"Anyway, we're done here. Your documents about the curriculum and such are in the back of the classroom. Give them a look. Also, Midoriya, have Recovery Girl fix you up. Tomorrow's trials aren't going to be easier."
Mizuha was the first to turn around and walk back the way they came. Byakuren did a double take when he noticed how far she had gotten, causing him to roll his eyes in exasperation for her quickness.
She left so quietly that he didn't even notice.
"You're so quick to leave!" He exclaimed, catching up to her.
"You heard Aizawa-sensei, there's no need to stay."
"Yeah, but you're so fast."
"I rather go back inside and change. Our uniforms are comfy."
As expected, Aizawa was bluffing when it came to the punishment for last place, which was Midoriya, the green haired boy.
He called it a perfect deception for draw out the upper limits of their Quirks.
She knew it was meant as a bluff the second he started laying down the realities of a hero's world, but she still made sure to do her absolute best on the test. However, because she saw through the deception, she wondered if it was better if she was naïve since it might bring out different results. Maybe.
Speaking of Midoriya, he was only able to get a good grade on the throw test which somehow triggered Bakugo to come after him, demanding how he was able to do it until their teacher caught him with the scarf he was wearing. It was a tool meant for capturing. Perfect for leashing Bakugo.
She didn't understand what got him triggered over a simple test.
Byakuren looked over his shoulder to see how the class was following them, his eyes landed on the green haired boy that was stood still, staring at his hand.
"Hm… that kid ended up in last place… And Aizawa-sensei didn't look too happy the first time he threw the ball. I wonder what was up with that…"
Mizuha also looked back briefly. Midoriya's shoulders rose as he visibly let out an exhale before following the rest of the class. She turned back to look in front of her. "Maybe his Quirk is only good for his arms? Who knows. But what double-edged blade for it to injure his finger in an instant."
If his Quirk is really a double-edged blade, bringing only injury after using it… then that's rather unfortunate.
…
…
…
The first day of school went very smoothly.
Aside from Aizawa-sensei's impromptu Quirk fitness test, everything else was a breeze, fitting for a first day. They were able to meet a few of their subject teachers, or rather the ones who would be with them on the second day such as Present Mic for English, Midnight for Modern Art History, Cementoss for Modern Literature, and Ectoplasm for Mathematics. They explained the curriculum for their specific classes and reminded them of what materials they needed to buy for their classes.
In the morning it was normal classes. In the afternoon, it was Hero Basic Training. Of course, since she was in a Hero Course, that meant that she was going to have longer classes for hero training.
Even if the day was mostly spent with explanations and self-touring around campus, she was a little tired mostly because she slept a little late last night. Nothing new for her though. She was a nocturnal person.
The second she came back home and shut the door behind her, she let out a heavy sigh, lazily taking off her shoes at the genkan before dragging her tired body through the house.
Her bag was sent flying onto her bed when her door opened, making it bounce and hit against the wall. Her uniform however got a kinder treatment as she neatly placed them on the back of her desk chair to change into her house clothes, a loose gray t-shirt and some black long pants with blue smiley faces.
Always treat your uniform nicely because you will alternate between them during the week, her mother would say.
As she passed by her long mirror in her room, she stared at her reflection and saw how her light gray hair was messy. Her bangs were all over the place in front of her eyes from changing her shirt. She jutted out her bottom lip to blow them out of the way and used her hands to fix it.
Her hands pressed against her cheeks.
"First day was good. Not bad."
As much as she enjoyed a good relaxing day as a start, a piece of her was itching to start her hero related classes, the curious cat within her was anticipating it.
She may not show it on her face outside, but she was indeed looking forward to it.
The little excited smile reflected in the mirror was proof when she randomly poked the mole situated on the left side near the corner of her mouth.
"In the meantime…" Mizuha mumbled to herself, walking away from the mirror to take out her empty container that used to be filled with two waffles sliced in eight pieces. She knew a waffle wasn't the best choice but she liked it either way. It was quick, easy to eat and get rid of. It did the job.
She went to the kitchen to drop it off in the sink swiftly before walking back.
Her feet didn't stop at her room, instead they kept moving a little more until they stopped in front of another door.
Her eyes fixed the door handle.
"Do you know why my door is before yours?"
With a deep breathe, she took hold of the handle and turned it to slowly open the door. Gently, quietly. She didn't want to cause a disturbance. She didn't want to make too much noise. Softly, slowly. She kept her head low, staring at the wooden floor, to avoid looking inside immediately.
As if she didn't want to bother anyone inside.
But why?
There wasn't anything in there anyway.
There wasn't anyone in there.
It was just her at home.
Her eyes lifted.
