A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. Right after I posted the last chapter I came down with something and was sick for a week and half, and I had no motivation to write. This chapter is also really, really long, so it took forever to complete on top of that. Just a fair warning—it's 6500 words, and I didn't want to split it in two.
There is a manga spoiler in this chapter, having to deal with the most recent arc in the manga. I felt I should've included it, but if you anime-watchers haven't been spoiled already, I have a feeling you won't know what I'm talking about. Just a heads up: it's near the end of the chapter.
I promise the story is going to get more interesting, and it's not going to remain happy like this forever. Next chapter will be a turning point. I'd love to know if you guys think my chapters are boring or not. Anyway, enjoy :)
~+~+~
The next morning would prove to be an eventful one, and Mina woke up feeling a little too energetic for her own good. She enjoyed mornings like these, bright and beautiful and warm enough to let sunlight seep through the curtains before the sun even rose above the horizon.
She jumped out of bed and was downstairs no less than ten minutes later, and she must've been up extra early for a Saturday because Jirou and Hagakure were the only ones down there. This was all a little peculiar to her, seeing as she was usually a very heavy sleeper and often wouldn't wake up until noon, but she made room for herself on the couch anyway, secretly hoping she'd impeded on an interesting conversation.
There wasn't anything exciting to talk about, though, evident through Jirou's words. "You're never up this early, Mina," she said.
She shrugged. "I fell asleep early last night, I guess. It's a Saturday. What's there not to be happy about?"
"The fact that we have to train for that Quirk exercise all day," Hagakure said, wreaking havoc on Mina's charisma. "You're lucky, Mina. You've got Kirishima as a partner; your Quirks are pretty much perfect for each other."
A heavy silence fell upon the three of them as if it only served a purpose to make Hagakure rewind a little bit. Taking the hint, she took in an unusually long breath before letting out this suggestive "hmm," almost as if to pick apart and piece together what exactly she just said. "Your Quirks are pretty much perfect for each other... aren't they."
Mina grimaced a little inside, knowing her invisible friend was about to imply something pretty much impossible. "Toru, you know I don't like him like that. He's a good friend, sure, and he's a good partner for the Quirk thingy or whatever it's called. Doesn't mean I want to marry him," she said, smirking as she gave her a light shove on the shoulder. "You, of all people, should know that best."
"T-this has nothing to do with me, Mina. You're telling me you don't feel anything for Kirishima at all? Nothing?"
Mina shook her head. "Nope. Not a thing."
Jirou leaned forward a little and gave Hagakure one of those looks that was supposed to intimidate her. "Maybe she just doesn't like anyone right now, Toru."
"But that doesn't mean he couldn't like you," Hagakure said, ignoring Jirou's advice and glancing at Mina again.
Okay, now she was implying something that was more than idiotic. It was literally unthinkable.
But Mina couldn't exactly say anything about it, because her friends didn't need to know that yet. And even if she did, they'd ask her to prove it, and that wasn't something she could do without any repercussions. She definitely didn't want those right now.
She decided her best bet was to avoid the question. "He—just... trust me. He doesn't like me, okay? Let's stop talking about this now. It's Saturday, so why don't we watch a movie or something, or maybe we can make an early breakfast. I'm down for pancakes if anyone else is."
Jirou nodded, hoping to get up and make some, but Hagakure was still persistent. By the way she huffed, folding her arms over her chest (evidently so based on the way her clothing wrinkled), it was clear she wasn't backing down.
"Exactly, Mina, you're a genius! It's Saturday, so why don't we talk about romance like we always do? Why is it that when we bring up your own love life, you avoid the question?"
Mina was starting to get fed up with how pushy she was being, but she masked it with a little smile and some sarcasm. "Because I don't have one. I'm sorry, but it's literally that simple."
"Fine. But just because you don't like someone doesn't mean there isn't someone who likes you. I still think Kirishima's got a thing for you."
"He doesn't, okay? I'm being serious."
"So, then... what do you think about Bakugo?"
"I mean, he's good-looking, sure, but he's got a bad attitude."
Hagakure was getting antsy, as she was just now realizing that most of Mina's friends were boys. "How about Kaminari?" she asked.
"He's a bit of a perv, and if he liked me, I think he'd be pretty vocal about it."
"Sero?"
"Definitely not. He doesn't stand out at all."
