Eternal Winter

When Eraser Head was called in, the school wouldn't give him the name of who he was "fighting" against. They had simply told him that it was one of their students that had lost control of her quirk. He suspected it was because they were protecting her identity, since she was a minor.

But minor or not, he had a job to do, and he would fight her just the same.

He didn't enjoy working with Endeavor, but it couldn't be helped. The halls were blocked by heavy ice webbings and pillars, and the flame hero was the only one who had a chance to clear it. Once the student realized they were coming, there was no telling what she'd try to do. He wouldn't be effective until he could catch sight of her.

They finally arrived at her room and Eraser Head stood back to allow Endeavor to work. He blasted at the solid ice over her door, keeping the stream steady even as he hit the door. On the other side, all they could see was ice, and he had to keep going to get through it all. The erasure hero frowned as the stream of fire kept going and he realized it wasn't just the entrance blocked off, but her entire room. The whole space had been filled with solid ice, like a glacier had just been chopped up and shoved in whole. Endeavor slowly expanded his flame, carving away the middle of the room to make space. He slowed when he reached the middle of the space, allowing Eraser Head to work.

'There-' He spotted her on the floor, only slightly visible through the thick sheet of ice separating them. He activated his quirk, eyes glowing and hair and bandages waving in the air. "Now."

Endeavor let loose, aiming for the ground where she lay. Eraser Head kept his quirk activated, on the off chance she accidentally set something off. So when Endeavor finally finished, The outside was quiet, the storm having subsided. Ice finally cleared, the student pushed herself up from where she had been curled up on the floor, now free of her own ice. It seemed she had also become a victim of her own quirk, the ice having become too much for her to control. She didn't look at them, the bags under her eyes heavy, and her eyes dull and lifeless.

"Am I going to be arrested?" She asked in a small voice.

"That's not for me to decide," he said simply. "The police will question you and decide what to do with you."

She hugged herself, hunching over. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I didn't realize my ice was spreading."

"We know," Eraser Head acknowledged. "But we still have to bring you in."

"What are you planning to be?"

Endeavour's sudden question surprised both of them, but of course Eraser Head couldn't look away from the student.

"I'm going to run my father's company," she answered, then cast her eyes down. "Or at least, I was supposed to."

"Hmph." Deeming his role over, the hero turned away to head back out. "A waste. I could've used someone like you."

She blinked after him, a little light returning in her eyes with question. Eraser Head extended a hand to beckon her to come out, and she crawled out of the space back to freedom.

Once they were in the hall, he deemed it safe to stop his quirk, and walked with her in silence. The moment they came out through the doors, a woman that greatly resembled the student but with brown hair rushed to them, instantly hugging the teen. "Oh, Elsa, thank goodness you're alright! We were so worried about you! After what happened to Anna, I-"

"Anna?" For the first time, the student's face flickered with fear, "What happened to Anna?"

The woman covered her mouth, realizing with horror the girl had no idea of the extent of the damage she'd wrought. An officer came behind her then to ask for her, and Iduna felt caught.

"Mother, please," the student insisted, clasping her hands together, eyes flashing. "What happened to Anna?"

"She'll be alright," Her mother assured quickly. "Just go with the police and clear everything up!" She warned. "Let them know it was just an accident and you'll be fine!"

The girl looked to the officer fearfully, but with another glance at her mother, complied. It was as she was sending one last look at her over her shoulder that Elsa finally say the outside of the building.

Though the inside had been cleared, the outside was not, and massive veins of ice spidered over the three story building. The place where her room was had turned solid, with jagged lines of ice crawling out all over the building.

"Did I do that?" Elsa gasped, barely getting her voice out as she looked on in horror over the damage. The snow had piled up against the base of wall and the roof, making it look like it had just encountered a snow storm. "I-I didn't mean to!" She argued, even stepping back from the sight of it. "I swear it was an accident!"

"You can explain at the station," The officer insisted- neither harshly, nor gently. "We'll decide what to do with you then."

