Mizuha screamed loudly, "WE'RE FALLING!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP, HYOUMEI!" Byakuren yelled as they dangerously approached the ground.
"What's this?! Team Hyoumei is now falling down from the sky!"
...
...
...
Byakuren walked next to her as they got away from Bakugo's crowd. He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced at her, "So, what do you have in mind?"
Mizuha looked at him with a finger held up in front of her, "I propose that you should be the rider. If I'm the horse then we can easily maneuver our way across with my ice. You can use your tornadoes to add speed to it... kind of like Iida's Engine."
Byakuren nodded slowly, "Okay... who else is going to carry me then?"
Mizuha lowered her hand and shrugged, "Others might slip on the ice if we move too fast, so I was thinking that it should be just the two of us."
Byakuren deadpanned.
"What?"
"Plan is good, sure. But aren't you forgetting something?"
"... What?"
"You can't carry me, especially by yourself."
Mizuha was about to retort until she looked at Byakuren's height. She was only 160 centimeters while he was 175 centimeters. If she were to carry him then the balance would be way off. She was even sure that she wouldn't be able to stand up straight, especially with all the moving their going to have to do.
Embarrassed by her lack of further thought, Mizuha lowered her head and bit her lip.
The white haired boy sighed in annoyance, "Jeez, I know that Midnight said we can form teams with two to four participants but think logically. However, I can agree with the fact that our other possible teammates might not be able to handle the ice..."
Byakuren put his hand under his chin and closed his eyes.
Mizuha stared at his face.
He was thinking. Sometimes he would either close his eyes and tap his temple with his index finger or put his hand under his chin while keeping his eyes closed. But he usually just stared ahead blankly like as if he seeing something that others could not. With that strategic mind of his, if he had a enough time, he could come up with five different strategies with a good visualization to back it up. He would play the scenarios in his mind as many times as possible with all the possible outcomes until it was all narrowed down to one.
After a minute, she saw him slowly open his eyes.
Byakuren lowered his hand, "We can reverse our positions. I'll be the horse and you can be the rider. If you sit on my shoulders and freeze your legs on my body, then it should free me of the task to make sure you don't fall off by holding you."
Mizuha frowned, "... What about my upper body? Any sudden movements are going to make me swing in different directions."
"My tornadoes will support us from behind and occasionally in the front to keep our balance in check. If we do it this way, we can easily do what you suggested earlier."
Mizuha couldn't help but feel a little concerned for her safety. But since this strategy came from Byakuren, she figured it should be alright to trust him with her safety.
…
…
…
They received the headband with 290 points. Mizuha tied the headband around her head with a double knot, she wanted to make sure it was going to be difficult for others to snatch it off her head.
"After fifteen minutes to form teams and talk strategy, fourteen cavalry teams are lined up on the field! It's time for U.A.'s bloody battle!"
Byakuren lowered himself in front of Mizuha, "Alright, get on."
Mizuha breathed in deeply and slowly breathed out. She just needed to trust him now. She placed her hands on Byakuren's head and slowly allowed herself to sit on his shoulders. He grabbed her thighs and stood up abruptly, jolting her properly on his shoulders.
Then, he patted her legs.
Byakuren tilted his head to the left side when she reached for her right leg with her right arm to trap her limbs against his person, and vice-versa.
Suddenly, Byakuren dipped backwards causing Mizuha to fall back.
"OH MY GOD!" She nearly shrieked in fear when she felt her body tilt. Wind pressure immediately came to her aid and pushed her back upright as Byakuren straightened up. The boy was wincing from how she grabbed a fist full of his white hair.
"... Warn me before you do that."
"I don't exactly have time to warn you during the battle, now do I? And can you stop pulling my hair every time you fall? I won't have any hair left if you keep doing that."
Byakuren was standing straight with his hands next to him while Mizuha was sitting on his shoulders with her legs encased in ice on his body. Quite the sight.
Eijin leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees as he grinned in amusement. "What on earth are those two doing?" he laughed, shaking his head.
