^ Colour & expression practice with the loml <3

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I grabbed my headphones from my bag, slinging them around my neck. The class' waiting room was deserted; everyone had already rushed for lunch. Chances were that the lines were already atrocious – I'd probably settle for something from the vending machine later. For the time being, I wanted a bit of fresh air.

I maneuvered into a quieter hallway, away from the bustling crowds. I glanced up at the sound of footsteps and scowled. Monoma looked up at me with a crooked smile.

"Woah, are you glaring at me? We're all trying our best, here..."

"Your fucking dumbass shouldn't copy Quirks you don't know anything about."

He laughed at my tone. "Is that a threat? Unlike your self-proclaimed nickname, you're not princely at all."

"I don't give a damn about the nickname." I took a step closer, glowering. "Don't copy my Quirk again. You'll regret it." I shoved past him down the hall – I needed to go calm down.

"I won't, anyway!" he called. "It was a blank."

I paused, looking back at him. "Blank?"

Monoma's smirk flickered across his face as his brow creased with a sigh. "I can't use Quirks that require stockpiling," he explained, shrugging. "It's like getting the car without the fuel. It's a shame, but it happens sometimes."

"Then you got lucky." With a final glare, I started back down the hall at a brisk pace. Stockpiling... That didn't sound right. I stared down at my hand, feeling the energy reverberate beneath my palm.

I called it energy, but it wasn't like it was some special ability. It just came from the mineral content of my body – from the life they generated. Everybody had energy, theirs just didn't mesh with the ground.

Why doesn't his Quirk work on me, then? I rubbed the back of my head, irate. I felt like I was more a collection of unanswered questions than a person.

I pushed into the darkened Student and Faculty exit, hoping the tunnel wasn't as long as it looked. I noticed Bakugo farther down the tunnel, slouched against the wall with a scowl on his face, and groaned silently. I hoped he'd be too focused to bother me.

The hope turned into frustration when Bakugo's arm snapped out to bar my advance. I gave him a What the fuck do you want? look, but he merely squinted at me. Shaking my head, I moved to push past him. In reply, his hand shot out and pushed my shoulder to the wall.

My jaw hung open. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't..."

His hand clamped over my mouth.

That's it! I thought, venemously. I'm going to curb-stomp his balls. I'll be doing the world a damn favour, taking his genes out of the pool...

"I was overpowered." Todoroki's voice rang out, sounding farther down the tunnel. "So much so that I broke my pledge. Iida, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, and Uraraka... None of them felt it. At that last instant, I was the one who was overpowered. Only me, who had experienced All Might's full power up close."

"What... does that mean?" replied Midoriya's voice, meekly. I started to understand what was going on.

"It means I felt something similar coming from you. Midoriya, are you... All Might's secret love child or something?"

Wha – Oh my god. I doubled over, nearly head-butting Bakugo in the chin. I stifled a laugh with my hand. Oh my god!

Midoriya stuttered profusely, breaking into a ramble. "Th- That's not it! I mean, even if it was, I would say that I wasn't, so I don't think you have any reason to believe me, but anyway, that's not how it is...

"In the first place... Why do you think that about me?"

I rolled my eyes. Probably because All Might looks at you like you're some kind of golden child!

"Since you said 'that's not how it is'... that means there is a connection between you two that you can't talk about, right?"

Oh. Dimly, I recalled the last of Midoriya's private conversations I'd eavesdropped on. I'd blocked it from my mind, embarrassed about spying, but I recalled his words to Bakugo now. At the time, I'd chalked it up to him spouting lies to comfort his childhood friend, but he more I learned about his character, the more all of these coincidences piled up... Could there be more to his Quirk than meets the eye?

"Endeavor's my old man." Todoroki's voice broke the contemplative silence. "I'm sure that you know he's been stuck as the number two hero forever. That's why, if you have something from the Number One hero, then... I have even more reason to beat you.

"My old man has a strong desire to rise in the world. As a hero, he won a name for himself with his crushing force. Because of that, the living legend All Might is a great eyesore to him. Since he couldn't surpass the Symbol of Peace on his own... He moved on to his next plan."

"What are you talking about, Todoroki? What are you... What are you trying to tell me?"

A stiff silence settled through the air. Todoroki took a moment to gather his thoughts. "You've heard of Quirk marriages, right?"

I covered my mouth, feeling ill. The perfect mergence of Todoroki's Quirk –something too perfect to be left up to luck – clicked.

I was raised in a sheltered environment, with nothing but a one-track mind to become a hero. Still, I'd been taught about the disturbing concept; old-fashioned and unethical, it brought many of the strongest heroes into this world. Choosing a spouse based only on strengthening your own Quirk and passing it on to your children. If the Chairwoman didn't have some semblance of morals, I'm sure the board of directors would've liked to see me end up in a situation like that.

"My father is a man with both accomplishments and money. He won over my mother's relatives and got a hold of my mother's Quirk. In an attempt to fulfill his own desire, he raised me to be a hero to surpass All Might. It's so annoying... I won't become the tool of scum like that."

