A smile curses the wounding of a frown. – William Shakespeare

Also

I'm super cute and an alien queen! – Mina Ashido

One thing I never liked about the Sports Festival was the final event. It seemed to suggest the pinnacle of heroism was fighting. One on one battles. Excitement! Explosions! Drama! It's all a bunch of nonsense if you ask me. The pinnacle of heroics lies in the act of saving. All Might punching a hundred villains paled in comparison to my father's life-changing words.

"I don't fear you." My father saved me.

What does it mean to truly save someone? It doesn't mean defeating a villain. It doesn't mean pulling someone from a fire. Heroes truly save people when they save a soul, not the body.

It was a lesson many of us didn't know yet. I was a lesson I had yet to truly understand. Still, that didn't stop some of us from trying.

BREAK LOGIC

As Eri stood waiting for the bracket's announcement, she heard a familiar voice. "Oi." Bakugo kept a neutral expression, so she didn't know why he approached her. The girl nodded at him, so he continued, "Why'd didn't you stop the girls from the damned pervert's farce?"

He spoke the truth. While she refused to let Momo make her a cheerleading outfit, she neglected to warn her friends that Mineta lied. Well, Kaminari went along with it too, but she doubted that blond thought up the idea considering his academic performance. Therefore, she watched as the girls made fools of themselves on live television, and their images will likely be used as tasteless material for years to come.

So, why didn't she stop this abhorrent disregard of respect?

"Damage minimization." Several of her classmates leaned towards her. In fact, all the remaining sixteen qualifiers besides Mei focused on her. Should she show her cards yet? Meh, why not? "My long-term goal is the permanent neutralization of the threat known as Mineta." Said pervert gulped loud enough for her to hear. "Nevertheless, lessons are better remembered through extreme emotion duress rather than verbal lectures. By not warning them, I simultaneously plummeted the girls' opinion of Mineta while also making them wearier of potentially worse future situations."

Not many people followed what she said. Fortunately, Bakugo did. "So, you vaccinated them."

"I must be cruel only to be kind," she summarized in English, which only helped those who spoke English in the first place. Those people were among the more intelligent of her peerage, so they didn't need her summarization at all. On the other hand, it gave her an opportunity to quote Shakespeare, so it made her pleased.

"Still a dick move." He headed off to Kirishima. They got along well, so she felt glad.

Eri watched the other students interact. Sections of 1-A and 1-B mingled with the finalists, but none of the support or general youth supported their representatives. Shinso impersonated a statue while Mei tinkered with… something metal that seemed to glow green. Eri wondered if her acquaintance had access to radioactive material.

Monoma stayed close to Shiozaki, the only 1-B students to advance. Unlike Mineta, Eri didn't dislike the copying hero, but he held a dangerous amount of pride and self-esteem issues. With his current disposition, he or a partner would die in heroics, so she deduced that something as humiliating as being brainwashed into a victory while also reaching the final round could help in some regard. Plus, he was one of the few students she felt certain about defeating.

Of her classmates, Uraraka smiled and bounced on her feet next to a worried Midoriya. He happened to not use the power he and she unlocked, so he held an advantage over the others (besides herself). Her only remaining but guaranteed obstacle to victory, Todoroki, kept a stoic demeanor. No matter how many scenarios she played in her head, she had no way of defeating him on a flat, cement terrain. Mei could if she felt like it, though she won't. Bakugo could if Todoroki exhausted himself beforehand. Midoriya could if he unveiled Full Cowl during their fight. Shinso could if they would've brainstormed a proper prompt but, as the Eraser Head fan put it, "It's hard to get a guy to say something when he doesn't say anything in the first place."

Hmm… What if she bit her wrist until it bled and used the shock to reach Todoroki? No, he was among the best hand-to-hand combatants in her class. Reaching him would accomplish nothing.

She stopped her mental rant and focused on the woman who stepped on stage. Miss Nemuri looked as beautiful as ever, though several lustful stares from her peers darkened Eri's mood. She spoke a little, though the girl focused on the screen behind her. Every second of planning could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Then, she realized the staring gave her no benefit because they had to reach their hand into a box and draw out a number. Eri drew a fifteen and waited for the screen to display their choices, because Nezu must've created an instantaneous way of accomplishing that.