"Alright, all teams are made! I'm not going to ask if you're ready or not! Now let's go, counting down to the brutal battle royal! Three!"
"We'll go for those who are trying to take Midoriya's ten million. It's the perfect distraction." Byakuren said while looking at the other teams lined up on the other sides of the field.
"Two!"
"Alright, fine."
"One!"
"Get that ice path ready because we're going for the team in front of us."
"Start!"
The moment Mizuha formed an ice path in front of them, Byakuren's tornado pushed both of them forward at an incredible speed. He wasn't even moving his legs, he was allowing the wind and the ice to guide him.
The team in front of them became alarmed at the sudden attack. It was another group of two. The rider was a male student with a green mohawk and the horse was a pony looking girl.
The opposing team advanced towards their attack in hopes to snatch their headband.
"Hyoumei! Curve!"
The ice path rushed past the team and swerved behind the other team. Byakuren twisted his body to the side, causing his body to turn round and slide against the ice backwards and allowing Mizuha to snatch the headband from behind.
She reached her arm out and grabbed one of the ends of the headband as they swirled away from them, successfully taking away the 70 point headband.
360 points! Alright!
"Did you get it?!"
"Yeah!" Mizuha dropped it around her neck.
As they continued the hunt for points, the two made sure to steer away from Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo. The latter was definitely out of the question to approach. If they stole one of his toys, he was going to come after them, guns blazing.
They managed to steal another headband getting a total of 470. They were gradually climbing the ranks.
Suddenly, they felt the presence of four teams heading their way. Their opponents were realizing how troublesome they were.
Mizuha gripped the headbands around her neck and whipped her head in all directions to try and find a way out. They were closing in fast; the openings were getting smaller.
"What's the hold up?!" Byakuren shouted, "Hurry up! They're closing in!"
"I can't! The gaps are too small! They might take one of our headbands!"
Byakuren huffed and bit his lip. He needed to think of something quickly.
...
...
...
"Make an ice slide going upwards!"
Without even thinking, Mizuha did as she was told. Then she had a confused look on her face, Why up?
"Hold on tight!" Byakuren warned.
"Wait! What are you—"
A giant tornado manifested behind them and pushed towards the ice slide. Mizuha's heart dropped when she realized what was going to happen. The moment Byakuren's shoes touched the inclination of the ice slide, the tornado pushed them upwards, sending them flying into the air.
Present Mic and Aizawa watched with widened eyes as Team Hyoumei flew up, past their window.
You'd think they were trying out some acrobatic routine.
Eijin gaped.
The crowd was surprised and the four teams below as well.
They flew up so high that they nearly past the open roof of the stadium. However, the moment they started loosing momentum, Mizuha felt dread crash into her being.
... They started falling down... twice as fast.
Mizuha screamed loudly, "WE'RE FALLING!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP, HYOUMEI!" Byakuren yelled as they dangerously approached the ground.
"What's this?! Team Hyoumei is now falling down from the sky!"
"YOU BETTER MAKE ANOTHER ICE SLIDE BEFORE WE LAND OR ELSE WE'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO THE HOSPITAL!"
"YOU'RE NUTS! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"
"SHUT UP AND MAKE IT!"
Mizuha grabbed another fist full of white hair and narrowed her eyes. She held out her right hand and prepared to use her Quirk. Once they were a meter away from the ground, Mizuha formed an ice slide. They were still moving fast on the ice.
"Phew... for a second I thought we were going to have a problem... Geez Eraser, what are you teaching your class?"
"I certainly did not teach near-death techniques."
Now, they were heading straight for another team.
Using their incredible speed to their advantage, Mizuha continued the ice path all the way to the other team and grabbed their 290 point headband.
Byakuren crouched down and drifted against the field to stop moving, hopping off the ice to slam on the breaks. He heaved a sigh of relief.
But then he angrily shook his head, "Let go of my hair!"
Mizuha's hands flew off his head and then she waved the new headband in front of his face just before she hung it around her neck.
"Nice. How many points do we have?"
"665."
…
…
…
Snipe looked at his fellow teacher, "Are you alright?"
