Chapter 7
As the ice was melted off, everyone waited outside, chatting about what happened in the earlier fight. Oliver was sitting off to the side on his own when Yaoyorozu walked over. "Hey," she said. "I never got the chance to apologize."
"Hm? What for?" Oliver asked.
"...well, I left you alone in the cavalry battle. I was genuinely concerned that you'd be targeted instantly but...I put my own advance over you. I'm sorry," Yaoyorozu said, clearly ashamed.
"Don't say sorry," Oliver said. "It was clear no one would team up with me anyway since I had so many points...I don't blame you. So don't worry about it. In the end, we're all friends. Plus you kicked ass during the final minutes of the match."
"T-thank you," Yaoyorozu said, clearly relieved that Oliver was upset with her. "Another thing...what was life like back in America?"
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.
"Like...your childhood," Yaoyorozu said, before freezing. "Oh no, too specific!" she panicked.
Oliver looked down. "I know you heard. I wasn't exactly being subtle. And Iida was making a racket," he said. "I'm not mad."
"Still, I should know better than to try and pry into your life...especially one so tragic," Yaoyorozu said. "I never grew up poor. I always worked to be perfect, and I had the money to do it. The best tutors and teachers, the best equipment, the best lifestyle...and I never once thought about what people like you grow up with..."
She bowed a perfect ninety degrees, reminiscent of Iida. "I'm so sorry for my ignorance! I had no idea that your shyness stemmed from such trauma!" she said.
"Don't apologize. Like I said, I wasn't trying to be subtle," Oliver said, feeling awkward. He was never too good with feelings, it got a bit much and he was screwing up on what to say half of the time. "And it's not like I'm the only case. Still, I appreciate it."
"No problem. Please, if you need to talk about anything, any issues you need assistance with, feel free to talk to me," Yaoyorozu said.
"THE STADIUM HAS NOW BEEN FIXED. PLEASE RETURN SO WE CAN GET READY FOR THE NEXT BATTLE, WOOOO!" Present Mic announced.
"S-see you later!" Yaoyorozu said.
"B-bye! Good luck!" Oliver called as Yaoyorozu left. As he looked down, he sighed. "Never really thought about how my life got to this stage...why'd she even feel the need to approach me anyway?"
"Are you OK?"
Oliver looked up to see an orange haired girl and a boy whose head was a comic book style speech bubble with "..." on it. Itsuka Kendo and Manga Fukidashi if he recalled.
"I'm fine...just having an existential crisis," Oliver said. "I'll be OK, thanks."
"Alright," Kendo said before walking towards the stadium with the others. "See you around." Fukidashi waved too, his speech bubble now reading "Relatable". Oliver raised an eyebrow at that before shrugging.
An hour passed as multiple matches played out. Oliver cheered as Shiozake immobilized Kaminari within seconds of the first match, then groaned as Monoma went out of his way to taunt Class 1-A about that unfortunate defeat.
Then Iida went against Mei Hatsume from the support course, who unfortunately twisted the match into her own personal advertising grounds, spending well over ten minutes introducing and explaining as many of the gadgets she brought to everyone in the audience. When it was over, Hatsume voluntarily stepped out, leaving an enraged and exhausted Iida behind.
"Jeez," Jiro mumbled. "Seriously, she needs to get her priorities in check."
"She probably wanted to get scouted more than anything," Sato said.
"Well, it sure worked. A lot of those machines are actually super cool," Hagakure said, reluctantly with a pouty lip.
"Anyways, let's see how Oliver will do against Ashido," Yaoyorozu said.
"Ooh, calling him by his first name but Ashido by her last?" Kaminari asked. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say-" He was cut off by an earphone jack jamming its way into his ear.
"Shut up," Jiro said.
Oliver headed down to the ring, approached from the other side by Ashido.
"ON ONE SIDE, WE HAVE OLIVER ROWE THE TRANSFER FROM THE HERO COURSE!" Present Mic announced. "ON THE OTHER SIDE, IS THERE A PURPOSE FOR THOSE THINGS STICKING OUT OF HER HEAD? FROM THE SAME COURSE, MINA ASHIDO!"
As the crowd roared, Oliver bowed nervously. "Good luck," he said.
"Same to you!" Ashido said, smirking.
"FIFTH MATCH, BEGIN!" Present Mic yelled, and Ashido moved in an instant.
"She's fast!" Oliver thought, backing away. Ashido skated at top speed with her acid towards the jittery looking Oliver, zig zagging back and forth. "My acid is gonna kick your ass!" she challenged, throwing handfuls of acid at him.
Oliver leapt to the side, dodging them before rushing past her. Ashido halted her acid production under her feet and screeched to a stop. "Nice try, but I have the advantage here!" she said.
"THIS LOOKS LIKE A GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE!" Present Mic yelled. "WHO WILL SUCCUMB FIRST?"
Oliver rushed to gain distance on Ashido, dodging several attacks at once and quickly running to the opposite side of the arena.
"What's he doing?" Ojiro said. "He's not using his quirk."
"It might be because of her acid. If he transports himself to her position and vice versa, he could end up melting his shoes. That would severely injure him," Midoriya said. "He must have a different plan in mind."
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Iida said. Fortunately, they would see what it is.
Ashido had thrown enough acid to block Oliver from running around her, pinning her at the very end of the arena.
"I gotcha!" Ashido cheered as she slid forward, preparing to throw acid at Oliver only for her world to go bright white and for her to trip and fall flat on her face.
"Ashido is out of bounds! Oliver advances!" Midnight announced. Ashido looked to see she had tripped where Oliver had been, and Oliver was standing near the middle of the arena, scraping his shoes clear of any acid she had left on the ground.
