(How I Became) My Own Hero

by TheSummerLady

Summary:

Yoruhiko Alina wants, more than anything, to be a pro hero that saves everyone. She loves her friends, loves her family, and is thankful for all their support.

But she wants to make sure that she never needs saving again.

Chapter 1: Overtures

Prologue:

 

13 months before the UA entrance exam

“Hello, Miss Cooper. I’ve heard much about you, although I do wish we were meeting under more pleasant circumstances.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Sir Nighteye. Thank you for offering to look after me.”

“It isn’t a problem. It only makes sense, and is in the interest of your safety. Even if that weren’t enough, your mother is a dear friend and I owe her a great deal. Rest assured, you will remain safe under my care.”

“I appreciate that, Sir. I’ll miss my family very much, but I’ll be excited to experience a new country and take whatever advice about my training and Quirk control that you’d be willing to give me.”

“Yes, I have a few ideas surrounding that very topic. Come, let’s locate your luggage and return to the agency. We can discuss it further once you’ve settled in.”

“Thank you very much, Sir. Oh, and my mother said to pass along her thanks for looking after me, and to let you know that she’s excited to be able to come see you and catch up on what you’ve been doing once this situation is resolved.”

“I look forward to that as well, Miss Cooper. Or, I should say, Miss Yoruhiko.”

--------

10 months until the UA entrance exam

I knock lightly on the door in front of me, receiving a prompt “Come in” from the man on the other side. Opening it, I can’t stop myself from smiling at the lack of light coming from inside. The only illumination radiates from a computer monitor facing away from me, which shines just enough light to see the face of the man hunched over in front of it, reflecting off of his glasses and into my eyes.

Sasaki Mirai looks up at the squeak of the hinges. “Ah good, you’re back from school,” he notes. “How was your day? Did you encounter any difficulties?”

I shake my head, moving to plop my school bag in one of his guest chairs and myself in the other one. “No, it was alright. My classical Japanese is still a bit shaky, since it’s still very new to me, but I’m getting better with speaking and writing. The help you’ve given me with my quirk has helped a ton, and I can’t thank you enough for that. It’s so much easier to focus now than it used to be!” I chatter.

Nighteye smiles faintly. “I’m glad to hear it, although you shouldn’t discount the effort you have put in as well. Your quirk is difficult to manage, but I must commend the time and energy you’ve spent training over the last three months while you’ve been in Japan. Continue with this commitment, and you’ll be well prepared for UA next year.”

“Thank you, that means a lot coming from you,” I smile, genuinely touched to hear praise coming from a teacher that I knew from experience was very hard to impress. He nods, turning back to his work. “Feel free to stay here or return home to complete your homework, although I know Centipeder will be happy to help you with your literary studies should you need it. He was quite happy when you told him about your book list for the term,” he comments, and I laugh at the memory of that particular conversation.

“I’ll head out to the desks in the main area, then,” I decide, standing up to grab my bag and sling it back over my shoulder. “Good luck with your paperwork! Will you be working late tonight, or do you have time for dinner?”

“I will be working late, but I will ensure I make time to say hello to your family. Tonight is the scheduled call, yes?” he replies, and my smile grows at the thought.

“It is! I’m excited, it’s been a while since the last call,” I grin. My smile, however, is tinted with sadness, and I see a similar look in Sasaki’s gaze as his eyes rise to meet mine. “Hopefully someday soon I’ll be able to go home.”

--------

9 months until the UA entrance exam

“Alina, come here for a moment. There’s someone I’d like you to meet, who I believe may be able to help you in your quirk training.”

At the sound of Sasaki’s voice, I look up from my physics textbook to meet the blue eyes of a tall blonde standing next to him. From his face, he looks like he’s a few years older than me, but has all the muscle and size of a grown man. Hero training does that, I suppose.

I stand, and bow politely to the newcomer. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Yoruhiko Alina,” I introduce myself, and the stranger’s smile grows into a grin.

“Oh man, it’s so cool to meet you! I’m Togata Mirio, Sir’s work study student from UA! Are you studying under him too?” His grin never falters even as he speaks, and his excitement makes him practically bounce in place.

I look to Sasaki for a cue, unsure how much to tell this stranger. “Alina is under my care while her family is indisposed. However, she has a quirk that, similar to yours, is difficult to control and requires precision and practice to use. I suspect it will be valuable for you two to train together, both to spar and to share any successful methodologies you may learn,” he interjects, turning to his new student to explain.

“Woah, that’s so awesome - I’d be honored to train with you! I’m not super great with my quirk all the time yet, but let’s do our best to learn together,” he says, and he crosses his arms and continues to smile as he stands straight.

I smile back, slower and smaller than his megawatt grin. “I’m excited to learn from you, senpai.”

--------

7 months until the UA entrance exam

“Alina-chan! That was so cool!” Mirio exclaims, moments after I finally tag him. We’ve been using this game as a training tool since the day we were introduced, and I lost count of the number of hours I’ve spent chasing him around gyms at the Nighteye Agency or here at UA, like we are today, trying to catch him by surprise and tag him before he could permeate away. After two months of practice, I finally managed to use my quirk fast enough to catch him before he could permeate again!

“About time! I’ve been trying to catch you for months,” I pant with exertion. Still, even my exhaustion isn’t enough to prevent me from smiling. Moving fast enough to beat Mirio’s impressive reaction time is no small feat, and has only gotten more difficult as his control over Permeation continues to improve. Add my difficulty with maintaining consistent control over the separate aspects of my quirk into the mix, and it turned out to be quite the challenge.

Mirio whoops with excitement, and I avert my eyes in embarrassment as he hastily rearranges the clothes he’d permeated through during our training session. Even after seeing it happen nearly every day for two months, I still wasn’t used to that.

As he tries to hop back into his clothes, the gym door opens and an unfamiliar student walks through. He’s tall, but hunched over as he walks, eyes practically glued to the floor in front of him as he moves. He looks up cautiously as he comes through the door, and I catch a glimpse of dark purple eyes through his indigo bangs before-

Before I watch a high school boy squeak, turn around, and slam his face into the nearest wall. 

I stare, absolutely flabbergasted. “Er- are you ok?” I ask cautiously

Mirio laughs while he’s trying to put his pants on, trips himself, and faceplants back into the ground. Serves him right.

“It’s ok, nothing to worry about! This here’s my best friend, Amajiki Tamaki! He’s just a little shy around new people,” Mirio laughs as he picks himself up. “Tamaki, this is our new kouhai Yoruhiko Alina! She’s taking the entrance exam in a few months, but Sir introduced me to her and we’ve been working together a lot to help each other control our quirks.”

“Nice to meet you Amajiki. Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable, I was actually just about to head home for the day,” I say, turning around to grab my bag from where I’d tucked it against the wall. Amajiki whimpers, curling his shoulders inwards as I speak. “H-h-hi,” he manages, speaking in a quiet mumble.

“You did awesome today, Alina-chan! You’ll kick that exam’s booty by the time it comes around,” Mirio says, punching the air to emphasize my apparent asskicking potential. I quickly use my quirk to get out of the way of one particularly wild gesture that comes a bit too close to my head, not breaking my step as I swing my backpack over my shoulder. 

“Plus training with you has taught me some super cool new moves I can use too! So we’re both going to kick some major butt next year, and I’ll be the coolest senpai, and oh! We should totally make a combo move!” Mirio radiates excitement like sunshine, and it’s impossible not to beam at him.

“That sounds so exciting!” I cheer, and my body flickers like a TV with a bad signal for a moment before I get it under control. The exercise mat in the corner sags a bit against the wall. “We’d have the coolest combos, nobody would ever be able to even touch us!”

Mirio holds up his hands and I immediately slap them in a double high five. It’s the start of the super-cool-secret-can’t-touch-this-quirks handshake we’ve developed over the last two months of near constant training. Amajiki has to rapidly pick a different wall to shove his head into, because our synchronized cartwheels would have kicked him otherwise. 

We call it a handshake, but really we’ve evolved past silly restrictions like being limited to our hands in a handshake.

“What are you doing, Mirio,” Amajiki moans, and his face is bright red with embarrassment. “You said we could go home after your training session.”

Mirio laughs, and grabs his friend by the arm before towing him off to the door. “Oh right, see you tomorrow Alina-chan! Hey, Tamaki, why don’t you try sparring with us tomorrow? It’ll be great practice for both of you,” he encourages, pausing in the door frame to look back at me hopefully.

I smile in what I hope is an approachable way. “I trust your judgment, Mirio. If you say it’s a good plan, I’m in.” I hum to myself a bit before adding onto my statement. “Besides, I could always use another friend here, if you’d like to be friends Amajiki,” I bow politely.

Amajiki looks frozen, as if he has absolutely no earthly clue what to do with an open offer of friendship. He seems perfectly nice, for all that he’s clearly extremely shy, I think to myself, biting my bottom lip as my mind wanders for a moment. And even if he wasn’t, it’s not like I have enough friends in this country to turn one down. But still, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, and that might have been too much for him from a brand new person.

“O-o-ok-k” Amajiki’s stutter breaks through my nervous thoughts. “Really? That sounds great! Don’t feel obligated if it’s overwhelming, obviously, but if you want to then I’d like to get to know you,” I smile towards the two boys. “I need to get going too, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I slip past them and out of the gym, winding my way towards the UA gates and my temporary home beyond them.

--------

“W-who even was that??

“That’s Alina-chan! She’s an American exchange student, the one who helped me work on that new move I was showing you in heroics class the other day. Her quirk makes it really hard to catch her, but it’s kind of funky sometimes, so Sir asked me if I’d be willing to help her out sometimes, since we’ve got a lot of similar problems. Turns out, she’s pretty cool to hang out with too.”

“I kn-know Fat said I should work on being social and talking to new people, but you have to warn me Mirio!”

“Sorry, sorry! I just thought that maybe a middle schooler would be easier, since you wouldn’t be around her all the time.”

“She seems ok. And training with just you and one new person is better. But what if she hates me and I’m not good at people like you are, Mirio, and all the first years next year will know and want to talk to me and I can’t do that!”

“Hey, it’ll all be ok! Alina-chan is pretty relaxed. Just think of her like… she’s my little sister! We’re a lot alike anyways, and who knows? Maybe it’ll help!”

--------

0 days until the UA entrance exam

(4) Unread Messages

 

From: Sasaki Mirai, sent at 06:37

You’re prepared for this. Do your best, remember to pace yourself, and good luck.

 

From: Amajiki Tamaki, sent at 07:14

goodluck today alina !

 

From: Togata Mirio, sent at 07:36

WOOOOOOO IT’S BUTT KICKING DAY ૮ ˙Ⱉ˙ ა 

GOOD LUCK KOUHAI YOU GOT THIS!!!!!!!!! ＼＼\(۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶//／／

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 07:51

Good luck today sis!! We’re all cheering for you over here as much as we can. Hopefully you see this early enough to remember to eat breakfast before you pass out like a dummy again!!

--------

My name is Alina. If today goes well, I’ll be a first year at UA High. One day, I’m going to become a hero who’s strong enough to never need saving again.

Notes:

Hello, and thanks for reading my new story! I'll be doing my best to keep to a regular updating schedule, for those who are interested.

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia or any its related characters, IP, etc., and I'm making no profit from writing this. I only own my original characters that I have created for the purpose of this story.

Chapter 2: The Starting Line

Summary:

Alina takes her entrance exam and has a few meaningful moments with friends both old and new.

Notes:

Couple of notes before I jump in:

I switch back and forth between "Sasaki Mirai" and "Sir Nighteye", although they're the same person. As a rule of thumb, Alina refers to him as "Sasaki" in the context of her guardian and caretaker, and "Sir Nighteye" is in the context of his hero work or related topics.

I apologize in advance for any awkward pacing in this story. I always feel like OC stories run a serious risk of just retelling canon, so I'm trying to push through some of the initial events quickly to avoid that. If I skim over something, it's a safe bet that it happened rough as it did in canon without Alina affecting any major changes.

Italics are Alina's internal monologue.

Small sections of dialogue taken from BNHA Season 1, Episode 5.

The UA Entrance Exam

CRASH!

The metal under my hands screeches as a quick burst of energy allows me to wrench it into pieces. I laugh, whirling away from the 2-pointer I just destroyed to hurl the hunk of metal in my hands into the joint of the 3-pointer coming around the corner behind me. It sputters and dies, and I see that it’s been cut rather neatly in two.

So add 5 more to my score, hell yeah! I fist pump to myself as I run towards the next block in search of more robots. That makes 36 so far, but Present Mic never said what the benchmark for a passing score would be. I guess the best idea is to just keep going as long as I can and hope it’s enough.

As I pick up the pace, rushing further into the center of the fake city, another 3-point robot comes barreling up the cross street I’m approaching. It reaches the intersection just a second before I do, and beeps as it locks onto a new target. 

I set my stance, ready to meet it as it turns to me, but to my surprise it keeps on its street, zooming right past me without acknowledgement. I look down the road and see it looming over a skinny boy with purple hair who is desperately dodging out of its way.

“Hey, bolthead!” I shout, and in an instant I’m right on top of the robot, using all my momentum from running to shove a spinning kick through its side. The robot staggers, and the distraction gives my new purple friend just enough time to shove another piece of scrap metal through the bot’s eye. It sputters and dies, and I wipe a hand across my face in an attempt to keep my long black hair from sticking to the dirt and oily grime on my cheeks before I turn and face the boy across the robot carcass from me.

“Gross, these things keep leaking all over me,” I mutter in English, before smiling at him. “Hi, I’m Alina. Are you ok? Looked like you might have been in a tight spot there,” I say, carefully enunciating my Japanese. From his raised eyebrow, he notices my lack of fluency.

“I’m fine. You didn’t have to do that, I don’t need pity,” he replies curtly, and he turns to make his way out of the narrow street we’ve found ourselves on. This time it’s my eyebrow that raises, and I’m just about to open mouth to tell this rude guy that he could at least say 'thank you for helping me, even though I clearly super didn’t need it', when I wince and stumble forward half a second before a massive explosion goes off right over our heads.

“DIE YOU SHITTY ROBOT SCUM!!” A blonde boy with explosions bursting from his palms flies (flies? OK, that’s kind of cool, a corner of my brain notes even as the rest of it screams at me and tries to reorient) over our street to let a massive blast loose against a pack of 2-pointers on the next block. I focus for a moment, freezing in place and unintentionally pulling my temporary companion back with me.

“Hey, what are you doing? Not very heroic to keep someone from finishi-” he starts to sneer, but I unfreeze and suddenly tackle him forward, sending both of us flying into the intersection as a fake balcony that had been destabilized in Boom Boom Boy’s overhead strike came crashing down right where we had been standing a moment before.

I pick myself up quickly, brushing myself off and desperately willing the ringing in my ears to fade. To my surprise, the purple boy takes my hand when I offer it, allowing me to pull him back onto his feet.

“Sorry about that, didn’t have time to do much else. Good luck on the rest of the exam! Hopefully, I’ll see you in the hero course,” I give him a smile and a nod as Present Mic’s voice comes over the speakers to call the 5 minute warning, before turning and bolting towards the next bunch of robots that I can find. Setting my sights on a group of 4 that cornered a purple haired girl with aux cords coming from her ears, I smile to myself and throw as much energy as I can spare into my quirk. 

After all, if I’m going to see anyone in the hero course, I have to make it there myself!

--------

1 week after the UA entrance exam

My nervous hands fumble the heavy envelope, and it slides through my insubstantial fingers for a fraction of a second before I just manage to catch the corner.

“Well? Open it open it open it, we have to see what class you’re going to be in!” Mirio cheers from across the desk we’re grouped around, starting a drumroll as I slide my nails into the gap at the edge of the envelope and tear the paper open. Next to me, Amajiki’s eyes are locked on the metal disc that slides out to land on the table, but he spares a second to give me a quick, but honest smile as the recording flickers to life. “You’ve got this, Alina,” he mutters quietly, and my heart warms at the support that these two amazing friends show me.

“YEAAAHHHH, What is UP, Yoruhiko Alina!! Thanks for tuning into this super rad broadcast, listener,” Present Mic’s image and voice come to life as more footsteps come up behind me, and I turn to see Sir Nighteye, Bubble Girl, and Centipeder join our little group in the main office of the Nighteye agency. I beam at them, and a wave of fondness for these people crashes through me; every one of them spent so much time and energy helping me over the last year, and I’m so thankful that we’ve been a part of each others’ lives.

“Alright, let’s get down to business so we can get to our prime time content. Yoruhiko Alina, you scored a sick 91% on the written exam, putting you way above the average audience member. On top of that, you charted a sweet 41 points during the practical exam!” he announces, making a rock and roll sign with his hand in the camera’s general direction. I slump in relief. I had really thought that Japanese grammar would kill me on that written test.

“But! There’s an encore to this score that you students didn’t know about! Taking out villains is great, but heroes should also remember to watch out for all their listeners. That’s why each student is also given points for any super rad heroic rescues during the exam. The committee watching your test has given you 20 rescue points, which puts your full points playlist at a sweet 61 total points! You scored 7th overall, which means…” he pauses to take a visibly deep breath, and I grab for Amajiki’s hand and squeeze hard, full of nerves. He makes a high pitched wheeze as his face turns bright red, but to his credit he’s gotten used to my habit of physical contact over the last several months we’ve been friends. He doesn’t pull away, and even manages to lightly squeeze back.

“Yoruhiko Alina, welcome to YOUR HERO ACADEMIA as a member of UA High’s Heroics Department in Class 1-A!!!!” 

“YES!” I scream with joy, drowning out whatever else Mic is saying. Amajiki smiles at me, and I feel another quick squeeze of my hand before I’m scooped up and spun around by an elated Mirio, who whoops with excitement before setting me on his shoulders.

“I knew you could do it!! We all knew you could do it, weren’t we just saying we all knew you’d get in Tamaki??” Mirio rambles. “Ah, I’m so excited for you, you’re finally gonna be our official kouhai!! I have to text Hado, she’ll kill me if we make her wait!” I laugh freely and pat his head as he reaches up to put me down.

“Congratulations, Alina. You earned this,” Sasaki’s hand lands on my shoulder as Mirio sets me on the ground again, and I don’t hesitate to wrap my arms around him in a hug. He tenses, surprised, but gives me a small hug in return, and I feel my smile grow wider. I didn’t know what to expect from the famously stoic hero when he first took me in, but once we warmed up to each other he quickly became the closest thing I had to family on this side of the Pacific. 

“You’re going to be an amazing hero, kid, and maybe one day you can even intern here with us!” Bubble Girl squeals as she and Centipeder sweep me up into a group hug. “Shouldn’t I be the one extending offers of employment?” Nighteye asks, pushing his glasses up his nose to look at her sternly. “I may be Alina’s caretaker, but any internship will be contingent upon good performance at UA. Nepotism will not factor in,” he says severely.

I disentangle myself from her as she leaps into a list of all the ways she thinks I’ll be a great hero who will fit in perfectly here at the agency, making my way back over to Amajiki. He smiles hesitantly, and looks relieved when I hold my hands up for a high five instead of grabbing him in yet another hug.

(I’m reminded yet again that if I ever meet Fat Gum, I owe him several trips to an all you can eat buffet. Without his encouragement, Amajiki never would’ve said two words to me, let alone pushed himself to make a new friend.)

“Congrats, Alina. I knew you could do it,” he says with a gentle smile. I give him an outright grin in return as I settle back into my spot next to him and lean against the desk. “Not without you, I couldn’t have! Seriously, Amajiki, you’re an awesome sparring partner, and you taught me a ton about how to handle my quirk in unexpected situations too. I can’t thank you enough, I wouldn’t have gotten nearly this far without you,” I say honestly, and he blushes at the praise and looks away.

“Y-you can call me Tamaki, if you want to” he mumbles, so quiet that it takes me a moment to realize what he said. But then, he pulls himself upright and forces the rest of his words out, speaking more clearly even though he still can’t quite bring himself to make eye contact. “I-I already call you Alina a-anyways, and we’re going to be at the same school now, and you’re my f-friend,” he states, voice shaky but firm in his resolve.

My mouth drops open and my lavender eyes widen in shock. The offer blows me away. Never in a million years did I think he’d feel comfortable enough - wait a second.

“Are you sure? I’d be happy to, but I don’t want you to feel obligated just because I feel more comfortable with people addressing me by my first name. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable,” I say quietly. When I moved here, it felt very odd for me to only be referred to as Yoruhiko, so I asked my new friends to call me Alina instead. But that’s a very American custom, and I don’t want my shy, sweet friend to feel like he has to reciprocate if he doesn’t want to.

“Yeah, I’m positive. Please, call me Tamaki,” he says, and raises his gaze to meet mine. I hold the eye contact, scrutinizing him for any sign of hesitancy or discomfort. But I find none, and I allow the smile that was threatening to overtake my face to unfurl. This time, I can’t stop myself from launching myself at him for a hug. “Alina! What are you doing?” he yelps in surprise, but catches me and steadies us both before I manage to tackle him to the floor. I grin up at him. “Hugging you, Tamaki! You deserve a hug, and you made me really happy! Plus I’m celebrating so I want one,” I declare, before I shove my face forward into his chest and tighten my grip.

Slowly, I feel Tamaki’s arms loop around me, settling loosely around my shoulders before giving me a small squeeze. I hide my massive smile against his collarbone and just squeeze back for a moment, before letting him go so that I don’t overwhelm him more than I already have. He gives me one last smile, before lightly pushing me back towards Mirio, who immediately grabs me for the impromptu dance party he’s starting.

For a moment, I look around. My heart feels so full of love for all the people who are here celebrating with me, and I know I’d do anything at all for them. 

I just wish that there was a way for the rest of my family to celebrate with me too.

--------

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(3) Unread Messages

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 21:48

good work kiddo!!! we’re so proud of you!!!

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 22:09

You did amazing Ali, we’re so happy for you!!!! Sending all our love <3

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 22:57

wow , my baby sister moving up in the world. remember me when you’re rich and famous?

 

To: (Unknown Number), sent at 23:01

Definitely NOT your baby sister, asshole

--------

Weeks pass, full of laughs and celebration and as much time with my friends as I can possibly fit in. Mirio and Tamaki, along with their friend Hado Nejire, help me with my school shopping. My backpack is full of fresh notebooks and other school supplies, and my phone background now proudly sports a truly ridiculous selfie we took in the mall food court. Hado’s holding the camera, smiling prettily. Mirio is caught frozen in midair, laughing and trying to jump on my back for the picture even though he’s close to twice my size, and I’m giggling while I try to shove his deadweight off of me. Tamaki is on my other side, on the edge of the picture, rolling his eyes at our antics, but his fond smile gives his act away. 

Sasaki helps me do all the necessary paperwork to get my uniforms and hero costume, and soon enough I’m standing on the threshold of a, frankly, ridiculously oversized door stamped with an equally large “1-A”. I pause for a second, suddenly filled with nerves. What if my new classmates all think I’m weird, or make fun of my lack of fluency in Japanese? What if I bomb out on the first day, and I can’t match up to all these other people, who are surely amazing and going to be great heroes?

“O-oh, excuse me! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going!”

I stumble, catching myself with a hand against the door as a short boy with green hair bumps into my back and immediately starts spouting apologies.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to! I guess I was just a little nervous, since it’s the first day and all, and I was worried about meeting my new classmates and oh man, you’re probably in Class A aren’t you? And now I made myself look like an idiot before I even get in the door and-” he immediately spirals off into a long, rambling sentence. I blink, stunned at how many words this kid can fit into a single breath, before I shake my head, refocus, and interject.

“Woah, no worries! I think we’re all a little nervous on day 1. Are you in Class A too?” I ask with a friendly smile on my face. The boy smiles back, still nervous and practically shaking. “Y-yeah, I am! I’m Midoriya Izuku,” he says, and I shake his faintly sweaty hand.

“Nice to meet you, Midoriya. I’m Yoruhiko Alina, but you can just call me Alina! I was born in America, so I’m used to people using my given name” I cheerfully inform him, and for a moment the sheer panic on his face makes me think his knees might give out underneath him. 

“A-a-are you sure? I mean, we don’t really even know each other and you want me to call you by your first name???” he stammers out, face bright red. I giggle a bit to myself. “Yep, sure am! We’re going to be classmates after all, so may as well do it from the start!” I cheer.

“Now, you ready to face the day Midoriya?” I ask, and before he has a chance to respond in the negative, I slide the door open and walk into the classroom, with Midoriya on my heels.

Several more of my new classmates are already there, although I’m slightly disappointed that I don’t see the purple boy from the entrance exam. Maybe he’s in Class B, I ponder to myself. I check the seating chart and find that my desk is on the far side of the room, in front of one that’s already filled by a tall girl with a black ponytail that sticks up in a swirl behind her head.

She looks friendly, I think, starting the walk to my seat. I’m interrupted in the midst of my thoughts by screaming that comes from the front of my row. Oh, joy - I recognize that voice.

“Your old school put a stick up your ass? Or were you born with it?” sneers the blonde boy who nearly dropped a block on concrete on my head at the entrance exam. He’s seated with his feet kicked up on his desk near the front of my row, two seats in front of mine. He’s steadily increasing his volume in the face of a boy with dark blue hair and square glasses making odd chopping motions with his arms to emphasize his point. With a sigh, I approach to see if I can squeeze past them without engaging in whatever they’re already arguing over.

“Hey, can you move a little? I sit further back in this row,” I ask the blonde, who’s sprawled over his desk in such a way that he’s blocking a good portion of the aisle. He whips around, turning from the boy he was arguing with towards me with a look of absolute rage on his face.

I do not have enough energy to deal with this yet, I think to myself. How the hell does this guy keep this up? Won’t he tire himself out at some point?

“Hah? What’d you say, you shitty extra? Why do you think you can tell me what to do?” he yells, with each sentence increasing in volume until the last one comes out at a full roar. From behind me, I hear Midoriya make a small noise in fear. I just roll my eyes. Idiots who think that being a loud asshole equates to getting their way aren’t anything new for me.

Although I’ll give this guy some credit. He’s got a better lung capacity than the kids at my school back home who tried this trick on me. His volume is impressive.

“First of all no, unless I’m missing some piece of Japanese grammar that turns a question into a demand. Second of all, class is starting soon and I still need to get to my seat, so if we can table the rage for later that’d be great,” I say, rolling my eyes and putting just a bit more of an American drawl in my accent than normal.

I want to make friends, I really do, but I also really just can’t help myself from needling this guy a little.

Predictably, Blondie swells up for an imminent explosion. I hear a crackling sound and glance down to see that he’s pulled his hands from his pockets and his palms are lighting up with crackling sparks. “What the fuck did you just say to me, extra?” he growls as he sits up straighter to try to intimidate me, his bright red eyes boring into mine.

Glasses Guy, who’s still on the other side of the desk, sputters in shock. “You would threaten your own classmates?? Quirk usage in classrooms is strictly prohibited, and while I am glad that you have removed your shoes from the furniture I must ask you to cease this at once!” he says, half-shouting as he chops his arms wildly. Blondie turns back around to roar at him without hesitation. 

I sigh, shifting to move around the blonde boy to get to my seat. “Really two for two on minor inconvenience,” I mutter under my breath in English, and to my surprise the aux cord girl from the exam who’s sitting on my other side laughs under her breath. Huh. Good to know who speaks English here, then.

I smile at her as I try to slide past, and she smiles back for a moment before Blondie and Glasses spot Midoriya, who freezes when he realizes he’s no longer hidden behind me. “It’s you!” Glasses exclaims, power walking up to Midoriya. “I’m Tenya Iida, from Somei Private Academy. You realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn’t you?”

“Somei, huh?” Blondie sneers at the newly-introduced Iida, and I finally extricate myself and plop down at my seat as the boys at the front of the classroom continue to rage, lecture, and attempt to disappear into the ground (respectively). 

Sighing, I tuck my bag under my seat and turn around to face the people surrounding me. There’s an empty desk in front of me, but to my right is a boy with a raven’s head who nods a greeting at me. Behind him sits a boy with red and white hair that’s split down the middle, who is blatantly avoiding interaction with everyone around him, so I nod back and smile at the bird boy before turning to the girl behind me, who is practically alight with excitement.

“Good morning! I’m Yoruhiko Alina, and I’m glad to be your new desk neighbor!” I introduce myself as politely as I can, careful with the words that are still a little unfamiliar to me. She smiles back. “It’s so nice to meet you, Yoruhiko. I’m Yaoyorozu Momo,” she says. 

“Oh, please call me Alina! I was born in America, and even after I moved here I never quite got used to the whole surname custom,” I say, and she perks up a bit. “Of course, and please call me Momo as well! Or Yaomomo, if you’re more comfortable with that,” she says and I nod in response. “You’re from America, you said? If you don’t mind me asking, where in America did you live? I’ve visited New York before with my family and it was a very interesting place!”

I laugh a bit. “That’s definitely one way to put it! It’s a very cool place, I’ve spent time there before I moved here. What about it did you enjoy?” I ask, and our chat about different areas to visit carries us right up until the door to the classroom opens.

There’s a fluffy yellow lump laying on the floor of the hallway, and it has a face that’s talking to us.

UA is already interesting. 

“Welcome to UA’s Hero Course,” the lump says, before a zipper slides down slightly to reveal a hand holding a juice pouch. The lump’s face takes a hold of the straw and sucks the juice pouch dry.

I trade incredulous looks with Momo, both of us absolutely lost.

“It took eight seconds before you all shut up,” the lump says, and it sits up and unzips to reveal that it’s actually a scruffy looking man who was wrapped up in a puffy yellow sleeping bag. He climbs out of the bag to face the class. “That’s not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that.”

He steps fully into the room and takes a second to survey the class looking back at him. “Hello, I’m Aizawa Shota. Your teacher.”

I hear Momo’s shocked gasp from behind me, and Midoriya’s screech of surprise from where he’s still standing at the front of the room. This guy is our teacher? He looks like he needs to sleep for a few years and take a bath before he’s even ready to leave the house, let alone teach a heroics class!

He pulls out gym uniforms from his sleeping bag (which I very deliberately don’t think too hard about) with orders for us to get changed and meet outside. 

In the locker rooms, I claim the locker on the top row next to Momo’s and introduce myself to the other five girls in the class. “Our teacher’s kind of weird, don’t you think?” Ashido Mina asks as all the girls store their regular uniforms away and head out to the field together. I shrug in response. “Maybe, but if he works as a UA teacher then he’s got to be a pro. Maybe he’s just a weird pro,” I joke, and the girls share a laugh as we arrive at the practice area where Mr. Aizawa is waiting.

I stand next to Momo and Uraraka Ochako, who worries aloud about missing orientation, but Mr. Aizawa coldly shoots her down and explains the purpose of the quirk assessment test we’re all about to take. I smile to myself as he outlines the tests we’re about to go through. It’s a very, very good thing that Sasaki and Mirio were insistent that I work on physical conditioning in addition to training my quirk. 

“Bakugo, you managed to get the most points on the entrance exam,” Mr. Aizawa says, and the rage blonde from earlier grunts. Really? I think, raising an eyebrow. Well, I suppose I’m not entirely surprised. Still, he doesn’t exactly strike me as the rescue points type; that’s a lot of robots to explode.

While I was mulling Bakugo’s scores over, Mr. Aizawa handed him a softball and had Bakugo launch it with the force of one of his explosions behind it. I flinch, better prepared for this explosion than I had been at the entrance exam, but I still get a concerned look from Momo as the ball rockets away. The class exclaims loudly over his impressive distance throw, which is admittedly impressive. I certainly can’t launch objects over 700 meters.

I start to slowly stretch my arms and legs, letting the class’ excited chatter about being able to actually use their quirks wash over me. Mr. Aizawa, however, does not. “So you think this will be fun? Idiots. You have three years here to become a hero, did you think this will be all playtime and games? You’ll compete in eight physical tests today to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last place will be deemed to have none, and expelled immediately,” he intones with a manic grin.

I hiss in a shocked breath. Expelled? That seems a bit harsh for day one. But fine. I’ll just have to make sure I do well on as many tests as I can so that I score high overall. That’ll show this guy my 'potential'.

Under absolutely no circumstances will I let this hobo man stop me from achieving my dreams. If I have to push myself to meet his and UA’s expectations, then good. That’s why I’m here.

I share a determined look with Momo as protests and outrage break out amongst the class. Aizawa shuts them all down with no hesitation, and slowly but surely people start to shift from panicked to determined. Although, I’m slightly worried about Midoriya - he looks like he’s about to cry.

I’m distracted from my observations by the announcement of the first test: the 50m dash.

Perfect.

I’m called up first, alongside Iida. He takes a ready stance, and the engines in his calves rumble and start to emit a faint exhaust trail - clearly some kind of speed-boosting quirk. I stand casually, a step back from the start line with my hands in my pockets and a carefree smile on my face.

Iida shoots me a dirty look, but doesn’t have a chance to reprimand me before the robot measuring our speed calls out. “Runners on your marks. Ready…”

I take a step forward to the start line, looking for all the world like I’m about to stroll down the running lane.

The sound of a gunshot rings out. The race is on.

Iida leaps forward, the engines in his legs propelling him rapidly towards the finish line.

I disappear.

Notes:

Yes, I'm throwing Mineta out of my story. Yes, I think Mineta is a slimeball. Yes, I refuse to write Mineta unless it involves him being publicly shamed or punted into the sun. Also, his place in the Class 1-A seating chart was really just too convenient not to use.

Fic rec: "My Light in a Dark Place" by Sydders09, for a very very wholesome and supportive Tamaki (although make sure to read TWs before reading).

Chapter 3: The Quirky Class A

Summary:

end of quirk assessment test & battle trials

Notes:

best boy perspective best boy perspective!!!

Some lines taken from MHA Season 1.

Quirk Assessment Test, UA High School

 

“0.34 seconds,” the measuring robot announces.

“Woah, what just happened?”

“Who is that girl?”

“What the FUCK was that??”

“Did she just teleport? That’s so cool!”

The comments of my classmates swirl around me as the step that I began behind the starting line hits the ground on the far side of the finish line.

I smile, distracting from the deep breath I take to settle the nausea and momentary disorientation that come with using my quirk, and give Iida a friendly nod when he crosses the line exactly 2.7 seconds behind me. He skids to a stop and whirls around, absolutely stunned.

“Yoruhiko, how did you do that?” he asks, and he looks slightly peeved. Understandable, given that I just thrashed him in his strongest test. “It’s quite rare that I’m beaten so soundly in a test of speed, even one like this where I’m limited in gear shifting."

I face him and give a small bow. “I just got lucky, I suppose,” I say, but am cut off by Mr. Aizawa. 

“You two are finished, move out of the way so the next two can go,” he drones as Asui Tsuyu and a boy with a thick tail step up to the line. Iida and I step off to the side, and I rejoin Momo in the crowd of observing students.

“That was really impressive Alina,” she says with a smile. “I won’t be able to match your time, but I hope I’ll be able to compete with you on later tests.” I grin and bounce in place, continuing some of the stretches I had started earlier.

“To be entirely fair, covering distance in negligible amounts of time is kind of what my Quirk is for,” I laugh. “I’ll have less of an advantage going into other tests, I’m excited to see how our scores turn out!”

“Tch,” I hear from behind me, and turn to see Bakugo brush past me on his way to the starting line, glaring at me with all his pent up rage from the classroom. “Your shitty quirk may help you now, Glitchy, but you’ll be fucking dead as soon as you can’t outspeed some shitty test.”

I laugh out loud, and Bakugo’s eyebrows furrow further at the unexpected reaction. “Did you just call me Glitchy? Like a video game character glitching out of place? Oh, that’s actually really funny,” I chuckle.

Aizawa calls Bakugo’s name impatiently before he can respond, and he snarls at me before stalking to the start line. As soon as he starts running, explosions light up from his palms to push him forward, narrowly missing Midoriya in the lane next to him. Four seconds later, he lands, and his glare only gets stronger when I throw a friendly thumbs up his way. 

By my side, Momo gives him a concerned look. “He really takes himself seriously, doesn’t he? It’s helpful to push yourself to be the best, of course, but this is something else,” she notes, and I bob my head in agreement.

The tests continue quickly, with my quirk giving me boosts in the standing long jump and the distance run. Momo shines consistently with what I learn is a Creation quirk, which is so blatantly cool that I squeal a bit in excitement when she tells me about it. 

The red and white boy who sits next to her, Todoroki, also does consistently well, producing ice to quite literally skate through, and the bird-headed boy who sits next to me turns out to have a bird-shaped shadow monster that lives inside him. I decide right then and there that both of them need to be my friends, because they seem very interesting and also I have so many questions for a literal shadow monster(!), and they may be good people to eventually team up with when we’re all pros. We’ll make a super cool back of the class friendship corner! I nod to myself, and hold my hand up for Momo to high five, which she does despite her visible confusion. She’s a queen.

Uraraka launches a ball to infinity, which also earns her some cheers, and Midoriya has to redo his ball throw after Mr. Aizawa erased his quirk on his first try. Bakugo tries to charge Midoriya in a rage after Midoriya’s second throw beats his score, but he’s restrained by Mr. Aizawa’s capture scarf and Erasure.

At the end of the tests, Mr. Aizawa projects the final ranks. Between my quirk and my overall physical fitness, I’ve ranked fourth in the class, behind Bakugo, Todoroki, and Momo herself. I find our names and grin at my new friend, offering her another high five that she delicately taps. 

Aizawa announces that no one’s going home, and I roll my eyes. Either way, it was a good challenge and showed me some areas that I still need to work on. My quirk gives me good speed and mobility, and I’ve worked a lot on balance to help me cope with the side effects, but I’m painfully aware that my baseline physical strength could use some fixing.

Once Aizawa dismisses us for the day, Momo and I walk back to class together to grab our things. On our way, we bump into Jiro and Asui, and the four of us end up chatting on the way to the gates, and stopping for crepes together on our way to the train station.

I leave my first day at UA with three new contacts in my phone, ears ringing with the laughter of my new friends, and a heart full of happiness and determination to keep making my time at UA the best it can possibly be.

 

--------

 

I meet up with Mirio and Tamaki at the station after I say my goodbyes to my new friends, and tell them all about my classmates and the quirk assessment test we went through. Both visibly wince when I tell them that I have Mr. Aizawa as a homeroom teacher.

“Wait, you’re telling me Eraserhead actually let a full homeroom pass the first day of class??” Mirio demands when I tell him about the ‘logical ruse’ Aizawa used to motivate us. “Last year he expelled his entire first year class because he claimed they had no potential!”

Tamaki nods solemnly and his knees shake a little bit. “He’s terrifying,” he adds, looking unsettled just at the thought of having a homeroom teacher that scary. I frown, mentally adding that to what I know about Aizawa. “So he probably meant it at the beginning of the test then, and just changed his mind somewhere along the way. It’s interesting for a guy like that to decide that every student in his new class has potential, though,” I ruminate.

Tamaki shivers with anxiety, shoving his hands in his pockets and ducking his chin down to hide his eyes. “I-I’m glad you made it through, Alina,” he mutters quietly, and I smile quietly in his direction. 

“Me too, Tamaki. Me too.”

The three of us walk and talk, and they tell me about the opening assembly my class missed. I share more about Aizawa’s tests, and both of them have some excellent ideas on ways for me to improve my training in light of the results. 

When we split for the day, each heading in the direction of our homes, Tamaki pulls me aside for a moment and presses a cloth bundle into my hands, his face fiery red. “H-here, I m-made these for you,” he mutters quietly. “They’re really calorie dense for your quirk, but should still taste ok. UA training is really hard at first.”

I unwrap the bundle to find a small package of onigiri padded safely in the middle. They look like they could’ve been made in a high-end restaurant, without even a single grain of rice out of place.

I’m caught completely by surprise, shocked that the shyest person I know went so far out of his way to make a recipe he probably specifically found for me, and drummed up the courage to give me the thoughtful gift on top of everything else. Has anyone ever done anything kinder for me? It’s incredibly touching, to know that Tamaki has put in effort to help me through UA, even if we aren’t in the same class or year.

I look up, smiling so wide I feel my eyes start to tear up, and Tamaki groans before abruptly turning and speed-walking after Mirio, who’s halfway down the hill and laughing at his friend’s reaction to my happiness. I wave after both of them. “Thank you so much Tamaki! I’m sure I’ll love them!” I shout after them, and his shoulders hunch as he turns just long enough to give me a small nod before sprinting back after Mirio. Mirio only laughs more, turning around to give me a full wave goodbye before we all head home.

First day: in the books.

 

--------

 

The next day, I arrive back at UA bright and early after meeting up with Mirio and Tamaki for an early breakfast, and slide into my seat at the back of a mostly-empty classroom. The only other people there are Iida, which doesn’t particularly surprise me, and Todoroki, who gives me a cold stare when I sit down.

My eyebrows furrow as I offer him a polite smile. What crawled up his pants and died this morning? Hmm, well. One way to find out.

“Good morning Iida, morning Todorki!” I chirp, as peppy as I can muster at the early hour. I’m still a bit low on energy this soon after waking up, but Tamaki’s (delicious) high-energy snacks that he gave me yesterday have paid off already. “Are you guys excited for our first full day as hero students?”

Todorki’s response is a flat stare and cold silence. 

“Ah Yoruhiko, good morning to you as well! I’m glad to see that you also adhere to the philosophy of arriving early to class,” Iida says, arms chopping away. “I’m indeed intrigued by what we’ll be learning in our first heroics class today. There are so many lessons fundamental to being a hero with integrity, and a premier institution like UA surely has an excellent curriculum that’s carefully curated for optimal learning.”

I hum in agreement, nodding my head. “Yeah, should be interesting. Also you guys can just call me Alina,” I say, and smile just a bit when Iida sputters in propriety and surprise. “I was born in America, so I got used to going by my first name and never quite managed to adapt when I moved here.”

“Ah, I see! In that case, I will endeavor to use the form of address that makes you feel comfortable, as I assume you will do as well,” Iida nods seriously at me. “If you don’t mind my asking, Alina, what is your quirk? I was quite surprised at the result of our race yesterday.”

I freeze for a moment. I had been so excited yesterday about finally starting at UA that I’d used my quirk more liberally than I’d meant to, and had even shown off a little bit. As fun as it was, I hadn’t thought through to the end of how this would go. Explaining the details of what I’m actually capable of has gone wrong enough times that it always makes me anxious. 

Freaky! Invasive! Crazy girl! Can’t even stay in one place without passing out like a weakling!

I can’t just not answer the question, but maybe I can choose my words carefully.

