Miko gripped her pant leg with both hands to stop them from bouncing too noticeably. Today was the day.
Two weeks of nonstop training, not including the cool down period Ichigo and her father pressured her into taking two days before the sports festival. Admittedly they were right, and she knew that, but the nervous energy coursing through her body as if it were her blood making her jittery and unable to sit still. Ichigo left her with the promise to catch her games via television and that made her more eager to perform well.
He reviewed her skillset after he'd thoroughly kicked her ass at her father's dojo, and helped her create a temporary training regime to prepare for this specific battle— which she was extremely grateful for. Her hero cousin was pleased with her demonstration and gave her passing marks, but they both knew it wouldn't be enough in the long run. Begrudgingly Miko had to admit to him that there were other students who surpassed her in terms of Quirk ability, so he promised her that if she managed to place first, he would teach her his signature move, octoarms.
They were essentially eight separate water whips that surrounded him to work as an offensive and defensive barricade. Their Quirks worked pretty similarly, though Ichigo didn't have to constantly hold his body together and risk melting all over the place like she did. For her, it had become second nature, but the added level of control for just one or two whips was already pushing her limits. So to her, being able to manipulate eight separate water whips was truly a miraculous feat.
One of his limitations was that he couldn't phase the water he manipulated, so he's only able to manipulate it when it was aqueous. He would always make a big fuss when Miko would turn fallen snow into wet puddles around his feet during the winter as children. She chuckled lowly to herself at the memory.
She couldn't let him down. Ichigo had been an amazing help. Her father too. They helped refine some of her power and she felt like she could take on the world once again- and today was all about conquering.
Miko was already dressed in her gym uniform with her hair up in a ponytail instead of her classic twin buns, they didn't hold out too well at the USJ. She had no idea what was going to be thrown at them so it was better to keep her hair properly restrained.
She sat in a large waiting room somewhere among the many rooms beneath the stands of the first year's stadium. It was buzzing with nervous energy and Miko exited quietly to avoid letting the others' anxiety get to her. It felt impossible to sit still in the holding room Mr. Aizawa placed them in, so when she finished her stretches and warm ups she left the room to swallow as much water as she could from the nearby drinking fountain.
Due to the unique properties of her Quirk, Miko's body could hold an exorbitant amount of water, meaning the risk for overhydration, water intoxication, and hyponatremia are significantly lower compared to the typical human body. The worst she'd ever experienced is lots of bloating and excessive sweating. It would take an extreme amount of water to intoxicate her.
Thankfully she didn't have to walk very far. Down the hallway and past what she guessed was class-B's waiting room was a low metal fountain that hummed quietly. Quickening her pace, she hurried toward it and leaned over as soon as a small spout of water released at the press of a small button.
Water dribbled past her chin as she guzzled down as much water as she could take from the tiny water spout, ignoring the passing patrons who stared at her strangely or got annoyed with how long she was taking before they moved on to find another drinking fountain.
Her long silver ponytail was draped across her left shoulder as she drank. It was lucky that the fountain wasn't any taller than it was. It would've been embarrassing if she wasn't able to reach the spout without tiptoeing.
She was still desperately slurping away when quiet footsteps approached, she hoped that whoever wanted to drink water would get a move on because she wasn't anywhere near done. Making a point of continuing to drink when their presence didn't move, she looked up and met the dark eyes of a handsome boy in his own gym uniform. The corner of his mouth twitched when she finally looked at him.
"Nervous?" He asked demurely.
Recognition didn't pass through her eyes before she glanced back down. Miko took her time finishing up, happy to let the boy wait his turn. Turquoise eyes locked with his dark ones when she pulled away from the spout and wiped at her mouth, eyes never once straying from between the two.
"No, just stocking up. Kaibara, right?" His face didn't change, but he did seem a little pleased, amusement seemed to dance around him.