Ah, there they are.

Shoto Todoroki vs Hanta Sero

Izuku Midoriya vs Minoru Mineta

Momo Yaoyorozu vs Mina Ashido

Ochaco Uraraka vs Neito Monoma

Denki Kaminari vs Eijiro Kirishima

Hatsumi Mei vs Hitoshi Shinso

Tenya Iida vs Katsuki Bakugo

Eri Aizawa vs Ibara Shiozaki

Since she had nothing to worry about, Eri decided to accomplish two secondary goals before her round in the tournament. Without regard to their conversations, she grabbed Momo and Midoriya by the arms and dragged them into the halls lining the underside of the stadium. They protested, but her vice-like grip proved too strong, and she ignored them anyway.

It was time to set the final two pieces to her plan. Then, she only had herself to rely on.

BREAK LOGIC

Mina wiggled. There was no other word to describe it. She felt such an overbearing excitement, and no other route presented itself to ease the overload. She made it! One of sixteen people in the entire friggen country! Millions watched the event where Mina Ashido, the pink and horned mutant, stood alongside the most heroic and powerful youth in Japan. How could she not wiggle in excitement?!

"Go Todoroki! Go Sero!" she cheered though neither stepped into the arena yet nor could they hear her if they were. Did it matter? No! She let herself be swept in the crowd's liveliness.

"You're rooting for both, Mina?" Yaoyorozu asked. Pretty soon, they'll beat the snot outa each other, but they're just classmates for now, and they will be after their round finished.

"Why not?" She shrugged. "Midoriya already left, so we don't have an analyzer. My guess is as good as any. Plus, I want both to do great!"

"Icy-Hot." Bakugo stayed oddly calm ever since the second event. His arms remained cross, and his face fashioned itself into a contemplative scowl. Kirishima tried to get a rise outa him a bunch of times, but the blond kept his cool. "Just a few people could defeat him. Soy Sauce Face ain't one of 'em."

Yaoyorozu tapped her finger to her chin to contemplate. "Though, if Sero wrapped Todoroki in his tape and swung him, he might be able to win."

"Tsk." All of 1-A took filled a row area thingy… Mina didn't remember what it was called… And almost all of 1-A looked at Bakugo in one of his rare moments of tactical advice. For somebody who though DIE and EXPLODE solved most problems, he strategized peculiarly well. "Icy-Hot was acting all pissy before we even started. He never even finished in the top two during the race and cavalry battle. He'll make a statement here."

The crowd cheered louder yet and drowned anything else Bakugo might say. Mina realized the first round would soon begin. Cool!

Present Mic's voice overwhelmed the already deafening cheer of thousands of people. She squealed in joy. He said words, but she hardly caught any besides "Shoto Todoroki" and "Hanta Sero". Why would she? Present Mic sounded excited. The crowd screamed excitement. Mina felt moments away from spontaneously combusting in excitement!

Midnight stood just outside the arena's bounds between the two boys. Made of cement, their battleground was large, rectangular, and flat. With no way to use the environment to their advantage, only their training and Quirks could achieve victory or defeat.

"Go! Go! Go!" she shouted over and over. Leaning over, she clung to the railing or else risk falling. They looked so tiny down there.

Midnight's voice boomed over the sound system. "Start!"

And then the temperature plummeted.

One moment, her two classmates stood like two cowboys waiting for high noon. The next, Todoroki covered the arena, the grass, and some of the outer wall a glacier. She didn't exaggerate. Her classmate, the boy who hardly spoke a word, created a glacier in under a second.

Suddenly, all her excitement felt like a distant memory. This was the third event? THAT was what she had to beat? Her throat became dry. Her stomach plummeted.

It wasn't just Todoroki. Bakugo made EXPLOSIONS. Midoriya could punch like ALL MIGHT. Uraraka could TOSS HER INTO THE SUN. Yaoyorozu, who she'll face in minutes, made a BAZOKA THINGY during the race!

How could she, the girl who makes acid, beat them? No, how could she survive them?