“My quirk? Oh, it’s a type of teleportation, but it’s not all that special! I can move pretty fast, like yesterday, but I can only go so far from my starting point and the side effects can be pretty nasty if I overuse it,” I laugh nervously, my eyes drawn downwards. I stare determinedly at my hands in my lap, wringing my fingers together. Bracing myself for the reaction. “Yesterday was really just a good set up for me. And it’s honestly taken a long time to even be able to do that much, so I really do need to train more,” I add.

“Ah, I see. Still, you should give yourself credit for what you are able to do, as I’m sure your speed will be quite useful in a heroic career,” Iida says encouragingly, and my head snaps up. Is he serious? The look in his eyes says that he is, but that wasn’t what I was expecting him to say at all.

I give him a small, timid, but genuine smile as the door to the room slides open and a knot of bodies and excited voices pours through it. The chatter of new friend groups forming overlaps in a happy cacophony that fills the air, and though it’s too loud to continue my chat with Iida from across the room, the smile stays on my face as I turn around to say hello to Momo.

 

-------

 

Shouto observes silently as the classroom fills up around him, keeping one eye on Yoruhiko (Alina, she said, but he’s not entirely sure that was directed at him or just Iida, and either way he’s not about to call a girl he hasn’t even spoken to by her given name) and her small smile as she turns around to converse with Yaoyorozu. 

It’s interesting, having a teleporter in his class. Even if this one doesn’t claim to have much confidence or real combat strength. Warp quirks are rare, though, and Shouto isn’t sure if he’s heard of a recent pro with any kind of teleportation.

He’ll keep an eye on her for now. If she turns out to be weak, then it’s very little wasted time. But if she turns out to be strong, he’ll be prepared and perfectly willing to push past her on his way to surpassing his old man.

If he’s going to outstrip Endeavor with his ice alone, then one short little American girl shouldn’t be of much consequence at all.

 

-------

 

 The morning flies by, and soon enough All Might is bursting through the door. I grin and cheer with the rest of the class. All Might may be a Japanese-based hero now, but he did plenty of work in the US when he was first starting out. He’s famous around the world for a good reason.

“Today’s lesson will pull no punches!” he booms, holding up a card with “BATTLE” written in bright red. The class cheers in excitement, and it only intensifies when shelves with our costume cases on them slide out from the wall at the front of the room. I bounce out of my seat with excitement, grab my case, and run with the rest of the class to the changing rooms.

In the locker room, the girls all hastily open our cases and start suiting up for the first time. Colorful fabrics are pulled out and exclaimed over, support items are praised for their cleverness, and accessory pieces are snapped on tight. The seven of us look around at each other, seeing the heroes we will become for the first time.

“Oh wow, Alina! That looks great on you! The colors really match you well,” Ashido gushes as I finish tying my hair up. I smile and do a little spin, very proud of my design. “Thank you, I love yours too!” I chirp in return, and she laughs in happiness before running off to coo over Uraraka’s pink space suit. 

I look at myself in the mirror, smoothing any wrinkles out of place. My costume is a black sleeveless bodysuit with a high collar that hugs tight to my skin until it’s covered by calf-high boots in a dark purple. It’s decorated with a series of lavender stripes in the same color as my eyes that form a V-shape covering my chest, thick enough to stretch over my heart. My face is covered with a black domino mask, and the brightest splash of color in the whole thing are the yellow and red ribbons tied into my ponytail that are waving happily in the breeze.

Momo falls in next to me as we stride out the tunnel from the lockers into the outdoor training ground where All Might is waiting for us. I nudge her with my shoulder, grinning. “I love the colors you chose for your costume! We almost match a little,” I tease, flicking the ends of my hair ribbons her way.

“Ah, thank you! It’s not quite what I was expecting, but unfortunately I need plenty of skin to be exposed in order to utilize the maximum surface area for my quirk,” she admits bashfully, cheeks tinted pink. “It’s something I’ll have to get used to, I suppose.”

I nod in understanding. “Yeah, with your quirk that makes sense. Still, be careful not to drop your book!” I gesture, pointing at the thick encyclopedia balanced on her shelf belt. “And if anyone makes you feel weird about it, point me at them and I’ll be happy to play the dumb American girl who isn’t used to Japanese politeness so I can yell at them for you!”

That tricks an honest laugh out of her. “Thank you for the offer Alina, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” she giggles, covering her mouth with one hand as she laughs.

When we reach the crowd that the rest of our class is forming, I smile with excitement when I see all the amazing costumes our class has dreamed up and brought to life. All of them look amazing, from Tokoyami’s intimidating cloak to Asui’s friendly colors and happy design to Midoriya’s - is that a bunny suit?

Oh my god, it basically is. Well, to each their own, I guess.

Fortunately, All Might begins his explanation of today’s ‘Heroes vs. Villains’ exercise before I can burst out laughing. He draws lots for partners, and my smile only grows when mine is assigned. I turn to face her, the smile on my face gaining a bit more of an edge as it grows to show teeth.

Momo startles, but when she gives me a determined smile in return I know we’re going to crush this. 

The teams who aren’t in the first match are shuffled off to the waiting room, and I wave at the first four to wish them luck. Iida waves back as he follows Bakugo into the building, and Uraraka smiles and waves cheerfully. Midoriya looks like he’s about to pass out from nerves, and unsurprisingly Bakugo ignores me entirely.

The fight that follows has every eye in the viewing room completely glued to the screens. It’s absolutely brutal, from Bakugo’s initial giant blast right up until the very end, when Midoriya shatters himself to buy Uraraka a chance at victory. But in the end, the triumphant heroes are both on the ground as the villains reel in shock.

“I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing at the start of the fight, but he’s completely outmatched in terms of combat power. Not to mention, Bakugo seems like a natural at all this stuff,” Kaminari grumbles as he watches. Ojiro, standing next to him, nods in agreement.

Midoriya is carted to the infirmary by medbots, and the other three are gathered in the viewing room for a group critique. When All Might names Iida the MVP and asks for feedback, Momo’s hand goes up before anyone else’s.

“Iida embraced this challenge. He was the only one who adapted to his assigned role, and he had a strategy that allowed him to never lose sight of his mission. Bakugo’s judgment was clouded by a personal grudge against Midoriya, and both of them launched reckless attacks that caused a great deal of damage to the surrounding structure. Midoriya’s plan also rendered him helpless, leaving him unable to continue if Uraraka’s actions had not gone according to plan. As for Uraraka, her last attack was far too imprecise. Both of the heroes took advantage of the fact that this was training, and did not respect the spirit of the trial. Neither would have executed such risky moves if the weapon had been real, despite the fact that it won them this exercise,” she lists off, and I look to my left beaming with pride as she calmly lists off her analysis. Out of my peripheral vision, I also see Todoroki watching from her other side, and the eyebrow that’s not covered with ice slides up as she keeps going.

Did Momo impress even the boy with the icy cold attitude?

All Might praises Momo for her thorough work before sending Uraraka, a starry-eyed Iida, and Bakugo to get cleaned up. Bakugo, who looks thoroughly shaken, staring at his hands like he’s never seen them before.

I frown, sidling up next to him as All Might sends Ojiro and Hagakure off as the next villain team. “Hey, you ok?” I ask quietly, trying not to call attention to his state. Up close, I can see him shaking, and he starts violently at the sound of my voice.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Glitchy? I’m not some weakling, of course I’m fucking fine,” he growls out. “Get out of my fucking sight, extra.” He storms off, and the force of his shock and anger is so strong I can almost feel it pushing me out of his space.

I hold up my hands and back off. “OK, OK, getting out. Just wanted to check on you, I’ll leave you to it,” I say, backing off to return to my friends in front of the screens. I slot back in with Momo, Asui, and Tokoyami as the next hero pair starts moving out.

“Good luck you two!” I wave toward Shoji and Todoroki as they leave. Todoroki pauses in the doorway, but only hesitates for a bare moment before leaving. Shoji gives me a nod in return as he follows.

The whistle blows for the next match, and we watch Shoji step up to scout briefly before Todoroki walks into the building and places his right hand on the wall.

The temperature in the room plummets.

Oh. Wow. That’s a lot of ice.

“He was recommended like you were, right?” I mutter to Momo as the whole class shivers and watches in amazement as Todoroki climbs the stairs to the room the fake bomb is stored in. She shakes her head, still watching with rapt attention.

“Not quite like me. He was recommended by his father, Endeavor, and he had the highest score of any of this year’s recommendation students,” she murmurs in reply, and I frown.

“Endeavor? I don’t know all the Japanese heroes yet, but isn’t he the fire guy who’s pretty highly ranked?” I ask in confusion, and she nods in reply. “Yes, he’s the current #2 hero,” she says, distracted as we watch Todoroki lay an ice-covered hand on the bomb. As the buzzer sounds, a wave of heat erupts from Todoroki and the ice rapidly melts to water that drips all over the students in the building.

My frown only grows. If Todoroki has a famous hero as a parent, got into UA on his recommendation, and (judging from the heat wave that melted the ice) has some aspect of his quirk, why does he rely so heavily on his ice? Up until today, that was all any of us had seen him use. You’d think that he’d want to train a heat quirk, maybe even take tips from Endeavor if it’s at all similar in power. After all, what up and coming hero hopeful wouldn’t want free access to training with the #2?

But Todoroki, far from being warm, is completely ice cold. He literally even iced over his entire left side as part of his costume.

I shake the thought off and refocus, but the vestiges linger in the back of my mind. Maybe he’s just quiet, or maybe there’s some kind of activation he needs to meet in order to be able to use heat.

Maybe someday I’ll ask him about it.

 

-------

 

The matches go on smoothly after that, and eventually Momo and I are called up to defend our bomb against a hero team composed of Kaminari and Jiro. We enter the building to find our objective on the top floor, and Momo immediately starts making materials to bar the door and lay traps for the hero team.

“What exactly is your quirk Alina? We should form a joint strategy to ensure we have the chance to take out our opponents,” Momo asks, shooting me a sharp look as I help her stack metal plates against the doorframe.

I hesitate, but I knew this question was coming, and Iida’s similar question this morning gave me the backbone of an answer. “The short version is that I can teleport, allowing me to cover distance within fractions of a second, but not without restrictions. The primary one is range, as I can only move a limited distance from my starting point. The second is contact: I can take things with me, but it’s much harder if they aren’t physically touching my skin,” I gesture toward my skin tight suit and exposed arms, and Momo winces with realization. “The more degrees of separation I have - baggy clothes, for example, or something in my pocket instead of in my hand - the harder it is to take it with me. The last one is the side effects. It’s nausea inducing and disorienting, although it’s gotten better with practice. Overuse will still put me on the ground.”

Momo nods, her face a mask of determination. “Do you need line of sight within your range?” she asks, and I shake my head in the negative. She nods once in reply. “Good. Would you be willing to act as a scout for us then? I suspect the other team will have Jiro find us, then use Kaminari’s electricity to try and incapacitate us. If you can find them first, it will be difficult for Jiro to keep track of your rapid movements and you may be able to lead them off on a false trail.”

I nod, stacking the last of the weights against the door. “You may also want to make some insulation and soundproofing, if you know the structure for it. Leading Jiro around by the ears will only work if she can’t hear you up here - since you won’t be moving around as much, she’ll safely assume you’re guarding the bomb.”

“I can do that,” Momo agrees, laying insulation by the door and across the wall towards the bomb. “I’ll prepare a defense here. Will you be able to come back if needed?”

“Yeah, not a problem. Against this particular team I'll definitely be ok for this amount of time, as long as I don’t go too overboard,” I nod. I smile at my temporary partner, and she returns it. “Good luck!”

I toss her a playful salute, and just catch the sound of her laughter as I vanish from the room, reappearing in a side room just down the hall from the building entrance. I tuck myself against a wall to hide, taking a moment to breathe and focus. A moment later, Jiro and Kaminari walk in, and Jiro’s ear jacks immediately plug into the walls. 

Her eyes widen in alarm, and she frantically whispers to Kaminari. He looks surprised, and I have to hold in a laugh as they begin to try to sneak down the corridor to where I’m waiting. Little do they know, I’m not quite planning the ambush they’re expecting.

Just as they draw level with my hiding place, I burst out of cover and run, shoving them into the walls as I sprint deeper into the building. I cackle as loudly and evilly as I can, leaning into the role as I skid to a stop at the end of the hall and turn to face them.

“Catch me if you can, heroes!” I toss a wink at them before I disappear, reappearing behind them to throw a punch into Kaminari’s ribs. He doesn’t react quickly enough, and his breath leaves him in a gust as he stumbles with the force of it. Before either of them can react, I’m gone again, this time reappearing a few rooms closer to the stairs. I stop to breathe deeply through the nausea I feel, shoving it down with the aid of practice. I tap on my comm, whispering under my breath. “I’ve engaged the heroes, and will try to get them to chase me,” I report, and I hear a confirmation from Momo on the other end of the line.

Jiro helps Kaminari to his feet, lugging her teammate down the hall as they run after me. She listens for my new location, and we begin a cycle that repeats through three floors of confrontations. 

Eventually, I run out of building to lead them through, and have to rejoin Momo on the other side of her very trapped door. I reappear in the midst of a series of traps layered with electrical insulation and soundproofing, and it’s in this safe haven that we ride out Kaminari’s electrical attacks and the rest of the allotted time.

When the buzzer sounds and All Might announces a villain victory, I cheer and give Momo a high five. “We killed it! That plan was great Momo, your idea worked perfectly! And all the stuff you prepared up here stopped Kaminari in his tracks,” I whoop in excitement, and she smiles in return.

“Yes, we had quite a favorable outcome. And the combination of our quirks turned out quite well,” she agrees. I smile as we exit the building, Kaminari and Jiro a few steps ahead of us. 

“That too, but it was absolutely the power of our new awesome-women-friendship that did it for us,” I nod seriously, and she rolls her eyes a bit before laughing. “Yes, I suppose that too,” she admits, and we link arms and giggle the whole way back to the observation room, basking in the excitement of a new, strong friendship.

 

-------

 

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(3) Unread Messages

From: (let’s go mirio 🤩), sent at 17:34

Woah, battle exercises on day 2???? all might really went all out on you guys!! knew you’d do great though ᕙ(  •̀ ᗜ •́  )ᕗ

 

From: (momo 👑), sent at 17:41

Thank you for your kind words today Alina! I’m glad we’re becoming friends, and I’m looking forward to working together more often!

 

From: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 17:59

wow sounds like a rough day but i’m glad you won !

To: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 18:00

Yeah me too!! Those onigiri really saved me too, I had one for breakfast and it carried me through the whole day. Thank you again for making those for me, they’re so tasty and super helpful!! 😋

From (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 18:04

aaaah i’m glad you liked them, i can make them again sometime if you want ? you probably dont though i dont wanna assume

To: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 18:04

No no no, I’d love that if you’re willing! They’re really good, I’ll happily eat them any time you make them 😊

Notes:

I really meant to get further towards the USJ, but Iida just nyoomed his way in and said "no this is my chapter now". So that will have to wait, I can deny him nothing. Also shout out to those who also were Momo fans from the first time they watched this episode, it has a special place in my heart.

Fic Rec: "Checks and Balances" by indirectkissesiniceland. A hockey cheer AU that I ended up loving thanks to the adorable TodoDeku and very well written TodoSero bromance.

Chapter 4: Let's Get Serious

Summary:

Press break in, wholesome friendship moments, more about Alina's quirk, and the USJ!

“Hey, you! Are you one of All Might’s students? Tell us what it’s like to have him as a teacher!” a reporter yells, shoving a microphone forward. Iida blinks, surprised, and I watch from behind a pane of tinted glass as he adjusts his glasses before launching into a long speech extolling the virtues of the UA teachers.

Last night, I’d gone home and excitedly told Sasaki all about battle trials, and the success Momo and I had achieved. He’d congratulated me warmly, and frowned along with me when I mentioned my observations about Bakugo and Todoroki, promising to support me with whatever I decided to do about it. His news, however, was decidedly less pleasant.

“Pros in the area were alerted today that the media have learned of All Might’s teaching position at UA. They’ll likely have a presence at the school over the coming days. I’ll be taking you to school in an agency car tomorrow morning, and I’ve arranged for a meeting with Nedzu to discuss your circumstances and safety protocols,” he says, and I nod in thanks.

“I appreciate it, thank you. Could we also invite Mr. Aizawa to this meeting? I think he should know too, as my homeroom teacher.”

He pauses, giving me a searching stare over our dinner plates. He nods slowly after a long moment. “Yes, if you trust Eraserhead then I have no qualms with his inclusion. I am surprised though, that you are able to make that decision so early in the semester.”

“Yes, but as odd as he seems, I do think he has the best interests of his students at heart. Plus, he’s a UA faculty member and an underground hero, and I can’t really think of any traits better suited to keep secrets for the sake of the safety of others,” I nod, and Sasaki nods in return.

So now we’re here, with Sasaki driving his intentionally nondescript agency car into UA grounds as I watch Iida bore the press. We park and enter, finding ourselves in Nedzu’s office with tea in our hands in very short order.

“Of course I’m always happy to receive your calls, Sir Nighteye, but I do have to admit that I’m quite curious what prompted today’s meeting,” the rat(?) says pleasantly, settling into his office chair. Next to him, my homeroom teacher slumps against the wall, looking for all the world like he’s about to close his eyes and take a nap.

“My concern is surrounding the media attention currently focused on UA,” Nighteye begins, leaning forward in his seat as he sips his tea. “As you know, Nedzu, I took Yoruhiko Alina in as my ward quietly and without public fanfare in order to mask Alina Cooper’s disappearance from the American public eye as much as possible. It is of great importance that minimal media attention is drawn to her here in Japan, as we would run the risk of exposure should certain parties be aware of her presence in this country.”

“Cooper? As in Blink and Foresight?” Aizawa grunts, pushing himself slightly up the wall to fix one eye on me. I nod quietly, looking down at my teacup. “I see now. It’s a logical solution, I’ll admit,” he says, reclining again. Nedzu shoots his staff member a smile, before refocusing on Nighteye with a hum of thought. “Yes, I do agree that excessive media attention runs a significant risk of exposing Ms. Yoruhiko’s safe haven here at UA. Aizawa, would you be willing to go run them off?” he asks, and Mr. Aizawa gives a grunt of acknowledgement before prying himself off the wall. He hesitates when he walks past me, and I look up to meet his eyes.

He inclines his head toward me, and I can’t decide if it’s a mark of respect or support before he’s out the door.

“While we’re on the topic, Nighteye, do you have some time to spare one morning next week? Ms. Yoruhiko needs to get to class shortly, but the three of us should have a conversation about the upcoming Sports Festival and the media attention that will surround it,” Nedzu observes, and I stiffen in alarm.

“Please, I have to participate! I know it’s a risk, but if no one knows how long I’ll be in Japan then I’ll need the Festival to help me get internships and training under different heroes. I can’t throw away my entire hero career that way!” I exclaim loudly, Sasaki turns to frown at me, but is cut off by the class bell before he can say anything.

“I understand your concerns, Ms. Yoruhiko, but we do need to keep your safety and anonymity as our first priority. We can discuss next week how to structure your participation in such a way that that goal is achieved,” Nedzu says, climbing down from his chair to escort us to the door. “For now, you do need to run to class! Aizawa is not one to tolerate lateness, even with an excuse from me.”

“Yes sir, thank you for your time,” I stand and bow, still upset. As I follow Nighteye out, my mind is whirling with options. I need to be in the Festival, and I can’t afford to hide away forever. But even I’ll admit that anonymity and the fact that no one in the States knows where I am is a good first line of defense. So how do I participate in an internationally televised contest without smashing that into smithereens? And how do I convince Sasaki and Nedzu that it’s a good idea?

I say goodbye to Sasaki and head to 1A, my mind still scrambling to come up with plans and alternatives. Aizawa inchworms (inch-caterpillars?) his way in, announcing that we’ll be electing a class representative, and once Iida suggests a vote I cast mine for Momo without a second thought.

Is there a way to compete without being on camera? No, I have to make some kind of impression for pros to send me internship offers, otherwise I just run into the same problem I’m trying to avoid. Maybe I can tone down my quirk or try to make it look like something different to help disguise me? It’s possible, but would be tricky, not to mention disrespectful to everyone else doing their best. I could try to redirect attention off of me somehow? That might work, in combination with a disguise of some sort. I’d have to figure out how though, and who to put everyone’s eyes on. If it’s not the right target, it’ll never stick.

“Alina? Are you alright?” Momo taps me on the shoulder, and I jolt out of my whirlwind of thoughts to find that the whole class is leaving. “It’s time for lunch,” she adds and practically on cue I feel my stomach rumble.

I smile at her sheepishly as I grab my bag and join her on the walk to the cafeteria. “Sorry about that Momo! I guess I was lost in thought there for a moment,” I say, giving her a small bow of apology.

“It’s no problem, really! I don’t want to intrude, but is everything alright? You looked a bit worried,” she asks, and I shake my head. “I’m alright but thank you for your concern! I was just thinking about this morning and how the press cornered people outside the gates. I’m not the biggest fan of crowds that are pressed in that close, so it got to me a bit more than I expected,” I explain, trying my hardest to keep a straight face as I lie.

I’m sorry Momo, but I’m not allowed to tell you what’s actually worrying me. Believe me, I would if I could.

A small frown appears on her face in sympathy. “Oh I’m so sorry Alina, I hadn’t realized you felt uncomfortable in that situation!” she says, and I smile in return as we move up the line for food.

“It’s alright, it’s usually not a huge deal. Most of the time it just makes me uncomfortable, but I can still function fine. It’s only bad when a big group catches me by surprise,” I explain as we take our lunches and start looking for a table. I pause as we sit down and settle in, but yesterday went ok with Momo as my partner for the battle trial. Maybe she’ll be ok with it. “It’s a bit of a side effect of my quirk”.

“Your quirk?” Momo asks, face contracting in thought. I nod hesitantly, and she observes the pause but gives me the time to collect my thoughts before I speak. “What I told you yesterday really was the short version of how my quirk works. I can teleport, but there’s some other aspects to it that are meant to help me and keep me safe while I teleport,” I expand, and she nods in understanding.

“A big problem for most teleporters is what I call a landing zone: basically, where I’m going to appear. For line of sight movements it’s not a big deal, since I can see where I'm going but as soon as I’m landing somewhere I can’t see I run the risk of landing in a position that overlaps my body with something else. Walls, furniture, even other people - all of it can be a huge problem, since my body can't share space with other matter,” I say, carefully watching the look on her face as I take a bite of my soba.

“I hadn’t thought of that, I suppose, but that lines up with things like the Pauli exclusion principle. It does seem like a rather large risk to take in an area you don’t have perfectly memorized,” she muses. “But you moved without a line of sight yesterday, didn’t you?”

I nod in agreement. “Yeah I did. That’s because my quirk is able to passively give me an idea of my immediate surroundings,” I reply cautiously. 

This is the part that makes me wary. With very few exceptions, people don’t usually like it when they’re told that I can always find them or their things, whether I want to or not, as long as they’re somewhat close to me. They tell me that it’s an invasion of their privacy, and that I need to get away from them before I make it even creepier. I understand it, deserve it even, but there’s the small, hopeful part of me that’s desperately wishing for Momo to be different from all the kids back home.

“Ah, that makes sense! I suppose you would need a way to tell where any obstacles in your path would be. That’s quite the benefit for you, considering how much more you’d be able to do in a rescue scenario without being restricted to line of sight only,” Momo says happily, clapping her hands with excitement.

I stare at her blankly, mind not yet caught up with my ears. Is she serious?

Incredulous, I gape at her. “Y-you’re serious? I can feel everything that contains potential energy around me, it’s impossible to sneak up on me, and I can’t turn it off and give people privacy. You’re not even bothered? Or asking me about what my range is so you can stay out of it?” I demand, and she looks surprised. Did she really not even think of that??

Before she has a chance to reply, a deafening alarm rings through the cafeteria, and a recording announces a Level 3 security breach. “What’s happening?” Momo asks, and we stand up and hurry to join the stream of people running for the exit.

I look around wildly. “I’m not sure!” I yell back, and I have to catch her when a second year behind her panics and tries to shove his way forward through the crush of people forming at the doorway. It gets worse and worse as more people are blinded by fear and try to push their way through the crowd hemmed in by the walls.

I’m shoved this way and that, losing my grip on Momo’s hand as I’m swept away by the crowd. My breathing comes faster and lighter, and I manage to grab onto the wall to anchor myself. There’s too many people here, and they’re all panicking all at once in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

Ironically, I was just telling Momo about my Quirk sense not two minutes ago, and now it’s overwhelming me with information about all the energy and electrical impulses that adrenaline is shoving through the multitude of minds around me.

I gasp for air, pushed hard against the wall. I can’t focus, can’t get a handle on my Quirk. There’s too much going on around me, and I’m too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of input that my Quirk is giving me. Normally, I’m alright even in crowded areas, although it took me a lot of practice to work up to it. But something like this, where I’m caught by surprise and a huge crowd of people suddenly shoves their way into my heightened awareness?

Well, let’s just call it unpleasant.

I wrestle my arms up around my head, covering my ears as best I can and closing my eyes to try and focus on my breathing. As best as I can, I forcefully block out everything that isn’t the rush of air in and out of my lungs. It’s just enough to help me keep control, but I still breathe a sigh of undeniable relief when Iida is sent flying above the crowd to calm everyone down.

I quickly make my way back to class, dropping my head onto my desk and covering it with my arms. It’s quieter here, and no one is touching me, which gives a moment to truly recenter myself while I wrestle with the aftereffects of information overload. It’s something I have a lot of practice with, and soon enough I’m starting to feel the pounding headache that only starts forming once I’m mentally in the clear.

I grimace, quickly taking some painkillers that I keep in my bag for emergencies. They help, and by the time the rest of my classmates have filed in and taken their seats, chattering excitedly about the press break-in that apparently triggered the alarm, I’m feeling mostly back to normal.

Momo tries to meet my eyes, but I keep my gaze on my desk as Midoriya cedes his class rep position to Iida and Aizawa corrals us into the afternoon’s classes. She didn’t seem too upset at lunch, but I’ve had too many people push me away in horror when they learn the details of my quirk.

After the day I’ve had, I just can’t deal with another one right now.

 

-------

 

I manage to duck away from Momo again at the end of the day, making it home to tell Sasaki about the press break in on campus today. It’s badly timed for me, considering that he was already worried about the press getting aggressive before today’s mess happened.

But I promise him I’ll be careful, and return to UA the next morning with the sun rising in the sky, humming along to the peppy song playing in my earbuds. Aizawa mentioned yesterday that we’d be visiting a new campus facility today for rescue training, and I’m really excited to start learning about such an important part of heroics.

I settle at my desk, and Momo settles in behind me not two minutes later. “Are you alright after yesterday, Alina? You mentioned that you don’t like large crowds, and you seemed a bit rattled when we left yesterday,” she asks with a frown of concern.

I tense and rub the back of my neck awkwardly, suddenly finding the cubbies on the back wall incredibly interesting. “Ah, thanks for asking but I’m ok. Yesterday just caught me a bit by surprise, but a good night of sleep set me right,” I say. “And, I’m sorry if what I told you about my Quirk yesterday freaked you out. I’d understand if you were worried,” I add.

To my huge surprise, she immediately and vehemently shakes her head. “No, I’m not. We’re both hero students, and more than that we’re friends. It would be silly of me to judge you based on a feature of your Quirk instead of on the time I’ve gotten to know you,” she says kindly.

My eyes fly to hers in amazement. “R-really?” I squeak out, and her sweet smile only grows as she reaches out to take my hand. “Really,” she nods, and I squeeze her hand as a beaming bright smile starts to overtake my face. She squeezes back, even as Aizawa enters the room and throws us out to go get our costumes on.

Once we’re changed, and despite Iida’s bus seating plan, I’m very happy to sit by her on the ride to rescue training. My newest friend is turning out to be one of the kindest people I could imagine, and I’m incredibly thankful that I turned around to talk to her a few days ago.

The smile she gives me as we sit down tells me that she thinks the same thing.

 

-------

 

When we arrive at the USJ, a massive domed facility on the outskirts of UA’s campus, I can’t help but laugh under my breath at the obvious name parallels. “They were really determined to match acronyms, weren’t they?” I mutter quietly to Momo, and she has to work to hold in her laugh as the Space Hero: Thirteen greets our class.

They launch into a speech about how deadly quirks can be, and the smile slides right off of my face. They’re making an excellent point, and it’s one I’m already far more familiar with than I would ever wish on anyone.

As we’re listening, I feel something. There’s an energy in the air that wasn’t here a moment ago, and it’s growing with every passing second. It… twists in a way that energy shouldn’t do. I’ve never felt anything like this before. I grab my head, clenching my jaw against the unsettling feeling that sweeps through my senses.

“Mr. Aizawa!” I grit out. “Something’s wrong.”

He looks back at me briefly, and for just a moment we make eye contact and I watch his eyes widen in alarm. Then, his attention is torn away as the spotlights around the building crackle and a swirling purple void forms out of nothingness in the middle of the fountain plaza.

It grows larger and larger, and I can feel the energy that’s caught up in it, grabbed up and distorted and forced to move in a way that goes against all the laws of physics - even the ones that I have to obey. There’s more inside of it, and a moment later I see a pale hand reach out of the deep black misty cloud. A moment more and the hand’s blue-haired owner steps out of the inky darkness and into the USJ, covered in several bone-white severed hands and using one more to mask his face.

This shouldn’t exist. This shouldn’t be able to work the way it does. This is something I’ve never seen before; something uncomfortably close to my quirk.

I have to stop it as quickly as possible.

“Stay together and don’t move! Thirteen, protect the students,” Mr. Aizawa yells, grabbing his capture scarf and running for the stairs. My classmates murmur in confusion, exclaiming among themselves. “Has the training started already?” Kirishima asks from the front of the group.

Mr. Aizawa pauses at the top of the staircase. “No,” he says, sliding his yellow goggles over his eyes. “This is real. Those are villains!”

Like they’re magnetized, my eyes are drawn inexorably back to the plaza. The purple-tinted darkness now hangs like a giant curtain over the center of the USJ, disgorging villains in horrifying numbers. And they just keep coming. 

“The only heroes I see are Eraserhead and Thirteen, but the schedule we retrieved from UA indicated that All Might should be here as well. How strange,” a formless voice sounds from the void, and a stray wisp of purple-black smoke forms itself into a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Its gaze sweeps over us, and I have to hold back a shudder when it looks at me.

The mist spits out more and more people, a crowd of villains amassing in the central plaza. There’s a huge range of quirks down there, from some mutant quirks who look physically tough to some weedy men who wouldn’t look much older than boys if it wasn’t for the insane light in their eyes. There’s even one that’s twice the size of all the others, huge and imposing despite its birdlike features and exposed brain, and some distant part of my brain notes that the energy inside that one’s body feels unnatural in a similar way to the warper.

“But I went through the trouble of bringing so many friends,” rasps the man with the light blue hair. I can’t see his mouth moving because of the hand over his face, but I can feel that he’s the one speaking, and it’s confirmed as he raises his arms in a grand gesture to signal his army forward. “I can’t believe he’s not here. Maybe if I kill a few kids, he’ll come out to play,”

Aizawa’s scarf flares into the air, and I hear my class murmur about intruder alarms and the villains’ plans. I can barely even hear them over the roaring of the blood rushing in my ears. Without my noticing, my hands and legs start to shake with a fine tremor. As Momo’s pushing her way to the front of the class to confer with Thirteen, I have to lean on Shouji, who’s on my other side, to keep my legs from collapsing underneath me.

He braces me with one of his arms as I slump against his side. “Yoruhiko, are you alright?” he asks, concern in his voice as he helps to support me.

His voice sounds far away, like he’s on the surface and I’ve been swept underwater by the currents of my Quirk. It’s so much worse than what happened outside the cafeteria. I’m wildly overwhelmed, in a way that I haven’t been since I was a child. The sudden addition of so many people at once caught me by surprise, and the horrible, terrible feeling of the purple mist’s energy pattern is sweeping over me. It feels wrong, like it never should have existed, and it makes my skin crawl with revulsion.

I barely notice Midoriya’s fretting as Aizawa leaps down to take on the crowd of villains, or Thirteen herding us towards the exit as fast as they can get us to go. Shouji turns to follow, still half-carrying me as my mind struggles to cope with the overstimulation and excessive inputs.

I have to get a handle on this. Immediately. I can’t endanger my classmates just because I can’t control myself! Nighteye and Mirio worked so hard to help me be able to manage this aspect of my quirk. I can’t let them down.

OK, Alina, I think to myself as Shouji hauls me towards the doors. Focus. Your own electrical impulses first, then the ones touching you, then further out. Just like Sir taught you.

I shove everything else out of my brain and focus the sixth sense that my quirk gives me on my own body. I can feel the electricity racing through my brain and heart, fueling the blood roaring through my veins and making my breath come in short gasps. 

First things first, I think, and I focus my Quirk on those electrical impulses and start slowly and carefully drawing off the excess energy. Immediately, my heartbeat starts to slow down from its rabbit-fast racing and my breathing starts to even out. I quickly let my grasp on it go, letting my body even out naturally and my adrenaline to finally snap my focus into crystal clarity. I’m jittering with the potential energy I drew out of myself, and I know I’ll need to use my Quirk soon to burn it off.

I push myself out of Shouji’s arms to stand upright just as the horrible feeling of the purple mist villain flares again and he appears in front of our group, blocking our path to the doors. The wrongness embedded in his very electrons is almost enough to throw off my control again, but I hang on by the skin of my teeth.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. We are the League of Villains. I know it’s impolite to invite ourselves in, but we thought this would be a fitting place for the Symbol of Peace to meet his death,” the mist speaks in a deep, male voice. “I see, though, that he is not here today. There must have been some change in plans we could not have foreseen. But I suppose, in the end it does not matter, as I still have a role to play.”

He raises what would be arms, on a normal body, but his monologue is interrupted by Bakugo and Kirishima launching themselves at him, Quirks active. I can just make out Kirishima swinging a hardened arm at the thickest swath of mist before Bakugo’s palms light up in a deafening explosion that shakes the whole platform and douses us in thick smoke.

I close my eyes, reaching out with the sense my Quirk gives me of my surroundings. It’s hard to tell through all the energy embedded in the mist itself, but there’s some sense of solidity wrapped up in a core at the center of the mist. It’s only exposed for a moment, protective wrappings blown away by the force of the blast, but it’s the best shot at a weakness that we have. 

When the smoke clears, I don’t have a chance to share what I know before the mist swarms out, so much faster and thicker than we’ve seen. In an instant, Shouji brings Ashido and me to the ground, covering us with the spread of his arms and his larger body.

I can’t see anything, and my Quirk sense is even less helpful. There’s so much energy and potential swirling through these misty clouds that it feels like it’s pressing in on all six of my senses. I can’t feel a damn thing outside my own body. My sense of time and space stretches like a piece of taffy in the heat, long and elastic and seemingly never-ending.

I can’t tell how long I’m on the ground, only aware of Ashido next to me and Shouji above us both. I curl my body up tight, pressing my hands over my ears and squeezing my eyes tight shut. I can’t afford to lose control again, not even for a moment. No one else here knows he has a body!

Eventually the storm of darkness lets up, and the three of us get back to our feet, ready to fight. It’s only then that I notice that the only people still on the walkway with us are Thirteen, Iida, Uraraka, and Sato. Aizawa is still fighting in the plaza below, but all the others are gone without a single trace.

Fuck!!

My eyebrows come down as I take a defensive stance. As Shouji’s arms stretch out, growing eyes and ears on the ends, I close my eyes and focus harder than I ever have.

I have to find my friends, I think to myself, and for the first time in years I throw my Quirk sense open as wide as I can go, pushing all the potential energy I had pooled a few minutes ago into it.

Immediately, my awareness of my body and its surroundings fade, traded for a bombardment of sights, sounds, and motion from every direction. Gritting my teeth, I push through the sensation, expanding my reach until I can feel every inch of the USJ. There’s way too many people here, and I don’t have time to sort through every single one to figure out what we’re up against, but I know my classmates. I have to do this.

There. And there. And more over there, and - 

“They’ve been scattered across the facility, but our classmates are still here,” Shouji says, coming to the same conclusion that I have. I nod in confirmation, pulling my senses back just enough to be able to use my body and voice without losing track of my friends. “They’ve been separated across every zone in the building, and are all being confronted by more villains. Most zones have at least two people, but Ojiro is alone in the conflagration zone,” I add, and I get shocked looks from every single one of my classmates beside me.

“How do you know that?” Iida asks, dumbstruck. From behind us, Thirteen shakes their head. “Now isn’t the time for that. Yoruhiko, can you tell if any of them are in immediate trouble?” they ask, and I frown as I redirect my focus to my Quirk sense. As my attention leaves my body, the others on the platform watch my eyes glaze over and my muscles slacken and tense repetitively, looking eerily like a puppet whose strings are being played with.

After a moment I come back to myself, standing up straight again. “Yes. Most are holding their own, at least for now, but Todoroki is fighting with widespread ice in the landslide zone and doesn’t realize Hagakure is there. There’s also a few other groups that are alright for the moment, but the situation is likely to turn against them soon,” I report. Thirteen nods and steps forward towards the mist villain.

“Then I have a job for you. Find your classmates. Tell them what’s going on, and to all regroup here as soon as possible. Use your Quirk to save people!” Thirteen says. “Class rep. I have a job for you too. Run to the main campus and tell them what’s going on here. Our communications are useless and the alarms are blocked, so it’s likely that a villain’s quirk is causing this. We’re cut off even with Eraserhead canceling quirks left and right, so the villain responsible must be hiding somewhere in the building. It will be faster for you to run to campus and return with backup.” 

I’m taken aback for a moment before my expression hardens in determination. “I’ll do it Thirteen. I’ll help my classmates and get them all back up here for you, and I’ll see if I can find the jamming villain with my Quirk!”

Without another moment to think, I focus my senses down to a narrow point focused on Todoroki in the landslide zone. I’m aware of everything in his vicinity - every pebble that I’ll need to avoid when I land.

From behind me, I faintly hear the roar of Iida’s engines powering up and the sounds of the villain’s voice taunting Thirteen about strategizing in front of him. But there’s no time for any of that, and my classmates will just have to manage helping Thirteen in this fight. I pick a patch of clean ground that’s free of villains, for now, and vanish from the steps of the USJ.

 

---------

 

Shouto exhales, his breath visible in the cold air. The villain who had tried to challenge him is iced over from neck to toes, only his head sticking out of the frigid prison.

He turns and keeps walking down the hill of what must be the landslide zone, aiming for the central plaza where he can see his teacher still fighting against the crowd of third-rate villains. They can’t be particularly skilled, not if they’re anything like the ones he’s been facing.

Another cluster of villains runs up to face him, dropping into fighting stances as he stands before them. Without hesitating, he sends a sheet of ice to intercept them. It spreads from his feet, climbing up their legs and bodies until the whole area is draped in frost and villains in front of him are immobilized just like the ones he left in his wake.

“Aren’t you embarrassed to lose to a child? For God’s sake, put up a real fight,” he demands. It’s frankly humiliating for them that he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what his ice can do and they’re already incapacitated. These barely even qualify as real villains.

But up on the stairs, the purple one had said that they were here to kill All Might. They’ve clearly planned this break in well, but low-level thugs like these would never be able to even touch All Might, and there’s only four or five truly dangerous opponents among all the villains. So how are they planning to beat him?

Before he can move forward to interrogate the villains, he sees a flicker in his peripheral vision, just behind him and to his right. It’s instinct to send out a wave of ice - he’s the only one who was sent to this zone, and any villain is going to have to be a lot faster than that to get the drop on him.

“Woah, what the hell?? Todoroki, cut it out, it’s me!” Yoruhiko yelps as she pops into existence and immediately has to dive out of the way of the small iceberg he sent at her. He cuts off the flow of ice from his body, and as she quickly scrambles to her feet he can’t help but notice that her lavender eyes are focused on something in the far distance, like she’s paying attention to somewhere else entirely. 

He checks over his shoulder, but there’s nothing there.

The look in her eyes persists even as she makes eye contact, and it’s unnerving to hear her speak to him and still feel like her attention is elsewhere. “Thanks for the friendly greeting, but I'm glad you’re ok. Thirteen sent me with a message: you and Hagakure are to make your way back to the exit as quickly and safely as possible. I’m directing the whole class to regroup there, and Thirteen and the rest of the people who managed to escape the warp are up there clearing a path out of here. Iida was also sent to the main campus for backup,” she reports efficiently. She never stops moving even as she speaks; her eyes are constantly rolling in her head and she’s starting to pick her way up the hill even as she speaks.

His brow furrows minutely. “Hagakure?” he asks, and Yoruhiko pauses in her climb. “Yes, our invisible classmate? She’s a couple hundred meters up the hill, she’s the other person who got dumped here with you,” she says. Shouto blinks in surprise. How did he not know there was another student here with him, even if it is the invisible girl?

Furthermore, how did Yoruhiko know when he didn’t?

Before he can open his mouth to ask any of his suddenly numerous clarifying questions, Yoruhiko freezes and lets out a low groan of pain. “Fucking damn it, Midoriya!” she hisses quietly, then turns to face him again. “I have to go, more of our classmates are in trouble. Watch out for Hagakure, and get to safety!” she yells, and promptly vanishes into nothingness. Not half a second later, a massive plume of water erupts from the shipwreck zone on the far side of the building, and Shouto can faintly hear screaming coming from that direction.

What the hell just happened? How did Yoruhiko know exactly where I was, and how did she know Hagakure is here too? Beyond that, she mentioned Midoriya even though he’s nowhere to be found. Did he somehow cause that waterspout? He thinks to himself, shock keeping him still for a moment as his brain catches up with his body. After a moment, he shakes himself and turns back to the villains he froze over. They had watched the entire odd interaction with fear in their eyes, and it only grows when his attention returns to them.

He’ll have to set his growing curiosity aside for the time being, although at least now he has confirmation that there’s certainly more to Yoruhiko than meets the eye. Right now, these villains need to tell him exactly how they plan to kill All Might.

 

-------

 

Tsuyu lands as gently as she can on the grounds of the plaza’s border, setting Sero down and using her tongue to reel in Midoriya. Their escape from the shipwreck zone had worked better than anticipated, but she can see that Midoriya’s impromptu whirlpool had definitely cost him a few fingers and Sero’s elbows are bleeding from the amount of tape he spit into the water to tangle the villains in. 

“Here, let me see that,” an airy voice says from behind her, and she whirls around to see Alina reaching out for Midoriya’s broken hand. Neither of the boys have a much better reaction, and Midoriya actually screeches in surprise before slapping a hand over his mouth to quiet himself. 

