"I swear, you kids sure don't make my job easy"
"Um, s-sorry"
"And stop apologizing. It's getting older than me"
"Sorry… Sorry… sorry…"
Right after her fight with Kirishima, and especially after she was escorted by two medic robots by her hands as she kept on blushing brightly and while her head was spinning from the current events, Valerie was taken to Recovery Girl for a quick check up. While she was strong in her own right and said strength was showcased during her fight, it was quite clear to Midnight that some medical attention could do her a bit of good. Mostly because she noticed a small tremble in both her arms and a bit on her legs that she saw fit to have someone take a look at her. After all, Kirishima was also strong himself and while still a student, the teacher of highly inappropriate wardrobe knew he packed quite the punch.
At the moment, Recovery Girl had finished treating Valerie. The blue girl having both forearms and her right hand wrapped in bandages while her left hand had whatever small scratch she had on her palm be covered by a couple of bandaids. If there was one thing that the school nurse could at least be thankful for, it would be that as far as any student that has come to her from the entire festival, she was at least more on the tame side of injuries. It sure beat the occasional broken bone or case of hypothermia that she was apparently getting from the first year students alone. And with that in mind, Recovery sighed, knowing that this was still just the early stages of the festival. God, she already was picturing that certain students in particular were going to be visiting her pretty soon.
Like a very specific student with a habit of breaking his own bones.
"Hey, is Val still- Oh, there you are!" the school nurse and the blue girl suddenly heard.
Turning around, they saw that Annie had arrived at the infirmary. Kinda given it would happen, seeing that the second-born Parker and the adopted Van Dyne were about the closest students in all of class A, it was obvious that if one was to suddenly be at the infirmary, it would be a matter of when the other one would be by her side. Especially if it involves the blue girl being the one being treated, even if said treatment was very minimalistic.
"Annie? Why are y-Eee!" Valerie was about to say, when suddenly her friend out of nowhere decided to pull her for a hug as she lifted her in the air.
"Well duh! Of course I would be here! Congrats Val, I knew you were going to win!"
"Waah! P-Please put me down! T-This is mortifying!"
"Nope!"
It was also expected for that to happen. In hindsight, Valerie should have prepared for her friend to do that. This was the Annie thing to do.
"Alright you numskull! Put the porcelain girl back on the floor! This is a place for nursing, not for circus hooligans!" Recovery girl said, somehow reaching at Annie's ear and pulling at it while almost bringing the girl to her level after she let go of Valerie.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey, you're a nurse! You're supposed to heal people, not cause them pain! What gives?!"
"I'm a doctor! And stop whining, as if a little pinch would do something to you. Besides, I can heal whatever little scratch that could have caused… alongside that 'sprained' ankle of yours" Recovery Girl noted, making Annie flinch.
"Oh I uh… y-yeah, ow my ankle. It hu-"
"Save the act. As if something that ridiculous could have fooled me"
"Wow, was it really that obvious? Valerie, it wasn't that obvious, was it?"
"Hey, it's going to make my job for today easier. Especially with how much of a habit you have of ending here with more than average injuries for a kid your age" the school nurse stated as she walked to the blue girl and handed her a lollipop "You at the very least haven't gotten that habit just yet. Please try and keep it like that"
"Oh, t-thank you" Valerie said, as she took the candy from the medic.
"Speaking of, how did she handle herself? Val's not that rough up, right?"
"Compared to some of your classmates, no she isn't. Thankfully she didn't have to get such a harsh treatment compared to other kids… but still" Recovery was saying, walking towards her desk while turning to look at the blue girl in bandages and secretly being thankful that her biology was human enough for her to treat her if that somewhat censored document she got for the kid's physiology was anything to go by "Her right knuckles were very close to shattering with the force she used. Both her palms had a few minimalistic cuts and were a bit bruised. Both her forearms had recieved their fair share of strain. I'm honestly surprised one of them didn't get snapped. At the very least the strain on her legs was nothing serious. At most the equivalent of fatigue of walking back and forth from the submit of a mountain to the top and back" Recovery explained, simplifying a few things here and there, but overall giving a full diagnostic of the severity of her own injuries.
Annie was a bit surprised. Like, yeah compared to her own injuries and Izuku's from most of the times they've been in the infirmary, Val's weren't that bad. But still, it made her consider just how really strong both her classmate and best friend really were seeing what happened with just one fight between the two of them so early in their hero school training… that and gave her a bit of a sense of self-conscious at the fact that somehow, almost shattered knuckles and near-snapped forearms were somehow 'not that serious compared to others'. And remembering just what Shoto did in the Sports Festival alone to everyone in the race or to Hanta not half an hour ago and she was starting to really believe the people in her class really were messed in the head.
"Still, from what I saw in you most of the reason as to why you are in that condition seems to be by just how your body is still not conditioned to these sorts of activities"
"What does that mean? She's a super strong blue girl that knows martial arts. How is that not being conditioned to be a superhero?"
"There's a difference between the theory and the practical. Truth is, someone with her physiology and skills should have had no issue taking those hits with just minor injuries as a result. And yet, here she is" Recovery told her, signaling to the injured classmate of hers standing next to the redhead "I always go about telling a lot of you to think before they take action. You younglings, especially you who are actively pursuing becoming pro-heroes, all seem to believe yourselves to be invincible and do all sorts of reckless things because your bodies can take a hit or two. With you,it's quite the opposite. You have your head firmly attached, but it's obvious that your body is quite lacking even tho you should be in theory far more suited for this line of work"
"Hey, that's kind of harsh, don't you think?" Annie told Recovery.
"In the line of work that puts you in the line of fire, being harsh is the bare minimum one must be" the nurse replied as she looked at the blue girl "I take issue with recklessness and foolhardiness that gets people hurt when they shouldn't. But I don't ignore the fact that in this job, it's inevitable to get hurt. And as it stands, id you can get hurt like this even tho you should have been ok, I would either work on fixing that mistake, or consider a change of career"
"Hey now, that's just-!"
"N-No… she's right " Valerie cut her friend mid-sentence, being a bit offended on her behalf.
"Huh?" Annie exclaimed in confusion, turning to Valerie, who was staring at the bandages in her arms.
"Looking back, i-it seems that during training I always had the k-kid gloves on for most of the time. I-I guess it was an attempt to ease me in on h-how things would work before enrolling in UA. B-But now that I'm here, even if I'm still a student, I can't have the luxury of g-going easy anymore. And after… after all that has happened…" Valerie was saying, thinking of… thinking of everything that has transcurred so far, all before lifting her head up and looking at the school medic with a grateful look on her face "T-Thank you for today, Recovery Girl. I p-promise to work hard on my shortcomings. S-So that next time, I'll be better prepare for anything that happens to avoid me getting hurt as much as possible"
"... Well, at least that's better than what most of you reply. I wish there could be more level headed kids like you" Recovery Girl said, complementing the blue girl, who smiled bashfully as it is her nature.
However after that she suddenly felt her body grow heavy. Her eyes felt tired and before she knew it, she yawned a lot before she started to rub her eyes. Almost as if she was suddenly without energy.
"Hey, are you ok? Is that normal?" Annie asked the nurse who got to her desk.
"All those visits and you already forgotten?" Recovery girl asked, chuckling a little at the question "My quirk just makes it so that the body speeds its natural healing. Healing which takes energy. Seeing that she is still going to need to participate in the tournament, I gave her the proper aid to ensure she can continue fighting. But even then, she is naturally going to be tired because of it"
"So she's just sleepy?"
