Minoko stood in one of the higher floors of Building B. They had just finished explaining each other's quirks, and planning. She took the remaining time to look around the room for items she could use. She removed her quirk canceling gloves and stuffed them in her utility belt. She held the items to put them away in her inventory, at the same time, she scattered items near the door so in case of an emergency, she can use them once things are reversed. Turning around, she watched as Ojirou warmed up and Hagakure placed the weapon at the back of the room. "They should be entering the building soon," Minoko said.
"I should get ready then," Hagakure said, removing her boots and gloves. "Don't look!"
"We can't see either way," Ojirou pointed out, taking position in front of the weapon.
"Aren't you cold, Hagakure?" Minoko asked, concerned over the girl's lack of…everything.
"Nope!"
"Okay then," Minoko stood close to Ojirou's left, "They should be coming in by now." Just as she said that, the temperature took a sudden drop.
"What's going—" Hagakure wasn't able to finish her sentence as ice covered the room, trapping them in place.
"This quirk…" Ojirou started.
The sound of footsteps redirected their attention towards the doorway. Todoroki appeared with a pleased look. "You can move, but it'll be hard to move with your skin torn off."
Minoko clicked her tongue, reaching her right hand towards Ojirou then towards herself. She finds herself in the box room of her quirk.
"W—where are we?" Ojirou asked as he stood up looking around the room which had wooden floorboards, dark purple walls and a black ceiling along with windows showing a void outside.
"We're in the pocket dimension that comes with my quirk," Minoko explained. "I knew Todoroki was strong, but I didn't think he would've froze the entire building." She looked up at Ojirou, "We have a bit of time since time here is two minutes faster than in the real world. I can send us back later. First, we need a better plan, since just defense isn't gonna work, especially with our five minute extension."
"Okay, what should we do about Hagakure?" Ojirou asked.
"As much as I wanted to get her out of there as well, I can't really do much about it," Minoko said, "My quirk requires two things to work, touch and vision. Even if I could reach Hagakure, I still can't see her, so my quirk won't work. We need to get her loose in a different way."
"I think I would be able to break the ice near her feet with my tail," Ojirou said.
"That's perfect!" Minoko said. "I'll distract Todoroki while you get Hagakure loose. Shouji wasn't there with him, so I'm assuming Todoroki asked him to stay back. When I send us back, I'll be swapping our positions with some things near the door. You have to move fast 'cause I think Shouji will be able to detect that something's wrong and come up himself. You two have to be ready to battle him and lure him away."
Ojirou nodded at her plan. "Alright, I'll be sending us back now." She tapped Ojirou's shoulder before her own.
When she appeared, she was right behind Todoroki who was mid step towards the weapon. "Ojirou, now!"
"Where did—" Todoroki exclaimed when he saw Ojirou's tail hit his ice. Minoko took this opening and rushed forward with the capture tape in her left hand.
Todoroki took notice of her and tried to back away, but Minoko had already thrown the capture tape in an angle that spun around Todoroki. Minoko caught the other end with the same hand and pulled on the tape, moving Todoroki away from the weapon. She managed to spin their positions around before Todoroki broke the capture tape with his ice.
Minoko clicked her tongue, not realizing how weak the tape was going to be against Tododroki's ice.Plan B.She reached for Todoroki with her right hand. Realizing what she was doing, Todoroki summoned a wall of ice between them. Minoko's hand landed on the ice, immediately sending it away. Todoroki summoned another ice attack, by his feet, going around her. Minoko stuck out her left hand and exchanged the ice with a shovel mid spin and immediately tried attacking Todoroki with it. The boy blocked it off with another wall of ice.
Minoko touched the ice and made it disappear and charged once again.Just a bit more.She could still hear Ojirou breaking the ice.He's nearly out of the room. The doorway was just behind him. She thrusted the shovel forward, making Todoroki back away. "I'm leaving the weapon to you two. With all that commission, Shouji must be halfway up the building by now!" Minoko followed Todoroki into the hallway.