The sunlight coming from the window was enough to illuminate the room, instantly giving spotlight to the specks of dust dancing in the air, appearing like golden dust under the yellow light. The bed next to the window displayed an illusion of a gradient thanks to it. Cool blue fading into a warm yellow. The pillow was also coated in glow of warmth. The dusty nightstand became a lighter shade of brown. The charged phone sitting on it nightstand was also affected by glow.
The white desk on her right had a black holder meant for pens, pencils, and the like. She could see the dust on it, proof that it hadn't been dusted in a long time. Anything of a darker shade was victim to dust accumulation.
And yet the floor was clean, shiny even.
Mizuha stood in the doorway, taking a moment to let the sight reignite the times she would enter this room.
Nothing has changed.
She still felt the same.
The same feelings of guilt emerged the shadows of her heart and slowly embraced it, wrapping it tightly, dying it completely in its colours.
Her eyes solemnly looked over to the phone. It took her a moment but she eventually made the first step into the room, approaching the nightstand and standing before it, walking just as quietly as she opened the door.
She poked the screen.
Instantly it revealed the current date and time. The lockscreen background was a silly picture, meme, a light brown Dachshund wearing a purple sweater and a green scarf, looking up at the camera with the caption 'Gotta keep your wiener warm'.
There were 25 voicemails.
And 30 missed calls.
Truly, nothing has changed.
Her thoughts were pulled away when she forcibly strangled her feelings, quick and painless, but she couldn't break free from the squeezing guilt in her heart. She was grateful for that because it was almost unbearable being in this room right now. It was a good nudge to get her mind back on track and to turn away from the reality that this room oozed with.
She went to the closet and got on her knees to pull out the boxes hidden away. Fortunately, she was able to make out the writing on them.
This one.
Her hands picked up a box that was written 1-A on it. That was all she needed in this room. She didn't need to come back here unless it was absolutely necessary.
"I should be able to get head start by brushing up…"
Unlike how she came, she hastily made her way to the door to leave it all behind.
Not forgotten, always there, but simply in the back corner of her mind.
She didn't spare the room another glance as she adjusted the box in her arms to reach back and close the door.
…
…
"Because big brothers come first! I have to watch out, and protect you!"
The next day of school, things were back to normal.
Mizuha was now on her own on her way to school, and she was yawning as soon as she made it past the school gates.
Her hand went up to rub her eye tiredly because she was still tired. As usual, she slept late but it was also the fact that she was back to the whole waking up early to go to school routine. The break was nice while it lasted. But alas, this was her life now.
Not that she was complaining.
But the way Aizawa-sensei said it wouldn't be all fun and games… he makes it sound like we won't be able to do things normal kids should be doing. I know we're training to be heroes and all… but ehh…
The U.A Sports Festival was always fun to watch.
The students also looked like they would have fun too.
Mizuha was pulled away abruptly from her thoughts when someone ran past her while shoving into her left side. Her straight face turned into one of surprise as she steadied herself so she wouldn't fall forward.
The girl, that ran into her, merely laughed while saying something about someone being slow, not caring that she ran into another fellow student.
Mizuha quirked an eyebrow up and quickly moved away from her spot and, as expected, there was someone else running behind her. It was another girl who was also laughing. They were probably racing each other to their classroom.
She narrowed her eyes at them from behind. They didn't even apologize.
"Goddamn rude people." She muttered lowly. "Idiots."
But you two seem like you're having fun.
Maybe I'm just overthinking it…
…
…
…
One more class and then it's lunch…
Mizuha sighed as she put away her notes for modern literature. There was a five-minute reprieve before Ectoplasm would take the podium. A few students were stepping out of the room to go for a quick restroom break.
"Gaaah." Kaminari groaned in his seat. "I almost fell asleep."
"I swear I yawned a few times…" Sero admitted, scratching the back of his head.
Mizuha stared at her mechanical pencil, frowning. I'm getting hungry… but we still have one more class. Thank god hero training is after lunch.
She pushed her things forward and leaned face down on her arms folded on her desk, deciding it was best to relax her mind since the next subject was going to be a walk in the park. Yesterday, she dug into the closet in order to fish out old math notes that were recorded from the same school. It was to help her brush up on the subject since it was a while since she touched it.
Mizuha wasn't sure how long she had her head down but all she knew was that she woke up to something slamming on the podium. She fell asleep. She didn't even hear the bell!
"Ehh? What happened to Ectoplasm-sensei?" Kirishima asked when he saw who was standing before them.
"Change of plans."
The man in front of the class had his hands extended to the extremities of the podium. Dark gray hair, familiar dull onyx eyes. Oh, and would you look at that? The stubble was gone.
"Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be teaching some of your math classes with Ectoplasm. I'm normally supposed to be the math teacher for the third years, but well, simply put, we're having staff problems." Kazuei droned, looking quite exasperated by the situation. "You guys can just call me by my Hero name, Reflect, like most of your teachers. Pleased to meet you all."
"It's a pleasure to meet you too sensei!" Iida's voice boomed in the back just as Kazuei started flipping his book open, instantly making Mizuha cover her mouth while pretending to brush her nose with the back of her index finger. She was chuckling at the sight of her uncle's face, clearly not expecting such an enthusiastic response.
He shook his head and went back to searching for his page. "Alright, turn to page twenty-five of your math books. Bring out a notebook because you'll all be taking notes starting today. I'm sure most of you are more interested in doing hero work instead of doing things like studying math, literature, and whatnot, but it's the law. And as long as you are in my classes, you won't have time to think that you can take it easy. Also, I don't tolerate sleepers in my class." He finished his sentence by looking directly at Mizuha.
In response to that obvious address, she rolled her eyes and went straight for the books.
I didn't sleep during your talking so chill, geez.
The quicker she finished the work the more time she'll have to do nothing when it was actually time to do the work when he finished explaining.
She smirked at what the page presented her with. Quadratic formula. Looks like I'll be taking it easy for this chapter.
As her uncle kept going on about math, she ignored him and went ahead to complete the work on page twenty-five.
Ever since the first day, Byakuren and Mizuha chose a table near the big windows for their lunch table. It had a nice view and it was away from most of the students who were gathered in the center where more seats were available.
And the table wouldn't be taken, not when she would be sitting there eating while Byakuren lined up to get himself some food. Mizuha didn't like the idea of eating school food especially not after what she saw during her time in middle school. The worst thing she saw was a green goop that bubbled on the plate. She didn't understand how eighty-nine percent of the food during the whole school year looked like something out of a nightmare.
She opened the container and grabbed a small piece of her disassembled waffle before chewing on it slowly. It was only after finishing her third piece did she hear footsteps approaching her table.
Why were there two trays on her table?
She raised an eyebrow up and looked up at the owners of the trays. In front of her was Byakuren, smiling as usual, and next to her was...
She stilled.
"I let him sit with us instead since we have seats available~" The white haired boy sang.
It was Kirishima.
He put down his tray in the spot next to hers, where her bag was sitting. He smiled at her. "Yo! Hope you don't mind!"
Mizuha mentally gulped before shaking her head silently, she reached for her bag and moved it away from him. She kept her bag on the table and put her container inside as it remained open. Was it weird to keep it on the table? Probably. But she didn't care.
She wanted to hide.
Behind her bangs, she discreetly shot Byakuren a look that screamed:
'WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!'
But he just smiled innocently, ignoring her obvious question entirely.
Now she just felt awkward as the two guys started eating at her table and making conversation about how Ectoplasm and her uncle were both their teachers. She was just there nibbling on her waffles and feeling awkward with every second that passed. Mizuha wasn't comfortable with the idea of eating with other people around, it just made her feel like... strange and nervous.
She discreetly peeked to the side to check if Kirishima was watching her but thankfully he wasn't, too busy just munching his food, singing praises that the food was way too good to be considered school food which Byakuren was totally in agreement about.
It was most likely the nervousness but she found herself eating way faster than usual. She probably chewed a bit before forcibly throwing it down her gullet so that she could stop eating in front of other people.
Sensing the unease literally coming off in waves from his friend, Byakuren looked up from his gyudon curiously. The sight before him made him pause because he couldn't help but picture a shaky little dog trying to hide away in its little cage after taking a piece of food with it.
Ah… maybe this was too big of step?
I didn't realize she was so weird about eating in front of other people.
"Hey, Mizuha~"
The girl stiffened and looked up, one side of her cheeks round like a squirrel's.
"Mizuha, help me with math."
The only reply he got was her closing the container in which she was eating from without breaking eye contact, signaling that she was done eating and that the answer was no. Then she pulled her bag off the table, leaving only her apple flavoured juice box as her next task.
Kirishima made a confused sound. "We literally just started learning a new chapter, how is it hard right now?"
"Mizuha happens to be a math wiz. She's good at it because she already learned the materials until second year high school. She took her brother's old notes and worksheets and did them on her own when we were in middle school."
Why are you sharing that information, stupid?!
Kirishima's eyebrows shot up. "Ehh?! Really? That almost feels like it's kind of cheating, isn't it?" He finished with a chuckle, amused and impressed.
Byakuren laughed heartily. "That's what I said!"