"Pretty much" the nurse replied to the redhead's question as she turned again to the blue girl "It's a good thing that your next fight won't start until some time later. I suggest you try and get some sleep. Get yourself hydrated and maybe even eat something, that'll help you recover the energy spent on healing faster"
"O-Ok, I'll try and do that" Valerie said, rubbing her eyes again as her head wobbled as she attempted to remain still conscious and not fall asleep face first into the ground.
"So is there anything else or…?"
"That's all for her. Now you runts go and get some rest. I already told you, not everyone is as level headed as you. And it's not only your grade that is being a reckless mess for me to fix today. Now off you go" Recovery Girl told them as the two girls were told to leave the infirmary.
"Oh no, it's already that match" Kyoka said with dread.
"What do you mean?" Sato asked the girl with sound-base powers.
"Did you forget? The final match of the first round is between Uraraka and Bakugo!"
"This might as well be the most upsetting of all the matches so far. Or at least the one bound to be the most upsetting-ribbit"
"I say mine was pretty upsetting itself" Sero murmured to himself, somewhat still having a chip on his shoulder from his fight against Todoroki "Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit? I mean, you were doing the same with the fight between Vector and Kirishima and it ended up being the opposite of what most of us were expecting. And it was Vector of all people"
"But this is also Bakugo who we're talking about. I say it makes sense why they're worried" Shouji spoke his mind as Ojiro voiced his own opinion of the matter.
"Hey guys, you're exaggerating a lot. Vector is pretty strong herself. Parker made a point for that more than once. Who knows, maybe it's going to be the same for Uraraka. Her quirk is pretty good on its own right"
And as a few more were trying to voice their own opinions or concerns… or in the case of Mineta something that was pretty inappropriate, Izuku was being filled with feelings of concern and anxiety. Out of anyone in school, he was perhaps the one that knew both Uraraka and Bakugo as well as he did. And it was perhaps that the reason as to why he was so fixated in watching this specific match unfold more so than any other so far.
"Midoriya-kun…" Ida suddenly spoke, making his friend turn to him "How do you think this match is going to end? I saw before arriving that you apparently wanted to give Uraraka some sort of advice for her fight"
"Yeah, I did but she turned down even hearing me. From what she told me, it seems like she wants to win on her own merit. She even brought what you did during the Cavalry Battle" Izuku told his friend, which took him by surprise before Izuku turned to the arena "She told me that she wanted to meet up at the final match. So I'll believe she'll be fine"
And as for the girl with the spotlight about to shine down on her, she was walking towards the arena. Nerves for sure, she was aware of who she was up against. A part of her wished that she would have stopped to listen to what the green-haired boy wanted to share with her. It sure would be useful right about now. But no, she had to do this. She couldn't be so dependent on him. All of her classmates did their part on climbing to where they are right now out of their own power. It would be an insult to them if she didn't accomplish the same on her own as well.
"And with the final of the first round, let's give these duo a round of applause already!"
As the teacher announced that, both students had arrived at the main stage and stood face to face against each other. With Bakugo having the same mean-spirited expression he always had plastered in his face. Meanwhile, Uraraka rid herself of all nerves that she had and before the entire crowd focusing their gaze on her, she sported a more than serious expression herself.
"Starting! Famous since middle school! Although having quite the scary snarl with him! From class A of the Hero Course! Bakugo Katsuki!" Present Mic shouted, giving Bakugo quite the presentation he deemed most appreciated to describe Katsuki Bakugo before following with the presentation of the other student "VS! In all honesty, she's the one I'm rooting for and that I want to win, don't judge me! Also from the same Class A from the Hero Course! Uraraka Ochako!"
"Hey, you're the round-faced bitch that is always stuck with Deku, right? The one that makes shit float?" Bakugo asked, the roar of the audience after the presentations not being enough to make what he said unheard by Uraraka, who started to feel some nerves and a feeling screaming threatening all the way to her core "I'll be saying this just once. If you're going to quit, do it now. A little 'ouchy' won't be cutting it during the match. Got it?"
And while a little shaky, while knowing that she was against someone so talented and strong, Uraraka did not back down one bit. Rather, she remained standing before her opponent as the two waited for their teachers to give them the green light for their fight to start.
Meanwhile back with the duo of New York girls from class A, they were at the moment at one of the waiting rooms that they had access to. Seeing that Recovery Girl advised Valerie that she should get some rest, the duo decided that since the school was handing them to the student body, that they should take advantage and give Valerie a private resting room for the time being. And Annie, well, since Valerie insisted not that long ago that they would be a package deal, of course she was going to be hanging out with her for a bit.
"So how about I go and check if I can get you something to snack on while you rest a bit? Maybe even try and find you an energy drink or something that will give you a bit more energy? With all those stands outside I'm bound to find something eventually" Annie was telling Valerie, who was sitting on a chair with a bunch of towels that were in the room placed on the table in front of her as a made-shift pillow for her to get some sleep.
"Oh, there's no need. There's a bunch of w-water bottles here, I think those will do better for me than an energy drink or some junk food" the blue girl replied to her best friend, who was standing near the door to go and fetch those snacks and drinks for her friend, who suddenly had an idea popped into her head "Annie, t-this isn't an excuse for you to go and get something to eat, is it?"
"Oh, come on, Val. I know that I'm a bit of a food enthusiast, but I'm not a full on glutton. That's more of a Kamala thing"
"That's not nice"
"Yeah… don't tell her I said that" Annie quipped, making Valerie chuckled a bit at her antics "... What Recovery Girl said… you don't have to take it seriously you know? I mean, I get it if you were to feel a bit bad about what she said, but don't take it personal" the girl tried to assure her friend, only to see her still having a soft smile as she shook her head.
"No, she's right. I needed to hear that and I appreciate her telling me that. I have to work harder if I want to be a hero. I… I really should be more than I am right now…" the blue girl said, looking down while in deep thought. Looking back on… looking back on a lot of her life before speaking once again "Do you remember that day at my house? When I was sparring with the robot that Hatsume and Nadia made? I really did meant that about my half-swording"
"Sorry, you will have to explain that one to me like I was five. I'm not really that knowledgeable when it comes to that stuff. Is that some swordplay kind of thing?"
"It's something mister Whitman taught me when I was with the Avengers. I walked by him when he was training at Avengers Academy's training grounds. He was training with old equipment that Iron Man used to train with and came unscratched. He didn't notice me until he was done. At first I was pretty intimidated and felt so small, as if I had done something wrong. But he just took off his helmet and talked to me in such a welcoming manner"
"Whitman…? Wait, that's the Black Knight, isn't he? The one with the flying horse and magic sword? So was he the one that taught you that sword thing you're talking about?" Annie asked as Valerie nodded.
"He's a very good teacher. I practiced with him from time to time. It was relaxing and made me feel like I could be a hero every time he lended me one of his practice swords. And what Recovery Girl said reminded me of a story that he once told me" Valerie mentioned, getting all of Annie's attention.
After all, it's not every day that she suddenly hears of a story of a friend of hers interacting with a big time superhero. Sure she is the daughter of Spider-Man and has stories of her own, but with Valerie it was always so different.