"Then... Midoriya?"
Mina's eyes traveled to the ground, hoping to say something in denial, but she wasn't sure she could wipe the scowl off her face in time to look up without giving away her anger. Her shoulders were tense and her palms were sweatier than usual, and she was this close to popping off because now Hagakure was throwing out the names of whoever she could think of, whether or not they were a viable option. And she'd even stooped low enough to throw out Izuku's name. Something about that pissed Mina off, and she couldn't exactly say why. "Why does his name pop up everywhere? I just... don't like him, okay? Of course I don't, he basically has a girlfriend."
Jirou had been watching her friends fight for a while now, and it was time for her to speak up. "Guys."
She was ignored, her existence unacknowledged. Like she hadn't even heard her, Hagakure said, "Well, I mean, you two have been such good friends lately that people can't help but assume things."
Mina desperately wanted to change the topic, because her face was getting increasingly hotter and she was starting to get anxious. Something about this whole conversation made her feel open, exposed, like she was going to crack under the pressure. But she wouldn't allow herself to. She had put up a fence, and she wasn't going to let Hagakure break through it. "Well then tell them they're wrong, because I don't like him."
"Guys."
"Then you've gotta like Kirishima. C'mon, Mina, you can admit he's a little cute, right?" Hagakure asked.
"Toru, I don't like him like that. I do not like Kirishima, and I don't think he's cute. At all!"
"Okay, look. Sorry for being so pushy about it. It's just hard for me to wrap my head around, y'know? You two are just such good friends that I—"
Mina, finally pushed past her limit, made this big deal of throwing her hands in the air. "Alrighty, then! End of conversation. I don't like anyone right now. Period. That's it! That's all there is to it."
"GUYS!"
Everyone froze, eyes wide at the shear volume of her voice. Mina snapped her head around to see a very frustrated-looking Jirou and a pair of slippers beside her. Her eyes wandered upward to meet Uraraka's, standing over the three of them as she placed her hands on her hips. Oh, god, how long had she been standing there?
But based on the way she was smiling, eyes filled with this kind of innocence and sleepiness at the same time, Mina could safely say it hadn't been long. And it looked like Uraraka's expression wasn't going to waver, either. "So, who wants to help me make breakfast?"
~+~
Turned out Mina was more of a night owl than she thought she was, because most of the class was already downstairs by the time seven o'clock hit, helping Uraraka prepare a batch of somewhat decent chocolate chip pancakes (with the whipped cream on top, of course). She really needed to straighten out her sleeping schedule, because lately it was getting out of whack. She was going to bed late and waking up even later—except on the mornings she'd get up early and go for a jog—and it was starting to take a toll on her energy. But luckily today was an exception.
In the midst of cutting up her pancakes, Mina noticed that Kirishima was looking at her. "I've figured out the perfect training spot. You know that beach that's around here? Dagobah?" he asked, lips turning up into a smile.
Truth was, she couldn't think of a beach by that name if someone paid her to, but after some explaining by Kirishima, she realized it was the one that had mysteriously cleared up the year prior, making it a near-perfect spot to hone her skills and think of a plan. And as a bonus, she could practice that new move she was working on.
Feeling excited, she drew in a breath of anticipation. "Let's invite Bakugo and Sero, too! And we should bring Kaminari and Jirou, and I could totally ask Midoriya to come. And, uh, I guess Uraraka would be coming too, then. You're cool with that, right? With inviting other people?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," he replied frankly, stuffing his mouth with chocolate chip pancakes. He was biting off more than he could chew. Literally.
~+~
Kaminari and Jirou were down with the idea in a heartbeat, and, needless to say, Bakugo was the hardest to convince. They didn't say a word about Izuku, something they knew he'd freak out about later, but even with that out of the equation, he remained stubborn. It took a lot of coaxing on Sero's behalf to get him on board with it.
That meant Izuku was the only person left to ask, and since it was her idea in the first place, Mina was the one who was put to the task. It wasn't until she was laying on her stomach, draped over her bed as she swung her legs back and forth freely that she got the bright idea to FaceTime him. Even though they lived in the same building, she didn't think it was logical to ask him something so simple in person.