“A-a-al-Yoruhiko when the hell did you get here?!” he stutters out, and Alina gives a quick smile as she reaches into one of the few pockets of her black hero suit to pull out a roll of bandages. Tsu spares a moment to calm her heart from the surprise. Having more help never hurts, and carrying first aid supplies in a hero suit is actually a really good idea. She’ll have to ask Alina after this how she designed the compartments and if they’re watertight enough to be incorporated into her own suit.

“How did you find us, ribbit?” Tsu asks, and Alina gives her a small smile as she quickly splints Midoriya’s broken fingers. “I got here just now, I saw the giant waterspout and came to find you three,” she says, and now that Alina’s actually looking at Tsu, she sees a look in Alina’s eyes that’s almost eerie with how dissociated it is. It’s like Alina’s body is here, but her eyes and mind are staring off into another world. Every few seconds, her eyes will spin wildly, like she’s trying to look in several directions at once, and every muscle in her body is incredibly tense.

Alina stands quickly as soon as she’s done with first aid. “I can’t stay, I still have to find the rest of our class. Iida was sent to campus for help, Thirteen and the others who weren’t warped away are gathering up by the door. Go join them as soon as you can,” she says, and before Tsu can blink in surprise she’s gone again.

 

--------

 

“Say GOODBYE!” Katsuki roars as his palms detonate in the face of another stupid small fry villain. Behind him, he can hear Shitty Hair beating up another idiot, and he makes sure that the villain in front of him gets a good look at the wild grin on his face before he shoves another explosion into the fucker’s gut.

“Think that’s the last of them,” Katsuki pants as they’re surrounded by the smoking bodies of all the weaklings who thought they could take him on. Shitty Hair’s still all worked up though, talking about how “it’s our fault” and “we screwed it up for everyone.” Tch. If some of the extras don’t have his offensive skills, then they shouldn’t be here, and they proved it when they hesitated attacking the warp guy. Still though, that idiot would pay for being stupid enough to leave him in the USJ.

“You wanna track everyone down, have fun,” Katsuki grunts, turning away from Shitty Hair. “But I’m gonna go destroy that warpy bastard.” His head comes up and he starts looking for the quickest exit from the room that was half-demolished even before it hosted several of his explosions. 

“Huh? Our physical attacks didn’t hurt the guy! C’mon, don’t be an idiot,” Shitty Hair whines, and Katsuki whirls to get in his face. “I’m taking him down because he’s their way in and out! If I take him out, then they’re stuck in here and have to pay for what they did,” he roars.

Suddenly, he hears a sound from behind him, and instinctively he turns to grab at whatever he feels flying at him. But his hand meets air as he hears a massive slam, and when he turns around he sees that fucking Glitchy had come out of absolutely nowhere to slam into some lizard freak who had been trying to sneak up on him. She knocked him into the stone wall, and when he slumps down and starts twitching on the ground Katsuki can see that he’s out cold.

“What the fuck was that huh?? I don’t need your fucking help Glitchy!” he shouts, and it’s even more infuriating that she just rolls her eyes and stands up, soaking wet, from where she was crouched next to the lizard she stole from his explosions. The guy stops twitching as she stands, and Katsuki swears he can see little lights crackling around Glitchy’s weird purple eyes, like spots in his vision. He blinks hard to clear it, but they’re still there.

“Really not the point, Bakugo. Thirteen sent me - everyone’s still in the USJ and should regroup by the doors as soon as possible. They were taking on the warper with the help of the others who avoided being dumped in a different zone,” she says, and Katsuki growls as he heads for the stairs out of the building.

“If all the villains are small fry like this one, then our classmates can handle them,” he mutters as he starts walking. Shitty Hair starts in surprise. “Woah, it’s so weird to hear you so calm and rational man!” he exclaims, following behind Katsuki. Behind him, Glitchy lets out an irritating giggle that does nothing but fan the flames of his anger.

“Right? Normally he’s all ‘die, die, die!’” she laughs, and to his growing frustration she doesn’t even flinch when he rounds on her to inform her that he is ALWAYS calm and rational. And if he isn’t, then it’s these idiots’ fault anyways.

“Alright, you two got this, and I need to keep moving to the last two zones. Be careful, alright? I’ll see you on the other side!” Glitchy tosses them a casual salute, jumps out the window, disappears before he can explode her stupid, spacey face. 

Katsuki growls in frustration, stomping out to start his hunt for the purple bastard. Whatever. He didn’t want her help, and if she was going to imply that he needed it then he’d kill her. If she wants to go be stupid somewhere else then that works out great for him.

She can handle herself, for all he cares.

 

--------

 

Momo sweeps her staff in a high arc, pushing a villain’s rocky arm away as she backs up to form a semicircle with Jirou and Kaminari. “We need to focus on getting away from these enemies,” she calls to her allies, and Jirou brandishes her newly made sword even as she agrees and calls out to Kaminari for an electrical attack. They bicker for a moment, but she kicks him at a massive villain and the electricity that covers his body does the trick to incapacitate the giant.

Momo focuses, throwing a weighted net out of her arm at a villain that is trying to leap over his electrified comrades to attack Jirou. “You’re lucky that worked out so well,” she says, concentrating on the more complicated creation she’s forming along the length of her back. It’s tricky, but she made something similar a few days ago for the battle trials. Alina’s suggestion had been very helpful, and if she just refines the structure a bit then - 

She leaps forward, slamming into another villain that had jumped down from the ridge behind them. “It’s ready! It takes me a while…” she trails off as she focuses hard and pushes the huge sheet of insulation out of her back, “... to make something this big!” she finishes, as it tears open the back of her costume and floats down to cover herself and Jirou.

She peeks out from her new cover to signal Kaminari, and a moment and a witty one liner later lightning crackles over the entire mountain zone. When she raises the edge of the insulated sheet again, all the villains are sooty and trembling from the leftover electricity running through them and Kaminari is making some odd whooping noises and giving two thumbs up to everyone around him.

Jirou giggles at how ridiculous Kaminari looks, and Momo has to admit it would be an entertaining sight in other circumstances. She takes the quiet moment to make herself some new clothes, repairing the costume she ruined. Although, a small part of her admits that it had been really cool to hear Jirou and Kaminari call her ‘punk rock’ and ‘badass’.

All of a sudden, things start moving at a much different pace. They’d missed a villain somehow! He’d been hiding somewhere to protect himself from the electricity, and how he had a short-circuited Kaminari in his grasp.

Momo stood by Jirou in this new standoff, tense and ready to use her Quirk if the villain was distracted for even a moment. “An electric type. He must be the one Todoroki mentioned that was jamming our communications,” she says quietly as the villain holding Kaminari starts to walk forward. 

Jirou speaks up, and out of the corner of her eye, Momo sees her slowly extending her earphone jacks down the back of her legs toward her speakers. Her eyes widen, but her hope is dashed almost immediately when the villain notices.

“Nice try. Did you think I could be distracted so easily?” he sneers, advancing on the two girls. “You need to learn to take hostage situations more seriously! So here’s the new deal: either this idiot dies, or you do. What’s it gonna be girlies?” he looms menacingly as he approaches, and Momo’s mind goes blank with momentary panic.

Damn it! I don’t have the time to create anything to free Kaminari from him, and our insulated sheet is too far to be of use! What should I do?

If she’d blinked, she would have missed it. Alina emerges out of nothing, falling from the empty air above the villain to slam her foot into his masked face. “How about option C?” she sneers, and within another second she grabbed Kaminari out of the stunned man’s grasp. Another blink, and both of them reappear behind Momo and Jirou, although Kaminari immediately loses his breakfast.

What just happened?? Momo’s stunned, her mind still catching up to what her eyes are seeing though. This situation had gone from good to bad to worse so quickly, and the timely interference from Alina may have saved their lives.

Quickly she pushes one more metal rod out of her body, forming this one with a large claw on one side. “Jirou! Now!” she yells, throwing the clawed end at the villain. It hits him straight on, the spindly metal arms of the claw wrapping around him to serve as a lightning rod that redirects the electrical attack he attempts harmlessly into the dirt. Before he can try another, Jirou’s heartbeat pulses out in a wave of sound, and the jammer drops to the ground unconscious.

“Are you three alright?” Alina demands. She’s crouched on the ground, rubbing Kaminari’s back as their short-circuited classmate vomits on the ground. “I’m so sorry I was almost too late! Thirteen sent me to find all our classmates so I could send them back towards the entrance, and I came as soon as I felt that someone had avoided the electrical storm,” she babbles. “Oh, and I’m sorry about Kaminari too! One of the side effects of my teleportation is some nasty nausea, especially for people who aren’t used to it. I just couldn’t think of anything else in time to help.”

“Alina, it’s alright! You saved us, you have nothing to apologize for,” Momo reassures her classmate, slumping in relief before tensing back up to look around. “Are there any more of them hiding around here?”

Alina shakes her head. “No, that guy was the only one being sneaky. You’re all good now.”

Momo exhales, sliding down the rock face to land heavily on the ground. The last few minutes had been a mess, and the reality of the danger they’d been in starts to truly settle on her shoulders. God, they’d almost died, and only their luck and Alina’s timely intervention had saved them!

She doesn’t realize her shoulders are shaking until she feels a warm hand on her shoulder. She looks up to see her friend’s smile, her light purple eyes appearing vacant and pupilless for a moment before focusing in on her. 

“Hey. You did amazing, Momo, and you too Jirou. You guys took out all these villains alone, and held out plenty long enough against the last one,” Alina says gently, and Momo feels the hand on her shoulder squeeze lightly before pulling her into a gentle hug. She goes willingly, and her forehead thunks down onto her friend’s shoulder for a long moment. She takes a deep breath, then pulls her feet back underneath herself to stand and brush the dust off of herself.

“Still, we owe you our thanks,” Momo insists, and by her side Jirou nods. “Yeah, that guy really caught us with our pants down. We would have been in a really tight spot without you,” she adds, and Momo swears that she sees a light blush on Alina’s face.

“Ah, I’m glad I could help! It’s what any classmate would do,” Alina insists, helping Kaminari back to his feet. He looks less nauseous, but clearly still short-circuited from his electrical discharge.

“We’ll take care of the idiot there, you’ll move faster without us. You said everyone is supposed to go back to the entrance?” Jirou asks, taking a hold of Kaminari so that he wouldn’t wander off. Alina nods in confirmation. “Yes, but be careful - the fighting is still going strong in the central plaza, so stay out of the thick of it to make sure you get back safely.”

“We will,” Momo says, collecting any weapons that may still be of use to them. “Make sure you’re careful as well, alright?” She’s worried about her newest friend, who seems to have no backup despite the danger in the area. After their conversation yesterday, she knows that Alina is hesitant to ask for help even if she may need it, and she’s not about to let her friend get hurt just because she ran off unprepared.

Momo focuses one last time, the pink sparkles of her quirk lighting up her arm. “Here, take these just in case,” she says, and pushes the two short staves she made into her friend’s hands. “Now you’ll be able to fight properly if there’s another situation like this in another zone.”

Alina beams at her, and gently accepts the weapons. “Thank you Momo, I’ll take good care of them,” she says.

A huge crash echoes through the dome, and Momo whips around to see the doors to the building have been blown off their hinges. The wind generated from the force hits them a moment later, and the yellow and red ribbons in Alina’s hair snap rapidly in the miniature gale.

Alina’s head snaps up as well. “I have to go help the others now that the door’s open. That’s All Might,” she says breathlessly, and Momo gasps. “All Might’s here?” she echoes, and Alina’s smile unfurls, wide and bright on her face as she vanishes again.

 

--------

 

I land in the midst of a ragtag group at the top of the stairs, immediately pulling out my bandage roll to help Uraraka and Ashido patch up Thirteen, whose entire back is destroyed. 

“All Might, you’re here,” I say quietly, then shake myself free of the awe and relief of being saved. I can still help here. “Sir, all my classmates who were transported to various zones have defeated the villains in their areas, although there were a few close calls. I’ve informed all of them to head this way, and Tokoyami asked me to please pass along to the faculty that he believes that the villains do not know our quirks and are only focused on you as a target,” I reel off, still shaking lightly. 

I’d jumped between all six major zones of the USJ - a greater distance than the short hops I’m used to, and on top of a series of short hops I'd needed to help guide Ojiro to the exit - and kept my awareness of the entire building up for almost the whole time since the attack began. It’s starting to take its toll, and I know that I’m going to pay for all the energy I’m expending once my adrenaline wears off. 

“Thank you, young Yoruhiko. I’ll take it from here,” All Might booms, and without another word he leaps into the fray at the bottom of the stairs. Within a few seconds, he’s punched his way through the remaining crowd of villains to grab Mr. Aizawa’s broken body. He picks him up gently, then moves faster than the eye can see to deposit him by Midoriya, Asui, and Sero, who are still down there despite my message from earlier.

In his haste, All Might knocks the hand off of the main villain’s face, and he seems to almost hyperventilate, grabbing his face with his own hand before he finds and reattaches the one he was using as a mask.

The three students still on the fringes of the battle pick up Mr. Aizawa and start to make their way towards our group at the entrance , while All Might launches himself at the two villains still standing - the one covered in hands and the giant birdlike one. The small one calls on the larger one, who must be named Nomu, to protect him from All Might’s incredible strength. They fight almost too fast to follow, but I can tell that the hits he’s landing on Nomu aren’t doing much damage despite the power behind them.

Soon, the warper gets involved, reversing what would have been a devastating suplex into an opportunity for Nomu to grab onto All Might’s exposed side and start to pull him through the portal. I bite my lip in concern, standing up to go jump in even though I’m not sure what I can do to help. But before I can, I feel four energy signatures approaching the central fight. 

Stupid boys! I told all of you to get to safety, not throw yourselves at a villain!

One energy source explodes with heat and light, and a second later, Bakugo bursts out of the tree line just ahead of Midoriya to tackle the solid core of the warper’s body. Kirishima trails just behind him, hardened and ready for combat.

Not a moment later, I feel another energy source crackle and watch a stream of ice catch and freeze the Nomu’s entire left side, allowing All Might the chance to pry himself out of its grip. It’s horrifying to watch, as the Nomu escapes the ice by tearing off its frozen arm and leg and regrowing them within a few seconds. If I didn’t have such a strong stomach, the sight would have made me sick.

The rest of the fight is a blur. I push myself to use my Quirk one more time and appear down by Tsu and Sero, helping take some of Mr. Aizawa’s weight so we can all move a bit faster back towards the safety of the entrance. It’s a struggle to hold myself upright as we ferry him back and set him down. The last of the energy I was able to store, siphon off of other sources, or pull from my own body is all gone, and I’m left running on fumes.

I’ve seriously overused my Quirk, and now my body is paying the price. I stagger to the side, collapsing to the floor as I fight to stay conscious. I hold on for another few minutes - just long enough to hear Iida’s booming voice as he returns with the full force of UA’s faculty for backup.

We’re safe, I think, and that’s enough reassurance for me to slip quietly into unconsciousness.

 

--------

 

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(8) Unread Messages

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 07:14

Hey good luck with rescue training today, make sure they teach you how to save your swooning fans!

 

From: Sasaki Mirai, sent at 07:18 

I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on the rescue training exercise today. We should also discuss our approach to next week’s meeting, when you’re ready to do so.

 

From: (let’s go mirio 🤩), sent at 10:08

To: (tamaki! 🍙), You

Woah, two full campus alarms in two days?? What’s going on??

 

From: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 10:09

To: (let’s go mirio 🤩), You

Ectoplasm just said another campus facility was breached and that the faculty was called out for backup, we’re supposed to stay in our classroom until they’re back

 

From: (let’s go mirio 🤩), sent at 10:09

To: (tamaki! 🍙), You

Another campus facility, like another building? Alina-chan, your class is ok right????

Wait her read receipts aren’t showing

 

From: (let’s go mirio 🤩), sent at 10:14

To: (tamaki! 🍙), You

Alina, are you there??? Please, please let us know you’re ok

 

From: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 10:20

To: (let’s go mirio 🤩), You

Please be ok Alina. Text us when you see these

Notes:

This chapter fought me tooth and nail. Please feel free to let me know if I skipped over anything important, or if somethings isn't clear that should be by now! USJ is foundational and important, but personally has never really been my favorite arc, so I struggled a lot to write a good version of it that wasn't just retelling canon.

Small change: it never made sense to me that the mountain zone fight lasted until the teachers came - there's no reason it should take a group of three so long to defeat a group of villains, even including the standoff with the electric one, when Kaminari takes out almost all of them in one go. Alina's inclusion prompts a change to reflect that.

Fic rec: "Blank Canvas" by jokeraddict0. Not only is it a fun Quirkless Izuku AU with some very cute and fluffy TodoDeku, but I also hugely appreciate the end notes! It shows how much research and effort the author put in to the details of the story, and they also leave a fun fact about Japan at the end of every chapter that are fun to read!

Chapter 5: A Series of Minor Crises

Summary:

Sports Festival prep!
Apologies for the handwave-y physics, I tried my best but am very much not a scientist. Also, canonical Quirk science kinda just handwaves the laws of physics, so there's that.

Some lines taken or adapted from the MHA anime.

”Ali! Ali! Can we go to the park today on the way home?”

I turn around smiling, catching the small body that flings itself at me so that I can scrub my knuckles over his head. The only thing softer than the downy hair under my fingers is the happy smile he aims at me once he manages to duck out of my grasp.

“Yeah, let’s do it! I wanna play heroes again!” I cheer, grabbing my bag from the floor.

“Heroes?” a voice sneers, and all the warmth trickling in through the sunlit windows is sucked out of the room. “Play all you want, but you two aren’t ever gonna be real heroes. Heroes have to have strong quirks, not a weak little pansy quirk”

“Yeah, you’re practically made to be a villain” another voice joins in, and I feel him shrink against my side. I push myself in front of him, standing tall. Anyone who wants to get to him will always, always have to go through me.

“Is it true, Ali? Does my quirk make me a villain?” he sniffles later, sprawled out next to me on the grass in the park.

I shake my head as I sit up. “No way. Remember what Mom and Dad said? Villains are people, not quirks,” I say, dragging him up to look me in the eyes. “You and me, with your villainous quirk and my weak quirk? We’re going to be the best heroes in the world someday, and stupid people like that aren’t going to be enough to stop us.”

“No matter what anyone else says, or whether anyone else believes in us, we’ll always have each other. That’s more than enough.”

 

-----------

 

I open my eyes to blinding, harsh white lights flickering above me, the fluorescent bulbs on their last legs. It’s searing and painful to my throbbing head, and I barely crack my eyes open before I close them right back up with a groan.

Slowly, I start a mental inventory of what hurts. Other than my pounding migraine, which really isn’t helped by the bright lights or the buzz of what I now recognize as a conversation on the other side of the room, I feel remarkably better than I should. My muscles are all sore, like I just did an intense full body workout, but that’s an unavoidable side effect of pushing as much energy as I did through the conduit of my body in a short amount of time. My tongue feels thick and heavy in my mouth as the dehydration makes itself known.

“Fucking ow, this sucks,” I mutter in English. I sluggishly push myself upright to a sitting position as the lights above me finally give out and leave me in the only dark spot of the room. It’s just enough of an improvement that I manage to prop myself against the back of what I now recognize to be a bed in Recovery Girl’s infirmary. Fumbling blindly, I grab for a moment at the table next to my bed for a glass of water before I feel someone slide the cool glass into my hands.

“Hey, don’t strain yourself,” a male voice murmurs, and I pry my eyes back up to see Mirio’s face swim into focus above me. He smiles at me, his whole face painted with his relief. “Glad you’re awake, Ali-chan,” he says. “We were worried about you for a while there.”

“Sorry to worry you,” I mumble. On my other side, the hands that had helped me grab the glass of water support mine as I lift it to take a drink. Turning, I realize it’s Tamaki who’s quite literally giving me a helping hand despite the worry that lines his face. With his assistance, I manage to take slow sips of water as Mirio fluffs the pillow supporting my back.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask quietly. As my senses settle back into place, I notice the golden sunlight streaming through the windows and frown. “And how long have I been here?”

“A few hours. We both came once class was done for the day,” Tamaki replies, helping me drink more water. “You passed out from Quirk exhaustion.”

I wince. Yeah, that’s about what I expected, I think to myself.

“How are you feeling?” Mirio asks, worry seeping into his tone. “Recovery Girl said you collapsed towards the end of the attack, but that you’d probably be OK once you woke up. But you were so low on stamina that she couldn’t heal you, so she said the only choice was to wait for you to wake up on your own.”

I set the cup down to grab Tamaki’s and Mirio’s hands, squeezing them lightly. Tamaki yelps, face turning bright red.

“I’ll be ok, I promise. You guys have seen what my Quirk exhaustion looks like before - this is just a more extreme case than usual. I haven’t been this bad since I was a little kid, but I promise I’ll train hard and do my best to keep it from happening again,” I swear to both them and to myself. Never again.

“Good. Neither of us want to see you in this bad of a spot again, you know? Both of us care about you, and we worry when you push yourself too far and put yourself in danger like that,” Mirio says quietly. I pat his hand one more time to reassure him before I push myself the rest of the way upright and swing my legs off of Tamaki’s side of the bed. He falters in surprise, but quickly reaches out to help me lever myself off of the infirmary bed.

“I know neither of you like it, and we all know that I don’t either. I’ll do everything I can to get stronger and not put myself in this spot again,” I say, trying to blink back the pain of my migraine as Tamaki helps to steady my balance. “But all three of us know that I’ll do everything I can to save people, and that goes double for the people I care about.”

I meet their eyes one at a time, silently daring either of them to challenge me on this. It’s not something I’ll budge on. My classmates, my teachers, Sasaki, Tamaki and Mirio themselves - I’d fight tooth and nail for them, put myself in this infirmary a thousand times over if that was the cost that needed to be paid to save any one of them.

That’s the kind of hero I want to be. Need to be.

Mirio sighs and nods, resigned. “Then you’ll have both of us to watch your back while you do it,” he says, and when I look at Tamaki he nods firmly in agreement. My heart swells, and after such a fantastically stressful day I can’t help but give my two oldest friends in this entire country a massive hug.

My head is pounding, I can hardly stand under my own power, and I desperately need a nap, but none of that matters when I look in the blue and purple eyes on either side of me and know, to the very depths of my soul, that the three of us will always look out for each other.

 

----------

 

A full night of sleep and some painkillers work actual miracles, I decide, accepting a cup of tea from Principal Nedzu. Even though we were given the day off from classes to recover from the attack on the USJ, Sasaki and I are settled in the office guest chairs to finish our discussion on my participation in the Sports Festival. I agreed to the timing since I feel mostly back to normal after yesterday’s stint in the infirmary, with only a little lingering fatigue and soreness. The three of us have the campus to mostly ourselves and would be unlikely to be interrupted, making this the perfect time to discuss sensitive information.

“Now then, I won’t beat around the bush. Ms. Yoruhiko, I believe last time we spoke you mentioned that you had some thoughts regarding your inclusion in UA’s upcoming Sports Festival?” Nedzu chirps happily, settling into his huge chair.

I take a sip of tea, using the quiet moment to center myself. I know that this was already going to be an uphill argument, and that the USJ attack yesterday just makes that worse. I’ll need to argue this logically and calmly if I want any chance of success. 

“I appreciate the risk, and I understand that my safety needs to come first. But I really do think that I should compete, and even beyond that I want to participate alongside my class,” I say, setting my tea cup down on the low table. “Just like any other hero student, I need the opportunities that come from the Sports Festival, especially since the Nighteye Agency only takes work study students and not interns.” 

My guardian acknowledges me with a nod. “That’s true, but we must weigh that need against the risk of putting your name and face on international television, in addition to the attention that your class has already drawn from villains” he says firmly, and I have to work hard to keep my scowl from showing on my face.

“That’s true, but I think that there are ways to minimize the risk,” I say, and I know that there’s a fire in my eyes when I meet his gaze. “I’m not saying that I need to try for the podium, or that I want to do something super flashy to get myself tons of offers, or even that we can't tell the announcers so that they don't call attention to me. But if I don’t compete, it takes away one of only three opportunities I’ll ever have to show myself as a hero on this stage, and I can’t pass up something this important.”

“I’ll accept restrictions, because I know it’s important that I don’t call excessive attention to myself. I can limit my powers, or hide behind someone else to push attention off of me. I’ll work under whatever conditions you want to set, but I won’t let what happened two years ago dictate the rest of my life, and I can’t afford to fall behind the rest of my class. They’re working as hard as they possibly can to be heroes, and after what happened yesterday they’re only going to work harder. If they don’t let their fear hold them back, then how can I do any less?!”

By the end of my speech I’m on my feet, staring Sasaki down with determination and grit written into every line of my body. I won’t back down, not from this. Not when my progress towards being a hero is at stake.

I won’t let that bastard take anything else away from me!

“Well, then I believe that question is answered,” Nedzu says cheerfully, breaking the bubble of tension I’d created with my declaration. I glance towards him sheepishly as I sit back down and pick up my tea again. 

“Yes, I believe it is. As much as I dislike it, I must admit that your argument is sound. With the proper precautions in place, you will not be exposed to excessive risk,” Sasaki adds, leaning forward in his seat and giving a slight smile at the absolutely flabbergasted look on my face. “We do, however, need to discuss what those precautions should be, and who needs to be involved in this effort. I suggest Present Mic at a minimum, to ensure commentary does not unduly focus on you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. “Thank you for believing in me.”

Overcome, I bow my head in wordless gratitude. I had been expecting to fight so much harder for my right to participate, and worried that I’d lose the argument despite all my determination. But Sasaki is willing to support me, to let me work towards my future without letting my past hold me back, and that’s the most important thing he could ever do for me. 

“You’re welcome, Alina. I truly believe that you will be an excellent hero, and it would be wrong of me to block you from achieving that dream,” he says. His hand lands on my shoulder, and it stays there for just a moment before he turns back to the principal, who’s been watching this whole exchange with a small smile on his face.

“About those precautions,” I say, wiping my tears and collecting myself as the conversation shifts back to the original agenda. “I have an idea.”

 

----------

 

“Alina, it’s so good to see you! I’m glad you’re alright,” Momo exclaims, bouncing happily in her seat as I slide into my desk the next morning. “We were all so worried about you when the teachers had to take you to the infirmary!”

I smile ruefully, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment as my cheeks lightly flush. “Ah, yeah sorry about that! I haven’t passed out from Quirk exhaustion like that in a long time, it normally doesn’t happen,” I say. “I’m really sorry I worried you!”

“I’m glad to see that you have recovered, Yoruhiko. I wanted to thank you for coming to our aid in the dome of stormy darkness,” Tokoyami stands from his desk across the aisle to give me a short bow before sitting back down. “Your assistance was excellently timed and a great boon to myself and Kouda.”

“Yeah, you really saved our butts Alina. Thanks again for that,” Jirou adds, turning around in her seat to give me a nod. From her other side, Kaminari whips around to send finger guns at me. “Yeah, no kidding! Jirou filled me in on what happened while I was yay-ed out, I really owe you one!” he says. “I’m more than happy to make it up to you, maybe over a romantic candlelit dinner?” he adds with a wink.

My face turns progressively redder and redder. “Ahh, don’t worry about it!” I squeak. “I’m glad I was able to help as much as I did, I’m sorry for passing out in the end!!”

“Woah Yoruhiko, did you really go to all the zones in the USJ?” Kirishima asks, surprised. “That’s so manly of you to help out like that!”

“Thanks, Kirishima,” I say, still desperately trying to get my blush under control. “But really, it was the least I could do to make sure everyone was safe!”

“I didn’t need your fucking help Glitchy! Next time you steal my villains like that I’ll kill you!” Bakugo roars from the front of the class. 

Well, that’ll do the trick. Consider my flushed face gone.

I roll my eyes as the pink fades from my cheeks, pointedly turning around in my seat to chat with Momo until the start of homeroom. Behind me, Midoriya whimpers in fear as the last barrier between me and an imploding Bakugo.

The class chatters more about the USJ and the amazing power that All Might displayed in his fight until Iida comes thundering in telling everyone to take their seats. When he realizes he’s the only one left standing, he collapses into his seat, dismayed and bemoaning the dilemma of a class rep. I shoot him a thumbs up across the room, and Uraraka pokes him until he looks up to see it.

Seconds later, a mummified Mr. Aizawa slouches his way into the room. I scream right along with the rest of my class. This man should absolutely still be in the hospital!! 

“My well being is irrelevant. What’s more important is that your fight isn’t over yet,” he says monotonously from the podium in front of the room, and I watch as everyone else in the room tenses in alarm. “The UA Sports Festival is about to start.”

As the rest of the class screams their excitement and asks a million questions, I let my mind drift. I knew this was coming - hell, with the exception of the USJ it’s been the biggest thing on my mind for the last several days. 

Aizawa quiets everyone down quickly, reminding the class that this is our best chance to get noticed by pro heroes. “One chance per year. Three chances in a lifetime. No aspiring hero can afford to miss this festival,” he intones. “So you better not slack off on your training.”

Our morning classes come and go. When we’re finally dismissed for lunch, people are quick to stand up and find their friends, and the air fills with excited commotion about the festival. I’m quick on the draw, tossing Momo a wave and an apologetic smile as I slide out the door after a disappearing head of red and white hair.

“Todoroki! Do you have a second?” I call down the hall, and ahead of me I see him pause a turn around. I catch up to him a few steps later, falling into his pace towards the cafeteria.

“Yoruhiko. Can I help you?” he asks evenly, with just the faintest tinge of confusion in his voice. I nod. “Oh please, just call me Alina. And actually, I was hoping to talk about the festival!” I chirp happily at him.

Todorki just stares at me impassively as we pick up food in the lunch line, bypassing Iida and Uraraka as they chat about Midoriya (who’s strangely missing), and I follow him to an empty table tucked away in a corner of the cafeteria where we set our trays down. He doesn’t say a word, but looks up at me as he slurps at his soba noodles, and I take this as the best sign to continue that I’m going to get.

“OK, so I need you to hear me out on this, because I swear there’s a good reason I’m asking you this,” I start. “I’d like to ask to team up with you during the Sports Festival!”

“No. I’m going to win with my power alone,” Todoroki immediately cuts in, and I nod along, impatient but accommodating. “Yeah I figured you’d say something like that Mr. Social, that’s why I said I needed you to actually hear me out,” I lightly scold.

He just glares at me in response. Great, we’re off to a great start.

“5 minutes, I swear, then I’ll leave you and your noodles alone with no hard feelings either way. Deal?” I ask, stretching my hand across the table to shake. He hesitates for a long moment, but ultimately comes to some sort of silent decision as he reaches across the table to give my hand a single shake.

I beam at him. “Great! So, I’ve watched a couple festivals before, and Mr. Aizawa was telling us earlier how the whole goal is to market yourself to pros, right? The short story is, my quirk is great for speed but weak in other areas, and I haven’t had the time to build up much strength in close combat yet. The best way for me to market myself right now is to play support to another hero - someone who’s flashier and able to hit harder than I am, but who may lack mobility or agility on their own.”

Todoroki’s expression doesn’t change as I continue, but I optimistically choose to take a lack of further negatives as a good sign. “Obviously, there’s a few people who fit that bill in our class, but I wanted to ask you first because,” I pause, taking a nervous breath. Todoroki clearly notices, as a single eyebrow goes up.

I exhale. Just go for it, Alina. Get it all out.

“Ugh, this is so awkward. OK. So Momo told me your dad is a pro, right? Endeavor or something like that?” I say hesitantly, and it’s like I waved a red flag in front of a bull. His face goes from stoic to a stone wall, and I hastily wave my hands in front of him.

“No no, sorry!! God, I’m so sorry I’m bad at this, I didn’t mean it like that! I just mean that he kind of seems like he sucks!!” I blurt out impulsively.

Really? That’s how you make this better? God, who let me talk??

That catches him much more by surprise. His mouth drops slightly open, his curt rejoinder dying on the tip of his tongue, and his brow unfurrows. “Excuse me?” he says faintly.

I groan, forehead meeting the table. That’s it, my foot-in-mouth quota is maxed out for the day. Who let me execute my own plan? This was a horrible idea.

Well, I guess I’m committed to this already, may as well go all in on making a fool of myself.

I pick myself up off the table and dust off the sleeves of my blazer, deliberately avoiding eye contact. “Sorry, that was probably really rude of me. What I was trying to say is that, while I’m not super familiar with all the Japanese heroes yet, when I looked into him Endeavor kind of seems rude? Maybe he’s different in person, but from what I do know of him he’s got a reputation for being pretty aggressive and disdaining teamwork,” I say to my own hands.

There’s a long, quiet pause. “No, that’s fairly accurate,” Todoroki finally says, and my head snaps up to meet his mismatched eyes. To my shock, they’re not filled with revulsion or anger towards my clumsy comments. Instead it almost looks like he’s…

Laughing? Can you laugh with only your eyes? Maybe Todoroki can.

I brush it off, just thankful that he’s not throwing me and my lunch out from his table. “Anyways, what I’m trying to get at here is that it seems to me like you’re trying pretty hard to differentiate yourself from your dad, given how much you use your ice. And that’s cool! I think it’s great to step out of a parent’s shadow,” I say, my voice trailing off towards the end of my statement.

“I wanted to ask you this first because, out of all the people whose Quirks would team well with mine, I thought that you might be someone who I could help with other goals too. If Endeavor is your dad and he’s known for his whole angry lone wolf schtick, then I thought it might help you separate yourself from him if your debut in the public eye is as part of a team that proceeds to kick ass,” I grin at him. 

He hums to himself in thought. “What, exactly, are you proposing as the details of this potential team?” he asks quietly, and my grin starts to grow.

“From the Sports Festivals I’ve watched before, it seems like there’s usually three rounds. The first is usually a weed-out that gives the students in other courses who don’t really want to be there an easy way to tap out early. The second is some kind of team event, and the third is one-on-one matches with all sorts of win conditions,” I list, and he nods in confirmation.

“What I’m proposing is that we team up for the first two. The first round gives us the impact - teaming up when we don’t have to shows the pros that we’re both good team players who are willing to work with others, which is an attractive quality for their potential sidekicks to have. The second round will likely be a team round anyways, so if we agree beforehand, it gives us a chance to train together and gain an advantage over other teams that will be making plans on the fly. Then, we separate and wish each other luck in round three,” I outline.

He props his chin on one hand in thought. “Training together would also give me insight into your quirk and strategies, and an advantage if we face each other in the third round,” he says neutrally, and I nod while resisting the urge to wiggle happily in my seat. He’s considering it!

“Yeah, I know that. I’m honest enough to admit that I’d likely lose a fight between the two of us, although I like to think I’d make you work for it a little bit,” I tease lightly. “Telling you more about my quirk really won’t change that, so I’m choosing to pursue the long-term advantages of putting myself, and by extension you, in a better light with pros watching the festival.”

I take a deep breath before extending my hand across the table again. “My five minutes are up, so what do you say Todoroki? Teammates?”

 

----------

 

Shouto has absolutely no idea what to think of this girl.

He’d let Yoruhiko keep going with what he thought was going to be a useless proposal, only allowing her to stay because he’s curious about her actions from the USJ. 

He’s promptly been sent reeling more than once in the last five minutes. First by Yoruhiko asking him to call her Alina, then by the revelation that she knows who his father is.

Then there’s her clumsy assertion that ‘he kind of seems like he sucks.’

Which, Shouto acknowledges, is more accurate than most people’s impressions of his dear old dad. 

She’s not wrong about Endeavor’s attitude towards teamwork either. He’s heard the rampage many times about how teaming up is for “lesser, weaker heroes” and how “Shouto, you are my masterpiece and you are above any leeches attempting to drag you down with them.” 

It’s this, he realizes, that’s shaken him more than anything else over the course of this conversation. He’s been so focused on rejecting his father’s fire and using his mother’s ice to propel himself to the top that he’d overlooked the rest of Endeavor’s lessons that he’d internalized almost without realizing it. 

Yoruhiko’s insight, her ideas about stepping out from his father’s shadow and separating himself as his own unique hero, is unnervingly on target. She hasn’t realized his desire to surpass his father, true, but she’s somehow managed to effortlessly grasp his deeper need to separate himself from the specter that’s loomed over him for his entire life.

And he does have to admit, the idea of his father raging over Shouto finding multiple ways to defy him and still succeeding easily is… tempting.

He studies her for a long moment, watching her carefully as she animatedly describes the logistics of her plan. It’s a sound one, backed by his own research into past Sports Festivals. She’s correct about the structure of rounds, and about the potential impact that a team up in a non-team round could have. Particularly if one person in the team would already be in the spotlight thanks to that flaming bastard, he thinks bitterly.

Is he seriously considering this? After all, it’s not like he needs her help. He’s more than capable of rising to the top with his mother’s ice alone, and he’s not going to let anyone in his class stand in his way. Not this girl, not Bakugo, not even Midoriya and his strange connection to All Might that he overheard Iida and Uraraka discussing in the lunch line.

Wait.

‘Not going to let anyone stand in his way.’

That sounds like something Endeavor would say. And he’s not sure he would’ve noticed if Yoruhiko hadn’t pointed it out to him.

“So what do you say Todoroki? Teammates?” she asks, reaching across the table to extend a hand to him again. 

He hesitates, torn between his bone-deep need to surpass his father alone, without using that monster’s flames, and the quiet, growing hope that was born the moment that Yoruhiko, of all people, managed to reach out a hand that actually feels like it’s reaching him without falling into the cold, dark chasm that his childhood placed around him.

"I don’t want to be the kind of guy he is.”

His own voice, years younger, echoes in Shouto’s head. It’s something he’s almost forgotten - a memory he buried deep when his mother was taken away.

Shouto spares an instant to hope that she’d be proud of him for living up to his childhood ideals as he reaches across the table to shake Yoruhiko’s hand.

 

----------

 

I’m practically vibrating with happiness for the entire rest of the day. My plan worked!! I crow internally. I get to compete in the Sports Festival!!

True, the spotlight will be on us as a team, at least initially. But as the flashy member of the team, and the one who has a famous pro as a father, Todoroki’s bound to pull most of the attention off of me. I feel a little bad for not telling him I’m essentially using him as a meat shield for the media as a side effect of this deal, but I’ll be helping him with his personal goals too. I’ll make sure this is worth it for both of us!

My good mood easily buoys me through the afternoon, mind focused on the initial training session that Todoroki and I arranged for after school, and Momo sends me several confused but amused smiles whenever I get too bouncy. Finally the last bell rings, and I don’t hesitate to lean back and plonk the back of my head on her desk.

“So? Are you excited about the festival Momo?” I ask gleefully, and she laughs a bit before pushing me back upright. “Yes, but not as excited as you, I’d guess,” she teases, and I laugh along with her as we pack up our bags.

“True enough,” I laugh along, before quieting for a moment. “Honestly, I’m just glad to have the chance to redeem myself. I collapsed after the USJ, and I really want to show that I can do better in the Sports Festival.”

Momo stops what she’s doing to look at me, surprised. “Alina, you don’t need redeeming. You saved us at the USJ! You’re not the one who needs to prove herself at the Festival,” she says, starting firm but trailing off into self-doubt. I shake my head at her, because there’s no way I’m going to accept that.

“Nope, if I’m not allowed to beat myself up about it then neither are you. You took down a bunch of villains and helped Kaminari and Jirou protect each other, you don’t have anything to prove either. Let’s just train hard so that we can both do our best, yeah?” I ask, linking our arms as we start towards the doors. Momo’s face smooths out into a mask of determination, and she nods fiercely as her grip on my arm tightens.

We’re stopped just short of the door by a crowd of students that’s amassed outside, led by a familiar purple-haired boy. Hey, that’s the guy from the entrance exam! I think to myself.

Exam Boy is squaring off with Bakugo, who’s looking more and more livid by the second. But what surprises me is how easily he’s goading my explosive classmate, finding exactly the right buttons to push. He’s very good at it, and Bakugo’s gulping down the bait, saying exactly what the gathered crowd doesn’t want to hear. The others standing near the door aren’t much better off, and I can see Midoriya quite literally shaking in his shoes when Exam Boy issues a matter-of-fact declaration of war on behalf of those looking for a place in the hero course.

These boys don’t know how to be anything other than incredibly dramatic, do they?

I shake my head as Bakugo continues to simultaneously challenge and brush off the entire rest of the school population, prompting more screeching from a boy from Class B. “As expected, I suppose,” I murmur under my breath to Momo, and she nods slightly. On her other side, Jirou leans in to listen. “But unfortunately, he’s not wrong. Just the fact that all these people are here in the first place shows that they were already going to be gunning for us. Now, we’re just aware of the stakes,” I say quietly, and I watch them both pale slightly as they process the implications.

Now it’s more important than ever that we all perform well. The challenge is made, and we all need to rise to it.

 

----------

 

Once he finally manages to escape the crush of people outside the classroom door, Shouto heads for one of the smaller, less-used gyms on campus. It’s where Yoruhiko had suggested they train for the afternoon, with the goal of getting a grasp of one another’s quirks in order to form a more cohesive training plan for the next two weeks.

He’s still a little shocked at himself, honestly. If someone had asked him earlier this morning whether he'd even consider teaming up with someone at the Sports Festival, he’d have frozen their shoes to the ground. But here he is, not only considering it but actually following through.

The strangest part is that he doesn’t even regret it.

“Todoroki! Thanks for coming,” Yoruhiko (Alina? No, Yoruhiko) greets cheerfully as he steps into the room. It’s small, for a UA gym, and the walls are lined with folded-up mats that lean in the corners. Yoruhiko, wearing her gym uniform, is sprawled on the ground in the center of the room, working her way through a series of stretches to warm up.

He drops his bag to join her on the floor for a warm up. “I agreed to, didn’t I?” he replies cooly.

Yoruhiko seems to let the tone wash right over her without batting an eye. “You did, and I suppose I’m thanking you for that too,” she laughs. “So, how do you want to get started here? I have a couple ideas, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

His thoughts? Well, that’s easy enough.

“Tell me about your Quirk. If you’re as support-oriented as you say, then we’ll both need a good understanding of how to make it work with my ice,” he says. Her reaction is interesting. Instead of lighting up, as he’s starting to get used to her doing, she almost seems to fold in on herself for a moment. She catches herself quickly, plastering a smile on her face, but why did she have to make the conscious choice to do so?

“Right, I guess that makes sense,” she starts. “What do you know already? I can start from there, so I don’t waste time on things you already understand.”

He pauses in his stretches thinking for a moment. What does he know about Yoruhiko’s Quirk? The basics, maybe, but almost nothing about the specific mechanics beyond what she told Iida in class.

She nods, seemingly unsurprised when he informs her of this. “OK, so from the basics then. My quirk is called Teleport, and on the surface it’s pretty much what it sounds like. I can feel potential energy around me, then channel it through my body and use it to teleport to any point within a certain distance of me in fractions of a second,” she begins.