"He shared a story from back when he was starting to get into sword fighting and of his first sword. He recalled always walking home and always passing a pawn shop that had on display one sword. He mentioned how he was a-always so mesmerized by it, that he saved all his money to be able to buy it when he was close to our age. He was so excited that he started to practice some movements from old manuals he was able to find. The weight seemed ok and he was able to do those techniques just fine… But when he tried to sharpen it and tried to use it on a big branch in his yard, it bent badly"
"Well that must have sucked. I mean, I am no sword expert, but if my fancy toy that I spent all my savings break the first time I tried it out I would be moody" Annie commented as Valerie nodded.
"Yeah, he told me that looking back on it, that thing was probably some sturdy decoration more than something made to practice. He got proper training equipment later on. He even got a hold of genuine swords as heirlooms. And after that, mister Whitman told me that he learned that it doesn't matter how authentic it looks, if it's not made with the intention of taking the abuse of being used? It might as well just be some decoration. I think… I think I'm that right now. What good does it do that I know all of the things I do when I can't even handle my own powers? That's why I needed to hear that"
Valerie probably ended up getting into her reasoning a little too much. Because as if an excited child, she rose from her seat and stood with a shy, yet defiant look to her. If there were any of the people that doubted such a sweet child like Valerie had the mettle of being in the hero course present at the moment, they best believe that train of thoughts to be derailed. For one look at her defiance right now was all it took to assure them of her deserving of such a spot. And for Annie who has been aware of said defiance, a reminder of why it is that she is the child of the Avengers.
"Heh, wow first Izuku and now you too? Is there something in the air today that makes you shy and timid folks much more assured of yourselves? Because believe me, that is a good look on you" Annie said in a playful, yet meaningful manner "Well, you won't have to worry about staying as a decoration. And even tho you don't need it, I'll be by your side even past the moment you stop seeing yourself as that. Now, go and take that rest of yours. You've earned it"
As she said that, Annie opened the door. Preparing to leave the room and let her blue friend have some sleep for all her troubles. But, just as she did, as she took a step and was already one foot out of the room, she stopped again. Hesitating for a second, the young Parker wanted to do one last thing before she left.
"Hey, Val?" Annie asked, turning from the door to meet her friend's eyes to ask for one last thing "Are you having fun?" the redhead said, confusing the other girl a bit before she elaborated a bit further "I mean, all this talk about how important this festival is. And how much weight it has and all that. I never really get any of it, but you did. So with all that said, are you… are you having a good time?"
Valerie took some time to think of an answer. Truth be told, it was odd that Annie would go and ask her something like that. She didn't exactly know how to react to the question at first. But after some thought, she came to a conclusion on her feelings towards the festival.
"Well, at first I was very intimidated. Still am to be honest. This event is so important, has so much weight and I am constantly reminded that it has so much of my future depending on it. I would be lying if I were to say that I'm still not scared…" Valerie was saying, a little predictable of an answer for someone like Valerie if Annie was to give an opinion, but the blue girl was far from over in giving her answer "But I would also be lying if I were to say that I'm not a bit excited…"
After saying that, Annie noticed the small gentle smile of joy that her friend had whenever it involved something dear to her. Something warm and caring for people to witness.
"This festival has forced me to get out of my comfort zone, even if it's just a little bit. It's made me see my weaknesses and my strengths. It made me push myself beyond what I thought were my limits and made me see just how strong and determined everyone else is… it made prove that everyone's fate in me wasn't a waste of time. M-Maybe it's because of the fact that I r-really haven't done many things… but honestly…" Valerie was saying, turning to her friend with a bright smile and shining eyes "This is some of the most fun I've had in my entire life!"
"… That's great to hear" said Annie, with a smile of her own and a look of pride at her friend, thinking back of that one sleepover they had so long ago now and looking at the growth her friend had before her eyes "Sleep well, Val. You earned the rest" she said as she finally left the room and allowed her friend to catch a bit of sleep.
"GO MAYDAY, GO!"
There were a lot of names being chanted during the game. That of Mayday Parker was among the ones being chanted the most.
For she was always considered to be the best player of her team and the showcase she was displaying in the court was proof of that. And among the ones chanting the name of the elite 14 year old basketball player, were her family. In particular, her father, her mother and of course, her loving baby sister, Annie. Their support and show of love for young Mayday may have been a little embarrassing had it been someone else being on the receiving end of those cheers, typical teenage stuff. But to Mayday, those cheers just filled her with joy and pride and a desire to live up to those high expectations.
She took a quick glance at her own personal cheering squad, bouncing the ball while having, having just snagged it from the opposing team. Then, she glanced at the time and was confirmed something she already knew, that being that the game was about to end and her team was still down by a single point. And after that, she smirked, for while many would have felt pressured, she saw a challenge.
"Quick, get her" one of the girls of the other team said as soon enough, Mayday started to be swarmed by the girl's teammates.
But Mayday didn't flinched at the sight
She zigzagged past their defense. Outmaneuvering them in such an uncanny display of skill that she seemed untouchable. She was in the zone, filled with euphoria to the point that she failed to notice that just as she avoided the opposing team's defense, a small tingle rang on the back of her skull as if guiding her. Something that soon enough, would mark the begging of the rest of her life.
With just a couple of seconds on the clock, Mayday ran past the remaining defense and jumped towards the hoop. Almost as if having launched herself with such power that it looked like she was flying, the first Born Parker dunked the ball through the hoop with such force that the glass board just broke, as if something out of a cartoon. And most of all, something that while thanks to the adrenaline of the moment went past almost everyone's heads, had the girl's parents suddenly realize something odd.
Not like it mattered to young Mayday. Because as far as she was concerned, time had run out and with that last action of hers, she secured the victory.
"Yes!" little Annie cheered at the sight of her older sister's victory, as she was soon swarmed, not by the opposing team, but by her own, who picked her up and chanted her name as they were celebrating their team's win.
The parents of both girl murmured something between each other, but was something that went over the head of both girls, as both were caught in the moment of happiness. Sometime later, once Mayday was done showering and changing into less sweaty clothes, the family reunited to celebrate. With the younger of the two sisters running towards the older one to hug her.
"That was awesome!" Annie cheered as the older girl returned the hug.
"There's my favorite little gremlin!" Mayday jokes, ruffling her little sister's hair as both their parents approached her.
"Way to go, hotshot" Mary Jane said, as congratulated her daughter while she and her husband patted their daughter on her back.
"Thanks guys. Did you all see that?! I was so in the zone! It was almost like… I don't know, like I was untouchable!"
"We did! You were all FOOSH! And then you went SLAM! And it was so epic!" little Annie exclaimed, too enthusiastic for her sister's talented display in the game.
"You did good, kiddo. That was pretty… impressive not gonna lie" Peter stated and he placed a hand on his oldest daughter's shoulder.
"That's an understatement, dad. If I keep this pace on then, I don't know. We could be talking about college scholarships! Maybe even… possibly going pro…?"
"Anything you want, sweety. Just as long as you don't try and skip the school part beforehand, ok?"
"Yes mom, don't worry. I'm not planning to do that" Mayday said, just as some of her peers soon approached them.
"Hi Mr and Mrs Parker!" Davida said, being joined by the rest of the basketball team, as well as May's other best friends, Jimmy Yamada and Courtney Duran "Yo, girlfriend! You gotta teach me those moves of yours! Where were you keeping them?"
"I'll be sure to tell you as soon as I figure that one myself!" Mayday joked as Peter nudged at her.
"Go on, I know you want to celebrate with your friends" said Peter, being aware that unlike him, Mayday was more socially adapt than he was at her age… and without his wife having to repeat that fact to him for the tenth time in the week "Be with them if you want, don't worry about us. We made two of you for a reason, didn't we?"
