"What does he mean I hesitated!"
Lunch the following day grinds to a sudden halt in a large portion of the room, several heads turning to stare at the pink girl rustling her matching pink hair in frustration. "I was surprised by the jet pack! I thought it was just for people to hold on when rescuing them! Anyone would be taken off guard!" She rants to the three at the table around her.
"I mean, we know he has high standards." Jiro points out dryly with her fork for emphasis.
"Yeah, but all he told you and Kaminari was to be more aware!" Mina points a finger in her face. "He acted like mine was the worst thing to do!"
"A lot of quirks can do stuff in two seconds," The blonde haired boy says, gesturing to Mina with his fork. "Making sure you aren't blindsided is one thing, but letting your opponent set up for something is asking for trouble."
She stares at him, uncomprehending. "Who are you and what did you do with Denari?"
"Maybe short-circuit here can have sparks of inspiration, too." The rocker girl quips.
He places his hand on his chest in mock-pain. "You wound me! I haven't even short-circuited yet!" He pauses for a moment. "Okay, so I did go mostly zombified, but I was still somewhat able to function!"
"Well, I don't think there's an electrical joke for that... I guess maybe low power, but it's not as funny." Jiro points out.
"Yeah, sure, he needs batteries," Mina says before pointing at their last table mate. "Then there's Hogawa! Letting his scarf get snagged? Letting off a large attack indoors?"
The star boy in question looks up from devouring his lunch, swallowing. He laughs sheepishly and scratches the side of his head. "Yeah... I figured I'd get a lot notes." He sips his drink.
"Sure, but then there's… there's…" She grasps for words, her hands clenching at the air.
Kaminari quietly sucks on his drink, waiting for her to complete her thoughts.
She gives him a flat stare. "You're supposed to ask what, Denari."
"No thanks," he says, contentedly eating his food.
"I'll bite," Hozarou volunteers, not noticing the small smirk from Jiro, "Then there's what?"
A pink finger jabs the tip of his nose. "Your smile!"
This actually makes him fully pause eating as he blinks, staring between her and the finger. "… huh?"
"You were smiling the whole time, being strangled, smacked around, even losing!" She takes a deep breath, drawing herself up as though to really fail him for this, then clasps his hands between her own, bowing as his utensils drop to the table. "Teach me your secrets!"
"I... um... well, hope I didn't look too goofy." He grins sheepishly with a tinge of pink in his cheeks. "Was it that odd?"
"You weren't the one who had a guy dive through a giant fireball at you with a huge grin on his face." Jiro says drolly with a small shiver.
"That was rather surprising to watch," Kaminari finally chimes in on the conversation, done with his ramen.
"And now I'm a bit worried I looked crazy." Hozarou lets out a small laugh. "Not sure if the reasons will be much in the way of secrets."
"Well right now, only you know, which makes it a secret," the blonde points out.
"Yeah! So spill!" Mina says, grinning at hearing something that might distract from her own failures.
The star boy looks upward as he thinks, a finger tapping the table. "I guess I was smiling because... I felt great the whole time."
Kaminari gives him a strange look. "You felt good being dragged by your scarf?"
"Well, not particularly that part, but overall it just felt..." He makes a brief fist before releasing it as he leans back in his chair, "freeing. I'd always been a bit nervous about my quirk given what it takes from me."
"Right," Ashido nods, spinning her spoon. "We saw you afterwards. At least it doesn't last long, right?"
"That's because I ate more before and after to mitigate the effects." He explains.
"…you mean you could've been worse?" She says, shocked.
"Probably, I could still move and talk after. I've only ever accidentally pushed myself that far." He explains.
Mina falls back into her chair. "Yeah, let's not have you turn to stardust or something."
He chuckles and lets a small puff of said sparkling substance emerge from the tip of one finger. "It's not too bad, but you know… I think not considering that during the match is one part of why I was probably smiling so much."
"Does that mean you were scared at points?" Kaminari asks, taking a bite of a ball of mochi he snagged.
