Sophisticated robots with a screw-attached bed expertly climbed the stairs, carefully putting down one wheel after another and imitating a walk cycle. Preventing any rolling by counteracting it with its own motor. It kept the bed relatively steady. Ascending the staircase with all these bleeding wounds she'd gotten is something one would expect to be hard. But Maribel still stood, strangely enough. Dropping her sight to Izuku, she stared at him as much as she liked, which wasn't much.
How unlikable... Did he forget? Was he just messing with me? At any rate, now I'm definitely not sure if I want to give him what he desires...
...Nevertheless, I'm troubled that I only feel like this because of my quirk. How do I know it isn't working on me right now?
I just want to be rid of it. Boundary Manipulation is my quirk, but as far as I know, manipulating the energy in my body isn't. If I could discover my quirk factor and do what's necessary, then I could still live normally, just with one part of my power. I'd be content with that, a life I could enjoy with the people I've learnt to know.
But was it so easy to do that? No one would be on board with it, anyway. They'd call me crazy and depressed to the point of self-harm... I guess the latter might be partially true at this point.
Taking the final steps up the staircase, the girl suffered a dull pain in her entire body. Midoriya's second finger flick had struck her more like a speeding truck than a blow. It was surprising that she didn't break anything, instead it was like being instantly caught in a destructive tornado. Maribel knew she could've suffered serious injury. But all that really hurt was her sore neck and aching wounds.
But would that actually have done anything? I endured fatal injuries before, and I can walk with broken bones...
For how intent on remaining mysterious she is, that god is very intent on keeping me alive.
The two robots began rolling down the hallway in front of her. And turned right at the first intersection they saw. Hearn followed, which lead her right to the excellent nurse's office. For a moment, she heard something in the background and stopped outside the door to listen. Simultaneously, the door was fling open by one of the robot's limb-less arms, and then rolled in. The door was left open for her to walk inside, but she didn't go.
"Come in, come in." Chiyo asked her, but as she didn't do anything, stepped on over to check on her.
The four-way intersection that was right in front of Maribel sounded with quick footsteps, which then slowed down. She felt a clear vibe from this person, although faint. Then, there was coughing.
Chiyo stared at her, befuddled as she only waited outside.
Waiting attentively for a particular person to pass into her view, Maribel took a breath to prepare herself.
A blood-coughing Toshinori placed one hand on the corner of the wall as he came walking by. Panting as he made the final swing on his heel. Unintentionally, he looked up to see Maribel standing there. He most probably knew she'd be here, but not that she'd wait for him in the corridor.
The sight of a man left almost nothing, but a skeleton left the girl somewhat flabbergasted. But she was brisk to regain her normal composure.
Eyes met for a full five seconds. Subsequently, she broke the nervous silence.
"A-a-... All Might?" She said, instantly lowering her brows just a bit as the frail hero's figure reflected in her golden iris. Clearly confused by his fragile state.
"...Hearn-shoujo."
After the battle, there had been a thin cloud of dust lingering around the battlefield. A lot of it had been blown off to the sides, turning the red floor and some of the grass outside of that rectangle a little whiter.
The battle arena had been freshly constructed by Cementoss with some minor aid from building drones to handle anything not made of cement. It wasn't made to stand after taking heavy hits. It wasn't military-grade materials it was built with. And it most certainly showed, Midoriya's superpower-like quirk had easily cracked the battlefield even while indirectly hitting it. Producing a lot of the dust in the first place. His opponent had a lot of power-focused super moves as well, not utilized directly her quirk, but through a reaction it could make. Together, they had made it all a mess. It seems as though it almost slipped both of them by as the battle went on, however.
There were many talking about it, in workplaces all around Japan, in schools, in the spectator seats. Everywhere. Villains, heroes and civilians all bore their eyes on this event. For good or for bad.
Those of heroic career who had watched it were quite eager to consider the possibility of either of them being interns. Usually, people always jumped on considering interns by the end of the event. But if the heroes recognized the potential in you, then they would completely ignore this rule. Maribel and Midoriya were now both subjects to this phenomenon.