As he pointed at the younger of the two Parker children, MJ elbowed him in the side. It was done with humorous intend, seeing that no matter how much she would complain at him for it, she did laugh a bit at the joke. Mayday on the other hand, nodded at her parents and after telling them she would meet them home later in the day, she went on to be with her peers.
Afterwards, the remaining of the family went on their way and towards their home. With Annie sitting on top of her father's shoulders and with both parents giving each other looks regarding whether or not their oldest daughter may have inherited more than just her dad's hair if the last seconds of the game were anything to go by. Still, they decided to not jump to conclusions and to first wait for all evidence needed for them to come with a concrete conclusion. All of which went completely over the head of the little girl being carried by her dad on the way home.
"That was super fun!" Annie exclaimed, putting a pin to her parents, almost telepathic conversation to pay some attention to their other child.
"Sure was kiddo. You sure had a good time, didn't you?"
"She sure did, seeing that she was May's loudest supporter. Did you really enjoy watching your sister play that much, Annie?" Mary Jane asked, as Annie happily nodded with excitement.
"She was so awesome! I wish I could be like that…! But you guys won't even let me join the soccer team of my school" she said, murmuring that last bit with a somewhat sadden tone.
"I know honey and I'm sorry. But things are a bit different with you. You have powers. Your sister… doesn't " Mary Jane said, hesitating with that last part for a moment.
"But-"
"We know Annie, but you got to understand. If you were to be on a sports team, it wouldn't be fair for the other kids. You know that, don't you princess?"
"… I know… but I wouldn't use them if I can get to play…" Annie said with a defeated tone.
"… Tell you what. If by the next parents teacher night we see that your grades are good and that you behave well, I might consider letting you be on that soccer team of yours" Peter said, perking Annie's interest as well as MJ's.
"You mean it?!" Annie asked.
"Yeah, you do?" MJ followed.
"So long as you promise that you wear your bracelet and have it on during every game, sure why not. That way things would be fair for the other kids"
"Really?!"
"Just let me get a handle of some sturdier materials to make sure that thing can take a hit or two. You do have a habit of playing a little rough"
"Yes, I do!" Annie said with excitement as MJ looked at Peter with a small smile.
"Peter Parker, you sure are something alright"
"Is that a good thing?"
"Tonight? Sure, it's a good thing" MJ said, as they stopped at a red light as cars passed by.
"Hey guys…" Annie suddenly spoke to her parents "If I were to make it in the team, no powers and all… you would come see me, right?" she asked as both parents chuckled at the question.
"Oh, sweety. What kind of question is that? Of course we would come and watch you have fun"
"We wouldn't miss it for anything in the world"
Both her parents assured the girl, who smiled widely and with joy. As the light changed colors, they all crossed the road, with the little girl's mind running wild picturing herself in some mega big arena. Having her parents and sister all cheered for her with big signs with her name on.
"It sure seems fun" Annie told herself while outside of Valerie's waiting room.
Afterwards she started walking away. Heading outside of the stadium to walk by the stands and also to get some fresh air and some time for herself to indulge in her own thoughts. All the while thinking about the memory she was just reminded a moment ago. Funny how she spent so much time dreaming of being in the same situation as her older sister back in the day and suddenly decided to step down from a chance to show off without the need of blocking her powers. Of letting loose, even if just for a bit and enjoying herself to her fullest. And despite what she has stated over the day, a nifty pretty golden medal wouldn't be bad to have. Or at least that is if the medal was made out of actual gold and not just chocolate.
They better be, if they spend their budget in fake cities and building-size robots… although she wouldn't mind if they were chocolate either.
Regardless of that, Annie went through looking at the stands outside of the stadium. All the while she pictured herself participating in the tournament. She couldn't help but to imagine herself dazzling the audience with her skills. Showing her own fighting style and having some banter with whatever opponent she would have had against her. And sure, she also imagined herself punching Tenya, Katsuki and Shoto in their faces, but it would have been totally without malice… even if she chuckled a little while picturing that in her mind.
She saw herself on the podium, waving at the crowd and blowing kisses. And among the crowd, she saw her family and loved ones. Her friends, her older sister, her mom… and her dad. All holding a big sign with her name on it and congratulating her big time. And knowing that even if she wasn't the one in the podium with the trophies and the medals, they would still be there for her and congratulate her on her efforts.
A fantasy that compared to reality was bittersweet. With how she behaved towards Mayday. With how much life has changed for her mother. And with the fact that no matter what she wished, her father wasn't with them at the moment. Her participation wouldn't have felt right for her. And even tho she could have still enjoyed herself, that too felt wrong.
"No point in mopping, Parker. Even if this could have distracted you from everything that's going on without punishing yourself too much… the Sports Festival is just something to have fun. It means more to the others. And it wouldn't be fair for them to not have that special moment for them just because you wished to have a couple laughs" Annie told herself.
She could kinda get why it was important, but couldn't get it fully. But her friends and classmates did. It was just like she told Shoto in the morning. She didn't need to win or even be part of the Festival to be a hero. But to them, it was what could prove to them that they could be one. And that compared to just a good time…?
"I… I wouldn't have mind seeing all of this through the end… if it's between having a good time and letting them all get that one moment to shine, the that's an easy answer… even if it does sting me a little" she said inwardly before chuckling and sighing "To be a hero is to make sacrifices, right dad? In the grand scheme of things, it's not much, but it's a start. It would have been cool, not gonna lie, but I really don't need it to be a hero… right?" she spoke out loud to herself, about to go and look around some more when suddenly…
Bzzz Bzzzz Bzzz
She felt her phone vibrating.
It took her by surprise a little because she had forgotten that she took it right after the recreating games from the locker room and that she put it on vibrator to not have it being a bother while watching the matches. With that in mind, she took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen of her almost geezer of a phone's screen and her eyes widened when she looked at the contact trying to reach her.
It was her dad.
"Wait, is that-?"
Out in Hosu, the heroes and sidekicks belonging to Idaten kept on with their work. They patrolled the city for any wrong in need to be right. Stopping minors and somewhat serious crimes. And most of all assuring to the populace of the area that everything would be alright. Some needed that assurance after the hectic news of the attack against U.A.
And at the moment, the sidekick Onemu Shinya, a young woman with slightly curly, light hair, ram's horns on her head and a chinese-looking attire frowned. Something too notorious for someone usually known for being a calm and somewhat sleepy person. And the reason for it was because up in one of the buildings of where she was dispatched, she could have sworn that she saw something. Something going around the rooftops… or most likely, someone. She knew that the heroes of the agency that would move in that manner like Spider-Girl were not in that sector of the city, so it couldn't be anyone that she knew. Which meant that whatever or whoever that was either belonged to, perhaps another pro from another agency that was dispatch at Hosu like Idaten did… or could it be?
"Hello…" the young female hero suddenly heard, pulling her out of her train of thought.
When she turned, she was met with a man. A foreigner if his accent and looks were anything to go by. A blonde white man that towered over her and whose age was notorious with how roughed his look was.
"Yes?" she asked cordially.
"I… I lost. Where to… train station? F-Friend must met there" he spoke in pretty broken japanese.
Well that wasn't a surprise, the young Idaten agent thought. It wasn't exactly odd for foreigners to get lost because they thought they could navigate another country without preparing themselves. No problem, she thought. The gentleman was in obvious need of help and as a pro, she was of course more than willing to provide said help. It was the job description after all.