"Before I came here, yeah, I was more cautious about using my quirk." Hozarou goes on. "But, this is supposed to be the top place to train heroes, right? I figured if there was any place I could maybe push myself a bit more and not have to worry about passing out where no one could help, this would be it." He seems to be looking up and past them, more sparkles in his eyes than normal.
"…what is he looking at?" Denki says, turning around in his seat.
"Well then that's good for you!" Mina declares, smiling brightly. "We do need to strengthen our quirks, don't we?"
"I think I need more control than anything," Kaminari says, still trying to find what the other boy was looking at.
Jiro checks as well before muttering to the other two. "I think we may have lost him."
The star boy continues. "When I put on the outfit and All Might told us what we were doing, I guess I just thought: this is the time. Winning or losing is all fine, but why not see what I can 'really' do? Try things I hadn't before that looked useful when others did it, see how big I could make the stars, how fast I could think… it was… crazy." He lets out a laugh. "It just felt like this big weight I had held on myself to keep things in check was just removed and I never felt more free!"
"Makes sense," Kaminari says, turning back towards him. "I think I should hold back, though. You saw what happened with my fight, right?"
"Yeah... I guess it's different for everyone." He nods, looking back to them all now. "I guess I was just having fun with mine. I think the assignments definitely gave me ideas though... I'm sorry, did that answer your question?" He focuses on Mina.
"...I guess," she says with a huff, falling back into her seat. "On a different topic, do you like-"
The rest of her question is lost, as the alarms decide to blare overhead, drowning out the words.
Many students, including Jiro, flinch and cover their ears. The others look around in confusion. "What's going on?!" The rocker girl asks.
Almost as in response to her words, a voice speaks out above the cry of the alarm. "Security Level Three has been broken. All students please leave in an orderly fashion."
It happens almost immediately. All around their tables, chairs clatter to the floor as their occupants rush for the exit. Pushing, shoving, nearly trampling a short kid with balls for hair, chaos reigns in the cafeteria as everyone forgets about the fire exits and any idea of calm. The four watch as some blonde from another class nearly knees Midoriya in the face in his rush to leave, the green haired boy caught off-guard by everything.
"Anyone notice how that never works?" Hozarou calls over the chaos, braced more for the flood of students than whatever is happening.
"I thought it was a movie thing!" Kaminari yells to be heard.
"Yeah, well this is real, so we should really get moving!" Jiro adds.
"Right!" He reaches out to grab her hand, pointing at an unused emergency exit. "Let's go there!"
Seeing as the other two are buddied up, Hozarou tries to make sure their pink classmate moves with their group. "Come on! We don't want anyone to fall."
Almost as if tempting fate, they hear their invisible classmate say that she's falling.
Hozarou reflexively looks up to try and spot her, but it is understandably difficult to spot an empty uniform among throngs of full ones.
Kaminari glances around until his eyes land on Kyoka, his eyes widening. He uses the hand he's holding to turn her, moving it up to her shoulder in what he hopes is a reassuring manner. "Jirou-san, you've got great hearing, right? Think you can find her?"
She winces, grabbing one jack. "If I touch the floor with these right now I'll be instantly deafened."
He deflates slightly at that. "Right, forgot the chaos." He stares into the crowd, mustering up his courage. "Okay, then I'm gonna-"
"Attention!" Momo's voice cuts across the chaos of the cafeteria. All eyes turn to her, on Iida's shoulders for added height and a megaphone up to her mouth. "There is no need to panic! It is just the media!"
"Pull yourselves together!" Iida proclaims, voice easily carrying without the aid of a device. "You are the students of Yuuei! Behave in a manner befitting this great institution!"
Everyone has stopped to stare at the two, part out of shock, and part with a growing sense of shame. So distracting are the two that no one noticed a quiet tapping on the floor from their local earphone jack scout. She points out a spot to her sparking friend.
Hozarou murmurs to Mina. "Would the media set something off this bad?"
She scratches her head, watching as Kaminari runs to help their classmate up. "I didn't think so, but what other cause could there be?"