Practically sizzling in her chair, Mizuha felt her ears turn red from the conversation. What on earth was Byakuren thinking revealing information about her just like that? She was trying to keep a low profile so other people wouldn't try befriending her. She wasn't comfortable with the attention he was directing at her.
"She's been doing it since elementary school. I even had her tutor me once, right Mizuha?"
Byakuren was smiling at her.
The only reply he got was Mizuha ripping off one end of the plastic around her straw and blowing into it to make the plastic fly into his face. He blinked several times and then watched her nonchalantly poke a hole into her juice box.
He pouted.
Kirishima turned in his seat to face her just as she was about to put the straw in her mouth. He placed his hands in front of him in a praying manner, "Hyoumei, if I ever have trouble in math, can I please come to you for help?" He begged with his eyes shut tightly.
The girl's eye twitched in annoyance, this was exactly what she trying to avoid.
How was she supposed to answer? She didn't know how to answer negatively without being rude.
'No, I don't want to'.
Doesn't sound right.
'No.'
Sounds a little rude for someone I barely no.
'Hell no'
Yeah, hell no.
"Um... we'll see?" She tried with an unsure look. His red eyes shot open and a grin widened on his face. It looked like that was a satisfying answer much to her dismay.
"Yess! Thanks, Hyoumei!"
"Ah…" was her unenthusiastic response in comparison as went back to his food.
Slowly, her head turned to look at the scheming fox sitting across from them who was innocently smiling back at her.
You damn charlatan!
Stupid marshmallow!
Stupid!
…
…
…
Mizuha adjusted her gloves by pulling on them to make sure they were firmly on. She was on her way to Ground Beta for her class with the one-and-only All Might, the new addition to U.A's faculty, with her costume that the school commissioned for her after she submitted her application and got accepted into the school.
It was a dark blue long sleeve shirt underneath a black long sleeve jacket that she decided to roll up and button up to her elbows. It was long enough to cover her rear end, and it also had a zipper in case she felt cold.
None of her arm's skin was exposed since she wore long gloves that each had a metal plate below the knuckle area. They were fingerless, however, making her fingers the only ones exposed since she wore black pants with flat black and white buckled boots with red soles. She decided to forsake any cool design on it in favour of needing only the necessary.
As much as she wanted a hood, she didn't need it.
When she made a turn that would bring her outside and directly to Ground Beta, she took a moment to stop and look around. Once the coast was clear, she took a moment to jump up and down a few times, bringing her knees up to her chest, to test the flexibility of her attire.
It's not too tight nor too loose. That's good.
She then stomped on the ground and dragged her foot.
And I feel like they have a good grip.
"Mhm. Cool." Mizuha smirked. "But I guess I'll need something else when winter hits…"
She resumed her pace to go outside where she could already see a few people waiting with All Might. To her surprise, Byakuren was already outside and he was talking with the tallest student in her class. That tallest student had six arms. And he wore a mask over his face. When he noticed her, he beamed a grin and ran up to her while walked leisurely at her own pace now, hands in her jacket's pockets.
Byakuren's costume was fairly simple. It was a purple t-shirt tucked into black stretchy yet fitted pants. His black high-shin boots with purple tucked the sleeves of the pants inside. What was noticeable was the long white and purple jacket with a split tail, the hems of his jacket were black while his collar was purple.
As he jogged over to her, the split tail bounced around until he stopped. He smirked and made a show to demonstrate his costume by doing a slow walk in a circle. "What do you think?"
"I think you should thank me." Mizuha deadpanned.
Byakuren deadpanned as well for her quick reply. "Ugh… you could at least say it looks good on me."
"You look good only because I helped you make your costume when you came over." Mizuha reminded him when she started walking past him.
He pouted and followed after her. "Only because you were the one who insisted on drawing mine."
She rolled her eyes. "Only because watching you draw the same line over, and over again was getting me tired. You seriously have zero art talent."
He put his hands behind his head, shrugging. "Art isn't my forte." He agreed.
"… But you do look good."
"Wah~ Thank you, Mizu-chan."
Mizuha cringed and started moving away from him. "Ew, don't call me that again."
All Might had pulled out a box with lots and told everyone to line up so they can pick their teams.
They were going to be doing an indoor battle villain situation.
The cleverest villains hid in the shadows, hence the indoor challenge. They would be split up into teams where they would fight each other two-on-two, but there would one battle that will be three-on-three, nothing too different.
One team would be the Villain Team and their job was to protect a nuclear weapon from the Hero Team until time ran out.
The Hero Team had to either dispose of the weapon or capture the villains to win the battle.
Simple enough.
Just not something she could mentally prepare for.
