Where last week, when I had the extra day to work on my upload, it was the opposite this week. Also, I worked on my commission upload first, which left me with little time to write anything for this chapter. I've managed my studies well enough, but with so little time, I was forced to write a chapter that was shorter, no longer than 4000 words. Lucky for me, as I'm starting this Friday morning(it's a public holiday), I don't need to worry too much about content as in the last chapter; it's more deviations from the movie's set-up for the rest of the story.

Chapter 53: Ice, Fists and Wood

Leaving the support item display hall, they went to a café that Mellissa frequented enough that she could tell them about plenty of the menu items before they even got them, which helped draw attention away from Kendo's presence. They chose seating outside because the weather was too good to resist and because Yaoyorozu and the rest wanted to continue gazing out over the place.

"I can't believe it. You got the chance to work with real heroes?" Mellissa said in awe, as that seemed like an exceptionally rare opportunity for students.

"Just normal training and some patrols." Uraraka waved it off, not wanting Mellissa to have the wrong idea, especially since the girl was accommodating them so well by speaking in near perfect Japanese.

"I helped with a hostage situation, but only the evacuation part," Jiro added. It wasn't much, but it was a pretty engaging time.

"Somehow, I got roped into doing commercials and model work," Yaoyorozu sighed. Still, she couldn't stop smiling as she recalled the experience. "But I wouldn't say it was a waste of time, even if Ms. Omoishō was demanding."

Mellissa blinked for a moment before she slammed her hands onto the table. "Wait, you worked with Omoishō Plein?! That's incredible! I met her once when I was younger, and she didn't even give me the time of day." Yaoyorozu chuckled as she confirmed that the woman gave her that vibe, only caring since she knew the heroine she was interning under. She added that seeing her work, she could tell that the woman was a fierce taskmaster who rarely compromised and didn't entertain anything that wasn't the best, in person and deed.

"We were thinking about checking out the pavilion where…" As Jiro explained their plans, Kendo, who sat at the other table, sighed.

'I'm saved.' 'Sometimes my classmates are too good at sniffing things out.' Kendo thought as the lie held, and it had enough truth that it wouldn't immediately fall apart, but they didn't like advertising that she was close to the number one. Not when All for One was alive and would undoubtedly put the dots together.

Before she could go further down that rabbit hole, her drink finally arrived. "Thanks for waiting." She opened her eyes, and as she recognized that voice, she heard it most school days after all.

"Wait, a second-Kaminari?" Her surprised statement drew the attention of the others, the girls looking toward their electric quirk user, dressed like he was auditioning to be a butler in some Buckingham Manor performance.

"And Mineta? What are you to doing here?" Uraraka pulled attention to the second one present, wearing a smaller version of the uniform Kaminari had.

"And why are you dressed like the help?" Yaoyorozu asked.

Kaminari turned to them, performing a mock boy, though his smile couldn't be wider. "That's because we are the help. They needed extra wait staff, and since it meant a free trip, we applied." Kendo didn't know that, but she wasn't interested in attending. Besides, while she recalled their little stunt with the lake, there was no way that they could pull this off.

"We're making some good money and get to explore the place on our breaks," Mineta added, which helped explain things only for his eye to be predictable, so go over all of them. Each had an exasperated, dry, or concerned expression. "And there is a chance we'll have passionate encounters with one of the cute foreign-My god, I'm in love." And then his eyes landed on Mellissa.

"Not even, trust me. You two don't want to try with her." Kendo could have left them marching to their doom, but she was still trying to be a hero, and that meant saving everyone, even the idiots, so she spoke up.

"Why is she like Jiro?" Mineta asked, to which Jiro's brow twitched, Uraraka having to hold her to her eat or else she would attack Mineta. The class pervert had made other comments about them. For Jiro, she was the only one he never talked about, which seemed like a blessing as no woman liked hearing what Mineta had to say about them. Still, it was less manners and more him deeming her 'not hot enough' which was even more insulting.

"More like you don't want to get on her uncle's bad side…" Kendo told them as she recalled how All Might had acted when he fought her and Bakugo with a shiver. That was a low-stakes exam, where he acted like a threat. She dreaded what he would do if she heard these two were making passes on Mellissa.

Mellissa felt like she was missing a lot of contexts, but based on how Kendo and the rest were acting, she could assume that these two weren't the best people they knew. "Are they also your classmates?" she asked, to which both stepped up before they could be sabotaged.