"No idea... let's grab the others and get out of here for now. Maybe they heard something."
"Good idea," she says, nodding quickly.
He leads her over to the others, hearing Toru thanking them for finding her. "... yeah, that's one downside to invisibility, people can step on you a lot without meaning to..." They see a footprint on her skirt rustle like she's trying to wipe it off.
Frowning slightly, Denki offers his handkerchief. "You think there'd be drills so the upperclassmen could tell us what to do… next time, how about you stick next to someone you feel comfortable with?" He suggests, eyes turning towards Jiro as if by instinct.
"I'm pretty comfortable with everybody," comes the chirpy response as the handkerchief is gratefully used.
"Sure, but you'll need someone who'll know to look out for you, right?" He points out.
The wiping pauses briefly before continuing slightly faster. "Maybe I just won't sit in the aisle seat next time we have an emergency."
"Why were you sitting in the aisle to begin with?" He asks, confused.
"It was an open seat!" She defends as Jiro taps Kaminari on the shoulder.
"Emergency, remember?"
Ignoring the flub he made with Toru, he latches on to the brunette's words. "Right!" He claps his hands and gestures to the door. "Let's go!"
"Let's maybe keep her in the middle for now." Hozarou suggests.
"Good idea!" Mina says, pushing Gingawa closer to Hagakure. "Until we find the others, you're her buddy."
The star boy looks bemused, especially at the tiny giggle from the air next to him. He looks around seeing they're still surrounded by bodies, even if their momentum has slowed. "Sure thing… stay close."
Mina glances over her shoulder, catching sight of a certain tailed classmate of theirs, watching the new pair with a complicated expression. She turns back around with a barely-hidden smirk, glad her suspicions were confirmed.
Her machinations remain her own as the others focus on securing a route out. Jiro points to a door that remains unclogged by bodies yet.
The group hurries on through, Mina searching for anyone else in their class. The boy she noticed before is currently grouped with Momo and Iida, while Izuku stands by Ochako, frantic but nervous about trying to voice the questions on his mind.
The gravity girl waves as the quintet approaches, pointing them out to Izuku with a reassuring smile.
He looks over and relaxes a fraction, turning partly in their direction. "You're all okay! I-I was worried when I heard Hagakure-san's shout!"
"What kind of heroes would we be if we didn't save our classmate?" Hozarou grins from his post in the back of the group.
"Yeah, though I didn't think I'd be volunteering for rescue practice yet." The empty uniform raises a sleeve to the back of where her head would be.
"Would've been easier without all the stampeding students," Denki points out, frowning a bit.
Izuku glances at him, then at Jiro, his expression thoughtful. "Ah, I see. The crowd was deafening, wasn't it? But if you were called to a scene with a loud villain, you'd need something to keep you safe," he murmurs, starting to fall into his analyzing mode.
Iida approaches with the other two, a mild look of concern on his face. "…what set him off this time?"
"He's just problem solving, nothing bad." Ochaco waves a hand with a smile.
"I mean, if he comes up with a solution, that'd be great." Jiro says dryly but not unkindly.
Izuku takes this moment to look up at her. "Have you considered special headphones that cancel out sounds above a certain decibel range?"
She blinks. "... do they make those?"
"Could always ask Present Mic-sensei," Denki points out. "I see earbuds in his ears sometimes, unless those are hearing aids…"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he's hurt his own eardrums." Ochaco eyes the megaphone warily.
"If he couldn't control it, and had it since birth like he said in episode one hundred twenty eight of his radio show, then maybe he needed one to be made for him…" Izuku pulls out his notebook, writing and muttering enough to fill the silence around their group.
"Let's maybe write and walk." Jiro suggests.
The green-haired boy simply turns and starts walking, face still buried in the pages.
Ochaco hurries along so he doesn't run into anything, and Toru starts that way as well. This little chain of followers next ropes in Hozarou who is still in guard mode.
Ojiro follows right after, moving to Toru's other side and giving her a smile. Anything he can say is interrupted when Mina calls out to another group of their friends.
