11 Katsuki and Midoriya

"Well, I'd say…" All Might began, "the MVP in this battle is young Shiromi!"

Mirai stiffened, "Really now..?"

"Not Ochako or Midoriya, even though they won?"

"I wonder why…" All Might raised his voice, addressing the class. "Does anyone know?!"

"I do, All Might Sensei." Yaoyorozu's hand shot up, "It's because Shiromi was the most able to adapt to the scenario."

She proceeded to analyze the others' performances, pointing out their mistakes. Bakugou had acted on personal grudges, and so had Midoriya. Both had created large-scale attacks that resulted in massive property damage. As for Uraraka, her last-ditch effort would have been reckless and dangerous if it had been a real nuclear weapon. Shiromi, on the other hand, had prepared for the enemy and was only late in responding to the final attack.

Mirai's face warmed, and she scratched her head "Ah…"

'No, my team probably would have won if I hadn't gone easy on Uraraka and gotten cocky…'

"The hero team won," Yaoyorozu continued, "only because they took the easy way out since it's just training."

A heavy silence fell over the group as everyone absorbed Yaoyorozu's thorough observations.

All Might raised a thumbs up, his grin a bit strained. "Y-Yup! Exactly what I was going to say! Good job!"

"Alright then!" All Might said, bringing out the Hero and Villain boxes once more. "Let's move on to round two. Really think about the feedback and keep training."

"Yes, sir!" the class responded in unison.

Mirai let out a sigh of relief, grateful for the chance to relax and watch the others. The next team for the heroes included a guy with half his body encased in ice.

As the match began, Mirai watched the octopus-like man spread his wing-featured arms wide open. One of his tentacles morphed into an ear, which twitched in an odd sight to behold. But that wasn't the strangest part. The ear transformed into a mouth, which said something inaudible to the observers.

Then, the ice-wielding hero placed his hand on the wall, and in an instant, the entire building was engulfed in a frigid, icy embrace. The octopus guy stepped out, shivering from the sudden cold.

The chill could even be felt in the monitor room, and everyone shivered collectively. "Without harming his ally or the nuclear weapon, he immobilized the enemy," All Might noted.

Mirai's eyes remained glued to the screen as the hero team claimed victory effortlessly, her classmates' praises filling the air.

"T-That was amazing!"

"What a quirk!"

"No wonder he got in on a scholarship."

"Okay," All Might said, "now that we're done, let's all meet back and assess round two, then start round three."

After all the teams had finished their matches, everyone gathered outside near the exit.

"Well done, everyone!" All Might praised, "No serious injuries apart from Midoriya, and you all gave your best. You did great, especially considering this was your first training exercise."

"Coming after Aizawa Sensei's class, such a straightforward lesson is kind of…" The frog-like girl paused, reminiscing about Aizawa's stern demeanor. "…anti-climactic." She nodded, along with all the other classmates.

"Conducting no-nonsense classes is our freedom of choice!" All Might declared, spreading his arms wide. Mirai could almost envision the golden UA logo appearing behind him.

"Well then," All Might continued, "I must give young Midoriya his feedback."

"Oh, I'll come with you." Mirai stepped forward, "I've been meaning to visit him anyway."

All Might seemed to quiver slightly, "No need, Young Shiromi! I'm certain Young Midoriya wouldn't want you to miss lessons to visit him. However, I'll convey a message for you!"

"Ah, that's reasonable." She smiled, "Well then, tell him to recover quickly. He's already missed too many classes."

"Will do!" And with that, he was off in a flash, leaving a gust of wind in his wake.

She let out a sigh. That's All Might for you. She heard the others marveling at him as she turned around, ready to return to her desk.

As she walked back, Mirai caught a glimpse of Bakugou. Her gaze lingered before shaking her head and walking back to class with her classmates.

┏━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┓

┗━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┛

Mirai yawned, struggling to stay awake during the lesson. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her mind kept wandering. In the corner of her eye, she spotted Katsuki talking and laughing with his friends, a big grin on his face as if he was floating on air. He had been that way ever since he got his quirk, ever since…

She clenched her fists.

'Why…why did it have to be him?'

Katsuki turned to face her, his smile widening. "Oh, Mirai! What's up?" he said, "Me and the gang were just about to head over to my house. Wanna come? I feel like I haven't seen you in a while."

Mirai kept her head down, her eyes fixed on the ground. "Katsuki, did you do it?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Huh?" Katsuki's brow furrowed.

"Did you do it?" Mirai looked up, meeting his gaze, "Did you hurt Midoriya?"

Katsuki scratched his head, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. "Oh, that nerd. Well, I wouldn't have beaten him up if he was just minding his own business. You should have seen it, Rai. He was acting like some big shot, and I just—"

"Just… just beat him up? Why?" Mirai interrupted, her voice rising with each word, "Why would you do something like that!?"

"Why?" Katsuki's face scrunched up, his eyes narrowing. "Because he pisses me off! Acting all high and mighty, even though he's quirkless!"