Eijin, who was slumped in seat and keeping a hand on his rapidly beating heart, shook his head.
"No, I think my lifespan has been reduced."
…
…
…
"TIME'S UP! And that's the end of the second round, the cavalry battle, everyone! Now, let's take a look at the top six teams right away!"
Byakuren froze in his tracks, nearly slamming his head against Mizuha's abdomen.
The white haired boy shattered the case trapping Mizuha's legs and lowered himself to the ground. Mizuha carefully got off of his shoulders and watched as he stood back up, rolled back his shoulders and walked away from her.
And with that... we're back to ignoring each other.
"In first place, Team Todoroki! In second, Team Bakugo! In third, Team Tetsu...huh?! Wait, Team Shinso? When did you come from behind? In fourth, Team Hyoumei... that was dangerous you guys..."
Mizuha sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.
"In fifth, Team Mokuen! In sixth place, Team Midoriya!"
"These four teams will advance… to the final round! And now, we'll take an hour's break for lunch before we start the afternoon festivities! See ya later! Hey, Eraser Head, let's go grab some food."
"I'm going to sleep."
At that, the crowd and the students began leaving the stadium for the lunch break.
"... I'll just grab something from the food stands outside." Mizuha muttered to herself. When she started walking towards the exit, she stopped once she realized that she didn't exactly have cash on her. It was all the way in her bag inside the school. What a long walk.
A proverbial light bulb went off in her head. She smirked.
She searched for a particular person somewhere up in the audience. She was hoping that they hadn't left the stadium left. It didn't take her too long to spot them.
Mizuha ran towards the wall of the stadium and called them, "Uncle Eijin!"
At the sound of his name, the said man curiously turned around. He was behind All Might on his way out of the stadium but the scared look on his niece's face made him jump over seats and down onto the field.
At the sound of his name, the man curiously turned around. He was behind All Might on his way out of the stadium but the scared look on his niece's face made him jump over the seats and drop down onto the field to go to her.
He approached his niece with worry, "What's wrong, Mizuha?"
Instantly, Mizuha's scared expression turned into a sly one, "Can I have some money for lunch?"
Eijin narrowed his eyes at her.
Mizuha batted her eyelashes.
"You made me acrobat my way here for money?"
"Pretty much."
Eijin turned around to leave. Mizuha scowled and quickly jumped onto his back, making him yelp in surprise and catch her legs.
"Mizuha! Stop it!"
"Come on! I just wanna buy the food their selling outside!"
"Go eat at the cafeteria!"
"Nooooo!"
"You should be eating a good meal at the cafeteria!"
"I want the food outside!"
Knowing she wasn't going to give up, he looked back at her with a frown, "What do you want to buy?" he said after a defeated sigh.
Mizuha grinned victoriously, "Just some cup noodles!" said the girl while sliding off of her uncle's back.
The older man grumbled under his breath. He reached for his back pocket and fished out his wallet. He pulled out enough cash for what she desired and shoved it in her open hand. Mizuha thanked him with a grin and hugged him tightly.
She looked up at him sillily with her chin plated on his chest.
"Just be sure to eat everything." He returned her hug, ruffling her hair with one hand.
-x-
Mizuha was walking around the stadium out of curiosity. This was her first time in the U.A Stadium. She would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about what was in the stadium. There was probably nothing interesting compared to what was going on outside. There was no rush to go eat since the food stands were literally just outside. She could satisfy her curiosity for now.
She started tapping her chin while walking the dark hallway.
"This is the first year stage... where are the other stages for the second and third years? I know that they separate the years and that the principal usually is the chief umpire for the third years' stage. Hmm... maybe I should go check them out while I still have time... I can eat while walking."
With that thought in mind, Mizuha fished for her phone in her pocket. She turned it on and saw that she fifty minutes till the end of the lunch break. She frowned. Maybe she could check them out during the afternoon activities if she didn't have enough time—
Suddenly, a hand was clamped onto her mouth. She let out muffled sounds of protests while swinging her free hand behind her.
When she thought of opening her mouth and biting their hand, they pulled her to the side, hand still tight on her mouth and whispered something harshly.
