"Ami-chan!"
"Hatsume-chan!"
"You all did really good out there," Midoriya laughed out softly as he watched the two girls collapse into each other's arms, a cry springing forth. The pink-haired girl grinned happily as she lifted up the h/c haired girl and spun her around quickly, the two becoming a blur of wind within a matter of seconds and leaving several of the students in the cafeteria to watch in bewilderment. "Hatsume-chan. Don't swing her around too much. She's going to get sick at this rate."
"If it isn't Midoriya. Come to finally admit your loss for once?" Monoma chided with a sardonic grin filled with satisfaction, practically huffing his chest out. "Your classmates may have gotten through the second round but this time, we won't let you win. Kaibara and I are going to take the first and second place spots from right under your noses."
"You're acting like we got first place," Shinso sighed out, having grown a bit annoyed by the hero student's antics by now. Still, he didn't make any moves to stop the other. As he tore his gaze away from the blond, he gave the green-haired boy a passing glance. His hand moved to the back of his neck, avoiding his gaze. He remained silent for a few seconds, allowing the air to pass by, before slowly speaking once more. "...Good work out there."
"You're the guy I spoke to last time," Midoriya concluded after a few blinks, a sense of nervousness coming forth. He raised his hands defensively as his eyes went wide, swapping between the two guys in disbelief as if he had only just now connected the dots. Despite the purple-haired male's demeanor that held nothing inviting about himself, he remained somewhat of a close distance near Monoma and wasn't actively arguing with him either for once. "Um, you did good too. C-Congratulations on getting second place."
"What's with the look Midoriya? You're acting like you've just seen a ghost." Monoma's grin only widened as he wrapped an arm around the other male, causing him to make a small noise at the impact. The blond closed his eyes and nodded his head in understanding. "You must be wondering why I'm hanging out with someone like him, aren't you? To answer your question, I've decided to take Shinso here under my wing! Since he obviously doesn't know how to act like a hero, I've decided to teach him everything there is to know."
"I didn't agree to this," the general studies student deadpanned but was quickly shot down.
"Now, don't say that. You can't tell me you didn't feel some sort of connection between us after the cavalry battle. I'll admit, you're still quite entitled for someone who didn't even pass the entrance exam for the hero course, but I can look past it after seeing how much you care about your vice representative. You might not have the same strength as some of the others but you've clearly been working on yourself."
"I'm glad you're both getting along?" Midoriya said, although it ended up coming out more as a question than anything. The look of disbelief bordering disturbed had yet to leave his face nor had his eyes stopped frantically switching between the two students. "Monoma-kun..." His voice became a whisper, a hand going to hide it as he eyed the boy beside him. "This isn't some weird thing you're trying to pull or anything, right? Because if it is I don't think-"
"Hm? You've become quite bold since we first met, haven't you?" Monoma shot right back, interrupting the other boy. He outstretched his arms in an elaborate shrug, a rather smug aura surrounding him. "To be honest, I still don't like Shinso here all that much. But I'll at least give him credit for his persistence. It's not every day you meet people who don't blindly believe everything they're told and have a vendetta against your class. Isn't that right?"
"Why did I even bother following you two," the male drawled out, frowning. "The only reason I helped you out earlier was because of Soma. If she hadn't been on your team, then I wouldn't have agreed to it." His hands shoved deeply into his pockets as he took a step forward. "You and I are nothing like each other."
"Your state of denial isn't a good look. Try and deny it all you want but you'll have to admit it sooner or later. So long as you remain by her side, we'll have to keep seeing each other."
"Go to hell."
"This...is friendship?" Midoriya mouthed out, his brows furrowing in concern as Monoma laughed loudly, scaring off a few more people nearby, and Shinso continued glaring, the air cackling wildly around the two. Despite how busy the cafeteria appeared to be, everyone seemed to be avoiding the small group, likely not wanting to get involved. His thoughts came to a halt when he felt a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn his head around. The h/c haired teen stood behind him, offering him a more sympathetic approach. His cheeks dusted a shade of pink, a small smile entering his face. "How are you feeling? I'm sorry we didn't team up in the last round. I was going to ask if you needed a team to join but you were already kind of surrounded."
