"The fuck did you just call me?"
"START!"
As soon as the match began, Bakugo was the one to make the first move and home in on her with his explosion which she instinctively reacted to with an ice attack.
The male student forced himself high in the air to avoid the ice by doing a one handed explosion and using the other hand to blow her ice to pieces. When he landed on his feet, he ran towards her.
Mizuha narrowed her eyes at him and readied herself.
Bakugo's the close range type. He's going to try and reach me no matter what.
When he got closer from a sudden burst of speed from his explosion, she yelped and took a step back. He reached for her and she saw these little sparks emitting from his hand, he was about to blast her in the face.
She swung her arm upwards and made a wall of ice shoot up between them only to have it shatter once it made contact with his Quirk. His explosion create smoke around them which temporarily blinded them both. But he didn't let that stop him as he clawed at the smoke to push it away and appear in front of her. Mizuha flinched when she was faced with his hand that released an explosion in front of her as she backed away, blinding her again.
Then she heard clothes rustling from above her.
Mizuha's eyes widened.
This is the move he used on Midoriya during our first class with All Might...! That means he's behind me now!
Mizuha quickly twisted her body just in time to push his hand away, sending the explosion to the side. Even though it missed, she was still pushed back from the shockwave. She stumbled backwards and then grounded herself.
He's not giving me time to think or use my Quirk.
Bakugo was aggressive. Fighting looked like it was second nature to him. That's how skilled he was.
The fight between the two representatives kept going on with no one getting a hit on the other. She was quick to defend herself with ice to avoid getting directly hit from his Quirk while Bakugo was not leaving any openings for her to attack. It was frustrating. She couldn't easily attack him head on like Kirishima since she didn't have a hardening Quirk to protect herself. The only time she could find an opening was during the brief moment between when the ice wall would emerge and then shatter. But Bakugo was making it impossible for her to reach him since he was fast.
"Oi, oi, oi! Is this all you got? Stop holding back against me!" he yelled at her. "Or else I'll kill you!"
Mizuha sweat dropped. "Really? You're going to murder me on national television?"
"DIE!"
Her arm raised once again to create an ice wall.
But her arm was slow.
Cold.
"Too slow!"
Mizuha got blasted away from him back towards the boundary line. Her eyes widened when she realized she flying straight to the edge.
"Bakugo landed the first hit!"
The girl clicked her tongue.
Water rushed past her and formed a wall behind her and froze just in time to stop her from falling out. Mizuha fell back and then hurried to get back on her feet when Bakugo ran to her. She directed her hand towards him; the water melted and then split apart before shooting towards him in the form of icicles.
"That's not going to work!" he roared.
But it's enough for me.
Mizuha emitted hot steam around herself to warm herself up; she made sure it wasn't too hot. Her eyes narrowed when Bakugo finished blowing away her ice in record time. Mizuha bit her lip. She wasn't going to be the one always being chased.
She clenched her fist and started running at him.
Counter!
Bakugo's eyes narrowed dangerously at her approach and his hand sparked. He stood there and waited for her to come to him. He would blow her up without holding back.
Water surged up from behind her and was homing in on him. His eye twitched and he raised his hand to blow it away. He knew she was using water to create an opening to attack. But he still had another hand to use. Bakugo's other hand reeled back and he stepped forward as he swung upwards, destroying the ground as he used his power. Mizuha eyed him and swung her arm in the same manner and unleashed a blast of water that pushed them both back. His proved to be much stronger since she was actually knocked off her feet.
"Whoa, whoa whoa! Hyoumei imitated Bakugo's explosion with water! Never thought I'd see that. You kids are full of surprises, huh?!"
Bakugo stilled for moment since he a bit surprised from that attack. He wasn't expecting her to imitate an explosion with water of all things.
Mizuha stared at her hand and frowned.
It's like trying to write words on a paper after not touching a pencil in months. When you don't write after a long time, your penmanship gets sloppy.
It's not good enough.
She got up and went after him again. She kept one arm straight so that she could make an ice dagger, that wasn't too sharp, up against her arm and away from his sight. When she got close enough, she stopped and flipped the dagger and flung it towards him. He used his Quirk to break it and she continued to throw more ice daggers when he kept blowing them away. And once he was surrounded by his own smoke, Mizuha opened her palms and generated cool air from them before slamming it down to create walls of ice that rapidly went towards him. The ice pushed away some of the smoke for her to see that his foot was caught.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Mizuha held up her arms in front of her when she felt the shockwave of his powerful blast blowing her ice away.
Freezing him in place won't work. He'll destroy the ice before it can completely freeze him.
She looked past him and frowned a little. They were nowhere near the boundary line.
"Time to switch gears…" she muttered to herself and started dashing to Bakugo. Her mind was focusing on winning the match. She couldn't clearly see her victory like when she fought Mokuen. But winning was the only thing she needed to concentrate on. Giving up was too easy.
When she got closer to him, he didn't even let her try anything and just unleashed his Quirk on her. Mizuha groaned from the blast that burned and quickly froze her feet to the ground to avoid getting pushed back. She had to freeze herself twice since the first layer got blown away. That temporary blindness when they were separated by a cloud of smoke; that was her opening. It was risky. But she was willing to bet her chances.
Once he realized she was still standing there he unleashed another blast on her but this time she created a shield of ice and froze her feet to the ground once more. Right before the ice shield got blown away, she created an ice pole behind the smoke just before he clawed it away.