Her mother saw the problem first, gently taking her daughter's face in her hands and trying to smile reassuringly. "Elsa, Elsa, deep breaths, alright? Stay calm, everything will be alright!"

She nodded sightlessly, taking a shaky breath as she tried to steady her breathing. The woman finally pulled her hands away, hiding them behind her back. Eraser Head could see them having frosted over with a tiny sheet of ice.

"I'd better go with you," He told the officer, already heading for the van. "Just in case."

Elsa finally tore her gaze away, following obediently but keeping her hands and arms close. She seemed to be in a state of shock, even more surprised than everyone else that had been watching the events unfold.

Job not over yet, Eraser Head slipped into the back of the van to ride across from her, settling in and expecting a long day ahead of him.

Elsa took in her situation, weighing the pros and cons of her options. The easiest one would be just to build a bridge to run across, but the people right around her would just crowd her and try to use it too. Race advantage not withstanding, Elsa couldn't be sure her structure would support all that weight at once. The simplest, safest option would be for her just to hold onto the rope and crawl across it, and truth be told if she had the time she might have just done that. But she could see people already traveling across, each one using their quirks in ingenious ways to speed them along. Was there anyway she could give herself an advantage?

'Well, there is one way,' she conceded, peeking over the edge to the dark depths below. 'It just might be a little tricky...'

Eraser Mic was focused on the other students up front, so she could focus on the rope in front of her. Taking a breath, she gingerly put a small tennis shoe onto the rope, letting her quirk bloom a tiny icy platform, no bigger than the sole of her shoe. Lifting her other foot very slowly, she tested the weight bearing. It seemed stable, and she let out a small sigh of relief.

This seemed like a good option. This would force the people behind her to go one at a time, and the rope would still support all their weights. The best option she could think of.

It was a good thing Elsa wasn't afraid of heights, giving her the chance to even pull this stunt, but it was still disorienting, the darkness reminding her that it was a long, long, long way down to the depths below. She moved slow at first, nerves and uncertainty making her test the waters as she brought each leg around to step delicately on the rope, but she was certain once she got the hang of this, she'd be able to at least "walk" across relatively quickly.

Until the rope shook.

About a quarter of the way over, she gasped, wobbling at the sudden weight drop. She looked over her shoulder at a boy who was taller, and heavier than she was, and a little more daring. He had his eyes on the platforms, walking with his arms out and heedless of the predicament he was putting her in.

"H-Hey, stop!" She protested. "At least wait until I'm across!"

"You're taking too long!" The boy snapped as he took another step. "Move faster!"

Of course, with her head turned she was even more off balance, and the shake of the rope toppled her. She gasped, falling forward and snatching the rope, hugging it with her arms and legs. She swung around at dizzying speeds, hanging upside down off the rope. The disturbance rocked the whole rope, toppling the boy and putting him in the same predicament.

"I told you!" she snapped. "Couldn't you have been a little more patient!?"

"This is a race, stupid! You don't just wait around!"

Irritated at the stupid comment (and this whole predicament) Elsa shot out a wave of ice from the bottom of her soles over the rope, sealing the boy's hands and legs to it. He squawked in protest, trying and failing to pull his arms out.

"HEY!"

"Oops, my bad," she said airily. "Guess you should have waited."

"You stupid brat!" He snapped at her, yanking and wiggling fruitlessly. Elsa paid him no heed, already crawling up the rope. "Get me out of this!"

She kept her eyes on the rope, mentally grumbling at her predicament. Looked like she had to crawl the first leg after all. Once she got to the other side she made a little ice platform below her to let her clamber up without issue, darting across the island to one of the side ropes not already taken.

'Thank goodness I made it,' she thought, even as she looked at the next island. 'But what am I gonna do now? I can't risk that happening again.'

Thinking over what happened, she got an idea and stepped up to the rope, then looked thoughtfully at her shoes. Taking one careful step forward, she gingerly laid it on the rope. Her quirk sealed on, creating a block of ice the size of her foot. Still moving slow, she brought her other foot around to step on the rope, creating another block. When she lifted the first foot, the smooth surface tried to follow her sole, turning uneven and broken on the surface, turning into a jagged block of ice. Difficult for purchase, and deadly on a tightrope.

