Ignited Spark

by 3PeopleInACoat

When Midoriya Izuku was four years old, his quirk finally manifested - not a combination of his parents' quirks, but an entirely different mutation of its own. With the ability to blast lightning out of his body, a horrible accident convinces Izuku to give up his dreams of becoming a hero. But with the help of two girls, Izuku finds the inspiration to fight and become a true hero!

28. Mistake

As Momo had predicted, and the text message she had received earlier had confirmed, one of her father's chauffeurs was waiting for her at UA's gate. And, naturally, it was the chauffeur she had really not wanted to see today.

It hadn't taken her very long to leave the stadium and make her way to the gate - the arena was relatively close to the exit of the school, and she had been trained to jog longer distances than that, so it was a simple short run over towards the gate in order to answer the summons from her father. She had texted him a response as soon as she had left the changing room, even as she felt anxiety and nervousness begin to churn in her stomach as she quickly made her way towards where the chauffeur was waiting for her.

She knew, after all, that her father didn't like to be kept waiting. That, and she didn't have much time before she had to be back for the next round.

Luckily (or unluckily) for her, Skip was waiting for her near the front, his ever present smug smile widening slightly as he spotted her heading towards him, and the young man quickly flicked some of his long gray hair out of his face as he straightened up, watching Momo slow her jog down to a moderate pace, walking towards him and putting her phone back into her gym uniform's pocket as she gave him a stoic look.

"Miss Yaoyorozu," He bowed to her as soon as she was within earshot, "it's so nice to see you after so long - I missed you during our trip to America."

"Hello, Skip," Momo greeted him neutrally, not giving any real indication that she was pleased or displeased by his presence - her father's main chauffeur had always been nice to her, even during the times that her father had been angry with her, but she always knew to keep their relationship strictly professional. No matter how nice and flirty her father's young aide was, she knew exactly what he was - just another one of her father's employees.

If her father wanted to ask Skip something about Momo that she didn't want him to know, Skip wouldn't hesitate to tell him - she had learned that harsh lesson a very long time ago. So a stiff smile and a nod was pretty much all the young man was going to get, but if Skip minded, he didn't show it.

"So you received your father's text?" He asked conversationally, smiling when Momo nodded in confirmation, and reached out to her with his hand. "Alright, then - I'll have you home in a second. If you'd like to close your eyes now, ma'am, you're certainly welcome to."

With a small sigh, Momo quickly closed her eyes, and held her breath as Skip reached out to hold her shoulder. The chauffeur using his quirk to move them always made her vomit horribly if she wasn't prepared - perhaps it was the whiplash of being teleported several places at once before settling on the location that Skip wanted to go that made her stomach violently ill. She wasn't sure if Skip did that because that was just how his quirk worked, or if he was just messing with her, but either way being teleported around definitely wasn't a pleasant sensation, as Skip's quirk and Kurogiri's quirk from the USJ had reminded her.

Luckily for her, Skip seemed to be aware that Momo was on a time schedule, so there wasn't as many sudden bright flashes through her eyelids as she was moved - only one really bright one, and then the air around Momo changed from the warm temperature of UA's open air to the familiar chilly feeling of air conditioning. Feeling her stomach churn for a moment, Momo let out a breath and opened her eyes, looking around at her surroundings - very quickly, she knew that she was no longer anywhere at UA, with bright blue skies that she could see through the glass ceiling above her and the feeling of the red carpet beneath her feet replacing the hard concrete of the ground she had been used to.

Instead, she was standing at the top of what she realized was … yes, she had been teleported home. Just … not at the mansion itself. She was at her father's course.

Glancing to her right, the first thing she spotted was a table filled with several plates of food waiting for her - which meant, obviously, that she was to eat here, she frowned. That could only mean that her father was going to keep her here long enough that she wasn't going to go back to eat with her classmates in the cafeteria, which did disappoint her - she had wanted to see if she could find Kyouka during lunch to make up for her rudeness and sit with her. But …

… but it appeared that would have to wait. She suddenly heard the sound of a golf ball being whacked around the corner, and that meant that she shouldn't keep her father waiting.

Taking a deep breath again, and straightening her back while Skip walked over to stand near the entrance of the room, his formerly flirty smile fading somewhat, Momo strolled forward, keeping her hands clenched tightly together, as she walked around the corner.

As expected, her father was waiting for her at the top of the golf course - or, more accurately, he was a bit busy taking the time to line up a shot to whack it out into the field. When she had been young, golfing was one of the things he hadn't thought much of before he began traveling more, but picked it up as a hobby during his trips to America - so much so that he had specifically had a golf course built in their home solely for his own use, allowing him to smack golf balls around all day as he saw fit. He had taken off his black suit jacket and tie and left it on a nearby chair, leaving him in his red dress shirt and slacks as he lowered his club to the ball put down on the tee.

"Hello, Momo," He said in a pleasant voice without even looking at her, keeping his eye on the ball, "I'm glad to see that you arrived on time. There was a part of me that was worried you'd be late."

"N-no, Father," Momo quickly lowered herself in a bow, "I got your message as soon as we were excused for lunch."

Her father let out a small hum, continuing to concentrate on the game at hand as he raised the golf club and, with a small grunt, swung it down at the ball. With a satisfying smack, the ball was sent flying away onto the field, and her father let out a small huff as he lowered the club. Finally, he looked around at his daughter, showing his narrowed face, squinted eyes, and smile, slightly smug smile as he used his hand to wipe one of the fringes away from his forehead.

"Ah, my apologies, Momo," He chuckled a bit self-consciously, "I was feeling a bit impatient waiting for the results of the sports festival's second round to come up."

He gestured up towards the large television screen on the wall, and Momo glanced around as it showed a small montage of the day's events.

"Ten million points for the second round," Daikoku nodded in approval, walking over to the small table on the side and sitting down, "not bad at all, daughter. I assume that you had some part of the planning."

"Er …" Momo hesitated for a moment, feeling her stomach clench in anxiety for a moment before she shook her head, "… n-no, not - not as much as I would've wanted, Father. Midoriya was actually -"

"Midoriya?" Daikoku interrupted her before she could finish her explanation, making her falter as he glanced off to the side where the TV was. "The winner of the first round?"

"Y-yes, Father."

"Interesting …" Her father slowly nodded, and then sighed as he lifted his phone up to his ear. After waiting for a moment, the heel of his black shoe tapping against the floor, he said, in a clear voice, "Jin, I sent a few golf balls out onto the course. Send a clone to pick them up and bring them back."

Nodding, he put the phone down again and turned back to his daughter, but this time his smile faded from his face, making Momo shake a bit. As she had feared, he hadn't brought her back to congradulate her.

"Please have a seat, Momo," He gestured towards the seat on the other side of the table, "I believe you know that I didn't summon you back home for nothing. I've actually been watching the festival in my off time."

"Y-you have?" Momo gulped a bit, approaching the table her father was sitting at and, after a moment of hesitation, sat down.

"Yes. And there was something that I needed to discuss with you before I have Skip send you back." Daikoku leaned forward, frowning at his daughter. "Your behavior regarding Shouto."

"I -" Momo faltered, blinking at that - of all the things she had been anxious about her father summoning her for, she didn't expect that - and she looked around at Daikoku as he raised his hand for one of Jin's clones to bring him a drink, "- w-what do you mean, Father?"

"What do I mean? I saw how coldly you treated him after he saved you from that little purple freak." Her father shook his head, accepting his drink from one of the servants and taking a sip. "Rest assured, Momo, that I have already contacted our lawyers to deal with that little pervert - he and his family will surely rue the day he dared to lay his disgusting hands on you. But that's not what I wanted to bring you here to talk about. Tell me, Momo," He looked over at her in disapproval, "how did you thank Shouto for saving you?"

"I - I 'm -"

"By huffing in his face."

"I - but he -"

"That is unacceptable, Momo," Daikoku looked around at his sputtering daughter, giving her a disapproving look. "He is to be your husband once you both become of age, there is no use in you trying to needlessly antagonize him. I expect you to apologize to him before the festival comes to an end today - and I will be coming at the end to pick you and your mother up in the car, so I will ask him if you apologized."

"But - but Father -" Momo protested, her voice raising slightly, "- he was the one who -"

"Momo." Daikoku's voice suddenly became cold, stopping Momo in her tracks. "Stop arguing with me. Now."

Momo froze at that, feeling her heart hammering in her chest from fear as her father stood up, putting his drink down on the table. He moved to scoop up the golf club that he had temporarily put down, and plucked another red golf ball out of the basket near the stage to walk over and put it on the small tee, and as he moved to line up his shot, Daikoku looked back up at Momo as she shrank in her seat.

"Making Shouto look bad - making your fiancé look bad - is not what a Yaoyorozu should do," He said in a clear, authoritative voice as he readied his swing, "we did not get where we are, made our fortune, by considering ourselves superior to others. And treating your future husband with scorn is not what I raised you to do - I already had to make several sacrifices for you to even entertain the idea of being a pro hero, and this is how you repay my and your mother's hard work? By acting like a child?"

Momo, for her part, only held her tongue, knowing that it would be useless to argue and make her father angrier.

"Goodness … I've already received a call from one of our stockholders, inquiring to know if you were feeling alright. Do you know how much embarrassment I have to deal with when you act so thoughtlessly, Momo? Without considering how it reflects on myself, and your mother?"

Momo stared down at her shoes, feeling shame well within her.

"So you will apologize to Shouto as soon as you see him," Daikoku swung the club to strike the ball, making Momo flinch a bit at the noise, "and I will be continuing to watch the festival, Momo. I had better see you two get along far better than what I saw from you today. Do not be an embarrassment. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father," Momo muttered, "I will apologize."

"Good." Daikoku nodded, and with a sigh, straightened up, still not looking over at his daughter as he tapped his golf club against the floor. "Now, I had the chefs prepare you a big lunch to eat while you're here - eat and restore your lipids for the next round, and then Skip will take you back to school. And remember, Momo, that I am expecting you to bring home something of worth for today. As long as you bring home a gold medal, you will continue to receive support for this little career path you've chosen for our company. But always remember - one slip up …"

"And I pull out of UA," Momo repeated dully, standing up from the table to go over and begin eating, "I know, Father. I understand."

"Good. And Momo?" Daikoku turned to look back up at her, a small smile returning to his face as he fetched another golf ball. "Good luck. Your mother and I are cheering for you."

---

"You are ... aren't you? You're in love with Deku."

"Not as much ... as you're in love with him."

The small room that they were inside had somehow become even quieter as both girls made their accusations. Itsuka and Ochako continued to stare at each other for several long moments, Ochako from her spot at the table and Itsuka standing above her, as they both slowly took in what they had just said. It was clear that whatever warmth and comfort they usually felt when talking to each other was long absent - now, coldness and a strange sense of anxiety was the only thing both girls felt.

Ochako, for one, had both of her fists slightly clenched, and she was continuing to feel her heart hammering in her chest as she stared up at one of her best friends. Itsuka, meanwhile, had her one good hand in her pocket, and the other one carefully held at her side to not risk the chance of injuring herself further, but the way her throat briefly bobbed as she obviously gulped was enough to show that she was … well, not wary of Ochako, but definitely on her guard.

Like they had both realized they were in the room with a violent, sleeping predator, and had to proceed very carefully.

Finally, Ochako let out a small sigh, and broke the eye contact from Itsuka to stare down at the table.

"I …" She hesitated for a moment there, not even sure what to say - and then she shook her head, and decided to just … try and tell Itsuka the truth, or at least, tell her what she had told Himiko when their senpai had asked her about it a few weeks ago.

"… I don't. I'm … I'm not in love with Deku -"

"Bullshit."

Both girls immediately winced at how bluntly Itsuka had said that, and the class rep, for her part, quickly shook her head as well and cleared her throat.

"I - sorry, Ochako," She apologized quickly for that, "but - but no. You don't - you don't have to try to lie to me, Ochako, I - I know."

"B-but I'm telling you the truth." Ochako bit her lip slightly - she hated how she continued to stumble over her words in her fluster as she continued to stare down at the table, finding it suddenly hard to look up at her training partner. "I - I don't have feelings for Deku. Toga-senpai, she - she asked me about this before too, a few weeks ago, and - and I'll tell you what I told her. I just … I don't know what exactly is going on, but - but I don't have feelings for him. N-not like that, at least. He's my best friend. That's it."

There was another short pause in the room, with Ochako staring down at the table and Itsuka staring down at her - and then, Ochako heard a small sigh, and the sound of the chair in front of her being pulled out again, the legs dragging slightly against the floor. Ochako glanced up to see Itsuka moving to sit back down, letting out a small, painfilled grunt as she carefully put her broken hand back on the table, and then, as she took a seat, glanced back up at her.

Itsuka, for her part, had a pretty serious expression on her face at the moment, giving Ochako a weary look as though she weren't entirely comfortable with being in her presence - something that made Ochako's heart hurt again as she glanced back down at the table.

But then … but then Ochako reflected on the words she had heard earlier, and she felt her lips thin a bit.

"So …" She hesitated again, and then moved her hands to rest them on the table as well, "… how about you?"

"Hm?" Itsuka hummed a bit. "What about me?"

"You … never denied it," Ochako pointed out, feeling her heart continue to beat uncomfortably fast in her chest, "being in love with Deku. You never denied it."

"…"

"…"

"… no," Itsuka sighed, frowning, "I didn't."

Ochako slowly nodded at that, feeling as though her mouth had gone suddenly bone dry as she absently licked her lips, trying to moisturize her lips.

"So, uh …" She bit the inside of her cheek, "… you're … er … so when did you realize …?"

"That I had feelings for him?" Itsuka finished her question, not looking comfortable with where this conversation was heading as she used her good hand to reach up and play with the end of her ponytail absently, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. "Well … uh … well, I don't know exactly when it started, but … but I think I put a name on these feelings a - about a week ago. Uh - well, you probably didn't know this since you were off training with Toga-senpai, but when we were sparring with Togata-senpai, Nighteye stopped by the gym -"

"What?" Ochako quickly looked up from the table, her eyes widening slightly in concern at the mention of that name. "Nighteye? What did he want?"

"Same shit he always wants," Itsuka sighed wearily, "I'm not worthy to have One for All, someone else should be the successor, blah blah blah. Same shit, different day. But, well … I was actually in the other room, Nighteye didn't even know I was there. He was talking to Izuku, trying to get him to see things his way, and convince him to help tell All Might that I was the wrong choice."

"H-huh …" Ochako bit the inside of her cheek again, this time in annoyance on Itsuka's behalf. "… so …"

"And Izuku … well, he stood up for me," Itsuka frowned again, but the way her eyes softened slightly told Ochako everything, "pretty much told Nighteye to stick it where the sun didn't shine. Just - y'know, a lot more polite than how you or I would've handled it. And Izuku, he - he didn't even know I was there, since I was around the corner, but he still went up to bat and got Nighteye to run off with his tail in between his legs. And just … seeing him defend me …"

There was another pause.

"… and that was pretty much it." Itsuka, at the very least, looked ashamed of herself. "I just … couldn't deny it anymore. I like him. Or - or I'm in love with him, I - I don't know."

"Oh," Ochako simply said, slowly nodding while feeling like her stomach was churning slightly. Like she had just released her quirk on something huge, and the nausea was threatening to make her sick.

She could feel her heart continuing to beat rather fast in her chest was uncomfortable, to say the least. She had probably always known this, she frowned - she always knew that there had to be something … more between her two best friends. But to hear Itsuka flat out admit it, it just … it made her feel strange. She wasn't sure if it was due to her thinking of all the times she had probably seen Itsuka crushing on Izuku and she just never realized it, or the times that they had a moment between each other while Ochako had just … pretty much third wheeled, but …

… but hearing Itsuka admit that she loved Izuku … it hurt her. And she had no idea why.

"So …" She bit her lip again, continuing to stare down at the table, "… I guess … in that case -"

"I'm not gonna tell him."

Ochako found whatever she had been about to say immediately stop at the interruption, blinking once at the table before finally looking back up at Itsuka, watching as she glanced over at her as well. There was a bit of a stiff, unnatural smile on her training partner's face, as though she were trying to force it to stay there, and for her part, she looked … weirdly nervous, for some reason.

As though she had realized she had said too much, and needed to get this situation back under control.

"Uh … surprised?" She tried to tease her, although the way that came out also sounded a bit awkward.

"I - what?" Ochako straightened up in her seat, eyes widening. "You - you're not gonna -?"

"I'm not doing anything," Itsuka nodded in confirmation, glancing away as she tried to lean casually back in her seat, although the way her smile slipped slightly told Ochako that she was anything but casual at the moment, "I'm not gonna tell Izuku how I feel about him. I'm not gonna ask him out, I'm not - I'm not gonna do anything like that. Honestly, I … I shouldn't anyway," She let out a stiff laugh, "we both know that there's a lot on my plate already, no need to - y'know - throw more onto it."