It took some time, with him already displaying barely having any grasp with her language and with her also not knowing enough basic english to just give him a proper straight answer without any of the broken back and forth between the two. She should probably ask Spider-Girl to tutor her afterwards. Thankfully, she was finally able to properly give the man directions clear enough to be understood. Afterwards, she parted ways with the man, walking away and resuming her patrol while being on the look out fot any kind of trouble or for someone else in need of service.
Unbeknownst to her however, the same man that she helped and who was currently waving at her while his hand was still up, it shook before forming into a fist with so much force that it trembled. And the supposed confused and bewildered look that was once on his rough face, changed to one of hate and utmost disgust aimed towards that young costumed crime fighter. And for a small moment, electricity crackled in his eyes.
"Oh, how easy it would have been to have discharge so much energy into her body to have her heart explode as her insides boiled… but not today" the man, who was in reality the villain Supercharger hiding in plain sight, thought to himself as he then turned to where that young hero was looking at before he intervened "Hero Killer, you are an elusive one, no doubt. But your own ego is letting your guard be down more than it should. These lots are on higher alert than they probably normally would. I know you are someone in the look for making his message known. But I need you to not draw anyone just yet… because I too have a message of my own" he thought before leaving the area.
Annie was currently looking a her phone with widened eyes. Time slowing down for her as she looked at the contact that was trying to reach her. The contact of her dad. The one that was all the way to the other side of the planet. Calling for her.
In less than a second, she sprinted away. So fast that to anyone that could have been watching in her direction would have thought that she teleport, being gone in the literal blink of an eye. She couldn't take that call with so many people around, it needed to be private, she thought. So once she reached the entrance of the stadium that she came out off and got a little deeper into the corridors, she answered back. With her panting a little to catch her breath as she placed the phone on her ear.
"Hey, Dad?" she spoke, expecting at least some sort of reply, only to be met with the sound of static "D-Dad? Are you there?"
Still mostly static. She could have sworn to have heard something. She was half-sure that she heard her dad's voice, muffled with a lot of noise. Annie frown at that. Why was it that when her dad wanted to speak to her after days of not talking one another that the reception went and crashed? Was it because her phone was that much of a piece of junk? Maybe it was the walls of the stadium that mere messing with he signal? Or maybe it was just the world itself messing with her because of course it would.
"Dad, are you there? Can you hear me?"again, nothing but static, something that just frustrated the girl to no end,
"BBZZZT- KRKR- Ann- BZZZ he-ear - BZZZT ca-ZZT" she managed to make out, hearing her dad's voice in-between all the noise and static.
"D-Dad? Dad, I can barely hear you! Are you ok? Where are you exactly?"
"BZZZT Ca-BBZT hear- BZZT I-"
"Dad? Dad, I-" she was trying to say, when suddenly, the call ended prematurely.
The sound of the call being terminated being the only audible thing. Annie just stood there in silent, all before she started to grit her teeth as she clenched her fist. Why? Why is it that this kind of stuff only seem to happen to her as of recently? Every damn time things seem to be calm and without any sign of trouble and all of the sudden she gets smacked with something to bring her mood to the floor. The first day of school when she learned one of her friends wouldn't be with her at the hero course in exchange of some jerks being chosen over him. Katsuki going overboard and mangling Izuku on day two of school. Her school being put on alert because something triggering the alarms and sending everyone into a panic. Every damn moment in the lead to a bunch of super villains attacking her and her classmates and two clowns hunting her specifically. Shoto pissing her off so badly she ended up lashing out against her own sister in a very uncalled manner.
And now this?
Annie had to take a deep breath. No point in breaking down or to lash out again, it wouldn't do her any good in the long run. She tried her best to at least calm herself down a little. Trying to ignore everything around her as she exhaled the same air. Afterwards, she put on a smile, her phone still in her ear and decide that, even if the call got cut before it could start, that she could at least pretend and let loose some of her nerves.
"Hey dad, what's up?" she said, acting as if her dad was on the other side of the call "Oh nothing much, just some school stuff. Yeah, the Festival I was telling you about"
Maybe, it wasn't the right call. Maybe she was just trying to hide her own issues and ignore them. But even if just for the moment, she just wanted to pretend things were ok for her.
"Yeah, the thing is I just decided to skip it. I… I… Well, you know how things can get and all… But I'm fine, really…" she was not "May and me are completely ok…" they weren't, exactly "And mom and Benjy are doing great…" even she knew her mother could use his support and that her brother deserved to spend time with their father "So… yeah, you have nothing to worry about on our end… Yeah, I'll be good. If mom, May and Benjy need help… I'll be there for them, got it. Have a great day, dad. Talk… See you soon…"
Afterwards, she acted as if she ended the call and lowered her arm. Her expression being that of melancholic. Things could be better. Things should be better. But until they get to be better, she could at least pretend that they were like they used to be. If not all the time, just for this one moment.
Yeah, just for today, she wanted to pretend.
After that, Annie just wanted to be there for a bit. Recollecting herself and taking a breather or two before walking away. She was so into her own thoughts that her sense of time eventually got all wonky and she lost track of it. With that in mind, she thought about going back with Valerie, but opted not to. Chances are that she was still resting and she didn't want to disturb her in any way. So ultimately she decided to instead go back with the rest of the class. Who knows? Maybe watching the last fight would distract her and make her feel better. Maybe, Ochako would end up slapping Katsuki silly and make her day with that. A girl can dream.
Unfortunately, her sense of time wasn't the only one to be messed up because for some embarrassing reason, her sense of direction failed her to. In her defense tho, that damn stadium she was in is surprisingly big. Like, it's already stupid big on the outside as it is, but somehow she felt like inside was some sort of TARDIS. Or at least that was what she was telling herself to avoid the self-embarassment. If her classmates ask, she'll probably just say that the door to the bathroom got stuck on the way out or something.
She kept on walking and making turns trying to figure out the way back when suddenly, as she was turning to another hallway, she bumped into something while not paying attention. Rubbing her nose, she thought for a second that she somehow managed to crash into a wall by how hard it felt, but by the sound of a gruff 'Mm?' was anything to go by, that was either a sentient wall or an actual person.
She chose to believe the latter for simplistic sake because she wasn't exactly ruling out a talking wall just in case.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking" she apologized, opening her eyes as she saw someone… very… very tall.
Buff too, he was very buff too and cover in- was that a beard made out of fire?
"Huh?" she exclaimed as she suddenly saw the buff man with a fire beard in front of her that looked way too familiar for someone she knew she had never met.
"What is a student doing here at this time? Shouldn't you be with the rest of your class?" the man asked.
There was something that felt so familiar about the guy. Those eyes, that red hair and that anti-social no friends expression plastered on his face. She couldn't tell why at first, but it felt like it was at the tip of her tongue. For one second, her mind flashed to Shoto. Odd thing for her brain to suddenly show her one of her least favorite people in class, but that was when her eyes widened when that lead to another memory of the early days before she moved from New York to Musutafu.
"Endeavor definitely hates my guts…"
… Oh.
"Y-You're…"
"Yes, I'm Endeavor. That should be obvious" the man replied as Annie's eyes suddenly widened even more "You haven't answered my question. What are you doing here? Shouldn't a student like you be with the rest of her class?"
"Oh, I was just going to the restroom and made a wrong turn. Can you beieve how big this place is? Hehe…" Annie nervously said while trying to act as none chillan as possible "Please don't recognize me, please don't recognize me…"
The man, now known to Annie as the number two hero of the country, Endeavor, just stared at her. His eyes still as expressionless as that of his son and his expression being a little intimidating. Then, he moved, raising his right arm and pointing behind her.