She realized she could see his room in the background once he picked up the call, filled to the brim with All Might action figures and other All Might memorabilia such as posters and comic books and pretty much anything she could think of. She'd seen his room once before, back when they first moved into the dorms, and she watched him get all flustered when the class mentioned what a huge nerd he was. At the time she saw it as a bad thing, and she decided to steer clear of him because of it. But now that she knew him better, now that they were friends, she wished she could go back and give her past self a karate chop right in the back of her head.
"H-hey, Ashido, uh, what's up?" he asked, laying in bed the same way she was. He had his phone propped up on a pillow, wondering why she hadn't just waited until later to talk to him.
"So, basically, Kirishima got this grand idea to go to the beach later for training. Y'know the one that used to be a junkyard? Yeah, that one. Pretty awesome, don't you think?" He nodded, and she took a short pause before continuing. "So, do you and Uraraka wanna come too?"
He wasn't about to let on that it was him who cleared out that beach, especially since this was Mina he was talking to, and whatever came out of his mouth would be followed by a plethora of questions. "Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun. I just have to ask Uraraka, though," he said.
"Why don't you do it now? I'm sure she'll text back." She was going to say something else, the purpose of flustering him in mind, but she cut herself off before the words left her mouth.
"Okay, I will," he yawned, the screen becoming a blur.
"Are you tired?"
"Yeah. I didn't go to bed early last night, and I had to get up early for my jog. So this is the result." He laughed a little.
"I would've just slept in!"
"I could never do that," he replied, piping up a little. His voice rose a few notes as he added, "Oh, and she just said yes, by the way." But that enthusiasm didn't last long, because his face was much closer to the camera when he reappeared on screen, his head resting in his arms as his eyelids began to flutter from drowsiness. He groaned, probably too tired to get through the rest of the day, and Mina figured he was letting his guard down.
Did he do that with Uraraka?
There was a moment when she couldn't take her eyes away. She noticed he had surprisingly longer eyelashes than she thought he did, and he had a lot more freckles than meets the eye.
She told herself to think about something else and decided the best way to do that was to keep talking. "Okay, great. We're leaving at six, by the way. I hope the stars will look nice. I've never been to the beach at night."
"It's supposed to be a full moon, I think."
She smiled. "Where'd you hear that?"
"Last night, on the balcony. I saw it and figured there would be a full moon within the next day or two," he said, acting more awake than he actually was.
"I don't think I've ever really paid attention to the moon."
"You should." There was a pause. "Okay, I think I'm gonna take a power nap now, Ashido," he said, yawning again. "So, uh, I guess I'll see you later?"
"Yeah. See you later, Midoriya."
~+~
The beach was within walking distance of U.A.'s campus, only a mile or two further into the city than the dorms were. Mr. Aizawa was generous enough to let them leave as long as they stayed as a group and didn't stir up any trouble.
It was warm outside, surprisingly, seeing as it was the middle of winter, and Mina could've left without a jacket if she wanted to. But she decided to grab one anyway, just in case, and she was glad she did—it was windy, and the breeze hit her like a ton of bricks.
Izuku was trailing behind everyone else, Uraraka beside him, silently trying to blend into the crowd in front of him. Mina hadn't said anything about bringing other people, especially not Bakugo. He had assumed it would be just the four of them—Kirishima and Mina, and then Uraraka and him.
Feeling a little out of place, he hesitantly looked at Bakugo, who was whispering something in Kirishima's ear so loudly that it couldn't even be considered a whisper. "Who the hell said Deku was allowed come? I wanna know, because this is total bullshit."
Izuku's eyes roamed to the ground before Bakugo had the chance to look his way, and, thankfully, it was only a short distance until they reached their destination. The air was naturally colder now, seeing as they were by the water, and he was wearing sweatpants but had forgotten to wear long sleeves.
Mina kicked off her shoes at the heels, undoing her jacket and throwing it to the ground. She'd always loved the beach, but the fact that it could look this beautiful was something she couldn't comprehend. The full moon only made it look a million times better.
She wasn't ready to start training yet, not like this. "I'm going down to the shore. Anyone wanna come with me?"
When there was no answer, she grabbed whoever was closest. Izuku, it turned out, whether he liked it or not. She was glad it was him because she got to laugh when he got all flustered, obviously reluctant to the idea of being dragged down to the edge of the ocean. "Ashido, where are we—"
Despite his hesitation, she didn't stop pulling. "C'mon, let's go see the water! I don't wanna miss this view, and no one else wants to come with me. So you will, won't you?" She felt guilty for trying to coax him into it, but she wasn't going alone.
