The stadium in which the sports festival was being held was massive. It had to be to support all the spectators and every single class in a given year but when Midoriya had stumbled towards it in his gym uniform with the rest of his classmates, Mina to his right and Uraraka to his left, he'd been hit by just how much the sense of scale failed to be conveyed through the televised broadcasts.
"It's kind of intimidating." His pink skinned friend muttered from beside him, to which he turned and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, but so was the school during the Entrance Exam but we all passed that!" He pointed out, which got him a slightly more relaxed smirk from the acid girl.
"I guess you're right! Just got to put on a brave face and do it!" She said with passion, getting giggles from her friends around her. "What about you two? Thoughts?"
"Nervous, but excited. Just like the entrance exam like Izuku said!" Uraraka hummed, the only thing giving away that the confident look on her face was a façade being the lone drop of sweat near her forehead. The she realized her blunder. "Uh, sorry, Deku."
"I'm just excited to be able to put our extra training to the test, I think I'm starting to get more of a handle on my superpower." The fusion teen said with an excited laugh, before fixing the brunette at his side with a slightly teasing smirk. "And I'm starting to think you do it on purpose!"
"W-what?! No I don't! I'd-" She suddenly cut off at the amused chuckles of her two curly haired friends, before rolling her eyes as they entered the stadium. "Since when were you a teaser?!"
"In fairness, he has been hanging out with Ashido a lot since he got here. Ribbit." Asui's sudden voice came from behind them, prompting them to look around and see the frog girl with Iida and Yaoyorouzu at her sides. "I mean I saw them going off somewhere together after school last Tuesday. Ribbit."
"Huh? Oh yeah you two did just kinda disappear-" Uraraka suddenly cut off as she looked to her two friends, before raising a brow in suspicion upon seeing their faces. "Why are you both blushing?"
"Heylookhere'sthepreproomletshavealookaroundandstoptalkingaboutthis." Izuku shot out the words a hundred miles a minute, confusing the others. Of the curly haired duo, he was a massive bright red whereas Mina only looked a little darker than usual. Tsuyu let out an amused croak while the others just remained confused.
Izuku took a seat at one of the tables, Mina at his side giving him a somewhat teasing smirk. "Was I really that bad?"
"N-no! I just…"
"I get it. It kinda just happened, and I know you're not exactly the most confident of people all the time." The pink skinned girl laughed, looking away. "I'm not going to pretend I didn't enjoy it though."
"…. Me neither." Izuku said with a more content sigh, resting his head on the table as he recalled what occurred not too long ago.
"So, you're definitely sure you wouldn't rather hang out with Tsu or Ochaco?" Izuku asked nervously, scratching the back of his head as he and Mina wandered into the town near the train station they all arrived at to get to U.A.
"Oh come on, you dork." Mina said playfully, giving him a light smack on the arm before pulling him into a sideways hug. "We've been planning this for days, don't go getting shy on me now!"
"Sorry, it's just… I mean I'm not that interesting or anything so I don't get why you want to hang out with me one on one." He shrugged, making his friend frown before she started trailing her finger up his arms like a spider crawling up them, each time it connected with him being followed with a reason from the girl.
"You're smart, you're strong, your fusions are awesome, you are fun to be around and, most importantly-" She stopped trailing up his arm, suddenly booping his nose with a massive grin making him blush hard. "You're my friend! Heck, I daresay you're my best friend out of everyone at U.A. so far, mind you that's not been long but even just having lunch together every day is a highlight for me. Plus you're a cutie."
"A-Ashido!" The greenette whined, hiding his face from her and making her laugh at his reaction.
"Mina, Midori. You already call most all the girls by their first names, I'm starting to feel left out." The acid girl said with a playful pout, making Izuku frown.
"S-sorry… It's just odd…" The teen explained, and Mina sighed sadly.
"Yeah, I get it. You're plite and it's a side effect. Not trying to push you or anything-"
"B-but it's also rude not to take others preferences into account, M-Mina…" He said, scratching the back of his head before suddenly two pink arms wrapped him into a bone crushing hug.
"Thanks." She said simply, and he awkwardly returned the hug as they came up to a café. He didn't quite understand why she cared about him referring to her as such, but if it made her happy and he could do it for Tsu, he could do it for her. "Come on, let's get something to go and find somewhere more quiet. I know you're not good with crowds."
"Thanks Ashi- Mina."
Soon enough, they had found themselves in the nearby park, a little clearing hidden from the town behind a few bushes giving them privacy. They were both sitting under a massive oak tree, the shade protecting them from the sun as they ate their food together.
Mina had gotten way more to take away than Izuku, much to the greenette's amusement. She didn't seem to struggle to down all of it like it was just a light snack though, despite the amount and he couldn't help but wonder if her acid power was somehow responsible for her massive appetite.
"As much as I want to be a hero… I wouldn't mind a world where we all had this kind of peace all of the time either." The fusion teen said with a small smile, looking skyward as he brought his own food to his mouth, eating at a much slower pace than his pink companion.
