reins on directing him, he seems to show little to none of the hesitation that he did in class exercises. The closest they got to a strike was an attack from a javelin Yazorozu created, but in the end that was knocked away. Even pushed to the edge of the field, the other team feels almost invincible.
They might have a chance, however, if the sparking jetpack on Midoriya's back has anything to say about it.
They're down to a minute on the clock at this point. "We have to be quick, we can't give Kageyama time to defend them," Shoto tells his teammates. "Kaminari, can you still shock them?"
"Wehhh," Kaminari responds. Shoto sighs, thoughts racing as he tries to come up with another plan.
"Todoroki," Iida says, and Shoto can feel the other boy tensing beneath him. "I have an idea and I am going to execute it. Make sure you are prepared to grab the band."
After a terrifying second where the world blurs past him, Todoroki finds himself clutching a band of fabric worth a million points in his hand.
.-.-.
"After them!" Midoriya yells.
"There's no time!" Hatsume says. "We should go after the teams that are still frozen!"
"There's too big a difference in points!" Midoriya says, voice high and panicky. "We'll never win if we do that! We have to go for it!"
Seventy-seven.
Mob feels a burning in his chest, some strong desire clutching at his heart. His legs feel like jelly from all the running, but at the same time, they are restless, ready to move forward. He stares at the bands around Todoroki neck, one of them hiding a million points.
Seventy-seven.
All of his team want to win. He knows that, seen the determination on their faces plain as day. He thinks of how Uraraka talked about her family, he thinks about Hatsume's excitement when she explained her inventions, he thinks of the lengths Midoriya goes to improve.
Seventy-seven.
Before he can think about it, his legs start moving.
"Mob?" Uraraka squeaks.
"We're going to get it back!" Mob calls.
Before Mob can blink again, they're face to face with the other team, Midoriya's hand stretching out towards Todoroki's neck. Mob feels heat in the air for just a second before Midoriya's hand swishes through the air and blows it away. At that moment, Mob has an idea, his own hand reaching out in an unnatural act of quick thinking. His tugs at the band around Todoroki's head with his quirk.
"GAME OVER!" Present Mic shouts over the intercom, voice vibrating throughout the stadium.
Bakugou lands with a thud next to Mob, falling out of the sky from seeming nowhere, arms stretched forward in an aborted attack. Mob stares at him as he slams his fist against the ground in rage, and when he picks his head up their eyes meet.
Todoroki's headband sits in Mob's loosely curled fingers, sporting over six hundred points. Bakugou's eyes drift to it and then back up to Mob's face, his expression going blank.
"...And in fourth place is Team Midoriya!" Present Mic says. "Moving onto the next round by the skin of their teeth!"
Mob looks away from Bakugou, turning back to his teammates in order to comfort a wailing and enthusiastic Midoriya.
.-.-.
Midoriya disappears immediately after the cavalry battle it seems like. One second he's behind Mob, and the next he's turning his head to the empty space where the boy had been. He stops, and Uraraka, walking next to him, pauses as well.
"Ahh," she says, quickly coming to the same realization. "Where'd Deku go?"
"I don't know," Mob says. "Should we go look for him?"
Uraraka opens her mouth to respond but is cut immediately cut off.
"Hey, you."
Mob turns back to find himself face to face with Bakugou. The other boy has arms crossed, brow furrowed downward. When Mob catches his eyes, his lip twitches like he's sucking on something sour.
"Me?" Mob asks after a pause, pointing towards himself.
"Yeah, you dumbass," Bakugou growls, teeth grinding. His face slowly smooths into something calmer, a look that Mob has never seen on him before. "I want to talk to you." He eyes Uraraka. "Alone."
Uraraka takes another step forward, protectively shielding Mob. She narrows her eyes. "Whatever you have to say, you can say it to the both of us."
Bakugou's expression darkens. "Listen Round Face," he says, ignoring the little-offended noise Uraraka makes. "Go stick your nose in a pile of shit and keep it out of my business."
Uraraka huffs, hands clenched into fists by her sides. "Do you really think I'm going to let you talk to Mob alone if you're going to say stuff like that?!"
Bakugou opens his mouth to snap back and Mob makes a decision to step in before things escalate any further. He settles a hand on Uraraka shoulder, and her head snaps towards him, eyes blazing.
"It's ok Uraraka," Mob says. "Go get lunch with the others."
Uraraka's face softens. She shifts her eyes to Bakugou and then back again. "Are you sure Mob?" she asks slowly.
"It'll be fine," Mob says and looks over at Bakugou. "...I think."
Uraraka bites her lip, eyes moving between the two of them again. "If you're sure?" she says, and it comes out more like a question.
Mob nods. "Yes."
Uraraka pauses for another few seconds before she actually starts moving toward the cafeteria, and she continues to look back at the two of them until she disappears through the doors inside.
Bakugou huffs, turning away from where he was watching her. "She's stubborn as hell isn't she?" he says.
Mob nods. "Uraraka is very strong," he agrees before turning to Bakugou, "What did you need?"