Somehow, she made her way into the waiting room. Midoriya and Mineta were next, but she and Yaoyorozu went after them. Maybe she passed by Midoriya on the way out? Maybe not? Wait. Did someone lead her here or did she walk here on her own? Did she know her way back to her classmates?

Oh gods! She didn't have a strategy against Momo! How the heck could she plan against the girl whose Quirk was "can make anything"?!

Mina clutched her head and let out a pathetic whimper. Right now, she was alone, and that meant she didn't have to be all smiles. Her heart twisted. She had no chance of victory. Why was she even here?

The girl blinked.

Bullies.

A little girl sat in a sandbox and watched the other children play with her ball. Her tears splashed into the sand and made tiny drown dots in the tan expanse. Her little head didn't understand why the other kids wouldn't play with her. She brought a ball. That meant she wanted to play. Other kids brought balls or toys. Then, they'd all play with it. Simple, right? What did she miss?

Did she say something wrong? She did stutter. Talking to new people was scary, but other kids stuttered.

Did she bring the wrong ball? No, the others played with the ball and had lots of fun with it.

Maybe the problem was herself? She was used to making children cry when they saw her. Mama said people in the country sometimes were afraid of different things, and Mama said Mina looked different. She didn't think so. She was pretty! Pink is the most amazing color, and she got all the pink! The other kids didn't think the same way. They made a song about her. "Pink Devil! Pink Devil! She's gonna spirit us away! Pink Devil! Pink Devil!" It made Mina cry, so she covered her ears whenever they said that.

But, this was supposed to be a new place! Daddy got a job in the city, so they went to one. Mama said people wouldn't be afraid of her here and no one would call her a pink devil. Her horns were cute!

So, she hoped things would be better. She brought her favorite ball, went to a playground with Mama, and handed a group of kids her ball. They accepted her ball! Then, they screamed, "Alien!" She didn't move as they ran away laughing.

She just… didn't get it, so she cried in a sandbox.

"Eh? You okay, girly?" Mina rubbed her eyes and looked up at a pretty woman with flowing green hair. Her voice sounded happy, but her face looked concerned.

"I'm fine." She crossed her arms. "I got sand in my eye."

The woman waived her finger back and forth like her mama did when she caught her lying. "A hero stops crimes, and you're fibbing. You'd have sand in your fuzzy, pink cheeks if you had sand there."

Mina stood, mouth wide open. "You're a hero!"

"An intern." She waived her hand. "I'm nobody you'd know, and I'm off duty. Still, I won't stop until I solve this problem. So tell me, why are you crying, missy?"

"Um…" She realized the hero created a super strong trap. She can't lie to heroes, so she could only tell the truth! "No one plays with me. We moved. The kids before called me a pink devil. Those kids over there." She pointed at the group throwing her ball around. "Took my ball but didn't let me play. They said I'm an alien."

"Alien, huh…" The woman knelt beside her, so their eyes met. Her knees got sandy. She patted her on the head. "You know what I think? Become queen of the aliens and show those pesky bullies just how awesome and friendly you are!"

The girl tilted her head to the side. "Queen of the aliens? How?"

The woman's face became serious. "Three steps. Step one, Don't Give Up. No matter how hard it hurts, keep on going. Step two, Believe You're Cute. That's a beauty secret of mine. I look pretty because I believe I'm pretty, and you're super cute! Like… all the cute! Step three, Smile. Like this!" She pointed to her face as her mouth moved into a big, fun smile. "You got it?"

She nodded. "Yeah! I'll go do it!" She took three steps out of the sandbox before stopping. "Um, what's your name?"

The hero shook her head. "I became a hero to help others smile, not to become famous. Just remember me as the smiling hero, okay?"

"Okay!" Mina sprinted off to the kids and screamed, "Hey guys! I'm super cute and an alien queen! I wanna play too!"

It actually worked.

Of course, it didn't work all the time. No matter how happy she was, some people couldn't see past her fur, black eyes, and horns. Though, she won't complain. She never learned the hero's name and realized she must've pulled her entire motivational speech out of her ass, but it helped.