Perfect.

She moved slow, concentrating both on forming the step in front of her, and sabotaging the step behind. Splitting her attention like this was difficult, but doable, so she took her time to reach the second island safely. The other students were catching up and getting ahead, but she tried not to let it bother her. After all, the race was no good if she fell. On the last leg she moved more confidently, getting used to the process, and this time assured of her ice forming and supporting her across the rope.

'Made it!' She finally breathed, picking up space to climb up the staircase. Since she had to go slow, she had caught her breath and got her second wind. 'Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some speed in the next part.'

Ka-BOOM!

Elsa froze, realizing she was really, really screwed.

She saw the small explosions on the other students, and noticed the massive signs on the side with the English words 'DANGER MINES' printed on them. Looking down, she noticed the upturned earth. It wasn't hard to figure out what she was supposed to be doing, but that was leaving her in a predicament. Another explosion made her flinch and she internally cursed her luck. Anna had been trying to startle and surprise her the last few months, so Elsa trusted herself to have some control, but that was still different from being sent by an explosion. One sudden scare and she could let go and freeze someone-

BOOM!

She jumped, automatically cupping her ears. It was both fear, and subconscious decision that made her release her quirk, sealing her ears in two tiny blocks of ice.

She brought her hands back down and blinked with some confusion, debating over the weirdness of the feeling. She saw another explosion take place on the field, but the sound was significantly muffled.

'Oh! … Ok, ok, I can't do this. I can do this!'

Now she could think.

She saw another student working ahead of her, but didn't pay attention for long. She needed to focus and get herself across. (Instead of walking across the field however, the boy was unearthing and gathering the mines instead. Weird.)

What worried her was how many students were on the field in front of her. How many were they accepting from the race? Did they mention it and she had forgotten? At this rate, even if she stepped around quickly, she might not make it through the preliminaries. Forming a bridge was out of the question. No way that thing would be sturdy enough to get all the way to the other side without cracking. And if she froze the ground under her that would just make it easier for the students on the field to move over and catch up to her, possibly using their quirks to overtake her.

Unless…

She froze.

Tiny patches.

She gasped, face lighting up in inspiration as she looked to her feet. She could do this! She still had a chance!

She darted back a few steps, giving herself a starting distance. She took a breath, heart already hammering and insides growing tight at what she was about to do. Because of the makeshift ear muffs, the harshness of her breathing and pounding heart made her light headed. Her hands started to tremble, and the air grew cold around her as she dug her shoe into the ground. She bounced on her toes, shaking her head a moment to try to clear her doubts. She knew it was a risk, but she had to do it. This was her one chance, she couldn't fail again!

'Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know,' she mentally whispered, closing her eyes for just a second to bring in her focus. 'Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know!'

Then she was off, sprinting across the field with everything she had. (And shocking Izuku and motivating him to go just a little bit faster.)

Her heart never stopped racing, something inside her rebelling against her speed. But she kept going, too scared to stop and risk getting caught up in the explosions. She darted through the students, weaving around the fighting and falling bodies. The ones further ahead noticed her speeding toward them and attempted to attack her to slow her down. But she threw up walls of ice in her panic to deflect them before veering off in another direction. One sudden explosion beside her made her jump and stumble fearfully, but besides small strips of ice from her hands on the ground, her quirk still obeyed her, the ice at her feet still forming reliably. She was able to right herself and continue on, getting herself back into the game. She finally cleared the crowd, giving her a straight shot to the front.

"WHOA Ladies and gentlemen, another contender for first place has arrived! Bradt Elsa from class 1-I is heading for the lead! Could she be this year's surprise winner?! The underdog story of the century!"

Aizawa's mouth was grim under his bandages. She was hardly an underdog. But it was true she would take them by surprise, if they didn't know who she was. She had definitely grown skilled the last few months, and despite the explosions she wasn't freezing everything over willy nilly.