"Better now that the round is over," she admitted with a head shake. The girl almost seemed to be disappointed. "I heard what happened with Todoroki-san earlier. If I had known things would have gotten to such an extent during the match, I would have come over and tried to help you out. I'm sure Monoma-kun would have as well; despite all his constant complaints, I'm pretty sure he likes you. Hopefully, you weren't hurt that much, were you?"
"O-Oh! I'm fine! Thank you for worrying about me," the boy rushed out, waving his hands around in assurance. "I-It's sort of my fault that things happened like that anyway...But don't worry about it! I can handle it!"
"Just don't push yourself too hard, alright? Your quirk already injures you enough and I don't want to see you end up in Recovery Girl's office again," she admitted. A small frown, seemingly still wanting to press the issue but holding her tongue. "Now that we've both made it to the third round, we're probably going to have to face each other at some point. I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to that though." A short groan that was followed by two fingers pressing against her temple. "While I'm glad Shinso and Monoma-kun made it through, I can't help but worry for my own personal safety. Fighting someone with a quirk doesn't exactly seem like the fairest situation in all honesty...I don't want to keep relying on Hatsume-chan for everything but it seems like I might have to if I don't want to lose a limb."
"I'm sure you'll do great out there!" Midoriya, ever the optimist, gave her a reassuring look. "You've already made it this far so I don't think you should put yourself down so easily like that. And it's not bad to rely on other people from time to time." His eyes moved over to the pink-haired girl for a second, noticing she had started working on something behind them. "Actually, our team probably wouldn't have been able to make it if it wasn't for her. She was nice enough to let us use her inventions, even though one of them ended up breaking. She's been talking about wanting to show them off since everything is being aired on television. I really don't think she'll mind too much if you kept using her inventions."
"Of course I know she doesn't mind but-" She frowned, crossing her arms against one another. Appearing to notice how sharp her tone had just been, she lowered her voice a bit. "I can't just keep relying on other people all of the time. I also need to do things for myself once in a while. What's the point of me making it through the second round if it isn't through my own effort." E/c eyes looked down at the ground, uncertainty passing through them. "I'm not really that strong like Bakugo-san or really smart like Yaoyorozu-san. The only thing I have to rely on is my own instincts but even then, I feel like I'm making the wrong choice sometimes. During the calvary race, I didn't know what to do. Everyone was relying on me to make up some amazing plan but all I made the others do all the work instead. Sure, I know a little about quirks, but besides that, I'm not really that good when it comes to things."
"Masami-chan," Midoriya let out as she rubbed her arm, looking off to the side. The words seemed to catch in his throat, the boy struggling to find the right thing to say. In the short amount of time since his conversation with Todoroki, he couldn't figure out exactly what he wanted to say. "I know you probably don't think you did that much," he started. She blinked, looking back up. "But you really shouldn't talk about yourself like that. We've known each other for a while and you're one of the smartest people I know. You and your team did great during the second round; you all managed to get second place. You should know better than everyone that having a quirk doesn't define you as a person."
"I may have a quirk now but that doesn't mean I get where you're coming from. Even I can understand those types of feelings, I was there once too. When I was still um, quirkless, it felt like I had to work harder than everyone else just to prove myself. Nobody took me seriously when it came to my dreams and always told me to be more realistic...I'm not saying you shouldn't be realistic but you shouldn't be so quick to put yourself down either. If it wasn't for you, we probably wouldn't have gotten away from the sludge villain back then. You've inspired me a lot, Masami-chan. Without you, I don't think I could have come as far as I have."
"Ah, sorry. I shouldn't have thrown that on you like that," Her voice was neutral though a lace of agitation remained in her eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me lately. I'm not usually this sentimental about things so why...No, never mind. It's probably nothing. I just wanted to say good luck to you in the next round. Since it's the last round, everyone is probably going to be competing against one another so we'll be meeting each other as opponents in the next hour." Placing a hand over her chest, she provided a closed-eye smile. "While I'm not expecting very much on my side, I'll be secretly rooting you on. So give it your best effort, alright? No matter what happens, I just want you to know how proud I am and how far you've come. Even if you don't get first place, I'll still be your number one fan."