People did not understand the specifics behind their quirks so they hypothesized instead. A powerhouse like Midoriya would be a dream to any hero that focused on close-quarters combat, the girl and her quirk an exciting enigma to make use of. Seeing how capable they were as is made people even more intrigued. For all they did, both of them were just first years. But still, they held such speed, power and a generally excellent sense of on-the-fly strategy.
"I wasn't expecting them to be able to take that much punishment." Eraserhead commented, tapping the table where he sat. His voice clear to hear for the entire stadium. The teachers had more familiarity with the fighters than those who watched, aside from the students themselves, so almost everyone aimed their attention toward the commentary.
When there wasn't a fight about to begin within the next five minutes, Present Mic seemed comparably calm compared to before. "You've been at a few of their hero lessons, haven't you? I know that's not your usual lesson to be teaching, but..."
"That's right... Though, for Midoriya-san, I don't think that's the reason for such development. Let me tell you a little story..."
Voicing his okay, Hizashi Yamada nodded. "Uhuh."
There was a pause before Aizawa spoke. "During the villain invasion at USJ, Midoriya-san brought me to safety. On the way back, we were in quite the pinch. You see, before the sports festival. He couldn't quite control his quirk. He had to rely on his own strength to get things done most of the time, he couldn't move rapidly or carry easily. But he still trudged on and got me to safety. Things like that speak of potential. I feel that thanks to the situation and my state, he received a lot more motivation than he usually would've. Now, he's control of his quirk. Even if it's a little inconsistent."
"You're saying that he surpassed his limits by going through all that?"
"Yes... Plus Ultra." The eraser hero spouted the school motto without enthusiasm. After a minute pause, he continued speaking. "Merry-san is a bit of a different case. Even back during the incident, she was quite fierce in a fight. A less refined version of what you saw on stage. Even so, she soundly defeated the villains, if it wasn't for their trump card's secret ability. Their invasion was all but over, but we still needed All Might truly end it. The point is, she evolves very quickly during a fight. A prime example is what won her this round. I have never seen her do that before."
"Wait, you don't even know what that was? That's so weird, Eraserhead."
"Well, she never demonstrated it during the training lessons or explained it."
This commentary slowly became background noise to everything else.
A horned hermit raised her eyebrows upon hearing all of this. Curious. Curiosity that fed a series of ideas.
Eventually, Todoroki's match against Kaminari took place.
So she was hiding her abilities from the class all along? Maribel must be taking the tournament pretty seriously if she's hiding her super moves like this.
...
...
...
After a bit of thinking, I don't find it to be so difficult to piece together... I know Midoriya-kun, and when she sees Midoriya. She thinks about herself or how she was...
Often, you better yourself as time goes on. Meeting someone on the same steps you were on could just make them repulsive depending on your stance to some things. One doesn't want to be reminded of 'those days'...
You meet someone with a weird hairstyle that you yourself had once, and were ashamed of having. So you tell them that it's a bad hairstyle... It could be anything, looks or behavior.
Midoriya is very brave, but he feels like he's only just started building confidence.
I don't think she likes that vibe.
Thatquirk makesit worse.
Four-eyes lifted his head a little, tilting it just a bit to the side as he looked at Shouto Todoroki. Sitting to down to his left about five meters away, it wasn't hard to get an eye or an ear into what Shouto was doing. Iida knew he'd most likely be able to triumph over Kaminari. Him being the son of the number-two hero and not a pushover. If Midoriya with his crazy power couldn't put Hearn down, he wasn't sure if Todoroki with his quick and sweeping attacks would be good enough either.
Though Iida wasn't there to see, Ochaco had told him the glacier he used had traveled all the way to the edge of the arena instantly.
Todoroki eyed the arena battlefield and the cracks in it, which were now being mended by Cementoss. His eyes seemed lost, as if he was thinking. Most likely pondering on ways to defeat her.
Like a pixel in the corner of his eye, Iida noticed someone else. Even further to the right sat Katsuki Bakugo, who was fiercely eyeing Shouto Todoroki. For a moment, he locked his pupils with Iida's, only to look away to the battlefield with his thoughtful and fierce gaze.