He wasn't sure he liked the looks of that.

"YES!" Anna screamed from her desk. "I knew it, I knew you could do it!"

In the stands, two pro heroes straightened at the sound of her name. The younger one- a middle-aged woman with slight olive skin tone and shoulder length wavy brown hair- grabbed the arm of the old woman next to her. "Yelena!"

"I heard him," answered the old woman somberly. She had long silver hair half pulled back, also with olive skin and sharp dark eyes. "That must be Iduna's child. It seems she's finally changed her mind and allowed her into hero work."

Hearing Present Mic's announcement, both boys paused their fighting and glanced behind them in confusion, wondering how on earth someone had managed to catch up to them this far ahead. She caught their eyes, and with slight fear veered to the left, knowing they'd just try to fight her and wanting to avoid that if at all possible.

'I'm almost there,' Elsa told herself. 'Just keep your eyes ahead and make sure you keep forming. Once you pass the field, it'll be a straight shot to the finish line!'

Of course, with the ice over her ears, Elsa didn't realize that she was overtaking the boys in the lead. She just figured she was clearing a crowd in the race, no big deal. She assumed there were still others in front. She didn't know what was at stake. Even now, all she felt was relief, seeing this as a small victory as she reached the level with the lead students, finally putting her in first.

"NOT SO FAST, EXTRA!"

Despite her ice she did hear that, and snapped her eyes to the boy with explosive blond hair. He abandoned his fight, launching himself at this nobody newcomer to explode her off her path. But she was faster, reflexes blasting him to throw him back. The harsh stream of ice-air countered his momentum, flipping him backwards and encasing his chest and face in ice.

"HA!" Anna screamed at her phone, pointing triumphantly. "That's her, that's my sister, you wish you were half as cool as her!"

Bakugou was sent flying, inevitably hitting a mine and tossing him airborne again. Todoroki watched his progression, then gaped at her, sudden alarm at the stakes now apparent.

"Oh no!" She squeaked. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?! I didn't mean to do that-!"

There was a moment of silence as he trembled against the shell of ice. But a burst from his hands broke it, and he managed to shatter it off. "Damn it!" He screamed, finally righting himself from the last accidental explosion. Now he was seething at her, pointing at her and exploding in his rage. "You're going down too, got it?!"

Despite herself, Elsa breathed out some relief. Ok he was fine, she could get back to racing. She took off again to try to regain her focus, but a sudden wall of ice erupted before her, halting her progress. She whirled at him- the boy with the split color hair- and realized with a start he was the ice user she was competing against.

And now his furious, hate-filled eyes were focused right on her.

"WA-HOA, Ladies and gentlemen it's getting frosty in here! Ice verses ice, who will reign victorious!?"

Up in the stands, the number two hero was watching the race unfold.

And seeing the stakes now before him, he grinned.

But whatever brawl was about to happen halted at the sound of an explosion.

It roared behind her- which wasn't a surprise given their surroundings, but this one was so massive, it was loud even through her earmuffs and shook the ground beneath them. All the mine fielders looked behind them in confusion, self preservation making them seek out the danger. The shockwave made them shield themselves, protecting against the hot wind and dust assaulting them. Peeking over their arms, they saw the huge pink cloud billowing into the sky above them.

And there was Midoriya Izuku, shooting out of the cloud and heading for the other side of the minefield. Elsa gaped at him, her mind recalling the mines he had collected at the beginning of the field. Was he seriously riding an explosion!? Was this boy insane?!

She didn't have time to wonder about that, seeing him sail overhead right past them.

Abandoning the fight, Todoroki froze his path to sprint down it, Bakugou fell back to his quirk to fly over the field, and Elsa had to sprint around the wall in front of her, making her lose precious seconds.