Midoriya could hardly comprehend what was happening as she finished speaking, his head rolling in circles as his voice became nothing more than a sputtering of different pitched squeaks. His cheeks burned a bright shade of red upon her holding back a laugh behind her hand. "I should probably get going but don't let me down! Oh! And you might want to find Mineta-san and Kaminari-san! Aizawa-sensei was looking for them earlier and it seemed pretty important!" She cast him a wave as she headed back over to Hatsume, the inventor quickly dragging her somewhere else within the next few seconds. He simply stood there, motionless for a few seconds before finally shaking it off, confusion returning full force as her last words registered in his brain.
"Mineta-kun and Kaminari-kun...?"
"She seems rather depressed."
Midoriya jumped a bit when Monoma spoke, not having expected the male to suddenly be so close. It appeared that the standoff between the hero student and general studies student had subsided by now, leaving the blond to quirk a brow as he watched the h/c hair girl run off. "I can't blame her though. What happened with Bakugo was a rather close call."
"Eh?" The green-haired boy spun his head. He had recalled hearing Present Mic yell out something in regards to the other team but with his focus solely being on Todoroki's onslaught of attacks, he hadn't given it much thought. It had completely slipped his mind until now that something had indeed happened in the last few seconds of the round that had caused the crowd to become e extremely rowdy. "Did, um, something happen?" he questioned.
"Your childhood friend nearly caused some severe injuries to our rider. If it wasn't for us getting so close to him, he would have probably engaged with you and Todoroki during your fight. But instead, he chose to attack us as a last resort," the male responded easily. "The only reason we managed to escape was because she somehow was able to accurately figure out what his next move was going to be. I'm sure in any other case, she would have landed herself right back into the nurse's office."
"She fought Kacchan?" Midoriya paled out, unable to process what the other was currently saying. Shinso looked at the two of them in confusion.
"He's friends with that guy?"
"I was just as shocked as you were but apparently, they have a history. Although, I would hardly call them friends." The blond waved his hand off dispassionatly. "I would have thought Soma would have been more glad about beating him, considering how protective she is when it comes to things concerning you, but it seems like she isn't." He frowned, muttering. "How odd. I could have sworn she was doing just fine a few seconds ago."
"I don't think she was expecting to make it this far," the green-haired male claimed. "And whenever we talked about the sports festival before, she didn't seem that interested in it."
"I have to agree with you," Shinso added in. "Soma was pretty much against the festival from the start. She pretty much thought the whole thing was for show and a useless waste of time. I think the only reason she didn't talk about it a lot was because our class was pumped up for it. She's weirdly considerate of other people when it comes to those types of things. When I found out she had made it past the first round, I thought it was sort of weird."
"That was my fault. I uh, made it through the first round because Hatsume-chan and her were helping me out. I knew she wasn't too big on participating but she didn't really tell me anything so I thought it was fine."
A pensive beat as Monoma regarded the spot where the two girls had just been. "It's probably nothing," he relented. "She's most likely just worrying about the next round and just needs some time to herself."
Midoriya really hoped that was the case.
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"Now that lunch is over, it's finally time to reveal the last game! But before that!" Present Mic placed his face closer to the glass before backing off, holding his arms in an x-shape in front of his body. Aizawa sat beside him, looking a bit uninterested and keeping his attention on the arena down below them. "There's good news for all of you who didn't make it to the finals! This is just the sports festival! So we've prepared recreational games that everyone can participate in, too! We've even brought real cheerleaders from America to liven things up!
"I can't believe Kaminara-san and Mineta-san almost tricked me. I should have thought it was strange that when they told me we had to wear cheerleading uniforms." Yaoyorozu held her face in her hands, her cheeks burning in shame. "I'm so sorry everyone. If it wasn't for Aizawa-sensei catching them then we might have actually worn those outfits."