I recalled the Chairwoman's office the first time I'd seen it. The way the light from the windows at her back had cast a shadow upon her face, the way that her pearl necklace glinted around her collarbone. When my eyes trailed up to her face, she stared back at me coldly. There was nothing there; nothing reassuring, nothing kind; nothing most people would use when talking to a scared, out of place child.

To her, to everyone in that building, I wasn't a child. I was a natural disaster waiting to happen; a ticking time bomb. I was one of two things: A threat, or a tool. The choice of which had been left up to me, but I supposed it wasn't much of a choice at all.

The thought of Todoroki, another child born into a choice-less and corrupt future, overwhelmed me. I couldn't tell what exactly I was feeling – sadness, or fear? Whatever it was, I felt feelings I tried so hard to keep at bay begin to seep through my walls.

"In my memories, my mother is always crying. Your left side is so unsightly... She said, as she poured boiling water on me.

"I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do, without using my damn old man's Quirk. No... I'll reject him completely by reaching the top without using it. I don't care if you can't tell me how you're connected to All Might. No matter what you are to him, I will rise above you with just my right side."

"I..." Midoriya took a moment to breathe, to build his confidence. "I have always been supported by others. That was the case earlier, too. I'm here because of the people who have supported me. I want to be like All Might. In order to do that... I have to be strong enough to be number one. My motivation might seem trivial compared to yours, but I can't lose, either. The declaration of war you gave earlier – I'll return that... I will beat you, too!"

I heard them exit the tunnel, leaving Bakugo and I behind. With only an angry scoff, he turned and stalked away. As his footsteps receded, I slid down the wall, resting my head on my knees.

I don't care about this festival. I can't care about winning. I shouldn't.

My phone rang. I put it to my ear without checking the contact.

"Hey, Haru!" said Keigo. "You're on break now, right? I saw you on TV. Man... When you got up on stage, I was thinking you'd choke. I almost let a villain go, I was so distracted! Your crowd work was insane. Good to see those acting classes payed off, huh?"

There was a bit of shuffling, some wind rushing past the other line. He was flying. "Sorry to bother you when you're probably focusing – sorry I couldn't be there in person, too. Work's been crazy today!"

I gripped the little red feather, clasped onto the leather cord around my neck. "Keigo," I said, "Do I have to be a hero?"

"Hm? What kinda question is that?" He laughed, brightly. "Ah, is that why you slacked off in the obstacle race? I thought my laziness had just been rubbing off on you!"

"That's not..." I sighed, resting my head back down on my knees. "Never-mind."

His brassy tone softened into something gentler. "If this is about that..." he said, "You know no-one blames you for it, right?"

I pulled my knees closer to my chest. "You know that's not true." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying rapidly to patch the walls before I let something slip. "I wouldn't be a hero-in-training if it wasn't my fault."

Muffled, I heard him say something to someone on the other line. More shuffling followed. I picked at the cuff of my pants and considered hanging up.

"Akiharu," Keigo said. I cringed. He never called me that. "You can't let this keep holding you back. You're a great kid. I don't care what happened like a decade ago. That was an accident–"

"You don't know that," I cut in. "No one does."

"What kind of seven-year-old does that on purpose?" He sighed exasperatedly, and it made my stomach twist into knots. "I don't know what kind of crap the Chairwoman's been spewing this time, but you need to forget about her. You need to forget about the Commission. You need to forget about that accident. You just gotta to go out there and show 'em who's who!"

I pushed my hand through my hair, staring down at my shoes. "3,262 profiles," I murmured.

"What?"

"That's how many profiles I've memorized," I said. "I've still got 5,170 left."

"Haru..."

"Yesterday was Masumi Uo. She was a widow who'd recently started caring for her niece, after her younger sister fell sick. Her sister passed away shortly after she died; too overcome with grief to make a full recovery. With no next of kin, the niece ended up in an orphanage somewhere.

"Today was Yūsuke Nagata. He was six years old at the time. He made a big show of telling all his classmates and neighbours he wanted to be a hero when he grew up. He wanted to go to U.A.. If I hadn't killed him, he'd probably be here today instead of me."

My voice cracked. "Hey, Keigo. How am I supposed to forget that?"

There was no more shuffling, only the sound of his sharp inhale.

"I guess... I'm not asking you to forget. But I wish you would forgive yourself."

"These people don't even know," I whispered. "Not one of them knows. I bet if they knew, they would've booed me off stage. Not even you can deny that."

Silence.

Dimly, I heard Present Mic's voice start bouncing around the stadium.

"Lunch break is almost over," I said. "I've got to go."

"Haru–"

I hung up.

I stuffed the phone deep into my pocket, burying the conversation with it. I patched up the holes in my walls, pushing everything back into a neat little box, and tucked it far away in my mind.

If I didn't think about it, then I didn't have to bear it.

Outside the dark tunnel opening, the grass field was bathed in the afternoon sun. A contented smile brushed my features. My shoulders straightened, my head tilted in a playful sort of way, and I stepped out onto stage.

𓆱❀𓆱

WOOMPH, this was a heavy chapter. Buckle up, the Sports Festival is... yeah... It... has it's moments <3333

hehehehe

2057 words