She didn't really have to coax him into anything, though, because as soon as she began to speed up, he did too. He picked up his pace to match hers, worried he would have his arm ripped off if he didn't start sprinting. They ran full-speed all the way down to the shore, where the waves pulled against the heels of their feet and urged them to go deeper. He slid off his shoes and set them down where they would stay dry, and then he pulled his pant legs up past his knees.
He looked at Mina, who was slipping her sweatpants off, and immediately went beet red. "W-what the—w-what are you doing?"
She was expecting him to react this way. "Relax. I'm wearing spandex underneath," she said, a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "What did you think I was doing?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin. "N-nothing!"
"Okay then, whatever you say," she teased. Still facing him, she began to wander backward until she was submerged up to her knees, arms folded idly behind her back as she waited for him to follow her, wincing all the while as she tried to survive the extremely cold temperatures. Eventually, she stopped. "Are you coming, Midoriya?"
She must've been insane to think he was going out that far, especially since the water was cold enough to freeze his toes off right where he was standing.
He stopped thinking that way, though, laughing at himself. Of course she was insane; she was standing in the middle of the ocean in the heart of winter—nighttime, no less—and the only explanation she could give was that she wanted to. And he was pretty sure she wouldn't have even minded it if her legs froze off.
But then again, he'd broken his arms so many times he should be dead already, and if he'd simply remembered he had legs he could've broken too, he would have saved himself from so much misery. So in a way, they were both a little insane.
He was surprised when he felt Mina grab his arm again, pulling him out to sea with enough strength to send him flying. But he regained his balance, finally taking notice to the numbness in his legs. "Ashido, i-its freezing!"
"Yeah, I know right? I think my feet are gonna lose circulation," she said, smiling. She was smiling.
And now so was he.
She trusted him enough to let go and led the way to where the water reached past their knees, Izuku still a little apprehensive at first because of the cold. But he waded, letting himself get used to the water, and even though he was going to die of hypothermia, he didn't really care. In fact, he hadn't felt so carefree in a long time.
Mina was just now realizing the risks she was taking by being in this position, standing out in the middle of the ocean when the water temperature was lower than anything she'd ever experienced before. But she wasn't ready to get out yet, because the moon looked so pretty from here and Izuku was standing next to her with this big grin on his face. "It's a full moon, just like you said it would be."
"Yeah. I didn't think it would be this pretty," he said, admiring the reflection it shone across the water.
There was a stretch of silence, neither of them willing to speak. They didn't want to ruin the moment. The only thing they wanted to hear was the waves, and the only thing that they wanted to see was the sky and the surrounding stars.
But eventually, the silence had to come to an end, so unaware of anything else she could do, Mina whipped around splashed him. She didn't douse him or anything like that; the risk of getting hypothermia was definitely there, and that was the only risk she wasn't messing around with, but she splashed him just enough to give him a good scare.
He was shocked, shivering, but he wasn't going to let her off the hook on this. He had vengeance on his mind. "Ashido, you've started war."
"Good!" she called, already taking off down the shoreline. If he was going to catch up to her (which he was definitely going to), he would run where it was dry, hoping to gain some speed on her and give his feet a break from the cold. She was fast, but he wasn't going to use One For All. He was going to play fair.
Mina couldn't judge how close he was to catching up to her because that would require looking back, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that right now. Not when she was flying forward, a spree of energy and optimism overtaking her. She wasn't tall by anyone's standards, but today her strides were longer and more powerful than what she was used to, and she didn't know running against the wind could be this easy, even if it did blow her hair in all the wrong directions.
She looked out over the water as her steps grew lighter, freer, and noticed the moon looked a hundred times brighter than it did before. Now she couldn't look anywhere but up, because the sky was becoming the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The stars—they came in so many different shapes and sizes, and they gave her the feeling that the universe was bigger than anything she could've imagined, boundless. It certainly looked that way.
But her high spirits wouldn't last for long, because nearly seconds after looking up from the ground, she tumbled over a rock and landed face-first into a mountain of sand. Izuku, who—little did she know—had cut down the distance substantially already, wasn't able to stop himself in time, ramming right into her backside and falling to his knees the same way she did. Worn out from all that running, both of them collapsed, cracking up at God knows what. Everything that went down in the last few minutes, probably.