"It isn't your fault. Those guys are just dumb," Jiro comforted, although she was evidently still angry by everything that had happened. Her arms were crossed across her chest, her brows furrowed intensely.
"Well, it wouldn't be too bad if we had to wear them!" Hagakure admitted, giving a fist pump into the air. "After all, we need a little something to destress from everyone! It'll be a pain if things get tense."
"So you're into this kind of stuff, Toru-chan," Tusyu commented.
"What's up with them?" Shinso questioned, a sweatdrop as he noticed the girls in class 1-A angrily talking amongst themselves and two other students sprawled out onto the ground next to them in a pile, thoroughly beaten. Y/N leaned in from his other side, humming to herself as she looked over at them, before pushing herself back upright with a complacent expression. For once, good had been restored in the world. Her hands pushed behind her back in a gentle manner.
"I wonder."
"All right, everyone! Let's have fun competing in the recreational games!"
The screen changed to reveal a bracket with a crown on top, the crowd eagerly cheering along as Present Mic continued speaking. "When that's over, the sixteen from the four teams that made it to the final round will duke it out tournament style, one-on-one!"
"We'll be rooting on you two!" Sakura announced, bouncing on her feet with a certain fervor. Her eyes shifted to a bright green shade as her body rocked back and forth with each step, nodding her head at a rapid speed. "I can't believe you both were able to make it to the final round. You'll be competing against students from the hero course this time around so good luck. You absolutely have to win this, alright? The class is counting on you two."
"Aren't you putting a little too much pressure on us?" Y/N pointed out but didn't fight back as the rest of their classmates chimed in on the fun. Not that they would listen to her anyway, they were far too uplifted by the fact not only one but two whole people had made it through. A miracle in itself to this world. It seemed despite the majority of their class not making it through the first round, they were still heavily invested in the tournament, now directing their attention to the two oddities that stood in their class pack: Aizawa 2.0 and definitely not suspicious person. The h/c haired girl could only listen in embarrassment as she heard a few of the guys begin chanting a few color word choices about her needing to show the rest of the hero course how brutal their vice representative could be. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed her class was intent on treating her like some mobster despite the fact she was a literal child. She didn't know how much power her class thought she had exactly but clearly, it was enough if everyone was making the same joke every single week.
Needless to say, she eventually settled on hiding her head in her sports jacket as Shinso watched with amusement, holding a laugh behind his fist.
"Now," Midnight announced from the podium as everyone settled around the arena. She held a small yellow box in her hands, the pieces of paper inside making a shuffling noise. "Let's draw lots to determine the bracket. once the bracket is determined, we'll have the recreational games and then start! The sixteen finalists can choose whether or not they want to participate in the recreation. I'm sure some of you want to rest or save your strength."
The h/c haired girl watched, sucking her breath in. Now that she was in the finals, she wasn't going to have anyone to help her out this time around, meaning in theory getting eliminated shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish so long as she played her cards right. The first two rounds had allowed students to work together but this time, there was going to be absolutely no interference. All she needed to do now was hope she didn't get an opponent who wouldn't take it too hard on her that she ended up the next Tenma Saki and make it seem believable enough that her friends wouldn't start immediately interrogating her with their hero nonsense. She was already walking on thin ice as it was, seeing how easily Monoma had realized she wasn't trying to win. Giving up right now after getting this far was just going to look suspicious, especially considering how half these people were the epitome of good.
There was, unfortunately, no possible way she could withdraw without drawing attention to herself. And what would she even say? Sure, she could say something similar along the lines of what Ojiro had said but somehow, she doubted Monoma would live to let her see the end of the day. Plus, could she really be that convincing? Midnight had allowed Ojiro and Shoda to withdraw because of their youthful talk. She might have been able to lie her way out of a few things here and there but something like that seemed almost too distasteful for her own liking considering how everyone told her how much she sounded like an old lady.
She could only cross her fingers, hoping that the first round would be her last.
"Now then!" Midnight began, her whip tearing through the air as she brought it down. "This is the bracket based on the results of the drawing!"