"Go that way until you pass three set of stairs. Go up the forth one and then all the way to the left. From there, it'll be easier for you to get back to the waiting rooms and afterwards, you can get back to your class" he instructed her, surprising the girl at how clear the instructions were "I was a student here long ago. This stadium hasn't have any major change since so the layout should be the same as when I was here"
"Oh, well thanks for the directions. Anyway, sorry for bothering you sir, you seem busy so I'll be off my way. Thank you very much, bye-bye" she said akwardly as she then started to rapidly walk away.
However, before she could have managed to get too far, the flamed man called out to her. And while she normally would have just try and find to play dumb to get away from the unwanted social interaction, she couldn't do it now. Because the way the man called out to her instantly paralyzed her a soon as she heard his voice.
"Parker…" Endeavor said, bringing Annie to a halt as she was froze solid at the sound of the number two hero of the country calling her by her last name.
At that moment of only a couple of seconds after he spoke, Annie's mind was suddenly rushing back and forth. Suddenly being brought back to a couple of weeks prior. Of how she made an attempt to keep her identity and more specifically, her last name, as secretly as possible. Of how that desired of hers instantly fell short on just day one of school after being outed by hobo teach Aizawa. How was it that she reacted back then?
Oh yeah.
"… OH, COME ON!"
Well, maybe she could try and pretend to be stupid.
"Um… would you mind being a wittle more specific? I mean, Parker is a pretty common name…" she said awkwardly as she turned her head towards the hero while plastering the stupidest look she could muster.
"Not in Japan" welp, there goes that idea "And especially not among the first years of U.A as far as I've seen"
Ok, maybe she played way too dumb because that was embarrassing.
"Point there. Counterpoint, can you really be sure that I'm Parker? I mean, for all you know, my name could be Palmer" she awkwardly said before wanting to smack her face after saying such a dumb attempt of an excuse.
"My troublesome son has mentioned you more than once"
"Goddammit, you air conditioner jerk!"
"And Kurumada showed me pictures of when you spent a weekend helping my eldest"
"And goddammit to you too, taxist Katsuki!"
"Oh… I mean when you put it that way, then I guess I may be Parker" was the only thing that.
Playing dumb was clearly not helping, so might as well keep whatever was left of her dignity.
Yet after said revelation, the towering pro-hero did something that took Annie by surprise. Mainly because as far as her interactions with the Todoroki boy at her class, she wasn't expecting for his dad to suddenly bow at her. Was she seeing things?
"I would like to apologize for my son's behavior towards you yesterday. That brat is obviously in his rebellious phase" he told the girl, much to her srurpise.
"Oh, you… you know about our little talk? Um, how exactly? I don't expect him to have just told you freely-willy, did he?"
"He did" Endeavor replied, making the girl question the boy's sanity even more.
The guy was a jerk, sure, he had terrible social skills couldn't read a room to save his life among many other things, ok. She can get that to an extent. But what kind of kid goes out of their way to tell their parents that he was a jerk to someone else and acted like it was nothing?
"Well… that's nice and all. But I'm pretty sure he should be the one doing the apology to me, not you" Annie said as Endeavor rose up, his expression still being the same grumpy look that put Aizawa's to shame.
"You are correct. But as we can both agree on, that boy is in desperate need of some discipline and manners. So until he gets a hold of some, I'll be the one doing it in his stead for now"
"If that's the case, I'll take what I can get, I guess. Anyway, thanks for the help and all of that, but I guess I should be going now" Annie said, ready to walk away thinking that the flame dude already stated his mind and all.
And yet just like it happened a couple of minutes ago, she was once more stopped when the guy spoke to her once again.
"I've worked with your father before…" Endeavor spoke up, keeping Annie in her place as her eyes widened. Not at the revelation that he had met with her dad in the past, she already knew that, but the way he said it, that he worked with him before, that was a little more on the surprise side of things "We're not close by any means, nor are we acquaintances. To tell you the truth, he's not the fondest person to me and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. But in spite of all of that, I acknowledge him as someone worth the recognition"
"… Is that so?"
"If I were to be honest, when I found out that for whatever reason that it was, that Spider-Man had two children of his here in Japan, with one of them being a classmate of Shoto, I was hopping that you could have worked as motivation for him. See if your presence could operate as a way to test himself and to surpass his limits. A shame that you decided to drop out of the race before either could be pin against each other. I guess I was expecting too much" the flame hero stated as the girl remained quiet for a bit longer "To think that you would do that after all I heard. Even from my limited experience with your father, I could never picture him-"
"You said it yourself, your experience with him is limited" Annie interrupted, her tone being somewhat harsh and taking Endeavor by surprise "And even if that were to be true I have news to you lighter-man. I can be as much of a daughter to my parents as possible, at the end of the day I'm still my own person and my choices are my own. Just like Shoto can be as much your own son and still be the one to decide for himself"
To her credit, if anyone were to have witnessed the way she spoke to the number two hero of the country, they would believe the girl was either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave. Not many would have the courage to talk back to Endeavor of all people the way she snapped back. And while she expected the guy to snarl or bark or whatever thing she would have expected Katsuki to do for any minor inconvenience, the number 2 hero gave her credit. She definitely was one to speak her mind and make herself heard and that was worth something in his eyes…
As far as Annie was concern tho?
"Parker, you big mouthed-idiot! Stop being a smart-ass to people with status! Do you have a death wish or something?!" she thought to herself, having an expression of panic all plastered in her face and that was being hidden by the flamed-hero for being turned away from the guy.
Endeavor on the other hand just stared at the girl. Not saying anything for some time before turning and walking away.
"Perhaps you are correct, child" he said before leaving the girl to herself.
Well, Annie could definitely see the family resemblance. Tho she had to admit, the guy was odd. Maybe not Shoto odd exactly, but she can certainly tell that he got it from him. She sighed tho, the way she described her and her family definitely rubbed her the wrong way. But when it comes to today and especially with that family, she was already expecting that something involving Shoto would annoy her even after she was no longer in the Festival.
Before any other thought could be process, she suddenly felt the ground move a little bit. Was it an earthquake? No, she would have literally seen it coming if it were to be one. Something heavy fell down? No, it wasn't that either. It was then that she remembered that if the matches were still going on, then that meant that right now, Katsuki was in a brawl with Ochako. And it seems like Napalm Brain was the one making all the noise.
"Ok then, that's definitely my cue to leave and get back with the others" Annie said, about to walk away, before stopping to recall what Endeavor told her "Up the forth staircase and then all the way to the left. Up the forth staircase and then all the way to the left" Annie repeated over and over before going back with he rest of the class.
After some walking and an embarrassing moment of her not being able to differentiate right from left,lead to was able to get back to the hallway that lead to class A's personal seats. With how long she took to get there, even outside of the time she spend with Valerie, by herself and her little chat with Endeavor, Annie was sure that she must have missed the last match of the first round of the tournament. Once she passed through the entrance to the seats and saw that, Tenya, Shoto, Izuku and Ochako were nowhere to be seen, all the while Katsuki's scowl was all but sadly visible to her that she could put two and two together. Sadly, Katsuki probably won.
Well, that sure isn't a sour idea to the redhead, not at all.
"Hey, you're back!" Sero exclaimed, getting quite upbeat at seeing the second born Parker return.
