Mind Boggled

Chapter 12

"I can't possibly join their team knowing you're here and in need of one." Iida insisted. "Harper is one of my best friends. I can't just do this to her. She'll be bitter. She'll hate me like everyone else. I'm already letting so many people down, but if I could just... be there for her, maybe, things would be okay."

"Iida, I don't even want to be here. Go win for the both of us. Be a badass, or whatever. We both know me being on your team would only weigh it down. Todoroki over here is probably a certified genius, and if he's confident you're what his team needs, then he's probably right. You can't let him down." Harper made a shooing motion with her hands. "Sparky and Bingbing over there are counting on you, too."

"Bingbing?" Momo's thoughts mumbled. Harper couldn't blame her. She didn't know what she'd been thinking either. The brunette never knew what she was thinking anymore. It was hard to form coherent thoughts with Kaminari's mutated Wii remix blasting throughout her mind.

Iida now looked very conflicted, but Todoroki just gave her a nod. Harper raised a brow very pointedly as she folded her arms over her chest. She wasn't about to be Iida's downfall. His mentality really couldn't take that, and she wasn't Satan incarnate or anything of that sort. She knew well and good she'd only cause him to crash and burn. Knowing that meant there was no way Harper could team up with him in good conscience. 

"I- are you sure?" Iida gulped. "She can't be serious, right? This has to be a test. Leaving her would be horrifying! Not at all something a good friend would do. And I'm not... I'm not a good anything. Not a good person, student. I won't be a good hero either. Maybe I should give up. I'll only let Todoroki and his team down should I join anyway. But they're all so strong... they may make up for my lack of skill. I'm not sure Harper could compensate without a physical quirk on her side. That must be why she doesn't want me on her team! She knows I'll only cause her to fail in the end."

Harper shoved back a wince. That wasn't what she wanted him to deduce from this entire thing, but she wasn't sure how to reassure him without revealing her quirk or making it seem as though she wanted him on her team. Don't get Harper wrong, she would have loved to hog him all to herself. She just knew he'd probably fail if she did so. And again, she was more concerned with his mental state than passing the second part of this accursed festival. If failing meant he got a bit of a confidence in him, she was all for it.

"I'm sure. Go be amazing." Harper knew her smile looked more like a grimace as she once again waved him in Todoroki's direction. Time was running out, and she'd essentially just screwed herself over. It was fine. She was actually pretty surprised she'd made it this far, period. There weren't many things she had to worry about in life, but the things she had concerned herself with were important. Iida not killing himself, for example, was high on her list of priorities. Figuring out who the traitor was happened to be pretty up there. Not dying at the hands of The League was near the top as well, seeing as she couldn't accomplish much if she were dead.

Iida nodded hesitantly, shuffling slightly towards Todoroki's team all while shooting her pitiful and unsure glances. Harper very pointedly took two steps back, plastering a smile faker than Barbie's on her face. Iida didn't need to know it wasn't real, though. He looked relieved and immediately bought the expression. "I'm worried about her. I hope she doesn't hate me. I hope she doesn't think I'm useless. She's right when she says that, technically speaking, my quirk is a good fit for Todoroki's team. Hopefully I don't ruin things. I ruin everything, though..."

"Good luck, Iida." Harper gave a thumbs up before whirling around before the boy could change his mind, eyes immediately searching for somewhere to go. Dropping out seemed like a viable solution to the ever-growing problem. That problem being that she had essentially no friends, being fairly new and quite anti-social. Her quirk wasn't physical either, so people really weren't aching to team up. What good was a reflex quirk on a giant, open field where you could see everyone?