Melt!
The ice around her feet melted and she immediately stepped closer to swing her weapon, striking him on his side. With a growl, he swung his arm sideways and the blast dug into the ground while she simply rolled to the side and swung the pole upwards beneath his chin. Bakugo stepped back just enough for it to merely graze his skin. Then she raised her leg and kicked him in the guts.
"Hyoumei got a direct hit! My god! Getting blasted up close is not stopping her!"
Whoa… I landed a hit. But not without getting blasted of course…
Bakugo only rolled on the floor once before getting back on his feet. He glared at her as she went after him. She certainly seemed different compared to the first hours of the event.
Mizuha kept going at it with her strategy of freezing herself in place and eating those explosions since it was giving her the advantage. It felt worth it since they were slowly but surely approaching the boundary line behind him even though she was feeling the pain from his Quirk. No matter how painful it was, she just clenched her teeth. There was once when she kind of got scared when she struck him in the face though. Just a little. Honestly, Bakugo was landing more devasting attacks on her so she wasn't sure if she could handle one that was as powerful as the one he made during his match with Uraraka.
Mizuha clenched her teeth and swiped an ice saucer in his direction. Instead of jumping backwards like she thought he would, he just ducked down like some feral animal before pouncing.
"What the heck—" Mizuha used her water to force herself to move away from his attack that blew up the ground. She nearly tripped over a piece of rubble.
"I thought you might be up to something." Bakugo spoke as he rose slowly, turning his head. "You're not getting me anywhere near that damn line." He swore as his palms crackled with sparks.
Mizuha huffed and slumped her shoulders. "Figured it out, huh?"
"It was fucking obvious!" He ran to her fast.
Mizuha huffed again and noticed the puff of white smoke.
Ah. It's so cold…
Her eyes darted around and saw the amount of ice just laying around. She was using solid way more than she thought. Her thighs, calves, arms, hands… it was cold. She needed to warm up fast.
All of a sudden, a burst of steam erupted from her body. She couldn't very well control how much she emitted nor how hot it was. It pushed outward. Bakugo's eyes widened when he felt steam burn his skin when he got closer. It also felt like it pushed him away so he backed up a little.
He stared at the steam looming around her and narrowed his eyes. Was she telling him to stay away?
That shit's not fire but it has the potential to burn nonetheless.
This freaking girl was really keeping her Quirk under wraps this whole time? Annoying. She's turning out to be more problematic than he thought.
Mizuha grimaced at the amount of heat around her. She didn't mean to unleash so much. She stopped it and moved away to get some cooler air around her. At least it did the trick. The temperature throughout her body was regulated again.
I have to be careful with that… I could overheat.
"She created a smokescreen around herself?" Present Mic wondered. "Hey, Bakugo why'd you stop?"
"It's not a smokescreen. She emitted hot steam that was strong enough to repel and burn. Bakugo's not careless enough to get caught in that."
"O…Ooh."
Aizawa observed the two duking it out below. Mizuha was being resilient and smart against his explosions meanwhile Bakugo was being careful around her newly exposed Quirk.
…
…
The girl created an ice pillar beneath her feet that forced her into the air, barely avoiding Bakugo's attack. The ice melted and followed after her in its liquid form and then it shaped into a platform above her. Once the water froze, she kicked back against it to shoot downwards. She swung her arms down and high pressure water dropped on Bakugo in form of an arc.
Bakugo jumped away from her water that broke the ground and then unleashed a powerful blast that sent her flying to the ground. Mizuha narrowed her eyes and quickly created an ice ramp that she fell on and slid against to ease her fall.
She still thought that throwing him out of bounds seemed like the best option.
What was it that Todoroki did earlier?
He chilled the air and instantly heated it to create an explosion…
Extremely cold and drastically heating it.
Okay. So basically, a chemical reaction. Why am I only realizing that now?
Her shoes scratched the floor when she landed.
Chill the air. Don't release any ice. Just chill the air by emitting the cold.
The temperature of the stage dropped fast.
Bakugo narrowed dangerously. What was this girl trying to do now?
Heat it all. Boil water.
Mizuha dragged her foot back and launched a huge volume of boiling hot water in his direction. There was a brief moment of stillness before an explosion occurred. It wasn't as powerful as Todoroki's but it was still a powerful explosion that got Bakugo off the floor.
The girl's eyebrows arched up when she saw the effects. She had never done this little science experiment before. It was impressive.
But…
"DAMN IT!" he used his Quirk to propel himself against the explosion's shockwave, "Don't think for a second that that's enough to get me out of here! I'm not like Deku!"
"Seriously?! AGAIN? You kids need to chill with the explosions!"
"It's not difficult to replicate it if you have the means."
Mizuha's eyes became half-lidded in disbelief when she found out Bakugo had resisted the impact by using his Quirk, keeping him in the match.
Seriously, it was funny but at the same time not.
With his Quirk propelling himself, Bakugo cried out and zoomed towards her.
Mizuha kissed her teeth and back stepped into a cloud of dense steam that hid her from his sight. He stopped and landed on the ground. Bakugo growled in annoyance, "Freaking hiding!" the bomber used one hand to blow away her steam, revealing her in an alarming position.
Mizuha created an impressively large ice hammer that was wielded with two hands. She was in the middle of swinging her ice weapon directly to his side. The short amount of time she took to create such a thing was impressive.
