The next day, Naoko didn't come to class, and when asked if he knew anything about it, Bakugo simply shrugged.
"That loser wandered off somewhere when we got here this morning."
"That's weird..." Midoriya tilted his head, "Do you think she's ok?"
"Who cares?"
"That's mean, Kaachan..."
"Shut up, nerd!"
_______________________________________________
3 new messages
from: Best girl Momo
Are you ok?
We miss you T-T
Come baaack
1 new message
from: Small Might
Hey, are you at school today?
5 new messages
from: Angry
dude
Where'd u go
you alive???
answer me
coward
_______________________________________________
It wasn't until after lunch that Uraraka and Tsuyu spotted the missing girl stepping out of the principal's office.
"Hey! You are here!" Uraraka waved, pausing to wait for her.
"Yea, sorry!" she smiled apologetically as she caught up to them, falling into step beside the pair as they started back towards the classroom, "It was a sudden thing- I didn't have time to tell anyone."
"Did you get in trouble, Naoko-chan?" Tsuyu asked curiously.
"No, nothing like that! Principal Nezu just wanted to talk to me about the incident at USJ yesterday."
"Oh, I see. Hey, by the way, they announced we're having the Sports Festival soon!"
"Sports Festival? Oh, right! I think I've heard of that before."
"It's a huge event! We'll probably even be on TV!"
"I can't believe it's coming up so soon. I hope it'll be fun!"
"I can't wait! I just know it's going to be great!"
"I'm excited, ribbit."
"Me too!"
The three chattered eagerly about their hopes for the upcoming festival, and before long, they found themselves back in the classroom, just a few minutes before the bell rang. The room was mostly empty, it seemed, as many of their classmates had yet to return from their break.
"Hi, Todoroki," Naoko smiled as she passed behind him on the way to her seat.
"Hi," he greeted, glancing back at her.
"Have you seen your grade for that writing assignment we had a while ago?"
"Yea. We got full marks, right?"
"Yea! I'm glad all that work paid off!"
"Me too."
The bell sounded loudly throughout the school, announcing the start of class as students quickly rushed in from the hallways, eager to avoid a tardy strike.
A moment later, a heavily-bandaged Aizawa stepped into the room. "Take out the packet you started yesterday and work on the second and third pages. These will be due at the end of class," he droned tiredly- a bit muffled- already stepping into his sleeping bag.
And so, with a shuffle of papers, everyone obediently began the not-so-heroic task of calculus classwork.
_______________________________________________
The bathroom door closed behind Todoroki as he stepped into the crowded hallway. He headed in the opposite direction of most of his peers; the final bell had sounded a few minutes ago, and the more eager students were long gone. Upon reaching his classroom, it wasn't much of a surprise to find only a handful of students remaining.
He made his way over to his desk and gathered his books, sliding them into his backpack. He slung his bag over his shoulder and turned to leave, but a strange gleam caught his eye.
On the ground, in between Naoko's desk and the wall, lay her phone, clearly having fallen out by accident. He walked around the desk to pick it up; its shining white face remained intact, fortunately. Todoroki slid the device into his pocket and sighed.
As he left the school and started in the direction of Naoko's house, he tried to recall the path they had taken after leaving the library that one night. He remembered the general location of the neighborhood, fortunately enough, and headed in that direction.
A buzzing from his jacket caught his attention. He pulled out the lost-and-found phone to see the screen had lit up, the LED in the upper left corner flashing white. It was a notification from an app he didn't recognize. He pressed the off button and slid it back into his pocket, but paused when he felt something odd press against the palm of his hand. He glanced back to the device and turned it over, noticing the case's built-in sliding compartment was partially open: the corner of a photograph was visible through the crack.
He stared for a moment before sliding the photo out.