Angry as Bakugo might be, he wasn't to be underestimated in a battle. Since he was technically bested by Midoriya in the battle trial, there had not been a moment where he could show off his combat skill. But what was there told Iida that he had quite a lot of control over his quirk. Although they had different quirks, Katsuki could use his quirk for bursts of speed much like Iida himself could with his leg-bound engines. The ability to control your momentum was quite critical for anyone who focused on mobility. Someone who hasn't practiced with it would be bound to mess up at least once. Maybe even forgetting how to make use of it in a fight.
Then again, Iida himself is a bit of a newbie in this. Even if his brother gave him some advice before he started going to U.A. It wasn't like he was the be-all end-all in this field of skill.
This got him thinking, Hearn's sudden trick had allowed her to move much swiftlier, and it seemed she had at least adequate control over it. But from what Tenya could see, Midoriya's movements on foot weren't quite on the same level as Iida's own. It wasn't much of a measuring stick for Maribel to compare to. Iida had to see her again if he wanted to see how good she was. Maybe he could pass on some of the knowledge that Tensei had taught him.
I should go visit them both at the clinic! Preferably myself alone, as I don't think she'd like to talk about Midoriya around if a bunch of us went. Hmm...
Tenya Iida stood up and started to walk past his classmates on the same row. Asui Tsuyu, Ochaco Uraraka, Momo Yaoyorozu and Kyoka Jirou. Shortly after he had passed them, Uraraka seized his attention. "Hey, Iida-kun."
"A-... Yes?!" He turned around, standing at attention with a straight back and arms at his sides. Typical of him.
"Where are you going?" She asked innocently, the other girls looked at him too.
Scratching the back of his head, he quickly replied. "Well, I was gonna go see Hearn-san."
Seeing Iida respond as if he'd been questioned by a superior officer or something was always funny to see. It didn't seem that anyone minded what he had to say, but Yaoyorozu interjected. "Could I come along? I've got something I want to ask her."
"I'll see Deku-kun as well." Ochaco asked.
It seemed as if everyone on the row was about to go, until Iida cut in.
"A-about that... Me and Hearn had something more private-"
The air shifted, and almost everyone forgot about moving.
Momo was quick to reply. "That's alright, I can just wait outside."
"Me too then..." Ochaco disappointingly let out, she'd have the opportunity later, anyway.
"O-of course. Hehe." He rubbed the back of his head again.
Yaoyorozu got up shortly thereafter and left with Iida into the halls. In the meanwhile, two of the top-dogs sat for themselves, thinking.
"...Fast as she is, it'd be quite difficult to weave out of the path of my quirk constantly." Murmured Todoroki. Katsuki's listened in, quietly. "There are only so many places she can go on the field, unless she wants to stay just above a ring-out."
The ash-blonde said nothing, only staring at him as he mumbled. Then back at the field, cupping his chin between thumb and index finger.
"Chances are I'd reveal your secret by accident if you keep me curious." Maribel remarked as Recovery Girl cleaned up a big, bleeding bruise on her right arm and some shallow cuts. She laid on a medical bed, not out of any issue in standing, but to avoid spilling drops of blood on the floor from the various combat injuries.
It seemed like the nurse wasn't interested in interfering with their conversation. So there was a moment of silence between the old hero and the girl student.
"You're right..." Toshinori said seriously, he sat in the middle of two medical beds. Hers and Midoriya's. He had received a quick kiss and treatment from Recovery Girl previously. His wounds were not severe enough to warrant surgery, but he'd have to take a while to recover his energy. Recovery Girl was also going to take a closer look at his finger later. Currently, he was unconscious.
Another pause and Yagi started to explain.
"You see, Hearn-shoujo, my quirk isn't a regular one. It's a quirk passed down to another via DNA. Stockpiling the power of the former user into itself as it is transferred. Before he had it, Midoriya-shounen had been... quirkless. My power is slowly becoming his."
Maribel stared at him as she laid on the bed. Opening her mouth slightly as if she was mildly shocked. At the same time, her brow lowered. "...Then when he can control it, Midoriya would become stronger than you?"