The good news was that now that the other two were focused on the falling boy, they weren't paying her any heed. Since she was a tiny bit behind, she could see where the boy was falling, and veered to the left again to try to avoid the mines he would no doubt trigger. The smart option would be to purposely slow down to "wait" until after his explosion and then keep going, keeping her on course and a guarantee to finish.

But…

Her eyes honed in on the back of the other contender, his split-colored hair drawing her eye like a beacon. If there was any chance for her to get noticed she had to beat him. No matter what, she absolutely had to get past him!

She took a page from the ice boy's book and shot the path in front of her with ice. But she took it one step further, taking a page from the crazy boy's book and creating a large, round, slightly curved shield of ice in her hands, sliding it onto the path and leaping into it. Crouching down and gripping the edge of the shield with her left hand, she used her right to shoot a beam of icy air to propel her forward. She rocketed down her path, speeding back up to the boys and leaving a trail of spires in her wake.

Anna screamed. "YES! Go Elsa, go! Go Elsa, GO!"

Though Elsa had been right about the falling boy triggering mines, she hadn't predicted his purposeful triggering of them. As Elsa managed to slide just level with the others, the boy somersaulted midair and slammed his makeshift air sled into the ground. The explosion was massive, burying all three contestants in pink smoke as he bounded back into the air sailed onto the other side of the field.

But Elsa zoomed out of the smoke, having been just outside the edge of the explosion.

"Midoriya swiftly blocks those behind him!" Present Mic announced exuberantly, as the boy tumbled into a run, springing up as fast as he could go. "But Bradt is not far behind! Would you believe it? They cleared the minefield in an instant!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Anna wailed. "Elsa, go after him, you can do it!"

"Miss Bradt," Their teacher called sternly from the front. "Break is now over, it's time to start class!"

"No no no no no no no no no you don't understand!" Anna argued. "My sister is in the race, she's almost done!"

"She's up against that U.A Class that faced the villains!" Her friend agreed.

"She might actually have a chance to win this!" Agreed the other.

The teacher spluttered. "Well, be that as it may, there's still class-!"

"Please, just a few minutes!" Anna begged. "I have to see how she does!"

Elsa knew the other boy wouldn't be far behind, so she didn't celebrate, keeping her eyes on the end of the field. She let her path fade, leaping out of her shield to get to her feet and tear off down the road. She didn't care about beating the boy ahead of her, she just wanted to beat the boy behind. Don't let him catch up, don't let him catch up- whatever you do, don't let him catch up!

It was a race against time, the three trailers giving everything they had to try to get back into the lead. They ignored Present Mic's and Eraser Head's commentary, their eyes solely on Midoriya's wildly racing back. The fire in their hearts was too great, pouring every ounce of energy into closing that distance. Their quirks came out, each one using every possible advantage they had to break through that last narrow entrance and possibly overtake him.

But-

"Right now, the first person back in the stadium is that man- Midoriya Izuku's made a huge splash!"

Midoriya still made it to first, making their efforts all for naught. After him came Todoroki, and Bakugou, each a split second behind respectively. And last came Elsa, having been overtaken in the last minute. She nearly collapsed, panting as she held herself up by her legs. The last burst of the race having taken all the energy out of her. She tried, she really did, but she just couldn't compete with the male's natural testosterone and muscle mass in pure physical fitness.

'Damn it...' she cursed mentally, heart falling at the results. 'I failed...'

Perhaps if she'd had more training her whole life she could have stood a chance, but she could only trail in behind him. It was just so frustrating, having tasted victory for just a moment, only to have it snatched so cruelly from her.

Of course, no one was seeing this as a "loss" like her.

"YES!" Anna screeched, leaping into the air. "FOURTH PLACE! And with no formal combat training! That's my sister! Go Elsa," she danced. "Go Elsa!"

"Now," her teacher seethed. "If you are quite done-"

"Oh!" She squeaked, getting back into her seat. "Right, so sorry." She conceded, quickly shoving her phone in her pocket.

"Getting into fourth place after being in the business course?" One of the pros commented.

"Why isn't she in the hero course?"

"She must be training by herself after school. That's crazy she's able to keep up with them.."