"I - uh -" Ochako continued to struggle to find her words, unsure why she was struggling at the moment.

"I mean," Itsuka continued to try and sound casual while grinning awkwardly at the opposite wall, unaware of Ochako's desperate attempts to get back to thinking coherently, "just thinking about it now … well, I've got a lot going on right now. Like - like I'm gonna start helping my grandpa at the dojo soon, he was thinking of having me help out again after the sports festival. And then we've also got midterms coming up to study for, and - and then our internships. And then there's the final exam to get ready for, and - and you know how Aizawa likes to drop random pop quizzes on us, I've gotta make sure I'm all caught up in my studying for that too."

"I-Itsuka -"

"Plus," She winced a bit, "there's also the fact that I've got One for All to deal with, too. Uh - well, you wouldn't know about this, of course, but - but back during the second round, I -"

"You're not gonna tell Deku?"

Itsuka's slight rambling finally faltered at Ochako's question, feeling herself blink slightly at the interruption before glancing back around at Ochako. The brown-haired girl was staring at her training partner in shock, her shivering from being trapped in ice twenty-ish minutes ago apparently forgotten at the moment.

"Uh -" Itsuka swallowed a bit, "- s-sorry?"

"You're not - you're not gonna tell Deku you're in love with him?" Ochako managed to finally get her thoughts in order, noting the way Itsuka winced at the 'L' word being dropped again.

"I - uh -" Itsuka glanced nervously away again, some of her confidence that she had been faking earlier beginning to fade away as her cheeks went a bit red again, "- well, uh - n-no. I - I wasn't."

"B-but - but why not?" Ochako straightened up in her seat, leaning forward slightly over the table while her stomach continued to twist uncomfortably. "You - you like him. You shouldn't - and - and I know that he definitely likes -"

"No, he doesn't."

This time, it was Ochako's turn to falter at the interruption, blinking slightly as Itsuka turned back around to give her … well …

… it wasn't a glare, but it was still a pretty sharp look, one that took Ochako off guard. Itsuka was giving her a pretty serious frown, not looking like she was liking where this conversation was heading but unable to stop herself as she leaned forward in her seat, her attention now entirely focused on Ochako as she furrowed her brows.

"Izuku doesn't …" Itsuka hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head, "… he doesn't see me like that. I - I at least know that, and - and I'm - I'm okay with it."

"N-no," Ochako quickly shook her head - not sure if she was disagreeing with Itsuka's statement that Izuku didn't like her back, or that Itsuka was okay with that fact, as the large amounts of awkwardness and uneasiness she felt from this topic began to disappear as she likewise frowned at her training partner, "no, that - he does, Itsuka. Deku, he - he totally l-loves you too. I've seen it."

"Really?" Itsuka huffed a bit at that, but at the very least she looked about as uncomfortable with this as Ochako was, not able to stop her stomach from feeling like it was twisting just like Ochako's was as the two girls gave each other frowns. "When? I've never seen anything that would suggest that. And - and we both know how open Izuku is with his feelings - he's super easy to read, and I've - I've never seen anything that would suggest …" She hesitated then, but then shook her head, "… that he was in love with me. If I haven't seen anything like that, then - then it didn't happen. But - but when he looks at you -"

"New Years' Eve." Ochako suddenly interrupted her - she had no idea why she was suddenly beginning to feel so worked up about this, but she felt her hands clench into tight fists as her voice began shaking. "New Years' Eve, we both wore our hair differently, but you - you were the only one Deku noticed. He was blushing at your hair being down."

"I - what?" Itsuka straightened up in her seat, looking a bit surprised. "T-that was only because -"

"And then later, when we were on the porch while you two looked over your costume," Ochako felt her heart beginning to ache as her voice began to rise gradually in volume, "you two - you smiled at each other, and it was like I wasn't even there. I saw it, Itsuka - you two had a moment."

"N-now hold on," Itsuka stuttered a bit, her cheeks turning red again, "that wasn't - I don't -"

"And then on the bus," Ochako shook a bit as she felt tears begin to sting in her eyes, "when we were going to the USJ - you told me that you were feeling the same way about Hadou that I was. You admitted that - you literally told me you didn't like her being close to Deku."

"So did you!" Itsuka challenged that, her own hand clenching slightly. "You told me that you felt the exact same way, so I don't -"

"You hugged him really tightly when he came out from the nurse's office after what happened at the USJ."

"I was worried! And you hugged him first!"

"You dragged him into your room with us to go to sleep!"

"I didn't want him to be alone!"

"Mama Inko was right there on the couch beside him! And then you shared a bed with him!"

"You were in that bed too! All the times you're talking about -!"

"You called him by his first name -" Ochako continued to feel tears burn in her eyes from the argument as their voice continued to gradually rise, "- and it was like I wasn't even in the room. I grew up with the guy, Itsuka - I know him better than I know myself. He's in love with you. You're in love with him. There isn't any reason why you two can't - why you two can't be together. You can't even use One for All as an excuse, because he's more than happy to help you out with that!"

There was a short pause in the room in which both girls tried to catch their breaths, glaring slightly at each other - and then Itsuka let out another huff.

"Okay," She nodded, clearly as frustrated with her friend as Ochako was with her, as she straightened up in her seat and gave her training partner a challenging look, "okay. That's the game we're playing? Fine. You get to name all the times you think me and him had a moment. In that case, it's my turn to name all the times you two actually had a moment."

"Oh, my -!" Ochako threw her hands up into the air, unable to stop herself in her annoyance with how stubborn Itsuka was being.

"Let's start with the time I actually met you," Itsuka was sure to give her a pointed look at that, leaning forward over the table, "because I'm pretty sure I remember how much he was tearing himself apart with how guilty he felt about lying to you. And then when you found us, he gave you a big hug, held your hand, and then demanded All Might to start training you with us."

"I - okay, he didn't demand -" Ochako tried to protest, although that came out pretty weak.

"And then, when I - you know - I accidentally threw a car at you -" Itsuka, at least, looked rather ashamed about that reminder before she shook her head and moved on, "- he was practically worried out of his mind. He couldn't even think properly."

"He - anyone would do that if a car was thrown at their friend! And - and I've told you a hundred times, I don't blame you for that -"

"And then, when you landed on him during the battle trial -"

"After we crashed down the stairs!"

"Setsuna told me," Itsuka raised her eyebrow, "that you two paused when you realized you were on top of him. You froze."

"I -" Ochako felt her cheeks become flushed again, flustered, "- that was -"

"And you brought up me hugging him after he got out of Recovery Girl's office after the USJ," Itsuka gave her another sharp look, "but you hugged him first. You two pretty much clung to each other all night long. And let's not go over the fact that you two are comfortable enough to share a bed while he could barely even look at me while I was in there."

"T-that's just how it's been since we were kids!" Now a full on blush was burning on Ochako's cheeks as she finally whipped her gaze away, unable to keep looking at Itsuka.

The formerly orange-haired girl, letting out a sigh, leaned forward in her seat.

"Look, Ochako," She frowned, "I get what you're trying to do. You're trying to - to pair your friends together because you think sharing one look is enough for Izuku to fall head over heels for me. But it doesn't. It doesn't matter how I might feel, because I know that what you two have is way more special than what could come out of - of me asking him out and ruining everything."

"I - what?" Ochako blinked, catching those last words and looking around in confusion at Itsuka. "Ruining -? What do you mean?"

Itsuka hesitated at that question - it was clear to Ochako that she hadn't meant to say that out loud, but now that it was out in the open, it was a little hard to take it back. With a small sigh, she put her other hand down on the table beside her broken one, not staring Ochako in the eye at all as she pursed her lips.

"I …" She paused for a moment, and then shook her head, "… I don't know what I meant by that."

There was another moment of silence.

"You're shitting me." Ochako said in a deadpan voice.

"I don't!" Itsuka quickly defended herself, looking up to frown at Ochako. "I just - I know that if I ask Izuku out, I'm - I'm going to ruin something."

"Something?" Ochako pushed, not entirely in the mood anymore to do this gingerly or smartly. "What is that? What's 'something'?"

"Something! Everything!" She threw her good hand up into the air. "This! Us! Our friendship! My friendship with him! Your friendship with him!"

"I -" Ochako found herself hesitating for a moment, before she scoffed slightly and shook her head, "- you - you asking Deku out isn't going to make me -"

"It will." Itsuka shook her head, speaking with certainty while her eyes turned a bit sadder, despite her clear frustration with her friend. "I know that no matter how much you try and argue otherwise, Ochako - you're in love with him. Just like I am."

That, at least, got Ochako to pause.

"And - and what am I supposed to do?" Itsuka scoffed at herself. "Say, 'hey, I acknowledge that you have feelings for Izuku, Ochako, now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go get ready for a date with him'?"

"I'm …"

"That's what Set and Yui were pretty much telling me to do, and there's not a chance in hell that I'm gonna do that. I know how much you two mean to each other - you've been best friends for your entire lives, and - and you haven't even known me for a year. What am I supposed to say to Izuku? 'Hey, I know you're a hundred percent in love with Ochako, but please consider me'?" Shaking her head, Itsuka turned back to frown at the table. "I won't do that. I know that he's in love with you, Ochako, and - and I know I shouldn't be pushing you to ask him out, and - look, I know I was arguing with you, but I won't actually try to force you to ask him out. But - but we both know that if there's anyone in the world that has a shot with him, it's you."

"I - he doesn't," Ochako protested again, but this time it came out a bit weaker.

"Oh, come on, Ochako," Itsuka shook her head, over this argument, "you know he does."

"He doesn't. He - he can't."

"…"

"…"

"… what?"

"H-huh?" Ochako blinked.

"What do you mean, 'he can't'?" Itsuka looked back up at Ochako, her brow furrowing and her frustration with her friend paused for the moment. "He can't … what?"

This time, it was Ochako's turn to hesitate, feeling her eyes widen a bit - like Itsuka before her, she hadn't meant to blurt that part out, but now that Itsuka had heard it, she was clearly not going to let it go, leaning forward with a slightly skeptical look.

For a moment, Ochako stared at Itsuka in slight terror, her mind desperately trying to find a way to take back what she had just said and talk about literally everything else - but the stress of the last few hours, and her stress from arguing with Itsuka, meant that any strength Ochako had to try and pretend that everything was fine just … wasn't there, and Ochako let out a shuddering breath as she felt some of the tears that had burned in her eyes from during their argument begin to finally fall.

"… he can't … be in love with me."

"I - what?" Itsuka blinked, looking confused and taken aback by the sight of Ochako beginning to cry. "What does that -"

"He can't like me," Ochako shook her head, looking down at the table again, "he can't have feelings for me. I'm just … I'm just me."

"… Ochako, seriously," Itsuka's voice had suddenly lost it's volume and aggression from their argument before, turning quiet and concerned as she leaned forward, any anger on her face immediately slipping away, "what the fuck does that mean? What does 'I'm just me' mean?"

"It means …" Ochako let out another small, shuddering breath, every part of her begging her to stop talking but finding herself unable to, "… there's nothing about me to like."

That, at long last, stopped Itsuka completely in her tracks, looking as though Ochako had just slapped her in the face.

"I … I don't know what's going on with me, Itsuka," Ochako felt her tears begin to fall, hitting her hands and the table beneath her, "I don't know - I don't know why I can't hug Deku like I've been able to all our lives anymore. I don't - I don't know why I feel so weird when you and Hadou talk to him. I - Toga-senpai, she - she said that she thought I liked him, and … and I just …"

She found herself shaking, her stomach and heart twisting.

"… I don't know anymore." She shivered slightly. "I don't know if I have feelings for Deku. I don't know why I - I don't know anything anymore, but … but I do know that you saying Deku likes me … that's impossible."

"I …"

"I'm not pretty," Ochako let out a dry, unamused laugh at herself, as though she found it funny for anyone to even think that, and not aware of the way Itsuka's breath caught at that remark, "I'm not attractive. None of the girls at Aldera thought so, anyways - they were always telling me about how ugly I am, about how no amount of makeup would be able to cover it up, and … and eventually, I realized they were right."

She shook her head, unable to stop these words from spilling from her mouth just like she couldn't stop crying.

"I'm just … really plain looking." She said quietly. "I'm not beautiful. Not like you, or Hadou, or Tokage or Kodai or Toga-senpai or - or anyone. And - and my body isn't really nice to look at either, not like yours or Hadou's."

"O-Ochako -"

"And - and I know that compared to you or Hadou, I'd probably - Deku probably wouldn't even look my way," She bit her lip again, shaking her head, "and it's not like I can blame -"

"Ochako, I - I'm sorry, but I need you to shut up for a second."

The way that Itsuka's voice had caught when she had asked her to stop talking was what Ochako's rambling to finally falter. Feeling herself shrink a bit as she realized that she had pretty much dumped years worth of insecurities unprompted on her best friend, Ochako felt guilt rise within her, and looked back up at her training partner sitting across from her to apologize -

- only for her words to immediately die in her throat, the horrible feeling in her chest that had been hurting her ever since she had started talking about how ugly she was grinding to a halt, when she looked up and saw the look on Itsuka's face.

Her training partner, honestly, was still looking like Ochako had just slapped her in the face, shock written all over it - but it was the sight of tears in Itsuka's eyes that caused Ochako to finally pause, staring at her in confusion. But before she could open her mouth to ask if Itsuka was okay, she spoke in a quiet whisper.

"Do … do you really think all of that?" She asked in a quiet voice. "That you're … that you're not pretty?"

"I …" Ochako felt herself falter then, not entirely sure what to say after that. Technically, this was the excuse she had been looking for - she could probably try and play it off as a joke, that someone she was rambling and didn't actually mean what she had said, and she could quietly excuse herself before Itsuka could stop her to leave this room and find a place for her to try to calm herself down.

But one glance back into Itsuka's eyes, seeing the hurt and sadness there, meant that she couldn't excuse this as a joke. No way, no how. So, with a small sigh, Ochako turned to glance back down at her hands still balled into fists on the table, and forced them to relax as she slowly spread her fingers out.

"… yeah." She muttered. "Yeah, I do."

For a good ten seconds, there was absolute silence in the room again. Ochako continued to stare down at her hands, and she felt Itsuka's staring at her. She waited for her friend to say something - anything, at this point - and she was already dreading it, knowing that no matter what Itsuka said, it would be the same as what happened with Himiko - her mind would just push whatever Itsuka said to the side, and she would still be ugly.

But then, as Ochako opened her mouth to say at least something to break the ice, or her mind convinced her body to finally get up and leave, she glanced slightly up - and saw Itsuka's good hand, the one that wasn't broken, begin to move.

And then she blinked as Itsuka's hand moved towards hers, her fingers lightly moving between hers, and before she knew it, Itsuka had moved her hand to hold hers, their fingers entwined together.

For a moment, Ochako stared down at their joined hands, feeling herself falter - and trying to ignore the flutter in her chest from how warm Itsuka's hand was - and quickly glanced back up at Itsuka. This time, she felt herself be taken aback at the sight of tears beginning to spill from Itsuka's eyes.

"I'm …?" Ochako found herself unable to say anything for a moment, feeling her heart thumping uncomfortably in her chest - but this time, it wasn't from anything … unpleasant. This time, the feeling of Itsuka's hand in hers was sending her heart rate spiking, a small blush appearing on her face - and yet, she didn't move her hand out of hers.

"Ochako, I'm …" Itsuka hesitated to say anything for a moment, looking as though she was unsure of what she could even say - and then she let out a shuddering breath, her face turning stormy as she briefly glanced away, "… if I ever meet one of your old classmates, I'm going to fling them into freaking space."

"H-huh?" Ochako blinked, taken out of the hand holding for a moment. "W-what do you -"

"Listen to me," Itsuka shook her head, looking back around at her and frowning sadly at the tears still sliding down Ochako's cheeks, wishing her other hand wasn't broken so that she could reach up and wipe them away, "you're - none of the stuff you said - none of it is true. You're - you're pretty."

Ochako felt herself be caught off guard again by what Itsuka had just said - but automatically, just like what had happened when Himiko had told her that, she shook her head in disagreement.

"N-no, Itsuka," She muttered, about to glance away again, "you - you don't need to do that. I already know -"

"No," Itsuka shook her head again, her voice completely devoid of the frustration and anger from their argument before as she leaned up in her seat, and her voice now filled with determination and shaking emotion, "you are not ugly. You aren't even plain. You're - everything that those assholes in Aldera told you is wrong."

For a moment, she looked as though she was going to cry herself at the look of resignation and sadness on Ochako's face.

"Ochako, you're - you're freaking beautiful. You are so beautiful."

"No, I'm … I'm not."

"You -!" Itsuka seemed to want to try and protest that more, but then she stopped herself, letting out a small sigh as she temporarily glanced down at the table again - and then she let out a deep breath, closed her eyes and looked away.