"Hey, it's Eijiro! Are you alright?" She calls out. "I saw you get swept away!"
"Just had to brace myself! I think I stubbed a few feet who got ahead of themselves once I had my head on straight." The red head laughs.
"I applaud your ability to recover, but this whole debacle was disgraceful!" Iida says, chopping his hand in the air. "We as a class should set up a system on the off chance this happens again!"
"What are the odds of that?" Kaminari says, scratching his head.
"The odds don't matter!" Iida declares. "Preparedness in all things is the best solution!"
Izuku stops writing to stare at his friend, eyes slightly unfocused, and points his pen at him. "I am very glad you are our vice rep," Izuku says softly, nodding once.
A few more nods agree with him, Toru piping up and lifting one arm into the arm victoriously. "Well yeah, we picked the best ones for the jobs!"
Momo looks away with a small blush. "I appreciate the compliments, though I feel it necessary to remind you that we still need to vote on other officers after we return to class."
"A true politician: eyes on the future." Jiro says with a small smirk.
She flusters, trying to speak up over the laughter this wrings out of her classmates. Momo barely starts getting heard when Todoroki and Toga show up from opposite sides of the group.
"Funny running into all of you in this craziness." Toga comments with a smile. "Everyone okay? Nobody run over?"
"Toru was," Denki says, pointing at the invisible girl. "We tried to help, but the reps stopped everyone before it got too bad."
"Oof..." Toga winces. "I'm glad they got you back."
"Yeah, and now... we still have to go outside right?" Toru asks.
"I believe that is the right thing to do!" Iida proclaims, chopping the air in front of Jiro beside him. "Otherwise our teachers will be concerned about where we are!"
She blinks at the close call, but nods. "We should go then."
"Hey, should we do something?" Denki asks, eyeing Iida's arm warily.
"Like what?" Izuku asks.
"I dunno," he responds, raising his arms behind his head. "How about a game? Help us with stuff."
"Maybe we actually get outside?" Jiro suggests, opening the doors.
"Aww, come on! It'd be fun!" He protests, following behind her like an obedient puppy. "Think about it, we could take turns discussing how we see each other or something." He points at Toru with a raised eyebrow. "Not literally."
One can almost see the invisible gears turning in her head as they all move, her eventually asking. "Are you saying we should play truth or dare?"
Behind them, Himiko gasps and almost rivals Hozarou's starry eyes.
He blinks. "I mean, that's more than what I said, but sure?"
"It'll give us something to do if they stick us out there long enough. I remember fire drills in other schools can go on for a bit." The star boy adds.
"That is true!" Iida proclaims, gesturing to the boy and barely missing Ochako, accidently nudging her into Izuku with his actions. "It is a way to both calm us down and learn more about our classmates! Alas, we don't know how long this will last!"
"Guess we'll find out!" Ochaco laughs softly, patting Izuku's back to show her apology.
He gives her a sheepish smile to show there's no harm done, then looks at everyone else. "So… who goes first?"
"Me!" A pink hand rapidly shoots into the air. "I volunteer!"
The glasses-wearing teen raises his eyebrows at her enthusiasm. "Ashido-san, while I applaud your eagerness, I would also encourage you to apply this in the classroom!"
"Hey, she has parts of class she's into, too!" Eijiro defends.
"Yeah!" She declares, her arm raised. "Anyways! Truth or dare, Kiri?"
"Wait, me? Uhh… dare!" He puffs out his chest as the others spread out a bit now that they aren't clustered in the hall.
She gets close, grinning at him. "Run up to Bakugou and call him Boom Boy."
"... as much as I think I'd survive, I don't think I'd get to do much more than that." He blanches.
She pouts at him, slumping slightly. "Fine... but now I don't have an idea of what to dare you-"
Izuku quickly raises his hand. "I may have an idea or two? And it'll help him, too!"
Ochaco looks surprised. "You do?"
Toga looks excited. "You do?"
He looks at the two of them with wide eyes, startled from where he was pulling out his notebook. "Y-yes?"
"Well, let's hear it then." Kirishima nods once more.