The weakened hero could only nod and hum, assuring that she was correct. "There's a reason I don't tell this to everyone. It'd spell trouble for you and Midoriya-shounen if the wrong person came to know this. So please... never speak of it unless brought up by Midoriya-shounen in private or me."
Shooting right up and straight. In a slightly Iida-like fashion, she then shot to her feet, making the old nurse jump a little. Joining her hands on top of each other just where her thighs began, the student then bowed thirty degrees. "I promise, All Might."
"Ehrm- You don't have to bow..."
"Lay down, young girl!"
Maribel breathed in and straightened again. Plopping herself down onto her bum and then returning to her laying position. It looked like she was having a bit of fun, in contrast to her demeanor during the match. "Right, right..." She sheepishly responded.
Toshinori sighed. "Anyway... Few people know about this. Recovery Girl here, the Principal and some old friends of mine."
Recovery Girl finished touching up on her right arm, leaving it with red scrape wounds, some lacerations thanks to the high-speed rubble thrown about in the brawl. When she arrived, the nurse told her she'd end the procedure with her quirk. The bloodied girl eyed the bruised up limb as she answered. "As I said, I will only talk to you... or him about it."
This pleased Toshinori and he put his hands together as if ending the conversation. "Then this will turn out fi-"
"Also." She interrupted, eager to find some answers. It was as if the old hero had frozen. "You make it sound like someone would specifically hunt Midoriya-san down."
"I'd like to avoid-" The hero stuttered, reluctant to talk about this subject matter. Then it's personal, most likely.
"As you said, it would be trouble for me too." The girl was very serious about this in particular. This subject matter had made her feel threatened, and she wouldn't leave her safety a footnote. Wiping some blood from her forehead and brow, she spoke with real concern."What happens if I become a target? They might try getting to Midoriya-san through me. How do you expect me to defend myself if I don't know what these mysterious people can do?"
Now, All Might was far more demanding than earlier. As if he was about to break out his muscle form. Even in this weakened form that he had yet to explain, he knew how to command some authority. "Listen, Hearn-shoujo. I'll take some time to think on all of this. But as long you don't think about telling anyone, you and everyone else will be safe."
"...Fine." Maribel scoffed. The nurse began touching up on her right leg. She drew some air into her lungs as she felt a tiny sting of pain. Chiyo's cleaning used a mild solution, so it didn't hurt so much. But it was still touching her wounds. "...Can I at least ask why you aren't as muscly as you tend to be?"
"-Oh, that. When I passed my quirk onto Midoriya-shounen, I slowly started losing some of the fire myself..." He said, coughing a little. And then pausing, bringing two fingers to his chin as he thought.
Maribel looked at him with a mildly irritated set of eyes, having lowered her brow, as if waiting for him to continue.
"And that's that."
The girl leaned her head back and looked to the ceiling. Lost in thought. "...All of this makes me wish-" She sighed. "Nevermind."
There was a pause in the room as the conversation settled for its deathbed. With Toshinori Yagi unwilling to continue, for various reasons and his own gut feeling, and Maribel finding herself preoccupied with this new information.
"What's the quirk called?" She wondered.
"...One For All."
Once again, she stopped talking whilst the nurse began on the left leg.
...
...
...
There was a specific vibe in the air that she felt, an approach from outside the room. Speaking slowly and leisurely, as if it were not her problem, the girl felt it right to tell him something. "Some of my classmates are coming. Probably visiting. If you don't want to be seen like that..."
"It's fine, Hearn-shoujo. I look unrecognizable anyway." He said, dressed in his oddly unfitting yellow-striped suit.
And to think he got such a quirk. What a lucky guy... I'd rather have his than mine, but life isn't fair, is it?
Opening the door, Iida came walking in. Immediately putting his eyes on Maribel and hers being put on him. The girl was somewhat bloodied, with the uniform around her stomach being torn. It seemed like she'd need a wardrobe change. Though, that had to be after Recovery Girl removed all the dust and blood from the rather shallow wounds she had. The back of the bed where her head rested was inclined so she could look around the room.