The crowd errupted as the screen changed once more, revealing the names of the sixteen students and who they would be going against. E/c eyes blinked, slightly squinting as she read through it before she jumped back. Her arms went up in a guarded motion, her right eye twitching in stunned shock. The world darkened around her, her name making fun of her the longer it stood there. "T-There's no way..." she slowly began before feeling her body tip over to the side. As she hit the ground, she could already hear the familiar laughter she had become so acquainted with entering her ears. Shinso was startled by the action, taking an unconscious step back. "You're kidding me!"
In bold letters stood her name paired with Hatsume, accompanied by Todoroki and Sero in the same goddamn bracket.
Hadn't she already experienced enough suffering almost dying to Shigaraki that one time?
"Ami-chan! We're going up against each other in the first round!" Hatsume eagerly announced, her laughter resounding around the area. Y/N barely had any time to defend herself as she was dragged back up from her side into the pink-haired girl's awaiting arms, the inventor spinning her around wildly. "Oh, this is just fantastic! It's just like the entrance exam all over again! I have a lot of new babies I've been meaning to try out! You'll help me out, won't you?"
"I'm going to die!" the general studies student finally shouted out, flailing around desperately and looking for a way out in some last-ditch effort to live. But the support studies student held on tight, only slowing herself down a little so the other girl could catch her breath. "Absolutely not! They could have paired me up against anyone who was normal but instead they paired me up against the only person who doesn't even care about this tournament! I'm going to win by default! There's no way I can do this! Kick me out of this bracket already! I've had enough of this! Let me go home!" Her screams only increased along with Hatsume's laughs, creating a strange symphony of chaos.
"You'll be fine! Just leave it to me and trust my babies! This time, you're going to shine so hard that even ice won't be able to touch you!" Hatsume announced eagerly, an air of pride behind her words. Y/N hung defeatedly from her arms, wishing she could slam her head against a wall and knock herself out.
"If she passes the first round, then..." The purple-haired boy eyes them before taking a glance at the screen, his eyes narrowing ever so much as read over the names of the students once more. "Ah, looks like I'm against him then." He turned his head back, not even remotely surprised when he noticed Midoriya had neared them. The green-haired boy faltered in his step, stopping as if he were a deer caught in headlights. "Looking forward to the first match." Before the other boy could respond, he shoved his hand into his pocket and began walking off in the opposite direction, not passing a single glance at anyone as he made his way back inside the stadium. Midoriya surveyed where he was going, seeming almost contemplative about what was going on, before resuming what he had initially come over for. A small huff came out as he neared the two girls.
"Masami-chan, that was mean what you did to Kaminari-kun and Mineta-kun," he sighed out, shaking his head. "But thank you for stopping them. The girls were really mad that those two. So you two will be facing each other in the first round? I knew that the bracket was chosen randomly but I didn't think it would pair you guys up like that. Sorry, Masami-chan. There's nothing I can really do to help you out. But if you want some notes on Todoroki-kun's quirk, I have a few! I don't mind letting you use them if you think they'll help you out!"
"Ah, give me a break," the h/c haired girl groaned out in displeasure. She had moved a hand under her chin by now, using her other arm as a bit of a table. Her eyes passed through the other students dismissively before eventually finding their way over to the multi-colored hair boy. She blinked a few times, a bit startled as she found heterochromatic eyes matching hers for a few seconds before looking away. As the boy began walking away, she couldn't tear her eyes off of his back. "Todoroki-san looks kind of mad," she mentioned.
"You think so?" Midoriya asked. "He's um, got a lot of stuff going on right now. I'm sure this tournament has been weighing on him a lot." He frowned. "It isn't my place to say this, but I want to help him. He doesn't seem like a bad person deep down but I feel like I can't reach him either. He's sort of closed-off."
"Your heroic nature is a good thing but it can also be a downfall if you don't watch yourself," the girl let out dispassionately.
"What do you mean?"