"You remembered," he chimed genteelly. "I wasn't sure you would, Tsukikawa." He kept his eyes locked on hers as he stepped forward to take a quick drink from the fountain, gently brushing her back with a benign gesture. Miko wasn't sure why she waited for him to finish drinking. Perhaps his gentlemanly conversation piqued some of the deeply engrained manners her grandmother worked tirelessly to instill in her.
He looked handsome, even in gym uniform. Miko's eyes remained on his face as she watched him drink from the fountain, his Adam's apple bobbing with each sip. He glanced back at her as he brushed the small droplet of water from his lip with his finger, "Looking forward to the festival, Tsukikawa?"
"Ecstatic. I always look forward to winning," she said with a smirk, inwardly debating whether she should continue to stock up after he left. Kaibara smirked at her attractively, eyes cool and the corner of his lip quirking upward roguishly.
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Class-B isn't keen on letting you class-A kids hog all the attention." He said flirtatiously, though Miko wasn't having any of it, "We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield, Kaibara." He gave her one last smirk and wished her luck as he pulled away, which she reciprocated, before leaving her alone in the hall.
Miko took a deep breath of air and held it. This was it. Forget about the USJ, forget your fears, you will win, she thought to herself.
Releasing her breath forcefully she returned to the holding area for class 1-A. The tension in the room seemed to have increased in her absence, but she didn't bother to ask why Todoroki seemed more superior than usual.
Kirishima claimed her before Jiro did, eager to pull his rival alongside him as they walked through several cold hallways and out onto their stage. Kaminari next to him looked around in awe at the size of the crowd and waved handsomely at the cameras.
Jiro watched him with a roll of her eyes. "He's sure to make a name for himself once he's spazzed out from his Quirk," she whispered conspiratorially to Miko, who only chuckled out of politeness at the expense of Kaminari.
Behind her classmates, taking even, steady steps, Miko was at her most comfortable despite her nerves. She enjoyed standing in front of the massive audience in the stands, her back straightened and her chest inflated. Parading herself in front of a crowd wasn't foreign to her and she quite enjoyed the attention.
Shouts and cheers from the audience inflated her confidence, but once again reminded her that she had to do her best here. Ichigo was certainly watching and she had her whole family observing her from the comfort of their own homes (or offices in her uncles' cases), and had all wished her luck at some point during her two weeks of training. The triplets even gave her a good luck charm for the festival with the promise that they'd persuade their mother to take them to the stands to watch her in person. There was no way she'd lose.
They were finally all gathered in the center of the stadium in front of a large stage where Midnight stood in all her glory. Grumbling from students in the other courses went ignored as they were nothing more than white noise to the silver haired girl's ears. Something to ease the tinnitus in her ears.
The sole objective of the day was to beat everyone else in the stadium and give the audience a show. Her debut here could send her milestones ahead of the rest in her class if she managed to impress the right people. She had high hopes for today. Miko tensed and gazed forward determinedly.
"Now for a few words from this year's class rep!" Midnight called. The stadium went quiet.
Most were understandably surprised to see that the boisterous blonde bomberhead walk up towards the stage in his hero costume boots. Even Miko was curious to hear what he had to say. She watched closely as he opened his mouth and the whole stadium waited to hear what this delinquent could possibly say.
"I just wanna say," his words echoed as they waited with bated breath, hanging onto his every word. "I'm gonna win," he finished his speech with a scowl and a downturned thumb, effectively killing all sense of good sportsmanship and camaraderie between the first years.
His opening speech was uninspiring to most say the least, and his words resonated with the crowd for all the wrong reasons, but Miko couldn't help but admire the blatant confidence for his peers and self assuredness.
"That's one hell of a first impression," she mumbled amidst the boos.
He wasn't shouting and shoving it in their faces that he was going to win, he stated it as plain fact. It did kind of rub her the wrong way, but he had guts, she had to give him that. Her mouth turned downward into a light frown. Even if she appreciated his confidence she'd make him eat his words by the end of the festival.
A tingling feeling in the back of her mind told her she was going to be chasing after him for a while.
"Now on to the first part of the festival: The obstacle course! Begin!"
