Yaoyorozu Momo*

[A/N: ( * ) this means that the perspective is that of another character, and/or that it will be written in a different style compared to how it's usually written. Basically, it's a special chapter.]

If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete. - Viktor E. Frankl.

...

Yaoyorozu Momo, is the heiress to the Yaoyorozu, a famous hero family who once stood in the spotlight before All Might became the greatest hero of his generation.

For many, she's both an object of admiration and jealousy, who wouldn't want to be in her place? To be the inheritor of the biggest wealth in Japan, to have a powerful quirk capable of creating the most complex and useful tools...

She learned soon that the vast majority of the people approached her for their own selfish reasons, wanting to use her to benefit themselves. Vowing to never be used by others, even without necessarily having to, she took the initiative and asked her mother and father to help her become stronger, more intelligent, and capable, she wanted to be independent, she wanted what it takes to raises one's head high with pride, knowing that she was truly above the others and that no one would be so big that she couldn't stand on equal grounds.

With that mindset, her entire childhood was spent with the best teachers, with the best books, and the best trainers money could buy. Eventually, Yaoyorozu Momo was recognized as one of the princess of Japan, a very selective list of girls whose capabilities placed them above others in all manners, be it appearance, intelligence, or background.

It was as such that she was even friends with the daughter of the current emperor which made her one of the two civilians in Japan allowed to have any contact with her. That was how high she was compared to other people.

In a sense, she became the embodiment of the saying 'there's always a higher mountain'. It was for that reason that when she was challenged like that early today, that she almost lost her cool.

'Who is this guy and why is he trying to compete with me? Does he really believe that showing off his knowledge would make any difference? He could have stopped after the tenth question but he kept going and challenging me again and again!'

If there was one side that Momo would never admit to having, is the competitive one, her education was based on doing what's right, of standing for the greater good, for kindness and compassion, she should have been above such childish things. As her mother would always say 'helping the weak and less capable to grow and be better'.

...

Today's being especially stressful, not even once had I thought that would meet someone so annoying as Mineta. During the English and Mathematics class, we battled the whole time to see who would answer correctly the questions.

I didn't care at the beginning, but after some time I noticed a pattern that made me feel angry, while I was only standing up to answer the more difficult questions that my colleagues couldn't answer, he was definitely standing up just to fight with me, what other reason would there be for him to do such a thing? I know I'm right because he only stood up when I did it as well.

Mineta doesn't seem to be someone good, he only talks to Denki and Jiro as far as I know, and I've never seen him trying to socialize with the others.

I started paying more attention to him and noticed some patterns, he was shallow and his personality looked like a shell, he never talks about his likes, and always seems to be reacting to what happens around him, at most, only giving his opinion.

When he left Jiro and Denki he went to study alone in the classroom and during the last twenty minutes of lunch, he went to the training ground to practice physical exercises while the rest of the class was knowing each other.

It might have been too little time to judge, but the more I learned about him, the more I disliked him.

Once we went back to the classroom, All Might entered while doing his usual catchphrase. 'Watashi ga kita...' he explained the focus of today's class and made us wear our hero costumes. However, I couldn't help but turn to look at Mineta from the corner of my eyes.

For some reason, he wasn't as excited as the others, in fact, he seemed to be a little nervous, he probably made a mistake and send the wrong design to be made. I wouldn't be too surprised, for someone who fights with others for no reason at all only to show off it would be expected of him to make silly mistakes.

Once we arrived at Ground Beta, the training course that emulated an urban area, I got the first glimpse of Mineta's Hero Costume, unlike what I imagined, he actually designed his with a lot of careful thought, although I couldn't comprehend some choices he made, still, it was shocking, to say the least.

He was wearing body armor made of some matte black metallic material, from the sides it was possible to see that they weren't just protection as there was also a circuit board attached to it, while I couldn't comprehend the purpose behind it, I would be lying if I said I couldn't understand how complex and advanced his armor was.

At first look, you'd think that the armor was solid as a wall, but that's not the case, the wavering surface of his armor could only mean that it was made by countless microscopic intelligent parts... Meaning he was using a costly tool known as nanotechnology.

While I couldn't say how advanced they were, the fact that they could adapt, and were using unknown methods to bind each other together in this intricate web similar to how atoms work, meant he was using something that shouldn't exist yet.