Just as she had predicted, another pair of footsteps arrived at the scene.
"Todoroki!" Shouji exclaimed.
"You go after the other two!" Todoroki exclaimed, eyes not leaving Minoko. "She's mine."
Shouji made his way towards the door, making Minoko click her tongue. She wasn't sure if Hagakure was free yet.I need to stall him too,she thought about going after Shouji when a huge chunk of ice blocked her way.
"You heard what I said, didn't you?" Todoroki asked, his eyes narrowing at her.
Minoko could only wish Ojirou managed to get Hagakure free. "Yeah, I did. Kinda blunt if I'm gonna be honest," she said, readying the shovel.
"...what?" A look of confusion flashed onto his face, before it went back to its usual stoic expression.
"Nevermind," Minoko changed the subject by switching the shovel to her right hand, careful not to put all five fingers on it, and attacking Todoroki with it. He countered by summoning another ice wall, but instead of backing away, he went around the ice and reached for Minoko.
Realizing what he was doing, Minoko grabbed her cloak and pulled it off. She swung it towards Todoroki and exchanged it with a box, which with the help of the momentum, was hurling towards the boy. He wasn't backing down though. Todoroki summoned ice with his feet and pushed the box backwards. Minoko dodged the incoming item, hitting the wall of ice that Todoroki had made earlier.
She cursed in her mind, trying to think of some other way to push Todoroki back.Why did he have to have so much power?She tried attacking him again with the shovel, but he caught it and started freezing the item.Right, life's not fair.Minoko brought the last finger down and put away the shovel before the ice reached her hand.
Her hands were free of any weapons, which Todoroki seized the opportunity to reach for Minoko's right arm. Minoko twisted her right hand in hopes to reach Todoroki first, while her left hand tugged her necklace off and exchanged it with a long pipe—the same one from the entrance exam that she hadn't bothered taking out. She felt ice prick her arm as she thrusted the pipe sidewards towards Todoroki's abdomen.
Todoroki moved to the side, hand tightening its grip on Minoko's arm. He raised his foot to kick the weapon out of her hand. Minoko yelped as the pipe flew away. Todoroki took this chance to pull on her right hand, spinning them around and trapping Minoko on a wall. He froze her arm to the wall and reached for her left and froze it on the wall as well. Neither hand was touching the ice, and no matter how she bends her hands, she shouldn't be able to reach for anything.
Todoroki let out a huff, his breath visible considering how cold the hallway is. Minoko struggled, trying to break free of the ice. "Don't bother," Todoroki said as he walked away.
Minoko let out a frustrated sigh as All Might's voice announced the winners. "Hero Team, WINS!"
A little later, the building started heating up and the ice holding Minoko in place started melting. "Ouch!" She yelped as the hot water dripped off her skin.
All Might came down to the venue to assess them of any injuries. When he found that apart from small bruises and cuts, there were no major injuries, he let the students go back. "We're sorry Kaeda!" Both Ojirou and Hagakure apologized, taking the girl aback as they walked back to the observation room.
"Wait, what? No, no," she waved her hands in front of her, "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah, but we sorta feel guilty," Hagakure said.
"We would've lost then and there, but you gave us a fighting chance," Ojirou said, "but in the end we couldn't keep Todoroki and Shouji from retrieving the weapon."
"I told you before," Todoroki started as he passed them, "I'm way above your level." He made eye contact with Minoko, "Don't dwell on it too much. It was going to be the same outcome either way."
"Shouji! Your partner's too harsh!" Hagakure exclaimed.
"Tell me about it," Shouji said.
Minoko eyed Todoroki's back as he walked away, then to her hands.Yeah, it would've.