It was a small polaroid-type print with slightly worn edges. The picture showed a group of six: a dark-haired man stood on the left, he and a small blonde girl both grinned at the camera, then two redheads- a boy and a girl- near the right side, both smiling softly, then a girl who looked to be the youngest of the group, standing up front and beaming a bright, closed-eyed smile. The last one pictured was Naoko, standing diagonally behind the smallest girl. He was sure it was her, despite the photo being a few years old and her hair being a bit lighter, but something gave him pause.
He brought the photo closer. The look on her face was strange: she was staring at the camera with a sharp, empty sort of glare he had never seen on her before.
It was... out of place.
He shook his head and pulled away from his thoughts, reprimanding himself for prying into a classmate's personal life. With a breath, he placed the photo back into the case and slid the compartment shut.
Looking up, he saw a familiar neighborhood just ahead.
_______________________________________________
The doorbell rang loudly throughout the Bakugo family home.
Remembering his parents weren't back yet, the irritable first-year sighed loudly, dragging himself out of his room and stomping down the stairs. Upon reaching the door, he yanked it open, ready to give the unwelcome visitor an earful, only to lock eyes with just about the last person he expected.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" he demanded, raising a questioning eyebrow at the boy who seemed equally as surprised to see him.
"Oh. I must have gotten the wrong house," Todoroki blinked at the frowning blonde. "Do you know where Naoko lives?"
"Why? You a stalker?"
"She dropped her phone."
"Oh!" a gasp came from behind them.
The two turned to see Naoko hurriedly pattering down the stairs, eagerly bounding towards them.
"You found it! I was just looking for that," she breathed a sigh of relief as he handed the device back to her. "Thanks a bunch, Todoroki! I owe you one!"
"Yea... sure," he replied, eyes shifting between them. "I'll get going now."
"See you tomorrow, thanks again!" Naoko waved cheerfully, but was quickly cut off by the door slamming in her face.
"Hey, what-"
"Dumbass! Why'd you have to make it weird?!"
"What did I do?"
"Shut up! Now people are going to know you live here!"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Go to hell!"
Todoroki blinked stiffly at the shouting from just behind the door. He stood still for a moment before slowly, awkwardly turning away.
_______________________________________________
"It's finally heeeere!" Uraraka sang, jittering with excitement.
Class 1-A sat in a large waiting room, and just outside was a stadium filled with thousands of excited onlookers waiting for them. As they were unfortunately prohibited from wearing their hero costumes today, the students were all clad in their standard gym uniforms, much to their dismay.
"The other classes are going to be participating as well. I wonder what kinds of quirks they'll have?" Tsuyu croaked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, it might be difficult to deal with them since we don't know what they can do, really..." Jiro nodded, tapping her foot nervously.
"Don't worry- it'll be fun!" Naoko reassured cheerfully. "Whatever happens, I'm sure it'll at least be a good learning experience."
"Yeah, you're right, but I still really want to win!"
"I at least want to make it to the top three or something!"
"Let's all do our best, ribbit."
Naoko smiled, nodding along cheerfully.
Everyone turned their head when Iida burst through the door, eagerly announcing it was time for their entrance and instructing them to line up "quickly and with efficiency."
Naoko followed closely behind her friends as they anxiously made their way to the arena entrance hall. They could hear Present Mic's booming voice all around them as they stepped into the sunlight, cheers erupting from the audience.
"Everyone welcome these heroes-in-the-making, the rising stars and the future of UA: the first years!"
Some of them waved nervously, some stood tall and proud, and some just smiled at the deafening applause and the army of cameras pointed at them. They lined up in neat rows in front of a small stage, and Bakugo, thanks to his placement in the entrance exam, was called up to make the opening speech.
It was... unique, Naoko thought.
"The first event in our UA Sports Festival will be a qualifying round! These hopeful-heroes will have to make it through our treacherous obstacle course, free to use their quirks however they like! Not only will they have to overcome all the challenges we throw at them, but we'll also get to see how they react when pitted against each other! How exciting!