"Shut the fuck up."
…
…
…
Mizuha deadpanned and relaxed in their hold.
I know that damn voice.
Apparently, she was so lost in thought and focused on her little screen that she didn't even notice that she wasn't alone. Hiding around the corner was Bakugo, and whatever was going on just past the corner was something he didn't want her walking into.
Her expression turned into a confused one when she noticed that he wasn't even looking at her. He was paying attention to something else.
Wait what's going? Is he listening to something?
"Endeavor's my old man. I'm sure you know that he's been stuck as the number two hero for forever."
Todoroki? Who's he talking to?
"If you have something from the number one hero, then I... have even more reason to beat you."
"My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world. As a Hero, he won a name for himself with crushing force. Because of that, the living legend, All Might, is a great eyesore to him. Since he couldn't surpass All Might, he moved onto his next plan."
Mizuha shoved her phone back in her pocket and grabbed Bakugo's hand off of her mouth. His hold on her mouth had weakened when he felt her relax a few seconds ago.
"What are you talking about, Todoroki...? What are you trying to tell me?"
Midoriya?
Why are they together? Is this about Todoroki's declaration of war from earlier?
"You've heard of Quirk marriages, right?"
Mizuha was suddenly getting the feeling that she was listening to something she wasn't supposed to.
"The thing that became a problem for the second and third generation after superpowers appeared. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own Quirk and passing it onto your children, forcing people into marriage. Those earlier generations were lacking in ethics. He is a man with both accomplishments and money. He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of my mother's Quirk."
Mizuha froze.
"Raising me as a Hero who could exceed All Might, just to fulfill his own ambitions—"
This was not something she should be hearing at all!
"—I hate him! Being no more than a tool for that human garbage. In my memories, my mother is always crying. Your left side is unsightly, my mother said as she poured boiling hot water on me."
…
…
However, the feature that Mizuha noticed the most was the large scar on the left side of his face. She was wondering how he could have possibly gotten a scar like that during his childhood. It definitely wasn't the type of scar you get after you trip and fall. She wondered if he had some type of accident.
…
…
Mizuha swallowed thickly when she associated this new information with his noticeable scar. She had no idea Endeavor was that type of person. All she knew about him was his public image, The Flame Hero. A great Hero that protect their society. The one with the highest record of solved cases out of any other Hero. This new knowledge definitely changed the way she was seeing the Number Two Hero.
What kind father… that family…
"Basically, I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do, without using my damn old man's Quirk."
Not wanting to hear anything more personal that was not for her ears, Mizuha immediately turned around and walked in the direction of where she came from, leaving Bakugo to hear to rest on his own. She felt super guilty about hearing something so personal. Now, she was going to carry that to her grave.
A Hero that didn't care about anything but his own goals. A Hero that would hurt his family for his own ambitions.
Endeavor doesn't care about anything but being number one, huh?
… People are not tools.
Mizuha's fists were clenched tightly when she left the stadium.
Mizuha slurped her noodles with a nasty expression. It was difficult to think of something else right away.
After she bought her noodles, she wandered off to a less crowded area. She didn't exactly find a bench to sit on so she decided to eat while standing up somewhere beneath a tree. She didn't want people bumping into her and making her spill her food on her clothes too. The idea of smelling like cup noodles for the rest of the day didn't really please her. It would probably just make her feel hungry or something near the end of the festival. To avoid all unnecessary complications, she stayed far away from the areas with too much people and chose to stay in one the had reasonable enough of people that would allow her to eat in peace.
When she couldn't reach for anymore noodles at the end of the cup, she realized she finished her lunch. She walked towards the nearest trash can while drinking up what was left. She should probably go to school to grab a drink from one of the vending machines after she snatched some cash from her wallet. The moment she dropped her polystyrene foamed cup in the bin, she immediately turned around on her heel.
Only to collide with someone.
The person she collided with let out a yelp.
Mizuha stumbled backwards, tripping over her own shoes.
Realizing the mistake she made, her eyes widened when she felt the loss of balance.
"Oops!"