Mizuha let out a cry and swung the hammer towards him with all her might and releasing her hold on the handle once it made impact. She was still going to keep trying to knock him out of there. Bakugo was almost late to block her attack. He raised his right forearm and firmly placed his left hand on the surface of the ice once it collided with him.
"... Fuck!" he cursed while wincing as he was sent flying to the side.
The sound of Present Mic's hands slamming against the table was heard through his mic.
"Hyoumei created a giant hammer and sent Bakugo flying! And what the heck, is she some sort of weapon specialist?! Daggers, a pole and now a hammer?!"
Bakugo blew up the hammer and stopped himself from landing too close to the boundary line. "… That was close."
"Come on…" Mizuha groaned to herself, he was seriously making things hard.
It wasn't supposed to be easy anyway.
"But Bakugo has already destroyed her impressive ice hammer!"
Mizuha then staggered on her feet, feeling the effects of overusing her Quirk more than usual.
…
…
…
"I'm impressed…" Kaminari blinked rapidly. "I didn't think Hyoumei's Quirk could do so much. Is it really water states? That explosion happened with Todoroki and Midoriya because he had fire? How did she do it too?" he said while making it sound like a question.
Jiro looked over her shoulder. "You don't need fire to create that explosion. You just need heat." She said flatly. "Use your head, Kaminari."
"Are you calling me dumb?" he whined.
"It's just as Aizawa-sensei said earlier, the air that was chilled was suddenly changed by the sudden heat that expanded and then it caused the explosion to occur. Hyoumei-san chilled the air around her and released water above its boiling point to create the same effect. It just wasn't as powerful as Todoroki-san's." Yaoyorozu explained to him.
"O…Oh…"
Iida put his hand under his chin. "She's quite flexible when it comes to the usage of her Quirk. She doesn't stand still."
Midoriya nodded in agreement. "She's an all-rounder type. Close-range, mid-range and long-range."
Uraraka stared in awe, "She's actually holding up against Bakugo-kun."
It was known to Class 1-A that Mizuha was more of the combat type out of all the girls. It was obvious from the Hero Training Classes they had.
Kirishima leaned forward in his seat, "She is capable of so much more than before. I wonder if she can win— you know what, I'm rooting for her now!" he grinned. "Let's goo, Hyoumeiii!"
"Bakugo's not going to lose that easily though," Sero pointed out, "He's stubborn."
"Unlike Todoroki-kun's ice, her ice can take on more precise forms." Midoriya noted.
Byakuren lolled his head to the side to look at Midoriya. "Yeah, and Mizuha's artistic. She likes to create things with her ice. It's imagination. She's had a lot of practiced in making weapons and objects."
Todoroki, who was standing somewhere against a wall, was watching the match closely since they were both potential opponents. He had his bets on Bakugo but he could see the possibility of Mizuha overwhelming Bakugo if she was lucky enough.
…
…
…
Mizuha slipped up a couple of times and let her guard down that Bakugo got her several times. Mizuha was getting tired. They were both not backing down from the fight. No matter how hard she pushed he just pushed back even harder.
With a shout, Mizuha launched high pressure water at his hand before he could make her eat another explosion. His hand arm recoiled from the impact and his eyes widened a bit before he used his other hand to blow her back. With a pained cry, she landed on her side and winced. He intentionally unleased a powerful blast to knock her farther away from him. Why?
The answer didn't go unnoticed when she saw him wiping his right hand on his pants to dry them.
Mizuha slowly got back up on her feet and stared at him curiously. She tipped her head to the side.
Oh? Why did he need to wipe his hand? I know his hands are essential to his Quirk.
Something clicked in her head. Mizuha grinned. She was going to find out what was up with his Quirk.
Without using her Quirk, she ran towards him and he responded by raising his left hand readily. Another detail she noted. He wasn't using his right hand to attack. She feinted an ice attack by swirling ice around her arm with the intent of unleashing it but he attacked first to stop her by throwing his arm upwards. She had braced herself for it and froze herself to the ground to keep her in place. It seriously hurt.
She melted the ice and shot forward, reaching her hand out for his left one. Bakugo gritted his teeth and tried moving away, but she already did what she wanted to accomplish. Her right hand swiftly slapped his palm. He retaliated by kicking her away from him.
Mizuha gasped for air when he landed the hit on her abdomen. Her body landed far away from him, rolling a bit before coming to a stop.
He didn't use the hand that got wet. When I hit his other hand, he didn't use it either, instead he used physical force.
"Damn it..." Bakugo hissed, annoyed.
He didn't use his Quirk because she took something from him. Mizuha got back up on her feet and held up her right hand in front of her face. It was just as she thought, there was something on his hands. It was a fluid...
She sniffed her palm.
Her immediate reaction was to reel her head away with a cringe.
"It's sweat!" She exclaimed, half-horrified and half-amused, wiping her hand on her pants furiously.
Bakugo's body trembled. She figured out a weakness. The most logical weakness. Her water could wash away the sweat produced from his palms' sweat glands. Obviously, this weakness was out of his control, but it was indeed frustrating to have it discovered. And to put herself in danger the way she did for the sake of testing her theory...
And she was still standing after getting hit from his powerful explosions.
She wasn't weak at all.
Bakugo smirked at her menacingly, and flew towards her at full speed. She hardly reacted in time; he was too fast.
Bakugo released a powerful explosion on her. It seemed like taking his sweat away from his hand wouldn't change anything.