"That's right!" Kaminari posed for her.

"We're basically pros," Mineta added.

"They just don't stop, do they?" Jiro asked as it would be impressive if it wasn't so annoying.

"I'll be careful. You wouldn't want to spend more time with granny Biscuit, would you?" Kendo reminded, drawing out the image of the laughing, eye-patched granny in a swimsuit as she worked them like despised dogs.

Kaminari backed away, crying as he tried so hard not to think about it since. "Don't remind me! I don't care what you all say; there's no way that woman's a senior citizen!"

"She and that muscle bond monster ran us into the ground and still kept at it!" Mellissa again lacked some context: What was so bad about this granny Biscuit? Was she a teacher at U.A. or something?

"Why are you two slacking off?" They turned when they heard a familiar person yelling as they sped towards them, making full use of the high-powered engines he had in his calves. "You wanted to make more money, didn't you? But you're not willing to work for it? That's shameful!"

"Oh God, it's Iida!" Mineta cried out as Iida raced towards them.

"Where did he come from?!" Kaminari whined as they came here to have fun. How the heck were they supposed to do what with the hall monitor around?

Despite overshooting the girls, Iida came to a stop right before Kaminari and Mineta, who had fallen back in shock as Iida loomed over them, a rule enforcing man-machine. "I came from a long line of heroes; it's to be expected that we received an invite," Iida's arms moved like an old-school robot as he turned to the rest. But they're all too busy to attend, so I'm here representing them."

Yaoyorozu nodded, as that made sense. "Oh, I wondered if you'll be here. I'm here because my father is a shareholder in some of the Expo's sponsor companies; I couldn't resist the chance to attend the preview." She smiled, though her parents also couldn't make it. She used the chance to add to the fun.

"And she had 2 extra tickets, so we basically gambled for them," Jiro explained, as Yaomomo's parents' tickets would have gone to waste otherwise. She felt a little bad for the others, as it was just a rock-paper-scissors that decided who got those two tickets. "The others are here but can't attend until tomorrow."

"Maybe we can meet up then, though I'm a little hurt that they didn't tell me they'll be attending." Kendo felt like she should have been invited to that impromptu contest.

"You did the same, Ms. All Might." Jiro joked, to which Kendo groaned, taking a long sip of her drink before she answered.

"I told you; I just forgot about it. If my father hadn't reminded me, I'd be back in Japan right now," Kendo told them.

Now it was Mineta and Kaminari's turn to be the ones in the dark as to what All Might have to do with this. "Oh, okay, I'm gonna need some context to that All Might comment."

"Kendo over here was invited because she won the sports festival, but she managed to hitch a ride with All Might…"Uraraka told them before she got a little devious and then gestured towards Mellissa. "Who just so happens to be Mellissa's uncle figure."

Hearing that formed a stone in both boy's guts. "Wait…so when you said we need to be careful about her uncle…" Kaminari started but didn't dare finish, as that was terrifying.

Mellissa got enough context clues to figure out the gist of it, but while she was a little weirded out by this, she didn't mind the attention and tried to clear things up. "I'm sure you're worrying over nothing. Uncle Might is as sweet as you can be." She couldn't even imagine Uncle Might being the typical 'protective father' figure just because he didn't like scaring people.

On the other hand, Kendo recalled how the man looked at the USJ when he arrived to see how bad things had gone. "Or we haven't seen him with a reason to be angry, and let's just say these two have a reputation back home." Like most of the staff, All Might tolerated the two, but she would bet that he wouldn't be so forgiving if his niece was the man they were making unwanted advances toward her. It seemed like a fast way to travel back to Japan on an express path.

Mellissa didn't buy it and would prove it as she clapped her hands together, having gotten a great idea. "Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with them. They could join us when I show you guys around the Expo tomorrow. We'll have to plan for when they have a break, though."

"You'll do that?" Kaminari asked her, looking at her like a goddess granting them mercy.

"You're an angel!" Mineta was in the same boat, internally crying. How could such a hottie foreign girl with such a kind and open heart be off limits? He was already considering the risks of him, even if he had to fight All Might over it.

The conversation came to a screeching halt when they heard an explosion and felt it travelling through the ground. "What was that?" Kendo asked, on her feet and ready to react as Uraraka pointed in the direction of false mountains.

Seeing that, Mellissa could get what it was. "It came from the Villainy combat course."