"R-right…" He pulls his book out and flips through the pages. "It seems like your hardened form is based on your stamina. Have you ever tried holding it for as long as possible while exercising, thereby increasing how long you can hold it? What about 'flexing' it to the hardest degree? If you can block regular punches now, maybe you can eventually stop swords and bullets?"
"That's the hope!" He raises an arm and flexes it while he grins. "I'm gonna be able to block everything eventually!"
"In that case, see how long you can hold it at the highest degree," he says, nodding once. "Err, I dare you, I mean?" He mumbles, not quite used to the game.
"Oh, sure! I can do that." He brings his first down and in front of himself in a classic bodybuilding pose as he activates his quirk, looking angular already.
Mina looks at him appraisingly. "That's the hardest you can go right now?" He blinks before they can hear his teeth grinding as he tries to go harder, grunting with exertion. To be fair, he does get slightly harder, much to Mina's approval. "Cool! You got slightly sharper!"
He gives a sharp grin. "Yeah! I'm like a diamond!"
"Yep!" She smacks his back, gently gripping her wrist afterwards. "Your turn," she says, slightly strained.
He quickly reverts back to normal, looking apologetically at her. He then focuses on the others, coming to Izuku. "Hmm… truth or dare?"
He blinks a few times, surprised that he decided to choose him. "Uh… truth?"
"How many notebooks do you have in your backpack right now with all your muttering stuff in them?" He asks, seeming amused but genuinely curious. By how Ochaco and Toga turn to look, he isn't alone.
He blushes brightly. "…fifteen if we include the one I just started?"
"Wow, man, how do you have room for school books with all that?" Kirishima laughs, shaking his head.
"I think of it as good exercise," he shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck. "If it's in the pattern I think it is… it's my turn, right?"
Mina gives him a thumbs up. "That's right, Midori!"
Flustered at the nickname and lack of honorifics, he immediately turns to one of his friends. "Uraraka-san, help!" He blurts out.
She laughs softly, waving a hand at him. "Don't worry so much! Just choose someone and ask the initial question! You could even close your eyes and point to choose if it's that bad."
He pauses, looks over everyone there, then pulls out a ten-sided die, tossing it into the air before letting it land on his palm, a one facing upwards. "…Uraraka-san, truth or dare?" He manages to say as he stores the die away.
"Hmm…" she thinks for a moment before chirping. "Dare!"
He thinks for a bit. "…well… I want to see if you can send an object sideways instead of straight up. Only touching it, though."
She hums. "You mean the initial one to use my quirk on it?"
He nods, pulling out his notebook and watching her eagerly, pen poised to record new data.
"i feel like he does less dares and more experiments." Hozarou comments to the others as Ochaco brings her backpack around and touches it.
Izuku watches steadily as it slowly drifts in his direction, smiling a bit. "I thought so. When you were using it during the entrance exam, I didn't see you push them away very often, but they all went straight up in the air, even the ones with the treads..." He starts writing down his thoughts.
Denki raises an eyebrow. "What, you're saying it acts like they're losing gravity because she thinks they do?"
The green-haired teen gives a noncommittal shrug as he continues writing.
"But... that's just what it does right? I mean if it doesn't fall, it floats." The brunette reasons.
"But there's momentum," Izuku points out, still writing theories and ideas in his notebook. "Not to mention if you only removed the gravity of something, it'd either stay in place, zip to the side, or go flying straight off into the sky. Earth is always moving, and gravity is what keeps us in place on its surface."
Hozarou produces a small mote of light and has it orbit a finger.
"Right right, I know that, even if it is a lot to think about sometimes." She nods.
"So what," Mina says, confused, "does that mean it's just telepathy?"
"Telekinesis," Izuku corrects her. "And I'd need to help her test it out more before I could say for certain."
"... This is so weird thinking my quirk works differently than I thought." Ochaco says, mystified.
"To be fair," Momo points out, "not everyone understands their quirks immediately. I thought mine just made things from my body." She glances off to the side, embarrassed. "It took me turning almost skeletal to realize I was exchanging part of my body to make items. My lipids, to be specific."