…
…
…
Mizuha glanced around, there was already students paired with each other. She frowned, she quickly walked over to Byakuren and pulled on his arm.
In her hand, she held the lot with the letter 'B' written on it.
She knew she wasn't going to be with Byakuren because she was standing behind him in line and saw which lot he pulled out. It was the letter 'I'. And he was very eager to get with his teammates based off the way he grinned and literally spun out of the line while waving his lot.
With a sigh, Mizuha turned around and started to silent walk around, peeking at the lots. She was like a cat snooping around and trying not to get caught. She just wanted to spot the same letter and stay quiet until it was her turn.
She approached the student with a tail. He had short blonde hair and was wearing a costume similar to one that martial artists wore. And because he was taller, she stood on the tip of her toes to peek over his shoulder.
"Ah." A glove pointed at her.
Eh? A glove? A talking glove?
The boy turned around and jumped when he saw Mizuha so close to him. She quickly backed away and held up her hand and apologized. "… I was just checking if you had the same letter."
"O-Oh!" He came closer to check the lot she held. He lifted his head and pointed towards the student that Byakuren was talking to when she arrived. "I saw that he pulled B earlier. So, that must be your partner."
"Ah… thanks." Mizuha nodded and immediately moved around him to join her teammate. He easily noticed her approaching and held out the lot for her to read when she was close enough, making her hold up the matching letter.
He was a tall giant that was probably at least twenty centimeters taller than her. He had white hair that swooped down and covered the right side of his face. He was wearing a light blue mask that covered everything below his eyes. The only facial characteristic trait you could see was his left eye. If it wasn't obvious enough, he had six arms but only the front arms had actual hands.
Just then, another person was added to their group. He didn't say anything but only held out his lot for them to read.
Mizuha resisted the urge to furrow her brows at the sight of this classmate. It was that boy that she saw on the first day whose hair split into white on right and red on the left. At the end of the first day, she was barely able to catch the fact that he also had heterochromia, dark gray on the right and turquoise on the left. Really, dual man, that one.
And he also had a large burn scar on the left side… which was covered by a material that looked like ice. That's what almost made her do a double take since his whole left side, head to toe, was covered up.
The hell? Can you even see in that get up?!
"My name is Shoji Mezo." The tallest one introduced himself, breaking the ice since it fell silent among them.
It was only the second day.
This was the first time everyone was actually getting the chance to mingle during class.
"Todoroki Shouto." The half-and-half boy said in a blasé manner.
"Hyoumei Mizuha." She followed in suit.
And that was it. No one else said another word. Good for her. She didn't have the energy to try and make conversation anyway. And besides, that Todoroki didn't look like he wanted to talk anyway.
Mizuha stood next to Todoroki and Shoji, patiently waiting for All Might to announce the first teams as soon as everyone found their partners.
"Now, then!" All Might stuck his arms into two boxes that each had villain and hero written on it. Mizuha had to wonder where the hell he manifested those boxes because they certainly weren't there before.
He yanked out two balls the same time.
In his right, it was D.
In his left, it was A.
Mizuha internally sighed in relief.
Oh, thank god. I wanna see an example first… I really didn't want to be first.
"The villain team goes in first!" Their teacher said before turning around, gesturing for the rest of the class to follow after him. "The timer starts in five minutes when the hero team sneaks in! The rest of us will be watching from the monitor room!"
…
…
…
Midoriya and Urahara won the matchup.
Much like during the assessment test, Midoriya once again got hurt for using his Quirk to give Uraraka and opportunity to capture the weapon with her Zero Gravity Quirk.
As for Bakugo, the boy who ranked first with her on the exam, he immediately painted a feral animal in Mizuha's mind, as left in disbelief for losing the matchup. Mizuha looked over her shoulder when he returned to the monitoring room with Iida, he looked completely speechless after losing to Midoriya specifically.
And I thought they were good friends after seeing the way Midoriya ran to try and save him from the garbage juice.
Thanks to his Quirk injury and after receiving a full on explosion from Bakugo, Midoriya was transported to Recovery Girl, dismissed by All Might for the rest of the class. They would proceed without him.
"Alright! Let's move on! For the next battle, Team I will be the villain team while Team B will be the hero team!"
Those involved in the matchup raised their hands, revealing the only three-on-three match up.
The floating gloves and walking boots, the boy with the tail, and Byakuren, were team I.
The moment team B's opponents were revealed, Byakuren and Mizuha lowered their hands looked at each other. In that instant, Mizuha's face slowly hardened and she was glaring at the white haired student next to her, smiling.
Just because they were close didn't mean she was going to go easy on him.