Kirishima was probably over there waiting for her, but she didn't want to stand up yet. An adrenaline rush was coursing through her blood and her veins and eating away at her heart, which was beating a thousand times faster than what she was used to. And again, she couldn't say why, exactly, because there was no need for her heart to pound like this—they stopped running forever ago.
She eventually caught her breath. "See? Wasn't this worth it?"
He turned so that he was facing her, his smile astonishingly bright. He'd been to the beach plenty of times before with All Might, but to actually swim in it or even step past where the water reached his ankles was completely impractical to him. He didn't have anything against the ocean, but he only went there to train—nothing more, nothing less.
But now, somehow, Mina had gotten him to overcome that impracticality, breaking him out of his boundaries. He was pretty sure he had a newfound respect for her that had nothing to do with her Quirk or her will to become a hero or anything remotely related to heroics. It was a totally different kind of respect, a respect for her as a person.
He was beginning to wander off in his own headspace, and he snapped back into reality. "It was actually really fun," he replied.
"I think I'm going to come here more often. I mean, I knew the view would be pretty, especially at night, but wow."
"It was... What's the word?"
"Nice?"
He laughed. "No, it needs to be more descriptive than that."
"Why are you asking me, then? I've got, like, negative two words in my vocabulary."
"Because my mind is blank."
"If your mind is blank, than I might as well be brain dead. And I don't think we have to describe it with words, anyway. Let's just leave it as is."
He was smiling again. "Yeah, I think that's good," he said, meeting her eyes. All of a sudden her stomach was in knots, bundles, chalk full of butterflies she couldn't seem to shake. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, anything unnecessary to make her feel this way.
So then—why?
She had been asking herself that question a lot lately.
Feeling like she'd overstayed her welcome, Mina stood up and wiped off the sand that was still stuck to her. Besides, her jacket and sweatpants and phone were practically miles away, and they didn't have all night. "We should really head back now; I bet they're getting worried."
The legs of his sweatpants slid down to his ankles again as he rose to his feet. "O-oh, yeah. I guess we kinda ditched them," he laughed, a tremor in his voice. He wasn't the kind of person who ditched his friends, and he hoped Uraraka wasn't pissed off. She probably wouldn't be, though—she'd want to know if he was okay.
Mina popped a random question moments after they began waking. "Remember when this beach was a trash dump, Midori? It used to smell awful and look even worse, even from a distance." She laughed, the corners of her lips playing into a smile. "But then it just cleaned up all on its own, and everyone seemed to love it again. I'm surprised the people who did it didn't admit to it, especially when they could've gotten a cash prize or something."
He prayed he wasn't giving himself away by freezing up, letting his lips quiver at the corners. But he allowed himself to relax, remembering that it was probably just a coincidence since they were walking along the beach in question. "Maybe they didn't want to be on TV. Maybe they did it because they wanted to."
She smiled again, walking a few feet ahead of him. "You have a lot of faith in humanity, Midoriya. And then there's me, who can't seem to get over the fact that people—not just one person, but multiple people—would destroy a beach this pretty."
"I just... don't like to judge people until I get to know them, I guess. It all really depends."
There was a silence, but she broke it when she looked out into the distance, taking notice of the looks on her friends' faces. "Ooh, Midoriya, can you see that? Kiri's giving me the stink eye! Isn't that just great?"
He hoped she was being sarcastic.
Thankfully, she answered that question on her own. "Okay, it's not great, actually. But I think everyone is waiting for us."
Turns out they had been waiting for a while, and they didn't look too happy. Uraraka was worried, not only for Izuku but also for Mina, and she wanted to make sure they were okay, just like he had predicted. Mina hurriedly put on jacket and sweatpants, listening to Uraraka tell Izuku about her rapidly increasing weight limit in the background—almost four tons, apparently—before bailed out and heading over to Kirishima.
He looked aggravated. "Dude, we were all waiting for you."
"Well I said I wanted to go see the ocean, and no one would come with me, so..."
"So you brought Midoriya?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"I guess I just want to know why."
She shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest. It just felt like the right thing to do. And he was the closest person to me, and I was not going down there alone."