A kid with oversized elbows behind her looks confused, muttering something to his friends.
As Jiro turns her head sharply towards the elbow student, Hozarou nods sympathetically. "I feel that problem."
"I don't think I ever had that problem?" Kaminari says, rubbing his head. "My family had me in the tub and I kinda shorted myself out when my quirk came in…"
Jiro looks over. "Even when you just got it you shorted out?"
"It wasn't my fault!" He complains, flushing with embarrassment.
She lets out a sigh as Ochaco shoulders her pack once more. "Right, so I go now, right?"
The majority of the group nod, though Momo places a hand on Iida's arm to keep him from saying more.
"Hmm…" she points to the pink girl. "Truth or dare?"
She blinks in surprise, pointing to herself. "Me? Oh!" A wide grin overtakes her face. "Dare!"
"I dare you to-" a loud crackle cuts the brunette off.
"The situation has been handled. All students please return to your classes."
Mina stomps her foot. "No fair! It was my turn!"
Ochaco laughs sheepishly. "I don't know if my dare was going to be worth that much excitement."
"Try me!" She says, pointing a finger at her and trying to ignore the students walking back to the front of the building.
"I was going to dare you to tie little bells to your horn-antennae for the rest of the day."
There's a few stifled snorts of amusement from some of the others at the thought.
"Deal!" Mina places her hands on her hips, looking triumphant. "Where do I get bells?"
"Umm… good question. Maybe off toys or mascot dolls?" Ochaco guesses.
Momo politely coughs, holding a hand out with bells rolling gently on the palm. "It goes without saying that you'll be responsible, yes?"
"Right!" She takes them and ties them to her horns. "That means I got to get my dancing out before we get to class!"
"That's not what I-" The class rep is interrupted as the pink girl starts dancing, somehow keeping up with their pace at the same time.
Toga is the one giggling loudest as they go. "I'm glad you guys aren't all stiff because you're in the hero class."
The group as a whole looks at Iida, who appears to have swallowed a lemon in his attempt to not say anything about the bells.
"Anyway, I'm gonna head out, gotta get back to my own class." She gives a wave to them all as she drops back. "See you later!"
"Have a nice day!" Izuku calls out, waving to her as she leaves.
Ochaco also waves, the action stopped midway as she has to hold in another laugh as her eyes lock onto the bells in Mina's hair.
The pink-skinned girl grins, pulling a cartwheel up to the front of the group. She presses a finger to Iida's lips, cutting off his protest before he can even start. "Just some fun, vice rep." She turns and grins at Yaoyorozu. "Which do you prefer, Yaomomo or Mega Momo?"
The ponytailed girl blinks owlishly. "Pardon?"
"She likes nicknames." Kirishima adds.
"I-I see," she says, trying to regain her composure. With her hands properly folded before her, she asks, "But why Mega Momo?"
"Because you got everyone to calm down with a megaphone! Which reminds me!" She turns and points at Tenya. "Iidavator! Because you lifted her up!"
The repeated humor blows quickly seem to be wearing at Ochaco's resistances as shaky breaths escape her.
Mina grins, hugging the brunette from the side. "See, Rara-Chan gets me!"
Actual laughter finally escapes Ochaco and is soon joined by mirroring sounds from their invisible classmate. Even Hozarou chuckles.
Izuku simply smiles, glad to have such good friends. Though part of his mind does wander back, wondering how the press got on the grounds in the first place.
I appreciate you all enjoying the story, especially those of you who decided to leave a review or two. I particularly enjoy AnimeFan13579's very thought out review, which had points I both had and had not considered, as well as AnonTheKingOfCitrus18's review, which while not as long, still gave me something to think about and enjoy. Thank you both for your reviews!
Also, since I don't have enough of a buffer between this chapter and the next, I'm going ahead and publishing the next story of this series, Rider Rifana. No, there is no direct link (at least not yet), so you can read both without spoilers for either one.
Have a nice day! Enigma out!