“There’s a few limits, which only Momo knows in any detail. The first is obviously distance, and I’ll expand on that later. The second is touch. I can bring anything, including other people, that’s touching my skin with me fairly easily, but increased mass and degrees of separation make it harder. For example,” she says, reaching out to grab Shouto’s hand.

He’s too surprised by the move to resist, and it flops limply in her grasp. “Like this, I can teleport you anywhere in this room no problem. However, bringing your phone in your pocket along with us is harder for me, since it’s touching your clothes but not your skin or my skin. It’s doable, but it takes focus and costs more energy” she explains, and through his blank haze of confusion Shouto acknowledges that he knows these words and they make some degree of sense.

“The last major limitation is the side effects. The human brain is wired to move from point A to point B by crossing the space between them, not by disappearing from one and reappearing at the other. It provokes some nasty nausea and disorientation, which can be suppressed with practice but is one of the major reasons I wanted us to have buffer time for training together,” she finishes, dropping his hand back into his lap as he stares at her incredulously. “Questions so far?”

Numbly he shakes his head. If the side effects are as bad as she makes them sound, he has a feeling he’s in for a miserable few days of adjustment.

“OK, last thing. Momo knows the broad strokes of this, and some of our class may have figured it out after the USJ, but no one knows the details,” she shares with a conspiratorial smile. Her long black ponytail bounces as she tosses her head. Why did he notice that?

“You know from the USJ that, when push comes to shove, I can push my available range to be pretty big. This leads to the idea that I can teleport to places that I can’t see, which forces me to confront the issue of where I’m going to appear. I’m not lucky enough to be bouncy or permeable, so I have to be very careful to make sure that every time I teleport, my passengers and I reappear in completely empty space. I can displace air without a problem, but overlapping with other solid or liquid matter, or even some heavier gasses, is not a good time, trust me,” she shivers a bit, and her right hand clenches and flexes in a way that Shouto thinks looks like she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. 

For the first time, he notices a pale web of scars running across the back of her hand. They’re incredibly thin and faint, almost like she drew them on with a pencil. But as she moves they catch the light in the gym, gleaming like a slightly macabre mosaic. 

Distracted as he is, he almost misses her next sentence. The content, however, has him snapping back to attention.

“To compensate, my Quirk gives me a sixth sense, which I call my Quirk sense. In a nutshell, if I focus I can feel everything that has potential energy that I can draw on within my range for teleportation. In my normal state - basically how I am now, in my day to day - I can only feel bigger items or people within several meters of me. The more I focus, the more detail and range I can feel, but that comes at the cost of energy and attention to my physical body,” she says nervously. She pauses, waiting for a reaction, but -

Shouto can’t blame her for her nerves, but he’s silently stunned as his brain races to catch up with all the implications. That’s… amazing. She can know about everything around her at all times in addition to teleportation? That’s incredibly useful, but also sounds like it has some huge disadvantages.

“This is the part of my Quirk that was hardest for me to get a handle on,” she laughs uneasily after an awkward, silent pause. “I can’t really turn it off, like how normal people can close their eyes or plug their ears. I can only give it less attention. It can also get overwhelming at times, and if something catches me by surprise I can lose the grip I usually keep on it and get swept away until it literally overloads my brain and knocks me out.”

“Expanding my range beyond what I normally use is also energy intensive. That’s what happened at the USJ,” she says, tone turning more serious. Shouto sits up, curious and waiting for the answers to the questions he’s been mulling over for the last two days.

This Quirk sense she’s talking about would certainly explain how she knew Hagakure was in the same zone as me, and how she found me so quickly. But what about the odd look on her face?

“My Quirk sense and my teleportation both pull from the same available energy pool, so pushing my range as wide as I did at the USJ and teleporting at maximum distance several times over came with consequences. I burned through all the potential energy I had stored up, and all the energy I was able to accumulate along the way. It also didn’t help that I had to balance my physical body with my Quirk sense, so that I could stillI speak and move and fight while still keeping an eye on everyone. If I burn through too much energy, I can use my own body as a source for a very limited time, but it’s not really sustainable,” she says, finishing her explanation. 

“So? Are we good to start training?” she asks uncomfortably after another pause, standing up and walking over to the side of the room where she’d left her gym bag. She pulls out a handful of what look like tennis balls, bringing them back to the center of the room where he’s standing to meet her.

Shouto stands as well, shaking off the feeling of being overwhelmed with information in favor of shedding his uniform blazer, tie, and shoes - all the things not touching his skin, like Yoruhiko had described - as he rises to meet Yoruhiko in the center of the empty room. “Yes. I assume the first thing will be to build my resistance to your Quirk’s side effects,” he states calmly. 

Internally though, he’s really not looking forward to this particular acclimatization process.

“Yes. Hopefully it won’t be too awful, since you’re in full control of your senses and hopefully have a decently strong stomach,” she confirms. “We’ll practice today, and make a plan for the Sports Festival over the next few days based on how much resistance you can build.” 

Yoruhiko offers her hand to Shouto yet again, and his pause of hesitation is shorter this time before he grabs it with his own. Her other hand comes up, tossing one of her tennis balls high in the air. Shouto watches it as it flies, coming to the peak of its arc just short of the ceiling.

As it hangs in the air, in the ephemeral moment before gravity takes effect to pull it back down to the earth, Shouto feels the world around him shift. A moment later, he’s looking at the ball that’s still seemingly floating in midair from the other side of the gym, momentarily defying the laws of gravity that should have pulled it back down to earth.

He doesn’t watch it fall, more concerned with the immediate nausea he just manages to wrestle down. 

Yes, this will definitely take some getting used to.

 

----------

 

Thirteen days later, Shouto finds himself on the exercise field outside that very same gym, watching the sun set over UA’s tree line. 

He’s pleasantly less nauseous this time, having spent a miserably productive series of days building his resistance to the side effects of Alina’s teleportation. At least all of that bastard’s endurance training ended up being useful for something, he thinks wryly. Adjusting faster than Alina predicted gave us extra time to actually practice what we’ll be doing in the festival.

He takes a sip from his water bottle, using his right hand to cool it while his left launches two of Alina’s tennis balls high into the air. Her laugh rings in his ears as she disappears from her place on the grass next to him, appearing briefly to pluck one ball then the other out of the air before she settles back on the ground next to him. Her momentum, and the air she displaces when she appears, creates a small breeze that blows through his sweaty hair.

They’d spent the last week drilling every combo move they could think of, as well as improving their teamwork and their endurance when it came to Alina’s quirk. He’d also personally spent the last thirteen days having every single one of his expectations for how this training would go absolutely shattered.

He’s developed a newfound respect for his classmate, and how hard she constantly has to work in order to use her Quirk. She makes it look so easy, but she covers up so much effort with something as simple as a smile or a laugh.

Even more than that, every time he’d pushed the two of them harder, desperate and determined to blow right past his father’s twisted expectations for tomorrow’s Sports Festival, she’d met him step for step and has even managed to push him forward in turn. 

She’s also spent quite a bit of their training time wearing him down until he agreed to call her by her given name. He’d resisted it strongly at first, but as she had put it: “Todoroki, I really think that we’ve moved beyond awkward class acquaintances and into being friends, given how many times I have watched you vomit on my shoes within the span of a few days. My friends call me Alina.” 

It was a fair point, and that had been that.

“You ready for tomorrow?” she asks, holding out her own water bottle in a gesture he’s become very familiar with. He reaches out to lay his right hand on it, sending a pulse of cold through the metal that coats it in a light layer of frost.

He takes the pause to think for a moment, and Alina is familiar enough with this to let him collect his thoughts and organize the words he wants to say. She simply takes a sip of water, humming in appreciation of the icy cold temperature. 

Finally, he nods. “Yes, I think we’re both ready for tomorrow. We have a plan and a fallback, and redundancies for the chance of events moving in an unexpected direction. I think we’re as prepared as we can be.”

She grins in reply to his quiet statement. “Don’t forget the most important part Todoroki! We’re also ready to show your stupid dad how it’s done,” she cheers, spinning off into a round of rapid-paced English that he’s fairly certain is trash talk aimed at his father. He only understands about every third word, but none of those words are particularly complimentary.

Shouto has to carefully hide his smile at a particularly creative insult.

The last two weeks had given Alina bits and pieces of insight into his relationship with his father. Even without knowing the full story, she hadn’t hesitated to vehemently decry Endeavor as "a burnt chicken nugget, Todoroki!", and she’s only gotten more creative since.

Granted, he hasn’t told her about the Quirk marriage, or the true extent of the abuse present in his childhood home, although he might eventually. She only knows that Endeavor has a very set idea of the type of hero he wants Shouto to become, but even that was more than enough to prompt a consistent stream of what Alina has termed '‘fuck that!’ energy’. 

He shakes off his train of thought before it circles back to linger, yet again, on his teammate sitting peacefully beside him in the grass. Night is falling, and Shouto needs to beat his father home so that he can try to avoid Endeavor’s idea of a last training round before the Sports Festival.

Standing, he collects his belongings for his walk to the train station. Beside him, Alina starts in surprise, flickering like static on an old TV as she jolts out of the daze she’d apparently fallen into. He’d learned early on that this happens sometimes, when her Quirk sense catches her by surprise with more input than she’s used to. She only scrambles for a moment before she manages to push herself to her feet, grabbing her things and falling into step with him as they leave campus.

The walk to the station is quiet, each of them ruminating on their own thoughts. For his part, Shouto is reviewing all their plans and strategies one last time, making sure each one is properly tailored to the potential challenges they may face over the first two rounds. 

He won’t lose tomorrow. He’ll fight his way to the top his own way, to show that bastard that he rejects not only his fire but also every single thing he ever taught him. 

He won’t fail.

 

----------

 

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(5) New Messages

 

From: (let’s go mirio 🤩), sent at 05:15

GOOD LUCK TODAY ALI CHAN ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

Tamaki and I will be in the stands cheering you on!!!!!!

 

From: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 05:32

goodluck today ! (｡>\\<) oh and if you hear someone yelling for you from the stands its probably mirio hahaha

 

From: (queen momo 👑), sent at 05:34

I wish you luck today, Alina! Let’s both be sure to do our best in the festival

 

To: (queen momo 👑), sent at 05:38

Thank you momo!! Good luck to you too, we both can do this!! 

 

 

From: (todoroki 😎), sent at 05:39

I’ll meet you at the first round start, according to plan.

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 06:48

Reminder that you better give your fan club some damn good fights to cheer for today, if your tiny short legs can even reach your opponents!!

 

To: (Unknown Number), sent at 07:02

Reminder that you suck and I’d kick your ass if I could!!

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 7:10

Good to see that you remember that you can’t, you’ll have to settle for those annoying classmates of yours instead. Pity for you!

Notes:

nobody:
absolutely nobody:
me, watching this anime for the first time: um, excuse me??? that guy is literally wearing an iceberg over his entire left side? how does he even move like that??? and that canNOT be comfortable. is he ok?????

Also, Endeavor is a burnt chicken nugget and I will die on this hill. I have much stronger opinions about him too, but this one will never change.

The team up with Todoroki that begins in this chapter was one of three things that inspired me to actually write a story around this OC. The second is a scene that comes way, way later in this story, and the third was watching Mineta exist and thinking "you know, what if we did Not This."

Fic Rec: "Hero Class Civil Warfare" by RogueDruid (Icarius51). As we're coming up to the Sports Festival arc, and with the initial intro of Class B, there's no power on earth that can stop me from recommending what is (arguably/one of) my favorite fics of all time. Characterization is amazing, timeline structure is pulled off perfectly, concept is incredible, and it all comes together to form the fic that gave rise to my love for Class B and its many incredible members!!

Chapter 6: Run, Run, Run, As Fast as You Can

Summary:

Sports Festival opening and round 1!

Note on formatting:
Sentences in Italics are Alina's internal thoughts - basically, her talking to herself. Italicized words are simply for emphasis.
Dialogue in Bold is in English.

Some dialogue taken or adapted from MHA season 2.

It’s still early, and the halls of the UA Stadium are quiet around me as I wander through them. Above me, the crowds are gathering - parents and children gleefully sporting new souvenirs, camera people ready to capture every second of the games in hi-def glory, and pro heroes reviewing criteria to look for in possible new recruits.

Sasaki and I had come early, and he’d already wished me luck before dropping me off in the student section and leaving to find his seat. Bubble Girl and Centipeder had practically run him out the door of the agency, insisting that they could handle work alone today so that he could go watch “their favorite adopted agency daughter” compete.

I’d laughed at them and waved my thanks, then laughed harder when Sasaki had stammered out a noticeably flustered thanks as well. On the car ride over, he’d helped me review the strategies he’d helped me create one last time, and I entered the stadium knowing that I’m as prepared as I can be for today.

For now, I’m just wandering the stadium as I idly weave my fingers through the yellow and red ribbons tied into my ponytail, letting my Quirk sense gradually acclimate as the stands and the competitors’ rooms fill up. The last thing I want is to drop myself into an incredibly crowded place, like this stadium will shortly be, and have my Quirk sense go haywire. Better to spend the extra time to build up to it as people arrive and settle in, so that by the time the place is full my Quirk sense has acclimatized as much as possible.

Lost in thought, with my Quirk sense focused on the larger picture of the stadium, my body is walking more or less on autopilot. I’m yanked back to my physical sensations when I turn a corner and promptly smack my face into someone’s shoulder, sending me stumbling into a wall.

“Ow, that was dumb,” I mutter under my breath. I stand up, reaching a hand out to the guy I bumped into. “I’m so sorry about that! I guess I should be better about watching where I’m going huh,” I say sheepishly.

He stares at me blankly, completely ignoring my apology as he dusts himself off. “Figures someone from the almighty Class A pities the rest of us nobodies,” he says, looking deliberately at my outstretched hand. 

It’s only then I realize that the person I bumped into is the same guy from my entrance exam, and the same one who was outside of our classroom a couple weeks ago. 

I frown lightly. “I am sorry for running into you, but I’m not sure what that has to do with my class? Everyone can be an airhead sometimes, you know,” I say, trying my best to laugh the incident off.

He scowls deeper, and the bags under his eyes catch the harsh shadows cast by the hallway lights. “Not everyone. Some of us don’t have the luxury, considering how hard we have to work for everything that’s handed to little golden heroes like you,” he says scornfully.

My smile vanishes as my shoulders square. This boy has no idea what he’s talking about, does he?

“Little golden hero? That’s a huge assumption. I meant it at the entrance exam when I said I looked forward to seeing you in the hero course, and I still mean it now. You’ve clearly got the drive for it. But don’t ever assume that other people haven’t struggled to get to where they are,” I bite out, and his eyebrows furrow further.

“You, struggle?” he scoffs. “You probably don’t even remember, but I saw you sail right through the entrance exam. Meanwhile some of us had no chance from the very start, and are forced to claw our way up through other paths with little chance of success. All because we don’t have the perfect flashy hero’s Quirk. But it’s not like you’ve ever been written off like that before, just because you have a villain’s Quirk. So don’t claim that you’ve struggled, not when you already have everything you could ever dream of.”

“A villain’s Quirk?” I echo, surprised to hear such a familiar, hated term in such an unfamiliar setting. Suddenly, it’s like I’m back in elementary school, and I almost don’t notice the extra edge in my voice. “Anyone who tells you that you have a villain’s Quirk is stupid and wrong. There’s no such thing. Quirks are Quirks, and some of them just happen to belong to bad people who choose to do villainous things with them.” I snap out.

He gapes at me slightly in shock and I sigh. I wish people wouldn’t be such assholes about Quirk discrimination!

“Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you. That’s ah, a sensitive topic in my life,” I apologize as I deflate, letting my residual anger go. “I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with shit like that.”

“It’s fine,” he says, and his facial expression smooths back out into practiced indifference. Without another word, he brushes past me, continuing on down the boring gray hallway.

“Good luck today!” I call after him as a farewell, and he hesitates for a moment before he rounds a corner and disappears from sight. 

I take another deep breath, leaning against the wall to press my forehead to the cool cement. Closing my eyes, I set aside my strange interaction with the purple haired boy to be analyzed later, focusing instead on continuing to stretch my Quirk sense in preparation for the imminent games.

It may have been a weird start to the morning, but I need to get it together for now. The day’s just beginning, and there’s lots more crazy stuff in store.

 

----------

 

As time ticks on, I wind my way back to Class 1A’s waiting room. Opening the door, I find the room about half full of my classmates, with most of them clustered around the handful of tables in the room. I give a cheerful wave to Tokoyami, who’s sitting with Sato and Shouji near the door discussing possibilities for the first challenge. He nods solemnly in return, and I wander over to a locker on the side of the room to stow my bag away.

“Morning guys!” I wave as I pass Kirishima and Kaminari at their table. They’re sitting with a quietly brooding Bakugo, but that doesn’t stop them from being excited. “Morning Yoruhiko! Are you super hyped for the festival?” Kirishima calls out, and Kaminari’s drumming on the table in excitement.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be great!” I cheer in return, closing the locker door. “And really guys, all of you can just call me Alina!” I add as I walk over to join Momo and Jirou at their table with Kirishima’s exclamation of “that’s so nice of you, super manly!” echoing in my ears.

“Morning ladies, are we ready for today?” I sidle up behind Momo, bumping her arm with my hip. She smiles as Jirou smirks, both nodding their assent. “Yeah, it’s gonna be punk rock,” Jirou says confidently.

“Hell yeah it is!” I say boisterously as I sink to the floor to start stretching and warming up my muscles. I run through my normal warm up, but am interrupted before I really even get started.

“Woah Alina, how’d you get that flexible?” Jirou asks, shocked. I look at her confused, and she gestures to where I’ve sunk into the splits and am leaning forward over my front leg. 

“Oh! I’ve been doing gymnastics ever since I was a kid. Initially it was a way for me to learn some balance, and help me learn to manage the disorientation that comes with my Quirk. But I ended up really loving it, so I stuck with it,” I explain, absentmindedly shifting my torso sideways to flatten my chest against the ground. 

“That’s quite impressive Alina! I wouldn’t have thought of that, but I can see how that would be great practice for you,” Momo says excitedly. I nod, and the three of us keep up a light stream of conversation to keep our nerves at bay as I move through my warm up.

Jirou snickers every once in a while when I take a particularly contorted position, and finally breaks into laughter when I’ve pushed myself up into a backbend. “Sorry, sorry, I just can’t take you seriously when you’re having a full conversation while you’re upside down,” she giggles, and it makes Momo and I laugh too.

“Everyone, get your game faces on! We’re entering the arena soon!” Iida informs us as he bursts through the door. He does a double take for a moment. “Yoruhiko, why are you upside down?” he asks, confused.

Jirou, Momo, and I laugh harder, and I kick my feet up and over my head to stand up straight. “Ready to go, class rep!” I salute cheerfully, linking arms with Momo and Jirou as I pull them towards the door. 

A round of giggles runs through the room, and Kaminari snorts with laughter at Iida’s flabbergasted face. “Alina, I think you’re my new favorite classmate,” he chortles, holding his hand up for a high five that I promptly take.

“Midoriya.” Todoroki butts in, scowling faintly. The atmosphere of the room goes tense, drawing the class’ attention to him as he moves through the center of the room to face down the shorter boy. “From an objective standpoint, I think it’s pretty clear that I’ms stronger than you.”

Midoriya blanches. “Uh, - um yeah,” he sighs, nodding in confirmation.

“However, you’ve got All Might in your corner, helping you out.” Todoroki continues, drawing a surprised gasp from Midoriya. “I’m not here to pry about what’s going on between you two.”

“But know that I will beat you”

Midoriya’s louder gasp is echoed by a few people around the room, murmurs circulating about all the declarations of war that have been tossed around lately. I’m more surprised he doesn’t flinch under Todoroki’s intense gaze. 

Kirishima reaches out to Todoroki, but he’s quickly shrugged off. “We’re not here to be each other's friends. Don’t forget. This is a competition for the sake of our futures,” Todoroki bites out, turning to walk to the door. Off to the side, I give a low whistle.

Having Endeavor here must really be getting to him. He seemed like he was content being friends when we were training, but something’s up today, I think to myself.

The quiet chatter gives Midoriya just enough time to collect himself. “Wait a sec, Todoroki,” he says quietly, and Todoroki pauses just short of the doorway. “I don’t know what’s going through your head, or why you’d think that you need to tell me that you’ll beat me. And yeah, of course you’re better than me,” he says, looking around the room.

“All the other courses will be coming for us with everything they got. We’re all going to have to fight to stand out,” Midoriya continues, and he pauses to clench his fists and look Todoroki dead in the eyes. “And I’ll be aiming for the top too.” 

Green eyes burn into blue-and-gray, and I can practically feel the tension humming through the room like a live wire. “Fine,” Todoroki grinds out, turning his back to head for the door. Behind him, Bakugo lets out a small scoff, and I frown as I slip free of Momo and Jirou.

“Well, on that note I guess it’s time to get started,” I mutter to my two friends as we make our way down the hall. As we walk, I gradually pull away from them, slipping out of their conversation to walk with Todoroki.

“So that was something,” I say casually as I come up to his side, and I only get a faint glare in return. “You ready for this?” I ask quietly.

He gives me a slight nod. “Yes. Are you?” he asks just as quietly, and I simply send him a beaming smile in response as I wander off to strike up a conversation with Uraraka.

Ahead of us, the access tunnel looms, and our first UA Sports Festival is upon us.

 

----------

 

“HEYY! Make some noise, all you rabid sports fans!” Present Mic’s screams are pumped through the loudspeakers all over the stadium, ringing in my ears as I amass with the rest of my classmates in the access tunnel leading to the field. “This year, we’re bringing you some of the hottest performances in Sports Festival history, guaranteed!”

“I’ve got only one question before we start this show: are you READY?? Let me hear ya scream as our students make their way to the main stage!!” he yells, and the responding screams of the crowd ring in our ears.

I glance to my left towards Momo, who’s staring towards the opening of the tunnel where the sunlight from the field is streaming in. She looks determined, but I can see the edges of doubt and worry creeping in on her face as Mic hypes up the crowd. 

I nudge her with my shoulder. “Hey, we’re gonna be ok! You’re Momo Yaoyorozu, and you’re more than capable of kicking ass today. We’re going to go out there, show them all the tricks we have up our sleeves, and then spend the next two days enjoying the second and third year competitions, ok?” I ask, and she finally looks away from the tunnel opening to smile at me. It’s small and nervous, but I’ll take it as a win.

“Yes, you’re right. Let’s do our best today Alina!” she says with more confidence, and I smile back as I hold up my hand for a high five. “We absolutely will!” I exclaim.

“This first group are no strangers to the spotlight! You know them for withstanding a villain attack - the dazzling students lighting up your TVs with solid gold skills! The hero course students of Class 1A!” Mic yells, and Midoriya is the first out on the field. Iida and Uraraka are right on his heels, and Tsu, Ashido and Bakugo start filling out the class roster present on the field. I follow with the rest of my class, exiting right behind Shouji as the stadium absolutely explodes with excitement and noise.

The round stadium is packed to the brim, and every single person is out of their seat cheering for us as the loose pack of 1A students makes its way toward the center of the field. “I hope we’ll still be able to give our best performances with so many eyes on us. I suppose it’s another aspect of being a hero that we’ll need to get used to,” Iida says in a relatively quiet voice.

For my part, I’m doing my absolute best to tune out all the people around us. There’s so many of them, and it’s taking more focus than I expected to keep my Quirk sense under control. The prep I did in the halls and the waiting room helps, though, and I’m able to tune out the roar of the crowd enough to push the edges of my awareness right up to the walls of the field and carefully hold it there, excluding the thousands of people in the stands from overwhelming me. I’ll still have to deal with all the students who will soon be using their Quirks within that area, but it’ll get much easier after the weed out round is over.

From just ahead of me, Todoroki turns just enough to catch my eye over his shoulder. I give him a small nod in return, and he smoothly turns back around, looking for all the world like he’s just examining the crowd that’s hemming us in on all sides.

It’s nice of him to check on me, but we’d foreseen and planned for the crowd today. After all, I wouldn’t be of much use to anyone if I collapsed like a damsel in distress before the first challenge even starts. That’s absolutely not happening, I think to myself, and double down on my mental controls. 

Over the loudspeaker, we hear Mic introduce Class 1B with a comparative lack of flair that makes me wince, and speed through the intros for the other courses. No wonder no one likes us, with comparisons like that, I think with a frown.

All the first years congregate before a raised stage bearing Midnight, the R-Rated Hero, in a costume that has more than one person muttering about its appropriateness for a high school tournament. I hear Kirishima and Tokoyami murmuring in discomfort, and I carefully scoot away from a small purple boy who’s literally drooling and muttering to himself about all the ‘hotties in this festival.’ Ew, definitely staying away from that mess.

She calls Bakugo up to the stage to give the student pledge, and I’m not the only 1A member who’s surprised at this, or the only one who tenses as he slouches his way up the steps to face the crowd.

“I just wanna say,” he drones, looking over the collection of first years with a completely indifferent eye. “I’m gonna win.”

I groan loudly as my palm meets my face. “Why is he like this??” I complain in English, and Jirou spares a moment to send me a commiserating eye roll. His showdown with Exam Boy a couple weeks ago had already taken the target on our backs and painted it a bright glaring red, but now it’s like he’s waving a big flag around it that says “hello we’re assholes, please come fight us!!”

“Wow Blasty, you’re officially the most charming person in this whole place,” I snark as he walks past me to retake his place in our class ranks. “I mean really, look at all your new friends!” I say, gesturing expansively towards the crowd of students around us that’s loudly booing him. 

He sends me a truly vicious glare out of the corner of his eye, but doesn’t have time to do much else before Midnight pulls up the randomizer for the first game. As it spins, I whisper a quick “good luck” to Momo before beginning to worm my way towards the edges of the crowd, on the side nearest to the giant red door in the wall of the stadium that no class had come out of.

Todoroki and I had discussed the possibilities for the first game extensively. We’d agreed fairly quickly that the “randomizer” had to be for show, as the first round in most past festivals had involved a lot of setup that had to have been done beforehand. There had been scavenger hunts, races, obstacle courses, agility trials, and all sorts of other challenges, but all of them had some kind of structure that had to be put in place before students could use it. With that knowledge, the big red door was a pretty good sign that whatever was in store for us would be on the other side of it.

Finally, the screen coalesces to announce an obstacle race, and the smile on my face gains a much sharper edge. That’s one of the best options we could’ve gotten! I whoop internally. 

The crowd of students clusters up in front of the door, and a green light appears on the top to count us down. I’m near the front of the crowd, with only a few other people between me and the tunnel through the stadium wall that leads out to the track. Momo is several rows of people behind me, along with the bulk of our class. Todoroki, having also separated himself from the rest of the group, is half a dozen heads to my left and a row behind me. 

The buzzer sounds at Midnight’s yell of “Begin!” echoes across the field. As one, the first years of UA leap forward into the shaded tunnel.

I leap with them, but I do more than just that. 

As I take my first step, my mind is racing, flashing back through the plans that had been extensively thought out over the last two weeks.

 

”If we get a chance, I think you should make a splash with just your ice before I jump in to support, you know?” I say, tossing one of my tennis balls into the air as Todoroki is splayed on the ground recovering from yet another bout of nausea. He musters up the energy to give me an impressive side eye.

“Obviously, I’m not going back on our agreement," I roll my eyes in answer to his unvoiced snark. "But if one of our goals here is to stick it to Endeavor then I think you should start with a big move with your ice. It’ll get everyone’s eyes on you from the very beginning, and if you keep it up then you can make sure that that’s where they stay. With how loud Present Mic’s commentary is, he won’t be able to ignore you even if he wanted to,” I expand, a mean little smile on my face.

“Your goals don’t have anything to do with Endeavor. That’s my problem,” he says coldly, pulling himself to his feet. 

I roll my eyes, offering Todoroki a hand to pull him upright. “You’re not wrong, but also is it so wrong for me to want to help out my new friend?” I ask rhetorically, pocketing my tennis ball as we both stand. Todorki’s frown only deepens. “We’re not here to make friends, Yoruhiko,” he says in his cold monotone.

It stings, but no more than the last five times he’s said it. “Maybe not, but there’s nothing stopping us from doing it anyways, is there? For now, let’s settle on the compromise of agreeing that your dad sucks and I'm happy to help you show him up, yeah?”

 

With a deep breath for concentration, I vanish from my spot in the crowd, narrowly escaping the immediate crush of students shoving their way through the door, and reappear just shy of the end of the tunnel, my toes right on the line of sunlight that reaches from the outside.

For the span of a heartbeat I wait, just out of view of the camera drone hovering outside waiting to see which students take an early lead. Then, Todoroki blows past me with a huge wave of ice blooming in his wake. It coats the floor, bursts out into the sun, and crawls up the legs of anyone who didn’t have the situational awareness to get off the floor in time.

I grin, letting a few other students who also avoided the ice pass me as I follow behind, using my teleportation to move forward without risking running over the slippery ice. I let Todoroki get just a bit ahead of me, disappearing into the pack of frontrunners without letting him out of my sight.

We quickly come up to the first obstacle: a crowd of the robots from the entrance exam. There’s several of the zero pointers mixed in here, with one, two, and three pointers supporting them. One by one their eyes turn red, locking onto targets that they pick out from the bunches of students skidding to a stop in front of them.

“So this is what the other students faced in their entrance exams,” Todoroki muses coldly as the shadow of the biggest bots looms over him. Beside me, Momo gasps in alarm, having never seen the robots before since she took the recommendation exam alongside Todoroki. “Where does the school even get the funding for these things?” she demands.

The robots fly forward, huge metal claws reaching out to grab whatever targets they can reach. Torodoki simply reaches downward, and his entire right arm is coated with a layer of ice as he takes a moment to build power. 

“They obviously went through a lot of trouble, but I wish they’d prepared something a little more difficult,” he says, and he lets the stored power fly out into the ground. With an earthshaking rumble, a glacier begins to emerge from the dirt, and Todorki rides it forward and upward straight at the robot. “Especially since my dear old dad is watching.”

He sweeps his right arm forward, and another huge surge of ice follows it. In the space of an instant the front line robots are coated with a thick layer of frigid ice that sparkles in the sun. They freeze in place, allowing Todoroki to casually jog right through them completely unmolested.

I gape for a moment in shock. Sure, I’d seen Todoroki do some pretty impressive things while we were training, but this is on another level entirely. He really decided to go all out for his first impression. Either that, or having Endeavor here is getting to him even more than I thought, I muse to myself as I recover and bolt forward. 

As I recover though, I realize that there’s something else going on. Todoroki, you are such a sneaky little shit starter and no one will ever believe me if I tell them that!!

I don’t have time for internal shrieking though. The cloud of frost is hiding it from most students, but Todoroki froze the robots off balance. As the crunching sounds of tearing metal get louder, I quickly feel for Todoroki and teleport myself out of the mix as the robots crash to the ground in pieces. 

Todoroki’s just clearing the smoky wisps of vapor clouds when Present Mic starts hollering at the top of his lungs about Todoroki’s devastating display of chart-topping moves. To my slight surprise, he even manages to get Mr. Aizawa to give a full sentence of commentary! Never thought I’d see the day.

I reappear just behind Todoroki, running the last few paces to catch up and fall into step with him. “Well, if that didn’t get their attention then nothing will,” I observe dryly, and he gives a small huff of biting laughter. “Let’s keep moving,” he says, and I nod with determination as we race for the next obstacle.

We race through the straightaway, and I keep my Quirk sense as open as I can without sacrificing my body’s athletic capabilities. “Our class is moving past the robots and gaining on us. Bakugo, Sero, and Tokoyami all went over. Kirishima and that boy with the eyelashes from Class B got a little squished by the one you froze, but they’re ok. Four or five more went right through and- oh my god Momo is actually my favorite person!” I interrupt my own information stream to laugh delightedly. 

“Yaoyorozu?” Todoroki asks as we run. I nod, still too caught up in my own laughter to answer. It takes me a moment to catch my breath before I can answer. “Yeah, she made a cannon and blasted straight through a robot with it,” I say with pride, and even my stoic teammate gives a raised eyebrow at that.

There’s no more time to chat though, as we come barreling up to the second obstacle. Over the speakers, Present Mic introduces it as “The Fall”, but I have no plans of letting that name come to fruition.

“My turn?” I ask, offering my hand to Todoroki as our sprint takes us closer and closer to the lip of the canyon. He takes a deep breath to steel himself, nods and grabs my hand. In perfect sync, our feet push off the edge of the canyon and we jump, full speed ahead, into its depths.

“What’s this?? Our leader has picked up a tagalong, and they’ve jumped right into the canyon!!” Present Mic screams, and I allow myself one victorious smirk at the nearest camera bot before my Quirk tugs both Todoroki and I to safety on top of a wide stone pillar about a third of the way across the pit.

I’m holding back, of course. If I really pushed it, I could clear this whole canyon in a single jump. But for the sake of disguising myself on camera, and saving my power for later rounds, I’ll do it in three jumps instead.

From the moment our feet touch the ground, Todoroki and I don’t break step. He raises an ice wall behind us, to block other students from pursuing easily, and as soon as he’s done I use my Quirk to push us forward again. Now most of the canyon is behind us, and with my Quirk sense I can tell that the small cluster of people fighting for third place is just coming up on the start of the canyon.

“WHAAAAAATTTTTT? In a shocking turn of events, 1A’s Todoroki Shouto is getting a massive speed boost from a fellow 1A classmate! She’s the fastest gal around, and he’s certainly putting it to good use in a completely unexpected display of teamwork!!” Present Mic screams over the loudspeakers, and I grimace slightly to myself as I teleport us past the last section of the canyon.

Todoroki and I don’t hesitate to make a break for it the second our feet touch back down on the far side of the canyon. We sprint full speed ahead for the last obstacle, but Todoroki pulls slightly ahead of me again as I give more of my attention between obstacles to my Quirk sense.

Immediately, I notice the crackle and heat of Bakugo’s explosions approaching us much faster than anything else. “Heads up Todoroki, the bomberanian is coming up on us,” I say, and the English portmanteau throws him off enough to look at me sideways in confusion. I just jerk my head towards the sky though, where Bakugo’s explosions are visible in the distance. He’s still over the canyon, but he’s closing fast

He rolls his eyes. “Took him long enough,” he mutters, and I snort with laughter. Pushing my Quirk sense again, I can feel several other students closing in on our side of the canyon obstacle, including a majority of our classmates. 

There’s no more time to think though, because Todoroki and I skid to a halt at the start of the third obstacle. “You’re stepping onto a minefield!!” Mic yells over the sound system, and I perk up in excitement.

“Well, today’s our lucky day isn’t it,” I quip, and without hesitation we start running across the stretch of dirt. There’s little mounds where each mine is buried, and combining that with my Quirk sense makes it feel like there’s a big red flag over every mine: impossible to miss.

This is actually the perfect obstacle for me. My Quirk sense helps a ton, and the balance needed to navigate here comes easy after all the years of training and gymnastics classes that I have under my belt!

Todoroki blazes ahead, barely looking down as he starts to outstrip my pace, and I call the occasional course correction when he’s about to land on a mine. It’s still slower going than the last obstacles though, since this is designed to make problems for the leaders.

Still, we manage to make it over halfway through completely unmolested before Bakugo, still screaming in inarticulate rage, crosses into the start of the field. He’s using his explosions to propel himself above the ground, although the force from the blasts is still enough to set off a few mines in his wake. They burst with a loud noise and a giant puff of pink smoke, sending any student unlucky enough to be caught in the blast flying into the air. 

I reach my Quirk sense backwards with a frown, absentmindedly grabbing Todoroki’s arm to stop him from stepping on a mine as we run. “Bakugo’s coming up fast and there’s more behind him. I’m going to go take a quick look further back, since I can only take my Quirk sense so far in a mess like these explosions.” I say, and he nods curtly. “Fine, catch up later. I’ll handle Bakugo,” he says determinedly.

I toss him a smile and a quick salute before vanishing, appearing further back near the start of the minefield. Over the PA system, Present Mic barely even notices, too distracted by Bakugo’s impending challenge for the lead position to comment that I’m no longer lagging a bit behind Todoroki.

From my new spot, I have a much better idea of what’s going on. Bakugo’s far ahead of me now, practically breathing down Todoroki’s neck. Iida, Asui, and the vine-haired girl from 1B are also making good progress, but most everyone else has slowed down significantly to pick their way through the mines. Midoriya’s doing something odd near the front as well with the large piece of metal he’s been lugging around, but he seems more or less stationary for the time being.

The only real exception is… oh hell no.

I start to swing my arm as I disappear again, reappearing back to back with Momo so I can stare down the very creepy purple kid from the opening ceremony. 

He’s still drooling as he looks at Momo’s open shirt, which is disgusting and somewhat concerning when combined with his comments about Midnight’s hero suit, and he’s flying through the air towards her unprotected back. He’s holding two purple balls in his hands, which look just like the ones that are on his head.

I don’t know what those do, but they look slimy and gross just like him, so it’s a safe bet that I don’t want them touching me or Momo, I think quickly. 

Finishing my swing, I grab the kid by the collar of his gym uniform and use all of our joint momentum to fling him as far off to the side as I can.

He wails in surprise, caught completely off guard by my sudden appearance. “Hey! What are you doing?? Don’t ruin my chances to grab those super hot hero boobies!!” he screeches, but the rest of his rant is cut off by the FWOOM of all the mines he explodes when he hits the ground. The force of the impact and subsequent blast is enough to send him right back into the air, sending flying off to the side of the track and into the tree line.

“OOH, that’s gotta hurt! Mineta Minoru of General Studies is officially off the track and disqualified from the race!” Present Mic says cheerfully over the PA system, and I allow myself a single smirk as I turn around and catch up to Momo.

“Sorry for interfering! But he seemed like a real creep and I didn’t want him to catch you by surprise, competition or not,” I say, keeping pace with her as she races through the mines.

She shoots me a smile. “I appreciate it, although if you want to make it up to me then I’ll gladly accept the story of how you and Todoroki ended up teammates as a fair repayment,” she teases, and I laugh lightly.

“Deal, I owe you one then. Speaking of teammates though, I have to go catch up! Good luck on the rest of the challenge!” I chirp happily, before disappearing from her side and reappearing a little ways behind where Bakugo and Todoroki are trying to fight and run at the same time.

I hang back from their battle, losing myself among the ranks of the students closest behind them as I absentmindedly help steady a pale boy with skull-like teeth when he stumbles and almost faceplants into a patch of mines. Todoroki seems to be managing just fine, and I’m unwilling to draw attention to myself by inserting myself into the fight for first place. Present Mic seems to be having a great time commentating on it anyways though, so no harm done I suppose.

Out of absolutely nowhere, there’s a massive blast of wind and pink smoke as someone near the front of the field sets off a truly massive explosion. I stumble in surprise, just managing to keep myself from falling on the ground as my Quirk sense catches me off guard. My head is spinning, but I manage to keep it together and withstand the chaos. 

“What the hell just happened?” I say, jaw dropping in disbelief. After a few seconds, I’m able to start sorting out what’s happening in that smoke cloud and - 

No way. Is he serious??

Apparently he is, because Midoriya is riding his torn piece of metal like a damn rocket ship across the minefield. He’s rapidly closing on Bakugo and Todoroki’s fight, and Present Mic is having the time of his life over the PA system.

“Are your classmates insane?” the boy who I’d just helped asked faintly. I can only shake my head incredulously in reply before I drag a hand down my face and wind my fingers in my hair. “Apparently,” I reply, but I don’t have any more time.

Midoriya flies over our heads as I disappear, but I’m faster than a landmine-propelled human missile. Barely.

In the span of fractions of a second, I reappear next to Todorki as Midoriya is rapidly descending towards him and Bakugo. Bakugo’s eyes widen as he sees me appear from thin air, but he doesn’t have time to do anything about it before I grab Todoroki’s arm and disappear again.

“Look at those incredible reflexes!! In a stunning move, Todoroki and Yoruhiko’s partnership has come through again, as she presses skip on the rest of the minefield!” Mic’s screams echo over the course as Todoroki and I reappear on safe ground just past the end of the minefield.

I push him forward. “Get moving! They’re not far behind!” I yell, and his reflexes kick in as he catches his balance, never breaking his stride from start to finish. He bolts for the stadium again, and I slow for just a moment to turn around and watch.

I’m very glad I did, as I’m treated to the hilarious sight of Midoriya planting his feet firmly on Bakugo, one on each shoulder. He throws all his momentum, all the force of his flight and his fall, into one slam of his metal plate into the ground. It impacts practically in front of Bakugo’s nose as Midoriya precariously balances on top of him.

For one moment, it’s like the world is frozen. I can feel the potential energy building and growing under the ground, waiting to push outwards and upwards.

And then it does. A huge plume of pink smoke erupts, pushing Bakugo back and Midoriya forward. The green haired boy flies over the rest of the minefield and straight past Todoroki as Bakugo struggles to recover his balance. Midoriya tucks and rolls, tumbling back to his feet as his forward momentum carries him back to the stadium. 

Bakugo growls, and the sound is deep, loud, and incredibly intimidating. He blasts forward again in pursuit of Todoroki and Midoriya, and takes just enough time to make sure that one of his explosions goes off in my face. It isn’t close enough to hurt, but the flash of light makes me reflexively close my eyes and stumble to the side.

I cough, the smoke in the air filling my lungs. Unexpectedly, I feel a pair of hands grab me, steadying me and orienting me to run in a particular direction.

I bolt forward, and once I’m free of Bakugo’s smoke cloud I discover that my mysterious savior is none other than the pale blonde boy I’d helped just before Midoriya’s explosion. “You ok?” he asks, looking at me with concern as we run side by side.

I cough one last time. “Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks for the save,” I gasp out between short breaths. 

“Right back at you,” he observes dryly, and I laugh as he crosses back into the stadium a step ahead of me. The robot logging participants at the finish line announces us as fifth and sixth place, respectively. Half a second later, Iida zooms through the doors to seventh place, and I can tell the rest of my class isn’t far behind.

After I catch my breath, I turn to my unexpected companion. “Yoruhiko Alina,” I introduce myself, and he smiles as he shakes my hand. “Honenuki Juuzou, Class 1B,” he says. “Are you the one who was teleporting all over the course?”

I laugh bashfully, slightly embarrassed. “Ahh, yeah that was me. Sorry if I startled you by appearing out of nowhere like that!” I hastily apologize. He chuckles slightly, waving it off. “It’s no big deal,” he insists. “After all, I think that Bakugo guy got you better than you got me.”