"Tenya." Was all she said, without honorifics this time. Chiyo turned around to look at whoever it was. The nurse seemed fine with his presence, given that he wasn't impeding her duty.
"How are you feeling, Maribel?"
"It stings a bit... But I don't feel so bad. He hit me pretty hard toward the end." She said, comfortable in her bed. The girl brought her cleaned arm to her waist and rested it there, beaming comfortably.
The air between them was casual. Even though she was hurt, Maribel didn't seem like she was even concerned about herself. And on some level, Tenya could understand her sentiment, since her previous experiences with lethal wounds weren't quite so horrible beyond the agonizing pain.
"...I know you're going to ask, so I'll get it out of the way. I'm going to try and reconcile with Midoriya after the festival, tell him how I think he could be better."
Iida took a breath and beamed at her. "That's great. I'd never want you two to dislike each other, that'd just be a problem for everyone else."
"Yeah... I figured." It didn't seem to surprise her that much. A moment later, she herself didn't look so confident. "Still, I'm not sure if I have the courage. I've been kind of bad to him.
The tall student approached Maribel. His look was confident and stature looking strong enough to support it. Then he put his gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'll help you."
Hearn was filled with joy and warmth at those words. It always seemed like he was willing to help. She just couldn't find herself not liking him.
An urge to jump out of her bed and deliver him a hug almost overtook her, but it was silenced by the rather perceptive doctor. The frail, old voice cut through their dialogue with ease. "Excuse me... But could you leave her be until I'm done? It won't take long."
Withdrawing his hand, Iida stood straight. Thereafter bowing. "Yes, ma'am!"
Hearn looked at her nurse disappointed for a second. But the look faded with a mere sigh, and she leaned back into the bed, poker faced.
Seconds more passed until Iida came up with something to talk about. "You surprised me at the end there, how did you start moving so fast?"
"Hm?" The young girl hummed as she locked eyes with Iida again. This time her tone was a bit dry, and nonchalant. Purposefully distancing herself from getting too emotional. "Well, I kept a few tricks under my sleeve, so nobody could make a strategy for me. That was one of them, and it lets me fly and glide around... It feels like I'm on roller skates when I use it, but it's amazingly easy to control."
"When all this is over, I could try and teach you some of the things my brother taught me about momentum control. Does that sound nice?"
"I can give that a try."
The old lady got up next to Maribel's side again. Constantly poking at her wounds with wet paper faded into the back of her mind after a while. So Hearn didn't notice she was done. "Hold still, dear."
"Mhm." She responded, lowering her golden orbs to Recovery Girl as she relaxed her body and laid as still as she could. Then came the kiss. Hearn's body glowed a translucent green color for a moment as it seemed to mend itself at impeccable speeds. Every single wound down to the scratch faded in mere moments. For a moment, the boundary girl's eyelids fluttered closed, until she forced them open again. "Waaah..." She moaned and shifted with her arms, throwing herself off of the bed and onto her feet. Good as new.
The pain in her neck was gone and so was the dull aching. Ordinarily, you'd be feeling a bit tired after Recovery Girl used her quirk, too. But Maribel did not, at least, not for long.
Turning to face her nurse, the young girl bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Recovery Girl."
"You're welcome at any time."
"Anyway... It's like I focus the energy that I possess a certain way and then it just happens on its own. It's some ability of my quirk that I stumbled upon, I can't really explain it without sounding weird, you know?"
"That's true. Your quirk does act a little weird. But weird and powerful quirks tend to be the norm at this school, no?"
"You know, I really like it because of that. Back in Junior High, I only really started getting an eye from people after I had grown up and started experimenting with my quirk. Here, I feel just like a regular person. Not the talk of the school and not some outcast."
There was a low, almost hoarse grumbling coming from a corner of the nurses' room. At the same time, Ochaco and Momo mumbled outside.
"If you're done talking..." The blond, skeleton-looking man sitting in the corner coughed. "I think you should let those two come inside now, they've waited a bit."
"Right! Right!" Iida almost freaked out. Then he stopped and looked at the figure. Questioning him with a puzzled expression. "Wait, who are you?!"
"I-I'm one of Recovery Girl's friends, don't mind me..."