"Oh, look! The contestants are all gathered at the starting point now! Look at their eager faces shining with youth! Who will make it out on top? There's only one way to find out!
"Get ready!
"Get set!
"GO!"
The mass of students lurched forward at the shrill call of the whistle. Naoko stayed close to the tail of the group, handily avoiding the pushing and shoving upfront, cheerfully keeping pace with those around her. It wasn't long before a wave of ice shot out from somewhere up ahead, freezing anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in its path firmly to the ground- including Naoko. The ice that encased her foot, however, shattered like thin glass as she moved without stopping, jumping smoothly onto the frozen track and gliding past crowds of students still struggling to free themselves, a gust of wind in her wake.
"Right away, Todoroki Shoto from class 1-A takes an early lead! It looks like quite a few students have managed to avoid his icy attack, however, and they're hot on his tail! Who should he be wary of, Mummy Man?"
"At this point, it's still anyone's game."
"That's right! You hear that, kids? Keep it up! There's still much more to come!"
Naoko weaved around Mineta's scattered hairballs as she passed a few more bunches of students. She glanced up to see most of the ones ahead of her moving slowly, carefully maneuvering across the ice and avoiding the sticky traps.
"And the first obstacle has appeared!"
The ground rumbled, and up ahead, she spotted the same metal villains from the entrance exam: a wall of the enormous zero-point robots blocking the path.
Through the crowd, Naoko could see Todoroki at the forefront. Suddenly, a surge of ice shot out from beneath him, enveloping the blockade and instantly trapping the robots in a gleaming shell. The students cheered and many took the opportunity to make a break for it. As they did, however, the unstable ice gave out and the metal behemoths came crashing down.
"Todoroki Shoto from class 1-A managed to attack and defend in one efficient move! He's so smooth!"
Naoko ran forward with everyone else, heading directly into the heart of the army of robots. An enormous icicle shattered to pieces nearby as she avoided the chaos raging around her. She weaved through the aggressive robots and scattered rubble, successfully dodging both friend and foe. She made it halfway across the blockade before another zero-point robot came crashing down mere feet in front of her, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and ice that instantly enveloped her vision.
Out of the corner of her eye, through the haze, she saw an enormous metal fist coming at her.
"Looks like all the fighting has thrown up a big dust cloud, and it's blocking our view of the action! That's no fun! Well anyways, up ahead, still in the lead is Todoroki Shoto with Bakugo Katsuki close on his tail! It looks like they're- WHOA! Quick! Quick! Pan back to the Robo Inferno! Look at that!"
The crowd turned to see something enormous flying up from the dust cloud.
"Someone has blasted one of our biggest robots straight up into the air! It's way above the course's walls! Dang!"
A hundred pairs of wide eyes followed the robot as it slowed, seemingly paused midair, then began falling back down.
"Aaaaaand... wait for it..."
The ground shook as the giant metal creature made impact.
"...it crashes right back down! Woohoo! That's some wild power! Who could have done that?! One of yours, Mummy Man?"
"It's hard to tell through the dust."
"Oh! It looks like the first few competitors have made it to the next obstacle! It's The Fall! How will they make it across that giant canyon? Let's see!"
A few moments later, Naoko spotted the dangerous-looking tightrope course up ahead. As she ran, she eyed some of the techniques the others were using: Asui leapt without hesitation and easily climbed across the chasm, a pink-haired girl with some kind of mechanism attached to her legs leapfrogged from pillar to pillar, and up front, way ahead of them, was Bakugo simply propelling through the air.
Naoko's smile never wavered as she reached the edge of the canyon and jumped forward. A sudden gust of wind pushed her onto the nearest pillar before she jumped off again, continuing slowly but surely until she landed square on the other side. Cheerfully, she stood and continued on her way towards the end gate.
"Hey, hey! Looks like these kids are pretty creative, huh? Well, how will they do against the last obstacle? The Minefield! Watch your step and be careful; these mines might not kill you, but they sure will hurt!"