Like the first battle, Mizuha and her team had to wait five minutes before they could begin. During those five minutes was a complete silence between her and her teammates. She seriously thought they would discuss about what they should do but apparently not. Again, it's not like she going to initiate some type of communication.
All Might's voice rang, "Now! Let's start the second indoor person-to-person combat training match!"
Shoji walked into the building and then stopped. Mizuha raised an eyebrow as she continued walking in with Todoroki behind her. But the moment Shoji's limbs transformed into an ear, Mizuha's eyes widened in surprise and she stiffened, eyes darting back and forth to the new additions.
She and Todoroki stopped advancing and waited for Shoji to provide them with information since it was obvious that trying to track their classmates.
She watched as a few of the limbs turned into mouths. Freaking mouths. What the heck. She has never seen a Quirk like this before! Sure, she once saw a cyclops and a third eye, but this was completely different!
"We've got one on the north side of the fourth floor. Another's somewhere on the same floor… barefoot… and another walking around near the first one. The invisible one must be planning to ambush us and capture us."
Mizuha looked at the camera on the ceiling. Byakuren and the one with the tail is probably guarding the weapon…
"Get outside. It's about to get frosty in here." Todoroki said, walking past Mizuha and Shoji with his right hand up. Mizuha eyed the frost swirling around his hand as he approached the right side wall. "Our opponents think they're playing a defensive game… but," He touched the wall. "That means nothing to me."
He was instantly turning the building into an iceberg.
She could hear Shoji quickly stepping out of the building to avoid getting caught.
But she remained rooted in place, only slightly stepping out of the way to avoid some ice. As long as she remained behind Todoroki, she was in a safe zone.
And she was staring at his hand that was freezing the place.
Yesterday, she was only able to see a little of what Todoroki could do as a fellow ice Quirk user. But here, she was seeing that he was very proficient at using it like her. It was impressive, really.
To be honest, she didn't expect someone to have the same kind of Quirk she had. In middle school, no one had the same as hers. No, it was more like she had never seen anyone use an ice Quirk at school. So, it was a little surprising to see another one in person.
But…
Ack… better move fast!
Without delay, Mizuha ran past Todoroki who was surprised to see her dash off on the ice with ease. Not even a single sign of slipping. She was no stranger to walking on ice.
"What are you doing?" His voice echoed.
"Just checking something." Was all she said because she was in the middle of launching herself up the stairs. She needed to make it to the top as soon as possible!
But don't get so arrogant without checking if you caught everyone!
Todoroki blinked when he saw her land and quickly turn to launch herself up above the next set of stairs. Did she notice something that he didn't? How? There was no rush even if the enemy didn't get caught. There was ice everywhere so it was going to be hard to move around.
But if she rushed upstairs then perhaps she was seeing something that he couldn't. Without another second, he followed after her.
"…?" Shoji blinked once. He wasn't expecting the quiet girl to suddenly take off in a mad dash like that. He wanted to go in as well, but the second he put his foot on the ice, he knew he wasn't going to make it far as easily as his teammates did.
…
…
The floor was completely icy when she reached the top. Unlike the lower floors, the top's layout was pretty straight forward. There were four doors, two each on the left and right side, evenly separated with a lot of space.
Mizuha ceased her movements, staying completely still.
But her eye twitched when she could hear Todoroki climbing up the stairs after her.
Ahrgh, quiet, quiet, quiet…!
She closed her eyes.
And then she heard it.
It was coming from the right side. The sound of ice shattering. It was faint but still audible.
"Right…" Mizuha muttered, using her Quirk to speed down the corridor to the right. To avoid potentially hitting the invisible person, she swirled around, leaving a spiral of ice in her wake. It turned out to be a good thing because she could hear the invisible girl's voice yelp in surprise when she zoomed past her. When she neared the first door, she was perched on the ice stuck on the opposing wall and then used her free hand to break the door open with a burst of ice.
As the door fell, it revealed Byakuren using his Quirk on the boy with the tail to try and free him from the ice. He already freed one foot.
Bingo.
"Tch, so quick, Mizuha." Byakuren shouted her name, instantly sending a blast of wind with ice shards in her direction. But Mizuha was quicker because she used her ice to push her down, throwing her into the room by sliding against the ice on her side.
Byakuren aimed his right leg for her. A pretty risking move considering he was on ice. But she knew he was using his Quirk to help maintain his balance. An improvised crutch.
Her eyes narrowed and she quickly maneuvered around to create ice to help her deviate from his leg. As she moved to the left, the ice followed after her but was immediately shattered when another blast of high pressure wind flew at her as she slid to a stop on one knee.
When she looked up, he was in mid air about to kick her on the side.
She slammed the back of her other hand with the metal plate on his shin.