"So he used my own speed against me and then just switched places with me...I'm an idiot!" Ashido wailed as she pounded the ground once. She stopped when Oliver walked over to her, holding out a hand.
"I'm sorry. No hard feelings?" he asked sheepishly.
Ashido smiled and took the hand, shaking it. "Nope, no hard feelings at all. You were so cool, acting all scared and luring me to attack you! Man, you have a devilish mind in that head," she said with a wink
"N-no, I was scared. I was worried your acid might eat my shoes and burn my feet. This is my only good pair..." Oliver said, chuckling awkwardly.
"Oh my, what a gentleman," Midnight said. "An adorable and chivalrous boy, if I do say so myself. If I could, I'd definitely snatch him up." The hero winked, as several of the girls in the stadium went wild.
Oliver blushed brightly as Ashido laughed. "Yeah, you'll get used to it," the pink girl assured. In the stands, Yaoyorozu pouted angrily as she crossed her arms with a huff.
"I don't wanna have to," Oliver groaned as they left, the audience still roaring.
Minutes later, Momo Yaoyorozu and Fumikage Tokoyami were next. Oliver sat in waiting as Midnight signalled the beginning of the fight. "Come on, Yaoyorozu," Oliver whispered as Tokoyami's Dark Shadow lunged at her.
Luckily, Yaoyorozu managed to create a shield in time to deflect the attack, stumbling back several feet. Before she could make another move, Tokoyami sent another attack from his quirk to push her back again.
"She isn't doing anything?" Hagakure asked.
"Seriously? Tokoyami is scary fast!" Sato said. "Dark Shadow is super powerful."
"Uhh, I don't think she'll be able to do anything now anyway," Sero commented. Oliver looked down at the match and his eyes widened.
"Yaoyorozu! You're out!" Midnight yelled. "Fumikage Tokoyami advances to the next round!"
As the crowd cheered, Midoriya was gushing over the thirty second long battle. "Tokoyami is way too powerful! He managed to focus her attack on her shield and pushed her out of bounds! He obviously had some sort of strategy worked out."
"Maybe he didn't wanna hurt her..." Ojiro said. "Still, I bet she's really upset about how that went down...I feel bad for her."
Oliver sighed and got up, heading out of the stands. He hurried down to the locker rooms, where Yaoyorozu and Uraraka were sitting. "Hey Oliver," Uraraka said.
"Hey," Oliver said. "Hey, Yaomomo, can you come with me? Give Uraraka some prep time?"
"Oh, you don't have to worry. My match starts after the next one, so I'll be fine. Just hyping myself up is all," Uraraka said.
"That's good. Good luck," Oliver said as Yaoyorozu walked over to Oliver, leaving the room with him. They walked through the hallways silently, until they reached another doorway.
Oliver opened the door to reveal an empty storage closet, and they both went inside. "What do you want?" Yaoyorozu asked once the door was closed.
Oliver wilted at her cold yet depressed tone. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"I lost...within ten seconds! He pushed me out of bounds before I could come up with a strategy, make a weapon, anything!" Yaoyorozu cried. "I got into this school with recommendations, but all I did was nothing..."
"Tokoyami has a powerful quirk, you can't be expected to be able to counter everything he had," Oliver tried to reassure. "Dark Shadow is-"
"I could've done something! I could've made a light, maybe something to deflect better!" Yaoyorozu shouted. "I had to be the best to get into U.A. and study its hero course. But how can I do that if..."
"Yaoyorozu, you aren't perfect. No one is. Tokoyami mentioned how Dark Shadow was weakened by light back in class, but he got past that through training," Oliver said, hands on her shoulders. "You weren't weak, you just had the odds stacked against you, not your fault."
Yaoyorozu sighed before leaning her head on his shoulder. "I appreciate what you're trying to do. But...I know the truth. I'm not good enough. So I have to try harder," she said before turning around to leave.
"Yaomomo, please!" Oliver said, grabbing her arm. "Don't try anything stupid, you'll only hurt yourself. I know, OK? When all you can think about is bettering yourself, you push others away. I did that back in America, and I pushed my uncle's help away for so long."
He looked down. "He kept helping me...but until he finally pushed through to me, all I did was overwork. You have people here who care about you. And they won't let you fall like this. I do too, and so does Tokoyami. I guarantee you he'll apologize when he sees you again," he said.
Yaoyorozu sighed before closing her eyes and pulling away from Oliver. "Perhaps this is karma for leaving you the last match," she said.
"Wait," Oliver said before Yaoyorozu sighed, leaving the storage closet and closing the door. Oliver slumped against the wall, before wiping his face.
"Dammit...why'd things go so wrong?" he muttered.
When he returned to the stands, Uraraka and Bakugo were fighting, explosions rippling through the air as the crowd roared and jeered. "Guess Bakugo's showing off too much," Oliver thought. Yaoyozoru wasn't looking at Oliver at all, seemingly focused on the match before her.
"Wait, who won? Kirishima or Tetsutetsu?" Oliver asked as he sat behind Midoriya and next to Ojiro.
"They declared it a draw. Both sides punched each other so hard they knocked themselves out," Kaminari said. "Kirishima's resting right now, then he'll fight Bakugo."
"Yeah, it was crazy!" Mineta said. "If it weren't for their quirks, both of them would practically be comatose!" Oliver didn't pay him any mind. He was thinking about Yaoyorozu.
"I know the truth. I'm not good enough. So I have to try harder," Yaoyorozu had said. Looking down, he scratched the back of his head. "Why?" he whispered. "Do you really have those kinds of parents?"
His thoughts were interrupted by a massive explosion sent into the sky.