The blast sent her flying back a few feet and she landed harshly on her side. Groaning, Mizuha rolled on her back, almost looking like she was giving up.
... Oh crap. I think I just triggered something
Bakugo grinned menacingly, "Get up back up and fight, Hyoumei!" he yelled, but it seemed more like a warning. "So, I can destroy you!"
She saw him preparing to either pin her down or to attack her. While laying down, Mizuha quickly forced a pillar of ice to shoot her body up in the air. Her body tilted forward, making her look like she was standing in the air. The same pillar suddenly extended and angled diagonally above her. When her body tilted forward enough for her shoes to touch the ice, Mizuha wasted no time in shifting her position, kicking back against the ice, shooting downwards.
Bakugo whipped his head up just in time to get violently rammed into with ice gauntlets, he grunted and grabbed the back of her shirt. Mizuha's eyes widened in front of his face. He flipped her above him and threw her down harshly with an explosion.
"Gah!" Mizuha let out a pained sound when her back slammed against the floor.
... The stronger he gets when he feels like the enemy is stronger.
I guess I should be glad that he thought of me like that.
But it's just as I told you that day, I'm really not that strong, even with my full Quirk I still have much to catch up on. You're obviously the stronger one here. This is just me doing the best I can with have I have so far with what I remember. And I can see that I can do so much more if I continue and not give up.
As much as I'd like to actually win against you, I know for a fact that just isn't possible. I can think up so many moves but I don't think I'd last long enough to win.
Thanks for not holding back, you forced me to not hold anything back and to do my best.
…
…
…
She tried her best, really, she did. His weakness was exploited. Her downfall was the consequences of letting her abilities rust. Bakugo had noticed this and took the first chance he got to blast her out of bounds. That was the only way to stop her since pinning her down like Tokoyami would be useless, and she didn't want to die and pass out like Uraraka. She was sturdier.
Mizuha nearly fell on the stairs when she landed on her back.
Midnight grinned and pointed her flogger-whip towards Bakugo, "Hyoumei is out of bounds! Bakugo wins!"
"Wow! That was a good fight you two! Awesome!"
The audience cheered loudly for the boy. As for Bakugo, he stared at her form that was struggling to sit up before turning around and leaving the stage. His red orbs shifted towards different parts of the stage. There was rubble from the times he caused explosion near the ground. There were cracks in the ground from her high pressured water and some parts were drenched with water. Fragments of her ice were scattered across the stage, melting under the sun.
Bakugo stepped down the steps, clenching his hidden right hand in his pocket. He could still feel the sting of her hand against his when she slapped it.
... she fights smart.
Weakly, Mizuha tried sitting up, but found it difficult when she found no strength at all.
"... Wow, I haven't felt like this in a looong time." The girl chuckled to herself before dropping back down.
"Hey!"
Mizuha jolted in surprise when she saw Byakuren's face above hers. It almost gave her enough energy to run away for being startled.
The white haired boy grinned and looked at Midnight who was about to call in the robots. He gave her a thumbs up, "I got this! I'll bring her to Recovery Girl!" he said before dropping down to his knees, and flinging her upper body forward.
A whirlwind swooped beneath her.
Mizuha let out a cry when she felt her body get lifted off the ground, "What the hell?!" and not even a second later she was dropped after getting flipped in mid air. She landed on Byakuren's back safely as he locked her legs to his sides.
Mizuha sighed, too exhausted to make a comment.
"Alright! Let's go to the infirmary!" said Byakuren, cheerfully before walking back the way he came.
"... I can last without healing." she muttered. "Even though it hurts."
"Still got a heal up everything. You still got another match to fight, remember?"
"Wait what?"
"You're going to be fighting Iida or Tokoyami for third place!"
Mizuha dropped her head on his shoulder, "... Damn it."
When she went to go heal up, Kirishima went to the infirmary to greet her with a big smile all while praising her for the good fight.
"Thanks." Mizuha resisted the urge to grin from his praise. "I did my best."
…
…
…
The fight for third place never happened. Class 1-A's class representative left because of an urgent family call, resulting in Tokoyami, Mizuha and Iida to share the third place. It was only fair.
Mizuha found herself standing next to Tokoyami on the third place podium. She was playing with her hands behind her back to pass the time. They were currently hidden from the ground, preparing to rise to reveal the results of the event. In second place was Todoroki, he was staring down at the floor below the podium; he was lost in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, staff people finished locking all of the restraints on Mr. Number 1: Bakugo Katsuki (who was currently unconscious)
Why the restraints?
Well, Bakugo was obviously going to be furious at Todoroki. Their match for first place did not end the way Bakugo hoped it would. Mizuha knew that Bakugo didn't want anyone to hold back against him and Todoroki wasn't an exception, especially after seeing his flames in his match with Midoriya. Bakugo ended up in first place by defeating Todoroki who didn't really use his flames on him. She could still remember how Bakugo rushed over to him, practically shouting at the unconscious boy how he didn't want to win this way. She couldn't imagine what Bakugo would have done if Midnight didn't knock him out with her Quirk.
Mizuha and Tokoyami jolted in surprise when they suddenly felt the podium shake along with the sound of metal rattling. They found Bakugo's aggressive attempts at reaching Todoroki who was situated on his right.
Mizuha sweat dropped. Looks like he's awake.
"MMMMPPFFF!"
Man, he is piiiissed!
