First walking into the dark hallway, I was met by only the voices of Izuku and Todoroki. I continued to walk further, trying to find where they were. As I kept on my hunt, the voices became much louder as I approached. Just when I was about to turn a corner and meet them, I was shoved into the wall and a hand was out over my mouth. My eyes met crimson as they peered down into me. Katsuki presses himself into me and brought his free hand to his mouth and stuck up one finger, signaling me to keep quiet. Softly, I nodded my head as he pulled completely away from me.
Once our scuffle was over, and now I focused back into Todoroki's words.
"I'm saying... the power coming from you is the same as All Might's.", I stiffened, "Midoriya, tell me... are you All Might's secret love child or something?"
I bit my lip, my body shook trying to keep my laughter in. Katsuki shot me a look to keep quiet, but it was hard. Todoroki's conclusion about Izuku and All Might's relationship is just too fucking much. Love child? Just as I was about to lose control and bubble over with laughter, Katsuki shoved me against the wall and held my mouth with his hand to keep that from happening.
"Well, are you?", Todoroki presses again when he was met by a long silent pause from Izuku.
Izuku scrambled to reply, "No, no way! That's not it at all! But I guess even if I was I'd totally say I wasn't, so you probably won't believe me no matter what, I bet. Anyway, I promise, you've got the wrong idea.", he began to calm down, "And... why would you even think that about me?"
"'That's not it at all' is interesting wording.", Fuck. "It suggests there is something between you two that you're not supposed to talk about.", Todoroki observed, "My father is the hero Endeavor. You must've heard of him, which means you're aware that he's the number two hero. So if you're connected to the number one hero, All Might, in some way...that would mean that I have even more reason to beat you."
What does their connection have to do with Todoroki and his father? Why does that make him want to beat him?
Todoroki continues, "My old man is ambitious, he aimed for the top. He used his power to make a name for himself as a hero. But he was never able to best All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure. He's still at it though, trying to take down, All Might. One way or another."
"I'm not really sure what you're getting at. What are you trying to tell me, Todoroki?", Izuku asked.
"Have you ever heard of... quirk marriages?", as the words left Todoroki's mouth I stiffened against Katsuki. I did not like where this was going. "They became a problem in the first few generations after superpowers became widespread. There were those who sought out potential mates solely with the intentions of creating powerful children. Many people were forced into relationships. They were simply viewed as old fashioned arranged marriages. But clearly, it was unethical. My father has not only a rich history of accomplishments, but plenty of money to throw at his problems. He bought my mother's relatives to get his hands on her quirk. And now he's raising me to usurp All Might."
Katsuki looked down at me, both of us in complete shock. How could a hero do something like this?
"It's so annoying, I refuse to be a tool for that scumbag. In every memory of my mother I only see her crying. I remember she called my left side unbearable, before she poured boiling water on my face." Tears began to prick at my eyes, I felt horrible for listening to his tragic confession. "The reason I picked a fight was to show my old man what I was capable of doing. Without having to rely on his damned fire quirk. You see, I'm going to show him that I reject his power, and I can take first place without using it.", Todoroki explained further as he walked away.
They both left the dark hallway and continued the last bit of their exchange outside in the open. We could no longer hear them, and I couldn't have been more thankful. I felt like such a creep for eavesdropping on them. Todoroki has been through so much, things I couldn't imagine. To know that he was born for a purpose and not out of love was sickening.
Katsuki pulled away from me completely, and shoved his hands into his pant pockets, "Wipe your face, and let's go."
Bringing my hand to my face I was met with a slight wetness, apparently a few tears had spilled. I quickly wiped them away and tried catching up to him, "Katsuki, we shouldn't have done this." He sighed and continued walking, but I continued, "We should have left when it started getting too personal. We don't have the right to know-"
"Cut it out.", he turned and grabbed my wrist, "How was I supposed to know it was going to get like that?!" He threw me from his grip and turned to keep walking, "Let's just eat before we have to compete."
"You don't have anything left to say about it?", I asked when I caught up.
He shrugged, "Not like I can apologize to them, 'hey sorry, I heard your little sob story earlier.'-"
"Katsuki!", I slapped his arm, "That's not funny!"
He gave me a glare, "I didn't fucking say it was. There's just not much we can do about it, can we?"
I was silent in response. He was right, we couldn't just admit to them that we heard everything. Even though it wasn't our intentions to hear about Todoroki's past, we still did though. And it's not like we did anything to stop ourselves from listening either. I would have to try to make it up to them- especially Todoroki. He made it clear we weren't friends, but here I was, still there wherever he was. Maybe the best thing I can do for him is to leave him alone? Giving up on forcing a friendship with him is probably the best apology I could give him.