The feeling was immediately squashed to the depths of her mind as the entire class of first years swarmed the stadium exit, jostling Miko and her companions as they moved. The large corridor was full to the brim with first year students from all across UA's tracks, not unlike what happened during the media outbreak. Shoving and pushing made it difficult to move, and she quickly lost sight of her red haired rival.
Someone got her in the ribs, and she grimaced at the pain. In order to escape the crowd, Miko would have to forgo any kind of walking. Trying to find a way out, her eyes narrowing as they settled on the ceiling above her. Despite all her strength, her small stature made it easy to get crushed beneath taller bodies. Plus, it was a good way to show off her Quirk early on in the game.
As dramatically as possible, the silver haired girl threw up her arms, one after the other, heavy whips attached all the way up to her shoulders, and pierced the overheard ceiling with a small phase to ice at the whips to lift herself above the crowd.
"What are you-"
Shortening her new whips to pull herself above the crowd, the question the purple haired boy next to her fell on deaf ears as she hung over the throng of students. To the them, it was a bit comedic seeing the tiny girl hanging by her arms over a sea of desperate runners.
Miko swung her legs to and fro, trying to gain momentum, and flung herself forward. She only managed to get herself halfway across the sea of students and forced her to throw her whips again to gather enough momentum to clear the crowd. She swung midair with a fluttering heart, feeling the air whip past her ears as she came closer and closer to the ground, bracing her impact with the thick water whips acting as her new arms. The silver haired teen sprinted as soon as her feet touched ground, a quick glance around told her that she wasn't the only one to escape the tunnel easily.
Tch. She should have expected.
She continued to pump her legs furiously, even when Todoroki froze his surrounding area completely in ice by melting the ice that encased her feet. Her eyes widened upon seeing the dual haired boy completely freeze the second obstacle in their race, the robots from their entrance exams, in a devastating display of power. It was maddening, but she would use him and his Quirk to her advantage in this festival because while he was hindering the rest of the students, he was also giving her more ammo.
"Thanks for the assist, Todoroki!"
Feeling a little bitter, she swung her arms out viciously with her whips, tearing into the metallic heads of the robots with more aggression than necessary, and pulled herself over them one by one.
For a moment, she saw the black skin of Nomu instead of the robots as she slashed into them, and she faltered in the air. Present Mic's commentary brought her out of the hallucination as she stumbled. "Oooh it looks like Todoroki can't keep all of these heroes down!" Shaking her head, she shoved that memory to the back of her mind, she had a job to do after all. Righting herself, she plowed forward.
"Tsukikawa from the hero course is swinging over these obstacles like a monkey maddened! Good thing her family owns a hospital!"
Miko grimaced, she really hoped that name didn't stick. At the rate she was going, she was probably third after Todoroki and Bakugo. Fairly certain of her position, she refused to let herself let up.
Good, she thought, but not good enough. She had to make herself stand out, make a name for herself, and the only way to do that was by continuously showing ingenuity and uniqueness with her Quirk and quick thinking. Once again whipping her watery arms forward, she gripped the ground fifty feet in front of her with ice claws and propelled herself with a force that hurled her forward twice that distance. Repeating the actions, somewhat resembling an angry, lopsided gorilla, Miko steadily began to cut the distance between her and Bakugo. A cloud of dust and flying debris trailed behind her wake.
The desperation she felt had her grinding her teeth, she had to make it to the front of the race no matter what!
With that thought in mind, if there was one thing she was grateful for learning during her time at the USJ, it was the fact that she no longer hesitated.
The sound of resounding booms made their way towards Miko's ears, informing her that rocket boy was still going strong. He probably didn't even flinch as he reached the third obstacle, The Fall. He continued to rocket himself without pause. Not about to let this stop her momentum, Miko took greater care to launch herself as far as humanly possible over the fall, landing somewhere in the middle where she nearly missed a column.