"- you - you are, Ochako," She said in a quiet voice, "I know you are, and - and I -"

Ochako watched as Itsuka visibly paused, obviously trying to find a way to begin comforting her friend - it wasn't like Himiko, who had accepted that one talk wasn't going to automatically help Ochako out of her insecurities; Itsuka was clearly struggling to figure out a way to make sure Ochako never felt this way again, and it was frustrating her that she couldn't figure it out.

Suddenly, the brown-haired girl felt guilt shoot through her - here she was, throwing a massive pity party for herself, and leaving Itsuka so clearly distressed it made her immediately regret coming into this room with her. Her training partner had enough on her plate today - with Shouto causing her trouble with his stupid stuff as her 'rival', Monoma and Shinsou betraying her during the second round and making her life hell, and then whatever happened with One for All that broke her hand and was still clearly bothering her …

… and then here she was, just throwing more stress at her.

With a small sigh, Ochako bowed her head briefly, raising her other free hand to wipe the tears off her cheeks. She needed to find a way to fix this, she thought to herself as she glanced back up at Itsuka as she turned away to think, and she needed to get Itsuka's mind off of what she had just said so she can continue on with her day without this stupid conversation hanging over her.

So how would she … how would she …?

Staring blankly down at the table for a moment, and lowering her other hand from her face onto the surface, Ochako let out another soft breath as Itsuka glanced back over at her at the noise - and then Ochako shook her head again.

"I'm …" She hesitated for a moment, and then closed her eyes and stared down at the table in defeat, unable to come up with anyway to make Itsuka feel better just like Itsuka was failing to come up with anything to make Ochako feel better, "… I'm sorry, Itsuka - I - I didn't mean to make you worry about - you know - me. Sorry."

"Don't," Itsuka stopped that line of thought at once, "don't be sorry, Ochako … I'm … I'm kind of glad you told me this, I …" She let out another sigh, clearly not sure how to even phrase her thoughts - and then she asked, in a quieter tone, "… does … does Izuku know about … this? How you feel about yourself?"

Ochako bit her lip, anxiety shooting through her at the very thought.

"I … no," She admitted in a small voice, "I … I've never told him. I haven't … I haven't told anyone. Not even my parents know. Nobody besides you, and - and Toga-senpai, but … well, when she heard about it, she kind of … uh …"

Pinned me to a bed and made out with me, She winced.

"What did she do?" Itsuka asked in a quiet voice, and Ochako immediately froze at once, realizing where she trailed off in that sentence left it open to be talked about. "Did it, uh - did it help you out? W-with how you feel?"

"It …" Ochako hesitated again - feeling herself blush as she remembered what exactly Himiko did to help her feel better - but alas, her brain really wasn't working with her today, forcing her to squeak out, "… did. F-for a little bit, but - uh - after that, I, uh - I just kind of pushed it -"

"W-well, what did she do?" Itsuka asked in a quiet voice. "I-if it helped you feel a little better. Maybe … maybe I could help you out with it again, and if it just - if it only temporarily helped, we can do it now, and then we can talk about this later, when - when we have time."

… okay, was Itsuka trying to kill her here? Ochako felt whatever shame and guilt for making her training partner quickly begin to fade away as her face continued to grow redder and redder.

"She … uh …"

There was a moment's pause.

"… I …" Ochako shrank a bit in her seat, "… don't think I should say."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… okay -"

"Ochako," Itsuka said in a slightly dry voice, raising her eyebrow, "please don't."

"Okay, okay!" Ochako quickly waved her free hand in the air, going red. "I just - I panicked."

"Alright, so just …" Itsuka let out a small sigh, adjusting herself in her seat, "… tell me what happened."

"Okay …" Ochako swallowed - there was still the guilt and shame from earlier that was affecting her, but for some reason, a wave of anxiety filled her as she realized that she had backed herself into a corner with this one, "so, uh … back when I was training with Toga-senpai a few weeks ago, after we were done, she, uh … she decided to bring me back to the nurse's office so we could use the showers there."

"Mm-hm …" Itsuka hummed, her face somewhat falling slightly.

"And then we … got to talking," Ochako continued to explain, "about - uh -"

About how Toga thinks I like you two, she thought privately, and felt herself go redder.

"- stuff." She lamely finished, aware of Itsuka raising her eyebrow at the way she had obviously swerved away from what she had actually wanted to say. "And - well, it eventually turned to my feelings about - about myself, and - and -"

"…"

"… and y-you know Toga-senpai," Ochako mumbled embarrassedly, "you know … how she is."

"Ochako," Itsuka began frowning at her - but one glance up into her eyes caught Ochako aback, seeing something weird and familiar there as Itsuka narrowed them slightly, "just … tell me what happened."

"She …" Ochako hesitated for a moment - and then she sighed and slumped her shoulders, "… to make me feel better about myself - she kissed me."

With those three simple words, silence once again fell in the small room they had chosen to talk in. Ochako, for her part, ducked her head, unable to control her blush anymore as she raised her free hand to cover her eyes, and Itsuka, meanwhile, said absolutely nothing as she absorbed what Ochako had just told her.

And then, after a few seconds of silence, Itsuka said, in a simple voice, "Oh."

"Uh … 'oh'?" Ochako blinked, repeating what her training partner said in confusion, and glanced back up at her friend. Itsuka, still frowning, turned away slightly in her seat, but there was that same dark look in her eyes that took Ochako aback, something weirdly familiar about the look that was making Ochako's heartbeat begin to pick back up again.

"Yeah … 'oh'." Itsuka shrugged, trying to at least sound casual as she began automatically slipping her fingers out of Ochako's, making the brown-haired girl look down in slight panic and resisting the urge to hold her hand down more. "I mean … well, what do you want me to say? Makes sense … you're right, it is Toga-senpai we're talking about here. Her kissing you, that - that tracks."

"Y-yeah," Ochako slowly nodded, feeling herself shake a bit as she felt her face go red again, and desperately trying to figure out a way out of this while trying to remember where exactly she had seen this expression on Itsuka.

"I … assume it was nice?" Ochako noted the small bitterness coming from Itsuka, making her blink again. "Kissing Toga. I … bet it was nice."

"It … it was." Ochako felt her face flush a bit redder, glancing down at the table while Itsuka exhaled through her nose, "it was … nice to kiss Toga-senpai."

There was a pause.

"But … but it wasn't …"

Ochako found herself trailing off, not entirely sure what she was about to say there, but thankfully, what she was slowly saying helped Itsuka snap out of whatever funk she had just gotten in, the formerly-orange-haired girl blinking slightly and glancing back up at Ochako as she visible hesitated.

It was probably … a combination of a few things that prompted Ochako to finish what she was about to say. Going from shock that Itsuka was in love with Izuku, to understanding how Itsuka fell for him, to anger that she had tried to push her onto him despite her own complicated feelings, to sadness and self-pity over herself, to guilt about feeling that way. The way that Itsuka's eyes had shifted when Ochako revealed her kiss with their senpai, how weird Ochako's stomach felt as it clenched.

All of those feelings … all of them combining into one, weird, heart-quickening feeling as Ochako said, in a quiet, shaking voice:

"… it wasn't as good … as when we kissed."

For the last time in that room, both girls fell silent as they absorbed what Ochako had just admitted. Ochako, for her part, went so red so quickly it was frankly amazing that she didn't pass out from all the blood in her body rushing to her face, and the over reason she didn't throw her hands up to cover how embarrassed she looked was because her other hand was being held by Itsuka at the moment, which only added to her embarrassment. Itsuka, meanwhile, felt whatever annoyance she had felt about her training partner kissing their senpai disappear at once, straightening up in her seat. And then, without even meaning two, their eyes met.

Ochako hesitated for a moment - and then, slowly, she began to lean forward, not even sure what she was doing but letting her emotions do the thinking for her for once, as her chair subtly squeaked backwards as she rose to her feet. Itsuka, meanwhile, continued to stare a bit nervously into Ochako's eyes as she watched her stand up, and she audibly gulped as she began leaning over the table.

It was clear that both girls weren't thinking properly at the moment - it was probably a mix of all the stress that they had experienced during the first few rounds of the sports festival - Itsuka dealing with Shouto, Monoma and Shinsou being dicks, Ochako with how weird she'd been feeling around Izuku and how complicated she was feeling at the moment, and their argument from before making it difficult to think things through properly.

Both girls were stressed, and they needed some kind of thing to go right for them. And the look in both girls' eyes were all that motivated them both to slowly stand up, Itsuka moving to her feet as well as Ochako visibly hesitated.

Their hands still clasped together, both girls leaned in, Itsuka's head tilting slightly, as their lips met in a far gentler kiss than the one they had experienced at the USJ.

As soon as their mouths pressed together, they both inhaled softly through their noses, their eyes gently shutting as their lips pressed together in a way they couldn't enjoy back at the USJ, when it had been a mess of lips and tongue and slobber and teeth. This one, instead, was a simple pressing of their mouths together, Itsuka's lips catching Ochako's lower one between them as they both just stood over the table, their fingers still entwined as they softly moved back from their kiss, only for Itsuka to go back in and press their lips together again, both girls quietly humming.

They both knew at once that they were making a mistake - they both knew that this was only going to make whatever was going on with them and Izuku more complicated, and it would make their own relationship even more awkward than it had been made during their first kiss. But the feeling of each other's lips on each other pushed all those thoughts away as Ochako's other hand gently rose up to cup Itsuka's cheek, both girls pressing their lips a bit firmer against each other before finally separating, lightly gasping and taking in some air.

There was another small moment where both girls slowly opened their eyes, staring at each other silently as the reality of what they had done came to them both at the same time, and Itsuka became aware of Ochako's hand on her cheek and the way their fingers were still entwined together. Ochako, for her part, was searching Itsuka's eyes for something - anything - that would suggest how she was feeling at the moment.

And then, after another moment, the soft look on Itsuka's face fell. And slowly, she moved her hand - her good hand, by the way - out of Ochako's, to slowly raise it and take Ochako's other hand gently by the wrist, and brought it back down to the table.

"I … I shouldn't have done that," She muttered, breaking Ochako out of her slight shock as she quickly looked back up at her after staring at the hand her training partner had put back on the table to her face, seeing the shame and sadness on her face, and slowly felt Itsuka's hand slip out of hers, "I really shouldn't have … I'm sorry, Ochako."

"I -" Ochako faltered then, feeling her heart skip a beat - and the horrible guilt from earlier returning full force as she shivered slightly - but then Itsuka moved back, shaking her head slightly as Ochako stood there, continuing to stare at her blankly as she began walking away from the table.

"I … I don't know why I did that," Itsuka said in a quiet voice, sounding more hurt and shaken than Ochako had ever heard her before and making her heart ache, "I don't know why I - but I'm sorry. I shouldn't be … I'm just ruining everything. Again."

"I - what -?"

"Ochako," Itsuka glanced back at her, using her good hand to wipe at her face and startling Ochako at the tears that were still building in her eyes, "I … I meant what I said. You're - you're so beautiful, and pretty, and - and - but I - I shouldn't have kissed you. I shouldn't have kissed you at the - at the USJ either, but - but I -"

Ochako felt her heart beginning to hurt.

"- but I know that you love him," Itsuka mumbled, her voice shaking a bit, "I know that you're in love with Izuku. And I know he feels the same way. And I care about you both, so - so much. But I'm not gonna ruin your relationship with him because I can't control how I feel."

Ochako watched as Itsuka slowly brought her broken hand carefully to her chest, and then turned to walk out of the room. Pausing at the door, Itsuka glanced back around at her friend, her face still red from what she did and tears still in her eyes, and for a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something - but then she shook her head and looked back down at her feet.

"I'm, uh - I'm gonna head over to Recovery Girl to get this healed," She muttered, "please, go take a shower so you can warm up. I'll see you later."

"I-Itsuka -" Ochako tried to protest, but Itsuka already opened the door and walked out quietly before shutting the door behind her, leaving the brown-haired girl alone in the waiting room.

Ochako stared after where one of her best friends had vanished, feeling her heart hammering and her stomach twist - and then, with a small, shuddering breath, Ochako turned back to the desk, and slowly moved to sit back down, staring down at her hands as tears burned in her eyes again.

It was clear that Itsuka needed some alone time - and quite honestly, so did she. Because now things were … starting to come clear to Ochako. Thinking back to the look in Itsuka's eyes when she had revealed that she had kissed Himiko, Ochako felt herself shiver when she remembered where she had seen it from. And a memory of what her senpai had said to her before filled her mind.

"There's no way you don't like her - trust me, cutie, I've got an eye for this kind of thing. I take love very seriously, you know. And how you look at Kendou … you aren't subtle. It's not just her butt you're looking at. From how you look at her? You're in it deep, girl - which is why I'm surprised that Kendou isn't the only one you look at like that. You're just … not very subtle when it comes to looking at people you're interested in."

The look in Itsuka's eyes when she had been told that Ochako had kissed Himiko … it was … it was the same look that …

… that Itsuka had in her eyes when she had looked at Izuku and Nejire talking, the same sad look and feelings that Ochako had felt.

Which meant that …

… that Itsuka …

It wasn't possible, Ochako felt herself shake as she lowered her head to rest against her arms on the table, tears building in her eyes. Every part of her, every insecurity she felt, was screaming at her that she was making a mistake, that she was stupid for even suspecting so. But … but was it possible that …

… Itsuka … was jealous of Nejire. That was - that was obvious, from her small rant before Ochako accused her of having feelings for Izuku. It was clear that Itsuka was jealous of Nejire getting closer to Izuku. That weird look in her eyes … it had been envy that Nejire had taken Izuku out on a date, Ochako at least - she realized that.

And … Itsuka had the same look in her eyes … when she found out Himiko kissed Ochako.

Itsuka … had been jealous of Ochako kissing someone else. And then, when Ochako had said that she enjoyed their kiss more … the first thing they did was kiss again.

It shouldn't be possible … it shouldn't be possible that Itsuka could have feelings for her. But the thought of it, even if Ochako felt her chest hurt from all the emotional whiplash she had felt, was enough to make her heart skip a beat.

---

"I'll just get this out of the way," Shouto narrowed his eyes, "is Kendou All Might's secret love child or something?"

The silence in the small tunnel that they had chosen to talk in was absolutely deafening after a question like that. Izuku stared blankly at Shouto for a moment as he slowly absorbed what he had just been asked, with Shouto giving him a serious look as though he was genuinely expecting an honest answer from him. After realizing that he wasn't being messed with, and that Shouto had just genuinely asked if his training partner was the secret daughter of All Might, Izuku felt his jaw drop slightly and sweat begin to slide down his face.

Which … Shouto seemed to take acknowledgement of, slowing nodding.

"You're shaking," he noted, "so I suppose my assumption is correct."

"I - uh - n-no!" Izuku managed to squeak out, quickly shaking his head as Shouto gave him a suspicious look at the denial of his theory. "No, not at - not at all! I mean - well, even if I said she wasn't, you probably wouldn't believe me since that's what anyone would say to that question, but - but - just w-wait a second!"

Quickly, Izuku pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, grimacing as he realized that the screen was a bit wet from being in his clothes after being completely frozen and then thawed out (which meant he was still lowkey shivering), but quickly shook his head to refocus as he went to his photos app. Shouto continued to give him a glare as he let out a small 'aha!' when he found the picture he was looking for - a photo of his, Ochako and Itsuka's families that had been taken during Itsuka's birthday last September - and quickly zoomed in on the Kendou portion of the photo before flipping it around to show the recommended student.

"There! See?" He quickly pointed to the four Kendous standing together in the photo, Tenohira beaming at the viewer while Hakushu laughed at something, and Teko merely glared while Itsuka flashed the camera a nice smile. "That's her mom, and - and her dad! And her grandpa! And - and she looks like them!"

Shouto didn't look very convinced of that, glaring at Izuku for another moment before he slowly turned his eyes to the photo, squinting slightly. There was a moment's pause as Shouto's gaze flickered from Itsuka to each of her parents - wait, was he seriously trying to compare them?! - before he let out a small sigh, closing his eyes and moving back so he could lean up against the wall.

"I see," He slowly nodded, "those certainly look like her parents, alright."

"T-they are!" Izuku quickly put his phone back down - although not back in his wet pants, he winced, that would probably result in his phone not working anymore - and shivered a bit as he was still a bit cold from his time as a Deku-sicle. "I - I mean, that's obviously her mom -"

"But that could also mean All Might is estranged," Shouto pointed out suspiciously, which made Izuku almost trip over himself in his shock that he was still unconvinced, "the man has orange hair, of course, but Kendou did dye her hair today - how am I to know if she isn't dyeing it orange to disguise the connection?"

"T-the orange hair is natural! She dyed her hair black because - well - it's a long story."

