UA HIGH

It had certainly been a long, exhausting day. We were more than ready for a rest as we packed up, changed, and prepared to head back towards Heights Alliance.

Everyone was chatting excitedly about the day's events. Ashido immediately started trying to tease Uraraka again. "You sure got -"

Tsu interrupted her, "You did great today, Mina."

"Oh, thanks! Though it could've gone better if it weren't for that sadistic little creep!"

We all nodded. Mineta.

"It's about time somebody did something about him!" said Ashido.

"Yes, indeed. I think he went too far today," I agreed.

"For real?" she cried out.

"Yes...Do you have something in mind?"

"A few ideas!"

We all gathered again in uniform and headed back towards Heights Alliance, following Iida. Suddenly -

"Iida!"

Kendo, with the rest of Class 1B behind her - excepting Monoma - was smiling at us.

"Kendo. You fought valiantly today!" Iida bowed to her. I felt a bit flustered.

"Thanks," she said, scratching her head a little. "We were wondering - would you mind if we came and hung out with you guys?"

"Of course not!" Iida cried out. "We would be honored to have you join us!"

"Great!" said Kendo. "See you there."

Class 1B joined us in our walk back from the campus to the dorms, falling into line with us.

Kendo came up to me and Jirou and fell into step beside us.

"Great match today, Yaoyorozu. How're you feeling?"

"A bit better. I keep spare food in my locker in case a training takes a lot out of me, so I've had a chance to replenish my energy a bit."

"She's pretty much prepared for everything," said Jirou, a bit defensively. I noticed she seemed a bit stiff towards Kendo, shooting her annoyed looks. Well, I guess she didn't hear about our honorable challenge...

"I look forward to a rematch some day!" I told Kendo. "I think of you as a wall I have to overcome now."

She blushed a bit as we walked into Heights Alliance. "That's very flattering...but I don't exactly feel like I won this completely. You had a backup plan for everything, anticipated every outcome...it took everything I had to keep up with you."

"Oh, really!" I flushed even more, trying not to look too pleased with myself, and looked around for a distraction.

"I'll prepare tea for us all!" I called out as everyone assembled, accompanied by Sato saying "And I think I've got some extra cake upstairs, just hold on a moment!"

I hurried to the tea things as Jirou and Kendo fell into conversation of their own and started making up something for the rest. Seriously though, despite what Kendo said, I had lost to her fair and square today. If I wanted to fulfill my goal of becoming a true pro hero, I would need to do better. Where could I improve myself?

"That's some excellent tea-handling, Yaoyorozu!" came Tokage's voice from over my shoulder. I jumped a little. "Oh, thank you, Tokage!" I beamed at her. "It's a special blend - for replenishing energy after a long day's work."

"Well-chosen." She sighed a bit. "Looks like the general admissions' kids have shown up us Special Reccommended folks today, huh?"

I thought about it. True, Honenuki and Todoroki had tied, while Tokage and I had lost.

"Indeed...Well, I suppose it simply leaves a new bar to live up to in the future. If we are going to honor the trust our recommenders showed in us, we must recommit to becoming the best heroes we can."

She blinked at me. "You guys sure have got that inspirational speech thing going. Guess you picked it up from being closer to All Might."

I blinked at her, a little surprised. Tokage shrugged. "Well, who knows. Maybe we'll end up seeing each other a bit more in the future. Good work out there today."

She headed off, leaving me wondering what she meant.

I headed off to Jirou and Kendo, carrying the tea tray to the center of the room for everyone to collect from.

"Jirou was just telling me about your band," said Kendo. "We didn't get to see it during the School festival. Wish you'd recorded some of it."

"Oh, really!" I flushed up more. "Jirou did it all. She's the musician!"

"You had all the piano skills," said Jirou. She looked over at Kaminari and Tokoyami. "Makes me wish we could get the band together again..."

"Perhaps we will some day."

"Bakugou probably won't agree to that."

"Where is he, anyway?"

I glanced around. indeed, Bakugou didn't seem to be there, and neither did Midoriya. "I don't know..."

Kendo shrugged. "Bakugou is kind of your class's Monoma, isn't he?"

"In a different way," I smiled, a little embarassed for our classmate.

"You're the deputy Class Rep, right Yaoyorozu? How do you deal with him?"

"I don't really 'deal' with him," I admitted. "I mostly just...let him be. Bakugou's actually fairly well-behaved, even if he's foul-mouthed. In some ways Midoriya is more trouble."

Jirou sipped her tea. "Bakugou made a surprisingly good leader today."

"Your team really showed us up," Kendo grinned. "Good work out there. Guess playing in a band with Bakugou made him easier to work with, huh?"

"Didn't hurt, I guess."

Kendo crossed her legs. "Maybe that's the biggest thing -"

She stopped herself.

"What?"

"Never mind..."

"Please, go ahead," I asked her, sincerely interested in what she had to say.

"Maybe that's the biggest thing that helped you guys beat us today...that makes you guys - famous, better than us, like you are? Teamwork, I mean."

"I don't think we're better than you," I reassured her. "And remember, I didn't win today. You beat me, fair and square, and your teamwork was flawless!"

"I suppose...Well, anyway, it doesn't hurt to get along well with the people you work with."

I hadn't exactly gotten along well with the people I'd worked with at the agency...remember that experience was a little awkward, as was running into Tokage again.

As we spoke, Bakugou and then Midoriya rejoined us. We continued to chat about the day; Jirou suggested Kendo try Punk rock. At last we all headed up to bed, leaving me thinking deeply about what I'd seen and experienced today.

It'd been a long time since I'd failed like that...ever since Todoroki gave me that little boost of confidence in the Final Exam, it'd mostly been clear wins for me, and I'd never really considered the possibility of another failure. It just hadn't entered my vocabulary.

But this time I had failed...If I wanted to proceed, I would need to do more. If I wanted to surpass Kendo, I would need to recommit to my training.

DEIKA CITY

Spinner and Shigaraki, Dabi and Mr. Compress, had been separated from Toga's fight with Chitose. Fighting back on their own sides against the seemingly never-ending onslaught of Meta Liberation army warriors, they looked like blips surrounded by human waves.

"How much longer until wakey-wakey time?" called Spinner.

"One our, 20 minutes," said Mr. Compress.

"For real? Even though we knock em down, they just keep on coming!"

"You haven't taken a single one out yet," snapped Dabi.

"Where'd Toga run off to?" asked Twice.

A car came driving through, a car with a dias on top labeled "Hearts and Minds Party". Atop it stood the Meta Liberation Army Member with the dark glasses and long twine of hair.

"ATTENTION! I HAVE TRAGIC NEWS TO REPORT!"

"An election campaign van?" wondered Mr. Compress.

"MISS CURIOUS HAS FALLEN IN BATTLE! SHE HAS GIVEN HER LIFE TO THE LIBERATION CAUSE!"

"Ahh! How awful" Shrieked the audience members, in a wild display of feeling. "Any word from the grand commander about this?"

"DO NOT LET HER SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN, HE SAID."

"I see," said Compress. "Hanabata's playing the role of the preacher gathering his flock. This isn't an army. It's more like a religious sect."

A giant wall of warriors, all at once, were headed towards Shigaraki. He seemed almost dwarfed by their size.

"Shigaraki!"

Shigaraki's hand had seized the face of the first, which began decaying from his touch -

And it spread to the person next to him - and the next -

and the next

and the next

Until the wall was a pile of ash.

Am I seeing things? thought Spinner. Just now...his decay effect spread to people he wasn't even touching!

"Shigaraki - you -"