I groan. “God he’s so over-the-top sometimes,” I mutter under my breath in English. To my surprise, Honenuki actually laughs a bit.

“Only sometimes?” he replies in English, and my jaw drops even as I give a small laugh. “You’re fluent?” I ask, and he nods. 

“Oh we are absolutely studying together sometime soon,” I point at him. He nods again, agreeably. “I don’t get nearly enough practice with native speakers, so that’d be helpful actually,” he comments.

“Honenuki! What are you doing hanging around that 1A glory hound!” another blonde boy screeches as he comes across the finish line, immediately storming up to Honenuki and pulling him away to join a knot of Class B students. I hide my laugh behind my hand and wave. “I’ll find you later Honenuki! Thanks again, and good luck in the next challenge!” I call. He waves back before he’s thoroughly distracted by the other boy’s ranting.

I turn around as well, quickly finding Todoroki in the growing crowd of students and wandering up to his side. He’s staring coldly at Midoriya, watching the smaller boy rub some cramps out of his own hands.

“Hey. You ok after that?” I ask quietly. Todoroki scoffs. “I’m fine. Let’s focus on the next challenge so we don’t let this happen again,” he says, and I let the very clear shutdown lie.

The final rankings for the first round are posted, and Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo are unsurprisingly the top three. Momo has placed at a respectable eighteenth, and I shoot her a wave and a big thumbs up. She smiles and waves back, and I grin at her.

Class A has taken most of the top spots, with the bulk of Class B (outside of a few outliers like Honenuki and the vine-haired girl Shiozaki) clustered in the 20s and 30s. I frown, surprised at that result.

All of them passed the same entrance exam we did, so I’m a little surprised they didn’t place higher. Honenuki and Shiozaki showed that they’re clearly capable, despite what Mr. Aizawa said during the commentary about Class A learning not to hesitate after the USJ. 

Regardless of whatever happened with Class B, it’s also interesting to see that the purple-haired boy who challenged Bakugo outside our homeroom (helpfully identified on the board as Shinsou Hitoshi) made it through, as did a pink haired girl named Hatsume Mei who’s decked out in support gear. Other than those two, though, it’s a roster completely full of hero students.

The crowd of remaining students clusters around Midnight’s stage, and I find myself sandwiched between Momo and a black-haired boy from Class B. I give him a polite nod before turning to my friend.

“Momo, you were amazing in that first round! I mean, that cannon? Consider me blown away!” I laugh, giving her a quick side hug. She smiles, her cheeks flushing as she returns it. “Well, it wasn’t all that amazing,” she starts to backpedal, but I firmly shake my head. No way am I letting her wriggle out of this because of her modesty!

“Nope, stopping you right there. That was probably the coolest thing I’ve EVER seen and after this, I am going to hunt you down and sing your praises while you tell me the play by play of how you managed it!” I exclaim, bouncing slightly in place with excitement that I can’t fully contain.

Momo’s blush intensifies. “Thank you for your kind words Alina, but I worry I played my hand too early. I’ll do my best to keep my momentum going in the next round!” she says, clenching her fists in determination.

“Let’s do our best!” I cheer, and from my other side I hear the dark haired boy scoff. I turn to him, but he just keeps giving us a judgmental stare.

I frown. “Hey, you’re going to do your best too, right dude?” I ask, and the guy’s eyebrows raise until he realizes I’m speaking to him. “Of course I will, and it’ll be a hell of a lot better than you Class A fools can manage,” he replies derisively.

“Well, I suppose there’s one way to find out about that. I look forward to competing with you!” I say brightly, giving him a small bow before I turn back to my conversation with Momo. 

I can’t see him with my eyes, but he’s close enough that my Quirk sense can still give me the satisfaction of the look of surprise that lingers on his face for a moment before he wipes it off, walking off to talk to the blonde boy who had dragged Honenuki away earlier. I grin to myself. May as well start building bridges, even if Bakugo’s determined to burn them, I think to myself. You never know when you’ll need help from an unexpected corner!

As Midnight starts the electronic randomizer for the second game, I wish Momo luck one last time before wriggling my way back through the crowd to Todoroki. He spares me a single look, one filled with determination that I don’t hesitate to return. My spine straightens, my shoulders go back, and I reach up to tighten my ponytail, smiling as I catch sight of the yellow and red ribbons woven through it.

Whatever the next challenge is, bring it on! We can do this!

 

----------

 

Yoruhiko Alina's Phone

(2) Unread Messages

 

From: (let’s go mirio 🤩), sent at 10:48

you're doing great Ali-chan!!! also did you just fling a grape child off of the course because I'm so proud of you for that!!!!!!

 

From (Unknown Number), sent at 10:53

I'm staying up so late to watch you be this dramatic???? Don't get blown up!!

Notes:

I won't lie, I did absolutely rewatch the entire first round specifically to find the best opportunity to throw Mineta out. In the process, I was pleasantly reminded that Momo does canonically create a cannon to clear the Robo Inferno and that she is, in fact, a queen.

Fic rec: "journey to the past" by aloneintherain. Only three chapters, but they're all lengthy and adorable as hell. Tiny Midoriya still makes me laugh no matter how many times I reread this.

Chapter 7: Take It, Then Take It Back

Summary:

Sports Festival round 2, an interlude heart to heart, and brackets!

Notes:

1. Reminder that endeavor sucks
2. Some dialogue taken or adapted from MHA season 2
3. TW: minor references to domestic abuse and non-con (aka, the Todoroki household)

“Forty two of you qualified to move on to the next round. Gird your loins and prepare for your next test. A cavalry battle!” Midnight announces.

“A cavalry battle? What’s that?” I murmur to Todoroki. He shrugs silently, glaring off into space. I follow his line of sight, and my face contracts in a frown when I see a big, hulking man (who seems to casually be on fire and no one’s talking about it) looming above the lowest section of stands.

That would be Endeavor then, I think to myself. I scowl in his direction, his first visual impression not improving my negative view of him. Every other pro at this festival is either working hard on the security team to keep us safe, or is sitting in their seat attentively, watching Midnight explain the rules. Endeavor, by contrast, is a walking fire hazard who’s blocking the entirety of a major walkway and rudely intimidating spectators into timidly going around him so that they aren’t ignited.

Pointedly, I turn my back to Endeavor and step in front of Todoroki, so my face blocks his view of his father. He starts in surprise, and I simply give him my widest beaming smile in response. He scoffs slightly, but allows me to turn him around and herd him toward Midnight to listen to the rules of the game.

She explains the format and the point headbands, and Todoroki and I give each other a sideways glance. Both of us placed in the top ten of the qualifier, so it’s a good bet that we’ll start with a high point value no matter who else we get for our team.

“We need a defender, for sure,” I mutter to him out of the corner of my mouth, and he gives me a slight nod. “And maybe a backup for area incapacitation and attack, or for mobility if we’re trying to save my Quirk.”

I break off my train of thought as Midnight puts the point values for each person up on the screen. As expected, Todoroki and I will already be a strong start for a team point value. But at UA there’s always a catch.

This catch is that Midoriya’s worth 10 million points.

Instantly, every eye on the field snaps to the green haired boy, who looks like a breeze would blow him away. He’s right to be terrified - Midnight just painted the competition’s largest target yet on him and anyone on his team.

“I’ll follow your lead, Todoroki,” I whisper, watching him out of the corner of my eye. He gives me a small nod of thanks, turning to face me fully as Midnight starts the timer for team formation and strategizing. 

“I know who we need,” he states firmly, and without a second thought he grabs my hand to tow me through the crowd of jabbering students. I’m caught flat-footed as I trip my way after him. Physical contact is something I’ve come to not expect from Todoroki, so this takes me completely by surprise.

He stops after a moment, with me finding my feet behind him. He doesn’t notice, too intent on our classmate in front of us. 

“Yaoyorozu. Join us,” he states calmly, and my tall friend’s jaw drops a little bit before her perfect poise reasserts itself. “You want… me?” she asks hesitantly. Todoroki just gives a single nod, but I bounce forward once I find my balance again.

“Momo, of course we do!! You’re an amazing teammate, and you’d be a huge help to us in this round! Plus, you and I made a great team in the battle trials a few weeks ago - imagine what we could do with more time and a bigger team!” I cajole her. Honestly, where does she get this idea of her perceived inferiority? Because it’s very wrong and I won’t stand for it.

Her eyes soften with vulnerability for a fleeting moment, then her whole face hardens in determination. “Then count me in. I’ll do my best to help us win this!” she says firmly, giving Todoroki and I a nod.

“Yay go team!” I cheer, holding up both my hands for high fives. Todoroki gives me a flat, judgmental look before walking off, but Momo proves once again that she’s wonderful when she laughs slightly before slapping both of my hands in succession. I beam back at her. “This is why you’re my favorite. Now come on, let’s go see what else our team leader has up his sleeve!” I link my arm through hers before pulling her after Todoroki.

We wind our way through the crowd after him, and I spare a moment to send a wave and an apologetic smile to Shinsou, who’s hovering on the outskirts of the knot of students centered around Bakugo. I still feel a little bad for snapping at him this morning, I think guiltily. Lost in thought, I bump into Aoyama and have to hastily apologize as Momo keeps me on my feet. 

Shinso only scowls in my direction, but I have to set the issue aside for later. For now, I have to focus on the battle ahead, and that starts with catching back up to Todoroki.

When we find him, it’s yet another surprise. 

“Iida. Join our team,” Todoroki says again, just as impassive as the last time. Unlike Momo though, Iida frowns in thought and pushes his glasses up his nose.

“What is your plan for the challenge, Todoroki? If the four of us team up,” he says, gesturing to Momo and I standing at Todoroki’s side, “then we’ll have more than enough points to simply play a defensive game. But that isn’t what you intend to do, is it?”

“No,” Todoroki says. “We’re going after the 10 million points.”

Iida nods gravely, making eye contact with each of us in turn. “Good,” he says seriously. “I know you challenged Midoriya earlier, but you two aren’t the only ones who intend to win today. I’ll join your team, on one condition.”

“A condition?” I blurt out, unable to contain myself. “What is it?”

Iida turns to look at me, and there’s a fire blazing in his navy eyes. “It’s you, Yoruhiko. I’ve been losing to Midoriya so far today, and although he is my friend I cannot grow stronger if I remain tied to him. You, however, have been beating me since before the school year even started. The entrance exams, the Quirk assessment test, even the obstacle race - in all of them, you’ve narrowly surpassed me when you pitted your own speed against mine.”

He turns to face me fully, and his fists clench at his side. “If that weren’t already enough, we were also the two who received orders from Thirteen at the USJ to use our Quirks to save people. I was ordered to run away and bring backup, and you were ordered to run further in and help our classmates. Both of us did our duty, and between the two of us we provided enough support to get everyone out safely.”

“My condition is this: I’ll join your team, and work with you to beat Midoriya in this challenge. But he isn’t the only one I see as a rival. I want you to swear to me that you won’t lose in the third round until we’ve had a chance to face each other, to settle this between ourselves.”

I stare at Iida for a moment as my brain catches up. It’s true that I’ve been edging him out, but it’s been by seconds at best. But if that’s how he feels…

My spine straightens, and I meet the fire in Iida’s eyes with one of my own. “Deal.” I say, reaching my hand out to shake on it. “We’ll win this now, and then I’ll see you in the third round.”

He nods severely, giving my hand a firm shake. “I’ll see you in the third round. Now, let’s work together to get there,” he declares.

Our team forms a loose circle, and from the looks in Todoroki’s and Momo’s eyes I can tell that I’m not the only one whose motivation was sparked by Iida’s challenge. We’re going to win this, and we’re going to give our absolute all in round three.

“Iida!” cries a high pitched voice, and Iida disengages from us to turn and speak to Midoriya and Uraraka, who came running up behind him. They huddle up, but it’s only for a moment before Iida straightens up, bows his head, and adjusts his glasses. 

“Bakugo and Todoroki have challenged you already, but they aren’t the only ones who see you as a rival,” Iida says firmly. He turns back to our team, and the fire in his eyes has been stoked even higher. Determination marks every line of his body. I stand straight and incline my head towards him for a moment. Midoriya isn’t your only rival, either.

“For now, Midoriya, I’ll try my best to defeat you,” Iida intones, taking his place at the end of our team’s ranks next to Todoroki. Momo and I stand next to the boys, and each one of us lets our resolve fill us with strength as we stare down our two classmates.

“Woah, Iida,” Uraraka gasps quietly as her head whips back and forth between looking at our team and Midoriya, but now isn’t the time for that.

“Let’s go,” I say. “We have a challenge to win.”

The last thing I hear as our team turns as one to start strategizing is Midoriya’s audible gulp.

 

----------

 

Shouto leads his team to a quiet patch of the field, slightly apart from the other students around them. He has a plan to win this, and all that’s left to do is carry it out so he can show that bastard that he’s rejecting not only his fire, but everything that he ever taught him.

He turns to his teammates. Alina’s standing ramrod straight, as she had been ever since her promise to Iida a few minutes ago. He frowns slightly, tucking that conversation back into a corner of his mind. He can’t linger on why it bothers him; for now, all his focus has to be on the challenge ahead.

“I chose you three because I believe we’ll make for the most agile formation possible,” he says, looking at each of his new teammates in turn. “Alina, you’re our left wing. Focus on recon and subtly grabbing headbands if you get the opportunity, as well as emergency defense and mobility if we need it.” She nods at him once, and it feeds his own confidence to see her so motivated.

“Yaoyorozu, you’ll take the right wing. Focus on defense and keeping enemies at bay. Iida, you’ll take the front. We’ll rely on you for physical defense and primary mobility,” he finishes. Yaoyorozu gives him a determined nod, and Alina pulls on her shoulder to whisper in her ear for a moment.

“And you’ll be attacking and creating diversions of ice and fire, is that right?” Iida says, interrupting his train of thought. Shouto freezes, feeling his hatred and determination curl up in a sickly, oily dichotomy in his chest. It only grows when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the telltale black-and-orange of that brute’s hero costume. He looms over the crowd, and Shouto hates that he feels so tense every time he catches sight of Endeavor - like he’s a rat in a cage and he can’t escape.

“Not quite,” he says coldly, clenching his fist. “When I’m in battle, I never use my left side.”

No, he won’t. And he especially won’t today, not with that monster watching. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Alina’s fierce look, and can’t help the grim smile that spreads slightly on his face.

I’ll show you, old man. I won’t use anything you tried to give me, and I’ll still win without any of it. We’ll show you.

 

----------

 

“Let’s start the countdown!” Present Mic screams from the announcer’s booth. Our team is ready to go, equipped with Momo’s creations and supporting Todoroki, who’s wearing our team’s band with a big red 695 stamped on it looped around his neck. I take a final inventory, adjusting the short staves hanging from my waist.

“Three!”

“We’ve got this,” I murmur, and Momo squeezes my hand in our connected grip on Iida’s shoulders.

“Two!”

“He’s ours,” Todoroki says, cracking his knuckles around the staff in his hands.

“One!”

“Get ready,” Iida says, taking a runner’s ready stance.

“GOOO!!!”

We bolt forward, Iida making a break straight for Team Midoriya and pulling Momo and I along on our roller blades that she made during our prep time. Midoriya looks scared but determined, and his team blanches slightly as the whole of the competition aims straight for them. Dark Shadow emerges in preparation from Tokoyami as he supports Midoriya’s weight, and the support course girl cackles maniacally.

“We’re running away!” Midoriya yells faintly. I can feel power building to my left, and I jerk Iida back quickly to divert our momentum before - 

“I don’t think so!” Honenuki yells, and a line of softened ground spreads from his feet and heads straight for Team Midoriya. Iida narrowly avoids stepping in it, but our mobility remains thankfully intact.

Unfortunately, Midoriya’s does too, as he and his team use support gear to take off in a rush of air, floating clear across the arena. My eyes narrow in concentration. There’s something off here, that shouldn’t be - ah, of course.

“It’s Uraraka, she’s floating most of their team’s weight. We’ll have to find a way to pin him down before we can carry out our plan,” I inform my team, and Todoroki scowls briefly.

I see Dark Shadow intercept an attempted attack from Jirou and Kaminari, but the dust clouds that are kicked up as they land make me slip a bit further into my Quirk sense to make sure I never lose track of what’s going on. I squeeze Momo’s hand tighter as I sort through inputs as fast as I can, grateful for the physical contact to ground me.

“Teams Bakugo and Tetsutetsu are on our tails, but the rest of Class B is - hang on a second,” I gasp, pulling myself out of my Quirk sense for just long enough to brush against the tails of the headband belonging to a very surprised Team Kodai as we whiz past them. The physical contact is brief, but it’s just enough for me to use my Quirk to pull it with me as I teleport myself ever so slightly to the right. It removes the band from her head without the sensation of it being yanked off to let her know it’s gone, and Iida ensures we’re long gone before they can see it in my hands.

I pass the stolen strip of cloth up to Todoroki, who ties it around his neck to join our team’s band with the blank side facing out. “Watch out for Class B, everyone,” I say with a frown. “They aren’t aiming for the 10 million, they’re looking to stack up smaller values.”

I point as best as I can toward the blonde who was yelling at Honenuki earlier. He’s currently spinning Team Kaminari’s stolen headband casually around a finger as his team runs away. Kaminari hasn’t even noticed, too busy being berated by Jirou.

“Iida, get us to the center of the field. We’ll be ready next time they take to the air to pin them down as they land,” Todoroki instructs, and Iida leans into a turn to avoid Shouji, who’s thundering towards Team Midoriya with Asui and Hagakure hidden on his back. I don’t have time to watch though, because I’m rapidly re-focusing on my Quirk sense.

We make it to the arena center, with Momo and I skidding to a stop on our roller blades behind Iida. It’s just in time to see Bakugo launch himself from his horses with a massive BOOM, flying towards an airborne Team Midoriya only for Dark Shadow to block him at the last moment. Sero reels in his rider, but I frown, keeping my eyes on Team Midoriya. Dark Shadow feels different than just a second ago. Bakugo’s explosion did something to him.

“Let’s go,” Todoroki says as soon as Team Midoriya starts their descent. “Yaoyorozu, get ready.”

“I’m on it,” she says. I adjust my grip to keep her attached to me and Iida as he bolts forward, and a moment later two round shapes begin to protrude from her forearm. I grab one as soon as it’s free of her skin, and she grabs the other as Iida tightens his hold on us. 

Around us, several other teams converge on Team Midoriya as they touch down. Most of our classmates are on our heels, along with two teams of Class B students. The rest of Class B has diverted to the other side of the field, heading to support the blonde boy as he confronts Bakugo.

“Class B distracted Bakugo, now’s the best chance we’ll get,” I say hurriedly. From above us, Todoroki nods. “Yaoyorozu, Alina, go.”

I grin and pull the pin on the grenade that Momo handed me as she does the same on my other side. They’re not hugely harmful, since she modeled them off of the landmines from the obstacle race. But they’ll make a loud noise, a huge flash, and a large cloud of smoke, and that’s all the distraction we need.

I toss mine out at the same moment as Momo and close my eyes tightly, and a few seconds later I feel the arena shake from the explosion. Shoving as much attention into my Quirk sense as I dare, I hear the screams of all the teams around us as I quickly sort out who’s where.

The screams only increase as the temperature drops rapidly. Ice blooms again from Todoroki’s right side, skating rapidly across the ground like it did in the first round. Unlike the first round though, this attack catches all the teams in our vicinity. The flashbang had been more than enough to disorient them, and their panicked pause was all the opening Todoroki needed.

Ice spreads in our wake as Iida propels us forward, and I direct him left and right to allow Todoroki to snatch headbands from teams immobilized by ice and blinded by light and smoke. As soon as we’re clear of the cluster of students, Todoroki pushes the ice higher and faster, creating a massive spiked wall that rises to cut off all possible competition.

As the last of the smoke clears, we’re closed in with Team Midoriya, and they have nowhere left to run.

“I’ll be taking that now,” Todoroki says ominously.

 

----------

 

Present Mic is screeching over the PA about the leading team being cornered, but Shouto lets everything wash over him in order to focus all of his attention on Midoriya.

He’s been infuriatingly capable of staying on Todoroki’s left side, blocking him from using his ice. Alina, who’s serving as the left wing, has tried a few times to grab the tails of the headband as they flap wildly in the breeze, but Dark Shadow has been blocking her at every turn. Dark Shadow itself had been a problem too, and the ground is littered with small craters and Yaoyorozu’s creations that she and Alina had used as shields against the beast.

They’ve been playing this game of tag for close to ten minutes, and with two minutes left on the clock, something needs to change in order to break this stalemate.

“Everyone! Hang on tight,” Alina suddenly orders. He has just enough time to take a deep breath and brace himself before the arena flickers around him and his hand is inches from Midoriya. 

With reflexes honed by days of nonstop training with Alina, he doesn’t hesitate. Instead, he reaches out and snatches the 10 million point headband from Midoriya’s head.

Before he can open his mouth to tell his team, the world flickers again and Shouto is staring at his ice wall from the outside. He has to quickly catch his balance as Yaoyorozu and Iida both stumble. Yaoyorozu’s face is faintly green, and both of them are struggling to keep the nausea under control.

Alina helps him though, grabbing his leg to help stabilize his weight when their other two horses stumble. “Sorry, everyone,” she says. “I know that feels awful, but push through for the last minute!”

“You feel that way every time you use your Quirk?” Iida asks faintly, sides heaving as he takes deep breaths to settle his stomach. Alina shrugs, and Shouto rises and falls with the motion since she’s still bearing most of his weight. “I used to, but it gets easier with practice,” she says briefly.

They don’t have a chance to keep chatting though, and Alina’s head snaps up as her eyes go unfocused. “We’ve got Midoriya and Bakugo incoming!” she cries out, and whips around to swing her short staff at a disembodied hand that Shouto hadn’t even noticed sneaking up behind him. Her hit sends it flying, and he hears a girl on Team Tetsutetsu, who’s iced over halfway across the field, shout in pain.

In front of them, Team Midoriya has managed to jury-rig their damaged flight gear well enough to come sailing over the ice wall. They skid and stumble as they fall back to the ground, and Uraraka looks like she’s close to her limits, but it’s not enough to keep them from barrelling towards his team. 

On the other side, Bakugo is roaring his challenge, having snatched his points back from the Class B team. His team is weaving left and right, avoiding the scales that a member of the Class B team is shooting at them, but they’re clearly heading for the 10 million point confrontation.

Shouto spares a glance at the clock, then at the field behind them. “Where do we go, Alina?” he asks. His thoughts run ahead as Alina takes the same moment to survey the field with her Quirk sense.

45 seconds left, but the field behind has all the teams that I froze in place. Several of them can attack at long range, whether it’s to impede our mobility or steal points outright, he thinks, tucking the ten million point headband away a little more firmly at the bottom of the pile. It’s nestled right below their original 695 point band, with all the smaller ones they’d stolen stacked on top as decoys. That means the safest place to go is -

“Right past them!” Alina yells, as she and Yaoyorozu work together to fend off more disembodied hands and Asui’s tongue. “Can’t go back, so we have to thread the needle and go forward!” she says, then yelps in surprise and backpedals quickly as the ground under their feet starts to soften as Team Tetsutetsu gets free. “I won’t be able to keep track of all the attacks and still be able to react in time if we go into that crowd!”

Shouto frowns, laying down a sheet of ice for his team to stand on and allowing them a moment to catch their breath. Bakugo’s team is coming up fast, and Team Midoriya isn’t far behind them. Even with Iida’s engines, they’re trapped between the anvil of the frozen teams and the hammer of the mobile ones. 

“Everyone! I’m going to do something that will make me useless to you all,” Iida says in a strong voice. He leans forward, and Shouto can hear the faint whine of his engines start to get louder. “Hold on tight, and make sure you keep that headband,” Iida says. He takes a single second to shoot a smirk at Alina but Shouto doesn’t have any time to react before a ROAR of blue fire and exhaust bursts from Iida’s calves.

“Recipro… BURST!”

They shoot forward, almost too fast to see, and Shouto has to fight against the drag to even stay upright. Smoke pours off them and billows in their wake, obscuring Team Bakugo and Team Midoriya from them and from each other. 

Shouto looks to his right and just manages to see Bakugo’s eyes through the smoke, widening in surprise before being left in Iida’s dust and obscured by the thick black exhaust cloud.

He’s distracted for a fraction of a second as they pass Team Bakugo, and it’s perfectly horrible timing.

From his left, they’re a sudden clang and a shout, and Shouto feels something tighten around his neck while still moving at superhuman speed. It snuck up on him entirely, and for half a heartbeat he’s back in his own childhood, surrounded by smoke and struggling to breathe.

His left side lights up without him meaning to. The flames aren’t even visible for more than a few feet through the thick exhaust cloud, but he feels the heat and knows.

The tightness jerks suddenly, and the pressure around his throat releases as Iida’s incredible power drags their team further forward. Hurriedly, he puts out his flames, rushing to extinguish them before anyone else can see their light.

As they rocket out of the smoke cloud, Iida turns to bleed off momentum, skidding to a stop clear at the other end of the arena with nothing and no one around them. His engines are still smoking faintly and his chest is heaving, but there’s a satisfied look in his eye.

“Iida, what was that?” Yaoyorozu asks softly, loosening her death grip on Shouto’s leg and Iida’s shoulder. On his other side, Alina is blinking hard and shaking out her left hand, and Shouto assumes the rush of power caught her Quirk sense by surprise.

“I forced my torque and RPM into overdrive. It gives me explosive speed, but unfortunately the recoil stalls my engines for a while. It’s a special move I’ve been saving - no one in the class knew about it,” he explains, and Alina pauses momentarily to stare at him in awe.

“Iida, that’s incredible! You totally saved us!” she cheers, and Shouto nods in dazed agreement, commending his teammate even as he frowns internally and rubs at his throat that’s covered in headbands. My fire… how could I let it ignite like that?

Wait. The sensation he’d felt.

He grabs the fistful of headbands around his neck to find that two have gone missing. No! How did they manage to react quickly enough?

Quickly checking the point values, he lets out a sigh of relief. The top two headbands had been snatched in the rush - likely by whatever had made that clanging noise - but the 10 million points and their original band are both still tucked safely underneath the remaining decoys.

“Damn it, he got some!” Alina curses as she notices Shouto counting headbands. “I’m sorry, Todoroki. It’s my fault,” she says. “Dark Shadow was preparing an attack before we even started moving. I tried to deflect it, but he was too strong and I couldn’t manage to block it entirely.” she explains, looking down at her feet in shame.

Shouto looks back to see two white strips of cloth hanging from the shadow’s beak, and one of Alina’s short staves lying abandoned on the ground.

I see what happened. Without a bigger shield, like the ones Yaoyorozu made earlier, she didn’t have the time or leverage to do more than partially deflect the attack. I must have heard the noise of her staff blocking Dark Shadow, or maybe when it hit the ground.

As they’re standing there, looking at all the other opponents on the field that are arrayed in front of them, the buzzer sounds.

“TIME”S UP!” Present Mic yells. “With that INSANE finishing move from Iida Tenya, Team Todoroki ends the game on the top of the charts!! What a crazy finish!!”

Shouto breathes deeply, climbing down to the ground and glancing around. “Good work, all three of you,” he says quietly, nodding to each of his teammates in turn. Yaoyorozu and Iida start in surprise, but give him a smile and a nod. Alina simply beams at him.

He looks out at the stands filled with hordes of people cheering for them. Above them, his father looms, and Shouto scowls as his attention falls from Endeavor to his own left hand.

I swore I’d never use it again, but I did today. Why?

“Todoroki? Are you OK?” Alina asks quietly as she steps up to his left side. She hesitates, but after a moment she reaches slightly upwards and lays a small hand on his shoulder. He tenses, not used to this kind of touch. It’s cautious of his boundaries, but kind and supportive and so different from the type of touch that he knows (harsh and unforgiving and heat pain).

But this feels different, somehow. This isn’t burning hot or painfully tight. Her hand is just… there. Warm. 

She clearly takes his silence and tension as a dismissal, and she lifts her hand away. Without even thinking about it, his own hand shoots up and presses hers back onto his shoulder. She starts slightly with surprise, but sends him a small, gentle smile.

“I’ll tell you later,” he says, giving in to the sentiment that’s jumping out from behind his teeth. When he mentally prods at the sentence, he’s a little surprised to find that he means it.

She’s his first real friend, and when she saw his fire she wasn’t horrified. If anything, it was the opposite reaction.

He wants to tell her.

She nods, stepping away as Present Mic finally calms the cheering crowd down enough to be heard over them. “ALRIGHT,” the Voice Hero screams. “Let’s look at our final list of chart toppers!”

“In FIRST PLACE, with a ridiculous 10,001,775 points, is TEAM TODOROKI!” Mic yells, and the camera drones throw a picture of their team up on the big screens. Alina has bounced her way over to Yaoyorozu, the yellow and red ribbons in her ponytail dancing in the breeze. She flings an arm over the taller girl’s shoulder as the cameras zoom in on Shouto.

“Thank you for the support, Alina, but I really don’t feel like I did much compared to you or Iida,” she says quietly, folding her arms in on herself. Alina frowns, squeezing her friend’s shoulders tighter. “What do you mean? You were the reason Todoroki could freeze so many people, and without you we never would’ve been able to hold off Dark Shadow!” she points out. Yaoyorozu relaxes slightly, but the edges of her frown stay on her face.

“IIIIIN second place is TEAM BAKUGO with 950 points!!” Mic screams, and the cameras pan to where Bakugo is sitting on the ground, glaring at anyone who comes near him. Shouto is starting to think he’s pouting.

“In third place - WOAH, where’d they come from? It’s the dark horse with 810 points, Team Shinso!!” Mic screams in shock. Shouto turns to find a face for the unfamiliar name, eventually landing on the purple-haired boy from the hallway confrontation a couple weeks ago. At his side, Ojiro and two Class B students are rubbing their eyes and looking around in confusion.

“And finally in fourth place with 370 points, our LAST TEAM advancing to the finals, it’s TEAM MIDORIYA!” Mic yells, and Midoriya pours forth a truly concerning volume of tears.

Mic wraps up the morning by dismissing the students for lunch, telling them to be back in an hour for the recreational games that will take place before the finals. Shouto doesn’t hesitate to find Alina and pull her out of the flow of people.

“Let’s find somewhere to talk,” he says quietly, and Alina nods before reversing the grip he has on her hand. “Follow me,” she says. “I know where to go.”

Shouto clings to her tightly as he follows without a second thought.

 

----------

 

When I was exploring this morning, I found several private rooms scattered throughout the stadium. I think they’re supposed to be class prep rooms, or maybe storage rooms for festival supplies, but in the end it doesn’t really matter what they are as long as they serve our purpose of quiet and privacy.

We find one such storage room near the student exit tunnel, and I stack some gym mats against the wall for us to sit on while Todoroki closes the door behind us. Hopping on top of my makeshift seating, I lean against the wall and pat the mats next to me, pushing my Quirk sense wide for a moment to ensure there’s no one anywhere nearby.

Hesitantly, he sits, perching on the edge of the stack of mats and leaning forward over his legs. He doesn’t look at me, only stares at his left hand like it came from space and he’s never seen it before in his life.

There’s something wrong here. I had felt the heat above my head, had heard Dark Shadow whimper and retreat slightly in the face of the flames. Todoroki’s been acting off ever since, even more so than he has been since he first saw Endeavor in the stands, and he’s alluded over the past few weeks to having a rocky relationship with his dad, For that matter, that relationship was what led to a lot of the choices that made me approach him in the first place.

“I was overwhelmed,” he says suddenly into the quiet. “I was overwhelmed, and it made me break a promise I made to myself a long time ago.”

I wait for a moment, allowing Todoroki time to gather his thoughts. “What overwhelmed you?” I ask softly as I lean forward and turn to face him.

He doesn’t look at me, still enthralled with his own left hand. 

“My old man is ambitious. He aims for the top, and used his power to make a name for himself as a hero,” Todoroki says to his hand. “But he was never able to best All Might, so the Symbol of Peace is living proof of his failure. He’s still at it though, trying to take down All Might.”

Finally, he turns to look me in the eyes. “One way or another,” he says, and his words toll like a bell.

“Todoroki,” I say, my breath catching in my throat. “What you said about him wanting you to be a particular type of hero. Is that because he sees you as…?”

“A means to an end?” Todoroki fills in when I trail off. “It’s more than that. To him, I’m a tool to be bent towards accomplishing his goals.”

“How much do you know about Quirk marriages?” he asks. His voice is utterly smooth, but the anger is building in his eyes.

I gasp. “That’s illegal,” I breathe, and Todoroki gives a wry scoff. “My father has a long list of personal accomplishments, and plenty of money to throw at his problems. An inconvenience like the law wasn’t going to stop him from buying my mother to get his hands on her Quirk.”

I clench my fists as sadness and anger roar to life in my heart. Of course I know what a Quirk marriage is. It’s a significant problem back home, particularly among the people who still hold old-fashioned views on things like race or gender politics. 

“In every memory of my mother, I only see her crying. She was beaten down in that house, forced into giving him child after child who were promptly tossed aside for not having the perfect Quirk,” Todoroki continues, vicious anger now leaking into his voice. “When I was born, that bastard finally got what he was after. He separated me from her, my siblings - anyone and everyone that might distract me from his ‘training’ sessions.”

“He broke her, plain and simple. She called my left side unbearable, right before she poured boiling water on my face,” he seethes, reaching his hand up to cover the scar that stretches across his eye and the top of his cheek. “I don’t blame her for it, though. He drove her to this.”

“What happened earlier was a mistake. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let him use me to his own ends, that I’d take first place today without using his flames,” Todoroki says fiercely, looking back down at his hand as he clenches it into a fist. 

“Todoroki,” I breathe out, slowly reaching for his hand and gently prying his fingers loose. There’s crescent shaped divots in his palm from how hard his nails dug into the skin.

Fuck. This is… no one else should have to feel broken. Not his mother, and not him either. But how do I tell him that?

I can’t tell him everything. Not now, not yet. Inside my heart of hearts, I feel my old, gaping wounds twinge with pain and self-loathing. Time has scarred them over at the edges, but they’ll never go away completely. They’re a part of me now - the part I gained when I took myself back from the person who nearly broke me.

Maybe I can’t tell him everything. I’m not ready to put words to those days, even if I was allowed to. But maybe… Maybe I can give him the edges of it. The silhouette. To help show him that, despite all of Endeavor’s efforts, he isn’t alone.

“There was a case several years ago, back home,” I say quietly, still looking down at Todoroki’s hand in mine. His head jerks in surprise at the non sequitur, but I keep going. “A gang of villains was kidnapping kids and teens who had useful or rare Quirks, and selling them off to the highest bidder. They picked targets that wouldn’t fight back, and mostly people who wouldn’t have anyone looking for them if they vanished.”

It’s my hand’s turn to clench unconsciously, and Todoroki wraps his own hand around my fist as the guilt already starts to churn in my stomach. Still, I choose my words carefully - truthful, yes, but not complete. “It stuck with me, you know? It worried me - what if they’d taken one of my classmates? Or my little brother?” I trail off, finishing the sentence in a whisper.

Todoroki doesn’t react to the personal information, and I take a moment to wrestle down my old, yawning fear. After a minute, I look up, eyes blazing with an old, desperate determination, to meet his gaze dead on.

“Those villains were scum. They tried their best to break their captives into obedience; took away everything that made them themselves. But some amazing heroes stopped them, and those same heroes were the ones who helped those people learn how to be their own selves again,” I say. 

My own self again.

“Endeavor’s every bit as much of a piece of scum as that gang was, Todoroki. He doesn’t deserve someone as good as you, not when he’s so much of a monster that he’s willing to abuse others, to throw away their safety and freedom and agency for the sake of his own selfish ambition,” I say ferociously.

I stand, pulling Todoroki upright with me and raising my eyes to keep eye contact with the taller boy. “I’m guessing that something that happened earlier was triggering for you, and I’m sorry you had to go through that. I promise that from now on I’ll always be there to help you through those moments, if you want that,” I say, pausing for a moment.

Shock is painted across his face. “You’re promising to support me? Why? I’m strong enough on my own,” he asks quietly. I squeeze his hand that’s still linked with mine.

“I know you’re strong, Todoroki, but do you remember what I said about that fucker’s attitude toward teamwork when I first asked you to team up with me?” I prompt. “Just because you’re capable of doing it alone, that doesn’t mean you have to. And even beyond that -” I falter, looking down at my shoes.

I can’t tell him everything, no matter how much I want to. I’m sorry, Todoroki - I’ll do my best not to lie to you, but this is too important to stop.

“I… know what it’s like, to feel like part of you belongs to someone else. To feel like you have to either reclaim it or cut it off forever.” I slowly say, pausing to make sure I find the right words to try and convey the roiling mass of old knotted-up feelings. “I guess what I’m trying to tell you is this: I wouldn’t have made it through that process without support. I want to be there for you too, whether that means helping you reclaim your fire and see it as your own or supporting you through leaving everything behind that that bastard tried to teach you.”

“What do you mean, reclaim it? It’s his fire”, Todoroki says, stone faced. He pulls away, turning his back to me. I reach out after him, but he shrugs off my hand and I hurry to explain.

“It’s not, Todoroki. He gave you the genes for it, sure, but he doesn’t have any control over what you do with it. It’s your power, and just because he’s a selfish dick who tried to take that away from you, that doesn’t mean he has the right to do it or that you can’t take it back and do whatever the fuck you want with it,” I say.

I activate my Quirk, appearing right in front of him so he has to look me in the eyes. “Tell me to shut up, or tell me that’s not what you want, and I’ll leave it alone. But I’ve got your back Todoroki, and that means giving all the options I possibly can,” I say firmly.

I pause for a long minute, looking at him. He doesn’t say anything, but he isn’t trying to leave anymore. I breathe hard, coming down from the force and passion behind my own words. This conversation is dredging up a lot of old feelings that I wasn’t expecting to face today.

But even so, it’s cathartic, in a way, to be able to use these dark, demeaning thoughts and turn them into something that can maybe help another person. 

It’s not purifying. All my self-doubt, all my desperation and impotent rage are still there, burning away. But there’s something more important than all those things, and it’s the last of my own old revelations that I can pass on to someone who needs it.

“Todoroki,” I say. “Do you want to be a hero?”

He looks at me, unmoored and shaken. The question clearly caught him by surprise.

“Yes,” he whispers. 

I smile, small and weighed down but still genuine.

“Then use your Quirk to be a hero, Todoroki. All of your Quirk. Use it to save people, to warm their hearts instead of burning the joy and life out of them,” I declare. 

His eyes meet mine for a long moment, and he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t move either, frozen in place like he stuck himself there with his own ice.

Ever so slowly, he raises his left hand in front of him, and his eyes and mine fall to stare at it yet again. This time though, after a long moment of quiet, I hear a faint crackle as a spark pops to momentary life in his hand.

Then another.

And another, and another. Until, cupped in Todoroki’s palm, there’s a tiny ball of flame flickering merrily away. 

Dumbstruck, never taking my eyes off of this amazing thing, I slowly reach to cup my hands around the back of Todoroki’s left one. He starts in surprise, but I gently hold him in place. His hand is warm, and the fire warms the air enough that I can feel the faint heat on my fingers.

I look up, but to my surprise Todoroki is already staring at me. Instantly, I feel like he’s sucked all the air out of me with the intensity of his gaze. He’s looking at me shocked, like I’m some kind of enigma he doesn’t know how to parse out, but there’s a small smile curling at the edge of his lips and in his eyes.

Ever so slowly, his right hand reaches out to bridge the gap between us. He delicately rests it on my cheek, and I give him a soft smile as I lean into the touch.

“I’m not hurting you,” he breathes shakily, and I press my hands against his harder for just a moment.

“No, you won’t,” I say just as quietly. I look down again, my smile growing as I stare, enraptured, at the mesmerizing, shifting colors of the flames cupped in our joint hands. “Your fire is beautiful, Todoroki.”

“Shouto,” he replies, and there’s more steadiness in his voice than there has been all day. I look up again, awed all over again. His hand tightens slightly on my cheek, and I push into the contact as my happiness grows and grows inside me, eclipsing everything else in my heart.

“Shouto, then,” I agree.

For the first time in the weeks I’ve known him, Shouto gives me a real smile.

 

----------

 

“WELCOME BACK to the UA Sports Festival!! We’ll be starting our recreational games in just a minute, for all you students who didn’t make it to the final round to have a chance to enjoy yourselves! It is a festival after all!” Present Mic yells into the PA system.

“After they’re over, the 16 students from the top four cavalry teams will be duking it out one-on-one in a tournament style fighting competition!” he continues, and I sigh and rub my temples as he keeps yelling and working up the crowd. Even with as much control as I’ve been exerting, my Quirk sense is still not my friend in a place with as many stimuli as this, and it’s starting to give me a wicked headache. 

My emotions are also still running high from my conversation with Shouto before lunch, and all of these sensations together are forcing me to fight harder than I’d like to stay present in the moment.

To my right, Shouto shoots me a concerned look, but doesn’t have a chance to say much before Midnight calls us up to draw lots for our slots in the tournament bracket so that she can start the recreational games. Before we have a chance to do so, though, Shiozaki from Class B raises her hand.

“Excuse me,” she calls out, and everyone falls silent as she walks with dignity to the front of the crowd. “Please pardon the interruption. But I feel that I must withdraw my name from consideration for this event.”

“Shiozaki, what are you doing?” hissed Tetsutetsu as she walks past, and she only stops to close her eyes and fold her hands solemnly. 

“I did not come here with wicked or selfish reasons, but to deliver salvation to others. But I cannot participate with any intention of true good when I do not feel that I fairly earned the right to enter this stage,” she says, and a ray of sunlight beams down on her.

Further back, Ojiro raises his hand. “I’d also like to withdraw,” he calls out, and more gasps come from the group of students. I hiss in a breath. What on earth are these two doing? This is where everyone has been fighting to get to this whole time!

“I don’t feel like I really deserve to be here, since I can’t really remember anything from the second round,” Ojiro continues. He nods toward Shinso, who’s standing alone and apart from all the hero students. “I think it was that guy’s Quirk. But this is my pride, and I can’t overlook that”

For just a moment, all I hear is the blood roaring in my ears.

All the things I dug up for Shouto’s sake come screaming forward again, and for a second I feel like I can’t breathe. My muscles all lock up, and the edges of my vision fade away until that shock of purple hair is all I can see.

What kind of Quirk is he talking about??

I pull myself together, shakily grasping the threads of my own stability and weaving them back into place. This isn’t the time. I can figure it out later, I remind myself

Although, that conversation about a villain’s Quirk from this morning is suddenly making much more sense. A mind wiping Quirk? Or something else? Either way, I can see why people would condemn him out of fear.