"Hm." Shouto gave him another suspicious glare. "Sounds pretty doubtful to me."

"I -" Izuku sputtered a bit, unable to even believe that this was seriously happening - he had thought Shouto was going to drag him off to have some confrontation about Itsuka, to make some baseless accusations that Izuku would need to defend her honor against, like when Nighteye had come around a few weeks ago.

He just hadn't expected it to be … about something so dumb. All Might being Itsuka's dad? Seriously?! That was …

… okay, maybe it would be a reasonable suspicion for Shouto to have if he saw the two of them interacting at first glance, but come on! If Shouto was basing this theory about how the pro hero acted around his students, All Might had better chances of being his father than Itsuka's!

"I'm …" Izuku shook his head after a moment, trying to force himself back to coherent thoughts and trying to push aside Shouto's interesting theory to focus back on the conversation, "… w-why would you want to talk to me about this, Todoroki? Wouldn't - wouldn't it have made more sense to talk about it with Kendou herself?"

"Maybe," Shouto dryly replied, "but I'm aware that I haven't won any favors with Kendou today. Even if I asked her to talk to me, she'd probably refuse."

"I - then why did you ask me?"

"I've seen how close the two of you are," Shouto raised his eyebrow, "she was willing to throw away her chances of winning the sports festival by not going after you during the second round. And I saw how you reacted when Monoma blasted her away. If anyone would know if she had a connection with the Number One Hero, it'd be you."

Izuku sputtered a bit at that, his face turning a bit red - both at the assumption that he and Itsuka were close enough that he would know if she were All Might's secret love child, and that …

… wait a second.

"Uh … Todoroki?" Izuku seemed to realize something, feeling himself blink. "Did … was that the reason you challenged Kendou?"

"Hm? What are you talking about?"

"Kendou told us that … that when you challenged her, it was pretty out of nowhere," Izuku recalled, "and she was a bit weirded out by it, since you've never talked to her before that, or given some reason as to why. But … but is that why you challenged her? Because you think that she has a connection with All Might? Or that … or that she's similar to All Might?"

Shouto stayed quiet for a moment, and then let out a small huff.

"Both." He answered shortly. "I noticed a connection between her and All Might, and from what I heard about the rumors of what happened at the USJ, she did something to destroy the mountain zone. Care to debunk that rumor?"

"N-no, it - that did happen," Izuku shook his head, "I'm just … I'm just a bit confused about why you would want to challenge Kendou of all people. I mean - I know that she's amazing, and powerful, and - and all of that. But if you were looking for someone with offensive power similar to All Might, then … then why didn't you challenge someone like Kacchan, who's got his own quirk that could challenge you? Or Hadou? Or -" He felt a bit awkward when finishing that thought, - "or even me? We've all got offensive quirks as well, enough to give you a challenge - so why did you choose Kendou specifically as your rival?"

There was a short pause in the tunnel, in which Shouto glared at Izuku and he stared awkwardly back at him. And then, letting out a small sigh, Shouto closed his eyes.

"Endeavor's my old man," He removed his hands from his pockets so he could fold his arms across his chest, "I'm sure you know him? The Number Two Hero."

"I - yeah, of course."

"And I'm sure you're also aware that he's been stuck in that position for as long as we've been alive."

"I … I am." Izuku nodded, not entirely sure where this was going.

"That," Shouto opened his eyes again to look up at him, "is why I challenged Kendou. I know that there's a connection between her and All Might, and that … that gives me even more reason to beat her."

Izuku faltered at that, straightening up from his position on the opposite wall and feeling more confused than ever. Neither boy was aware of the sound of shuffling around the corner, mostly due to their attention being entirely focused on each other as Shouto took a small, deep breath.

"My old man … it's always been his dream that he would be on top of the world," Shouto explained in a short voice, "but no matter what he did - no matter how many crimes he solved and how many villains he brought in - he knew that he had no chance of ever being better than a living legend like All Might. So, when he finally realized that he would never surpass All Might, he decided to move onto the next plan." After a short pause, he let out another deep breath. "You've heard of quirk marriages, right?"

With those six little words, Izuku felt his stomach tense.

"Endeavor has money and accomplishments, and he used both to win over my mother's family and get a hold on her quirk. Since he could never beat All Might, he decided to try the next best thing - using my siblings and myself to fill the role that he wants, as All Might's better. Before me, he was focused on my older brother - Touya."

"Touya …?" Izuku felt his eyes widen. "You mean - Touya Todoroki? As in -"

"The Blueflame Hero, Sol." Shouto nodded. "That's right."

"I - I'm not sure -"

"With my brother, he was easier on him," The recommended student scowled, "training him fairly and keeping an eye on his limitations. But when it became clear that my brother didn't have a handle on his flames - he inherited our mother's resistance to freezing cold rather than Endeavor's resistance to heat - my old man moved on from him, and began focusing on me after I was born. Touya tried to prove himself to Endeavor, but … well, I'm sure that you already know the story."

"I … I do," Izuku nodded, feeling himself shiver slightly at the thought (either that or having been frozen a half hour ago), "Sekoto Park - he lost control of his flames and disappeared for a while, didn't he?"

"He did. And for a while, my family thought he was dead. My mother … didn't take it well. She had a breakdown shortly after my brother's disappearance - it wasn't just my brother's 'death', it was a … lot … and she ended up …"

Shouto paused again, and raised his hand to cup the burn mark on his face.

"… she ended up pouring burning water on my face, and gave me this scar."

Izuku felt his jaw drop in horror, and the shuffling near the wall also stopped.

"Shortly after my mother was admitted to a hospital," Shouto's voice became bitter, "Endeavor doubled down on training me. After Touya 'died', he lost whatever hesitance he had when it came to training me - as in, he was no longer hesitant to get … rough with me. But then, one day …" Shouto lowered his hand from his face, looking down at the floor. "… one day, Touya came back. He survived whatever happened to him and came back to the house, covered in surgical scars."

"What?" Izuku blinked in surprise. "I - well, of course I'm aware that he eventually came back and became a hero, but - but I had thought that the surgery scars were from when after he apparently survived. That's what he said during one of his interviews."

"It's technically the truth," Shouto frowned, shaking his head, "he never said who helped him - said he didn't even remember how he survived, much less who saved him and saved his life. But when he did finally come back … he changed. He made it clear to the old man that he would be a hero even if Endeavor didn't want him to be one, and started training independently to become a hero until he eventually got picked up by the HPSC. I didn't know this since he disappeared when I was a baby, but according to my sister, he was … different." Shouto frowned sadly. "He was nothing like the stories my older siblings had told me about him."

There was another pause.

"Touya once told me," He scowled at the ground, "that he knew that I was his replacement. That Endeavor threw him out in favor of me. And he's treated me coldly ever since - nothing I ever did could impress him. I never cared for what Endeavor thought of me, and put up with the training that doubled when Touya came back. But … but for Touya?" He let out a small sigh. "The only person who could understand what I'm going through? I need to prove that I can live up to his standards. He broke away from Endeavor, and … and I need to prove that I can as well."

Izuku stared at him in shock, his mouth slowly closing as Shouto looked back around at him with a scowl.

"I challenged Kendou to be my rival today," Shouto explained in a short voice, "because of her similarities to All Might. I want to defeat her in order to show Endeavor and my brother what I can do. And I'm going to do that without using my damn old man's quirk, or my brother's flames. To stand out to both of them, I'm going to win the sports festival with only my mother's quirk. I'll reject my old man and win my brother's respect by winning first place without using their flames."

Finally finishing his small story, Shouto fell into silence, turning to glare out at the exit of the tunnel as Izuku absorbed the absolute bombshell of information that his classmate had just dumped on him. Izuku felt himself shiver again, but not from the cold this time - instead, his imagination was running wild, imagining what he knew Endeavor to look like pushing around a small boy with red and white hair, and felt horror and a bit of nausea crawl up his spine.

Shouto, for his part, seemed unsure of what to say after that, his cold and haughty persona cracking slightly for the first time as he turned away from Izuku with a small exhale through his nose -

- and then they both finally became aware of the sound of feet shuffling around the corner.

At once, they both looked around, Shouto's eyes widening and Izuku feeling himself jump a bit at the sound of ice immediately beginning to crack in the recommended student's palm.

"Who's there?" He sharply snapped. "I know there's someone there, you can't hide."

There was a short pause around the corner, as though whoever was there was debating whether to just hide or run away - and then, shuffling awkwardly out, Nejire flashed them both a guilty look, raising her hand in greeting. Izuku blinked in surprise at her sudden appearance - gone was her usual happy smile, replaced by an uncertain and slightly shaky expression as she glanced over at Shouto, and from the way her shoulders were slumped slightly, it was made clear to both boys that she had probably heard everything Shouto had said.

"You were spying on us?" Shouto gave her a menacing glare, the ice in his palm continuing to crack.

"N-not on purpose," She weakly defended herself, and Izuku, feeling the air turn a bit colder, acted automatically, quickly walking over to stand slightly in front of Nejire and turning to face Shouto, "I was just … I was looking for Midoriya because I didn't - uh - well, I didn't trust you around him, after what happened in the forest when you and Kendou smacked him out of the sky, and then you attacked him and froze him and - er - anyway, I'm sorry. I didn't expect to hear you say … you know … all that."

Shouto merely continued to glare at her for a moment - and then, with a small sigh, the ice he was using to intimidate her stopped cracking in his palm, although he still shot her a menacing look as he shook it out of his hand.

"You won't tell," He made clear, "anyone about what you heard."

"Yep!" Nejire immediately agreed, crossing her heart. "Not a word! I know how to keep a secret, Todoroki, so I won't tell anyone! Consider my lips sealed!"

Shouto merely hummed at that, clearly doubting it as he began to look away from the two of them standing before him - but Nejire awkwardly clearing her throat caught his attention again as she gave him an uncertain look.

"But … uh … are you sure you're okay?" She asked in a quiet voice. "A lot of that sounded … really sad."

Shouto merely stared at her for a moment over his shoulder - almost as though he were taken aback by the question - before he let out a sharp breath and turned away from both of them.

"I'm fine," He said shortly, "and I don't need pity from either of you. That's all I wanted to talk to you about, Midoriya - I have my answers about Kendou. Don't tell her or anyone else about what I told you about my family."

With that, he began to stomp his way out of the tunnel, back into the sunlight so he could head off to do whatever he needed to before they had to return -

"Wait a second, Todoroki."

Shouto paused at the quiet voice asking for him to stop, blinking a bit before he turned back around. Izuku, back in the tunnel, let out a small sigh as he stood there for a moment, unsure about what to do now that he had Shouto's attention, before he turned back to glance at Nejire, giving her a small smile.

"Uh … can you wait just a second, Hadou?" He asked her quietly. "I just … have something to talk to him about."

Um … sure."

Nodding, Izuku turned back to where Shouto was standing, and moved to join him out in the sunlight. Shouto, for his part, merely stared blankly at Izuku as he approached him, watching as Izuku closed his eyes and turned his head down towards the ground, his brow furrowing slightly as he thought about how he wanted to say what was on his mind.

"I just … had a question," He gave his classmate an uncertain look, deciding to get this out of the way before he got any further, "does … does Yaoyorozu know about all of this? W-what happened to you?"

Shouto blinked slightly, as though in surprise, and Izuku gulped nervously when he realized how out of nowhere that question was.

"She - she told us that you two were friends once," He quickly clarified, "back when you were kids. But … but you had a falling out."

The recommended student stared for a moment, and then sighed and shook his head.

"No." He answered shortly. "She doesn't. After what happened with my mother … I ended up lashing out at her, and … well, it resulted in how our relationship is today, if she told you about it. Besides, I don't think her own old man would tell her anything about what happened - he's got issues of his own. I didn't need to add any stress to her."

"I … I see." Izuku slowly nodded, and let out another sigh as he closed his eyes, debating how to even begin this.

Because it was … well, either going to get him punched, or frozen again. Either or.

"Todoroki," Izuku hesitated for another moment, taking a small breath - and then, nodding to himself, opened his eyes to look back up at Shouto, "I'm … I'm not gonna pretend that I understand - o-or know - what you've been through. It sounds … it sounds genuinely awful, and - and I'm sorry that you were forced to deal with that."

Shouto merely stood there in silence, giving Izuku a small glare over his shoulder as the green-haired boy took a deep breath, and the recommended student's foot tapped against the ground.

"But …" Izuku licked his lips to moisturize them, feeling his heart beating rather quickly at what he was about to say, "… but if it's okay for me to say … I don't think you owe your brother anything. And - and you don't have anything to prove to your father."

There was a short pause, and the fact that Izuku wasn't suddenly a popsicle again seemed to be relatively good news and a sign he could keep talking. Very thankfully at the moment, Nejire was keeping quiet behind him from her spot in the tunnel, letting him talk as she stood near where the two boys were talking, clearly listening.

"Back during our fight on the pond, I … I noticed that you were shivering. I had thought it was strange - Haya described you using your quirk with both fire and ice, and you managed to thaw me out at the end. I had thought … I thought it was foolish," Izuku hesitated again, before shaking his head and continuing on, "because if you had used your fire against me, there would've been no way for me to avoid that. You would've won our fight a lot sooner - or you would've realized I didn't have the points earlier, and you would've gotten Occhan. Because you didn't use your fire, you hindered yourself - you were shivering, so that means that your quirk is like mine and it can hurt you."

Shouto remained quiet at that.

"But I … like I said, I don't think you owe your brother anything. I - I think you're aware that he doesn't treat you right. And … and I know it's not my place to tell you how to treat your family," He quickly added in, "but … but if you want to only use your ice to win … from what I saw, it's not possible. If you go up against Kendou with only your ice, she'll beat you."

Shouto, for his part, merely huffed at that.

"What," He raised his eyebrows, "are you saying that you want me to beat your friend?"

"No," Izuku shook his head, and a frown appeared on his face, "but if there's one thing I dislike, Todoroki, it's when people don't actually try."

"…"

"I …" He hesitated, and glanced down at his hand, staring at the red lines on the skin of his palms leading up to his fingers as he sighed, "… my quirk is dangerous. Dangerous enough to myself and everyone around me that I have to use a support item to lower my blasts. And if I'm being honest … there's a part of me that hates it. I hate not being able to use my quirk safely, I hate that I can't control it. But I at least understand why I have to use the gauntlet - to make sure that when I use my quirk, it isn't going to hurt anyone else. It's like I understand how Hadou," He turned to glance around at her, "has to manually use her own quirk to not harm herself. She has to hold herself back, or if she goes full power, she'll be knocked out for a while, like what happened to her at the USJ."

There was a short pause.

"But you …" He swallowed briefly, "… you're purposefully sandbagging because you're being petty. I - I know you have your reasons, but - but everyone that's been fighting today has been giving their all, and Kendou's like me - she - she doesn't have proper control of her quirk, but she's still trying to do her best. And you … it looks like you're not even taking this seriously."

Shouto merely glared.

"I'm not saying that to antagonize you," Izuku clarified, "but you said that … when you talk about your flames, you make them sound as though they're an extension of your father and your brother. But … but your flames are yours. Not your father's, and not your brother's. Everyone is out here giving their all, and you're deliberately holding back. I know it seems hypocritical of me to say that since I have to hold myself back, but … you said a lot of stuff about considering Kendou your rival. That would mean that you should consider her an equal to you. So … so you holding back while she gives her all, and tries her best despite not having a handle on her quirk while you can fully control yours …" He felt himself frown again, "… it's insulting."

Finally, silence fell again between both of the boys as Izuku made his thoughts clear, and Nejire, for her part, kept quiet so as not to interrupt the tense atmosphere that had suddenly erupted between the both of them.

And then, with a short sigh, Shouto fully turned away from where he had been glaring at Izuku from over his shoulder.

"You are right about one thing, Midoriya."

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked.

"You," Shouto's voice came out coldly, "have no idea what you're talking about."

With that, he began to stomp away from the two other students near the tunnel. Izuku only watched with a slightly tense look as Shouto walked away from him, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he stormed off.

"I don't really care what kind of relationship Kendou has with All Might," He made clear to Izuku, not even turning to look back at him, "but I will beat her with just my ice. Be sure of that."

He then turned around the corner at last, and vanished completely from view.

From where the recommended student left him, Izuku merely stared after Shouto, conflict and anxiety twisting in his stomach - he knew, then and there, that he probably shouldn't have just let Shouto walk off like that, and should have said something a bit more comforting. But still … what he said, he believed, had some merit of truth, and it was a bit too late to take any of it back, letting out a small sigh as he once again shivered in the open air.

And then came the sudden feeling of someone patting his shoulder lightly, and Izuku, blinking as he remembered that someone else was still there, quickly looked around to see that Nejire had come out of the tunnel to stand beside him, giving him a sad look.