The two olive-skinned heroes that recognized Elsa conferred between themselves. "I thought Agnarr didn't want her practicing her quirk."

"He didn't," the old woman argued. "But after what happened at Josei I don't think he had much of a choice. If she's been able to carry herself this far after just a few months, her natural skills must be extraordinary."

"Should we reach out to her, then?"

"If they're allowing her to compete, it should be fine." She agreed. "Even if she gets out the next round, we should try to bring her in. With more training, she would be a force to be reckoned with."

Hans leaned back into his seat, admittedly surprised from the outcome. Not just her "placement", but that clear competitive drive that had overtaken her in the last leg. She could actually have a chance at this.

But despite her good place, she could still have trouble. Being pit up against another ice user wouldn't look good. He could only hope whatever "training" she and Anna did would help her hold her own. Finally getting her breath back, Elsa finally stood and looked around the field. She saw that boy- the crazy one, whoever he was was- the ice user and the explosive one, but no one else on the field.

"Uh, excuse me," she called out to the blonde one. He was hunched over like she had been, also trying to catch his breath.

"What?!" He snapped, too pissed off to be in a conversational mood.

She straightened a bit in alarm, but plowed on. "Where is everyone?"

His anger faltered, one brow raising in question. "Everyone?"

"The other students," she clarified, pointing to the other two. "I just see us on the field. Where's everyone else waiting?"

He just stared at her like an idiot, other eye squinting like he was trying to see if she was for real. "We're the first ones here. Why would there be anyone else?"

"The first ones..." She she squinted a moment in confusion before looking back to the other two. "Here?"

Elsa had been convinced she was far behind. After that leg on the tightropes, she thought she would have to be scrambling to the edge of the preliminaries, she didn't think she had a chance to be in first place. But as the reality sunk in, very slowly, her face bloomed in awed realization, her heart growing light in joy. She got to the front. She had gotten all the way to the front!

Of course Bakugou didn't share her enthusiasm, too dumbfounded by her cluelessness to even be perturbed. "Weren't you paying attention to the announcements?" He couldn't help but ask, finally straightening to stand. He jabbed a thumb at the sound booth. "They weren't exactly being subtle."

"The… oh!" Her confusion broke into realization. "The ice!" She reached up with both hands to the chunk of ice on the right side of her head, making a face and wincing as she roughly tugged off the little block. "I couldn't hear any of the details through it. I thought they were just making commentary."

As she held it up, he just stared at it, gobsmacked. The very obvious question of 'Why the hell did you have ice over your ears?' ran through his head, and yet he couldn't really bring himself to ask.

Because what did hit him were the implications.

He twitched.

"Hey..." he said slowly, raising his eyes back to her. "Are you telling me you were gonna try an' beat me without realizing you were going into first place?"

"Is that what was happening?" She breathed in wonder, and then chuckled bashfully, "Ah, that explains a few things. I was wondering why you two were going after me so hard."

He twitched again, bulging blood vessel throbbing as he leered at her. "You..."

"Ah, I wasn't actually trying to make it into first place," she continued on, rocking her body a little as she looked at anywhere but him. "I was just trying to clear the preliminaries." She reached up to tug at the other block of ice. "I was just so determined to beat the other guy I didn't realize how far I'd gotten." She admitted with a sheepish smile.

There was two, no, five bulging blood vessels on his face. His growing anger was like a steadily rising flame, threatening to burst at any moment. And yet he still had just enough self control to ground out through his grinding teeth: "What. Other. Guy?"

Oblivious to his growing rage, she looked over and pointed amicably at the other ice user. "Him."

His rage exploded, roaring like an inferno. "Seriously?! You were looking at Half n' Half?!"

She stared at him. Half 'n-?

"I said I'd be number one, didn't I!?" He screamed at her, glowering down at her over his nose. "You should be paying attention to me, not him!"

Most people might be shocked, or offended, or intimidated by someone- especially some random stranger- screaming them down.