"Where were you? The first rounds of the tournament are already over and you missed the last match" Jiro questioned the girl as she was getting back to her seat.
"Sorry, I was making sure Valerie was ok and then spent some time walking by and lost track of time" Annie replied, believing it would be better to save some details of her misadventures to avoid any extra headache for today "So, how did the last match went?" she asked as Katsuki made a very audible 'Tsk' with as much grumpy attitude as it was expected from him.
"Aren't you supposed to be smart? Open those damn eyes of yours and figure it out" he said, screwing with Annie's hopes and already giving her a migraine.
"Oh well, sorry I just thought the reason you're here and Ochako is nowhere to be seen was because you were so ashamed to get your butt kicked that you came here as fast as possible to save your fragile ego" Annie replied, with the equal expected no nonsense to match his crappy attitude.
And boy did she matched and outmatched his ego, because by the way his teeth were grinding against each other and the twitching of his hands, Annie was halfway expecting him to lash out and launch at her to start a brawl. She knew he wouldn't, he's not that dumb to ruin himself while the Festival was still around by picking a fight against in a manner that could get him in serious problems or just getting disqualified all together. But damn, he was really weighting the options if it meant he could get a swing at her.
"Up yours, you damn yankee"
"Classy as always, aren't you bomb boy?" she nonchalantly said, deciding to stop the instigation and avoid Tenya from lecturing her, because even if he wasn't around, she wouldn't be surprise that he would suddenly materialize if it meant annoying her "Anyway, where is Ochako? Is she still not here?" she asked as she noticed that pretty much everyone looked nervous at the question "What?"
"She's… at the infirmary" answered Momo, much to Annie's surprise.
"What? Is she ok? Did something serious happened?" Annie once again asked.
"Nothing too serious, she just collapsed after overdoing her quirk during the fight" this time, it was Rikido the one to answer her.
"Well, that's somewhat a relief. I thought for a second that something worse could have happened to her" Annie said, being grateful that he friend was apparently mostly ok, only to get another puzzle and somewhat annoying expression as she saw everyone still having a nervous look on their faces "Ok, now what? What are you not telling me?" she asked as she notice some of her classmates avoiding eye contact with her "I mean it guys, what's going on? I'm starting to get annoyed" she exclaimed.
To her surprise, it was Mineta the one to answer her question in a somewhat cryptic manner. Little odd that the one to reply to her was the pervy scary cat of the class. Honestly, she was the last person she would have thought would be willing to speak up on something everyone else preferred not to.
"Well, it's just that… I think everyone would prefer not to have a do-over of what happened during the battle trials on the second day of school" Minoru said, not making too much sense at first for Annie.
But then it clicked on her. The aftermath of the match between Izuku and his team against Katsuki and his. The way he lashed out and went too far against her friend. Of how angry she was and how she lashed out against the blonde boy with anger issues. Thinking back, it makes sense as to why they were being so reluctant with giving her a clear answer. After all she did make a very loud impression on everyone back then. One that she wouldn't blame them from being intimidated by. If not for All Might intervening, she was sure things would have escalated to a full on brawl between the arachnid girl and the explosive boy if she were to be honest. And more importantly, she recalled what she declared to him back then after things got deescalated.
"If you so much as try and pull that again, god help me I'll-"
"Mezou…" Annie suddenly called up the masked kid with the multiple appendages, much to his surprise "I want you to look at me and be completely honest about what I'm about to ask you. Did he over did it again?" she asked her classmate.
She wasn't exactly that close with him. Hell, she wasn't exactly close with most of the people in class, period. Outside of Valerie and a few others, she might as well be a complete stranger to everyone else. Just a face that they have to deal with for the day because they're classmates and nothing else. But even with that in mind, there was something that she was completely sure about a lot of her classmates. And when it came to Mezou, she could tell a surprisingly lot about him. He was a little reserve, not as much as she was but reserved nonetheless. He was usually pretty serious. But for the importance of what she asked him, he was also very straightforward and honest. He didn't kid around or sidetracked things, the guy was as pretty darn objective with what he said and his opinions and outlook on things.
So when she asked if Katsuki over did it again, she knew that he wouldn't try to avoid the question or loop around it like some others would. And Shoji could tell that. There was a reason she asked him and not someone she was close with like Sero, Ojiro or even Yaoyurozu. And he agreed with her reasoning.
"It wasn't exactly a pretty fight. Bakugo did not hold back in the slightest and Uraraka was struggling a lot. With how hard to watch it was, a lot of people did accused Bakugo of what you're thinking. She collapsed after all"
If Mineta's loud 'GULP' wasn't obvious, he and a lot others were starting to get nervous. With how antagonistic both Bakugo and Parker are against each other, they were fearing for the worst. However, Shoji kept on talking.
"But no, he didn't go overboard" he stated, without stuttering for a single second "It was hard to watch. A lot of people clearly booed Bakugo. But the context behind what happened today and what happened during the Battle Trials are completely different. He didn't went too far. He just treated Uraraka as any opponent worth respecting. Even Aizawa-sensei voiced a similar sentiment when everyone criticized him. If I were to be honest, it was more akin to your fight against Reyes of class B"
"… I see…" Annie replied, making some of her classmates take a deep breath expecting for the worst, only for her to let out a groan "Man and here I was hoping Ochako would have knocked some sense into you" she said, much to the confusion of some of her classmates.
"You're… you're not mad?" Toru asked the arachnid girl.
"Not mad, but sure let down that this bozo managed to advance over Ochako, but whatever. It was a fair fight, I can't get mad at that" Annie said, a little more relaxed and less serious than she was before "I guess I'll try and cheer her up later when I can. This meant a lot for her, so she's probably upset about it"
"Why don't you just shut the fuck up" Bakugo snarled, bringing back the tension that was already dissipating and pissing off Annie a lot.
"What did you say?!" she angrily asked, looking ready to get into a fight against the equally pissed off boy.
"You don't get to weigh shit on any of this. Act as much of a damn smart ass all you want with any other crap, but not with this! And you definitely don't get to go around and belittle others!"
"Belittle oth-? Of all the hypocritical garbage-"
"You're the bitch that decided to quit and throw in the towel, not us! Uraraka can be many things, but she is not some crying extra, she's actually strong. And unlike someone here, she sure as hell isn't a damn coward. So shut it!" Bakugo snarled at Annie.
Just when everyone was expecting for a punch to be thrown. For another angry insult to be said. For any sign of violence among each other, nothing happened. And when they all turned to face the young Parker, they didn't see any sign of a livid redhead ready to rip someone's arms. They didn't even see any sign of trouble being being schemed. No, they just saw the girl, staring at Bakugo with a total serious and neutral expression.
"… You know… I guess you're partially right…" she said, much to everyone's confusion.
"Huh?" Bakugo questioned.
"I said you're partially right, what have all those explosions made you deaf? It's no big deal. Even a broken and obnoxious clock can be right twice a day" Annie stated, making Bakugo growl at her before the two turned away from one another.
Well, at least things didn't escalate too much. And Annie had to give the guy a little credit, she insulted her sure, but he at the very least acknowledge Ochako. That's got to count for something… not too much, the guy still sucked.
Before they knew it, the crowd roared louder than before. And as they all looked at the arena below them, they could see their classmates. Both Shoto and Izuku already standing opposing one another as Present Mic hyped the match about to come.