But I refuse to let my fear rule me that way. If I do, then I’m no better than them.

I’m pulled out of my dark spiral by the brush of Shouto’s hand against mine, and I give him a small smile in thanks. While I was distracted, Midnight had apparently accepted the forfeit of Shiozaki, Ojiro, and their third teammate Nirengeki.

“We’ll need to move up three students from the fifth place team,” she says, cracking her whip towards Tetsutetsu. “Team Tetsutetsu, you finished the game with 365 points. Choose three of your members to advance to the finals!”

Tetsutetsu immediately screams at the sky and tackles Nirengeki and Shiozaki in a huge bear hug. “Thank you so much!!!” he sobs out.

It’s quickly sorted that Tetsutetsu, Tokage Setsuna, and Honenuki Juuzou will take the three open spots in the finals. I wave at Honenuki, giving him a thumbs up as silent congratulations. He laughs slightly as he returns the gesture.

The updated group of finalists gathers around the box in Midnight’s hands, each person drawing out a small slip.

I pull mine out, unfolding a small piece of paper with a ‘5’ written on it.

“What’d you guys get?” I ask my cavalry team quietly as Midnight records all our numbers. “I’m number 14,” Momo replies. I frown playfully, forcibly setting aside my headache and anxiety in favor of hyping up my friend. 

“Boo,” I say, blowing a raspberry. “I won’t even have a chance of facing you until you make it all the way to the finals!”

“Which means you likely don’t have a chance of facing me,” she says skeptically, and I’m quick to shake my head. “Absolutely none of that, we do not tolerate anyone slandering Yaoyorozu Momo here. Only optimism and faith in yourself is allowed here, not negative self-talk!”

She laughs a little, and I decide to count it as a win considering how nervous she is.

“I’ve received the number 7,” Iida says, looking down at his paper then up at me. I grin back at him.

“Then it looks like I could be your second opponent,” I state, and Iida pushes his glasses up his nose as he looks at me.

“Yes, it does seem so. I look forward to it, Yoruhiko,” he says firmly before turning away to join a chattering Uraraka and Midoriya.

“What about you, Shouto?” I ask my last companion, who has yet to unfold the paper in his hands. I nudge him, and slowly he reveals the ‘3’ written on his slip. The corners of his mouth turn down the slightest bit in a small frown.

“I’ll be facing the winner of your match with Iida,” he states matter-of-factly, and I can’t help the small giggle I let out. “That’s the kind of self-confidence we love to hear!” I cheer, and Momo giggles along with me at the look of faint confusion on Shouto’s face.

It’s a fun moment, but all three of us are quickly distracted by the finalized bracket projected on the screens around us. I search quickly through the first bracket, frowning lightly at the names I find. 

1. Midoriya vs. Shinso
2. Todoroki vs. Tokage
3. Yoruhiko vs. Hatsume
4. Iida vs. Tetsutetsu
5. Honenuki vs. Sero
6. Kirishima vs. Tokoyami
7. Ashido vs. Yaoyorozu
8. Bakugo vs. Uraraka

Shouto, Iida, and Midoriya all in one bracket is going to be a mess, I think idly. Either way though, at least two of them won’t be my problem. I did promise Sasaki that I’d stay off the podium, after all. That means I have to lose in the first or second round.

Looking at my own match up, I find a name I don’t recognize. Who is Hatsume?

“You! Purple eyes!” a loud voice calls, and I turn around to see a pair of steampunk goggles inches from my face. I jump back, instinctively using my Quirk to put more distance between us.

“Ah! Who the hell are you?” I demand, and I feel Momo and Shouto both steady me with a hand on each shoulder. I smile at both of them in silent, brief thanks.

“You’re Yoruhiko right? Name’s Hatsume Mei!” she declares brightly. I relax slightly. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you Hatsume. Good luck in our match later,” I say, giving her a small, polite bow.

She cackles maniacally, hopping forward and into my space.

“Oh this is perfect. I have something nice for you!” she informs me, stars in her eyes. Grabbing my arm, she starts towing me away from my friends. When I look back, Shouto looks confused at this rapid series of events, but Momo is failing to hide her laughter behind her hand.

I stick my tongue out at the tall girl as I stumble away behind Hatsume, but that only makes her laugh harder. I’m quickly dragged away though, ending up in one of the support class prep rooms.

“I have so many babies that could help me- I mean, you! I just think it’s a little unfair that I get so many and you don’t have any babies of your own, so of course I’ll lend you some of mine,” she rambles, frantically digging through boxes and throwing oddly shaped gadgets at me.

I blanch, completely wrongfooted. “Babies?” I squeak. She simply laughs again. “Of course!” she says, then digs herself and a long piece of metal out of the box. “I think you’ll like this baby in particular!” she crows. 

Does- does this crazy girl mean her inventions?

“Um, OK? But why are you giving them to me? I thought only the support course students have free reign to use unregistered items in the festival,” I ask, bewildered. She pauses for a moment, and her shoulders slump slightly before squaring again.

“Oh, don’t worry about that! I’m the one giving it to you after all!” she says frantically, pushing the odd metal rod into my arms. I give it a quick once-over, noticing the seams in the metal that indicate that there’s more to this than meets the eye.

This could maybe be useful.

“Hatsume, was it? How many inventions are you planning on showing off in this match?” I ask idly, eyeing the multitude of boxes strewn around the room. She cackles again. “As many as I can fit in - there’s going to be so many support companies watching and I have to make sure all my precious babies get a chance to shine!” she says dreamily.

My grin from earlier stretches back across my face. It’s the one that shows teeth, the same one I gave Iida today and Momo before the battle trial.

It’s what I’ve been reliably told is my ‘scary scheming’ grin, and I’m about to live up to that.

“Support companies, huh? Hatsume, I think we should talk business.”

Her head snaps up, and a mirror of my grin appears on her face.

Yes, this will definitely be useful.

Notes:

Ngl, there were several things that I didn't like about this round of the festival the first time I watched it, and I tried to fix as many of them as I could here.

Also yes, I did in fact chart out an entire list of teams and their respective point values based on the changes I had to make, as well as exactly which headbands were stolen by which teams to give them their final scores. If anyone's interested in it, I'm happy to share.

I'm also so excited to finally be able to add the 'Chaotic Hatsume Mei' tag to this fic, I've been waiting ages for that. I love her, and really I just had to grab her for myself. Besides, this is about to be a really bad day for Iida and he doesn't need to be mortified on national TV on top of that.

Fic rec: "Playing Nice" by BurnedStars777. It's kind of short, but it's a very funny child-era Bakugo and Uraraka friendship (using the term "friendship" loosely for a bit, but hey, it's Bakugo).

Chapter 8: Ready, Set, Fight!

Summary:

first round of tournament matches + talking about more feelings!

Notes:

Some dialogue taken or adapted from MHA season 2.

I made the decision not to retell the Uraraka v. Bakugo fight because there's absolutely nothing I would change from canon (and tbh, I was already at 24 pages at the start of the scene and very burnt out by the end of this chapter). Instead, I'll focus more on the aftermath, so you can freely assume that it went the same as it did canonically and just shove a mental "ten minutes later" placard in there Spongebob-style.

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(10+) New Messages

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 11:15

You sneaky bitch holy shit

NVM WHAT THE FUCK

 

Chat Name: moral support tm

 

(let’s go mirio 🤩): 

WOOOOOOOOOOO

Lol idk if you could see the looks on the faces of that team you stole a headband from but it was so funny!!!!!

GO GO GO GO 

GET THE TEN MILLION GO TEAM ALI-CHAN

 

(tamaki! 🍙): 

yyou’re doing great alina! 

oh uhh mirio dropped his phone so that he could yell louder

 

(let’s go mirio 🤩): 

FIRST PLACE THAT’S OUR ALI!!!!!!!

 

(tamaki! 🍙): 

congrats alina!!

you deserve it 

ahhhhhhhhhh

oh uh one second, mirio cheered too hard and permeated through the stands and now he can’t find his pants

 

(You:)

….

 

(You) changed the name of the chat to: WHERE is mirio’s super suit??

 

(tamaki! 🍙):

(⌒‿⌒)

 

(let’s go mirio 🤩): 

LMAO!!!! (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖

Oh my god that’s amazing

Ali-chan I’m adopting you for that, you’re my sister now it’s official

 

(You):

Acceptable terms bro! 🤝

 

(tamaki! 🍙): 

ah good luck in the third round alina! we’ll be cheering for you

 

(let’s go mirio 🤩): 

HELL yeah we will be, tamaki cheered for you in the first two rounds too!!!

So we’ll be cheering for you (and anyone else you tell us is cool!) in this round!!!

 

(You):

Awww you guys are too sweet, thank you!!! 🥹

Definitely cheer for Momo!! She’s my class bestie, she’s amazing!!

Also, thank you for lunch Tamaki!! It was delicious. I have to run for now, but I promise I’ll say a proper thank you after my match. See you both later! 🥰

 

(tamaki! 🍙): 

the one you told us about from that training with all might? she seems nice, we will !

aaaaaaaaaaa i’m just glad you think it tasted ok, hopefully it can help you

 

(let’s go mirio 🤩): 

I am ON BOARD for GIRL POWER SQUAD

GO KICK BUTT LITTLE SISTER

 

(You):

˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

I snort with laughter, tucking away my phone as I wave a goodbye to Hatsume. She waves back, cackling quietly to herself. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Helper Lady! Don’t forget my babies when you come out to our match!” she gleefully reminds me.

I laugh, hefting the pile of assorted tech I’m carrying a little higher. “I won’t, I promise!” I do my best to wave as she disappears down the hall. Humming to myself, I start off in the opposite direction, heading for the prep rooms.

“Let’s get this show on the ROAD!” I hear Present Mic call over the speakers, welcoming everyone back from lunch and starting the intro for the tournament round. In front of me, a door scrapes open, and Midoriya and Ojiro step out. They don’t notice me at first, too wrapped up in the conversation they’re just ending.

“Oh, good luck in your match Midoriya!” I cheer, and both boys jump slightly from surprise. “O-oh, Yoruhiko! Thanks, good luck to you too!” Midoriya says distractedly. His features are set, looking incredibly focused and determined as he gives a final nod to Ojiro and starts toward the arena tunnel.

Giving both of them a wave, I resume my trek, quickly coming up on the handful of waiting rooms set aside for competing students. I take a quick Quirk-enabled look through who’s in what room, nodding to myself as I pick the least occupied one.

“Tokoyami? Mind if I sit for a moment?” I say, knocking and poking my head through a door that’s just slightly ajar. Sitting at the table inside, Tokoyami inclines his head. “Not at all,” he says evenly, and I smile at him as I dump a few pieces of spare gear from Hatsume into a chair before leaning myself against the table and twirling the metal staff she gave me through my hands as Mic introduces Midoriya and Shinso.

Tokoyami eyes the staff out of the corner of his eye. “You’re competing against Hatsume, correct?” he asks warily, and I nod in confirmation. He hums quietly to himself. “Hmm, I see. Then I wish you luck in your upcoming trial,” he says.

I laugh slightly, holding out one hand to shake. “Thanks, it’ll be a bit of an unorthodox match for sure. And good luck to both of you too! Kirishima’s no pushover,” I observe wryly, and he chuckles slightly as he shakes my hand. “No he isn’t, but Dark Shadow and I are confident we can attain victory,” he says. From his back, Dark Shadow sticks their head and arm out just far enough to give me a thumbs up and a small caw before retreating back inside Tokoyami.

Tokoyami looks intrigued as he leans forward slightly. “Thank you for your well wishes, although I must admit that I’m surprised that you choose to extend them to both of us,” he observes. 

I roll my eyes, spinning my borrowed staff through my hands again. “I can see why, although I wish more people would be conscientious of others, you know? Dark Shadow is sentient, after all! But those of us with strange or uncommon Quirks have to stick together! Not all of us can just throw glaciers at our problems, so we have to live with what we can get,” I say jokingly.

It tricks a small laugh out of Tokoyami. “I suppose that’s true enough. Very well then, Yoruhiko. I’ll follow your lead, although I do appreciate the consideration nonetheless,” he says.

“HUH?? Hey, hey!” Present Mic screams over the speakers. “It should start out with a bang! The fight has just begun, and Midoriya Izuku is… completely frozen???”

I freeze.

My Quirk activates unconsciously, and my hands and forearms flicker in out like TV static. The staff I was spinning goes tumbling to the floor with a clang, but I don’t pay it any mind as I whip around to the TV tuned to the matches in the arena.

“He’s not moving a muscle? And what’s with that look on his face? Could this be a Quirk at work?” Mic rambles on. He’s right on target with his description, as a camera zooms in on Midoriya to show him standing, blank-eyed, in the midst of the arena. “Shinso Hitoshi seems to have Midoriya Izuku completely stunned!”

He keeps screeching about Shinso’s potential as a hidden dark horse, but I don’t hear the words anymore. Distantly, I can make out the sounds of Tokoyami asking me if I’m alright, but I tune everything out in favor of listening to Aizawa’s description of Shinso’s Quirk as Midoriya turns and begins walking out of the ring.

Brainwashing.

It had to be Brainwashing.

Fuck.

“Yoruhiko? Yoruhiko, I need you to breathe with me,” Tokoyami’s voice filters in, and on autopilot I start trying to slow my breathing down from what I vaguely realize is coming close to hyperventilation. Behind me, Dark Shadow gently rubs a hand over my shoulders.

My mind still isn’t present in the here and now, though. I’m years away, remembering another Quirk in another place.

Oh, you’ll be the perfect doll for me to play with! And I have just the game in mind.

I wrench myself out of that train of thought, shutting it down as hard as I can despite my imminent panic attack. Now is absolutely not the time, I forcibly remind myself. Instead, I focus on the grounding physical sensation of Dark Shadow’s staticky hands on my shoulders. It’s an odd feeling that I’ve never felt before, and my curiosity makes it slightly easier to focus.

Slowly, I feel myself come back to my body, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow’s joint intervention having helped narrowly circumvent a full-on panic. “Are you alright?” Tokoyami murmurs. He’s crouched on the floor in front of me, and I belatedly realize that I’m curled up in a ball under the table.

“Sorry about that,” I croak out as soon as I find my voice. “I’ll be ok now, I think you two helped me avoid the worst of it.”

He nods, giving me a concerned look like he doesn’t quite believe me. I can’t blame him, to be honest - I’d be worried too if my classmates started having unprompted panic attacks out of absolutely nowhere.

Tokoyami lets it go though, clearly seeing that I don’t want to talk about it. He stands up gracefully, offering me a hand to haul me back to my feet. I take it gratefully. “Thank you both, seriously. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that,” I say quietly, not meeting either of their eyes.

Dark Shadow shakes their head quickly. “Don’t be sorry!” they squawk, and Tokoyami nods in agreement. “Yes, please don’t feel like you need to apologize for that. I’m simply glad we were able to provide you some assistance, as heroes should do,” he says, and his even tone is as steady as ever. I draw a bit of comfort from it, and slowly I start to find my own steadiness again too.

My breathing slows back down to normal as I come down from my emotional rollercoaster, and I give Tokoyami a small smile. 

“I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better, Yoruhiko,” he says, and returns my smile. I giggle quietly, because really. “My friends call me Alina,” I inform him, and he snorts with a small laugh of his own as he nods his assent. “Alina, then,” he says quietly, guiding me back over to my chair.

Mic is announcing Midoriya’s victory over the speakers, and I realize that I missed the entire first match fighting against my long-buried emotions. Damn. I’ll have to remember to find Shinso later, if I can.

This is one fear I’m going to have to face.

Tokoyami and I settle back into our chairs, and I think desperately for anything I can talk about to break the awkward quiet that my panic set in between us.

“So, you were on Hatsume’s team for the cavalry battle, right? What’d you think of her and her gadgets?” I ask quietly, and both of us pretend not to notice the rawness still lingering in my voice.

He takes a moment to consider his answer before responding. “She is… passionate about her support items, but I don’t believe you’ll have an issue defeating her. I’m surprised that she loaned you some of her gear, though,” he says, nodding at the items laying on an empty seat.

I grimace, but laugh slightly. “Yeah, I got that impression,” I chuckle. “She dragged me off when the brackets were announced, we ended up having an, ah, enlightening conversation on our respective goals for the Festival,” I elaborate.

Tokoyami looks away from the TV where Present Mic is introducing Shouto and Tokage Setsuna from Class 1-B as the next competitors. He examines me for a moment, and I sit up straighter under his inquisitive gaze. After a moment though, he exhales a silent laugh and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms.

“Well,” he says. “I suspect that will be quite the interesting match.”

 

----------

 

Shouto is fairly sure that if he has one more major emotional shift today, he’s going to get whiplash.

He’d woken up feeling cautiously optimistic and determined, but that had gone down the drain the moment Endeavor’s presence had loomed over the Sports Festival, leaving him feeling only angry and hollow.

That anger had driven him to confront Midoriya before the Festival started, desperate to prove to someone that he could win with only his mother’s Quirk. That he could spite his bastard father by winning a competition that included All Might’s protégé without ever touching the monster’s fire.

Alina had helped throughout the day, checking in on him and trying to help their team win while also keeping their spirits up. But then their conversation from before lunch had been a whole new wave of emotions, one that he has yet to fully process.

Alina’s reaction to his past hadn’t been what he expected at all. He’d never quite put it into words, but hearing her rage and thinly veiled sorrow on his behalf had made him feel like she’d reached down into the very core of his being and scooped out the exact words that he’d never been able to find.

"I… know what it’s like, to feel like part of you belongs to someone else."

He looks at his left hand for the thousandth time today as he starts his walk down the empty halls, Mic’s screams of Midoriya’s victory ringing in his ears. I’ve thought of it as his fire for so long. Can I truly reclaim it, like she said? Do I even want to?

And why does she, of all people, know what this feels like? What piece of herself did she lose?

Shouto frowns as he stews, replaying the conversation in his head over and over again. He’s tempted to find her and ask once the Festival is over, but a sinking gut feeling tells him that he won’t get much of an answer. She’d avoided giving him much detail, even though his experiences with her over the past few weeks had proved her a fairly open book.

Maybe it’s just something she doesn’t feel comfortable talking about, he muses as he turns a corner. If that’s the case, I shouldn’t pry unnecessarily if I don’t need to know or she doesn’t offer more information.

Reluctantly, Shouto sets the issue aside for now, returning his attention to his left hand. The shock he’d felt when Alina had opened her mouth had been nothing compared to the feeling of being scraped raw by the words that came out.

For the first time, someone had called the fire from his left side his power, not Endeavor’s. Even more than that - 

”Your fire is beautiful, Todoroki.”

It’s the first time in his life that fire has been something other than a conduit for violence, and Shouto has absolutely no idea how to handle that.

It’s a concept that’s completely alien to what he grew up with, and to everything that he swore to himself after his mother was hospitalized. But he’d ignited his left hand anyways, and she’d held it in hers and put all of her trust in him not to burn her.

And he hadn’t. Somehow, he’d kept control and used his Quirk without hurting anyone. On the contrary, his fire had made Alina… smile at him.

In the cobwebbed corners of his soul, where the little boy desperate to make his parents proud still lives, he felt a small stirring of happiness. 

When he turns the last corner, every bit of that happiness flees him at the sight of Endeavor leaned against the wall.

Without a single word, Shouto starts forward, determinedly looking straight ahead instead of at the monster that haunted his childhood. I don’t care what he wants. No matter what I do about my fire, I’m not his to use anymore, he thinks heatedly.

“You’re acting disgracefully, Shouto,” Endeavor says after a long pause. “If you had simply used the power in your left side, you would have had an overwhelming victory in both of the first rounds without the shame of relying on that weak, pitiful little girl you carried along with you.”

Shouto’s jaw clenches, and he walks even faster.

“It’s time to stop this childish rebellion of yours,” Endeavor intones, and two burning blue eyes track his path down the hall. “You have a duty to surpass that imbecile All Might, not to waste your time on leeches that will only drag you down.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying? You’re different from your siblings. You’re my greatest masterpiece,” Endeavor demands when Shouto doesn’t respond. He pauses briefly, his back to his father as he stares down the hall,

His fists clench at his side as he struggles with the whirlpool of rage and pain and offense in his chest. “You bastard,” he grits out. The words feel like they’re pushing their way out of the most emotional corners of his heart - the same ones that Alina had reached in and uncovered for the first time since he hid them away all those years ago. 

“I’m not your anything,” he says to the empty hall in front of him. It’s easier, somehow, to voice this new revelation while he’s leaving his father behind him. 

“I’m going to win this match and advance my way, not yours,” he states angrily, and his resolve solidifies with every word. “And when I win this whole competition today, that will be my way too. I won’t give you the pleasure of having anything to do with it, and you can choke on the fact that the person who gave me the power to do it is the same pitiful little girl you were just tossing aside.”

Endeavor sputters behind him, and he takes the chance to storm out the door and into the light.

I’ll show that cretin. Starting today, he’s got no power left over me.

“The guy who’s way too powerful for his own good, and who rightfully got into UA on recommendations, it’s Class 1A’s very own Todoroki!!” Present Mic announces.

He climbs the stairs to the arena as the torches in the corners flare to life, giving a short bow to his opponent. She’s a green haired girl with sharp teeth from Class 1B introduced as Tokage Setsuna, and he frowns in thought as Midnight counts down the start of the match.

She seems familiar, but he can’t place why. What team had she been on in the cavalry battle? Maybe this was the girl Alina had stolen a headband from?

“WOOOOOHOOOO, go Todoroki!!!!” an utterly unfamiliar male voice calls loud enough to be heard over the cheering crowd. He blinks in surprise, but he doesn’t have a moment to analyze it before Midnight snaps her riding crop to signal the start of the match.

Instinctively, Shouto sends out a wave of ice towards his opponent. His emotions fuel it, but tempering his anger and hurt into resolve means that it’s not too excessive. His ice coats the floor, bursting in jagged spikes at several times his head height. The tips just brush the bottom of the stands, but he manages to keep his power reigned in and the residual frost only lightly dusts his right side.

He could go further if he wanted to. He feels the roaring anger under his ribs that would push his ice to cover every inch of the stadium, if he wanted to. But - 

”Your fire is beautiful, Todoroki.”

Well. He’s got more than just his father’s anger to fuel him now.

The frost on his right side is easily dispatched with a quick flash of heat from his left. It’s the first time he’s ever warmed himself up in a fight, and he almost gawks at his own sudden willingness to push himself out of his comfort zone.

His ice catches his opponent’s legs before she can dodge, encasing her up to her knees. But all of a sudden, her thighs and her entire upper body detach from her legs.

What on earth is this Quirk?

He cuts off the flow of ice, taking a defensive stance as this girl’s head, torso, arms, and upper thighs float in front of him.

That’s why she’s familiar, Shouto thinks to himself. This must be the girl who detached her hands during the cavalry battle. Alina defended me from her, but she’s plenty capable of being stealthy. I’ll have to watch my step and end this quickly.

“Ha! I’d like to see your ice keep my Lizard Tail Splitter pinned down!” Tokage crows, and the crowd cheers as both of her forearms detach at the elbow and come shooting towards him.

It looks like she can only detach larger pieces, or maybe only a certain number at a time, he thinks as he dodges the flying arms. They flip around in midair, and he spares a moment for the out-of-place thought that they do truly look like detached tails. Lizard Tail Splitter is a disturbingly appropriate name for her Quirk.

Lizard. That’s it.

This time, as the two arms shoot at him and try to drag him out of the ring, he grabs one with his right hand. He slams it down on the ground, coating it completely with a thick layer of ice to hold it there. It twitches faintly (which is slightly unsettling to watch), but rapidly goes still. He repeats the process with the other arm as soon as it’s back in his reach.

Just above him, Tokage starts to shiver slightly. “Lizards are cold-blooded aren’t they?” he asks her, sending more ice to cover her legs that are stuck in his initial glacier. “And you can still feel what your detached pieces feel. You cried out in pain when Alina hit your hand away during the cavalry battle.”

“How- how did you even notice that?” Tokage gasps, tremors now racking her body. He takes careful aim, and replies with a second wave of ice that flies upward towards her main body. Her rapidly dropping temperature means she’s too slow to dodge, and she’s quickly encased up to her chin.

“Tell the truth, Tokage. Can you move?” Midnight asks from her place on the umpire’s stand. Tokage wiggles futilely, then slumps in defeat. “No,” she says miserably. 

Shouto approaches her as Midnight declares him the winner of the match. “Want me to unfreeze you?” he asks, holding up his left hand.

His heart thuds in his chest. Using his fire to warm himself is unprecedented enough, but using it directly on another person, one that he was just in combat with?

This is another level entirely.

“Y-yeah, please,” she says, teeth chattering violently.

Carefully, slowly, he reaches out, setting his left hand on the ice covering her shoulder. He steadily increases the temperature, and after a few seconds a wave of heat hisses out and begins melting the ice coating her torso.

“T-t-thanks. W-would you m-melt out my other p-pieces too?” she says, falling to the ground. She props herself up on her upper arms, but Shouto can tell she’s still very cold and on the verge of collapse.

He pulses out one more wave of heat before going around to collect Tokage’s limbs, unfreezing them all and bringing them back over to her. She reattaches them one by one, and with him exuding heat to gradually restore her core temperature, she’s able to stand on her own two feet by the time she puts them back on her body.

“Good fight, Todoroki,” she says, giving him a small bow. He bows back out of respect for a match well fought, and the crowd cheers even louder as they both return to their classes.

He deliberately doesn’t look to the stands as he leaves, although he can feel Endeavor’s eyes burning into his back from afar. He looks at his left hand again, for the thousandth time, but this time the tiniest smile comes to his face.

Today marked the first day he’d used fire without hurting someone. And now, it marks the first day he’d done it twice.

Maybe he can make it his fire after all.

 

----------

 

“Let’s keep pumpin’ out these hits and move on to our third match!” Present Mic yells over the PA. I twirl my new staff as I climb to the arena. In addition to that, I’ve got a brand new utility belt slung around my waist, and a thick band clipped around each of my ankles over my pant legs.

Midnight gives me a dark look, but Hatsume and I had cornered her during the recreational games and gotten her to approve my use of support equipment for this match only, so she doesn’t say anything against it. Present Mic, seeing that Midnight didn’t call me out, also lets it slide.

“She’s a fully equipped gadget dynamo! The support course’s Hatsume Mei!!” Present Mic screams. “Versus… one of the fastest students around! The one who’s come speeding to help her fellow students all day long, it’s Class A’s very own Yoruhiko!!” Present Mic screams, but he’s almost drowned out by a yell that comes from the stands.

“YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH GO ALI-CHAN!!!! YOU GOT THIS!!!!” Mirio’s voice echoes throughout the stadium, rising easily above the noise of the cheering crowd even without a microphone. I snort out a laugh, then beam and wave furiously in the direction the voice came from, bouncing on the tips of my toes.

“Well it looks like someone has a fan in the stands!” Mic revels, and I break out laughing.

It takes me a moment to stop laughing and catch my breath, but I manage it just as Midnight counts us in. Hatsume grins at me, adjusting the mic on her headpiece.

As soon as the whip cracks, I run at Hatsume, brandishing the staff she equipped me with. The bands wrapped around my ankles glow lightly, and my steps are sure and strong as I run.

“Don’t you feel so fast and well-balanced with that gear, Yoruhiko?” Hatsume asks over her speakers, and I smile and nod obligingly. She cackles. “That’s thanks to my very own ankle stabilizers! They’re designed to support joints for stability and speed,” she says.

While she giggles, and while Mic and Aizawa mutter in confusion over the loudspeaker, I watch Hatsume’s eyes zoom in on the support company boxes ringing the arena. Time to put on a show!

“But of course,” she says as I get close, and two metal legs jut out from her backpack and propel her into the air. “I can still easily evade you with my hydraulic attachments!” 

I jump nimbly, my balance aided by Hatsume’s stabilizers so I don’t trip over the hydraulics and faceplant into concrete. Turning quickly, I come around for another pass at Hatsume, and at her nod I press the hidden button she showed me in the staff. 

It comes to life, electricity sparking at both ends. I press the button again, and the staff splits in half, leaving me with two arm-length Escrima sticks crackling with power.

“Since I’ve got sensors in every direction, it’s impossible for an opponent to sneak up on me! Even when she’s using my very own Taser rods! They have multiple settings for electricity strength, and the batteries are powered with a system similar to automatic watches! So as long as my helper here keeps swinging, they’ll never run out of juice,” she continues. I demonstrate by taking a few swings at Hatsume, all of which she dodges while continuing to narrate about her hydraulic attachments.

After a few swings, I reach into my new utility belt and start pulling out the last hoard of equipment Hatsume gave me. There’s half a dozen different round shells in here, and I find the one she told me to use first. Pulling it out, I lob it at her and she deftly dodges while singing the praises of the auto-balancer on her back.

It splatters on the ground into a mess of hot pink goop, and the moment her feet touch the ground I sprint forward and shove the electrified end of one of my Escrima rods into the pink puddle.

It solidifies almost instantly when exposed to the electric charge, but Hatsume and I planned this and I don’t catch her by surprise. She’s already back in the air, propelled by an upgraded version of the jet boots that Team Midoriya used in the cavalry battle.

On and on we go, moving through the list of inventions Hatsume wanted to show off. I serve as a combination of helper and target dummy until she’s finally out of tech after ten minutes of commercial time.

“Remember, all of these items were developed by me, Hatsume Mei! That’s H-A-T-S-U-M-E. To any support companies out there looking for strong new recruits, the choice is clear!” she says brightly, finishing her sales pitch. I smile and wave at the crowd, before turning to shake Hatsume’s hand. She grins, accepting it, then steps out of bounds.

“Uh, Hatsume stepped out of bounds, so Yoruhiko advances to the next round,” Midnight says, visibly confused as she snaps her riding crop in my direction. 

I laugh some more, scooping up my share of Hatsume’s tech before following her off the stage. I can hear Mirio cheering and hollering from clear across the arena, and I spin around to give him one last wave before I disappear back into the tunnels.

 

------------

 

Group Chat: Class 3A!

 

(Suijoki Hanako): 

Anyone else watching the babies’ sports festival?

That ice kid isn’t bad for a first year

 

(Hadou Nejire):

@Togata Mirio CHANGE YOUR NAME RIGHT NOW

 

(Togata Mirio) changed their name to: (FAN IN THE STANDS)

 

(Hadou Nejire) changed (Amajiki Tamaki)’s name to: (quiet fan in the stands)

 

(Hadou Nejire) changed their name to: (fan OUTSIDE the stands)

 

(fan OUTSIDE the stands): 

thank you, carry on

 

(Suijoki Hanako):

…I should be more surprised than I am

 

----------

 

Mic’s voice comes back over the speakers announcing the fourth match as I wind my way through the tunnels, and he’s just finishing Iida and Tetsutetsu’s intros when I open the door to Hatsume’s prep room.

“Oh, Helper Lady! Thanks again for your help out there, it made me look much better than using you to make a name for myself!” Hatsume says, barely looking up from where she’s carefully packing away her gadgets from our match. “So what’d you think of my babies? Super amazing, right?

I hand over her inventions with a smile. “Yeah, definitely. I’d actually love to add some of them to my hero costume, if you’d be ok with that,” I mention lightly, and she whips around with a manic gleam in her eyes.

“Can I redesign your hero costume too? To add my babies to it??” she questions frantically. “Ooh, I have so many good ideas! I could give you robot arms!” she cheers, and I wave my arms around worriedly.

“No to the robot arms, Hatsume!” I interject, and she pouts at me. “No,” I say firmly, and she huffs as she turns back to her crates of gadgets.

“But,” I add, and she turns back around hopefully. “I do have a few ideas of things I’d like to add, if you’re open to those instead.”

She cheers, shoving me into a chair before rushing over with a pad of graph paper and a few pencils. “Tell me what we’re working with, Helper Lady! I’ll make you the coolest hero costume ever - it’ll be Hatsume Industries' debut masterpiece!”

I grin, leaning forward to meet her in the center and grabbing the pencil she offers me to start sketching my ideas. “So here’s what I was thinking…”

 

----------

 

Ten minutes later, I’m winding my way back up to the Class A viewing section. Hatsume and I had a very productive design session, once I talked her out of robot parts. She seemed very excited about my ideas, though, and promised to have a prototype of my new costume for me in three days so I can try it out and give her my feedback.

I hum to myself as I walk, fingers idly twisting in the yellow and red ribbons that are still stubbornly woven into my ponytail. I smile as I catch sight of them - usually I only wear them as part of my hero costume, but today is a special exception.

My smile only grows as I think of my costume. Getting Hatsume to make changes will be super helpful, I think to myself. She’s clearly a prodigy, and I think I talked her into staying more or less with the changes I need. But I’m definitely excited to see how she’ll make them her own.

Lost in thought, and idly listening to Present Mic’s play-by-play of Iida’s battle, my Quirk sense flares just as I round a corner, and I neatly sidestep Honenuki as he comes the other direction.

“Oh, Yoruhiko - sorry, didn’t see you there,” he says, nodding politely. I wave it off with a smile. “No harm done! You ready for your match?” I ask with excitement. 

He nods again, and I hold my hand up for a high five. “Good luck! But I’ll warn you, Sero’s stronger than you think,” I say, and he gives a small laugh as he takes the high five. “Thanks for the heads up then,” he says jokingly, and I laugh with him.

“No problem! Hero students supporting hero students, you know?” I say, smiling. “You’re competition for today, sure, but nobody said I had to be rude about it right?”

“That’s true, but to be honest I’m pleasantly surprised that a member of Class A is reaching out like you are. It’s nice of you to do,” he says, and I blush lightly. “Certainly giving Monoma less of a leg to stand on,” he huffs, teeth clacking together as he rolls his eyes.

“Monoma? Is that the blonde guy with the fixation?” I ask curiously, and Honenuki barks out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s a good way to put it,” he chuckles. I just barely stop myself from laughing along with him - from what I saw earlier, Monoma is very supportive of his class but heavily inclined towards dramatics.

“Well, I think I’m glad then, since that sounds like less yelling you have to listen to,” I joke. “Although he might throw a fit if we start forming cross-class study groups.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Honenuki says, fishing his phone out of his pocket. “If you want to, put your number in. We can set up a time for studying English.”

I grin and take the phone, quickly inputting my number with a fun flower emoji in my contact name. “Yeah, that sounds great!” I say happily, sending myself a text so I have Honenuki’s number saved too.

Just then, Mic kicks up the volume to announce that Iida has sent Tetsutetsu out of the ring. I exhale steadily. So I’ll be losing to Iida then, I think to myself.

“I need to get going, I’m up next. I’ll text you later about scheduling a study time,” Honenuki waves as he walks off. I don’t hesitate to wave back, giving him a big thumbs up. “Sounds good! Good luck in your match!” I call after him.

Shortly after I part ways with Honenuki, I wander back into the Class A box. I pause in the opening for a moment, watching my classmates with a small smile, before walking down to the front row and flinging myself into the seat next to Momo.

“Alina, I’m glad you're back! Your match certainly was something,” Momo says, trying to hide a giggle behind her hands. I stick my tongue out in retaliation for a moment before my facade breaks and I laugh along with her.

“Yeah, it was either she made me look like an idiot crash test dummy, or I played along with her marketing scheme,” I laugh with Momo. “But I did get her to agree to use some of that super cool tech to upgrade my hero costume in exchange, so I think it’ll work out ok.”

“Oh, that’s quite clever of you! It’s true that good relations with the support course will be key for us as growing heroes, she’s quite the connection to make so early,” Momo says, excited. She’s clearly connecting the dots much faster than most would have, leaning over her hands as her brilliant brain works through her train of thought.

“Want me to introduce you? I’m heading down to her development lab in a few days to pick up some prototypes, you’re welcome to come with me and see if she has any input on your costume,” I offer casually, and her head snaps up as she nods. “That would be wonderful, thank you!” she says.

“No worries! Besides, you said it yourself that your costume wasn’t really what you were expecting it to be. It only makes sense to improve on it if we can, and I think we can come up with a few good ideas between the three of us,” I grin, and Momo’s smile widens in reply.

Below us, Honenuki’s match against Sero begins, and we watch with interest as our classmate quickly wraps Honenuki up in the tape he spewed from his elbows. He quickly sends himself into a spin, and throws his weight around to send Honenuki flying towards the boundary line.

It doesn’t last long though, and a cheer rises from the Class B box next to us as Honenuki frees one of his hands and grabs onto the tape. Immediately, it softens like candy left out in the sun and he rips it off. It sloughs off his body like it’s a viscous liquid, puddling on the ground.

Ducking the next strand of tape, Honenuki flattens himself to the ground and presses his palms against the cement. I gasp, leaning over the railing to watch as the ground softens, the power expanding in a quick-moving wave from Honenuki’s hands on the pavement.

Sero isn’t quick enough to dodge, and even if he had been he has no way to get off the ground. He sinks quickly into the muck, and with one last flick of Honenuki’s fingers it re-hardens around him, trapping up to his neck in concrete.

“Sero is immobilized! Honenuki will advance,” Midnight yells, and I cheer loudly along with the crowd. “That was quite impressive,” Momo murmurs next to me, leaning forward in her seat as well.

“Well, would you look at that? Seems like Class A is all full of hot air, if one of you falls so easily to a member of Class B!” A blonde head pokes itself over the partition that separates us from Class B’s box, and I wince. 

Monoma laughs with a crazed look in his eye, and I can’t stop myself from rolling my eyes even harder than Honenuki did earlier. “Monoma, Honenuki is super strong and literally no one denied that, did they? Plus, your plan for the first two rounds was really smart and every member of Class B has put up an amazing fight today, the exact same as Class A - so really I don’t know what you’re so worked up about anyways,” I snark.

Monoma turns to glare at me. “You’re the little gloryhound who was sniffing around Honenuki earlier! How dare you put yourself above the superior Class B like that, especially when one of your own was just utterly humiliated by a terrible loss!”

I raise my eyebrows, surprised at the sheer vitriol. “And he says we’re the rude ones, huh,” I mutter to myself. Standing, I see Momo giving Monoma a small side eye before she wipes the expression off her face.

“Come on Momo, I’ll wander down to the waiting rooms with you! You’re up next right?” I ask, linking my arms with her to pull her out of her seat and towards the hall. I just catch Kaminari’s choked-off laugh and Bakugo’s scoff at the look on Monoma's face when I ignore him, and I make sure to send them a wink on my way out.

Bakugo growls at me, but Kaminari pretends to catch it and hold it to his heart. It makes Momo and I both laugh.

“Where do you think you’re going huh? Can’t face the truth of your own inferiority?” Monoma taunts. He’s practically hanging over the partition at this point, and my Quirk sense can feel a couple other people on the Class B side of the barrier trying to pull him back down before he falls over.

“Hmmm, no it’s not that. It’s more that nothing I have to say will do anything about this whole... overdramatic wailing and gnashing of teeth situation,” I gesture to him from the doorway. “So I’m going to walk my friend down to her prep room and focus on actually important things like the rest of the festival instead. Bye bye now!” I smile and wave cutely, and I hear Kaminari break into full out laughter that he can’t hold back anymore. I even get a small snort from Shouji, which I count as a personal victory.

Jirou shoots me a thumbs up as I tow Momo out into the hall behind me. She’s trying to cover her own giggles with her free hand, but she’s not particularly succeeding.

“Alina, how do you even think of these things?” she laughs as she falls in step with me, arms still linked. I turn the same cutesy grin on her, and it sets her off giggling again.

“It’s not too hard, really,” I say. “One of the things I was taught was that a true hero will always smile, and make the people around them laugh and smile too! So when I can, I want to use humor instead of getting into a messy fight.”

“That’s a good philosophy,” Momo says, still smiling. “I’ll try to start doing that as well - I think it’s a goal worth pursuing.”

My Quirk sense warns me as we chat, and I smoothly pull her to the side to pass Shinso, who’s coming down the hall towards us. At that moment, I make a snap decision. Who knows when my next chance will be?

Pulling my arm out of Momo’s, I give her a gentle nudge to keep going. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute,” I say quietly. She gives me an odd look, but acquiesces and keeps walking, giving Shinso a polite nod as she leaves.

“Do you have a second?” I ask Shinso as he turns to keep walking. “I just wanted to congratulate you on your match, and how far you made it in the Festival.”

“Then you’ve done it,” he says in his low voice, moving forward to pass me. 

“No, no, there was something else too!” I wave my arms in front of him, and he stops again. Granted, he does so with an irritated sigh, but I have my chance.

“I… wanted to talk about what you said earlier, if that’s ok,” I say, scuffing my shoe against the floor and shoving my hands in my pockets. The words feel like they stick in my throat after my near panic attack, but I drag them out anyways.

He deserves to hear what we always wanted to, even if it doesn’t mean much coming from a girl he doesn’t know.

“About your Quirk, actually. I guess I just wanted to say that I think your Quirk would be really cool for a hero to have. It’s not a villain’s Quirk, and there’s a ton of ways you could use it to do good,” I say quietly, looking determinedly at the floor.

It’s hard for me to drag positive words out of the mess of dark, dirty feelings in my gut, especially with how stirred up they’ve gotten today over the course of talking to Shouto and watching Shinso brainwash someone I know on live TV. It’s the last push, Alina, I remind myself. And I know better than most that sometimes it just helps to hear it, and that’s something I can do for this guy right now.

Standing straighter, I force my chin up to make eye contact with Shinso. The look in his eyes is unreadable, but I press on. I need to get this out for both our sakes.

“I said this at the entrance exam, but I’ll say it again now: I’m looking forward to seeing you in the Hero Course.”

That, of all things, is what cracks Shinso’s mask. He looks visibly surprised, and it only grows when I hold out a hand to him.

“You think that? Even after seeing my Quirk and watching me Brainwash several of your classmates?” he says, voice just a bit rougher than it was a minute ago.

I don’t let my old fears slow down my nod.

“Yeah, I do. I try to be friends with everyone, sure, but I also know that this is a competition. That means some of us will beat others. You used your Quirk to do your best to win, just the same as the rest of us,” I say firmly.

Except you, a nasty voice reminds me from the back of my mind. You’re not doing your best at all.

I brush that thought off as quickly as I can. I’ll do the best that I can safely do, and I’ll have to be happy with that.

“And you answer my questions without worrying that I’ll brainwash you,” Shinso muses, and I square my shoulders even more. “You want to be a hero, you’ve made that pretty clear. That means I don’t have anything to worry about,” I challenge, and he inclines his head in assent.

“What made you hunt me down just to tell me about your feelings?” he asks sarcastically, and I just barely stop myself from scowling at him. I don’t quite manage to stop my eyebrows from furrowing, and he narrows his eyes at me in response.