On cue, the podium rose to the surface, revealing the four students on the podium to everyone in the stadium.
When All Might began handing out the medals, he stopped in front of the two third place students, looking a little unsure.
"Unfortunately, we have only one medal available for third place so—"
"Tokoyami can have it." said Mizuha firmly without hesitation.
Her teacher and classmate both looked at her, surprised at how quickly she made up her mind. She didn't look like she was going to change her mind anytime soon.
Iida or Tokoyami can have it, but definitely not me. I don't deserve to wear that medal compared to my fellow third runner ups who gave everything they had from start to finish. I can't accept it.
"Thank you." Tokoyami decided to thank her for being humble.
All Might turned to Tokoyami, who lowered himself to receive the medal, and held up the bronze medal, "Congratulations Young Tokoyami, you sure are strong."
"You honor me too highly." said Tokoyami after standing up straight.
All Might then pulled him in for a formal congratulatory hug, patting his back a few times, "However, in order to fight well against different types, you must not only rely on your Quirk. If you train your own strength more, then you'll have more options when you fight."
"Yes, sir."
All Might shifted towards the girl, "Congratulations, Young Hyoumei."
Mizuha looked up at her teacher, curiously wondering what he was going to tell her.
"You've proven yourself as a strong one today. You did very well." All Might stated. "You have wide range of abilities at your disposal. But you must not restrain yourself or else you won't be able to push your limits. But I suppose that won't be an issue since you have started to change."
Mizuha tipped her head. "How can you tell?"
All Might held her, patting her back with one hand. "Heroes can recognize when another struggles with their personal obstacles because they tend to radiate with much more confidence once they overcome them." He pulled away and then smiled sheepishly. "Also, Kishokei-kun might have said something to hint it."
Mizuha sighed. "Of course he did…"
Her teacher gave her a thumbs up, "No more holding back now."
"Yes, sir."
"Good work. So, there will be no school tomorrow or the day after. I'm sure the Pro Heroes who watched the Sports Festival will want to recruit you, but we'll consolidate everything and announce it when you get back. So, rest well, and look forward to that."
"Yes, sir!"
Aizawa looked at Hyoumei, who stared back at him knowingly. After stepping off the podium, the deal she made with her homeroom teacher on the first day of school instantly came back to her. She was waiting for this moment ever since they changed back into their uniforms. And now it was time.
"Hyoumei, come see me outside for a moment." said their homeroom teacher before walking towards the door.
Mizuha breathed in and slowly breathed out, calming her nerves as much as possible. She pushed her chair back and followed her mummy looking teacher outside the classroom. When she closed the door behind her, she found Aizawa standing by the door, waiting for her. The girl stood in front of him silently, waiting for him to speak.
Her fists clenched tightly by her sides.
I really do want to stay here, there's no other school I'd rather be in. I want to study here. I want to study where my brother did and… I kinda want to get to know the people who are around me.
…
…
"I won't expel you. You'll remain in Class 1-A."
Mizuha visibly relaxed, her hands relaxing and trembling a little.
"But don't think for a moment that I'll let you slack off just because you've proven that you are capable of using your Quirk to its fullest. I'll be expecting you to work on it thoroughly and pushing yourself."
The girl nodded.
"You can leave now, rest well during your days off." he said, turning around to walk to the teachers' office.
"Um, Aizawa-sensei!" she called him, playing with her hands, "Can I ask you something?"
Her teacher stopped and turned around to look at her.
"What is it?"
"Were you really going to expel me? I mean… U.A is supposed to help us become Heroes in three years. Couldn't you have just let me continue and just somehow let me learn to use it again later on?"
The black haired hero closed his eyes and sighed behind his bandages. "You are correct. This is school is designed to help you, but tell me, how can we help you if you refuse to help yourself?"
"… Um."
"How is it logical to let you work on your Quirk so late during high school? You'd fall behind your peers who have used their time wisely to strengthen their Quirks while you chose to stay in your comfort zone. You were faced with a mental block that you were aware of but still couldn't find the confidence to overcome it. As you are already aware, I'm strict when it comes to my teaching."
Oh yeah, I definitely know that.
"I'll give you chances to meet my expectations but I won't tolerate you just wasting them. You were still hesitant on overcoming your mental block before the event. The Sports Festival was your last chance to prove yourself since it not only showcase the student, but it allows the students to come to terms with what they can do so far and how they can improve."
Mizuha's eyes widened. So, she thought, that's it.
"I hope that answers your question."
It certainly did. He was right about everything. She was too comfortable in just using her ice that she never really wanted to actually overcome her fear no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise. She could see that now. Aizawa-sensei really gave her time but she never really took it seriously only scratching the surface of things instead of going deeper.
If she refused to help herself, how can others help her? Her argument with Byakuren was a good example. He was always trying to help her, but she didn't want any of it by staying away from everything.
Mizuha nodded and bowed down. "Thank you so much for giving me a chance, Aizawa-sensei I won't let you down! I promise!"
"You get to stay?!" Kirishima beamed happily.
Mizuha grinned while rubbing the back of her neck, "Y-Yeah."
"Awesome! I'm so glad you get to stay here with us!" Kirishima exclaimed cheerfully, before throwing his arms around her in a tight hug.
Mizuha stumbled a little, surprised from the sudden hug, "Whoa!"
Is it just me or are hugs pretty frequent today?