"These two have had great showcases one after another! And now, here they are! Face to face!" their teacher declared, all the while, Annie looked at both boys, the one she considered a very dear friend and the one she saw as a complex oddity that annoyed her from time to time, not sure what to expect out of the match and deciding to give the two of them her full attention "LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SECOND ROUND AND PALLET CLEANSER FROM LAST MATCH… START NOW!"
My Hero Academia: Legacy Bits! - Planning Ahead!
"I still can't believe you actually pulled that off" Hitoshi told Kin.
The last match of the first round was already on its way. Almost everyone was waiting anxiously for the fight to start. Of course that's without taking into consideration a few exceptions here and there. And among said exceptions, are the duo of Hitoshi Shinso of the General Class and Kin Fukuda of the Management Department. That's due to the fact that at the moment, Kin was going over some numbers and whatnot at his class' waiting room about his latest project regarding Reyes' newly founded fanclub and Shinso… honestly he just didn't care enough about the coming fight to stay and watch it. Didn't exactly know that class A girl and absolutely hated that class A jerk and unless it was to see him get his teeth knocked out, which he wasn't expecting that girl to be able to pull off, he decided to skip the whole thing all together. And seeing how Kin was the newest member of their little circle of friends, Shinso thought that it might as well be a decent oportunity to get to know the guy a little better.
That and question who was Reyes going to adopt into the group, he was thinking another Support Course student to help distract Hatsume while they avoid any chance of her blowing up the cafeteria again.
"What's there not to believe? Reyes-kun is an extraordinary person. It was natural that people would see that"
"You know too well what I'm referring about" Hitoshi replied to the happy-going and management student "You know, chances are that Robbie is going to try and kill you when this is over, right?"
"Oh I highly doubt it. Reyes-kun is not the kind of person to harm people like that at all"
"We are talking about the same guy, right? Because I'm not sure we are" Shinso asked as Kin chuckled.
"Oh, Shinso-kun, you sure have a very unique sense of humor"
"I was being serious" he said, only for Kin to chuckle yet again.
"There it is again! You are must certainly a very lively person, Shinso-kun"
"And you are definitely someone with their sense of reality very distorted if you think I'm somehow a lively person" Shinso thought to himself.
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like maybe he was the only normal one in their group and he didn't know how he should feel about knowing that fact.
"But you know? I got to admit, it was kinda funny to see that. What, do you plan to do that with everyone one them?" Hitoshi asked.
"Oh, I do have some ideas, but I would like to discuss with them before any desicion could be made" Kin replied.
"I'm sure Robbie would have preferred to have had those discussions before you put his face in a bunch of shirts"
"It was an on the moment decision and I couldn't find Reyes-kun in time to show him the prototypes that I had brought with me. But I think he was very pleased with the result" Kin said, assuring Shinso that yep, his sense of reality was all messed up "Now that you mentioned it, Shinso-kun, we should take the oportunity to discuss about your profesional life moving forward" he said, confusing the purple-haired boy.
"My… what?"
"You are planning to get into the hero course, right? And with the display you had today, I'm sure they'll have you in consideration. So why not think ahead while we have time? Oh, here, let me show you!" Kin said, going to fetch something from his belongings as Shinso attempted to try and talk the guy down.
"Look man, I appreaciate the gesture and all, but don't you think-?"
"Here it is!" Kin said, bringing forth a laptop with him that had some pictures of shirts on screen "I did some quick mock-up for potential merchandise about you as well. With how much of a spotlight you would have in the Sport Festival having as a goal to impress the school into transferring you to the Hero Course, I took the liberties to plan ahead and have some ideas for you too. I didn't have a lot of good quality pictures of you to work with, but thankfully, V-chan's robot butler was able to provide me with some. What do you think?" he asked.
And as he showed the pictures, Shinso's right eye started to twitch. Because of course, that jackass Bill would take advantage of Kin's pure soul if it meant taking a jab at him. Because the 'good quality' pictures Kin mentioned were of himg being half-dead trying to catch his breath and on the floor from when Annie was helping him get into shape for the festival. And Shinso failing at keeping up with her.
"So, what do you think, Shinso-kun?"
"… I think that I'm going to see just how waterproof that damn toaster really is… Oh and I like the color of that one"
"Right? I thought so too! I think it helps in bringing the color of your eyes"
I'll keep this one short. Mainly because of how long it has been since I last updated and because of the fact that I just want this to be up as soon as possible.
This sure took longer than it should mainly for two major reasons. Those being my procrastinating ass and the fact that I finally have an actual job… but mainly my procrastinating ass.
Not like I didn't know what to write, again, I already have this story planned out. I just sometimes just didn't write even tho I totally could and should, but was struggling a little in typing the words I knew were in my brain. But hey, at the very least I also have a job now. Two jobs actually, had one for almost six months taking calls and whatnot while I was on the lookout for any job of my area of studies and now a job that is related with what I studied… it sucks ass, but hey, at the very least is about something that's aimed at what I graduated so that's a start. And so far I'll mostly be there until I get the sufficient work experience because for some reason, every entry level job meant and advertised for anyone that just mostly graduated requires at least three years of proven experience and whatnot.
But enough about that, let's talk story stuff. Honestly, this is one of the parts I was really looking forward with of the story so far and I'm glad that I can finally publish it. It may be a bit of a slow chapter compared to others, but it was nice to me at least. As for the actual MHA series ending, I did say I was going to give a little of my opinion last chapter, so here it is.
It was alright.
Nothing too crazy, could have done better, but could have also done much, much worse. Honestly, some of thee hate that it had the first couple of weeks was quite overblown, but what can you expect, it's the internet. The ending was serviceable enough and while the epilogue did a lot to improve it, was mostly alright. Some stuff I didn't like, but whatever.
Truth be told and this might not have any value for me to say, but compared to other endings for other series, this one was not even that bad even at it's worse. And at least in my opinion, if we compare it to say, JJK's for example or even Demon Slayer, MHA looks better by comparassion. Especially JJk because while I didn't even bother watching the show past when Yuji got his heart ripped (had a similar experience with One Piece of my internet sucking ass and not letting me pass certain point, tho unlike One Piece, nothing in JJK afterwards that I heard drew my attention to contemplate giving it a second chance). Because at least one does feel like an actual ending while the other one feels like the ending of one arc and having to wait for the following arc that we all know will never come.
But other than that, yeah, it was alright.
Still not changing my mind about MHA as a whole and this story either. I'm seeing this trhough no matter what. It's already tuch of a passion work for me and it does help me for my personal growth. I did say that one day I would want to have my own work and this is helping me practice for when that day comes. And I'm aslo currently working my other areas for when that happens. One day I'll tell you all about that.
And with Vigilante coming up, I'll still have a lot more reason to work on this.
And by that, I mean bragg about the fact that I'm one of the only ones that has Tensei be an actual focus and be ana ctual character. At least when it comes to crossovers with Marvel that is.
But yeah, that's all for now. I'll try and get the next chapter ready faster and work on other stuff here and there. Maybe more drawings about my story like the ones I've post. Honestly, there are some scenes in the story that I feel like wanting to draw myself. And if anyone has any feelings like that as well, feel free t share them, I would like to see what you guys come up with.
Also FYI and this one is for the con 'artists' that like to spam themselves here. If you're going to try and scam someone into getting money out of art for FANFICTION of all things, at the very least do so with anyone other than someone that does his own art and has a bachelor and masters regarding art? Because I know you are a desperate lot but you could at least put more thought into it other than the automatic bot messages you leave.
Other than that, hope you enjoyed the chapter, hope you have a great day and that you'll do great moving forward and see you next time. Take care