Overall his armor covered his face, shoulders, chest, arms, hands, waist, and legs... The only parts left uncovered were the upper area of his arms and the upper area of his legs. Each piece was decorated with gracious and very artistic patterns that were very geometrical in nature, but foreign to me, it was my first time seeing this kind of pattern.

"Well, I have only two words to describe you all, really awesome!" All Might smiled and gave us thumbs up.

He explained how most heroes faced battles inside buildings and that this was the reason for choosing this place for the training. After that, he proceeded to sort randomly the teams, in the end, I somehow managed to be paired with Mineta... How lucky of me...

...

So, it was our turn now... to think that it would come so soon and to make things even more interesting, we are fighting Denki and Jiro, how unexpected.

"So, how do you want to do this?"

Turning to the side, I looked at Mineta, his mask retracted into his armor, allowing me to have a clear view of his face.

"Shouldn't you tell me how your quirk works first so we can better prepare for the fight?"

"Oh, my quirk is called Pop Off, in few words, I can create sticky balls that can stick to anything but me, they also have bouncy properties, allowing me to use them to jump higher or to absorb impact." He leaned his back to the wall and spoke.

Hearing this I nodded and explained my quirk to him, for some reason I could swear his eyes were shining when I finished explaining, but it wasn't the time to point that out. After some consideration, I decided to just tell him what I thought we should do.

"I believe we should barricade ourselves in the upper floor and use my materials to block the passage of light inside the room. If they even manage to open one of the entrances, we will know where they are and we can use this moment to make a surprise attack and finish them off fast and without any collateral damage."

"Okay, we'll do as you say."

Eh? Did I hear this right? Why? Why did he agree so easily? Wasn't he trying to show off earlier? Why isn't he doing the same thing now, making up a plan at the same level as mine?

"Are you okay?" Hearing his words I recovered my bearings, that's right, it wasn't the time to think of this, he might be playing some game, but I won't fall for it, at the moment, all that matters is defeating Denki and Jiro.

"Alright, the villains can go inside now, once I give the signal, the heroes can start the operation!" All Might's voice reached our ears through the communicator.

Once we went inside we started working, I would create the iron bars to block the entrance and he was putting them in place.

However, as we worked I couldn't help but think about the matter earlier, why was I so annoyed at him to begin with? Looking at him, I think there isn't any reason to stay like this, no matter what he does, things won't change, I'm still at the top, sitting on the highest mountain.

I'm not how many people believe I'm inside, but that's what defines me, I won't lie to myself in this regard. My objective has always been clear from the beginning till now, and it didn't change, perhaps it was just the fear of competition that made me so angry, it has been such a long time since I had to worry about someone trying to take my place as the number 1, as the one who everyone looks up to that I exaggerated.

Mineta has no other meaning in this matter, it was all inside my head, he's just someone that I'll eventually forget once I leave U.A. as a pro hero. Sighing I looked up and gasped, for a moment, behind Mineta, something... I swear I saw it, what was that!?

"Mm?" Mineta turned his head towards me. He frowned and approached, crouching he touched my forehead and asked with worry. "Are you okay? Why are you shaken? Did something happen?"

"I..." I gulped and lowered my head, it was only my imagination, wasn't it? Those red eyes peering through the shadow, that vile cold air, and that feeling, it wasn't real, so why? I looked around and didn't manage to find it. Relieved I sighed and turned to him. "It was nothing, don't worry."

He reluctantly nodded and helped me stand up, now that we prepared everything, all that remained was waiting to see if the plan would work. I created a bo staff and got behind one of the pillars, while Mineta hid behind one on the other side of the room.

"Okay, team G heroes against team C villains, start!"

It finally started... I took a deep breath and prepared myself mentally, I proved my analytical skills sooner after explaining what was wrong with Midoriya's and Bakugo's fight.

Now I'll prove myself in action, through careful planning, a lot of training, and the right tools, there's nothing and no one I can't defeat! Jiro, Denki, today I'll show you what years of preparation can do, I'll show you your mistakes and put you in the right direction, the easy time is over.

Mother, father, I'll show you how far I have gone, I'll show you my worth, and one day I'll show everyone that they were looking at the highest mountain at that time, that no one can take advantage of me!