Hearing that, the rest turned to her. "Villainy combat course?"

Mellissa led them over, and the group had to leave Kaminari and Mineta behind to return to work. When they arrived, they found that it wasn't just a false mountain zone but a ring that looked to be genuine rock, giving space for bleachers with some people already present watching. What they were watching was the center, where there was a small narrow hill, surrounded by smaller ones of varying size and thickness, and just to be extra, there was an artificial waterfall built to the rear of it, which fed into a river running through the course.

They had just arrived to see a familiar face reforming at the top of the hill, having just completed the course. "A clearance time of 42 seconds, she's in 13th place!" The announcer called out as Tokage flashed her shark-like teeth as she gave a double peace sigh for her performance.

"Tokage?" Uraraka called out as the green-haired girl started taking her down.

"I'm guessing she's from U.A. as well?" Mellissa asked.

"She's in our sister class," Kendo confirmed.

"Now, won't you please welcome our next challenger? " the announcer called out as another familiar face walked into view, his back to them.

"Midoriya?" Kendo asked as she saw the boy dressed in full hero gear. Midoriya dropped into a feline's crouch when he reached the starting point, his eyes slitting slightly as he searched for his targets, mapping out their number and locations.

"The villainy combat course has been reset. Ready? Go!" Midoriya took off like a bat out of hell, getting into the course just as fast. But he didn't go for the clear and easily seen robot targets; instead, he zoomed past them as if he read, treating this the same way he treated their opening race from the festival.

"He's avoided them?" Jiro asked, though Kendo knew there had to be more to this and held her opinion. That proved to be a wise choice, as Midoriya hadn't attacked them before, and it would slow him down, having to dash about the place just to break one of them at a time. No, he had a much better idea, which required that he get to the top as quick as he could, all the while spotting and remembering where each robot was.

When he reached the top, he didn't stop. He bent his knees, funnelling tenet into them before taking off and jumping high into the air. Then, and only then, did he attack. He pulled out four seeds from his punch and clenched them, bombarding them with his life source, causing them to rapidly grow, spitting and forming more.

"Wood Style: Cutting Technique!" He threw both hands, sending forth several spears, swords, and arrows made from wood, a specialty cultivated for its strength and further strengthening his tenet. His aim was true as each found their mark in the chests and chests of their targets.

When Midoriya landed, it was right as they all exploded, causing several eruptions of fire and smoke across the area, but none even close to him. "Look at that time, only 17 seconds! First place!" Hering that drew a pleased purr out of the boy as he jumped down, landing at the bottom on all fours before standing up to walk off.

"Hey, isn't that Kendo in the stands?" Midoriya stopped at Tokage's statement, looking up. His eyes instantly locked onto Kendo, forming a smile. His tail wiggling about in excitement as he dashed over, jumping up the 4m to the guard rail and grabbing into it, pulling himself up.

"Hey, ladies. Fancy seeing you here? You enjoying the festival?" Midoriya greeted, though his eyes remained predatory.

"We are, but what are you doing here? With Tokage, of all people?" Kendo replied, clenching her fist a few times as she returned the friendly gesture.

"They're not the only ones," Teitora walked over from where she had been seated. "Hi. I wasn't expecting to see you all again so soon."

Iida greeted the older, taller woman. "Greeting, Teitora. Likewise. Now, might you explain why you're all here? I was told that the Expo was closed to the general public."

"It is, but my mother was also invited, but she had something come up, so she asked me and Midoriya to attend on her behalf." She explained, as the students recalled that one piece of information they learned during their time at the lake was that the fox mutant before them was the adopted daughter of the woman who trained Midoriya.

"My master has the extra ticket, and I thought to invite my VP along." Midoriya finished, gesturing to Tokage, who had turned into several pieces and floated up to where they were, reforming next to her class rep.

"The others were real salty about it, but we can deal with pouty Monoma and Kuroiro tomorrow when we meet up for the opening." Tokage crackled as she recalled how disappointed the group was when Midoriya brought up the fact that he had an extra ticket.

"Is it me, or is Midoriya giving Kendo a weird look?" Mellissa asked Yaoyorozu, as while the two groups seemed friendly, she couldn't not notice how…on edge? Midoriya seemed to be around Kendo if that made sense.

Yaoyorozu sighed. "It's the both of them, it's a little complicated."