Soft terrified pants escaped her lips as she balanced her toes on the ledge of a column. She chuckled nervously at the depths below her. The fall below was so dark and vast she could feel a cool breeze blowing past the hem of her pants around her ankles.
Eager to cross this portion of the course, she adjusted her trajectory accordingly, she scarcely managed to keep herself from falling to her death below. Now thoroughly frightened by potential demise, she focused once more on clearing this obstacle.
Heart quivering in her chest, it took her two and a half jumps for her to clear the pit, the brief pauses and adjustments cost her vital seconds that she would have to make up once she made it solid ground. Luckily, she was still far ahead of the pack.
Panting heavily, she could practically taste the sweat pouring down her forehead. Bakugo's explosions sounded ahead, loud and obnoxious just like the boy causing them, warning her to move faster than she was. The upcoming battle was a minefield with little room for mistakes. With the way she was recklessly barreling through the course, she'd surely set off bombs.
It would be difficult, but she might be able to avoid the impending explosions if she was fast enough to retract her arms and right herself midair before resuming her next catapult.
At the entrance of the minefield where most of the mines had yet to be set off, she was at a severe disadvantage. Miko gripped the earth just at the mine field's edge, and once again heaved herself across the course with reckless abandon. Ponytail whipping furiously in the wind, Miko's eyes narrowed on the small gaps between mines and focused on thinning out her whips to place them strategically between mines to avoid blowing herself up upon landing.
She managed to avoid exploding on touchdown, but the process of pinpointing safe spaces to place her arms was slowing her down. Bakugo's explosions were going off in the near distance and she panicked upon seeing him pass Todoroki. Her face twisted frantically.
"I won't let either of you beat me!" Moving faster, she fearlessly continued to race forward until a massive explosion, one much too large to be normal, sounded off behind her.
She felt something zip over her head in a cloud of pink smoke and saw the one person she had least expected to cause an upset in these games.
She cried out, outraged and dumbfounded. "Midoriya?!"
The injury prone idiot was flying above her and quickly overtook the lead, earning his spot at first place. Maddened, Miko continued to move forward, refusing to be bumped down another rank. I won't let this happen, I can't lose! Gritting her teeth, so took greater efforts to widen her steps, risking blowing herself up in the process. Tunnel vision clouded her mind and she accidentally stepped on a mine which threw her off balance.
She remained hyper focused on the task, thinking only of catching up to the three leading competitors. If this were a gymnastics meet, I wouldn't even medal at this rate. Her lips were beginning to chap at the use of her Quirk, and she could feel her mouth drying, but she ignored it and kept pushing herself forward until she finally cleared the field.
As soon as the ground was safe, she turned her needle like whips into large, wide, bear like claws and dug into the ground forcefully to close the distance between third and fourth place. Moving like a beast possessed, Miko didn't slow down until she finally made it back to the stadium in fourth place.
Unaccustomed to losses, Miko sneered distastefully. At the center of the stadium, the top three were catching their breaths ahead of her at the stadium center seemingly unaffected by their win. She was so damn close! Loose bangs clung to her sticky forehead as sweat continued to drip down her face. The silver haired girl placed her hands on her hips and straightened her back to even out her heaving pants to steady breaths. She closed her eyes to bring her back to a calmer state.
Aware of the cameras on her, Miko schooled her tired features after allowing herself a few moments to accept her placement. Bowing her head, her heels clicked together when she suddenly looked up at the crowds where she knew the photographers and cameramen would get great angles of her face with a huge winning smile, both arms lifted above her head and back arched to accentuate the curve in her back and the pride inflating her chest. Taking great care to keep her teeth out without exposing her gums, she turned to face each area of the stadium with bright eyes and a winning grin until she was certain they'd made notice of her.
The salute she directed at the cameras was stolen from gymnastics competition culture, but here she'd use it to help separate herself from the rest of the first years who haven't quite realized how to market themselves to their potential buyers. Maybe she'd turn it into her trademark. It would distinguish her from the rest of the competition.
