Freeze Frame

Chapter 127

Third person pov

The area all the passed students gathered in had enough food and water bottles to go around, as well as a few people administering first aid to those who needed it. Lillian felt both relieved and even more panicked than before. On one hand she'd managed to pass the first round. Amazing, stunning. Her best performance yet and they never doubted it for a second! Now they were onto whatever the second part was, and Lillian's non-existent confidence was shot. She wasn't sure how you shot something that wasn't there, but it had happened and she was suffering. All she could do to comfort herself was engorge herself with fresh dumplings alongside Momo. The girl had come in looking extremely tired and in desperate need of a meal. She and Lillian had braved the crowded buffet table together. 

Katsuki was stalking nearby like an angry panther, pacing back and forth whilst occasionally shooting Lillian glances to make sure she hadn't moved. Shoto had come by earlier with Kaminari to take her targets back for her, and he'd picked up Momo's as well. That one kid who'd made the tornado was staring at the half-and-half boy with as much venom as he could seem to muster for no particular reason at all. Lillian decided she'd make it an issue if it became one, but until then it would probably be fine to ignore it. She was terrified of the second part of this test, yes. But Shoto was a whole other ballpark. Anyone wanted to mess with him and try to mess with his fragile emotions? She'd fuck them up. She care if they were big and like, really, really scary. She wasn't going to stand for it.

Shoto was in a unique position. Lillian had stated this before, and she was going to say it again. The entire class was conscious of him and were just as careful as she was. They were all at least somewhat aware of the relationship Shoto and Izuku had. And if they weren't before Kamino, they'd been brought into the fold by now. Everyone was worried for him, and everyone was doing their best to accommodate and support him as he tried to come to terms with this betrayal. There wasn't much they could do to pull him out of this. Other than being there for him, all they could truly do was believe he'd be able to push through and make it out the other side. It was scary, and everyone was worried he'd crumble at any given moment. If anyone-- and Lillian meant anyone-- made it worse in any way... well, her fists were rated E for everyone.

"There are only a few spots remaining." Shoto noted from beside her. When had he gotten here? Had he just been watching her glower into the distance for the past three minutes? He'd understand if he knew her thought process. Not that she was going to tell him. Bringing the incident up could make things worse. "Not everyone from our class is here. There are still a few missing." 

"I noticed that too." Momo noted with a frown. Jiro came up beside her, a plate of cookies in her hand. She flushed slightly when their eyes looked to it, clearing her throat a bit. It's not like the concessions were just for those who had quirks relating to food and energy! 

"Yeah, I saw the same." Jiro agreed, taking a bite from one of her snacks. Lillian shoved a dumpling in her own mouth, scanning the room as she chewed. They were right. Most of their class was here, but there were a few key players missing that she hadn't realized hadn't made it through yet. It was actually quite concerning to see. Lillian knew it wasn't common for an entire class to pass all together, but she'd had her hopes up nonetheless. Being from UA put them at a disadvantage. Though many of her classmates were stronger than what held them back, she still worried that some of the other participants had gotten the better of them and used their known weaknesses to their advantage. Plenty of her classmates had stuck close to her and worked with her so they could all pass, but several had gone off on their own to prove themselves too.

"There's one from Shiketsu! Only two spots left!" Mera sounded more awake and a bit more excited now that they were finally almost done with the first round. He didn't seem like he wanted to be here. If he didn't enjoy his job, Lillian wondered why he was doing it in the first place. Shoto pursed his lips. He looked vaguely irritated that he couldn't play games on his phone. He gave Kaminari a sour look that the blonde awkwardly looked away from, sweat beading his brow. Lillian wondered if she'd witness a cold-blooded murder today.