But Kirishima wasn't paying attention to her anymore, and instead had his eyes on someone else, looking for the right opportunity to say something. After a minute or so, he found it, catching the interest of the person he was looking at. "Those explosions look good, bro," he blurted out.
Bakugo nodded, scoffing in Kirishima's direction as he wore the same scowl he always did. Kirishima counted that as a win in his book, relieved he didn't blow anything up or start any fights, especially not any that involved himself.
Little did he know, Mina had been watching him the entire time, snickering to herself quietly. "You're hopeless," she teased, smiling mischievously.
He shushed her, his eyes darting to the ground as he remembered her presence. "You're too loud."
She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that everyone was busy with their own problems. "Don't worry about it, Kiri, no one's listening. I wouldn't do that to you."
He ran a hand through his hair. "I know, but I'm scared you're gonna let it slip out by accident or something. I don't want the whole class knowing that I'm..."
"That you're gay? For Bakubro?"
He laughed, nervous. "Ugh, don't say it like that. It sounds disgusting." He paused, letting his smile falter. "But you're the only person who knows, so I guess I'm kinda just on edge."
"No, I totally get it. I'd be on edge too, if I were you." If a secret like that were to get out about her, she would probably lock herself in her room and cry endlessly until she dehydrated herself to death. Not a nice way to go, she assumed, but she'd prefer that over facing a less-than-desirable reality. She really didn't want to imagine the havoc it would cause if Kirishima's secret got out, especially if it got around to Bakugo.
It was sometime during the middle of fall when Kirishima told her he was gay for the first time, and crushing on Bakugo on top of that. She didn't know how to react; out of everyone he could've fallen for, Bakugo was the guy he got stuck with? She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach because his sexuality was still a complete mystery, and the chances that he was gay were probably low. But still, if not for the fact that he was her friend, she swore to him that she wouldn't tell a soul and that he was totally allowed to out her if she did.
He cleared his throat. "It just sucks because I don't even think he likes guys, and I don't wanna ruin the friendship we have."
Finally she had something romantic to talk about, unlike what Hagakure was interested in this morning. "But, there's still a chance he could be, even if you guys haven't talked about stuff like that," she said, trying to fill him with some hope.
"I just wish there was a way to bring it up without asking him directly so that it doesn't have to be awkward."
She shrugged. "Your feelings are your feelings, Kiri. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to; you two can stay as friends."
"Yeah, I know."
His lips were forged into a frown, and she wanted to lift his spirits a little. "Hagakure thinks I like you. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's what all the girls think."
"That's probably the stupidest thing I've heard all night."
"Yeah, I know, right? She wouldn't stop bothering me about it this morning, and I had to keep telling her she was wrong!"
They were getting off topic, and Mina stopped herself, remembering what they came here to do. She had been thinking about this all night, and now, after all those ideas that had sprung up out of nowhere weaved together to create something good, she thought she had a pretty solid plan in mind. It was still rough around the edges, but it went a little something like this: before going off to fight on her own, Mina would set up a wall using Acid Veil, and then Kirishima would defend from there on out. She was the one who would steal the flags, using her new move she was working on to maneuver around everyone.
It was only an idea, a blueprint of a foundation that may or may not be successful, but Kirishima was already on board with it, calling it "a plan masterminded by the gods." It felt pretty good to be called a goddess because for once in her life, she actually felt like one.
But as Mina would soon come to find out, there was a fundamental flaw in her design, and it all boiled down to her Quirk. She called her new move new for a reason, because the amount of time and effort she'd been putting into it lately was limited. It never really worked before, so why would it work now?
She didn't have a name for it yet, the move she'd come up with, but that was the last thing on her mind. She shifted away from Kirishima and everyone else in the surrounding area and found an open spot a little further down the beach, a place where her Quirk wouldn't be a danger to anyone. She drew in a breath of hesitation and cupped her hands together, praying, praying that her acid would end up going more than a few feet in front of her.
But, of course, the shot didn't make it any further than she expected it to, looping up a little before hurtling straight toward the ground where it soaked and fizzled and disappeared into the sand.
"Ugh, why is this so hard?" she groaned, dropping to her knees as she sighed in frustration. She crossed her legs and leaned against her arms as she cast them behind her, and then she let her eyes wander up to the sky. It was okay for her to take a break; she needed to get her shit together anyway in order to keep herself from losing it.