Present Mic's commentary helped bring attention to her, "Oh and get a look at Miko Tsukikawa from Class 1-A! She sure is a charmer, just look at that smile!"
Certain she'd spent enough time wooing the camera, she dropped her arms and relaxed her spine. Really, it was annoying how she couldn't even catch up. Calculated measured breaths helped calm her mind and body, and she wandered around the stadium searching for the water station set up by the business course students. Annoyed with the outcome of the race, she swiped two bottles while the station manager wasn't looking, and innocently walked away before she was caught.
Yes, she could have paid for it, but water was a human right and she'd be damned if she paid thirty-two thousand yen for a damn drink of water.
The others were slowly tumbling in from the gate, panting and tired out. Kirishima, who'd come in x place, was neck and neck with his class B doppelgänger, Testutetsu Tetsutetsu. He groaned loudly and Miko pitied him for his dilemma. Begrudgingly, he dragged himself to her side and clapped a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Man, Tsukikawa. You run fast for such a small person."
If he were any less exhausted than he was now, Miko would've punched him for that.
But he wasn't and Miko wasn't that much of a sadist anyway so instead of punching him she clapped him on the back, "Thanks, Kirishima. Though you may want to speed things up next time if you plan on beating me."
His energy was invigorating, "You can bet on that, Tsukikawa, just you wait!" She half smiled at him and remained silent, wordlessly handing him her spare water bottle, which he took greedily.
They stood patiently in the center of the stadium, waiting to see who would place where, as more and more exhausted students tumbled into the stadium. "I wonder what they'll have us do next," Kirishima muttered to her.
Miko folded her arms and mumbled back to him, "Looks like most of the first years are back already. We'll probably find out soon."
Midnight's voice carried over them as soon as Miko uttered her last sentence to Kirishima. "Time for the next round!"
A cavalry battle. Based on the point system Midnight just described, they'd be working in teams of 2-4 to fight over headbands which corresponded to their ranking in the obstacle race. The higher the ranking the more their headbands were worth.
Miko's headband would be worth 195 points. If she teamed up with other's who earned around the same points as her, their group could start off pretty solid and secure a spot for the next round. The only issue was, however, was that she had no idea who to team up with.
Mercifully, the red head next to her turned energetically towards her, "Tsukikawa! Team up with me!"
Miko looked at him quizzically. "Kirishima?"
He ignored her hesitant tone and graced her with a glowing smile. "I saw how well you used your water whip things, if we team up we could be unstoppable!"
She was flattered and he did have a point… "All right fine, sounds like a plan. We still need two other people."
He continued to grin at her with his teeth. "I know just who to ask."
Kirishima bolding grabbed her by the hand, and Miko let him drag her towards a small crowd of class 1-A students. A small bubble of annoyance grew in the pit of her stomach. She had a feeling she knew who was at the center of that crowd.
The two waited, the redhead surprisingly patiently, until the clamor of students died down enough to interject. Kirishima cut through the brief pause and boldly called out his case. "I was born for this!" She remained silent as she listened to Kirishima plead his case to Bakugo. He eventually accepted and turned to her expectantly. Kirishima spoke up for her. "You're gonna want to take Tsukikawa as a horse too."
Bakugo scoffed at her. "Princess? No way, you are way too short to be a horse."
She kept herself from throttling him and proceeded to market herself to him, "That's not an issue. See these? I can do the same thing with my feet." She melded the water from around her shoulders down her torso to her feet to give herself platforms that brought her up to Kirishima's height.
"You still look too puny to hold me up, brat."
Miko stepped forward the same way Kirishima did and stared him down from beneath his height. "If you wanna win this thing you'll take advantage of my Quirk and get us to the next round. You can't go 'charging into battle' without me." He stared back at her neither wanting to back down before they he conceded.
"We're going for the one million," he waited for her to respond.
Thankfully, she knew exactly what he was waiting for her to say. She'd be damned if she didn't feel the same. "We're going to be the irrefutable champions." He half smiled at her, pleased with her response. "Glad we're on the same page, pip-squeak."