But Elsa could only squint at him in confusion, trying to make sense of his words. "You said… Oh!" Then she laughed suddenly. "I thought you sounded familiar!" She offered a sheepish smile, waving her fingers a bit. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Um, nice to meet you?"

He snapped.

"THAT'S IT!" He screamed. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN TOO, BREAD-HEAD!" He declared, jamming his thumb downwards to emphasize his point. "DOWN!"

She stared at him as he marched off, trying to make sense of what had just happened. She hadn't insulted him. She hadn't even said anything remotely mean to him. Was he still mad about her accidentally blasting him with ice? It was the only explanation she could think of. And it felt a little odd she had suddenly made an "enemy" this early in the sport.

Also… why "bread-head"? It was kind of a weird insult.

(Of course, she didn't realize that from behind, her pale hairdo looked like a cinnamon roll or fancy pastry to him. Such was life.)

'Oops,' she thought. 'Guess I won't be friends with him if I transfer in.'

Their conversation had been impossible to miss, given the sudden volume, and Todoroki was thinking. Midoriya had already gone off, too caught up in celebrating his victory to notice what was happening around him, but the other student was debating his options. He looked into the stands, where he could see his father watching the field with interest. His navy suit and flickering flames were impossible to miss.

'I know what you're thinking, Old Man,' he thought grimly. 'You think I won't have a choice but to use your flames against her.' He finally looked away, stalking off to get out of the way of the finish line. 'It doesn't matter. I'll still win this with just my right side, no matter what.'

Once the other students finally trailed in, it was time to announce the next game. Elsa was a little nervous, but now much more confident in her chances and abilities. After all if she did this well in the race, then that meant she had a fighting chance, right? A quick glance at the scoreboard finally told her the name of her opponent. Todoroki Shoto. That was the boy she was targeting.

"-Ten million points!"

"T… Ten million points," Midoriya choked out in dread.

And for a second, a split second, Elsa felt blood lust take her, honing in on the easy, humungous target splayed out before her. 'Victory.'

She looked over the crowd, thought process coming back online as she considered possible strategies. All the faces were honed in on him too 'He's an easy target, which means most people will be fighting over him. But then that means I may be able to target-

...Him.'

Her eyes honed in on Todoroki again, considering the chances of getting him out in this leg of the competition. This sport wasn't directly related to athleticism and combat, just teamwork and quirk use. And when it came to group projects, Elsa was used to taking the lead. She may have a chance in this after all.

He glanced at her suddenly and she turned away, cursing her luck at being caught. He leered at her, knowing what she was planning instantly.

Now it was time to make the teams. Elsa would have to ask people what their quirks were before joining one to get a better idea of-

"Let me be on your team!"

… eh?

"I have a stretching quirk, I can totally reach the headbands!"

"Oh, um, that's good-"

"Pick me too, I've got crazy good stamina!"

"O-oh, good, um-"

There was a crowd of people around her, eager to join the girl who had gotten fourth and who clearly had a good quirk to guarantee her spot in the next match. But Elsa had always had trouble finding partners in the past, never having been particularly popular in school. (Except maybe among the lazy students who would always use her hard work to skim by on group projects.)

"T-that's great, um-" So now she glanced at all the faces, trying to keep everyone straight as she scrambled to plan. "H-how about um… you, and you, and-"

"Hey," a boy cut in. He looked rather ghastly, with heavy bags under his eyes and wild untamed violet hair. "You're in the business course, right? What're you doing competing?"

She turned to the unfamiliar face- although to be fair, every face was unfamiliar to her here. Elsa waved him off. "It's a long story, but I right now I-"

She froze, something in her brain snapping as something took over. Shinsou grinned and cocked his head.

"Perfect. Follow me."

He led the way out of the group, and she followed him obediently out of the disappointed crowd. There were two other students already gathered, with the same blank, unassuming expression as her. He glanced over his shoulder to her, smirking with a gleam.

"Welcome to the team."

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your patience! Here's the next chapter for the much anticipated Heart of a Hero!