Chapter 79: Sigh

Sigh

Looking at the normally bubbly girl's spirits being down, Tsu gave the 'look' to the others at their table, namely Tsu herself, Mina, Momo as she instructed them to call her, and Ochaco.

The others were either not with them for their study session or currently at another group's table.

In the spacious U.A library, there was more than enough space for their class size of 21.

They were currently spread out after having been given a general overview of the math portion of their exams, though the groups were centered around key figures.

Suijin had taken a portion of the group over to the couch, where he was currently tutoring Denki on how to do algebra.

Ida had taken some of the more manageable ones to a table, where he sat answering their frequent questions.

And then there was Momo, who had taken this group of four to this section of the library, a table that sat eight chairs hidden by the bookshelves.

After they locked eyes, the group of three started to subtly pack up their things, knowing that they wouldn't be getting any more work done for the day.

Once the table was spotless, Ochaco knocked on it, letting the vibrations bring Mina out of her daydream.

Amidst the girl's confusion due to the table not looking as she remembered, more clean than the cluttery mess she was familiar with, Momo got her attention.

"So is there anything wrong?"

"No," a quick response flew from her mouth, a reply that even she was surprised at.

Yet the raised eyebrow from Momo, Tsu's impassive face, and the furrowed eyebrow from Ochaco showed their disbelief.

The girl scrunched up her face, weighing the costs and benefits of telling them about it.

She contemplated the "dangers" and was leaning towards downplaying the situation.

But looking up, she noticed the earnest faces—those that genuinely wanted to help her, that wanted her to be better.

The girl resigned herself to the embarrassment her future self would inevitably feel recalling this conversation and gave in to that feeling.

The second she stopped restraining herself, Mina felt her energy levels rise to ones similar to her typical self.

She instantly sported a smile as she huskily leaned in, detailing the events that happened last week.

.

.

"No way."

"YES WA—"

A hand wrapped around her mouth as she looked outside the gaps between the books that separated them from the other groups.

She got her excitement under control, forgetting where she was as she recalled the day.

"He walked outside like a knight in shining armor, desperately looking for something before finding it.

The look, the look he gave me, the one filled with pure joy upon catching me before the day finished."

She sat back in her chair, burying her legs into her chest upon finishing, trying to use the darkness as a screen that would allow her back into that moment.

The time of day, the sun with its orange lights, the gust of wind that only slightly blew his blazer, revealing the toned skin but still allowing it to add to his image.

The only thing she could recall about that moment was one word.

Perfect.

'If only I didn't ruin it.'

And as she previously predicted, a rush of heat rushed to her face, making her pink skin shine a redder hue as she remembered herself.

Her heart had sped up upon seeing her classmate, and she'd started to notice she held special feelings for him as he was confessing to her.

He didn't get the words out, not with the bell ruining his proposal, but she knew.

Her eyes had gone as large as possible, her heart rate exceeded expected capacity, and she felt like Bakugo's explosions were upon her face again as her cheeks instantly exploded.

Luckily for her, the boy didn't seem to notice the ten seconds she took to partially calm down.

But she was way too embarrassed to face him, not after he shamelessly said such a thing in broad daylight!

So she turned around, a wise move on her part, separating them by her back, and she said...

'Thank you. Thank YOU! I COULD HAVE CHOSEN ANYTHING ELSE, BUT NOOOO I SAID THANK YOU!!!!!!!'

She kept her face on her knees, recalling the events again, unaware of the silent conversation the other three were having.

Once a conclusion had been reached, they all nodded, letting the starter of the conversation, Momo, speak.

"So, to summarize, Suijin came to you, confessed, got interrupted, and you said, "Thank you."

The meek nod from the girl confirmed their thoughts, and taking over, Ochaco said, "Sooo….what's the issue? You like him; he obviously likes you, so why aren't you guys together."

.

.

Groan

Waking up, the girl looked up, noticing the white ceiling. She turned her head, one of the only things she could do, and saw the curtains on the sides of other beds.

Hospital beds, as she deduced.

She noticed the old woman, Recovery Girl, tending to another patient, thus unaware of Mina's waking up.

The girl directed her attention to the other source of noise in the room, a live broadcast of the UA Sports Festival.

She looked, seeing the announcer go on a rant about Katsuki Bakugo and Suijin Shimizu. She noticed the hardened expression on Suijin's face and the familiar, cocky one still on Bakugo's.

Mina also noticed the distinct lack of a pink-skinned individual facing off against Suijin.

The reality of the situation started to set in as her confusion started to wear off, and one reasoning fact reverberated in her mind.

She failed.

Memories of her last moments previously conscious played out in her mind, the feeling of his hand gradually growing hot, of how victory was within her grasp.

And how she let it go.

The girl put her head back in its previous position, making everything within her sight return to nothing, with only the white roof visible.

She closed her eyes for a while, hoping that such a thing would stop the tears of regret, sorrow, and pain from flowing out.

Recalling so, Mina shook her head.

She couldn't; she wouldn't stick such a broken, weak version of herself onto Suijin.

Memories of her smaller form, of her useless legs not taking her anywhere, content with remaining immobile as she was about to be dead from a villain, of how it took Kirishima, someone she had treated as her younger brother, to save her.

"It's not time."

Confusion was obviously apparent on her friends' faces, but Mina opted not to tell them the reason, for fear of having to dig deeper into wounds she didn't want to pick at yet.

Sensing so, Tsu took the opportunity to change the subject.

"Well, on a lighter note, you did great at the sports festival!"

Similar words resounded as she received several words of encouragement from her peers.

Momo felt down that she got knocked out within the first round, yet it was Ochaco, the winner of the bout between the two, that uplifted her.

Meanwhile, Tsu said that she was the worst of the three since she even made it to the finals.

But words from Ochaco, Momo, and Mina herself instantly came out, refuting the observant girl's queries.

'The test didn't suit her aquatic abilities—a mismatch of venues.'

"But…what happened during that fight with Bakugo? You had him in the end, no?"

Mina didn't even know how Momo's question came about, but the thought forced her to recall things she didn't want to.

"AAAAHHHHH."

Her rock, her unshakable mountain, the towering figure that showed only love, kindness, and fairness even throughout her odd pigmentation, through her horns and black sclera.

Such a figure was screaming for his dear life as his hand was being melted in front of him. Such a man was someone she hurt.

Mina tightly closed her eyes, feeling phantom pain from when she first used her quirk, remembering the exhausted feeling that came with using a new aspect of it for the first time.

Her head felt cold, reminding her of the lack of head pats or touches they'd had since the incident.

She recalled how, for the first few months, she had to live in a completely different house, though she eventually learned that he became able-bodied again within a few weeks.

Mina's breath started to quicken as she recalled dark memories—things she kept in a shed, hoping they'd never see the surface of the light.

Her head started throbbing as a headache came out of nowhere, her ears started ringing, and her eyes became disoriented.

It would seem like nothing could stop this with the intensity it sprung upon her, yet surprisingly, it only took one word to stop everything.

"Mina."