Katsuki and I made our way to the lunch room, where there were few people due to the next event being soon. We quickly ate and made it just in time to join the others in the arena. I stood with Katsuki, Eijiro, and Sero, when I realized the girls in our class had yet to show up.
"Looks like class 1-A is goin' full on fan service!", Present Mic observed.
Turning around to look, I saw all the girls wearing tiny cheerleader uniforms. Yaoyorozu immediately started to rage out on Kamanari and Mineta, the perverts obviously having something to do with it. I was beginning to feel lucky in my absence during lunch, knowing I would have been forced to wear the uniform as well.
An arm wrapped around me, "Hey Aiya,", Eijiro began giving me a noogie, "How come you're not cheering?"
"I missed out on the pervs schemes, thank god." I said as I elbowed and pinched at him until he got off of me.
We all stood and waited for them to reveal who would be battling each other in the tournament round. Before we could draw lots, Ojiro and another boy from class B dropped out, due to not being "active" in the previous round. In their act of good sportsmanship, Midnight let them drop out and filled their spots with two other students. Once done being dealt with, we could see who we would be facing off against. The large screen lit up and I scanned for my name. Aoyama? I turned to face the shimmering blonde and sized him up.
"Ma cherie, this seems like the end of the road for you.", he spoke with glittering confidence.
I smirked at him, "We'll see about that."
I walked towards him and put my hand out for him to shake. After our quick exchange I decided not to partake in the games, and just focus on my match coming up. If I had the time to come up a strategy, it would be wise for me to utilize that. I found a secluded area outside of the arena where I could sit and think in the grass. There was a slight breeze that helped ease me from the tension in my body. The sun was shining brightly, but it wasn't hot enough to be overbearing. I played with the grass, deep in thought about how I would approach Aoyama in battle.
Aoyama could beam a laser from his stomach, which is good for fighting at a distance. It would be difficult for me to attempt to find an opening to propel him with my quirk and avoid his attacks at the same time from a lengths away. I could probably just dip and dodge his beam, and inch my way close to him enough to either push him out of bounds or fight. He probably hasn't thought about developing a good close combat due to his quirk and only having to fight at a distance this entire time. It's also not like he can project his laser forever, quirks are physically draining on everyone.
With a plan in mind, I rejoined my class in our designated seats in the stadium audience. Izuku was starting off this round of the tournament against Shinso. I still have yet to find out what his quirk is, which made me turn to Ojiro.
"Ojiro,", I said to get my tailed classmate's attention. Once his eyes were on me, I continued, "You were on Shinso's team last round, yes?"
He nervously shifted his eyes from me and down below, Izuku and Shinso has just made their entrances onto the fighting zone. "Yes... I was..."
I began to watch the scene below as well, "What happened to you?"
Ojiro heavily sighed, "All I spoke was one word.. and then I lost control over myself. He must have some mind control type of power.", he rubbed the back of his neck, "I told Midoriya not to respond to anything he says, that's the only way he can beat him."
Mind control? That's such a unique, and potentially useful, quirk... and he's stuck in general studies?
I watched as Shinso continuously call out to Izuku, to the point he lashed out and screamed back. That was all it took and Izuku's eyes glazed over and he was still. He swiftly turned around and began walking towards the boundary line.
Standing from my seat, I walked towards the railing and gripped the bar. I listened to Aizawa's analysis of Shinso and the UA entrance exam. Despite how strong and powerful Shinso was, he really was cheated due to the unfairness of the exam. I felt bad, especially because of the things I had said to him a few weeks ago. I never had to consider the practical catered towards powerful and flashy quirks over other types. When I'm given the opportunity I'll make amends with Shinso. No matter how guilty I felt towards him, I still wanted Izuku to win.
Just as he was about to step out of bounds, a whip of force from two of his fingers snapped Izuku out of his trance. The crowd erupted into a cheer at his ability to break free from his trance. He began to charge towards Shinso, and shoved him towards the border line. Shinso attempted to fight him off, but Izuku took ahold of him and flipped him over his shoulder and into the ground- out of bounds.
Turning to Katsuki, and seeing his almost shocked expression confirmed it. That was the move Izuku used on him in our first hero training. I smiled to myself, almost proud of how far Izuku has come in his short amount of training time.
"What's got you so happy?", Katsuki scowled and crossed his arms.
I practically skipped back to my seat, "Oh nothing, just remembering where I've seen him do that before."
Kamanari nudged with his elbow in a teasing manner Katsuki, "He's used that move on you a couple times-"
"Shut up, jerkwad!", Katsuki shoved him away and fumed in his seat.