Whoever that hero was, she helped Mina overcome some discrimination not through violence but through personality. Mutant discrimination existed if the person looked weird, especially for children. Koda almost never talked. Tokoyami had a very stoic personality. Shoji preferred to not talk much and wore a mask. She never asked them. It just wasn't polite, but she'd bet her phone that all three of them faced bullies.

Mina wanted to be an Alien Queen. If weird looking mutants scared children, then she'd become a super awesome hero and make the children realize spooky mutants can still be cool! And friendly! And cute! Who cares if she'll win or lose? She'll go out there, give her best, and smile the whole friggen time!

The girl nodded and glanced at the screen. Midoriya and Mineta almost reached the arena. Then, she'll fight. Until that point, she might as well watch this one. Everybody saw Eri drag Yaoyorozu and Midoriya off. While she knew Eri didn't do anything to sabotage her match, Mina had a distinct feeling a certain narcissistic blond and a certain purple pervert will face unexpected troubles.

Plus, she really hoped Midoriya would punch Mineta in the dick. Of course, that kid was a cinnamon roll too sweet to do such a thing, but girls can dream, right?

The monitor didn't carry volume, since it'd distract the waiting contestants. They camera angle was close to ground level and captured both boys in its view. She waited until they moved.

Mineta made the first move. Judging from his face, she guessed he screamed as he threw his balls at Midoriya almost hilariously fast. Despite his perversions, he had a somewhat tactical head. Doing something so… straightforward didn't fit his style. Why?

Oh, Jiro had a coffee drinking contest with him. It sorta reminded her of those whiskey drinking ones but with coffee. The little guy got jacked up on caffeine. He had hardly any body mass to him in the first place. He must've exceeded the maximum safe amount tenfold.

Midoriya dodged. The boy held his own against Bakugo for a couple minutes without using his Quirk, and that guy was freaking scary on the battlefield. The greenette knew dozens of ways to defeat his opponent, and unlike Eri, he did so just because. He really liked Quirks. That's all there was to it.

Mineta continued to throw his balls around, which sounded just as perverted as the boy's normal actions. Midoriya swerved left to right at seemingly random intervals. No matter where the sticky purple spheres went, he found a way to avoid them. All the while, he moved forward slowly but surely.

He could end the battle at any moment. While self-destructive, his Quirk was DESTRUCTIVE. He'll win in one punch, but he elected to do it Quirkless again, like the first two events. She entertained the idea of Midoriya winning the Sports Festival Quirkless. Holy smokes! That'd be the ultimate troll move!

His lips moved. Judging from his earnest expression and sweet personality, he yelled encouragements to the pervert. Really? He risked advancing to help his opponent. Though, if he somehow made the pervert less perverted, she'd do something nice for him like… Oh! She could bake him cinnamon rolls for the cinnamon roll! Hilarious and helpful. How hard could baking be anyway?

Tears streamed down Midoriya's face, and she meant STREAMED. Two tiny rivers fell from his eyes. Quirks effected human biology in interesting ways. Her Quirk was acid, but her body looked cute as heck. Blonde became a natural hair type in any people group. Midoriya had green hair. Kirishima had spiky teeth. Breast got bigger, not that Mina was complaining about any of that. So, even though the boy's Quirk had nothing to do with his eyes or water, he could cry more easily and more rapidly than anyone she met before.

At last, Mineta said something besides his wordless shrieking. With his skull bleeding, he spoke enough for a single sentence. Whatever he said, it made Midoriya freeze in his tracks. Mineta stood panting and threw one last ball which Midoriya punched, essentially sticking the ball to his knuckles.

This time, she guessed what the better of the two said based off his lips. The serious expression helped too. "Even Uraraka?"

The pervert nodded.

"Oh shit," Mina sung with a smile.

Midoriya charged. A wet spot spread around Mineta's groin. The hero stepped over the balls on the ground and let the ones in the air his him as if they weren't there. The villain became a crying and snotty mess. Her friend punched her enemy in the face, and he flew backwards. Midoriya, in fact, used his enemy's Quirk against him. It stuck to everything except the one who grew hair balls. Instead, it acted like a spring.

Mina cheered as Mineta's blubbering body sailed over the edge of the arena.

Midoriya walked off stage as Mina ran to the edge of the stadium's entrance. As she neared, the crowd's cheering became louder and louder until it seemed to shake her very bones. Cool!