Maribel opened the door. The first thing that her two classmates got to see was her ripped and torn clothing. Still functional and not too revealing, but it was a little bit embarrassing to walk around in it. And moving too much could be bad. "H-hey! Merry!" Ochaco let out. Sounding surprised and awfully happy. It was as if she'd seen an old friend all of a sudden.
"H-hi! I was going to get some new clothes before returning to the fight."
Momo chimed in right after. "Can I come with you, Merry?"
"Sure! Sure! I just have to get moving quick, though."
Both Momo and Maribel promptly left the clinic. The blonde turned around to wave goodbye to two of her friends, who returned her favor.
After they had split, Momo and Maribel talked most particularly about the tournament. Yaoyorozu felt that she lacked a lot in combat sense and felt humiliated when she fought Bakugo. It was a poor match-up given how fast and adapted he was. So, Momo turned to Hearn for help. Her question was if Maribel could visit her and help her train her fighting skills. Something that Maribel found to be quite baffling because she did not consider herself a good fighter. Though, there was a track record to back up Yaoyorozu's assumption. So, Hearn gave her one guarantee, she'd try to help her because that's what friends do. Yaoyorozu was simply pleased with this and left satisfied.
Through all of this, Maribel was also changing clothes, so it didn't take her so long to get done and move on.
Moving through the halls, Hearn was on her way to the spectator seats again. Even if she'd most likely have to go back to the fight a few minutes after that.
Walking around the corridor, she felt like anything could pop out of the corners. Thoughts like that, of fantasy, intrigued her. And some of her childish side even felt fear at the prospect. It was a good thing her age and mental development had stopped much of those feelings.
Approaching one corridor that would lead her to the side of the arena where the students would be at. Hearn was unsuspecting of what she'd find next. A giant of a man, mountains of muscle and easily a head taller than her. Flame erupted from his body and his dark blue costume. His fists seemed almost as large as her head. Maribel could vaguely recognize him. This was a hero she'd seen on TV.
Their eyes met, and both stopped.
"You must be Mariberi Haan." Endeavor butchered her name. Maribel felt somewhat disrespected because of it. "Your fight was impressive. I haven't seen such a combination of abilities in one quirk before. At first, I wanted Midoriya to fight against my Shouto... but you will make a great test. Do your best."
There was a pause. Maribel pondered at lightning speed, dozens of thoughts began and ended before it seemed like time could move. During this course of time, she came up with something she thought needed to be said.
Angling both of her brows down, she made an irked remark. She had recalled everything she disliked about Todoroki. "Hey, I'd just like to say that... Shouto seems like a loner."
"...What?" His booming and intimidating voice weakly let out in response to her. Maribel felt an urge to just walk away, but stood fast.
"He told me he wasn't here to make friends." She muttered to him. Still clear enough to hear. As she tried to find her words, her eyes began to glow with a blink. "But I know that straying away from people, whether you feel like it or not, is a torturous experience. If you know this, you know that he can't be feeling well. I'd help him if I were you."
Looking puzzled, the giant of a man stared at her as if he didn't understand what she meant. Maybe he thought she was running her mouth. This caused her to think it'd be good if she didn't anger him. It was the number two hero, after all.
"Have a nice day, sir." She said, starting to walk past him.
"...It's Endeavor." He mentioned as she passed, seeming not so happy with her.
Walking around and plopping himself down just next to Bakugo was Rikido Sato. Who looked quite eager to talk with someone or something.
Pointing on over to the seats for class 1-C, he spoke almost directly to Bakugo. "So what do you think that messy-haired guy's quirk actually does? The other guys just say they just stopped thi-"
"PISS OFF, DAMN GLUTTON! I'LL SMACK HIS FACE IN BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DOES!"
Almost jumping in terror, Sato looked moved away a little from his classmate. "I'll just go and ask someone else!" He retorted, standing straight and walking away from the seats and even out of the spectator area.
Bakugo peered at him, barely turning his head around to do so. Briefly considering whom he might visit. This meant the general department student had kept his quirk secret from his team, too. Although they seemed to use it just fine. Still integrated into its strategy, it had to have been kept a secret from Sato particularly.