The next match was between Sero and Todoroki. It was hard to be hopeful for Sero's win after seeing demonstration after another of how overwhelming Todoroki's power could be. Still, Sero tried, and wrapped him in tape and pulled him towards the bounds. Todoroki effortlessly froze everything over, including a large portion of the arena. The crowd attempt to coddle Sero, and shouted 'nice try!'. While Todoroki took the time to unfreeze him, he looked anything but pleased at his victory. He genuinely seemed... sad.
I couldn't focus on that right now, Kamanari was about to face off with the vine haired girl from class B. My match was after Iida's and the support department student, and they were after them. I needed to re-orientate myself from a crowd member to being in battle. I made my way to my waiting room. Sitting at the table I tried to clear my mind, I needed to win and move forward. If I lost against Aoyama, I would honestly be embarrassed.
It was time now. I walked out of the hallway leading into the stadium field, and onto the cement battle ground. A smile was plastered on my face, attempting to do the same as before and project confidence. I began to stretch myself once standing in my position.
"On to the fifth match!", Present Mic boomed, "Let's hope that gaudy belt serves some kinda purpose- it's Yagi Aoyama from the hero course!", he took a moment to pause before introducing me, "Versus the fox face beauty who has been vectoring her way through the entire competition- Aiya Miyake, also in the hero course!"
I stood straight up, and quirked an eyebrow at his words, "Fox face? What does that even mean?"
"I do believe he's referring to your vixen features and your long gingembre hair, mademoiselle.", Aoyama answered.
"I look like a fox...?", I rolled my eyes, "What does that have to do with the fight...?", I mumbled.
"Fifth match...", I took my fighting stance, "BEGIN!"
Immediately Aoyama thrust his hips forward and projected his beam at me. I leaped into the air and dodged. His beam constantly stopped and started again, trying to meet me wherever I went.
"You can't dodge me forever~", he winked as he sent another laser my way.
This time I was forced to duck, having just landed and not having the opportunity to leap back into the air. The end of my braid was burnt off, only half an inch above where the tie had been. That was too close.
I stood back up and watched Aoyama's face contort in pain as he breathed heavily.
I grinned, "Seems like I could say the same for you. What's the matter, ain't got anymore fight in ya?"
He thrust forward again, slower this time, giving me the jump towards him. Aoyama's attacks became weaker until he couldn't thrust anymore. I was now only five feet from him, and I propelled myself the rest of the distance. I grabbed the back of his head to keep him steady, and kneed his belt to keep him from attempting to shoot another laser. I then pulled back and roundhouse kicked him with my quirk out of bounds.
"Aoyama is out of bounds! Miyake is the winner of this match!", Might declared.
I took a heavy breath and grinned. My hair began falling all around my face in loose curls, and I attempted to tuck it behind my ear. My name was being called, and I turned towards the voices and was facing the media booth. I smiled and waved towards them, not really knowing what else to do. The crowd roared in response to my waving, but I didn't really understand why.
"Aoyama went down hard- that's an indisputable victory if I've ever seen one!", Present Mic called.
Having enough of the camera flashing, I made one final wave and took my exit back from once I came. A weight has been lifted off my shoulder, and I could relax until the next round. Pulling the ends of my hair in-between my fingers, I gave it a quick inspection. It looked as if I had just received a trim, so no harm actually done. I made my way back towards the booth my class was seated in. By the time I reached them, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami's match was already finished- dark shadow taking the win quickly.
I walked towards the front row, looking over the railing. Eijiro's and the steel boy from class B were about to brawl, them both becoming rivals since the beginning of the festival.
"Aiya-chan! You're back!", Izuku spoke excitedly behind me. I gave him a small smile and planted myself in the seat next to him, "Congrats on your win, you did really well!"
"Thank you, Izu.", I nodded at him, "Congratulations on your match as well, Shinso must've been a difficult opponent to face."
He sighed, "Yeah, it sure wasn't easy.", his face fell a little, "I'm sure it won't get much easier for us after this either."
I heard Eijiro's and his rival's battle cry from below, both of them advancing one another with the same intensity.
Looking back at Izuku, I saw that he had his gaze trained onto a sweating plastic cup of some sort of tea. He looked back at me, realization on his face.
He abruptly got up from his seat, "I uh, need to go do something-"
"Ochaco's round is next, right? Can you say good luck for me?", I asked, giving him another soft smile.
Quickly he nodded and made his way to her waiting room with his notebook in hand. I watched the match continue, both manly boys getting powerful hits on the other. Blow after blow they went, up until they somehow knocked out the other simultaneously. It was declared a draw by Midnight, and announced they would have an arm wrestle to decide the winner.
Soon enough Izuku returned, this time with Iida, as Katsuki and Ochaco entered the arena for their fight. To me, this match was a no brainer. Katsuki would win simply because he was more advanced than his opponent in any way, and he would take his match seriously despite her looks. All I could really do was hope that she would still give a fight no matter the odds against her.