"Uh … wowie," She tried to giggle lightly, although that was marred by how shaken and concerned she looked, "that was … a lot of stuff to learn, huh?"

"Yeah … yeah." He nodded.

"I'm … I'm not sure if I wanted to actually know all of that, though."

"I … definitely didn't want to know," Izuku sighed, turning to look back around at Nejire properly as she took a small step back, absently beginning to play with the end of her hair as she looked off at where Shouto had vanished around the corner with a worried look, "didn't … really expect all of that, honestly."

"Uh-huh," Nejire slowly nodded, standing still for a moment before she glanced down at her shoes, "and … and I know that I said that I wouldn't tell anyone about what I heard, but … but do you think we should tell the teachers? I bet All Might or Aizawa-sensei would want to hear about … you know … all that. Endeavor and his brother."

"I …" Izuku hesitated for a moment - and then he sighed and shook his head, "… I don't think we should, Hadou. I mean, I want to, but … but I feel like it would just be betraying Todoroki if we went behind his back and told someone else about it, after we promised not to. Besides, we … would they even believe us? All Might would, probably, but Aizawa-sensei would probably ask for proof, and … well, other than Todoroki's word, we wouldn't have anything."

Grimacing slightly, he looked back down at the ground while Nejire frowned.

"As much as I hate to," He bit his lip, "we … we should probably keep this to ourselves. For now, at least. Let's … let's not tell anyone unless Todoroki says that it's okay to. Which … I don't think he will, but - but just to be safe."

"Okay …" Nejire nodded again, pouting slightly down at the ground - and then she quickly raised her hands to lightly smack her cheeks, causing Izuku to blink and look around at her in surprise as she began hopping up and down. And then, once she got her hops in, she landed back on her feet and tried to smile at Izuku again.

"Okay! So sad time's over then, I guess. Let's … let's go grab some lunch!" She tried to enthusiastically say. "I don't know about you, Midoriya, but I'm starving! I had a big breakfast this morning before I came to school, so I had a lot of energy - which kinda seems like a bad idea, now that I'm thinking about it, what if someone punched me in the stomach and I puked? That'd be gross, wouldn't it? But anyway, I gotta refill! We only have an hour left, so let's go and - wait," She suddenly blinked, "have you taken a shower yet? I just realized, your hair is still kinda stiff! Are you cold?"

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked, and raised his hand up to his hair to pat it. Sure enough, the rather strange intensity of the conversation with Shouto had made him all but forget that he was very nearly frozen in a block of ice not half an hour ago, and he felt another shiver pass through him as he felt how dry and stiff his hair still was at the moment. Nejire, for her part, looked concerned as he very obviously began trembling again as his body reminded him that he was still very cold.

"Uh, oh," She said worriedly, patting his shoulder again to get his attention, "you should go warm up! In the showers! I know there are a few around here, so let's go get you warmed up!"

"Er - r-right," Izuku nodded, feeling his face turn a bit warm at least at the hand she kept on his shoulder (that, plus telling him that she would help him get 'warmed up' made him gulp very nervously), but still knew that she was right - at this point, he'd been standing around and moving around for close to half an hour and he was still shivering, so a nice warm shower was more than needed at this point. So together, the two of them began walking back into the tunnel that would lead into the stadium in search of the showers.

As they walked together, Nejire put her hands into her pockets, whistling a small tune briefly as she tried to think of a topic that would move them away from the pretty dark conversation they just had with Shouto - and then she blinked.

"Oh!" She gasped, drawing Izuku's attention back to her as he continued to shiver. "I just thought of something, Midoriya! I was always curious about this, but what's your favorite food?"

"Huh? My - my favorite food?" He repeated, a bit confused.

"Yeah! Like, your comfort food! The food you really like to eat when you're sad, or need a pick-me-up! Or if it's something that you really like!" Nejire nodded enthusiastically. "Like, for me, it's not really a food, but I really like jasmine tea. It's super sweet! Do you have a favorite tea?"

"Uh … well, it's not tea, but … but I do drink black coffee sometimes."

"Ooooooh! That's super bitter! I'm surprised you like that!"

"Yeah, uh … well, it's Kendou's favorite drink," Izuku explained with a small smile, looking around for the showers and being unaware of Nejire blinking at that reveal, "and after all the time we trained together, I just … kind of took a liking to it after she brought her own coffee to train in the morning. Er - not that it would be my first choice if someone was asking me if I wanted something to drink, of course, but … well, it kind of grew on me after a while."

"Ehhh … so you and Kendou trained together?"

"Huh?" Izuku blinked a bit at the question, and then, only then, did he realize his slip up, feeling himself straighten up a bit and go red as his eyes went wide. "Oh, uh - w-well, yeah. We - me and Ochako - we, uh - we met her back in middle school, and since we were all going for UA, we just … decided to train together. We all became friends while we were getting ready for the entrance exam."

It was technically the truth, Izuku winced, and the story that Eijirou, Setsuna and Yui had been told. Just … leaving out the other big parts, like how they were trained by the Number One Hero and Itsuka ended up getting his quirk.

"Oh, that's cool!" Nejire clapped her hands together, and then blinked as something seemed to come back to her. "Wait a sec, I got distracted by our talk about tea! And coffee! And training! I was asking you about your favorite food! So what is it? Huh?"

"R-right, uh -" Izuku gulped a bit at the topic changing yet again for the third time in the last minute, but that was pretty much just how Nejire was, so he was somewhat used to it by now, "- it's - it's katsudon."

"Katsudon …" Nejire repeated after him, looking thoughtful.

"Y-yeah. My mom used to make me them all the time when I was little, and I ended up … well … kind of getting addicted," He chuckled a bit sheepishly at himself, "I don't think I've actually had katsudon in a long time, though - it's been so busy, I usually just eat what my mom gives me, everything she makes is delicious. T-that, and due to my exercise plan, I try to eat a bit healthier."

"Ooooh … so your mom is a good cook? That's awesome! I love my mom's own cooking, she's actually a chef, did you know that? Works in a high quality restaurant, and loves making me and Yuuyu something when we're hungry, even if it's not during breakfast, lunch or dinner! But she also likes junk food, which is kind of funny, since she can cook - like, literally anything! Oh, but wait," She blinked interestingly, looking around at Izuku as he slowly nodded along to what she was rambling about, "back to what you were saying about katsudon - would you eat it if it was offered?"

"Hm? Uh … yeah, I guess I would," Izuku nodded, a bit confused at how this conversation was bouncing around as he turned to look around again - and then blinking when he saw the door to a shower room.

"Oh, uh - there it is," He quickly pointed to the shower door, sighing a bit in relief as he walked towards it, and pushed the door open as he glanced back at Nejire as she paused in her step, seeing him smiling weakly at her, "I - I guess we're here. T-thank you for bringing me here, Hadou. I'll just … go ahead and get warmed up."

"Oh! Right!" Nejire quickly nodded, shaken out of the conversation and looking somewhat disappointed that it ended abruptly - but then she blinked, and she quickly shook her head as a smile returned to her face, and quickly turned on her heel to start jogging away.

Izuku blinked a bit at her abrupt exit from their conversation, not even saying bye as she quickly rounded the corner and vanished from view, but then he let out a small sigh and shrugged a bit - well, maybe he shouldn't be that surprised, they were currently in the middle of their lunch break, and she mentioned that she was pretty hungry, so she was probably hurrying to go grab something to eat before they had to go back.

Well … it wasn't like he wasn't hungry either, he grimaced slightly as his stomach growled a bit at the reminder of food, so he should probably get to showering and warming up so he could also run upstairs to grab something to eat before they had to get back out onto the field. But for now, he had to get in the shower and try to warm up, and hopefully he would be able to take his mind off of the horrible things Shouto had just revealed to him - he'd have time to worry about his fellow classmate later.

Thankfully, the changing room he had entered had a few spare boys' gym uniforms of all sizes for him to pick through once he was done with his shower, Izuku sighed in relief as he began taking off his soaking wet uniform - it was apparent that this room was for situations like this, what with the radiator on the side for him to put his wet socks and underwear on so that they would be nice and warm for when he was done with his shower. He knew that he wouldn't be in the shower for too long, turning the water up pretty high and wincing when he went beneath it and felt how hot it was on his skin, but thankfully it didn't take long for him to get used to it and try to warm himself up underneath the hot water, not really trying to clean himself but taking the time to try and warm up his body.

Standing underneath the showerhead for a few moments, Izuku let out a small sigh as he raised his hands to his hair, scratching his scalp a bit as he shivered again, even under the hot water as he tried to relax his sore muscles after being jerked around by Mei's inventions. He felt so sore and tired from the last two rounds, and the worst part was that he wasn't even done today - he had at least four more rounds to get through, at the minimum. So it was inevitable that at the end of the day, he was going to be absolutely exhausted - honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if he went home tonight and the only thing he did was pass out the moment he got within walking distance of the couch or his bed.

God, so much had already happened … running through the first round, nearly launching himself into space with Ochako, their crash landing onto Itsuka and him accidentally getting first place, which ended up putting the ten million point bounty on his head. The second round having to cooperate with Katsuki, getting choked for the assumption that Izuku had beaten him once, and then chased around by all of their classmates in the forest, getting jerked around uncomfortably all over the place by Mei's inventions.

And then his crash into Ochako, landing in the pond, swimming to shore, and then …

… then …

Izuku found himself faltering in his thoughts underneath the warm water, staring ahead for a moment. Due to the absolute chaos that he had to go through during the last few minutes of the second round, he had almost forgotten about … what had happened with Ochako after they had gotten to the shore of the pond. With her laying on his back, and then when their eyes had met.

Staring blankly ahead for a moment, remembering the look on Ochako's face as he stared into her warm eyes … Izuku let out a short breath, shaking his head and feeling his cheeks turn red as he turned in the shower.

Honestly, he had … absolutely no idea what was going on with him today. He hadn't really gotten much time to think about it due to the breakneck speed of everything that had happened, but when his thoughts turned to his best friend, he just … he just felt weird. He hadn't much time to put any thought into it as everytime they had a … moment, he decided to call those awkward situations with a small blush, it was always immediately interrupted.

But he could tell that … that something was going on. He just couldn't figure out what.

Letting out a small groan, Izuku felt his shoulders sag slightly, staring down at the floor. He tried to run through all the times something happened with her and he felt weird - which was kind of a lot, he gulped. Back in the first round, he gave her the piggy-back ride - and the feeling of her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands on her thighs made him shake nervously even now in the shower. And then in the forest, when she had given him that comfort he had desperately needed, and he had hugged her - and the way he had felt as though there were butterflies in his stomach as they kept their arms around each other for a lot longer than necessary. And then up in the air, when Ochako had first talked through the comms and Izuku felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest at the sound of her voice directly speaking in his ears.

All three of these things weren't like they never happened before - he'd given her piggy-back rides before, since middle school, even, Ochako hugged him all the time, and they talked through the phone all the time too. So why was it now that he was feeling weird doing things that he'd done with her their entire lives?

Sighing, Izuku closed his eyes. There was just … something wrong with him today. Anytime he hugged Ochako, or was close to her, he felt like his stomach was twisting, but it wasn't like … it wasn't like it was a bad feeling. No, like he had felt back at the pond with her, it wasn't like these were bad or uncomfortable feelings. It made him feel like …

… like he was walking on air. Like someone had injected him with a needle full of happiness. Like when he imagined Ochako's face, or her laughter, a shot of dopamine would shoot directly through him.

But … but why was he feeling this way? Izuku felt his brow scrunch - why did thinking of Ochako make him feel so embarrassed but happy? Like he was thinking of something forbidden when he thought of how she looked after they had gotten out of the pond, with her wet hair hanging around her and clinging slightly to her face … or how nice it felt to be wrapped up in a hug by her, her arms wrapped around his neck and pressing herself against him … or …

… or how nice and soft her thighs had felt in his hands -

Izuku stopped at that thought, staring blankly ahead - and then, immediately and without any hesitation, headbutted the wall, squeezing his eyes shut as his face went much redder at the thought that suddenly invaded his mind.

God, what was going on with him today?!

With another low sigh, Izuku raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, and then used his other hand to turn the dial on the shower off. Thoughts aside about Ochako's … body, he thought with a heavy blush, it was clear that there was something weird going on with him, and he prayed that he didn't end up doing anything stupid before he figured out what it was. But there was one thing that he couldn't deny, he frowned.

These weird feelings he was having towards Ochako - they felt … familiar, somehow. As though he had felt them before, but he couldn't think of a time when he had. He just …

… he needed some time to think about it later, he nodded to himself, when he wasn't in such a stressful situation with the sports festival. Right now, he was hungry, he was tired, but he needed to push past them to concentrate - he still had the rest of the day to get through, and a few rounds of the sports festival to fight through. So he needed to put these weird thoughts about Ochako aside for the moment, get something to eat, and figure things out later.

Once he was finally out of the shower, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as he moved to get dressed in warmer clothes again - the shower definitely helped out with his shivering, but he still felt a bit cold, for some reason, as he dried off and put on the spare uniform, checking his socks and feeling relieved they were at least dry enough to put back on. Getting dressed again, Izuku checked his reflection and winced - his hair being pushed back by the shower showed off the scar on his forehead, so he was quick to bring his fringe back down to cover it. Nothing much he could do about the one on his cheek, he frowned, but at least the one on his forehead could be covered by his hair.

Nodding slightly to himself, Izuku pushed the door to the shower room open, looking up so he could figure out how to get upstairs and find the cafeteria -

- and as his gaze flickered up towards the end of the hall automatically, he only barely caught a glimpse of a familiar black ponytail disappearing around the corner.

Standing there for a brief moment, Izuku blinked slightly - wait, that was … was that Itsuka? Feeling himself straighten up, Izuku started walking at a brisk pace towards where he had seen the ponytail vanish, and quickly looked around the corner - and sure enough, his eyes did not deceive him, as it was Itsuka walking slowly down the hall towards … well, it seemed like she was going somewhere, but he had no idea what else would be down on this floor.

"Er - Kendou?" Izuku called out to her, and found himself feeling confused when she jumped at the sound of his voice. Furrowing his brow, Izuku moved around the corner and towards her, feeling a bit more unsure as she continued to stare forward for a moment, not looking back at him at all as though she had been frozen by the sound of his voice - and then, as he approached her, she quickly looked around her shoulder, and he found himself blinking at the utterly stiff smile on her face.

"Uh … hey, Izuku," She managed to say through her teeth, "er - what's up?"

"U-um - n-not much," Izuku shrugged, standing before her and feeling a bit concerned as he glanced down at her hand being held to her chest and wincing at how purple it was starting to look, "are - are you okay? H-how's your hand?"

"Oh, uh …" Itsuka tried to laugh nonchalantly, although there was a slight shaking in her voice that Izuku had no idea was there for as her eyes darted away from him, "well, y'know, Izuku, uh … it … still hurts. I was - uh - I was going to Recovery Girl's office to get it looked at."

"Oh," Izuku blinked, "oh, uh, yeah, Kendou, uh - y-yeah, you should get that looked at."

"T-that I am," Itsuka nodded awkwardly, turning back around, "so, uh … well … I guess I'm gonna go do that now. S-see you, Izuku."

With that, she began to turn back around, clearly intending to head towards where Recovery Girl's office apparently was to have her hand looked at - but as she turned, Izuku, for some reason, felt like there was something wrong.

It had been … well, it was pretty obvious that there was something wrong. The way that Itsuka was carrying herself was … different than how she normally did. Her shoulders were slumped forward, her back a bit hunched, and she turned to stare back down at her shoes as she began to walk away from him, walking at speeds a lot faster than he was used to - as though she was trying to hurry away from him. It was so unlike how she normally carried herself - full of confidence and assurance - that it took Izuku aback, staring at the back of one of his closest friends in concern. It had almost been like …

… like when they had met Nighteye for the first time on the beach, when he had insulted her directly to her face, and she had tried to put on a brave face when trying to excuse herself.

And if that was going on here … that meant … something must've happened to make her feel down on herself.

Feeling his eyes snap open, Izuku straightened back up.

"Uh - w-wait a second, Kendou!"

Izuku winced a bit at the small stutter in his request, but luckily for him, his training partner did pause at the sound of him calling out to her again, glancing over her shoulder at him. Izuku stood there for a moment, not entirely sure what to do now that he had her attention as he gulped - and then he quickly shook his head, and jogged forward so that he could stand beside her, Itsuka blinking at him in surprise.

"W-why don't I come with you?" He quickly asked, unaware of Itsuka stiffening slightly at that inquiry as he put his hands in his pockets. "I, uh, I don't have anything going on right now - and, you know, I can wait for Recovery Girl to heal your hand, and then we could go get lunch together. I-if you haven't eaten yet, that is."