A hand shot forward and firmly grabbed onto her wrist before she could fall.
Mizuha's eyes darted to look at the hand holding onto her, trailing up the muscular arm all the way to the person's face. She noticed that they were wearing the blue U.A gym attire. It was a male student who had blond sir styled in a cowlick. His blue eyes seem to smile along with his friendly smile on his lips. Mizuha then noticed another student standing behind him who had messy dark hair and noticeable pointy ears. He looked rather shaken up.
Slowly, the guy holding onto her pulled her towards him and allowed her to get back on her feet properly. Then he grinned and patted her shoulders a few time before placing his hands on his hips.
"There we go!"
Mizuha stared blankly at him for a few seconds until she realized that she didn't thank him.
"O-Oh... thanks." She said while bowing down swiftly.
When she straightened back up, the blond haired student was leaning a little closer to her. Immediately, Mizuha leaned back out of reflex.
He looks… older than me.
"Oh! Now I where I saw you! You're one of the students in Class 1-A!" He exclaimed with grin.
Mizuha quirked up an eyebrow and titled her head to the side, "... How did you know?"
Because I never introduced myself and I don't think you're a first year like me!
He did a close eyed smile, "I saw you on the news."
Mizuha sweat dropped, Damn news people.
Then, as if he remembered something important, he moved away to look at the other student behind him. The dark haired student took a few steps forward and apologized with a shaky voice.
"S-Sorry for bumping into you..." He muttered, shifting his eyes away after making eye contact with her once.
Mizuha shook her head, "No, it's alright. It's my fault too. Sorry."
It wasn't a big deal. No harm done.
The blond then laughed merrily, "Well, we're going to go eat lunch now! Good luck in the Sports Festival!" He told her before he and his companion walked off past her.
When she felt like they were far enough, Mizuha turned to look at their backs. They did strike her as older students but she wasn't sure from what year.
Mizuha walked off in the opposite direction to take another path to the school.
"... That guy with the messy hair... he looks familiar..."
…
…
…
The dark haired student glanced over his shoulder to look back at the girl he bumped into. He stopped moving his legs to stare at the younger girl.
Then it clicked.
He was currently on a break... a long break actually. Once the news of USJ's attack reached the ears of their math teacher, he instantly dropped his chalk and stopped teaching. Their teacher made a dash to the door, leaving all his material sprawled on the teacher's desk but not without announcing that they were going to finish the lesson next time.
The news about a first year class getting attacked at USJ was quickly relayed to the school. It spread like wildfire. The whole school knew about it.
The whole class began whispering to each other about the sudden news. All the students closed their books and remained in class until their real break time.
That was what he heard while walking in the hallway. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel any concern for his juniors that he had never met before. The dark haired student had left the classroom to go and use the restroom.
As he turned around the corner, someone ran into him, making him yelp in shock and then they both fell on the ground. He was lucky enough to land on his butt but he couldn't say the same about the other person. When he looked at the person next to him, he was horrified at the sight of them facing the ground. He felt somewhat responsible.
He felt even worse when he heard them sniffle as they got on their knees.
"A-Ah... I-I'm sorry..." He stuttered out.
They shook their head, "Sorry. I'm sorry..." they mumbled loud enough for him to hear.
A girl's voice?
The girl got back on her feet and held out her hand for him. He shakily accepted her help and allowed her to pull him up. That's when he got a good look at her. She was wearing a hero costume. While her hood did cast a shadow over her face, he could see her swollen eyes and dried tears.
OH GOD! DID HE DO THAT?! OH NO…
Before he could even say anything, she bowed down in front of him and apologized once more. Then she ran past him down the hallway behind him.
He watched her figure become smaller and smaller, constantly worrying about if he had made her feel bad.
Noticing his friend's stop, the blond haired student stopped as well, "Tamaki? What's wrong?" he asked curiously.
"... Back then she looked sad... she looked scared when she bumped into me..." Tamaki muttered to himself. He didn't realize that he spoke out loud. Loud enough for his friend to hear and to question him about it.
"Do you know her?"