I take a deep breath, pushing the exhale out to calm myself for a moment. “I am sorry if I bothered you,” I say, and he doesn’t give me a reaction. “It’s… to be fully honest, it’s something really important, but a part of the reason was for me.”

I pause, watching his expression carefully. I don’t feel as comfortable spilling my secrets to him as I did with Shouto, so I’ll wrap this up quickly.

“I knew someone when I was growing up who had a mental-type Quirk, and they caught a lot of shit from our classmates about being weak or being a villain. It taught me that there’s some nasty Quirk prejudice out there, and I wouldn’t feel right about it if I didn’t tell you that I think that’s stupid,” I state as forcefully as I can.

Shinso’s eyebrows raise even further at my declaration. Damn. Did I say something to offend him? I don’t want to assume that I know everything that he went through, I just wanted to say something nice to the guy.

“Anyways, sorry for bothering you. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” I say hurriedly, the last of my courage leaving me as I sidestep Shinso and keep walking down the hall after Momo.

“Yoruhiko,” Shinso calls after me, and I stop and turn around just a few steps shy of Momo’s prep room. He makes eye contact for a few seconds, and I feel like he’s reassessing me. Hopefully this is a better impression than what I left this morning.

“Thanks,” he says shortly, turning on his heel and walking off. 

My breath leaves me in one big gust, and I can feel my tension and Quirk-induced headache that I’ve been staving off since before lunch creeping back in. It’s been an emotionally exhausting day, but I still feel a bit proud of how I’ve handled it. At least the emotional exhaustion that I got (at least partially) from helping other people feels a little better than emotional exhaustion that comes from thinking myself into an anxiety spiral.

I finally turn and open the door to the waiting room and slump into a chair. Momo turns from where she’s watching Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow harry Kirishima towards the boundary lines without him realizing it. “Are you alright?” she asks, looking me over with concern.

I wave a hand at her dismissively. “I’ll be fine. Just been a big day, and my Quirk sense is starting to get to me,” I say, plonking my head onto the table. “I just wanted to come down and wish you luck, even though I know you absolutely got this,” I say to the plastic.

“Oh, I didn’t even think of how the crowd would affect you! I’m so sorry Alina, is there anything I can do to help?” Momo frets, and I pick myself up to give her a small smile.

“No, I’ll be alright. I’m mostly in need of a nap at this point, just to let my body reset,” I say wryly. “I’ll push through the rest of the third round and then go home and crash really hard.”

“Alright, but please tell me if there’s anything you need,” Momo says, still worried but willing to let it slide for now. I nod at her, then perk up slightly. “Enough about me though! Are you feeling ready for your match?” I ask.

She frowns slightly, eyes moving back to the TV. “I hope so,” she murmurs. “I don’t feel like I’ve made a very strong showing for myself today, so I need to use this round to do more. But I’m a bit worried - Ashido is quite capable, and even if I beat her then…” she trails off, and her eyes slide to the bracket pinned onto the wall. “I don’t think I’d make it past the second round.”

I frown, pulling myself out of my chair to circle the table and sit in front of her. “Hey, that’s no way to talk about yourself,” I chide lighty. “What’s got you so down on yourself today? Because from where I’m standing, you’re doing really well. You pulled a whole entire cannon out of your body, placed in the top half of the first round, and we never would have come close to winning the cavalry battle without you.”

“That’s kind of you to say, Alina,” Momo says, looking down at her hands as she twists her fingers in her lap. “I suppose I have a tendency of overthinking things sometimes. Failure has never been an acceptable option in my life, and I worry that I won’t be able to succeed on such a critical stage.”

“Momo, you aren’t a failure if you lose a match in the Sports Festival,” I say, gently laying a hand on her shoulder. “That just means you’re still learning and making mistakes. It’ll happen to all of us at some point. But you’re worth a whole hell of a lot more than your mistakes and worries, and I know a lot of people in this stupid, overcrowded stadium already know that about you. So go out there, and just do whatever feels right - don’t give yourself a chance to overthink things and second guess yourself, ok?” I end with a small smile.

Momo laughs, wiping the tears that line her lashes. “Thank you, Alina - I hadn’t realized quite how much I needed the pep talk,” she says, and I laugh lightly at her attempt at lightheartedness. “I’ll do my best today!”

“That’s the spirit girl!” I say encouragingly, and I give her one last high five as she picks herself up and steels herself for the challenge ahead. Present Mic is calling out Tokoyami’s win, and Momo’s up next. 

“Knock their socks off!” I cheer, and it echoes after her as she walks into the hall. She gives me one last wave and smile before her face settles into a mask of determination as she makes her way to the stage.

Running, and making discreet use of my Quirk, lets me slide into a seat just behind Bakugo in the back of the Class A box right as Present Mic calls the start of the match. 

“You better watch, you know - whoever wins this one could be your next opponent,” I say teasingly, nudging the back of his seat with my shoe. Shouji gives a little laugh next to me as Bakugo whirls around, snarling at me.

“I don’t fucking care which one of those shitty extras wins, I’ll kill either one of them,” he yells. I frown at him, kicking his chair lightly.

“Don’t be so rude to your classmates, dude,” I say. “I’ll say whatever I want about those extras!” he yells back.

I look past him, back out to the field where Momo and Ashido are in full-scale battle. “You shouldn’t,” I say slowly, and he growls again but I cut him off before he can get really worked up. “You shouldn’t, because I think they’ll really surprise you.”

 

----------

 

“BEGIN!!” Mic wails over the sound system, and Tamaki cringes in his seat for the millionth time at the volume of both the announcer and the crowd he’s riling up.

Alina’s friend’s match was just starting, and he keeps half an eye on it since he promised he’d cheer for her. The girl, who Present Mic announced as Yaoyorozu, seems capable, although he can see the nervousness she’s trying to hide in the stiffness of her shoulders.

He’s practically the world’s expert on social anxiety, after all. It’s hard to hide things like that from him.

“Woah, look at that pink girl go!” Mirio says excitedly as Yaoyorozu’s opponent begins skating across the arena on some kind of liquid that comes out of her shoes and hands as it sprays across the arena. “Hey Tamaki, do you remember what Alina said her friend’s Quirk was? She might be in a little trouble here”

“She can make things out of her body fats, I think,” Tamaki says quietly, and no sooner do the words leave his mouth than pink and blue sparkles surround Yaoyorozu’s arm. A steel pole shoots out, and she uses the momentum to pole vault herself over the pink girl’s attack. Tamaki claps along with the crowd, silently impressed with her reflexes.

As the pink girl skids past Yaoyorozu and starts to turn, some of the liquid hits Yaoyorozu’s discarded pole, and it hisses as it eats into the metal. “Acid for the other one, then,” Tamaki mutters, and Mirio nods furiously. “Yeah, she can shoot acid from her hands, and apparently her feet too,” he confirms.

“She’s nervous, but she seems to be pushing through it surprisingly well,” he observes. On the ground, more sparkles are coming from Yaoyorozu’s hands. A few seconds later, there’s two short staves in her hands, similar to the ones Alina used in the cavalry battle. Yaoyorozu probably made those for her, Tamaki notes. How complicated can her creations get?

“You know Tamaki, she might be a good - WOOOOOOO GO YAOYOROZU!!!” Mirio breaks off his sentence to cheer at the top of his lungs as Yaoyorozu uses her staves to deflect an attempted grab from the acid girl. “She might be a good fit with you and Fat, if he’s looking to take on interns,” he finishes, as if he hadn’t ever interrupted himself.

Tamaki shrinks in on himself lightly, groaning out loud before he can stop himself. “I hope he isn’t” he mutters, trying to bury himself in his shirt collar. Mirio only laughs.

“No no, think about it! Her Quirk seems like it works kinda similar to Fat’s and yours, if it’s based off of her body fat, and if she’s Ali-chan’s good friend then I’m sure she’s really nice!” Mirio continues.

Tamaki lingers on the thought for a second. He’s not wrong - a first year with a food-dependent Quirk would do well with Fat. He certainly had. And if he had to deal with talking to a new first year, he’d far rather they be a friend of Alina’s who she’d described as ‘calm, kind, and very smart’ over someone like that boy who rage screamed his way through the cavalry battle.

He turns his attention back to the fight, giving the girl in question a closer look. She’s dodging acid as best she can, but the other girl’s excellent dexterity is preventing from landing a solid hit. She also looks slightly distracted, like she’s focusing on something else in addition to the match in front of her.

Her moment of inattention costs her, as she steps back only to quickly pull back her foot as her shoe begins to dissolve upon brief contact with the puddle she stepped in. She looks around to find she’s surrounded. The pink girl has secreted a wide arc of acid around her, leaving Yaoyorozu trapped between her and the boundary of the ring.

“What’s she going to do?” Tamaki mutters, and leans forward despite himself. He resonates more than he’d like to admit with the look of worry on Yaoyorozu’s face.

He doesn’t have to wait long to find out, as Yaoyorozu suddenly looks fully focused again. She steps up to the edge of the acid arc and holds her hand out over it, making eye contact with the pink girl. At the same moment, the sparkles come back as a stream of small white pellets fall from Yaoyorozu’s open palm that steam and hiss loudly as they hit the acid.

Yaoyorozu waits for a moment, then smirks. To Tamaki’s surprise, she walks straight forward, holding her hand out in front of her as she steps through acid that no longer seems to hurt her. 

“She’s continually creating a neutralizer,” he realizes, shocked. “That’s really impressive.” 

“GO GET HER YAOYOROZU, SHE CAN’T TOUCH YOU!!” Mirio cheers over the roar of the crowd, practically hanging off the edge of their section in excitement. The whole crowd is on their feet as Yaoyorozu continues her seemingly inexorable march toward the pink girl, who’s looking visibly worried as her acid has no effect.

She starts to skate away, forgoing attacking Yaoyorozu in favor of just trying to dodge around the arena and wait Yaoyorozu out. Yaoyorozu doesn’t let that happen though. She neutralizes the last of the acid around her, then pushes out one last round of sparkles as she points her arm at her opponent. She pauses for a moment, aiming, and Tamaki’s surprise only grows as a grappling hook and rope shoot from Yaoyorozu’s fist, speeding after the pink girl. It hits dead on, tangling her legs in rope. She goes down hard, and the top half of her body falls outside the boundary line.

“She tricked her into switching positions and moving too close to the line, then tripped her right out of bounds,” he says, clapping for Yaoyorozu as Midnight declares her the winner. “Alina was right about her.”

“Yeah, and you promised you’d actually cheer for her!” Mirio exclaims, jumping up and down and hollering along with the crowd. Tamaki can feel his face burn bright red at the thought. 

“C’mon Tamaki, you can do this!” he prods.”For Alina’s sake!”

Tamaki blushes even redder, and inadvertently lets out a high-pitched whine.

Cheering loudly in public? That sounds like one of his nightmares. He’d meant that he’d pay attention to Yaoyorozu’s match, maybe clap if she did something cool.

But… could he really risk Alina being sad because he didn’t follow through on his promise to her?

“Good job,” he calls out, just slightly louder than his normal speaking volume. He immediately hunches down in his seat, hiding from the people around him as Midnight and Cementoss reset the arena.

Mirio, his absolute traitor of a best friend, only laughs and cheers louder. “Wow Tamaki,” he says jovially. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it! That promise you made Alina must mean a lot to you huh?”

Tamaki feels his face go bright red and, lacking any immediate walls, hides his face in his hands.

Yeah, he thinks, and within the cave of his hands and arms a small smile grows on his face. Yeah she really does.

 

----------

 

Katsuki stares as the med bots cart Uraraka’s unconscious form away. She’d put up a damn good fight, gave everything she had right up until her body gave out on her. She’s a damn extra who needs some serious endurance training, but deep in his heart Katsuki will acknowledge that her ferocity caught him by surprise.

That last attack did too. Damn Pink Cheeks could have killed him with all that rubble.

Katsuki shoves his hands in his pockets as he turns and walks off, subtly rubbing the cramps and shakes out of his left hand that he’d used to incinerate the meteor shower. That had been way too fucking close, and the sweat glands in his hands are paying the price for it now.

Uraraka. He’d expected her to be a pushover, some shitty nobody who just hung off of Deku all the damn time with that stupid gravity Quirk of hers. Had she come up with that plan, or had Deku tried to show him up when he wasn’t even fighting??

He growls at Deku in the hall, but gets his answer. Damn it. So it was all her, huh.

”I think they’ll really surprise you.”

Damn it, why’d Glitchy have to go and be even a little bit right on top of being so fucking irritating?

He'd gotten lucky in one sense though. At least Uraraka was damn competent enough first matchup to give him a real fight - a bit of a challenge, even. She’d made him work for it more than he would’ve had to against someone like that support weirdo with the goggles. She’d practically roped Glitchy into a fucking infomercial.

He scoffs under his breath at the thought. I’d have exploded all her shitty tech, he thinks viciously to himself.

Still, it means there’s still a big unknown in the second round, since he's not exactly sure what Glitchy's limits are. He can kill everyone in his bracket easily, so whoever comes out of the other half of the bracket will be his opponent in the final. It’s possible that it’ll be Glitchy - she’s clearly faster than Glasses, given the major stick up his ass, and as reluctant as he is to admit it he knows that if anyone in the other bracket has a shot at taking out Icy Hot it’s probably her.

His thoughts trail back to the USJ almost without his permission. When she’d gotten serious, she’d beat out even his reaction time, which was no fucking joke. He can beat her - of course he fucking can - but she’d put up a better fight than most of his other shitty classmates.

She’s had more training since then too. The extras sitting around him in class never fucking shut up about how much extra training she’s been doing, and have been pestering her all week about where she’s been going after school. He didn’t care in the slightest what that idiot did with her time, but he’s unlucky enough to sit close to her and therefore had to listen to all their yammering even after he told them to shut up or die.

Now everyone knows that she’s been off training with that Icy Hot bastard, which -

Katsuki clenches his fists and snarls in frustration.

Those fucking two had been a thorn in his side the entire day, and he can’t wait for whichever one of them ends up in the finals with him so he can explode their fucking face off. Neither of them had given him a real fight in either of the first two challenges. Instead, they just carried each other through it without ever even pushing themselves to give him the challenge he knows damn well they could.

He grins savagely to himself. The extra passing him in the hall whimpers in fear, but Katsuki hardly notices.

Uraraka may have been more of a challenge than expected, but Katsuki isn’t going to let that get in his way. He’ll climb to the top, and if he proves a point to Glitchy or Icy Hot in the final? Well, that’s just fine by him.

A small explosion crackles in his palm. I’ll teach them a lesson any day.

Notes:

did I plan either of those group chat sequences? no. did I think of it, cackle to myself, and promptly include them? you bet I did.

also, why on earth are the two self-doubting, smart, strategic, and wildly powerful people with food-based Quirks not friends in this series?? I don't like that plan. I love Kirishima as much as the next person, but really? Ugh. Fat Gum can just adopt multiple kids, it's fine.

Fic rec: "shinsou hitoshi entered the chat" by crossroadswrite. I stumbled on this when I was looking for something else entirely and am so glad I did - it's absolutely crack, but made me cry laughing.

Chapter 9: Decisions & Resolutions

Summary:

Sports Festival fights, finals, & medal ceremony!

Notes:

better late than never!

Some lines quoted from MHA Season 2 (Sports Festival finals).

“WELCOME BACK to the UA Sports Festival!! We’re coming back at you live from the UA Stadium, where we’re about to start our quarterfinals round!!” Present Mic screams.

Shouto breathes deeply as he climbs the stairs back into the arena, centering himself in the middle of all the chaos swirling throughout the stadium around him. Using his left side - not once, but twice - in the last round had been a snap decision, but even after he’s had time to think about it he doesn’t regret it. He’ll still be cautious, of course - he’s not about to start flinging waves of flame around like his graceless, thoughtless brute of a father. But after the last round…

"Shouto! That was amazing, I’m so happy for you!” she squeals, flinging herself at him as her arms lock around him in a hug. He catches her, barely, automatically steadying her body weight with his even as he tenses in surprise. 

“Oh! I’m sorry for jumping on you, I was just so excited that I didn’t even think about it - it was so awesome to see you equilibrate your temperature against Tokage!” she says, immediately loosening her grip to peel herself off of him. He doesn’t let her get far before his own arms slowly come up and return the hug, albeit much more lightly than hers. 

“It’s ok, don’t worry about it. And thank you - I thought a lot about what you said, and if it’s still available after we’re done with the Festival today I think I’d like to take you up on that offer of helping me reclaim my fire,” he says, carefully thinking over his words as he says them, making sure that he means them wholeheartedly.

She beams up at him, and his concern for the dark circles forming under her eyes is brushed away by the feeling of her arms tightening around his waist again. “I’d be thrilled to, Shouto.”

Yes. He’s made his decision and now he’s just got to follow through. No matter what toxic vitriol Endeavor spews, he’s chosen his own path.

Across the ring, Midoriya has a determined look in his eye as he climbs the stairs to meet Shouto in the middle. Two of his fingers are still wrapped in bandages, a remnant of whatever it was he’d done to break out of Shinsou’s brainwashing in the last round. 

He doesn’t have any control of his Quirk, so there’s a finite limit of what he can do in this match, Shouto thinks to himself. Still, though, he put a lot of power into his attack during the battle trials, and based on his last match I shouldn’t rule out the possibility that he’ll be willing to injure himself to beat me. Best to end this quickly then, before he can use his power too much.

“Begin!” Midnight’s whip snaps and the crowd roars. 

Neither boy wastes any time whatsoever.

The glacier already emerging from Shouto's right side is blasted to smithereens by a wave of force, and the chunks of ice are tossed aside by the burst of wind that accompanies it. Shouto throws himself out of the way just in time, creating an icy backstop to prevent himself from being blown out of the ring and rolling back to his feet to see Midoriya clutching yet another broken finger.

Definitely willing to hurt himself, then, he thinks to himself. The look in Midoriya’s eyes has changed - there’s desperation and pain edging in on the determination that was already there. 

Shouto easily sends another wave of ice Midoriya’s way, taking the opportunity to warm up his left side and banishing the frost collecting on his right while he’s hidden from Midoriya’s view by the debris kicked up from the glacier’s destruction. When the mist clears again, Midoriya is down another finger and gasping in pain and shock.

“You- you warmed yourself up!” Midoriya gasps. “So you are willing to use your left side, at least to some extent!” Shouto frowns, still not entirely used to that concept. “For now, I won’t use my full power,” he says resolutely. “But my ice and a bit of warmth will be more than enough for me to win this tournament.”

Midoriya’s face twists in outrage. “So you won’t even fight me with your full power? What happened to what you said this morning, huh? You may be stronger than me, but you shouldn’t be so overconfident that you brush people off and disrespect them by not trying your hardest! Come at me with all you got!” 

Shouto scowls slightly. “You don’t know anything about me Midoriya, so don’t even try making judgements about my motivations. This is a fight, and I suggest you pay attention!” he snaps, and another wave of ice follows his cold words.

Midoriya sacrifices another finger to blast it away, but his feet have slid backwards from the recoil every time. Shouto doubts that Midoriya’s noticed it, thanks to the pain now written clearly on his face, but he’s not above leveraging tactics to end this fight before it gets any messier.

After all, he’s spent a good portion of the last two weeks figuring out ways to trap an opponent who’s much, much better at getting around his ice than Midoriya is. This is nothing in comparison.

While the icy mist is still swirling in the air and Present Mic is still screaming about the level of destruction being casually thrown around, Shouto makes his move. His left side has kept him warm enough to send another sheet of ice on the heels of the first, hidden from Midoriya’s view by his own counter. This one, though, is different, and he starts running forward into the chaotic winds to follow his own attack towards Midoriya.

As the air starts to clear, the audience screams in shock. Shouto’s follow up attack hadn’t been another huge glacier, but a thin sheet of ice that glided across the floor in between them. It formed right under Midoriya’s shoes, and the change from hard ground to slippery ice was more than enough to throw Midoriya off his balance. 

The stands have just enough of a view through the haze to watch Midoriya slip, slide, and fall on the slick ice, instinctively breaking his fall with his hands and crying out at the jolt to his broken bones. Shouto, with the ease of many hours of practice, is perfectly steady as he skates forward on yet another icy wave.

The moment Midoriya’s off his feet, Shouto pushes his ice even faster, heating up his left side even more to compensate for his internal temperature. Steam wafts off of him as he reaches Midoriya barely a second after he hits the ground, and wastes no time in using all his momentum to sling the smaller boy’s body right across the boundary line.

Before the mist even fully vanishes, Midoriya is out of bounds.

It happens so quickly that Present Mic and the rest of the crowds take a moment to realize what happened, but after a second of shocked silence the entire stadium absolutely explodes into cheers.

“And with that INSANE finishing move, Todoroki reminds us yet again exactly why he’s been our far-out front runner this entire day!!” Mic yells, and out of the corner of his eye Shouto sees his own face projected on the screens, alongside some short clips of his performance in the earlier challenges. 

Brushing off the attention suddenly focused solely on him, Shouto reaches his right hand out to Midoriya. “Come on,” he says to the smaller boy, who’s lying on the ground shell shocked and sniffling. “You need to see Recovery Girl for those fingers.”

“O-oh, right,” Midoriya sniffles, losing control of his tears as they slide down his cheeks. With his less-injured hand, he reaches up and grabs Shouto’s hand, and Shouto lets Midoriya lean on him for support as they leave the arena.

He hears Midnight practically swoon over his proclaimed sportsmanship, but he’s decidedly not going to pay attention to that right now.

Getting Midoriya to the nurse is more of a trial than expected, as whatever adrenaline rush was previously keeping him upright is clearly fading and leaving him to experience the full rush of pain from his broken fingers. Shouto ends up half-carrying the other boy, and Recovery Girl tuts at Midoriya when Shouto finally deposits him in an infirmary bed.

“Hey, Todoroki?” Midoriya whispers as Recovery Girl wipes his tears so she can kiss his cheek and goes to look for more bandages. Shouto pauses on his way out the door. “Yes?” he asks cooly.

“What did you mean when you said that I don’t know anything about you?” Midoriya asks, and Shouto goes still. He knows his eyes have probably gone cold, because Midoriya shrinks back a bit before steadying and meeting his gaze head on.

“I meant that no one can make me use my fire. It’s my decision, and there’s a lot I have to accomplish first,” Shouto says evenly, fighting to keep himself from snapping at this classmate that he’s barely even had a conversation with but who still feels like he has the right to dig into Shouto’s personal issues without an invitation.

He turns on his heel and leaves the infirmary. He has a father to avoid, a semifinal to prepare for, and a friend to watch in the next match while he does it. Midoriya’s further questions, already fading in his ears, will just have to wait.

 

----------

 

“AAAAAALRIGHT sports fans - now that we’ve cleaned up from that last match, put your hands together for our next 1A competitors!! I think we’re about to watch the fastest fight of the whole festival!” Present Mic screams, and I don’t hide my wince at the noise he gets in response as I step into the ring - although Mirio’s voice ringing over the din does lift my spirits a bit. Across from me, Iida bows very formally, but the look in his eyes is just as hard and fiery as it was when he challenged me before the cavalry battle.

I manage to dredge up a small smile as I return the bow. I make sure not to hide how tired and worn down I look as I do it, rolling out the arm that Iida and I both know took a rough hit from Dark Shadow during the cavalry battle.

I’m so sorry about this, Iida. I promise that someday, we’ll have this match how you want it to be.

Midnight’s whip snaps, but I can barely hear it over the roar of Iida’s engines, already springing to life.

But for today, I have a promise I have to fulfill.

I disappear, just barely getting out of Iida’s way. He expects it though, already swinging around to throw a kick at me as I reappear behind him. I yelp in surprise, even though I know he’s pulled the same move in training against Midoriya.

I can’t make it to the podium.

I flicker out of Iida’s field of vision again, reappearing low to the ground and trying to slide past him. He catches on quickly, turning to redirect his own momentum so that I can’t use it to push him out of bounds.

It’s not safe for me to call attention to myself like that.

Iida’s quick turn throws me off my balance, and I take just long enough to recover so that Iida can capitalize on it. With a roar, his engines spit blue flame and he flies towards me. I dodge as best as I can, but it’s not fast enough

So I have to lose to you, Iida.

The force of Iida’s kick sends me flying. In one last push I teleport forwards, so that I’m still over the allowed area, but by all appearances it’s simply too much power for me to redirect in time. I go flying straight over the line, crashing into the wall outside the arena with a final BOOM.

I promise that next time, I’ll give you a fair fight.

“Yoruhiko is out of bounds. Iida wins!” Midnight announces.

The roar of the crowd is the last thing I hear as I surrender to my pounding headache and the pain in my body, letting consciousness slip through my fingers.

 

----------

 

Mirio frowns, watching the medbots cart Alina’s unconscious body off of the field despite her classmate’s hovering (and arm chops? What’s with that?). He turns to Tamaki, who’s sitting next to him with a similar look on his face.

“So, that was weird, huh,” he says quietly, and Tamaki nods slowly without taking his eyes off of Alina’s still form. “Because I’m pretty sure I threw her off balance more than that when we sparred last week and she just dodged my hit and kicked me in the gut for it.”

“She wouldn’t throw a match like that without a good reason,” Tamaki replies just as quietly, and Mirio doesn’t hesitate to nod in agreement. His friend is right, after all. Alina is one of the most determined people he knows, and that’s not even mentioning how kind and considerate she is. She wouldn’t give up against her own class rep, of all people, unless she had no other choice.

“Hey, do you think Recovery Girl would let us in to see her? She’s not technically a competitor now that she’s lost a match,” Mirio says, perking up as the idea occurs to him. “Come on, let’s go see her!”

He pulls a protesting Tamaki to his feet, cheerfully ignoring his best friend’s objections at being manhandled and forced to socialize. “Don’t try to tell me you don’t want to see her and tell her how well she did!” he says, and laughs a bit at himself when Tamaki’s face turns bright red. “Ah, sorry! Didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything,” he apologizes quickly.

“But let’s go! I’m Recovery Girl’s favorite patient after all, she’s sure to let us visit for a while,” he declares, marching off in the direction of the infirmary.

“That’s not something to be proud of, Mirio,” Tamaki gripes, but he doesn’t hesitate to follow along.

Yeah, Mirio’s counting this one as a win for himself.

 

----------

 

Katsuki growls as he turns away from the arena and stalks out of his class’ box. Glitchy practically tapped out for Glasses. She could have and should have put up a hell of a lot more of a fight than that shitty example. 

Heh, maybe she’s even weaker than I thought she was, if her stamina’s that fucking awful, he thinks to himself, stomping down the hall towards the ready room. His match is coming up - and good thing too. He’s pissed off as all hell and ready to take it out on some shitty extra he can explode.

He rounds the corner and pulls up short, barely avoiding slamming into Icy Hot as he comes down the adjoining hall. The bastard just blinks at him, long and slow with absolutely no expression on his face, before moving on down the hall. Katsuki thinks he’s headed to the infirmary, probably to see that weakling Glitchy like the little shit he’s apparently become today.

“What the hell was that out there?” Katsuki snarls, shoving past Icy Hot as he continues down the hall. “If you try to pull that same shit on me in the finals, I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Noted,” Icy Hot says, and his tone almost makes Katsuki think that he’s making fun of him. He whirls around, sparks popping in his palms, but Icy Hot’s already moving along with that blank look still on his idiot face.

Growling to himself, Katsuki shoves his hands back in his pockets and stalks off. He’d kill Icy Hot here and now, but he’s saving that fight. As long as no one else does anything massively stupid, he’ll get his chance to thrash Icy Hot on national TV.

Then, no one will have any doubt that he’s the strongest. He came here to win, and he intends to keep that promise. And whatever idiot stunt Glitchy wants to pull is her fucking problem, not his.

 

----------

 

Shouto slips through the infirmary door and is more relieved than he’d care to admit when he immediately hears the sound of Alina’s cheerful voice. “Don’t worry about me, Recovery Girl!” she says, more upbeat than he’d expected. “I’m already feeling tons better, I promise!”

“And you’ll keep feeling that way if you stay in that bed and rest, dear. You really should have come to see me after the cavalry battle, you know” Recovery Girl scolds. She glances back, seeing Shouto hovering in the doorway and waves him over to Alina’s bedside.

“Sit and chat with her, would you? She needs to stay put and rest until I can make sure she doesn’t have a concussion from that impact,” Recovery Girl says, and Shouto suddenly finds himself neatly set down in a chair before he realizes how he got there. “I’d do it myself, but that Bakugo boy is up again soon and I need to make sure I have enough burn cream on hand. If this match goes anything like his last one, Yaoyorozu will need it,” she mutters, trailing off under her breath as she busies herself in the medicine cabinet on the other side of the room.

Alina watches her go with a worried crease in her brow. “Momo will be ok,” she murmurs to herself. Her gaze drops to her fingers, which are twisting in the blankets of her bed. Shouto follows her eyes with his, frowning faintly.

In truth, he’s confused. He and Alina both know that she could have put up a much better fight against Iida, although he’ll admit that her act was probably enough to fool the rest of the class who hadn’t trained with her as much (except Bakugo of all people, given his comment in the hall). But why did she feel the need to throw a match this late in the Festival?

“I’m sorry,” she blurts out. Her voice is quiet enough that Recovery Girl can’t overhear their conversation, but it sounds almost like the words tore their way out of her and she just couldn’t hold them back anymore. “I know you’re probably mad at me and came down here to yell at me for doing something so stupid and making you look bad but I-”

“I’m not going to yell at you,” he cuts her off before she can build up too much steam. “I want to know why you meant to lose that match, but from what I’ve seen I don’t think you’d do that without a good reason.”

It’s true too. Alina has never once given up during the weeks he’s been training with her - if anything, it’s the opposite. She’s always been willing to push herself harder, faster, and longer. It’s one of the things he found to be a pleasant surprise about training with her. She could keep up with him, but could also sometimes push him further than he could push himself.

For her to deviate from that pattern means there’s something going on that he’s not aware of, and he wants to know what it is.

Alina’s eyes fall again, and she bites her lip in thought. Her hesitation to answer his question gives him a faint pang in his chest - hadn’t he been more honest with her today than he’d ever been before? Doesn’t he deserve the same trust he put in her?

“I… can’t tell you everything. I want to, and I trust you, but it’s not my decision. I promised someone, someone important, that no matter what happened I wouldn’t be on the podium,” she says quietly. “I want to tell you the whole story, I promise I would if I could, but -”

“Who asked you for a promise like that?” he interrupts. Her mouth snaps shut, cutting off the ramble she was about to go on. 

She’s quiet for a long moment, long enough for the corners of Shouto’s mouth to pull down into a frown. She cringes slightly, pulling back from him when she sees the expression, and the look on her face tells Shouto everything he needs to know about how upset she is.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone else? I really shouldn’t say anything at all, but… I trust you, Shouto,” she whispers, so quiet he can barely hear her. “I promise,” he replies at the same nearly inaudible volume, leaning forward slightly to cover their conversation from Recovery Girl.

She mimics the motion, throwing an anxious look over her shoulder at the other occupied bed, where Midoriya is sleeping off his newly-healed fingers, and at the nurse, who is currently half-buried in a supply cabinet muttering to herself. A small part of Shouto’s brain is willing to bet that whatever she’s saying is not particularly complimentary towards reckless students and their injuries, but he immediately snaps his full focus back to Alina, looking her squarely in the eyes as he expectantly waits for an answer.

Slowly she lifts her gaze to meet his, and the anxiety in her light purple eyes is as clear as day - even to someone with as little practice interpreting emotions as him.

“...my guardian,” she finally whispers.

Shouto’s frown deepens. Her guardian? What does that mean? Is she in danger?

He opens his mouth to ask, he has to know if -

“Ali-chan! Wow, that was a hard hit you took, I’m surprised you’re awake!” A completely unfamiliar blond man with odd blue eyes starts chattering before he’s even fully through the door. He’s tall too, and his broad shoulders nearly slam into the doorframe before he checks himself. His behavior is completely the opposite than Shouto expected from someone his size, as he practically bounces over to Alina’s bedside.

Shouto scowls at the newcomer, although it doesn’t seem to have any effect. It is, however, unwasted on the second person who’s lingering in the doorway - a much slimmer man with dark purple hair who takes one look at Shouto’s face and quails.

“Mirio! Tamaki!” Alina exclaims, throwing her arms open wide. The blond wastes no time in squeezing her into a hug, then sweeping her out of bed. She laughs, stumbling slightly, but Shouto and the blond are both quick to brace her so she doesn’t fall.

“Togata, she’s supposed to stay in bed!” Recovery Girl admonishes, waving her cane at the blond - Togata, apparently - threateningly. “Hello Amajiki, lovely to see you,” she says in a much kinder tone, turning to nod to the man in the doorway.

“Sorry, sorry RG,” Togata laughs, letting Alina lean on him as she climbs back into her infirmary bed. “I just got so excited - my little sister kicked so much booty that I had to come celebrate!”

“Your sister?” Shouto asks, confused. He looks absolutely nothing like Alina - if anything, he’d be more willing to believe that she’s related to Amajiki based on coloring alone. But she’s only ever mentioned a younger brother just earlier today, and these two have to be older students, so that doesn’t make any sense at all.

“Absolutely!” Togata effuses, holding his hand up for a high five that Alina doesn’t hesitate to slap. She nods in agreement. “Yep, the power of the group chat and ancient memes have decreed it,” she says, and both of them nod seriously.

Now even more confused, Shouto looks at Amajiki for clarity.

“You guys are so embarrassing,” he mutters, face bright red as he glances between Shouto and Togata before his eyes settle on Alina. “I’m glad you’re OK, Alina. You did really well out there,” he says quietly, seemingly determined to ignore Shouto entirely so that he doesn’t have to see his scowl again.

“Thanks, both of you. And thanks for cheering for me all day - I’m sorry I let you down by not making it further,” she says, but this time the cheer in her voice is obviously forced. 

“Oh, but I’m being rude! Shouto, this is Amajiki Tamaki and Togata Mirio - they’re both UA third years, but I’ve known them since I was in middle school and they’re great friends of mine. Guys, this is Todoroki Shouto. He’s my friend, and he’s been an awesome teammate this whole day!” Alina says, forcibly steering the subject away from her lost match.

“Hey man, nice to meet you! You’re doing great stuff out there, we’re cheering for you from the stands! Any friend of Alina’s is a friend of ours,” Togata says excitedly, and Shouto gives him a silent nod in polite thanks.

“Nice to meet you,” Shouto replies on autopilot. It’s a novel experience to have his seniors want to be his friend on the basis of something other than his father, but he can’t say it’s a bad one on principle.

“So, feeling ready for your next match?” Togata prods. “That Iida kid seems like he’s pretty quick when he wants to be.”

Shouto just nods again, faint scowl returning. “Yes. I’m prepared,” he says firmly. Amajiki shakes slightly, but Togata just laughs again.

“Great to see the confidence, I love it!” he says, smiling. “Tamaki and I will be rooting for you, and I’m sure Alina will be too!”

“Of course I will be! Shouto’s absolutely going to do great, just you wait,” Alina says confidently, and Shouto’s slightly thrown by the amount of casual, ironclad faith she put behind that statement.

She meant it a few minutes ago, when she said she trusted me. I don’t like that she’s still keeping secrets, especially if she’s in danger or there’s something more going on, but…

I can trust her too, for now.

The four of them get another minute or two of light conversation in, mostly driven by Togata and Alina’s joint excitement for the rest of the Festival, but Recovery Girl is quick to chivvy all the guests out the door in preparation for more injured fighters. Alina gives Togata another hug, squeezes Amajiki’s hand, and promises to meet them after the Festival is over before Recovery Girl manages to shoo them out the door.

Shouto lingers for a moment longer while Recovery Girl is distracted arguing with Togata. “Alina,” he starts.

“I know,” she murmurs. “I promise we’ll have the rest of that conversation soon, although we might have to wait for someplace a little more private than the infirmary,” she says, shooting a wry look at Recovery Girl.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he says quietly, standing up to leave. He’s pulled back though, by a hand gripping his left wrist.

“Shouto?” Alina says. “Thank you. For being my partner today, and for trusting me. I promise I won’t let you down again.”

He pauses, turning back around to meet the warmth in her eyes. There’s a promise in her gaze - the kind of ironclad resolve that pushed both of them through the last few weeks of constant training without any hesitation, and he knows this is a promise she intends to keep.

“I know,” he says simply.

Her smile is the last thing he sees before the infirmary door closes behind him.

 

----------

 

I sigh, collapsing backwards to flop in my bed as the three boys leave. Even though I’m in better shape than I led Iida to believe, I’m still exhausted. My Quirk-induced headache has become a full-blown migraine and the number of emotionally trying conversations I’ve been through today is rapidly approaching too many to handle.

Still though, that particular conversation could have gone a lot worse. At least he’s willing to trust you for a while, and it seems like he still wants to be friends, I try to cheer myself up.

I lay in bed a while longer, catching up on the matches that I’d missed on the TV in the infirmary. I skim through the highlights of Tokoyami and Dark Shadow outmaneuvering Honenuki until I’m caught up with the live feed of the final match of this round.

Just in time to see a huge explosion rip through Momo’s entrenched shields and fling her like a rag doll over the boundary line.

“OOH, that’s gotta hurt! Once again, Bakugo Katsuki advances to the next round with an absolutely devastating final blow! Can anyone stop this absolute powerhouse?!” Present Mic screams as the crowd goes wild.

I sigh, turning off the TV again and laying back down, thoughts still swirling. Damn, I really hoped she could beat him. I guess he’s even more serious about this than I thought - Momo’s no easy opponent to steamroll like that.

Sure enough, it’s barely a minute later that the medbots are rolling through the door with a stretcher that bears Momo’s unconscious body. They deposit her on the bed next to mine, presumably to give Midoriya some space and quiet since he’s asleep and I’m not. 

Recovery Girl bustles over, muttering under her breath as she applies burn cream and bandages to Momo’s injuries before giving her a kiss on the forehead. Immediately the pained lines in her forehead smooth out as she shifts into a more restful, healing sleep.

Unfortunately, she’s still passed out when Recovery Girl deems me fit enough to go watch the rest of the matches with the rest of my class. I linger for a moment, but eventually decide that I’ll just have to catch up with her once she’s awake again - she’ll undoubtedly need some moral support after losing to Bakugo like that.

I wander back upstairs, listening with half an ear to the commentary of Bakugo and Tokoyami’s match. It doesn’t seem to be going particularly well for Tokoyami, and I make a mental note to check in with him later as well. From Present’s Mic’s recap, I also find out that Shouto had been able to beat Iida rather quickly, and with minimal injury on both sides.

“Yo, Alina! Glad you’re OK!” Kaminari cheers, rolling his head back in his seat to look at me upside down as I reenter the class box. I laugh at the silly image it makes, wandering over to join him, Kirishima, Jirou, Sero, and Ashido in their cluster of chairs.

“Yeah, Iida hits pretty hard but Recovery Girl fixed me right up!” I reassure them. “Definitely ready for a nap, and I do want to find Iida later and congratulate him on beating me, but other than that I’m good to go.”

“Her Quirk really takes it out of you, huh,” Kirishima chimes in, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. The collar and sleeves of his gym uniform are torn where his rocky skin had burst through it, and he’s still sporting a few bandages from Recovery Girl himself after his loss to Tokoyami.

“No kidding,” I chuckle. From my other side, Jirou elbows me in the ribs. “You kicked some serious ass today though,” she says matter of factly. “Way more than the electric idiot over here.”

“Hey!” Kaminari squawks in offense, and Jirou laughs even as she ducks his flailing arms. “It’s not my fault we lost that headband - and besides, the spotlight’s been on Todoroki and Bakugo the whole day anyways!”

“You’re definitely right about that,” Asido huffs, planting her chin on her fists as she watches Bakugo aim more explosions at Dark Shadow, who cowers away from them. “Honestly Alina, I kinda feel bad for you - Mic’s been so focused on Todoroki all day that you barely got any screen time, even though you guys teamed up!”

Good. That’s how today was supposed to go.

I shrug, keeping my internal satisfaction off of my face. “Eh, it’s alright. I can’t do much about it now anyways, since I’m out of the competition, so I’ll just have to really kill it at next year’s Festival!”

“That’s some manly spirit Yoruhiko! We’re totally gonna kick butt next year!” Kirishima cheers with me, and I grin and offer him a high five that he takes with no hesitation whatsoever. It’s a very solid high five, just like Kirishima.

“Well when you put it like that, I guess it’ll all work out,” Sero says with a growing smile. “Of course it will! We’ve got a whole year to train for it - imagine all the cool stuff we’ll have learned by then!” I reply brightly.

As the conversation devolves into bright, excited chattering about all the cool moves we could be able to do by next year, the arena shakes with one final explosion as Bakugo throws Tokoyami out of bounds.

I smile to myself, keeping half an eye on the mess of the stage even as I laugh at Kaminari’s enthusiastic description of an electricity-based lightsaber.

And with any luck, next year I won’t have to hold myself back either.

 

----------

 

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(4) New Messages

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 13:34

What the fuck is up with this girl you’re fighting

I did not sign up for oh-dark-thirty infomercials

 

From: (Unknown Number), sent at 14:42

You little faker

 

From: (tamaki! 🍙), sent at 14:43

alina i’m not sure if you’re awake yet or not, but just in case you can see this mirio and i are on our way to the infirmary to come see you !

 

----------

 

Mirai sighs, turning away from the live feed of the Sports Festival to the bank of monitors he’s set up to track the public’s reaction in real time. His hero duties obligate him to watch the finale of the first year Festival, both to track the potential of the up-and-coming hero pool and to flag students that could become recruits for the Nighteye Agency once work studies become available to them.

However, that doesn’t stop him from wanting to ignore the temper tantrum he’s sure is about to be thrown on national television in favor of diving into a full analysis of media response to the Sports Festival so he can more accurately determine how much damage control he’ll need to do on Alina’s behalf.

It’s been six years since he felt this kind of worry pooling in his gut.

By first impressions, however, Alina’s plan had gone off without any significant issues, thanks in no small part to Present Mic’s support. The Voice Hero had clearly made an effort to bypass Alina in his commentary, focusing instead on the Todoroki boy. He’d even managed to avoid ever saying her first name on air, which is a boon Mirai is privately thankful for.

He’ll have to do something thoughtful for Eraserhead soon. This degree of forethought and subtle misdirection is undoubtedly due to his influence.

He hunches back over his computer as the Sports Festival broadcast goes to commercial, checking on the progress of several analytics programs he has running. They’ll amass a pool of data and direct him towards the major trends in today’s coverage, which gives him a starting point for his own analysis and an early warning sign should something turn wrong.