When she returned inside the classroom, surprisingly, she still found a lot of her classmates sitting in class and talking about the event that just ended. Bakugo was nowhere to be found since he probably went off to throw his gold medal into the sea or something. Kirishima and Byakuren were talking together most likely waiting for her to come back.
Byakuren laughed a little, enjoying the sight while resting his cheek in the palm of his hand as he propped up his arm on the desk. But then he lowered his arm and called Mizuha, catching both her and Kirishima's attention.
"I think you have to say something to someone before we head home."
As Kirishima released her, Mizuha tilted her head to side in confusion. Who was he talking about?
The girl just stared at the white haired boy in confusion.
He gave her a look.
OH!
Onyx eyes widened a little and her mouth made a slight 'o' in realization. "Right… her."
I don't really want to though…
Byakuren jabbed her side with his finger with a frown. "Go."
"But…"
"Go, you coward."
"Ow… okay, okay." she said after turning away and swatting his hand away. "I'll be back." She mumbled before quickly leaving the classroom.
Kirishima arched a brow and looked at the white haired boy who went to Mizuha's desk to gather her things. "Where'd she go?" he asked him.
"She owes someone an apology for her behaviour."
She was hoping that person didn't leave school yet. Mizuha bumped into a couple of students on the way but didn't bother apologizing to them. Then she found herself in front of a large door. She looked up at the giant door, reading '1-B' on it. Timidly, she slid the door open and peeked inside only to be greeted by a silver haired boy who was about to reach for the door handle. Mizuha jumped in surprise and took a step back meanwhile the boy in front of her was quickly registering what was in front of him.
His face twisted into an irritated one.
Ah, man, I don't want to be here anymore!
"Hah?! What do you want, rude girl?! You here to disrespect someone else?!" Tetsutetsu shouted at her.
"Um… listen—"
She was cut off by Tetsutetsu who started talking over her, making her back down and shut her mouth. He was clearly still upset with her. Mizuha decided to ignore him and peek behind his shoulder. She had to stand on her toes since he was taller and because his bag was in the way. To her surprise, she found the person she was looking for right behind the angry metal-boy. They looked equally surprised to her in front of their classroom door.
"Um, hey, I need to talk to you…" Mizuha told her before Tetsutetsu pushed her back. "No way!" he scowled.
Mizuha narrowed her eyes at Tetsutetsu, annoyed that he was preventing her from speaking with Mokuen. As much as she wanted to turn back, she knew she'd never hear the end of it Byakuren found out she ran away from a simple thing. She needed to apologize to the girl.
But she was starting to feel intimidated by the stares of Mokuen's classmates.
However, seeing how desperate and serious she was, Mokuen was the one to reach out to her by pushing Tetsutetsu aside and going past him. Tetsutetsu gaped at his classmate when he saw her approach Mizuha in a hurry.
"Ah— Mokuen?!"
The maroon haired girl smiled at him sheepishly. "Sorry, Tetsutetsu-kun! I appreciate you looking out for me but I need to talk to Hyoumei-san!" she quickly said before grabbing the taller girl's wrist and dragging her off to an isolated corner.
Man, her classmates care about her a lot.
The moment Mizuha was about to open her mouth, the shorter girl held up a hand to stop her with a blank expression. The water user blinked.
Mokuen apologized to her first.
What the heck? Why are you apologizing to me? How did our roles get reversed?
The platinum haired girl looked confused as hell, "W-Why are you apologizing?"
Mokuen, who was bowing down, stood up straight to look at her in the eye, "I was angry at you for keeping Shu shackled to the past. He…" she bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck. "He felt guilty for being the reason you couldn't use your Quirk properly."
What?
HUH?
"After the incident, he felt like he was at fault for making you unable to use your Quirk properly. But I knew that he wasn't at fault! I thought he finally got over it after all these years but when he saw you on the news after the USJ incident, I saw his face ridden with guilt. He was not over it. I was fed up and angry." Mokuen fists clenched tightly but slowly loosened. "I never thought that you were plagued by fear that it paralysed your abilities. I… I heard you and Kirishima when I went to the bathroom, and I heard everything. I shouldn't be mad at you for something psychological that caused you pain. And I made you feel even worse by mentioning my brother's name."
Mizuha watched her lower her head in shame. "I'm really sorry."
The Class A student was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say after that. Her hand reached behind her neck to rub it awkwardly. "Um, don't worry about it. You couldn't have known."
"Still… I believe emotional pain is the worst kind, especially after seeing my brother's, it shouldn't so harshly be reopened."
Okay, you're being way to critical on yourself.
Mizuha sighed softly. Emotional or psychological pain was really the worst kind indeed. It doesn't really go away. It haunts the person for a long time. But…
"You know… I think, sometimes, it's necessary to reopen those emotional wounds." Mizuha admitted. "You desperately want to keep them covered to protect yourself from feeling more pain. But, I realized that if you can face that pain then you're bound to make some progress and overcome them. Just like I have today."
Mokuen's eyes widened slowly. The gentle smile on Mizuha's face as she stared at the floor gave off the feeling of peace. The water user's mind that was previously conflicted was somewhat at peace after the recent events. Then, Mizuha's eyes widened when she remembered something and then quickly bowed down to Mokuen.
"By the way, sorry for disrespecting you. You, uh, didn't deserve that."
Do I need to add anything else to my apology? Uh…
Mokuen's lips formed a tight line before saying, "I deserved it."