"Uh …" Itsuka faltered - and unaware of Izuku, her face becoming a bit redder and her stomach twisting slightly with guilt - but before she could protest, Izuku already began walking towards where Recovery Girl's office might be, deciding to lead the way. Itsuka sputtered a bit before she moved to catch up with him before she could think, and together, they walked through the halls towards where Recovery Girl had taken up residence.

Of course, as they rounded the corner, neither of them noticed a familiar blue-haired girl appearing from around the corner, carrying a tray of katsudon towards the showers, and then blinking when she glanced around and saw a familiar red shoe disappear around the other corner down the opposite hall.

Once they had gotten to the office that had the large 'Recovery Girl's Temporary Nurse's Office' over the door, Izuku knocked on the door as he nervously called out Recovery Girl's name to inquire if she was in there - Itsuka had been weirdly quiet for the last few minutes as they walked together, staring down at her feet while he tried to make light conversation but got pretty much non-answers and hums in return.

So there was … definitely something going on, Izuku bit his lip in worry, but he couldn't really put his finger on what.

Hopefully, at the sound of Recovery Girl calling out that she was still there, he had the thought that maybe distracting Itsuka with getting her hand healed might give him a chance to figure out what exactly was going on.

As he opened the door to let them both walk in, he saw Recovery Girl and Himiko sitting together in their chairs, Himiko rolling a pencil between her fingers (and, unaware to any of them, raising her eyebrows when Itsuka glanced up at her, and a pout immediately appeared on her face), and Recovery Girl looking somewhat serious as she sat comfortably in her chair. What he didn't expect, however, was the appearance of the frail man in another chair, hunched over and looking around at who was opening the door, steam blowing off of him.

"All Might?" Izuku blinked a bit, surprised. "Why are you down here?"

"Well, I was summoned down here for an inspection," All Might explained with a small smile as both his students entered the room, the pro hero's eyes flickering down to Itsuka's hand and grimacing slightly as he dabbed at his bloody lips with a handkerchief, "Recovery Girl wanted me to come down and do a small check up, see how I'm doing after our last checkup a few weeks ago. I was running a bit late, though - we were summoned for a brief teacher's meeting soon after break started, and I got a bit sidetracked by Endeavor afterwards, so I only just arrived."

At the sound of the Number Two Hero's name, Izuku felt his stomach tense.

"As for you, Young Kendou," All Might turned towards where his pupil was walking into the office, Recovery Girl pointing towards a stool for her to sit down on while she grabbed some wrappings for her hand to start the healing process, "I've been watching you during the festival - you've done very well so far."

"Yeah," Itsuka grimaced slightly, sitting down on the stool and holding out her hand for Recovery Girl to smooch, while not looking like she agreed with All Might's statement at all, "I … guess. Yeah."

"Well, we teachers are aware that you haven't exactly had it easy so far," All Might frowned, glancing down at his feet, "what with the behaviors of Young Monoma and Young Shinsou, so the fact that you've handled them about as well as you have is commendable - even if Aizawa may be talking to you later about your striking Young Shinsou at the end of his match. Just know that he won't be too hard on you about that."

"Yeah … okay, I - probably should've expected that," Itsuka scowled, "but sure, I'll take the lecture."

"Well, truth be told, Young Kendou, we were a bit more … er … nervous about Young Bakugou's participation in the second round," All Might grimaced a bit as Izuku nodded a bit at that, completely seeing where his mentor was coming from with that, "so we had been caught quite off guard when it turned out that the dynamic of your own team ended up being … er … complicated."

"Well, Vlad King is already planning to talk to Monoma about his behavior," Recovery Girl sighed as she finished kissing Itsuka's hand, a wave of fatigue moving over the class rep as the elderly nurse began wrapping her hand up, "and I believe we'll be having a few teachers speak to Shinsou as well, for both of their attempts to push you out of the round. Fairly unheroic behavior for two of our students to have, especially for someone who's trying to get into the hero course."

"I …" Izuku hesitated, feeling himself frown, "… I guess that means that Shinsou's chances of getting into the hero course …?"

"They were never gonna be that simple, cutie," Himiko giggled, waving her hand in the air, "I had to jump through more hoops to get into the hero course than I could count, no way the teachers are just gonna pull someone out of the general studies' course just for doing well at the festival."

"While I wouldn't put it exactly like that," All Might shrugged, "Young Toga is somewhat correct. The festival is merely a chance for general studies students to show that they have what it takes to be in the hero course, and then, throughout the semester, a few tests and exams would be conducted by the hero course to see if the student has what it takes to keep up with the workload. Just doing well in the festival doesn't guarantee that a general studies student can not only keep up with other hero students who had more experience than them, but also get caught up on everything they missed in the time they weren't in the hero course."

"So Shinsou's chances aren't shot," Recovery Girl shook her head, "but now that we know he's deliberately antagonizing others, he's got quite a hill to climb, that's for sure. Not to mention that we're now suspicious about why so many students failed the first round - we'll be reviewing the tapes to see what we might've missed in the excitement. Now then, dearie," She turned back to Itsuka, "your hand's all wrapped up and good to go - it'll be fine for when you start your first round, just keep the bandages on until then."

"Yes, ma'am," She nodded, flexing her fingers and only wincing slightly. From the other side of the room, All Might let out a small sigh and then turned towards his successor.

"Now then, Young Kendou," All Might tapped his fingers against his knees, "there was something else us teachers were curious about - from what we understood about Shinsou's quirk, it takes a jolt to shake the hypnotized person out of the quirk, or at least that's what we found after reviewing Young Shinsou's info in the quirk registry. What exactly did you do to break out?"

"Uh …" Itsuka hesitated then, staring at her mentor for a second before her gaze flickered briefly to Himiko as the older student began playing with her pencil again in her boredom. Izuku, meanwhile, also cleared his throat as he stood near the door, getting All Might's attention - and then, right about then, was when it seemed to register to both adults in the room why the other two were hesitant to talk, glancing down at Itsuka's broken hand, and Recovery Girl quickly nodded.

"I see, doctor-patient confidentiality," She said in understanding, and then turned to Himiko, "Toga, give us the room for a bit."

"Awww," Himiko pretended to pout in disappointment, "no room for me in here? Kicking a poor girl while she's down? Not welcome upstairs, and not welcome down here."

"That's right, no one likes you or wants you around." Recovery Girl dryly confirmed, rolling her eyes as Himiko pretended to tear up. "So go and - I don't know, flirt with some cheerleader from America. I don't quite care, as long as you're back down here before lunch ends."

There was a short pause in the room - and then Himiko slowly rose from her seat, putting the pencil down on the table as a wide, happy smile appeared on her face, and Recovery Girl immediately realized her mistake as she let out a groan.

"I can't believe this," Himiko sniffed, raising her hand as though to wipe an imaginary tear from her eye, "Granny is finally letting me go off to flirt with other people. I - I thought this day would never come."

"Yes, yes," Recovery Girl waved her hand in the air, prepared for a headache she'd have to deal with later, "now please -"

"Oh, how lonely I've been! For so many years, not knowing the touch of another!"

"I caught you trying to sneak a student into your room two months ago, Toga. Now -"

"I think it's finally time … time to find someone to take me back to the nurse's office, and rid me of my virginity -"

"Would you get out already?!" Recovery Girl finally barked, and Himiko quickly slipped by the others in the office, giggling mischievously. "And don't you dare think of doing anything like that in the office, Toga!"

"Oh, calm down, Granny, I'm only joking!" Himiko opened the door and stepped out - only to poke her head back in, pulling on her eyelid as she looked around at the elderly nurse with a grin and sticking her tongue out somewhat. "I had someone take my virginity in the nurse's office last year."

She quickly ducked back out as Recovery Girl chucked her cane at her head, closing the door with a snap.

With a sigh, All Might shook his head slightly, and then turned back towards where Itsuka was still sitting, suppressing a small yawn from the elderly nurse using her quirk on her.

"So … Young Kendou," He gave her a serious look as Izuku moved across the office, handing Recovery Girl her cane back nervously, "I … am to assume that you broke out of Young Shinsou's quirk with …"

"With One for All," She nodded in confirmation, "yeah."

"Hm … well, I suppose I should ask how you did that? Was his quirk weak to -"

"No," She shook her head, sitting forward as Izuku looked around interestingly, heavily resisting the urge to whip out his notebook at whatever info about the quirk she was about to drop, "it was … Shinsou's quirk was strong. No way I would've been able to break out of it without One for All. But when he had me in the trance, something … happened."

Closing her eyes, she let out another sigh as she turned her head towards the floor.

"I had … some kind of … vision." She wrapped her arms around her waist, frowning slightly. "It was like - I looked around, and there were a couple of people watching me from the shadows. I couldn't tell how many, but I think that … that they were the reason I managed to cut through Shinsou's brainwashing. I think … it sounds crazy, but I think they snapped my fingers for me."

Above her, the urge to write this down almost overwhelmed Izuku, barely managing to put his notebook back in his pocket before he whipped it out and started scribbling without thinking.

"Once they appeared, it was like … I could only move my fingers, and I just … snapped them together, and I broke out of the trance. But the thing is … when I was in that trance, and looking around at all their eyes, it was like … I could've sworn that I saw you in there, All Might."

Shaking her head, she let out a shuddering breath and opened her eyes again.

"I have no idea what it was," She turned to glance up at All Might to gauge his reaction, hoping that he would be looking like he understood what was going on, "but … could it be possible that those were … they were the people who had One for All before me? Maybe?"

As she looked up at All Might, however, what she saw wasn't a comforting smile or an assuring grin - but a look of terror on All Might's face as he looked like he was seeing ghosts this time.

"T-that's creepy …" He shivered, "… what the heck?"

"Huh?!" She squeaked, eyes widening in horror as she straightened up in her seat. "I thought you'd have some idea what that was!"

"O-oh, no, Young Kendou, I - I do know what you're talking about! Just took me aback, is all." Quickly shaking his head, All Might smacked his hollow cheeks to refocus himself.

"I … also had similar visions like that in the past, back in my younger days," He explained, "I believe that it's a sign that you may be getting a better grasp on One for All."

"Really …?" Itsuka didn't sound sure about that.

"Indeed. I couldn't tell you what exactly the visions are, but …" All Might hesitated then, and then shook his head and straightened his back. "… but when I asked my own master about them, she told me that she believed it to be traces of something the previous users left behind in One for All."

"Huh?" Itsuka tilted her head slightly, while Izuku looked like he was going to have an aneurysm without writing any of this down, helped by Recovery Girl poking him with his cane when it looked like he was about to give in to his urges and whip out his notebook. "Traces?"

"Indeed," All Might nodded, "they're not something that could directly interfere with you, and you can't interfere with them - they're just there. If what I'm thinking is true … well, it wasn't the vision that got rid of the brainwashing Young Shinsou put on you. I believe that when you saw the vision, strong emotions - such as fear - allowed you to briefly overcome the brainwashing and use One for All to break out of it."

"I …" Itsuka hesitated for another moment - and then her shoulders sagged in disappointment, "… still don't really get it."

"Don't get too hung up on it!" All Might pointed at her with both hands, sounding slightly annoyed by her lackluster reaction. "You've still got the rest of the sports festival to get through, remember? Now that your hand has been healed, you should be getting ready for your first fight."

"I … guess so," Itsuka sighed, raising her hands to brush the black bangs away from her eyes as she stood up, stretching slightly, "anyway, uh … yeah, you're - you're right. I'll just … put it aside for now. Things to think about later."

"Indeed," All Might also straightened up in his seat, rubbing his forehead a bit as though he had a headache, "now then - you two have at least a half hour left. I would advise you to at least go grab something quick to eat - you're not going to be having very long to prepare for your first round, so it would be better to go get something in you now than to wait until later."

"R-right," Izuku quickly nodded, straightening up from his spot on the wall as well, as Itsuka turned away from him, "thank you, All Might."

"No problem, Young Midoriya - and both of you, break a leg out there."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… er … not … you know what I mean," All Might sweated nervously.

"We'll … definitely try," Itsuka sighed, and moved towards the door. Izuku felt himself blink as she quickly left without him, feeling himself jump slightly, and quickly moved out the door to catch up with her, quickly thanking Recovery Girl and All Might for their time and excusing them as he shut the door behind him.

Looking around for where Itsuka was quickly walking away, Izuku gulped a bit as he started jogging after her.

"Er - h-hey, Kendou!" He quickly called out to her, pushing all he just heard about One for All aside as he quickly caught up. "Hold on a second!"

"Can't," She shook her head, not looking back at him at all, "just … gotta go grab something really quick. I'll see you back at the -"

"Kendou, what's going on?"

Izuku winced a bit at how bluntly the question came out, but alas, it was a bit too late to really take it back now that he had asked it. Itsuka, for her part, finally froze in her step, stopping her attempts to walk away from him, and stared blankly ahead for a moment before she finally glanced back at him, seeing how red his face had become but still staring at her with a determined look, before she awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Uh … nothing," She shrugged her shoulders, wincing to herself at how unconvincing she was coming across as, "nothing's up, Izuku, just … really busy day, y'know -"

"No."

She stopped talking at that interruption, with Izuku wincing slightly but still shaking his head and trying to keep the momentum of confronting her going.

"N-no," He repeated, a bit lamer this time, "I, uh - I don't believe that, Kendou. I - I know something's up, because - because this is how you were acting when we met Nighteye for the first time. W-with you not being … well … you."

He knew that came out sounding absolutely stupid, but Itsuka, at least, didn't call him out on it, which gave him the incentive to keep going.

"I … I won't pressure you into telling me exactly what's going on," He said in an assuring voice, "but I just … I wanna …"

He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, speaking in a quiet voice.

"… I wanna be there for you. Because I know that you have to be struggling with something right now, and I … I don't want you to go through it alone."

With that, he finished his stupid little speech, not entirely sure if Itsuka was convinced by it. There was a long moment of silence in the hall, with the two of them standing there, Izuku looking at Itsuka as she turned away from him with both her hands hanging limply by her sides -

- and then she sniffed, and Izuku blinked as she glanced around at him to show the tears beginning to build in her eyes as she turned to stare down at her feet, and he felt his heart clench painfully in his chest.

"I …" She said in a quiet voice, and then let out a shuddering sigh, "… I messed up, Izuku. I - I really messed up."

His brow furrowed, Izuku took a step closer. "You messed up? H-how?"

"I … I can't really … I can't go into it," She shook her head, looking slightly terrified for a moment when he had asked her that, and when he quickly nodded to show that he understood and wouldn't pressure her into talking, she bit her lip, "but I did … I said something to - to - to someone, and made her uncomfortable, and then I just … I did something that - that probably fucked everything up."

Izuku felt himself stare in shock as tears began to slowly slide down her cheeks, Itsuka turning away to quietly wipe at her cheeks, and he knew, right then and there, that he had to do something. The way that his friend was staring down at her feet, remorse and regret clearly filling her as she wrung her hands together, tore at his heart and made his entire body scream at him to do something, anything, to make her feel better. To make sure that the nice, kind girl that befriended him on that beach so long ago was feeling better.

But … but how? How could he comfort Itsuka right now? What - what would he do when Ochako usually felt sad? Izuku quickly flipped through his memories, trying to remember a time when Ochako had been sad and he had comforted her - and then, when he came up with a blank (much to his frustration, since he knew he had comforted Ochako before but just couldn't remember it at the moment), tried to struggle to remember a time Itsuka felt sad around him -

- and then, he felt himself go still as he suddenly had a memory of what had happened after he had gotten out of the nurse's office, recovered mostly from his fight with the hooded man. Remembering how Ochako had pinned him against the wall, broke down into tears, and then he had seen Itsuka break down into tears, and then he had …

… he …

Suddenly, Izuku remembered some of his thoughts that he had a few weeks ago, after sleeping over at the Kendous' the morning after they had met Eri. His weird dream that had made him overly conscious of how he always froze up around Nejire. The thoughts that followed that had filled him with the need to change how he reacted to being hugged or touched by someone from the opposite sex (something he was still struggling with, what with Nejire hugging him during the first round making him feel woozy with embarrassment even now).

And how he had thought that if he needed to practice touching a girl, that girl would need to be …

… it'd be …

"A-anyway," Itsuka sniffled, beginning to turn away again as Izuku jolted a bit, eyes widening and face going red, "I … I'm just gonna … I'll go do my - my thing that I was doing. Just … anyway, Izuku -"

And then Izuku's body moved before he had a chance to think things through. One moment he was frozen, standing there in horror and embarrassment at the thought of what he had to do - and then, he took two quick steps forward, reaching out automatically, and grabbed Itsuka's shoulders, turning her around. Itsuka faltered at his touch, looking around quickly at her training partner as he took a deep breath -

- and then, before he could overthink it, quickly pulled her into a hug.