He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and cracks his fingers, settling them on the keyboard. 

This is what it takes to keep his ward safe - the daughter of one of his dearest friends, who he’s come to see as a daughter of his own over these past years. 

He’s more than capable of stepping up to the challenge.

 

----------

 

FWOOM!

“Damn it!!” Katsuki screams in rage. Not a second after Present Mic calls the start of the final match, he’s already blasting apart Todoroki’s giant fucking iceberg that’s trying to swallow him whole.

As much as he hates to admit it though, Icy Hot did this the less stupid way. The ice is shooting at him in spears, and he has to focus his explosion so they don’t run him through. It’s blocking him from bombing the larger block of ice trying to swallow him up that that shitty coward is hiding behind.

After a few seconds though, the world goes blue-white and Katsuki finds himself completely buried from head to toe in a damned glacier.

Fucking fine. He likes the hard way better anyways.

He aims for where light is filtering through, calling on all the power he can pull from his hands before the temperature drops even further. Blast after blast gives him more and more breathing room, and as the ice clears there’s more and more light and noise from the stadium penetrating the tunnel he’s making for himself.

That absolute bastard thinks he can half-ass this match? Katsuki snorts, feeling his simmering rage finally boil over. He’ll teach Icy Hot a lesson - he better fight with his full power, instead of being a baby and not using his fire for no fucking reason like he has been in all his other matches. He’s barely been scratching the surface, but Katuski will not accept anything less than a win over Icy Hot’s full power.

Let’s see him try and use his powers against me when I’m bombing every inch of the stadium, Katsuki thinks viciously, as one last blast tears through the last sheet of ice separating him from Icy Hot.

I’ll show the world what a champion looks like.

“You’ve got some pretty powerful attacks,” Katsuki calls, taking the chance to cool his hands against a remaining chunk of ice before he overworks them too much. The crowd is screaming their heads off for him, and Icy Hot had jumped back in caution when the ice started to crack.

Well, that’s not going to fucking stop him.

He blasts forward, launching himself full speed at that smug, uppity extra. Icy Hot jumps forward too, reaching forward - damn it that’s his right hand again, he’s still not taking this seriously!

“Try harder!” he taunts, blasting a precise explosion from his left hand to twist his body around Icy Hot’s pathetic attempt at freezing him again.

He grabs Icy Hot’s uniform, using his own explosion’s momentum to fling the other boy over his shoulder to go tumbling head over heels toward the boundary line.

He’s got damned good reflexes though, and catches himself on another ice wave before he goes out of bounds. Katsuki growls in frustration even as he tracks Icy Hot’s progress towards him, keeping both eyes on him as he tries to create another ice trap.

He’s not about to get pinned down again, though, and with a yell he throws himself at Icy Hot, palms first and deliberately aiming for the bastard’s left side. Let’s see if I can make you use it, he thinks ferociously.

Sure enough, a wave of fire lights up from Icy Hot’s left side, and Katsuki’s eyes widen at the sudden heat on his own forearms. It’s enough of a lapse for Icy Hot to grab him, and he can feel the bastard tense as he prepares to try and fling Katsuki out of the ring.

“Use your left side! Do it Shouto!” 

Endeavor’s deep voice calls out from the stands, roaring loud enough to be heard over the crowd. Katsuki’s close enough to see Icy Hot look towards it, and his pupils dilate with the kind of instinctive fear that Katuski’s more used to seeing on shitty Deku’s face.

The momentary flame goes out, and Icy Hot throws him with no power whatsoever. Katsuki is easily able to catch his balance, righting himself as he slides to a stop on the concrete.

“Stop screwing around,” he growls, and he knows that a wild, bloodthirsty grin has spread on his face.

But before he can continue, another voice calls out over the crowd - and this time it’s one he recognizes.

“You got this, Shouto!” Glitchy screams at the top of her damn lungs, and out of the corner of his eye Katsuki can see her practically hanging over the railing of the class box. “KICK HIS ASS!”

In front of Katsuki’s eyes, Icy Hot settles back into a look of determination. The combination of Glitchy’s voice and Eraserhead’s commentary about each of their attack styles is easily drowning out Endeavor’s yells, and it makes Katsuki scowl even more.

“Tell that Glitch Bitch to shut her damn mouth!” he roars, running at Icy Hot again. “I’ll tell you what’ll happen if you try to make a fool out of me: I’ll kill you! I don’t want there to be any doubt that I’m the best student at this Festival. That’s only possible if you come at me as hard as you can!”

Katsuki’s expression turns downright savage. “Show everyone you’re trying to destroy me!” he screams in challenge.

“Fine,” Icy Hot scowls, and it’s quiet enough that Katsuki almost misses it over the deafening BOOM of his explosions as he propels himself forward. “You want a fight? You got one.”

 A wave of heat explodes outward from Icy Hot as flames burst into life on his left side, with enough force that it pushes Katsuki back. All the frost that was collecting on his right melts and evaporates with a hiss, and there’s steam wafting off of him as he stares Katsuki down.

“I know what I want my left side to mean to me,” he says determinedly. “There’s still a lot I need to figure out, but I’ll fight you my way. And I’ll win.”

“Give me everything you got! Don’t you dare hold back!” Katsuki roars. He starts alternating his explosions, throwing his body into a spin as he lifts off the ground.

Over the rush of air and the booms in his ears, he thinks he hears Glitchy’s voice rising over the crowd again.

Icy Hot’s standing there, completely ice free, with his left arm raised to meet Katsuki’s attack. Katsuki feels the air superheat from the combination of his explosions and Icy Hot’s fire, and the temperature only goes up as he gets closer to his target.

The flames howl as Icy Hot sends them flying.

Force and heat is more than enough to tear up the concrete floor, sending pieces of rock and half-melted ice flying in every direction. Katsuki growls as he compensates and speeds up, burning off the extra sweat he’s producing in this heat - any direct impact from debris could knock him out of the spiral he needs to be in for his Howitzer Impact to do maximum destruction.

“Finally! Now, I’ll beat you at your absolute best!” he screams, reaching the apex of his flight. “Now you die!”

He’ll beat this bastard, he’s the best there is and always has been. Icy Hot has no idea of the world of pain he’s in for.

“No,” the half and half bastard says with that smug look back on his face. He plants his feet, back to the glacier he’d tried to trap Katsuki in just a minute before. “Now I win.”

Just as Katsuki starts to fall, committing his rotating trajectory aimed right at Icy Hot’s ugly mug, all hell breaks loose.

An inferno erupts from Todoroki’s left side, and Katsuki screams his denial as the flames catch him. This time he can’t catch himself quickly enough, and it feels like a punch to the gut as he’s flung off target by the rising heat.

“You bastard!” he roars, and lets off a quick succession of furious blasts to desperately try and stay on track. He’s still rotating, he can still pull this off - 

I’m the champion, not this this half and half clown!

“Sorry, Bakugo,” Todoroki says. “But this match is mine.”

For a fraction of a second, as he’s upside down, Katsuki feels the heat on his back spike as the flames are pushed high enough to lick at his clothes. 

He’s lightheaded, as the combination of flames and explosions burn off all the oxygen, and smoke makes its way into his lungs even though he grits his teeth and doubles down.

Then the temperature plummets.

BOOOOOOM.

The air itself expands, and Katsuki can’t control it, needs to be faster - 

He feels his body tossed through the air like a rag doll, he has no anchor point to control his momentum that was so accelerated by this blast because there’s no damn oxygen, all his sweat burned off, he can’t make explosions fast enough- 

Everything goes black.

 

----------

 

I watch as the winners’ podium rises through the ground of a newly cleaned arena. Shouto’s grim expression is the highest up and is visible first, then a bandaged Bakugo who looks like he’s torn between exploding in impotent rage and going into shock.

Tokoyami, however, is alone on the third place stand, his face the last to come into view. I frown. Where’s Iida? He should be right there with Tokoyami to accept the tie for third place

I watch in confusion, keeping one eye on the third place stand even as Midnight and All Might fumble their introductions. The other eye is on Shouto, who’s giving the crowd the most stoic and non-emotive face I’ve ever seen him make.

I make a mental note to check in on him as soon as I can - he and Bakugo had been sent straight to Recovery Girl after Shouto’s last iceberg caused a temperature-propelled implosion that sent Bakugo headfirst into the stadium walls and left both of them with numerous injuries. She’d blocked me at the door when I tried to visit, reassuring me that both would be fine but they were in no shape for visitors.

Those heatwaves were something else, I think to myself, recalling the waves of superheated flame that had come pouring off of Shouto’s left side during the finals. I wasn’t expecting that he’d push himself so hard so quickly - I hope he’s still OK after that.

Speaking of OK, though, I tentatively push my Quirk sense slowly outward, searching for Iida throughout the stadium’s back halls. It brings my migrain roaring back, and I grit my teeth as I ignore it as best as I can.

There

I peel myself out of the chair where I’d collapsed, awestruck, at the end of the final match and slip out the back door as the rest of the class cheers for our three classmates on the podium. They falter slightly and a few groans go around when Bakugo full-on snarls at All Might’s attempt to hang a silver medal on his neck, but they cheer nonetheless.

The roar of the crowd fades as I wind my way through the halls I’ve become so familiar with today, heading towards the alcove Iida has tucked himself away in. I won’t intrude, but I do want to check on him since he should absolutely be out on the podium right now.

In my heart, I know that my own guilt over our match is also driving me to make sure Iida isn’t feeling like he doesn’t deserve his win. I want to do what I can for him, since I couldn’t give him the fight he wanted so badly.

Just as I round the last corner, I hear a choked-off sob.

“Iida! Are you alright?” I ask, rushing forward to support the boy slowly sliding down the wall to collapse in a heap on the floor. He doesn’t reply, and his hand comes to cover his mouth as he shakes lightly, letting his phone fall out of his grasp.

“Hey, talk to me - are you hurt? Do I need to go get a teacher?” I ask frantically. My eyes and my Quirk sense both tell me that he’s uninjured, not bleeding anywhere. What the hell’s going on here?

“Y-Yoruhiko,” Iida gasps out, wrenching himself free of my grasp. I let him go, staying near him without intruding on his personal space as he collapses back down to the ground “What are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you, I was worried when you weren’t on the podium for the medal ceremony,” I babble. “What’s wrong? Is there anything I can do to help you”

Iida sniffs, lifting his glasses to wipe his eyes that are red and blurry with tears. “I appreciate it, but no. There’s nothing anyone can do,” he says. “I-it’s my brother, Ingenium. He was attacked by a villain today.”

I freeze.

Oh no.

“Do you want me to take you to the hospital? I can get you out of here quietly, without dealing with the crowds or press, if you’re OK with some nausea,” I offer immediately.

Iida looks up slowly, and I can see the naked hope flare in his eyes. “You’d do that?” he asks quietly.

“Of course,” I don’t hesitate to nod. I reach out again, and this time Iida doesn’t shy away from taking my hand, scrambling to his feet in desperation to see his brother. 

“Brace yourself,” I warn. “Going this far will take more than one jump, and it won’t be pleasant.”

“I don’t care,” he says, voice hardening with every syllable. “I’d do anything for Tensei.

I nod, take a deep breath, and pull on my Quirk. This isn’t going to be pleasant for me and my overused Quirk either, but I couldn’t care less.

I’d do anything for my brother, and I’ll be damned if I stop Iida from doing the same for his.

Notes:

Fic rec: "Yes or No is Not A Trick Question (but That Doesn't Stop Mina from Making It One)" by silv3rbloodalch3mist. Shoutout for amazing Katsuki writing, I'm in consistent awe that only grows every time I try to get in the rage boy's head.

Chapter 10: 10. Did Shouto Just Make a Joke?

Summary:

Post-Festival internship prep!

It turns out that it does, in fact, take several jumps to take myself and Iida across an entire city. More jumps than I’ve ever done so quickly, let alone done with a passenger. Colored streaks blur my vision as I repeatedly activate my Quirk, one after the next after the next after the next - 

I’ve thrown myself so deeply into my Quirk that I can almost feel the potential energy vibrating in the air around me, and I hardly materialize before I’ve thrown myself into the next jump. In the back of my mind, with what little of it is still tied to my physical body to keep a hold of Iida, I also realize that my body temperature is starting to spike. I’m taking in and using enough energy that my body is working hard to keep up, and the excess is starting to pour off of me as heat.

I only vaguely remember forcing myself to keep it together long enough to make it. So it really shouldn’t have surprised me that the exertion of my Quirk, on top of the day I’ve already had, has black spots encroaching on my vision to the point that I barely register the hospital lobby - all I can notice anymore is the lack of noise compared to the busy stadium we’d started in.

“We’re here,” I say breathily. Iida is too busy heaving into a potted plant to hear me, but thankfully there are other people around to catch me when consciousness finally slips away from me.

 

-------------------

 

The next thing I register is a beeping noise, steady and regular.

I open my eyes slowly, flinching away from the bright lights I immediately see. “Here,” a voice says, and the lights are shut off. I turn my head slowly, wincing at the stiffness in my body.

Sasaki is sitting next to me, expression inscrutable. “You’re in the recovery ward of the hospital,” he explains quietly. “You collapsed after delivering yourself and Iida Tenya to the lobby thirteen hours ago. You were severely Quirk exhausted and required intravenous fluids immediately, so the doctors kept you for observation. Now that you are awake, you are also due a scolding from the local law enforcement regarding your public Quirk usage.”

Well, that’s not great , I think to myself. “I’m sorry,” I rasp out. My throat is dry and scratchy, and my sentence dissolves into coughs.

"You overextended yourself, Alina. While your intentions are noble, the execution was perilous. You must think of the consequences," Sasaki scolds. I finally manage to focus on him long enough to see the look on his face. There’s anger and frustration there yes, but the light in his eyes is worried as well.

My voice is still scratchy and thin, but my conviction is unchanged. I have to make him understand.

"I couldn’t just stand by, Sir. The thought of him missing the chance to be there... I know what it’s like to want — no, need — to protect someone you love. It was a risk, but one I felt compelled to take."

If anything, his frown deepens. "Heroism is not only about courage and immediate action; it's about wise judgment,” he says. “What if you had failed? Both you and Iida would have been in jeopardy."

My exhausted mind drifts slightly off, to a sunny afternoon playing with my brother. Ren’s question echoes in my mind: ‘Does my quirk make me a villain?’.  

How could something so intrinsic to someone dictate their worth? My decisions, my actions—they’re mine to own, just as my quirk is mine to wield.

My eyebrows come down and I frown as I refocus. "Sir, I understand the risks, and I am learning to manage them. But just like I stood up for Ren, Iida had to be there for his brother and I had to stand up today. To act, even when it's hard. That's what heroes do, isn't it?"

Sasaki looks at me for a long moment, then lets go of a quiet sigh as he softens slightly. His spine becomes ever-so-slightly less rigid as he reaches out and lightly squeezes my hand. "Yes, Alina. Being a hero is about more than just power—it's about making tough decisions for the right reasons,” he admits. “You acted from a place of compassion and protection. Those are qualities of a true hero, but they must be balanced with caution."

He pauses for a moment, then smiles slightly and quietly laughs to himself. “What is it?” I ask, confused about how any of this is funny to him. I mean, I’ll take it if I’m not in trouble anymore, but what could prompt that?

"You remind me a lot of your mother, you know,” he says with a small smile. “She, too, is fiercely protective and incredibly brave."

My own smile forms at that, and I beam at him as much as I can manage. "I take that as the highest compliment, Sir."

 

----------

 

The next two days fly by, and I do manage to watch the entirety of the third years’ Sports Festival on TV even though Sasaki won’t let me go in person. Turns out I was grounded, after my stunt with Iida, but even I’ll admit that it could have been much, much worse. 

Our first day back in class comes quickly, once the Festival is over, and I slide into my seat just before the bell rings, throwing a smile and a wave at my three back-of-the-class companions.

“Good morning Mr. Aizawa!” we all chorus as our teacher enters, sitting perfectly in our seats.

“Ribbit. Mr. Aizawa, you don’t have bandages anymore,” Tsu observes. “That’s good news.”

“The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment,” Mr. Aizawa grouses, and I could swear he’s about to roll his eyes but he reigns himself in. “We have a big class today on Hero Informatics.”

Everyone tenses, and I shoot Momo a worried look over my shoulder. Aizawa is absolutely the type to give us a pop quiz the day after the Festival, isn’t he?

Aizawa holds the silence for a long moment, and Kaminari looks like he’s about to lose it.

“You need codenames. Time to pick your hero identities.”

All my breath gusts out with my exhale of relief as all my classmates roar in excitement. That’s not nearly as bad as I thought!

I sit quietly, getting more and more nervous as Aizawa gives the class a death stare before explaining the necessity of codenames thanks to our performance in the pro hero draft picks. This is the closest thing I’m going to get to a moment of truth—did I succeed in my goal at the Festival? I made the top 8, which is not ideal for staying out of the public eye, but did I manage to skate under the majority of the radar thanks to Todoroki’s help?

As the offers flash up on the screen, my jaw drops at the very first number and I whip around in my seat. “Shouto, congratulations!” I say quietly, careful not to draw Aizawa’s exasperation or attention.

His eyes are stony as he stares at the board. “Don’t say that. These offers are likely thanks to my father’s influence,” he says, voice tinted with anger. I frown, turning further around so I can lightly kick his desk in reprimand.

“I highly doubt almost 5000 heroes all sent you an offer only because of your last name. You won the Sports Festival entirely on your own merits, you’re allowed to be proud of your own accomplishments that stand apart from his!” I chastise gently. His frown softens ever so slightly, but reforms as he continues reading.

“Given that we were working as a team, the disparity between our offers proves my point,” he says, voice even colder than it was to start with.

I turn my head back to the board now that the rest of the rankings are loaded in. Bakugo is also in the multi-thousands—no surprises there—and Momo, Iida, and Tokoyami also ended up with several hundred offers each. Beyond that, Kirishima peaked at just over 100, and Uraraka, Midoriya, and Sero each have a respectable few dozen to consider. And there, right at the bottom of the list, is my name.

Yoruhiko Alina: 5

My shoulders slump with relief. Thank every god in the world, I did it.

Momo, however, misinterprets my body language as disappointment. “I’m sorry, Alina. You did excellently in the Festival, I’m quite surprised you don’t have more offers,” she says, reaching over her desk to pat my shoulders in comfort. On my other side, Tokoyami inclines his head gravely in agreement.

“Exactly my point,” Todoroki says, and if that tone of voice had come from anyone else I would’ve called it a grumble.

“It’s alright guys, I’m just thankful I got any offers at all! I’m really not bothered by it—didn’t Mr. Aizawa just say that first years usually don’t get any?” I say quickly, trying to head my friends off before they can get too offended on my behalf.

Our small conversation is interrupted by Bakugo roaring about how any pros that he’d scared off were just weaklings, and I take the chance to derail Momo’s and Shouto’s particular train of thought.

“Oh c’mon Blasty, don’t stress about it too much! There’s still almost 3000 people willing to potentially put up with you as their sidekick in a few years,” I tease lightly, and Bakugo whirls on me as Midoriya cowers in the desk between us. 

He doesn’t get a chance to rage at me though, since Mr. Aizawa cuts him off before he gets the chance. As our teacher explains more about the logistics of how all of our internships will go, and our subsequent need for hero names, my thoughts trail off again. I’m slowly growing more and more curious as to who my small handful of offers came from—what five heroes saw potential in a performance I intentionally and vastly undersold?

I bring my attention back to my surroundings when my Quirk sense informs me of a group of people approaching our door. Thanks to my advanced warning, I’m one of very few who doesn’t jump when Midnight slams the door open. Flanked by Ectoplasm and Cementoss, she decrees her absolute power over our names and lets Aizawa explain a bit more about what we should keep in mind before he curls up in his sleeping bag. She passes out whiteboards and turns us loose, leaving me with a chattering room and a head full of ideas.

I grab the whiteboard Midoriya passes back to me, already deep in thought. The name I want to be known by for the rest of my career? No pressure or anything, Midnight.

The classroom goes quiet as all of us mull over possibilities. I can hear Momo whispering to herself from her place behind me, but I tune that out and focus in on my own ideas. I’d given this some thought over the years, of course—what kid hoping to be a hero doesn’t?—but I’d never settled on a final name.

Right. A hero name. What do I want to be called?

No, that’s not the right question.

What do I want to be associated with? To be known for?

Some heroes name themselves for marketing reasons, sure, but I don’t like the idea of pandering to the media to that extent. I want to take my inspiration from a hero like All Might, or Star and Stripe back home, and focus more on a name that will inspire hope in the people I keep safe.

Which is a great goal and all, but doesn’t actually help me come up with any good ideas. OK, different angle.

What about my Quirk? Most heroes choose a name that’s at least loosely associated with their Quirk or some aspect of their powers. Something like The Teleportation Hero could work as an epithet, but I want my actual name to be a bit more creative. 

If I expand that idea a bit though, it has potential. The things I can do with my Quirk, the things I want to be once I’m a full-blown pro, the feelings I want to inspire…

Ah. That’ll do.

I write my name down on the board just in time for Midnight to call out for the class’ attention. A quick look around tells me that some people are still struggling, though my little corner of the back of the class seems to have their names worked out.

“Now students, who among you is ready to share?”

Midnight’s question makes some people tense, but unsurprisingly Aoyama has absolutely no hesitation in strutting to the front of the classroom.

It’s also unsurprising how quickly his first choice is shot down. A sentence is truly too long.

Still, Aoyama goes back to his seat mostly placated, but Ashido is the next to take Midnight’s criticism. Frowning, she goes back to her seat dejected and leaving the rest of us confused about what exactly the standards are for this approval Midnight is handing out.

Some looks shoot around the classroom—the first two names have unbalanced everyone’s expectations of what this exercise would look like. I take a deep breath, then rise and walk to the front of the room.

“I’ll go next, I guess,” I say somewhat shyly, holding my whiteboard facing me. I take a deep breath, reading over the characters of my chosen name one more time, then flip it to show the class.

“I’ll be the Shifting Hero: Flicker!”

“Ah, a lovely reference to both your Quirk and your personal backstory! How clever!” Midnight coos, and I can practically see everyone’s sigh of relief as we get back on a semi-normal track.

As I settle back into my seat, I can’t help but let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. The idea of choosing something that would stick with me for my entire career seemed so daunting at first, but now that it's done, it feels... right.

Momo smiles at me warmly, her voice soft but proud. “I think your name is wonderful, Alina.”

I chuckle, leaning back in my chair. “Thanks! After watching Aoyama get his name-sentence rejected, I was worried Midnight would shoot me down.”

Todoroki nods seriously from the side. “It suits you.” His calm tone is nothing out of the ordinary, but it still makes me feel like I made the right call. He doesn’t exactly give out compliments lightly.

“Yeah, an accurate but shrouded portrayal of your capabilities,” Tokoyami adds, as grave as ever. Dark Shadow, however, pops out with a bright thumbs-up. I grin and give him two in return.

“Thanks, you guys. You’re making me blush here,” I say, mock-fanning myself before breaking into a genuine laugh. “Can’t wait to hear your names too! I know you’ll all crush it.”

In the front, Tsu steps up confidently and announces her name as Froppy. As expected, she nails it, and the room seems to breathe easier. Kirishima follows, flexing as he proclaims himself Red Riot, with Midnight gushing over his ‘manly’ choice.

Midoriya, meanwhile, is in front of me, muttering like a mad scientist as he furiously scribbles on his whiteboard. Typical.

One by one, the class files up, announcing their chosen hero names. I give a little cheer for each of them. Honestly, I’m impressed. Everyone’s names feel like they really reflect who they are, Quirks and all.

Then it’s Tokoyami’s turn. He stands with an air of drama, flipping his whiteboard to reveal his hero name: Tsukuyomi.

“Whoa! That’s so cool!” I elbow him playfully as he comes back to his seat. “Really suits your whole aesthetic.”

“I thank you,” Tokoyami says in his usual deadpan. But Dark Shadow, as always, balances him out by cheerily giving me a high five. I grin and immediately return it.

Finally, Momo takes a deep breath and stands up, visibly nervous. I wave at her encouragingly, flashing her a big smile as she looks my way.

“I will be the Everything Hero: Creati!” she announces, and there’s an audible gasp from Midnight. The reaction spreads through the class like wildfire, admiration filling the room.

“Momo! That’s perfect for you!” I call out as she walks back, offering an enthusiastic high-five. She giggles and takes it, though I can tell she’s still buzzing from the nerves. “You’re definitely going to live up to it,” I say, looking her in the eye.

“Thank you, Alina,” Momo replies, her voice full of gratitude. “I truly appreciate your faith in me.”

“You deserve it,” I reply seriously. “You’re going to be an amazing hero, no question about it. Creati’s going to take the world by storm, and I’m going to be president of your fan club.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “You’re far too kind.”

She sits herself back down, fanning herself lightly with her whiteboard, then laughs outright. “I suppose I’ll just have to found Flicker’s fan club as well,” she jokes in return, and I laugh right alongside her. From a few rows ahead of us, Jirou turns around and gives me a thumbs up. “I want Vice Pres,” she mouths, and I give her a thumbs up in return.

“I’ll help, Yaoyorozu,” Shouto says quietly, a tiny barely-there smirk playing around his mouth as he gets up from his seat. Momo looks a little flabbergasted, but agrees nonetheless, and my jaw is absolutely on the floor.

Did- did Shouto just say he wants to help Momo found my FAN CLUB?

I pinch myself, but nothing changes. Huh, I’m not having a wacky dream then. That was not the joke I expected him to run with on the first occasion I’ve ever seen him make one that outlandish, but I guess you learn new things every day.

At the podium, Shouto’s turned his board around with a completely blank face again. “The Resolute Hero: Ablation.” He doesn’t wait for Midnight’s approval before coming back to his seat.

“Oh, that’s brilliant,” Momo whispers from behind me, and I can’t help but agree. Ablation as a general term refers to the removal of something from a larger whole, which suits Shouto’s desire to be seen separately from his father perfectly and fits well with his Resolute Hero tagline. But all the sciences I’ve crammed into my brain over the years ( thanks, physics-dependent Quirk ) have also taught me that ablation is also a common term for those who study glaciers, referring to the melting of ice or snow as it warms and is separated from the glacier.

“Shouto, that’s an amazing name,” I murmur to him in awe, completely turning my back on Sato’s pronouncement. “Best one yet, in terms of suiting the person who’s using it.”

“Thank you,” he replies seriously. “If I’m honest, though, it was what you said at the Sports Festival that prompted me to come up with it. I almost used my own name, but I’ve been thinking about what you said about reclamation, and about separating yourself from those who want to control you. Ablation seemed fitting—not just in a literal sense, but metaphorically. Separating myself from what I was expected to be, much like we discussed. Your insights were invaluable, Alina."

I stare at him in complete shock. Is he really saying that our conversation was so impactful to him that he changed his entire plan for his hero name based on it? 

“That must have been quite the speech, Alina,” Momo smiles at me. “It was,” Shouto says before I can get so much as a single word in edgewise, and I can feel my face getting warm with what I know is a vivid blush. 

My relationship with Shouto may have been born of a harebrained scheme, but it’s ended up being something that’s changed my time at UA incredibly quickly, and for the better. 

“You guys,” I whine, unfreezing enough to hide my face behind my hands. Momo laughs at me gently, and a peek through my fingers confirms that Shouto and Tokoyami are both smiling their small smiles. “I’m glad it helped—it’s all about finding your own path, right?” I say to my palms, and though it’s muffled I know Shouto can still hear me. I take a deep breath and will the red in my cheeks away enough to pull my hands down and give Shouto my biggest, most thankful smile.

“That means I get to be president of your fan club too though! If I contributed to your hero name then my position is absolutely rock solid and no one will dare dethrone me,” I declare, trying to put some levity back in the conversation so that I don’t linger on my thoughts about Shouto for the entire rest of the day. Shouto rolls his eyes, but I see him give me a small nod and a smile anyways so I take his exasperation with a grain of salt.

As laughter bubbles around me and the classroom pulses with energy as more and more of us stand up to present names, I can't help but pause and take it all in. It feels like just yesterday I was stepping into UA, carrying a lot of expectations and several weights on my shoulders.

I never had imagined forming such deep friendships, not just with Momo and Shouto, but with everyone here. Japan was always meant to be impermanent—Mirio and Tamaki are great, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world, but I’ve always known in the back of my mind that I want to go home eventually. I never really clicked with anyone in my last year of middle school, and I realize that some part of me had assumed (and feared) that high school would be more of the same.

Shouto's words echo in my mind as I muse to myself, a reminder of the conversations that turned out to be changing both of our perceptions.

It's funny, isn't it? How words spoken in the heat of a moment can change so much. I may have come here to learn to be a hero, but I’m learning so much more about what it means to be a friend too.

My musings are abruptly punctuated by the familiar bluster of Bakugo's voice as he loudly defends his hero name. The room erupts into a mix of cheers and chuckles, Kirishima throwing out playful suggestions that are met with Bakugo’s typical explosive “Fuck OFF”s.

Yeah, we’re all going to be pretty cool heroes, I think, smiling to myself as I watch the devolving mess unfold. This isn't just a school; it's a proving ground for the next generation of heroes, and for me, maybe even a newfound family.

No matter the challenges we'll face, the battles we'll endure, I’m beginning to realize that these relationships, these bonds we're building... it’s the real strength of a hero. And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

As the laughter continues, I join in, the sound mingling with the buzz of spirited debates and the scribble of whiteboards being furiously edited. Looking around, their faces alight with excitement, determination—or in Bakugo’s case, sheer outrage—I feel a surge of gratitude. For all the chaos and noise, I find a moment of profound clarity — this might just be exactly where I belong.

 

----------

 

At the end of class, and after yet more details about our upcoming week-long internships, Mr. Aizawa finally passes out everyone’s list of agencies that they can choose from. Most of us—those who got minimal offers or are choosing from the class-wide list—got a single page, but he hands Momo and Tokoyami each a packet and Shouto gets a full-blown novel.

“Wow, that’s serious stuff. Are you even going to be able to read through and research all those options before we have to turn in our choices?” I ask playfully, sliding out of my chair and onto Momo’s desk. Used to me claiming this as my perch after class when I want to chat, she smoothly moves her notes and books out of my way just in time.

“I’ll be fine, although I can’t speak for Todoroki. His list is… extensive,” she replies in the same tone. I nod along, turning to him as he starts flipping through the bundle of papers. 

“Did they at least organize it for you, Shouto? By agency type maybe, or at least by rank or location?” I ask, eyeing his stack of papers with interest. In front of him, Tokoyami turns to join us as Shouto seems faintly overwhelmed by all his choices.

“Yes, all the listings are organized by location, then subdivided into rescue or combat operations that are listed alphabetically,” he says, leafing through his own substantial packet of information. 

“That’s good,” I say. “Makes your life easier, at least. Anything catching your eye, Momo?”

“Yes, I think so. What do you think of the Snake Hero: Uwabami?” she says thoughtfully. 

I blow a raspberry, the sound startling Shouto out of his deep dive into hero agency lists.

“I started looking more into Japanese heroes after that conversation we had at battle training. She’s fine as a hero, but from what I can tell she pays more attention to her modeling jobs than patrols,” I say, frowning. “She might be able to help you with media management or building a celebrity persona, but if you’re looking for dedicated, on-the-job hero training then she’s not the one to give it.”

“Alina’s right,” Shouto says. “From what I’ve seen, she spends most of her time doing advertisements.”

“Ah, I see. Perhaps not her then,” Momo says thoughtfully, her eyes falling. “After my loss in the Sports Festival, I need a mentor who will help me keep up with everyone in our growth as heroes.”

My frown deepens, and I flick Momo’s forehead in gentle reprimand. “Hey, no putting yourself down like that—you did great stuff in the Sports Festival!” I scold. “That fight with Ashdio was badass, I’m sure you’d have gotten plenty of offers from that alone” I encourage.

Snatching her packet out of her hands, I start to leaf through it. She lightly protests and tries to grab it back, but I duck her hands and switch myself to Shouto’s desk without missing a step. He starts in faint surprise, but I just give him a smile and grab his stack of paperwork in my other hand, offering it to him so that I can properly sit down.

“Hmm, what are our other options?” I say laughingly, then stop when I see a familiar name in the list. “Oh hey, I know who you should choose!”

“Who is that?” she asks, curious despite her lighthearted scolding. I grab one sheet of paper out of the stack, waving it around in triumph. “You, Momo Yaoyorozu, got an offer from Fat Gum!”

“The BMI Hero?” she asks thoughtfully. I nod, excitement only building as I warm to my theme. “That’s the one! My friend Tamaki does a work study with him, and he says Fat is a great mentor! Plus, his Quirk is similar to yours in that he’s limited by his body fats, so he’d probably have some good advice for you on how to best utilize a limited resource like that, or maybe some good recipes for replacing it!”

“That’s certainly true,” she says thoughtfully, hand moving to her chin as her mind races. “Isn’t he ranked lower though?”

I wave that one off airily. “Uwabami’s ranking is inflated by her popularity polls, not her actual hero work. Fat Gum might be lower in number on the latest chart, but from what Tamaki tells me he makes it a point to give his interns hands-on experience and pointers for how to improve!”

“That certainly sounds better than smiling for a camera for a week,” Shouto says seriously. Tokoyami nods in agreement. “Yes, and it would be helpful to have another UA student there to act as a secondary mentor.”

“You’re right, all of you. Alright, that’s what I’ll do!” Momo exclaims, filling in her paperwork for Mr. Aizawa. I cheer, jumping off of Shouto’s desk to give her a hug. She startles, but reaches up to return it as best as she can from her chair.

“What about you Shouto? Anything standing out at first glance?” I ask, taking back my seat on my own chair. He nods slowly, seemingly stuck on a particular page. “Yes, although it will take more time to look through all the offers,” he says, and I nod. “If you need help sorting them out, or just need someone to bounce ideas off of, I’m happy to help if I can!” I offer brightly.

“Thank you. I’ll let you know,” he replies, and I give him one more smile before turning to the last member of our little group. “Tokoyami? Any winners there?”

“Yes, there’s a few in here that intrigue me, although I’ll have to consider it further before making a final decision,” he says calmly. “What about you Alina? Are you interested in your offers, or are you going to choose from the class list?”

“I don’t know actually,” I say thoughtfully, grabbing my paper off my desk. “I haven’t read through it yet, but I didn’t get many offers so my odds of finding something I’m interested in are probably better with the class list. I want to balance rescue and combat, if at all possible, and most small agencies only have the resources to focus on one or the other.”

I quickly skim the list of my five offers. A strict rescue agency in Hokkaido, probably not. Hardcore close combat, definitely no. Generic sidekick agency, not if I can avoid it. H-

The fourth option on the list makes me choke on air.

“Momo? Please tell me if I just spontaneously forgot how to read Japanese,” I ask faintly, passing my single sheet of paper over to her. She raises an eyebrow at me in confusion, but takes it out of my hand and starts reading it over. 

I can tell when she gets to the same offer that stopped me in my tracks, because her expression changes from faint confusion to outright surprise. “No,” she says. “I think you can read just fine, Alina.”

“Who is it?” Shouto asks, reemerging from his reams of paper. Still processing my shock, I wordlessly flap my hand, giving Momo permission to pass the paper over. She does, and Tokoyami twists to read over Shouto’s shoulder as curiosity spreads through our corner of the class.

“Good,” Shouto says, with the faintest edge of spite in his tone. “You still should have gotten more, but you should take that one.”

“Tis skill, not strength, that governs a ship,” Tokoyami chips in. “And that skill is certainly something a hero of that caliber would impart to you.”

“Definitely,” I say faintly. “Looks like I know where I’m headed then.”

 

----------

 

“Helper Lady!” Hatsume yells from across the support lab. I’ve barely poked my head through the blast doors when her eyes zoom in on me, and she doesn’t hesitate to grab my arm and start towing me to her workbench.

Behind me, Momo giggles and I stick my tongue out at her as she follows in Hatsume’s wake.

“As promised, I’m here to bask in your genius,” I joke sarcastically, and Hatsume lets out a slightly maniacal cackle. “Of course you are! And I gotta say, what I’ve cooked up for you? I promise it’s going to knock your socks off—mostly figuratively speaking, of course!" 

With Momo still trailing slightly behind, and both our curiosity piqued, Hatsume dumps us at her workbench and whirls around to wheel in a mannequin covered with a cloth. She whips it off with plenty of pride, unveiling what I vaguely recognize as my hero suit. It’s still the same sleeveless black base, still the same purple boots and lavender stripes matching my eye color going across my chest, but there’s some new pieces that I only recognize from the quick sketches we made at the Festival. 

The suit gleams under the workshop lights, its new features prominently displayed. “Isn’t my new baby beautiful? It’s Hatsume Industries special #56! And it has plenty of cool babies inside it too!” Hatsume crows.

She waves us closer, pointing at the new red utility belt looped around the suit’s waist. "First up, the pièce de résistance—your new modular utility belt! Watch closely, it's not just any belt,” she says.

She detaches and reattaches a module with a swift motion, and I look curiously as she clicks it into place. She tries to shake it loose, but it doesn’t even budge. "Magnetic fasteners, see? Snaps right back like magic. And each module —" she says, pointing at each one in turn, "— is labeled with the stylized molecular structure of its contents in addition to a boring old label. Efficient and educational!" 

She fully detaches the belt from the magnets and ties that hold it to the suit, and practically shoves it at me in glee so I can look closer. Turning it around in my hands, I can see the small, practically invisible switch she’s brushed over to release the modular compartment from the belt, and the one beside it to open the compartment. As I brush my hands over it, the lid pops open, revealing a compact roll of bandages tucked beside a pack of antiseptic wipes.

 "This is beyond cool, Hatsume. You managed to fit so much stuff in here!" I bubble effusively, and Momo nods as she takes the belt from me to give it her own inspection. “I have to agree,” she says thoughtfully, opening each compartment in turn. “It’s quite clear that you put quite a bit of planning into constructing this, especially given the limitations of Alina’s Quirk.”

Hatsume grins. “You’ve got the right attitude about my babies! I’ll let you have some too, but wait your turn” she states nonchalantly, and I swallow a giggle at the look on Momo’s face. "But for now, we’re just getting started! Now, for the showstopper."

She gestures excitedly back towards my new suit. "Behold the new micro-ventilation system! Integrated right here along the back and sides,” she says, and as her fingers trace the cool white piping along the sides I lean in closer and realize there’s a nearly invisible seam worked in.

Suddenly, Hatsume lunges for something on her bench, and Momo and I both jerk back as she turns back around with a flamethrower in her hands that she points right at my new suit.

What the fuck are they feeding the support course?? 

“Hatsume! What are you doing?” I yell, panicked.

As she pulls the trigger, flames roar forward and engulf the new suit and I wince preemptively at whatever mess will come out of that bonfire. As the flames die though, I’m shocked to see the suit in one, completely undamaged, piece.

“Woah, what just happened??” I say, stunned as I leap back forward to examine the suit. The seams along the side have changed from white to a light red and the seams have opened up wider, but even as I watch they start to revert slowly back to their original state. 

In less than a minute, the suit’s fabric finishes its subtle shift back to its original form - the vents let out a small hiss as they close and fade back into the white lines. “Chameleon vents!” Hatsume announces. “They blend right in and keep you cool, or warm, automatically adjusting for your body temp or the outside heat. Perfect for someone who needs to stay quick on her feet like you, huh?" 

I nod distractedly, still running my hands over the white lines trying to see if I can even feel the vents when they’re closed. I can’t believe they’re so subtle, but even after that whole demonstration my brain is racing to catch up.

"This is insane, Hatsume,” I finally say after a deep breath to settle myself. “It’s like you read my mind for what I needed." 

Hatsume beams at me. "The fabric is temperature reactive too—it’s not completely fireproof, just flame-resistant in short bursts, so the color warns you about the material’s integrity! The redder it goes, the more the vents are open and the more toasty you’re about to be. Pretty and functional!”

“Seriously, Hatsume, this is amazing!” I say, amazed at how much work she’s done in such a short time. “I’ll use it all the time, and I’ll make sure to come by after my hero internship week to let you know how everything went.”

“Yes, come give me your perfect reviews!” she cackles. “Then we can add even more babies!”

“With the training we’re about to receive, I don’t doubt you’ll have plenty of new ideas for support items,” Momo nods. I smile in agreement, then turn back to Hatsume. “By the way, Hatsume, this is my friend Momo! She’s also in Class 1-A with me, and she needs some modifications to her hero suit.”

Hatsume eyes Momo up and down as Momo smiles and gives a polite nod. “What’s your thing then?” Hatsume asks.

“Ah, my Quirk? I can create any nonorganic material out of my body fats, as long as I know the molecular structure and composition,” Momo says, faintly confused. As both of us watch, Hatsume’s eyes go wide and I swear I see her pupils dilate. 

“Anything??” she nearly shrieks. “You could make so many babies!!”

Momo, who’s been fighting a blush every time the conversation comes around to this topic, turns bright red.

Hatsume grabs Momo and drags her over to the end of the workbench, putting her down on a stool and slamming a design notebook in front of her as she also sits down. Momo gives me a faint look of panic, but I laugh and settle in right next to her.

After all, I don’t have anything better to do with my afternoon - so why not toss costume design ideas around with two geniuses?

 

------------

 

Yoruhiko Alina’s Phone

(2) New Messages

 

From: (honenuki 👾)

Yeah, the weekend after internships are over works for me. Thanks for setting this study session up, see you then - and good luck on your internship week 

 

From: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

If you have a moment, would you be willing to offer an opinion on something for me?

To: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Sure, shoot! What can I do to help?

From: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Endeavor has sent me an internship offer, with an attached note that states that he expects to see me for training with his fire.

To: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Denied, next!

From: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

I somewhat agree with your sentiment, and am not overly excited to take the offer myself. However, he is the number 2 hero and is quite proficient in flame-based techniques.

To: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Correction: he’s good at HIS techniques. Further correction: they’re not techniques!

🔥punch it harder🔥is not a technique

Also you got 5000 offers, I don’t think you don’t have to take anything you aren’t downright ecstatic about

From: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

…I see your point. 

Do you have a recommendation for what to look for in an alternative? I’m willing to take your thoughts into account.

To: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Honestly? Look for someone who can help you with precision and control

You’ve barely used this part of your Quirk, so jumping straight into big power stuff is honestly not a good plan anyways

Figure out the foundations you want, then build your own techniques off of them. Either way, fine-tuning control is never a bad idea!!!

From: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Thank you for your input, Alina. Your perspective is valuable to me.

To: (shouto todoroki ❤️‍🩹)

Awwwwwwww you say the nicest things 😊

Happy to help!!!!