"I know. Sunny days, good food, perfect company." The greenette did blush at that, even as his smile grew. She shifted closer to him, shoulders touching as they looked out into the clearing. "I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie at times but this is just so nice…"
"You sound kinda tired, Ash- Mina, you ok?" The greenette asked with a small smirk. A nervous giggle met sounded from Ashido as she leaned her head onto his shoulder, causing him to let out a nervous squeak before he could stop himself.
"Ehehe… Just kind of stuffed." She explained, before suddenly her eyes widened and much to the greenette's confusion she shifted her position to rest her head onto his chest. "Hmmm…"
"Uuh? M-Mina?" Izuku barely managed to get out, trying to do his best not to combust from nervousness.
"A friend told me your heart beat gets faster after you eat for a little bit. I'm checking." She explained away, even as an arm snaked around him making him somewhat sceptical she was being truthful.
"But you've never heard my-"
"Shh… it's hard to hear." She said quietly, her tone betraying how she was most definitely starting to slip from the conscious world. "It's nice and relaxing…"
Then, after a moment she started to snore.
"Uh, Ashido?"
No response, and he let out a sigh smiling even as his face burned. This girl would be the end of him, and if he was being honest it would be in part to how cute she looked at the moment, nuzzling into him in her sleep.
"There's no way I'm getting out of this." He realized quietly, not willing to risk waking her from her nap. Looking around quickly to make sure he was alone, he decided there was only one thing for it, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm and leaning back himself. "Sweet dreams, Mina."
The one thing he failed to notice was the invisible girl and frog girl in the tree above them, phones recording the whole thing.
"Midoriya!"
Very suddenly, Izuku was torn out of his reminiscing over the event as he looked up to see Todoroki approaching with a harsh glare. His gait and attitude immediately had everyone on edge as he stopped before the greenette. "H-hey Todorok-"
"Objectively, ignoring fusions, I think it's fair to say I'm much stronger than you." The heterochromatic teen cut him off, tone silencing Izuku and also causing him to reel from the harshness of it. The others around them just stood with wide eyes and shocked faces, confused as to where what was happening. "Yet you managed to attract All Might's attention despite that."
"H-huh? I don-"
"So clearly for whatever reason you have a relation to him. That's why, I will be doing everything I can to beat you in this festival." He leaned in, the tiniest amount as his voice quietened. "and depending on what you saw that day, you may have an idea why."
With that, the heterochromatic teen turned and began to walk away, leaving the greenette with his thoughts.
"What the hell was that, Todoroki?!" Jirou's sudden voice brought the greenette's attention back, to where she was glaring at the teen. 'Wait, Jirou is defending me?!' "We're all gonna be fighting with one another, picking green out like that was just uncalled for."
"Jirou, it's fine, I-"
Before anyone could say anything else, the door swung open and in walked Iida. "Everyone, the festival is about to begin."
As they all traded uneasy looks, they all began to make their way to the stadium. A hand landed on the fusion teen's shoulder and he turned to see Mina giving him a reassuring smile which he was thankful for.
She knew he wouldn't enjoy being presented in front of a crowd.
The opening ceremony to the games had been… interesting, to put it in a positive way.
Midnight had been picked as the referee and thus also presenter of the games, picking out which events everyone would be participating and explaining the rules.
With her personality, she'd had a unique approach of rounding up the students. Her outfit had definitely caused a store amongst most of the males, much to Izuku's quadrupled discomfort.
Fusion definitely seemed to leave his other components emotions lingering, and in this case It made it that much worse to deal with this. Aside from that hiccup however, they had managed to get through her opening speech so they could have the person who took the number one spot in the entrance exam come up to give the mandatory pledge to everyone.
Because it was Bakugou however, it meant that the pledge that was supposed to be an inspiring and uplifting speech from the strongest of the students instead became nothing more than glorified temporary boasting.
"I just want to say, I'm going to win."
He was pretty sure that in reality, that promise had just guaranteed everyone with pettier sides would go out their way to slow him down.
He shook his head, taking a deep breath and turning to the gate before him as he stood at the back of the crowd, waiting for it to signal them all to begin. After Katsuki's unique pledge, it had been explained they were to participate in an obstacle course, in a free for all with very few rules.
"READY!"
He looked around, before letting out a bemused sigh as he realized half his class were 'subtly' looking towards him. "Really, guys?"
Looking, he saw of the people not looking to fuse with him, one of the one's involved was Iida. If he couldn't avoid disappointing one of them, may as well disappoint all of them. Besides he wanted to be sure he had a good partner. 'Well I at least know our fusion is safe, and I need to show off that power as much as I need to show off One for All. Better to do it now.'
With that, he made his way to the blue haired teen's side and grabbing his attention. "Huh, Midoriya?"
"Hey, I get it if you'd rather do this yourself, but we never got a chance to test out Izida's skills. There wouldn't be a more perfect opportunity and I need to show off fusions anyways."
"GET SET!"
"….Alright." Iida nodded after a moment, holding his hand out. "But only for this event. I want to show my own personal skills for all to see and make my brother proud, but I will not deny a friend asking for help outright either. Let's make sure it counts."
"Thanks, Tenya."
They grabbed hands!
"GO!"
And Izida was born once more.