Back by the beach entrance where everyone else was gathered, Izuku was working on close range combat with One For All, honing in on the Vestiges' Quirks that he wasn't all that familiar with yet. He decided that maybe it was time he got away from Uraraka and Bakugo and anyone else who could distract him, so he started walking down the shoreline, only to find that he was heading in the direction of a certain pink-haired girl.
Mina noticed Izuku's figure in the dark, but she didn't bother to get up. "Hey, Midoriya. What're you doing here?"
"Well, I wanted to get some training in away from the rest of the group, but..."
"Oh, okay. I can leave then, if you want."
He gave her a reassuring smile because that definitely wasn't his intention. "N-no! It's fine if you stay, I just wasn't expecting to see you."
"Oh."
He noticed how her energy had depleted substantially in comparison to when they first arrived. She lacked her sense of optimism, her usual ambitious attributes. "Um, is something wrong, Ashido? Are you okay?"
Completely fed up and more than happy to share her story with him, she gave in. "I'm trying out this new move I came up with where I cup my hands together and spray acid out of them, but it's not working! At all!"
"I can help," he offered.
She looked at him funny. "You're on s different team, though. I don't want you to know about the plan I came up with Kiri."
"We're classmates, of course I can help. Just let me help you with the technical stuff, and you can work out your plan with Kirishima."
"That's true, how'd I not think of that?" she replied, a wave of aspiration washing over her. She wasn't going to give up this time.
At first it was a challenge; every technique he'd come up with would lead to a dead end, and he wasn't sure what he was missing. But as he continued to analyze the situation, searching for the smallest clues, he took notice of the smile she was wearing, way too bright for someone who was supposed to be fighting. A lightbulb went off in his head: she needed an enemy, something to villainize.
"Ashido, try to imagine something that you really hate, really despise, and I-I want you to pretend that's your target."
She spun around so that she was facing him, eyebrows furrowed. "Something that I hate?"
"Yeah. It can be a person, too."
Thinking about it for a moment, she came up with something that could be beneficial. She imagined what she thought the faces of the people who destroyed the beach would look like—the scum of the Earth, probably—and then took her aim, ready to blow them to pieces. Violence probably wasn't a good way to solve her problems, but she convinced herself this was purely hypothetical.
Maybe she was wrong about that though, because, miraculously, after all the struggle she'd been through, it worked. Her acid shot out like a canon, gunning straight for the heads of the enemies, and she began cheering before it even made it to her target. "Ohmygosh, it actually worked, Midoriya! Did you see that?"
She would've hugged him if she could've—she liked giving people hugs, especially if they were as muscular as Izuku was. But suddenly she remembered Uraraka, and she didn't think that was such a great idea. That didn't stop her from smiling, though. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shouted excitedly, rushing over to where he was standing.
"N-no problem, Ashido. It's great that you've got this figured out. Although, now that I think about it, I did just help the enemy..."
"How'd you know what to do?" she asked.
"This is, um, gonna sound weird, but... you looked too easygoing, like you didn't have any drive to fight."
"You must have an eye for those kinds of things, Midoriya. I think that's pretty cool."
She was telling a half-truth—a white lie, of sorts—scared to admit that she thought it was more than pretty cool. She thought it was amazing; he was amazing.
Of course he was amazing, though; everyone in the whole world knew that. But she'd never really taken the time to appreciate it like she should have.
Slowly, she came back down to Earth, but she picked up the pace when she realized her cheeks were starting to flush. She hoped it wasn't noticeable. "I think I'm gonna go back now. Besides, you came here to train on your own, right?"
"Yeah, I kind of wanted to get away from everyone else."
She began her journey back to the rest of the group. "Okay, then. Thanks again, Midoriya," she replied, waving to him wholeheartedly.
He waved back subtly, shyly, and now she had his smile ingrained in her head. She searched the beach for Kirishima again, who wasn't all that surprised that she'd wandered off. He wasn't mad, either; he probably just accepted that this was a habit of hers by now. A peculiar one, she'd admit, but so far it was yielding positive results and she definitely didn't want to give it up.
~+~+~
A/N: If you couldn't tell already, I'm introducing Kiribaku to this fic as well. I hope you guys like it so far (sorry if you're not a Kiribaku fan!), because things are gonna get... interesting, to say the least.