Tamaki looked at his friend from the corner of his eye, "No, Mirio. This just isn't the first time we bumped into each other..."
"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game! But before that, there's good news for all of you who didn't make it to the finals! This is still a Sports Festival! So we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in, too! We've even brought real cheerleaders from America to liven things up! Huh?"
"What are they doing?"
Mizuha deadpanned at her female classmates in cheerleading outfits, not sure whether or not she should be confused or amused. She didn't know what happened but all of her female classmates were wearing cheerleader outfits, similar to the ones the American girls were wearing.
"What's the matter, Class A? What kind of fan service is that?"
The girls spotted Mizuha, the only girl in Class 1-A, that was not wearing their same get up. They were told that all the girls had to wear the same cheerleading uniforms but she was the only one who wasn't wearing them…
Yaoyorozu looked at the ones responsible, "Mineta! Kaminari! You tricked us!" She exclaimed.
Mizuha let out a small 'pfft'.
"All right everyone! Let's have fun competing in the recreational games! When that's over, the twenty from the six teams that made it to the final round will duke it out tournament style, one-on-one!"
Mizuha got fired up. To her, this was definitely the main event. What better way to show your skills than in a real fight?
"Now, let's draw lots to determine the bracket," announced Midnight. "Once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games, and then we'll start! The twenty finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength."
Screw that. Why waste my time on useless games? thought Mizuha and rolled her eyes.
"Now, from the first place team—"
"Um excuse me? I... I am withdrawing."
Everyone looked at Ojiro, the one who spoke, with shock.
Everyone listened to his reasoning. Apparently, he didn't remember anything that happened during the Calvary Battle. After that, another student requested a withdrawal for the same reason.
"This is an unusual turn of events…"
"We'll have to see what the chief umpire, Midnight, has to say about this."
Everyone looked at Midnight. It was silent.
"Youthful talk like that is something… I like!" she exclaimed, "Shoda! Ojiro! I accept your withdrawal! In that case, we'll have to move up two people from Team Kendo take place cavalry battle team…"
Mizuha looked confused, Youthful talk?
"If that's what's going to happen, then rather than us, who did barely anything during the cavalry battle, it should be them, right?" suggested the orange haired girl from Class 1-B, "The ones who fought to the end and stayed in the top was Team Tetsutetsu, right?"
"Kendo…!" Tetsutetsu said, surprised by her words.
"This isn't collusion or anything," she shrugged with a smile. "It just makes sense."
With that, Tetsutesu and Shiozaki were selected to replace the two who withdrew.
"Now, I present to you… the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"
The screen behind Midnight revealed the names on her cue.
SHINSO VS MIDORIYA
TODOROKI VS SERO
SHIOZAKI VS KAMINARI
IIDA VS HATSUME
ASHIDO VS AOYAMA
TOKOYAMI VS YAOYOROZU
TETSUTETSU VS KIRISHIMA
URARAKA VS BAKUGO
HYOUMEI VS MOKUEN
KYOURAN VS JUSHIMA
Based on the results... someone is going to be fighting extra match before they can move on...
Mizuha tilted her head to the side when she saw her bracket. Who was Mokuen? Who the heck was that?
She put her hand under her chin.
Mokuen... Mokuen.
Where did she hear that name before? Something about the name was clawing at the inside of her skull but yet she couldn't remember the reason why it did. Mizuha's eyes shifted towards the match next to hers. Her fingers twitched.
Kyouran was the fight connected to her bracket. If he won... and she won...
…
…
"You would rather get expelled than face your problem and fix that Quirk of yours! I don't think you deserve to be here at all if all you want is to change schools! You're not here for Pro Heroes. You're here to try and get accepted into another school!"
…
…
Mizuha gritted her teeth. Her hands were balled in fists. If he thought that she didn't deserve to be at this event then wouldn't he try to remove her from it if he had the opportunity?
…
…
Mizuha held out her hand, "So?"
Byakuren then smirked darkly, "You just might regret bringing me to the finals."
He shook her hand as a sign of truce, gripping her hand with much force.
Mizuha supported the same dark look on her face, "That's a risk I'm willing to live with."