He visibly winced and faltered, causing him to miss and give her the opportunity to lean back and ram her foot into his gut, forcing him back. She smirked almost sadistically when she found an opening. The plan was to tackle him to the ground and completely freeze him with, maybe, a double layer. After all, his Quirk gets weaker the more restricted he was.
And he knew she was going to do that.
Which is why she used her ice to suddenly swirl above him just as he unleashed high pressure wind that broke the wall behind her.
Byakuren looked up, shocked. "HUH?"
Mizuha looked down, smirking. "Heh."
He could have sworn he felt his lifespan drop by two years from the way she stared at him dead in the eye like a ghost ready to pounce. Her hair hanging above him didn't help the image.
"ACK—!" His body fell on its side when she dropped down while kicking him in the shoulder, and her foot that kicked him served as the conductor to direct the ice she was riding on to slam him on the floor and freeze him there. She could have aimed for his head but she was kind of scared of hurting him. It was scary to think a blow to the head, even if it was training, could be dangerous.
But just to be sure.
She came over quickly and placed her hands on his chest.
Realizing dawned on him and he panicked. "Oi, oi, oi— overboard! I'm already—!"
She froze him from head to toe but made sure to leave only his face free to glare at her, clearly unamused.
Ojiro, who had been watching the two, was left speechless at how fast she dealt with him. He couldn't move at all during their fight. Only Byakuren was able to free his foot by chipping away at the ice with high pressured wind. His tail couldn't precisely shatter the ice without hurting himself.
Todoroki entered the room just in time to see Mizuha getting up. Her eyes noticed him quick and she stared back at him behind her long gray bangs but didn't say a word since she quickly went back to the goal: the weapon.
Ojiro tried to move to stop her.
"You can move if you want, but the skin on your feet will come off, so you won't be able to fight your best." Todoroki informed him, waiting just until Mizuha touched the weapon to give her team the win so that he could begin melting the ice with his left side.
"The Hero team wins!"
Sensing the temperature rising, Mizuha looked around and noticed that it was coming from Todoroki. He was using the opposite side.
When the ice was weak enough for Byakuren to move his arms, he blew away the wet ice from his body and sat up with a grouchy expression. He shot Mizuha a dirty look while shaking out the pieces of ice in his hair. But she only stared at him apathetically with mirth dancing in her eyes.
"Not cool." Byakuren scowled.
Already fed up with the heat in the room, she decided to leave before anyone else. But she just wanted glanced at Todoroki while he wasn't looking just to see how he was melting the ice.
… Okay, so Todoroki is a freaking walking thermostat.
"Did you see the look on Hyoumei's face?" Kaminari lightly jabbed Kirishima with his elbow as the projection showed the back view of Mizuha exiting the building to join Shoji who had been waiting outside the whole time.
Kirishima looked at him with confusion. "See what?"
"She looked like she wanted to crush Kyouran!" He glanced back at Bakugo and then back at Kirshima. He put a hand around his mouth. "She looked like a mini Bakugo for a split second... minus the scary smile." He whispered.
"Oh yeah, she's pretty fierce." Kirishima grinned. "You should have seen her during the entrance exams."
"Ehh…?"
As both teams returned, everyone noticed how Byakuren was limping his way back.
Mizuha felt just a little guilty about hurting him so she apologized once. But he simply brushed it off, saying that it was sign that she put thought into those gloves of hers.
All Might had to call in another pair of bots to deliver another injured student to Recovery Girl. Just for a little healing to help him walk better. But Byakuren was insistent on walking on his own.
While she did feel a little bad about hurting him, she couldn't help but feel proud thanks to his praise. The gloves she asked for were definitely going to help her defend herself in the future.
But her proud moment dampened a little when she was told that she lacked communication for her teamwork during the summary of the matchup. If she knew something then she should have mentioned it instead of going off on her own. Doing that in real life was very reckless.
Mizuha rubbed the back of her neck.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
After school, everyone was chatting together. Mizuha glanced behind her shoulder while she packed her things in her bag, taking in how everyone was introducing themselves and talking about the exciting class they had with All Might. It was giving everyone the chance to socialize.
Todoroki was not one of them, by the time it was three o'clock he was already on his way to the door.
Mizuha had the same intention, and she was probably going to head home by herself since Byakuren one of those happily talking instead of getting ready to leave. And, like the others, he probably wanted to wait for Midoriya to return from the nurse's office so that he could introduce himself.
After zipping up her bag, she checked her phone. There was still a lot of time before she missed her scheduled ride.
Byakuren, who had a perfect view of the class from his spot, noticed Mizuha leaving without saying a word. He quickly excused himself from his little group and went over to her.