Mirai's heart sank, "Is… is that what this is about? Because he doesn't have a quirk? Is that really all it takes for you to—"

"Why the hell are you so concerned about him anyway? You were never that close to Deku. Hell, you never cared before," Katsuki snapped.

"That's… that's different," she mumbled, her hands shaking.

"Like hell it is! He's just a pebble. It shouldn't matter. You shouldn't be making a fuss over nothing."

"Nothing?" Mirai's eyes widened, a spark of anger igniting in her chest. "Okay, fine. I admit, I wasn't great. I'm… I'm terrible, even, for letting it all slide." She trembled, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "But I can't overlook it now. You hurt him, badly. I can't…"

"So what? He's fine!" Katsuki yelled, then sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Whatever. Come on, let's just go back to my place and—"

"No!" Mirai shouted, wrenching her arm from his grasp. "I-I… I don't want to."

Katsuki's eyes widened as he back away, "What…"

"I don't want to talk to you anymore, not if you're like this. I don't want to be friends with you anymore!" Mirai cried, she hated how her voice was cracking.

A heavy silence fell between them, the weight of her words hanging in the air.

"F-Fine!" Katsuki snarled, "I should have known… you and that Deku… have fun with that quirkless loser, you… you… ugh!"

He stormed off, his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway.

From that day onwards, Katsuki became Bakugou, and Midoriya became Izuku to Mirai.

Mirai yawned, struggling to stay focused during the lesson. As soon as the bell rang, chatter erupted in the classroom.

Suddenly, Bakugou stood up and stomped towards the door. A few classmates tried to approach him.

"Hey Bakugou, are you—"

Before anyone could reach him, he slammed the door shut.

Kirishima scratched his head, "Man, what's with that guy?"

Mirai looked down at her desk, and buried her head down as people started talking once again she didn't hear much.

Her face wrinkled, maybe she should talk to All Might about reducing her points after all.

"…hopefully Aizawa Sensei is understanding. As for the notes… ah, hey Shiromi!"

Mirai stiffened as some of her classmates approached her.

"Hey, you're friends with Midoriya, right?" Kirishima asked.

"Yeah…" She folded her arms, "What about it?"

"Well, we took some notes for him and were wondering if you could deliver them to him for us," the pink-skinned girl said.

Mirai relaxed, "Oh, that's it? Well uh..I think it's better if you give them to him yourself. He'd definitely appreciate it."

Just then, the door slid open, revealing Midoriya with a cast on one arm and bandages on the other. Heads turned, and immediately, their classmates walked up to him, smiles on their faces. It was a heartening sight to see people actually talking to him respectfully, and not just to her as well.

Mirai had hoped that, for a group of aspiring heroes, their classmates would be decent enough to leave them be.

She chuckled, her expectations certainly surpassed her.

As Midoriya began to explain that his injuries were nothing, his gaze landed on Bakugou's empty desk. When people started to explain that Bakugou had stormed off, Midoriya quickly followed, running out of the classroom.Mirai's brows furrowed, and she stood up, walking out the door along with some other curious students.

"Hey Shiromi, do you know what that was about?" Uraraka asked.

"No clue," she answered, tugging on the straps of her bag.

"Huh… oh, hey look!" Pinky pointed through the window, and the others followed her gaze. They saw Midoriya approaching Bakugou near the gates below.

The two boys seemed to be talking, but no one could hear what they were saying.

"What are they talking about?" Pinky pressed her fingers against the glass, trying to get a better view.

"It must be the guy's fate."

"What does that even mean?" Mirai's head turned slightly before returning her gaze to the boys.

"Well, whatever Midoriya is saying, Bakugou doesn't look any happier," Froggie observed.

Mirai's eyes narrowed. What the hell did Midoriya have to say that was so important he had to run after that jerk? More importantly, why did Bakugou have that expression?

Bakugou yelled at Midoriya, his teeth gritted and his usual scowl etched onto his face. But there was something else, something pained about his expression. Did it really have to do with the battle training? Just because he lost?

Mirai sighed.

No, it was because he lost to Midoriya, to Deku. Someone who was supposed to be weaker had suddenly gotten strong enough to beat him, even if it was just a training exercise.

"It's definitely a guy thing," Mirai said at the same time as Uraraka. They glanced at each other and smiled.

"Well, it's got nothing to do with us anyway," Pinky said finally, turning away from the window.

"Nothing to do with us, huh…" Mirai glanced down as Bakugou turned to leave the school. "Ah… I guess you're right." She turned to the girls and scratched her cheek, feeling a bit awkward. "Um… so, girls…"

"Hm?" they responded, looking at her curiously.

"What are your names again? The pinky and froggie, I mean," Mirai asked, a sheepish grin on her face.

"Huh?! Wait, you don't know our names?!" Pinky's eyes widening in disbelief.

"Ribbit… that hurts…" Froggie said, her expression falling.

"I'm sorry!" Mirai apologized, waving her hands in front of her. "I'm really bad with names, and there's just so many of us in class, and—"

She begins to ramble her apology and rambling, clasping her hands together as the girls laugh and shrug it off. Ashido is right she suppose, it has nothing to do with her. She shouldn't concern herself with him now. Not anymore.