…
…
Was bringing him to the finals really worth it knowing that this could have been the outcome?
Of course, it was.
Mizuha relaxed her hands and wrinkled her nose as she hardened herself.
To her, everything is worth it if she was able to make it this far. She didn't regret anything at all. And if Kyouran was planning on knocking her out of the finals, then he had another thing coming because she wasn't going to sit there and let him do what he wanted. Far from it, she was going to go all out. But she did have to admit that she was concerned about their possible fight. He knew her too well. And he might just use that to his advantage to make things even more difficult.
Mizuha felt a slight tap on her shoulder.
Mizuha looked behind her, turning her body around at the same time. Standing behind her was a girl, shorter than her. She had maroon coloured hair and purple eyes.
She was smiling at her.
"You're Hyoumei, right?" she asked.
Mizuha nodded.
"I'm Mokuen." She said with a hand on her chest, "Let's have a good fight, yeah?"
Mizuha resisted the urge to narrow her eyes in suspicion in front of Mokuen.
Again, Mizuha nodded.
Instantly, Mokuen's smile dropped and she started walking away as if Mizuha no longer interested her. There it was. That smile never fooled her. The platinum haired girl clicked her tongue and huffed.
"Annoying." Mizuha muttered and rolled her eyes.
During the recreational games, Mizuha left the stadium and simply wandered around the perimeter. She couldn't go too far unless she wanted to miss the announcement that would signal the start of the battles.
Mizuha was sitting in a tree and enjoying the breeze in the shade while staring at the floating ice flower in front of her. There was beautiful ice lily just floating while small konpeito-like ice shapes swirled around it gently. She was playing with her Quirk since she had so much time to spare for those who weren't interested in the recreational games.
Sitting in a tree was the last thing on her mind but she couldn't help herself when she found a tree that had its branches within her reach. She didn't think twice about climbing it.
Mizuha slight tilted her head to watch the lily gently rotate. It was peaceful despite Present Mic's voice and the crowd's cheers.
She heard someone walking on the grass, getting closer her radius. The small pieces of ice dropped and fell onto the grass below her. Curiously, she peered to the side and found someone wearing the U.A gym clothes leaning back against the stadium wall. It was Todoroki. He slid down and crouched down and lowered his head. He couldn't see her with how well hidden she was behind the leaves.
Seeing him now just made her remember what she heard during the lunch break. Todoroki was a tool for Endeavor whose goal was to surpass All Might. She could imagine how he must be feeling right now but she would never fully understand what he lived and felt. His father was no doubt present today and he was probably expecting Todoroki to show him his fire or something.
Such a complicated life.
Mizuha blinked indifferently and brought her attention back to the cold flower. Quietly, she reached her hand out to the ice lily and held it in her hands. It was cold but beautiful. She spotted something black on her thumb. She arched a brow and leaned closer to look at it only to realize that it was an ant.
An ant was crawling on her.
Instantly, she dropped the ice lily and let it break with a distinct sharp sound when it landed.
Todoroki's head shot up and he spotted the broken ice lily that got crushed under Mizuha's foot when she slipped off the tree with a cringe on her face.
There goes her plan to stay hidden away.
She patted her clothes and brushed them just in case there were more ants on her.
Bugs on her clothes? Yeah, not for her. She didn't want them crawling into her shirt or something.
You know what? Skip the tree.
Todoroki lingered his eyes on her for a few more seconds before looking away in what seemed like annoyance. Mizuha simply ignored him and walked away in search of a better place to pass the time.
Just like him, she'd rather be alone.
Eventually, the main events of the festival resumed.
Mizuha followed her class to their designated seat area and sat far away from everyone. Her seat was at the top near the entrance of their seats. She wanted to sit close to the entrance so that she was prepared to leave right away when her turn approached. Also, her seat had a good view of the stage below.
For once, she wanted to pay attention to her classmates fighting. Normally she would have preferred sitting back and closed her eyes to wait for her turn or even just pull out her phone to appease her boredom. But this seemed like a good chance to evaluate her potential opponents.