"Mizuha!" He called.
Once she heard her name, she stopped in her tracks and looked at him with a confused face. "What?"
He pouted. "Where are you going?" He asked while leaning back against a desk with his hands in his pockets. "You don't want to wait? We'll go home soon."
Mizuha tilted her head. "It's fine. I can head home by myself. Besides, I'm a little tired."
When her hair moved with her head, his eyes spotted a little speck of something in her hair. He wordlessly reached out to pick it, he took a second to inspect it before blowing it away. Mizuha was indifferent to this.
He knew she was trying to avoid her classmates altogether. Her being tired was an easy lie.
"Kyouran! Hyoumei" Ashido's called from afar.
Startled, Byakuren and Mizuha looked at the owner of the voice. She was skipping towards them excitedly, following her closely behind was Kirishima, Asui, Mineta and Sero. Mizuha cursed inside of her head as they all approached them.
"Hyoumei! You were ranked first in the entrance exam, right?" Mizuha leaned back when Ashido got into her personal space with that question.
"Uh… yeah."
"She must be on the same level as Bakugo then, huh?" Sero said.
"I, uh, only scored high thanks to the rescue points." Mizuha corrected him. "I didn't get as much Villains points like him."
Byakuren closed his eyes and smiled. "Just say that you are."
"Lie?" Mizuha shot back. He shrugged with his hands.
"But you do have a good handle on your Quirk." Asui pointed out.
"I had a lot of help." Mizuha answered flatly.
"Yeah! Her uncle who is a teach—" Byakuren was cut off when Mizuha accidentally dropped her phone on his foot. He paused to look down where she crouched down to hide herself from the others to shoot him a look while shaking her head. She didn't want the others to know that Reflect was her uncle. No need to divulge personal information.
Mineta, who was watching from the side, couldn't help his deviating his mind into the gutter when he saw the way she was kneeling in front of Byakuren.
"You guys dating?" He shortest student asked out of the blue when Mizuha stood up again. The two stared at him, wondering where the hell this was coming from.
Asui looked at him. "Isn't it bad to make assumptions?"
Ashido, who was suddenly interested in the subject, held her hands together excitedly. "Are you?"
For her, it was the way Byakuren removed that speck of dust or dirt from her hair just now combined with all the times the class had seen the two sticking close to each other. She figured they were close but perhaps more than just close?
"Uh… I don't think they are." Kirishima sweat dropped. He didn't get that vibe from them when they interacted in front of him.
"I mean, we're assuming, yeah…?" Sero said.
"No, they are!" Mineta said. He was totally convinced in his guess. "Kyouran, what base are you at?!" The boy nearly screamed with his eyes wide.
Mizuha's right eye twitched, BASE? I'LL SEND YOU FLYING YOU TWERP! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT HEAD OF YOURS?!
Byakuren laughed and quickly told them to settle down.
I'm out.
Mizuha groaned in annoyance before once again turning around to reach for the door.
However, she felt him wrap his arm around her mid section and she was pulled to his side. She gaped at him as he did a close eyed smile. His right hand was resting on her waist. The hell was this idiot doing?
He put his hand under his chin thoughtfully. "Are we dating?"
"Are you?" Asui tilted her head with a finger on her chin.
Suddenly, she felt him move closer to her face until the sides of their cheeks were pressed against each other.
"How's this for an answer?" He asked with a mischievous tone.
Kirishima saw the way her eye twitched in annoyance. And before anyone could say anything, she immediately slammed her left arm into his stomach. With a cough, Byakuren released her when he felt the air get knocked out of him, he stumbled backwards and supported himself with the edge of the teacher's desk.
Mizuha stared at him with an apathetic face. "How's that for an answer?" was all she said before leaving the classroom. She really didn't want to waste any time with his stupid antics.
Through the door she could still hear Byakuren's words. "I was only kidding! Violent Ice Queen!" He wailed accompanied by some groaning.
Mizuha rolled her eyes and kept walking. She blocked out any more annoyance by putting on her headphones and playing a random song.
What kind of pleasure he gets from creating unnecessary attention like that? Annoying freaking marshmallow.
To escape from Byakuren and any more possible headaches he could give her if he chose revenge, she all but ran down the hall. She even raced past Todoroki down the stairs.
…
…
…
"You good, dude?" Kirishima asked. Byakuren was rubbing his tummy while hunching, hiding his expression from his classmates. This was the second time Mizuha hit him today. However, the second time was more deserved than the first.
"I'm fine… just enduring right now." He chuckled softly. His white bangs hid away his purple eyes that stared at door. "But... I don't mind. It's a small price to pay in the long run..."