As she closed in on the final stretch, Naoko saw most others were opting to go cross the last obstacle carefully, not wanting to risk a setback so close to the finish line. She, however, jumped over the threshold of the minefield and kept on running, her feet hovering a few inches off the ground. The air whipped around her as she jogged past a handful of tiptoeing students with an apologetic smile.
Once again turning her attention forward, her eyes briefly swept over the students ahead of her, then she slowed her pace.
"Aaand... one! Two! Three! We have our first winners!"
The crowd erupted into deafening cheers.
"All from Class 1-A too! Impressive! Here come the next few, not far behind! Four! Five! Seven- eight! I can't count them all!"
Naoko smiled as she crossed the gate and stepped back into the roaring arena. Kaminari, who stumbled in moments after, nearly collapsed, dramatically grasping at his uniform, trying to catch his breath. She stretched her legs and sighed as she cheerfully watched the students continue to pour in behind her.
"Alright! That's it! Let's take a look at our Round 1 winners!" Present Mic boomed as their faces flashed across a large screen.
"Damn it!" Bakugo cursed, breathing heavily, veins bulging from his head as he looked ready to strangle Midoriya.
"Congratulations!" Naoko approached him with a happy wave. "You did really well!"
"Shut up! I'm going to kill him!"
"Congratulations, everyone! You made it through the first part of the competition!" the dark-haired announcer, Midnight, shouted over the students. "Now this is where the real fun begins! The next game is the Calvary Battle!" The screen behind her lit up with an array of images of Thirteen, All Might, and Present Mic in a cavalry formation: images Naoko found highly entertaining. "Contestants may form groups of two to four as they see fit! Based on the results of the obstacle course, each team will be assigned a bandanna with a point value. The goal is to steal as many points as possible before time runs out by taking other teams' bandannas! And here are the points for each of the contestants!"
The screen flashed to a chart listing the first 42 winners and their point values.
Naoko scanned down the list: 21st place, 110 points.
"Now go on and form your groups! You have fifteen minutes!"
The timer buzzed loudly and students burst into action as everyone rushed to find teammates.
Naoko glanced around quizzically.
"Hey, Bakugo-"
"No way!"
Well that was fast. Naoko backed away sheepishly, uttering a slight apology before continuing her search.
She spotted Midoriya standing alone, off to the side.
"Hi! Do you mind if I join your team?" she asked hopefully, sliding up to him with a cheerful smile.
"Oh! Um, sorry, Naoko, I... kinda already have a team in mind..." he admitted, scratching his head nervously.
"Oh, that's alright!" she smiled, swallowing a dejected sigh. "Good luck!"
She glanced around at the other competitors, her hopes dropping by the minute. Many had their full teams already, and those who didn't were mostly students from other classes. She heaved a heavy breath; it looked like she was going to have to work with strangers this time. Well, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to-
"Naoko."
She turned around to see Shoji glancing down at her.
"Do you have a team yet?" he asked, Mineta and Tsuyu popping out from behind him.
"No... c-can I join yours?"
"Of course- we were just about to ask."
"Nice! Thanks, guys!" she beamed in quiet celebration. "So do we have a plan?"
"I've got one!" Mineta raised his hand proudly, beckoning them to come closer. "Alright, listen here..."
_______________________________________________
"Time's up!" Midnight blew her whistle as the timer sounded. "Everyone has their teams? Every team has their headbands? Great! Now let the fun begin!"
The whistle blew again and the cavalry battle had officially begun.
"Are you sure you'll be able to hold all of us, Shoji?" Naoko asked worriedly, "Won't we be too heavy?"
"It's no problem- leave the legwork to me. You all just worry about getting points," he reassured.
The three of them nodded. They all crouched on Shoji's back, his arms spread to form a large protective capsule around them. Mineta was closest to the front, Tsuyu was closest to the back, and Naoko, who donned their team headband, remained the safest, shielded in the middle.