"It's good to help other people, Midoriya, but you also need to pay attention to yourself as well." Her eyes crinkled a bit. "Just like your quirk, you shouldn't do things at the expense of your own body. Todoroki-san might be a good person but you can't go around throwing yourself into danger like you usually do. Sometimes, you need to evaluate the things around you in order to reach those types of people. They need someone to lend a hand to them first in order for them to reach out. And from the sounds of things, he needs someone he can talk to."
"Someone he can talk to..."
"All right!" Present Mic yelled out into his microphone. "Let's leave the tournament aside for a momentary interlude! Let's have fun with the recreation!" As soon as those words left his mouth, fireworks began exploding from above the stadium. Y/N frowned, tearing her eyes away from her companion and giving a short yawn.
"I think I might get something to drink. While I'd love to participate in some recreational games, I'm sort of beat after everything and need to start preparing for my funeral." She chuckled depressingly, running a hand through her hair. Hatsume finally relented in letting her go, the general studies student landing on the ground with a plop. "Do you two want anything?"
"I'm good," Midoriya said. "And I'm sure you won't die..." His eyes said otherwise.
"Some water would be great! I'm going to be in the waiting room! Make sure you stop by so I can help you put everything on, alright?" Hatsume rushed out, impatiently already making a beeline for the corridors. Y/N gave a single salute followed by a finger gun before heading into the hallway she had entered earlier.
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"Ah, where was the entrance again?"
Y/N sighed as she walked the white corridors with her two water bottles, a frown evident on her face. "I was so sure this was the right way but it feels like I've been stuck in this damn maze for the past hour. Honestly, who decided it would be a good idea to design a school this big." Her shoes echoed down the hallway, each step comforting her in what would have been pure silence. "You'll do great my ass...I can hardly find my way back to my own home half the time."
As she rounded another corner, she kept her eyes locked on the ground. Her thoughts seemed to swirl, reeling as she recalled everything that had happened so far.
She had never expected she would make it this far into the tournament. Initially, she had thought she would have been eliminated in the first round like everyone else and she could just watch the rest of the matches like any other normal person. But instead, she had found herself teaming up with Midoriya and Hatsume instead. Even worse, there was a small part of her that had even enjoyed it, much to her own dismay. Making it past the first round despite being quirkless and alongside her friends had been a thrill, a sense of adrenaline running through her. It had been unlike USJ where she had been terrified for her own life, fearing that something had gone wrong all because of her existence. No, it had been entirely different. Her heart had been pounding as she came across the finish line, nearly blinding her senses, and that feeling only seemed to increase during the calvary race. The rush of wind, the narrowness in their escapes, it all fed into something that she had tried so desperately hard to ignore deep inside of her.
For once in her life, she was having fun.
For a single moment, not a single thought seemed to cross her mind and all that seemed to matter was winning. In that one instant, it had felt like she could just relax and be like everyone else as if she was normal and everything was right in the world. She had talked to Kaibara and even poked a joke at the expense of Bakugo, much to the delight of Monoma. For that small moment, all her worries seemed to be so distant and out of view.
But something like that couldn't last.
Her feet stopped suddenly, e/c eyes becoming untrained as she stared harder into the ground. Her fingers gripped onto the two water bottles tighter, refusing to let go.
No matter how much she may or would try, she wasn't like everyone else. She was never going to be the same as everyone else. The more she tried to insert herself into their lives, to finally be more open around Midoriya, was when the gap seemed to grow incredibly large. Their relationship should have been fine by now, especially considering how close they had become, but rather than feeling at peace, all she could feel was guilt seeping in through every corner. How easily she could lead on someone like him, telling herself she was his friend when in reality she was just using him. She was cruel for keeping Hatsume and Monoma around herself, using them to masquerade as one of them. She wasn't some hero. Instead, she was just some average girl who had gotten hit by a truck and stolen someone else's identity.