When they got back, Yaoyorozu gave another evaluation of their performance. "I think the best player for this round was Kaeda who was adapted and was resourceful," she said, catching the girl's attention. "Ojirou and Hagakure were too easy to accept defeat early into the battle. Shouji, though cooperative, should have not left Todoroki alone as if it were in a real set up, they wouldn't have known if Todoroki actually managed to trap the villains. Todoroki on the other hand underestimated his enemies. The battle would have been won faster if Shouji was already at the scene rather than outside the building. And, despite Todoroki's barrage of strong attacks, Kadea was able to take charge and hold her own due to her quick thinking."
"That is correct! Being able to think fast is an important thing for a hero to have as not all your plans will go accordingly. Sometimes, heroes have to prepare plans A to Z, and in the end still go along with a plan they thought of on the spot," All Might says. "Good job! Let us proceed with the next battles."
"You did a really good Kaeda!" Kirishima said with a grin, "Your performance was so manly!"
Minoko hummed softly, "Thanks."
Kirishima's smile was replaced by a frown, "What's wrong?" he asked. "You seem down."
Minoko shook her head, "Nothing," she sighed, "Just a bit frustrated, but it's fine!" She smiled at him. "Also, shouldn't you be going? Your match is next!"
"Oh shoot!" Kirishima whipped his head around and found Sero waiting impatiently by the door. "Sorry, we'll continue this talk later, okay?" He said before scurrying off.
Minoko hanged near the back of the room as the next battle started. She watched in silence, only really half paying attention.
"Good job everyone!" All Might stood in front of them as they gathered at the exit of Ground Beta. "Other than Young Midoriya, none of you are majorly injured. I say this was a good first training."
"Having such a decent class after Mr. Aizawa's…"Asui started, "feels a bit anticlimactic." The rest of the class nodded in agreement.
"Conducting decent lessons is our freedom of choice!" All Might announced. "Now then, I should go check on Young Midoriya." He raised a hand as goodbye. "Go change and get back to your classroom!"
Minoko felt the air mess with her hair as All Might took his quick exit. "Isn't he being a bit too enthusiastic?" she muttered.
They headed back to the locker room to get changed back into their uniforms. "Kaeda, are you alright?" Ashido approached her. "You've been quiet."
Minoko hummed, "Yeah, no, I'm fine," she said with a sigh, "Just tired I guess."
"Well, if you need to talk you can always come to me," Ashido winked at her.
Minoko smiled, "Yeah, thanks."
Am I really being that gloomy?Minoko asked herself as she buttoned up her blazer.I mean evenIexpected that I'd lose to Todoroki. He's right, he was way above our level. Aboveme. So…She closed her locker.Why am I disappointed?
Minoko followed the rest of the girls back to the classroom. She sat down at her desk and leaned forward to stretch and relax her body.I'm beat."Kaeda! Please do not use the desk as your pseudo bed! It is for your academic needs and would be disrespectful for the people who worked hard to create it for the purpose of learning!"
Minoko groaned, "But Iidaa," she whined, looking up at the boy who was currently looming over her, waiting for her to sit up. "How do you still have so much energy?"
"We, as students, have a responsibility to perform our best from the moment we enroll!" Iida started. "That said, everyone! Please go back to your seats, the next lesson is about to start soon!" Minoko grumbled as she sat up.
They had to endure two more classes before it was finally 4:10 pm. "Freedom!" Ashido exclaimed as soon as the door closed and the teacher was out of the room. This prompted everyone else to start chattering—talking about their classes, Hero Training in particular.
"Oi, Bakugou!" Kirishima exclaimed, walking to the front of the room where Bakugou was just about to reach for the door handle. "Don't you wanna stay behind for a bit? We're talking about All Might's class and giving each other advice—"
"I don't need anyone's shitty advice!" Bakugou yelled, slamming the door open then shut again.
Kirishima sighed, "Ah, well, I tried." They watched as Iida crouched down at the door, assessing it for damage. Minoko was sure she saw tears in the corner of his eyes. Kirishima then faced her, "So, what's up?" he asked.
Minoko shook her head, "I think I was just tired earlier and it really showed ya know," she said. It wasn't exactly a lie, she feels a whole lot better now that the other subjects had taken her mind off it, but not exactly the truth either.