As they had agreed, the group spent the first portion of the game avoiding the other teams; they defended when attacked, mostly thanks to Shoji's quick dodges and Tsuyu's long reach, but overall, not too many others targeted them, likely because there were much bigger rewards to be had elsewhere.
Then, just a few minutes before time ran out, they began their attack.
First, an easy target: an upward gust of wind blew the headband off of the rider of a two-man team.
"Hey! Give that back!" the black-haired boy yelled, pointing for his partner who charged straight at them. They didn't get far before stepping on a stray hairball and falling over, however, sending the rider tumbling off his partner's shoulders.
Shoji's arms opened slightly as the headband drifted down into Naoko's hands.
"Team Rin is disqualified!"
"Two minutes left," Shoji warned them.
"Now for the risky part," Tsuyu croaked. "Ready, Naoko-chan?"
"Ready," she nodded with a determined smile. "Let's go!"
Shoji ran at full speed towards the ring of ice Todoroki had formed earlier; he braced himself and charged up the tallest side, jumping from icicle to icicle for as long as he could.
He made it a few meters before he felt himself about to slip.
"Now!" he yelled.
A strong gust of wind pushed them up towards the center of the ring; he stretched his arms out flat, the skin between his tentacles giving them lift as they crossed directly over the isolated area.
"What's this?! A last-minute move by team Ito! How risky!"
The three teams below looked up in confusion as a shadow passed over them, but they could only make out a silhouette against the blazing sun.
Then a head poked out from above the large figure.
In the blink of an eye, a pair of twisting vortices shot down and snapped off two of the headbands below: one of Todoroki's and one of Bakugo's.
The blonde, still mid-jump, cursed and grabbed at the strip of cloth as it slipped from his grasp, zipping straight up into the air and landing in the hands of a smiling Naoko.
"And time's up!"
Shoji landed gently on the other side, his fall padded by an upward gust of wind, just as the crowd around them roared to life. Deafening cheers filled the stadium.
"Yes! We did it!" Mineta screamed, tumbling off of Shoji's back and falling to the ground harshly, "I can't believe we did it!"
"Your plan worked, Mineta," Shoji congratulated as he lowered Naoko and Tsuyu to the ground.
"Nice job!"
"Which ones did we get, ribbit?"
"And here are the final results for the Cavalry Battle!" Present Mic boomed excitedly, drawing everyone's attention to the large screen, "First place is Team Todoroki with 10,000,250 points! Second place is Team Ito with 1,920 points! Third place is Team Bakugo with 875 points! Fourth place is Team Midoriya with 655 points! Congratulations, winners!" he hollered, the crowd growing even louder around him as their faces lit up the screen.
"Nice!" Team Naoko cheered triumphantly as they high-fived in celebration.
"Hey, at least we got in, right?" Ashido grinned, patting Kirishima and Sero on the back.
"Yea, we did well!" Kaminari nodded cheerfully.
"Hey, Bakugo, calm d-"
"AHHHHH!"
"Naoko! That was so cool!" Midoriya beamed as he bounced over to them, starry-eyed and waving his hands enthusiastically, "You got a bunch of points at the last second! You shot right up to second place so quickly!"
"Thanks!" Naoko grinned excitedly, cheerfully meeting his hand in a high five, "Though to be honest, I was sort of aiming for your headband instead of Todoroki's."
Midoriya stiffened at her words. He cracked a smile and laughed nervously as he scratched at the back of his head. "Well... it's a good thing you missed, right? We probably wouldn't have made it otherwise, haha..."
"HEY ASSHOLES!"
Naoko looked up to see Bakugo pointing aggressively at her and Todoroki. His face was a glowing red, and steam visibly rolled off him as Kirishima and Ashido struggled to hold him back.
"I'M GOING TO KILL BOTH OF YOU!"
"Bakugo, calm-!"
"AHHHHH!"