Her excitement plummeted again when she saw Midoriya. Through the dozen balls on his body, he exposed his dejected face for all to see. Did he regret winning?

"Hey, Midoriya." She stopped in front of him. There was no way she'll let him get away feeling so down. "You okay?"

"I, um…" He tried to wring his hands together but got them stuck together instead. "I'll see if Recovery Girl can, ah, fix this." He wouldn't meet her in the eye.

"What'd Mineta say? Tell me." She kept her voice calm and collected.

"I was trying to…" He blinked his eyes, trying to stop more tears. It didn't work. "To help him. Get him to be more heroic. His Quirk works great for capture situations and-" He stopped himself before they drowned in his mumbling. "He said he wanted to beat me then Todoroki to…" He swallowed. "There's a seventy-five percent chance either I or Todoroki will face a girl. Mineta wanted to win just to…" He looked away. "To…"

She put her hand on his shoulder, a part without a purple orb. "Midoriya, just repeat what he said, okay? I promise I won't get mad at you."

He trembled. "I want to beat you and Todoroki, so I can touch boobs. He said that. I'm sorry for saying such a vulgar word, and it surprised me, and in the heat of the battle, I sort of lost it because I wondered if he included Uraraka because she's so nice, not that I'm saying you and Yaoyorozu aren't because you are and sorry I didn't think that during the battle, but I asked if that included Uraraka, and he nodded, so I became angry that he wanted to do that even though I wasn't thinking heroically, so I attacked him and embarrassed him in front of everybody and-"

"Izuku." Saying first given name stopped his self-degrading tirade. "I'd hug you if I could." He froze with reddening cheeks and a gaping mouth. "You were supposed to try and win. I can guarantee all the girls cheered when you socked him." She smiled. "I did."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong about sticking up for a friend." She walked around him, since she couldn't be late for her own battle. "And talk to her about it if you need the reassurance. She's nice. You're nice. It'll all work out."

"Thank you!"

She waived. "What are friends for, right?"

And she stopped at the edge of the light. Behind her, the halls where she waited stood. In front of her, millions of eyes watched and waited. Present Mic talked like one of those announcers before a boxing match, though he started on Yaoyorozu.

Oh! He just mentioned pink. That meant she should come out, right? Wait. Should she enter when he started or when he finished? Did that make a difference? Was it bad to come out in the middle of his broadcast? Never mind. He said her name.

Mina skipped over the grass and onto the cement arena. Her ears heard just two things, the roaring crowd and her heartbeat thumping like a drum. She felt like crying, running away, and dancing all at the same time.

Step one, Don't Give Up.

She took a calming breathe and took off her shoes. Villains tried to kill her. She was friends with Eri. How hard could this be? Weak but slippery acid secreted from her feet.

"You two ready?" Midnight asked. In the girl's opinion, the woman looked a lot prettier without all the BDSM stuff.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Yaoyorozu.

Step two, Believe You're Cute.

"I'm adorable and ready," she spoke with a serious face. Her opponent raised an eyebrow. The referee snorted.

Step three, Smile.

"Start!"

With a goofy smile, Mina skated forward using her acid. Yaoyorozu became more dangerous the longer she waited, so she charged at one of the best close-quarter combatants in her class. Her right arm secreted a sticky, diluted acid, and her left arm oozed a slimy one in preparation for their contact. Meanwhile, her friend stood her ground and formed a Bo Staff.

Technically, both girls could've fought harder. A sword wasn't that hard to make, and Mina could create acid that'd cause those awesome little Facehuggers from Aliens jealous. To save a kid, she'd melt a villain's arm off if there was no other way, but they fought in a sports festival. Sports were fun.

When two meters away, she swerved hard to the right and used the jerk to fling her arms' acid. The slick acid went to her feet. The sticky acid went to her face. Yaoyorozu ducked and dodged. She ducked under the sticky stuff but slipped on the slicky stuff. She hit the ground and dropped her Bo Staff.

Yes!

She used her momentum to turn around to make an attack. Her strong legs strained as she pushed herself to go faster than normal. When she saw her opponent again, she already made her weapon. Pointed right at her was a giant, friggen pump-up water gun.