He heard Itsuka let out a small squeak as he suddenly moved in and wrapped his arms stiffly around her, and buried his face in her shoulder as it promptly burst into flames. Izuku himself wasn't quite sure what he was doing, his eyes wide and his face burning so hot at the feeling of Itsuka pressed against him he wouldn't be surprised if he somehow burnt her shoulder, but all he knew was that Itsuka was hurting, even if he didn't know why, so he tried to fight down the embarrassment as he stood there, awkwardly embracing his friend, unaware of Itsuka's own face flushing bright red as she realized what was happening.

But then, after a moment where Izuku's senses finally returned to him and he was about to jump away from her like she was on fire, she began to move her arms. Izuku found himself faltering as Itsuka hesitantly wrapped one arm around his waist, and the other one went around his neck - and then, she let out a shuddering sigh right in his ear, one that sent a chill through him, as she began to hug him back. He felt her hand suddenly move to the back of his head, stroking his hair, and he felt himself suddenly relax as well as he hugged her a bit tighter.

His face was red and his mind was panicking, and yet … and yet, he didn't move away. He didn't want to let her go just yet. This felt … it felt nice.

A little … too nice.

However, before he could think more about it than he probably should, Itsuka let out a small murmur as she nuzzled her face into his shoulder, making his already impressively red face deepen even more with color.

"Sorry," She said in a quiet, muffled voice, "don't know why I'm …"

"I-it's okay," He managed to stutter out, hesitantly rubbing his hand up and down her back and unknowingly making her toes curl slightly, "just … it's okay."

"I … haven't been having a really good day."

"I - I get that," He nodded, trying to push past his embarrassment as she slowly swayed the two of them, almost as though they were dancing, "between Todoroki and Shinsou and Monoma, I - I get it, Kendou."

"And … you know …" She hesitated there, and then sighed as she pressed her face down on his shoulder again, "… you and Ochako have been … away from me."

"H-huh?" Izuku blinked a bit in confusion.

"Y'know … you worked together during the first round while I went off on my own," She sounded a bit ashamed of herself for admitting this, but it was clear that she really couldn't control her own words, "and then we had to face off in the second round. I just - I know it was my fault the first time, and we didn't have much choice the second time, but … but these past few weeks …"

She let out a shuddering breath.

"… it's been so awkward," Her voice began to quiet down while Izuku stared straight ahead, feeling his mouth close slowly, "for the last week. I … I don't know what's going on with me, but I just …" Her voice turned even smaller, "… I miss you guys."

Izuku stared ahead for a moment, his heart thumping painfully at what she just admitted - and then, with a small shudder, he tightened his grip on her, holding her closer and not even feeling embarrassed as she nuzzled into his side again. As they slowly swayed on their spot, Izuku let out a breath as he experimentally, and nervously, raised a hand to the back of her head in an imitation of what she had been doing, and blinked at how soft her dark hair felt. Itsuka, in turn, took a small breath from where she rested her face on his shoulder, her nose digging slightly against it.

Standing in the abandoned hallway, Izuku felt himself shake a bit as he simply hugged Itsuka to him - he had no idea what he was even doing, why they had been hugging for so long, and why his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest, but this felt nice.

It felt good.

It felt like …

… like when he had …

And that was when both of them suddenly blinked, realizing what they were doing at the same time. As quickly as Izuku had brought her to him, they both quickly took a step back, unwrapping their arms from around each other and quickly taking their hands off each other as their faces both flushed.

Izuku felt like bowing and apologizing over and over again for what he just did while Itsuka gulped nervously as quickly moved her gaze back to the ground, and quickly spun around, staring ahead determinately.

"Okay," She managed to get out through a slightly shaking voice, "I'm - I'm gonna go grab some water. T-thanks for - yeah."

"Y-yeah," Izuku nodded stiffly, now turning to stare at the floor,"n-no problem, Kendou. See y–you - see you later."

"Y-yep. See you."

With that, they both quickly began to walk determinately away from each other, Izuku with his face on fire and Itsuka's face not being all that much different as she quickly hurried around the corner and out of sight. Izuku, for his part, quickly moved through the halls, his eyes searching around wildly before he finally found another abandoned room, and quickly opened it and stepped through before he closed the door behind him and made his way over to the desk, sitting down and holding his hands over his face.

There were plenty of things to feel embarrassed about, of course - like the fact he had hugged Itsuka out of nowhere, that he had done it for so long, that he had immediately ran off like a coward the moment he had realized what he had been doing. But … but the one reason he was panicking the most of all, he shivered, wasn't because of either of those.

It was the way he had felt when he had hugged Itsuka. The way he felt … like …

… like his stomach had twisted, but not in a painful way. The way he had felt like he had been floating without Ochako's quirk being used on him, as though happiness had been shooting through him.

Hugging Itsuka … it had given him the same feeling …

… the same feeling that he had felt with Ochako earlier.

---

To say that the atmosphere surrounding the three training partners when they returned from lunch was awkward would be … definitely underselling it.

As luck would have it, Izuku ended up standing between Ochako and Itsuka as Class 1A, Class 1B, and the rest of the other classes that were participating in the sports festival gathered around Midnight's podium as their lunch break concluded, wanting to get more information about the final round … and neither three of the training partners were able to look each other in the eye. Indeed, Izuku was too busy studying his feet to look up at his training partners, Itsuka was likewise staring up at Midnight as she paced around the podium without even acknowledging anyone around her in fear of melting into a puddle of awkwardness and embarrassment, and Ochako seemed rather … morose, staring down at her own feet with a noticeable frown.

Feeling himself gulp nervously, Izuku glanced between both girls only once, and felt his own frown appear on his face over the fact that neither girl was looking in each other's direction, with Itsuka staring up at the screen with a straight face and Ochako kept her eyes firmly on the ground, although the way her eyes looked a bit red made Izuku's stomach clench in worry. But the realization he had earlier that he was having weird feelings for both girls on either side of him meant that he couldn't even muster the courage to ask her if she was okay. Honestly, he hadn't felt this shy around either girl since he met them both (and yes, he meant when he met Ochako as a kid), and was too busy feeling flustered he didn't notice Nejire shooting Itsuka a worried look from around his shoulder.

He just … well, he shouldn't be focusing on that right now, Izuku sighed as he continued to stare forward up at the screen. Right now, he needed to just … push these thoughts to the side, like he had convinced himself before, and focus on the sports festival. Only later, once the festival was done, would he sit down and think about all of these weird feelings he was having towards both of his best friends.

At the very least, he could take a little comfort in the fact that Ochako had seemed to have warmed up since they last saw each other, he slowly nodded to himself as he glanced over at her again and saw that she was no longer shivering - although he still felt a bit cold even after his own warm shower, rubbing his now dry arms absently together. Hopefully he hadn't caught a cold from being covered nearly head to toe in a block of ice.

"WELCOME BACK FROM YOUR LUNCH BREAK, ALL YOU LOVELY LISTENERS!" Present Mic screamed over the speakers and the roar of the crowd. "NOW THAT WE'RE ALL NICE AND FULL, IT'S FINALLY TIME TO REVEAL WHAT OUR CONTESTANTS WILL BE DOING FOR THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL'S FINAL ROUNDS! BUT BEFORE THAT, THERE'S SOME GOOD NEWS FOR ALL OF YOU WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT TO THE FINALS!"

Many of the students, like Setsuna, Yui, Hanta and Pony, glanced up in intrigue at the speakers.

"JUST SO YOU ALL AREN'T JUST SITTING AROUND AND WAITING FOR US BORING ADULTS TO GET THE ARENA READY, WE'VE PREPARED SOME RECREATIONAL GAMES THAT EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE IN TOO!"

"Oh," Setsuna scowled a bit, disappointed as she glanced down at one of her arms now wrapped up in a sling, twitching and wincing a bit as she slowly regenerated her hand, "so I'm not gonna be able to do that anyway."

Yui and Mina merely patted her back, sympathetic to their friend, while Hanta gave a small, concerned look at the sulking look on her face.

"ALL RIGHTY, THEN! SO COMING UP AFTER THIS LITTLE COMMERCIAL BREAK, WE'LL BE GOING OVER WHAT OUR SIXTEEN CONTESTANTS WILL BE UP AGAINST IN THE FINAL ROUNDS, FOLLOWED BY THE RECREATIONAL GAMES, AND THEN! THE FINAL BATTLES OF THE GAMES WILL BEGIN!"

"So what are you thinking?" Mina quickly looked around at Eijirou excitedly, playfully punching him in the arm while he stared up at the screen thoughtfully. "Tournament?"

"Oh, yeah, a hundred percent it's gonna be a tournament," Eijirou nodded with a grin, "it's always a tournament at the end of the sports festival - the thing we gotta wonder, though, is what kind of twist there's gonna be."

"I'm so excited!" She gushed, giving him a big grin as she quickly looked around at the small countdown on the screen indicating when they'll be back from the commercials. "We're gonna be up on stage in front of everyone! On TV!"

"Yeah," Eijirou nodded, although his smile faded and he slowly turned to look back at the ground, "yeah."

"Huh?" Mina blinked. "Kiri-babe? You good?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm good, Ashido," He quickly assured her, although he straightened up and gave a morose expression while wiping a small tear from his eye, "it's just … I kinda hoped that Tetsu-bro would be up here with me … maybe one last fight, settle who's really the best of us. He's the only reason I made it this far, and … and I owe everything to him."

A hand suddenly fell on his shoulder, and both Eijirou and the slightly befuddled Mina turned to see Tetsutetsu standing there, looking down at the ground for a moment - before he quickly looked up, showing the tears in his own eyes as he gave Eijirou a thumbs up.

"Bro," He sniffled, while Yuuyu rolled her eyes into the back of her skull beside him, "I … I'm with you a hundred percent of the way. Even if I can't be up on stage with you … I'll be with you, man."

"Man …" Eijirou teared up.

"… didn't you two only become friends like - an hour ago?" Mina dryly asked. However, before the two manly bros could turn to explain to her the beautiful ways two men could become blood brothers after only an hour of friendship, she felt someone poke her shoulder, turning around to see Denki grinning at her, finally out of his 'whey' mode that had caused Kyouka to almost choke on her food during her giggling at him at lunch.

"Yo, Ashido," He flashed her the peace sign, "was just wondering, do you have an aunt that was supposed to be here today?"

"Huh?" Mina blinked a bit, seeing Yosetsu, who still looked glum from being knocked out of the sports festival during the first round, roll his eyes. "An aunt? What are you talking about, Kaminari?"

"He's talking about some woman who came to talk to us during lunch, when we were coming back from the washroom," The bandana-wearing student explained, "was asking us a few questions, and Kaminari here was stupid enough to answer her."

"Okay … but why are you saying she's my aunt?"

"Well, because - uh - because she was kinda like you," Denki shrugged, "like - different-colored skin and black eyes. Just - y'know, she was blue instead of pink, and her eyes were green."

"Huh …" Mina raised an eyebrow, about to tell Denki off for jumping to that conclusion - and then she blinked a bit. "… uh. Y'know … I don't know. Most of my family has different coloured skin - maybe? I don't know?"

"What'd she want?" Yui, who had been absently listening while aiming a small pout at Tenya for unknown reasons, turned to look around at them, curious.

"Well, she was asking about the USJ," Yosetsu shook his head, frowning, "like, whether or not we were there or not. I was kinda suspicious, but Kaminari here -" He aimed a small glare at Denki who grimaced weakly, going a bit red, "- saw the pretty lady talking to him and told her about whatever he saw. Told her about Midoriya hitting that Nine asshole with lightning, too."

"In my defense," Denki looked ashamed of himself while a few of his classmates looked around at him, clearly unimpressed, "she was … very aggressive. I kinda panicked."

"A woman with blue skin?" The girl from Class 1B, who said her name was Ibara, asked in a concerned look, causing everyone to look around at her. "I believe I know who you were talking about, Kaminari … I saw her walking around down near the cafeteria as well. I was about to call out to her, since she was intruding, but she disappeared before I had a chance to speak out."

"Huh," Yuuyu frowned, "I … guess I'll let Vlad King know when we see him next. Let him know someone was sneaking around."

"So …" Pony, meanwhile, was still looking up at the screen in intrigue before glancing around at Mezo, who crossed his multiple arms across his chest, "… was it a tournament last year, too? Er - well, does it usually end as a tournament?"

"Typically, yeah," Her taller friend confirmed, glancing down at her, "it's usually a one-on-one competition, but it does vary every year. Like last year, instead of a straight up one-on-one fight, everyone did a sports chanbara match."

"Chanbara? What's that?"

"It's … kind of like sword fighting. Just not with actual swords."

"Sword fighting …?" Pony looked intrigued by that, glancing around as though expecting to see a rack of weapons lying around for the contestants to use - and then she stomped her hoof down in frustration. " Ah, man! I wish we could've done that this year, I'd love to sword fight people!"

"Er … it was with foam swords, by the way," Mezo was unable to stop a small, gentle smile from appearing on his face behind his mask as Pony pouted up at the screen, "so I don't think it'd be as cool as you're thinking. And it wouldn't be like you could compete anyway, you were passed out for most of the last round, remember?"

"But sword fights are awesome! I gotta look up last year's festival later, it sounds super cool - wait," Pony stopped complaining suddenly, whirling around at her friend as her pout somehow became any more adorable, "what was that bit at the end?"

"Ahem," Mezo quickly cleared his throat, trying to avoid looking down at Pony's small glare, "it was nothing."

Before they could all gossip and talk amongst each other more, however, Midnight suddenly snapped her whip against the stage above them to get everyone's attention again, making the forty-ish students look up at her as the countdown behind her reached zero, meaning that they had finally returned from their break and were ready to get started again.

"Alright!" She bent forward to pick up a large, yellow box, smiling down as she gave it a shake. "To keep things fair this year, we'll be determining the bracket with lots. And after the bracket has been determined, we'll do our recreational games, and then we'll have Cementoss build the stage for our final contestants to duke it out! Keep in mind, you sixteen who passed on to the third round, you can choose whether or not you want to participate in the recreation games - I'm sure that some of you will want to rest or save your strength for when the fights begin. But before that … we'll need to determine how your final sixteen will be duking it out this year! And this time, dear audience, we'll be putting a little twist on our round!"

This caught the attention of the two groups that had passed on to the finals, all of them quickly looking up at the podium as Midnight slowly paced up and down, smiling a bit sinisterly and immediately striking fear into their hearts.

"Us teachers decided to have a good, long talk while you were all having a long lunch break," She informed the crowds as they went a bit quiet, listening interestingly to what the R-Rated Heroine had to say, "and we've all agreed that we were very intrigued by all the teamwork that we saw during the last two rounds. It warms our hearts that our students can work together so flawlessly! Or, well, most of you can, anyway."

Itsuka scowled, and turned to shoot a glare at Shinsou and Monoma, who both didn't bother to look over at her even when they felt her heated stare on them, and Shouto merely continued to look up at the teacher, keeping his hands in his pockets while trying not to turn and scowl at Izuku.

"So in that case …" Midnight licked her lips, "… we decided to -"

"PAIR THE SPARES!" Present Mic suddenly screeched over the intercom.

There was a short pause before Aizawa let out a groan and Midnight's smile noticeably stiffened.

"There aren't any spares being paired," The Class 1A homeroom teacher told his fellow commentator, the entire audience glancing over at where the commentator's box was, "they've all already gotten in. And you just interrupted Midnight in the middle of her speech."

"HUH? BUT I THOUGHT SHE WAS SEGWAYING INTO US ANNOUNCING IT!"

"But you interrupted her before she was even done -"

Before their small argument could escalate, however, Midnight snapped her whip against the stage, and even if the two teachers up in the commentary box were far enough away that they shouldn't have even registered it, Aizawa and Present Mic quickly stopped their argument at once as she angrily tossed the yellow box filled with lots behind her.

"Maybe if you two would shut up," She barked, "I could continue with my explanation before I do any segwaying!"

"S-SORRY!"

"Anyway!" Midnight turned back to the students standing around the podium, although not before shooting another glare up at where her coworkers were. "For this year's third round, we're going to do a bit of a twist on how our final rounds will go! Usually, we add a special little twist to each round to keep things interesting - last year we had our students duel with a mix of quirks and foam swords, and the year before that, we made the stage a circular area to make it a bit easier to knock people out and harder to keep yourself in -"

"Ah, man," Pony whined quietly, "that sounds awesome."

"- and truth be told, we were debating going back to basics and just making this year a simple tournament arena," Midnight shook her head, as though perishing the thought, "but after we saw such incredible teamwork out in the forest, us teachers had our meeting, and had the thought of … why not keeping it up? Why can't we see a little more teamwork? After all, every hero in this stadium has probably shared the glory at some point … there are some villains that can't be beaten on their own. So why don't we apply that logic here?"

"Uh, oh," Mina sweated nervously, while Katsuki looked like a vein was about to pop in his head.