Why had she even been brought here in the first place? She had scoured the internet and every library she could find but her searching had resulted in nothing. Absolutely nobody in the entire world seem to have a quirk that fit the description of what she had been searching for nor did it seem like anyone had ever gone through the same experience as her, only increasing her own worries that her searching might result in nothing. It was something she dreaded to come to, a conclusion she didn't want to face, but with how little proof there was of reincarnation, she was starting to lose hope she would ever find a way home. How she wondered how her mother was doing or her friends. Did they even notice she was gone? What had happened after she had been hit by the truck? There were still so many questions she had no answers to and she couldn't ask anyone for help either, knowing they would just think she was insane.
What would their expressions be if they realized she wasn't who she said she was?
"You're terrible..." she softly laughed out, kneeling down and pressing her face into her knees, the action bringing her little to no comfort. "I didn't ask for a second chance you know. It was my fault for jumping in to save that kid's life. I would have been perfectly fine dying after being hit by the truck. So why?" Why me?
No response came.
As she stayed on the ground, she barely had time to register the sound of incoming steps coming in her direction. Her body shot up on automatic instinct, the sleeves of her shirt being pushed hastily against her closed eyes. Taking a deep breath, she managed to compose herself somewhat presentably before the person who had been walking by passed by the corridor, stopping in their tracks. E/c eyes blinked hesitantly as she met round brown irises, forcing down a gulp threatening to bubble up.
"Uraraka-san," she began, though it seemed her efforts to completely eliminate her previous state were but all for nothing. Her eyes stung as she forced them to close a few times in rapid motion, hand uneasily tapping against her pant leg. She didn't peg herself to be much of a crier, hardly being able to muster any sort of emotion half the time, but it seemed the events from the past few days still had an effect on her that she couldn't quite grasp. "I didn't think anyone was around here."
"Are you alright?" A pure sweetheart, the brunette wasted absolutely no time as she came rushing forward. She stopped right in front of the other girl, concern clearly present on her face. "What are you even doing all the way out here? If you were going to get ready for your match, the waiting rooms are in the other direction."
"I uh," Y/N started, dumbly letting her mouth do all the work. "I got lost on my way back."
"Is that it? You don't need to cry or anything, Masami-chan! I can help you find it!" Pink cheeks lifted with a smile as the zero gravity girl latched onto the other's hand, clasping onto it with a gentleness that somehow retained the qualities of firmness. The h/c haired girl could only look down at their connecting hands, a bit baffled by the gesture, but allowed it nonetheless when she realized Ochako was indeed trying to bring her back in the right direction, dragging her down the hallway. "It's kind of funny though," she started up once they found their pace, making sure the other girl could keep up with her. "This whole time, I sort of thought you were sort of good at everything. But it looks like even you have trouble with some stuff."
Why did 1-A have to be so good at complimenting people with underlying insults? "Midoriya and Hatsume-chan usually go with me everywhere so I haven't really needed to find my way around the school for anything," the general studies student admitted swiftly. "And I'm not really that good at everything; of course, I have things I'm bad at. I still have a lot of trouble talking to other people and can't cook that well either. I also get really tired after running for a long time."
"That's some pretty normal stuff to be bad at though," the short-haired girl giggled out. "But it kind of makes me feel better hearing you say that." The pink ovals on her cheek seemed to brim brighter, the girl gaining a flowery feel to her. "To be honest, I thought you were sort of hard to talk to at first. You always have this sort of closed-off feeling to you whenever we talked to each other."
"Did I now?"
A hum. "Well, it wasn't really that bad or anything. I just kind of thought you didn't like our class that much at first, especially after everything that happened at the party last time. I'm glad you don't though."
The party, huh? No matter how much she tried to ignore the events of that day, it seemed her meltdown still had a lingering effect on everyone else. She wasn't even sure what had caused her to act in such a way, to begin with. Not even with villains had she ever gotten so emotional before to the point of acting out, against Midoriya of all people too. It made her head sting to think about it still, her body inwardly cringing at the scene of her crying her heart out in front of so many heroes and people. Then again, however, it wasn't as if she could ignore the consequences of her actions. It was bound to come up again, considering she had already associated herself with the lot of them.