What?

The water came out like a garden hose and hit her in the eyes. By the time she realized her eyes STUNG, the spray went all the from her head down to her feet. When she realized her feet were wet, her skating acid stopped working, and she stumbled on the concrete.

Fucking soap.

Mina wasn't a genius by any means, but she understood the PH scale better than anyone outside of a chemist lab. Neutral stuff was a seven, like pure water. It just sat around and did nothing. Acidic stuff was anything under seven, even negatives! Base stuff was anything over seven. Yin and Yang. Soapy water had a value of twelve, the highest Momo could've gone without hurting her opponent. On the opposite end of the spectrum, lemon juice had a value of two, the lowest she could go before worrying about hurting people.

One guy in Australia once dumped a glassful of hydrofluoric acid in his lap and died of multiple organ failures two weeks later. The girl could've been a horrifying villain, but… she was just a normal teenage girl. Her body made special acid that melted and did nothing else, but everything she did possessed risks. What if it got in someone's blood stream?

What did all this mean? Every part of her body besides her arms no longer could secrete safe acid. Also, she had soap in her eyes.

Part of her wanted to get angry or charge at Yaoyorozu, but millions of people watched the pink alien girl. She wanted them to see the odder-looking mutants as… people. Kids loved fluffy things but hated monsters, so she'll be fluffy. Super fluffy!

"Ah!" She fanned her face fanatically as if it'd do anything and jumped from one foot to another. While goofy, her actions helped get at least some of the soap off. "You got soap in my eyes!"

She could still see and saw Yaoyorozu form a handheld taser. While still hopping back and forth, a new plan came to mind. Like flexing a muscle, she… tensed… her secretions in her arms and let them build up. Like a volcano! A volcano of love! Her opponent misjudged her current situation. Looking for a quick KO, she provided the jumping girl a path to victory.

Bo Staff in one hand and taser in the other, she took bounding steps forwards. Mina waiting until she saw a spark. Four meters. She raised her left arm to strike with the staff first. Three meters. That's gonna hurt a lot, won't it? Two meters. Maybe this wasn't the best idea? One meter. A spark.

Mina shot both of her arms forwards, as if preparing to stop a speeding train. A huge spray of heavy, sticky acid shot forward. As the Bo Staff connected to her ribs, Yaoyorozu tased herself. That acid could act as an electrical conductor. She learned that the hard way when she leaned against a power outlet and a little of her slime got inside.

Wincing in pain, she jumped ahead. Their bodies collided, but the shocked girl fell backwards. When she hit the ground, Mina grabbed each of her arms and pressed down, secreting all the sticky acid she could manage. Her knees pressed into Yaoyorozu's stomach. The girl struggled and probably had the advantage of strength, but the pinkette had gravity and sticky stuff on her side even though she probably had a cracked rib or two.

After about fifteen seconds of grappling, Midnight asked, "Can you get up, Yaoyorozu?"

With a final shove, the recommended student deflated. "No."

"Then the winner is Ashido!"

The crowd roared. She advanced. Present Mic announced. Had he ever stopped? Even so, none of that really mattered. Her friend looked sad.

"Hey, Momo?" She stood and started pushing some of the acid off the taller girl.

"Yes, Mina?" The once refined lady looked like a goopy mess. Also, first name basis. YES!

"Can I give you some advice?" She offered a hand. Momo accepted. Standing face-to-face, she said in total seriousness, "Step one, Don't Give Up." She held up a finger. "Step two, Believe You're Cute." A second finger joined the first. "Step three, Smile." Three fingers pointed to the sky.

Momo tilted her head to the side. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'd have quit a long time ago if I let a crushing sense of inadequacy get me down." She smiled. "I simply didn't quit, so keep on being the same awesome Momo. Got it?"

Her face stayed confused for a few seconds. Did she not explain something? Then, her face lit up, and she nodded. "I think I do, Mina."


Author's notes:

Long story short, I rewrote this entire chapter, so it took a while. It went from mostly Eri to an interesting character analysis on Mina (even though she was totally freaked out for the entirety of her POV). Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I'll now remember as the Mina Chapter! Thanks for all your support!