"Sixteen of you will be entering this competition," Midnight smirked a bit sinisterly down at the students who had realized what exactly was going to happen, "but instead of only four of you walking away with medals … eight of you will. Two gold, two silver, and four bronze. The last duo standing will share the first place spot as the dual winners of the sports festival!"

"We'll be paired together?" Tenya straightened up, looking intrigued by the concept while Katsuki gritted his teeth angrily beside him. "I don't believe that this has ever been done at a previous festival - so this would mean that there would be two champions, wouldn't it?"

"Unless there's some kind of last minute twist," Kyouka rolled her eyes, somewhat thankful that she didn't pass on after all so she wasn't paired with someone she didn't like, "and you're gonna have to end up fighting your partner for the final round."

"But that would make no sense," Reiko shook her head while Fumikage likewise tilted his own head, "fighting your partner at the end would come out of nowhere, not to mention it would be unfair to those you beat before. Who would think to put in some random, unpredictable twist like that?"

There was a short pause - and then everyone in Class 1A sagged their shoulders a bit, realizing that they did know one teacher who would be more than happy with dropping unexpected twists on them, as they heard the sound of Aizawa suddenly sneezing over the intercom.

"Now then!" Midnight happily snapped her whip against the stage again to get everyone's attention back on her as she whirled around, gesturing towards the screen. "With that out of the way, let's take this moment to look up at the jumbo screen, you sixteen contestants, to give you all a look at who your partner is - and, if you fight hard, the one you'll be sharing a podium with at the end of the day!"

With that, the screen flickered, and the sudden image of a spinning wheel appeared. Before anyone could blink, it began to spin so fast no one was able to see who's name was on which slide, while below it, eight boxes appeared beneath the wheel. Everyone watched with bated breath as the wheel shook a bit, and one by one, several names began to shoot out, with the name going into one of the boxes presented below the wheel, and then another name would shoot into the box beside it to show who was getting partnered up:

| SHINSOU | HAYA |

| HATSUME | IIDA |

| BAKUGOU | TOKOYAMI |

| KENDOU | HADOU |

| TODOROKI | YAOYOROZU |

| KIRISHIMA | MINETA |

| MIDORIYA | URARAKA |

| ASHIDO | MONOMA |

Very quickly, the sixteen students participating in the final rounds of the sports festival read their names up on the screen, and quickly looked over to see the name beside it to determine who was working with them. Some of them didn't seem to mind who they were working with, like Mei, who flashed Tenya an evil grin that he didn't even notice as he read through the other pairings (although it was quickly picked up by Yui, who furrowed her brow and automatically moved to stand between them), and Eijirou who shrugged and flashed a thumbs up at a clearly nervous Mineta. Some, like Katsuki throwing Fumikage a dirty look and Momo taking a deep, shuddering breath while Shouto frowned up at the screen, seemed less than enthusiastic. Some, like Monoma staring in disgust at Mina as she let out a loud groan of disappointment, and Yuuyu throwing an uncaring Shinsou a dirty look, seemed dissatisfied with who they were paired with.

But for four of them, time slowed to a crawl.

Oh, no, Izuku thought to himself in horror as he paled.

Oh, no, Ochako thought to herself as her mouth slowly closed.

Oh, no, Itsuka thought to herself as she slowly closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose.

Oh, Nejire thought to herself as she bit her lip.

Izuku, at least, could only curse whatever automated system had decided to just completely screw over his attempts to get some time to himself and focus on something other than his best friend as he quickly read the screen again, as though to check if he was misreading something - but no, he hadn't. He and Ochako had been paired up again, and that meant that any thought of giving his best friend some space was currently moot.

Ochako, meanwhile, stiffened up slightly, glancing over at Izuku out of the corner of her eyes and feeling herself go a bit red as she glanced away again, going back to staring glumly at the ground as she felt her stomach tense. And Itsuka, for her part, could only feel a tiny bit relieved that her training partners were paired up again - because the rest of her was reeling in horror at the fact that she had to work with the girl that she had only just realized fancied the guy she was trying to get Ochako together with.

And that she … also fancied herself.

Awkwardly, she glanced over towards where Nejire was standing slightly beside Izuku, and upon feeling a set of eyes on her, Nejire glanced around at her as well, and their eyes met. Itsuka, for her part, raised her hand awkwardly, trying to at least remain polite, and after a moment of hesitation, Nejire smiled weakly and likewise raised her hand, nodding slightly before glancing back up at the screen.

… well, Itsuka shrugged awkwardly, at least she seemed open to working with her. Even if that reaction was … kind of weird, coming from Nejire. She had expected bouncing and jumping over and rambling from her new partner, so that reaction was pretty … well, strange.

"Now then!" Midnight clapped her hands together again. "With your partners determined, here is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"

The screen behind her changed again, and showed off the new chart which now displayed the matches. Quickly, the sixteen students glanced up to see who they would be matched against.

| HATSUME & IIDA | vs | MIDORIYA & URARAKA |

| BAKUGOU & TOKOYAMI | vs | KIRISHIMA & MINETA |

| KENDOU & HADOU | vs | ASHIDO & MONOMA |

| SHINSOU & HAYA | vs | TODOROKI & YAOYOROZU |

"And if the lovely audience is wondering why I had a yellow box," Midnight nudged the discarded box with her foot, shooting a wink at the crowd, "it was just for dramatic effect. Hee hee."

"Who the fuck says 'hee hee'?" Kyouka wondered out loud, rolling her eyes along with Yuuyu.

Not really listening, Izuku quickly read through the names on the screen, and felt himself frown at who he and Ochako would be going up against first. Still, he felt himself slowly nod to himself after a moment - it probably wasn't going to be an easy fight, seeing as Tenya was probably very capable of fighting either him or Ochako in a one-on-one match, and Mei was … Mei, he gulped a bit as he remembered how many support items she had brought along.

But at least it wouldn't be as bad as …

… as …

… oh wait.

Oh, no.

Izuku felt himself go still, probably as still as Ochako was as she also read the names and let out a small squeak. The way it was up on the board … their match with Mei and Tenya, in that small bracket, was beside Katsuki and Fumikage's fight with Eijirou and Mineta, the smaller boy paling in horror from his spot at the back of the group while Eijirou turned to attempt to assure him that they'd be fine.

Which meant that if he and Ochako beat their opponents, and Katsuki beat his own opponents … which, of course, he probably would …

… they would have to face each other.

Very slowly, Izuku glanced back around at where Katsuki was standing in their small crowd, the blonde boy clearly not pleased to have to share the glory with someone else - but it seemed that he had read the screen as well, and had come to the same conclusion as Izuku did. Turning to look at Izuku, both boys looked each other in the eye, Izuku in slight terror, and a smirk beginning to appear on Katsuki's face, as both of them remembered what had gone down in the forest a few hours ago.

"All I know is that you're nothing more than a shitty nerd who got a lucky shot back when we were kids. But you wanna go another round with me? Just to prove that I'm better than you, once and for all? Fine. I'll play. But know this, Deku - that shit about you beating me as kids? That's nothing. I'll prove to you who's better once we get to the third round."

Well … Katsuki definitely had promised it, Izuku gulped nervously, so it would make sense that fate decided 'ha ha screw this green guy' and put their matches right beside each other to face off next.

Fortunately, before Izuku could spiral due to the sudden fear that gripped his heart, there was a small pat on his shoulder, and he glanced around from where Katsuki was giving him a bloodthirsty grin to see Ochako standing before him. She was still looking a bit awkward, glancing down at the ground, but she seemed to steel herself as she let out a small sigh, straightening her back and nodding.

"O-okay," She said in a quiet voice, "let's … let's go plan."

"R-right," Izuku quickly nodded - the feeling of nervousness he had around his best friend now that he was having these weird thoughts and how many close encounters they had that day was still there, but at least he could try to put it aside for now - win the sports festival first, freak out about weird emotions later. So with that, he turned to follow her away from the group, to find somewhere where they could plan out what they were going to do for their first match.

As they walked away together, the rest of the small group of contestants began moving towards their own partners, trying to get organized while Midnight happily chatted to the audience about what would be coming up next, willing to take the attention of the crowd off of the students so they could get themselves organized.

"Hatsume," Tenya nodded as the inventor made her way towards where he was standing, trying to look respectful even as he glanced nervously at the wrench she was holding in her hands with her goggles flipped over her eyes, "I, er … I see that we're working together again. I look forward to winning the sports festival with you."

"Hm …" Mei slowly looked up and down at her partner, almost as though she were seeing him for the first time and not after actually working with him to get this far in the sports festival an hour and a bit ago. Unaware of Tenya looking a bit awkward, she began circling him, humming intriguingly as she raised her hand to her chin as she thought.

"Uh … Hatsume?" Tenya blinked unsurely, still not entirely sure why Mei was circling him like a hawk (and why Yui was over near some of their other classmates chatting while giving him and the support student a pout). "Are you alright?"

"Hm," Mei hummed again as she finally stopped pacing, tilting her head - and then she reached out to move her hand to Tenya's bicep, running it up and down and then squeezing on the muscle.

Unconcerned with Tenya's squawk of indignation and his face quickly igniting in a blush (and Yui's head whipping around to aim a shocked glare at the support student she automatically grabbed the back of her neck due to it cracking from the speed) Mei nodded, and slowly, a sinister smile appeared on her face.

"Yes … yes, you will be perfect!" She giggled. "We have to get you into fitting at once!"

"P-perfect for what?!" Tenya managed to sputter out as Mei's hand tensed on his arm, making him go redder, "F-fitting? I - now hold on, Hatsume, I - if we're going to be getting ready for the first round, I - I should grab some orange juice in order to -"

"Ah, yes, for energy! You'll be needing it!" With that, Mei grabbed Tenya by the collar, beginning to pull him away as he stumbled over his step from the alarming speeds she was yanking him with. "Now come! We have some babies to make!"

As they sped away, Yui stared after Tenya with an air of betrayal and insecurity, looking almost as though she were going to run over and drag him away from the crazy pink-haired girl if not for Setsuna holding the back of her shirt with one hand.

"Cool down, girl," Setsuna shook her head, still a bit morose from before but knowing that Yui was about two seconds from lunging, "I bet you're just missing something. I don't think Iida's actually gonna go get laid."

"I'll cut a bitch, Set."

"I know you will, honey."

"Babies and … no, fuck it, I'm cutting a bitch, let me go."

"'Babies' is probably just a code for something, it's all good."

"ALL RIGHTY!" Present Mic screamed as the giant screen on the ground changed, showing the word 'RECREATION' . "LET'S LEAVE THE TOURNAMENT ASIDE FOR A MOMENTARY INTERLUDE! LET'S HAVE SOME FUN WITH THE RECREATION GAMES! LET'S START WITH THE SCAVENGER HUNT! EVERYONE WHO'S PARTICIPATING, GET OVER TO MIDNIGHT AND LET'S GET STARTED!"

As fireworks began to blast over the stadium again, Itsuka let out a small sigh as everyone began walking over to Midnight's podium, and then turned to glance over at Izuku and Ochako as they continued to walk away together to go plan as Momo also slowly approached Shouto from the side, not looking any more enthusiastic about teaming up with him as Shouto did teaming up with her. Neither Izuku or Ochako were exactly jumping up and down or high fiving about teaming up, or anything like that, but it wasn't as though they seemed to be … displeased with the unexpected team up.

But still, Itsuka looked at Ochako (despite how embarrassing it felt to look at her after what they did) and saw the look of conflict on her face, and felt herself frown. But … well … maybe this was good. This would give them some time to team up, spend time together … it'd help Ochako get her mind off of her and onto Izuku, forgetting about Itsuka's stupidity back in the room they had talked in. And since she was going to be working with Nejire for the rest of the day, she'd have a reason to keep her distance.

Slowly nodding to herself and trying to brace herself, she turned back to where Nejire was standing awkwardly, writing her hands together, and tried to fix a confident smile on her face as she walked over and tapped on the blue-haired girl's shoulder.

"So, uh … I guess it's you and me, Hadou," She nodded awkwardly as Nejire looked around at her, "we're in this together from here on out."

"Uh … yeah," She nodded a bit stiffly, making Itsuka blink slightly at the uncomfortable look on her face, "you and me, Kendou. Cool cool."

"Er … Hadou?" She wrinkled her brow at the look on Nejire's face. "Are … are you okay?"

"O-oh, yeah, I'm - I'm fine! Just …" Nejire paused then, staring down at the ground for a moment - and then she shook her head, and looked back up at Itsuka as the formerly orange-haired girl tilted her head a bit.

"… could we, uh … could we talk?" She asked quietly.

Itsuka paused at that - and then she felt her eyes widen a bit.

Oh. Oh, right, she remembered. They were supposed to talk during lunch, she'd promised Nejire that before the second round, when they had gotten interrupted by Yuuyu and put off the conversation to go plan. But she had gotten distracted by Ochako, and they had gone off to talk about Izuku, that had …

… it had included …

… uh oh.

"… well … I haven't actually told anyone about this. Not even Yuuyu! I would, but she always gets so bored of this kind of thing when I try to talk to her about it. But … but I feel like I can trust you, Kendou. Like - you wouldn't judge me! So, uh, can I trust what I'm about to tell you is gonna stay a secret? And you won't tell Midoriya, or Uraraka, or anyone else?"

Oh no. Oh, god, oh, hell, oh, shit, oh, fuck, oh, no.

"Uh …" Itsuka felt herself pale a bit in horror at what she realized was about to go down - but still, at the slightly awkward look on Nejire's face, she found herself slowly nodding, "… y-yeah. Let's - let's talk."

Nejire nodded a bit stiffly again, and together, both girls began to walk away together, Itsuka screaming in the void of her own mind and Nejire being unnaturally quiet as she continued to wring her hands together. They walked away from the small crowd, with Denki and Eijirou leading most of their class and Class 1B over to where the games were about to start, as fireworks continued to blast above them, and together, they headed into a tunnel towards where a waiting room was.

As they walked together in silence, Itsuka continued to panic internally as Nejire kept strangely quiet. She knew what they were going to talk about, and she was unable to stop herself from feeling like she was walking to her doom. Back in the forest, she hadn't been exactly sure about what Nejire had been talking about, but now, after her talk with Ochako, it was clear that Nejire had been talking about Izuku. She wanted to take Itsuka aside and talk to her about her feelings for her best friend.

That Itsuka … also had feelings for. And wanted to push down in support of her other best friend's feelings for him.

Already, Itsuka could feel an anxiety rise in her chest - she was afraid of what she would have to say to her very nice classmate as they both looked around for somewhere to talk privately. She knew that she had to stick to her guns, to not come across as even more of a hypocrite after what happened with Ochako - tell Nejire not to pursue Izuku, because of Ochako's own feelings for him - but she couldn't help but feel her stomach twisting about it.

It would probably hurt Nejire, to have Itsuka reject her feelings for Izuku and try to push her away from pursuing him, and it would make whatever partnership they were supposed to have for the rest of the day awkward, but …

… but if she had to be the bad guy, she bit her lip, that's what she had to be. For Izuku and Ochako's sakes.

Finally, they found somewhere private for them to talk, and Nejire pushed open the door, looking around and giving Itsuka a slightly awkward look as she pointed inside with her finger. Nodding stiffly, Itsuka entered the small room with the table and lockers on the side, and tried not to wince as Nejire closed the door a bit loudly behind her.

"Uh … so hey, Kendou," Nejire giggled a bit stiffly, turning to lock the door just to be safe, and then turned to look at Itsuka as the class rep glanced behind her shoulder, "so, uh … there was … something I wanted to ask you about."

"Er - right," Itsuka nodded, equally as awkward.

"So, uh … okay," Nejire nodded, smacking her cheeks with her hands briefly before looking back up at Itsuka, "so - I'm not really sure how to ask this! It's a weird question! And … it might kinda get me in trouble, but - well, I just - uh - okay," She shook her head, "I'll just ask the question and go from there, okay? Yeah, I think that'd be good."

Gulping, Itsuka straightened up, feeling her heart begin to hammer in her chest.

This was it - this was the part where she made everything awkward. She felt herself begin to shake a bit as Nejire worked up her courage to ask the question, Itsuka clenching her fists at her side as she glanced down at the floor, and bit her lip as she got ready to break Nejire's heart, no matter how bad she felt doing -

"What's One for All?"

And that, with four simple words, was all it took for Itsuka's world to screech to a halt.

Staring blankly at the floor for a moment, Itsuka felt herself be taken right out of the terrified and guilty mood she had been in, her jaw dropping slightly - and then she quickly whipped her gaze back up, her heart beginning to hammer again - but this time for an entirely different reason - as she stared up at Nejire, seeing her looking simply curious as she tilted her head a bit, raising her finger to poke her lip.

"I …" Itsuka's mouth felt dry, "… w-what did you say?"

"I asked," Nejire gave her a curious look, "what is One for All?"