"Actually-" The other girl stopped slowly, frowning as she turned her head. She looked uncomfortable, almost mimicking Midoriya with the way she was slightly fidgeting around with her fingers. "-Do you mind if I asked you what happened back there? Aizawa-sensei got mad at us for pushing you too far but didn't really go into it very much. I know you probably don't want to talk about it with someone you barely know, but I don't mind listening if you want to. And people usually feel better if they talk about it a little." Her frown grew deeper. "You probably think you scared us off because of what happened, right?"
"That..." Y/N held her tongue, eyes shifting to the side before she let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "I can't say the thought hasn't passed my mind."
"I'd probably feel the same way," Ochako admitted. "But I really mean it when I say nobody hates you or anything, Masami-chan. We were all sort of shocked by what happened, but I think everyone was more worried about you than anything. Even Ashido-chan and Toru-chan felt bad about what happened." The girl didn't respond. "And you weren't really crying about being lost, right? I might not know you that well, but even I know you don't worry about that sort of stuff that much."
"Why are you all perceptive?" the female muttered under her breath followed by a curse. She took a breath, running a hand to her head. "Sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind and have been thinking about my match with Hatsume-chan."
"You're going to be in the first round, right?"
"Yes, that's correct." Choosing her words carefully, she tiredly began speaking her mind. "To be honest, I never expected to make it this far. I had thought I would have been eliminated with the rest of my class during the first round but I ended up passing due to Midoriya and Hatsume-chan's help. Don't get me wrong, it would be false of me to admit some part of me wasn't excited when my team managed to pass the second round, but I really can't help but feel like I didn't do that much to warrant my placement." She shook her head. "Not to mention, I doubt Hatsume-chan is going to let me lose since she only cares about promoting her inventions."
"If you win the first round, then you'll pass onto the second round, right?" Brown eyes thought for a second before lighting up with understanding. "You're worried about the second round then?"
"I doubt Sero-san will be able to beat Todoroki-san, especially considering how hard he's been pushing his quirk today. That means that I'll probably have to go against him as soon as the second round of matches begins."
"Oh, well, it shouldn't be too bad?"
"Please forgive me for not wanting to turn into an award-winning ice sculpture," Y/N deadpanned before backtracking. "Apologies, that was unnecessary. I would just rather not be in the third round at all but I doubt I'll be able to quite that easily."
"Midnight-sensei is pretty tough about letting people quit," Ochako let out sympathetically. "Just look on the bright side of things though! I'm sure he won't take it too hard on you! Plus, if you really don't want to participate, there's always an option to surrender so you won't have to worry about being frozen or anything. Cheer up, Masami-chan!"
If only she knew Todoroki's definition of easy meant encasing half the arena in ice.
"I really don't think my friends would let me live that down," she explained exhaustedly. "Sorry, none of this makes sense to you, does it? I didn't mean to throw all of this your way."
"It's no problem at all! And I think I get what you're saying." She hummed again, tapping a finger against her chin in contemplation. "You don't want to win the sports tournament but you're worried your friends are going to be upset if you lose. Is that right?" She grinned. "I don't really know why you feel like you'll make your friends upset if you lose, but from the way I see things, there isn't really much to lose if you just give it your best shot. I mean, if you made it this far, at least give it a chance. It might not have been what you wanted in the first place but I think giving it your all would be a lot more fun than just accepting you're going to lose! Plus, you said it yourself. You were a little excited about passing the second round. It might not be much, but I think you should at least listen to it. Don't you think you're ignoring your own feelings a bit too much?"
The reincarnator blinked a few times, processing what the other girl had just said to her. "I...suppose it wouldn't be too awful to indulge in it a bit..." But the plot said a small voice inside her head. She shook it off uneasily, a bit apprehensive. "But I genuinely doubt I'll be able to do much against Todoroki-san considering I'm quirkless. I'm afraid you're going to be in for a bit of disappointment later if you believe I can beat him."
"What matters is that you had fun! It doesn't really matter if you win or not. I think your friends would be a lot happier too if you just went along with it."
"If you say so."
"For some reason, I don't think you believed anything I just said."
A beat of silence. "I have no idea what you mean."
Ochako didn't stop pouting at her until they made it to the waiting room.
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