Kirishima hummed, skeptically, "If you say so," he said, not wanting to push it.
The classroom door opened, making Minoko tilt her head to see, "Midoriya!" she exclaimed, seeing the boy still in his hero costume, and his arm in a sling. "Glad to see you still alive!"
Kirishima gave her a look, "Did you expect him to die in the infirmary?" he asked, before going over to where Midoriya was, followed by a few of their classmates. They were complimenting him about his performance and introducing themselves.
"How noisy," she hears Tokoyami say from where he sat on his desk. Minoko subconsciously nodded in agreement.
"Tokoyami! That desk is meant for school supplies!" Iida rushed over to the bird boy after making sure the door was still functionable. "If you want to sit, do it on your chair!"
He's like a robot,Minoko thought as Iida made more stiff movements with his hands as he scolded their classmates.
The sound of the back door opening made Minoko crane her head back. It was Uraraka and Kaminari carrying books. "Hey Uraraka, we should go eat," Kaminari said, "What do you want?"
Uraraka's eyes wandered upwards as she began to think, "Mochi sounds—Ah! Deku! You're back!" She exclaimed, leaving Kaminari by the door.
"Welcome back," Minoko smirked as Kaminari approached her with a scrunched face.
"Here," he gave her her book. "Wipe that smirk out of your face."
"Thankss," she said, putting it away in her bag. "Busted," she whispered.
"Oi! I heard that!"
Minoko chuckled, leaving the boy to distribute the books.She started rearranging her bag to fit everything neatly. "Ready to go?" Kirishima asked, stopping by her desk, his bag in hand.
"Maybe don't leave just yet," Kaminari said, coming back to his seat.
Minoko raised an eyebrow at him, "Why so?"
Kaminari nodded towards the window, "I saw Midoriya and Bakugou talking to each other by the gate."
"Well," Kirishima said, walking towards the window to see it for himself. "hewaslooking for Bakugou earlier."
"Itwasan intense battle earlier," Minoko said, "Maybe they need to talk a few things out."
"Probably," Kaminari sighed, "Speaking of, Kaeda! You were so cool earlier! Todoroki's a recommendation student and you really gave him a run for his money."
Minoko couldn't help the frown that reached her lips, "I still lost though," she said, "If it were a real villain, I would be dead by now."
Kirishima nodded, "That's true, but itwasn'ta real villain," he said, placing his hands on his waist. "We're here to learn so of course we're gonna win some, gonna lose some. That's how we learn, right? Like Mr. Aizawa said, we have three years to become heroes. So instead, shouldn't we be doing our best to improve! You might have lost to Todoroki now, but you had him in a few close calls, who knows what could happen in the future!"
Minoko stared at Kirishima who was giving her a beaming smile. She couldn't help but smile herself, "You're right! I'll be training harder from now on!"
Kirishima nodded at her enthusiastically, "Training is manly!"
Minoko relaxed back on her seat, letting out a sigh, "Thank you, Kirishima."
Kaminari let out a conflicted hum, as he watched the two, his hands crossed on his chest. "Well then," he leaned down on Minoko's desk, "Since Uraraka declined my offer—"
"Left you hanging you mean."
"—declinedmy offer. Why don't we just go to the sweet shop to celebrate today's first hero training lesson?" Kaminari asked with a grin, before looking over to Kirishima, "And Iguessyou can come too."
Kirishima brought a hand to his chest, "Bro, I'll be honored!"
Kaminari grimaced.
Minoko couldn't help but chuckle at their antics. "Sure!" She stood up, slinging her bag on her shoulders. "Let's get going before it becomes too late!"
Notes:
English isn't my first language and I'm quite new to writing, especially fight scenes, so I hope this chapter was alright haha. I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves!
TRIVIA!!
Minoko's Statistics According to the Ultra Archive Book!
Power 2/5 D
Speed 5/5 A
Technique 3/5 C
Intelligence 4/5 B
Cooperativeness 4/5 A