Midoriya and Shinsou were the first ones up. To be honest, she had no idea what was going on during their match. First, Midoriya was walking towards the boundary line while Shinsou just stood there. Then, it seemed like Midoriya snapped out of it. After that, it resulted with Midoriya forcing Shinsou out of bounds despite the other one's struggle. It looked like to her that Shinsou had some sort of controlling Quirk considering how he couldn't fight back with any superhuman powers.
Todoroki's fight was a little overkill. Poor Sero didn't stand a chance. However, he did well on taking the initiative to force Todoroki out of bounds as soon as the match started before he could do anything. If it were anyone else, he probably would have won.
Kaminari's fight was just embarrassing.
The same thing went for Iida. Poor class rep was being used for the sake of promoting Hatsume's equipment. It nearly made Mizuha laugh out loud when the pink haired student simple stepped over the boundary line, declaring Iida as the winner, when she finished her little commercial.
Ashido's Acid allowed her to move around nimbly to dodge Aoyama's laser beams. Sadly, due to Aoyama's lack of mobility the match ended with an uppercut to his chin.
Yaoyorozu ended up being pushed out of bounds by Tokoyami's Dark Shadow. The vice president of her class probably didn't have time to think seeing as Tokoyami's Quirk was the all-range type.
The fight between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu. If she was going to be completely honest, she was silently cheering for Kirishima. Perhaps because he was in her class. However, the fight resulted with a double knockout, meaning they had to settle it with a game of arm wrestling after they recover. He might not have won, but having another chance to win was still good. She really hoped he would come out as the victor for the arm wrestling.
Seeing as her turn was coming up soon, Mizuha stood up from her seat and went to her designated waiting room. She did so with haste to be able to watch the next match on the TV in the room. She was really looking forward to watching that one.
Following that match was Uraraka and Bakugo. This match created new profound respect inside Mizuha for both, Uraraka and Bakugo. Uraraka, for being brave and for facing the challenge head on without giving up. And Bakugo for respecting his opponent and not holding anything back and not simply pushing her out of bounds. Uraraka may have lost the match but not without doing what matters most, giving it everything she had.
Mizuha dropped her head down with a sigh. She ran her fingers in her hair with a small smile.
Everyone's really going at it with all they got huh?
"Next up, for our ninth match... Are these girls!"
Mizuha and Mokuen's profile appeared on the screens. The first had an apathetic face while the second was smiling.
Kirishima perked up in his seat.
Byakuren sat up correctly in his seat and crossed his arms.
...
...
...
"She stood out a couple of times during both the prelims and team events! I remember you from the Entrance Exams! She's from the Hero Course... Hyoumei Mizuha! "
Taking in a deep breath, the teenager stepped out into the light, revealing herself to the crowd. The stadium boomed with loud cheering and maybe even screaming. The many screens displayed in the stadium were zoomed in on her as she made her way to the stage. Like any other participant, bar people like Bakugo, she was honestly feeling a little stressed from the massive attention.
"One who hasn't really stood out yet but is still here. She's also from the Hero Course... Mokuen Hikari!"
Once she reached the stage, Mokuen arrived at the same time. They walked towards each other until they were several feet away. Mizuha patiently waited while observing Mokuen attentively. Her performance in the obstacle race and the cavalry battle probably gave her a good idea about her Quirk.
Like it's going to do you any good.
She didn't know what kind of Quirk this Class B student had so she decided to attack first the moment Present Mic started the match. Mizuha was going to reduce Mokuen's chances of winning this match.
Mokuen then spoke to her with a hard look, "I suggest that you fight honestly."
Mizuha narrowed her eyes at her, "Hah?"
"ALRIGHT, GIRLS! READY? ... BEGIN!"
My timing couldn't be perfect! I introduced two manga characters who are now also going to be anime characters this week! (Did any manga readers figure out that it was Tamaki she bumped into back in chapter 10?)
**NOTE**
Just a reminder, Mizuha's Quirk is basically lets her manipulate water in any state she wants (gas, liquid, solid).
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to drop a review to tell me what you thought!