"They're fated rivals. Kendo is the only person to have defeated Midoriya, whose class B is the best student." Uraraka added, doing a couple of quirk air punches as Mellissa nodded, though she always thought that such rivalries wouldn't manifest like this. Then again, she worried about being outdone in class or at science fairs; she didn't train for combat like they did.

"Best combat student, you mean? I got better grades than him." Tokage revealed that she was quite proud that she outperformed their class mascot, with Izuku trying to act like he didn't have an issue with it, but they could tell he did. "Oh, you guys going to try the villain course? It's hella fun."

Midoriya scoffed, his tail dancing about with a sense of pride. "Oh, she wouldn't want to do that. How could she do that when I set the bar so high?"

"I'm in." Kendo didn't need to think after hearing that, not when her competitive spirit was challenged. Heading down, she signed up and quickly got to the start area.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a new challenger is coming in at the last minute! Will he end up on top or fail in front of the whole Expo?"

Kendo wondered why the announcer lady sounded so happy when she said that. 'Encouraging, isn't she?'

"The villainy combat course has been reset, ready? Go!" Taking a breath, she let the power of OFA off the lease; just as little as 7% of it flooded into her bloodstream as she also tapped into a big fist; taking off, she didn't pull what Midoriya did and instead went after each target. However, with her quirk's extended reach, she didn't need to get as close to just flick them, the force shattering them as she turned and continued, zipping through the course, handling anything in her way.

Mellissa and the rest watched in awe as Kendo went through the course like it was nothing, though the American couldn't help but notice how Kendo moved. It was familiar, incredibly so. Clearing the last of the targets, Kendo landed at the top and took a breath before she smiled for the cameras.

"An incredible run; she's in 1st place with an unbelievable time of 13 seconds!"

"What was that about her not being good enough?" Jiro pocked Midoriya, but unlike a certain blonde they knew, he didn't fly into a rage at his score being bested. The opposite happened.

With his tail flicking about in joy, Midoriya clapped his hands. "Just what I would expect from here, but if she's so invested, I could try again." Whatever Tokage was about to say was cut off when the entire place shook. Looking towards the arena, they saw that it was nearly completely covered in ice, courtesy of Todoroki.

"This is insane! With a single move as such a cool demeanor, this gentleman takes second place with 14 seconds!"

"Todoroki as well; it seems like I'm spoiled for choice." Midoriya's smile grew wilder, only to tamper when Teitora touched his head, reminding him to calm his competitive spirit before he did something crazy.

"Another from U.A.?" Mellissa asked, as it seemed like every 3rd person they saw was a U.A. student.

"Yeah, he's in our class," Uraraka replied as Todoroki asked if he should clear the zone; the announcer stated that it would be appreciated, so Todoroki let loose a massive gale of fire, which melted most of the ice before sending out smaller blasts to clear away the remnants.

"With so many heavy hitters, I can already tell you're going to be great heroes," Mellissa noted, as it seemed like her Uncle Might had his work cut out for him with such powerful students.

"You give us too much credit," Kendo replied as she had learned that power didn't make a hero; it was just another tool in their kit.

"Yo, Todoroki!" Tokage sent her head over to Todoroki when he turned away from the still-stunned announcer. The woman's jaw had fallen when he first used his flames. "What's good, man?"

Todoroki looked up to where she was and saw the rest of them. "Oh, Tokage, you're here as well?"

"Not just me, say, what brings you to these necks of the woods?" Tokage called out.

"My father received an invite but couldn't attend," Todoroki replied. However, he left out the part where his father saw it as a waste of time while Todoroki could use the chance to not need to see his old nan as often. "So I took his place."

"Todoroki! That was an impressive showing, I can't wait to beat it and Kendo's time." Midoriya waved towards him, which got on Kendo's nerves as she said should he, by some miracle, bested her name, she would go again, with Todoroki getting into the argument by noting that it could always refine his approach, all the while, the rest just hung back and watched.

"You seem to have some lively classmates." Mellissa laughed as she saw how heated things got between them. Midoriya smiled the entire time, Kendo was a straight woman, and Todoroki rarely displayed emotion but seemed determined to claim he could take first.

"Well, it does make it that it's rarely boring," Yaoyorozu replied, Uraraka and the rest agreeing with her. They just thanked the fact Bakugo wasn't here, as he would have probably made a much…much larger scene and possibly picked a fight.

The next chapter will be out April 11th

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