Her arms crossed over her chest at the awkward standstill. Seriously, having things switched up was the last thing she expected. How complicated.
"Look, let's make it even. You forgive me for what I did to you, and I forgive you and make your brother feel better."
"Eh?"
I can't believe I'm about to do this.
"I'm gonna need Shu's cellphone number. Can you help me?"
Shu ┐(￣～￣)┌
Saved.
Mizuha closed her phone and slipped it into her pocket. Mokuen was more than willing to help her get in touch with an old friend and she was grateful for that.
When she returned to the area where her classroom was she found it quite crowded in front of the large windows across from it. Students from different classes were all staring at something and whispering amongst themselves. Curiously, she tilted her head the side and went to her classroom while looking at the students.
Just then, Byakuren and Kirishima exited the classroom, with the first holding her bag.
"What's going on?" Mizuha asked curiously, holding out her arms.
Byakuren shrugged, throwing her bag at her, "No idea."
"I wonder what it is." Kirishima wondered before trying to push him way through the crowd to look at the center of attention.
"Who is that guy?"
"He's talking with the principal..."
"Do you think that guy is like a chairman?"
"That was a terrible pun."
Mizuha finally pushed her way through the crowd. She sighed in relief and slowly looked, from above, down at the ground floor for anything attention worthy. She squinted her eyes when she saw three figures below. A small form with a tail. That was the principal. Next to him was… her uncle? Okay. But there was another figure down there. Her uncle was behind them.
He was pushing someone in a wheel chair.
Kirishima and Kaminari both bumped into her from behind.
"Man, everyone is soo pushy!" Kaminari groaned, "This is just like that false alarm!"
Kirishima laughed a little, agreeing with his fellow classmate. He would know. He was practically brought along the human wave with him when all the students ran through the hallway. The red head then asked Mizuha if she knew what was going on.
"... No, but... there's someone in a wheel chair down there..." she squinted her eyes, "... it's a guy."
Kirishima titled his head, confusingly, "A wheel chair?"
Her uncle noticed the crowd of students staring at them, spotting Mizuha among them. Eijin tapped the guy's shoulder, lowering himself to their height and pointed directly at Mizuha. The principal also turned to look up at where he was pointing.
Then, the person in the wheel chair slowly moved his head upward, following the direction of her uncle's finger.
Mizuha tensed.
They stared directly towards Mizuha's direction.
…
…
…
"A…Ah." Mizuha gasped.
The girl somehow forgot how to breathe.
Is this real?
Mizuha dropped her bag and started roughly pushing her way out of the ground. Students were protesting against her aggressive shoves but they just fell on deaf ears. Baffled, Kirishima followed after her while apologizing on her behalf after picking up her bag that she decided to abandon.
"H… Hyoumei!" Kirishima saw her run fast down the hall. "Your bag…" he trailed off when she saw Byakuren staring down with a shocked expression while his fingers trembled when they reached to grip his collar.
Midoriya and Uraraka let out collective yelps when Mizuha zoomed passed them.
Mizuha ran as fast as her legs could allow her. She didn't even care about what she looked like at the moment. Some feral animal out for blood? A crazy person looking for the nearest drugstore? She didn't care. She locked out all the noise and ran straight to the stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet twice and smashing her face in the floor. Her body was shaken up from what she just found out and it was throwing her cool out the window, panting with overwhelming disbelief. Many students who were on their way down to the school's entrance to leave were watching her mad dash.
When she arrived at the corner where the stairs was just around, she turned, extending her right arm and grasping onto the railing on the side. She slowed down from being held back and then leaped off the top of the stairs.
She barely caught her fall, nearly stumbling into the wall. But she didn't care, she needed to get down there now!
When Mizuha finally got down to the first floor, she turned around the corner, nearly stumbling forward again, but caught herself and ran straight for the doors.
Mizuha rammed her shoulder into the doors and practically made them slam against the outside walls behind it. She stumbled forward and drank in the sight. There, sitting in the wheel chair, was a guy dressed in a black sweater and grey sweat pants. He looked very familiar.
There was no doubt about it.
She opened her mouth.
"SHINSUI!"
The guy in the wheel chair slowly widened his eyes when he heard the name leave her lips. His name.
Matching onyx eyes met the other, taking in the sight of the other person standing meters away from them. At first, Mizuha was merely walking to them with a look of disbelief but she soon picked up the pace until she was running again. His body was screaming at him, telling him that he couldn't stand on his feet just yet. Sheer willpower was helping him stand up.
"That… That's just not fair," Shinsui managed to say, feeling emotional, "What the hell…"
Shinsui pushed himself out of his seat and attempted to retain bodily balance.
At first, hearing about how much time had passed when he slept his long sleep only made him panic and fret at the amount of time he lost. He still couldn't believe it even after seeing someone who bore the same last name as him run through an obstacle race on TV. He was a bit in denial. That denial slowly began to crumble away after coming to his old school after he demanded to see the truth with his own eyes.
But now he was truly facing reality.
Running to him was his little sister who was supposed to be eleven years old. She looked different though. She looked like a teenager! The reality he woke up to was so different from the one he saw before falling asleep. How much did he miss? How much was robbed from him? How much has she changed? Has anything stayed the same?
"Mizuha...!" whispered Shinsui, managing to take only two steps before loosing any strength at all. The sudden rush of emotions and disbelief toppled the muscle strength in his legs.