"You mean Shinso?"
"Yeah, or whatever his name was! He made one of our guys a puppet or something. What does that quirk actually do?!"
Just as she was about to get to the spectator seats, Hearn was met by one of her former team mates from the cavalry battle. Rikido Sato had been curious and had gone to exactly the right person to ask.
Maribel Hearn could be considered a plotter during the course of the festival. In every stage of it, she'd had some sort of unconventional strategy. Some of the classmates thought, while not really true, that she wasn't playing fairly. The rules had all been obeyed, it was just her quirk that defied the order of things. There was a silent animosity between her and a small group of her classmates because of this. Sato was apart of this group. He didn't like how one of their teammates had been seemingly possessed. It wasn't honorable. And their reluctance to reveal how wasn't so nice, either.
On the other hand, Maribel stood still by the entrance to the spectator seats. Her classmate basically blocking his way and his fight about to begin. If she didn't let him pass, she'd just get more blame on her. And he might not have left her alone until he knew what he desired to. It was a bit of a dilemma. Maribel would have to throw Shinso under the bus in a sense to get Sato to stop bothering her. Frankly though, even guessing his quirk at this point wouldn't be difficult. Sato wasn't stupid, so the real question behind his words was how he could defeat him.
It'd be best to be vague...
Maribel swallowed, and spoke as freely as she could bring herself to.
"...I'm pretty sure Shinso's quirk lets him brainwash people." Was the first thing she could say. "Through responses, specifically. If you respond to him... It'll work."
That was somewhat of a guess. She'd only seen it used on Bakugo and his team.
Hearn had talked to Shinso a few times. Her own impression was he had a few of her own qualities. Namely, a talker's tongue and a plotter's mind. She didn't want to oversell herself, but that's how she felt like sometimes. "He's a remarkably good talker, knowing how to rile people up. That's why his quirk can be very effective, despite being so simple to avoid."
All of that felt like a mistake in Hearn's mind. Then again, she didn't really get to meet Shinso so much. Would he even know that she said anything or would it make a difference?
"He hasn't told me how it works, but that's what my best guess after fighting with him."
With that said, Maribel felt like she'd done something good. Assisting her classmates would more directly put to rest the idea that she was needlessly mean. Something that she imagines had become more of an issue, now that her quirk didn't want to control itself.
Sato scratched his chin, the brisk wind up by the spectator seats blew past them. Some of the classmates looked at them, but most were distracted by talking to each other or brooding.
"So that's it, huh? Sorry for troubling you." He respectfully bowed his head, and Maribel sidestepped him to pass to the spectator seats. Settling her eyes right at Todoroki, who was giving her a cold eye as he looked over his shoulder.
"A musclehead with a sweet tooth! From Class 1-A... RIKIDO SATO! ...He looks a little less muscular than last time, why?!"
"The general department's super star who keeps winning without lifting a finger! From Class 1-C, HITOSHI SHINSOOO!"
There was a thundering roar from everyone watching as the names were announced. As usual.
But both of the two stood on the field. Uneasy, maybe. Even so, Shinso stood with a smile. Maybe to inspire those of his class, maybe out of a smug sense of superiority.
On the other hand, Sato held a stern face. He looked irritated and ready to ignore everything that the guy would say. Plus, he wasn't buffed up like last time he was on stage.
The smile on Hitoshi's face disappeared, and his eyes narrowed.
Something's clearly not right here.
I've been taking a while because I've been busy with both summer work, finishing school and hanging out with friends. The typical. I've also been lacking a lot of motivation on top of all that. But still, here's your chapter.
To make the future plot work, I have to have Maribel know of One For All to start with. It makes things far less forced for me and her (and the general youkai ability to feel the aura of things have been or are at places, a thing inspired by Mamizou sensing Kosuzu in FS) would also make it far less forced for her to accidentally reveal secrets like this.
I'm also making Maribel involve herself in Todoroki's issues, a fun parallel with Izuku. Her issue is his isolation, less so than his poor upbringing and bad fathering. Let's see how that goes.