Bakugou's mouth drops open before snapping shut. "You," he says, the word stretching out like it's almost painful to say. "I saw what you did." He looks down at his fist as to avoid Mob's eyes. "You could have won the race, with your power, there's no fucking doubt about that. But you pushed Deku forward instead." He looks back up at Mob meaningfully, studying him. "Why?"
Mob tilts his head, "He could have gotten hurt."
Bakugou snorts, and then starts laughing, curling into himself. Mob isn't quite sure what's funny. He thinks of a crowd of smiling faces in a basement, all cheerful for reasons he can't understand, and feels uncomfortable.
"Everyone could've gotten hurt in that fucking race, that was the entire point," Bakugou says, voice full of contempt. "It was weeding out the weak, the ones who couldn't handle the second round."
Mob just hums, unsure of how to proceed in the face of such blatant anger. "I think you're taking it too seriously," he tells him in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "It's just a game."
Bakugou sneers at him, face scrunching up like it isn't quite sure what to do with itself. "You can't just treat this like some- some regular sports festival!" he says, voice rising in frustration. "It's nothing like that!"
"Then what it is?" Mob asks, genuinely curious.
"It's just a test," Bakugou says. "You should know that- I know you know that. I know red eyes threatened you with explusion, that's what got your ass in gear didn't it?" He takes a step forward, an accusing finger poking right into Mob's chest, and face turning smug like he's downright certain of his answer. "Right?"
Mob can feel the sweat starting to bead on his forehead. "Ah," he says, raising his hands up placatingly. "I'm sorry, but you're wrong."
Bakugou's face does some funny things as he seems to struggle with processing what Mob said. Mob waits patiently. "Hun?" he finally manages.
"I wanted to win for my friends," Mob says, "that is all."
Bakugou leans back, looking like all the wind was knocked out of him. "Do you…" he starts, and stops. "Do you even have feelings of your own?" he says, voice dead. "Do you even have your own ambitions?"
Mob feels himself freeze. A voice in his head says, "I hope you find something you really want." His mouth opens but any words he might have had died in his throat.
Bakugou studies his face and then snorts. "That's what I thought." He turns around, moving towards the woods surrounding the arena. "If you're not here to win for yourself, then stay the fuck out of my way."
Mob watches him take a few steps, thoughts churning in circles as the other boy moves away. He thinks of Midoriya, of what they talked about on the beach. He thinks of this as he opens his mouth again and says, "Wait."
Bakugou stops abruptly, looking back over his shoulder at Mob. "What's it now?"
"I made the decision recently to really think about what I want, and I think," Mob says and pauses, looking down at his shaking fingers. "-I think I'm still thinking about that. I'm sorry."
Bakugou stares at him, wide-eyed. "You're-" he says, "You're apologizing to me?!"
Mob nods. "I don't understand you," he admits, "You're mean to people who just want to be your friends, you hurt people, you hurt me." He stares at Bakugou, studying his face. "But you're also very smart and talented, even I see you could be a great hero. So why don't you try to be nicer?"
"I'm not here to be nice," Bakugou growls, spinning back towards Mob. "I'm here to become the world's greatest hero, and I won't stop until I do. I'll surpass everyone here to do it, even All Might. You're all just stepping stones to me."
Mob blinks, suddenly struck by a moment of insight. "Ah, I see," he says. "You're a little like me, I think." He points back and forth between the two of them as if trying to draw some invisible line to connect them. "You're scared, not of your own power, but of what you'd be without them. I once had no friends, I did not stand out, nobody paid me any attention at all. You're scared of being like that, you're scared of being the same as everyone else."
Bakugou's jaw drops before his face contorts into fury. "Don't mock me!" he snaps, taking an aggressive step towards Mob. "I'm am nothing- fucking nothing like you! I'm not scared of anything!" His palms crackle, smoke hissing out of them. "Goddamnit! I can't- I can't even-" he starts tripping over his words in his rage. "All this time, you've been looking down on me! Why won't you just take me seriously?"
"I am not looking down on you," Mob says. "I am looking at you like an equal, and that scares you."
Bakugou screams in a wordless fury, the corners of his eyes clotting with angry tears. "Shut up!" he says. "Just shut up!"
"Bakugou," Mob says. "I want to be friends with you."
Bakugou stops as if someone had just hit the pause button on him. He makes a sound of something being stepped on, a couple of tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I don't think you're ready for that though," Mob continues, "but I'll be here when you are." He glances towards the cafeteria doors and then back to Bakugou. "I'm going to get lunch now. You probably should too before the next event is announced."
When Mob reaches the doors, he glances back to Bakugou one last time, standing exactly where he left him. His fists are clenched to his sides and even with the distance, Mob can see him shaking so hard that he looks like he's vibrating.
Eighty-two percent.
Mob steps inside.
To be continued…
Hi! :D
I've been wrestling this chapter amidst some life stuff for so long and it is with great joy that I can say it is finally complete! I hope you all really enjoy it, I've been really excited to get this part of the arc and I hope it shows, lol.
As always, I have a tumblr where I'm open to answering questions about SATSS and there's also a discord for the story! :D
Have a great day/night wherever you are!