Eijin tried to catch his nephew, but was obstructed by the wheel chair in front of him. Fortunately, Mizuha already reached him, throwing her arms around the older boy to embrace him and to catch him.
This is real.
The two siblings fell to the ground. Mizuha was on her knees, leaning backwards as her brother leaned his weight on her. His hands trembled as he wrapped his arms around the smaller girl. Shinsui's face was tucked away in the space between her neck and shoulder while Mizuha's face was buried into his shoulder.
"I'm so glad you're safe!"
"I'm so glad you're okay!"
They just both started crying from the relief.
"I'm so sorry you got hurt. I didn't want that to happen..." Mizuha sobbed against him.
Shinsui pulled away from her while sniffling, "Silly, don't cry because of that..." he begged, carefully wiping away her tears with his thumbs. Mizuha jutted her lip and pointed at his face, "Then why are you crying?!"
"I-I'm not!" laughed the older boy, effortlessly trying to wipe away his own salty tears with his clothed shoulder.
"Yes, you are!"
With a laugh, Shinsui stared at his little sister affectionately, holding her face gently in his hands and bumping his forehead against hers, "You're really Mizuha?"
She nodded against him.
Fresh tears cascaded down his face and his shoulders shook. "It's so unfair how I missed four years of so many things..."
Without another word, the older Hyoumei hugged the younger one, tightly and practically suffocating her.
Eventually, Byakuren caught up to her. He was crying too, just not as much as the two siblings.
"Holy crap... are you serious?!" He exclaimed and caught both of their attention.
"Is that you, Ren?" Shinsui gasped.
The two were fairly close, they had a brotherly relationship.
Byakuren got down on his knees next to Mizuha while she allowed her brother to release her from her hold in order to let Byakuren get his own hug from the recently awoken from comatose man. Eijin was then the one to finally stop their scene and remind Shinsui to get back in the wheel chair.
"We can't have you sobbing on his ground like this." He snickered while keeping the wheel chair in place as the two friends helped the older man into his chair.
"Can't I stay here a bit longer?" Shinsui pouted.
The principal chuckled at his childish behaviour but shook his head, "Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to stay here any longer. You caused enough of an uproar in the hospital for this reunion and I believe that it's time for you to return."
Byakuren and Mizuha looked at the principal.
"Uproar?" they inquired in unison.
Eijin rolled his eyes and placed his hands on the wheel chair's back handles, "This guy was so determined to get here when he woke up. He was causing a ruckus for the hospital's staff once he saw Mizuha on TV. Surprisingly, they allowed him to leave but not without surveillance."
He pointed at the black car just beyond the entrance. An impatient looking man was waiting there, arms crossed and with his foot tapping the floor.
"I'm awake... I'm not broken or anything... sheesh." Shinsui muttered to himself.
Eijin sighed, "Anyway, your parents are at home; they went back after Shinsui came to U.A."
Then the dark gray haired brother quickly asked if Mizuha and Byakuren wanted to go back with him with a big smile on his face, but this idea was immediately rejected by Eijin. He said that Mizuha and Byakuren both needed to rest up from the long day and that they could visit him during their days off. As much as Shinsui wanted to protest, Eijin didn't allow him to by turning his chair around and directing him towards the car that was waiting for him.
Then both Mizuha and Byakuren apologized to their principal for any trouble, which the little creature waved it off as nothing and simply congratulated them on Shinsui's awakening and hoped that Byakuren's sister would awake soon as well. They both respectfully bowed and thanked him as he left.
Mizuha faced Byakuren, smiling at him with hope, "I hope Kyougyoku wakes up soon..."
The boy returned her smile with his own and nodded, "Yeah, me too."
Everything seemed to be falling back in place the way it should be. Mizuha was able to set aside her fear and problem, Shinsui woke up and now it seemed like the only thing left was to wait for one more person to awaken from their slumber.
"HEYY!"
The two jumped at the sudden call, immediately looking at the owner of the voice. Kirishima was waving his arm at them while holding Mizuha's bag in his free hand. They saw Midoriya, Uraraka, Kirishima, Ashido and Yaoyorozu coming to them.
Byakuren beamed at everyone, "Hey!" he greeted cheerfully while waving his hand.
Ashido was literally bawling when she arrived in front of the two along with Uraraka. Apparently, Midoriya; being the hero fanboy he is, easily recognized Shinsui as the Pro Hero who was reported to be in a comatose state. This information made both girls cry, feeling sad but yet happy for the two.
Yaoyorozu was silently wiping away tears, with her fore finger, from the corner of her eyes while saying that the reunion was so touching.
Kirishima walked over to Mizuha, handing her the bag that she abandoned in front of him when she ran off.
This time, Mizuha showed him a real smile that came from her heart, "Thank you, Kirishima."
That caught him off guard. Her smile was like a hidden treasure and very rare.
It was a magnificent smile.
Is this... this is the first time I've seen her smile.
...
...
...
"You cried three times, Hyoumei." teased Byakuren.
"... did you have to point that out?"
And with that, the Sports Festival is now dooone!
There isn't much more left before this book is done!
Random Fact!
Just like Hirokoshi Kouhei (BNHA's mangaka), I named my OCs based on their character and quirk. I'm actually a fanatic when it comes to making japanese names, it's so fun!
MIZUHA means Water Champion and HYOUMEI means Ice Light.
BYAKUREN means White Lotus and KYOURAN means Wild Tempest/Storm.